Ghostrider0002
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-Chapter 83-
🕑 Added 2024-12-05 23:41:25 +0000 UTC-Chapter 83-
-POV Samuel Morrigen-
'Longtable, we have finally arrived,' I thought as I observed the ancestral castle of House Merryweather.
I ordered my soldiers to halt once we were close enough to the walls protecting the castle, then I gave a slight nudge to my stallion.
Accompanied by the leader of my troop of Black Hounds, I advanced calmly between the ranks formed by my soldiers until I was within 30 meters of the castle gates.
I was about to shout to demand that the lord of the place surrender and open his gates to let us take possession of the place, but instead, the gates opened as if by magic, before I even had a chance to say a word.
I frowned, and after a few seconds of waiting, about fifty horsemen came out of the castle to meet us.
"I am the head of House Merryweather and lord of these lands, Orton Merryweather. To whom do I have the honor of speaking?" said the redhead at the front, who wore no armor.
'He wants to negotiate,' I immediately understood, sensing the tacit servility in his words.
I made my stallion move slightly forward, then said:
"My name is Samuel Morrigen, I am the lord of House Morrigen and commander of one of the four armies that invaded the Reach yesterday."
The man in front of me widened his eyes, then said:
"So the true goal of the Bloody Griffon was indeed the Reach."
I was internally surprised by his speculation, as I did not understand how he could deduce the true objective from that small bit of conversation, but I made sure not to show it.
I kept a neutral and unreadable expression in front of the lord of House Merryweather, which was clearly in decline, but I said nothing more, waiting for him to clearly state his position.
"I have no more than 1,000 men, and half of them were recruited as soon as I heard of your arrival, so it is absolutely pointless to resist you," he said in a tone that sounded to me like that of a man who was not as defeated as he should have been after having to hand over his castle so docilely to complete strangers.
"Are you surrendering?" I asked, wanting to confirm his intentions.
"No, I am not surrendering," he said seriously.
I frowned, then he moved his horse aside:
"I wish to serve His Grace, the King of the Riverlands and Stormlands, Ronnet of House Connington."
My frown deepened, and I said, slightly skeptical:
"I cannot accept your oath in place of my liege lord."
"I will await his response, and in the meantime, I am at your full disposal," he said, in a tone still as servile as before, which made me uneasy, for it was rare to see a lord with no... pride.
I exchanged a look with Rubien, the leader of the Black Hounds and the black knight Ronnet had assigned to me, and the latter shrugged without any concern.
He was undoubtedly certain that he would control the castle within an hour, so whatever deceitful plan the lord of House Merryweather might have, he would discover it and be there to counter it.
'Let’s stay cautious nonetheless,' I thought, signaling my infantrymen to advance and enter first to secure the place.
'Yesterday, Victor surely managed to take Grassy Vale, just as I imagine Arion took Ashford and Rodrik took Tumbleton. So that means only Cider Hall, seat of House Fossoway, and Bitterbridge, seat of House Caswell, remain,' I thought.
'With the quick capture of Longtable, I will be able to properly deploy my soldiers and scouts all over House Merryweather's territory to fully isolate these two houses from any possible support from the outside,' I thought, realizing that if everything had gone as planned and continued to go as planned, by the end of the day we would have cut the Tyrells off from a quarter of their territory.
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-30th day of the 1st moon of the year 301 AC-
-POV Garlan Tyrell-
Bam… Bam… Bam…
I woke up with a start, hearing someone pounding on our door.
I frowned, and as I was about to get out of our bed, Leonette, my wife, woke up and asked me, still half asleep, "What is happening?"
"It's nothing, it's someone at the door. I'll go see what they want, go back to sleep," I said to my pregnant wife while heading to the door.
Once I opened the door to our room, I found myself face to face with the eldest of Leonette's brothers, Martyn, who motioned for me to follow him immediately, taking care not to speak in front of Leonette, who was surely listening from the bed.
I immediately understood that it was serious, so I quickly put on a shirt, trousers, grabbed my weapons belt with my sword attached, and went out.
Once out of the room, I frowned, wanting an explanation, and Martyn wasted no time in telling me everything.
"A messenger just arrived with worrying news," he said, a vivid glint of concern shining in his eyes.
'What could make him panic so much?' I thought, knowing my wife's brother well enough to understand that it was something huge.
"What kind of news?" I asked, although judging by his expression, I already understood that I wasn't going to like the answer.
"An army has taken Ashford," he said, trying to keep a neutral tone, but failed, as I sensed a slight tremble in his voice.
"What?!?" I said, surprised, unable to control my tone due to my shock.
'Grandmother warned us yesterday of possible incursions by the Stormlanders, but I never thought it would happen so quickly and with such force,' I thought, impressed by the effectiveness of Ronnet Connington's reserve troops.
"Shhh, don't speak so loudly. No one knows yet, and it must not be known. We need to prepare for the possibility of a siege," said Martyn, looking around to see if anyone had overheard us.
"How many?" I asked, not caring if someone could hear us.
"10,000 soldiers, all in armor," he replied.
'If they've received the same training and formation as Ronnet's regular troops, we will have no chance of holding a siege until reinforcements arrive,' I thought.
I shook my head immediately and then said, "We need to retreat to Highgarden. We'll be safe there. We can't hold the castle with 400 guards and fifty knights against an army that large."
"You have your guard," added Martyn, unwilling even to consider the possibility of retreat.
I frowned at my brother-in-law's stubbornness and said:
"Fifty more knights will make no difference, I hope you realize that, Martyn."
He did not look at me and said, continuing to move straight ahead:
"I do realize that, and my father does too, that's why…"
SOUND OF A HORN... SOUND OF A HORN
SOUND OF A HORN... SOUND OF A HORN
SOUND OF A HORN... SOUND OF A HORN
'Too late.'
Comments
Ghostrider0002
Thanks for your advice Virtuosso
Virtuosso
Caught up. Firstly , the pacing seems too slow. There are many unnecessary conversation and side plots that won't matter. It'd be better to focus on Essos and Dany rather than monologues from small characters. Second, what is up with you and bad marriage xd! First Aemon, now Ronnet. I prefer Ronnet as your better mc to be honest as Aemon is kinda bipolar lol
Ghostrider0002
❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
VBDA
🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲
Ghostrider0002
But don’t worry I’ll try to find the time to do a few more chapters to be able to release a bonus chapter from time to time
VBDA
It has been ruined
VBDA
My life
VBDA
Nooooooooo.....
Ghostrider0002
Sorry to kill your hopes but in fact I just changed the place of Ronnet Connington’s publication😅😅😅
VBDA
2 chaps a week
VBDA
Let's fing gooooo finally a small victory for connington lovers 🙏
