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Robert POV:
I strode into the Small Council chambers, and immediately a servant handed me a cup of wine. She was a pretty little thing, with blonde hair and green eyes. The Lannisters continued to bring their people into the capital. No wonder the Mad King began seeing enemies everywhere he looked. I was beginning to think the same thing.
"This better be important Jon. The hunt was to begin this morning." I told the man. Today was supposed to be a carefree day of hunting, wine, and women. If these fucking idiots had interrupted that for anything less than war, they would feel my wrath.
"Yes, I believe we can begin." Jon Arryn said, while waving towards the Spider. Varys' information network continued to grow. He was recovering from the change in power and looked to be close to done. But had he infiltrated Myr as I asked?
"Of course, my Lord." Varys said with a small bow of his head. "Petyr has set sail with 10,000 men. It seems that since the Golden Company's demise, the Second Sons have grown in influence massively and have gained a contract with Tyrosh and Lys to take Myr and remove Petyr from power."
The bastard is going to war.
"How are we only finding out about this?" I asked. Petyr was already marching, and I was not made aware of any preparations! He must have been preparing for months.
"Tyrosh has been blocking any ships from Myr. You would know that if you attended any of the Small Council meetings Robert." Jon replied, in a condescending tone of voice. He had been growing increasingly annoying as of late, and I was almost done with being told what to do by him.
"It is hard for my little birds to get the information to me, as you might expect. We have no ravens that can travel to Myr, and so we need the traders to pass along information. Truly, it was Dorne that alerted us to the information." Varys continued, ignoring Jon and I staring at each other.
"Prince Oberyn used to serve in the Second Sons. When they accepted the new contract, he decided it was time to return to Dorne and perform his duties. He made a small stop in Myr, and we believe he warned Petyr of this development, leading to Petyr's swift response." Tywin added, expanding upon Varys' information. Varys never did like to provide where he got his information from.
"Even still, he must have been preparing for months." I retorted, waiting for a response.
"On the contrary, your Grace. It has been barely a month." Tywin corrected, almost immediately.
There was a stillness that grabbed the Small Council, and myself, then. "Impossible." I replied, after a moment of contemplation. "Just getting that amount of smallfolk from the Disputed Lands to Myr would take that long."
"His force is made up entirely of citizens of Myr." It was Jon Arryn that said that, and now I was beginning to understand his sour mood as of late. Petyr seemed to get Jon more riled up than anyone I had ever seen. Gulltown was the first time many of his constituents had ever witnessed him become angry, and his punishment towards Petyr was harsh.
"Slaves, mostly." Varys commented nonchalantly.
"Supplies, ships, training, infrastructure! All of these require more than a fucking month! You must have false information!" I corrected. It was impossible to do what they were describing.
"It's true, your Grace." Tywin's calm but stern delivery of the information made it seem genuine.
I downed the cup of wine in my hand and reached for another. The sweet blonde girl provided another. I made a note to have her delivered to me later, she would become my personal servant. It was hard to find good servants that kept my cups full, and my balls empty.
"You must have another reason for calling me here. Out with it!" I commanded. All this information about Petyr was great, but it could have waited for me to return from my hunt. What did they actually need of me?
"He is growing too powerful, Robert!" Jon snapped, raising his voice for only the third time I had ever witnessed. "He was meant to die here in Kings Landing. He was meant to die in Myr, not rule it, not claim the Disputed Lands. Tyrosh and Lys are not powerful enough nor fast enough to oppose him. He will claim them, and his rule over the disputed Lands will become that much stronger!" Jon's fist slammed onto the table beneath him as he finished his rant.
"What do you want me to bloody do about it Jon?!" I roared back at the man. He was acting like a fucking child and I was tired of it.
"After this war, the Three Sisters will be weak. A perfect opportunity to cut Petyr down before he can rise, and also annex the land into your rule." Jon finally answered me, getting to the point of this meeting.
"We are still recovering, Jon. You forget that this is the very man that crippled every army he crossed on the battlefield! And now he has dragons. We would never touch the shores of Tyrosh, let alone Myr. You are blinded by your hatred of the boy." Tywin retorted. I could tell this was an ongoing argument for the last few council meetings. They had decided to bring me in to settle it.
"He is no boy! He is a demon! My faith demands his head, and so does yours Tywin!" Jon pointed at the Warden of the West at the end of that last sentence. "Stannis has already built the fleet we need, all that is left is to summon the levies and send word to the other Lords. Petyr's victories crushed the Crownlands and Dorne's forces, but the Reach, the North, the Westerlands and the Vale took minimal losses."
The fire in Jon's voice got my blood pumping. It hadn't been that long since the war had ended and I could still feel the wooden handle of my warhammer in my hand. I could smell the smoke in the air on the battlefields. The triumph of claiming the kingdom as my own and being hailed King. It was enough to get me hard.
"The Westerlands will not join in your insanity, Jon Arryn." Tywin's voice cut into my memories. Yet my blood was still racing.
"You will if I command it!" I yelled at the Warden of the West. Unlike other men, he did not cower beneath my wrath. If anything, it made me angrier.
Tywin didn't say anything else, he just stood up and walked out of the room.
"I have not dismissed you yet!" I roared, as my anger spiked again. All the same, Tywin continued to walk out of the room and off to do whatever the hell he does nowadays.
Fucking Lannister. I thought as my anger began to leave my body. This would not be an enemy that I could charge right into as I normally did. We would need to prepare thoroughly.
"Find out who will support us, Jon. We'll have to be smart about it. Petyr is not an enemy to underestimate."
Petyr POV:
If it was possible, Weirña's scales seemed to gleam even brighter under the moon. Unfortunately, we were underneath the clouds, which blocked the moonlight. Had I not been in her saddle, it would have been impossible to see her. That was exactly the idea that I was going for.
I looked to my right, where I could hear Anogar's wings cut through the air. Ben still sat on his saddle, enjoying the night fly as much as I was. Calling it night, was a lie. In about two hours, the sun would rise, and our fleet of ships would arrive with it.
I looked in front of me, where I could see our destination approaching. From my position in the air, I could only see small pinpricks of torches. After a moment of looking at them, I wasn't even seeing the city yet, but rather a conglomeration of ships floating in the bay. My eyes continued to travel farther, until I finally saw Tyrosh.
It was hard to make out any details, because of the lack of light. All I could see were the silhouettes of the wall and some buildings from my position. Torches lined the walls lighting them up, along with massive barrels of fires to provide even more visibility for the skies. Unfortunately, they would not be prepared for us.
The beauty of being dragonback in the sky was that it took us less than 30 seconds to reach the ships in the bay. That was when I was able to pick out the scorpions on the walls. Weirña reacted to my thoughts immediately and we banked wide left for a moment. I saw Anogar do the same, in the opposite direction.
Eventually she began banking right again, and she slowed herself down by climbing in the air, waiting for our opportunity. That's when Ben acted. I was impressed with his bravery and courage. He never even paused when he and Anogar began their first run. The city walls lit up with dragonfire, and the world heard his roar. One scorpion exploded from the force of the dragonfire.
14 more to go.
Weirña immediately dove, as we both locked on to our target. In my left hand, my weirwood bow sat waiting to be used. It was going to be a last resort, however. There would be very little I could do at this stage. This was all Weirña.
She lined herself up with the wall and sped up. We were about twenty yards away from our target when she let out her first roar of dragonfire. Another Scorpion, and a sleeping soldier, was rendered useless, along with some of the wall beneath it.
13.
She continued her speedy flight along the wall, ignoring everything else but her next target. The next few minutes would be crucial for our plan, and the dragon's safety. We needed to take out almost all of the scorpions soon. Luckily, we had 4 more to hit in this single run.
I looked to my right, and Ben sped past us near the lower walls. Two more scorpions were gone with one breath of Anogar. The idiots had set them up facing two different directions. A good idea if they had all the time in the world to prepare for us. A terrible one if we decided to attack during the middle of the night.
Weirña found another dual scorpion set up, and they were gone in less than a second.
9.
A horn sounded out in the night, after we had crushed nearly half of their scorpions, calling upon the city's defenders. Nearly all of them were asleep, but some would already be in their posts.
'THWACK'
A massive metal bolt passed over both Weirña and I. The scorpion we were headed towards had just missed. I thanked my lucky stars when Weirña burned it and the men trying to reload the weapon.
Anogar roared, and I turned to see that we were making even better time on the scorpions than I expected.
7.
'Ping'
I felt the impact of the arrow before I heard the sound of it bouncing off my armor. I had to hand it to the defenders, they were at least a little prepared for our air raid. Anyone that was a half decent general would have their men ready at any moment in the night. Especially with my reputation of attacking at such hours.
Of course, that did not stop us from destroying the last of the scorpions on the walls before another bolt could be shot.
That leaves 3 more on the tallest buildings in the city.
'THWACK'
I closed my eyes and prayed that the bolt wouldn't strike true. I waited two seconds before I opened my eyes again, confident that Weirña hadn't been hit. She immediately banked hard, causing me to grip my saddle as I struggled to keep myself upright. I saw her destination as the scorpion that fired, and it wasn't too far away in the city. We definitely made it before it could reload.
2.
We banked again as the building exploded in a ball of fire. During that turn, I saw Anogar make another pass at a scorpion. Not only did the scorpion disappear, so did the entire tower that the dragonfire hit.
1.
I would have to remind Ben that we weren't trying to completely destroy the city. The less collateral damage, the better it would be during the clean up of the city. Better for our image as well, once we annexed it into my kingdom.
Weirña began climbing, for the last scorpion in the city. From what it looked like, this soldier had been one of the slower ones to react, he was currently trying to turn the scorpion by the wheel on the side. But by my calculations, I could tell that he would make it in time to fire. I didn't feel like risking it, and we were head straight at him.
I drew an arrow and notched it.
Keep still. I commanded Weirña, causing her to stop flapping and begin to glide towards our target for a moment.
I aimed into the night and loosed the arrow confidently. It traveled the 100 yards swiftly. It was only because of the light the massive barrel of fire put off, that I could see the man trying to aim the scorpion fall as the arrow pierced his throat. My anxiety level fell significantly once I saw this. I felt even better about it after Weirña buried it in dragonfire.
We peeled off from the city, choosing to fly out of the arrow fire coming from below. They could not pierce her scales, nor could they even bruise her, but it was best not to risk anything. I had seen the miracle shots the movies liked to display, and I would not risk that tonight.
We weren't quite done yet, however. Ben and Anogar were currently proving that fact at that exact moment. They were out of the city, and flying over the water where the vacant ships sat in front of the city. Most of them were vacant, at least.
One of the ships was split in half by dragonfire from Anogar.
Weirña dove again.
One hour later the first battle of this war was won, and my enemies were crippled.
I had to admire the room, as I walked inside of it. There was a massive oaken table in front of me, and it had a map of the stepstones, and Tyrosh, carved into it. It was even painted. I decided that this would be a very valuable room to me in the future. A map of the Stepstones was a rare thing. I would have to double check and see if it was accurate, but that would be fairly easy.
There were three men in the room at the moment. I knew two of them to be of the twenty most important people in both Tyrosh and Lys. The other was Mero, the commander of the Second Sons. A surprising fact because he held this position until he would be killed for trying to assassinate Daenerys Targaryen in the future. His golden red beard was only just beginning on his chin, at this point in his life. He was a young man.
"How could this have happened?! You lost half of our fleet, and the war hasn't even begun! Where were the soldiers at?" The Archon of Tyrosh, Brochello Green-Beard, raged at his comrades.
"They were at their posts, the fucking dragons were too swift. We have had no word of their movements in the last week. We didn't even know that they had set sail!" The Gonfaloniere, the military general of Lys and a man by the name of Vyreo replied.
"The dragons are faster than any ship you have. I told you it would be foolish to rely on your scouts. No doubt, they were burned swiftly after seeing Myrish ships." Mero interrupted, rubbing his fledgling beard on his chin.
Smart man. To be fair, our ships were faster and would have caught up to them. But yes, Weirña was to blame for most of the scouts.
"The walls are still standing, as is the gate. There is still hope. Not to mention, we have an entire fleet of ships set to impact their flank when they make landfall. The scorpions mounted on them will sink their ships, allowing us to keep them on the beach and pinch them." Vyreo replied, supplying me with valuable information for the future.
"And the second sons will ride out to meet these invaders outside the city walls once they begin to retreat to their ships. Not even their dragons will be able to stop it."
Good to know. I thought, already planning on how to counter that ambush. But my dragons will decimate them regardless.
"You better hope so, they will make landfall soon. I will use Petyr's head as a footrest before the moon's turn." Brochello threatened with a clenched fist before dismissing both of them with a wave.
With a thought, I shot through the stone roof that I was in, and I was back in the sky. The world flew by me as I returned to where my ships were about to make landfall on the beach of Tyrosh. Once I arrived there, I hovered in the air and looked over the sea, curious to which direction their attacking fleet would come from. I didn't immediately see them, so I soared higher still searching.
In the end, it took me another five minutes to find the fleet. They were all grouped up West of the city, where we would never have run across them on our journey from the East. It was a good plan, I had to admit. Unfortunately for them, I was their enemy.
They had already dropped their sails and were beginning to move towards the Port of the city when I flew out of the sky towards them. I began taking basic recon, mainly counting the number of ships that had scorpions attached to them. Some of the ships had the mounting equipment for the scorpions, but no scorpions. They had obviously meant to equip every ship with scorpions, but we had arrived too quickly.
They weren't even half-way completed, allowing me a bit of relief.
24 more scorpions.
"Change of plans!" I called out as I entered the ship we were currently using to plan the coming siege.
"What have you seen?" Ben asked as he looked up from the map of Pentos on the table.
"A fleet of 50 ships have been hiding in wait to the west. Half of them are mounted with scorpions. They plan on hitting our flank, and sinking our ships while we make a beach head. At the same time, the Second Sons will ride out of the city and engage us on the beach, pinching us." I told them, as I moved over to the map and began pointing to where each attack would come from.
Ben hovered over the map, taking it all in. His brows were furrowed, and I could see the plans cycling in his head. He was wondering how to counter our current problem.
"It won't work." He finally said, taking me by surprise for a moment. I had yet to decide on a final plan of attack, and so I would let him speak.
"Explain." I encouraged. My curiosity got to me at that moment.
Show me you're ready for command of my armies.
"Their entire plan rests upon us being in the air, and our dragons trying to destroy the fleet. That would be an obvious counter attack. But they no longer have the element of surprise. Davos can take half our fleet, and stall them. Our dragons do not have to be in the sea, as they expect them to be. Petyr… Apologies, my king, I can have Brochello's head within the hour…" Ben stumbled, accidentally calling me by my name. It was not a big deal, and I did not correct him on it.
A blitz, with the dragons?
"We will blow a hole in the gate, just as planned. But we do not stop there. Our men, led by you, can engage the second sons. Anogar and Weirña can deliver me, and a small force to the Archon's Palace. With the dragons and the element of surprise, I will take his head." Ben told me, also pointing at the map. When he finished his plan, his fist clenched and he looked me in the eye.
I stood up from where I was leaning on the table, considering the possibility of success of the plan. It was definitely risky, and while I knew the Archon did have a small army guarding him, it would be nothing to the dragons. Ben could drop right on top of the Palace and complete his plan quickly then leave on Anogar before they could retreat for their leader.
"It would be just a matter of time before the city falls, with the Archon gone." Ben continued. He had obviously made notes after Ashford. Once Randall's head rolled on the ground, courtesy of me, all the soldiers threw their weapons down.
"You, and the dragons would be at great risk Ben." I told him as I found another hole in his plan. "It would require a great deal of trust for me to allow Weirña to accompany you."
My hands were on my chin, thinking of the plan. To be honest, it was already better than my own. I had indeed planned on using the dragons to stop the fleet, and allow our men to establish a beachhead. I was willing to let my men engage theirs, as I was confident mine would win the melee.
"What if we just took the city together? No, that would be too slow." I asked, before immediately realizing we didn't have the time.
"Then we'd lose the fleet." Ben agreed, nodding along with my assessment that it would be too slow. "We can defend the fleet with our ships, and dragons, but we would lose a lot of men and most of the fleet. If my plan succeeds, the city will be ours, and the ships will stop their attack. Not only would we save our fleet, we take the city, and then their fleet as well." Ben continued, laying out his plan even further.
I continued thinking through the plan. I kept getting hung up on the fact that Weirña would be in such danger. Was it really worth it? Ships could be rebuilt. I could take the city with less risk, and lose my fleet. Or I could risk my best assets, and potentially come out with one of the largest fleets in the world.
"Have faith in me, my king. I will not disappoint you."
Ben's words broke my thoughts, and I looked up to him. He was staring at me with such intensity and conviction that I had no choice but to believe him. At that moment, I realized how much faith he must have had in me, to continue following me as he did. I met Davos' eye, as he had been quiet during the meeting. He gave me a slight nod, showing his support for the plan.
I nodded back to him, and turned to my commander, and the man that had been beside me since the very beginning.
"Bring me the city, Ben."
A/N: Boom!
Sorry for it being so late everyone! This is not 's fault but my own. The 15th snuck up on me, I ain't even GONE LIE! But here it is, still delivered on time but a little late!
What did y'all think about Robert's POV? What about those developments? What about the start of Petyr's attack?
Let's talk in the reviews!