It took no longer than three days before the army arrived and settled down, we still had a fortnight before the invasion begun and it was my goal to make sure everyone was ready for it. I had found out last night that taking Harlaw would be a whole lot easier than before, a large chunk of the Ironborn casualties at the battle off Fair Ilse comprised of men from Harlaw as well as the only two sons of Rodrik Harlaw. This didn't mean that it would be a breeze, but it meant that my soldiers would have an easier time fighting and a higher chance of living.
The biggest problem that we faced was the islands size, it was the second largest out of all of them, only the Great Wyk was bigger. However, the Great Wyk was mostly mountains and its terrain was too harsh for a large population, a large contrast to Harlaw. Harlaw was mostly flat, causing it to be the most densely populated island in the archipelago, therefore meaning a larger pool of people to conscript from.
With its size, the number of noble Houses ruling the island was high. House Harlaw of Harlaw rules from the Ten Towers, its cadet branches were: Harridan Hill, Tower of Glimmering, Grey Garden and Harlaw Hall. Rodrik Harlaw's bannermen consisted of the Kennings, the Myres, the Stonetrees and the Volmarks of Volmark. If I was to besiege any one of these castles then they would join together in one large force and try to flank and smash us against the castle walls. I do not have the amount of men needed to besiege every fortress on the island at once. Thus, the plan is to besiege the Ten Towers and try to take it as swiftly as possible with all 18,000 men, fortunately the castle lays on the eastern coast, meaning there was no need to march across the island and that we could get supplies straight from Seagard within a few days.
My plan was to take Rodrik Harlaw and any members of his family as hostages, forcing his bannermen to surrender. I'm not sure if it'll work or not, I expect some Houses to resist, specifically the cadet branches of House Harlaw, after all one of them are set to inherit the Ten Towers after Rodrik's death. I would use the Ten Towers as a forwarding base, splitting up the army to take the surrounding castles. I had no intentions of killing the Lord of Harlaw, not if I can help it anyway, he was said to be amongst the more 'reasonable' of all Ironborn Lords and was an avid reader, someone preferring to think matters over than rush in blindly and could be of help in pacifying Harlaw efficiently and more peacefully.
The sound of something being dropped on the table next to me as well as a deep sigh brought me out of my thinking, I didn't have to look up to know who it was, after all there wasn't any people who would act so nonchalantly around me.
"What's got you in such a foul mood?" I ask sarcastically, looking straight up at Monty. The boy in question just shook his head at me, almost disappointingly, "I don't know how you manage all this paperwork." He groans out.
I laugh at him, "I just do, no doubt I'll be dealing with even more when I become Lord of Casterly Rock. I'm surprised you haven't adjusted yet, its been years since you became my page." I didn't delegate all my paperwork to him, I wasn't that lazy, most of what he dealt with was the minor stuff that I didn't really need to worry about too much, just verifications and finances mostly.
Monty had grown well over thee last three years. His height was above average for his age, he most likely will be as tall as his father when an adult. He kept his black hair short, he didn't like having it long because it would sometimes get in his eyes when he would use a bow. His temperament had changed the most though, he wasn't the shy and asocial child anymore, instead he was a lot more confident and outspoken, a whole other person to his previous self.
Monty just shakes his head and takes a seat next to me, looking out onto the filed in front. "They seem to be getting quicker each day." He tells me, I nod in agreement.
The sight of the field in front of us no doubt causes some kind of confusion to the other armies outside Seagard. Large groups of people were spread out, working on their own projects. Some were digging trenches in the ground, others were laying down and building wooden fortifications and a few were assembling siege engines. These were sappers, men I had recruited into the Lannister army to help build fortifications, mine and build siege equipment. Most came from a background of carpentry, mining or other artisan professions, and they would prove essential in taking the Ten Towers in a short time span.
They were recently recruited and thus, were not fully trained in building defences, something that I wish to rectify in the fortnight that we have left. They were not proper soldiers and they had the minimal equipment, only enough to distinguish themselves as a Lannister soldier. I do not expect them to fight alongside my soldiers as they are too important to be placed in such a dangerous position but they will have to if it comes down to it.
They were currently training, assembling then disassembling, trying to beat their record each time. I promised rewards as an incentive to work harder and improve themselves.
"Before I forget, Alysanne has sent word." Monty announced, handing me a letter, too big to be delivered by raven, must've been a rider. I break open the seal, one which had Alysanne's personal sigil on, a weighing scale with a longsword down the middle, meaning that it wasn't confidential information, if it was then the seal would have been blank and the letter written in a code.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐๐ช๐ด๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ฆ'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. ๐๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ, ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ท๐ฐ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ.
-๐๐ญ๐บ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ
"What does it say?" Monty asks. I look up at him, "The Alchemists guild is moving to Lannisport and we've located the Brave Companions." I answer, "She also wishes that we come back safe and sound." Monty gets a dusting of red on his cheeks as I say that, I smirk at him and Orton behind me chuckles lightly.
In the last three years, I have been recruiting intellectuals and highly educated people. Healers, scholars, master craftsmen and a whole variety of skilled people. I did this because I can't advance the West by myself, I lack key knowledge and skill in a lot of subjects, I was like a jack of all trades, master of none.
The Alchemists Guild is probably the second largest gathering of intellectuals, after the Citadel that is, by recruiting them I had access to not only those knowledgeable of science but also magic, pyromancy. It wasn't hard to negotiate with them, as long as I could provide them with their own guildhall and grant them a large budget, then they would drop everything they were doing in King's Landing and move to Lannisport.
The reason why I wanted to find out where the Brave Companions were, is because of one, disgraced and former Maester, Qyburn. There is no doubt that he is one of the greatest scientific minds in Westeros at the moment, having him as an asset would be extremely beneficial. Furthermore, whilst his experiments in necromancy are disturbing, they could provide some advantages, for example: cures to maladies, new forms of medicine or just a better overall study of magic.
"Cerion." I turn around to look at Orton, who jerks his head to the left, I look to where he indicated and spotted Jaime walking his way over. Jaime walked over to our tent and had taken a seat, we haven't had the chance to speak to each other, he was busy with Kingsguard duties and I with my duties as commander of the army. I look at both Monty and Orton, who both get my message and leave the tow of us, though Orton didn't stray very far.
"You're all grown up." Jaime told me, "Starting to look like me." My face turns sour at that, "Don't say that, that means I look like Cersei." He chuckles for a bit before sobering up.
"Why are you here, Cerion?" Jaime asks me, looking at me seriously. "I'm just watching my men train."
"No, no, you know what I mean. Why are you here?" He asks again. "Father gave me the command of the army, hoping it'll toughen me up, prepare me for my role as heir and future Lord of Casterly Rock."
"He's wrong. A battle field is no place for someone your age." Jaime countered. "I thought you said I was all grown up." I say, throwing his words back in his face. "You've just reached your age of majority." He tells me.
"And?" I ask, "You were younger than me when you fought the Kingswood Brotherhood. You were six and ten when you were knighted and raised to Kingsguard, albeit you were a hostage, you were the same age as me now. You were a year older than I am now during the Sack of King's Landing. You are in no position to lecture me on where I should or should not be."
I stare at him in the eyes, "You don't understand Jaime. I need this, I need to prove myself, prove my capability, not only in front of father, but every single enemy of House Lannister. Father is getting old, people question if House Lannister is fading. You're a Kingsguard, sworn to life, Cersei's queen, Tyrion's a dwarf, no matter how hard he will try, he will always be questioned by our vassals. I must do this, a show of strength, opportunities like this are rare and I will try my hardest to make the most out of this war, for both myself and House Lannister."
"I understand." Jaime replies, standing up from his chair, "Just make sure that you are safe and well protected, I don't want to see you die in this war."
"I'm fine." I tell him, "Besides, if anyone gets too close then I'll have Orton split him in half." Jaime smirks slightly before walking away.