New chapter! Thanks for all the support!
x
"Robb Stark, kill me if you want. I will never order them to retreat."
Randyll stared at Robb, whose whole body was soaked in blood and whose crystal eyes had begun to dim. His voice was firm.
"I have always heard that House Tarly is brave and loyal. It seems the stories are true. Lord Randyll, if that is your decision, I will respect it.
"After all, I am a man who takes good advice gladly.
"And to prevent House Tarly from seeking revenge, I will also kill your equally brave second son, your eldest son at Castle Black, and everyone at Horn Hill who bears the name Tarly."
Robb looked around at the Reach soldiers surrounding him in layer after layer, none daring to advance because of Randyll. A demonic smile crossed his face.
"You..."
"Oh, I nearly forgot. I may not need to do those things myself.
"You have all been deceived by Tywin Lannister.
"The Lannister army never attacked Deep Den. Those soldiers were Flea Bottom smallfolk from King's Landing, forced into disguise.
"Guess where Tywin's tens of thousands truly are now?"
Randyll's anger shifted. His pupils widened, and his eyes moved quickly as he began to think.
"Lord Randyll, with your sharp mind, you must have suspected Tywin's alliance from the beginning.
"Why would Tywin, who has always loved calculation, offer one third of the Dornish Marches before the war even began? Why was I able to reach Cornfield in time? Have you received any fresh news from the fighting at Deep Den in the last few days?"
From his memories of his previous life, Robb knew that Randyll and his son were the sort of men persuasion could move more readily than threats. Now that he used both, Randyll's iron will finally wavered.
The old Robb had preferred solving problems with force. At the beginning, he had even wanted to use wildfire to wipe out House Lannister in one stroke.
But after everything he had experienced, he had begun to favor breaking a man's resolve instead.
As he had learned in his previous life, the cleanest victories were won in the mind.
"Lord Randyll, there is no deep blood feud between our realms. If I truly wanted to be your mortal enemy, I would have allowed you to take Cornfield.
"Then I would gather elite teams and carry out assassinations against your commanders. How many men do you think it would take to stop me?"
Randyll accepted the point. With Robb's strength so far beyond Westerosi standards, few men could survive such an assassination.
He looked at Ice resting against his throat and gave the faintest nod.
"Very well. I agree to withdraw. I will also report what you have said to Lord Mace and let him judge."
Robb had used some cleverness here. He could indeed use Bloodwind's Control skill for assassinations, but unless there was no other way, he would never do so.
A king could use assassins in secret. King Robert had once sent men after the pregnant Daenerys.
But Westeros admired heroism. Once such methods became known, nobles would whisper openly and privately. Men like Eddard Stark, who valued honor, would react even more strongly.
Robb intended to rule all of Westeros. He would not shape himself into an assassin.
"Deal. I will return your son safely... though perhaps with one or two fewer teeth."
Robb took Ice from Randyll's throat and walked back toward Bloodwind.
"Do not be fools. Let him go."
Freed again, Randyll stopped the guards who wanted to close around Robb. Then he turned and picked up Heartsbane from where it had fallen.
"Lord Randyll, I hope the next time we meet, it is in a castle full of wine and food, not on a battlefield thick with blood."
Robb mounted Bloodwind and smiled at him. Then he sent a thought to the direwolf, and they returned toward Cornfield along the line of ice pillars left as an escape path.
Randyll watched the terrifying giant wolf leap away. Then he strode forward and swung Heartsbane.
The crystalline pillar, which ordinary swords had not even marked, was cut apart with ease and vanished into the air.
'Valyrian steel?'
Randyll lifted Heartsbane, watching a cold glimmer run along the blade. Guesses surfaced in his mind. After a moment, he shook his head and ordered the guard beside him, "Sound the horns. Withdraw."
The low retreat horns rang out just as Robb and Bloodwind returned to Cornfield's wall along the ice pillars.
"Crey, release the soldiers captured on the wall. And have them take special care bringing back the valuable prisoner from earlier."
Bloodwind leapt to the tower in the middle of the wall, and Robb gave the order from his back.
"As you command. I will see to it now."
"Lord Ramsay, what did you think of this battle?"
"Your Grace, this battle was extraordinary. It also taught me how small I am."
Hearing Robb call his name, Ramsay looked up at him, then lowered his head and answered respectfully.
"Good. Then do what you ought to do after this."
The meaning behind Robb's words sent a chill through Ramsay. He lowered his head even farther and answered loudly, "I will remember Your Grace's words and serve you with all my strength."
"Mm. Leaf, may we speak privately? There are some matters I want to ask you about."
Under Crey's orders, some of the attackers who had surrendered after having their feet frozen in the ice were released. They carried the unconscious Dickon down the ladders fixed to the wall and returned to their own camp.
The second day of the siege ended like that. Robb's timely arrival had saved Cornfield at the edge of collapse.
In the Reach camp, inside the golden command tent, Lord Mace slammed his soft, pale right hand onto the long table.
"Randyll Tarly! Cornfield was about to fall, and you ordered a retreat?
"I hear your captured son was returned safely as well. Did you make a bargain with Robb Stark?"
"I did make a bargain, Lord Hand."
Randyll stood, answering Mace's accusation with complete calm. Then he turned his gaze across the Reach lords seated around the table.
"The price I paid for withdrawing today was the lives of every lord sitting here."
His words immediately provoked angry shouts. The lords began accusing him one after another. Their meaning was clear: Randyll had bargained with the enemy for his own son and now claimed it was for their lives.
"What?" Randyll said coldly. "After seeing Robb Stark's magic and that monstrous giant wolf, do you still think you could stop him from striking at you?"
"Lord Randyll," Garlan said with a scoff, "we have fifty thousand men. No matter how strong he is, he is only one man. Do not praise him as if he were a god."
Randyll's anger rose at Garlan's tone, but a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Since Ser Garlan is so confident, tomorrow you can challenge Robb Stark to a wager by combat. If he loses, he hands over Cornfield. If you lose, we withdraw.
"Of course, you may add the condition that he cannot use magic or his giant wolf."
Garlan went silent.
Robb Stark's courage had spread through the Seven Kingdoms over half a year of war between North and Westerlands. And Garlan had personally seen him kill dozens of guards and take Randyll hostage.
He would never accept such a rotten proposal.
"Cough. Lord Randyll," Loras said, helping his elder brother out of the awkward moment, "we are discussing your retreat, not who should duel Robb Stark."
"Loras is right," Garlan said quickly. "Do not change the subject."
"Besides the reason I already gave, there is another reason for retreat. Tywin Lannister has deceived us."
Randyll had no wish to argue pointlessly with Garlan. He explained the intelligence he had received from Robb and combined it with his own judgment.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible," Mace said at once. "My mother personally made the alliance with Lord Tywin. She must have judged it carefully."
He hesitated, then added, "Lord Randyll, perhaps Robb Stark deceived you. Perhaps he never went to Deep Den at all and was waiting for us at Cornfield."
"Lord Hand, I do not question Lady Olenna's judgment.
"But Tywin Lannister has always been a master strategist. If he was willing to yield one third of the Dornish Marches in advance, then what he seeks must be worth far more than the price.
"Robb Stark has an irreconcilable blood feud with House Lannister over his father's death. He would not abandon the main battlefield at Deep Den. Even if we took Cornfield, he would lose only one Westerlands castle.
"But if he lost at Deep Den, the North would lose its future."
Randyll shook his head and answered with certainty.
"Father, you and Lord Randyll both make sense," Loras said. "But we have indeed received no fresh intelligence from Deep Den for several days.
"Why not have Lord Randyll lead the Tarly soldiers back to Highgarden and report everything to Grandmother? Let her judge what we should do next."
Loras had never been interested in helping the Lannisters recover the Westerlands. Renly the First had often told him he hated everything about golden lions.
His suggestion brought the deadlocked argument to an end.
Mace loved glory and had little will of his own. He immediately agreed and gave Randyll the order.
Randyll, worried about the movements of Tywin's army, was more than willing to accept. That afternoon, he gathered the remaining Tarly soldiers, fewer than two thousand, and left along the Ocean Road toward Highgarden.
In the Dornish Marches, a Reach army stretched along the road to Nightsong like a winding dragon.
Unlike the broad, flat main roads suited for marching, the roads in the Marches were mostly old ways built long ago. They were far better than narrow tracks, but the broken terrain still made marching difficult.
On both sides of the road, waist-high grass swayed in the wind. For an ordinary merchant caravan, this would have been perfect ground for an ambush.
Of course, no bandit would be foolish enough to strike nearly thirty thousand Reach soldiers.
This army was led by Willas Tyrell, Lord Mace's eldest son. He was marching toward Nightsong and Blackhaven to display the strength of House Tyrell.
Two days after Mace led fifty thousand men away from Highgarden, Willas had received word that several thousand Stormlanders were harassing Nightsong and Blackhaven, trying to retake castles that should have belonged to the Stormlands.
Tywin Lannister was supposedly fighting at Deep Den, and Olenna had failed to reach him. So she ordered Willas to take the remaining thirty thousand men at Highgarden and stabilize the situation.
The Reach claimed to have a hundred thousand soldiers, but the troops House Tyrell controlled in practice amounted to roughly eighty thousand at most.
House Redwyne was less a loyal vassal than a powerful partner tied by blood.
A sharp hawk cry sounded above.
Willas, seated in a specially made saddle, immediately looked into the blue sky. A black hawk circled ahead, crying again and again.
The hawk was one Willas had trained himself. Although an old accident had left him lame, he loved learning and had become famous in the Reach for training fine hawks and hounds.
Woof! Woof!
As Willas tried to decide whether his hawk had seen men or prey, the hounds running near his horse suddenly barked fiercely at the grass on both sides of the road.
Willas might not understand every warning from a hawk, but he knew his hounds.
"Halt the army. Send men to scout ahead and through the grass on both sides."
His order had not yet passed down the line when a horn sounded.
Countless enemies rose from the grass on either side of the road. Some drew bows and began shooting. Others raised weapons and rushed toward the Reach army.
At the same time, thunderous hoofbeats rolled from the road ahead.
A great cavalry force was coming fast.
"Enemy attack! Form ranks!"
"Archers, return fire!"
"Spearmen to the front! Sword-and-shield men to the sides! Move!"
The ambushed Reach army erupted in shouts. Tens of thousands of soldiers hurried to obey and form lines.
Willas stayed calm on horseback as he looked at the banners on both sides.
To the left, the attackers carried the lion of House Lannister.
To the right, the sun-and-spear of House Martell.
Then he saw a man at the front, riding with a spear in hand and cutting into the line with a strange, dangerous charm.
The man who had crippled him years ago.
The Red Viper, Oberyn Martell.
x
x
x
If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader