Harrenhal, the folly of Harren the Black, an edifice that was meant to allow the Ironborn to rule over the Riverlands unchallenged and untouchable and for a time it had been. Walls of such length and size that assaulting it would have been impossible for any normal army. But Harren's Hubris had not been faced with anything he had expected, instead dragons had descended upon him and brought to ruin the greatest achievement of building done by man at the time. Looking out over the torn walls and towers Theon Greyjoy was pensive; he saw it as a lesson that reaching too far with ambition was a trait of the Ironborn from ages past to the current day. A trait he planned to try and keep contained himself, it was not something he knew afflicted him. Until of course the news had come from the Westerlands, the news of how Balon had disowned him and had promoted little Asha to take his place.
Seeing how ambition had blinded his father had opened Theon's eyes to the ambition in himself, how he had assumed that due to his birth he would be a man of influence and power. Had allowed himself to believe that he would go back to his father as heir and Lord of the Isles after Balon. Thinking that as Lord Eddard had treated him as a son that he could expect such positivity from his father by blood. He should have known better, known that when the only one who showed him warmth as a child had been Dagmar Cleftjaw that his family would dispose of him as easily as one might a rotten fish in one's catch. So Theon had decided to change, decided that he would forge his own path with his own abilities, gone was the need to impress his father.
The first step of that had been the improvement of his reputation among the allied forces fighting for Stannis, he had made bonds and bled alongside them. Such that when he was given permission from Eddard Stark it had been the work of hours to gather a group together who would train with him to become a specialised bow fighting force. Never seen as the most prestigious role in an army their adoption of the longbow from the riverlands gave them the punching power to break the charge of a conroi of enemy knights. At the great battle with the Lannisters they had done exactly that, raining death wherever they aimed with Theon personally leading them to chase down the enemy when the Lannister finally broke and killing Sir Brax with a shot through his bejewelled helm from more than 100 yards. That shot and the loot obtained from the jewel encrusted armour of the Westerman had served as fuel for his next step.
It was with a deep seated excitement that Theon had called his company of archers together again, wishing to speak with them. As the small group of archers gathered the atmosphere was warm and relaxed, northmen and rivermen mixing happily and at ease. Sat behind the group and separate but clearly supporting Theon were Robb Stark and Grey Wind, a definite space between he and the company of longbowmen. With a nod of acknowledgement to Robb it was time and Theon stepped forward to address his bowmen with a small canvas sack in one hand.
"Brothers, friends, I have called you here as I feel like the time is finally right. When first we agreed to fight together and learn the longbow together, such that we might fight and shoot as one such that our arrows hit as a single deadly rain I hoped that we would make for ourselves a reputation. As you will all know we have done that, already after merely six months of practise we are seen as an elite unit under His Grace and we cut through the enemy forces and even their knights like a knife through butter. What all companies such as ours need however is a name and a name I have in mind but first I need to tell you a story, my story if you will, that of my family that I know is seen as being little more than thieves except for my late grandfather Quellon.
You will all know that the people of the Iron Isles like to call themselves the creation of the Drowned God, men cast from Iron that are somehow more or better than the first men of Westeros proper, the groups that have mixed blood and history with the Andals. None believe this more than my father, Balon Greyjoy who has once again embarked on the folly of adopting a crown and styling himself King. I however am lucky, lucky that Balon discarded me as a check on his excesses. Lucky that he did not hold me in such high regard as he did the brothers of mine got killed in his last foolish rebellion, as he does my sister Asha who he sent against the strongest fortress in Westeros with nothing in the way of siege engine, who now finds herself the plaything of the Imp.
Truly I am lucky, I was raised in the North by Lord Eddard who treated me as well as he did his own sons and through his teaching I grew stronger and I grew to be more. I am lucky that His Grace allows me to fight on under his banner as the only loyal member of the Greyjoy family. I am lucky that all of you chose to fight beside me as one, that we have become an elite of this fighting force. That all will know us, but as I said, we lack a name, an identity. As I have said I was born of Iron but now…I am more, I have been tempered, I have been improved. Like Lord Eddard, like His Grace I see myself now as a man who makes his own way by the strength of bow and sword. I am a man of steel and you? You have all proved to be fangs as sharp and deadly as the sharpest in Grey Wind's jaws. So I say to you that let us be known as such. Let us be known as the Steel Fangs, that kill our enemies without hesitation and without mercy.
To you my friends and allies I bring a gift, a gift to honour we who started this Steel Fang Company. For we who stood here, the founders of Our Company I have made a gift in the tradition of my fore-fathers a ring of steel, set with one of the many amethysts that used to be set into the armour of Sir Brax. You see in the days before the civilization of Westeros, when all kingdoms bickered, a leader among my people would give to his greatest warriors an arm ring. To show his pride in his men and as a sign of the unbreakable bond of loyalty between man and leader. You are the first of the Steel Fangs but you shall not be the only. All of you with an arm ring of amethyst shall be the leaders as the Steel Fangs expand. I charge you all to find ten men to serve under you, whether it be with bow, spear or sword and give to each of them a plain steel arm ring as sign of their membership.As I am your ring-giver so you shall be theirs.
We shall become the blade that breaks the enemies of Stannis and if you will come with me we shall then turn west and bring low that Cast-Iron despot who calls himself King and depose Balon also.
For King Stannis! For Westeros!"
As he spoke the last Theon drew from his waist his longsword with a newly filgreed hilt. This hilt depicted a Kraken as the pommel with legs entwined into and around a wolf and a stag making up the crossguard. Each animal with eyes made of inlaid amethyst and their bodies of polished steel over light grey leather. Not the weapon of a young pompous noble but to represent the man Theon had been forged into. The men in front of his joined in his chant repeating the simple cry before it began to morph until all were chanting the same.
After a punishing forced march through the night, Lord Tywin Lannister's host arrives at Harrenhal in the early morning. They immediately begin fortifying the ruined castle in anticipation of the arrival of King Stannis Baratheon and his army, who have been hounding them since the battle on the Kingsroad. Hours later, Lannister scouts report dust clouds on the horizon, and Tywin orders the defenders to enter a state of high alert. But Tywin's alarm is misplaced, for at the head of the advancing force are members of his own family: the Queen Regent Cersei Lannister and her royal children. They are escorted by Ser Barristan Selmy, Ser Balon Swann, and nearly two thousand survivors of the battle of King's Landing. Noting the rough shape of Barristan's men, Tywin dispatches a rider north towards Stone Hedge to make contact with his cousin Ser Daven Lannister, whose force has been taking castle after castle in the central Riverlands. He bids Daven march to reinforce him at Harrenhal with all haste.
With the arrival of the royal family at Harrenhal, Tywin finds his authority consistently (if rather ineffectually) undermined by his grandson, King Joffrey Baratheon, and his private retinue of "king's men" - a group of smallfolk thugs mocked by the nobility as "the dregs of Flea Bottom." Joffrey routinely ignores his grandfather's wishes. Those who know the king note a slight change in his personality following his desperate, humbling flight from the capital. Though not seeming as rash and quick-tempered, his tendencies towards wilfulness and brooding have only grown. And while never particularly religious, the boy-king has also become openly dismissive of the Faith of the Seven. The devout soldiery watch in horror as their king listens raptly to the sermons of Thoros of Myr, a red priest and the de facto commander of the king's men.
Stannis's host arrives at Harrenhal on the morning after Tywin's, having been slightly delayed by the need to forage for supplies from the surrounding area (which has been mostly picked clean already). The Lord of Dragonstone and would-be king of Westeros commands just over forty thousand men - a little more than twice as many as the Lannister defenders. As his forces surround the castle, Stannis dispatches an envoy to the east gate, bearing a parley request. Tywin is anxious to negotiate the return of his captive son, Ser Jaime Lannister, and so agrees to meet with his enemy.
Stannis's request causes the mounting tension between Tywin and Joffrey to erupt into open confrontation. The boy-king demands to attend the parley alongside his grandfather, which the latter refuses to allow. After Joffrey insults him and threatens his position as Hand of the King, Tywin responds by ordering the dissolution of the king's men and their integration into the regular Lannister army. Ser Barristan and the Kingsguard support Tywin in the subsequent power struggle, which results in the apparent destruction of Joffrey's independent power base.
Tywin blames his daughter for the loss of King's Landing and the ill behaviour of her son. As punishment, he moves to strip Cersei of her powers and orders her and her children placed under the close watch and protection of the Kingsguard in the Kingspyre Tower. He also adopts the full title of Lord Regent and Protector of the Realm, adding to his existing authority as Hand of the King.
Cersei takes this fall from grace exceptionally poorly. She was already grappling with feelings of despair after fleeing King's Landing and learning of her brother's capture. Still, her complete loss of power and confinement in a ruined tower hastens a rapid descent into deranged paranoia and triggers thoughts of suicide. Fearing that her father means to surrender her children to Stannis to save himself, she resolves to kill herself and her children before allowing anything to separate or endanger them.
Joffrey also reacts badly to his confinement, railing against the treasonous behaviour of his own family and trusted Kingsguard. However, his mood is improved when he receives smuggled messages from several of the king's men, who remain secretly loyal to Joffrey in the hopes of rewards and favours when he reaches his majority. Communicating with his loyalists through coded messages passed by servants, the king plots to escape the tower and Harrenhal itself. But first, he decides, they'll need supplies and a suitable distraction.
The morning after Stannis's arrival, Tywin attends the parley beyond the east gate. The Lord of Casterly Rock refuses to surrender to Stannis or acknowledge him as king. Still, he agrees to exchange Ser Edmure Tully and other captured riverlords for his son, Ser Jaime Lannister, and some additional westermen prisoners. The hostage exchange occurs entirely without incident the next day. In exchange for their captured westermen knights, the Lannisters peacefully release Edmure, Lord Hoster Blackwood, Lord Darry, Ser Karyl Vance, and the other rivermen hostages to Stannis's camp. There, they receive a hero's welcome and are given high honours for the trials they have experienced. Edmure is pleased to be greeted by his good-brother Lord Eddard Stark, nephew Robb Stark, and uncle Ser Brynden Tully. He and the other riverlords meet their king for the first time, kneeling before his makeshift throne to swear formal oaths of fealty.
To the best of his ability, Edmure and the other freed prisoners inform Stannis of the composition and disposition of the Lannister defenders. For his part, the heir to Riverrun also suggests that the besiegers make contact with the servants of Harrenhal. Because many served House Whent, he believes they will resent the westermen who have recently evicted their lady.
Meanwhile, Jaime reunites with his family in what proves to be a far less pleasant affair. First, Tywin and Ser Kevan Lannister upbraid him for his reckless behaviour during the Battle of the Kingsroad, which doomed an entire cavalry wing and led to his capture by the enemy. Then, upon visiting his sister and their children in the Kingspyre Tower, Cersei alarms him with her deranged behaviour. When Jaime refuses to bend to her wishes (to defy their father and free her from her confinement), Cersei calls him a coward, insults him for getting captured, and accuses him of conspiring with Tywin and Kevan to take her children from her. To hurt him even more deeply, she confesses to an affair with their younger cousin, Lancel Lannister, angering Jaime and severely deteriorating their relationship.
Meanwhile, Stannis's host settles in for a prolonged siege of Harrenhal. His men construct battering rams and ladders to break down the castle's gargantuan gates and scale its massive walls. However, as they tighten the noose around the Lannister defenders, Stannis, Eddard, and the other leading nobles begin to realize the true scale of their undertaking. All men know thatHarrenhal is notoriously difficult to maintain and garrison — in times of peace. However, when occupied by an army as large as Tywin's, it seems nearly impossible to assault without incurring prohibitive casualties. Unfortunately, starving the defenders will also take time. Tywin's scouring of the Westerlands has left him with abundant food supplies — enough to drag out the siege and keep Stannis trapped between Harrenhal and Renly's army to the south.
As the siege of Harrenhal begins, Edmure sends a raven to Riverrun, ordering Lord Jason Mallister, Galbart Glover, and Ser Hosteen Frey to engage Ser Daven Lannister in the central Riverlands and prevent him from marching to relieve the defenders. Failing that, they are to begin liberating the castles that Daven captured in the central Riverlands (namely, Stone Hedge, Wayfarer's Rest, Acorn Hall, and Pinkmaiden).
On Stannis's orders, Theon Greyjoy's specialized band of archers (called the "Steel Fangs") begin firing arrows over the walls of Harrenhal with scrolls parchment bound tight to the shafts. Written on the scrolls are the "generous" terms of peace which Tywin rejected, alongside a plea for westermen to desert Tywin, submit to the king's mercy, and march west to fight the ironborn. Stannis also has heralds ride back and forth beneath the walls, shouting messages within earshot of even the illiterate defenders. However, very few of the westermen take the besiegers up on their offer, for those who attempt to do so are uniformly caught, tortured, and publicly executed to deter others. When Tywin discovers that Vargo Hoat, the captain of the Bloody Mummers, has been communicating with Stannis and plans to turn his cloak, he has the Goat's thrown from the walls and riddled with arrows while he crawls on shattered legs towards the enemy camp. His successor reaffirms the sellsword company's contract with the Lord of Casterly Rock.
During the first days of the siege, Tywin prepares his forces for a mass breakout towards the west. To this end, he orders multiple probing attacks to test the enemy's defences in certain places, sending small groups of well-trained men on daring sorties from postern gates to harass the siege lines and seek out gaps or weaknesses to exploit. However, Stannis' men repulse each of these attempts, indicating that - like an all-out assault on Harrenhal's fearsome fortifications - a breakout from the encircled castle would involve a high risk of failure.
For several nights, Theon and his Steel Fangs creep up beneath the walls of Harrenhal and kill Lannister sentries with expertly-placed arrows. They dress as ironmen of old and fletch their arrows in the colours of House Hoare, fueling rumours among the more superstitious defenders that the ghosts of Harren the Black and his men are picking them off one by one. The grim atmosphere of the castle and the steady (albeit minor) losses of sentries exacerbate the general aura of dread and foreboding felt by the defenders. To remedy the situation, Tywin doubles the number of men on the walls and has them carry jars of burning pitch and tar. After several Steel Fangs are burned in a botched raid, Theon ceases his activities.
Before launching his first major attack, Stannis endures over a week of skirmishes and raids. In the near-complete darkness of a new moon, he leads the main body of his host in a feigned assault on the main gate, the walls of which are so thick that no less than a dozen murder holes are passed before one reaches the yard on the other side. Stannis has his men burn extra campfires within sight of the ramparts so that the number of attackers seems more significant, incurring a total mobilization of the defenders to protect the area. Stannis leads his men from the front, his flaming sword held aloft for all the defenders to see and whisper about. In truth, though, his assault is nothing more than a distraction for Brynden's nighttime raid.
Led by sympathetic servants through a narrow, secret entrance in the outer wall, Brynden and an elite force of Stark and Tully men take advantage of the king's distraction to menace the Lannister stores of food. They move stealthily through the ruined fortress, quietly killing the few defenders unlucky enough to cross their path. However, when they reach the stores, they find a most unexpected scene - several Lannister men already dead on the ground, and a group of hooded men hurriedly shovel food into saddlebags.
The fighting that follows is intense but brief. Though the raiders kill many cloaked enemies (who seem noticeably unrefined fighters), Brynden soon recognizes he is outnumbered and aborts the mission, ordering a retreat from the castle without destroying the Lannister food supply. But just before he flees, the Blackfish cuts down a young man whose shrill scream threatens to bring the entire garrison down on their heads. Due to the low-light conditions, Brynden fails to see the blond curls beneath the hood of the boy's cloak until after he plunges his blade into his chest. Nor does he immediately note the boy's gold and crimson surcoat upon which the Baratheon stag and Lannister lion are proudly displayed. Only as the light leaves his enemy's eyes does Brynden realize he has killed a king.
It doesn't take long for Joffrey's disappearance and subsequent death to be discovered. While Tywin swiftly orders news of his grandson's death suppressed to avoid damaging the morale of his host, the harm it does to his own family is substantial enough. When Tywin informs Cersei of her son's death, she becomes wholly unhinged, accusing her father of orchestrating Joffrey's assassination after he threatened his position. Tywin responds by striking her twice across the face, reducing his daughter to a cowering wreck in the corner. He orders Cersei separated from her children and placed under the constant watch of Ser Boros Blount and two other guards. Before leaving to attend to the defence of Harrenhal, he promises her that, in the future, she will see her surviving children as little as possible, so she does not corrupt them like Joffrey.
The death of Cersei's favourite son and her father's abusive behaviour breaks the last semblance of her sanity. That night, Cersei uses vials of nightshade she stole from Maester Pycelle to poison the cups of Ser Boros Blount and her other guards, who take a fatally lax approach to their duties. As the tower sleeps, she moves silently through the dark, crooked corridors, rousing Tommen and Myrcella from their beds and bringing them to an arching stone bridge connecting the Kingspyre to the Widow's Tower.
Mad with grief and unwilling to part with her children, Cersei intends to poison them with nightshade and then throw herself to her death. However, she manages to give a lethal dose to her youngest child, Tommen, before her brother Jaime happens upon the scene, having discovered the dead guards and heard Myrcella's cries of terror. When Jaime realizes what Cersei has done to Tommen and what she intends to do to the now-unconscious Myrcella, he is overcome by sorrow and rage. Sobbing uncontrollably, Jaime wraps his hands around Cersei's pale throat and chokes the life from her before letting the body tumble to burst against the flagstones below. Though Jaime ponders joining his twin in death, he ultimately cannot bring himself to leave Myrcella alone. As his daughter's weak pulse wavers, Jaime hoists her in his arms and rushes her to Maester Pycelle, who succeeds in purging the poison from the girl's body. He tells him that she may not have survived if he had arrived moments later.
With Cersei's mangled body lying in the yard for all to see, Tywin is forced to acknowledge the deaths of King Joffrey, his mother, and his younger brother, Tommen. He attributes all three deaths to the assassins of King Stannis, fueling intense feelings of grief and anger among the men, though rumours abound about the mysterious nature of the deaths. When she finally stops weeping and is well enough to stand, Queen Myrcella is crowned with minimal pomp and circumstance before Tywin's host in the Hall of the Hundred Hearths. At her grandfather's direction, she names Ser Balon Swann to the Kingsguard to replace Ser Boros Blount. The spots opened by the deaths of Ser Preston Greenfield and Ser Mandon Moore in King's Landing remain unfilled for now.
The day after Myrcella's sombre coronation, Tywin leads a mass breakout from Harrenhal towards the Westerlands. Ser Barristan Selmy commands the van like a man possessed, as he blames himself for the deaths of the king and his family and half-hopes for his redemption in a battlefield death. However, no enemy is skilled enough to bring him down - in fact, he claims the lives of anyone who stands in his way, including Lord Jon Umber of Last Hearth. His ferocious charge causes a small rout among the enemy, opening a gap in the siege lines through which the westermen can barely glimpse freedom.
Eddard responds quickly to the setback, pulling men from other parts of the siege lines to staunch the bleeding and blunt the Lannister breakout. However, the reality of besieging a castle as immense as Harrenhal left Stannis's numerous forces stretched too thin. A vigorous effort by Kevan succeeds in holding the gap, and a duel between the two sees Eddard wounded in the arm and forced to withdraw. Edmure goes toe-to-toe with Ser Amory Lorch during the clash, cutting off the man's sword hand before driving his blade through his exposed throat. In doing so, he avenges the loss of his eye and the numerous farms and villages that Ser Amory had put to the torch.
Channelling his roiling emotions into every sword stroke, Jaime fights like a god of war rendered flesh and blood and bone. Ser Godry Farring and several other lesser warriors fall to his blade. However, he takes care not to get separated from his fellow soldiers. After carving a bloody path through Stannis's siege lines, he returns to the centre of the formation to assist Ser Balon and Ser Arys Oakheart with the queen's defence.
Due to the robust preparation and greater size of Stannis' host, the Lannisters pay a high price for their escape. Close to five thousand men die in the attempt. However, Stannis' men also take similar losses, and Tywin successfully extricates his battered host from Harrenhal intact. He immediately heads west, planning to consolidate their forces in the Westerlands and prepare to fight another day.
Though Stannis declines to fully pursue his enemy, he sends a substantial portion of his cavalry under Brynden and Robb Stark to harass them as they march west. Only the splendid defensive efforts of Jaime and Ser Addam Marbrand succeed in minimizing the resulting casualties, though the fighting costs the latter his life. Fortunately for the Lannisters, their enemy finally halts pursuit some leagues east of High Heart. They are spooked by outrider sightings of Daven's mounted cavalry to the north, who join Tywin on his march west.
As Stannis's host seizes Harrenhal from the few defenders who had failed to escape his encirclement, Edmure receives a raven from Riverrun. Lord Jason Mallister and Galbart Glover admit their failure to stop Daven's march south after an indecisive skirmish. However, they also share news of their recapture of Stone Hedge. The late Lord Bracken's daughters are accounted for except his heir, Lady Barbara, who they assume is still Daven's captive. In her absence, Bracken's bastard son Harry Rivers holds the castle.
With Tywin and Daven in full retreat and the liberation of their captured keeps close at hand, the war in the Riverlands has seemingly come to a close. The Clash of the Stags is about to enter a new phase of fighting; while the Lannisters retire to lick their wounds in the west, the brothers of the late King Robert Baratheon vie for dominance in the east. Only one thing is certain: the bloodletting is far from over. It's only just begun.
Ned had not wanted to fight personally, but the needs of the battle and urgency required to fill the gap in their lines led to him fighting face to face with Kevan Lannister. He was no Kingslayer, but the man could fight. Fortunately for Ned, he was capable of defending the blows against him and giving back even harder with Ice, cumbersome as the greatsword was. Ned felt like he was on the verge of defeating his opponent at several points, but Tywin's stooge narrowly escaped from his grasp. As Ned began to tire, Kevan succeeded in wounding him in the arm, causing a large gash in his left arm. Ned summoned all his strength to try to finish the Lannister off, but the chaos of the battle and advance of Lannister forces separated them and ended the duel, and Ned found the Greatjon and Maege Mormont fighting beside him.
The forces of King Stannis once again cheered another victory as Tywin retreated from Harrenhal and the Riverlands. They had saved the Riverlands from Lannister deprivation and defeated the great Tywin Lannister, and now they could prepare to win the crown for Stannis against his usurping brother. But the cost of the victory was high. and Ned could only dwell on the casualties and the good men they had lost, like the Greatjon. He was relieved that Robb, Theon, Edmure, and the Blackfish all survived the battle safely, but could not rest until he knew Robb was safe after leading the cavalry with the Blackfish in pursuit of Lord Tywin.
The men's spirit rose when they discovered the fate that had befallen the false king, his brother, and the incestuous queen. Perhaps Cersei and Joffrey had deserved this, but Ned could take no pleasure in their downfall. He wondered what truly had occurred, for there were many rumors that swirled among the Lannister prisoners.
As he looked around Harrenhal, old, painful memories came rushing back to him. The monstrous castle had once been host to a grand tournament in Ned's youth, an event that would forever change his life and the fate of Westeros.
When Ned later laid down to rest, he quickly drifted to sleep from the exhaustion of the battle and his wounds. That night he dreamt of a dance with a beautiful young maiden, a brave sister, a silver prince, a mad king, and a tragedy.
"Ha-Harr-Harren'sholl...", the Reluctant Spymaster droned on. Stuttering on every penned word, struggling with the intricacies of the A's, the B's and the C's. "Harrenhal, Sir Davos.", Pylos corrected him and enunciated the A's in the sentence. "Harren's hall.", Davos repeated and gave Shireen a small, joyful smile. The girl smiled back, despite the greyscale pocking her face and twitching her mouth upwards in an uneven angle. "It's Harrenhal, sir Davos.", she laughed as the bells of the jester's jingled from behind the wooden door to the study. "Not Harren's Hall!", her breath caught up in her throat and she laughed. Rather unlike a princess should have, but as Davos muses - a girl of her age should laugh.
"Harrenhall, then!", Davos proclaimed and pretended to toss the letter to the air. Pylos snapped his wooden staff on the ground, calling for silence. "Sir Davos, if you mean to participate in Princess Shireen's studies, you must keep your manner and listen.", Davos apologized and returned to his letters. The A's are the one's with hooked, cursive lower ends. B's are the pregnant fishwives, and the C's are like the moon or a sickle. Shireen had taught him that. It was their little secret. Not many on Dragonstone knew Davos could not read, and since he had been made the Spymaster of King Stannis, he had to know how.
I must serve my King to the best of my degree, and even better.
Once Shireen had left the study with her jester, Pylos brought forward more letters for Davos to peruse. There were victories in the Riverlands, that Davos allowed to be shared with the denizens of Dragonstone to raise morale. He commanded a double ration of ale for all guardsmen to celebrate the death of the false pretender, Joffrey Lannister and his mother, Cersei. He even allowed a cask of Arbor Red to be sent to Salla from the cellars of the Keep. To keep him sated. The defeats he allowed to go unmentioned - Renly was preparing to strangle his brother with the Reachmen.
He must act, and soon. He rolled out a map of the Seven Kingdom's on the table.
"Pylos, how do you pronounce this?", Davos knocked his stubby knuckle on a stretch of letters on the map.
A stone giant straight from the songs. Walls higher and more stout than had any right to be. Halls so vast and grand as to seat a whole host of men. It was a glory, in a way. But the passing, faded kind. Harrenhal was a misshapen, burnt corpse. It's glory was like the tomb of an ancient kings, a shade of great deeds. Indeed it was a tomb on an ancient king. The greatest tomb there likely is to ever be. But even after being slain, Harrenhal still seemed to extract its own tithe of blood. Near a dozen houses have come into position of the grand tomb, and all met grizzly fates. And now House Lannister has met its own.
The air was filled with smoke, and the stench of the dead. Great pyres were being erected to see a swift disposal of the thousands who had died here. Hard, dirty men grunted and groaned as they lifted yet another corpse into a hastily dug ditch. Covered in blood, dirt, and other unmentionable's as the flayed man of House Bolton still managed to shine through. They cursed and swore as they did, but did so quietly. For in their midst was a man in dull, blood-stained red armor. Thrown over his plated shoulders was a pink cloak. Fastened too him by a clasp in the shape of a flayed man. He sat on the back of a warhorse that snorted at the smell of smoke and blood. His helm was fastened to the side of his armor, showing an undeniably average face. Neither too thin nor too fat, homely or comely, black hair ran down to his shoulders in a way that was unobtrusive. Indeed, his was a face to fade away into a crowd...were it not for his eyes. Frozen chips resembling dirty ice, they stared out with just as much warmth.
"...by all accounts they're still heading west, mi'lord." The man at his side said. He outsized his companion by a good degree. A dour face framed by a bushy beard, with blood staining his dark ringmail.
"And so the mightiest ruin of Westeros is ours." Roose Bolton said. "And a few score corpses, I suppose. Even a few valuable among them. The Lion King, his brother and mother...the Blackfish is like to get something from that, I imagine."
"Yes, mi'lord." Walton Steelshanks intoned. He was seated on his own warhorse. One less fine than the Leech Lords, but no less reliable. "Ser Barristan was not among them." He said, brining out a torn piece of cloak. Muddied by blood, piss, and shit as it was there were still patches of white on it. Roose turned to look at it, raising a slight brow. "And where did you get that, Walton?"
"In the hands of a dead squire, mi'lord."
Roose gave it a seconds consideration, before flicking his icy eyes away. "Barristan the Bold led the Lannister van. He fought like a man possessed, I'm told. A white ghost...a shame he could not be brought down after his recent grand failure. He's an old man in the twilight of his days, and yet in this war he has proven to be nothing less than a shining example of knightly valor and prowess. Curious, that."
Bolton men brought forth another shattered corpse. The two hardened men carrying it were arguing over who would get the necklace of coins that covered the shattered, rotting body.
"Yet ultimately he has still fled west with the rest of them. Mayhaps he'll die of old age there."
The argument seemed set to turn into something more, but both saw their lord on horseback. And the conversation died to angry mutterings, then nothing at all. Roose Bolton kicked his horse into a trot, and it began to meander along. Walton followed beside him, both men ignoring the piles of burning corpses. "Lord Stark was wounded." Walton said, sounding not at all too grief-stricken. "But not grievously. From what I hear he'll be fine soon enough, mi'lord."
"Gracious news." Lord Bolton said, sounding like he was hearing dinner was ready instead news of his liege lords injuring. "I am sure he will heal well. Though it is a shame we've little to offer him except a few unimportant corpses." Walton said nothing to that, taking the quiet chastisement in stride. "My bastard has proven to be more hot-headed than I had initially assumed. I welcome him into my home, and in return he undermines me."
Rooses voice wasn't far above from a whisper, and Walton had to lean close to hear him over the crackling of corpses and screaming of dying or soon to be dead men. But by the look on his face, it was something he was obviously used to. "Too bold. Too bold by half. Lady Hornwood is not some squealing tavern wench. But a highborn lady of no small status...a fool, he is. I cannot say I would dislike the accompanying lands...but some things are to be done with more grace." He tutted, his calm and placid tone matching his face yet not his words.
"And now I must make up for his graceless blundering. Walton, inform the men that I'll reward the capture of highborn prisoners' with five silver stags. For loyal service, of course. If my Bastard manages to take those lands, then something will need to be done to secure them. And if he fails, I will need to wash off the stench of his reckless actions with good tidings."
"As you command, mi'lord." Walton intoned, as placid as his master.
A scream cut through, louder and shriller than the rest. A Lannsiter man was pushing off from a northman, a dagger in hand freshly wet with blood. Two others held out swords, and watched cautiously as the third fell to the ground with a groan. "I'm a Kingsman, ye savages." The Lannister man said, his ugly mouth wide in a snarl that revealed what few yellowed teeth he had left. "Kingsman! I was gonna be a lord under His Grace! Then ye furry fuckin' trout killed him. I'll not go, I'll not. Come on, come on! Whos next!?"
Roose brought his horse to a halt. His two men were too bloodied to actually take their eyes off the Lannister remnant, but they stiffened at the sound of his voice. "There is only one King." The Lord of the Dreadfort said mildly. "And I am quite sure he's yet to be gutted by any fur covered trouts."
The yellow toothed man spat something vile onto the ground. "Little pink savage." He snarled. "Yer right about one thing, there was only one King. King Joffery Baratheon! I was to be a lord! I was-"
"Walton," Roose said quietly. "Silence this bleating. But leave him alive."
In a smooth motion, Walton Steelshanks dismounted his horse and drew his blade. The self-proclaimed kingsman let out a bloody chuckle at the sight. "Someone with balls, eh? Not you pink savage? Come on, come on then!"
It was over in two blows. With the first strike Walton slapped the dagger out of the mans hand, with the next crashed the pommel of his sword into the mans chest. Dirty and small as he was, the lannister man crumbled to the ground with a choked gasp. With a gesture, Walton motioned for the other two guards to seize him. The third Bolton man lay in the dirt still, groaning. "Get that one to a Silent Sister." Roose said as his horse trotted over. One of the Bolton man did as he bid, Walton taking his place. "Feckin..." the lannsiter man-at-arms groaned. "A lord...I was..."
"You wounded one of my men. Possibly even killed him. " Roose Bolton's voice hadn't changed one whit. "Walton, have his tongue out. Then his eyes. String him up someplace as a warning. I'm afraid a war council is meeting soon, so I shall have to attend. See to the mens needs."
"Yes, mi'lord." Walton Steelshanks intoned as he drew his knife. Roose Bolton rode off to Harrenhal, the sound of fresh screams at his back.
LORD LEYTON HIGHTOWER (b. 236 AC), Voice of Oldtown, Lord of the Port, Lord of the High Tower, Defender of the Citadel and Beacon of the South. Known as THE OLD MAN OF OLDTOWN for his age and elusiveness, Lord Leyton has not descended from the High Tower in nearly a decade, since the Greyjoy rebellion, only seldom appearing to his court and bannermen. Once a splendid tourney knight and great lord, it is said Leyton now only confides in maesters, sorcerers and his eldest daughter. He is currently married to his fourth wife, the Lady Rhea of House Florent.
Ser BAELOR HIGHTOWER (b. 257), Heir to Oldtown, a handsome knight of good repute known as BRIGHTSMILE. With the self-imposed seclusion of his father, Ser Baelor has taken over most of the day-to-day affairs of the house, holding court in the High Tower, engaging with petitioners, subjects and bannermen, and otherwise ruling the city and the land with a fair and capable hand in preparation for his impending lordship. He is married to RHONDA ROWAN, of Goldengrove,
MALORA HIGHTOWER (b. 258), known as THE MAD MAID, a recluse like her father, rumored to engage in witchcraft and sorcery, who never descends from the High Tower and has long rejected every marriage proposal she once received,
ALERIE HIGHTOWER (b. 259), Lady of Highgarden, the elegant and sophisticated silver-haired wife of Lord Mace Tyrell,
SER WILLAS TYRELL, Heir to Higharden,
SER GARLAN TYRELL, known as Ser Garlan the Gallant,
SER LORAS TYRELL, known as the Knight of Flowers, Lord Commander of the Rainbow Guard,
MARGAERY TYRELL, married to King Renly Baratheon,
Ser GARTH HIGHTOWER (b. 262), known as GREYSTEEL, the second son of Lord Leyton, a martial man of strong build who takes after his great-uncle, the White Bull of the Kingsguard,
DENYSE HIGHTOWER (b. 264), married to Ser Desmond Redwyne, a love match,
LEYLA HIGHTOWER (b. 266), a woman of great intelligence involved with the running of the Bank of Oldtown, married to Ser JON CUPPS (b. 260), a love match,
ALYSANNE HIGHTOWER (b. 268), married to Lord Arthur Ambrose,
ALYN AMBROSE (b. 284), a squire, betrothed to Lady Elinor Tyrell,
LYNESSE HIGHTOWER (b. 271), married to Lord Jorah Mormont, a love match, now living in disgrace as a concubine in Lys,
Ser GUNTHOR HIGHTOWER (b. 275), a learned man and sea captain. Captain of the Southern Light, currently residing at Oldtown,
{Ser HUMFREY HIGHTOWER} (281-298), the youngest of Lord Leyton's children, slain in the Siege of King's Landing in personal combat by Ser Balon Swann.
LORD LEYTON HIGHTOWER Lord of the High Tower and Voice of Oldtown
For Jaime Lannister, life was colorless. A part of him was dead. His twin, the inseparable Cersei, had lost all reason when she attempted to kill their own children. And for all the crimes she could have done, all the terrors he would have aided, this was a line he was not willing to cross.
The golden hair that united them tangled together again as he choked the life out of her. The curses she spewed hurt less than when she stopped speaking. He flung the body soon after to stop remembering what he had lost.
There was an irony to her death. The Stark cub he pushed from the window expressed the same shock as Cersei. Neither expected the tumble. Alas, he lived while she died. How Jaime wished, prayed, imagined, dreamed the opposite was true.
But what other choice did he have?
The deed was for family. Of the few things he was serious about, his blood topped the list. Beyond the oath of knighthood, beyond the pretense of nobility, lay the heart of a loving man. Indeed, his truest sin was love. Now he was bereft of it.
In its place, cold repentance animated Jaime. Myrcella was all he had left. It was time to give back everything he stole from her--mother and daughter. The first thing was the truth.
"Myrcella, I am your real father, and I won't abandon you again…"
Edmure sat in the hall of hundred hearths at Harrenhal, likely the same room Tywin had occupied just days earlier. It was a somewhat strange experience, returning to the place of his, albeit short, captivity. Lord Blackwood, Edmure's ever loyal right hand, was with him but the loss of Marq Piper still hurt. The remaining riverlords were a sorry bunch, Edmure thought, as he glanced at Stevron Frey, who Edmure supposed would soon be family. Still, at least the younger Vance was safe, the Seven showing some grace. Edmure also knew that Ned had suffered his own losses among his Lords. As the riverlords waited for the King, Edmure only felt a sense of grim determination.
"...never should have let the Kingslayer go!" Lord Karstark ranted to seemingly no one in particular. "We should have cut him down when we had him! Now we have paid the price!"
Ned, sitting at the right of the make-shift throne at the dais in preparation for Stannis, scowled at his bannerman. He had suffered enough of Lord Rickard's complaints, as if he was the only person to suffer losses in the battle, and his seeming disregard for Ned's goodbrother and the other Riverlords who had previously been captured. "Enough!" he barked. "You have had your say, Lord Karstark, now leave it be. You are not the only one among us to have suffered losses." The pain in Ned's wounded arm flared up, as if on queue.
"Meaning no disrespect, my lord, but you would not understand," Karstark spat back. "I lost two of my boys to the wretched Kingslayer! And yet we spared him. Where is the sense in that?"
"The return of Lord Edmure, for one." A mild voice interjected. The Lord of the Dreadfort sat in muted red linen, at least compared to the stark crimson of House Lannister. With a pink cloak draped over his shoulders, fastened to him by a clasp in the shape of a flayed man. His pale eyes, so much like frozen chips that they almost seemed to glow in the pale lighting, watched impassively.
"And many of my Lords as well. You are far from the only lord here who has lost someone. The Lord of Pinkmaiden is a young boy, his father and brother dead. Lord Darry is even younger. Ser Karyl's family remains prisoners of the Lannisters. My people who I am charged to protect have been murdered and their homes burned to the ground. The Riverlands have bled far more than you have, Karstark," Edmure responded, his patience with the Lord snapping finally.
"We have won a great victory," Ned announced to all the assembled lords and bannermen, seeking to ease the tensions. "The Lannisters have fled, their royal claim is in ruins, and we have nearly liberated all of the Riverlands. We have suffered grievous losses, true, but there is much to celebrate. And now we must work together to finish this war and help our rightful king claim his throne. We cannot be squabbling while Renly's host prepares to crush us."
"Hear, hear!" the Smalljon boomed. "I will mourn my father until the end of my days, but Lord Eddard is right. I will take my anger out on all the bastards who follow Renly instead of squabbling here!"
"We also have a wedding to plan!" one of the, in Edmure's opinion, far too many Freys chimed in, "let us make sure Ser Edmure has a chance to actually be married this time!" Edmure shifted uncomfortably in his seat to that.
King Stannis' arrival silenced the chamber, his yellow and orange tabard the only color in what was still, even after the battle, an ensemble of mail and partial plate. Atop his head was a simple golden crown shaped like flame. He took long decisive strides towards his throne glowering silence from Freys and Karstark.
"It is right and proper that a man cares for his sons. In peace a son buries his father in war fathers bury sons. To mourn such a loss cannot be faulted. But enough, Lord Karkstark you forget yourself. As sweet as you may have found vengeance when weighted against the survival of so many of the Riverland's Lords it is but little. What makes your right to vengeance any greater? Many have suffered worse. Just because one false king has perished does not mean the war will not go on. Be assured that each and every lord who has brought war and death to my realm will receive justice to its full measure. There will be vengeance enough in the days to come Lord Karstark, be content with that or at least be silent."
Karstark scowled at the king but finally shut up. Ned used the silence as an opportunity. "The Lannister host is currently near High Heart," Ned proclaimed to the lords as he pointed at a map on the dais with his unwounded arm. "They appear to be retreating back to the Westerlands to deal with the Ironmen. Our host led by Lord Mallister is situated somewhere between Stone Hedge and Lychester. Pinkmaiden, Wayfarer's Rest, and Acorn Hall are still held by light Lannister garrisons which hold some prisoners. The Mootons also lead a smaller force at Maidenpool. To our southeast, Lord Renly of course holds King's Landing with his large host. We do not know what they intend to do at the moment, but we must assume that Renly will march to meet us in the field soon. We will likely be outnumbered, but we have an experienced, disciplined, and courageous army, and Renly is still a green commander. Preferably we would be able to pick a site of our own choosing for the battle, which should also aid us." Ned then turned to Edmure. "I know your lands and people have been devastated, but are there any more men you can raise from the Riverlands?" he asked.
Edmure paused for a moment as he watched the King, "We have been devastated by the war and some of our lands remain under occupation by Lannister troops but at the least I think the riverlords could muster at least several thousand more troops, Ned, I mean Lord Hand."
"Crowfood." Roose Bolton murmured. "I cannot imagine many will know how to swing a sword better than a hoe. A shirt of ringmail, even rusted and patchy, would be a great surprise to see amongst such a gathering. That is not to say I disagree with this, my lords. We have been well-bloodied, and even men such as these can be put to use, if wielded correctly."
"Did you wield your bastard 'correctly'?" Ser Wylis Manderly suddenly shouted out. "My lords, I had no intention of interrupting this council, but we have all heard by now what Bolton's bastard has done to poor Lady Hornwood. House Manderly demands justice and an accounting from House Bolton."
Ned had indeed read the horrible news about Lady Hornwood in a raven from Catelyn. He had heard some chilling rumors about Roose Bolton's bastard before, but he did not know he was capable of such savagery. Ned did not think Roose had a hand in this plot, but there was always something discomforting and chilling about the "Leech Lord", and the tales of Bolton atrocities and rebellions against the Starks were still remembered in the North, despite many generations of loyal service the Boltons had given to House Stark. Not wanting to accuse Lord Bolton nor appear to be taking a side in the dispute between his vassals (after all, the Manderlys also coveted the Hornwood lands), he simply turned his head and directed his gaze at the Lord of the Dreadfort expectantly.
"Ready to move from matters of war so soon, Ser?" Roose Bolton barely shifted in his seat, his eyes so pale that he could've been mistaken for blind had they not moved to match Wylis' gaze. "Very well. My bastard has, I am told, married Lady Hornwood. Perhaps I would've attended his wedding had he told me. But the North is hundreds of leagues away, and incestueous bastards and young usurpers surround us. I was unfortunately busy attending to campaigning."
"I am not satisfied, Bolton," Ser Wylis
growled back. "Your bastard kidnapped Lady Hornwood and forced her into marriage. Do you condemn him?"
"None of us often are satisfied, Ser." Lord Bolton said in his same whispery soft tone. "I should like to see what evidence are behind these accusations. My bastard is…oft rash, I must admit. But I should hope not as rash as you would paint. A Lady of Donnela Hornwoods stature and circumstance does have quite the swathe of suitors after all. I would not be surprised if some were upset by this turn of events."
"There is the word of my lady wife, my castellan, and many others in the North," Ned glowered at Roose Bolton, now annoyed by his vassal's petulance. "But I am certain you did not intend to name Lady Catelyn as a liar." Ned paused for a moment to let that settle before continuing. "Ser Rodrik has been dispatched to settle this matter. I accept both House Bolton and Manderly to accept whatever justice is done," he concluded icily as he stared at Lord Bolton.
"Enough" Stannis' raised voice demanded silence. "Lord Manderly if you had no intention of interrupting this council then you would not have done so. Lord Bolton is not at the dreadfort with a hand in whatever has happened in the North, like you, he is with this army on campaign and it is this campaign that concerns us. If the King's peace has been broken then punishment will follow but this war council is not the time and place. And Lord Bolton, aware or not, acknowledged or not, a man must be prepared to take some responsibility for what he brings into this world. Now if there are no other intersections we return to the matter of my brother, the would be usurper."
"As you say Your Grace, Lord Stark." The Lord of the Dreadforts voice remained soft, and his face as placid as calm water. But he bowed his head all the same.
"To return to the matter at hand," Ned resumed, regaining his composure. "We must prepare for Lord Renly and decide where and how to meet his army."
"I am told that wildfire fell down on his hosts like rain at Kings Landing." Roose murmured, following along with nary a twitch. "But even with such depletion the swords of Highgarden stand at his back still. Alongside, of course, those rebellious Stormlords brought into his orbit. All the chivalry of the south, to hear singers tell the tale." He cast a slow gaze around the table, his head shifting only slightly. "Whatever course of action we decide upon, it must be done so with care. We have fought a myriad of battles, while the boy a few. His against ragged bands and us against Tywin Lannister himself. I would not be surprised if even now he still has more swords than we."
With a nudge from Lady Mormont, his old friend and ally in the Northmen camp; the unusually quiet and contemplative Ser Brynden Tully was roused from his musings to give his counsel.
"More swords or not, we still have several advantages. For one, Renly is no Tywin Lannister. The man seeks to be acclaimed as the next Robert Baratheon, a King more beloved than feared by his people. If Renly desires to rule as a popular King, I doubt a drawn out campaign of sieges and burnt villages in the Riverlands would be in his best interests. No, he will likely wish to end this war with a single decisive battle. I say we give him that, but on our terms. I propose we hold them at the Trident, more specifically a Ford most of us here should know all too well. The Ruby Ford. Our supremacy of the rivers should counter Renly's numbers, and what better bait for Renly and his glory hounds than by offering to end this war where the last was determined."
"Where goes Renly also goes the hosts of the reach. They have numbers, true, but the flower of southern chivalry has more courage than sense and little experience in war. Mace Tyrell is a puffed up toad forever boasting about his one victory that was won by Lord Tarly, the only commander worth a damn in their entire van. As for my brother he will to show himself Robert again, aggression, audacity… he will not sit idle waiting for to come to him it is not in his nature. Renly wants a battle long the songs with a shining host of knights, banners waving in the wind charging down an open field to rout their foes with their valor. We will not give him such a fight. Our men are veterans to the hardship of war and I have won more battles than Renly has fought, so long as we deny him the advantage of numbers to the best of our power we will have the advantage. His whole claim is based on his courage and charisma, he cannot linger or else seem craven. The river seems a fine place to meet his host and master it for he has shown his weakness in such battles already"
"The Ruby Ford, then." Lord Bolton murmured. "As Ser Brynden has said–judging by the character of your brother, Your Grace, his singers will find no finer place. Or his singers sensibility, at the least. Hard men will be needed for the center. Thousands of green boys they may be among the chivalry of the south. But green boys ahorse with plate and lance will be dangerous still. By appearance, at the least. Hardened men with pikes, that will hold best. The more savage looking the better."
"The knights of the Reach will not break before the first charge, but if their first charge fails then will be the trust test of their resolve as the battle ceases to be like those of the songs. Ser Barristan has already given them their first lessons in warfare but lacked the numbers to truly deal a proper blow. Let us do better"
The Trident. A darkly poetic place to host this battle between Baratheon brothers for the throne, Ned thought as memories of the past battle flooded his mind. But he kept the thought quiet so as not to annoy the king, who likely would not appreciate such "poetic" sentimentality. "The Trident seems like a wise place to situate the host," Ned replied. "We will work out the specific details to ensure the best defense there. It will be crucial to neutralize their cavalry, as we did against Lord Tywin. If the worst happens, the river should also give us sufficient space to retreat, though I am certain we will not have to worry about such a contingency and that we will throw Renly and his army back to King's Landing," he added without quite believing.
"We will fight to the bitter end if we must, but I have confidence in our victory. From the Trident we make our defense, while raising what remaining forces are left to us and ensuring that our coasts are secure from Ironborn raids. This will hardly be our last war council in this war, but our strategy is set and for now I call this council dismissed." Stannis rubbed his forehead as nobles began to make their way out of the chambers. "Lords Stark, Tully and Bolton, and Ser Brynden, stay a moment." Stannis did not elaborate further, merely expecting obedience.
Roose Bolton had begun to rise the moment the council was dismissed, but paused half-way out of his seat. While his expression remained that same, placid indifferent state the small hitch in his movements betrayed a small amount of his confusion. Without a word, he sat back down in his seat. Idly watching most of the northmen and riverlords depart the chamber.
After the other lords left, Ned turned to the king. "Your Grace?" he asked.
Stannis waited till the hall was empty. "I find that ill news can unman a force, and that a man fights better abroad if he fears not for his hearth, but I have heard news from the Night's Watch, by way of Dragonstone. It seems that the Lord Commander has led a great ranging in face of what may be the greatest wildling incursion since Raymun Redbeard. But that is not what concerns me, the Wall defends itself.They have also sent word that beyond the Wall….the dead have begun to walk." Stannis paused for a moment to observe the reactions, as if inviting shocked outbursts.
Ser Brynden had seen many strange and outlandish events over the course of his lifetime, but the dead walking? "Living dead? What madness is this? Surely they must be mistaken your grace?"
The dead walking…these were the tales of Old Nan. And yet Ned thought back to the deserter from the Night's Watch he had sentenced to death the past year. "I have heard about the gathering of wildlings. Mayhaps there is a connection. Lady Catelyn has begun preparations, and I will defend the Wall if and when it is necessary as is my duty as Warden of the North. But…" Ned looked at the king skeptically. "This talk of the dead rising…we need to know more. Most will dismiss this as takes and fantasy."
"I would as well, were it not for accounts that the wandering crow who came to Dragonstone brought with him a preserved hand from one of the dead that had been slain while attempting to assassinate the Lord Commander. The hand still moved, still strived to choke the life from the living. I would perhaps dismiss this as mere sleight of hand or hysteria, but Sers Axell Florent and Davos Seaworth, Maesters Pylos and Cressen, not to mention Melisandre and my wife. I tell you this because I know none of you to be the sort that is unmanned by an unknown danger."
The cold, frozen eyes of Roose Bolton stared at the king unblinkingly. His normal, statue-like posture remained but for a single motion. The fingers of his right hand tapped softly, quietly on the table for a few thoughtless seconds before ceasing entirely. "Did this man of the Night's Watch have anything else to say of…this dead assassin, Your Grace?"
Edmure scoffed, "Wait, are we seriously considering this? This is ridiculous! Are the Night's Watch so desperate for men that they are creating a fraud like this to scare us into sending aid? Surely they know the Iron Throne is at war! I wouldn't be too concerned, we have enough men left in the North to hold the Wall against some wildlings."
"The Night's Watch may be desperate," Ned replied, "but I know Jeor Mormont to be a man of honor. I cannot worry about takes if the dead rising at the moment, but there may be something to investigate at a later date, and the North will aid the Watch against any wildling incursion."
"I have seen many things of late that I would have in past days dismissed asmere singers' tales" Stannis danced his fingers upon the ruby pommel of Lightbringer meaningfully, calling attention to its extraordinary nature. I am told that men of the Night's Watch found two bodies of ranger's from the First Ranger's party, the First Ranger unaccounted for. They brought the bodies back to the wall for burial and in the night rose with blue eyes and pale skin and headed for the Lord Commander's quarters. Being dead, little stopped them, Ser Jaremy Rykker decapitated one and was rewarded for his efforts with a knife to the stomach and the death's of four other men. Only a fire started by one Jon Snow brought an end to the danger." Stannis paused for a moment, arching an eyebrow ever so slightly at Eddard Stark. "I am hardly going to turn this army around and march to the wall, to defend the realm I must rule it. But know that no matter what sacrifices and suffering have preceded this moment and what will come in the future, I cannot guarantee that when my brother is punished for his treason and I sit the throne that the war will be over. We go to war with the children of the long summer, but as you Starks say…Winter is Coming."
The room was spacious, the divine statues beautifully done. On the tiled mosaic of a skull next to the pool, a man lay in a pile of congealing blood. Petyr had rarely been so unnerved, even being his second time here. He had slipped away from the Crown's mission by claiming to visit a brothel, and doubled back twice in the brown cloak he wore, but seeing it all he doubted himself and wondered if he would leave this place alive.
He had scarcely had a few minutes to observe the curious inside before a man as old as Pycelle, but without his lavish beard, approached him and led him to an unused alcove in a deserted region of the room. The man bowed slightly and spoke in a pleasant, kindly voice without a touch of a Braavosi accent. "Who is the gift to be given to?"
Petyr smiled back, as used to cloaking talk of death as any in the city. "A man. A great lord of Westeros. Eddard Stark of Winterfell." A thief and an honorless man, he thought as he spoke.
The old man seemed to focus on him more, though his eyes did not move, and his face revealed no cruelty. "One of such stature? The price may be more than you wish to give."
Does he think me a miser? "I lack not in gold, nor in stranger coins. Ask and I will grant what you will."
"It must be as much a sacrifice as a payment. Men have given us their limbs, their riches, or their lives for such a risk. Would you?"
Petyr shivered, but continued smiling. "One million gold dragons, all for me to pay." He stroked his beard and affected a thoughtful look, ignoring the curling snake in his stomach. "If that would not be enough, I have a wonder which might be what you seek- a dagger of Valyrian steel."
He might as well have offered a groat and a stick, for all the change in the greybeard's face. "Your dealings with the Iron Bank are of no secret to the servants of the Many-Faced God. Those dragons are not yours to give." The assassin's voice had gone colder and a touch superior, as though chiding a fool, and Littlefinger felt a rush of anger at being scorned, and then a tenseness in his throat at being recognized. "And you are no warrior, to value dragonsteel. A sacrifice, this one said."
I am wasting my time here, again. "Then perhaps I shall return when I have what you seek."
"Oft do men of high birth leave here, having grasped that the gift is costlier than life without it."
High birth? Petyr Baelish left the House of Black and White seething, feeling three-and-ten again, and spent himself thrice in a whore of red hair and blue eyes before returning to his ship.
"No folly is more costly than a war – and a civil war is doubly so."
—Archmaester Alyn
In Westeros
In mid-299 AC, after only six months of open warfare between the great noble families of Westeros, the Clash of the Stags and the Second Greyjoy Rebellion have already claimed tens of thousands of lives. The highborn count many of their own among the dead, but it is not they who suffer most. The smallfolk of the realm experience the worst of the bloodletting, dying in droves for the greed and pride of their betters. Haggard, footsore refugees choke the roads of a ravaged countryside, fleeing in their thousands for the presumed safety of fortified castles, towns, and cities.
The smallfolk of the Seven Kingdoms are a poor and illiterate people. They live provincial, humble, and simple lives. Most are intensely superstitious and rely on religion to make sense of their world. When confronted with the desolation of their septs, the destruction of their homes, and the loss of their neighbours, friends, and loved ones, many feel that the gods have punished them with a fate worse than death. The result is a wave of intense religious fervour that sweeps the realm and finds easy purchase among the most desperate.
But not all smallfolk turn to zealotry to cope with their shattered lives. Others embrace the casual violence of the highborn and seek to wield it themselves, turning on anyone and everyone to survive – including their own kind. Lawlessness reigns along the roads where armies once marched and burned in parts of the Riverlands, the Westerlands, and the Crownlands. Desperation forges countless lowborn refugees and deserters into dangerous bandits. Though their preferred victims are wealthy merchants and highborn knights, these peasant outlaws also prey upon the most ragged of their fellows.
In the North
After the widowed Lady Donella Hornwood is kidnapped and forcibly wed by Ramsay Snow, the Bastard of Bolton, fighting breaks out in the Hornwood forest between the forces of the Dreadfort and White Harbor. Donella's cousin, Lord Wyman Manderly, goes so far as to occupy the disputed castle to prevent Ramsay from taking it. In response, Lady Catelyn Stark orders Winterfell's master-at-arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel, to capture Ramsay and resolve the feud.
Rodrik's interventions ushers in a swift resolution to the conflict when he catches and kills Ramsay during one of his "hunting" trips, which involves raping and killing peasant girls. Rodrik arrives too late to save Donella, however – his men find her starved to death in a tower with blood around her mouth and her fingers chewed off.
Upon Rodrik's return to Winterfell, Catelyn is repulsed by his prisoner, a wretched Bolton man-at-arms called Reek. She questions why he was still alive, to which Rodrik answers that Ramsay's father, Lord Roose Bolton, may not agree that Donella's marriage (and will) were made under duress. He proposes keeping Reek alive as a witness to his master's crimes, with judgement to be rendered when Catelyn's husband, Lord Eddard Stark, returns from the south. Catelyn is initially inclined to agree with Rodrik; however, when he tells her of Ramsay's vile deeds and Reek's part in them, she invokes her authority as regent to order the man's execution.
Catelyn writes to Eddard after the sordid affair is done, informing him of Ramsay's death and seeking his thoughts on the continuing Hornwood succession crisis. Though the castle is now firmly in Wyman's hands, several northern lords object to this and propose their own solutions to the dispute.
Galbart Glover of Deepwood Motte requests royal legitimization for his ward Lawrence Snow (the bastard of the late Lord Halys Hornwood) so that he might succeed in his father's seat. Lord Leobald Tallhart puts forward his own claim; his wife, Berena, is a Hornwood by birth, and they have two sons, both nephews to Donella. Leobald suggests his younger son, Beren, should take the Hornwood name and inherit the Hornwood lands. Houses Flint and Karstark also demand Eddard's consideration of their blood ties to the Hornwoods (albeit through the female line).
In the Vale
In Gulltown, an ecstatic Lady Lysa Arryn stages an official reception for Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, her childhood friend and secret lover. While an envoy to the Iron Bank of Braavos at the behest of King Joffrey Baratheon, the former master of coin faked his death and smuggled himself across the Narrow Sea to escape the faltering Lannister cause. Lysa tells the court that Petyr had been acting as her double agent for some time, spying on Joffrey and his mother for the Vale and House Arryn. Her vassals are unconvinced, but none publicly challenge the polite fiction.
As his reward for services rendered, Lysa lavishes Petyr with high offices and favours, appointing him High Steward of the Vale and Keeper of Sky (a waycastle defending the Eyrie). Additionally, in light of Petyr's connections with merchant families, trading houses, and shipbuilders on both sides of the Narrow Sea, she tasks him with expanding the Arryn fleet and increasing the Vale's trade with the Free Cities.
Fortunately for Petyr, the latter process is well underway before his arrival. As one of few safe harbours in a realm plagued by war and piracy, Gulltown (like Sunspear) is experiencing a significant surge in foreign trade. With King's Landing still suffering from Stannis' naval blockade, Gulltown has supplanted the capital as the destination of choice for merchants from the northern Essosi cities of Braavos, Pentos, Lorath, and Ib. The growing demand for timber by Arryn shipbuilders is also readily met by various traders, representing a boom time for the industry.
Petyr's unexpected and meteoric rise arouses the resentment of some lords of the Vale, who are suspicious of his true loyalties and contemptuous of his comparatively low birth. Few men are more chagrined than the Keeper of the Gates of the Moon, Lord Nestor Royce, who ruled as High Steward when Lord Jon Arryn still lived. Nestor believes Petyr plans to undermine him in his new positions; moreover, as a hopeful suitor of the widowed Lysa, he fears his lady's apparent infatuation with Petyr will doom his prospects. His concerns are shared by other suitors such as Lord Eon Hunter, Ser Lyn Corbray, and Ser Morton Waynwood. Together, they scheme to rid themselves of their mutual rival.
Petyr spends much of his time making love to Lysa in the highest chamber of Gull Tower for all the servants to hear. When not pleasing his lady, Petyr spends much of his time travelling from lord to lord in his capacity as the High Steward of the Vale. At each castle, town, and village he visits, he draws from his prodigious wealth to buy the loyalties of servants, hedge knights, household guards, and anyone else in dire need of coin. Slowly but surely, he expands his existing network of informants and agents to span the length and breadth of the Vale, with its most dense concentrations in Gulltown and the Eyrie.
Through his spies at the Gates of the Moon, Petyr soon learns that a cabal of lords led by Nestor are forging evidence of financial misdeeds and plan to force his dismissal. Though Lysa assures Petyr that she will protect him, he still decides to eliminate the conspirators before they can grow even bolder.
The first of Petyr's enemies to die is the old and half-crippled Lord Eon Hunter, whose assassination leads some to accuse his eldest son, Gilwood, of murder. While paying his respects to the dead man's family at Longbow Hall, Petyr congratulates Eon's youngest son Harlan on his handiwork. He gives Harlan his promised payment while also telling him he can help to arrange the deaths of his brothers as well.
When word of increased mountain clan activity reached the court, Petyr and Lysa sense an opportunity to strike at the other conspirators. Lysa charges Lord Nestor Royce, his son Ser Albar Royce, Ser Morton Waynwood, and Ser Andar Royce (the eldest son of the missing Lord Yohn Royce) with clearing the high road of the wildlings within two months. In challenging them to achieve such an ambitious goal in so short a time, she intends for them to fail or even die in their attempt.
In the Westerlands
King Balon IX Greyjoy is distraught to learn of his daughter's defeat and capture at the hands of Ser Tyrion Lannister. His distress turns to rage when he receives House Lannister's terms for her safe release, but he feels he has no choice but to agree. He orders Dagmer Cleftjaw to break the naval blockade of Lannisport and return to Fair Isle while also recalling the ironborn reavers at Feastfires and in the northern Westerlands.
Once all the ironborn forces are gathered on Fair Isle, Balon announces his intention to conquer the Shield Islands and ravage the Reach, a plentiful region he claims will be easier pickings than the 'tough meat' of the Westerlands. He also states that he has chosen to name Victarion Greyjoy as his heir in light of Princess Asha Greyjoy's capture. Both decisions are well-received by Balon's vassals, with the notable exception of Lord Rodrik Harlaw, who argues that attacking the Reach will only incur the wrath of Renly, who will surely win the throne.
Before abandoning Fair Isle, Balon orders the complete devastation of the island. His reavers put villages, farms, forests, and grain stores to the torch. They slaughter the island's inhabitants or take them as salt wives and thralls. They also raze and pull down the famous white towers of Faircastle, reducing the seat of House Farman to a heap of smouldering rubble.
Once Tyrion establishes that the ironborn have left the Westerlands, he releases Asha from her imprisonment as promised. He gives her some dignity by providing her with a small ship, a Lannister blade, and a plausible tale of escape to tell her fellow ironborn. However, though Tyrion sends word to Balon of Asha's release and imminent return to the Iron Islands, she decides to do something neither man expects.
During her captivity, Asha had grown disillusioned with her life. She constantly dwelled on the failings of her people, her family, and the Old Ways, concluding that the Iron Islands cannot sustain itself upon the wealth scavenged by its reavers. In her eyes, the ironborn are more akin to vultures than the kraken they compare themselves to.
As a prisoner of the Lannisters, Asha also learned that the greenlanders were richer and more powerful than she had expected. She had thought she understood the disparities between them, but it had taken walking the halls of Casterly Rock to drive the realization home. Asha had considered her brother Theon a fool for his loyalty to the greenlanders, but now she wonders if his choice was wiser.
Upon her release from her tower cell, Asha also learns of her own disinheritance. The news nearly shatters her spirit. But after much internal conflict, she decides that she will not return home – she will head east instead of west and seek out the brother she has not seen in a decade.
Following Balon's withdrawal from the Westerlands, the ironborn cease attacks on its coastal settlements and merchant shipping. Despite this, Tyrion seeks to protect his lands against a resumption of hostilities, as the west is still vulnerable until his father's army returns. The Sunset Sea still swarmed with hundreds of ships bearing the kraken of House Greyjoy, and the smallfolk remained fearful of more ironborn raids.
To supplement his existing forces, Tyrion orders a complete muster of every able-bodied man in the Westerlands. The new recruits are little more than old men and green boys, for most westermen of prime age and fighting ability are either with Tywin or rotting in the Riverlands. However, those left are determined to defend their lands and families from the hated ironborn.
Lord Tywin Lannister's homecoming is not a joyous one. When he left to invade the Riverlands less than a year earlier, he had never imagined returning defeated and humiliated in battle, grieving the loss of his daughter and grandsons and being consumed by rage for his enemies. However, despite these enormous setbacks, the lord of Casterly Rock does not hesitate to do what he feels is necessary for his family's continued survival.
Tywin immediately attends to the defences of the Westerlands, posting additional soldiers and spies on the eastern and southern borders and along the coasts. He entrusts his brother, Ser Kevan Lannister, with the reinforcement and fortification of the Golden Tooth, which they view as a key chokepoint for any future invasion of the region by Stannis or Renly.
When his father returns, Tyrion naively hopes for some overdue recognition. From his perspective, no honest man could deny his successes against the ironborn invaders. But instead of giving Tyrion his thanks, Tywin almost immediately sidelines his youngest son, stripping him of his authority without a word of public praise.
Angry and bitter at this ill-treatment, Tyrion demands his father recognize him as his official heir. Tywin refuses, telling his youngest son that it is bad enough he brings mockery upon their house with his 'ridiculous' knighthood. He will not allow him to be a laughingstock of a lord as well. Despite his tirade, Tywin admits that his son deserves some reward. He then grants him a position on Myrcella's small council as master of coin, tasking him with regaining the backing of the Iron Bank. Tywin also orders Tyrion to wed the captive Lady Barbara Bracken, securing House Lannister's nominal control over Stone Hedge.
After the recent deaths of Cersei, Joffrey, and Tommen, Tywin is anxious to protect his last living grandchild and the sole surviving scion of House Baratheon of King's Landing. To that end, he orders Myrcella closely guarded and kept under vigilant watch in Casterly Rock. Her appearances at court are extremely limited, and Tywin only rarely requests her presence at small council meetings. The most skilled members of Myrcella's Queensguard – Ser Barristan Selmy, Ser Jaime Lannister, and Ser Balon Swann – are her constant (and often only) companions.
The young queen becomes depressed and lonely in her grief and isolation. Even when allowed to do so, she seems uninterested in making friends or indulging in her previous hobbies. At his older brother Jaime's urging, Tyrion frequently visits his niece in an attempt to cheer her up with good books, interesting stories, and rude humour. To his delight, he eventually succeeds in making Myrcella a voracious reader; the girl begins spending much of her time in Casterly Rock's vast library. She confides to her uncle that the stories provide her with a sort of escape – when reading, she can pretend she is free and happy in a faraway land, living a life other than her own.
As the royal court settles into Casterly Rock and achieves some semblance of regular order, Tywin tries to convince Jaime to relinquish his duties as a member of the Queensguard. Jaime stubbornly resists this, as he has no interest in marrying to 'secure the Lannister line' as his father wants. Still heartbroken from Cersei's death, he desires only to keep Myrcella alive and happy. When Tywin threatens to have Myrcella strip his white cloak from him anyway, Jaime responds that he can always trade it for a black one. The prospect of Jaime joining the Night's Watch instead of inheriting Casterly Rock leaves his father stewing in impotent rage, but the threat works – Jaime remains a member of the Queensguard.
Jaime works tirelessly to refine his fighting abilities when not trying his best to brighten Myrcella's days. He trains daily at blade and lance with Ser Barristan Selmy, a gruelling routine in which both men take grim satisfaction. Both men feel they would prefer to die than fail in their duties another time.
On the Iron Islands
Although Balon deeply resents the humiliating terms of the Lannisters, his shame is soothed by the belief that Asha, his favourite child, will soon return to him. Though Asha is no longer his chosen heir, he hopes she can accept his decision and consent to play a less meaningful role in restoring the ironborn golden age.
Weeks pass without a word of Asha's reappearance in the Iron Islands. Fearing the worst, Balon has his scouts scour the Sunset Sea for his daughter's ship, but they found no trace of her. He is eventually forced to assume that the Lannisters have played him false, likely keeping Asha locked in their dungeon to safeguard against another invasion. Though all of Balon's attention is required for the coming attack on the Reach, once he is finished in the south, he resolves to punish the westermen for their duplicity. He promises his vassals that their earlier attack on Lannisport will soon seem as gentle as a lover's caress.
In the Crownlands
Shortly after they reside in the Red Keep in King's Landing, Renly and Queen Margaery Tyrell face increasing pressure to consummate their marriage and secure the line of succession. The open secret that their marriage bed remains unsullied fuels rumours about Renly's sexuality that he wishes to keep quiet. Though both husband and wife are reluctant for much the same reason, they decide to sacrifice their personal feelings for the sake of their future dynasty.
Upon leaving King's Landing to face his brother in the Riverlands, Renly garrisons close to five thousand men from the Stormlands and the Reach in the city under the command of Lord Mathis Rowan, his master of laws. Renly charges Mathis with the city's administration in his absence. He also instructs him to set about rebuilding the City Watch, filling the ranks of the gold cloaks with seasoned soldiers and ensuring that men loyal to Renly are placed in key positions.
While her husband campaigns in the Riverlands, Margaery tends to the abhorrent conditions of the common people in King's Landing. Thanks to her family's regular grain shipments and free bread distribution to the masses, Margaery succeeds in tamping down the famine and simmering unrest. Her efforts are so effective that Mathis can safely lift the city's enforced curfews after only a few weeks. The queen also convinces Mathis to open the gates to thousands of exhausted, starving refugees from the Riverlands. These weary travellers are accompanied by numerous setpons and septas (mostly from the Reach and the Riverlands) who seek to mend the physical and spiritual wounds of the people.
During the fall of King's Landing, Margaery and Mathis both witnessed the frightening ease with which wildfire burned through ranks of soldiers and smallfolk like dry kindling. Once in power, they have no interest in tolerating the presence of the evil substance. They organize the safe removal and destruction of all the wildfire caches they can find well beyond the city limits.
At the same time, work begins to repair the damaged portion of the city's defences. At Margaery's advice, Mathis has many refugees from the Riverlands put to work on these projects, providing them with fair wages in exchange for their labour. Additionally, he orders experienced river folk to assist with constructing a new royal fleet that is intended to keep Stannis from launching a swift naval assault on the city.
After just a few months, Margaery's popularity among the smallfolk of King's Landing is considerable. When news spreads that their young queen is pregnant with Renly's child, the people rejoice as if one of their own daughters were expecting. They flood the streets to shower her with adoration as she walks to the Great Sept for prayer. With such a beautiful and loving queen, the lowborn masses hold out hope that the dark days of the war will soon be over.
To the east, on the bleak isle of Dragonstone, Ser Davos Seaworth reluctantly assumes his role as Stannis' master of whisperers. His first order of business is to cultivate influence with key members of his king's household, forging a close relationship with Maester Pylos and several key retainers of the castellan, Ser Axell Florent, and Queen Selyse Baratheon. He even has Stannis' young daughter and heir, Princess Shireen, give him private lessons to help improve his letters so that he might better serve his king in handling sensitive messages and intelligence.
When her strength returns, the red priestess Melisandre departs Dragonstone aboard a swift ship. She is bound for the Riverlands to lend to Stannis' campaign. Davos is happy to see her go. He secretly plots to arrange her death if she ever returns to the island. His suspicion of her has blossomed into deep enmity since he witnessed her display of power in King's Landing, where she burned hundreds of poor sailors alive with the magic of her dark god. He believes in his heart that she is evil and will taint the soul of his king – if he lets her.
In the Riverlands
Having defeated Tywin's invasion of the Riverlands and driven the remnants of his army back into the west, Stannis prepares for the arrival of his younger brother Renly. Unwilling to face his enemy's greater cavalry on flat terrain, Stannis marches his host across the Ruby Ford to a defensible position on the north bank of the Trident. He set his men to the construction of trenches, spikes, and other defensive fortifications along the river's edge, intending to make the crossing prohibitively deadly for his enemy.
Meanwhile, Ser Edmure Tully and his loyal lords free the last of the Riverlands from House Lannister's occupation. At Edmure's direction, infantry and cavalry under Lord Jason Mallister succeed in retaking the castles of Pinkmaiden, Wayfarer's Rest, and Acorn Hall from paltry Lannister garrisons, freeing Lady Ravella Smallwood and the sisters of Ser Karyl Vance. Lord Vance and Lady Barbara Bracken remain hostages of the Westerlands, however.
Though the Riverlands have been ravaged by war and concerns about the harvest, Edmure decides to organize the full muster of all remaining able-bodied men in the region. He commands them to assemble at the Ruby Ford with all haste. Though mostly green boys and old men, these recruits answer the call readily, with nearly everyone expressing eagerness to fight for the king who saved their lands. In their march to the Trident, the recruits are joined by cavalry from the west under Ser Hosteen Frey and Galbart Glover and close to a thousand Maidenpool men under Ser Jonah Mooton's command.
While the camp at the Ruby Ford, the notable lords of Stannis' host busy themselves with political matters. Edmure summons young Lord Lewys Piper, the new lord of Pinkmaiden, and makes him his squire, taking the boy under his wing to honour the memory of his deceased father and elder brother. Meanwhile, Roose strives to limit the political fallout of Ramsay's actions in the North. Though Roose is privately pleased to hear of his bastard's death, it also underlines his urgent need to find a wife to bear his trueborn sons. He approaches Lord Rickard Karstark to seek his thoughts on a match with his daughter; Karstark is polite but noncommittal, as he still holds out hope that he might wed Alys to Robb Stark, Eddard's eldest son and the heir to Winterfell.
Melisandre arrives at the Ruby Ford just a fortnight after she departs from Dragonstone. Her ship caught favourable winds on its way to Saltpans, and she had hidden her mount hard to see Stannis as soon as possible. Wild rumours of the burning of the royal fleet at King's Landing and her desecration of the Dragonstone sept run rampant through the camp. The northern lords, used to dealing with the queer deities of southerners, are content to kneel to a king of any faith so long as he respects the old gods of the North. But the pious river lords are discomfited to meet the 'red witch' in the flesh. They mislike the hold she has on Stannis, and they are nervous about the burnings on the Dragonstone (though few dare to air their feelings publicly). The common soldiers, meanwhile, seem to dread and respect Melisandre in equal measure.
During a council meeting, Melisandre informs Stannis about her meeting with Ser Alliser Thorne of the Night's Watch. She urges her king and his closest advisors to resolve their war quickly, emphasizing the need to unite the realm against the twin evils lurking beyond the Wall: the wildling army of Mance Rayder, and the terrifying evil that follows close behind. Melisandre warns them that if the former breaches the Wall, the latter will follow, which would mean their deaths and the destruction of all they know and hold dear.
Marching up from the south, Renly's army of approximately sixty-five thousand men arrives at Harrenhal to find the ruined castle occupied by a small garrison – but no sign of Stannis' army. Renly's men easily sweep the defenders aside, as they lacked the men to guard the fortifications of such a massive castle. While Renly and his lords reside in Harrenhal, they send scouts into the surrounding countryside to take stock of the region.
It takes only a few days for Renly to learn that his brother's host has withdrawn north of the Trident. From what his scouts glimpse before being run off by Ser Brynden Tully's outriders, Renly is aware that Stannis' host has made significant defensive preparations and possesses close to forty-five thousand men.
Renly discovers that the Lannisters have retreated to the Westerlands, pillaging and burning everything in their wake. His scouts also report sightings of men bearing the sigil of House Mallister west of the God's Eye, near the headwaters of the Blackwater Rush. They claim to have seen the sails of proud river galleys belonging to Houses Tully and Frey along the Red Fork of the Trident.
Renly also begins to grasp just how devastating the war has been in the Riverlands south of the Trident. Most villages and farms his men ride through are deserted and blackened ruins. The keeps and holdfasts they pass appear to have been assaulted several times. Many scouts encounter outlaws on the roads and are lucky to escape with their lives. Others do not return at all.
After consulting with his vassals and advisors (foremost among them being Lords Mace Tyrell and Randyll Tarly, and Sers Loras and Garlan Tyrell), Renly orders his men to advance towards the Trident. At the same time, he sends some knights ahead of the host to negotiate with Stannis, offering him a decisive battle on an open plain. If Stannis declines, as Renly guesses he would, Renly plans to turn away from the Ruby Ford entirely and lay siege to the central and eastern Riverlands, taking castles at his leisure until his brother feels compelled to cross the river and fight him.
To the north, Stannis receives reports that Renly's army left Harrenhal and is marching straight up the Kingsroad towards the Ruby Ford. Stannis' outriders are soon forced to grapple with increasingly larger and fiercer enemy patrols. While they are too skilled to be easily swept aside, they suffer high losses and are gradually forced back to the river.
Stannis' camp is visited by Ser Guyard Morrigen bearing a peace banner. They inform Stannis that, to bring a swift end to the war, Renly is willing to fight him in a single, decisive battle on the open plain south of the Trident, at a location of his brother's choosing (and their mutual agreement). Renly also offers to negotiate with Stannis face-to-face before the commencement of hostilities in the hopes they can come to an accord. Stannis refuses every term, but for one – he agrees to a parley.
The brothers Baratheon and their respective parties meet at the Ruby Ford. They remain ahorse, with their mounts standing knee-deep in the water where their brother won his crown. Stannis is the first to arrive with Melisandre as his standard-bearer, followed shortly after by Renly, whose standard is held aloft by Loras.
Renly immediately demands that Stannis bend his knee to him. Stannis refuses, saying he is the eldest and denouncing Renly as a usurper. Renly replies that the Targaryens called Robert a usurper too and that it does not matter whether Myrcella and her dead brothers are not of Robert's seed. Renly admits that while Stannis might have the better claim, he has the larger army.
Renly reaches under his cloak, causing Stannis to go for his sword. But Renly only brings out a peach and offers it to his brother. Stannis retorts that he did not come there to eat fruit, and Renly replies that a man should never refuse a peach because life is short, and as the Starks say, "Winter is Coming." Stannis thinks this is a threat, but Renly states it is not. He tells Stannis that he never liked him, but he is of his blood. He offers him generous terms: full pardons to all who bend the knee and Stannis' confirmation as Lord of Storm's End, Lord of Dragonstone, and heir to the Iron Throne until Margaery's child is born. He reveals that Margaery is already pregnant, so he cannot promise that Stannis will be his heir for very long.
Stannis grimly tells his brother that he offers him only one chance for mercy. He will give Renly until dawn to submit for the sake of their late mother, after which he will permit him and the Tyrells to take the black; otherwise, he will destroy them. Renly laughs, pointing out that he has the strength in banners. Stannis gallops away after exchanging some final taunts, though Melisandre stays long enough to tell Renly to look to his sins, for the night is dark and full of terrors.
Renly holds a war council with his lords and commanders at his camp. He claims that his brother has not changed, and since he will not accept his mercy, maybe he should fight. Lord Bryce Caron points out that Stannis has a formidable force despite his lesser numbers and is well entrenched in his position across the river. Since crossing the Trident to fight Stannis would incur high casualties, he recommends they hew to their original plan of letting Stannis sit by while they laid siege to the Riverlands. Lord Mace Tyrell agrees with Lord Caron, but Renly expresses concern that men will say he fears Stannis. Lord Randyll Tarly echoes his fears, arguing that they should not leave Stannis unblooded since he could grow stronger than Renly. After all, Lord Tarly muses, the Vale might choose to back him at any time. After much deliberation, Renly eventually decides to heed the advice of Lords Caron and Tyrell, ordering his army to prepare to break camp and march west at daybreak. He will not give his brother battle – not yet.
After the parley, Melisandre slinks silently into Stannis' tent. She attempts to seduce him, claiming that to lay with her will lead to his swift victory the following morning; she claims that if he does not, she has seen in her flames that Renly will cross the river and kill him. She argued that to save the realms of men, it is necessary to kill one man instead of ten thousand.
While Melisandre does not say it explicitly, Stannis understands that she means to bring about Renly's death by one means or another. He asks her if it is true that if he falls here, all the world will perish at the hands of monsters. He asks her if it is true that no one else but him can unite and lead the realms of men. When she assures him that it is so, the king gritted his teeth and allows her to lead him to bed. During their coupling, Melisandre holds Stannis tight and whispers for him to spend his seed inside her. All around them, the shadows whirl and dance.
The next morning, Ser Robar Royce and Ser Emmon Cuy of the Rainbow Guard stand guard outside Renly's pavilion. Inside, Ser Loras armours the king for the day's march while Lord Tyrell and Lord Tarly discuss which castles in the Riverlands they should take first. As Loras belts on Renly's long sword and dagger, a breeze seems to fling open the tent flap. Then, the men inside witness a shadow with Stannis' face stabs Renly in the throat. Loras catches Renly as he stumbles into him, his blood running red over his armour. Ser Robar and Ser Emmon came rushing in and, seeing Loras covered in Renly's blood, immediately assumed he killed him. However, the other witnesses convince them otherwise, claiming it was Stannis. They can only explain it as some sort of sorcery – Renly was murdered by a living shadow, some creative like nothing they have ever seen before.
The news of Renly's death spreads through the camp like wildfire. Lord Caron, Ser Guyard, Lord Beric Dondarrion, and several other nobles (mainly from the Stormlands) refuse to believe the claims of the reachmen that Renly was killed with sorcery. They accuse the Tyrells of plotting Renly's death to rule through Margaery's unborn child and propose pledging fealty to Stannis. Their proposal is backed by a handful of reachmen, such as Lord Crane, Ser Jon Fossoway, and Ser Tanton Fossoway.
Ser Loras denounces these men as traitors, and he is joined by Ser Garlan, Lord Tyrell, Lord Tarly, the other knights of the Rainbow Guard, and the majority of lords and knights from the Reach. They argue in favour of loyalty to Renly and Margaery's unborn child, who should inherit the Iron Throne upon leaving the womb.
The positions of these two factions are irreconcilable, and tensions between them rapidly escalate. Over the course of a single, terrible morning, Renly's vast host dissolves into a collection of feudal levies, plunging the camp into confusion and conflict.
The resulting fighting is almost too chaotic to be called a battle, resembling more of a tavern brawl on a far larger scale. The Tyrells and their loyal vassals enjoy an initial advantage over their enemies, as they have many more men than the many stormlanders and few reachmen who support Stannis. A grieving Ser Loras kills Lord Steffon Varner and wounds Lord Dondarrion and Ser Guyard, leaving the latter with a vicious scar across the face. Lord Tarly takes Ser Tanton captive, and Lord Crane is crushed beneath his own horse in an attempt to flee.
Across the river, Stannis' lords are incredulous at the sudden collapse of Renly's host. When they attempt to rouse their king to lead an attack, however, they find him looking like half a corpse – deathly pale, shaking like a leaf, and unable to wake from horrible, thrashing nightmares. With Stannis bedridden, Eddard assumes command of the army and leads a charge across the Ruby Ford to sweep the enemy from the field.
This intervention turns the tide of the fighting against the Tyrells and the other loyalists, forcing them to flee south before Eddard can fully cross the Trident. Their hasty retreat is poorly organized – the enemy seizes the entirety of the baggage train and food stores, and many men are killed or captured before they can get away. Notably, Theon's archers slay Ser Emmon Cuy, Ser Brynden Tully duels and capture Ser Robar Royce, and Roose's men take Lord Orton Merryweather prisoner.
After the battle, Eddard decides against chasing the rest of the enemy south to King's Landing; with Stannis's illness, he deems it unwise to immediately go on the offensive. Fortunately, the king wakes soon after the fighting is done, but it takes several more hours before he is well enough to stand, walk, and take food. His councillors keep him largely out of sight of the men, for he appears to have aged almost ten years overnight. To Eddard, Edmure, Brynden, and Roose, Melisandre seems in even worse shape – though her appearance is unchanged, she vomits blood in sight of him and begs his leave to retire to her own tent to 'recover her strength'. Some men begin to whisper that Stannis killed his brother with foul magic, and the red witch has sold his soul to her demon god.
Further north, Theon's sister Asha travels through the Riverlands alone, disguised as a man. She had sailed from the Westerlands to a hidden cove near Seagard before abandoning the craft and moving east overland towards the Blue Fork of the Trident. At Ramsford, Asha learned that Stannis had liberated the Riverlands of the Lannister invaders and was preparing to meet his brother in battle at the Ruby Ford. Believing that Theon was with Stannis, Asha stole a small pole boat and some supplies before following the Trident south.
During her journey, Asha falls into the clutches of several vile outlaws – deserters from the Westerlands, she thinks – who mistake her for an unarmed peasant woman. She surprises them before they kill her, but it is a close-run thing. She loots their bodies for armour that she hopes to sell at the nearest settlement.
At Lord Harroway's Town, Asha attracts some suspicious glares and unwanted attention and begins to regret travelling alone through a war-torn land. Seeking something to dull the pain from a light stab wound, she visits a tavern where she recognizes a man from the distant past. She only saw him once many years ago during the siege of Pyke, when she was only a girl – but she has never forgotten his burned face. Sandor "the Hound" Clegane, Joffrey's former sworn sword, now a deserter and vagabond, sat hunched in the corner of the tavern with a hood over his face. Asha notes that he seems very drunk.
Against her better judgement, Asha abandons her male disguise, approaching Sandor and offering him some coin in exchange for his services as a bodyguard. She claims to be a merchant's daughter whose father is in the eastern Riverlands, selling his wares to Stannis' army. After much pestering on Asha's part, Sandor accepts her request to bring her safely to the Ruby Ford, albeit at an extortionate rate.
In the Reach
Before the death of his king, Lord Mace Tyrell dispatched ravens to his vassals, calling for an additional muster of levies at Highgarden. Though these recruits are almost all green boys and older men, under the tutelage of Ser Parmen Crane of the Rainbow Guard, they are drilled and equipped with fine castle-forged steel and well-bred warhorses. When ready, Ser Parmen planned to take them north to assist Renly in the Riverlands.
In Lord Tyrell's absence, his son and heir Willas Tyrell rules the Reach in his stead. Given the increased ironborn activity in the Sunset Sea, Willas thinks it prudent to order the lords of the Shield Islands to prepare for a possible ironborn attack. Unfortunately for them, these fears prove well-founded.
Balon leads the ironborn south as one massive fleet, but upon arriving in the Shield Islands, he plans to split his forces to capitalize on his numerical superiority. While Victarion leads the Iron Fleet through the center of the islands, Balon intends for himself and Ser Harras Harlaw to each lead two hundred longships along the coasts of Greenshield and Southshield, respectively. He believes that once Victarion and the Iron Fleet engage the Shield Islanders, he and Harras can swing inwards to attack the enemy flanks and destroy their fleet. Hoping to cut off the enemy's path of retreat, Balon also gives Dagmer Cleftjaw command of sixty-five longships to blockade the mouth of the Mander.
Despite their high alert, the Shield Islanders are still surprised by the scale of the attack, having anticipated facing a smaller force of ironborn reavers – not the entire Iron Fleet. Outnumbered as they are, still manage to put up a tenacious defence; under the command of Ser Talbert Serry, the Shields' ships engage Victarion's Iron Fleet in a fierce battle just north of Grimston, the seat of House Grimm on Greyshield.
The naval battle is one of the largest in living memory, but the greater numbers and skill of the ironborn are too much for the Shield Islanders to withstand. When Ser Talbert is killed and the additional ironborn ships arrive to encircle the fleet, the defenders' morale shatters. Individual captains turn their ships away and attempt to flee, but most of their vessels are chased down, seized, or sunk by the ironborn. Only a quarter of the Shields' ships survive the initial battle; chased south by the ironborn, they find their retreat cut off by Dagmer Cleftjaw's longships near the mouth of the Mander. Caught between two forces, the remaining Shield Islander forces have no hope of escape and are ruthlessly destroyed.
The Shield Islands are left defenceless from the sea with the loss of their fleet. Balon and the ironborn are free to take them at their leisure. Ser Harras Harlaw lands at Grimston and plants his standard beneath the castle walls; daring the defenders to face him, he kills five and forces two to yield. After the seventh man is defeated, the septon in the castle declares the gods have spoken and surrenders the castle. The islands of Greyshield, Greenshield, and Southshield are captured before the following day, while Oakenshield lasts half a day. Balon uses Oakenshield Castle at Lord Hewett's Town as his base, with Lord Humfrey Hewett and his family captured and transported back to Pyke.
After taking the Shield Islands, the ironborn launch a campaign of rape and pillage along the Reach's unprotected shores. Balon has learned well from his former defeats in the West, so he forbids his reavers from attacking strong castles or well-defended locations like the Arbor and Oldtown. Their focus is solely on the destruction of coastal villages and the capture of trading vessels.
Alarmed by the fall of the Shield Islands and harrowed by reports of ironborn raids along the coast, Willas sends an urgent raven to Lord Paxter Redwyne at the Arbor. He implores him to defend the Reach with his fleet. However, because Paxter has been threatened with neutrality by the Lannisters, he is reluctant to do anything more than defend his lands. He sends a raven to Casterly Rock, seeking Tywin's permission to assist in the fight against the ironborn invasion of the Reach.
Later, when word reaches the south of Renly's death at the Ruby Ford, some noble houses of the Reach pledge fealty to Stannis Baratheon, foremost among them being House Crane, House Florent, and both branches of House Fossoway. However, most of the Reach remains loyal to their Tyrell overlords, refusing to join Stannis' cause. They instead support the claim of Renly's unborn child with Queen Margaery Tyrell. Ser Parmen, following the example of his house, attempts to rally the recruits under his command to take Highgarden for Stannis; the Tyrell household guards swiftly arrest him.
In the Stormlands
Before King Renly marches north to meet his elder brother in battle, he orders a full muster of men from the Stormlands. He commands the cavalry to join him on the march north, while the newly raised infantry is told to remain behind to reinforce the already-sizable Storm's End garrison. He intends this as a precaution against a naval attack by Stannis' forces in the Narrow Sea.
Following Renly's death, the vast majority of nobles in the Stormlands declare their fealty to Stannis. Even formerly neutral bannermen such as the elderly Lords Swann and Penrose announce their newfound allegiance. However, Ser Cortnay Penrose, the notoriously stubborn castellan of Storm's End, refuses to yield up the castle until he sees Renly's body.
In Dorne
Following the tourney at Sunspear, Prince Oberyn Martell announces the creation of an elite order of light cavalry based in Sunspear. The ranks of the so-called 'Knights of the Greenblood' are mainly filled by loyal members of the Martell household guard, but also by highborn knights who performed well in the recent tourney. Several younger sons and brothers of Dornish lords are often selected, as these men tend to be eager to prove their worth. Among those recruited into the order are Ser Daemon Sand (Oberyn's former squire), Ser Arron Qorgyle, Ser Dickon Manwoody, Ser Ulwyck Uller, Ser Gerris Drinkwater, and Ser Archibald Yronwood.
Under Oberyn's command and tutelage, the Knights of the Greenblood take up training in nearly every kind of combat, from the traditional arts of close-quarters melee fighting to less common skills like mounted archery. However, their primary weapons remain spears and lances. Oberyn intends for the new order to serve as the strong, solid core of a Dornish army that may soon march north to war.
As her uncle trains his knights, Arianne Martell makes moves that threaten to upend the entirety of Dornish politics. First, she endeavours to win Ser Daemon's affections by sending him love letters and nude sketches. She says she is madly in love with him and would wed him if not for her father's disapproval – a father she claims is plotting to overturn Dornish custom and designate her younger brother, Quentyn, as his successor.
Across the Narrow Sea
For much of the nobility, distress over this rising tide of death and misery is greatly overshadowed by concern about how expensive the conflict is fast becoming. After all, the sheer sums of money required to arm, feed, and otherwise supply one's men and mounts can empty any lord's coffers over a long enough period.
Shortly after the outbreak of the Clash of the Stags, King Stannis Baratheon received the fealty of lords in the Riverlands, the North, and those parts of the coastal Crownlands sworn directly to his seat of Dragonstone. His supporters in the Riverlands ruled over a wealthy and populous region, but their lands lacked defensible barriers and were quickly devastated by invaders. In contrast, the lands of his vassals in the North and the Narrow Sea were thinly peopled and relatively poor.
As Stannis contemplated waging a war for the Iron Throne against the far larger armies and deeper pockets of the Westerlands and the Reach, he understood that he would have to look abroad to finance his campaigns. Like many kings before him, he searched across the Narrow Sea for succour.
Stannis' agents managed to secure small loans from trading cartels and moneylenders in the Free Cities of Myr and Tyrosh, obtaining enough coin to buy four thousand sellswords, hire many more sellsails, and supply these forces for a year or two. However, Stannis' main priority in Essos was to win the financial backing of the wealthiest moneylender of all: the Iron Bank of Braavos, the most powerful bank in the known world and the Iron Throne's largest creditor.
Stannis knew that obtaining the Iron Bank's recognition and support would be a significant victory. Success would confer him greater legitimacy and money enough to hire tens of thousands of sellswords, greatly influencing the war's outcome. Failure, meanwhile, could guarantee his doom. Both prospects motivated Stannis to dispatch the affable Ser Justin Massey to Braavos as his personal envoy to the Iron Bank.
Justin relied upon his ready smile and pleasant manner in multiple gruelling rounds of negotiations with the Braavosi. He sang Stannis' praises, emphasizing his strong claim, military record, and resolute willingness to honour the Iron Throne's massive debts in their entirety. But while Justin did much to burnish his king's reputation in the eyes of the bankers, his efforts to win their support were continually frustrated. It did not take him long to discover what – or rather, who – was responsible.
It transpired that Justin was not the only Westerosi envoy in the city. Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, the master of coin to the late King Robert Baratheon, and his young successor, King Joffrey Baratheon, had also been sent on a similar mission. Petyr enjoyed established relationships with the Iron Bank and other moneylenders in the Free Cities - connections which Justin, despite his many charms, could not hope to match. Petyr worked tirelessly to keep the powerful financial players of Essos at least nominally in Joffrey's corner. His task was made easier because Joffrey was Robert's eldest son and the physical holder of the Iron Throne, giving him an aura of legitimacy that Stannis lacked.
Justin persisted despite these obstacles. Having failed to win the Iron Bank's support outright, he tried a different tactic: convincing the bankers to refrain from fully backing either of Stannis' rivals. In this, he was much more successful. In part to his efforts, the Iron Bank elected to take a reserved, cautious approach to the Westerosi civil wars, declining to intervene decisively on the behalf of one claimant or another. The bankers were content to wait patiently for the dust to settle.
But their calculus changes following Petyr's disappearance from the city, the fall of King's Landing, and the deaths of Joffrey and his brother Tommen at Harrenhal. These pivotal events lead the keyholders of the Iron Bank to convene an emergency meeting to reconsider their options in Westeros. They quickly conclude that Joffrey's younger sister, the newly crowned Queen Myrcella Baratheon, lacks legitimacy so long as she only rules the Westerlands. But although control of King's Landing and the royal coffers had fallen to King Renly Baratheon (who had the largest army and the firm support of much of the Reach and the Stormlands), the bankers resent his evident disinterest in courting their favour. Stannis had sent an envoy to coax them, but not Renly – in the eyes of the proud Braavosi bankers, this was almost an insult.
Justin is quick to exploit the Iron Bank's misgivings. Acknowledging that they are not yet confident enough to fully back Stannis against his rivals, he requests only a 'modest' loan of coin sufficient to hire seven thousand sellswords from the Free Cities. The bankers agree to Justin's proposal, approving a discrete transfer of funds that he uses to buy the services of several free companies. Foremost among these mercenaries are the Company of the Cat, the Gallant Men, and the Long Lances. Before they depart for Westeros, the Braavosi also inform Justin that they will be 'delighted' to offer him their full recognition and support if Stannis triumphs over his brother in a decisive battle.
Further south, small-scale fighting continues between the Free Cities of Tyrosh and Lys on the Stepstones. On several occasions, the skirmishes threaten to escalate into an actual war, but the possibility of Myr intervening on either side gives both cities pause. Fighting on behalf of Lys, the three eldest Sand Snakes - Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene - lead the Red Vipers to a string of impressive victories on the battlefield. The group's success earns them sizable bonuses from the Lyseni, the enmity of the Tyroshi and the envy of other sellswords.
During a lull in the fighting, Nymeria travels to Volantis in search of secrets. As is her wont, she scours the city's rowdy taverns, pleasure dens, and dockyards for information that can prove helpful to her family. She eventually learns from sailors back from the Jade Sea that a three-headed dragon has hatched in Qarth and is the wonder of that city. Multiple crew members from different ships repeat the same story, albeit with subtle variations.
At first, Nymeria is inclined to dismiss the rumour as fantasy. But then she hears that the dragons are held by a young girl with silver hair and purple eyes. The mysterious beauty from beyond the Red Waste was being feted by the Qartheen nobles and merchant princes for months. Nymeria does not even need to hear her name to guess her identity: Daenerys Targaryen, the last Targaryen, previously presumed dead in the Dothraki Sea.
Instead of returning to the Stepstones, Nymeria boards a fast ship for Sunspear. She dares not to trust such sensitive information to a messenger.
It had been nearly sixteen years since Balon Greyjoy had been in the Shields.
It was at the end of Robert's Rebellion, he remembered. He, Victarion, and the Crow's Eye had spent months pleading for Lord Quellon to take sides in the war: there wouldn't be a chance of plundering like this in a century.
Quellon was straightforward in his refusals. There was no reason to antagonize great houses as powerful as the Tyrells or the Lannisters for gains as ephemeral as a little bit of gold, he said. Balon had thought it was foolish: after all, they were Ironborn. By default, they were already antagonistic to the peoples of the green lands.
It wasn't until after the Battle of the Trident that the old man had finally given in to his sons' beckoning. He descended on the Reach with half a hundred longships to lay waste to Mace Tyrell's lands while the Fat Flower sat outside Storm's End like the bloody idiot he was.
But the expedition had ended in disaster. The Shield Lords had met then at the mouth of the Mander and fallen on them like hungry dogs. Smaller men could have broken through an ambush against enemies of equal size. Not them. They were ironborn, children of the Drowned God, and the sea was their domain.
The Shield Lords were repulsed, but Quellon lost his life in the battle. Balon didn't have the best of relationships with his lord father, but he at least respected the reaver the man had been in days gone by. Sixteen years later he was finally avenged.
The conquest of the Shields had been a sweet victory. Of course, the battle itself was never in doubt. Balon had his opponents ten to one when traditional wisdom held that an ironborn was worth three of the green lands when in the sea. Still, a victory was a victory.
With the Shields shattered over the prows of their longships, the entire vastness of the Reach was within Balon's reach now, whether it be the orchards of Highgarden, the markets of Oldtown, or even the rich vineyards of the Arbor. However, before he could continue his plans of conquest and glory, there remained the distribution of the spoils.
Harras Harlaw was elevated to Lord of Greyshield and confirmed as heir to House Harlaw. Any other choice would have been insane, given that the Knight had captured the island pretty much single-handedly. Hotho Humpback had complained, but Balon cared little for a cripple's mumbling.
Qarl, the one they called "The Maid" was appointed by Balon as Lord of Oakenshield. In addition to being one of the fiercest warriors the Iron Islands spawned in a generation, the boy was one of Asha's friends. Maybe because of the friendship the boy had with his daughter, Balon gave Qarl the right to choose salt wives from among Lord Hewett's family.
Nute the Barber was made Lord of the South Shield. Since the man was Victarion's right hand, it was Balon's way of repaying his brother for the earlier slight.
The last appointment was that of Dagmer. Cleftjaw had served House Greyjoy loyally for decades: there was no better man to receive such a reward.
Only one thing had soured the triumph. Only one thing still bothered the King of the Iron Islands.
Asha.
His daughter, the only one of his offspring hadn't fallen in battle or become a bloody disappointment. His pride.
Trapped at the dungeons of the Rock. Imprisoned by Tywin Lannister's dwarf son, a wicked little man known for his lust and greed. Balon could barely begin to fathom what kind of horrors the damn Imp was pouring out on her. The mere thought brought him fury.
Had the Lannisters thought he was some kind of fool so they could break this deal and get away with it? Well, they would soon discover that Balon Greyjoy was nobody's fool. They would learn that while the lion may rule on land, the sea belonged to the Krakens.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I fulfilled my end of our agreement. I abandoned the captured lands in the West, just as I promised I would. I did all of this under the promise that your son would release my daughter and return her back to me.
And yet, I see no sign of Asha. Even though the Imp claimed to have her released. I don't know if age has rotten that little brain of yours to make you think you could have fooled me, but I shall grant you: Balon Greyjoy is not the fool of anyone.
I will go down in the West with the entire Iron Fleet on my back. I will slay every single one of you bastards, whether it's the warped abomination you call a son or the incest spawn you dare to call a queen.
Your family shall mourn the day your son decided to break our deal.
Balon Greyjoy, King of the Iron Isles, King of Salt and Rock, Son of the Sea Wind, and Lord Reaper of Pyke.
The night was dark and full of terrors indeed. After seeing the condition of both Ned and Melissandre, Ned suspected that the red priestess may have used some sort of power on Stannis which was responsible for slaying Renly. The thought horrified him.
And yet...
If this power was real, it had brought them closer to victory while avoiding a bloody battle. And Ned agreed with Melissandre that they should seek a peace with the Tyrells, for there were threats to the North even beyond the chaos of the Hornwood succession. Ned now began to believe it was possible that the dead had risen in the far north, and even failing that there was still the threat of the wildling host against the Wall. He could only pray to the heart trees that the Old Gods were watching over Jon and Benjen.
This stubborn king which Ned had vowed to serve, who he could not fail after he had failed Robert, wished to destroy the Tyrells for their treachery and the surge surge had subjected him to many years ago. But prolonging the war would only lead to further unnecessary bloodshed when there were many more threats to deal with. Ned would do his utmost to prevail upon Stannis to reach a peace with the Tyrells, even if it meant cooperating with the red witch...
The ink was barely dry, when Davos neatly folded it in two. He could feel the cursive's splotchy ink moving underneath the parchment, when he brought the grey glob of grey wax over it. He considered the wax, thought better of it, and simply rolled the parchment into a tidy scroll and tied it with a simple hemp cord. Tomorrow morning, he mused to himself. Lips working underneath a bushy mustache, that had grown out during the past week. Tomorrow morning, first sign of sunlight. He straightened himself from the chair, turned around to his bed and tucked the scroll into a small pocket in his vest.
Slip past them unseen, wait in the harbour. He continued working out his plan in his wrinkled head. He flexed his fingers, the knuckles, and reached for his pouch. "My lord?", came the word from a passing guard, to whom Davos merely nodded.
"See that the Sea Dragon Tower is ready, when the ship returns."
"Rhaenyra's apartments. Hot water, clean hay."
The guard merely nodded. They had gone through these time and time again, but Davos felt himself at odds with.. himself? He left the guard at his post and walked briskly down the stairs. He swore he heard the sound of bells, and there they came - the Prince and her Fool.
"The Shadows come to dance, my Lord, dance, my LORD!", Patchface sang to the jittery laughter of the girl. "The Shadows come to dine, my Lord, dine, my Lord!", he hopped one step up, and two steps down. "Underneath the Sea, the Roses bloom in deepest places, ho'hoo!", the fool continued and Davos felt himself instinctively clutching the pouch around his neck. Shireen speeded past Davos and Patchface followed. Only stopping once to reveal a grim set of teeth to Davos.
"Underneath the Sea, the Roses are bloody and poisonous, My Lord."
PROCLAMATION FROM THE WARDEN OF THE NORTH AND LORD OF WINTERFELL
By the power invested in me by His Grace, King Stannis Baratheon, as Warden of the North and Lord of Winterfell, I hereby name Larence Snow, natural-born son of the late Lord Halys Hornwood, as the Lord of Hornwood and successor to his father, and duly request that he be legitimized His Grace.
Furthermore, as the new Lord of Hornwood is in his minority, I hereby declare that Lord Wyman Manderly shall serve as the regent of Hornwood until Lord Larence comes of age.
-LORD EDDARD STARK
Lord of Winterfell
Warden of the North
Hand of the King
I know you will not approve of my choice to name Larence Snow as Lord of Hornwood. You will think I am being sentimental, foolish, and misguided, and I am sure you will warn me of the dangers of elevating a bastard to this lordship after the horror that Roose Bolton's bastard inflicted on Lady Hornwood. However, I ask you to put your prejudices aside and understand my thoughts in the matter.
Though he may be bastard born, Galbart and Robett Glover assures me that he is a smart and courageous lad, and would make a fine successor to his father. As the son of Lord Halys he is an appropriate choice to succeed his father, and the grant of the lordship to Larence would ensure that other houses do not gain further influence and power through the acquisition of the Hornwood lands, which could create more strife and bitterness over this matter which has already cost the North so dearly.
I am most impressed and grateful for the decisiveness with which you have settled the sordid affair regarding Bolton's bastard. Surely there is no more capable man or woman to rule the North in my stead than my loving wife. I trust that you capably and ably defend the North against the threats from beyond the Wall and the possibility of Ironborn raids to the west. There may be an even greater threat facing us from the North, but I shall discuss this with you another time. I shall return to the North as soon as I am able to when affairs have been settled in the south. We are close to securing His Grace's rightful throne, but there is still more work to be done and blood to be shed. The Tyrells still must bend the knee, Lord Balon must be dealt with, and the Lannisters must be punished for their crimes.
Send my love to the children. I hope that the Frey boys are not bothering them, that Sansa can forgive me, that Arya is not punishing herself too much with her "dancing" lessons, that Rickon can understand why I have not returned home, and that Bran can begin to find his place in the world. I miss you all so dearly and curse the series of events that has led me down this path, but I must fulfill my duty to the realm.
The night air on the Red Fork was cool and gentle.
The breeze picked at the flaps of Roose Boltons tent, gently pressing against it as if begging to be let in. He sat in his oaken chair, cushioned by pink silk. A red candle flickered ever so slightly as the barest touches of the breeze brought fresh air further in. He sat alone, great pink cloak about his shoulders in a comforting embrace. In a gloved hand was a simple letter, penned my Maestor Uhtors terse hand. Uthor was never a man for wasted words--for most things, at least. Words came easily to him when it was time for excuses and blaming. But the man told it true in his letter, especially with the whispers that had reached down from the North--and into the ears of his fellow lords.
His queerly pale eyes flashed in the candlelight as he considered the letter. Ramsey had gone to war in that grandly ornate--and expensive--suit of armor of his, at the head of a small host of Roose's own men. Uhtor wrote on for a paragraph on how he had tried to tell the bastard of his Lord Fathers orders, waxing poetic so much that Roose knew he had only done it once, then shut his mouth when Ramsey likely threatened him. Most likely with flaying. The bastard boy had marched to war--only to get himself killed on one of his hunting trips, outside of his expensive armor. And now Roose was left with no kin, the corpse of a Lady in the towers of the Dreadfort, and a lessened population in his lands.
Ramsey thought himself clever, and there was some truth to it. The same kind of cunning that belonged in a starving wolf lurking in the woods. The thought was only for food, and not what would--or could--come after. Roose thought that Ramsey would at least keep the Lady Hornwood in some comfortable cell after he married her. Instead the idiot boy left her to starve to death. That could be done to some peasant girl, but a highborn Lady like Lady Hornwood? One who had the eyes of the North on her due to the promise of land that trailed after her like the stench of death did a corpse? Madness. Madness and stupidity.
And now Ramsey was dead, ridden down by this Ser Rodrik. The bastard had gotten the first, and only, taste of war her would ever get. He wondered how Ramsey thought of the reversal of usual circumstances. Likely he didn't very much appreciate being the one running desperately through snow covered woods. He was the one usually carrying the sword, after all. Not running from it. Idly he wondered if he should give this Ser Rodrik a bag of gold, or the bastards armor to do with as he wished. But he dismissed the thought for the idle fancy that it was. That would go too far, for no gain whatsoever. The bastard had fought, and the bastard was dead. Roose Bolton was now the only one to carry the blood of his House. The only one in the world. He would have to fix that shortly. But one thing he knew for a certainty is that he would have no bastards. An overreaching lot, the cause of more trouble than it was worth.
Perhaps that was the unexpected benefit of this mummers farce. A fresh start was a rare thing, even one as bloody as this. He put down the letter and grabbed a sheet of plain paper, dipping his feather pen in ink he started to pen a reply to Maester Uthor when a chill sound howled through the air, reminiscent of wolves howling in the misty night. He dropped the pen without a thought and strode for his swordbelt. That was Eddard Starks horn. If the Hand was sounding it so late at night, then it could only mean--
A man burst in the tent as Roose finished strapping on the swordbelt. Seeing it was only Walton, he eased his grip on the handle. "Mi'lord." Steelshanks said, his breath heavy. "The Hand has sounded the charge. Somethings happening in Renly's camp. The southrons--they...they've set upon one another."
Silence filled the tent for a few moments. But it was not a complete silence, for already the sounds of the camp awakening could be heard. The screams of horses, the clanking of steel, and the clamor of men who realize that this may be their last night. For a second, Roose tried to comprehend on why the southern knights could be descending on one another--then dismissed it. The why was unimportant. "Organize the men, and send me my squire. We're to follow Lord Stark." Walton nodded and sprinted out of the tent, leaving Roose alone to finish his preparations--for the moment, at least.
He'd have to be careful. He couldn't afford to die before he found a new wife, after all.
I apologize for the delay in my letter, recent matters regarding the now deceased Lord Renly held my attention. I write to inform you that I killed Ser Amory Lorch in battle. While I lost my eye in our first encounter, he did not survive the second. It is to my regret that Lord Tywin and the Mountain have not yet joined him in the Seven Hells. I know both from rumors and Lord Eddard what transpired regarding the brutal murder of your sister and her children. Joffrey and Renly are dead, King Stannis has no legitimate claimant contesting him besides an incest born bastard hiding in Casterly Rock and apparently an unborn child of Renly's. If you wish justice against Tywin, Ser Gregor, and those that aid them, now is the time. If not, I assure you, this men have been responsible for the burning of the lands and murder of my subjects and lords. If you don't help end them, King Stannis and I will do it ourselves. If you doubt my words, I will send you the Mountain's head as proof. I swear this on my honor as a Tully, on the memory of Lord Janos Bracken and the Lords Piper, I swear this on behalf of those who have suffered at the hands of Tywin Lannister.
Ser Edmure Tully paced around the royal tent as he waited for the king and his commanders to arrive. Despite the defection of the storm lords to Stannis, Edmure felt uneasy. The circumstances of Renly's death, the sinister presence of the red witch, and her dire prophecies of threats lurking beyond the Wall were all deeply concerning - but that was not all. The war with the Reach and Westerlands continued, and Edmure also had to marry a Frey soon. None of these prospects were comforting.
Lord Roose Bolton was the first to arrive. His leather gloves pushed aside the entrance flap as he stepped inside, slipping into the tent with barely a sound. The black of his general wear contrasted sharply with the pink of his cloak, which settled around his shoulders and covered his arms with some grace. With a nod to Edmure, he simply went to his seat and settled in.
Next to enter was Ser Brynden Tully, boisterously stomping into the tent without a care for the loud rattle of his blackened fish scale steel ringmail or the heavy thud of his boots. He noticed his nephew restless pacing, something clearly troubling him. After everything the lad had gone through the past few months, he wondered who could blame him.
"Something on your mind, child?" Brynden asked his nephew sympathetically.
Edmure turned to his uncle, glancing briefly at the Lord of the Dreadfort before responding.
"I know we won, but it just feels so hollow," he admitted. "We defeated Tywin in battle, and then Renly… he died somehow, but it doesn't feel like we accomplished anything. The problems we face continue to mount."
Brynden nodded solemnly. "Yes, unfortunately we may still have more bloody work ahead of us. But we'll get through this, lad. Though I can't say for certain why, we did win a great victory today. Now that the storm lords are with us, I'd say we're closer to peace than we've ever been."
"Perhaps uncle, but we remain at war with three of our Seven Kingdoms. And with the threat to the North … Stannis does not sit the Iron Throne as of yet, and so far he seems intent on bringing down all of House Tyrell."
"We shall see, lad,'' Brynden replied with a tired sigh, as he eased into his seat. "We shall see."
"Two of those three kingdoms are actively fighting the third," Roose Bolton said suddenly. His voice was soft and quiet as it slid its way through the tent, aided by the fact most of the (usually raucous) council had yet to arrive. For a man who had recently lost the last of his children, even one as reportedly vile as Ramsay Snow, he appeared no different than from the day he answered House Stark's call to war.
"Lion contends with kraken, the storm lords have joined His Grace, and now the lords of the Reach stand reeling as their usurpation of the throne is cut away. There is bloody work still to be done, my lords, and many more will have to die if these proud lords do not bend, but things have been progressing well."
Edmure sighed as he slumped into a chair. "Mayhaps you are correct, Lord Bolton," he said. "Still, this bloody work feels hollow while Tywin Lannister lives. The riverlands have suffered greatly in this war and I worry that they will continue to do so as long as Stannis does not rule all the kingdoms."
Roose Bolton stared unblinkingly back at the heir to Riverrun. "Then we must seat His Grace on the Iron Throne. In the meantime, the smallfolk will bleed and die, and the lands will fester and burn - but they will do so no matter how quickly we move. If we do this carefully, we may see peace and quiet return. If not, the war may last longer than any of us would like."
Soon, the flap of the tent was lifted to admit three of the eminent storm lords that were new to Stannis' cause: Lord Bryce Caron, Ser Guyard Morrigen, and Lord Beric Dondarrion. The former two were called the Orange and the Green, for they had both served in Renly's Rainbow Guard. While his body still cooled, they had shed their colored cloaks and pledged themselves to Stannis; now they presumed to sit on Stannis' war council, as they had on Renly's.
Their defection had not been wholly without its costs, however. Ser Guyard sported a grisly wound across his face where Ser Loras Tyrell, his former Lord Commander, had nearly taken his eye out during a vicious duel. Lord Bryce was limping from a wound to the thigh and took his seat gingerly. Lord Beric, a dashing young man with red-gold hair, had a bandaged arm half-soaked in blood. Edric Dayne, the young Lord of Starfall and Lord Beric's squire (as well as his nephew through marriage), sat at his side to periodically drain and clean the wound.
After them came the lords of the Reach that had joined Stannis for their own ends. Lord Rycherd Crane was a short man but strongly built, with weathered skin that spoke of years in the saddle. His stoic expression gave no indication that his lord father had died only hours earlier. Though Rycherd had fought and bled for Renly at King's Landing and on the Blackwater Ford, he was well-positioned to make inroads in Stannis' camp; his sister was Lady Melara Crane, the wife of Lord Alester Florent, who was himself the uncle of the queen.
Following Lord Rycherd was the soft-spoken and plump Lord Martyn Mullendore, who seemed scarcely troubled to serve Stannis despite the fact that his son had died in Renly's service. And after him came Ser Jon Fossoway of New Barrel, a genial man, respected warrior, and notable commander.
The presence of the lords from the Reach and the Stormlands led to palpable tension in the tent. Every one of them had been Stannis' sworn enemy just hours before, and men who shed their loyalties so quickly were suspicious indeed. Edmure and Brynden made some polite small talk with their new allies, but little else.
Edmure thought that the storm lords, at least, had followed Renly due to their feelings of personal loyalty and oaths of direct fealty to Storm's End. They mourned Renly's death and loved Stannis little, but as the only surviving male of House Baratheon they now saw him as their rightful king - of that Edmure was reasonably sure.
The lords of the Reach seemed another matter entirely. While Renly lived, it was hard to fault them for upholding their oaths of the fealty to House Tyrell, despite their treason. But now, they had defied those same oaths to support Stannis - not because of his true claim, Edmure guessed, but because of what they stood to gain. The Florents, though absent, clearly hoped to supplant the Tyrells as rulers of the Reach, and the Cranes were close with the Florents. Lord Mullendore, the late Lord Varner, and the Fossoways were all lesser lords seeking to improve their positions.
The king's arrival was unheralded. The only forewarning of his presence was the red woman, Melisandre, slipping into the tent shortly before him, taking her position beside the throne without a word. Not a single man in the tent gave her a word of greeting, and most pointedly avoided meeting her eyes. Only Roose fixed the red woman with a constant, emotionless stare.
Shortly after Stannis himself arrived. Though recovered, he still looked as if he aged years in the last week, his face steel but showing exhaustion. Silently he sat in his throne and waited, making no signal for discussion to start. The council sat in stony silence until the latecomers arrived. The elderly Maester Cressen hobbled in and took the opposite position to Melisandre, pointedly avoiding her gaze. He was followed by Lord Eddard Stark, the Hand of the King, who looked grim and displeased, trailed by his son and heir Robb Stark. After him came several nobles from the North (such as Medger Cerwyn, Maege Mormont, and Galbart Glover) and Riverlands (such as Tytos Blackwood, Ser Jonah Mooton, Ser Karyl Vance). When all were assembled, Stannis raised his hand to signal a beginning.
"We welcome our new friends," the Hand announced with a small dash of contempt as he looked around the tent. "Our forces have swelled and we are in a favorable position to win the throne for His Grace." Ned paused before continuing. "And now we face a choice regarding the Tyrells." He looked toward the king, and then the rest of the council.
"My lords, Your Grace," Roose said softly. "Lord Renly is dead. Some say he was poisoned, others that Ser Loras killed him in some mad rage. Some even speak of sorcery. The means are irrelevant; what is relevant is that he is dead, and with him most of the legitimacy with which the Tyrells could claim the Iron Throne… save for Lady Margaery's child." The Lord of the Dreadfort gazed around the tent, his queerly pale eyes almost glinting in the candlelight. "Though the child is unborn and still quickening in its mother's womb, they will nevertheless attempt to grasp some sort of grace from it. We must sever this legitimacy if we hope to bring things to an end without having to crush the Reach outright. A task not easily done, my lords - but necessary."
"We will not kill children or their mothers," Ned replied coldly. "My counsel would be to seek a peace with the Tyrells in order to avoid further bloodshed, so that we may focus on the other threats: the Lannisters, the ironborn, and the wildlings to the North." Ned paused, leaving unspoken that other, far greater threat that only a few in the tent were aware of. "I believe we should explore whether the Tyrells would bend the knee if His Grace ensured the safety of Lady Margaery and her child. Lord Mace may be vain and ambitious, but despite his talk he is no fighter. At the end of Robert's Rebellion he was willing to bend the knee, and he may be willing to do so again." Ned expected Stannis to bristle at the reminder of how Ned had lifted the siege of Storm's End.
"Nothing so vile as that, my lord." Roose said, raising a placating hand. His voice still hadn't lost that soft, almost bored tone. "It is simply a threat to be noted. Men loved Lord Renly, and still love Lady Margaery. Those with their heads filled with fantasies of honor and courage, and the lords and knights who fancy themselves chivalric, will no doubt be willing to ride into battle to seat Renly's unborn child on the Iron Throne. Despite how foolish such a thing would be." He glanced at Stannis and let his eyes linger on Melisandre before sweeping the chamber again. "Bending the knee may very well accomplish that, as my lord suggests. Though I imagine the prospect of losing the chance of a royal dynasty may sour even one such as Mace Tyrell."
After Roose had finished speaking Edmure spoke up. "I echo Ned's suggestion that we should seek peace," he said. "Any invasion of the Reach will be long, costly, and most of all destructive. Between Tywin and Renly's armies, the Riverlands south of the Red Fork are almost entirely devastated. With winter coming, we will need the Reach to feed the entire realm if we hope to avoid a famine." The river lords in the tent expressed their general agreement with Edmure through nods and light thumps on the table. Their quarrel had been with the Lannisters - they had no wish to fight most of the Reach.
"Your Grace," Lord Bryce Caron said, leaning forward with a wince. "What Ser Edmure says is unfortunately true. I left King's Landing just a few weeks ago, and I can tell you that the situation there is grim. Right now, regular food supplies from the Reach are all that stands in the way of widespread hunger and massive riots. Though this might benefit us in a siege, without the Reach's grain we could never hold the city for long."
Stannis leaned forward on his throne, rubbing his forehead and grinding his teeth. Beside him, Cressen and Melisandre exchanged a rare look of agreement. "Your Grace," Cressen began, his voice halting and aged. "Whatever the foolishness the Tyrells have committed… with winter coming and foes all around, it would be prudent to seek peace where you can."
"Foolish?" responded Stannis. "I name it treason, and foul treason at that, for there was no justice to their cause but strength and opportunism. All knew it."
The lords of the Reach and stormlords shifted uncomfortably in their seats, but wisely held their tongues. They would voice no word of protest to their king's harsh words - not with their changed allegiances so fresh.
"All the same, you have foes enough to the west, at sea, and in the north," Melisandre said. She spoke in a mere whisper, but it was one that all could clearly hear.
Stannis ground his teeth harder. "I would be a poor king if I spurned all possible counsel, though it pains me to allow the Tyrells to walk away from their ambitions unharmed once more. But very well … we shall attempt to make peace. But Mace Tyrell, at least, should go."
"We must weigh all the consequences," Ned replied with a sternness to his voice. "The Tyrells will not likely accept the removal of their lord, as much as he deserves it. That means more war and more bloodshed. Like as not we will prevail, but from what we know thus far the rest of his vassals will remain with him, which means we will have to subdue a large force at King's Landing and then at Highgarden. Is this worth the price that thousands of our men will have to pay? I do not wish to see more Northmen die when it can be avoided, especially when we have other enemies to face." Ned could not help but look at his son as he said those words. Grey Wind, sitting behind Robb, looked back defiantly at him, as if the creature knew Ned's fears and was telling him that they were misplaced.
"Mace Tyrell has many friends in the Reach," Ser Jon Fossoway said, brushing his hair away from his face. "The Hightowers are firmly in his camp, as are Lords Tarly and Rowan. And his children are widely loved as well. It will be no easy feat to topple him, so I would favor a negotiated peace if at all possible."
"I agree with Ser Jon," Lord Mullendore piped up. "We should endeavor to lay down our swords. There has been more than enough fighting."
"I must disagree, my lords," cut in Ser Guyard Morrigen with some contempt. He dabbed a warm trickle of blood from his face with a thick red cloth, taking care to avoid the worst of the wound. "We ought to seize the initiative while we still have it. The enemy is demoralized - we should pursue them and force a decisive battle before they can regain some of their mettle."
"I must concur with Ser Guyard," Lord Rycherd Crane said. "I know Mace Tyrell, Your Grace. I would like to make peace with him, but I fear it would be fruitless. The man is all pride and ambition. He wants his daughter to be a queen - and if he cannot have that, he may turn to the Lannisters sooner than submit to you. Willas and Loras are unmarried, and a match with Myrcella would ensure he still gets his grandchild on the throne."
The council fell momentarily quiet at the mention of that disturbing possibility. It was true that both the Lannisters and Tyrells had suffered much in the war, but together they would easily rival their own forces.
"Winter is coming, Your Grace." Roose said mildly, breaking the uneasy silence. "Whatever is to be done, it must be done swiftly."
"I would like to go back to the North as soon as we can," Smalljon Umber added in. "But we will go wherever you command, Your Grace." Other northmen in the tent echoed this sentiment.
Stannis ground his teeth. He gestured to Cressen, who unwound a canvas map of the Seven Kingdoms before the king and council. "I will treat with the Tyrells. The crows have feasted plenty of late, so I suppose that I can make of crow a supper for a little while. It is true that the realm has foes enough."
Stannis stared into the middle distance, his brow furrowed, dark circles lying heavily beneath his eyes. "My brother was such a fool. Despite everything… I loved him, I think. But he was a fool all the same." Stannis spoke quietly, sadly, after being silent for a time. "I cannot think of a worse fate to inflict upon a man than the throne. It is not a comfortable seat, in any way you think of it. One does not always choose their duty, but when such things are thrust upon you, you carry on until the end."
Stannis abruptly stood and stuck a dagger in the map with an uncharacteristic dramatic flourish. "But now to the matter of the west, my lords. Twyin has rejected peace, and so we must bring him to heel. The Iron Islands, too, will need to be subdued once more. There is much work yet to be done. We have won a great victory, but this is hardly the beginning of the end of this war. An end, perhaps, to its beginning - but no more." He paused, considering, as his hard gaze swept the table. "I will have peace with the Reach if it can be won with honor, you have convinced me that. I mean to send ravens to Dorne and the Vale as well. Now that the advantage of numbers is with us and not our foes, we should be able to continue to prosecute our campaigns and send strength north to the Wall. Should all go well, we will be left to contend with just the remains of the Lannister host, the dregs of the Westerlands, and Balon Greyjoy's second maddened suicide attempt."
"Very good, Your Grace," Ned replied, bowing his head. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief: the king had finally seen sense. If Mace Tyrell would not consent to a reasonable peace and was as much of a fool as he appeared though… May the gods preserve him, Ned thought.
The Lord of Winterfell turned his head almost involuntarily to Melissandre. He felt as if her gaze penetrated deep into his soul. They had worked together here, but Ned still felt an intense distrust and even fear of the witch. Ned felt like his honor would be sorely tested by this association in the months to come.
The Lord of Highgarden had not touched his food, well maybe half a plate, but a good portion remained as he sagged in his chair. He had been so close, as close to the sun as a man could get since the death of Dragons, and now pulled down into shadow by an assassin or a witch. He had thought Loras mad at first, squires were close to their Knights, it was the natural way of things, Loras had always been a loyal and dutiful boy to the father of his body of course he would be the same to the father of his chivalry and his King. But no, the truth of it was plain, only an act of evil sorcery could threaten to bring low his designs and the fortunes of its house in the moment of its glory.
Had there ever been a man as cruel or merciless as Stannis? Perhaps but few of even those could think to slay their own kin just for a throne. Mace shook his head, and now that monster held the fate of House Tyrell and Mace's children in his hands. He needed to return, to King's Landing and to Margaery, to the throne of his grandson still in the womb. He alone in seven Kingdoms had bested Robert Baratheon and there would be Septons and Septas and possibly even a witch or two of their own to be found in King's Landing. From there they could grow strong again and undo this calamity.
He rose from his chair. "Garlan, Randyll, to me, we need to be on our way. Every moment counts, we shall have to make do without second breakfast!"
Within a day of King Renly Baratheon's assassination, a raven brings the news to Queen Margaery Tyrell and the small council in King's Landing. Although Margaery is shocked and saddened by the loss of her husband, her grief is dwarfed by fear when she considers its implications for the survival of herself and her family. She is disturbed to learn that her father and brothers had not surrendered to King Stannis Baratheon at the Trident but are instead retreating toward King's Landing with their remaining host of Renly loyalists. She only grows more anxious when Lord Mathis Rowan, Lord Alesander Staedmon (called Pennylover), and a score of lesser nobles from the Reach and the Crownlands assure her that they will remain faithful to her late husband. They will sooner crown her unborn child than kneel to Stannis.
It does not take long for a particular telling of Renly's death to circulate in King's Landing. Tyrell agents in the city spread lurid tales of the king's murder at the hands of Stannis and his demon-worshipping witch. The highborn fret, dreading every new report of Stannis' advance and recalling the Lord of Dragonstone's merciless character. The smallfolk weep, grieving the king they had come to love and mourning the plenty they had enjoyed under his short rule. All fear what further war would mean for the capital. Confronted with the real possibility of another siege and brutal sack, the desperate and the affluent alike began to flee the city — first in trickles and then in droves.
Following his disorganized retreat from the Trident, Lord Mace Tyrell leads the bulk of his army south at a punishing pace. He is eager to reach King's Landing well ahead of Stannis' army, giving him enough time to consolidate control over the city and prepare it to withstand a siege. He is also keen to protect Margaery and guard her against potential unrest. He bids his sons Ser Loras and Ser Garlan to ride ahead of the army with a column of mounted knights to secure the city and their sister's safety.
To slow his enemy's pursuers, Mace chooses five thousand men to reinforce the token garrison at Harrenhal. He instructs them to use the castle as a base to launch raids on Stannis' supply lines in the northern Crownlands. Additionally, he orders small bands of Crownlands men to return to their keeps and villages along the Kingsroad and harass the enemy on its march south. Lastly, he sends riders ahead to order the seizure of food and draft animals from farms north of King's Landing. Mace plans for the vast majority of the forage to be brought within the city walls, while everything that cannot be carried will be burned to leave Stannis' large army unable to forage. To compensate for the damage and head off complaints from remaining Crownlander loyalists, Mace announces a one-year tax amnesty for these lords. He also pledges to provide restitution for those who bring supplies to the city of their own volition.
While contemplating her situation in King's Landing, Margaery becomes convinced that her family's refusal to abandon their doomed struggle will guarantee their downfall. In light of this, she resolves to take drastic action to save herself and the child she carries. She accesses the Red Keep's rookery and secretly dispatches a raven to Dragonstone. In a letter addressed to Stannis, Margaery offers to surrender herself in exchange for guarantees that he will recognize her child's rights to Storm's End — and permit them both to live there freely.
On Dragonstone, Queen Selyse Florent rules while her royal husband wars on the mainland. In practice, however, she delegates her authority to her castellan, Ser Axell Florent, who shares power uneasily with two of Stannis' appointed small councillors: his master of whisperers, Ser Davos Seaworth, and his master of ships, Lord Monford Velaryon. However, when Maester Pylos receives the message from King's Landing, he shares it with Ser Davos alone. The Onion Knight's recent efforts to cultivate his loyalty have paid off.
Ser Davos has also spent the past few months learning his letters with the help of Princess Shireen Baratheon — he is thus able to decipher Margaery's message unaided, though he scarcely believes its contents. In his reply to Margaery, he claims to speak for Stannis and promises her safe conduct to Dragonstone aboard a ship that will leave the city in the coming days. However, he refrains from immediately agreeing to her other demands, which would be for Stannis to accept or refuse.
Thanks to Davos's extensive criminal contacts in King's Landing, he can deliver his message to Margaery through secretive means. Assuming she will accede to his terms, he instructs her to board the merchant cog Fairwinds whose captain had been desperate for coin since the beginning of Stannis' blockade.
Margaery is quick to set her escape plot in motion. After learning that her brothers are riding to King's Landing ahead of their father's army, she knows she has no time to waste. First, she confides her intentions to her cousins, several of her ladies-in-waiting, and a few dependable guards. Next, she plots to rid herself of her troublesome protector, Ser Garth Hightower of the Rainbow Guard. On the day of her escape, she plans to send him to the Street of Sisters to disband the Alchemist's Guild, ostensibly to ensure that their knowledge of wildfire would not fall into Stannis' clutches. While Ser Garth and his men are thus occupied, Margaery hopes to visit the docks to dispense alms to the poor before fleeing aboard the Fairwinds with Elinor Tyrell and Alysanne Bulwer. According to this plan, Alyn Ambrose and Ser Lucas Woodwright were to accompany her as sworn swords.
Unfortunately for Margaery, other treasons threaten to upend her best-laid plans. After Renly's death and Mace's flight from the Trident, Lord Eddard Stark — Stannis' Hand of the King — dispatches ravens and riders to notable houses in the Crownlands, aiming to convince them to join Stannis. It is a canny move, for these houses are politically insecure and eager for a lifeline. They had uniformly risen for King Joffrey and uniformly bent the knee to King Renly; now that both claimants are dead and the Crownlands are bled dry, they wish to kneel to Stannis but are afraid to do so without any assurances. However, with Eddard's offer of pardons, they grow bold enough to act.
This faction of treasonous Crownlander nobles — principally led by Lord Gyles Rosby, Lady Tanda Stokeworth, Ser Balman Byrch, and young Lord Lucos Chyttering — finds a willing partner in Lord Staedmon. He is Renly's master of coin and commands the two thousand men of the Stormlands in King's Landing. Though Lord Staedmon professes his continued loyalty to Lord Rowan, he privately believes that Stannis' victory was inevitable and wished to contribute to the winning side. He contacts the leading Crownlander traitors; together, they plot to betray Lord Rowan's men, take custody of Margaery, and seize control of the capital.
On the night before Margaery's planned escape, Lord Staedmon and his allies make their move. Under the cover of darkness, they attack and occupy key areas of the city and the Red Keep, killing scores of Reachmen as they sleep or stand at their posts. They might have even succeeded in capturing Lord Rowan or Queen Margaery had it not been for a fire that broke out in Lord Staedmon's chambers. The blaze, which bears the telltale green hue of wildfire, starts suddenly before spreading rapidly to consume a whole wing of the castle. In rousing nearly the entire city with its roar and ominous glow, the fire deprives Lord Staedmon's coup of its element of surprise, dooming it to defeat by Lord Rowan's more numerous forces. Pennylover himself is killed in the subsequent Battle of the Red Keep, cut down by Ser Garth Hightower. Ser Balman Byrch is captured and summarily executed, while Lord Lucos kills himself by leaping onto the iron spikes of the dry moat surrounding Maegor's Holdfast.
In the hours after Lord Staedmon's unsuccessful coup, Lord Rowan orders the arrest of dozens of knights and men-at-arms from the Stormlands and the Crownlands. Many are tortured to uncover the true scale of the plot, and several additional nobles are implicated in their confessions. Lady Tanda Stokeworth and her two daughters, Falyse and Lollys, are arrested and imprisoned in the black cells, along with Lord Gyles Rosby and Lord Staunton.
The fire leaves nearly a quarter of the Red Keep severely or moderately burnt. The damage is worst in the master of coin's chambers, where mountains of financial records and ledgers dating as far back as Petyr Baelish's tenure are reduced to ash. The flames also claimed the lives of numerous servants and guards who foolishly attempted to fight it. Enemy sabotage is believed to be the cause, and the city is placed under strict lockdown as Lord Rowan organizes a search for the culprit. The Dragon Gate, the Lion Gate, and the Old Gate are closed and barred; the Mud Gate and the Gate of the Gods are left open, but only to those who want to enter the city. Those allowed to leave by the King's Gate or the Iron Gate, but Rowan men-at-arms man the guard posts, searching wagons and carriages, forcing riders to open their saddlebags, and questioning everyone who tries to pass on foot.
Consequently, Margaery finds her freedom of movement throughout the city abruptly curtailed. She is thus forced to modify her plans. Fortunately, the devastating use of wildfire within the Red Keep gives her the perfect excuse to proceed with her ploy against the Alchemists' Guild. In a stroke of good fortune, Lord Rowan enthusiastically agrees with her suggestion to send Ser Garth Hightower and a strong contingent of men to rid the city of the pyromancers for good and all. The Lord of Goldengrove is not only already distrustful of the Guild but harbours suspicions that they had supplied the saboteur with his wildfire. He is thus determined to excise them from the city — root and stem.
As Lord Hallyne and the members of his Guild are being beaten and forced into the twilit streets, Queen Margaery complains of a sudden bout of sickness and retires to her chambers. Her cousin Elinor takes Margaery's place in her bed while Ser Lucantine smuggles her out of the Red Keep in a large wooden chest. Before leaving the castle, Margaery leaves behind a message for her family that explains her motivations. Though she regrets her betrayal, she does not wish to die in a quixotic war and hopes that removing himself from the cyvasse board will encourage her father to come to terms with Stannis.
Once beyond the confines of the Red Keep, Margaery and her guards shed their armour and fine clothes to adopt the guise of smallfolk. With some luck and a few well-placed bribes, the party of three make it through the Mud Gate and to the Blackwater Rush before their ruse is discovered. By the time a general alarm is raised and Lord Rowan's forces launch a frantic search for their queen, she is safe aboard the Fairwinds as it slips from the docks under the cover of darkness.
After a few hours of sailing, the Fairwinds meets Ser Davos's galley, Black Betha, in Blackwater Bay. The Onion Knight pays the captain of the merchant cog in full and then welcomes Margaery and her guards aboard his ship. Though he receives them courteously, he forces Alyn and Ser Lucantine to surrender their concealed weapons and also confines Margaery to a cabin under heavy guard, sincerely promising it is for her own protection.
Three days later, Ser Loras and Ser Garlan arrive at King's Landing to find the city in a restless state. Lord Rowan is ashen-faced as he receives the Tyrell brothers. When he tells them about the fruitless search for their sister and the contents of the letter she left in her chambers, the Knight of Flowers flies into a rage. In his anger, he nearly kills Ser Garth Hightower for failing to protect the queen, but Garlan restrains him. Once he has calmed somewhat, Ser Loras sets to the unenviable task of sending word to his father of Margaery's disappearance.
Contrary to his sister's wish, Ser Loras has no desire to come to terms with the man he blames for Renly's murder — in his dreams, he kills Stannis every night. In his letter to his father, Ser Loras notes that while House Tyrell is certainly on the back foot, they are not alone in their steadfast opposition to Stannis' rule. It is time, he urges his father, to consider joining forces with another enemy: House Lannisters of Casterly Rock.
His boots drank deep of seawater, and he relished the rush of water. Cold as ice, hard as iron. He had missed the taste of salt in the air, in the water and in his mouth. He squeezed the coil of rope and faltered against the oncoming tide. The tide was whitecapped and knee-high, he nearly bucked over, but Maric had him by the arm.
"Steady, old man."
Maric laughed. He had grown out his beard and changed from his captain's tunic to a simple coat of brown and black. He saw himself in him, only twenty years younger, but with the eyes and smile of Marya. How I miss your mother, and your brothers. He steadied himself on the loose stones underneath the roiling water, gave Maric a playful punch on the shoulder to which Maric only continued to laugh. Together, they pulled the rowboat to shore.
"You think she will happy, in there?"
"Her happiness is not relevant."
"The safety of her and Renly's child is paramount. Above all else."
They sat down on two smooth stones, that resembled two, fat seals rutting. Behind them, the black chest they had dragged from the rowboat sat in a shallow mound of upturned sand. Davos chewed on hard blackbread, while Maric drank from a strangled skin. They stared at Dragonstone, in the distance. Rising from the cliffside, resembling a haggard gargoyle. Hunched over, retching across the sea.
"You did the right thing, father."
"You ended the War."
"The War's not done, yet."
They watched a set of black wings fly off from Dragonstone.
And pretended to hear the roiling anger of their King's queen.
Maric laughed and added:
"Stannis will end it"
Addressed to his grace, King Stannis, First of his Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm:
I have done as your grace has instructed and plied my previous trade, for which my fingers were shortened for.
Lady Margaery Baratheon, reneé Tyrell is in captivity. Together with her unborn child.
She has been given Rhaenyra's rooms in the Sea Dragon Tower.
She is under guard, and awaits your judgement, your grace.
Four days' march from King's Landing, Lord Mace Tyrell brings his host to an abrupt halt beside an unnamed village along the Kingsroad. A rider from the capital has delivered him a grim report: Queen Margaery Tyrell has surrendered herself to King Stannis Baratheon, absconding from the city to become a hostage on the island of Dragonstone. Though his daughter's betrayal is personally upsetting to Mace, he is more devastated by what he perceives as a mortal blow to his political ambitions. After Renly's untimely demise, Mace had hoped to crown Margaery's unborn child in his stead. Now that path, too, is seemingly lost to him.
The rider from King's Landing also brings Mace a message from his youngest and favourite son, Ser Loras Tyrell. Grieving and vengeful over his lover's loss, the Knight of Flowers urges his father to continue the fight against Stannis by allying with House Lannister. If they cannot crown Renly or his child, Loras argues for supporting Myrcella (the so-called Queen in the West)to keep Stannis from the Iron Throne. However, in the aftermath of Renly's unnatural assassination, Margaery's betrayal, and the defection of several Tyrell bannermen, Mace is keener to end the conflict entirely. When he calls a war council and proposes negotiating terms of surrender with Stannis, most of his remaining vassals — namely Lady Arwyn Oakheart, Lord Randyll Tarly, and Lords Vyrwel, Ashford, and Peake — agree that the time has come to bend the knee. Only two questions remain in their minds: Which of them would treat with Stannis, and how lenient would he be?
In the end, Mace sends Lady Arwyn north to open the negotiations and offer initial terms. She finds Stannis' camp located less than a day's march up the Kingsroad. When she delivers Mace's terms to the Lord of Dragonstone and his councillors, she receives a more hospitable reception than she had dared to hope. After all, as a key supporter of the late Renly Baratheon, she has heard of what transpired when the brothers met on the Trident; to hear Renly and Mace tell it, Stannis had been harsh in his manner and determined to see the Tyrells either dead or freezing at the Wall. But now, with Renly dead, Stannis seems more inclined to compromise. Though he dislikes the treacherous lords who had followed his brother, he knows that bringing the Reach into the fold is well worth the price of a generous peace deal. Stannis and his chief councillors reason that if the Reach recognizes their rule, then the Vale and Dorne would be sure to follow in short order, leaving only the Westerlands and the Iron Islands in rebellion against the crown. Melisandre of Asshai also urges him to come to a swift accord with Mace, reiterating her warning that their true enemy was far to the north — an ancient evil lurking beyond the Wall. She claims they have precious little time to waste.
As their negotiations continue, Stannis and Mace each agreed to bring their armies closer together to facilitate easier communication. For a day and a night, messages are sent back and forth as members of each camp seeks slight adjustments to the terms for their benefit. After many sleepless hours of parley and debate, Mace and his bannermen finally enter the enemy camp, kneel at Stannis Baratheon's feet, and swear fealty to him. In exchange, Stannis grants the Tyrells and their vassals sweeping royal pardons. He reaffirms Mace Tyrell as Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Reach, and Warden of the North, and Ser Garth Hightower (formerly a member of Renly's Rainbow Guard) is named a member of Stannis' Kingsguard. Stannis even promises that when Margaery and Renly's child is born, he will grant it the castle of Storm's End and the overlordship of the Stormlands.
However, the peace does come with caveats that Stannis and his allies insist upon. Though Margaery's child will hold Storm's End, Stannis mandates that Ser Cortnay Penrose will serve as their castellan and regent until it reaches adulthood. And while Margaery will be permitted to live at Storm's End with her child, she would not hold formal power over the castle or the region. Furthermore, if the child is a girl, she will be betrothed at birth to her cousin Edric Baratheon (the bastard of King Robert whom Stannis legitimized), to be married once she flowers. House Tyrell also agrees to forgo all expectations of payment for the considerable debts owed to it by the Iron Throne.
Before the Reach's submission, King Stannis Baratheon's host in the northern Crownlands contained roughly seventy-five thousand men. Close to fifteen thousand were from the North or the Stormlands; the rest mostly hailed from the Riverlands, the Crownlands, or the Reach, and a few thousand were sellswords from Essos. But after Mace Tyrell bends the knee and joined his army to Stannis', this already impressive host swells to around one hundred and twenty thousand men. It is one of the largest armies in Westerosi history.
Ravens bear the news of the peace agreement far and wide across the continent. The remaining rebels in the Reach quickly follow Mace in his surrender, pacifying at a stroke one of the Seven Kingdoms' largest and most fertile regions. So long as the depredations of the Ironborn are restricted to the coasts of the Reach, Stannis and his allies expect to enjoy a newly reliable food supply for King's Landing and their massive army.
In King's Landing, Lord Mathis Rowan swears his fealty to Stannis and pledges to prepare King's Landing for his imminent arrival. Additionally, he orders the survivors of Lord Alesander Staedmon's failed pro-Stannis plot — namely Lord Gyles Rosby, Lord Staunton, and Lady Tanda Stokeworth and her daughters — to be released from the black cells. Ser Tanton Fossoway, captured by Lord Randyll Tarly at the second Battle of the Ruby Ford for trying to join Stannis, is also freed from his imprisonment.
Further south, at Storm's End, the besieged forces of Ser Cortnay Penrose learn of the peace agreement from Lord Ralph Buckler, who has been laying siege to the castle without much success. Though he considers himself mostly satisfied with the proposed terms, Ser Cortnay vows not to surrender the castle or his ward Edric until he sees Renly's corpse in the flesh.
As his host nears Appleton, Ser Igon Vyrwel receives a message from Mace Tyrell. His lord informs him of the new peace and orders him to cease marching on King's Landing with his army of fifteen thousand men. Mace claims that Ser Garlan Tyrell will ride west to assume command of the army and lead a reconquest of the Shield Islands from the ironborn.
The more Balon thought about it, he knew it to be true. When he launched his second rebellion, he did with the expectation that he would not face a united Iron Throne, as he did the last time. Westeros was divided, weakened by civil war and strife; it was the perfect time for the ironborn to rise again and reclaim their rightful place as lords of the Sunset Sea.
But Stannis Baratheon had crushed his dreams, as he had done on Fair Island ten years ago. Despite having only the meager support of two of the weakest Great Houses, Stannis managed to crush Lord Tywin and his brother Renly, who had all the South in his back. And now that fat fucking bastard Tyrell had knelt to him; all Westeros was now rallied under the flaming heart of Stannis Baratheon. And Balon knew well that the ironborn alone had no chance of defeating the united might of the Seven Kingdoms. And thus, they could win this war.
In these dark moments, Balon thought about surrendering. Stannis would probably have him burnt as an offer to that foreign flame devil of his; Stark, being the honorable bastard that he was, would simply chop his head with Ice or let him take the black. And then, they would give the Islands to Theon for his loyal service to their cause. And that was unacceptable.
Theon would put an end to the Old Way, making them greenlanders in all but name. And without the Old Way, the ironborn were nothing. Balon would not allow such a thing to happen; the ironborn would do better dying with a curse on their lips and an ax in their hands than betraying everything they stood for.
It would be a sad fate for them, but it was the only one that they could bear. He was a King once more, and he would not kneel again.
"The Tyrells have bent the knee," Lord Tywin Lannister said without preamble. "We received the report last night. The whole of the Reach has gone over to Stannis Baratheon."
Queen Myrcella's assembled councillors had fallen very quiet. For a time, the only sound heard in the room was the crackle and hiss of logs burning in the hearth.
Ser Jaime Lannister sipped his wine and said not a word. Instead, he watched the faces of those seated around the table. His brother Tyrion and his uncle, Ser Kevan, appeared troubled but unsurprised—after all, they had all heard the grim ridings earlier that morning. In contrast, the Lords Brax, Crakehall, and Marbrand seemed stricken by the news. Ser Barristan Selmy wore an expression of deep concern, Ser Harys Swyft went deathly pale, and poor Grand Maester Pycelle nearly keeled over from the shock.
Only Lord Tywin seemed unperturbed. He sat as if he had been carved from stone, silently studying the room and waiting to see how would break the tense quiet.
"How could this happen?" Ser Harys moaned at last. "How? Mace Tyrell had Renly's whelp in his daughter's belly! He could have fought on."
"Lady Margaery betrayed her own family to surrender to Stannis," Ser Kevan told his good-father patiently. "Without their queen or Renly's child in hand, who were they to fight for?"
"I call it cowardice," Lord Brax said. "Mace Tyrell has always been a weak man."
"But also a proud one," Lord Marbrand retorted. "We should have sought an alliance with him after Renly's death! Then we might have had a chance."
"If we had wed Queen Myrcella to Willas Tyrell, we could have crushed Stannis with our greater numbers," Lord Crakehall agreed.
"We made the offer," Lord Tywin said stiffly. "It was rebuffed."
For a moment, the room fell quiet again. This time it was Jaime's younger brother who broke the silence.
"Now that Mace Tyrell has bent the knee to Stannis, I suspect Doran Martell and Lysa Arryn will follow suit," Tyrion said. "I fear we shall soon be alone in struggle." He paused and then laughed. "Well, apart from the ironborn, I suppose."
Lord Tywin turned his gold-flecked eyes on his younger son. "I am glad you find this so amusing, Tyrion."
"Come, Father. You know I cannot help but root for the losing side."
Grand Maester Pycelle shook his great bald head. "The war is not over yet. I am certain that Lord Tywin shall prevail in the end."
Tyrion rolled his eyes.
"There is no point crying over spilled milk," Jaime said. He spoke without laughing and did not even wear the sly smirk that so often marked his face. He turned to glimpse his reflection in a nearby mirror. His hair of beaten gold—beyond dazzling when mixed with his sister's—was flecked with gray hairs near his chin. Years had been stolen from him.
You would have called me an old man, Jaime thought. Old and used, a shade too white, a tad too serious. He wanted Cersei back. Back in her bedchambers when the light struck her skin as they lovingly caressed one another … "You're hurting me! You're hurting me!" She haunted him still, first the nectar and then the venom.
By custom, every Lannister who was a man grown was present at the meeting—all save for Jaime's cousin, Ser Lancel, still rotting in a black cell beneath the Red Keep. Jaime sat close to his father—far closer than Tyrion, who languished at the end of the table. In Lord Tywin's eyes, it seemed his older son stood above the younger in more ways than one. Jaime thought it remarkable that their father still favoured him over Tyrion after all his brother had done. How much longer must I fall before you look down at me, brother? Jaime wondered. I would not blame you for it. You were born hated; I had to earn it. The gods mock us too much.
Jaime glanced around the room. "Stannis's army remains in the northern Crownlands. But no matter how tough it is, anything that size will take time to move. We still have an opportunity to act."
"You suggest going on the offensive?" Ser Kevan asked.
"See sense, brother," Tyrion said. He was watching his wine cup, unable to meet Jaime's eye. "We cannot stand alone against all Westeros. We could not beat Stannis even when we had far more equal numbers! The war is all but over."
Lord Tywin gave Tyrion a dark look. "So long we draw breath, this war is not over." He turned his gaze to Jaime. "What do you propose, son?"
It was a path Jaime did not relish taking. Myrcella's safety came first in his mind. War would take him far away from her. She was strong, he knew, but not well. Cersei had left an invisible wound on her daughter. Her outlook on life had dimmed considerably, and who could fault her for it? The world was cruel enough to make one wish for blindness.
All the same, Jaime felt strangely compelled to fight. As a captive, he had seen a fire burning in the eyes of Stannis Baratheon. Hot and harsh, he had shaken the Kingslayer with only a few words. Everyone knew of the queer religion Stannis now held to, but until they crossed swords, Jaime had not realized the depth of his conviction. Seeing that had sparked something in him that was deeply troubling.
They were eyes Jaime had seen before. Long ago, he served a dragon king with the same gaze. Mad by his nature, madder by his envy, Aerys had loved nothing more than his pyres. He thought of himself as above everything and everyone—almost like a god. And the problem with gods is they are far bigger bastards than men.
"Father, to simply sit here is to wait for a landslide to sweep us away," Jaime said. "I suggest we strike Stannis where it will hurt him the most."
Ser Barristan furrowed his brow. "What can you mean by that, ser?"
"It would be suicide to seek out Stannis in the field," Lord Marbrand said.
"Not Stannis. Not directly," Lord Tywin said. He treated Jaime to a long, searching look and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. "You mean to attack his pillars of support, I presume. Which ones?"
Jaime's father was always a clever one. Despite being pushed against the wall and onto his toes, Lord Tywin never stopped considering his next move. You never imagine losing, do you? If there were even the slightest path to victory, you would sooner crawl into the earth to find than admit defeat. That way of thinking had always come naturally to Cersei and Tyrion. Jaime was blunter and slower to learn, but he had begun to catch up. You are what the world thinks of you, Kingslayer, he told himself.
The never-ending training with Barristan Selmy had helped Jaime hone his thoughts. "Indeed, Father," he said. "Stannis's most pressing concerns are feeding his smallfolk, supplying his army, and maintaining the support of his lords. Many of those who now follow him were his enemies only recently. They bent the knee with some reluctance. If a force could sally out and lay waste to the farms and fields of the Reach, it would threaten his main source of grain and make the realm doubt he has a complete handle on the war. It could shake the colossus."
Stannis's authority was built on terror. The Lord of Dragonstone was never loved, and that was before he embraced a foreign god and dark magic. He had no warmth or humour in him. Fear was his consort, and fear would be his undoing. It had to be for Myrcella's sake.
"Of course, such a force must finish its business quickly." Jaime curled his hand into a fist. "I recommend it be made up entirely of cavalry. No whores, no train, no excess. It should move in and out again before Stannis—or the Tyrells—have time to react." He returned Lord Tywin's look. "Let me lead it, father. I cannot promise that this expedition will overturn our misfortune, but we will be better off from it."
Lord Tywin thought for a long moment, then nodded. "You present a good case. I am persuaded. We shall find you some men."
Relief surged within him. Jaime felt himself fully smile for perhaps the first time in months. "Thank you, Father."
Lord Tywin did not return the expression. He looked away from his son and the rest of the council, gazing at the setting sun beyond the opened balcony windows.
"Kings have no friends, only subjects and enemies."
—King Stannis Baratheon
In the Crownlands
The Kraken and the Hound
After weeks of gruelling travel across war-ravaged Westeros, Asha Greyjoy and Sandor Clegane finally reach King Stannis Baratheon in the Crownlands. He has camped his army at Brindlewood, a roadside village near King's Landing, after accepting the surrenders of Lord Mace Tyrell and his bannermen.
By chance, Asha and Sandor are intercepted at the outskirts of the camp by her younger brother, Theon Greyjoy, and some outriders. Theon does not recognize his sister after nearly a decade apart, but he knows Sandor by his distinctive burns. He tersely orders his men to execute them both for treason.
Asha defuses the situation by revealing her identity and pledging to acknowledge Stannis as her king. Theon is stunned yet happy to see his sister so far from the Iron Islands. He agrees to bring them to Stannis, but only after they surrender their weapons. As they navigate a sprawling maze of tents, wagons, horses and soldiers, Theon questions his sister's presence so far from home, and she tells him of her disillusionment with the ironborn cause. She also reveals that her desire to reunite with Theon — her last living sibling — kept her going when she was at her lowest point.
Meanwhile, Stannis shares a toast with his small councillors in his pavilion to celebrate his victory. When a messenger brings word of Theon's return with some unexpected company, Stannis prepares to receive them publicly. He recognizes Asha's value as a hostage against the rebellious House Greyjoy and hopes to send a message to his lords, many of whom were recent rebels.
In an impassioned display, Asha condemns her father, Balon Greyjoy, as a traitor and offers her fealty to Stannis as the one true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. When Stannis questions Asha's apparent abandonment of her people, she dismisses independence for the Iron Islands as the foolish dream of small-minded men obsessed with the past. She says she desires peace for the Iron Islands and cultural harmony between the ironborn and the rest of the realm.
Sandor also pledges his loyalty to Stannis, though his manner is gruffer and more reserved. Sharing his first-hand experience of the devastation wrought by House Lannister on the Riverlands, he expresses regret for his past loyalty to Casterly Rock. He offers to earn a royal pardon by participating in an invasion of the Westerlands and further promises to bring Ser Edmure Tully the head of a man who brutally raided his lands: Sandor's own brother, the infamous Ser Gregor Clegane.
Among the notables in attendance, Asha and Sandor's pleas for clemency fall on a few friendly ears. The Hand of the King, Lord Eddard Stark, Edmure and Ser Brynden Tully all argue in favour of granting the two royal pardons. For his part, Theon passionately advocates on his sister's behalf. However, others such as Mace Tyrell and Lord Jason Mallister oppose such clemency. They suspect that Asha is laying a trap for them and doubt the sincerity of her story.
After a few moments of silent contemplation, Stannis decides to accept Asha and Sandor's oaths of fealty. When Mace Tyrell protests, claiming that Balon's only daughter would never betray him, Stannis retorts that Balon's only living son had defied his father from the outset — so why not the daughter? He formally invites Asha to join his court and also agrees to grant Sandor a pardon contingent upon the quality of his military service. In pointed remarks to the assembled audience of lords, knights, and men-at-arms, Stannis states that no man can genuinely doubt his capacity for mercy.
The Knight of Thorns
In the early morning hours before Stannis's army breaks camp and marches on King's Landing, Lady Melisandre of Asshai stands in her pavilion, looking into the fire and trying to receive her visions. When she looks for her king, she sees him riding into the city amidst a cheering crowd of smallfolk, parading in throngs so dense as to make the streets nigh impassably. Amidst the press and commotion, she then sees Stannis come under attack by a knight whose shield is emblazoned with three golden roses on green.
Melisandre recognizes this assailant. He is Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, whom she had last seen in the parley between Stannis and his brother at the Ruby Ford. When she warns Stannis of the planned attempt on his life, he knows better than to doubt her vision. He orders the Lord Commander of his Kingsguard, Ser Brynden Tully, and the other members of his white cloaks to watch Loras for hostile intent and remain wary of potential assassins as they enter the city.
When Mace sends his son word of House Tyrell's surrender to Stannis and their imminent return to the capital, Loras surprises everyone by organizing to celebrate the king's homecoming. In truth, he secretly resolves to assassinate Stannis and Melisandre as they navigate narrow streets choked with people. Though Loras's thirst for vengeance compels him to conspire against Stannis, he initially struggles to find willing co-conspirators. While Stannis is generally unpopular and unloved, he is not hated enough to inspire ordinary men to seek his death.
However, Loras does succeed in recruiting commoners and men-at-arms others to a plot to murder Melisandre, who is widely feared and despised by the people of King's Landing and followers of the late King Renly Baratheon. Public denunciations of R'hllor by the High Septon and lurid rumours spread by Tyrell agents combined to create a perception of Melisandre as a demon-worshipper who murdered one Baratheon brother with magic and seduced and corrupted another to do her bidding. Loras claims she is a malign force that must be killed for the realm's good.
As his men erect their tents beyond the city walls, Stannis is met at the Gate of the Gods by an honour guard of Lord Mathis Rowan, Ser Garth Hightower, and close to a dozen mounted knights meant to escort him to the Red Keep. On the other side, they are greeted by hundreds of smallfolk — a crowd organized by Loras. Some in the crowd cheer for Stannis, while others curse his names under their breaths. Still more stay silent, bearing mute witness to the arrival of a man about whom they are curious but hardly affectionate.
Also waiting beyond the gatehouse is Loras Tyrell, resplendent in his elaborate armour and sitting astride a white mare. He gracefully slips from his saddle to kneel before Stannis, appearing for a moment as if he means to swear his fealty before the whole city. Instead, Loras draws his sword and rises in one fluid motion to lunge for Stannis's mount, aiming to kill the horse and drag the king down for easy killing. At the same time, men Loras had placed throughout the crowd draw their concealed blades and rush for Melisandre, intending to pull her from her saddle and cut her apart.
Warned of an attack in advance, Stannis's Kingsguard and personal retainers are tensing for action before Loras even unsheathes his sword. When the Knight of Flowers makes his move, they leap to their king's defence with alacrity. In half a heartbeat, Loras carves a bloody path through two guardsmen, only to find his way barred by Brynden, Ser Richard Horpe, and Robb Stark, who cooperate to repel his attacks.
All around Loras, thirteen other assassins are cut down as they rush from the crowd to attack the column. Melisandre sits serenely amidst the killing, emotionless even as her horse rears and shies away from the blood. The smallfolk scream in terror and trample one another in their haste to escape the carnage.
Robb's direwolf, Grey Wind, ends the fighting when it rushes forward to join the fray. The beast smashes Loras in the centre of his breastplate, knocking him prone and sending his sword flying across the cobblestones. The Knight of Flowers struggles to rise, spitting blood and curses, but his effort is in vain. His father's men-at-arms kneel on his arms and chest to pin him to the ground.
Before he is dragged away to a dungeon cell, Loras rants and raves to all within earshot. He accuses Stannis and Melisandre of murdering Renly with dark magic, screaming that Stannis is a kinslayer who deserves death for his heinous crime. After a guardsman knocks Loras unconscious and quiets him, Mace Tyrell rears up to Stannis and attempts to salvage the situation for his family. He claims total ignorance of the attack and begs mercy for his youngest son, but the king silences him with a furious glare. Stannis tells Mace that he will devise a punishment for Loras later, as the streets are not safe. In the meantime, he proclaims that anyone who attempts to leave the city will be considered an accomplice to Loras's treason.
In the hours following Loras's dramatic attack, the City Watch of King's Landing is forced to put down spontaneous rioting in the poorest quarters of the city. To Stannis's great consternation, Loras is beloved by the smallfolk (especially women) and thought to embody the essence of chivalry, while Melisandre and Stannis himself are much less popular. The king's newly-appointed Commander of the gold cloaks, Ser Jared Terrick, reports that the common people are agitating for Loras's release and, at the same time, demanding Melisandre's exile from the city. They seem to believe she is a malign influence on the king, whose presence will bring ruin and doom upon the realm.
A search of Loras's chambers reveals a sealed letter written in his hand. The contents clear Loras's family of any involvement with or knowledge of his plan. Despite this exculpatory evidence, relations between Stannis and the Tyrells remain strained. In a private audience with Eddard, Mace and his second son, Ser Garlan Tyrell, make veiled threats suggesting that Loras's execution would reignite the war between House Tyrell and the Iron Throne.
The Fox and the Rose
On Dragonstone, Queen Selyse Florent grants her guest, Lady Margaery Baratheon (née Tyrell), relative freedom to roam the castle after the latter's incessant requests. Though Margaery despises the bleak island and its dreary fortress, she takes a greater interest in its people. For example, she strives to endear herself to Princess Shireen Baratheon, Stannis's only daughter and the heir to the Iron Throne. Margaery becomes close with the lonely Shireen by discussing their shared interests, playing games, braiding each other's hair, and reading stories. She encourages Shireen to visit her in Storm's End when the war is over and is left assured that she has made a friend of the crown princess.
In her interactions with Shireen, Margaery also encounters Brienne of Tarth, the daughter of Lord Selwyn Tarth and the princess's sworn sword. The two women are rather ill-suited to each other, but they find common ground over their sorrow at Renly's death. Brienne seems sincere when she wishes for the health of Margaery's unborn baby and promises to do everything in her power to protect the child as a future vassal.
Margaery also becomes unlikely friends with Ser Davos Seaworth, the man who secretly ferried her from King's Landing to the Dragonstone. Though she had initially been angry when Davos ordered her kept below decks like some smuggler's cargo, she learns of the Onion Knight's honesty, warmth, and upstanding character over time. She is impressed that a man can overcome his low birth to attain an upstanding character. Additionally, when Margaery grasps the extent of Davos's devotion to Stannis, she wonders whether the perception of the new king as a man who inspires no loyalty is accurate.
Though the jealous Selyse permits Margaery to explore Dragonstone, she also delights in making her guest's life more difficult in overt and subtle ways. She denies Margaery's request to summon her ladies to Dragonstone for company, as she fears that Margaery intends to establish a court to rival her. Selyse also refuses Margaery's offer to help organize Stannis's coronation in King's Landing, despite her experience planning similar ceremonies. At her worst, Selyse subjects Margaery to a slew of petty psychological abuses, such as constantly replacing her servants, moving her room to far-flung castle quarters, and neglecting to invite her to social engagements.
Fortunately for Margaery, within a fortnight of Stannis's coronation, the king invites Selyse and Shireen to sail to the capital and take up residence in the Red Keep. Their departure ends Margaery's period of polite captivity at Dragonstone. She returns with Stannis's family and Davos to King's Landing, where she is no longer as vulnerable to the queen's whims. However, Selyse pulls Margaery aside just before they arrive for a parting act of cruelty. She informs Margaery of the news which had been kept for Dragonstone: that Loras is rotting in a black cell, imprisoned for trying to kill Stannis. Selyse taunts the girl by saying that Loras is fit to be burned for his treason and that she will try to imagine it as she sleeps in Margaery's former chambers in Maegor's Holdfast.
The New King's Reign
As one of his first orders of business, Stannis organizes his own formal coronation in the Red Keep. In a snub to the High Septon, whom Renly selected and who had preached against Stannis for months (though no longer), Stannis bars him from attendance and refuses to be blessed and anointed with the seven oils, as is tradition. The Faith of the Seven takes significant offence, as do the more devout among the smallfolk and nobility. Despite the ambiguity of Stannis's exact religious beliefs, the controversy fuels rumour that the king has secretly renounced the Seven entirely and taken up worship of R'hllor, the foreign god of his hated witch. Melisandre's privileged position at court and on his councils also lends credence to this gossip.
Now crowned twice and seated atop the Iron Throne, Stannis feels newly confident in his power. Of the seven kingdoms and three regions over whose lands he claims, only the Westerlands and the Iron Islands are still in open rebellion. No longer content to tolerate the neutrality of the Vale and Dorne, Stannis sends messages to Lady Lysa Arryn and Lord Doran Martell to demand their submission.
While Loras wastes away in a windowless dungeon cell that stinks of urine, the formerly imprisoned supporters of King Stannis Baratheon - such as Lord Staunton and Lady Stokeworth - find themselves newly free, albeit in a very different court. Stannis's brother, Renly, was a charismatic man of frivolous and expensive tastes. Moreover, his queen was the sole daughter of a wealthy family that strove to display its ample resources at every opportunity. Their short-lived time at court was remembered as a time of good humour, lavish spectacle, copious festivities, and prodigious waste and excess. The Red Keep of King Robert Baratheon was much the same; courtiers could expect to enjoy an endless parade of feasts, tourneys, and hunting parties, all paid for by the royal treasury. Every wall and archway was adorned with rich tapestries and paintings, and every room was festooned with poets, singers, and other entertainers.
By contrast, King Stannis is a severe and stubborn man who despises the jubilant frivolity that his brothers so relished. His style is decidedly practical and unadorned, for he has no liking and no need for gaudiness. Where Renly would dress in dark green velvet and cloth-of-gold, Stannis wears grey wool tunics and plain black leather - well-made garb that is simple and serves a purpose. As he moves into the Red Keep, the castle is gradually transformed to suit his tastes. Additionally, the extravagant furnishings of Robert, Renly and Joffrey's courts are sold off to generate revenue for the empty treasury and to finance the reconstruction of the burned wings of the castle.
The Red Keep is growing drab and utilitarian in the eyes of the court. The nobles whisper that Stannis in King's Landing is becoming Dragonstone, a castle rumoured to be as grim as the king and ugly as his wife. The performers, the feasts, and dances are fast-fading memories.
This suits Stannis just fine. For him, ruling the realm is a serious business, and he has little interest in winning the hearts and minds of courtiers who are uniformly vipers, flatterers, and fools. He devotes himself instead to righting the wrongs of years of Baratheon and Lannister misrule.
After many days of discussion, Stannis and his small council finally determine the fate of Loras Tyrell. Though the king considers ordering his execution for treason, he understands that to do so would deeply antagonize Loras's family and his supporters in the city. Though Melisandre desires to burn him, and Lord Roose Bolton cautions against too much mercy, Stannis's other advisors argue that Loras should be sent to join the Night's Watch and live out the rest of his days on the Wall. Eddard notes that, despite Loras's crime, no man can question his fighting ability - and given the threat posed by Mance Rayder and the other dangers beyond the Wall, the Watch is in desperate need of men like him.
Stannis ultimately agrees that Loras should be permitted to take the black. However, anxious to prevent the knight's escape along the way, Stannis entrusts several men-at-arms to escort him north and ensure he takes his vows. The king complains that he will blame his merciful advisors responsible should Loras manage to escape his captor and become another Bittersteel.
As it happens, Stannis's fears of an escape are not misplaced. When the guardsmen retrieve Loras from his cell, they are shocked to find the door ajar and the chamber empty. Ser Lancel Lannister and Rugen, the gaoler in charge of the black cells, are also missing. Suspicion is immediately cast upon the Tyrells, but they angrily deny involvement. Furious at the loss of his two most valuable prisoners, Stannis orders the harsh interrogations of the Red Keep's gaolers and reestablishes the office of Lord Confessor to root out other traitors in the castle.
The incident reaffirms Stannis's long-suppressed desire to clean house in King's Landing. He relishes the free hand he now has to purge the gold cloaks of corruption. In addition to naming Ser Jared Terrick as their Commander, Stannis replaces many officers with trusted knights and men-at-arms. Many of these appointees are veterans of his campaigns or members or hail from Dragonstone. They are men he believes he can trust to adhere to his sense of duty and justice.
Stannis also condemns Pycelle for treason in absentia and requests a new Grand Maester from the Citadel. The Conclave accedes to his wishes, stripping Pycelle of his office and meeting to choose a new Grand Maester. After several weeks of secret deliberations, the Citadel informs Stannis's small council that Archmaester Gormon has been selected. The uncle of Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, his selection displeases Stannis and his councillors but is looked upon favourably by the Tyrells and many of their allies in the Reach.
The Wars to Come
Once they have secured King's Landing, Stannis and his small council acknowledge that their current army (around one hundred and twenty thousand men) is far larger than is needed to crush the remaining rebels. Moreover, the reported end of summer and the approach of winter convinces them of the need for tens of thousands of fighting men to return to their homes and bring in the last harvest. To this end, Stannis orders the release of forty thousand soldiers back to farms across the Seven Kingdoms.
Under the command of Lady Maege Mormont, nearly ten thousand men are permitted to leave King's Landing and begin the long march back to the North. Accompanying them up the Kingsroad is close to twelve thousand men under Edmure and Brynden Tully, bound for the razed remains of the Riverlands. Thirty-four thousand men depart the capital for the south; the Stormlands and the Reach also see the return of fourteen thousand men and twenty thousand men, respectively.
Of the remaining host of eighty thousand men camped outside King's Landing, Stannis dispatches fifty thousand of them to the Westerlands under the command of Lord Roose Bolton, Lord Bryce Caron, Lord Mathis Rowan, and Ser Stevron Frey. After Brynden visits his elder brother, Lord Hoster Tully, at Riverrun, he will also travel south to join the army. They are ordered to force the submission of House Lannister and return the region to the fold by force of arms.
After Eddard reminds him of the dire state of the Night's Watch and its defences, Stannis sends ten thousand men under Galbart Glover to reinforce the Wall against the wildling threat. After lengthy preparations, they depart the city aboard a fleet of ships, sailing north to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea before planning to march west overland to reinforce Castle Black.
The king retains three thousand men (mainly from the Stormlands and Dragonstone) in the city under his direct command to defend his capital from enemies within and without. He intends for them to help rebuild the city and fill the depleted ranks of the City Watch. Of these men, Ser Andrew Estermont of the Kingsguard leads a small force of fifty south to escort Renly's remains and his widow, Margaery, to Storm's End.
In light of the ironborn threat throughout the Sunset Sea, Stannis sends two thousand men from the Stormlands to support Jason Mallister's renewed fortification of Seagard against a naval attack. The men are also ordered to assist House Tully with curbing the banditry in the Riverlands, which has become a significant issue for smallfolk and traders in recent months.
To put an end to Balon Greyjoy's control of the Shield Islands and his ongoing raids along the coasts of the Reach, Stannis sends fifteen thousand men under Mace Tyrell and Lord Randyll Tarly southeast along the Roseroad. They are commanded to merge with Ser Igon Vyrwel's host and evict the Ironborn from the Reach for good and all. Meanwhile, Stannis directs Lord Monford Velaryon of Driftmark, the master of ships, to take one hundred and fifty ships of the royal fleet west to the Sunset Sea. He is instructed to join with the Redwyne and Hightower fleets and together defeat the ironborn at sea, clearing the way for a future invasion of the Iron Islands proper.
Counting Coppers
Allowing others to attend to the next phases of the war, Stannis busies himself with his other pressing duties. He works closely with his master of coin, Lord Ardrian Celtigar, to begin the arduous task of repairing the royal finances. Though their work is greatly frustrated by the loss of relevant financial records in the recent Red Keep fire, with the help of a veritable army of clerks and another loan from the Iron Bank, they begin to make some headway. A key breakthrough occurs when Stannis, fed up with a perceived lack of cooperation from several of Petyr Baelish's financial officials, allows Lord Celtigar to appoint his own men as the King's Counter, the King's Scales, and the four Keepers of the Keys.
Lord Celtigar is a man famous for his wealth and avarice. Stannis dislikes the man and initially doubts whether he will succeed in his role as master of coin. However, after four months of work, Stannis grudgingly admits that the Lord of Claw Isle is a capable administrator. His obsession with money has lent him unique and valuable talents in his current office. Still, ever wary of those who take too great a liking to gold and silver, Stannis instructs Davos, his maester of whisperers, to keep a close eye on the master of the coin to ensure he is not lining his own pockets in the course of his work.
The Hand of the King
Unlike during his previous stint as Hand of the King to Robert, Eddard relishes his freedom to set the realm to rights. He plays an important role in various matters, such as establishing Stannis' administration, rebuilding King's Landing, reconstituting the gold cloaks with more honest and loyal members, training the men for the coming Westerlands campaign, and preparing the Northern contingent of the army to return home.
A Viper Among the Snakes
After weeks on the road, Prince Oberyn Martell arrives at King's Landing with a retinue of Knights of the Greenblood. He is accompanied by his former squire, Ser Daemon Sand, and a handful of other notable members of the order, such as Ser Arron Qorgyle, Ser Dickon Manwoody, and Ser Ulwyck Uller. The Dornishmen are officially in the capital to represent Prince Doran Martell of Dorne; Oberyn publicly bends the knee and swears fealty to Stannis on his brother's behalf. The Red Viper quickly becomes well-acquainted with the seedier brothels, gambling dens, and drinking establishments of the city, but he rarely shows his face at court.
Wary of an infamous figure like Oberyn Martell, Stannis's master of whisperers, Ser Davos Seaworth, arranges for his spies to discretely follow the prince in his escapades about the city. However, they find nothing out of the ordinary about the prince's behaviour, though at times, he proves elusive and difficult to track amidst the chaos of the city's poorest districts.
In the Stormlands
A Rebel Laid to Rest
When Ser Andrew Estermont arrives at Storm's End, he presents its castellan, Ser Cortnay Penrose, with the remains of King Renly Baratheon. He is also accompanied by Renly's widow, Margaery, who carries the late king's unborn child. Ser Cortnay agrees to Stannis's terms of surrender, swearing fealty in return for remaining in his position and serving as regent to the future ruler of the Stormlands. Having seen Renly's body in person and being convinced by Margaery's persuasive letters, he acknowledges the need to end the war.
The Lady of Storm's End
Around six months into her pregnancy, Margaery takes residence in the seat of the House Baratheon. She marvels at how her life has changed in the past year, as she has gone from the daughter of a great lord to a new bride and queen to a young widow and expectant mother.
Before they ride west to rid the Reach of the Ironborn, Margaery's father Mace and brother Garlan visit her at Storm's End. Mace is still angry about her betrayal, but his temper ebbs when he sees his daughter so heavy with the child. He tells Margaery that he forgives her. With the consent of Cortnay, he also promises to send her ladies to fill Storm's End with friendly faces. Garlan promises to revisit her with his wife. When she asks them about Loras, they are worried. They know not where he has gone.
In the Riverlands
A Bittersweet Homecoming
Edmure and Brynden Tully depart King's Landing, making their way back to Riverrun at the head of an army. Some smallfolk hail them along the way, but they are often greeted only by burnt-out villages, fallowed fields, and rotting corpses swinging from tree branches.
As they progress through the Riverlands, Brynden's outriders encounter roaming bands of brigands - motley groups of deserters, murderers, rapists and thieves who have been preying on the region's population. Though a menace to the river folk, they prove no match for House Tully's mounted knights and men-at-arms. Edmure orders the captive survivors to be executed and displayed at road and river crossings as a warning to others. It is a grim business, but the heir to Riverrn has no qualms about using violence to protect his people and restore order to his lands.
When Edmure and his uncle finally return to Riverrun, it is to a hero's welcome. After so many years apart, Brynden reconciles with his brother, Hoster, whose mind continues to slip more and more; he constantly loses track of time and events happening around him. Fortunately, he is still well enough to attend the wedding of Edmure to Walder Frey's daughter, Roslin, in a subdued ceremony at Riverrun. The marriage fulfills part of a pact which Edmure and Eddard Stark forged in return for House Frey's support in the war. Despite his fears, Edmure finds his new bride beautiful and sweet, and the consummation of their marriage is pleasant.
Passing the Torch
Not long after Edmure marries Roslin, his father's poor health deteriorates even further. During his last weeks, Hoster can only mutter a few feverish words and no longer recognizes his son. Edmure assumes complete control of Riverrun in his stead. Though Edmure writes to his sister, Lysa, asking her to visit her father before his death, she never responds to the ravens. When Hoster finally passes away, a grief-stricken Edmure succeeds him as Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Trident.
Hoster's body is put in a boat at his funeral and pushed down the Red Fork. Following the Tully funeral custom, a flaming arrow is fired to light the sails as the boat travels downriver. Edmure fires the arrows but misses three times in his grief. Brynden, seeing this, takes the bow from his nephew's hands and succeeds in lighting the sail before the boat disappears. Edmure takes the loss of his father hard, but his mood is soothed by his new wife, Roslin, who is exhibiting early signs of pregnancy.
The Wounds of War
House Tully's mission to rebuild the Riverlands is greatly helped by Stannis's release of over ten thousand rivermen from their military service. The king is also generous in other ways; using funds lent to him by the Iron Throne, Edmure negotiates directly with merchants to secure the importation of timber and other building materials.
Edmure also arranges for the purchasing of supplies to feed his suffering people. The grain from the Reach, the southern Crownlands, and Essos is brought north up the Kingsroad in guarded convoys of wagons. But the price of the resource is rising, and the funds provided by the crown will not last long - Edmure weighs whether he must take out loans and plunge his house into debt to continue the pace of imports.
After all, the spectre of widespread famine still stalks the land and many thousands of poor river folk flock to the castles and towns of the Riverlands in search of food and shelter. The kindhearted Edmure causes controversy among his nobles by permitting many of his smallfolk to shelter within the walls of Riverrun.
In the Reach
The Harrying of the Northmarch
After taking command of close to five thousand mounted knights, men-at-arms, and freeriders in the Westerlands, Ser Jaime Lannister crosses the border with the Reach to raid the Northmarch. Sweeping south from the hills around Cornfield, multiple Lannister raiding parties lay waste to farms and villages along the Lesser Mander, just north of the castles of Red Lake and Goldengrove.
The westermen find the northwestern region of the Reach almost completely bereft of defenders, as the few fighting men who had not marched east with Renly had instead been called south to repulse the ironborn invaders. The skeleton garrisons of Red Lake, Stackhouse, Goldengrove, and Coldmoat choose to bar their gates rather than sally out, protecting the castles and themselves at the expense of their smallfolk. The common people of the region are thus left helpless to stave off the assaults and prevent the destruction of their homes and crops.
Further south, near Appleton, Ser Igon Vyrwel is marching down the Roseroad towards Highgarden with fifteen thousand men when he learns of Jaime's attacks. Despite his orders to protect Highgarden from Ironborn attacks and prevent the ironborn from launching other raids along the Mouth of the Mander, he judges the Lannisters as the greater threat and marches north to end the incursions.
The former captain of the guards at Highgarden (a third son of middling achievement), Igon Vyrwel simply lacks Jaime's experience in the field and skill as a commander. He desires a quick and easy victory over the Kingslayer by relying on his numerical superiority, but he neglects to consider the poorer quality of his men. They are predominately older men and green boys, for only the dregs of the Reach's fighting men were left to be mustered when the Ironborn fell upon the Shield Islands. While the Westerlands is also scraping the bottom of the barrel in recruitment, the cavalry Jaime commands are hard-bitten veterans chosen for their skill in the saddle.
When Jaime learns that Igon is marching north to seek battle, he obliges him. He orders one of his raiding parties to lead the enemy on a merry chase towards where the Chequy Water meets Leafy Lake while Jaime lies in wait with the rest of his forces. Once the Igon's army arrives, Jaime uses his superior cavalry to ambush and shatter the enemy horse, killing hundreds of men and sending many more fleeing for their lives.
Caught by surprise, Igon tries to organize his remaining nine thousand infantry into defensive formations. However, Jaime expertly employs devastating cavalry charges to disrupt their lines; eventually, the poorly-trained men break and run, making easy pickings for the westermen. Igon Vyrwel himself is wounded in the face and captured, only to die of his injuries the following day.
Having destroyed an army three times the size of his own, Jaime continues to harry the northwestern Reach for several weeks. Only the approach of another twenty thousand men from the crownlands - this time led by the experienced Lord Randyll Tarly - finally spurs Jaime to return to the Westerlands.
The Wrath of the Iron Fleet
The war in the Sunset Sea goes no better for the Reach. After cementing his control of the Shield Islands, Balon Greyjoy launches an invasion of the Arbor with one hundred and twenty war galleys and nearly five hundred longships. To do so, he intends to destroy the Redwyne fleet - a formidable force which contains approximately two hundred war galleys.
The ironborn are also forced to contend with the Hightower fleet, which numbers just over one hundred war galleys. To face the two fleets separately and not together, Balon instructs Dagmer Cleftjaw to attack Oldtown's harbour with fifty longships and fifty trade ships. His goal is to sink, incapacitate or otherwise distract the Hightower fleet for long enough that they are unable to meaningfully assist the Redwynes against the Iron Fleet.
Under cover of darkness, Dagmer slips by House Hightower's defences at the entrance to the Whispering Sound. Once he is in sight of Oldtown, he sets his trade ships alight and sends them forth to wreak havoc on the port. The fireships destroy a few of the Hightower galleys and damage a significant portion of the docks, but the bulk of the Hightower fleet remains intact. Lord Leyton Hightower's heir, Ser Baelor, takes command of the fleet's flagship to lead a counterattack against Dagmer's longships. Still, the nimbler ironborn vessels are able to flee a serious confrontation. Fearing a second attack on Oldtown by more longships (or perhaps the Iron Fleet itself), Baelor delays the planned departure of the Hightower fleet for several days until repairs to the port are effectuated.
Meanwhile, the Redwyne fleet under Lord Paxter Redwyne clashes with the Iron Fleet under King Balon Greyjoy and his brother, Prince Victarion, in a massive naval battle north of Mermaid's Palace. Despite their larger and more numerous war galleys, the captains of the Redwyne fleet find themselves outclassed by their Ironborn counterparts. As ship rams into ship and boarding parties vie for control of the vessels, the reachmen struggle to prevail over the ferocious and experienced ironborn reavers.
As the great lumbering war galleys of both circle and collide amidst the chop, hundreds of fast and narrow ironborn longships swarm the larger Redwyne vessels, surrounding and overwhelming them with boarders. As time passes, the ironborn begin seizing so many galleys as to compensate for their initial numerical disadvantage.
After several hours of vicious fighting, Paxter Redwynes grudgingly admits that the ironborn are gaining the upper hand. He knows that the longer the battle goes on, the more of his own ships will be taken and used against him by the ironborn reavers; for every ship of the Iron Fleet that he manages to sink or seize, it seems as if the enemy capture two more of his own. The Lord of the Arbor orders a general retreat, compelling the battered Redwyne fleet to disengage from the ironborn and limp back towards Starfish Harbor.
Balon and Victarion are not keen to let the enemy escape - they can smell the blood in the water. Keen to finish off the Redwyne fleet and open the Arbor to conquest, Balon orders the ironborn to pursue the enemy and pick off their ships one by one. However, he is forced to reconsider when one of his more eagle-eyed men claims sightings of the Hightower fleet on the horizon. To pursue the Redwynes now will risk being caught between two substantial fleets. Balon thus decides to content himself with his victory and beat a hasty retreat back to the Shield Islands. His men take as prizes those captured ships still seaworthy, while the rest are burned and allowed to slip beneath the waves.
While the Redwyne fleet licks its wounds at the Arbor, the Hightower fleet assumes responsibility for reestablishes the Reach's naval supremacy in the southern Sunset Sea. In half a dozen skirmishes with ironborn longships, Ser Baelor successfully restricted Balon's ability to menace coastal settlements south of Bandallon. Closer to Shield Islands, however, the ironborn reavers continue to pay the iron price for the wealth and women of the Reach. The survivors of their terror flee inland in huge numbers, flocking to Highgarden for the illusion of safety.
A Reprieve from the East
After two months of sailing through strong headwinds and uncooperative weather, the royal fleet under Lord Monford Velaryon finally reaches the Arbor. Joining with the remaining Hightower and Redwyne galleys, the massive combined fleet sets out for the Shield Islands, where King Balon and the Iron Fleet lie in wait.
Meanwhile, on land, Lord Randyll Tarly and Lord Mace Tyrell have reached Highgarden with their host. They send men southwest to regain control of the Mouth of the Mander and north along the Searoad to rid the coasts of reavers and recapture the towns and villages that fell beneath the kraken banner. Additional forces are dispatched to the Northmarch to guard against more Lannister raids. However, the bulk of their army prepares for the Shield Islands' reconquest after the royal fleets rid the surrounding waters of ironborn ships.
On the Iron Islands
The Will of the Drowned God
Balon sends his youngest brother, Aeron Damphair, back to the Iron Islands. He orders him to preach in favour of Victarion's inheritance and thus consolidate his brother's claim to the Seastone Chair.
Relieved that Asha is no longer Balon's heir, Aeron enthusiastically complies. In his sermons, he condemns Theon most harshly, using the letter he sent to his father to show the ironborn that Balon's son sees himself as more of a Stark than a Greyjoy. The people of the isles soon begin to call him Theon Turncloak, especially now that they hear that Stannis, Theon's chosen sovereign, has sent his fleet west and intends to bring them back under the yoke of the Iron Throne.
Aeron also organizes the mustering of more men and ships at Pyke. Though the best longships and fighting men of the Iron Islands are already in the south, the gathered forces will help supplement the defences of the Isles in case the worst should happen to the bulk of the Iron Fleet.
In the Westerlands
The Battle in the Hills
After weeks of preparations, Lord Roose Bolton, Lord Mathis Rowan, Lord Bryce Caron, Ser Brynden Tully, and Ser Stevron lead an army west along the Goldroad to invade the Westerlands. Their first objective is to capture Deep Den, a castle guarding one of the two main gateways through the hills that ring the Westerlands. Lord Lewys Lydden commands its garrison, and Ser Daven Lannister leads the army of eight thousand surrounding it.
Lannister scouts and spies at the edge of the western hills inform Deep Den's defenders of Roose's approach. Daven sends word to Lord Tywin Lannister at Casterly Rock, who quickly marches east to reinforce his cousin with a reserve of ten thousand men.
When Roose reaches Deep Den, he finds the castle well-guarded and amply provisioned. Beside the keep, Lord Tywin commands a host of eighteen thousand men. Despite many of these soldiers being of poorer quality, the Lannisters occupy excellent defensive and stand athwart the only visible path through the mountain pass. Roose assumes that assaulting Tywin's position will force his larger army into a narrow formation, opening them up to withering attacks by archers or a flanking maneuver from Deep Den's defenders.
Though determined to take Deep Den and ultimately open up the Westerlands for invasion, Roose resolves to take a cautious approach. He recognizes that his army must endure substantial losses to evict Tywin from his position but that if the battle is conducted properly, he will achieve a favourable outcome. Additionally, he conspires to distribute his forces in such a way as to ensure the brunt of the casualties is felt by the men under Bryce Caron and Mathis Rowan, as opposed to his own men or those under Ser Stevron Frey.
After three days of preparations and light skirmishing between his army and the westermen defenders, Roose begins a general advance toward Tywin's host. He places several thousand sellswords in his vanguard; as he planned, they absorb most of the damage inflicted by the Lannister archers. While keeping his own men in reserve and as a precaution against a sortie by Deep Den's defenders, Roose watches the rest of his army overwhelm the westermen position, forcing Tywin back with the weight of sheer number. Though Roose's host takes significant casualties, Tywin is forced to fall back to the far side of the mountain pass, leaving Deep Den to be wholly surrounded and put to siege.
Unfortunately for Roose, the castle and its garrison appear strong enough to withstand a lengthy siege or easily repel a direct assault. Worse, leaving the castle untaken would be to risk the supply lines of any invading army in the Westerlands.
In the Vale
Schemes and Plots
Confronted with Stannis's final demand to submit to his rule or face the consequences, Lady Lysa Arryn is forced to publicly announce her fealty to Stannis. However, she declines to leave the safety of the Eyrie to swear the oath in person. She remains sequestered in the Eyrie, increasingly paranoid that Stannis means to overthrow her and take away her beloved Robert.
These fears seem confirmed when Littlefinger informs Lysa that his spies report that Robar Royce has secretly returned home to Runestone. To prevent Stannis and Lord Yohn Royce from conspiring against them, Littlefinger proposes sending the Lord of Runestone to King's Landing. He is supposed to serve as House Arryn's representative to Stannis's court, but in truth, they arrange for pirates to attack and kill him at sea.
Just off the coast of Witch Isle, Yohn Royce's ship is reportedly attacked by pirates; the Lord of Runestone is missing, presumed dead. Days later, one of Littlefinger's spies passes a large sum of money to a hooded man on the docks of Gulltown - it is the promised second half of his payment for a job well done.
War Profiteering
Under Littlefinger's direction, the nobles of the Vale hoard their grain. With disruptions to the harvest in the Reach and elsewhere in Westeros, the price continues to rise, forcing houses from other regions to come begging to them as supplicants. This runs to the benefit of Littlefinger, and a coterie of other nobles, including Lords Grafton and Belmore, who intend to keep squeezing their customers as the cost of grain climbs ever higher.
A Massacre in the Mountains
In the Mountains of the Moon, Lord Nestor Royce confronts and defeats a small force of mountain clansmen. Proclaiming a great victory, he is leading his men back along the high road when hundreds of clansmen ambush him. They surprise the column as it is stretched out, rolling rocks and cutting trees down slopes to disrupt and sever the formation, isolating the men into vulnerable pockets.
It is a grisly massacre and a grievous defeat for the knights of the Vale. Only a few survivors make it back to tell the tale. Lord Nestor is reportedly killed in the battle, as is his son Ser Albar and other notables such as Ser Morton Waynwood, Ser Andar Royce (the son of the missing Lord Yohn Royce), Ser Lymond Lynderly, Ser Ossifer Lipps, and Ser Ben Coldwater.
In Dorne
The Prince's Emissary
Prince Doran Martell sends a letter to King's Landing affirming his loyalty to Stannis Baratheon but claims to be too ill to travel to the capital. He sends his brother, Prince Oberyn, in his stead to be accompanied by close to fifty Knights of the Greenblood, an elite order of cavalry drawn from the ranks of the Dornish nobility and House Martell's household guardsmen.
The Water Dancer
Doran decides it is high time that his eldest son, Prince Quentyn, learns to fight - as befits a future ruler. The Prince of Dorne arranges for a master fencer skilled in the Braavosi water dancer style to travel to Yronwood, where Lord Anders Yronwood has fostered Quentyn since his early childhood. Doran wishes for the swordsman to train his son in the hopes it will help prepare him for the wars to come.
As the tournament at Sunspear winds down, Prince Doran invites his prominent vessels to travel to the Water Gardens to renew their oaths of fealty to House Martell. While there, he offers them the opportunity to negotiate modifications to their feudal contracts by paying increased taxes instead of providing levies or military service. The lords of Dorne seem ambivalent about the idea - most nobles cannot tell the difference between taxation and tyranny or theft, and nearly all view their military contributions as marks of prestige.
Beyond the Wall
The Great Ranging
Following the rumours about Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, and the wildlings deserting their villages, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont of the Night's Watch personally leads a great ranging beyond the Wall. It is the largest in living memory and consists of nearly a third of the order's strength. Two hundred men depart from Castle Black with the expectation that they will later be joined by a hundred men from the Shadow Tower under the command of legendary ranger Qhorin Halfhand.
The expedition passes seven deserted wildling villages before arriving at Craster's Keep. As his men camp for the night, Jeor learns from the half-wildling Craster that the villages are empty because Mance Rayder is gathering all the free folk in the Frostfangs. Fearing they intend to strike south against the Seven Kingdoms, Jeor orders the Night's Watch to move north to fortify the First of First Men and await Qhorin Halfhand and the men from the Shadow Tower.
After the expedition reaches the Fist of the First Men, Jon Snow's pet direwolf, Ghost, leads him to a mound where it digs up an old warhorn and a cache of dragonglass wrapped in an old cloak of the Night's Watch. Jon distributes these items among his sworn brothers.
Qhorin's party arrives late after running into a wildling scouting party led by Alfyn Crowkiller. They successfully stopped the wildlings from reporting back to Mance at the cost of four men and a dozen wounded. A prisoner taken in the battle revealed that Mance is searching for some magic to bring down the Wall. The Night's Watch decides to send three scouting parties into the Frostfang mountains to discover the size of the host and what Mance is looking for, led by Jarmen Buckwell, Thoren Smallwood, and Qhorin. Jon is picked by Qhorin to accompany him.
Fighting in the Frostfangs
In the Skirling Pass, Qhorin's party came across a group of wildling sentries, and Jon is one of those assigned to take them out. He kills one of the men but discovers his second target is a woman. Instead of killing the girl named Ygritte, Jon decides to take her prisoner. He reveals he is the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, and during the night, Ygritte tells Jon the story of "Bael the Bard," a song which insinuates that, through Bael, the Starks also have wildling blood.
Later, Qhorin orders Jon to kill Ygritte, but Jon secretly lets her go. Before she leaves, Ygritte informs Jon that Mance Rayder would accept him if he wanted to join the free folk. Jon tells Qhorin about this, who confirms that Mance would be willing and tells Jon that Mance had been a man of the Night's Watch himself once. When he dreams that night, Jon sees through the eyes of Ghost and witnesses thousands of wildlings, giants and mammoths before being attacked by an eagle. Jon informs the group, who recognize Jon for a warg. They later see the eagle, and when they find a wounded Ghost, Qhorin decides they should return to the Fist of the First Men.
With the enemy following them, Qhorin orders Dalbridge to stay behind to defend the others, while Ebben and Stonesnake are sent forth to reach the First in great haste, leaving only Qhorin and Jon. The Halfhand commands Jon to join the wildlings when they are discovered and to do whatever they ask. When the wildling band led by Rattleshirt finds them, Jon yields. The wildlings require him to kill Qhorin to prove his loyalty to them. When Jon does so with the help of Ghost, the wildlings agree to bring him to Mance Rayder.
The King-Beyond-the-Wall
In the Frostfangs, Mance's followers unearth dozens of graves along the Milkwater in their search for the legendary Horn of Winter, an artifact said to be capable of toppling the Wall. Having united the free folk in fleeing the Others and moving south of the Wall, Mance desires the Horn as a last-ditch means of forcing their passage. However, his search parties find nothing in the Frostfangs but old bones.
Abandoning the search for the Horn of Winter, Mance Rayder leads his host south along the banks of the Milkwater. When they are about a month's march from the Fist of the First Men, Rattleshirt returns to the camp with Jon Snow as his prisoner. Rattleshirt names him a warg, and Ygritte tells Mance how Jon slew Qhorin.
Mance had seen Jon twice before: once when Mance was still a black brother and Jon just a boy, and again during King Robert's visit to Winterfell. Mance disguised himself as a singer to see King Robert and get the measure of Benjen Stark, a bane of the free folk.
Testing Jon, Mance asks him why he deserted the Night's Watch. The boy surprises him by asking for his own story first. Mance explains that he had been wounded in a hunt and treated by an old wildling woman. She mended his cloak with burgundy fabric, rare for wildlings and hence very valuable to part with. But when Mance returned to the Watch, they replaced his cloak with a new black one, emphasizing the importance of the black uniform and not recognizing the symbolism of her gift. Mance tells Jon that he came to deeply resent the repressive culture of the Night's Watch.
Knowing that Mance was at Winterfell, Jon asks, "And did you see where I was seated, Mance? Did you see where they put the bastard?" He implies that this grievance was the motive for his desertion.
Mance ultimately decides to take him in. When questioned on the wisdom of welcoming a crow into his army so close to his invasion, Mance argues that Jon has much reason to desert the Seven Kingdoms. That said, while he trusts Jon enough to keep him alive and help him, he also feels he should keep an eye on him - just in case.
Disaster at the Fist of the First Men
Shortly after Thoren Smallwood's team returns to the Fist of the First Men, the expedition is attacked at the Fist of the First Men by wights. After an unsuccessful counterattack, caught unaware and ill-prepared to fight an unfamiliar foe, Lord Commander Mormont rallies about fifty brothers onto horseback to break out of the Fist in a tactical retreat. It is assumed that the brothers who could not form up with Mormont's withdrawal were all slaughtered by the wights.
As the horses become more tired and the weather worsens, the Lord Commander organizes the injured to be put on horseback and sets the able men walking with torches to guard the flanks and rear. Fortunately, the wights do not give an effective pursuit, only nibbling at the stragglers. During this march south, the Watch rediscovers the effect of dragonglass on the Others; Samwell Tarly, Small Paul, and Grenn are among the stragglers, and in self-defence, Samwell stabs an Other by mistake, causing the creature to dissolve.
Mance's army reaches the Fist of the First Men and discovers the aftermath of the Others' attack. The king confronts Jon about how many men were at the Fist and who led; Jon, seeing how many of the Watch had died and realizing Mance may kill him for lying, tells the truth. The situation is still tense, and Jon fears that Mance may still have him killed because Jon lied to him previously. He briefly thinks about attacking Mance, but Ygritte saves him by telling them they are lovers. The wildlings respect any man who steals his woman, and Rayder informs Jon that he will be leaving on the morrow to climb the Wall. That night, Jon and Ygritte share a bed together.
Baiting the Crows
Mance leads the gathered free folk further south, hoping to guide them through the gates at Castle Black after learning that the bulk of the fighting force of the Watch has been wiped out. To do so, he first plans to weaken the strength of the black brothers who remain at the castle.
Mance sends several small raiding parties to attack various points along the Wall. This prompts Bowen Marsh, Lord Steward and castellan of Castle Black to march with the garrison, taking most of the fighting men. Bowen leaves only the old, the green, and the sickly behind to defend Castle Black.
Mance sends a strong force of five hundred free folk warriors from various tribes across the Bridge of Skulls to attack the Wall, while a party of Thenns and other free folk raiders scale the Wall east of Castle Black to launch a surprise attack from its south.
Mutiny at Craster's Keep
Meanwhile, the survivors of the Fist attack reach Craster's Keep. They number only forty-four men; their morale is low, and certain brothers start being more vocal with their criticism of Jeor Mormont's leadership. After several days, four men die of injuries, leaving thirty-two men capable of fighting and eight incapacitated by wounds or illness.
Trouble begins when some men ask for more bread, as Craster's wives have brought only two loaves for the starving men to eat. The black brothers grow rowdier when Craster rejects their demands for more food, and one man defies Jeor's order to be silent. An argument then escalates, which sees Craster and Jeor killed by mutineers and a score of other men.
Samwell Tarly flees the mutineers with Gilly, one of Craster's daughters. At a deserted wildling village, they meet Coldhands, who agrees to help guide them back to the Wall. Other Mormont loyalists like Grenn and Dolorous Edd also escape Craster's Keep and retreat back to Castle Black to report on the disastrous expedition.
The Bridge of Skulls
Jon and Ygritte are sent west under the overall command of the Weeper. When they try to cut their way across the Gorge, Bowen Marsh and the Night's Watch confront them on the Bridge of Skulls. It is a bloody battle, with over a hundred black brothers slain in the engagement, including Ser Endrew Tarth and Ser Aladale Wynch. Bowen himself is seriously wounded in the fight.
However, the battle is saved for the Watch by Jon, who betrays and kills the Weeper, causing the free folk to break and retreat. An enraged Ygritte attempts to kill Jon with her bow but is dragged away by Jarl in the general retreat. Jon is struck once in the chest and the thigh with her arrows but survives these injuries.
The wounded Bowen Marsh has to be carried back to the Shadow Tower. Jon prevails upon Ser Denys Mallister, the Commander of the Shadow Tower, to send a raven to Castle Black warning the defenders of the impending attack by Styr and his Thenns. However, the news arrives too late.
The Fall of Castle Black
The Magnar of Thenn scales the Wall near Greyguard with a hundred Thenn and sixteen experienced free folk raiders. They climb the Wall at a spot where it rises eight hundred feet above the forest floor, where a third of its total height is earth and stone, making it easier to climb. It takes six hours to climb.
After descending the Wall at Greyguard, the group goes deeper into the Gift, passing a few inhabited villages and scattered round towers. They move stealthily, and no alarm is raised at Castle Black until it is too late to prepare.
Styr announces his upcoming arrival by torching Mole's Town early in the morning. Its inhabitants are slaughtered or forced to flee into the surrounding lands. When the Watch sees the smoke in the sky, they light the beacon on Weatherback Ridge. Styr begins his attack at nightfall when his forces easily overwhelm the paltry garrison of forty black brothers.
The common hall is set aflame by the free folk and the Thenns, as are the armoury and the west stables, after which fifty more Thenns are summoned by a warhorn, marching up the kingsroad in a tight column. Others approach the castle through the vegetable garden. One group of Thenns storm the castle's gate, while another breaks down a hastily erected barricade on the door of the King's Tower. In the end, the defenders of Castle Black are slaughtered to a man.
As his last act, Maester Aemon sends letters to the Shadow Tower, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and King Stannis in the King's Landing, informing them of the fall of Castle Black and the threat the free folk pose to the Seven Kingdoms.
In the North
The Battle Beneath the Wall
With Castle Black fallen, Mance Rayder leads his massive host of free folk through the Wall. He has done what once seemed impossible. But his victory is short-lived. Not long after his army passes beneath the Wall, Mance is shocked to hear the sound of a warhorn. Mance immediately orders his defences up, but a combined force of rangers from Eastwatch and the cavalry sent from King's Landing sweep down upon the camp.
Just over two thousand knights and other riders wash over the free folk. Under Galbart Glover, they had landed at Eastwatch days before and ridden hard for Castle Black (leaving their infantry behind) once they heard of the attacks. As the battle is joined, Dalla goes into labour, with only her sister to assist, and dies in childbirth. Harma Dogshead and Tormund's son are killed in the fighting, along with a score of other wildling leaders.
Just south of Castle Black, thousands of the free folk are captured by Galbart Glover, including Mance's newborn son and his sister-in-law, Val. Mance evades captures, along with the bulk of his army, but the massive host is no longer unified. Tens of thousands of wildlings break off into small groups and flee from pursuing horsemen into Brandon's Gift.
Mance remains in command of a small army comprising roughly two thousand free folk (including Thenns) and one hundred giants but struggles to locate and reunite his scattered people.
The War for the North
At Winterfell, Catelyn and Ser Rodrik Cassel order the mustering of the remaining levies in the region. Lords Umber and Karstark, as well as the northern mountain clansmen, respond, marching north to intercept the wildling raiders.
Meanwhile, nearly ten thousand men under Lady Maege Mormont have reached Moat Cailin. Although the Northmen initially intend to return to their villages, towns, and fields, the disaster at the Wall changes things. Maege orders the army to make a forced march up the Kingsroad to defend the North.
Across the Narrow Sea
The Exiled Knight
Loras Tyrell is in the cabin of a ship fleeing across the Narrow Sea. He is forced to share the room with Ser Lancel Lannister, whom he last saw captured by Lord Bryce Caron in the battle beneath the walls of King's Landing. He is thin and weak from months of captivity in the dungeons of the Red Keep, and what little food he manages to get down is heaved back up due to seasickness. Having spent just a few days in the black cells, Loras thanks the gods that he was fortunate enough to be whisked away.
In the dungeons below the Red Keep, Loras had been resigned to his fate until the eunuch Varys visited him in the guise of a gaoler. He claimed he had the power to free Loras from his cell and was willing to do so under one condition: that Loras agree to be whisked away across the Narrow Sea, leaving his family and Westeros behind.
When Loras had asked what awaited him in Essos, Varys smiled. He claimed that if Loras came with him, he would offer what he most desired: a path to vengeance.
Loras had accepted without thinking twice, but now he wonders where he might be going. Once the ship reaches port, Loras and Lancel are bundled into crates and smuggled off the ship. They find themselves in Pentos, the home of Magister Illyrio Mopatis.
At Illyrio's home, he learns of events in Westeros. Mopatis claims that Westeros needs a saviour from across the sea and that Stannis is too unpopular to hold the kingdom. When Loras asks who that would be, he replies, "A dragon with three heads."
The Mother of Dragons
In Qarth, Dany considers the defeat of the Undying to be Drogon's victory. However, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, whose guest she is, warns that the Warlocks are gathering their power to come for her and that the other two great merchant consortiums want her either expelled from the city or killed outright. Dany realizes she must flee, for Xaro's protection can only go so far.
Dany sets out with Ser Jorah Mormont and her bloodriders to find ships to take her from Qarth. Along the docks, Jorah warns her that a big, scarred man is following them. When a merchant hands her a beautiful box as a gift, Dany opens it to find a green scarab within. The creature within the box flies out, and mayhem erupts. The creature would have bit Dany had Jorah not thrown himself in front of her body. The merchant was a Sorrowful Man, and the creature a manticore that would have killed Dany had it bitten her.
Instead, Jorah is bitten in his hand and would have died if not for the quick intervention of the scarred eunuch, who severs the knight's hand at the wrist with a flick of his blade. The manticore's venom kills the instant it reaches the heart; in cutting off Jorah's hand, the eunuch saved his life. Still, Jorah loses much of his blood and slips into a comatose state from which he will not emerge for weeks.
Danaerys learn that the huge, scarred eunuch is the pit-fighter Strong Belwas. Magister Illyrio Mopatis sent him to return them to Pentos. According to Belwas, Illyrio sent for them because he wished to have her dragons bring justice to the Seven Kingdoms, a divided and warring realm. Dany concedes that she must leave Qarth but commands them to change the names of their three ships to that of Aegon's three dragons.
Of Sand Snakes and Sellswords
In the Disputed Lands, the Red Viper mercenary company continues to fight for Lys per the terms of its contract, which is due to conclude at the end of the year. Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene continue to lead their men to victory after victory against the hired Tyroshi forces, building up a sizable war chest.
Towards the end of the year, the intensity of the fighting between the two Free Cities (limited to mere skirmishes) suddenly appears liable to escalate. It is rumoured that the Free City of Myr will wade into the war against its rivals. However, expectations for the looming war are abruptly upended when the famous Golden Company breaks its contract with Myr - an unprecedented occurrence.
