To the west

Edmure POV

Looking at the map of the Westerlands, I tried to determine the path and strategy I should take. I had to look at how much time I could waste on one or the other, keep or castle. Some might surrender immediately, but I knew that the lords of the Westerlands were proud men. Some might fight to the end.

"So, have you planned our journey, Edmure?" Patrek asked. "We are leaving tomorrow morning, aren't we?"

"We are."

"I bet we will go through the Goldroad, so we will first take Deep Den, Hornvale, and Silverhill."

"All of them are located in hilly mountainous terrain," I told him. "Neither of them would be easy to take."

"We have Lord Serrett of Silverrush and Lord Lydden of Deep Den as our hostages. It shouldn't be challenging to convince them to surrender completely."

"Both of them don't have any heirs. So, we will take them with us, and if they let us station our men in their keeps, I will free them. What I am worried about is Hornvale. Andros Brax was killed in the Riverlands. I don't think ser Tytos Brax will let his father's killers take Hornvale easily."

"Well, we won't know until we try it," Patrek said. "It is already late. You should rest."

"You are right. Even if it isn't easy, Hornvale will fall before me."

I would take fifteen thousand men from Riverlands with me. I planned to take the castles to Casterly Rock to establish a line for resources. Once Casterly Rock was taken, the rest of the Westerlands should surrender sooner rather than later. Then I would go to Seagard to support the North with the war against the Ironborn.

"Well, rest at least a little bit," Patrek said. "I will be going."

"Don't drink tonight. We are leaving with the dawn."

I was concerned about Patrek's condition, but there was little I could do. Still, I should try to be with him for as long as possible. I can't let him fall too deep into despair. Yet, I knew that there would be another war after this war.

…

We left King's Landing without much commotion, but we could not avoid it altogether. The camps outside the walls of King's Landing saw fifteen thousand men leaving, and thousands of people gathered to watch us.

I tried my best to dismiss them and not give any attention to them. I could see from their eyes that they wanted to know who we were, where we were going, and so on. It was the same when the men of the North had left. Well, this time, many more have recognized who I was.

It was a surprise when a woman with a little girl came in front of my horse and me. I expected that something like this would happen. She and her daughter were dirty. She was wearing nothing but rags. She was probably one of the many who lost their home to the Wildfire.

"Please, ser, spare a coin."

I stopped one knight who wanted to push the woman out of the way. I knew that I should choose my following action carefully. The people there have lost almost everything. If they are pushed around more, they might revolt. Still, giving this woman some coins only invite others to jump in front of us and beg for more.

"I don't have any coins with me now," I said to the woman and took off my cloak. "Have this cloak, sell it and get some coins, or keep it and protect yourself from the cold."

I waited until the woman took the cloak and left our path before continuing riding. Maybe shocked that I would not only not insult and push the woman out of the way but give her my cloak, no one else tried to jump on our path. People just looked at us.

Seeing my actions, my knights took off their cloaks and threw them at the people. The cloaks weren't expensive, but they still were made from good and firm cloth. They had the trout of House Tully embroidered on them. They were worth some coins.

As we passed the camps on the outskirts of the Gold road, people started to cheer for their gifts. I didn't say anything to them and just passed them quietly. I felt proud of my knights too. The feeling of guilt that they had to lose their homes never disappeared from me. I reaffirmed to myself not to make such a mistake ever again.

…

The first castle that we arrived at was Deep Den. It was the closest to Gold road. The castle wasn't big and didn't have walls outside its courtyard. It was built into a mountain, with only one way in and out. Lord Lydden said that the castle was initially nothing but a mine before it was fortified.

"As we have agreed, lord Lydden you might go back to your home, but I will leave thirty men to keep watch."

"So, I am nothing but a prisoner of my own home."

"Trust me, lord Lydden, there are worst fates. Until the war is over, I will watch you and your lands. If we see that you are trying to gather some men, I will have no problem getting rid of you."

"I am no fool."

"I hope so for your well-being."

"What next, Edmure?" Patrek asked. "Should we go to Hornvale of Silverhill?"

"Sandor Glegane," I called out to my sword. "Take three hundred men and Lord Serret to Silverhill. Leave fifty men in there and come to Hornvale."

"What if lord Serret doesn't keep his word?" Asked Glegane.

"Kill him, and if you can't take the castle, return to me."

I have no time or patience for the lords of the Westerlands. If they can't accept their loss, they can die screaming as they like. I don't care for their pride. Tywin Lannister had thrown the pride of the Westerlands away when he burned King's Landing.

…

Hornvale was a bit longer away from Gold road than the map suggested. Even with the guide, traveling through the hills and mountains took some time to reach this castle. And the welcoming for us wasn't the warmest one. Yet it was something that I expected.

Hornvale was a more immense castle than Deep Den, and the new lord seemed prepared for our arrival. Lord Tytos Brax refused to listen to my offer and closed his gates to us. As expected, I would have to take the castle by force.

Looking around the castle walls, I found it was situated inside a hilly and mountainous terrain. At first glance, it looked pretty hard to siege, and it was, but the terrain that lord Brax relied upon was his weakness.

"Patrek, get ready. We will storm the castle tonight."

A plan formed inside my mind as I waited for the night. Lord Brax didn't have more than a hundred men protecting his home. A group of elite knights could take on them if we moved fast and silently. So, when the night fell, I took thirty of my best men and instructed Patrek to be prepared to storm the castle once the gates were opened.

The terrain worked for us as we moved behind rocks and cliffs. Shadows covered us from the sight of lord Brax's guards. We wore leather armor to move as quietly as possible. It took time, but we arrived at the walls and were undetected. There we silently set up a ladder and started to climb.

I was the first to arrive on the wall. Quickly looking around to see any patrols, I motioned for the rest to follow. Of course, it didn't take long before I saw two torches from each side getting to our position. I motioned for two of my men to take care of the guys left to us while I went to the two ones on the left.

As the two men were getting closer, I moved. They saw only a shadow before one's neck was cut wide open. The other didn't have time to react when I stabbed him into the chest. I left my Valyrian sword inside him, covered his mouth with one hand, and grabbed his torch with another.

Looking behind me, I saw that the other guys were taken care of too. Once I was sure nobody was behind them, I dragged the bodies back to our ladder. Three of my men quickly took off the armor of these men and wore them themselves. Taking the torches, they moved to secure our position.

When all thirty men climbed the walls, we split into two groups. One went left and the other right. So far, my plan has worked. It seems lord Brax didn't expect us to attack tonight. Moving fast, we soon took control of the towers on the walls and were prepared to take on the gates.

Signaling Patrek with our torches to start moving, we climbed down the walls and attacked the guards. We have forgone sneaking, as the rest of the castle would hear the gates opening anyway. We had to move fast at this point, and so we did. The guards didn't expect thirty men to attack them, and we killed them quickly.

I instructed a couple of my men to open the gates while the rest formed a semi-circle to protect our position from the incoming guards. As expected, we were heard, and lord Brax himself soon came out with about sixty guards by his side.

"Lord Brax," I greeted him.

"Lord Edmure Tully," He greeted me back.

"I would suggest you surrender," I said. "The gates are ours, and soon the rest of my men will arrive."

"Then I have to take care of you before they arrive."

Knowing that he had to take me hostage before the rest of my men arrived, he rushed at me. Too bad for him I wasn't someone to be taken lightly. He was a big man with some skill, so I took on him myself.

"You killed my father and brothers," Tytos Brax said when our swords clashed.

"Did you expect I would let them do as they wished in my lands?"

Our swords clashed a few more times. I don't remember killing them personally, but I had killed many; if it weren't me who killed them, it would have been my men. Blocking his fourth strike with my sword, I kicked at his legs for him to lose his balance.

As he started to lose to me, one of his guards quickly came to help him. The guard swung his sword widely, anyone would have been able to dodge this kind of attack, but I didn't have the luxury to step back. So, I stepped forward, catching his hand with my own, and thrust my sword into his chest.

By the time the guard had fallen to the ground, lord Brax was already close to me to swing his sword. I once again blocked his sword with mine. I knew he wanted to push past me and close the gates before it was too late, but it was already too late when Patrek came running behind me.

Seeing that he had lost, he became enraged and started to swing at me wildly. His swings were intense but too broad, easy for me to dodge, and cut deep into his chest. He no longer needed to live, so I took his head here and now. After seeing their lord die, the rest quickly fell too.

"Hornvale is yours, Edmure," Patrek said.

"Secure the keep," I ordered.

Hornvale was only one of the castles I would have to take. Next would be Golden Tooth. Once secured, we would have both paths from King's Landing and the Riverlands in our hands. Then there would be nothing that could stop us from moving on Casterly Rock.

A.N. Thanks for reading. If you want more, up to five advance chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852