After reassuring Lord Caswell, Aemon and Helaena retired to their rooms to rest. Aemon had a strong sense of what was unfolding. The battle between Oldtown and Highgarden was likely already decided. His presence there now would simply save him considerable effort later.
Oldtown.
Mund Hightower fled back to the Hightower and immediately ordered a blockade of the city, summoning all his vassal forces for support. The response was grim.
House Costayne of Three Towers, House Mullendore of Uplands, and House Cuy of Sunhouse all refused the call to arms.
House Beesbury of Honeyholt stated they had already committed troops and now needed to focus on defending their own castle.
Lord Rockton had vanished in the initial scuffle, and his castle refused to send aid.
Of his six primary vassals, only House Bulwer of Blackcrown sent further reinforcements.
Bang!
"I am their liege lord! How dare they disobey me!" Mund roared, smashing a nearby table and venting the fear that gripped him.
Aegon had disappeared.
Highgarden had summoned a massive host of its own vassals, and more than ten thousand men were now crossing the Mander, marching straight for Oldtown.
The battle was escalating too quickly. The mercenaries he had hired from across the Narrow Sea had yet to arrive. With such a disparity in numbers, Oldtown was indefensible. He was going to die.
Still in the room were Maester Cankerflow, Lord Lyman Beesbury, and Larys Strong.
"My lord, you must calm yourself," the old maester advised with sincere urgency.
"How can I be calm when Donnel Tarly is already at my gates?" Mund shot back, his panic spiraling out of control. His wild eyes made the elderly Lord Lyman flinch. If he had known it would come to this, he never would have taken part.
Mund turned, his gaze fixing on the old lord. He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Lord Lyman, is it true? Honeyholt can truly send no more men?"
"My lord, the troops my son led on the last expedition have already broken my oath to the Crown," Lord Lyman sighed dejectedly. It was his own misfortune to be a guest in Oldtown when the rebellion began, robbing him of even the chance to remain neutral.
"The Tyrells murdered my father! I act with Prince Aegon's blessing! How is that rebellion?" Mund demanded furiously.
Lord Lyman remained silent, his weary eyes meeting Mund's. Seeing the old man's resolve, Mund secretly clenched his fists, teetering on the edge of madness.
"My lord, do not forget that Honeyholt lies directly in the path of the Highgarden army. It is understandable they cannot spare any troops," Larys interjected at the perfect moment.
His words seemed to bring Mund back from the brink. Rebelling against his liege to avenge his father was one thing, but slaughtering a vassal who was also a minister of the crown would be a step too far.
"Then..." Mund began, intending to say he would continue to hold Lord Lyman as a hostage, an ace he could play if necessary.
Knock, knock, knock!
A frantic pounding came from the door. "My lord! The Highgarden army is attacking the walls!"
Startled, Mund grabbed his family's Valyrian steel sword, Vigilance, and rushed out.
"Hah!" Lord Lyman clutched his chest, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Do not be afraid, my lord. We are quite safe," Larys said with a faint smile, leaning on his cane.
Lyman patted his chest. "I certainly hope so," he muttered. What dreadful luck. He had lost his lord, and his liege had lost his. The conflict between the two houses had now cost two princes. "I only pray the king remembers my long service, if not my merit, and does not hold this against me."
With those words, he took laborious steps toward his own chambers. The maester of the Hightower nodded and followed him out, leaving Larys alone in the lord's ravaged study.
"Hmph." Larys glanced around the messy room and let out a soft, dry laugh.
He was the one who had secretly set the fire in Highgarden. He was also the one who had arranged for the mare in heat that Prince Aegon rode. His objective, given to him by Prince Aemon, was simple: sow chaos in the Reach.
In that, he had succeeded magnificently.
He had taken some initiative, of course, persuading Prince Aegon to join the war. That, in turn, led to the crippling of Lord Garlen and drove the final wedge between Oldtown and Highgarden.
"Prince Aemon will surely be pleased with this outcome," Larys mused. He bent down, picked up a fallen goblet, poured himself a measure of wine, and sipped it gracefully. He wondered if the enraged Highgarden army would completely annihilate House Hightower.
He could surrender, of course. He still held proof that Prince Aemon was the true mastermind. If the Hightowers were attainted, perhaps the lordship of Oldtown could be granted to him as a reward.
"House Strong of Oldtown," Larys said aloud, a subtle, calculating smile touching his lips.
The Gates of Oldtown.
"Attack!" Lord Donnel Tarly roared. Thousands of infantrymen surged forward, carrying siege ladders and rushing toward Oldtown's famously low city walls. Of the five great port cities in Westeros, only Oldtown's outer defenses were so modest. A single, taller wall existed on the northern side, a relic from an age when the Hightowers were kings, built to defend against the Gardeners.
Today, the Tyrells had come to tear it all down.
Boom! Boom!
A giant named Grolf, clad in rune-etched armor and carrying a massive shield, charged at the forefront. Arrows, boulders, logs, and scalding oil rained down from the walls but bounced harmlessly off his enchanted plate. He was like a god of war descended to earth.
"Lord Donnel, we agreed! We are to capture Oldtown and punish only the ringleader!" Gwayne Hightower yelled anxiously over the din of battle.
Lord Donnel glanced at him. "Do not worry," he said calmly. "We are men of the Reach. We will not harm the smallfolk of Oldtown."
"That includes the innocent members of House Hightower!" Gwayne insisted.
Lord Donnel was silent for a moment before sighing. "Very well." This boy, he thought, has already mastered the ancestral traditions of his House. When disaster strikes, surrender.
When the Gardeners were kings, the Hightowers had renounced their own crowns without a fight. During the Conquest, they had opened their gates to welcome Aegon the Conqueror. They had even begged him to make Oldtown his capital. Their sycophancy knew no bounds. Compared to them, his cousin Mund was a fool, thinking he could bare his teeth at Highgarden just because his niece was queen. Ridiculous.
Having received his assurance, Gwayne's demeanor instantly intensified. "Grolf, smash it!" he bellowed.
"ROAR... SMASH!"
The giant, a simple creature, swung his meteor hammer with all his might, crashing it against Oldtown's heavy gate.
Clang!
The gate frame trembled violently, shaking dust and stone loose. The hammer cracked the wood but bounced off the heavy iron bolt, its spike lodging in the timber.
"Huh?" Grolf tilted his head in confusion.
"Just hit the door itself! It will break with one good ram!" Gwayne shouted, acting the part of the perfect collaborator.
Grolf understood. He wrenched his hammer free, tossed it aside, took a few steps back, and charged.
BANG! The gate shook violently.
BANG! The screws on the doorframe began to pop loose.
"Again!" Gwayne urged.
Grolf gathered all his strength for a third charge.
BOOM!
The five-meter-tall gate exploded inward. The two heavy panels flew off their hinges as a cloud of dust billowed out. The giant lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, disappearing into the swirling debris.
For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.
Then—
"Long live the giant!"
"Charge!"
The Highgarden army, electrified by the breakthrough, abandoned their ladders and swarmed toward the breach. Many scrambled over the fallen giant's back to rush inside.
"Disgusting!" Grolf grunted. He grabbed the legs of the men clambering over him and tossed them aside like dolls before climbing to his feet and retrieving his shield and hammer. The soldiers he had thrown screamed as they were slammed into the city wall.
"Chaaarge... ah!" the giant bellowed, heaving his great shield before him as he stormed into Oldtown. His actions did not dampen the army's morale; they poured in behind him in a relentless stream.
"Excellent!" Gwayne cried, ecstatic.
Lord Donnel didn't spare him a second glance as he spurred his horse forward, leading the main force into the city.
On the city wall, Mund Hightower brandished Vigilance. "Fight back! Do not flee!" he screamed at the terrified soldiers, trying to rally a defense.
Puff!
Two of his own men appeared from behind and threw a sack over his head.
"Wuh-woo-woo!" Mund struggled in the darkness, his fear palpable. The two soldiers exchanged a look, then reversed their spears and struck him hard. A few solid thuds, and he was unconscious.
"Still fighting?" one of them said to the stunned onlookers. "They're already in the city! Didn't you see Ser Gwayne Hightower out there? He's a true heir of this house too. Surrender!"
The surrounding soldiers stared, momentarily forgetting they were in a battle. A moment later, they dropped their weapons and fled. Oldtown was a beacon of civilization, a guiding light for the realm. And civilized men do not fight.
The city was breached in the morning. By noon, Lord Thaddeus Rowan had taken control of Oldtown. All members of House Hightower were arrested and imprisoned in the dungeons beneath the Hightower.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Gwayne roared, following Lord Thaddeus and Lord Donnel, sputtering with rage. "We had an agreement! You were not to harm any Hightowers!"
The two lords were clearly annoyed by his theatrics.
Lord Thaddeus stopped, his face stern. "We agreed not to harm innocent Hightowers."
"Yes! And do those old men and children not look innocent to you?" Gwayne demanded, his eyes wide. "Or do you think they're going to beat your heavy cavalry to death with walking canes and candied plums?"
"..." Thaddeus closed his eyes and said in a low voice, "They are all presumed innocent. But we must interrogate them thoroughly before a final judgment can be made."
"No!" Gwayne disagreed, spreading his arms to block their path. "The elders, the children, and the women. You will release them now."
"If you continue to obstruct us, do not blame us for being rude," Lord Donnel warned.
"Hah!" Gwayne laughed, tilting his head. "Go on, be rude. I dare you. See what happens." His shameless expression was infuriating. Lord Donnel's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He cursed inwardly; the little bastard was nothing like his grandsire Otto. How could one man be so utterly without shame?
"Well?" Gwayne pressed, refusing to yield.
Thaddeus and Donnel were trapped by his intransigence, the joy of their victory souring into hostility. But Gwayne was not afraid. His sister was the queen, and his two nephews rode dragons.
Most importantly, he was here on the orders of Prince Aemon. He had powerful backing. Laying a hand on him was the same as slapping Prince Aemon in the face, and everyone in the Seven Kingdoms knew the Prince Regent had a very, very long memory for insults.
Just as the standoff reached its peak, a shadow fell over them.
BOOM—
A bronze-colored behemoth, vast as a mountain, tore through the thick clouds. A pair of colossal brown wings eclipsed most of Oldtown as a whistling wind whipped the banners from their poles. The air filled with the pungent scent of bronze and brimstone.
"Halt, Vermithor!"
A young man's voice, sharp and cold, rang out from above, echoing over the city.
When Gwayne heard it, his face lit up with pure joy. He shouted up at the sky, "Don't you dare leave! The Prince Regent is here!"
"Hiiissss..." the Bronze Fury roared in response. Its massive body spiraled through the air, wings powerful enough to cover half the city beating a thunderous rhythm as it swooped down toward the Hightower where they stood. An invisible pressure hammered down on everyone's heart.
Lord Thaddeus and Lord Donnel's breath caught in their throats, an inexplicable panic welling in their chests.
For a month, the war had raged. Now, the dragons were joining the fray. The royal family had finally made its move.
---------------
You can read +100 advance chapters on my Patreon
Patreon(.)com/izan24
•TIER 1 you'll get +15 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
•TIER 2 you'll get +40 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
•TIER 3 you'll get +60 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
•TIER 4 you'll get +100 ADVANCE CHAPTERS