Third Month of 233 A.L. Stone Hedge

Lord Rodrik Stout

Once more he rode into war, following his liege lord's open declaration and calling of the banners, some 7,000 men had come to Winterfell and had marched south under the black direwolf and black dragon, of House Stark and House Blackfyre. Rodrik had felt a sense of anticipation and relief that at last they were marching to war, though he had fought in the civil war in the north, this was the war that he had been training for, for half his life. Lord Brandon had given him command of the vanguard of the northern and as such had instructed him to pillage and destroy whatever lands he could find in the Riverlands should they come across resistance. As such they had met little resistance to their crossing at the Twins and Lord Walder had not exacted a toll already fearing for his safety, and as they had marched south, they had come into contact with a small host of some 500 men mustered by Lord Monford Mallister. That battle was a short and bloody one, the Mallisters and their men fought hard and fought long, and yet at the end of the day, it was their bodies that stained the ground red, and Rodrik and his men had only suffered some eighty losses, which was not bad for their total host of 2,000 men.

Once that was done, Rodrik had his men begin lightening raiding campaigns against the riverlander towns of Hag's Mire and Fairmarket, taking whatever supplies they could find and whatever else took their fancy. This was done to buy time for the rest of the northern host to come southward as well as to see whether Lord Lyonel Tully truly would retain his pledge of neutrality. The man had done just that, but eventually his bannermen grew impatient and desperate for action and so both Lords Vance, Lord Piper and Lord Darry had assembled a host of men and had marched towards the Blue Fork where Rodrik had given battle to them. At one point it had seemed as if they would lose but the rest of the northern army had descended down upon the Riverlord army and had forced it to retreat. That retreat had then allowed the Golden Company to come down and arrive, and with House Bracken declaring for the black dragon once more, they had set up shop in Stone Hedge.

Of course such a thing had to be answered by the Iron Throne even when there was no king sitting on it, and as such there were rumours that a host of riverlords, Darry, Vance, Piper, Blanetree and many others were rallying behind the Red Dragon and were marching for Stone Hedge. King Baelon had called for a meeting to discuss this as well as other matters. The King was silent for most of the previous war councils but he often spoke his thoughts when he felt the need, often he simply let his hand Ser Aegor speak for him. Today was different though. "My lords," the king began. "We have won two battles in the Riverlands thanks to Lord Rodrik and his men. However, as ever the riverlords are divided amongst themselves and Riverrun itself this time will not call them together. We have received oaths of fealty from House Bracken of course, House Charlton, Butterwell, Deddings and Goodbrook have all pledged their support to the cause. And our sending men towards Stone Hedge as we speak. The kinslayer Bloodraven though is leading men from the Stoney Sept and is planning on marching on Stone Hedge. I do not mean to let him take us here though. I mean to meet him in open battle and have done with him."

Lord Brandon spoke then his voice neutral. "And how do you plan on doing that Your Grace? Bloodraven knows his way around a battlefield better than half the men here. And as such he will have many plans up his sleeve, some of which he will use to lure you away from the safety of your guards. Thus I do believe you should appoint your Kingsguard now and be done with it."

There was some muttering at that, though it ended when Ser Aegor spoke up. "Aye Lord Brandon speaks truly Your Grace. We cannot risk it all by having you lured away by the kinslayer, and knowing him as I do that is what he will hope to accomplish. You must name knights to your Kingsguard and you must do it now."

The king was silent for a moment and there Rodrik saw his uncertainty and his hesitancy, it was easy to forget that he was only sixteen and not a fully blooded man as he sometimes acted. His voice though was strong and confident when he said. "Very well then. If I must name a Kingsguard I will name those men who have so far proven themselves in battle. And that includes, Ser Leyton Woolfield the man has more skill with a sword then anyone I have ever seen. Ser Andrew Bracken you have fought beside me during our campaigns in the Disputed Lands and there is none I trust more than you, I would name you to my Kingsguard as well. I am struggling to find four other names right now. I say four because there is one man who I would trust the most to keep me safe through the turmoil of the court and war. And that is you nuncle. Ser Aegor Rivers I would name you Lord Commander of my Kingsguard."

The ancient warrior bowed his head and accepted. And then said. "Now that we have gotten that out of the way, there is more information that must be shared with the war council before we move onto talk of when we face Bloodraven." The man paused for a moment and then said. "The Vale, or rather those houses who are following Lord Jasper's lead have declared for you, Your Grace. A few houses such as Corbray, Grafton, Templeton and others have remained loyal to the Targaryens. Lord Jasper has written that once he is done dealing with those houses he shall march to combine his strength with ours to march on King's Landing." There was some cheering at that, but it ended once Ser Aegor spoke once more. "The Westerlands though it seems are united behind the Targaryens they are also marching as we speak to deal with us. But the Ironborn are sailing to wreak havoc on them." There was more for him to say but he remained silent and then looked to the king.

King Baelon nodded and then said. "Now as for the battle with Bloodraven, Lord Rodrik if you would be so kind as to lead the probing force into battle once more, to lure the man away from the Stoney Sept we would be grateful." Rodrik nodded and then the king continued. "Lord Bracken you shall command the left of the host, Ser Aegor the right and I shall command the van." The men nodded and then the king said. "We ride at first light tomorrow. Now go and rest I want you all rested."

Fifth Month of 233 A.L. Prince's Pass

Ser Doran Martell

Another civil war gripped Westeros. King Maekar's death had seen to that, the king whilst not well liked had been a calm and stable hand gripping Westeros through the eleven years of his reign. Once he had died it had only been a matter of time before war engulfed Westeros once more. Doran had personally thought war would emerge over the Targaryen succession, but instead it had erupted when Baelon Blackfyre had emerged with the Golden Company and the north behind him and had begun fighting in the Riverlands. All sorts of trouble had emerged then, when Mallister, Vance, Piper and Darry were beaten in two battles other lords began rebelling and had drawn away from the Great Council. There was fighting in the Vale and in the Westerlands, and King's Landing was a ghost town.

Lord Otto Tyrell had finally declared his betrayal of the Targaryens and had lifted a black dragon atop his flag post, and had sent men to raid the border between Dorne and the Reach. Princess Arianne, the ruling Princess of Dorne had tasked him with dealing with the Reachermen and so he had. Taking 8,000 spears he had dealt a quick and harsh blow to the force commanded by Lord Jon Costayne, smashing it to pieces on the mountains and rocks of the Prince's Pass. The second battle had actually happened in the Dornish Marches and had seen Doran join hands with Lord Caron as they fought off another attack launched by Lord Sam Tarly. That battle had been a much more difficult one and Doran had lost many good men, still he pushed on and eventually Tarly had been slain and his host defeated.

After that Doran had led his men back to the Prince's Pass where they had been stationed for the past three months, waiting for news from either Sunspear or King's Landing. During that time there had been a few minor skirmishes with bandits and outlaws who had emerged during this time, and even once or twice with sellswords from Essos fighting for gods alone knew who. Of course just now Doran could not think about that, for his princess's husband Ser Alor Blackmont had arrived and had come to take stock of how things were. The man looked tired and drained but still Doran spoke up. "Since I last wrote to Sunspear, there have been some three skirmishes with men fighting for the Blackfyres, they have been men from small groups and minor houses and they have all been dealt with effectively. Yet this conflict has brought about more banditry and general lawlessness than anything else. My men grow restless and itch for actual battle. I fear what will happen if I do not give it to them."

Ser Alor smiled then and said. "Then I believe what news I am about to give you will please your men. Arianne has just written to me from King's Landing. It appears that the faction that was supporting Princess Elaena has decided to have her wed to Baelon Blackfyre and as such has begun making overtures to the man. They have left court and King's Landing altogether and are making fast progress towards Stone Hedge or wherever it is that the boy is now."

Doran gasped then and asked. "Are they being serious? Princess Elaena although a lovely girl is also somewhat slow on the uptake. And her backers are not exactly all that powerful, surely they do not believe that Blackfyre or Bittersteel will accept them?"

Ser Alor looked at him and sighed. "You do not understand, Velaryon has also declared for Blackfyre and is bringing with him the might of the Velaryon fleet as well as several of the Crackclaw Point houses. They have significant push now to achieve their goals."

"But why would Velaryon want a black dragon on the throne?" Doran asked. "It makes no sense, he is more likely to gain something from remaining loyal to the Targaryens after all there could be a royal betrothal for it in him, if he betroths his daughter to Prince Maegor. Doing what he is doing now gives him nothing."

His goodbrother spoke then and his tone was sad. "Aye but Daeron Velaryon feels as if his house has been steadily in decline since the Dance, and believes that the only way to arrest that is to side with the Black Dragon. His fleet is sailing towards the Trident now, and he hopes to land men there as we speak. Furthermore, there are those at court who believe making Prince Aegon king would be a good idea, as the man is grown, and has battle experience, though Prince Aegon himself constantly states he wants neither the throne, the crown nor the responsibility. He does not even wish to be his nephew Maegor's regent."

"And Maegor's own grandfather has betrayed him has he not?" Doran asked. "Declaring for the Black dragon? What news has come of Bloodraven and the host he led into battle?"

Ser Alor shook his head then and said. "Aye, Lord Bracken has declared for Baelon Blackfyre and left Prince Maegor without any real support besides Maester Aemon, and even then no one is sure what game that man is playing. As for Bloodraven, there is limited information coming through. From what I have been able to gather, he led his host from the Stoney Sept a moon ago, since then there has been no word from him or anyone in his camp."

That was bad news, bad news indeed. "And what of the battle you said my men would get Ser? Where will that be and who with?"

Alor looked grim then and he said. "Arianne wants you to head into the Reach and march for Cider Hall. Bring down the lords gathering there and that shall be your battle."

"Cider Hall?" Doran asks. "You're asking me to go to Cider Hall and let my men die as the Tyrells send arrows down upon them for something that could be settled in court?"

Alor looks at him then and his eyes harden. "No I am asking you to do your duty to Dorne and end this gods damned threat to our people once and for all. And the way to do that is to go to Cider Hall."