The Battle of Roses, Suns and Stars.
Yuri personally led 200 dismounted cataphracts at around three hours after midnight, they snuck up quietly and began to pick off sentries and patrols, exceedingly careful not to be spotted, the Tyrells had not yet fortified their camp likely believing Ayden would not risk attacking as he was winning during the day. But his prince was no fool, he knew the casualties they had taken were bad and even if they had one it would have destroyed their army. And so Yuri led 200 men around the camp, killing every patrol and sentry he saw, some of his men had been watching the Tyrell camp and as such they knew a shift change was not coming for another hour and a half, minimising the risk of them being caught. After they had cleared the camp of sentries he sent a man to tell Ayden knowing the battlefield would be once more filled with the sounds of thundering hooves and screams of the dead and dying.
When Yuri's man reached them he had already formed up his 14,000 calvary, 7,000 Cataphracts, 5,000 dornish horsemen and about 2,000 mounted men at arms and guards, he gave command of the archers to Oberyn and his brother in law led them up first and formed them up in range of the camp while Adyen advanced his calvary slowly and quietly, the infantry formed up behind the archers, ready to charge through following up the calvary.
"For the Torrentine!" He called and they charged, shouting as they went, he wanted the reachmen out of there tents by the time they got their and sure enough as they got closer they saw confused reachmen stumbling out of their tents, the sound of arrows flying through the air filled the night and as Ayden looked up at the cloud of arrows shining in the moonlight he saw a shooting star flying across the night, the symbol his house, grinning behind his mask he looked and heard screams of pain as arrows fell upon the unarmoured reachmen, literally catching them with their pants down. Another volley hit the camp before Aydens men poured into its, most of the reachmen where scrambling to get weapons and the calvary ran through them, slicing as they poured through the frenzied camp throwing torches and setting fire to the camp as they went, they were soon followed by the infantry who made quick work of the survivors of the initial charge, it quickly became a slaughter as the reachmen were completely unprepared for the battle, Ayden had made sure no opportunity for a battle line to form was available by making multiple run throughs with his calvary further disturbing the lines and causing even more chaos. After about an hour of completely one sided fighting the Reach army was defeated, only about 2,000 fleeing, his men had killed some 51,000 men in twenty four hours, only about 7,000 being captured and the rest fleeing from their lives in small groups or on their own, now more a threat to the small folk of the Reach then they where to his army.
Ayden rode through the cmap as the sun began to rise, his own army had returned to their camp to sleep with only a few thousand awake to guard the camp and prisoners. Ayden was accompanied by a small guard to examine the now burned Tyrell camp. The 3,000 of his own men and noble Reachmen who had died had been removed leaving only dead Reachmen strewn across the battlefield. Ayden sighed as he once more witnessed the horror of war, he could see crows and a few vultures feeding on the dead, small embers of fires were burning still and the grounds seemed to be stained red from blood. It was truly a horrifying sight and he knew he was the cause of it. Sometimes he felt bad for not fighting in the conventional way of Westeros but to him it was better 50,000 Reachmen die through 'dishonerable' means then 50,000 Reachmen and 40,000 southerners. He heard the soft sounds of a horse trotting and turned to see his wife's Uncle, Prince Lewyn riding up to meet him, the older man looked just as tired as Ayden must have under the mask.
"Ayden… you must be knackered, get some sleep, I'll have the body burned and the camp stirpped of valuables." Lewyn told him and Ayden wanted to disagree and tell the man to go to sleep while he oversaw it but the man must have seen the argument in his eyes. "Don't argue Ayden, you deserve the rest."
"Fine, update me on the state of the prisoners."Ayden said.
"Well Mace Tyrell surrendered to the first man who faced him, most of his lords followed his example but a few went down fighting and are in need of medical assistance which they will be given after our own men get it." Lewyn said.
"And what of Lyndon Beesbury?" He asked of the commander of the Reach forces, Ayden had fought the knight earlier and had defeated him after a surprisingly hard fought battle which had ended after he managed to disarm the Reachman with a nasty cut to the thigh and shield bash to the head which had knocked the knight out.
"He's fine, the cut wasn't deep and he'll have a headache tomorrow but that's it." Lewyn replied. "Now tell me what do you plan to do next?" Lewny said.
"The infantry and archers will be split in two, one hlad will go with Oberyn and will retreat further south to Honeyholt with the prisoners, the Calvary will come with me and you with the other half, we will march, hard north to try and reach the Riverlands before the northern kingdoms do battle. Our numbers could turn the tide." Ayden said to Lewyn who looked only a small bit surprised at the ambitious march.
"It will be hard and we'll have to leave in the next few days and it will be a hard march but it could be possible." Lewyn said. "And if it's not then we are still in a strong position and will be between the Loyalist forces and Kingslanding forcing them to march on us less the Iron throne falls." Lewyn said and Ayden nodded happy that the Prince had caught onto his plan so quickly.
"Speaking of the throne, what will be down with it after the war?" Lewyn asked him.
"I'm not sure Lewyn… Obviously both of us would rather put our blood on it but I don't know if the realm would bow to dragons again, or at least not Robert Baratheon, who himself has a claim." Ayden said
"True… and what do you plan with the southern reach, I've seen how well you've been treating the families in it." Lewyn said Knowingly.
"Why I plan to vassalise the Beesburys, Florents and Tarlys as Vassals." Smirked Ayden. "Lord Beesbury will most likely agree to it. Alester Florent has already agreed to hit in exchange for his youngest daughter, Rhea, marrying Jayden Lott who has agreed to the match along with a large bride price and Alesters oldest daughter is the Lady of Hornhill and her infant son, Samwell is the only remaining male Tarly and she has agreed to it as well, brining two of the most powerful houses of the Reach and their most competent commander in Lydon Beesbury to our side." Ayden said and Lewyn stared at him for a moment before letting out a large laugh.
"Oh god, and here I was thinking you had no ambition! That would take 20,000 men from the Reach should they ever try and war with you again and limit their access to the ocean as well by taking the Florents away." laughed Lewyn. "Good man, I knew my sister made the right move marrying her daughter to you and this war had only proved it."
"My thanks Lewyn, I will send a Raven to my good brother and Lords Baratheon and Arryn and tell them to delay battle for as long as possible so we can join them. I'll also release Ser Lyndon and the Florent, Tarly and Beesbury men we have." Ayden said and Lewyn nodded.
"Good, now go to sleep you look dead on your feet, I'll be joining you in the land of dreamers soon."
Just Northeast of the Bloody gate, The Riverlands.
As the lords of the North, Vale, Stormlands and two Riverland houses gathered to discuss the recent developments in the war they were distuperd by an Maesters Acolyte who ran into the war tent holding a scroll.
"Apologies M'lords but a raven has come from Prince Ayden Dayne, my master said it was of great importance" the young teenage boy said.
"Give it here." Eddard said from atop the dias where he was in the center with Robert and Jon on either side. Ned read out the letter after it was given to him..
.
As you receive this letter I shall be marching northwards with 21,000 infantry and archers and 12,000 cavalry. The Reach has been crushed, Mace Tyrell is a prisoner, an uncle and cousin of his slain by my own hand. Their knights broke against our pikes, halberds, stakes and arrows and their infantry was beaten back after hours of hard fighting, they then retreated as night fell. I had hidden my calvary throughout the day, knowing they would be wary of a flanking maneuver similar to I pulled on Randyll Tarly and os they had not expected 14,000 dornish and Torrentine calvary to charge through their camp as they slept closely followed by my infantry, we killed 51,000 of them over the two battles, 33,000 in the first one, the rest in the second. We lost 21,000 men in the two battles, taking only 3,000 in the night battle beneath a shooting star. I spilt my archers and infantry in two, half of it falling back south under my good brothers command with the prisoners to Honey holt while I lead the rest north towards you to destroy the remaining loyalists, I ask that you delay battle for as long as possible, however if you do go to battle, win or die trying. The Beesburs have decided to join us, as have the Florents and as such the Tarlys, under the leadership of Lord Florents eldest daughter bent as well. They shall become a part of the Torrentine after the war.
Prince Ayden Dayne, Prince of the Torrentine and warden of the south.
"Gods... 72,000 men dead." Jon muttered, looking slightly ill.
"Gods those southerners are brutal." Robert said with a smile that unsettled Ned. After a few more minutes of discussing the news between those closest to them Ned stood up.
"The Torrentine and Dorne have done their part to end this war, winning three battles and knocking the largest and most powerful kingdom out of the war. IT will take Prince Ayden at least a month and a half to get here if they quick march. I say we give him that long but that's it, every day that passes is another day my sister spends a captive of the mad prince. They have done their part but we must do ours as well." Ned said and his voice was met with cheers, he knew the smart thing to do would be to let Ayden join him but the thought of his sister in the hands of the prince made him feel ill and made the wolfs blood pump to such an extent that only the news that Ashara was expecting their first child calmed him down.
"Remember blood is thicker than water brother." Those were the last words his brother had spoken to him before they separated at Harrenhal, Arthur had just glared at his brother then, angry at him for his disloyalty to the prince and the king. Now though Arthur was not so sure. He had never doubted his oaths so much as when he heard the screams of Lyanna Stark as Rhaegar did unspeakable things to her in order to try and get an heir. Arthur was known throughout the realm as an honorable man, up there with some of the greatest knights in the world yet Arthur knew that was not true, no honorable man would allow such a thing to happen to their good sister. He had not once picked up Dawn since then knowing his ancestors would rise from their graves to kill him themselves if he deemed himself worthy of wielding it after guarding not one rapist but two. In fact he was nearly certain that while Ayden wouldn't kill him himself he would not stop anyone from doing it themselves. Sighing he finished the meal he was to go and give Lyanna. He unlocked the door ignoring the white bull who was standing outside the door guarding it. Walking in he grimaced at the sight of the once proud and fierce women. Lyanna's grey eyes were empty, devoid of any emotion or thought, she looked up at him from the bed and her eyes seemed to look right through him, a far cry from when she used to glare and scream at him every time she saw him.
Leaving the food on the bed and taking the tray from yesterday he turned to leave when he heard Lyanna whispered words.
"He got me pregnant." she said and Arthur turned to the girl in shock. "Your honourable glorious prince raped me, a 15 year old girl, so many times he got me pregnant." She said her voice gained passion as she spoke and her eyes gaing the fire that had once dominated the.
"When my brother and yours find us here, you will all die. I don't know Ayden well but I know rape carries a death sentence in the Torrentine not matter who it is, and rape of a child is crucifiction. I hope you all live so that you can get your punishment." she said and then turned away from him. Arthur did not argue, every word was the truth, if Ayden before the war was unlikely to save him from his fate then Ayden after a war would definitely not. He left with a weight twenty times heavier than his armour on his shoulders. He had disgraced his house and his kingdom, his blade and his siblings and parents.
AN- So what did you think of the battle of the Rose, the Sun and the Star? Next time we see the beginning of the end of the war. Also let me know if you would like to see me continue this story after the rebellion and have an alternate universe war of the five kings.
Reviews.
ATP chapter 10
changes made Riverlands ,no matter what happen with Catelyn.
Battle - Reach behaved like french and lost like french.
P.S any plans for bringing wildlings ? wargs,giants,Thenns and children would be useful.
No plans for anything beyond the wall at the moment, purely focusing on Robert's Rebellion at the minute. Deep fantasy is not an area I really enjoy writing, Orcs, zombies etc… unless it's Harry Potter. And also yes, very happy someone noticed, the battle was influenced heavily by the battle of Agincourt in real life.
chapter 10
I say annexe or strip the Tully and Bracken lands from their lords, give them to the Blackwoods and declare them the new Lords Paramount since the Blackwoods are the most powerful Riverlords to join the Rebel cause.
Also who do you plan on making King after the war? Aegon or Robert?
This is my plan for the Riverlands. Tully's stripped of lands and titles. Blackwoods become lord paramount of the Trident. The North takes the crossing from the Freys to enable them to march south easier if need be, the Vale takes the Saltpans, and to punish the Lannisters the Riverlands take the Golden tooth, a brilliant location to stop a Westerlands attack. The Pipers might be giving some more land in the Riverlands and a marriage with the Blackwoods. Let me know what you think. As for Aegon or Robert… The most I can tell you is wait and see, also let me know which one you would prefer.
Guest chapter 10 .
Good update. Hope Arthur doesn't get let off because of his blood. Captured by the Daynes and handed to Eddard in chains would be nice.
Ah yes… what to do with Arthur, something I haven't quite decided but trust me Arthur will not be welcomed back at Starfall, I'll say that much. Suggestions welcome.