Hundreds of leagues from Conquest Keep, in the southern reaches of Westeros.
The Reach, once hailed as the "Granary of the Seven Kingdoms" and the "Garden of Blossoms," now lay scorched and ravaged. Highgarden, the castle symbolizing House Tyrell's glory and wealth, was reduced to bloodshed and deathly silence.
In what had once been the most elegant hall in the Seven Kingdoms, the ever-blooming flowers were gone, replaced by vast splatters of dried blood. Ser Addam Marbrand and Damion Lannister stood at the center of the hall. Their ornate armor was equally stained with dark crimson, and their faces shone with the satisfaction of vengeance fulfilled.
When Gendry led the Reach army to attack the Westerlands, Tywin had already made his move. He ordered Addam and Lord Damion Lannister to lead a cavalry force on a swift raid, launching a surprise assault on Highgarden.
The raid was devastatingly effective. The Lannisters had settled every score. The main branch of House Tyrell—the line of Lord Mace—along with their kin, confidants, and servants, men and women, young and old alike, were nearly wiped out. Willas Tyrell, heir to House Tyrell, had been impaled by Lannister spears and pinned to the rose-patterned carpet of the family hall.
Gendry, the "Hundred Days King," who had ruled for less than a hundred days, fled to Highgarden gravely wounded after his crushing defeat at Lannisport. He could not escape his fate and perished beneath the swords of his enemies.
Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill. Lord Rowan of Goldengrove. Every noble of the Reach who dared resist while remaining at Highgarden met the same bloody end.
Not content with this, the Lannister forces sent troops to raid Goldengrove, Horn Hill, and Cider Hall, spreading the purge of Highgarden across the Reach. Addam Marbrand even planned to march on the Honeywine Valley, intending to eliminate the troublesome Hightower as well.
At that moment, a messenger burst into the hall, terror etched across his face. He fell to his knees before them with a thud.
"Lord! Urgent news from Duskendale! Tywin... Lord Tywin... he... has been assassinated!"
"What?!"
Addam Marbrand's smug expression froze instantly, as if doused with a bucket of ice water. He seized the messenger by the collar and roared, "Speak clearly! What happened to Lord Tywin?!"
Damion Lannister looked as if struck by lightning. His face drained of color, his body swayed, and he nearly lost his footing.
Tywin Lannister, the pillar of House Lannister, the most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms... dead?
The messenger trembled as he stammered out the report from Duskendale. The two Lannister commanders stared in disbelief. Tyrion killed Tywin, and Varys helped Tyrion escape?
Another officer burst in immediately.
"My lord! An urgent command from Queen Regent Cersei and the Small Council! All forces are to cease operations in the Reach at once and withdraw at full speed to reinforce the Blackwater Rush defenses. Intelligence indicates Viserys Targaryen has led tens of thousands of Dothraki savages to the Stormlands, preparing to land and reclaim the Iron Throne! Furthermore, Viserys Targaryen has publicly announced his betrothal to the Dornish princess! The Targaryen remnants and Dorne are joining forces!"
The shock of Tywin's death had barely settled before the grim news of a Targaryen counterattack followed. Addam and Damion exchanged glances, each seeing the same storm of dread and uncertainty in the other's eyes.
The wealth of the Reach was tempting, but the safety of Duskendale was far more important. Especially now—Lord Tywin's sudden death would plunge Duskendale's royal seat into chaos and power struggles.
They had no choice but to end the assault.
"Retreat!"
Addam Marbrand snapped his hand out. "Assemble all troops immediately. Take whatever you can carry. Burn what you cannot. Within a day, leave Highgarden. Return to Duskendale at full speed!"
The Lannister army fled the ruined Highgarden in haste, burdened by their plundered spoils. Only columns of black smoke and a desolate wasteland of ash and silence remained.
The very next day after the Lannister army's withdrawal, several delayed reinforcements from the Reach finally reached the outskirts of the former City of Roses. The white tower banner of House Hightower of Oldtown fluttered at the front of the column.
Leading them was the Hightower heir, Ser Baelor "Brightsmile". Mounted on a magnificent white warhorse and clad in enamel-edged armor so ornate it bordered on excess, his expression was grim.
Beside him rode Lord Paxter of the Redwyne family of the Arbor, followed by his two sons, Horas and Hobber, both equally somber. Also among the host were Lord Tommen Costayne of Three Towers, and the regent representing the young Lady of Blackcrown, Aly Bulwer—her mother, Lady Victaria Tyrell. These were the nobles who had escaped joining Renly's main host and thus survived.
Two years earlier, Baelor Brightsmile, once captured by Lo Quen, had fallen ill during his imprisonment in Tyrosh. Since then, he had developed an aversion to campaigning and warfare. He had only sent his younger brother, Garth, to lead the knights and soldiers of House Hightower under Renly's banner. Unexpectedly, that reluctance had saved his life.
As for Lord Paxter, his absence from Renly's forces was because Renly had ordered him to command the Redwyne fleet to blockade Stannis near Dragonstone and prevent any sudden assault. Though the Redwyne fleet had suffered devastating losses two years ago, losing most of its warships, they still possessed over a thousand merchant vessels—refitted and barely serviceable for battle.
Before long, from the northwest of Highgarden came Ser Jon Fossoway of New Barrel and Lady Aven Oakheart of Old Oak, each leading their own contingents of soldiers. Their forces converged before the shattered gates of Highgarden.
The sight that greeted them drew sharp breaths from every onlooker.
The once lush and radiant Highgarden Castle now lay under a shroud of smoke, its walls partially collapsed. Piles of uncollected corpses—soldiers and, in greater number, townsfolk from nearby villages, men, women, and children alike—littered the ground before the gate.
"By the gods…" Lord Paxter's voice was low and bitter. "Those treacherous Lannister beasts. How dare they?"
The usual smile on Ser Baelor's face had long vanished, replaced by cold, glacial severity. Though there had always been quiet friction between House Hightower and House Tyrell, such a massacre was beyond anything he believed even the Lannisters capable of.
With heavy hearts, they led their men through the gates.
The sight within could only be described as hell on earth.
The once graceful corridors were now butcher's grounds, corpses strewn across bloodstained stone. The exquisite gardens were trampled into mud and gore. In the fountains, bloated bodies floated where once lilies bloomed, the water darkened to crimson.
Soldiers cleared the dead as curses filled the air.
When they reached the great hall, the silence was absolute.
The vast Tyrell carpet, once embroidered with golden roses, was soaked through with dried blood, stiff as stone. The walls were splattered with streaks of crimson, grotesque in their chaos. The headless corpses of Willas and the others had already been gathered.
Ser Jon Fossoway swept his gaze across the nobles assembled, a faint, shrewd glint flickering in his eyes. He cleared his throat.
"My lords, after this calamity befalling House Tyrell, it seems the line of Lord Mace may well be extinguished... Highgarden, the richest castle of the Seven Kingdoms and the capital of the Reach—who shall inherit it now?"
There was truth in his words.
Lord Mace had been declared dead in King's Landing by decree of the Iron Throne in Duskendale. His family had perished with him in the wildfire that consumed the city. The remaining Willas Tyrell and all collateral kin had been erased by the Lannister ambush.
As Jon Fossoway finished speaking, a confident smile spread across his face. He lifted his chin slightly, certain of his claim.
His lady was Lord Mace Tyrell's sister, Janna Tyrell. Highgarden, in his mind, was already his.
The deathly silence in the hall shattered. Everyone's gaze turned sharp, their expressions growing complicated as they sized one another up. Moments ago, they had been steeped in grief—but calculation now flickered across their faces.
The sorrow on Ser Baelor's face froze. His fingers brushed the gem set in the hilt of his sword, yet he said nothing. His sister, Alerie Hightower, was Lady to Lord Mace... The Hightowers had played second to others for a thousand years. It was time they ruled the Reach.
Lord Paxter suddenly turned, his eyes locking on Jon Fossoway. He opened his mouth but stopped short, thoughts roaring in his mind. His wife, Mina Tyrell, was Lord Mace's own sister. His sons bore Tyrell blood. And Lady Olenna Tyrell had been born a Redwyne—surely the Redwynes deserved Highgarden.
Across the hall, Lady Victaria Tyrell, mother of the Lady of Blackcrown, instinctively straightened her back. She was a distant kin of Lord Mace. Their claims might have been weak, but with the main Tyrell line extinguished, who could say they had no chance?
Ser Jon Fossoway met Paxter's sharp gaze calmly. The atmosphere grew tense and awkward. Grief had scarcely settled before it was buried beneath the lure of power. No one answered Jon's question, yet every mind raced with silent calculations.
Lord Tommen Costayne of Three Towers watched the growing tension. His eyes swept over the nobles, and a cold suspicion crept into his heart. He remembered what had happened after Gendry, badly wounded, had fled back to Highgarden—the great lords tied by blood to House Tyrell had stalled and shirked their duties, letting the Lannister army march in unopposed. That had led to the fall of Highgarden and the destruction of House Tyrell.
Perhaps, deep down, they had long awaited this day—to feast on Tyrell's corpse. Their late arrival, their mourning—it was all a show for the lesser lords. Their true goal was to seize Highgarden.
"It's too soon to speak of that now!"
Lord Paxter's furious voice broke the silence.
"Right now, we must deal with the dead, comfort the survivors, and make the Lannisters pay in blood! I still can't forget Bloodstone—those damned Lannister bastards disobeyed orders for their own glory and got countless Reachmen killed!"
...
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