The North 260, the latest Bolton rebellion, and the last Blackfyre rebellion

Before they reach the village, they would be greeted by fallen ash and the smell of burning bodies. This village is one of many villages that the Bolton has put into the torch so that they could stall the march of the Northern army toward the dread-forth.

The Bolton has taken using this tactic and guerrilla warfare tactic after their failed attacks on winter city during the opening days of their latest rebellion. The latest Bolton rebellion was something that he expected and wanted to happen. Besides, giving him a chance to finally get rid of a thorn that has always existed for his family, is also a good way to show the northern lord that maybe has an idea of rebelling against him what would happen to them.

Even though the Bolton and their vassal are the only nobles currently rebelling against his rule. He knows that during the start of this Bolton rebellion, many noble houses are also thinking of joining it and some even secretly supported them even now.

This latest rebellion wasn't because the Bolton was trying to take control of the North like they usually do. But because of the latest decree that he put in effect, that decree would cut the power of the nobles residing in the North and would truly solidify the power of his family rule over the North.

That decree is the abolishment of Noble's ability to collect taxes from their peasant and their power to collect taxes would now be transferred to the tax collectors that is appointed by the ruler of the North. This would help to ease the burden of the peasant since many nobles' house use their ability to tax their peasant to over taxes or made up new taxes.

But while this would help the peasant this would also cut one of the largest sources of revenue for the noble house, since now they would only be able to get the peasant to only pay rent.

''You know, went I was a kid, old nan would tell me scary stories if I misbehaved, the tale of the thousand years war we fought against the vale, and of course the tale about our war with the Bolton, she would tell me the brutality that the Bolton would inflict on the North and us, how the Bolton would make a forest of an impaled corpse, how they would flay and burn their enemies before a battle starts, and of course, how they would flay a captured stark and then wear their skin, as I grow older, of course, I realized that most of the tale is fake or but this war show me that all of her tail is true,'' Rickard said toward no one, in particular, still shocked at seeing that all of old nan tale about the Bolton is true.

''In war brutality is something that is needed and expected, but this isn't brutality to make your enemies submit, this is just brutally to lengthen a war that they already lose,'' Rodrick said toward Rickard, they would continued through the village in silence, while some of the members of the Northern armies would take out the bodies of the deceased and piling them in the gate of the village so that it would be easier to bury them, once the grave is dug.

''My lord we found a survivor.'' One of the soldiers said to them while carrying a bundle in his arm

''By the god,'' Rodrick said while looking at the bundle the soldier is carrying and noticing it to be a baby

''Is that a baby,'' Maegor asks the soldier

''Yes sir, it seems somehow the baby can be born even though his mother seems to have died.'' The soldier said to them

''It's a miracle then,'' Maegor said toward the people in his vicinity

''Give the baby to me,'' Rodrick said toward the soldier who would hand the baby toward him

''Are you thinking of raising him,'' Rickard said while looking toward Rodrick who is currently looking intensely at the baby. He knows that his father-in-law always wanted to have a boy to raise, but the gods didn't grant him that wish, since all of his children would be girls.

''I always wanted to have a boy,'' Rodrick said toward Rickard since his son-in-law know about his desire to always have a boy.

''Then you need to name him if you wanted to raise him since I don't think his family will tell you the name that they wanted to give him,'' Maegor said

''Nero,'' Rodrick said after a couple of seconds of silence

''That's not a Northern name,'' Rickard said

''No, it isn't,'' Rodrick said

''It's a Valyrian name, why give him a name originating from Valyria, especially an infamous one as Nero,'' Maegor said remembering the tale of one of the most infamous dragonlord in Valyrian and Andal history, Nero the evil dragon. Nero was born as part of the Julio-Claudian family, one of the most powerful and influential Dragonlord families in the Valyrian freehold. The family has a lot of influence in both political and military matters in the freehold, with five of the family members being elected as consuls of Valyria, and multiple family members were also elected as governors in different Valyrian empire provinces.

Nero himself was born during one of the times when the family was at the height of its power with his grandfather holding the office as consul, his father being elected as governor of one of the Valyrian provinces while his mother being a former priestess of the cult of Vestal one of the most influential cult in the Valyrian religion since that goddess is associated with heart, home, and family, while also being considered as the protector of the Valyrian people.

Because of this since childhood, Nero would be taught to become a soldier and politician by his family, and finally went he turned sixteen he would be sent to be part of the army that is being sent by the Valyrian empire to expand their territory westward and conquer Andalos. With his family's influence, Nero was able to get a high position in the army but he would quickly show that even though he get his position because of his family's influence, doesn't mean he isn't a good commander since, by the end of the war, he would remember as one of the greatest general that Valyria ever produces.

The Valyrian expansion on western Essos and its war against the Andal would have a different characteristic from their eastern expansion which would be characteristic of bloodshed and brutality in the level that even though this day hasn't been seen again. Their westward expansion would be bloody, with Nero himself slaughtering tens of thousands of people with his dragon fire. But their bloodshed is more calculated with them trying to ensure that they didn't damage and destroy towns, cities, and strongholds if they can help.

Still, even though Nero would kill tens of thousands of people during his conquest, it wouldn't be why he would be so infamous. Since it was only after the conquest that his name would be known to almost everyone in Valyria and Andalos. Nero would be the first person to ever cause the slave market to crash, since he would sell almost a million people to the slave market off Valyria, making him the richest person in Valyria. He would also use the population of the new territory that he conquer, to build new infrastructure from cities, towns, ports, and roads. All of this infrastructure project would be impressive but it would take millions of people's lives to complete, most of it would be unsurprisingly be Andals. This is why Nero's name is so infamous in Andal's history since he would be the person that slaughter and put into slavery millions of Andals. Even some maester claim that the driving force for the Andal migration to Westeros is because of Nero.

''It's fitting in a way, your family survives the doom that kills most of you're people and power, and after a hundred years, your ancestor would make a gambit, that would make him one of the most people in the world and create a new empire, also even though most people remember Nero as this demon in human skin, he is also one of the most successful generals in the history of Valyria'' Rodrick said

''So a name for a survivor and someone that could change the world,'' Maegor said summarising what Roderick just said

''Yes.''

''Fitting then.''

''Should we make camp here,'' Rickard asks toward Rodrick

''yes, since It seems it's already late,'' Rodrick said while looking at the sky and noticing the light already growing darker ''Tell the men to bury the dead and then start making camp.''

''Yes my lord.'' The soldier that handed the babe said toward them with a salute before running off to tell the other soldier to make camp

''So how long until we reach the Dreadforth,'' Rickard asks

''With the way, we are progressing probably noon tomorrow,'' Roderick said after calculating in his head when they would arrive at the Dreadforth.

''After thousands of years, we would finally be able to destroy the Bolton once and for all,'' Rickard said with a smile

''It's quite weird that your family didn't destroy the Bolton after all they are your family's biggest rival and unlike your old family rivals like the Dustin, the Bolton is also you're most problematic vassal,'' Maegor said

''It's because they are always lucky, during the end of the conquest of the North, we needed a stabilizer on the east coast since not all of the vassal there is as loyal as they are now, then the Andal would invade and we needed them more because of their manpower,'' Rickard said

''Have you decided then what name you would take after we win this war or would you keep your family name,'' Rickard ask Maegor, for his contribution during the war especially as the man who would break the Bolton line during the battle of Winter-city, it was decided that they would gift Maegor land to rule over, and that land would be the land that the Bolton once rule over.

''I decided to change it to Dracos,'' Maegor said

''Dracos ?'' Rickard ask

''It's a Valyrian word that means dragon.''

''Fitting then.''

''It is since I don't want to continue and pass on the burden that came from having the Targaryen name but I also don't want to forget my original ancestry," Maegor said the burden of carrying the family name of one of the most powerful families in the world is hard for anyone. Before they are even born, there are many expectations put on their shoulders that either they would do great or terrible things.

''A wise choice then, since even though a lot of Northerners respected you, many still distrust you because of your last name,'' Roderick said toward Maegor with an approving nod for his decision to change his family name

''I know that is one of the reasons why I decided to change it, after all, both me and all of my descendants going to live here and I don't want them to still be considered an outsider even after all the things they have done like the Manderly, just because they worshiped a different god and have different culture'' Maegor said, the Manderly family has lived and ruled in the North for thousand years. But even though they fought and bled together with the rest of the Northern nobles for thousands of years, they were still considered to be outsiders and foreigners.

''We Northerners are proud and ancient people, one of the last remnants of a bygone era, because of this we remember things that other people would forget,'' Rickard said

''The North remembers,'' Maegor said knowing about one of the most infamous words in the North

''Yes, we remember everything every glory and every slight,'' Roderick said before pausing to get the right word for his next sentence ''In a way, it is a good thing because we would be able to learn from our mistakes, and try to fix them, but it's also a bad thing since we hold our grudge for a long time.''

''I think we should go to our tent to rest since we are going to fight a battle tomorrow,'' Roderick said after a couple of minutes of silence after that small speech.

The next day

After they wake up in the morning they would have breakfast before breaking camp and resuming their journey to the Dreadforth. They would March for a couple of hours before finally, they would be able to see the Dreadforth tower in the distance.

''You ready for the battle,'' Rickard ask Maegor as they rode in front of the army

''Of course,'' Maegor said with a confidant smirk while holding the pommel of his sword, eager to test his battle prowess

''My lord.'' One of the scout riders that was sent in front of the armies said to them

''What is it,'' Rickard asks

''The Dreadforth my lord.'' The scout said

''What about it.'' Rickard

''It's empty.''

''What do you mean empty,'' Rickard ask

''There is nothing there my lord except for the body.'' The scout said with terror on his face

''What bodies'' Maegor ask

''I think it's better if you see it your selves, my lord.'' The scout said

''By the god,'' Rickard said at seeing another forest of impaled people and of course the flay corpse that was nailed into the wall of the dreadforth

''Take the bodies and bury them, also prepare to destroy this castle.'' Roderick said to the soldier next to him before then looking to Maegor ''It's better if you build a new keep rather than using the old one since this place is cursed.''

''Where do you think the Bolton has gone.''

''My guess would be to Essos.''

''Do we already have an account of how many people die.''

''We count almost a couple hundred people, most of them women and children but there are still some men in it.''

''Why would they do this.''

''My guess is this way of making us rebuild this land harder since, with every people they kill, that cut the potential worker for this land.''

''Isn't that petty of them.''

''Yes.''

''If they went to Essos is it possible they would try to link up with the band of nine,'' Rickard ask, the band of nine is an alliance of sellsword and pirates, which was created to help each of its member to have a kingdom of their own.

''It's is a strong possibility.''

''If they link up with the band of nine, then we need to join the king's expedition force to the StepStone,'' Rickard said with a frown, joining the king's expedition force to the StepStone would cost the Northern coffer a lot of gold. After all unlike this war with the Bolton, which takes place in the North making it is easy to supply and fund. A war outside the boundary of the North would cost more after all they would need to get their supplies and reinforcements by using ship or using second party for the supplies

''Yes.''

''Send a raven to the Manderly and tell them to send the Northern fleet here to pick us up, so that we could join the rest of the king contingent for the war against the Stepstone.''

''Yes my lord.''

A couple of days later

After a couple of days of waiting the Northern navy would arrive in the Dreadforth. The Northern army would then be taken to Kingslanding so that it could be joined together with the army that the king mustered from the Crownland. The combined army would then make one last stop before going to the Stepstone to the Storm end to pick up the Stormland contingency. The plan for the war itself was quite simple, with the Northern, Crown land, and Strom land contingents attacking from the northern step stone. While, the reach, iron born, and western land contingencies would attack from the south.

This war could be considered the real baptism of fire for the Northern military. This is because even though the armies and the navy have tasted war, they have never experienced a war together. So this war provided a perfect opportunity for the two North military branches to work together.

The war would take almost a year to finish with the fighting taking place both in the sea and on land. Because the nine armies and navy are among the most battle-tested in the world, the battle would be fierce. But in the end, a prolonged conflict would play in favor of the Westerosi. This is because they could continue supplying their military effort with impunity. This is because they could always get more supplies and manpower from their territory which remained untouched.

While the same thing couldn't be said about the band of nine, since besides controlling Tyrosh, the disputed land and Stepstone. They didn't have a territory of their own. After all, the reason why they fought in this war in the first place is so they could carve a kingdom for themselves. So they are pretty limited in their supply of both manpower and other essential supplies.

This is why the band of nine decided they needed a decisive battle so that they could bring the Westerosi to a stalemate or the negotiating table. The Westerosi lord also agrees, even though a prolonged conflict is in their favor. They are paying a bloody price for every inch of territory they liberated from the band of nine control, also the longer the conflict goes on, the more money they lose. So they would meet in the fortress island of bloodstone in the last and most significant battle of the war. The battle itself would be bloody with the Westerosi paying a steep price for every inch of the island they took.

Still, the blood that they shed that day would be worth it since during the battle Maegor would kill Maelys the Monstrous in a legendary duel, seeing the reason why they are even at war with the Westerosi die, would make the rest of the members of the band of nine retreats from the battlefield. Leaving their army behind to the slaughters of the Westerosi, to buy them time for them to retreat to their ship and sail away from the battlefield.

The death of Maelys the Monstrous would mark the end of the war for most of the combatants except for the Northern contingency. Because a couple of days after the end of the war, they would be approached by both the magister of Myr and the remaining magister from Tyrosh, who would inquire if they could hire the Northern army, to help them depose Alequo Adarys, one of the members of the band of nine and current ruler of Tyrosh.

Rickard knows that the Northern military is tired of war, but the price that the Tryoshi and Myrish are willing to pay for the Northern military helps dispose of Alequo Adarys. Is just too large to ignore, after all the Tyroshi and Myrish are willing to pay triple the usual fee of the golden company, with also the Tyroshi willing to transfer the wealth of the Blackfyre family and Alequo Adarys to the North. While the Myrish is willing to also agree to send three ships full to the brim with glass, tapestry, lace, mirrors, and other product.

Knowing that he couldn't just decide the answer to the Myrish and Tyroshi plea by himself, Rickard would call a meeting with the Northern military commanders and ask for their opinion. The Northern commanders also know that the Northern military personnel is tired of war, but they also know what the Myrish and Tyroshi are willing to pay them is something that happens once in a lifetime. Because of this, they would tell Rickard to agree to the proposal. After getting the answer from the Northern commanders, Rickard would contact the Myrrh and Tyroshi delegates and give them the answer.

The Northern military would make preparations for the war for about a month in that time they would recruit many former soldiers to replenish the Northern number, those soldiers after being hired would then be drilled in how to fight in the Northern styles. The Tyrosh and the disputed land campaign would be unlike what they expected since in just about a month they would finish the war. The reason for the quickness of the war itself is that the soldier of Alequo Adarys would refuse to give the Northern army a battle. it is because of this in just about a month, the Northern army would clear most of the disputed land of Alequo Adarys soldiers and stand outside Tyrosh gate. The siege itself like the rest of the war would be anticlimactic with the magister of Tyrosh being able to kill Alequo Adarys, after he send most of his soldiers to reinforce the city wall.

This little detour that the Northern military undertake would make the war very profitable and worth it since the amount of money, they got amounted to five years of the North income. This would help in also easing the mind of most of the Northern military personnel. Since they wouldn't be able to end the Bolton line in this war, as the Bolton unlike their assumption would not join the war in the band of nine sides.

would then travel back to bloodstone, to talk about the new territory that they have added to the seven kingdoms. Following the end of the war and the band of nine abandoning the StepStone. The rulership of the islands could be considered to be transferred to the hand of the seven kingdoms. A council made of the great house that participated in the war ruled the islands in the name of the king until better arrangements could be made.

The new arrangement would come in a month after the Northern army returned to Bloodstone. It was unsurprisingly decided that the StepStone would be made part of the seven kingdoms, with the island chain being made as a new princedom for the Targaryen with the second son of prince Aerys Targaryen, set to become the first prince of this island.

It wasn't surprising that the crown would annex the StepStone and add it to the seven kingdoms, Since even though the island is one of the most highly disputed territories in the world. It is also one of the most highly valuable since All the sea trade to the east coast of Westeros and five out of nine of the Free Cities have to pass through it to reach the other major markets of the world.

After this arrangement is made most of the combatants would leave the island with only the newly created order of the dragon being left to maintain the peace and order of the island, with also given the duty of making sure the island remained under the iron throne control. Most of the combatants of the war wouldn't return to their homes after they depart from the StepStone. Since most of them would go to Kingslanding to attend the King's tourney in celebrating the new territory that is added to the Seven kingdoms, the end of the Blackfyre line, and also the first name day of his grandson prince Rhaegar.

The tourney would be one of the largest and grandest tourneys in the history of Westeros with the price being five times greater than any tourney that is ever been held. The tourney would take place over two weeks, with the competition lasting twelve days, with seven days being allotted to the joust, five days to the melee, and in between an archery contest, an axe-throwing contest, a horse race, and a tourney of singers would take place.

During the opening feast, many people would be given gifts, and also knighted for their contribution during the war. Maegor himself would be the one gifted the most gift by the crown since it was he that killed Maelys and ended the Blackfyre line. He would be reaffirmed in his position as the new lord of the Dreadforth but he wouldn't take a titled lord, instead, the crown would decide to gift him one of the old Valyrian aristocratic titles of a duke. This title would make him higher than an ordinary noble but below the title that the great house, prince, and kings have.

He would also be given a lot of gold and also be even allowed to take the skull of Vhagar to the North. Another person that would be given a significant gift by the crown would be Baristan Selmy, the knight from the Stromland would be the one who makes the opening that allows Maegor to duel Maelys. For this service, the crown would gift him with a spot on the king's guard.

The tourney would take place the next day and could be considered one of the most exciting tournaments to ever occur. After all, most of the participants of the tourney have been trained since childhood to become the best warrior they can become, not to mention most of them have also become war veterans. Making them able to remove some of their more foolish tendency. The Jousting tournament would be won by sir Gerold Hightower, while the melee would be won by Roderick. After the end of the tourney, the Northern military would finally return home to the North.

AN; Im still looking for a beta reader or a co writter, so for anyone interested in doing it you could either put in the review or pm me