WILOW-Ch.360: Blessed One
Riverrun Castle, Riverlands
POV of Domeric Bolton
"Lysa…" the old man wheezed. His breaths were shallow, and his lungs made a strange rattling sound every time he tried to breathe.
"Lysa… forgive me… Lysa…"
"As you can see." Ser Edmure Tully said, "My father is not really in good health."
The Blackfish looked at his brother, Hoster Tully, with a grim expression.
Castle Maester probably told them that giving the man some Milk of the Poppy and cutting his life short would be a blessing, but people don't really take such advice in the spirit it was given.
"Can you do something for father?" Ser Edmure asked him.
Domeric gave the man a knowing look. He could guess exactly what he wanted, but he had no intention of helping them directly before they offered their good intentions.
"Wouldn't it be better if you asked a Maester instead of me, Ser Edmure?" He said.
Frankly, in another situation, Domeric would absolutely refuse to help Hoster Tully.
But perhaps Hoster Tully was lucky that if the Riverlands owed him a debt, it would make it easier for them to support him when he asserted his imperial claim.
At the moment, the man was on his last legs.
Normally, allowing him to die peacefully was the best they could do for him aside from putting him out of his misery. Therefore, Domeric could understand why Edmure Tully and Blackfish Ser Brynden Tully were relying on him.
Ser Edmure flushed at his words. "I… I just thought you were the…" he then sighed, and his shoulders slumped.
"Is there anything you can do for my father's condition, Lord Bolton?" he asked with one last glimmer of hope.
A simple legilimency probe showed him that, after seeing his army slaughter the Lannisters with such casual ease, Ser Edmure was starting to believe the Old Gods had chosen him as a Blessed One.
'Merlin! These people could be superstitious.' Domeric thought. But the strange thing is, these thoughts of Ser Edmure weren't entirely wrong.
Hoster Tully was someone who poisoned his own daughter so that she wouldn't give birth to a bastard boy and then later sold her to a man old enough to be her grandfather for political gain.
And now the old man was taking Lysa's name again and again on his deathbed, asking for forgiveness.
As if a woman would ever forgive such a thing.
Yeah. Under normal circumstances, Domeric absolutely wouldn't lift a finger for Hoster Tully.
"If you can help my brother, Riverlands will not forget this favor and will be indebted to you, Lord Bolton," Blackfish said.
These were the exact words Domeric wanted to hear.
If he was going to help someone like Hoster Tully, he wasn't going to do it for free.
At Blackfish's words, Domeric let out a theatrical sigh and then said. "Lord Hoster Tully doesn't have much time left in this world. So, there's not much I can do. He probably has a few weeks to live. Maybe days."
"You said there's not much you can do. Does that mean there is something you can do?" Blackfish asked.
Just as he expected, Blackfish understood the meaning of Domeric's words.
"Is that true? Is there really anything you can do, Lord Bolton?" Ser Edmure also asked.
Domeric let out another theatrical sigh, then nodded his head in agreement and said. "Yes. I can improve Lord Hoster Tully's condition and give him a few extra months. But that's the most I can do. The Old Gods don't like people tampering with the timing of their deaths. Everyone must embark on their next journey when their time comes."
"Please help Father, Lord Bolton. A few months' life is better than nothing." Ser Edmure Tully said, and Blackfish also nodded.
"If that's what you want," Domeric said.
"What do you need? I'll give orders to my men to prepare them," Blackfish said.
"I have everything I need with me," Domeric said, reaching into his coat pocket to pull out a small bottle of potion and offering it to Ser Edmure.
After taking the bottle and looking at the shimmering liquid inside, Sir Edmure asked, "What exactly is this?"
"This is an elixir I made under the guidance of the Old Gods. Please give it to Lord Hoster to drink. It tastes a little bad, so he might not want to drink it, but make sure he drinks it all." He said.
Ser Edmure initially seemed a little hesitant, looking uncertainly at his uncle Blackfish.
After seeing Blackfish nod in approval, he approached Lord Hoster, opened the potion's lid, and, before Lord Hoster could even understand what was happening, poured the potion into his mouth and closed it.
After making sure Lord Hoster had swallowed the entire potion, Ser Edmure stepped back and asked, "Is that all?"
"No," Domeric said. Then he approached Lord Hoster and raised his hand towards him.
Under the astonished gazes of Ser Edmure and Blackfish, a golden light streamed from Domeric's hand, moving toward Lord Hoster and enveloping him.
Domeric was actually using magic to quickly transfer the effects of the healing potion Lord Hoster had drunk into his body, but he thought it would be better to do it more theatrically.
A few minutes later, Domeric ended his theatrical performance, recoiling as if weary.
Then the mist in Lord Hoster Tully's eyes disappeared, replaced by a sharper gaze. He then sat up in bed and looked at the people in the room.
"Edmure... Brynden..."
"Father," said Ser Edmure Tully, quickly approaching his bed. Blackfish followed him.
After the three Tully men talked for a few minutes, Hoster Tully said he was sleepy, lay down on his bed, and quickly fell asleep.
"Is he alright?" Blackfish asked Domeric, turning to him.
"There's no need to worry. The elixir is still healing his body, so it's better that he's sleeping. He'll probably wake up in half a day. And he'll be hungry when he wakes up."
"Oh... thank you for your help, Lord Bolton. Riverlands will never forget it." Blackfish said, and Ser Edmure nodded.
"You're welcome," Domeric said, then added. "But we need to plan for the upcoming battles. Tywin Lannister is not going to defeat himself."
The uncle-nephew pair nodded, and they left the room, which stank of piss, shit, and a lot of medicine.
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Only a few people attended the war council meeting Domeric held in Riverrun. Namely, him, Bronn, his two sworn shields, Ygritte, Ser Edmure, Blackfish, and Lord Tytos Blackwood.
The reason there were so few people in the meeting was that he was really not in the mood to deal with lords with few men and enormous egos.
He would leave that to the Tullys.
"So here is the situation." He said, pointing to the large map on the table. "Tywin Lannister has placed his army in the forts across the Trident to stop any army from crossing the River."
He then pointed at the other side of the river at the Wolf tablet, "The Northern host now has more men than the Lannister army because the Lannister army besieging Riverrun was defeated. But Lannisters are the defending force at the Trident; they are in the forts, so trying to cross the river would be foolish."
He then pointed at the Hawk tablet near the Bloody Gate, "But once the army of the Vale arrives here. Tywin would have to choose. To either hold against the Northern and Vale armies. Or to retreat into either Harrenhal or go back to King's Landing."
"You can ambush Tywin's forces, right?" Ser Edmure asked. "We can take them by surprise. Take over a fort or two and allow the Northern host to cross the Trident."
"No. I'm sure that the spies must have already reported the defeat of the Lannister army to Tywin, and he must have set up some defenses against us." He said.
Domeric was confident that he could defeat the Lannister army on his own, but he didn't want to do that.
"Plus, I'm not going to attack Tywin Lannister." He said.
"But you said that you'll leave Riverrun in two days," Ser Edmure said with a frown.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.361: Ser Barristan Arrives at Riverrun
Ch.362: Leaving Riverrun
Ch.363: Restocking