Wizard Lord of Westeros-Chapter 389: Convincing the Northern Lords
WILOW-Ch.389: Convincing the Northern Lords
Northern Host Camp, Riverlands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric looked at the Northern Lords dispersing and let out a sigh.
He unsummoned his wand, and his new yew-thunder wand quietly returned to its equipment slot within the system.
This was more challenging than he thought it would be.
Using mind calming on so many people at once was tiring. But he really couldn’t have allowed the meeting to derail, no matter what.
The people of the North still hated the Targaryens, and without the active use of his mind magic, this meeting could have been a lot worse.
But at least he had used only calming spells on the Lords, instead of using confusion and other mind spells.
This meant that the ideas he put forward through Lord Stark’s mouth were at least not unacceptable to the Lords.
Now that the Northern Lords had given their word to Lord Stark to support Jon, they would not go back on their word and support him wholeheartedly.
And now the Lords not only recognized Lord Stark as King of the North but also regarded Domeric as their Emperor.
He just needed to do the same for the Vale Lords and the Riverlands Lords, then he could leave and go back to the River Road, where his men were still fighting against the skirmishers who were doing their best to stop him from leaving the Westerlands.
Some of those men were doing a fantastic job, but it was just unfortunate for them that he had over 20 skinchangers in his army. And he had found that skinchangers were the best scouts anyone could afford.
He and his men had destroyed 13 war parties by now, and he did not doubt that that number would only increase as they reached closer to Golden Tooth.
He renewed the attention-diverting charm on him and snuggled into the camouflage cloak, closing his eyes.
He was tired from all the battles, and a small nap would have to do for now.
The newspaper published today would reach the Riverlands Lords, and the Vale Lords’ hands before they spoke with the Northern Lords under Lord Stark... no... King Stark’s leadership.
And so would the letter Lysa Arryn wrote to the Lords of the Vale, supporting the claims of Lord Stark, Aegon Targaryen, and himself.
Domeric believed that, since he was the one who had restored the health of Hoster Tully, the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, the Riverlands Lords would eventually support his claims as well.
So, even though another challenging meeting awaited him, he was hopeful about the outcome.
He just needed to rest his eyes and gather some energy.
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Towards Golden Tooth, Riverlands
POV of Tywin Lannister
2 weeks later.
"Our scouts have been hit once again." Ser Addam Marbrand said, trying to maintain his stern visage even when the man probably just wanted to go back to his tent and sleep. "We’ve lost about 160 scouts since morning. And about half that number of archers."
"This many?" Lord Terrence Kenning asked, "How did we lose so many in just half a day?"
Ser Addam Marbrand grimaced at that. "It seems like Lord Bolton does not intend to sit in the Golden Tooth. He has sent out his direwolves for a preemptive strike against us. They come out of the forests without any notice, pick up our scouts, and drag them back to the forest. No one has returned thus far. Even the archers we had set up to ambush the Blackfish and his men were mauled to death by the Direwolves."
"Direwolves are just large wolves, aren’t they?" Lord Roland Crakehall said, "How come we have failed to kill even a single one of them?"
"They are..." Ser Addam Marbrand hesitated but continued "... wearing armor."
He frowned. "Lord Bolton had his direwolves decked in armor?" he asked.
"Yes, my lord. And it is excellent armor." Ser Addam Marbrand said, "The direwolves were able to take the arrows head-on and were not even phased. A strike from a sword doesn’t even make them flinch. The horses get spooked by the presence of even a single direwolf, and they bite a man and drag him into the forest if they don’t maul him to death right then and there."
He remained quiet as his lords and knights continued to question Ser Addam Marbrand, whom he had charged with leading their scouts and defeating the Blackfish. Unfortunately, it seems like they have a bigger problem now.
"What of horse archers?" he asked, and the tent went quiet. "Horse archers, my lord?" Ser Marbrand asked, looking confused.
"The Bolton boy has over a thousand horse archers in his army. Led by a Dothraki. Have they attacked us yet?" he asked.
"No, my lord." Ser Marbrand replied.
"Then prepare for them as well." He said, "The Bolton boy would no doubt send them to slow us down soon enough. Be ready to receive them."
"M... my lord..." Ser Marbrand looked close to despair now. "The men are already tired from the long marching. And the scouts are beyond tired."
He nodded, "That is why you’ll receive aid from Ser Gregor Clegane and his 1000 riders." He said and turned to Gregor Clegane, "Gregor. You’ll protect the right flank and the front of our army. Do what you must, but don’t let the beasts and men sent by Lord Bolton slow us down at any cost. We have a good lead on the armies of the Vale and the North. That would be crucial for us to take the Tooth from the Bolton boy."
"And what about what Lord Bolton wrote in his newspaper, my lord? If what he wrote is true, Lord Stark has declared himself King of the North and claims that his bastard son is actually the legitimate child of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen and heir to the Iron Throne. And Lord Bolton has declared himself Emperor, King of Kings. Moreover, King Stark, along with Aegon Targaryen, the Lords of the North, Vale, and Riverlands, is supporting him." Lord Terrence Kenning said.
"So what? Just because someone declares themselves King doesn’t make them King." Ser Addam Marbrand said
"But people take these claims seriously, and a lot of them embrace them. Moreover, Lord Bolton’s newspaper has started showing these realistic paintings. They call them photo..."
-Bang
"Enough." Lord Terrence Kenning’s speech was interrupted when he slammed his hand on the table.
"Once we get our hands on Bolton, none of the claims he made will matter anymore." He said.
The men fidgeted in their seats, and he frowned.
He knew why they were nervous.
By continuously defeating the Lannister forces with such a small army, Lord Bolton has become a sort of legend, and now these people fear that boy more than they fear him.
He knew that strong reputations could have such an effect.
He also knew that the Tooth was a very defensible castle, and it would be challenging to defeat Lord Bolton and take the castle from him.
But he also knew that the Bolton boy now held all the gold that belonged to House Lannister. And if the boy managed to leave the Westerlands with all that gold, then his house would be ruined.
Well... not ruined. He would technically still be the Lord Paramount of the Westerlands and gain taxes from the other houses. But House Lannister would no longer be the richest house in Westeros. They would not even be in the top ten.
Not to mention the fact that the Bolton boy took his sister and many other Lannister women, men, and children as hostages, who would either have to be ransomed back or would be kept in the North as a deterrent against the Westerlands in the future.
No. He couldn’t accept this.
He would not allow his legacy to fall apart because of a single boy’s actions.
No. He would either take the Golden Tooth or he would die trying.
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Next Chapters’ Name:
Ch.390: The State of the Lannister Army
Ch.391: Saving the Damsel
Ch.392: News from Beyond the Narrow Sea
