Hi everyone, welcome to Chapter 25 of A Song of Fury and Ice. Let us jump right in, shall we?
Chapter 25: The Wolf Bleeds and the Sun Rises
Highgarden
Soldiers from both his father and those that had surrendered to them greeted Joran and Aurane and Mathos as they walked towards the dungeons, the place his father had decided to house the more important Lords of the Reach and their heirs that were defeated in the field.
He went to ask where the rest of the Reach's army was, where Mace Tyrell and Willas's sister, mother, and grandmother were taken before they had arrived. That and my father is angered by Mace's cowardice to face him in the field. Joran thought as he and his brothers descended below and reaching a metal door where two men were posted.
"My Prince." He ignored their greeting, nodding for the door to open which led to a dozen cells, filled with battle-worn nobles. Many, as he passed uttered insults towards him and his father.
They will be dealt with in due time for their treasons, yes, a great many executions await those that continue to fight against his family. He'll be happy to fill the Traitor's Walk with many severed heads and hanged men over the walls of the Red Keep.
Joran took one final step at the end of the hall to a single cell, sitting down and facing the only window which allowed glimpses to the outside world. Willas noticed his presence but turned away a moment after looking at him.
"What do you want, Prince Joran? You have my home, my levies, my grain, and barley. I don't know what else to give you that your father already doesn't have now." That is true, many things the man is correct for but not all.
Joran cleared his throat, "My father wants to know where Mace is, where the Tarly forces are as they command the most elite of the Reach's armies." Willas ignored him which made Aurane grunt in annoyance. "I advised him to ask you without putting you to the torturer, Lord Willas, he WILL torture you for the information we seek as duty compels him to unite the Seven Kingdoms once more." He added which seemed to have made a dent into Willas's resolve.
"I can't. I won't betray my House, you understand that, don't you?" He does, yet it needs to be done so his father doesn't have to worry about an army attacking from behind while they take King's Landing.
"Answer me this, Willas, why didn't you and Loras have all of your men behind the walls? All but 1800 men were outside in the battle." It was something that had been eating at him over the last three days, if Willas would have done that then Highgarden might still have the rose flying on its walls.
Willas sat back against a wall where his bed was, looking straight at him for a single moment before chuckling lightly.
"It was what I was going for, but, Loras overruled me on that decision and egged on the image of yours and your father's heads being on spikes towards the noble Lord who fought with us," Joran grunted and guessed that he sort of knew the battle was his doing, the man was a ferocious fighter but his ego outstretched his abilities when it came to military strategy. "If Garlen had lived, I assure you that the battle would have shortened your father's plans for conquest." Joran scoffed.
No, if it was Garlen... Then Highgarden would have been barraged with so much flaming timber and stone that the great seat of House Gardner would have become another Harrenhal. Ser Garlen was a noble man, more than any from the House of Tyrell. Joran thought but gave a sneer at Willas, so be it, then.
"May the Lord of Light give you mercy, for we shall not until we know where the rest of the Reach's men are." His farewell didn't sit well with Lord Willas, the man groaned and got to his feet.
"My god is not yours, Scaled Stag, I hold to the Seven and no more!" Very well, then, may they give Willas as much mercy than they had done to him when he was cursed with this greyscale.
Joran turned his head left to look at the man, a man who would have been a great Lord of House Tyrell but at this moment and time is a great threat. "There is but one god... You'll understand why very soon, farewell Lord Willas." He said to Willas and left with Aurane and Mathos following him out.
He told his father of Willas response, the King nodded and ordered for the other means of getting information to begin. He did truly wish things would have been simpler without the use of torture, a wish that isn't afforded to them during times of war.
His father had also sent out a command to his uncle to speak with the other captive Lords and their heirs and to give them a choice of joining the cause or being a prisoner for the remainder of the war and then being tried and executed for treason. His uncle had made a comment of having burned than being decapitated.
The reminding of having burnings reminded him of the days before he and family set sail, Melisandre had wanted to bless and crown his father by burning the idols of the Seven within the Sept. Lord Guncer Sunglass and his son had barred themselves in the Sept, a small fight ensued with Lord Sunglass being captured, his son lying dead by the idol of the Stranger.
The man was then imprisoned, his mother more than once made comments of burning the man alive.
He's all about making traitors pay for their crimes and actions, but burning them alive seems to be a little too extreme. The last man to burn people was the Mad King, a cruel punishment not to be enacted once more. He thought grimly as his uncle left the Hall.
Joran and his company left his father's sight not long after, they walked towards the rookery where he had intended on sending a message to Sansa as the red-haired maiden crossed his thoughts during their stay here.
After he woke up from his wound, he spent a number of hours with Sansa and the conversations was less than friendly, more scolding and warning of getting hit by her if he so much as wounds himself in another battle. He had been surprised that she had become so worried for him, just as surprised as he was in wanting to do as she wished.
In fact, it made the prospect of being married to her a lot less miserable.
She also seems more cheerful, like when he had first laid eyes on her at Winterfell, a shy and delicate flower of the North. A credit to my sister, Shireen keeping her company and all. Joran thought as he opened the door to the rookery.
"Ah, love letters? 'Oh, my dear Sansa, your lovely face keeps me warm as I spill the blood of my enemies!', Haha!" Aurane laughed with his arms crossed, Joran rolled his eyes at the man and freed a raven with his message, flying east towards Storm's End.
"So, Joran, you seemed unsupportive of Lord Axell's suggestion." Mathos brought up and he turned to talk to his friend about it, thinking for just a moment then speaking.
"I am a soldier of R'hllor and my father, King Stannis, I will do unspeakable things for them both but I refuse to desire the burning of men... Wicked or not." He told Mathos and Aurane, his teeth grinding at the end.
A raven cut the silence that enveloped the room, he raised an eyebrow with curiosity before walking over and taking its letter. When he unrolled it he saw the direwolf of House Stark.
"What is it?" Aurane asked him with curiosity and had to have noticed his distress.
"Trouble. Robb Stark was doing battle against a Lannister host at Ashemark when he was attacked by a host of forty-thousand from the South and fifteen-thousand from the Riverlands... Bearing the sigil of House Tyrell and Lannister." The joyous victory tasted bitter as the Battle of Highgarden became a distraction so the main force of their enemies attacked their ally.
Damn them, damn them all!
The three ran towards the great hall to tell his father, they entered and saw a man talking to him. The man had the sigil of House Dondarrion on his chest.
"Joran, tell the Lord's to gather, a Martell host marches up the Boneway towards Blackhaven." Now the Dornish? What reason do they need to march North?
He rose the raven scroll up to his father, "That isn't all, news comes from the Westerlands... Robb Stark was defeated by House Tyrell and Tywin at Ashemark." His father's face became as hard as stone, the man's eyes becoming thunderous like a storm on the seas.
This war has become a lot more difficult.
AN: Tables turn as Stannis suffers a loss after such a strong victory, now they have the Dornish to contend with as Tyrion's ploy using Myrcella bears fruit in earning House Martell's assistance. I know the update was short and all, I am sorry for that.
The next chapter details what happened to Robb and a scene featuring Sansa and Shireen and Melisandre.
Anywho, I thank you all for reading and thank you more for reviewing! Happy Holidays!