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—
Riverlands
Harrenhal
8 BAC
"What the fuck do you mean Hasper is gone too?!" Harren screamed, spit flying out of his mouth and hitting the man standing before him, who was too conscious of his current position to wipe it.
Torwyn gulped. "He and his men were ambushed by the archer, my king, the one they call the Shadow Hunter. Corpses of everyone but Prince Hasper have been found." Prince Hasper was traveling with two hundred men, and the ambush killed them all without even the chance to fight back. Exactly two hundred bodies were found, with no sign of the prince himself.
Harren scowled, remembering all the headaches that damn archer caused him and the Ironborn, from setting their supplies on fire to assassinating lords left and right. "So the archer took him hostage?!"
First his heir and firstborn son, Harwyn, somehow fumbled up the raid on Weeping Town and ended up as a prisoner of the Durrandons; now his second son was gone as well, leaving only the youngest, Harlan, at eleven years old, too young to lead any raids.
"As far as we can tell, yes, my king."
"Do you have any good news?" The venom in Harren's voice would have been enough to poison all of his enemies thrice over.
Torwyn's voice cracked, as he did not think any news short of House Durrandon simply disappearing from the face of Westeros would please the King of Isles and Rivers. "Some rumors say that the archer is in fact a woman."
Harren let out a furious, unintelligible scream and threw the table in front of him across the floor, heaving for breath.
Everyone, even his sons, Harron and Harmund, gave a wide berth to their king.
"Gather every able-bodied man we have; it is time to end the Durrandon line, permanently. In the meantime, I want that archer dead and his or her corpse strung up, no matter what." Woman or not, he would have skinned that archer alive personally, but he had to prepare for war.
—
Storm Kingdom
Bronzegate
Bronzegate was named such for one reason: the bronze-covered large gates protecting the doors of the castle.
The castle itself was large, one of the largest in all of the kingdom, in fact, with high-cut stone walls, a large keep in the middle, and two towers.
Lord Raymar Buckler greeted them at the gates, all smiles and sunshine, which wavered upon seeing who was leading the host.
So the rumors were true, and the world had gone upside down.
"Your Grace, Bronzegate is yours." Raymar bent the knee, as resistance would be in vain now.
Argella dismounted her horse, handing the reins to the stableboy and gesturing to the lord to rise. "Thank you, Lord Buckler. Is your host ready?"
"Yes, four thousand men in total with the hosts of Lords Torran Errol and Wystan Steadmon." The mentioned lords were standing on either side of Raymar Buckler, having bent their knees following the Lord of Bronzegate.
"Very well, we will rest here for today and march tomorrow to Fellwood before crossing the Blackwater Rush." With the favorable weather, the march wasn't taxing on the men, and none of the lords had heard of any complaints, so rest was unnecessary for now.
"As you say, Your Grace."
—
Ei spent most of her short stay in Bronzegate integrating the new troops into the main host, dispersing the inexperienced soldiers all over the trained units so they could catch up quicker.
When Lord Fell and Lord Grandison's hosts, along with the forces already stationed on their side of the Blackwater Rush, joined the main force, there would be around twenty thousand men, and six thousand would lack the training the rest had.
So it was imperative for her to impart what training she could, because while Ei would confront the main enemy host, the Ironborn dispersed all over the Riverlands would have to be hunted.
She had work to do.
—
Bells of war had the River Lords restless. If the Ironborn won, then their yoke under the reavers would be absolute. If the Storm Kingdom won, then things would be different, but while Harren couldn't force them to fight against the Storm Kingdom as part of his forces for fear of betrayal, they also couldn't afford to fight Harren, not when he had their families hostage.
For now, they would watch and act when the time came.
—
"My king, I don't understand. Are we to kneel to a sorcerer now?" Raymar could not understand how the lords, and especially King Argilac, had bent the knee so fast.
People of the Storm Kingdom did not fear anyone easily; even a sorcerer of Argella Durrandon's power must have done something remarkable to earn their loyalty.
Argilac sighed, as someone asking this question was bound to happen. "No, Raymar, you are to kneel to my daughter and your new queen." He kept silent on the matter of Argella's nature, since she wished to show the might of a god, rather than merely claim it.
Raymar wasn't convinced. "But why give her the throne when you know the Faith won't stand for this?" They didn't have enough men to face the Faith Militant, and even an army of ants could fell a much larger creature.
"Unless the Seven themselves come down from the heavens, I am not worried about the Faith." Argilac dismissed his old friend's worries, and the Lord of Bronzegate stood open-mouthed at the ridiculous idea.
"Yes, my king." Raymar clicked his tongue at the look Argilac gave him. "I meant, my prince. That sounds weird to say." It had been so long since he had last called Argilac "my prince," and it felt so foreign to his tongue.
"Get used to it, Raymar."
—
Felwood
Lords Buckler, Errol, and Steadmon were quick to give their vows of fealty after becoming fully aware of the situation.
As she had ordered, the now fourteen thousand strong host marched to Fellwood, and with each step closer to confronting the Ironborn, the anticipation of victory grew.
For they would have to be utter fools to lose when the Storm Queen could tear the skies open and summon destructive storms that would sweep the enemy aside like rags.
It was a three-day march from Bronzegate to Fellwood, and another two thousand men had joined the host, with the last four thousand already waiting at the Blackwater Rush.
—
Blackwater Rush
Houses Bar Emmon, Massey, and Wendwater had higher populations despite the smaller lands of the former two, since they saw more trade from the Free Cities than the rest of the kingdom.
Combined with the border forces, Ei had a bit over twenty thousand men in her host, all who were arrayed before her with their respective liege lords at the head.
It was time for Ei to address her host.
Dismounting, she walked forward exactly five steps before rising to the air.
Ei amplified her sound so the entire host could hear her words. "This is a war of liberation. We are here to free the Riverlands from the Ironborn. And in my army, there will be no rapists or looters. You will not harm the people nor the prisoners. You are an army, not crazed bandits on a raid."
"But it is the right of the soldiers." Someone croaked from the host, and Ei had to exert restraint to not smite him on the spot.
Skies darkened and thunder rumbled.
Horses and men alike took fright, and I could hear the prayers to the Seven.
"No, those are the acts of outlaws and animals, not the people of the Storm Kingdom. All loot that strictly belongs to the enemy will be gathered and distributed at the end of the war. Anyone, whether noble or smallfolk, who assaults a woman, kills or tortures prisoners, or steals will be executed." There would be no compromise on the conduct she wished her forces to carry.
The clouds disappeared just as quickly, and Ei lowered herself to the ground.
—
Storm Kingdom Host Camp
Queen's Tent
Lord Tommen put the bridge figure over the Blackwater Rush. "Your Excellency, we will need time to build a bridge, unless we march to the upper Blackrush to cross the river at one of the fords." He said, pointing at the fords that would take at least two days for them to march up to.
"Unnecessary, I will deal with the issue of a bridge tomorrow. You simply remind your men of my commands and be ready to march." A large electro platform would allow uninterrupted and steady crossing, saving them the trouble and time.
If she could summon storms and tear open the skies, who was to say she couldn't build a bridge from scratch? "Yes, Your Excellency."
Lord Edric Fell spoke next. "We should send outriders to tail the enemy." It was valuable advice, but it was too slow for Ei.
"Indeed, we are going in blind, and I don't like it." Argilac had made use of the element of surprise plenty of times and didn't want to be on the receiving end.
Ei closed her eyes and summoned the Baleful Omen on her palm before it disappeared and the Electro Archon saw the enemy.
The lords fell silent, pushing their chairs back, disturbed by the sight of magic, but slowly came around once Ei spoke.
"They have split into two forces, similar to the strategy my father used against the Reach. Harren leads the main host, twenty thousand strong, and the remaining ten thousand are led by a Greyjoy." She wasn't familiar with the members of Ironborn houses, only knowing their sigils.
Silence continued for minutes, as the lords slowly digested the fact that Queen Argella's magic could also watch over the enemy lands.
Lands that would take days to cross on horseback.
Calum Swann knew only one Greyjoy whom Harren would trust that much. "Must be Vickon Greyjoy. He is famous as a captain and loyal to Harren to the death."
"Harren is taking a straight path at Blackwater Rush, but the march is slow, so he must be intending to draw us in, while the Greyjoy struck us from behind." A tactic that would work under normal circumstances for the Ironborn, but these were definitely not that.
"With a forced march, we can catch Harren off guard and cut the head of the snake." Raymar had a bone to pick with the Ironborn, and nothing would please him more than seeing Harren Hoare dead.
"That would leave us weakened, and if Greyjoy catches up, we will be in a pinch." The men would be in a pinch, not the queen with her sorcery, but still, Robert didn't want to walk to his death if he could avoid it.
Argilac pointed at the purple line on the map, the one showing the possible movement of the Greyjoy host. "If Harren is marching slowly, then we make him regret it. Instead of facing him, we change our path and smash the weaker host first and circle around to hit Harren."
"That is the logical choice, so we shall do that." Her father, for all his aggressiveness and fury when it came to the enemy, knew when to give sound advice.
"But it depends on us crossing the Blackwater Rush quickly." Taryn was stuck between not accepting the use of sorcery for his fear of it and accepting it for the convenience of it.
Her tone ended any more discussion on the matter of the bridge. "As I said, it is a simple issue to solve."
Caden Mertyns drew an imaginary path on the map. "Then instead of taking the aforementioned castles and lands, we will have to take Rosby, Stokeworth and march to Duskendale to confront Vickon." Rosby was conquered by Halleck Hoare back in the days, and were under the Ironborn rule, though House Darklyn and Duskendale were sworn to none, but the Ironborn presence chipped away at their power.
"Indeed, the River Lords will have no reason to join Harren, even if they might be forced to send soldiers and supplies, and with him coming at us, the previous plan is unnecessary now." House Rosby and Duskendale would no doubt provide further troops to her host once bent the knee and if one-third of Harren's forces were dead, then the River Lords would not stand idle.
Now, if only that flying pest above would leave, then everything would be perfect.