Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

Chapter 33 The Agreement at Harrenhal
In the tower at Harrenhal, Lady Hean stood alone at the window of the tower. Her neatly combed white hair was very bright in the dazzling afternoon sun. The years have carved traces of cruelty on the face of this lonely old man.

From the perspective of Harrenhal's rare servants, Lady He'an always sits so calmly in front of the door or on the tower, staring at the dense white mist above the God's Eye Lake. No one knows what she is looking at, maybe she is looking for The island in the middle of the lake that is revealed from time to time is the Thousand Faces Island where the legendary sons of the forest signed an oath with their ancestors.

"The gods took away her smile, and the curse took away her family." This is what the residents of the Riverlands under the rule of Harrenhal said. Although Lady River'an never manages the territory herself, she always lets the bachelors and stewards in the castle After discussion, it was decided that wealthy knights would rarely pay attention to Mrs. He'an. However, there were many young nobles or knights who had the idea of ​​coming to propose marriage, but the legend of the curse of Harrenhal always kept them away.

At this time, Mrs. He'an did not stop on the south side of the castle to look at the God's Eye Lake with its turquoise rippling water. Instead, she thought about the wandering knight who visited alone before the news that the Prime Minister of King's Landing was seriously ill.

Lady Riverside entertained the young wandering knight politely. She was unwilling to refuse every knight who visited Harrenhal. It was said that knights who refused to visit during the wedding would bring bad luck, and Lady Riverside was unwilling to do so no matter when or where. Suffering more bad luck, she imposes guest etiquette on every visitor, even if it's not a wedding.

After the wandering knight had eaten and drank enough, he asked Mrs. He'an to turn away all the servants.

Naturally, Mrs. He'an would not agree to this rude request, until the wandering knight quietly revealed the family crest on the inside of the cloth armor.

Crescent Falcon, House Arryn.Mrs. He'an looked at the face of this wandering knight, estimated his age, and dismissed all the servants.Applying etiquette to the knight, "I didn't expect that the Prime Minister's heir was visiting. It was really not a good reception."

But this young and powerful heir didn't waste any words. He went straight to the point and proposed to sign an agreement with his family, just like the peace oath between the ancestors of Qianmian Island and the children of the forest.

"To be honest, the situation is not good, Mrs. He'an, I guess war is coming.", the voice of the prime minister's successor was calm but contained a huge message.

Mrs. He'an was used to seeing misfortune and had experienced sorrow. She also calmly asked: "Who is the war with?" As a noble woman, the education she received as a noble woman was only to help her husband win over other nobles and their wives in the jurisdiction. , female family members, as for the larger situation of the Seven Kingdoms, she does not understand it. Once upon a time, she could seek help from her husband, Earl He'an, but now, she is the only one in the family.

The heir to the Prime Minister shook his head. He did not tell himself who he was fighting, but only told himself that once the war started, the Riverlands would bear the brunt, and Harrenhal would be the top priority.

He is right. Even if she is not familiar with politics and military affairs, Lady He'an herself knows the status of Harrenhal. By occupying Harrenhal, she can almost control the road from the Trident River to the Blackwater River to the royal territory and King's Landing. , not to mention the strong and huge walls of Harrenhal. In the era without dragons, almost no army could break through the walls of Harrenhal head-on.

The premise is, Mrs. He'an thought sadly, that there are enough defenders.

Mrs. He'an looked around. The wealthy knights who were loyal to the family would never get involved in the war, and they rarely responded to the recruitment of an old woman of hers. Even if they were all recruited, there would not be more than fifty knights. Her business has been too good these years. Too bad, many wealthy knights became loyal to surrounding lords and no longer swore allegiance to the He'an family.

Mrs. He'an found herself alone, a lonely old woman, a lonely family, a lonely castle.
The heirs made their own terms.He asked Lady He'an to allow the valley army to station in the city and place supplies when they arrived at Harrenhal, and promised to protect the He'an family, respect Lady He'an's choice of the successor to Harrenhal, and never infringe upon the rights of the He'an family. right.

Mrs. He'an looked into his eyes, which revealed ambition. She knew that if she did not agree to the other party's request, the valley army would definitely use force to enter the city.

She and the prime minister's successor swore an oath in the main hall, signed an agreement, and pressed their fingerprints.

Mrs. Hean, who was deeply harmed by the so-called curse of Harrenhal, was the best at keeping her oath. She thought helplessly that the heir to the valley might have information about her.

When parting, Mrs. Hean was asked to keep the contract secret and not to leak it.Mrs. He'an nodded in agreement. She simply could not refuse the request of the heir to the valley.However, she was also surprised that Riverrun and the Eagle's Nest were related by marriage, and the He'an family were vassals of Riverrun, so there was no reason to refuse to open the city gate.

Harrenhal soon received the news that the Prime Minister was seriously ill and had died. At first, Mrs. Hean even suspected that the heir Attis Arryn had murdered the Prime Minister, but after thinking about it carefully, she overturned this idea. The Prime Minister was already old. , it may be said that he is located in Attis soon, and his relationship with Attis Aylin has always been very good. The Prime Minister, who is old and has a son, attaches great importance to his education. From military to etiquette, from politics to diplomacy, it can be said that he has good intentions. .Attis has no reason to harm the Prime Minister. This is a common sense among all people in Westeros who have received aristocratic education.

Mrs. Hean did not believe that Attis would do this, and laughed at herself for such naive and unpolitical ideas. Combined with his speculations about the war, she was afraid that there was something fishy in the death of the Prime Minister.

As I was thinking about it, the servant's voice rang in my ears, "Madam, Madam."

Lady Hean looked intently, and saw the king's flag fluttering on the King's Road, followed by many direwolf flags. "There are so many people from the north." Mrs. He'an was slightly stunned and said softly.

The Lannister banner that had flown everywhere during the previous king's visits was nothing compared to the Stark banner.

Attis looked at Harrenhal, which he had visited several times before, and thought of the valley army assembled in Arryn Valley and the thousand cavalry of "junglers" entrenched outside the Blood Gate. If they occupied this castle and guarded the Trident River, At the strategic points between the north and south of the main stream, the valley army can advance, attack, retreat and defend. King's Landing is like being in the arms of an eagle, becoming a target for hunting at any time.

If Duke Tywin reacts quickly enough, he will send a powerful force all the way from the Golden Teeth, the gateway to the Riverlands and the Westerlands, to attack from above, contain the main force of the Fish Family in Riverrun, and send the main force all the way to Harrenhal to control the transportation artery north of King's Landing. , and at the same time opened a battle line on the Trident River to prevent the valley army from crossing the river.

But Attis had the information gap after all, and had made an agreement with Mrs. He'an in advance. If the evidence was obtained by Ed, he could quickly take control of King's Landing. If a war really started, he would at least have the upper hand.

As for why he discussed with Mrs. Hean so early in advance, the fact was that Attis simply did not trust Riverrun, which was far away from the water, to be free to put out the fire at Harrenhal under the attack from the west.

The Tully family's control over the Riverlands is far from enough. Attis doesn't know which side Harrenhal will choose to side with, but given the distance between Harrenhal and Arryn Vale, even a contract that conforms to the etiquette of the nobility If not, the army will make Harrenhal surrender.

As before when the king went north, the team set up a tent outside Harrenhal, and Robert joined the most senior people in the team, Eddard Stark, Warden of the North, Attis Arryn, Warden of the East, and the Queen. Cersei and the princes and princesses entered Harrenhal first and visited Lady Riverside again according to etiquette.

Lady He'an still spoke very little. When Eddard expressed his condolences to her, he just nodded slightly, waved his hand and asked the pitiful servants to serve the dishes and prepare the banquet. The minstrels and several harpists around Robert began to play music and sing. Sansa listened excitedly to this performance, and her little hands would beat the beat on the table. Arya stared at the costume used by the jester to pretend to be a bear, and begged her father to customize such a costume for her. Eddard was helpless. With a smile, he looked at Mrs. He'an apologetically, but the latter did not show much expression, but looked at Ed's two daughters with a gloomy expression.

The banquet was very simple, and soon King Robert returned to the team, complaining to Eddard along the way: "Look at this big castle, there will be no heir in the future. Alas, I didn't realize until here that my dear Jon seemed to have given birth to I suggested it, alas! I was staring at a girl at that time, God, it's all because of that girl's amazing appearance, I can't remember what Jon said at all! Alas, it seems that I still have to find that girl when I return to King's Landing , ask her carefully if she remembers."

Ed looked at Robert with resentment, the reproach in his eyes clearly showing, "I can already imagine what it would be like to be your King's Hand."

"Hahahahahaha! Ed, you are actually joking, hahahahahaha! See you soon, see you soon!" Robert was very surprised, his chest shook, and his beard swayed up and down with laughter.

Ed shook his head helplessly. He felt the sunshine in the south, which was warm and comfortable, but Ed felt a hint of laziness in it. This was not a good thing for the wolves in the north. The cold made the northerners strong, and in winter Let them die tragically. This is the spirit of the ancestors, especially the people in the north. People in the south will never understand.

Attis looked at the king and prime minister in the distance. He would always leave quietly when their friends were talking. Strictly speaking, they were brothers, but after all, there was still a gap between them due to their experience and age.

Jaime is wearing white clothes and white armor. This is the first time Attis has seen this image. Before that, he had always worn golden armor that was more symbolic of Lannister.

As for when the change will occur, it seems to be after Duke Eddard joins the team.

The title "Kingslayer" was given by Lord Eddard, and I'm afraid Ser Jaime still remembers it.

Myrcella and Tommen walked carefree through the camp, while Joffrey clutched his injured arm angrily, the mark left by the direwolf on him.

When passing by Ruby Beach, Arya's direwolf "Nymeria" pounced on Joffrey, who was holding a steel sword, and bit him hard on the arm. Attis, who had been by his side, couldn't hold back his laughter. Pressing the scabbard against the direwolf's teeth, Joffrey was able to avoid the direwolf's next attack.

After a ridiculous trial in the camp, Attis sided with Arya and pointed out that Joffrey was the one who hurt someone first.Robert obviously believed the Duke's statement more, and seeing that both Dukes were present in the kingdom, he really didn't want to be bothered with this matter for too long, so he scolded Joffrey, and the matter ended simply. When Joffrey saw The direwolf ran away, not even daring to leave the camp. It was only because Lord Eddard tied up the direwolves that Joffrey dared to leave the camp and looked at Attis with a look of resentment.

Harrenhal was destined not to stay long, and Attis looked eastward, waiting for news from Seagull Town.

(End of this chapter)