King Aegon V Targaryen POV
"So, was this a move against the Crown, or was this a move against Daemon Blackfyre?" I asked having heard the completed report of Duncan and Dunk.
"It appears to be both, father. Even if Captain Adaridos Histohr didn't know why exactly Maelys Blackfyre wanted this merchant dead, he suspects the merchant was acting as an emissary for Daemon. According to what Tywin got out of him, the merchant never met with any nobles directly but instead used messengers. Of the places they knew he had visited was, he spent a couple of moons in Gulltown, Maidenpool, was headed to Lannisport when they finally caught up to him."
"So they tried to influence The Vale and The Riverlands, The Westerlands were next. Did he say if this merchant said anything about his time in Westeros?"
"No, they didn't have a chance to question him, some of his new men accidentally killed the merchant when he drew a blade on them. Adaridos believes that the merchant may be an agent sent by the Spymaster of The Golden Company who is on good terms with Daemon.
I suspect that Daemon was trying to solidify his position in the Golden Company by laying the groundwork for an invasion. Maelys who was his direct rival, must have found out and sent The Red Scorpions after them. After finally succeeding in hunting down the merchant, they found Westeros an easier hunting ground than Essos which was already filled with other competing sellsword companies.
When they collected on the contract for the merchant, Maelys asked what their future plans were and they told him, he apparently laughed and said that they would have a place in the Golden Company if they stirred up enough trouble in Westeros. Adaridos is a cautious man so he tried to keep unnoticed for as long as he could and tried to avoid attacking nobles and large caravans. That way he could make the most coin with the least ressitance."
This was troubling. It had already been 17 years since the last time the Blackfyres had tried to invade. Was this the prelude to another invasion? I would have Lord Farring pay closer attention to the movements of the Golden Company and Maelys Blackfyre.
"What of the attack on House Lannister, why did they go after them if they were so against attacking nobles?" The Hand; Lord Edwyle Stark asked.
"It was one of the hedge knights they picked up from Stoney Sept, he had introduced them to a man who didn't wear any sigil or give a name but he believed him to be a household knight of a Riverlands Lord based on his looks, his dress and the way he spoke. He brought them information about how the retinue had left Casterly Rock and was coming here.
They were told that it was only a few knights, household guards and servants accompanying Lord Tyto's heir. That it would be an easy target. When they asked about payment, the man said the information was payment enough as the Lannister's were the wealthiest house in the Seven Kingdoms.
When they questioned the hedge knight about where he knew the man from, his response was that he didn't and that the man somehow knew him. He had met him in Stoney Sep. It was one of the greedier captains who took around half of the men, mostly the new recruits and attacked. Only a handful returned and said that the retinue had more men than they expected."
"What of the other caravans they attacked?" I asked.
"They transported the goods Tyrosh and the few captives they took to Lys where they were sold to a Volantene slaver. They did their best to cover their tracks and left no other witnesses." Dunk answered.
This was way too high of a cost, how many merchants were killed? This would be a loss of coin to the realm as well as may have caused tension with The Free Cities if it had continued. Not to mention 107 men of House Tagaryen dead. "What of the prisoners you brought back?"
"Of the 4 we brought back, the 2 sellsword captains and the 2 ship captains, all the rest were executed." Dunk again answered.
"Why did you bring them back? I gave you leave to execute them." I asked Dunk.
"You did, but Tywin, advised that The Master of Whispers may want to ask the men further questions. So just in case we kept them alive."
"That is indeed a wise assumption, your Grace. Lord Farring may need to question them further about Maelys or The Golden Company." This time The Hand interjected.
Tywin was right and proved to be more than just wise beyond his age. From what was previously reported, Tywin had made several sound decisions throughout this campaign. He had also distinguished more than distinguished himself on the battlefield.
"Yes, a good decision, I wanted to keep this entire situation quite as possible. That was why I gave the order to execute them instead of parading the prisoners on return. That was shortsighted of me." I admitted to the other 3.
"It wasn't shortsighted your Grace, how were you to be aware that this involved Blackfyre agents, from all reports these were supposed to be Robber Knights. I would have done the same myself in hopes of keeping this entire affair quiet so that the smallfolk could continue to believe in the stability of the realm."
"Thank you, Lord Stark, but still, it appears that the best decision I made was to send Tywin along. Tell me Lord Commander, what is your take on Tywin and his performance?"
I was a little taken aback when I saw him and my son look at each other as if there was a problem. "What's the matter you two, is there a problem?" I asked.
"No problem your Grace, it's only that where do I begin?!" Now I was confused.
"Tywin had simply out done himself. At first, he had mostly kept to himself, mostly only interacting with the both of us, Gerald and Robar. The few times we stayed at Nobles or in villages and towns, he conducted himself with discipline unlike most young nobles his age.
It was only when we were out in the wilderness, he started to show his skill with a bow. A weapon that he is extremely skilled with. He also became more familiar with the men as he slowly impressed them when he kept returning with more and more game.
Leading up to the battle, he showed sound strategy and planning. During the battle he demonstrated good leadership with the men under his command, when he realized it was an ambush, he split his men and sent most to back me up and kept 4 knights with him.
When I asked why he did this, he said it was to reduce the amount of attention on him so that he could find an alternate path to break through the enemy's path, which paid off. He was able to break through faster and cover us by killing the crossbowmen and archers that were aiming for my group." Dunk recounted slowly but then paused.
Both me and Lord Stark waited patiently while Duncan sat up and eagerly anticipated the other part of the recounting. Dunk looked like he was choosing his next words carefully.
"So he had showed potential to be a capable commander?" I asked.
"Yes he has, but not just that."
"The boy is a natural born killer, he didn't flinch, Gerald has killed his fair share of bandits but Tywin. He has surpassed him in the one battle." Duncan added.
"How many men?" Lord Stark asked.
"From his arrows during the hill ambush, more than 30 and wounded probably another 20." Dunk responded.
The shock must have been apparent on my face as it was that way on Lord Stark's and I was sure that I was feeling the same way.
"If he had taken part in the capture of the 2 ship and their crews, he may have added more to the count. That still wasn't the end of his contributions. At the end of the battle, he requested that he be allowed to question the prisoners. Both were there and listened to everything he asked and the responses he got.
The boy didn't waste time with the common sellswords from Myr, instead he quickly executed them himself and stacked their heads. He did all of this out of sight so that when the rest came, what they saw naturally terrified them. He also had all of the prisoners tied and gaged so that they couldn't speak to each other and had the 2 captains separated from each other.
That way they wouldn't know what each other said. The ones who gave useful information, he had them treated well and given meals in front of the others. By the time he was done and they had no more information, only the captains were spared.
At Maidenpool, we left them in his care together with the same knights he commanded and a handful of guards as the captains had refused to talk. When we returned, he had completely broken then in the space of 3 days.
In all he had 5 days with them. According to the knights we left with them, he had them hanged by their arms and had the guards soak them with freezing water. After his first attempt while they were in the camp and they had stubbornly refused to answer anything, he didn't waste time and quickly had them tied back up.
Since then and in Maidenpool, he denied them food, soaked them repeatedly, denied them warmth and sleep. No one spoke a word to them and they were kept in separate cells in the dark. When he was finally ready to speak to them, the first thing he told them was that he was prepared to do this until they were ready to answer him and the both of them broke.
While we were there, he did the same to the ship captains and broke them. I've seen worst things done to men and only the strong resisted. What he did would make most men talk but it wasn't that what broke them, it was him.
According to him when I asked him why was it so effective. He said it wasn't just the cold, hunger, the darkness, the silence, the pain from being hung or the lack of sleep. It was the fact that he didn't show that he cared if they lived or died. That to him it was just a task and they knew it, that he was willing to continue to torment them until their bodies broke down and died a slow death.
It was also when one of the captains tried to lie to him, he simply got up and walked away while ordering the guards to Hang him back up and left him like that for another day. When he returned, the man begged him for mercy and told him everything he wanted. It was truly a frightening thing to see." Dunk concluded.
The four of us continue to sit in silence for a bit in my study. "And how has young Tywin been on the trip back to the Red Keep?" I asked.
He seems barely phased, he sleeps just fine and he takes his meals regularly, his mind is always present on the task at hand. My King, he is unlike any other, besides one person we knew; Bryden Rivers. It's not just his martial prowess, his intelligence, his leadership skills. It's the boy himself, he possesses all of the qualities of Bloodraven."
For a long while we sat quietly contemplating what Dunk had said. I had trusted Dunk's words all my life and I had no reason to start doubting them, if he had said that the young Tywin Lannister possessed all of the qualities of Bloodraven, then one day he would be a man that the Seven Kingdom would either love or fear.
After hearing the words Dunk spoke, which seemed to carry a weight to them as they were not spoken lightly. Lord Stark was the first to speak; "What do you intend to do now with regards to the heir of Casterly Rock?"
"I intend to bind him to House Targaryen by any means necessary, if he truly possesses the qualities that the Lord Commander has spoken of, I will not have him as an enemy of the realm. If anything, I will seek to nurture his growth and raise him as a true agent of the crown by finding a suitable appointment for him.
I also intend to see to the distributions of awards for the men who took part in this campaign on the morrow. Let's continue, tell me about the performances of the others."