Gendry looked out at the fleet upon the sea. Great Lord Stannis Baratheon had arranged them in perfect order. He was a seasoned sailor and fleet commander.
"Great Lord Stannis, Lord Monford, Ser Davos, I leave the sea to you," Gendry said to the three commanders of the combined fleet.
The nearly bald Stannis was like black iron, his will hard and unbending. Ser Davos was plain-looking, but remarkably capable. Only Lord Monford Velaryon was handsome, with long, bright golden hair. Though young and proud, he did at least have considerable experience at sea.
Great Lord Stannis would command the fleet feinting against King's Landing. Ser Davos would lead the fleet feinting against the Westerlands. Lord Monford Velaryon of Driftmark would command the Driftmark navy, responsible for transporting and supporting the fleets between Dragonstone, Crackclaw Point, and both shores of Sharp Point.
"As you command!"
"As you command! House Velaryon is at your service!" Lord Monford was a frivolous, arrogant young man who always argued for solving matters by force. He had once advised Stannis to attack King's Landing first, and during the siege of Storm's End, he had also urged a direct assault to take the castle.
Perhaps because he wanted to reverse House Velaryon's decline, he seemed especially aggressive. But in front of Gendry, Monford was much more restrained. After all, Gendry had far more cards in hand than Stannis, his victories were far more glorious, and his orders had always been absolute. Monford could only accept what he said.
Though Ser Davos felt uneasy, he still accepted the task. He was an experienced sailor. His knowledge of ships, sails, oars, and coastlines was unmatched across the Seven Kingdoms, and he had fought bloody blade-to-blade battles on wet decks before. But acting independently, leading part of the Royal Fleet and the Twin Cities fleet, was something the Onion Knight had scarcely dared imagine. This battle made the Onion Knight feel as though he had suddenly become a young maiden, both nervous and afraid.
"Men come before cities, just as chickens come before eggs," Gendry reminded the Onion Knight. "The key is to strike the reinforcements, not to besiege the city." The Onion Knight's fleet would have to pass Dragonstone, Tarth, and the Stepstones, resupply in Dorne, and only then sail for Oldtown. The road was long, and he had to be exceedingly careful. Gendry had already raised the matter with House Martell, and the Prince would aid the Onion Knight in time.
"As you command, Prince. I will act as circumstances require and bring the fleet back," Ser Davos said with a nod.
Lord Monford listened carefully. Ser Davos's route was the same as the first of Oakfist Arryn's six great voyages. But Oakfist had sailed to help the Westerlands against the Red Kraken, Dalton Greyjoy. The Onion Knight was sailing to encircle the Westerlands and fight House Lannister.
Lord Monford envied the Onion Knight for being given such responsibility, but he also understood that few could rival Davos at sea. In Gendry's eyes, Driftmark did not hold the same place as the Onion Knight. The Storm had always valued capable men. Morosh had already become admiral in Myr. Besides, this was only a feint, so Monford could say nothing.
Great Lord Stannis's proposed strategy was a combined land and sea attack. The Stormlands army would advance through the Kingswood along the kingsroad to the north bank of the Blackwater, while the fleet blockaded the Blackwater Rush. With their current advantage in numbers, all that remained was for the Crackclaws and the Vale army to attack King's Landing from the north. King's Landing would sit right in the middle of a C-shaped tiger's jaws, perfectly enclosed.
Stannis's strategy had not been wrong in itself. The greatest flaw was Tyrion's wildfire array. Wildfire greatly strengthened King's Landing's defenses. Otherwise, even if the lion and the rose joined forces, they would have found King's Landing already fallen.
"Isn't this fleet arrangement a little too risky?" Ser Barristan asked. The White Knight's position was exceptional. As Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and a member of the Small Council, he was a commander who could go to war in the king's stead.
"Our plan now is to besiege the city and strike its reinforcements. In war, risk brings the greatest gains," Gendry said. His plan was a modified assault on King's Landing, using the city as bait to see which reinforcements would come in to die.
Gendry's fleet was divided into five parts. Stannis would encircle King's Landing, Velaryon would transport men, and Ser Davos would feint against the Westerlands. Morosh would defend the Twin Cities, while the Narrow Sea fleet would guard the Stepstones. The deployment had to look real enough. Only by letting the enemy see his apparent weakness could he make Lys and Volantis impatient to join the game as well.
Taking King's Landing was not the point. The point was to destroy the enemy's living strength.
Gendry stroked the pommel of Orphan-Maker. Perhaps that smooth red gem was thirsting for blood as well, the famous sword that had lain silent for so long.
If Tywin came to the rescue, Gendry would devour the main force of the Westerlands. If the Lyseni and Volantenes launched a surprise attack, he would cut down their fleets.
So Ser Barristan said nothing more and quietly followed behind Gendry.
"I will lead the fleet and destroy the enemy before me," Great Lord Stannis swore.
"Uncle, I wish you a victory as great as the one you won years ago when you destroyed the Iron Fleet," Gendry said to him.
Stannis nodded and looked at his fleet.
At the docks, the sails of Fury gleamed gold, their canvas decorated with House Baratheon's crowned stag. This ship was Great Lord Stannis's flagship. It had three hundred oars, scorpions lining both sides of its deck, and a catapult at bow and stern for hurling barrels of burning pitch. It was not only fearsome, but swift and agile as well.
There were some soldiers aboard the ships, but they were mostly for show. The fleet had to remain mobile and flexible.
The fleet of Driftmark carried Gendry and his party to Sharp Point aboard the Seahorse. There, Gendry would wait for the Stormlands vanguard. The Seahorse's sails bore House Velaryon's silver seahorse.
"It's you, Lord Aurane." Gendry realized that the man carrying them to Sharp Point was an old acquaintance: Aurane Waters, a bastard of Driftmark. The two had known each other before.
Ser Aurane Waters was lean, with silver-gold hair, gray-green eyes, and a double chin. He was the bastard half-brother of the Lord of Driftmark.
"It is me, my lord," Ser Aurane said with a sigh. "Years have passed in the blink of an eye, and you truly have risen to the clouds. Your fortune is like a sword thrusting into the heavens. The red messenger in the sky lights your path." Back then, Aurane had only casually gone along, never imagining that the Storm's name would grow greater and greater, moving a thousand leagues a day, until he became a power on both sides of the Narrow Sea.
As for House Velaryon, the prosperity of the old Lords of the Tides had long since faded. They had dwindled to a handful of cats, large and small. With such narrow lands, the glory of a great house had quickly left them, and the Dragon Kings no longer married into their line.
"I have never forgotten that you paid me double in golden dragons back then," Gendry said with a loud laugh.
"That was because even in smithing, you had the makings of a king."
Everyone laughed. Ser Aurane was frivolous and flashy, fond of mockery and jokes, and always impatient with anything that did not interest him. Yet he had a good tongue and knew how to please people. No wonder he would later become Cersei's bedwarmer.
"I ask to serve you," Ser Aurane said. He had long wanted to enter Gendry's service, and now the chance had come. If he stayed on Driftmark, he would have no real standing. Better to go out and make his own way.
"Granted." Gendry looked at Ser Aurane. After all, they were old acquaintances. Though Driftmark had declined, the seafaring skills of the seahorse house were still respectable.
The Seahorse crossed Blackwater Bay, passed through the Gullet, and sailed against the wind. Sharp Point Castle of House Bar Emmon stood at the tip of Massey's Hook, its watchtower crowned with a blazing fire that called to mind the great red ruby at the throat of the red priestess. The red priestess remained at Gendry's side as a senior advisor in matters of magic.
The oars dipped and pulled, and Sharp Point Castle grew larger and larger.
By the time they reached Sharp Point Castle, several lords were already waiting.
Duram Bar Emmon, Lord of Sharp Point Castle, was a plump fourteen-year-old boy wrapped in layers of purple velvet trimmed with white sealskin.
Ser Justin Massey of Stonedance was a tall man with pink cheeks, blue eyes, and pale flaxen hair. He wore an easy smile, for which Great Lord Stannis had once called him "the Smiling One."
"Prince, Sharp Point is forever at your service."
"Prince, Stonedance is forever at your service."
Gendry helped them up. Here, he would receive the local troops, and here, he would wait for the Stormlands vanguard.
"I want hunters familiar with the terrain around the Kingswood. As many as possible," Gendry announced without pause.
"As you command!"
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