The Eminence in GOT-Chapter 50: The Beginning of War (Part 1) The Burden of Parenthood

Chapter 50 - The Beginning of War (Part 1) The Burden of Parenthood

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***

The twelfth month of the year 298 A.D.

Castle Osgiliath, Valley of the Sunflame, Dorne.

«Let's summarize. - I spoke slowly, looking at Lyon lying across from me on a small sofa, drinking wine in a light white toque. You could paint a picture of a Roman patrician on vacation. - While I was visiting your grandfather, Catelyn Stark had Tyrion Lannister arrested for some reason no one understands and brought him to the Eagle's Nest to her not-so-headstrong sister Lysa. That's where the dueling trial took place, where the Imp was acquitted.

«That's right. - The son smiled, in high spirits. Why should he be?

«Tywin Lannister couldn't stand it, of course, and deciding that he couldn't get the North and the Vale, he sent troops to the Riverlands to punish the father and brother of the two foolish fools. - I continued, remembering well the seemingly endless rows of infantry and cavalry passing Coldhall.

It was only seven days later that my brother and I arrived at our home, exhausted and exhausted. Elia arrived two days later, having recovered from childbirth and rushed to the West as soon as she received the letter. Thea could not come, for I had already learned of the arrest of the dwarf Lannisters and the gathering of the lion army at Casterly Rock. And my sister's letter about Robb Stark summoning troops and making her temporary head of the Bolton lands while Ruse was away made me even more anxious.

The Seven Kingdoms were on the brink of war. And Baratheon was somehow inactive.

Elia, Aerys, and I decided to take our time and wait for further developments, spending more time with my father.

Alexander Cold had aged a great deal over the years. His face had shrunk, his strength had gone from his once strong and powerful body, and his eyes, which had always shone with energy and lust for life, had faded, resembling white bottomless pools. The only thing that hadn't changed in him was his long gray hair, which had long ago grown down to his back and was constantly braided into a tight braid.

"My mother loved it so much," I remembered how she had laughed and enjoyed braiding my father's overgrown strands into this uncomplicated hairstyle, to his constant muttering.

Our visit had cheered Dad up a little, revitalizing and energizing him, but just a little. On the seventh day of our rest at Coldhall, the castle maester brought three letters at once, with truly shocking news.

The first was from Tywin Lannister, ordering Aerys to gather his troops quickly and join his army on the River Road.

The second was from my informant in King's Landing. Eddard Stark was shot in the leg by Jaime Lannister and his guardsmen were killed by the Red Cloaks. The King went hunting, leaving Stark in the capital.

And a third about the pogroms in the Riverlands by Gregor Clegane and the Tully army gathering at Riverrun and the Rose Maiden.

All this news, coupled with the gathering of troops in the North and the stirrings in the Outlands, forced us to leave quickly for our own lands, further saddening a father who had not seen his children for a long time.

«And now I learn that drunken Baratheon is dead, stupidly butchered by a boar while hunting, his friend Stark has been arrested and imprisoned in the dungeons of Red Castle, and Dragonstone and Storm's Edge have begun gathering troops. - I finished tiredly, knowing full well what problems awaited me in the future.

I was preparing for war. I knew about it. But I just didn't have the time to prepare for it. No, my enemies won't catch me with my pants down, but I won't be able to strike with all my might.

«You're good at stating the obvious, Father. - Lion grinned, looking at the sunlight through the rim of the glass.

«Son, why are you so pleased all of a sudden? You must realize as well as I do what a war in the Seven Kingdoms would do to us right now. Especially on the eve of winter. - I asked irritably, sipping some wine from my glass, wetting my dry throat.

«Sigrid is pregnant. - I almost choked on my wine at the news, looking disbelievingly at my son, whose smile grew even wider. What?! I knew about their relationship, of course, but before that my former pupil was using herbal medicine to avoid getting pregnant, and here....

«I didn't think you'd want to be the father of a bastard. - After wiping the wine off my lips, I looked at my son with a frown. When he heard that, he immediately lost all his good mood and became serious, gloomily staring at me. You didn't think I'd let my heir marry a mere girl, without family and tribe, did you?

His gaze and posture hadn't changed a bit, but as the father who'd raised him, I could see that Lyon was angry. Very angry.

"Fucking hell, another problem on my head," I thought irritably, putting my hand to my forehead and rubbing my temples as I looked at the big-headed moron once more. - Lyon, I told you that the position of heir to our family has its limitations. And one of them is a compulsory political marriage.

«What's stopping you from choosing someone else as heir? - He sat up normally on the couch and gave me a piercing look. With his red eyes, which were the color of fresh blood, it was easy to do, because when he was a boy and I'd taken him to the Free Cities to negotiate, he'd perfected that skill.

«Who?" I asked with a sad chuckle, not paying the slightest attention to his trick. - Elaina is too combative. There isn't a lord in the Seven Kingdoms who could match her. She'd rather slaughter him herself. And if she were to take over our house, she'd go the way of our recently deceased king, withering away and dragging our family down with her. Fiora is a bastard. She and I will be remembered for a long time to come. And Alaric lacks coolness and salesmanship. You know how he reacts to the mention of his looks. So you're the only one I can give the valley to.

There was silence. I understood Lyon perfectly well, because I remembered my first love back on Earth, but you don't go into a foreign monastery with your own rules. Without the political marriage that had strengthened our house among the nobles, we would long be considered mere peddlers who had miraculously become lords. But you can't explain that to a man in love.

«Good. - I interrupted the silence, inwardly making a difficult decision. Still, being a loving father is not the easiest burden - you just can't say no to your children. - I will have a very important task for you. I had originally planned to do it myself, but things are moving too fast and I'll have to stay in Dorne. You do that and I'll solve the problem with Sigrid and her child.

But just when Lyon was about to cheer up and relax a little, he was sorely missed:

«You're going to marry whoever I tell you to. No objection. - With one intonation I interrupted the heir who already wanted to resent me. - Listen to me to the end. I cannot make her your official wife. But this is Dorne. Mistresses and kept women are not tolerated here. Your children will be legitimized and officially part of our house, but they will not be able to claim the position of head. Are you satisfied?

A brief thought and a confident nod almost passed me by. I was thinking too hard about the pros and cons of this adventure.

«First, go to Braavos. - I began, resting my head on my hands. - Speak on my behalf to the Council of Keys and get Dorne excluded from the coming sanctions. We cannot allow trade with the north of Essos to be paralyzed. After that, you will go to Azabad. I have a treaty with its governor, Sun Wukong--

***

The twelfth month of the year 298 A.D.E.

Winterfell, North.

This day was no different from any other day since his vassals had started arriving - forage for the horses, new houses in Winter Town for the soldiers, attention to all the lords and bannermen. From the familiar Servins, with whom he had often traveled to visit and had known almost since childhood, to the wild Ambers who had arrived a day ago along the Kingsroad, whose current leader, Big Jon, towered a giant over most of Winterfell's inhabitants. All of this took time, effort, and patience, which, in the absence of his "wisest" mother, who had made the whole mess, and the master at arms, Rodrik Cassel, who had left with him, were far less available.

«Robb, Robb. - Theon burst into his chambers almost without knocking, causing the heir to the North to become extremely irritated. Now he would have to rewrite the long list of groceries for the coming feast, which would have to be arranged when all the vassals were gathered. There was now a very fat and dark blot at the end of the list. - A banner with a skinned man on it appeared on the horizon! It's the Boltons!

«The Boltons? - Robb asked reflexively, immediately remembering Maester Luwin's boring lessons about their vassals.

This house was one of the strongest and most powerful houses in the North, equaled only by the Starks and the Manderleys. The skinned man on their coat of arms is a reminder of the ancient Bolton custom of skinning their enemies alive. With their favorite saying, "A naked man has few secrets, but a skinned man has none at all," old Nen had frightened him and Jon so badly as children that they couldn't sleep well all night.

The Boltons lay between the Last River in the north and the Muttonhead Hills in the south, thus bordering the lands of the Amber and Hornwoods, but they had hardly warm relations with either house.

Unfortunately, Robb couldn't remember much else, and he wasn't in the mood to remember ancient history, so he quickly dismissed the matter and looked at Theon sullenly.

«Is that all you have to say to me?

«No. Come with me. You need to see this. I haven't seen this many identical banners since the Battle of Pike. - Greyjoy said in a raspy voice as he threw on his fur cloak and quickly dashed outside.

Wondering what had so disturbed his old friend, Stark, not wasting much time in thinking, quickly threw on his outer clothes and in ten minutes was on the outer wall, where Theon and Maester Luwin were already standing.

«What the..." Robb's breath came out as he saw the black and red sea of banners, shields, horses, and men slowly approaching the entrance to the Winter Keep. - There are five thousand at least...

«Six to be exact. - Luwin corrected him. At his suzerain's surprised look, he only sighed and replied. - The message from Lord Ruse came yesterday, but you were too busy housing the Amber and asked not to be disturbed.

«Luwin, if the same situation arises don't listen to me. Don't bother. - Robb replied, coming to his senses and beginning to scrutinize his vassal's army. - Ten, twelve, fourteen... There are at least fifteen hundred riders. And there's plenty of heavy infantry. Did the Boltons leave their castle completely undefended?

«Why not?" the castle maester looked at him in surprise. - They have nearly a thousand soldiers left in their lands, guarding Dreadford and the fortress at the mouth of Rydalnica. Have you not read the records left by your father, telling of your vassals?

At that moment the color flushed involuntarily to Stark's cheeks, causing him to turn away and awkwardly look down. He had begun to read the book his father had left him, but he had only read about the powers and capabilities of House Manderly, House Karstark, and House Amber before he reached the Boltons.

The attempt on Bran's life, the Imp's arrival, the wildling attack, his mother's reckless prank, and then the news from the capital and his father's arrest... It had all taken up too much time and energy, and in the turmoil he'd forgotten all about the notes he'd forgotten in the depths of the solarium.

«I don't know much myself, but I'll try to tell you more about them. - Said Luwin, wrapping himself more deeply in his warm robe. - You know who the current head of this house is, don't you?

«Ruse Bolton. He has an heir, Domeric Bolton, who is six years older than I am. - Robb answered almost without thinking. The names of the lords and their heirs were hard-wired into him.

«Good. - Luwin smiled contentedly, seeing the results of his labors. - Do you know, my lord, the name of Lord Ruse's current wife?

The question put Stark and Greyjoy in a bit of a stupor. Why the hell did they even need to know the name of any woman? Though the harsh conditions in the North did not strictly separate the rights of men and women (think of the Mormonts and Glovers), it's not like lords' wives had any influence on the affairs of the northern kingdom itself.

«Lord Ruse had three wives. One was his distant relative, Loyana Bolton, who died early due to snow fever. The second was a Riswell maiden who gave birth to Ser Domeric and a few years later succumbed to fever. And finally his third wife, Lady Thea. She came out of House Cold and was the main reason for this strengthening of House Bolton. - Turning on his usual mentor tone, Luwin began the story, noticing how interested his two less diligent students looked at him. - You remember what I told you about House Cold, don't you?

«A very young house from the Western Lands, founded only twenty years ago. - Robb answered tensely. He, unlike Theon, had attended the lesson on the Westlands while Greyjoy was trying to sneak into the brothel. - But I don't see where you're going with this, Maester.

«House Cold was founded at the same time as his brotherhood. Not in the West, but in Dorne. You've heard of it. - At Stark's incomprehension, Luwin only sighed tiredly. It was always like that-all his efforts to cram a little knowledge into young heads were useless, for shields and swords, not books, were the main passion of boys of that age. - The Temper family. One of the wealthiest houses in all the Seven Kingdoms.

Lightning flashed through Robb's head, making him slap his forehead with all his might.

"Right... How could I forget?" he moaned, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. - "I should definitely get some sleep since my head is working so badly."

House Temper had been known in the North for a long time - ever since the last winter, which had occurred almost fifteen years ago. They had been the cause of the quarrel that had erupted between the Lords of the Riverlands and the Northlands back then. Traditionally, the Riverlands had been the only option during the winter, the West and the Expanse were cut off by secretly pirating ironborn, while the Eastern Seas and the Gulf of Mouth were ruled by the Sister Lords, who often plundered merchant ships that called there.

Monopoly corrupts.

Though the Tullys and Starks had a dynastic marriage that prevented them from driving grain prices sky-high as in earlier years, they were not small. Besides, there were such houses as the Freys, Mutons, and Brackens who didn't give a damn about their suzerains' orders. So the caravans of the Tempers, which began to come to Darkwood, Carhold, Dreadfort, Mutton Gate, and White Harbor with the onset of winter and sell food at lower prices, became a real salvation for most of the poor lords and peasants.

But a conflict arose - one of the River Lords' greatest sources of income was taken away from them, yielding simply wild profits. Soon his father received a letter from his grandfather, demanding that he kick out the "southern peddlers" and start buying from the Trident Lords again. His lord father was at an impasse - if he agreed with his father-in-law, he would cause discontent among his vassals, forcing them to give their last funds to the impudent southerners, and if he refused, he would not only lose all the benefits of his marriage to his mother, but would also quarrel the two kingdoms almost on nothing.

A compromise was reached: the Starks refused the Dornish grain and asked the rest of their vassals to follow suit, without punishing those who refused. Almost all landlocked lords followed their suzerains, buying grain at such a markup that there was almost no difference between Temperian and river grain. "Sea" lords continued to buy food from the Dornish, not really listening to Ned Stark's pleas - their wallets and bellies were dearer to them.

Robb had long ago learned that men were vindictive creatures. But it was only recently that he'd experienced it firsthand. In the past month, as the first bannermen had approached Winterfell, he had had to separate and reconcile them countless times. The reasons ranged from the fact that a distant ancestor of the Tolharts had killed one of the Dustins in one of their battles to a simple dispute among the Highlanders of the Northern Mountains over a good axe. And disputes between "sea" and "land" groups were very common there.

«I see you remembered. - Luwin's voice brought him back to reality. - Thanks to the Tempers' support, the Boltons have grown very rich in recent years. Furs, wax, honey, coal, timber, barley - they sell it all to the Dornish and get a lot of southern curiosities and gold in return. Hence such a large army. With their income, they can easily support such a large army.

«I see..." Stark sighed, slightly confused. For all their strength, his house could field at most eight thousand men, and they would not be as well armed as the Boltons. That made them a dangerous and unpredictable force to watch with both eyes.

«And his wife, that Temper. She must be quite the muckraker to have been passed off as a Bolton. - If there's one thing in this world that doesn't change, it's Theon. Thinks of women first, then the rest.

«I wouldn't say young Theon. - With the edge of his lips, Luwin smiled. - I rode with Lord Eddard to Lord Ruse's wedding. My Lord Robb and Lady Sansa were too young then, so you stayed in the castle with my lady. Lady Thea turned out to be a very beautiful girl - bright green eyes, long dark hair, and a chiseled figure. Most of the lords present at the wedding looked very enviously at the master of Dreadford. You would know how offended Lord Amber was when the bride's brother forbade the ritual of seeing her off by piercing the table with a dagger. There was a fight later on where the two men got into it. Amber only got a tooth knocked out and a black eye, but Kold got a couple ribs broken.

The sight of Amber's hurt and then battered Big John, quickly painted by Robb's vivid imagination, made him laugh and Theon laugh out loud.

«Truly, she has a temper to match her husband's. - The Maester said, losing all his cheerfulness. - She was very cold and aloof even at the feast, and a year ago I heard a rumor about her cruelty.

The two heirs of the Great Houses listened attentively to their teacher's serious tone.

«A year ago, Ser Domeric, the Bolton heir, returned from Dorne. He had learned that he had a bastard brother the same age as his three younger siblings and had decided to visit him, forming a bond like you and Jon and Elsa.

Robb smiled involuntarily at that, remembering his restless older brother and sister, and then he grimaced. The first was now freezing on the Wall, guarding the North from wildling raids, and the second was in King's Landing, among lions and snakes, just waiting for a chance to strike.

«But the bastard was an ungrateful creature. - Luwin continued. - He poisoned his brother with a heavy poison that made his intestines gag. Lady Bolton had some of the Fox potions to keep her stepson from going to the Old Gods. It is said that what began next made even Lord Bolton sick. - Lowering his voice almost to a whisper, the Maester said. - The Lady's men quickly caught all of the bastard's henchmen and himself. And if those who had helped poison her stepson had been dealt with gently, executed by quartering, the unlucky assassin had not been so lucky.

«Gloth..." Theon swallowed involuntarily, as Robb did, almost out of breath and listening to every word.

«He'd been skinned. Alive. Right in the castle courtyard, in front of all the inhabitants. - After a brief pause, the maester continued, causing an involuntary shudder in his two students, whose rich imagination showed this picture perfectly. - It was rumored that the lady had sent some famous master from Essos, so that by the end of the torture, when there was not a single piece of skin left on the bastard, he was still alive and even conscious. At the end, she personally slit his throat.

Robb shuddered involuntarily. The one the maester had described was a true deviless from ancient legends who had no place in the world of the living, not a simple woman who should watch over the house and stand in her husband's shadow.

"No, the Boltons should definitely be watched with both eyes" - He thought as he saw a cavalcade of horsemen approaching, led by a pale-faced, gray-eyed man riding at the head of the cavalcade, with a frilly pink cloak thrown over his shoulders.

Ruse and Domeric Bolton had arrived at Winterfell, adding more headaches for the Stark heir.

P.a. Just a reminder that most of what Luwin says is hearsay and what is told can be very different from reality.

***

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