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"What? Your Grace, you want to kill Talisa?"
Zamma, whose left leg had been treated by the nurses and bound in bandages, had been woken at dawn by Robb and the dark circles beneath his eyes. His first question terrified her.
"I said if," Robb replied. "If I killed her, would the blessing fade? Think carefully before you answer. I want the truth."
Talisa's face had kept appearing in his mind through the night, and he had barely slept. At dawn, he came straight to the dungeon to question Zamma.
"I did see cases while studying the Love Song where one side died by accident after receiving the blessing," Zamma said honestly, glancing at Bloodwind beside Robb. "But the results were different. Some slowly forgot. Some missed the dead even more fiercely. A few could not bear the longing and ended their own lives.
"Your Grace, why are you unwilling to lie with Talisa? I read her records before I left. She is still an untouched girl."
"Knowing Talisa is bait, how could I simply take the bait you set for me?"
"But Your Grace already knows our plan now. Volantis and the temple of the Moon Singers cannot threaten you directly while you are in Westeros. If you want the blessing gone, that is the simplest and most effective way."
Robb stood stunned.
Then understanding struck him.
Yes.
He had made the matter too complicated. His present strength already far surpassed the original Robb's, and the plan of the Tiger Party and the Moon Singers had been exposed. If he took the bait now, they could not create any direct threat from it.
"Good. Thank you for the advice. I will arrange a ship to send you back to Braavos as soon as possible."
Robb, who had been tormented by the blessing all night, thanked Zamma in haste after thinking it through, then rushed out of the dungeon.
Zamma watched him leave and sighed. "Going to lie with her first thing in the morning? This king is as impulsive as a Jogos Nhai man."
"Wyl, go tell Crey I will wait for him at the inner keep gate. Have him choose several maidservants from the inner keep to come with me."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Seeing Robb so rarely impatient, Wyl thought he had gained some vital intelligence from Zamma and ran all the way to Crey's chamber. When Crey opened the door, Wyl relayed Robb's order while panting, then added his own guess.
Robb did not wait long. Crey and Wyl brought several obedient maidservants to the inner keep gate. Behind them came hundreds of fully armed northern elites.
Seeing Crey bring so many men, Robb assumed he had other business and did not ask. He only needed the maidservants afterward.
With that, Robb led the large party and a dozen terrifying giant wolves toward the residence arranged for the Silent Sisters and the nurses.
Their residence was an empty mansion said to have belonged to a wealthy Westerlands merchant who had fled to King's Landing at the beginning of the war.
After entering the mansion, Robb saw many stretchers laid out in the courtyard. Talisa and the other nurses were inspecting wounds and changing bandages.
The northern soldiers had their own battlefield healers, so those here were wounded men of Ashemark who had survived yesterday's treatment. The dead had already been burned by northern soldiers.
"Talisa, I have something to say to you."
Robb found her at once, as conspicuous to him as a flame in darkness, and walked over.
"Your Grace, please speak plainly."
Perhaps the previous day's work had worn her down. Talisa looked unwell. She glanced back at Robb but did not stop what she was doing.
Her indifference stirred a nameless anger in Robb, already troubled by the blessing.
"Crey," he called over his shoulder. "Clear everyone out except her."
"Yes."
Crey waved. More than a hundred fully armed northern soldiers surged into the courtyard and began moving the Silent Sisters, the nurses, and the wounded out.
"What are you doing?"
"He is badly hurt. Do not move him like that!"
"How crude!"
Because Robb had not harmed them the previous day, the nurses began to protest loudly when the northern soldiers started acting.
Bloodwind, already restless these past two days, released a long, thunderous howl.
The courtyard fell silent in an instant.
Robb looked at the nurses and said in a voice cold enough to freeze blood, "You may silence yourselves, or you may become corpses and be silent that way."
"Your Grace, please have them stop this rough behavior. I will listen to you properly," Talisa said, anger appearing on her usually calm face as the wounded continued to be carried out.
Robb had thought he had fallen for Talisa at first sight. After discovering he had been plotted against, he only wanted to end the troublesome blessing.
After this, although Talisa was still beautiful and nearly perfect in his eyes, the hazy affection that had just begun in his heart was consumed almost completely.
"Wyl, no one enters until I come out."
After giving Wyl the order, Robb seized Talisa's hand and pulled her into the mansion. Once the two of them were inside, Bloodwind lazily took position before the closed door.
"What exactly do you want?" Talisa demanded, furious after Robb released her. Her strength was no match for his.
"If I have guessed correctly, you thought of me all last night."
"Thought of you? How could I..." Talisa's anger faltered into shy confusion.
"Both of us have been used."
Robb did not talk around the matter. He told Talisa everything he could tell her, then stated why he had come.
"After we break the blessing, you may name your terms. So long as they are reasonable and within my power, I will satisfy them."
Talisa gave a soft, bitter laugh. "Your Grace would have no need to invent such an absurd lie. I did not show it, but these past two days my mind has been full of you.
"I thought I had fallen in love with you. It turns out my noble grandfather had that Jogos Nhai woman place a blessing on us.
"Your Grace, I will help you remove the blessing, because I also do not want it interfering with my thoughts.
"I have no other terms. I only hope you will allow us to leave Ashemark freely."
The shyness on Talisa's face slowly faded back into her usual calm.
She had left Volantis because she longed for freedom and did not want to remain bound by her family. Now she had learned she was still a piece on her family's board, and that even her thoughts had been touched by a grandfather across the sea.
The door shut behind them.
With Talisa so willing to cooperate, Robb had no hesitation left.
Talisa had been untouched in Volantis, and Robb's body had been strengthened by the red mist. The joining was not easy for her to endure.
Westerosi houses were rarely well soundproofed. Some sounds from inside the mansion drifted faintly to the people outside.
The young nurses looked pained, almost as if they could feel it themselves. Wyl, the Wolfguard, and the northern soldiers kept their faces blank and carried out their orders as if they heard nothing.
Only Crey kept chuckling under his breath. He even took out the paper and pen he carried, muttering to himself as he recorded notes.
"First, His Grace's tastes are normal. There is no need to worry about heirs.
"Second, His Grace seems to prefer somewhat unusual methods. No wonder he refused when I invited him to relax on the Street of Silk back in King's Landing.
"Third, His Grace may enjoy lively scenes with many people present.
"No, the third point is uncertain. I will need a chance to ask His Grace. No, asking directly might embarrass him. Better to study His Grace's preferences myself..."
Crey, who liked to dance along the edge of death, kept taking notes outside for more than an hour.
The door creaked open.
Robb walked out fully dressed, feeling refreshed and clear-headed.
The troublesome Love Song blessing was finally gone.
"Crey, have those maidservants go in and help Talisa clean up. Then arrange for her to move into the inner keep for the next few days."
"Yes."
As the waiting maidservants entered the house, Robb, whose mind no longer filled with Talisa's face, walked back toward the inner keep.
The moment he stepped out of the courtyard, however, all the young nurses outside wrapped their arms around their chests and edged away from him.
Robb looked at them, then turned and saw Crey's wicked grin. Only then did he realize how the others had interpreted what happened with Talisa.
With the blessing gone and his mind clear again, Robb returned to the inner keep and summoned the craftsmen of Ashemark who understood mining.
Together they studied how to improve mining methods, dig deeper into gold veins, reduce the cost of extraction, and maintain the value of the Westerlands mines.
The next day, while Robb was drawing a design on paper after making some progress, Crey hurried in.
He brought news that Joffrey had died of illness and Tommen had been crowned. The intelligence from northern agents hidden in King's Landing also recorded that Tywin and Olenna had held several long private talks.
During Tommen's coronation, members of House Tyrell had gone to the black market to buy intelligence about the North.
'Joffrey died of illness? The situation has already gone far from the story I knew.'
'It seems Melisandre's curse has begun to take effect. Besides me, who else did she curse?'
'No, that no longer matters. The key now is whether Tywin has won House Tyrell over.'
After digesting the intelligence from King's Landing, Robb said, "Crey, the situation in King's Landing is unclear. I am worried House Lannister and House Tyrell may have formed an alliance.
"We must occupy the entire Westerlands as quickly as possible and destroy every enemy still resisting. If we do, we need only hold Lannisport, the Golden Tooth, Deep Den, and Crakehall."
"Your Grace is wise. Today we also received a letter from King Theon. He has taken Crakehall, Cornfield, Silverhill, and other southern Westerlands castles. There are not many castles left."
Crey handed another raven letter to Robb.
Robb read it and smiled. "In this war against the Westerlands, Theon's forces have been unexpectedly reliable."
Then he gave his orders.
"Crey, your command at Ashemark has already proved your ability to lead troops.
"I have decided to accelerate the occupation of the Westerlands. We will divide at Ashemark. You will take six thousand infantry to occupy the Crag, the Banefort, and all nearby gold mines.
"I will take eight thousand cavalry and seize Casterly Rock and Lannisport again. If matters go smoothly, I will also take Feastfires nearby."
"As you command. I will not disappoint Your Grace!"
As Robb's decision to divide the army was issued, the northern forces in Ashemark became busy. Several hundred former Ashemark prisoners were broken up and placed into Crey's infantry.
Several hundred lightly wounded northern soldiers remained in Ashemark to protect Talisa, the nurses, and the Silent Sisters.
On the third day, Robb, Smalljon, Gendry, and the others led eight thousand northern cavalry out of Ashemark first and headed straight for Casterly Rock. Crey led six thousand northern infantry toward the Crag.
Talisa stood on the high platform of Ashemark's inner keep and watched the northern cavalry slowly disappear. Her eyes were calm.
Perhaps because in this life the Love Song had not been allowed to sink too deep into either of them, after the blessing was removed, neither Robb nor Talisa felt any lingering attachment or reluctant farewell.
It was as if they had merely passed through each other's lives.
Crey's attack on the Crag went very smoothly. The castle had fewer defenders than Ashemark. A few hundred men could not resist a force more than ten times their number.
Crey used ordinary siege methods, sending ladders against the walls and rams against the gate.
Because the Crag's position was good, the northern soldiers failed repeatedly to climb the walls, but the battering ram succeeded in smashing open the gate.
Once the gate was lost, the northern soldiers poured in and soon occupied the castle. The direwolf banner of the northern army was planted above the Crag.
Robb's force, preparing to attack Casterly Rock, was ambushed by Daven Lannister's Westerlands army when it was still one day's ride from its target.
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