"Bring Loyal Man to the quays!" He ordered. "Clear away anyone who can't help it." This excursion hadn"t had the success of the first. He had been watching from the walls. They had sunk two enemy warships and another two of the Lyseni sellsails, and lost three vessels of their own. His fire ships may have been able to catch some of the enemy ships, but he didn't know for certain, they were blocked from view by the cliffs. Loyal Man wasn't the only ship that would need fixing, but it was listing badly and needed immediate care.
"My Lord," he turned to Ser Jacelyn. "The Hound and Ser Balon have returned." He nodded and returned to his horse. The fleet would have to handle itself for now. "Tell the captains to meet me inside the gate once the fleet is at anchor, and ensure that chain is raised and strong," he called back over his shoulder before racing back to the city to meet his top two commanders.
It was good that he had maintained a constant watch on Stannis Baratheon's host. When his fleet was out in the bay, apart from a few ships still under repair from the previous excursion, some of King Stannis' soldiers had rafted the Rush further upstream. Not many, and there was no general mobilisation to battle columns on the southern bank, so they had gone against orders. His first instinct had been to sweep in with his sellswords and knights and sweep them back into the Rush. But then he had seen their numbers and ordered the Hound and Ser Balon to lead a force of one thousand city watchmen, those raised by Cersei at the beginning of the war, against the new foe. They had the numbers on their side and were bolstered by some knights and guardsmen to solidify the line, but they were to do the bulk of the fighting. This way they would have some experience of battle, strengthening them if Stannis should cross with the rest of his army. If he got another chance like this, he would send the other green gold cloaks to get some experience of their own.
Several dozen gold cloaks had been killed, but the rest looked firmer, more sure of themselves. He approached the Hound and Ser Balon. The Hound had placed his helm on a barrel beside him and was looking disdainfully at the gold cloaks still filtering into the city by the King's Gate. Ser Balon was kneeling, holding his Morningstar by the chain and wiping blood from the spiked ball.
"Ser Balon, Sandor," he called, approaching them. "Any troubles?"
"None, my lord Hand," Balon replied. "We drove Lord Stannis" soldiers back into the rush. The men performed better than I expected. I think this has been good for them in the long term." The Hound just nodded at Ser Balon's comments.
He nodded. "Well done, get some rest, both of you. You've served well today. Did you do as I asked?"
This time the Hound answered. "Aye, we put the bodies back on the rafts and sent them back to Lord Stannis."
He walked among the gold cloaks who had returned from the sortie. It would have served best if Joff had been doing it himself, but the boy king could hardly stand to be with these men, praising them might be too much to ask, he would like as not insult them before praising them. So it was left to him to tell them they had done well. He clapped them on the shoulder, helped bandage a few wounds, passed around water and praised their skill and bravery, they had done well this day, and they needed to know that.
After a while of that, he returned to the River Gate, where the King stood on the walls in his armour, the rest of his Kingsguard about him. He saw Ser Aron organising some men carrying water through the streets to one side and singers playing songs for the men resting below the walls. The three Trebuchets stood under guard below the walls. Cersei had wanted to name them for herself, Joff and Tywin, but he had overruled her. He gave them names of heroes. The King Robert stood in the middle, with the Bold Barristan to the left and Arthur Dayne to the right. He hoped they would be inspiring and remind the city of Joff's father Robert. But he had underestimated the soldiers who had given them the inelegant name, "the Three Whores."
The trebuchets were standing still and silent. They were powerful, but he didn't want to waste a single boulder. A few might make it across the Rush, but Lord Stannis would simply pull his host back. But Joff wasn't happy about that. "Why did you send the dead men back across the Rush by raft. We could have used the Whores! Mother said I could."
She also said you could throw naked prisoners across using them as well. Loren sighed. "Your Grace, there is no reason for us to use the Whores, it is possible that Lord Stannis doesn't know we have them yet. Why reveal it? Besides, I didn't see why we have to drag hundreds of corpses through the city. It would dishearten the men."
"Mother said-" the king began.
"Your mother isn't here, boy," he reminded the king. "And you may wish to stop bringing her up so much. King's shouldn't be advised so much by their mother. Aegon wasn't listening to his mother when he decided to take the Seven Kingdoms. He likely listened to able councillors who knew what they were talking about, not his mother." A lie, in most likelihood. Aegon the Conqueror ruled strongly and well, and almost certainly didn't plan his invasion with the help of others. But Joff was no Aegon the Conqueror, and would need all the advice... all the sound advice he could get.
"How long do I have to stand here?" Joff asked, humbled but still obstinate.
"You can take a few breaks," he assured the king. "But make sure you are seen by enough people to make them remember you are still here."
He grumbled and nodded. Loren left the king to go and see to the captains who were gathering below the gate.
"My Lord," said Captain Addam of King Robert's Hammer and de-facto admiral of the Fleet since they didn't have a Master of Ships right now. He had served on the vessel in the Greyjoy Rebellion under Lord Stannis, but had never shown any inclination to rejoin the master of ships, and had proved his loyalty so far. The man would no doubt be receiving a knighthood along with the other captains when the battle was done, a lordship if Loren was to have any say in it. "You sent for us?"
The captains were all proven seamen, you could see it in their faces, and they all looked to him with Captain Addam. "I did," he confirmed. "I saw the battle today, it was not nearly as successful as yesterday, but still, I praise your work so far. You have all served ably."
"Thank you, Lord," Addam bowed his head in thanks.
"But a change of tactics is required. How well do you know the waters around the bay?"
They glanced at each other. "Rather well, my lord, though you sound like you may be about to ask something that may be beyond us."
"Beyond the Royal Fleet?" They lacked the arrogance he had seen in pirates in the east.
"Skilled captains know their limits, otherwise they'll be on the seabed before long," Addam confirmed.
Loren nodded. He liked the honesty that Addam was giving him. "Very well then, Addam, here is what I ask. Could you sail the bay at night?"
"At night?" Asked the captain of the White Hart. "That depends on where."
"I agree," said Addam. "We could sail the heart of the bay, but I am unsure of what you wish us to do out there at night. We know the bay no better than the captains of Lord Stannis' Fleet."
Loren nodded. There was no point in hiding his proposal. "The battles in the day are no longer helping us, we are not doing the damage we need to. Could you attack the fleet enemy in one savage night attack?"
They didn't look hopeful. "It wouldn't be easy," said the captain of the White Hart. "Just finding them would be a challenge in itself. Then there's the attack."
"Finding them shouldn't be impossible," Addam replied. "We know they anchor on Massey's Hook based on where they come from. There aren't any ports capable of housing such a fleet on the Hook, which means they're anchoring in open water. We'll be able to use their own defences against them."
"How so?" Loren asked.
"They'll have to light up the coast to prevent them sinking their own vessels, in the dark that should act as a beacon for us to find them. But I don't know how we'd attack. We signal each other with flags, and in the night we couldn't possibly see them."
"It could be done with fire ships," said another captain. "We find out where their fleet is anchored and then send in the fire ships while their crews are asleep."
"We don't have that many fire ships left," Loren reminded them. "Unless you want to contribute one of the warships to that, but I would hesitate. I want as many of these ships still available as possible."
Addam looked at the sky. "We have several hours yet until sundown," he noted. "And if the Baratheon fleet acts as it did yesterday, they'll be coming back before then. We'll draw up some plans, my lord Hand, and you can decide then whether you want us to sail."
He nodded. "Very good, go and do that, there are a few other matters to which I must attend."
They returned outside the city and Loren mounted his horse again. He rode to the north, the Dragon Gate specifically, where he could wait for Ser Gerold. The people moved out of the way of him and the knights at his back. Ser Jacelyn had men of the gold cloaks riding down the streets regularly to prevent any holdups. They passed a burned out baker that had been looted in the night, and many starving people of the city huddled against walls. One seller still making some money was selling fried rat. Probably better than old rotting rat, if nothing else. A man was standing by him with a club. He suspected the clubman got a rat or two for free in exchange for keeping away thieves and rioters.
At the north wall things were much less ordered than at the south. A few hundred Gold Cloaks were here, as were the near a thousand strong sellsword force, led by Tyrion's pet man, Bronn. He dismounted and scaled the wall to wait for Ser Gerold's return. Then he would have his answer. Was Stannis' Fleet trying to intimidate him into surrender, lure out his own ships, or did they have another purpose.
He didn't have to wait long before he saw the telltale banners on the horizon. Given the speed they were galloping to him. That didn't bode well. The gate rattled open as Gerold and his escort of twenty men rode into the city. "Ser Gerold," he yelled before the knight went riding too far into the city looking for him. The knight turned to him on his horse and dismounted, racing up to him.
"My lord," he bowed his head, apparently what he had to say was too urgent to engage in proper formalities. "They aren't just sailing north to try and scare us, or lure out the fleet. They are landing soldiers north of the city."
He paled. He hadn't prepared any defences north of the city. "How many?"
"Four thousand from yesterday, perhaps a little less. But if they bring the same number today..."
"Eight thousand," Loren muttered. That was a large enough force to take the city alone, even if the number was less than that, there was still a force north of the city that he couldn't hope to defeat conventionally. Even to hold them off in a siege would require many of the men on the south. If they attacked at the same time as men from the south...
He needed to thin them out, make them too scared or weak to attack the city. Or he could provoke them to attack now, while Stannis Baratheon's main force was on the southern bank, and focus his force to defeat them before Stannis crossed with the rest of his army. He needed unconventional warfare, and Tyrion had told him how Bronn had won the Trial by Combat in the Vale. "Bronn!" He called out and the sellsword looked up at him. He beckoned and the sellsword swaggered up to him.
"You called," he said.
Loren nodded. "How many sellswords are there in the city?"
"A thousand, more or less."
Loren glanced down at them. "Are they good?"
Bronn shrugged. "Not as good as me, but they can fight."
"Humour me and be honest," Loren said. "If I were to send them out of the city, how many would return?"
"Depends on what you offered us to return," Bronn said.
Loren nodded. He shouldn't have expected less. The Golden Company had set the bar too high for him when it came to sellswords. "There is a force of men, more than the sellswords, waiting north of here. I want you to lead the sellswords out, fight as skirmishers, attack the camp at night, harry them if they ever ride and kill off their scouts and foragers."
"And why should we do that?"
"Because I'll offer five silver stags for every surcoat or shield that can identify the enemy to us. I don't care about the quality, just proof of the kill."
"Heads are easier to carry," Bronn commented.
"And easier to remove from peasants with whom I have no conflict," Loren replied. Bronn grinned. "Will the sellswords ride for that?"
"Most of them, and the rest'll follow on any way. Any silver is better than none."
"Get them ready then," he said. "You'll go this evening."
Bronn mockingly bowed and departed. "My Lord," Gerold said, when Loren didn"t move.
"I need to meet with the fleet captains," he said, walk with me and tell me everything you saw in the camps. He had to get an attack against the enemy fleet before they moved Stannis' entire host north of the city where he could do nothing to stop them.
