Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

Chapter 215 Competition

"It's really dangerous when the water rises just after crossing the river." The soldier in the valley held a black cloth box, which contained steel swords passed down by knights from generation to generation. He stroked the beard on both sides that had just been trimmed with a short knife and looked at the rough waves. Ruby Beach.

The previously shallow pool had turned into a raging tide, and the other shore that was once within reach seemed to be level with the skyline in an instant.

His young attendant squinted at the undismantled camp in front of him, "I remember this place," he scratched his head, "our battle with the Tully family," the attendant pointed to the ashes left on the ground in the distance, "burn it The embers of the corpse are still there.”

The knight's face is old, and the white hair peeking out from under his half-helmet hangs in front of his eyebrows, arranged in an disorderly manner like a mess of dry firewood.

He put down the black cloth box, "The camp seems to have been rebuilt." The knight stroked the wooden pile next to the unoccupied tent. The marks of the stone hammer on it were obviously brand new.

"It's always a good thing to have a ready-made place to live!" the attendant said with a smile, throwing the basket behind him on the ground and leaning his upper body into the tent.

"Plop!" The sound of horse hooves trampling through the mud was heard. The knight did not react too much. He opened the black cloth box in his hand, pulled out his long sword, and looked warily at the place where the sound came from.

The cavalry stopped in the distance, showing the spears they held, and the pale ribbon of the Corbray family was tied to the top of the spears.

The knight frowned, waiting for the other party to announce his intention.

"Lord Leonor Corbray received the military order from Duke Attis Arryn and summoned the demobilized troops at the valley road pass and the river crossing. They gathered under Corbray's battle flag and were ready to go to war at any time!" the light cavalry shouted loudly. , the spear pointed at the side of the camp, the knight followed his gaze, and a detachment of valley soldiers appeared behind the hidden tent, and many familiar faces came into view.

In Attis's study, a letter lay quietly on the table.

The raven "fluttered" and struggled in the cage, but the small door of the cage was still closed mercilessly.

Attis picked up the letter. The coat of arms on the white background was very bright. On the coat of arms, three crows spread their wings and each claw held a blood-red heart. This was the symbol of the Corbray family.

Count Leonor Corbray successfully gathered his troops from the Twins and advanced unimpeded to the vicinity of the Valley Road, waiting for the next instruction.

In addition, scattered soldiers who had previously crossed the Green Fork River from various ports, seemingly headed for the uphill slope, and returned to the valley were also hiding and dormant near the Valley Avenue.

Due to the previous wars, Ruby Beach, the pass on the Valley Avenue outside the Blood Gate, and the important ports along the Green Fork River all had more or less camps where the Valley Army had been stationed.

As for these camps, before Attis demobilized the levied troops and knights, he gave orders to the craftsmen accompanying the army, asking them to renovate and renovate these main camps to facilitate the regrouping of the demobilized troops.

Interestingly, Earl Corbray also complained vaguely in his letters that he was over forty and had no children, only a young brother who followed him.

When it comes to the tourney at Harrenhal, the Earl's intention is self-evident.

Artis thought of the bright and moving golden flowers at the dinner party at Hundred Furnaces Hall. The marriage between the two families catered to the needs of both parties. When the time came, only the Duke or the Princess would be the matchmaker, and Count Leonor would definitely not refuse to marry him. A young lady from a distinguished family who is younger than himself takes as his wife. Of course, the latter's fertility must be guaranteed, which is what Leonor Corbray wants.

He closed the envelope and thought about the possible marriage that the tourney might bring about.

The two parties to the marriage are one of the great nobles, such as the Mallister family of Seaside City and the Royce family of Runestone City who are about to be engaged. The other is the valley that Attis is focusing on, which is the new land of the Green Fork River. The knights and the old knight families and even the ancient nobles who still have some influence on the Green Fork River.

The Freys of the Twins, the Roots who control the town of Crossroads and Earl of Harroway, and the Hawick family who have lost most of their influence in Saltworks Town, still hold the title of earl, and many knights. Westeros should be their legal jurisdiction.

Promoting the marriage between the upstart Valley Knights and these earls and old nobles is also part of the plan.

The situation in Twins City has been decided. Although a large part of the knighthood has been transferred to the upstart knights in the valley, the Frey family is still loyal to Twins City. Due to the special relationship between Attis and the Lady of Twins City, no further arrangements are needed.

On the other hand, the other two relatively prestigious families in the Green Fork River did not receive any guarantee from themselves, whether it was territory or legal principles. This was ultimately an unstable factor, and they urgently needed an actual marriage to form a behind-the-scenes alliance. The impact of the valley is a revolution for the lower nobles of the Green Fork River, but it must not continue to expand. Further leveraging the traditional legal order of the Seven Kingdoms will not be helpful to the future planning of the Arryn family, and may even cause disadvantages.

Rather than saying that marriage is an arrangement to maintain order among the nobility of the Riverlands, it is better to say that it is a remedy for the valley's rough treatment of the legal principles of a large territory in the Riverlands.

Attis let out a long breath and looked out the window, knowing that while he was busy with internal affairs in the Riverlands, the confrontation and disputes between King's Landing and the Stormlands were also intensifying.

The nobles of the Riverlands are watching themselves, and they will continue to stare at themselves even after the marriage goes smoothly, waiting for the Arryn family to show signs of fatigue and weakness. Once their weakness is revealed, the backlash from the Riverlands can come at any time.

You can only win, and you must continue to win, and you must never lose, even if you only lose once.

He looked back at the end game of Cyvasse on the table, reached for the white heavy cavalry chess piece, pushed it down and huddled in the corner of the chessboard, with an expression as if he was the "king" of the chess players.

"During the war, the king must not leave the sight of the soldiers." Tywin looked coldly at Cersei, who was pleading, and decisively rejected the Queen Mother's proposal.

The Grand Maester echoed, "Soldiers must understand who they are fighting for. King Joffrey standing on the city wall will give the soldiers the honor of continuing to fight. This is also very common in the history of the Seven Kingdoms." Pycelle started his story again Long speeches about events that happened in history.

Tyrion had noticed that Lord Pycelle, who was extremely knowledgeable, would always follow the Prime Minister's conclusion with a lot of discussion, as if he was endorsing the legal principles of the Iron Throne.

Well, Lord Tywin's Iron Throne, Tyrion looked at his father's cold and frosty face and couldn't help but sarcastically said in his heart.

Cersei had a straight face, but it seemed to others that she was sitting helplessly next to Tywin.

My dear old sister is always surrounded by powerful people, but she has no decision-making authority. Tyrion looked at that stinking face and couldn't suppress his uncontrollable smile.

Of course, he doesn't have the brains to make decisions, Tyrion couldn't help but think viciously.

Varys folded his hands and moved his lips slightly. After the grand maester finished his long historical quotation, he stood up and looked around at the ministers. "My little bird sent me an interesting song. I wonder if you would like to listen to it to relieve your boredom." ."、

"Pay attention to the occasion, Varys," Pycelle looked at the eunuch who stood up. "This is a royal meeting to discuss state affairs, not the main hall of the castle where minstrels show off their singing voices!" He looked at him with a stern look on his face. Wallis.

Varys smiled deeply and meaningfully, as if there was sarcasm in his eyes, and shook his head slightly, "The lyrics of the minstrel reflect the voices of many people in the Seven Kingdoms. Could it be that Lord Pycelle is unwilling to listen to his people?" Sound?”

"No, I" Pycelle was about to refute, but was stopped by Tywin.

"I hope you won't waste everyone's time. Let's talk about it, Varys." Tywin surprisingly did not refuse, and Tyrion looked over in surprise.

Varys coughed slightly and then spoke. Tyrion did not expect that the eunuch's voice could also become rich.

"The fallen monk with hairy hair was entangled in thorns of lies before his death, and his poisonous tongue like a snake core stretched out towards the lovely princess." Wallis's voice seemed to be singing, and the high-pitched eunuch's voice seemed to be blinded, replaced by A magnetic whisper.

"The crown of the stag, the black hair of the princess, the eagle of the mountain, pecked out the eyes of the fallen monk, oh~ the thorns of lies are the bloodshot eyes, and the ferocious face, the stranger took it away and made it into death. mask"

"The croon of the black-haired princess, the carnival of the tournament, the duke presented the wreath, the stonemason presented the sculpture, the maester recorded the truth, oh~ our beloved black-haired princess~"

Cersei frowned, "Black-haired princess?" She felt a knot in her heart, as if she had vaguely guessed something.

Tywin looked at the letter sent from Harrenhal in his hand, his face a little stiff.

(End of this chapter)