New chapter! Thanks for all the support!
x
Snow crunched underfoot.
Fat Sam tumbled and crawled through the white mist and bitter wind, hiding behind a rock half a man's height.
Stiff figures walked slowly past the rock. Some wore black cloaks. Some were dressed like wildlings. Some wore nothing at all.
As the figures drew closer, Sam saw something far more terrible.
They were not living men.
Many carried fatal wounds, bodies broken open or torn, yet they still walked like corpses given motion.
Sam let out a tiny sob.
Seeing such horror, he thought he would die today and never see Gilly again.
A corpse horse, half-rotted, stepped up beside the rock.
On its back sat a tall figure with withered pale skin, white hair, and eyes deep and blue as ice. The Other suddenly turned and looked straight at Sam behind the rock.
Faced with something clearly not human, Sam's face crumpled in despair. He gave up resisting, lowered his head, and began to weep quietly.
The Other, whose eyes held intelligence, judged that this human was weak and posed no threat. Then it raised the ice spear in its right hand toward the Fist of the First Men and gave a low, hissing roar.
The ice spear in the Other's hand was not quite the same as the ones Robb formed with magic.
The front half of the Other's spear was made of transparent hard ice, fixed to the rear shaft with tough grass cords. It lacked the seamless shape of Robb's magic spears.
At the Other's roar, the thousands of wights behind it quickened their pace and surged toward the Fist.
Those corpses with pale blue eyes and mismatched weapons passed by Sam one after another, doing him no harm at all.
Sam, who had been utterly desperate, stared blankly after the Others and wights as they moved away toward the Fist. Tears still hung on his round face. He had no idea why the Other had spared his life.
It was to spread fear among the humans of the south.
At the beginning, when Robb first came into this world, his father Eddard had personally executed Will, the deserter from the Night's Watch.
According to Will, he had been ordered to scout wildling tribes beyond the Wall with Ser Waymar Royce and another ranger, only to encounter terrifying Others.
Judging by the story Robb knew, Will had not escaped because he was strong enough. More likely, he had survived because he was timid and weak, and the Others had spared him for that reason.
For the same reason, this Other did not kill Sam. It led the wight army toward the Fist of the First Men, where many brave men of the Night's Watch had gathered.
Before long, Sam, still hiding behind the rock and not daring to move, could faintly see firelight on the Fist and hear sounds that might have been the howling wind or battle cries.
After a long while, Sam recovered enough to understand that he could not stay there.
But he did not want to go to the Fist either.
So he endured the bitter wind and slowly skirted the Fist, trudging through deep and shallow snow toward the Wall.
Out on the Narrow Sea beyond Crab Bay, more than twenty oared warships flying the fiery stag banner followed the flagship Fury toward Dragonstone.
"Melisandre, a moment ago I felt as though I were drowning. I could not breathe at all. Did you save me?"
Stannis, who usually showed neither joy nor anger, stood on the deck of the Fury, visibly shaken as he questioned Melisandre.
"Yes, Your Grace. The enemy's black-robed wind sorceress used sorcery of the air against you. I borrowed the power of the Lord of Light to break it."
Melisandre nodded and gave him the answer.
Stannis silently nodded.
Thinking back to that sudden suffocation, he finally understood the helplessness Renly must have felt when struck by supernatural power.
"Your Grace, perhaps our faith is not yet devout enough, so I can borrow only a little of my lord's power. If you truly devote yourself to him and offer enough sacrifices, I believe you will surely sit the Iron Throne."
Melisandre, still suffering magical backlash, touched the ruby at her throat and smiled as she comforted Stannis after his string of defeats.
She was utterly convinced that Stannis was the prince that was promised.
In the earlier Battle of Gulltown, when the enemy wind sorceress used magic, Melisandre could only watch. She could not use her own magic to cast shadow spells or communicate with the ruby.
But when Stannis was about to suffocate, the spell had suddenly broken on its own. Melisandre could only attribute it to the Lord of Light's protection.
"Yes. The Lord of Light has already shown many miracles through you. From now on, I will believe in him more devoutly."
Stannis, who had never publicly admitted faith in the Lord of Light, nodded this time.
"Your Grace," Davos Seaworth interrupted at once, seeing that Stannis seemed ready to place his hope in gods. "The battle with Andar Royce forced us to abandon Gulltown after we had finally taken it. All our cavalry are dead, and fewer than two thousand soldiers remain.
"We lack coin and men. What do we do next?"
"We have just left the Vale. The Westerlands and the North are still fighting with all their strength. The Reach and Dorne cannot be drawn into this either.
"Only one path remains: we go to Braavos and seek the help of the Iron Bank."
After considering all of Westeros, Stannis realized there was no longer any place there from which he could gain support. So he turned his eyes east across the Narrow Sea.
At Gulltown, Andar and Ayla watched their soldiers secure more than a dozen oared warships in the harbor. Those ships had come with Stannis. Now they were someone else's spoils.
"Andar, I was fully capable of killing the enemy leader just now. Why did you stop me?"
When the two of them were alone, Ayla asked without hesitation. A mask covered her face, so he could not see her expression, but Andar could hear her confusion.
"Ayla, you are from Essos, so you do not know Stannis Baratheon. Our purpose was only to remove a potential threat.
"Now they have left the Vale, and our goal has been achieved.
"Stannis is our enemy for now, but he is also the enemy of our enemies. If we killed him, we would be solving a problem for them. I am not that foolish."
Andar, who had a clear sense of the larger game, smiled and explained why he had stopped her magic from killing Stannis.
"Hm. You Westerosi twist yourselves into knots. Where I come from, once someone is confirmed as an enemy, you just kill them."
Ayla shook her head. She still did not quite understand why Andar had let an enemy go.
"Heh, I..."
"Your Grace, urgent news from the Eyrie!"
Just as Andar was about to answer, a soldier hurried over with a letter.
Andar took it and unfolded it. His expression quickly turned grave.
Ayla saw his face and immediately asked, "Andar, what happened?"
"Lysa Arryn has been murdered by Tyrion Lannister. Littlefinger has recalled the forces of the Vale and is pursuing the Imp in the name of vengeance."
"That is excellent news. The enemies are turning on each other. That only helps us."
Ayla had fought beside Andar long enough to recognize the names of the enemy leaders, but she still did not fully understand.
"When the Imp escaped the Eyrie early, he took my father with him. I hope he is safe."
Andar's voice was filled with worry for his father, Bronze Yohn. Saving him had been Andar's original purpose.
"Do not worry. Since the Imp deliberately took your father with him when he escaped, he surely will not harm him."
"Yes. I may have cared too much to think of that. But you are right. This strife among our enemies is the perfect chance to attack the Vale."
In the harbor district of Lannisport, thousands of ironborn were clearing the nearshore obstacles Daven had placed there under Ramsay's command.
This was to allow the Iron Fleet and the northern fleet anchored outside Lannisport to sail smoothly into the harbor.
Alyn, Ramsay's close follower, walked quickly to his side and reported in a low voice, "Lord Ramsay, ironborn from Great Wyk and Old Wyk fought again just now. Asha Greyjoy punished everyone involved."
"Good. Continue according to my plan. Stir up more trouble for her to handle."
After listening, Ramsay put on his signature smile and gave the order.
"Lord Ramsay, Asha led her ironborn to take Crakehall, Cornfield, and Silverhill. Her prestige is already quite high.
"And when she deals with the trouble we provoke, she is very fair. No one can find fault with her. If this continues, her prestige will only rise."
Alyn hesitated and offered the warning.
"Heh. That is exactly my purpose. Asha did fight bravely with her ironborn and earn a great deal of merit. But her own men also took heavy losses.
"Now she keeps fairness deliberately to preserve her reputation. She wins some applause from the ironborn, yes, but what will her own men think?"
Seeing matters develop exactly as he expected, Ramsay patiently explained to his capable follower.
"And the higher her prestige among the ironborn rises, the more suspicion and pressure she will draw.
"When Asha's prestige among the ironborn shines like the noon sun, that will be when brother and sister turn on each other.
"After all this time together, I know King Theon's nature very well. He is not a man who shares power easily, even with his own sister."
"Hm. I was too narrow in my thinking. It seems everything is going according to Lord Ramsay's plan."
Alyn praised him in perfect cooperation, then seemed to remember something.
"One more thing. King Robb has summoned all senior commanders to Casterly Rock for a military council."
Ramsay's signature smile vanished at the sound of Robb's name.
In the past few days since he had followed Theon from Crakehall to Lannisport, Ramsay had deliberately taken the hard task of clearing the harbor obstacles to avoid seeing that man.
Unexpectedly, after avoiding him for several days, he still could not avoid him forever.
If Ramsay was a nightmare to other enemies, then Ramsay's nightmare was Robb, who seemed to have seen through him long ago and kept him under his thumb at every turn.
Ramsay left Alyn to watch the gradually clearing channel, mounted the horse his attendant brought over, and rode toward Casterly Rock nearby.
When Ramsay entered Casterly Rock's inner keep, the first thing he saw was the Wolfguard responsible for its security.
'Once Robb Stark had only one giant wolf. Now so many have appeared.'
'If he truly gathers a hundred-man unit of giant wolves, no army in Westeros will be able to stop it.'
After dismounting, Ramsay watched the Wolfguard and their wolves move together in harmony, and the thought rose in his mind.
Following a servant's guidance to the council hall, Ramsay happened to see a young man in armor bearing a white badger sigil holding a wooden box and crying bitterly.
Robb Stark stood beside him, seemingly offering words of comfort.
Seeing Ramsay enter, Robb met his eyes and gestured for him to take a seat.
Ramsay walked toward an empty chair beside Theon and Asha while privately wondering about the change in Robb's ice-crystal eyes.
"Now that all our nobles are present, I will speak of the first matter.
"The former Lord of Deep Den, Lord Lymond Lydden, had joined the North before this war and provided us with much valuable intelligence. Unfortunately, he was murdered by Tywin Lannister.
"Now I will fulfill my promise. His eldest son, Kevan Lydden, will inherit his father's lordship and become the new Warden of the West."
As soon as Robb finished, the nobles in the council hall began murmuring.
House Lydden had only been an ordinary noble house of the Westerlands. To rise to Warden of the West was a staggering leap.
"Quiet, everyone."
Seeing the nobles discuss the matter with excitement, Robb nodded inwardly, satisfied by the atmosphere, and continued.
"I, Robb Stark, keep the promises I make, whether that is the position of Warden of the West promised to House Lydden or the return of Westerlands noble prisoners promised to Tywin Lannister.
"There is no need for all of you to envy him. You will all have chances. The title of Warden exists in more than one place.
"The second matter is this: through intelligence, I have learned that House Tyrell of the Reach and House Lannister have formed an alliance.
"The Redwyne fleet from the Arbor will attack Lannisport by sea. House Tyrell will march along the Ocean Road to attack Crakehall. House Lannister will move along the Goldroad through Deep Den.
"This is the opportunity I spoke of.
"If we win the coming war, the Seven Kingdoms will be ours."
x
x
x
If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader