-Chapter 128-
-13th day of the 9th moon of the year 299 AC-
-3rd POV-
DRAGON'S ROAR
Early at dawn, the roar of Rhaegal resounded over the Dreadfort, which was surrounded by the army of the North and the Dark Guard. After circling in the air a few times, Rhaegal landed in front of the besiegers' camp.
"Your Majesty," said Ser Balon Swann, King's Guard and acting Commander of the Dark Guard, the elite cavalry unit wholly devoted to the king.
Descending from his dragon, the king looked down at his Royal Guard and said:
"You have completed the task I entrusted to you, Balon. I expected no less from you and am pleased to have not been mistaken."
Ser Balon bowed his head before his sovereign and said, "I beg your pardon, I have failed in the task you entrusted to me. House Bolton has not been destroyed, and the traitor Roose Bolton still breathes."
The king placed a hand on his loyal knight's shoulder and then said, "Do not worry, you could do no more. It was I who ordered them to be starved and not to damage my future fief."
"Your Majesty," said a voice that interrupted the discussion between Ser Balon Swann and King Aegon VI.
The king turned towards the man who had interrupted them and said to his uncle, Duke Eddard Stark, Warden of the North, "My uncle, I have missed you. It pleases me to see you alive."
"Likewise, Your Majesty," said the latter, kneeling before his nephew as a sign of respect and submission.
Once Eddard Stark was kneeling, all the people gathered knelt behind him.
"Long live King Aegon VI!" yelled Eddard Stark.
All the gathered people shouted the same once the Warden of the North raised his voice, though some northern lords looked reluctant, none dared show any sign of disrespect to the king as all knew how the king treated disruptive elements of his realm.
"My king, how would you like to proceed? If you allow us to use siege weapons, within less than a week we could break the defense of that mangy cur Roose Bolton," said Lord Wyman Manderly of White Arbor.
The king raised his hand and then said, "I want you to rise and gather our troops before the castle walls in battle formation. Everything else will become clearer to you later."
As soon as the king had finished speaking, the lords assembled on their knees got to work and began issuing orders to their soldiers.
---
-POV Balaq-
"We are not going to surrender without a fight," said Harry, slamming his fist on the table.
"We are compelled to surrender," I said, sharpening one of my arrows.
"Even you, Balaq? Even you decide to abandon the values that have governed our lives for all these years? You've been part of the Golden Company for 20 years, and now you plan to kneel before a Targaryen?"
"Kneeling before Aegon Blackfyre or Aegon Targaryen makes absolutely no difference to me," I said indifferently.
"How dare you!" he said.
"How do I dare? Don't forget what your mission is as Captain-General, and if you've forgotten your mission, let me remind you: your mission, Harry, is to look after the best interests of the Company," I said coldly, remembering the loss of a third of my troops.
'300 archers that I trained myself, that I got to know and love as members of my own family,' I thought sadly, recalling this painful memory.
"Balaq is right, even if it's not the outcome we hoped for, it's the only one we have, it's our only chance of survival, our only chance at a future."
"Captain-General, what you know perfectly well is that we do not have siege weapons to be able to bring down the king's dragon."
"That dragon is no more than 30 feet, we can..." Harry tried to say, but I interrupted him, annoyed by the illusion Harry had plunged into, "You know as well as I do that we have no more supplies."
He frowned deeply, and before I could finish, he said, "We cannot simply give up..."
He did not finish his sentence because a dagger lodged neatly in his neck. I instantly stood up, quickly notching an arrow, and said, "Damn, what the hell are you doing, Lysono?"
"I obey the orders of my king," said the latter, throwing a message in my direction.
"Here is the message from King Aegon VI."
---
Anyone who kneels before me will be pardoned and will receive a position worthy of their skills.
Anyone who stands in my way will be executed without any mercy.
Make your choice, once I am inside your walls, you will no longer have the chance to do so.
Aegon Targaryen VI of the name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men.
---
"I wanted to see who was ready to surrender and it seems that apart from our late captain general, all the people present in this room are people of reason," said Lysono, wiping his dagger dripping with blood on Harry's tunic.
After weighing the pros and cons for several seconds, I finally decided to let it flow. If he had surrendered to Aegon VI, it meant he was certain of our defeat.
'And how could he not be?' I thought, looking at the deplorable state of our army.
We were on the verge of killing each other because we had no supplies, and Roose Bolton only emerged from his quarters under the protection of his elite bodyguard led by his loyal captain, Walton, a man of unswerving loyalty.
"What made you change your mind?" I asked, doubting that a message could be enough for him to betray Harry so easily.
Lysono smiled and said, "Him."
Instinctively, I turned around, and the door was open.
Distracted, I hadn't even noticed that someone had slipped behind me, and my eyes widened in horror at seeing the man standing behind me.
"Fear not, Captain Balaq. The king pays great attention to your survival," said Walton Steelshanks, Roose Bolton's most loyal captain.