John
John shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t let you pass, Aylard”, he said calmly. “I won’t let you do this” The innkeeper narrowed his… more eyes, gripping his hammer firmly. Daghan threw an alarmed glare in John’s direction, while Sasha slowly approached from the other end of the hallway. “You don’t know what I’m going to do”, Aylard answered. He looked almost pleadingly. “Get out of my way”
“Aylard, I know Lucas for years now and I know for sure that he would never harm Lunett”, John said and noticed a pained expression of pure grief flashing over Aylard’s face. “But he did”, he answered. “Maybe he hasn’t killed her personally, but he took her to this hellish city in the first place!”
The door to Daghan’s right got opened and Janae glanced out. Her gaze fell on Samantha, who sluggishly rose from the ground, then on Aylard. “Son of a bitch”, she mumbled. “What are you going to do, with Lucas and Leonard?”, John asked and Aylard narrowe… [view original content]
John
John shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t let you pass, Aylard”, he said calmly. “I won’t let you do this” The innkeeper narrowed his… more eyes, gripping his hammer firmly. Daghan threw an alarmed glare in John’s direction, while Sasha slowly approached from the other end of the hallway. “You don’t know what I’m going to do”, Aylard answered. He looked almost pleadingly. “Get out of my way”
“Aylard, I know Lucas for years now and I know for sure that he would never harm Lunett”, John said and noticed a pained expression of pure grief flashing over Aylard’s face. “But he did”, he answered. “Maybe he hasn’t killed her personally, but he took her to this hellish city in the first place!”
The door to Daghan’s right got opened and Janae glanced out. Her gaze fell on Samantha, who sluggishly rose from the ground, then on Aylard. “Son of a bitch”, she mumbled. “What are you going to do, with Lucas and Leonard?”, John asked and Aylard narrowe… [view original content]
This was a pretty clear outcome and it was entirely unsurprising for me that a majority of you chose this. You don't know much about Rayden yet, but this is going to change in the next chapter. For now, he might be a chance to win Clayton's favour back, which may or may not be a good thing. The only reason why Kersea even thought about declining this offer is her intense hatred for Clayton. Kersea's storyline in the next chapter is going to contain a couple of scenes I'm looking forward for and one which I particularly dread. In any way, it should be memorable, hopefully.
The next part is going to be out today, at some point in the next few hours. It is going to be a Garthon part. The last time we saw Garthon, he followed Kyra's invitation to her chamber, clearly having the hopes for some comfort. These hopes were cruelly shattered, when it turned out that this was never Kyra's intention. Instead, she invited Hjalgar, Captain Simon Vessels and her own brother to her chamber as well, to discuss their next steps. As it turned out, Damon Greyjoy is greatly dissatisfied with the king. He revealed to the others that he is making plans to dispose of Harren and might require their assistance in the future. For now, he ordered each of them to remain quiet and loyal, so that Harren won't suspect them. Their meeting was cut short by the arrival of Harmund Hoare, who wanted to lead Garthon to the Great Hall, to a gathering of Captains and Riverlords, who demand to hear his version of the past events. As it turned out, Harmund never meant to lead Garthon there. Instead, he lured him into a room where his brother Harndon, the mentally sick one, was already waiting. Together, Harmund and Harndon desired vengeance for the near-death of Harlan. Garthon was left with the choice to fight them, or to surrender to their wrath. Since he feared that fighting back would make things only worse, he decided not to do it, in the foolish hope that they won't beat him to death.
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if he would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again and the prince let out a growl of pure anger, while Harmund chuckled. “Not enough?”, he asked. “Well, I think he can take a bit more” With these words, he kicked Garthon in the lower back and let go of him at the same, effectively pushing him into Harndon’s next punch. Without the crown prince to hold him, the force of Harndon’s blow was enough to send Garthon spinning to the ground. He heavily hit his head on the stone floor.
Stay awake, he told himself. Stay awake, or they will kill you. He could taste his own blood, he could even feel it slowly flowing down his cheek. His head felt dizzy, but the pain in his stomach was even worse. Harndon let out a shrill laugh.
“What is going on here?”, a voice shouted all of a sudden and Garthon was able to understand the words despite his dizzy feeling. Even better, he was able to recognize the voice. He glanced up and saw Kyra standing in the doorframe. She was casually holding her axe with one hand.
“Mind your own business”, Harmund snarled and stepped towards her. “This does not concern you” Kyra shook her head. “It does concern me, princeling”, she hissed and Harmund narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps you need a lesson as well”, he growled. “Donny, continue to beat him up! Greyjoy, you watch!”
Harndon giggled, as he slowly approached Garthon. “Thank you, brother”, he whispered with glee. Before he reached Garthon, Kyra’s voice sharply cut through the air. “Harndon Hoare, you will stay where you are!”, she yelled. Harndon stopped indeed and instead of joy, his face suddenly showed childlike fear.
“That’s right”, Kyra continued. “You remember me, don’t you? You remember my brother” Harndon’s eyes widened, as he gave her a meek nod. “Yes”, he confirmed. A triumphant smile formed on Kyra’s face and she pointed at Garthon. “If you harm him, I will call my brother”, she explained and Harndon gulped.
Harmund sighed. “Donny, you’re fucking worthless”, he growled. “I should have drowned you as an infant, you piece of shit. Now do what I say, or I’m going to be angry. You don’t want to make me angry, do you?”
Harndon shook his head and took a step towards Garthon. “Hold it right there, Harndon”, Kyra yelled again. “Perhaps I don’t even need to call Damon. If you ever touch Garthon again, I will beat you up myself. And trust me, my brother has been pretty soft on you compared to me. You nearly died back then, didn’t you?”
Again, Harndon gave her a nod and tears formed in his eyes. “Do what I told you”, Harmund hissed and Harndon started to shiver. He shook his head as he glanced from Kyra to Harmund. “No, please....”, he said tearfully, the look on his face reminding Garthon of a small child. “Please, don ‘t hurt me...”
“Donny...”, Harmund growled and Harndon took another step towards Garthon. “Stop, Harndon”, Kyra hissed and he stopped. By now, he was almost shaking, while tears openly flew down his face. “I don’t know, I don’t know”, he mumbled desperately, torn between fear of Harmund and fear of Kyra. “Do it!”, Harmund yelled. “No!”, Kyra answered.
“What the hell is going on here?”, a new voice shouted. Garthon looked up and saw Harrick, like he never saw him before. The prince’s usually calm face was twisted by barely controlled anger. His fists were clenched and the glare on his face was terrifying. “What the fuck are you doing to my brother?”
Harndon let out a sigh of relief, as he stormed towards his brother. Harrick gave him a warm hug, while the madman put his face into his chest and cried desperately. “I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do”, he sobbed. “They wanted to hurt me”
Harrick softly patted him on the back, while he stared daggers at Harmund and Kyra. “It’s alright”, he said softly. “No one’s going to hurt you now. Go to your room. You’re safe in your room, remember?” Harndon gave him a nod and separated from his brother. Then he rushed out of the door, while Harrick approached Garthon, Harmund and Kyra.
“What have you done?”, he growled and Harmund smirked. “We punished the traitor for what he did to Lanny, when the bitch showed up and threatened both of us. Donny took it badly”, he chuckled. “You know how he is, this weak little runt, this worthl-”
“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!”, Harrick yelled at the top of his lungs and the rage in his voice was strong enough to cause Harmund to take a step back in surprise. “What have you said?”, he growled in return. “You heard me!”, Harrick continued, still yelling, but not as loud as before. “I don’t want to hear your lies. I’m sick of them and I’m sick of you! I know everything you did. I know what both of you did!”
“Careful. You better watch your tongue, brother”, Harmund answered. Harrick, still breathing heavily, shook his head. “I’m watching it right now”, he confirmed. “You don’t know me, Harmund. But if you ever threaten my brother again, I swear you will”
“You don’t dare-“,Harmund sneered, but Harrick cut him off. “I DARE!”, he yelled. “AND NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, YOU GODDAMN MONSTER!” The viciousness in his voice was horrifying to Garthon and even more to Kyra. Harmund wasn’t horrified. If anything, Harmund was speechless. He took a step back from his youngest brother. “This is not over”, he snarled, but he turned around and left.
“Prince Harrick, I-”, Kyra started to say, though Harrick cut her off. “I don’t want to hear your excuses, captain”, he answered, way more controlled than before. “Don’t you have an ounce of pity? An ounce of compassion? You acted like this fucking animal Harmund!”
“I defended Garthon...”, Kyra said, genuinely baffled. Harrick shook his head. “You tormented my weak brother. Aren’t you fucking ashamed of yourself? You know how he is and you know why he is like that”, he answered, getting calmer with every second. “Oh yes, you defended Breaker, you truly did, by causing my brother to almost break down again! Targeting the weak... I expected better from you than to go down on Harmund’s level!”
“I only wanted to defend Garthon”, Kyra repeated. Her smile was gone, instead, her face showed genuine shock. “Then you should have targeted Harmund!”, Harrick insisted. “You know that he’s the one at fault here! And yet... I’ve seen you, captain. You can’t tell me that you haven’t enjoyed it. Maybe your goals have been more noble, but you’ve acted as bad as Harmund himself”
Something changed on Kyra’s face. In a moment, her entire expression was filled with shock and shame. She gave him a nod. “I’m sorry, Prince Harrick”, she said and he sighed. “I’m disappointed, Kyra”, he answered, before he reached down and extended a hand into Garthon’s direction. “Apologies for Harmund’s behaviour”, he said calmly. “We will go now, to the Great Hall” He glanced at Kyra. “Captain Greyjoy, you will accompany us”
Kyra gave him an ashamed nod. Garthon understood why she did it. The fact that she was willing to go toe to toe with two Hoares just to save him felt flattering. Despite the pain, it was worth it. He put a hand onto his aching belly. Almost worth it. At the same time, he understood why she felt ashamed. He had never seen Harndon Hoare like this, close to a complete breakdown. As twisted as the prince was, Garthon couldn’t help but to see him as another victim.
“What’s going to await me in there?”, he asked and Harrick glanced at him. “Now you want my help?”, he asked and Garthon sighed. “Yes”, he admitted. “Maybe I was a bit too quick in dismissing your earlier offer”
“You were”, Harrick agreed. “You’re going to meet two dozen lords, half of them from the Islands and half of them from the Riverlands” They walked out of the building and onto the courtyard. The Great Hall was a couple hundred feet away from them and they slowly approached it. “The conspirators are all gone. Blackwood and Tully are back at their lands, while Bracken and Frey should reach theirs soon. Mallister is back at Seagard as well”, he explained and Garthon clenched his fists. “Bracken has left one of his knights to represent him at court, Ser Rickard Fowler”
“I know him”, Garthon said, remembering the knight from his earlier meeting with the Riverlords. “A few lords are still here. Lady Piper. Lord Strong. Lord Darry. Lady Darklyn. They all hate each other almost as much as they hate my father”, Harrick continued. “Your job is to convince them that an act of rebellion against House Hoare is futile. Your job is to convince them that you never intended to kill the king out of idealism”
“Shouldn’t be too hard”, Garthon answered. “Torvin is the idealist. I’m simply loyal to Torvin” Harrick shook his head. “For your brother’s sake, it will be for the best if Torvin won’t be an idealist either”, he spoke. “Then there are the lords of the Islands, the captains of the Iron Fleet. They are a different case altogether”
“Anyone I should look out in particular?”, Garthon asked and Harrick gave him a nod. “Lord Volmark”, he answered and his mouth formed something that resembled a smile. “Cleaver Clint Volmark. You don’t get a nickname like that by having a charming personality, but Clint is downright nasty on his best days. He represents a faction of captains that wish to raid again, like in the old days. They see my father as weak for ruling over the Greenlanders instead of raiding their cities like our house did for thousands of years”
Garthon gave him a nod, before he hesitated. “How exactly has he gotten a nickname like that?”, he asked. “Do I even want to know?” Harrick shook his head. “When Clint’s father died, he inherited Volmark by right. His brother opted against this. He saw himself as the better ruler and honestly, he would have made a fine lord. He challenged Clint to a brotherly finger dance, with House Volmark at stake”, he explained. “Clint declared that they will dance after his own rules and he ordered his men to hold his brother down, while he grabbed a meat cleaver and started to chop. After the third finger, his brother yielded. Cleaver Clint gained a nickname and got to keep his castle, his brother got to keep the rest of his fingers”
“Charming”, Garthon mumbled and Harrick gave him a nod. “Truly”, he said. “Then there’s Alerah Blacktyde. She’s here with her brother Dorran, they recently arrived to support the war. Both siblings are dangerous, but I consider Alerah to be the most intelligent person in this hall right now”
“How do I please her?”, Garthon asked. “Good question”, Harrick answered. “Alerah is a mystery, even to me. My father’s spies, Schaffrot and Mad-Eye, they might know more. If we had more time, I would have asked them, but now? If I had to guess, I’d say that she wants a display of Harren’s strength, just like the captains around Cleaver Clint want a display of Harren’s cruelty”
“Strength and cruelty, got it. Perhaps I could mention mercy, to calm the Riverlands down?”, he asked and Harrick shook his head. “Risky in regards to the captains. Volmark, Stallhart and Vessels won’t tolerate weakness, not even with their king. Similarly, emphasizing his cruelty too much could push the more fearful Riverlords into open rebellion. Or it might have the intended effect and will keep them in line” He sighed. “Even the smartest man in the world would get a headache from ruling over this kingdom”, he explained. “You see, my father is not a bad ruler. He just has the horrible task of ruling over Volmark as well as Tully. To appease the lust for blood that is natural with the Ironborn, as well as the yearning for stability that unites the Riverlords”
“Wonderful”, Garthon sighed. “Anyone in this room I can actually count on?” Harrick gave him a nod. “As strange as it sounds, yes”, he answered. “Lord Reymand Orkwood. Usually an obnoxious little shit, a professional arse-licker, but still the lord of House Orkwood and an influential man at court. He is a devoted follower of my father and even though he embodies everything that’s wrong with the lords of the Islands, he’s still going to support you tonight, if only for my father’s sake”
They had approached the huge, winged door that led into the Great Hall and as they walked closer, the massive wings swung open. Garthon knew that the men on lookout had already spotted them from afar, to open the door from the inside.
There were more than two dozen men in the hall. Harrick had failed to mention that most lords had their entourage with them, while the captains brought their most trusted mates. All in all, Garthon estimated a total of over two hundred men, which still barely filled the gigantic room. And all of them looked at him, Harrick and Kyra.
Having Kyra so close right now meant a lot to Garthon. He glanced at her and she gave him a reassuring smile. “You’re going to nail it”, she whispered. “Just tell them what they want to hear” He smirked. “That’s the problem”, he answered and she chuckled. “I have faith in you. You’re among the ten smartest men in this room”
“That was a crappy compliment”, he joked, but she remained silent, since they came closer to the crowd. Riverlords and Iron Islanders were standing apart from each other. The Riverlords had gathered to his left, while the Captains were standing to his right. In the far distance at the other end of the hall, directly between both crowds, sat Harren Hoare.
Out of the captain’s crowd, a few people approached them. They were led by a man that could only be described as huge. He was one of the tallest men in the room, but without a doubt one of the fattest as well, though his big belly hid the strong muscles of a warrior. He was bald and ugly, with tanned, spotty skin and a crooked nose. His smile was even more crooked and his teeth were rotten stumps while his hands were resting on a large cleaver that hung on his belt.
“Prince Harrick”, Cleaver Clint Volmark greeted him. “I see you got the traitor with you. Why is he still alive?” Harrick nodded into the direction of the king. “To speak, Lord Volmark”, he explained. Clint spat on the ground. “I would have removed his tongue by now”, he growled.
“That’s why you’re not the king, Cleaver”, a young woman said. She was in Garthon’s age, with long, dark hair and deep brown eyes. Her chin was a bit too prominent in Garthon’s opinion, though she definitely wasn’t an ugly woman either. Lean and still sturdy, she moved like a trained warrior.
The man to her right was obviously her brother, with the same prominent chin, a sturdy, masculine face that was covered by a bushy, chestnut brown full beard and hazel brown eyes. “Thank the gods for that, Alerah”, he agreed and gave Harrick a respectful bow. “My prince”
Harrick gave him a slight nod in return. “Captain Blacktyde”, he greeted him. “I’m glad you and your sister have arrived well. The same goes for you, Lord Volmark” Cleaver Clint’s mouth formed a sneer and he shook his head. “We’ll see what the traitor has to say”, he growled. “I’m curious how your father justifies keeping him alive”
“He doesn’t have to”, a hoarsy voice said and Garthon had to look down. Reymand Orkwood was a short man, a dwarf, especially next to the huge Clint Volmark. He was old and his hair was completely white already. The most prominent feature of his face was a long, crooked nose and his bushy beard. “He’s the king and you should respect his authority” While Cleaver Clint chuckled in amusement, Alerah and Dorran Blacktyde seemed almost disgusted by the dwarf, especially as he knelt down next to Harrick. “My prince, it is an honour, as always”, he said.
Garthon glanced to his left and spotted a familiar face. Even though he felt no particular sympathy for the man, a smile formed on his face. “Ser Rickard”, he greeted him. Rickard Fowler gave him a grim nod in return. “Glad to see you’re still alive”, he answered calmly. “Lord Bracken sends his regards. You impressed him. He wants you to know that you always have friends in Stone Hedge”
And with that, Garthon had passed the crowd. He stood in front of the king, who had a look of feigned boredom on his face. Kyra took position to Harren’s left, while Harrick stood on his right. “Ah, Breaker”, Harren growled deeply. “I was hoping you’d come. What happened to your face?”
“Your son, your grace”, Garthon answered directly and noticed the hint of anger that flared up in Harren’s eyes. “Harmund”, he growled. “The boy has a troubling temper” He looked at Harrick. “While Breaker speaks, I need you to do something for me” Harrick took a bow in front of his father. “Of course, father”, he answered, while Harren yawned. “Go and fetch me the other one. Tell Holt to prepare him. And send Velmont to the quarters, to fetch the special delivery”
A disgusted look appeared on Harrick’s face. “Is this really necessary, father?”, he asked and Harren shot him a glare. “Do you mean to question me?”, he asked in return and Harrick shook his head. “Of course not, father. I will follow your order” With these words, he turned to Garthon, gave him a nod and started to walk out of the hall again.
Garthon glanced at the king, who only gave him an impatient handwave. “Go on”, he growled. “I believe you have something to say to the lords. Choose your words carefully, or I’ll cut your other cheek as well, together with a couple other parts”
Now, Garthon turned around, to face the crowd. To his right, he had the Riverlords. He only recognized some of their banners. Whent. Strong. Piper. Mooton. Brune. To his right, he had the colourful group of captains. Orkwood. Blacktyde. Harlaw. Volmark.
“Tell us the truth! Tell us what you truly think!”, one of the Riverlords yelled. “Aye, what the fishcunt said”, Cleaver Clint growled loudly and crossed his arms right above his signature weapon. “I’m interested in this truth as well. How do you feel, after Harry the Whore spared your life?”
Garthon sighed. Now he had reached the moment he was afraid of. The truth... the truth was not very impressive. He never wanted this. He never wanted to slay a king, to start a rebellion. He only wanted to protect his older brother. Yes, he would give them the truth. But would it suffice? Would it please the Riverlords? Would it please the captains?
He remembered what Harrick told him. He needed to please the Riverlords and the captains as well. They wanted a strong king, but Garthon wasn’t sure if that would suffice after the events of the past week. Perhaps he could praise Harren’s mercy. He was still alive. Torvin was still alive. Perhaps it would please the riverlords. Perhaps it would anger the captains. Men like Volmark, they were out for blood. He knew, Cleaver Clint and his men wanted to hear of Harren’s cruelty. Perhaps fear could keep the Riverlords in line as well. Perhaps not...
[Simply tell the truth][Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength][Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s mercy][Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s cruelty]
[Simply tell the truth] We're trying to convince them that this wasn't out of idealism. The other options show that there was another reason or that we're an ass kisser. They'll just overshadow our true message. It's best to simply tell the truth. Garthon did this out of loyalty to his brother.
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
We must be good little soldiers, so let's drop the cruelty option first - I doubt Harren would want the Riverlords to hear that. And same goes for mercy, the Ironborn wouldn't like that and the Riverlords probably wouldn't see it as a believable story (even if it basically would be the truth). Just simply telling the truth would be the safest route I guess, but emphasis on strength feels like the perfect compromise.
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
The Voting is closed!
Kersea is going to agree to kill Rayden
This was a pretty clear outcome and it was entirely unsurprising for me … morethat a majority of you chose this. You don't know much about Rayden yet, but this is going to change in the next chapter. For now, he might be a chance to win Clayton's favour back, which may or may not be a good thing. The only reason why Kersea even thought about declining this offer is her intense hatred for Clayton. Kersea's storyline in the next chapter is going to contain a couple of scenes I'm looking forward for and one which I particularly dread. In any way, it should be memorable, hopefully.
The next part is going to be out today, at some point in the next few hours. It is going to be a Garthon part. The last time we saw Garthon, he followed Kyra's invitation to her chamber, clearly having the hopes for some comfort. These hopes were cruelly shattered, when it turned out that this was never K… [view original content]
I must say it Liquid,I like this part for two reasons: you introduced many new (and interesting) characters and make one of the most complex choice of all the story (to me at least)
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength] This is my choice because simply tell the truth make Torvin in danger,make the king angry and probably convince no one.Put enphasis on mercy make the captains think that Harren is a coward while at least some of the Riverlords will not trust Garthon while instead put emphasis on cruelty please the captains but probably make enemies all the Riverlords.
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
You know reading all of this i'm surprised they haven't brought up the fact that the assasination attempt only failed do to the intervention of someone who was never supposed to be there and a similar plan could be carried despite Harrens newfound paranoia.
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
Sadly, it is not that easy. While Harren is a very unpopular ruler, most of the Riverlords are rightfully afraid of him and wouldn't dare to try an assasination. The only ones who were willing to risk it have failed and are now closely watched by Harren's men. Also, the Riverlords in general hate each other as well, almost as much as they hate the king. One Riverlord on his own is unable to go through with it and it is very hard to actualy focus a group of them on one goal, as the last chapter showed. Lord Tully would be capable of such a feat, but he absolutely has to lay low now, because Harren made it clear that he's going to target his family should he ever try anything like that again.
Meanwhile, most of the lords of the Iron Islands are far too straightforward to consider a cowardly tactic like this to dispose of someone they don't like. As long as Harren manages to keep them in line, they won't try to outright assassinate him even if they hate him. What Torvin did had a chance to work once, because it was highly unusual. Now that he failed, even if it only was thanks to the unexpected presence of Anturion, Harren is going to be more wary even around men he previously saw as trustworthy, which makes it much less likely that an assasination attempt is going to succeed the second time. The only one who might consider such a thing is Damon Greyjoy, as seen in the Garthon part before this one, but he's pretty much a wildcard. His plans will be revealed in time, but for now he is very secretive about them.
You know reading all of this i'm surprised they haven't brought up the fact that the assasination attempt only failed do to the intervention… more of someone who was never supposed to be there and a similar plan could be carried despite Harrens newfound paranoia.
Anyway great Part.
If the lords are that paranoid why not send a small mercenary company to take care of it. The King seems to trust his safety enough to allow trials to take place in his hall so that would be the perfect time to strike. Wait for a moment to distract the guard with some minor thing and send them in. They hide in the crowd dressed as nobles and strike. Even if Harren were to notice in time he would be overwhelmed and very quicky killed. As paranoid as he is he would'nt expect 'nobles' to attack him that publicly. Once he is murdered separate another set of clothing to disguise them once more and mix into the crowd.
In the very unlikely attempt chance he survives and tortures them for information to who employed that make sure to have a middle man take care of it under the name of Dorne or The Stormlands who would instantly benefit from his death. And thats if he belives in the story of the mysterious contact. In the worst case he blames it on someone randomly, making it highly unlikely he'll pick the right one.
As for Harmund, find out were he and his small gang reside at the moment and slaugther them all. Its very clear he doesn't spend much time in the castle and prefers 'other' hobbies.
And there go the two biggest issues with any assasination on the Hoares. The rest can be killed far more easily.
Sadly, it is not that easy. While Harren is a very unpopular ruler, most of the Riverlords are rightfully afraid of him and wouldn't dare to… more try an assasination. The only ones who were willing to risk it have failed and are now closely watched by Harren's men. Also, the Riverlords in general hate each other as well, almost as much as they hate the king. One Riverlord on his own is unable to go through with it and it is very hard to actualy focus a group of them on one goal, as the last chapter showed. Lord Tully would be capable of such a feat, but he absolutely has to lay low now, because Harren made it clear that he's going to target his family should he ever try anything like that again.
Meanwhile, most of the lords of the Iron Islands are far too straightforward to consider a cowardly tactic like this to dispose of someone they don't like. As long as Harren manages to keep them in line, they won't try to outright assassinate him even i… [view original content]
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if h… moree would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again an… [view original content]
I do like your ideas very much! Still, there are a couple of problems and the risk is so big that most lords currently wouldn't dare to try it.
If the lords are that paranoid why not send a small mercenary company to take care of it. The King seems to trust his safety enough to allow trials to take place in his hall so that would be the perfect time to strike. Wait for a moment to distract the guard with some minor thing and send them in. They hide in the crowd dressed as nobles and strike. Even if Harren were to notice in time he would be overwhelmed and very quicky killed. As paranoid as he is he would'nt expect 'nobles' to attack him that publicly. Once he is murdered separate another set of clothing to disguise them once more and mix into the crowd.
While Harren probably wouldn't expect this, there is someone else who always thinks into this direction. His youngest son Harrick is also by far the smartest of the bunch. It has been implied at the end of the last chapter that he was a driving force in uncovering the plot against his father. He's smart and capable enough to expect such an assassination attempt, perhaps even uncover it before it takes place. Also, another major problem with this idea is Mallister's treason at the end of Chapter 5. Mallister is not necessarily more treacherous than other Riverlords, he simply took the opportunity to gain an advantage, while simultaneously putting his rivals at a disadvantage. Many other Riverlords would do the same and they all know it, so they don't trust each other by nature. Mallister's treason made it only worse, because it is unlikely that they will ever trust each other again. Something like the shared and coordinated hiring of a mercenary company is going to be downright impossible for them, because that involves trust that is simply not there between them.
In the very unlikely attempt chance he survives and tortures them for information to who employed that make sure to have a middle man take care of it under the name of Dorne or The Stormlands who would instantly benefit from his death. And thats if he belives in the story of the mysterious contact. In the worst case he blames it on someone randomly, making it highly unlikely he'll pick the right one.
There's the thing, if Harren can't blame someone in particular, he's probably not going to blame it on someone randomly, but instead he is going to blame it on everyone and he will punish everyone equally. Given his reputation, he would definitely be capable of this. Perhaps he's going to do even worse. The Riverlords are too afraid of him to dare it.
As for Harmund, find out were he and his small gang reside at the moment and slaugther them all. Its very clear he doesn't spend much time in the castle and prefers 'other' hobbies.
Indeed, Harmund is perhaps the easiest to kill, since he spends a lot of time outside the castle walls. However, if the nobles kill him, but fail to kill the rest of House Hoare at roughly the same time, Harren is going to make their families bleed for taking his firstborn. It's very likely that he's going to execute the firstborn son of every Riverlord in exchange, so again, the price is too high for most lords.
And there go the two biggest issues with any assasination on the Hoares. The rest can be killed far more easily.
By far not. Harmund is the easiest target, even easier than Harlan and Harndon, because they rarely leave the castle. But if he and Harren die, there are still Harlan, Harndon and especially Harrick. If Harren and Harmund both die, it is possible that Harrick is going to end up as the king and he's definitely the most cautious Hoare. Killing him is going to be extremely hard and most see it as not worth the risk.
You see, it is not that easy to actually kill Harren Hoare. At the end of the last chapter, Harren knew what they were attempting days in advance. The only reason why Torvin even had a chance was that Harren underestimated him. He knew that Tully would back down when he saw his daughter and he expected Torvin to back down with him. That was a mistake that nearly costed him his life, but it won't be a mistake he makes twice.
Still, could'nt they be able to work around that?
If the lords are that paranoid why not send a small mercenary company to take care of i… moret. The King seems to trust his safety enough to allow trials to take place in his hall so that would be the perfect time to strike. Wait for a moment to distract the guard with some minor thing and send them in. They hide in the crowd dressed as nobles and strike. Even if Harren were to notice in time he would be overwhelmed and very quicky killed. As paranoid as he is he would'nt expect 'nobles' to attack him that publicly. Once he is murdered separate another set of clothing to disguise them once more and mix into the crowd.
In the very unlikely attempt chance he survives and tortures them for information to who employed that make sure to have a middle man take care of it under the name of Dorne or The Stormlands who would instantly benefit from his death. And thats if he belives in the story of the … [view original content]
I know, I know XD Currently I'm rushing to the end of the chapter quite fast, but I'm sure there will be a time where I will write slower again. Hopefully it won't be anytime soon though.
Nothing too bad happened He's mostly fine. However, at the end of John's latest part, he stopped Janae from killing Aylard, since he, as a fellow father, heavily sympathizes with him. In her anger over the missed shot, Janae slammed her bow into his face. Since she hasn't used an arrow for this, it was basically the same as getting hit with a big stick. Because of that, his head is going to hurt for a bit and when he appears next, he's going to have a fresh bruise, but that's nothing that would actually harm him. As for Janae, she's pissed at Daghan for making her miss the shot, but there's more to that, which is going to be revealed in the next chapter.
Garthon is going to put emphasis on Harren's strength
This was an interesting choice for me. Praising Harren's strength is probably the most neutral thing to do, aside form simply telling the truth, because strength is something that is respected by both, Ironborn and Riverlords. This choice was important and there will be more to it in Garthon's next part. Speaking of Garthon's next part, it's going to happen soon and it's going to be a part I'm both, excited and afraid to write, mostly because of one particularly horrible thing Harren Hoare is going to do.
The next part is going to be out today. Once again, it will feature three PoV's, because I noticed that it greatly helps with ending some storylines without dragging them out too much. It will feature PoV's from Lyria, Alys and Maya. The last time we saw Lyria, she was still resting at Mathea's house, recovering from Wolfius' brutal attack. Together with her were her daughter Rosalie and Urid Strad, both of them far more grievously wounded, but currently stable. While Mathea was away to treat Wolfius' wounds, Lyria received an unexpected visitor, Philip Loren. Philip revealed that he has a plan to take down Wolfius' son, Kreep. During their talk, Lyria wondered if Philip would also be willing to kill Wolfius in the prison, to make sure that he does not escape. Ultimately, she did not voice her thoughts, which possibly means that she missed a chance to neutralize Wolfius.
Meanwhile, Alys, accompanied by Edward and his bodyguards, as well as the Ironborn under Alynne Hollard, arrived at the camp of Bear and his bandits, where Edward attempts to negotiate some sort of business. Since Edward is rightfully concerned for her safety among bandits and Ironborn, he left her with his trusted bodyguard Carvin, while taking Alisa with him to the meeting with Bear. Quickly after he left, problems started to arise. One of the Ironborn seemed to be hellbent on starting a fight with Alys and Carvin. He was stopped when the young Ironborn scout Wilbur accidentally insulted him. An argument broke out and ultimately, Wilbur even started to fight him. Quickly, it was clear that he was the inferior fighter. Alys was left with the choice to order Carvin to end the fight (lethally or non-lethally) or to stay out of it. She chose the latter option, in the hopes of not gaining even more attention from the surrounding men.
Finally, Maya's latest part marked the point where she actually started the heist she tries to pull off. With Irving as her lookout, she, Gregar and Keat the thief broke into the archive, where they intended to search for valuable documents concerning the Kingdom of the Mountain and Vale. Keat, who has already been in the archive once, lead them through the building and into the lower levels, where the next part is going to continue.
Fair points. However Harrick himself is not invincible, how about this.
A SINGLE Lord is the one who hires the mercenary company through a middle contact in the name of Dorne or The Stormlands. They murderer Harmund in the morning since his familly would'nt expect him to comeback for a while.
Have a distracción for the guards, send one of the mercenaries into a brawl or something. Then insert the rest of the company into the trail/meeting dressed as nobles. Two of them stay outside and take guard uniforms.
Harrick is delayed from the meeting by Garthon who wishes to form an alience with the Stormlands in the War, pupotedly as a scheme to gain Harrens favor. Make sure Garthon has his own guard to make him appear more paranoid than he is. Also make sure to put someone uninvolved as a witness for Garthon (Kyra or something). The two fake guards appear with a message to meet his father for the meeting/trail. As they walk the halls a maid is set up as an assasin (again by the middleman) kills Harrick before he can warn anyone.
The two 'guards' go to their posts and the maid hides the body. The fake nobles are then signaled and one of them spreads doubt over where Harrick is. Instantly as the guards are sent to find him Harren is ambushed and killed. Kyra searches for Harrick until she reaches the two fake guards who then 'find' the maid with the body and 'accidentaly' kill her. The two remaining brothers will not be able to hold the relm and the Tullys then use they're political power to take the Kingdom.
I do like your ideas very much! Still, there are a couple of problems and the risk is so big that most lords currently wouldn't dare to try … moreit.
If the lords are that paranoid why not send a small mercenary company to take care of it. The King seems to trust his safety enough to allow trials to take place in his hall so that would be the perfect time to strike. Wait for a moment to distract the guard with some minor thing and send them in. They hide in the crowd dressed as nobles and strike. Even if Harren were to notice in time he would be overwhelmed and very quicky killed. As paranoid as he is he would'nt expect 'nobles' to attack him that publicly. Once he is murdered separate another set of clothing to disguise them once more and mix into the crowd.
While Harren probably wouldn't expect this, there is someone else who always thinks into this direction. His youngest son Harrick is also by far the smartest of the bunch. It has… [view original content]
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and... how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip spun around, but relaxed as Mathea walked through the door. The healer looked tired. Her robe was stained with blood, dark circles were visible underneath her bloodshot eyes and she looked pale.
A weary smile formed on her face. “Good evening Philip”, she greeted her guest, who reciprocated the gesture. “Mathea”, he greeted her. “Long day?” She gave him a nod and softly closed the door behind her. “You have no idea”, she answered and approached the table. Philip gazed at the blood on her robe.
“It’s not mine”, Mathea said with a weak chuckle. “Figured that much”, Philip answered. Mathea yawned as she leant back on her chair. For a moment, she closed her eyes. “Philip, I’m sorry”, she said. “I hate to be such a bad host, but today has been terrible. I’m not sure if I can hold a conversation”
“Understandable”, Philip answered politely. “Though, I was hoping I could speak to you outside for a moment” Mathea sighed, before she clumsily rose from her chair. “But please, make it quick”, she mumbled and yawned again. Philip gave her a nod, before he turned to Lyria. “Good night, Lyria”, he said calmly. She allowed herself to smile nervously. “Good night, Philip”, she said in return.
And then, Philip and Mathea stepped outside. He closed the door behind them, but Lyria was still able to hear his words, if a bit muffled. “I never got to thank you”, Philip said. “For what you did I mean. You have three of my friends in there and they would have died without you”
“Anyone would have done the same”, Mathea assured him. Silence followed. “If that would be true, the world would be a better place”, Philip answered calmly. “You did way more for them” He sighed. “I think, what I want to say is... you're a good person”
After his last word, a moment of silence followed. “Thank you”, Mathea finally said. “You know I'm not doing it for the praise, but still... I appreciate your words” Philip let out a soft chuckle. “You're welcome. I'll be leaving you now”, he said. “Continue to watch over them, will ya?”
“Always”, Mathea answered. Lyria heard footsteps walking away from the house, before Mathea opened the door again. She was smiling widely, despite looking even more tired than before. It occurred to Lyria that this was the first time she actually saw the healer smiling.
As quick as it came, the smile faded once Mathea had closed the door behind her and glanced down at her bloody dress. She sighed. “I actually liked that one”, she mumbled with a disheartened expression on her face. “Guess I have to burn it now, because there's no way I'll get the stench out of it”
Lyria smirked at this comment. “It looks exactly like the other half dozen you have in your closet”, she answered, as Mathea sat down on the chair next to her. Her smirk got noticeably smaller as she glanced at her sleeping daughter. “Rosie always told me I should care for my clothes a bit more”, she remarked.
“And she will do so again”, Mathea said as she rose from her chair to quickly walk over towards Rosalie. “Not tonight though. I think tomorrow she should start waking up” She lifted the blanket and her smile reappeared. “Her wound is healing nicely. A small wonder, but a welcome one” She yawned again and put the blanket back onto Rosalie. The young woman mumbled something in her sleep and Mathea softly held her hand for a moment. Then, she turned away again.
“But not today. Today, she's going to sleep and so will I”, she explained as she approached her makeshift mattress. “And so should you” Lyria gave her a nod. “I will”, she agreed. With a tired sigh, Mathea lay down on her mattress. “For eight years I've been trained as a healer now”, she mumbled. “It has never been an easy profession, but seven hells, today I made the hardest decision of my entire life”
“So have I”, Lyria said softly. She received no answer and as she glanced at Mathea, she saw her with her eyes closed, having fallen asleep in a matter of seconds. Lyria herself couldn't sleep right now. Not after her talk with Philip. Not after what she almost did and after what she didn't. With a regretful sigh, she glanced at the candle, while outside, blue slowly turned to black.
No Choices for this part
Alys
“We're staying out of it”, Alys said and took a step away from the fighting Ironborn. Wilbur was clearly the inferior fighter, though he still managed to land a couple of good blows on his opponent. Carvin gave her a relieved look. “It's better that way. This shouldn't concern you or me”
Alys was still concerned. Wilbur hasn't been nice to her, but she still had to look away as his opponent landed a particularly nasty blow right into the young man's face. Carvin put a hand onto her shoulder, in the attempt to calm her down. “This was the right choice”, he assured her. At the same time, Alys noticed the curious glances the bandits threw into their direction now. Some of them even joined the Ironborn in cheering for the combatants. If anything, this fight was bound to draw attention.
“What the fuck is going on here?”, a gravelly voice sounded and Alys turned towards the tent. The man she had glimpsed from afar a bit earlier was now walking out of the tent. Now that he was closer, Alys was able to make out his features. He wasn't an ugly man and younger than she thought at first. A deep scar spanned across his right cheek and mouth, though the flesh around his lips was mostly unharmed. His eyes reminded her uncannily of Harren Hoare, but it was the colour of his skin that truly shocked her. Up in the North, she rarely saw people with a skin that dark.
The man, Bear was his name, curiously approached the fighters, who by now had largely stopped their quarrel. Wilbur was laying on the ground and held his bleeding nose, while the other man rose. Behind Bear, Alys saw Edward, Alisa and Captain Hollard. The captain had an angry expression on her face as she approached the combatants, but Bear raised his hand, signalling her to stop. Alys glance fell upon his other hand and she saw that while he was unarmed, he was carrying a terrifying gauntlet, which contained tiny knives at its fingertips.
“My, my....”, he growled, still looking at the two Ironborn. His voice was deep, hoarsy and gravelly and it reminded Alys of clashing steel and spilling blood. Wilbur didn't even try to rise from the ground, but the other man stood firm and glared at Bear. “What do we have here?”, the bandit asked. “Ironborn. Filthy, fucking Ironborn...” He smirked. “How fucking delightful”
He glared from Wilbur to the other man, his smirk gaining a cruel streak. “Now, whom of you fucks started this fight, huh?”, he asked. Without hesitating, the other man pointed at Wilbur, who still lay on the ground, too weak to protest. Bear's smirk got wider. “Is that so?”, he asked. “You see, I don't appreciate people who come here and start a fucking fight” He looked at Wilbur. “You started it?”, he growled. “Yes, he did”, the other man answered and Bear narrowed his eyes. “See, there's one thing I like even less than people who start a fight”, he growled in return. “Fucking snitches”
He pulled over the terrifying glove and Alys started to shiver. “Wait!”, Alynne yelled, but Bears closed fist, the one without the glove, already hit the man straight in the face. Before he could fall, Bear grabbed him by the collar with the very same fist. “I really hate people like you”, he chuckled and with these words, the tiny knives on his fingertips hit the man's belly and cut across his flesh.
The man in Bear's grip, let out a pained scream and the Ironborn reached for their swords. In a mere second, the entire camp had surrounded them. Even Alynne hesitated, as Bear's knives left deep gashes on the man's belly. Then, Bear rammed his glove deeply into the man's flesh, putting almost his entire hand into him. The man let out screams of sheer agony and fear, though they died immediately with him as Bear jerkily pulled his hand out a again, taking a majority of the man's guts with him.
Looking at the bloody mess in his hands, Bear let go of the dead body, which feel immediately next to Wilbur. The young man cringed as the bandit looked at him. “I suppose you learned your lesson”, he chuckled.
“You... animal!”, Alynne yelled as she drew her sword. Bear didn't even seem to take notice of her, especially since Edward was quick to hold her back. “Captain Alynne”, Edward said with an urgent tone in his voice. “In this place, this man is a lot more powerful than you. I'd leave you running into your own doom, but alas, I'd probably die with you, so...”
“What a smart fucking man”, Bear answered with a sneer, as Alynne reluctantly put her sword away. Slowly, Bear's men seemed to calm down as well, as if their leader gave them a wordless order. As he approached Edward, his glance fell upon Alys and she shivered as he sneered at her.
“You are working for me now, Bear, do not forget that”, Edward snarled, seemingly unimpressed by the large frame of the man, who positioned himself in front of him. For a moment, he and Bear just glared at each other. Then and to Alys' surprise, the large man gave him a nod. “Fine then, Anturion”, he growled. “Lead the way” He turned around and spread his arms, displaying the clawed glove in a way that made Alys shiver. “LEAD THE FUCKING WAY!”
His men erupted into cheers, while Alys and Carvin exchanged a nervous glance. Only as Bear lowered his arms again, did the cheers stop. The bandit turned around to look at Edward. “Though, out of interest, where exactly do you wish to use us?”, he asked. In turn Edward's mouth formed a cold grin. “My friend”, he said. “Have you ever heard about a town called... 'Raylansfair'?”
No Choices for this part
Maya
Maya yawned. It was surprising how long it took her to search through these dusty tomes. At the very least she had taken the correct way. However, this had left them with a tiresome walk through a seemingly endless corridor, until they ended up in a large room, crammed with books about the Kingdom of the Vale, from the early beginning of the Andal Invasion, up to where it was today.
Currently, she held a barely readable book in her hands, the pages almost turning to dust between her fingers. She was barely able to read it, and not just because the ink had almost faded, but because the language was an archaic version of the Common Tongue spoken in most of Westeros. Eventually, she figured out that it was merely a ridiculously long work about the first three kings of House Arryn. Frustrated, she put the book down. “You got anything?”, she asked
While Gregar shook his head, Keat gave her a nod. “The Kingdom of Sarnor promises King Jonos Arryn five hundred men in case of a war”, he revealed, reading the contents off a scrolls that looked downright ancient. Maya and Gregar exchanged a glance. “Sarnor got destroyed a couple hundred years ago, by Dothraki”, Gregar mumbled and Maya shrugged. “Put it to the others”, she answered.
That was the main problem. Finding something wasn't hard. The archive was huge and it contained a lot of material about the Vale. Most of it however, were strange writings about long-dead kings, not the kind of stuff that could help the current king with his very present problems. Without the time to correctly determine the value of each scroll, Maya was left only with the choice of taking each that could be of value. Luckily, Keat had been foresighted enough to bring a large backpack with him.
“An exchange between King Artos Arryn and Zhamira Noklar, the Green Grace of the Ghiscari Empire”, Gregar mumbled. “Written either in Ghiscari or by someone with a terrible scrawl” Maya sighed. “We take it”, she muttered bleakly. “Can't be worse than Maron Arryn's love letter to the Triarch of Volantis”
“At least that one would make fine blackmail material”, Keat chuckled and put Gregar's document into his backpack. “How much more do you wish to take?” He pointed his torch down another corridor, filled with bookshelves. Gregar sighed. “Maybe we should come back tomorrow. I doubt the archivists will even notice that anything is missing”
Keat gave him a nod. “I agree”, he said. “The amount of content here is too much for one evening. I say we go back to your place, sort the material out and return tomorrow” Maya sighed. “Fine”, she said in defeat. It was clear that she had underestimated how hard it would be to find specific documents in here. In fact, it was nearly impossible to tell how long she had been down here, but she hoped that it was still dark outside. And she hoped that Irving actually did his job this time. The last thing she could need right now was an unwelcome surprise.
“We leave and return tomorrow”, she said. “And we can return the books we don't need on that occasion as well” Keat raised an eyebrow. “I'm not the type of guy to return the things I steal”, he revealed and Maya gave him a glare. Under other circumstances, she would have answered with a joke, but right now, she was just too tired. The tiny, dim light of the torch made things even worse, because after the first two hours, it had started to give her a headache.
“Wait, we need that one as well”, Gregar said with an uncharacteristic grin, as he handed Keat another sheet of paper. The thief narrowed his eyes. “I can't even read this”, he revealed. Gregar shrugged. “Old Tongue”, he revealed. “My mother was a Northerner. She taught me the basics”
“Didn't knew you speak the old Tongue”, Maya answered. Actually, she didn't even know that Gregar could read, but she was fair enough not to say it. “What's this even about?” Her companion grinned. “Dirty literature”, he revealed. “The kind that might be helpful. Letters between Princess Atraya Arryn and a Storm King with the creative name of Durran. Blackmail material, or at the very least entertaining to read”
Maya was only able to shake her head in defeat, before the trio made their way back through the darkness. The way back seemed shorter, or perhaps it was only the result of Maya's tiredness, but it appeared to be mere minutes until they stood in front of the door that led them back to the archives's main floor. With quick movements, Keat extinguished the flame and for one moment, soothing darkness surrounded them. Somewhere, far behind her, Maya heard a sound. Immediately, she froze in something that resembled a tired state of terror.
“Keat?”, she whispered and the thief did not answer at first. “I'm trying to unlock the door”, he hissed. She gulped, as she heard the sound again. If she didn't knew it better, she'd say that it sounded like a footstep. “Not funny, Gregar”, she answered in annoyance.
“What do you mean?”, her companion asked, genuinely baffled and that marked the point where Maya was finally terrified. “Open the goddamn door”, she whispered again. “Are you seriously not hearing this?”
“Your nagging?”, Keat answered. Again, Maya heard a sound behind her, this time way closer than before. She backed away from the noise, into the direction of Keat, just as the door he was trying to unlock opened with a creak. Again, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, as she pushed through the door without looking back. “What the...?”, Keat started to say, before she turned around again.
Pale moonlight illuminated the hallway she was standing in now. Keat and Gregar walked through the door that led to the lower levels of the archive. And behind them... Maya saw nothing. And a piece of nothing that was a bit too tall to be human, a bit too thin. She blinked and it was gone.
“What was going on in there?”, Keat asked. “You look as if you just saw a ghost” Maya shook her head and yawned. “It was probably nothing”, she answered, knowing fully well how tired she was. Still, the feeling of cold dread still lingered in her mind all the way back through the archive. She knew, she would never set a foot into this building again. Perhaps she had just been tired. Perhaps she had just been hearing stuff because of it. Or perhaps not. She was not going to risk this again, not for the stuff they had found today. Princess Atraya Arryn's love letter to Durran Durrandon... she could only hope that it would actually be of worth.
Before she had fully realized it, Maya was already standing back in the small backroom she had used to enter the archive in the first place, still wondering what exactly she had experienced down there, if anything at all. With a wide grin, Keat was climbing back through the open window. “Now, where's your Irving guy?”, he asked, looking around. Gregar climbed after him, just as Keat let out a muffled curse. “Are you kidding me?”, he asked.
And just as Maya wanted to climb through the window as well, she heard a familiar sound again. Footsteps. This time, they did not come from behind her, but from her front, from the alleyway. They weren't the disturbingly soft footsteps she had heard down in the archive, but the heavy footsteps that were common with any guardsman around the world, from Raylansfair to Gulltown.
Before Maya could react, Gregar had harshly pushed her back onto the building again and despite her tiredness, she was smart enough to immediately crouch down below the window, out of sight of whomever might glance inside from the alleyway.
“Look who we have here”, a deep voice sounded. “Never thought anyone would actually break into the archive” Keat chuckled nervously. “Good evening, guardsman”, he said politely. “We weren't breaking into the archive... actually, we were just walking around” Silence followed, before the deep voice sounded again. “And what do we have here?”, the man asked. “That's an awful lot of old stuff for someone who hasn't broken into the archive. Aldus, lead them away!”
Maya was forced to listen to this, lying on the cold ground of the archive, with her eyes wide opened. Her earlier tiredness was gone, replaced by a sense of terror that was worse than the archive. Gregar and Keat were about to be arrested! And Irving... where the hell was Irving?
“The sleeping one belongs to you as well?”, the guardsman asked again. “Never seen him in my entire life”, Gregar answered and his tone sounded murderous. This gave Maya the answer she had been waiting for. This son of a bitch fell asleep! She supressed the urge to curse loudly, as she was forced to hear how Gregar and Keat were led away by the guards. With them, they took the entire bag Keat had been carrying. Oh yes, she would kill Irving... probably... maybe, once she would get out of here. She glanced at the window, but hesitated to jump out of it. The same tactic led to Keat and Gregar getting captured. She could risk it... or perhaps she could seek for another exit, with just herself and whatever she saw down in the lower archive as her company. She shivered.
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Ah!I knew it that Irving will fucked up everything!XD (Take this,fanatics of shipping!)
[Look for another exit] Yes,I know that it's dangerous (and cool to read!XD) face the "thing" but if we are lucky during the escape we will find what we need and,at least,complete the mission (while use the window will probably make us at least spotted if not worse)
About the others part:
1)I like how you use the last Lyra part to give some conclusion at the roles of some characters,plus I really like the last sentence (With a regretful sigh, she glanced at the candle, while outside, blue slowly turned to black.) that not give only a conclusion at the role of the blacksmith inside this chapter but make the reader understand that this act,like the day, is going to end...an end that is probably not an happy one.
2)About Alys part I must admit that the cliffhanger don't suprise me very much (I mean,that was obvious) however I really like the execution of it and read how Bear kill random Ironborn soldier #167 with a really cruel way.
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Damn it Irving! Why you do this to me? I don't know what to do. We don't know of any other exit but we know this one. Who knows how long it'll take to find another. Hopefully the guards are too distracted by the others to notice. [Leave through the window]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and..… more. how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip … [view original content]
Comments
[Agree to kill Rayden]
[Agree to kill Rayden]
[Agree to kill Rayden]
The Voting is closed!
Kersea is going to agree to kill Rayden
This was a pretty clear outcome and it was entirely unsurprising for me that a majority of you chose this. You don't know much about Rayden yet, but this is going to change in the next chapter. For now, he might be a chance to win Clayton's favour back, which may or may not be a good thing. The only reason why Kersea even thought about declining this offer is her intense hatred for Clayton. Kersea's storyline in the next chapter is going to contain a couple of scenes I'm looking forward for and one which I particularly dread. In any way, it should be memorable, hopefully.
The next part is going to be out today, at some point in the next few hours. It is going to be a Garthon part. The last time we saw Garthon, he followed Kyra's invitation to her chamber, clearly having the hopes for some comfort. These hopes were cruelly shattered, when it turned out that this was never Kyra's intention. Instead, she invited Hjalgar, Captain Simon Vessels and her own brother to her chamber as well, to discuss their next steps. As it turned out, Damon Greyjoy is greatly dissatisfied with the king. He revealed to the others that he is making plans to dispose of Harren and might require their assistance in the future. For now, he ordered each of them to remain quiet and loyal, so that Harren won't suspect them. Their meeting was cut short by the arrival of Harmund Hoare, who wanted to lead Garthon to the Great Hall, to a gathering of Captains and Riverlords, who demand to hear his version of the past events. As it turned out, Harmund never meant to lead Garthon there. Instead, he lured him into a room where his brother Harndon, the mentally sick one, was already waiting. Together, Harmund and Harndon desired vengeance for the near-death of Harlan. Garthon was left with the choice to fight them, or to surrender to their wrath. Since he feared that fighting back would make things only worse, he decided not to do it, in the foolish hope that they won't beat him to death.
Garthon
There was nothing Garthon would love more than to fight back. Well, aside from not fighting at all of course. But right now, if he would take them by surprise, he might stood a chance. At the same time, provoking the princes even more would lead to nothing good. He lowered his fists.
“As expected”, Harmund said with a sneer. His strong hands grabbed Garthon from behind and prevented him to move, while Harndon approached from the front. The thirdborn threw a heavy punch into Garthon’s stomach area. A groan came out of his throat and if it wouldn’t have been for Harmund, he would have fallen to the ground. Instead, he remained standing, if barely, while Harndon continued to punch him. Another punch, another punch and another punch, all targeted into his vulnerable stomach area.
“Enough now, Donny”, Harmund growled and Garthon only heard the words because they were spoken directly next to his ear. Harndon’s fist hit him again and the prince let out a growl of pure anger, while Harmund chuckled. “Not enough?”, he asked. “Well, I think he can take a bit more” With these words, he kicked Garthon in the lower back and let go of him at the same, effectively pushing him into Harndon’s next punch. Without the crown prince to hold him, the force of Harndon’s blow was enough to send Garthon spinning to the ground. He heavily hit his head on the stone floor.
Stay awake, he told himself. Stay awake, or they will kill you. He could taste his own blood, he could even feel it slowly flowing down his cheek. His head felt dizzy, but the pain in his stomach was even worse. Harndon let out a shrill laugh.
“What is going on here?”, a voice shouted all of a sudden and Garthon was able to understand the words despite his dizzy feeling. Even better, he was able to recognize the voice. He glanced up and saw Kyra standing in the doorframe. She was casually holding her axe with one hand.
“Mind your own business”, Harmund snarled and stepped towards her. “This does not concern you” Kyra shook her head. “It does concern me, princeling”, she hissed and Harmund narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps you need a lesson as well”, he growled. “Donny, continue to beat him up! Greyjoy, you watch!”
Harndon giggled, as he slowly approached Garthon. “Thank you, brother”, he whispered with glee. Before he reached Garthon, Kyra’s voice sharply cut through the air. “Harndon Hoare, you will stay where you are!”, she yelled. Harndon stopped indeed and instead of joy, his face suddenly showed childlike fear.
“That’s right”, Kyra continued. “You remember me, don’t you? You remember my brother” Harndon’s eyes widened, as he gave her a meek nod. “Yes”, he confirmed. A triumphant smile formed on Kyra’s face and she pointed at Garthon. “If you harm him, I will call my brother”, she explained and Harndon gulped.
Harmund sighed. “Donny, you’re fucking worthless”, he growled. “I should have drowned you as an infant, you piece of shit. Now do what I say, or I’m going to be angry. You don’t want to make me angry, do you?”
Harndon shook his head and took a step towards Garthon. “Hold it right there, Harndon”, Kyra yelled again. “Perhaps I don’t even need to call Damon. If you ever touch Garthon again, I will beat you up myself. And trust me, my brother has been pretty soft on you compared to me. You nearly died back then, didn’t you?”
Again, Harndon gave her a nod and tears formed in his eyes. “Do what I told you”, Harmund hissed and Harndon started to shiver. He shook his head as he glanced from Kyra to Harmund. “No, please....”, he said tearfully, the look on his face reminding Garthon of a small child. “Please, don ‘t hurt me...”
“Donny...”, Harmund growled and Harndon took another step towards Garthon. “Stop, Harndon”, Kyra hissed and he stopped. By now, he was almost shaking, while tears openly flew down his face. “I don’t know, I don’t know”, he mumbled desperately, torn between fear of Harmund and fear of Kyra. “Do it!”, Harmund yelled. “No!”, Kyra answered.
“What the hell is going on here?”, a new voice shouted. Garthon looked up and saw Harrick, like he never saw him before. The prince’s usually calm face was twisted by barely controlled anger. His fists were clenched and the glare on his face was terrifying. “What the fuck are you doing to my brother?”
Harndon let out a sigh of relief, as he stormed towards his brother. Harrick gave him a warm hug, while the madman put his face into his chest and cried desperately. “I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do”, he sobbed. “They wanted to hurt me”
Harrick softly patted him on the back, while he stared daggers at Harmund and Kyra. “It’s alright”, he said softly. “No one’s going to hurt you now. Go to your room. You’re safe in your room, remember?” Harndon gave him a nod and separated from his brother. Then he rushed out of the door, while Harrick approached Garthon, Harmund and Kyra.
“What have you done?”, he growled and Harmund smirked. “We punished the traitor for what he did to Lanny, when the bitch showed up and threatened both of us. Donny took it badly”, he chuckled. “You know how he is, this weak little runt, this worthl-”
“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!”, Harrick yelled at the top of his lungs and the rage in his voice was strong enough to cause Harmund to take a step back in surprise. “What have you said?”, he growled in return. “You heard me!”, Harrick continued, still yelling, but not as loud as before. “I don’t want to hear your lies. I’m sick of them and I’m sick of you! I know everything you did. I know what both of you did!”
“Careful. You better watch your tongue, brother”, Harmund answered. Harrick, still breathing heavily, shook his head. “I’m watching it right now”, he confirmed. “You don’t know me, Harmund. But if you ever threaten my brother again, I swear you will”
“You don’t dare-“,Harmund sneered, but Harrick cut him off. “I DARE!”, he yelled. “AND NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, YOU GODDAMN MONSTER!” The viciousness in his voice was horrifying to Garthon and even more to Kyra. Harmund wasn’t horrified. If anything, Harmund was speechless. He took a step back from his youngest brother. “This is not over”, he snarled, but he turned around and left.
“Prince Harrick, I-”, Kyra started to say, though Harrick cut her off. “I don’t want to hear your excuses, captain”, he answered, way more controlled than before. “Don’t you have an ounce of pity? An ounce of compassion? You acted like this fucking animal Harmund!”
“I defended Garthon...”, Kyra said, genuinely baffled. Harrick shook his head. “You tormented my weak brother. Aren’t you fucking ashamed of yourself? You know how he is and you know why he is like that”, he answered, getting calmer with every second. “Oh yes, you defended Breaker, you truly did, by causing my brother to almost break down again! Targeting the weak... I expected better from you than to go down on Harmund’s level!”
“I only wanted to defend Garthon”, Kyra repeated. Her smile was gone, instead, her face showed genuine shock. “Then you should have targeted Harmund!”, Harrick insisted. “You know that he’s the one at fault here! And yet... I’ve seen you, captain. You can’t tell me that you haven’t enjoyed it. Maybe your goals have been more noble, but you’ve acted as bad as Harmund himself”
Something changed on Kyra’s face. In a moment, her entire expression was filled with shock and shame. She gave him a nod. “I’m sorry, Prince Harrick”, she said and he sighed. “I’m disappointed, Kyra”, he answered, before he reached down and extended a hand into Garthon’s direction. “Apologies for Harmund’s behaviour”, he said calmly. “We will go now, to the Great Hall” He glanced at Kyra. “Captain Greyjoy, you will accompany us”
Kyra gave him an ashamed nod. Garthon understood why she did it. The fact that she was willing to go toe to toe with two Hoares just to save him felt flattering. Despite the pain, it was worth it. He put a hand onto his aching belly. Almost worth it. At the same time, he understood why she felt ashamed. He had never seen Harndon Hoare like this, close to a complete breakdown. As twisted as the prince was, Garthon couldn’t help but to see him as another victim.
“What’s going to await me in there?”, he asked and Harrick glanced at him. “Now you want my help?”, he asked and Garthon sighed. “Yes”, he admitted. “Maybe I was a bit too quick in dismissing your earlier offer”
“You were”, Harrick agreed. “You’re going to meet two dozen lords, half of them from the Islands and half of them from the Riverlands” They walked out of the building and onto the courtyard. The Great Hall was a couple hundred feet away from them and they slowly approached it. “The conspirators are all gone. Blackwood and Tully are back at their lands, while Bracken and Frey should reach theirs soon. Mallister is back at Seagard as well”, he explained and Garthon clenched his fists. “Bracken has left one of his knights to represent him at court, Ser Rickard Fowler”
“I know him”, Garthon said, remembering the knight from his earlier meeting with the Riverlords. “A few lords are still here. Lady Piper. Lord Strong. Lord Darry. Lady Darklyn. They all hate each other almost as much as they hate my father”, Harrick continued. “Your job is to convince them that an act of rebellion against House Hoare is futile. Your job is to convince them that you never intended to kill the king out of idealism”
“Shouldn’t be too hard”, Garthon answered. “Torvin is the idealist. I’m simply loyal to Torvin” Harrick shook his head. “For your brother’s sake, it will be for the best if Torvin won’t be an idealist either”, he spoke. “Then there are the lords of the Islands, the captains of the Iron Fleet. They are a different case altogether”
“Anyone I should look out in particular?”, Garthon asked and Harrick gave him a nod. “Lord Volmark”, he answered and his mouth formed something that resembled a smile. “Cleaver Clint Volmark. You don’t get a nickname like that by having a charming personality, but Clint is downright nasty on his best days. He represents a faction of captains that wish to raid again, like in the old days. They see my father as weak for ruling over the Greenlanders instead of raiding their cities like our house did for thousands of years”
Garthon gave him a nod, before he hesitated. “How exactly has he gotten a nickname like that?”, he asked. “Do I even want to know?” Harrick shook his head. “When Clint’s father died, he inherited Volmark by right. His brother opted against this. He saw himself as the better ruler and honestly, he would have made a fine lord. He challenged Clint to a brotherly finger dance, with House Volmark at stake”, he explained. “Clint declared that they will dance after his own rules and he ordered his men to hold his brother down, while he grabbed a meat cleaver and started to chop. After the third finger, his brother yielded. Cleaver Clint gained a nickname and got to keep his castle, his brother got to keep the rest of his fingers”
“Charming”, Garthon mumbled and Harrick gave him a nod. “Truly”, he said. “Then there’s Alerah Blacktyde. She’s here with her brother Dorran, they recently arrived to support the war. Both siblings are dangerous, but I consider Alerah to be the most intelligent person in this hall right now”
“How do I please her?”, Garthon asked. “Good question”, Harrick answered. “Alerah is a mystery, even to me. My father’s spies, Schaffrot and Mad-Eye, they might know more. If we had more time, I would have asked them, but now? If I had to guess, I’d say that she wants a display of Harren’s strength, just like the captains around Cleaver Clint want a display of Harren’s cruelty”
“Strength and cruelty, got it. Perhaps I could mention mercy, to calm the Riverlands down?”, he asked and Harrick shook his head. “Risky in regards to the captains. Volmark, Stallhart and Vessels won’t tolerate weakness, not even with their king. Similarly, emphasizing his cruelty too much could push the more fearful Riverlords into open rebellion. Or it might have the intended effect and will keep them in line” He sighed. “Even the smartest man in the world would get a headache from ruling over this kingdom”, he explained. “You see, my father is not a bad ruler. He just has the horrible task of ruling over Volmark as well as Tully. To appease the lust for blood that is natural with the Ironborn, as well as the yearning for stability that unites the Riverlords”
“Wonderful”, Garthon sighed. “Anyone in this room I can actually count on?” Harrick gave him a nod. “As strange as it sounds, yes”, he answered. “Lord Reymand Orkwood. Usually an obnoxious little shit, a professional arse-licker, but still the lord of House Orkwood and an influential man at court. He is a devoted follower of my father and even though he embodies everything that’s wrong with the lords of the Islands, he’s still going to support you tonight, if only for my father’s sake”
They had approached the huge, winged door that led into the Great Hall and as they walked closer, the massive wings swung open. Garthon knew that the men on lookout had already spotted them from afar, to open the door from the inside.
There were more than two dozen men in the hall. Harrick had failed to mention that most lords had their entourage with them, while the captains brought their most trusted mates. All in all, Garthon estimated a total of over two hundred men, which still barely filled the gigantic room. And all of them looked at him, Harrick and Kyra.
Having Kyra so close right now meant a lot to Garthon. He glanced at her and she gave him a reassuring smile. “You’re going to nail it”, she whispered. “Just tell them what they want to hear” He smirked. “That’s the problem”, he answered and she chuckled. “I have faith in you. You’re among the ten smartest men in this room”
“That was a crappy compliment”, he joked, but she remained silent, since they came closer to the crowd. Riverlords and Iron Islanders were standing apart from each other. The Riverlords had gathered to his left, while the Captains were standing to his right. In the far distance at the other end of the hall, directly between both crowds, sat Harren Hoare.
Out of the captain’s crowd, a few people approached them. They were led by a man that could only be described as huge. He was one of the tallest men in the room, but without a doubt one of the fattest as well, though his big belly hid the strong muscles of a warrior. He was bald and ugly, with tanned, spotty skin and a crooked nose. His smile was even more crooked and his teeth were rotten stumps while his hands were resting on a large cleaver that hung on his belt.
“Prince Harrick”, Cleaver Clint Volmark greeted him. “I see you got the traitor with you. Why is he still alive?” Harrick nodded into the direction of the king. “To speak, Lord Volmark”, he explained. Clint spat on the ground. “I would have removed his tongue by now”, he growled.
“That’s why you’re not the king, Cleaver”, a young woman said. She was in Garthon’s age, with long, dark hair and deep brown eyes. Her chin was a bit too prominent in Garthon’s opinion, though she definitely wasn’t an ugly woman either. Lean and still sturdy, she moved like a trained warrior.
The man to her right was obviously her brother, with the same prominent chin, a sturdy, masculine face that was covered by a bushy, chestnut brown full beard and hazel brown eyes. “Thank the gods for that, Alerah”, he agreed and gave Harrick a respectful bow. “My prince”
Harrick gave him a slight nod in return. “Captain Blacktyde”, he greeted him. “I’m glad you and your sister have arrived well. The same goes for you, Lord Volmark” Cleaver Clint’s mouth formed a sneer and he shook his head. “We’ll see what the traitor has to say”, he growled. “I’m curious how your father justifies keeping him alive”
“He doesn’t have to”, a hoarsy voice said and Garthon had to look down. Reymand Orkwood was a short man, a dwarf, especially next to the huge Clint Volmark. He was old and his hair was completely white already. The most prominent feature of his face was a long, crooked nose and his bushy beard. “He’s the king and you should respect his authority” While Cleaver Clint chuckled in amusement, Alerah and Dorran Blacktyde seemed almost disgusted by the dwarf, especially as he knelt down next to Harrick. “My prince, it is an honour, as always”, he said.
Garthon glanced to his left and spotted a familiar face. Even though he felt no particular sympathy for the man, a smile formed on his face. “Ser Rickard”, he greeted him. Rickard Fowler gave him a grim nod in return. “Glad to see you’re still alive”, he answered calmly. “Lord Bracken sends his regards. You impressed him. He wants you to know that you always have friends in Stone Hedge”
And with that, Garthon had passed the crowd. He stood in front of the king, who had a look of feigned boredom on his face. Kyra took position to Harren’s left, while Harrick stood on his right. “Ah, Breaker”, Harren growled deeply. “I was hoping you’d come. What happened to your face?”
“Your son, your grace”, Garthon answered directly and noticed the hint of anger that flared up in Harren’s eyes. “Harmund”, he growled. “The boy has a troubling temper” He looked at Harrick. “While Breaker speaks, I need you to do something for me” Harrick took a bow in front of his father. “Of course, father”, he answered, while Harren yawned. “Go and fetch me the other one. Tell Holt to prepare him. And send Velmont to the quarters, to fetch the special delivery”
A disgusted look appeared on Harrick’s face. “Is this really necessary, father?”, he asked and Harren shot him a glare. “Do you mean to question me?”, he asked in return and Harrick shook his head. “Of course not, father. I will follow your order” With these words, he turned to Garthon, gave him a nod and started to walk out of the hall again.
Garthon glanced at the king, who only gave him an impatient handwave. “Go on”, he growled. “I believe you have something to say to the lords. Choose your words carefully, or I’ll cut your other cheek as well, together with a couple other parts”
Now, Garthon turned around, to face the crowd. To his right, he had the Riverlords. He only recognized some of their banners. Whent. Strong. Piper. Mooton. Brune. To his right, he had the colourful group of captains. Orkwood. Blacktyde. Harlaw. Volmark.
“Tell us the truth! Tell us what you truly think!”, one of the Riverlords yelled. “Aye, what the fishcunt said”, Cleaver Clint growled loudly and crossed his arms right above his signature weapon. “I’m interested in this truth as well. How do you feel, after Harry the Whore spared your life?”
Garthon sighed. Now he had reached the moment he was afraid of. The truth... the truth was not very impressive. He never wanted this. He never wanted to slay a king, to start a rebellion. He only wanted to protect his older brother. Yes, he would give them the truth. But would it suffice? Would it please the Riverlords? Would it please the captains?
He remembered what Harrick told him. He needed to please the Riverlords and the captains as well. They wanted a strong king, but Garthon wasn’t sure if that would suffice after the events of the past week. Perhaps he could praise Harren’s mercy. He was still alive. Torvin was still alive. Perhaps it would please the riverlords. Perhaps it would anger the captains. Men like Volmark, they were out for blood. He knew, Cleaver Clint and his men wanted to hear of Harren’s cruelty. Perhaps fear could keep the Riverlords in line as well. Perhaps not...
[Simply tell the truth] [Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength] [Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s mercy] [Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s cruelty]
[Simply tell the truth] We're trying to convince them that this wasn't out of idealism. The other options show that there was another reason or that we're an ass kisser. They'll just overshadow our true message. It's best to simply tell the truth. Garthon did this out of loyalty to his brother.
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren's strength]
We must be good little soldiers, so let's drop the cruelty option first - I doubt Harren would want the Riverlords to hear that. And same goes for mercy, the Ironborn wouldn't like that and the Riverlords probably wouldn't see it as a believable story (even if it basically would be the truth). Just simply telling the truth would be the safest route I guess, but emphasis on strength feels like the perfect compromise.
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength]
OH NO!I skip a choice!XD
I must say it Liquid,I like this part for two reasons: you introduced many new (and interesting) characters and make one of the most complex choice of all the story (to me at least)
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength] This is my choice because simply tell the truth make Torvin in danger,make the king angry and probably convince no one.Put enphasis on mercy make the captains think that Harren is a coward while at least some of the Riverlords will not trust Garthon while instead put emphasis on cruelty please the captains but probably make enemies all the Riverlords.
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength]
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength]
You know reading all of this i'm surprised they haven't brought up the fact that the assasination attempt only failed do to the intervention of someone who was never supposed to be there and a similar plan could be carried despite Harrens newfound paranoia.
Anyway great Part.
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength]
(Simply tell the truth)
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren's cruelty]
[Simply tell the truth] By the way I'm looking forward to the character development of this Cleaver Clint guy!
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s mercy]
Still would like an option to flat out lie.
Sadly, it is not that easy. While Harren is a very unpopular ruler, most of the Riverlords are rightfully afraid of him and wouldn't dare to try an assasination. The only ones who were willing to risk it have failed and are now closely watched by Harren's men. Also, the Riverlords in general hate each other as well, almost as much as they hate the king. One Riverlord on his own is unable to go through with it and it is very hard to actualy focus a group of them on one goal, as the last chapter showed. Lord Tully would be capable of such a feat, but he absolutely has to lay low now, because Harren made it clear that he's going to target his family should he ever try anything like that again.
Meanwhile, most of the lords of the Iron Islands are far too straightforward to consider a cowardly tactic like this to dispose of someone they don't like. As long as Harren manages to keep them in line, they won't try to outright assassinate him even if they hate him. What Torvin did had a chance to work once, because it was highly unusual. Now that he failed, even if it only was thanks to the unexpected presence of Anturion, Harren is going to be more wary even around men he previously saw as trustworthy, which makes it much less likely that an assasination attempt is going to succeed the second time. The only one who might consider such a thing is Damon Greyjoy, as seen in the Garthon part before this one, but he's pretty much a wildcard. His plans will be revealed in time, but for now he is very secretive about them.
Still, could'nt they be able to work around that?
If the lords are that paranoid why not send a small mercenary company to take care of it. The King seems to trust his safety enough to allow trials to take place in his hall so that would be the perfect time to strike. Wait for a moment to distract the guard with some minor thing and send them in. They hide in the crowd dressed as nobles and strike. Even if Harren were to notice in time he would be overwhelmed and very quicky killed. As paranoid as he is he would'nt expect 'nobles' to attack him that publicly. Once he is murdered separate another set of clothing to disguise them once more and mix into the crowd.
In the very unlikely attempt chance he survives and tortures them for information to who employed that make sure to have a middle man take care of it under the name of Dorne or The Stormlands who would instantly benefit from his death. And thats if he belives in the story of the mysterious contact. In the worst case he blames it on someone randomly, making it highly unlikely he'll pick the right one.
As for Harmund, find out were he and his small gang reside at the moment and slaugther them all. Its very clear he doesn't spend much time in the castle and prefers 'other' hobbies.
And there go the two biggest issues with any assasination on the Hoares. The rest can be killed far more easily.
[Tell the truth and put emphasis on Harren’s strength]
[Simply tell the truth]u writing to fast!
OMG what happens to Daghan
I do like your ideas very much! Still, there are a couple of problems and the risk is so big that most lords currently wouldn't dare to try it.
While Harren probably wouldn't expect this, there is someone else who always thinks into this direction. His youngest son Harrick is also by far the smartest of the bunch. It has been implied at the end of the last chapter that he was a driving force in uncovering the plot against his father. He's smart and capable enough to expect such an assassination attempt, perhaps even uncover it before it takes place. Also, another major problem with this idea is Mallister's treason at the end of Chapter 5. Mallister is not necessarily more treacherous than other Riverlords, he simply took the opportunity to gain an advantage, while simultaneously putting his rivals at a disadvantage. Many other Riverlords would do the same and they all know it, so they don't trust each other by nature. Mallister's treason made it only worse, because it is unlikely that they will ever trust each other again. Something like the shared and coordinated hiring of a mercenary company is going to be downright impossible for them, because that involves trust that is simply not there between them.
There's the thing, if Harren can't blame someone in particular, he's probably not going to blame it on someone randomly, but instead he is going to blame it on everyone and he will punish everyone equally. Given his reputation, he would definitely be capable of this. Perhaps he's going to do even worse. The Riverlords are too afraid of him to dare it.
Indeed, Harmund is perhaps the easiest to kill, since he spends a lot of time outside the castle walls. However, if the nobles kill him, but fail to kill the rest of House Hoare at roughly the same time, Harren is going to make their families bleed for taking his firstborn. It's very likely that he's going to execute the firstborn son of every Riverlord in exchange, so again, the price is too high for most lords.
By far not. Harmund is the easiest target, even easier than Harlan and Harndon, because they rarely leave the castle. But if he and Harren die, there are still Harlan, Harndon and especially Harrick. If Harren and Harmund both die, it is possible that Harrick is going to end up as the king and he's definitely the most cautious Hoare. Killing him is going to be extremely hard and most see it as not worth the risk.
You see, it is not that easy to actually kill Harren Hoare. At the end of the last chapter, Harren knew what they were attempting days in advance. The only reason why Torvin even had a chance was that Harren underestimated him. He knew that Tully would back down when he saw his daughter and he expected Torvin to back down with him. That was a mistake that nearly costed him his life, but it won't be a mistake he makes twice.
I know, I know XD Currently I'm rushing to the end of the chapter quite fast, but I'm sure there will be a time where I will write slower again. Hopefully it won't be anytime soon though.
Nothing too bad happened
He's mostly fine. However, at the end of John's latest part, he stopped Janae from killing Aylard, since he, as a fellow father, heavily sympathizes with him. In her anger over the missed shot, Janae slammed her bow into his face. Since she hasn't used an arrow for this, it was basically the same as getting hit with a big stick. Because of that, his head is going to hurt for a bit and when he appears next, he's going to have a fresh bruise, but that's nothing that would actually harm him. As for Janae, she's pissed at Daghan for making her miss the shot, but there's more to that, which is going to be revealed in the next chapter.
The Voting is closed!
Garthon is going to put emphasis on Harren's strength
This was an interesting choice for me. Praising Harren's strength is probably the most neutral thing to do, aside form simply telling the truth, because strength is something that is respected by both, Ironborn and Riverlords. This choice was important and there will be more to it in Garthon's next part. Speaking of Garthon's next part, it's going to happen soon and it's going to be a part I'm both, excited and afraid to write, mostly because of one particularly horrible thing Harren Hoare is going to do.
The next part is going to be out today. Once again, it will feature three PoV's, because I noticed that it greatly helps with ending some storylines without dragging them out too much. It will feature PoV's from Lyria, Alys and Maya. The last time we saw Lyria, she was still resting at Mathea's house, recovering from Wolfius' brutal attack. Together with her were her daughter Rosalie and Urid Strad, both of them far more grievously wounded, but currently stable. While Mathea was away to treat Wolfius' wounds, Lyria received an unexpected visitor, Philip Loren. Philip revealed that he has a plan to take down Wolfius' son, Kreep. During their talk, Lyria wondered if Philip would also be willing to kill Wolfius in the prison, to make sure that he does not escape. Ultimately, she did not voice her thoughts, which possibly means that she missed a chance to neutralize Wolfius.
Meanwhile, Alys, accompanied by Edward and his bodyguards, as well as the Ironborn under Alynne Hollard, arrived at the camp of Bear and his bandits, where Edward attempts to negotiate some sort of business. Since Edward is rightfully concerned for her safety among bandits and Ironborn, he left her with his trusted bodyguard Carvin, while taking Alisa with him to the meeting with Bear. Quickly after he left, problems started to arise. One of the Ironborn seemed to be hellbent on starting a fight with Alys and Carvin. He was stopped when the young Ironborn scout Wilbur accidentally insulted him. An argument broke out and ultimately, Wilbur even started to fight him. Quickly, it was clear that he was the inferior fighter. Alys was left with the choice to order Carvin to end the fight (lethally or non-lethally) or to stay out of it. She chose the latter option, in the hopes of not gaining even more attention from the surrounding men.
Finally, Maya's latest part marked the point where she actually started the heist she tries to pull off. With Irving as her lookout, she, Gregar and Keat the thief broke into the archive, where they intended to search for valuable documents concerning the Kingdom of the Mountain and Vale. Keat, who has already been in the archive once, lead them through the building and into the lower levels, where the next part is going to continue.
Fair points. However Harrick himself is not invincible, how about this.
A SINGLE Lord is the one who hires the mercenary company through a middle contact in the name of Dorne or The Stormlands. They murderer Harmund in the morning since his familly would'nt expect him to comeback for a while.
Have a distracción for the guards, send one of the mercenaries into a brawl or something. Then insert the rest of the company into the trail/meeting dressed as nobles. Two of them stay outside and take guard uniforms.
Harrick is delayed from the meeting by Garthon who wishes to form an alience with the Stormlands in the War, pupotedly as a scheme to gain Harrens favor. Make sure Garthon has his own guard to make him appear more paranoid than he is. Also make sure to put someone uninvolved as a witness for Garthon (Kyra or something). The two fake guards appear with a message to meet his father for the meeting/trail. As they walk the halls a maid is set up as an assasin (again by the middleman) kills Harrick before he can warn anyone.
The two 'guards' go to their posts and the maid hides the body. The fake nobles are then signaled and one of them spreads doubt over where Harrick is. Instantly as the guards are sent to find him Harren is ambushed and killed. Kyra searches for Harrick until she reaches the two fake guards who then 'find' the maid with the body and 'accidentaly' kill her. The two remaining brothers will not be able to hold the relm and the Tullys then use they're political power to take the Kingdom.
There you go.
Lyria
Lyria closed her eyes and the moment was gone. She forced herself to smile at Philip, who noticed that something was off. “So and... how’s your work?”, she asked awkwardly. Philip shook his head. “Lyria...”, he answered sternly. She did not react.
Finally, he sighed and gave in. “My work...”, he mumbled. “Ain’t nothing special about those dusty old books. I don’t even know why the archive even has guards” He smirked. “Not like anyone would ever even consider stealing from it”
An awkward silence followed, as Lyria was unsure what to answer. Her mind was still focussed on her earlier thought. What if she just passed a chance to bring Wolfius to justice? She glanced at Rosalie and a distraught expression flashed across her face. “Okay, Lyria, what is wrong?”, Philip asked.
Lyria shook her head. “It’s nothing, really”, she answered. Philip clearly wasn’t convinced, but thankfully, the door got opened just a moment later. Philip spun around, but relaxed as Mathea walked through the door. The healer looked tired. Her robe was stained with blood, dark circles were visible underneath her bloodshot eyes and she looked pale.
A weary smile formed on her face. “Good evening Philip”, she greeted her guest, who reciprocated the gesture. “Mathea”, he greeted her. “Long day?” She gave him a nod and softly closed the door behind her. “You have no idea”, she answered and approached the table. Philip gazed at the blood on her robe.
“It’s not mine”, Mathea said with a weak chuckle. “Figured that much”, Philip answered. Mathea yawned as she leant back on her chair. For a moment, she closed her eyes. “Philip, I’m sorry”, she said. “I hate to be such a bad host, but today has been terrible. I’m not sure if I can hold a conversation”
“Understandable”, Philip answered politely. “Though, I was hoping I could speak to you outside for a moment” Mathea sighed, before she clumsily rose from her chair. “But please, make it quick”, she mumbled and yawned again. Philip gave her a nod, before he turned to Lyria. “Good night, Lyria”, he said calmly. She allowed herself to smile nervously. “Good night, Philip”, she said in return.
And then, Philip and Mathea stepped outside. He closed the door behind them, but Lyria was still able to hear his words, if a bit muffled. “I never got to thank you”, Philip said. “For what you did I mean. You have three of my friends in there and they would have died without you”
“Anyone would have done the same”, Mathea assured him. Silence followed. “If that would be true, the world would be a better place”, Philip answered calmly. “You did way more for them” He sighed. “I think, what I want to say is... you're a good person”
After his last word, a moment of silence followed. “Thank you”, Mathea finally said. “You know I'm not doing it for the praise, but still... I appreciate your words” Philip let out a soft chuckle. “You're welcome. I'll be leaving you now”, he said. “Continue to watch over them, will ya?”
“Always”, Mathea answered. Lyria heard footsteps walking away from the house, before Mathea opened the door again. She was smiling widely, despite looking even more tired than before. It occurred to Lyria that this was the first time she actually saw the healer smiling.
As quick as it came, the smile faded once Mathea had closed the door behind her and glanced down at her bloody dress. She sighed. “I actually liked that one”, she mumbled with a disheartened expression on her face. “Guess I have to burn it now, because there's no way I'll get the stench out of it”
Lyria smirked at this comment. “It looks exactly like the other half dozen you have in your closet”, she answered, as Mathea sat down on the chair next to her. Her smirk got noticeably smaller as she glanced at her sleeping daughter. “Rosie always told me I should care for my clothes a bit more”, she remarked.
“And she will do so again”, Mathea said as she rose from her chair to quickly walk over towards Rosalie. “Not tonight though. I think tomorrow she should start waking up” She lifted the blanket and her smile reappeared. “Her wound is healing nicely. A small wonder, but a welcome one” She yawned again and put the blanket back onto Rosalie. The young woman mumbled something in her sleep and Mathea softly held her hand for a moment. Then, she turned away again.
“But not today. Today, she's going to sleep and so will I”, she explained as she approached her makeshift mattress. “And so should you” Lyria gave her a nod. “I will”, she agreed. With a tired sigh, Mathea lay down on her mattress. “For eight years I've been trained as a healer now”, she mumbled. “It has never been an easy profession, but seven hells, today I made the hardest decision of my entire life”
“So have I”, Lyria said softly. She received no answer and as she glanced at Mathea, she saw her with her eyes closed, having fallen asleep in a matter of seconds. Lyria herself couldn't sleep right now. Not after her talk with Philip. Not after what she almost did and after what she didn't. With a regretful sigh, she glanced at the candle, while outside, blue slowly turned to black.
No Choices for this part
Alys
“We're staying out of it”, Alys said and took a step away from the fighting Ironborn. Wilbur was clearly the inferior fighter, though he still managed to land a couple of good blows on his opponent. Carvin gave her a relieved look. “It's better that way. This shouldn't concern you or me”
Alys was still concerned. Wilbur hasn't been nice to her, but she still had to look away as his opponent landed a particularly nasty blow right into the young man's face. Carvin put a hand onto her shoulder, in the attempt to calm her down. “This was the right choice”, he assured her. At the same time, Alys noticed the curious glances the bandits threw into their direction now. Some of them even joined the Ironborn in cheering for the combatants. If anything, this fight was bound to draw attention.
“What the fuck is going on here?”, a gravelly voice sounded and Alys turned towards the tent. The man she had glimpsed from afar a bit earlier was now walking out of the tent. Now that he was closer, Alys was able to make out his features. He wasn't an ugly man and younger than she thought at first. A deep scar spanned across his right cheek and mouth, though the flesh around his lips was mostly unharmed. His eyes reminded her uncannily of Harren Hoare, but it was the colour of his skin that truly shocked her. Up in the North, she rarely saw people with a skin that dark.
The man, Bear was his name, curiously approached the fighters, who by now had largely stopped their quarrel. Wilbur was laying on the ground and held his bleeding nose, while the other man rose. Behind Bear, Alys saw Edward, Alisa and Captain Hollard. The captain had an angry expression on her face as she approached the combatants, but Bear raised his hand, signalling her to stop. Alys glance fell upon his other hand and she saw that while he was unarmed, he was carrying a terrifying gauntlet, which contained tiny knives at its fingertips.
“My, my....”, he growled, still looking at the two Ironborn. His voice was deep, hoarsy and gravelly and it reminded Alys of clashing steel and spilling blood. Wilbur didn't even try to rise from the ground, but the other man stood firm and glared at Bear. “What do we have here?”, the bandit asked. “Ironborn. Filthy, fucking Ironborn...” He smirked. “How fucking delightful”
He glared from Wilbur to the other man, his smirk gaining a cruel streak. “Now, whom of you fucks started this fight, huh?”, he asked. Without hesitating, the other man pointed at Wilbur, who still lay on the ground, too weak to protest. Bear's smirk got wider. “Is that so?”, he asked. “You see, I don't appreciate people who come here and start a fucking fight” He looked at Wilbur. “You started it?”, he growled. “Yes, he did”, the other man answered and Bear narrowed his eyes. “See, there's one thing I like even less than people who start a fight”, he growled in return. “Fucking snitches”
He pulled over the terrifying glove and Alys started to shiver. “Wait!”, Alynne yelled, but Bears closed fist, the one without the glove, already hit the man straight in the face. Before he could fall, Bear grabbed him by the collar with the very same fist. “I really hate people like you”, he chuckled and with these words, the tiny knives on his fingertips hit the man's belly and cut across his flesh.
The man in Bear's grip, let out a pained scream and the Ironborn reached for their swords. In a mere second, the entire camp had surrounded them. Even Alynne hesitated, as Bear's knives left deep gashes on the man's belly. Then, Bear rammed his glove deeply into the man's flesh, putting almost his entire hand into him. The man let out screams of sheer agony and fear, though they died immediately with him as Bear jerkily pulled his hand out a again, taking a majority of the man's guts with him.
Looking at the bloody mess in his hands, Bear let go of the dead body, which feel immediately next to Wilbur. The young man cringed as the bandit looked at him. “I suppose you learned your lesson”, he chuckled.
“You... animal!”, Alynne yelled as she drew her sword. Bear didn't even seem to take notice of her, especially since Edward was quick to hold her back. “Captain Alynne”, Edward said with an urgent tone in his voice. “In this place, this man is a lot more powerful than you. I'd leave you running into your own doom, but alas, I'd probably die with you, so...”
“What a smart fucking man”, Bear answered with a sneer, as Alynne reluctantly put her sword away. Slowly, Bear's men seemed to calm down as well, as if their leader gave them a wordless order. As he approached Edward, his glance fell upon Alys and she shivered as he sneered at her.
“You are working for me now, Bear, do not forget that”, Edward snarled, seemingly unimpressed by the large frame of the man, who positioned himself in front of him. For a moment, he and Bear just glared at each other. Then and to Alys' surprise, the large man gave him a nod. “Fine then, Anturion”, he growled. “Lead the way” He turned around and spread his arms, displaying the clawed glove in a way that made Alys shiver. “LEAD THE FUCKING WAY!”
His men erupted into cheers, while Alys and Carvin exchanged a nervous glance. Only as Bear lowered his arms again, did the cheers stop. The bandit turned around to look at Edward. “Though, out of interest, where exactly do you wish to use us?”, he asked. In turn Edward's mouth formed a cold grin. “My friend”, he said. “Have you ever heard about a town called... 'Raylansfair'?”
No Choices for this part
Maya
Maya yawned. It was surprising how long it took her to search through these dusty tomes. At the very least she had taken the correct way. However, this had left them with a tiresome walk through a seemingly endless corridor, until they ended up in a large room, crammed with books about the Kingdom of the Vale, from the early beginning of the Andal Invasion, up to where it was today.
Currently, she held a barely readable book in her hands, the pages almost turning to dust between her fingers. She was barely able to read it, and not just because the ink had almost faded, but because the language was an archaic version of the Common Tongue spoken in most of Westeros. Eventually, she figured out that it was merely a ridiculously long work about the first three kings of House Arryn. Frustrated, she put the book down. “You got anything?”, she asked
While Gregar shook his head, Keat gave her a nod. “The Kingdom of Sarnor promises King Jonos Arryn five hundred men in case of a war”, he revealed, reading the contents off a scrolls that looked downright ancient. Maya and Gregar exchanged a glance. “Sarnor got destroyed a couple hundred years ago, by Dothraki”, Gregar mumbled and Maya shrugged. “Put it to the others”, she answered.
That was the main problem. Finding something wasn't hard. The archive was huge and it contained a lot of material about the Vale. Most of it however, were strange writings about long-dead kings, not the kind of stuff that could help the current king with his very present problems. Without the time to correctly determine the value of each scroll, Maya was left only with the choice of taking each that could be of value. Luckily, Keat had been foresighted enough to bring a large backpack with him.
“An exchange between King Artos Arryn and Zhamira Noklar, the Green Grace of the Ghiscari Empire”, Gregar mumbled. “Written either in Ghiscari or by someone with a terrible scrawl” Maya sighed. “We take it”, she muttered bleakly. “Can't be worse than Maron Arryn's love letter to the Triarch of Volantis”
“At least that one would make fine blackmail material”, Keat chuckled and put Gregar's document into his backpack. “How much more do you wish to take?” He pointed his torch down another corridor, filled with bookshelves. Gregar sighed. “Maybe we should come back tomorrow. I doubt the archivists will even notice that anything is missing”
Keat gave him a nod. “I agree”, he said. “The amount of content here is too much for one evening. I say we go back to your place, sort the material out and return tomorrow” Maya sighed. “Fine”, she said in defeat. It was clear that she had underestimated how hard it would be to find specific documents in here. In fact, it was nearly impossible to tell how long she had been down here, but she hoped that it was still dark outside. And she hoped that Irving actually did his job this time. The last thing she could need right now was an unwelcome surprise.
“We leave and return tomorrow”, she said. “And we can return the books we don't need on that occasion as well” Keat raised an eyebrow. “I'm not the type of guy to return the things I steal”, he revealed and Maya gave him a glare. Under other circumstances, she would have answered with a joke, but right now, she was just too tired. The tiny, dim light of the torch made things even worse, because after the first two hours, it had started to give her a headache.
“Wait, we need that one as well”, Gregar said with an uncharacteristic grin, as he handed Keat another sheet of paper. The thief narrowed his eyes. “I can't even read this”, he revealed. Gregar shrugged. “Old Tongue”, he revealed. “My mother was a Northerner. She taught me the basics”
“Didn't knew you speak the old Tongue”, Maya answered. Actually, she didn't even know that Gregar could read, but she was fair enough not to say it. “What's this even about?” Her companion grinned. “Dirty literature”, he revealed. “The kind that might be helpful. Letters between Princess Atraya Arryn and a Storm King with the creative name of Durran. Blackmail material, or at the very least entertaining to read”
Maya was only able to shake her head in defeat, before the trio made their way back through the darkness. The way back seemed shorter, or perhaps it was only the result of Maya's tiredness, but it appeared to be mere minutes until they stood in front of the door that led them back to the archives's main floor. With quick movements, Keat extinguished the flame and for one moment, soothing darkness surrounded them. Somewhere, far behind her, Maya heard a sound. Immediately, she froze in something that resembled a tired state of terror.
“Keat?”, she whispered and the thief did not answer at first. “I'm trying to unlock the door”, he hissed. She gulped, as she heard the sound again. If she didn't knew it better, she'd say that it sounded like a footstep. “Not funny, Gregar”, she answered in annoyance.
“What do you mean?”, her companion asked, genuinely baffled and that marked the point where Maya was finally terrified. “Open the goddamn door”, she whispered again. “Are you seriously not hearing this?”
“Your nagging?”, Keat answered. Again, Maya heard a sound behind her, this time way closer than before. She backed away from the noise, into the direction of Keat, just as the door he was trying to unlock opened with a creak. Again, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, as she pushed through the door without looking back. “What the...?”, Keat started to say, before she turned around again.
Pale moonlight illuminated the hallway she was standing in now. Keat and Gregar walked through the door that led to the lower levels of the archive. And behind them... Maya saw nothing. And a piece of nothing that was a bit too tall to be human, a bit too thin. She blinked and it was gone.
“What was going on in there?”, Keat asked. “You look as if you just saw a ghost” Maya shook her head and yawned. “It was probably nothing”, she answered, knowing fully well how tired she was. Still, the feeling of cold dread still lingered in her mind all the way back through the archive. She knew, she would never set a foot into this building again. Perhaps she had just been tired. Perhaps she had just been hearing stuff because of it. Or perhaps not. She was not going to risk this again, not for the stuff they had found today. Princess Atraya Arryn's love letter to Durran Durrandon... she could only hope that it would actually be of worth.
Before she had fully realized it, Maya was already standing back in the small backroom she had used to enter the archive in the first place, still wondering what exactly she had experienced down there, if anything at all. With a wide grin, Keat was climbing back through the open window. “Now, where's your Irving guy?”, he asked, looking around. Gregar climbed after him, just as Keat let out a muffled curse. “Are you kidding me?”, he asked.
And just as Maya wanted to climb through the window as well, she heard a familiar sound again. Footsteps. This time, they did not come from behind her, but from her front, from the alleyway. They weren't the disturbingly soft footsteps she had heard down in the archive, but the heavy footsteps that were common with any guardsman around the world, from Raylansfair to Gulltown.
Before Maya could react, Gregar had harshly pushed her back onto the building again and despite her tiredness, she was smart enough to immediately crouch down below the window, out of sight of whomever might glance inside from the alleyway.
“Look who we have here”, a deep voice sounded. “Never thought anyone would actually break into the archive” Keat chuckled nervously. “Good evening, guardsman”, he said politely. “We weren't breaking into the archive... actually, we were just walking around” Silence followed, before the deep voice sounded again. “And what do we have here?”, the man asked. “That's an awful lot of old stuff for someone who hasn't broken into the archive. Aldus, lead them away!”
Maya was forced to listen to this, lying on the cold ground of the archive, with her eyes wide opened. Her earlier tiredness was gone, replaced by a sense of terror that was worse than the archive. Gregar and Keat were about to be arrested! And Irving... where the hell was Irving?
“The sleeping one belongs to you as well?”, the guardsman asked again. “Never seen him in my entire life”, Gregar answered and his tone sounded murderous. This gave Maya the answer she had been waiting for. This son of a bitch fell asleep! She supressed the urge to curse loudly, as she was forced to hear how Gregar and Keat were led away by the guards. With them, they took the entire bag Keat had been carrying. Oh yes, she would kill Irving... probably... maybe, once she would get out of here. She glanced at the window, but hesitated to jump out of it. The same tactic led to Keat and Gregar getting captured. She could risk it... or perhaps she could seek for another exit, with just herself and whatever she saw down in the lower archive as her company. She shivered.
[Leave through the window] [Look for another exit]
[Look for another exit]
[Leave through the window]
[Leave through the window]
[Look for another exit]
Ah!I knew it that Irving will fucked up everything!XD (Take this,fanatics of shipping!)
[Look for another exit] Yes,I know that it's dangerous (and cool to read!XD) face the "thing" but if we are lucky during the escape we will find what we need and,at least,complete the mission (while use the window will probably make us at least spotted if not worse)
About the others part:
1)I like how you use the last Lyra part to give some conclusion at the roles of some characters,plus I really like the last sentence (With a regretful sigh, she glanced at the candle, while outside, blue slowly turned to black.) that not give only a conclusion at the role of the blacksmith inside this chapter but make the reader understand that this act,like the day, is going to end...an end that is probably not an happy one.
2)About Alys part I must admit that the cliffhanger don't suprise me very much (I mean,that was obvious) however I really like the execution of it and read how Bear kill random Ironborn soldier #167 with a really cruel way.
Alriiight
First of all, Bear is a fucking freak. Second, is there a ship for Philip and Mathea yet? And lastly, fucking Irving 
[Leave through the window] I understand the risk, but looking for another exit could take a lot of time.
Damn it Irving! Why you do this to me? I don't know what to do. We don't know of any other exit but we know this one. Who knows how long it'll take to find another. Hopefully the guards are too distracted by the others to notice. [Leave through the window]
[Leave through the window]
[Look for another exit]
[Look for another exit]
(Leave through the window)