Night is often a time when intrigues are most frequent.
Arthur looked at the two earls who visited his residence late at night and felt that he should be careful.
After all, he was really unfamiliar with these two people.
After he asked Podrick to go out with the footwashing water, he asked in a deep voice, "Is something wrong?"
There were only two chairs in the room, one was occupied by Arthur, and the older Clemont pulled over and sat on the other, so Tristan had to stand.
In order to cover up the embarrassment of not having a seat, Earl Legg spoke first: "The people from the north are gone, but the lion is still to the west of us. We have to guard against it."
"What are you doing with all the twists and turns!" Clemont glared at his companions first, then turned to Arthur, "To put it bluntly, Tywin and Stannis are not good choices. We want to have Lord Arthur with a dragon. For king."
Earl Piper's home castle, Pink City, was burned down, and his carefully cultivated son also passed away, so he acted in a haphazard manner without even laying out the foreshadowing that the two of them had agreed upon in advance.
Tristan smiled and said, "That's right. Once the Northerners leave, we Riverlanders will be left alone. The two Tullys are lying on the bed, and Blackfish is only a general and can't control the entire Riverlands. If no measures are taken, the area from Tengshi River to Crab Bay will be torn apart, and the south bank will become a veritable foot wrap of the Seven Kingdoms, and anyone can step on it."
"Moreover, Tywin and Stannis are each more strict than the other. Compared with them, Lord Arthur is simply too wise and has the demeanor of Prince Rhaegar back then." Claremont added.
In terms of behavior and appearance, the "dragon family" in front of them is a replica of Rhaegar, but in terms of temperament and weapons, they are somewhat similar to Robert.
Lord Piper even secretly speculated whether Arthur was Rhaegar and Robert's child.
Of course this is impossible, two grown men cannot have children.
Arthur took the candlestick over and looked at their faces carefully, while seriously thinking about the real needs of these two families.
After Edmure's manipulation, the Piper family should be less loyal to the Tully family.
Tristan's Legg family and Willow City have always supported the Targaryen family.
The two of them supported themselves probably to avoid possible punishment from Tywin and Erlu.
After all, the examples of the Darry family and Maidenpool are there, and even worse, the Clinton family of Stormland has changed from a family of earls to wealthy knights, and the family governor went to the Essos continent to take refuge.
"Actually, I also want to make myself king, but I don't know if anyone is willing to recognize me." Since these two people are sincere, Arthur can no longer hide it.
Adding the two earls of these two families, as well as the territories of Harrenhal, Stonehedge City, Darry City and other places, it is enough to make it happen.
Not to mention the support of the Frey family's four thousand soldiers and money and food in the north.
Tristan and Clement were overjoyed, and they began to express their loyalty to the Targaryen family.
"You also know me. We in Willow City have always supported the Targaryen family. Now that the true dragon has appeared, we should resume our bright and smooth path."
"What the Tully family did was not to protect the family at all. People like you should rule this land."
The words of the two earls made Arthur a little confused, but he soon understood that they regarded him as a "dragon family member".
There is no need to refute this point. Bracken has been a vassal for thousands of years and has no king title to inherit.
The rebellious experience personally demonstrated by Ed, Jon Arryn, Robert and others can tell you how passionately the nobles of Westeros pursue the law of inheritance.
Even if the four alliances conquer King's Landing and get the Iron Throne, even if Robert is the one who has the most right to inherit the Iron Throne besides the Targaryen family, even if the merciful Robert only punishes three or four nobles, leaving most of them with him The enemy Dragon Party family was pardoned.
However, there are still a large number of people in the towns and streets who refer to him and the Wolf Eagle and other families as usurpers.
So Arthur really needs to rely on having a dragon to make the world misunderstand that he is a "dragon family", in order to reduce some worldly resistance.
"There is no need to say more about these words. I want to know how many families support me and to what extent? Do they want me to reunite the Riverlands or support me in taking back the Iron Throne?"
If he wants others to believe that Arthur is a "dragon family member", he must first believe it himself.
So Arthur also used words like "recapture".
In fact, the Brackens have never owned the Iron Throne, let alone regaining it.
The two earls looked at each other, and the older Clermont concluded: "Basically all the nobles on the south bank support you. As for the extent of support, we can only temporarily guarantee that we will support you in restoring the glory of the river and guarding the Lord and us. territory."
Although only two earls expressed their attitude, Clermont still boasted that all the nobles on the south coast would support Arthur.
Earl Piper planned to pull the "Dragon family" on board first, and then consider whether the boat was leaky.
Tristan nodded, indicating that this was his attitude as well.
In the current situation, the largest force in the mainland is naturally the Lion Flower Alliance after the merger.
With an army of sixty thousand from the Reach and more than ten thousand from the West, they looked down upon all other kings.
If Arthur claims that he has the right to inherit the Iron Throne, then the Lion Alliance and Stannis will first turn to deal with Arthur who has a dragon.
After all, by killing the Targaryens in Westeros, the Baratheon family can have the legal authority of the Iron Throne.
Tommen and Erlu currently regard themselves as Robert's heirs.
"I agree with you. I will still use the surname Bracken. My title will be King of Three Rivers or King of the Rivers. My territory will be the river lords who support me. Let the lion and the two deer fight for the iron chair!"
If he doesn't claim to be a king, then he will only have the noble title of Earl of Stonehedge City, and he will not be able to command the river lords on the south bank.
The two earls were relieved to see that their demands were met, and began to discuss with the new king how to contact the nobles on the south bank, when and where to establish themselves as kings.
Arthur also had his own ideas. The atmosphere of supporting the Dragon family was very strong in the earldoms near Harrenhal, so he decided to take the area around God's Eye Lake as the basic base and start to develop slowly.
Of course, Harrenhal could not be the capital of the new River Kingdom. The curse there was very magical, and any owner who moved in would slowly decline.
As far as Arthur knows, the power of this curse is likely to come from the "First King" of the North, and the Blackhearted Harren imitated the Night's Watch and mixed some unspeakable blood into the materials for building the wall, which further strengthened the blood magic power in the castle.
And there are fish beams in the city. People who are familiar with this kind of tree know that this is the source of power for the old gods.
The magical thing is that fish beams generally cannot be transplanted, but after the establishment of Harrenhal, a bunch of fish beams were moved here, which shows how much the old gods value this place.
This means that there is basically no way to destroy this curse except to demolish Harrenhal and cut down the fish beams.
In addition to the curse of the castle, there is also the ghost place of Thousand Faces Island that Arthur needs to pay attention to.
This is the only place in the south where the power of the old gods is still strong. The green men suspected to be "Children of the Forest" are still active on Thousand Faces Island, guarding the "forbidden land" of the old gods.
Several kinds of magic may also be recorded on this island in the middle of the lake.
A former owner of Harrenhal, the Rostan family, was just an ordinary knight family before he became rich, but after occupying Harrenhal, he quickly learned strange magic from somewhere.
Rostan and others even took human blood baths in an attempt to gain superhuman abilities.
All these strange things made Arthur determined to discover the secrets of these two places in his spare time to prevent the gods from messing with him.
The three people discussed the future of the newly-formed River Kingdom eagerly until dawn.
…
Riverland, near Stonetown.
It was almost morning, and the two were lying on the ground sleeping with their bodies wrapped in cloaks like the Hedge Knights, and their mounts "Stranger" and "Coward" were tied to the side.
Arya woke up from a nightmare. For several months, she always had such a dream at night.
In the dream, she became a wolf, and a large group of gray wolves followed her, led by her, running in the wilderness. The fur kept her warm, and the food hunted by her brothers and sisters filled her stomach.
If the dream was always like this, Arya would be willing to dream forever and never wake up again.
But last night's dream was not happy.
After becoming a wolf this time, she smelled the scent of her mother.
This was the first time she had encountered something related to her relatives since she was separated from her sister outside King's Landing.
So she led her wolf pack without hesitation and ran in the direction of the smell, but ended up encountering something she didn't want to recall in her life.
Her mother Catelyn floated quietly on the Blackwater River. The stench of the corpse mixed with the stench of the Blackwater River itself made her wolf stomach nauseous.
But this was her mother. She stepped out with her four paws and rushed into the river without hesitation, holding the corpse in her mouth, and pulled it up with all her strength.
She looked at her mother carefully with her wolf eyes, and then she was so sad that she couldn't speak.
Oh, yes, she was a wolf at that time, so she should be so sad that she couldn't howl.
Not long after, a large group of riders came up along the Blackwater River. She knew the leader, who was the Lightning King, Beric Dondarrion, who had acquitted the Hound a few days ago.
Because the wolves behind her were frightened by the group of humans and scattered, and Arya herself didn't want to see her mother's body, let alone the followers of the Lord of Light who let the Hound go, so she ran away.
She ran to her favorite wilderness.
Running on four paws allowed her to temporarily forget her mother's miserable appearance, but she couldn't forget it forever.
The surrounding scenery was rapidly receding, and her smooth fur was blown by the strong wind. The dream of leaving home for adventure that she had longed for since she was a child was realized by the wolf dream, but the sadness filled her heart.
For some reason, she missed the mother who taught her to learn embroidery and learn to be more ladylike.
"If you wake up, go feed the horse." At this moment, the rough voice of the Hound sounded, interrupting Arya's sadness.
This was the second time she was caught by the Hound. The first time was not far outside King's Landing. At that time, the dire wolf Nymeria was eager to reunite with her wolf cubs, so she ignored Arya and let her fall into the hands of the hound.
Afterwards, the Brotherhood Without Banners caught them. After the trial by the Lord of Light, the Hound was released, but she was left behind. Lord Beric was going to send her to Riverrun.
The Lord of Light did not agree with his new followers. It was rumored that a group of Lannister cavalry were searching for something along the Blackwater River, so the Brotherhood members went to the south to "hunt lions".
Dissatisfied with the Hound being released, she took advantage of the chaos to escape from the Brotherhood, but was caught by the Hound again.
Coincidentally, Sandor Clegane also wanted to send her to Riverrun in exchange for a sum of money.
Because the butcher's younger brother Mycah was killed by the Hound, she hated the rider with half of his face burned.
Although she vowed several times to kill this man while he was sleeping, she never put it into practice.
Arya opened her cloak, stood up slowly, and prepared to feed the horse.
"Oh, the little wolf girl is crying." The hunting dog sat up quietly, with a mocking tone in his tone, "Is it possible that you are homesick?"
"I don't. I think you are homesick and miss your brother." Arya glared like a dog, turned around and walked towards the "coward".
"I miss my brother very much and wonder why he didn't die in my hands."
The hunting dog found a cold chicken leg in the package and started to chew on it.
After finishing a few bites, he shouted to Arya, who was still lingering to feed the horse: "Hurry up, and we can reach Riverrun early. There are your sister and uncle there, and they will accompany you. You won't miss home."
After saying this, Sandor Clegane drew his sword and began to grind it with a millstone.
Arya spat at the Hound when he wasn't paying attention.
"Riverrun, Riverrun, you will never take me to Riverrun," she cursed under her breath.
Although it might only be a month or two, she felt like she had been on the road to Riverrun for several years.
The two men and two horses quickly prepared and started their journey before the sun rose.
…
Thoros, the red-robed monk, looked at Lord Berry, who was blind in one eye, and advised: "My close friend, your fire of life is already very weak, and you cannot use it to resurrect Mrs. Stark, who has been dead for several days. "
Not far from them, there was Caitlin's body dragged up by Nymeria, controlled by Arya after her alienation.
Mrs. Stark's formerly smooth hair was tangled together, and her skin was white and swollen from the river water, like curdled milk.
What's even more terrifying are the wounds on the corpse. Caitlin's dignified and generous face is covered with gaps, some of which have rotted, and some of which expose the skull underneath. There is an extremely obvious long wound on her throat, which runs through the entire neck, like No surprise, this was the cause of her death.
Dozens of members of the Brotherhood Without Banners were on alert. They followed the Lightning King to hunt lions, but only found a pack of wolves and a corpse.
It is also the remains of Duchess Ed, whom Earl Berry admired most.
The Earl of the Stormlands shook his head, "If I can exchange for Mrs. Stark's life, it doesn't matter if I die? Besides, I have died five or six times, and I can't even remember it clearly."
In the process of protecting the farmers of the Riverlands, the Lightning King was killed several times by the Lion family's food collection team, but he was resurrected with the blessing of his close friend Thoros.
The most recent resurrection occurred after the trial of Sandor Clegane.
The red-robed monk touched the bun on his head in embarrassment, "If you can't do it, you can't do it. You are the leader of our brotherhood. If you die, who will uphold justice for the farmers in the Riverlands?"
Earl Berry, whose memory was no longer clear, begged his close friend: "Just change it. I can no longer remember what my fiancée looked like, but I can still recall Duke Eddard's appearance. He was in the throne room. Let me uphold justice for him in front of the world. For such a noble man like an eagle in the sky, his wife should not die in such an ignominy..."
The only detail he could remember was the scene where Eddard ordered him to arrest the Mountain and protect the farmers on the river in Robert's name.
This is also the reason why he has repeatedly lost his memory, but can still lead the Brotherhood without Banners on the right path.
Unable to bear the pleading of his companions, the red-robed monk turned around and left.
Lord Berry saw that begging didn't work, so he decided to try it himself.
He recalled Thoros's prayer, slowly walked to Caitlin's body, and began to try to cast a spell.
After a few breaths, after reciting the prayer, he knelt down and kissed her lips gently, trying to pass on the fire of his life to Mrs. Stark.
Most of the members of the Brotherhood are farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and shepherds from the Riverlands. These people have little education and quietly watch the actions of their leaders.
It may have been a blink of an eye, or it may have been a long time, but the members of the Brotherhood saw another scene comparable to the resurrection of the Lightning King several times.
The body that had been dead for three days was also resurrected.
Thoroston, who was attracted by everyone's exclamations and turned around to watch, felt bad. He rushed to Lord Beric's side, ignoring Mrs. Stark who slowly stood up. He hugged his close friend's head tightly and began to recite it over and over again. Prayer to the Lord of Light.
But this time his god didn't respond. The Lightning King completely left this world and went to meet his idol Duke Ed.
The resurrected Mrs. Stark made a "ho ho" sound. When she noticed something, she closed her throat, and then vaguely uttered the first words after her death:
"Kill all the Lannisters!"