#46Chapter 46 The Mountain Arrives
Riverlands, Stonehedge.
This territory belongs to the Bracken family, but their lord, Lord Janos Bracken, is stationed in Riverrun with most of his troops.
Now, only the earl's illegitimate son Harry Rivers and his nephew Hendry Bracken are left in Stonehedge.
Lord Janos has three wives and five daughters, but no son.
So his illegitimate son and nephew have the opportunity to inherit his title, which has led to the two of them always being at odds.
At this time, Harry Rivers gathered with the Bracken family with a secret letter written by the earl.
He looked a little proud: "My father wrote to me. He told us to stay in Stonehedge to prevent the lackeys of Lannisart from robbing."
Hendry Bracken on the side snorted: "But the King of the North ordered us to take refuge in Riverrun. We are loyal to him and should listen to him."
Harry Rivers has beautiful blond hair and a good face, which is different from the brown hair of the men of the Bracken family, so there have been gossips that he is not actually the son of Earl Bracken.
But Earl Bracken likes this illegitimate child very much, because he is not only handsome, but also has good martial arts.
This preference makes Hendry even more unhappy, so he challenges this illegitimate child everywhere.
Harry Rivers retorted unyieldingly: "Father said that Earl Lakewood is now trusted by the King of the North. If the King of the North is close to our mortal enemy, we cannot fully trust him."
Harry Rivers knew that Hendry Bracken was only opposing him for the sake of opposing him. He had never met the King of the North, so what loyalty was there?
He was just jealous that his father only wrote to him and didn't write anything to his nephew.
So he used the Lakewood family's affairs to refute.
It is unknown how long the feud between the Bracken family of Stonehedge City and the Lakewood family of Wild Crow City has lasted.
The rumor that Harry Rivers is not Earl Bracken's biological son is Earl Lakewood's favorite topic to discuss.
Now Earl Lakewood not only led people to defend Riverrun, but also helped the King of the North redeem his father's ashes and sister.
Earl Janos Bracken immediately felt the crisis.
The King of the North is close to his old enemy, which is a dangerous signal. It would be dangerous if the two of them joined forces to deal with him.
He also began to selectively execute Robb's orders.
For example, this time Robb ordered all nobles to take their families to Riverrun for temporary refuge, but Lord Janos Bracken was not very willing.
If there were no troops in his territory, wouldn't the Lannister army just plunder at will?
That would be his own loss. The King of the North, who owns the North and the Riverlands, certainly wouldn't care!
The Wildraven Castle in Lakewood was burned down because no one was stationed there. Now if he could defend the territory, the strength of the Bracken family would surpass that of the Lakewood family.
So he wrote a letter to his sons, ordering them to defend Stonehedge.
At the same time, he also made a request to Sir Edmure, hoping to let him go back to defend his homeland.
Harry Rivers shook the letter in his hand: "This is my father's order. No matter what you think, we have to stay here."
Hendry Bracken frowned: "You shouldn't call him father, you should call him sir, you are Rivers, not Bracken!"
The Riverlands are famous for their numerous water systems, so the illegitimate children here use Rivers as their surname, just like the snow in the North can be seen everywhere, so the illegitimate children are all called Snow.
The name Rivers is a derogatory name, especially when Hendry Bracken emphasizes it.
"You!" Harry Rivers was furious, "Do you want to duel with me? We can go out now!"
Hendry Bracken smiled contemptuously: "Who are you? Do you want to attack a noble?"
Just when the situation was tense, the woman of the Bracken family stood up.
"Stop arguing. I'm almost deafened by hearing you argue about this every day!"
"That's right, you're still two men! Now you should gather the army and prepare to defend the city, not fight with your family!"
"Fight your own family? You're really brave. There are so many Lannister lackeys outside, but you don't deal with them, but point your sword at your own people."
Among the five daughters of Earl Bracken, Beth Bracken is the most opinionated one. She spoke first, and then the four sisters responded to each other to ease the relationship between the two.
Harry Rivers and Hendry Bracken were blushing at what their sisters said, and they didn't think about the duel for a while.
Harry Riverman sighed and gave in first: "Beth is right. Whether we go to Riverrun to find our father or defend Stonehedge, the most important thing now is to gather the army and intensify training."
Hendry Bracken stopped arguing and said in a dull voice: "I'll go to gather the soldiers."
After Hendry went out, Beth saw that Harry Riverman was still a little depressed, and stepped forward to comfort him: "Ignore his nonsense. No matter what, you are our family. We are connected by blood, and no one can deny this."
"I know, I don't blame him, I just..."
Harry Riverman's words have not been finished yet, and the door was knocked open by Hendry Bracken.
His face was full of fear, his eyes were wide open, and even his words were a little stuttering: "Come... come, they... they are coming!"
Beth was a little dissatisfied with her cousin's panicked appearance: "What's coming? Are the Lannister troops coming? Even if they come, there's nothing to fear. Just stop them with Hendricka."
"It's...it's Gregor Clegane!"
Gregor Clegane is better known by his other name: The Mountain.
Now no one could call Hundley Bracken's actions reckless.
The terror of the Mountain has spread throughout the Riverlands, and no one will question his cruelty.
The room fell silent for a moment, and a trace of fear flashed across Harry Hewen's face before he forced himself to calm down.
"How many of them came?"
Hendry gasped: "I don't know. I saw a team in the distance carrying the flag of the Clegane family, so I came to tell you."
Seeing that the two men were silent, Beth stood up.
"Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and send out the raven and messenger to deliver the message. Riverrun is still a little far away from us. We can't waste any more time!"
Harry River suppressed the fear in his heart: "No, we are in the plains. Messenger crows flying to Riverrun can be seen at a glance. They can be shot down with just one arrow. The messengers will also be tortured and interrogated. If they let Magic Mountain knows the situation in our city..."
"Then what should we do? Are we just waiting to die here?"
The sudden appearance of the Magic Mountain caused all the members of the Bracken family to lose their opinions. They were frightened by the evil reputation of the Magic Mountain and even completely lost their ability to think.
Until now, none of them knew how many people the Magic Mountain had brought here.
No one thought about how to build defenses against the Mountain.
But this cannot be blamed on them. Lord Janos Bracken is still in Riverrun City. He is the only commander of the Bracken family who has seriously gone on the battlefield.
Both Harry Rivers and Hendry Bracken had only participated in some knightly tournaments, and they knew nothing about war.
Harry Hewen gritted his teeth and said: "The Magic Mountain is not close to us yet. Let's put the raven somewhere else. We hope that someone can see it in other places in the river, and then send a message to Riverrun for help."
Ravens have a relatively fixed flight route. If they fly directly to Riverrun, the Mountain will definitely be ready to shoot down ravens along the way.
Now we can only hope that the raven flying elsewhere can deliver the message.