Chapter 194: The Defense of King's Landing
What was written in Robert's will, or who he truly intended to name as his successor in his final moments... the smallfolk of the Seven Kingdoms had no way of knowing, nor did they need to. With two stags each holding their own version of the truth, the matter would either become a historical mystery or be written by the victor. Even if Eddard Stark took the original document into the streets for all to see, who could claim to recognize the late King's handwriting? Only one thing was certain—no matter how many men declared themselves King, the one who held King's Landing possessed the greatest political and military advantage and was the most likely to be recognized.
Eddard Stark understood this, which was why he sent out a flurry of ravens and dispatched fast ships to find Stannis, who had left port, urging him to return immediately to take the throne.
Stannis understood this as well, which was why he dropped the pirates before him the moment he received the news and raced to King's Landing, not even pausing at Dragonstone as he passed...
And Renly was equally clear: as long as his brother held King's Landing for a single day, his own status would be that of a false king. Forget winning over the realm; even recruiting a single Night's Watchman was fraught with difficulty. Every day his brother sat upon the Iron Throne, Renly's position grew more awkward.
Thus, only half a day after completing the encirclement of King's Landing, he impatiently launched his attack.
Outside the King's Gate, the combined host of the Stormlands and the Reach began to form ranks. Wave after wave of sound surged forward. Renly Baratheon, clad in his signature green armor and wearing a golden antlered helm similar to Robert's but a size smaller, paraded his horse past the lined-up soldiers, loudly promising rewards for the capture of King's Landing.
Gold, positions, lands, honors... with every promise made, a roar of cheers followed. It was an old trick, but eternally effective. Renly had never imagined a day would come when he would need to speak such words, and he had spent half the night memorizing his lines. Regardless, he needed to bolster the courage of the men around him; only by drawing enough defenders to the front with a direct assault would his friends inside the city have a chance to execute their plans.
"Once my brother is taken, no one is to insult his remains. He is my own blood, and I will not permit anyone to put his head on a spear to boast of martial feats!" Having finished his long speech, Renly swallowed hard, gazed at the towering walls of King's Landing in the distance, and threw out the final grand prize: "The first man to mount the walls shall have his choice: the white cloak of the Kingsguard or the title of a Lord!"
"Long live King Renly!" Thousands of men cheered at their King's promise, their voices mingling with the sound of horns and drums. Combined with the cooking smoke rising from the camp, a cloud of murderous intent gathered over the encampment.
My own blood, no one is to put his head on a spear... It sounded noble, but the clever ones heard Renly's subtext: if you encounter Stannis, leave no survivors. Only if Stannis died on the battlefield would Renly avoid the stigma of being a kinslayer. In the face of the throne and the stability of one's reign, no one could afford mercy. Compared to the benefits everyone would receive after victory, the life of that perpetually stone-faced Stannis... who cared?
The sun passed its zenith into the afternoon. Renly took a drink of water, inhaled deeply, and waved his right hand: "No more delay. Pass the order, sound the horns, assault the city!"
...
Wooo—wooo—
As the war horns blared, Stannis, atop the walls, finished his own pre-battle mobilization using the same routine. However, many City Watch soldiers were distracted. They peered westward, watching the familiar crowned stag banner fluttering among the enemy ranks outside the walls, forming a sharp contrast with the Fiery Heart banner beside them. The black stag symbolizing Stannis Baratheon was imprisoned within the flames, rendered almost unrecognizable.
Barristan Selmy keenly sensed the unease of the Gold Cloaks. He also turned to look at the new banners planted along the battlements and shook his head helplessly.
By the rules, a new King certainly had the right to change the banners, but regardless, Stannis should not have rushed into reforms before his seat on the throne was secure. The City Watch was long accustomed to fighting under the crowned stag. To suddenly have a new King one day, followed immediately by a change in banners while fighting troops bearing the familiar sigils—what kind of thick-skinned person could comfortably turn around and risk their life for a new master so instantly?
Fortunately, in addition to the original Gold Cloaks, the city held the loyalist troops Stannis had brought. True or not, these men at least seemed to have high morale—they were already familiar with the Fiery Heart and believed in their King's command ability. Stannis was a man who rewarded and punished fairly; such a great merit as defending the master of the Iron Throne against rebellion did not come often.
Amidst his wandering thoughts, the old man heard the new King's call: "Ser Barristan Selmy!"
"Your Grace, I am here."
"Take all the cavalry at the King's Gate and stand ready behind the gate. Once the enemy's assault falters and they begin to retreat, open the gates immediately and charge. I shall lead the infantry to follow!"
"Your Grace, as the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, my place is by your side!"
"You are useless by my side. I promise you, no one will take a wall I personally lead the defense of. This is an order, execute it at once!"
The old knight had long resolved never to leave the side of the King he was sworn to protect, but duty made it impossible to disobey: "As you command."
"Remember, if you see my foolish brother and he surrenders, do not take his life. Though he was blinded by the Tyrells into raising a rebel banner, he is ultimately my last brother in this world. I shall grant him a fair trial!"
Barristan turned to lead the cavalry down the walls. Behind him, Stannis's shout rang out again: "Archers to your positions! Prepare to engage!"
Amidst the continuous blare of horns, the siege engines were the first to appear. The siege Robert had led during the early part of the Vale rebellion—though it ended in failure because the Bloody Gate defenders blocked the tunnel—had influenced many high lords participating in their first war like a textbook case. Whether he admitted it or not, Renly was instinctively imitating it: using long-range attacks as cover to assist the infantry assault!
The idea was sound, and the fields outside the King's Gate were flat and well-suited for deploying siege engines. Unfortunately, due to the short preparation time, Renly's army had not yet produced large-scale equipment. The attacking lineup, in both quantity and quality, could not compare to the spectacle when the six kingdoms gathered before the Bloody Gate. Facing King's Landing—a city with thick walls built years ago and equipped with numerous fixed defensive weapons...
Compared to Stannis's hurried succession, coronation, and defense organization, this was an equally under-prepared offensive. As countless stone projectiles and spears flew back and forth, casualties appeared on both sides, but with the advantage of height, the besiegers actually found themselves at a disadvantage.
Unable to suppress the defenders, the large targets like siege towers and rams could not approach the gates under the rain of burning pitch. Fortunately, the number of soldiers under Renly far exceeded those under Stannis. Dispersed into groups of ten or twenty across a front hundreds of meters long, the attackers shouldered simple siege ladders and surged toward the walls like a tide.
...
Arrows flew, piercing the air like swarms of locusts toward both defenders and attackers. Screams and cries of agony rang out; the Battle for King's Landing had begun.
Sansa was terrified.
Arya looked at her sister's clasped hands and closed eyes as she prayed silently, thinking with a mix of disdain and schadenfreude. Renly's army was still outside the walls, and with Father and Lord Stannis... no, the King, they wouldn't be able to get in at all. Even if they luckily breached the gates of King's Landing, the Red Keep still had thick walls, massive bronze doors, iron portcullises, and seven massive iron-topped drum towers. It was simply impossible to breach.
Simply impossible to breach.
Arya repeated it in her mind. Despite her thoughts, she was also quite tense. The difference between her and Sansa was that, being this close to war for the first time, her excitement slightly outweighed her fear.
She stood up and sat down in the room, unable to settle. She ran to the window to look out; the courtyard of the Red Keep was silent. Eddard Stark had taken most of the guards, and the few remaining were all on the walls. Currently, there were pitifully few soldiers in the Red Keep, though there were plenty of nobles seeking refuge, all hiding in their rooms, likely as scared to death as Sansa.
Hmph, a bunch of cowards. Arya ran back from the window and sat on the bed again. Sansa, annoyed by her running around, finally spoke impatiently: "Arya! Father is on the walls fighting the enemy. Can't you be quiet and pray for him for a while?"
"I don't believe in prayers; I only believe in swords!" Arya lifted her head, throwing out a line she thought was very cool. "I am the apprentice of the White Walker Slayer, a swordswoman praised by the Red Viper. I'm not like a delicate noble lady like you!"
"Tch—" Sansa rolled her eyes at her sister and went back to praying with her eyes closed. "Fine, fine, Lady Swordswoman. May I ask where your sword is?"
"My sword is—" Arya was momentarily at a loss for words. Thinking back carefully, she suddenly remembered: she had taken the sword Jon gave her to the Night's Watch office, but Egger had forbidden her from training with a real sword and confiscated it, claiming he would keep it safe for her. Her sword was still sitting in the cabinet in the back room of the office!
"Oh no!" Arya jumped off the bed and ran toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To get my sword!" Arya ducked out the door, and in the blink of an eye, only the echo of her voice remained in the air.
"Where are you getting a sword from?" Sansa asked gloomily, but her sister was already long gone. Thinking she was going back to her own or their father's room, Sansa shook her head helplessly and returned to her prayers.
...
"My lady, where are you going?" At the bottom of the stairs, a Stark guard left behind stopped Arya.
Of course, she couldn't tell him she was going to the Night's Watch office to get her sword. Arya's eyes darted around: "I'm hungry, I'm going to the kitchen to get something to eat!"
"I shall go for you. Please return to your room, my lady. What would you like to eat?"
Arya offhandedly named several types of snacks Sansa liked, then pretended to turn back upstairs. Only when her father's guard, hand on his sword hilt, turned toward the kitchen did she swiftly and silently turn back. She crouched low and treaded lightly across the gap between the Tower of the Hand and the side hall, slipping into the intricate architecture of the Red Keep.
Crossing a hidden courtyard, rounding a corner, climbing a wall, and squeezing through a low, narrow window, Arya arrived in a pitch-black cellar where she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. The structure of the Red Keep was complex, but compared to the stone maze of Winterfell, it was nothing. Having lived here for nearly a year, she had long ago mastered the terrain... what she was most proud of, naturally, was discovering a secret passage leading out of the Red Keep—one blocked by iron bars that only a child could fit through.
She expertly felt the wall and waited for about a minute. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and the several massive dragon skulls around her gradually emerged from the shadows. The walls were black, the floor was black, and even the dragon bones were black. In the darkness, it felt as if some demon or ghost might leap out at her at any moment. Even though she had been here more than once, Arya felt the hair on her neck stand up.
"An apprentice... of the Night's Watch... does not fear demons or ghosts." Arya puffed out her little chest and recited the coolest, most powerful line she had ever heard: "If you turn into a ghost to find me, I'll just kill you once more!"
The words fell, but nothing happened. Instead, the surrounding dragon skulls seemed as if they had been awakened; their hollow eye sockets all seemed aimed at her. Despite having delivered a domineering line, Arya immediately realized she had no weapon in her hand... if something really did pop out, what would she kill it with "once more"?
"Uh... I was joking. You guys go back to sleep, hehe."
Apologizing to the non-existent entities, she walked past them quickly as if afraid of being bitten by the dragon skulls. She found the heavy iron ring on the wooden door in the dark, pulled hard, and with a creaking sound, opened a gap just wide enough for her to squeeze through, slipping into the long hall behind the door.
It was even darker behind the door. Arya stopped talking to herself like a drama queen and steadied her breathing, running her fingers over the rough, unfinished stone surface of the wall. Following her memory, she slowly traversed the darkness. After walking about a mile, she finally reached a fork... she had explored both sides. Straight ahead was a sewer connected to the Blackwater River, flooded with filthy water; wading out would take her to the Blackwater, which meant leaving the Red Keep but also leaving King's Landing... only by turning left and walking another distance could she find a sewer opening blocked by iron bars. The third gap from left to right was exactly large enough for her to pass through.
Arya turned left according to her memory, got down on her hands and knees, and crawled for a bit. Light appeared ahead, and vaguely, the familiar shadow of the iron bars came into view.
...
She had definitely grown again. The gap she used to fit through easily required a great deal of effort to squeeze through this time, making her chest ache slightly. Pushing aside the vines blocking the entrance, she crawled back out into the sunlight.
Her memory was flawless. This was still the abandoned drain hidden among the bushes on the hillside of Aegon's High Hill... looking into King's Landing from here, she could almost see the black sign of the Night's Watch office.
Patting the mud and dust off her clothes, she pushed through the waist-high bushes and weeds, heading toward the streets of King's Landing at the foot of Aegon's High Hill.
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