Chương 17: Chapter 17: Mountains of The Vale
Lord Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of The Vale and Warden of the East. For the first time in a long time felt utterly cowed.
Infront of him sat not just The Warden of The North but an angry Warden of The North. And this anger could be said to have been bought forth by his own foster son.
Robert in his wisdom had instructed the Maester of the Eyrie to direct all letters pertaining his betrothed to him. And as the maester is unaware of the marriage contract being broken, he followed the Stormlord's bidding without confirming anything with either Lord Arryn or Lord Stark.
Of course it wouldn't have come to light, that is if Robert had learned to control himself more.
Now here he sits, having to face the anger of a Direwolf of all people.
"I'm sure you know how serious this problem is." said Rickard.
"I do. But still, I believe forgiving the boy would be best course of action." Jon was sure the Stark Lord was growling at him. "We have our agreement. The ramifications of the betrothal being cancelled stem more than reputation and you know it. As far as the crown is concerned, we -the Riverlands, The Vale, The Stormlands and The North are all still in a bonded alliance. Unraveling that now could bring about chaos amongs the Lords of The Seven Kingdoms. Opportunist would rise from all around us. And neither of us wants to get caught up in what ever it is that the crown might think."
"...That is a problem with you southern lords..." Rickard said coldly. "You actually think I care about your southern politics enough to put it above the well being of my own."
Jon is stunned. He was indeed mistaken into thinking that. Now not only is he on the back foot he has also made a fool of himself.
"I will make this easy for you Arryn." Jon resisted the desire to gulp down. And kept his face passive as Rickard spoke. "I have no desire to turn this unto a scandal. Nor do I care enough about your reputations to defend it, the only reason I entertained this delay was to defend my own and my daughter's reputation. So I will let this slide, that is IF! you would agree to a few favors."
Jon couldn't answer as he had no idea as what exactly is going on at the Northern Lord's mind. But thinking about it more, he believed this to be the best course of action. And so he nodded but said no more.
Rickard seeing Jon's agreement nodded back and then left not even sparing the Old Falcon a glance.
Once the door closed, Jon's shoulder slumped and he breathed out heavily not realizing he had been holding it.
Once he calmed down he pondered on to the things that had been happening recently.
Lyanna Stark's letters being stolen is one thing. But for Robert to burn them all was another thing entirely. But like he said, it wouldn't have come to light if Robert had been able to control himself. Just this morning Robert intercepted another letter for Lyanna, but this time he exploded into rage and rushed to the girl's room banging unto the door so hard it was about to be removed from it's hinges. Attracting the attention of Rickard, Brandon, Eddard and Lyanna.
The moment Robert saw her he ended up on a tirade calling her a slut, a whore, and even words like bitch was thrown around. Robert was then silenced when Brandon punched him in the jaw leading to a rumble between the two men. It was after breaking the two up that the message was revealed.
Moments after, Lyanna simply laughed at the message saying that it wasn't written by Ser Arthas. After all it is too flamboyant, too many insinuations without truly confirming anything. It was written by a politician, not a warrior like Arthas', as she said herself, his writing is straight to the point.
And that was when everything came down on it's head. Robert had been intercepting his letters meant for her. And that was when Jon arrived, seeing the Stark girl kicking the Baratheon Lord in between his legs.
People had died for less. But this wasn't just some people. If word got out that The Storm Lord had been intercepting messages it won't just damage his reputation but House Arryn's aswell. Intercepting messages of another Great House, Robert might as well have stolen House Secrets and it wouldn't have been that much different.
'sometimes I wonder where I went wrong with that boy.'
Robert's actions has sparked another clash between him and the Stark Lord. 'And that will not do. I will have to tighten the leash.' Jon then turned to the other scrolls on his desk. 'specially now. It was only a matter of time before he hears of it. And him going around making a fool of himself is not something I could tolerate.'
One of the scrolls has the seal of House Waynwood informing him of the current skirmish of her knights gainst the Mountain Tribes. But what made Jon scowl is the fact that it was led by none other than Arthas Menethil himself.
Jon admits to have sent the maester to dig into all houses, past and present, from Knightly Houses to Great Houses in search of House Menethil's existence. Sadly in didn't pan out. The House is exactly that, a newly established one. But to Jon that is merely secondary concern regarding Arthas Menethil. What worries him is his growing prowess.
'The tourney showed he has enough wit and cunning but with little to no caution. That much is understandable as he is young. But his show of martial talent is frightening enough. If he could add political might in his name then...'
Jon had seen many battles, seen the rise and fall of great men, of great talents. But none of them is on the same level of growth as Arthas. While people praised and wrote songs of his duel against the Sword of the Morning, Jon remembers another. Even now he could still feel a shiver down his spine just remembering Arthas' duel against Barristan Selmy. It was a growth that shouldn't even be possible. But it happened still.
And his actions during the Lannister Scandal though heroic is something even now still baffle everyone. After all who in their right mind would give up a Valyrian Steel Sword for a little girl. A highborn she may be, but still ...
'well... she's not anymore.' Jon set aside his worry for the young Lord as in his eyes, despite his clearly noble countenance and pocessions, he is still a hedge knight.
Looking at the other scrolls made Jon clenched his fist in anger. A scroll that pertained to an increase in tax paid to the crown. It wasn't just an increase, no, it was leap of it's own amounting to an additional ten percent increase. Nearly double the amount they paid the crown per year.
And Jon has a feeling it is only the beginning. If the King is bold enough to do something like this to his Lord's then he can't even imagine how far the King is one day willingly go.
*knock! *knock! *knock!
"Come in!" said Jon.
From the door stepped in Robert himself. Seeing his wobbly steps and the wine stain on his cloth made him scowl.
' *sigh*... this is going to be a long day.' He thought.
~~~ Break ~~~
Fire!!! and Death!!! This was what the moonlight illuminated as an entire Mountain tribe is massacred by the Knights of Ironoaks.
They reached the first tribe just as the sun had set. And what they found had sent the men into an explosive rage.
They saw women scream and struggles as the savages passed them along like playthings. Those that weren't were being raped right around the camp fire. But what made it worst for Arthas, was the fact that there were little girls among the mix.
He didn't hesitate as he ran to the camp and started killing left and right. The men of course were just as angry and rushed to the fight with no semblance of order. They showed no mercy. No remorse. No forgiveness. Nothing but an unspoken rage against the savages.
The Mountain Clansmen from the wooden huts were roused and tried to put up a fight. But in the end their efforts amounted to nothing.
Arthas ran through the crowed unhindered as he cleaved limbs, bodies, heads even weapons or anything at all that came too close for his sword to reach. Many of the Mountain Clansmen saw his relentless assault against their kind and rushed forward hoping to stop him. They failed, as just like everyone else, if they weren't dying, they already were.
Arthas now stood against the lone Mountain man, surrounded by knights. Each one has their swords trained on him.
But no one moved forward as the savage has a woman held hostage. Arthas stepped forward, his hood making his bright blue eyes shine through, catching the man's attention. He said a lot of things, threats or demands but Arthas wasn't even listening.
Quietly pulling out a dagger tucked underneath his bracers he twirled it in between his fingers frightening the man with his ease and utter lack of alarm. And then the man made the mistake of pointing his blade at him.
*fwip!* *thud!*
The only thing the knights saw after was Arthas outstretched hand and his dagger burried into the man's face right between his eyes.
As the man fell and the woman was rescued. The men cheered for their first victory.
~~~ Break ~~~
Arthas was inspecting his men and the preparations being done to bringing down the injured when Uther came forward.
"My lord."
"What is it Uther?"
"All has been cleared, every house has been checked from top to bottom. We had one hell of a haul this time. Twenty women, ten men and seven children. All packed up and ready to be brought down."
"Good, make sure that the injured travel with the men. How many will be escorting them?"
"Of the hundred injured along with the captives, we are gonna have to send off a sizable force. I would advice a hundred men."
"Double it."
"My lord, that would thin our numbers to two hundred men. And the next tribe is said to house at least five hundred savages." Uther cautioned.
"Uther, I will not risk the lives of the injured or the innocent at the off chance they get ambushed. Double the forces."
"I understand my lord, I do. And I am happy to hear of your concern for the people. But you must not let fear blind you of your duty. Stopping this savages will do the people more good. And to do that you will be needing all the help you could get."
"The men-"
"Are more than capable of doing what needs to be done." Uther held Arthas by his shoulder and said. "Your concern for them is admirable. But you must learn to differentiate that concern with fear. Trust in your men lad, you don't have to do this on your own."
The two stared at each other until Arthas sighed as he saw the conviction in the Veteran's eyes and nodded in acceptance.
"Thank you lad."
".. don't make me regret this Uther..."
"You won't, they trained for this after all." Uther said with much certainty, that Arthas smiled as he accepted his words.
*crash!* Hearing a loud noise the two went and checked only to see several men were pushing a man off of a crying woman.
"What is going on here!?" Arthas bellowed.
"My lord, this man-" one of the Ironoaks Knight pointed at another. "tried to force himself unto the woman."
"I did not force myself unto her!" he defended.
Arthas then turned to his own men at the side and asked. "What happened?"
"Forgive me my lord but this man did try coerce the woman into giving herse-"
"He is lying!!!"
"Silence!" said Arthas the man was about to retort to the boy but shut himself up once his eyes made contact with those cold blue eyes of Arthas.
"Continue."
"He blackmailed the woman my lord. Promised to get her a seat amongs those to be sent down back to Ironoaks. In exchange for...uhh...a taste m-my lord."
Arthas looked to the woman being tended to by Uther. "What happened then."
Though frightened she answered still. "I-I refused my lord, I did since one of the knights in blue and already told me that we would be leaving soon. A-And then he said I owed him. That he saved me and I owe him."
Arthas then stared at the man and said. "Your cock or the black, choose." Arthas asked as he hefted his sword Infront of him.
The man looked around and saw no allies. Not even his fellow knights from Ironoaks, whom only looked away. Refusing to defend him in any manner.
Enraged, the man rushed Arthas who simply raised his hand preventing others from stepping in.
He grabbed Arthas by the neck. And tried to push him on his back but the Arthas stood his ground. Gritting his teeth the man drew his sword only for him to drop it as he grunted in pain.
Looking down, he saw a dagger burried in his pants and blood dripping down from it. He fell to his knees as Arthas twisted the dagger and with a yank, blood splattered across the ground.
The men could only looked down in horror as the man's cock fell from the torn trousers of said knight who squeeled to the stary skies.
"Treat his wounds. And send him with the rest."
"Aye, my lord." said Uther.
Arthas sighed as he walked away not wanting to deal with the aftermath of such a display. He after all has men to lead.
~~~ Break ~~~
Anya Waynwood breath out a great relief, her shoulders slumping as she leaned down upon her chair. A month, that was all it took to take out four nearby tribes. It was a welcome surprise to find out that Redfort had sent men after she had informed them of the tribe's presence and locations in their ranges.
And of the four nearby tribes, two were battles that was nothing short of overwhelming victory thanks to the additional allies. And the fourth was a headache that took time to properly address.
One of the tribe's the Son's of the Tree turned out to be a peaceful tribe. Which in itself is a doubtful claim. Sadly she could not say no, as she had promised that any Tribe willing to integrate themselves into society would be welcomed. Of course she doubted it would ever happen in the first place, that was why she was willing to even entertain the idea. Never in a her lifetime did she thought there would actually be a tribe willing to even take their chance like they did.
Sadly she can't take them in. She loses too much if she does, she doesn't just lose the trust of the common folk. She loses even her fellow Lords and Ladies, and not to mention the massive hit she will receive from the faith. Accepting them would be tantamount to treason as none of this people are even considered citizens of the Seven kingdoms and had openly voiced their rejection of the Seven and the authority of the Iron Throne. They are already blurring the line between a battle and a skirmish, she'd rather not press her luck and accidentally draw the eyes of the Mad King.
And so she sent word to the only person that could help. Luckily the reply was an acceptable one. Rickard Stark has a reputable name and the means to bend the truth into his favor. An acceptable outcome, as despite how 300 capable men seemed enticing. The loss on her name alone easily exceed that amount by ten times more.
Now there is only one more thing to address. That would be mainly her worry over her own son's safety.
Anya could only try and hold her tears back as even now her son's refusal to return home continued to fill her with worry.
Morton is an excitable young man. Eager to prove himself. So much so that he excels in his studies in swords and quills and had always been an obedient young man. He is only one year away from his coming of age. Old enough to inherit Ironoaks but now that dream is threatened.
For some reason he decided to act like a child, stealing his father's armor and joining in with the Knights to the mountain. Anya admits that in her tired state did not check upon her son. And by the time they found out what he had done, two days had already passed. Riders were sent only to return empty handed as said boy refuse to return.
Days passed and she continues to receive messages from her son. Stating his well being. The things he has seen... things he has done... Her son was maturing, and though happy as she is, she can't help but lament the fact that it had to happen in the face of death.
As far as she could tell, her son is in good hands. Always kept at Uther Lightbringer's side during the battles as Arthas tends to get too deep into the heart of the battlefield. But when training, her son receives his lecture directly from him. Which according to her son, easily surpasses everything he has learned from other knights as Arthas refused to mince words and hold back with the young heir.
Though his writing itself expresses...concerns. Her son is getting enamored of the young man. Even referring to his beauty in his last two letters. Anya felt a shiver down her spine just thinking about it. Dreading what would happen if her son decided to pursue it. She just hopes her message reaches Arthas and hopes he listens.
~~~ Break ~~~
Tywin paced in his solar with worry slowly spilling to his face.
The door opened with narry an announcement. But seeing those who entered, Tywin spoke none but gestured for them to take a sit.
Once the doors closed Tywin spoke. "Tell me what we are working with."
"Storehouses are half full. Long enough for three years of winter. I have already sent letters to Highgarden regarding the procurement of additional grains. As that is the least commodity available in the stores." said Gerion.
"How long?" Tywin asked.
"Three moons at most possibly two at best before we're at full capacity."
"Good. Make use of any vacant houses for storage as well if necessary. And put your most trusted in their care. I do not want any saboteur sneaking in and ruining our only source of food."
"I'll see to it." Gerion replied.
Tywin the turned to Kevan. "What of the men."
"Armors are prepped and swords at the ready. I made sure to only inform the commanders but each of them is fully aware to look out for any sign of a to call to arms. The smiths are all put to work. We should be able to field fourty thousand men by the end of the year." Kevan replied.
"Make it sooner. We have the coin, put it to use." said Tywin.
"Aye, my lord."
Tywin then turned to his sister Genna. "What did they say."
"...it did not go well." Genna then saw Tywin barely hold his anger. "Hoster had become bolder it seems. His demands are ever increasing. Though the changes are manageable, it is his refusal to make any form of concessions that showed that he truly no longer desire this union..."
Tywin did not speak. Merely standing there with his back turned from them. Seconds later he whispered... "...and of my daughter?"
"...She makes no promises Tywin. But she said she will try to sway him to our side. But....she also said to hold no hope, as 'her lord' has expressed his wish to be with The Northern Princess....and she also supports it."
Tywin turned to only to hold a sneer on his face. "First she gives her name up and offers herself to him. Like a nameless whore. Now you are telling me that despite her sacrifices she refuse to do what needs to be done! To bring him into the fold, is that what you are telling me sister?"
"...*sigh*...That is not how she put it but yes..."
"Does she not realize that with her wedded to him she may relink to our family once more the moment he joins the Westerlands?"
"...it wouldn't have mattered Tywin."
"And why not?"
"Because you betrayed her." Tywin's face blanked. "Because you sold her out for your son. Do not think for a moment that your action did not bring about any consequences. This is it, Tywin. The consequence. Her refusal to be part of the family that turned their backs on her."
"Deals were made, she would have lived."
"You bribed the Maester to say what he said. Did not you think that another can do the same?" Genna retorted. "Tywin, you under estimated the Mad King. All of you us did. Even the very people you made a deal to. Had it not been for that boy she would have been dead."
"It was only natural she would grate towards him afterwards Tywin. After all you would have sold her for that sword. But he gave up that sword for her. That in itself is something that though baffles you, makes every woman swoon just hearing about it. And I can only imagine how it felt to be the recipient of it."
"This is why women do not exist in courts.." Tywin mumbled, but was heard by Genna, making her frown. "So, she is useless then?"
"Tywin!" cried Genna indignantly.
"Not entirely brother!" quickly retorted Gerion hoping to pacify things. "After all it was clear that the Lyanna Stark is smitten with the boy. If he could be persuaded to the West then you would have a sworn house with a Great Lord's daughter as his wife. I'd say that's a boon in itself."
"I highly doubt Rickard Stark would stand for that. He wants the boy and all that he could offer. His daughter is the price. If he can't have what he paid for, I doubt Rickard Stark would let him keep the girl." said Kevan
"...hmm...we'll entertain both possibilities. Now tell me, what news of Kingslanding?"
"Nothing good Tywin. He not only burned servants of the Red Keep after choking on a fruit. He also burned the son of a sworn knight...And laughed at it too." said Kevan
"Do we know who?" asked Gerion.
"Someone from House Brune I believe."
"And the prince?" asked Tywin.
"....right next to his father." he answered with with spite.
"And still he do nothing?" whispered Genna.
Kevan didn't deign to answer and chose silence as his reply. And it was enough to strike a healthy amount of anger and fear to it's occupants.
" *sigh*... We wait now. Soon, very soon. This war will begin. And this family, will endure."
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