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284 AC
I watched calmly as a long wooden bridge was extended from one of the ships we had sent into the King's lands to our ship and the leader of the men we had sent ahead of us crossed over to our ship. It was a pity they couldn't get into the city. In the event of a siege, it would have been very useful to have a force inside to create chaos and even open the gates from the inside. Still, it was highly unlikely that they would succeed. The first thing any sane commander would do in a war situation would be to restrict access to the city. At best, they could only get one ship in. I just wanted to take my chances.
When the leader came up to us and saw me, his eyes widened in surprise. Apparently he hadn't yet learned that I was awake. That was good. If we were lucky, we could use it to trick the Targaryens.
Just then I heard the man's voice, "Lord Commander. I am glad to see you awake."
I replied with a big laugh.
"So am I, Isaac, so am I. So what news do you have for me."
"Sir, as you may have guessed, we failed to enter the city and by the time we did, Rhaegar Targaryen had already left the city with his army and ordered strict control of the city."
Jonal joined the conversation from his seat next to me.
"Do you know how many men are left in the city?"
"Prince Rhaegar has taken at least half of the gold cloaks and most of the Targaryen guards. I think there are at most 1500 men inside, and they are mostly recruits."
As far as I know, there were 2000 gold cloaks in the city in normal times. So that's a thousand gold cloaks and 500 Targaryen guards. It was still too many. In this age, to conquer a castle or a city by brute force, you needed at least ten times as many defenders, depending on the castle.
Artos "And the Targaryen navy, where are they?"
Isaac "They have retreated to Dragonstone. There are occasional ships patrolling Blackwater Bay, but not many."
Artos "And what are the other kingdoms doing."
Isaac "That's exactly my point. The Vale, the riverlands, the stormlands and the north have rebelled. Reach and Dorne have pledged their allegiance to the throne, while the westernlands have yet to declare their allegiance. As far as I know, the Reach is besieging Storm's End with all its might."
What, that doesn't make sense. The Reach can easily muster 60000 men. Even if Storm's End is the seat of House Baratheon, if Robert is not there, it's a waste of time to surround it with 60000 men.
Everyone had similar questions as me. Isaac continued as if he didn't notice.
Isaac said, "The forces of Dorne and Crowlands and the rebel forces met at the trident. In the battle, Robert Baratheon killed Rhaegar targaryen. Prince Lewyn Martel and Jonothor Darry, commanders of the royalist army, also died and the royalist army was disbanded."
At that moment there was such silence on the deck that if a pin dropped, you could hear it. Until the voice of the man at the top of the mast was heard. "There are ships coming in from starboard."
Jonal immediately shouted for more information. "How many and what seal they bear."
"There are four and they carry the seal of the three-headed dragon."
Jonal "Lord commander what do we do?"
I smiled wildly as the idea came to me. "Jonal, would you be interested in being lord commander for a while?"
Jonal "Sir, I don't understand."
Artos "Meet with them as lord commander of the rose group. We are mercenaries who came to Westeros to earn money in the war. See if they are interested in hiring us to defend the king's lands. I am in my quarters."
Jonal was smart enough to understand what I meant next. Thank the old gods, I had already had all the Stark or northern symbols removed because I had a plan to infiltrate the royalist army. All that was left was the seal of the winter rose (a pale blue rose), the symbol of the rose mercenary group.
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284 AC
The company was entering the city through the dragon gate in neat ranks. King Aerys had finally decided to hire us and take us into the city. He had little alternative. With the purpose of the reach unclear and the crownlands and the dornish army lost, he needed every sword he could find.
I put on a helmet that covered my entire face and hid amongst the army, not wanting to risk being recognized by anyone who had seen me or Brandon. Jonal and 200 guards led the way, heading to the Red Keep for a meeting with King Aerys. As I had ordered, they were to wait until at least half the company had entered the city. Then, just as they were about to enter the Red Keep, they were to attack and take the gates. Then, while the soldiers under Isaac's and Arthur's command take the city, the cavalry of about 800 men under my command will go to the castle and join with Jonal's forces to take it.
The soldiers were ordered not to rape and not to attack civilians unless they were attacked themselves. I had other plans for civilians. Usually after a siege, rape and looting are common events, but this time there was no siege. Six thousand men, baptized in many battles in Essos, against 1500 Targaryen recruits.
As I ran the plan through my mind again and clenched my fists impatiently, I saw the colored smoke rising from the direction of the red castle and drew the great sword on my back and ordered the men waiting for the signal to attack.
"Charge!"
The men in front of me began to spread out in an organized fashion, while the men under Isaac's and Arthur's command began to slaughter the city guards who were trying to figure out what had happened to take control of the city gate. With one last look around, my feet dug into my horse's flank and the horse lunged forward with all its might as the rest of the cavalry began to follow me towards the red castle.
It seemed like an eternity for me, even though we reached the entrance to the red castle in five minutes at most. I was surging with rage and the wolf's blood was soaking up all the aether in my body, increasing my strength and anger. Unfortunately, trying to ride up the stairs during a battle is incredibly difficult, so as soon as we reached the stairs we dismounted and headed towards the main entrance of the castle. The first thing I saw as soon as we reached the stairs were the Targaryen men fighting Jonal and his men and trying to throw them out.
Without hesitation, I threw myself at the Targaryen men with a furious roar, and before I knew what was happening, the first man I encountered was nearly cut in half by my greatsword landing in his stomach. The second man was a little luckier and managed to meet my sword with his shield, but the sheer force behind the blow shattered it and sent him flying in another direction. As I ducked under a spear hurled in my direction, I took my sword in one hand and used my gauntlet, specially made to resemble a claw, to slice the poor bastard's throat. The fight went on for another minute or two, but eventually the Targaryen guards could take no more and turned and fled back into the castle.
Taking deep breaths, I looked around and saw that, apart from a few wounded, there were almost no casualties, which was normal, as we were outnumbered and the men here were the best in the company, while the men in front of us were novices.
Without wasting any more time I started shouting orders. "Arnold you take three hundred men and guard the gate." Arnold nodded his head in agreement. "Jonal, take three hundred men and start looking for the queen and the princes and princesses, while you deal with any guards you come across."
He nodded in agreement and then continued. "What should I do when I find them." I just looked into his eyes for a moment. "I want them all alive, not a bloody nose, and I want Jamie Lannister, the Kingsguard, alive as well." He looked surprised for a moment, but didn't question it too much, and after shouting at a few people, he went into the castle with the men following him. "The rest of you will search the castle with me, starting with the throne room, Aerys Targaryen is our target." and I headed for the throne room with the men following me.
I had been to this castle before with Brandon and my father. I didn't remember much about the castle, but at least I knew how to get to the throne room from the main gates. There were a few people on the way, but not many, and it became clear why: there were almost 70 men waiting for us in front of the throne gate. So the rest of the guards were gathered here. Without hesitation I attacked them shouting and the fight was short and bloody. We were outnumbered almost 4 to 1 and our opponents were novices at best, so the fight was over fairly quickly. Also, the lack of cover and obstacles in the corridor made it easier for us.
Taking a deep breath, I placed my hands on either side of the wide door to the throne room and pushed with all my might.
The thick wooden doors opened slowly with a deep groan. There were only two people inside. I expected more, but this was fine. After all, here was the man I had been looking for all this time. King Aerys Targaryen. AKA the Mad King and his Kingsguard Jaime Lannister.
And then I realized something else: there were several bodies lying on the edge of the throne room, a small pool of blood forming beneath them. Jaime Lannister's sword was drawn. It was dripping with blood and he was walking towards the king. Meanwhile, the mad king was shouting at the top of his lungs, "'Burn them all'". The dragon skulls lining the walls were silent observers of this scene.
What the fuck was going on here....
Whatever was going on here, it didn't matter! All that mattered was that Jaime 'fucking' Lannister was stealing my prey.
When Jaime Lannister saw me, he just stood there.
"Get away from there sir Jamie, that bastard is my prey."
Jaime "Based on what exactly."
I spoke while taking off my helmet. "Based on this."
His face contorted in surprise, then shock, and finally fear. Jamie Lannister stuttered and spoke with difficulty. "You-you were dead. I saw it."
Oh, so he thought I was Brandon.
Artos said, "It was Brandon. My twin brother."
Jamie Lannister's eyes widened with recollection and recognition.
Jamie Lannister "I thought you left Westeros."
"I'm back. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to kill that bastard."
Lannister looked back for a moment. The mad king had been shouting the whole time and I was getting a headache. He seemed hesitant at first, but he threw down his sword and stepped out of my way.
I've imagined this scene so many times over the past few months, I can't even count them, but none of them come close to what's happening now. In my imagination, Aerys is scared and shitting himself and crying out for mercy. he was begging. There was none of that here. The madman was giving one order, as he had been doing all along. "Burn them all. Burn them all." He sat on that hideous throne and shouted it over and over. He didn't care about anything that was happening around him.
Slowly but unstoppably I approached the mad king. There was no recognition or anything else in his eyes when he saw me. Just pure unadulterated madness. He was still giving orders with all his might. "Burn them all."
And at that moment something inside me broke. My rage let go of its restraints and swallowed everything in its path. I don't even know which hand threw the first punch. When I finally came to, Aerys Targaryen was lying on the ground. His head was shattered from the impact of my punches, unrecognizable. My whole body was covered in his blood and brain fragments.