WILOW-Ch.427: Returning to the Army
King's Landing, Crownlands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric stood on top of the walls of King's Landing under his camouflage cloak and looked at the armies around him.
The Baratheon men were on the walls, keeping an eye on the Tyrell army that had surrounded King's Landing.
The whole situation didn't look any different than a week ago when he passed by this area.
It seems like the Tyrell army didn't want to waste too many men and was waiting for the Northern, Vale, and Riverlands armies to join them.
An effective but cowardly tactic.
By waiting outside the walls, the Tyrells were effectively starving out the Baratheon men.
He would have respected such a tactic if they were not starving the remaining 250,000 innocent civilians as well.
He sighed, feeling any respect for the Tyrell commander diminish.
Well, there was nothing he could do at this point aside from putting the commander under his control and forcing him to attack the walls. But such a forceful tactic hardly ever ends well.
The only reason he even put Lysa under his control was that the woman was half mad and was already under Petyr Baelish's control.
Or maybe that was just an excuse to pin the war in his favor.
He could also kill Stannis in his bed and save thousands of good men from dying. But that would only complicate things when people eventually find out about his status as a wizard.
Whatever his reason, since he wasn't going to influence this stalemate in any way, there was not much point in thinking about it.
So, he gave the two armies one last look before he apparated away once again.
A few hours later.
Domeric flew on the back of a wyvern and landed in the middle of the Bolton army, which was just setting up its camp, along with the other Northern camps.
As soon as he landed, Varko and Bronn came out to meet him. "Your majesty. It's good to see you back in good health." Varko said.
"I thought you'd forgotten all about us." Bronn grinned, "Did the Dornish pussy taste so good that you decided to wait for 10 whole days?"
He rolled his eyes and climbed down the wyvern while Raksa climbed down from the other one. "No. Prince Doran told me Oberyn Martell was about to return to Dorne. So, I decided to stay a bit longer."
"Your majesty. King Aegon asked for you to come and meet him as soon as you come back from Dorne." Varko said.
He frowned at that. "Does the boy think that I'm one of those men whom he could order around whenever he wishes to do so. To be so presumptuous. The boy must have really grown some balls. Has he forgotten that I am the emperor and he is a king under my command?"
Bronn laughed, but Varko shook his head, "I doubt that is the case, your majesty. I think that the boy king merely wants your guidance. And it seems like a personal matter. I think he needs a friend to talk to about something he didn't wish to discuss with his family."
He paused at that.
Is there a private matter Jon wants to discuss with him? And one he doesn't want to discuss with his family?
Domeric couldn't think of many things. It was either about the Iron Throne Jon would sit on, or something about Jon's original parents, or...
Nah, he didn't think Jon had called him to talk about girls.
With that said, he wouldn't mind giving some advice to the new king either.
"Very well. Let's go and see King Aegon Jon Targaryen."
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King Aegon Jon Targaryen's tent was in the middle of the three armies.
Normally, Domeric could have taken this position himself, but he preferred to stay with his own men. This way, he could use his magic more freely.
Since he didn't take the central position himself, Jon asked him if he could take it, and Domeric said he didn't mind.
Jon probably did this to show that, even though he was from the North, he would not give his homeland any special treatment.
The northern kingdom was a separate kingdom from the five kingdoms under his rule, and Domeric approved of Jon's stance on this matter.
He entered the tent and saw Jon sitting in the center of the large tent with King Stark, Lord Yohn Royce, Ser Edmure Tully, and Blackfish.
He had no doubt about why all the commanders of the three armies were present in the tent.
As soon as he entered the tent, they all rose to their feet, bowed their heads, and said, "Your Majesty."
"King Aegon." He said with a nod before he looked at the others, "King Stark, Ser Edmure, Lord Yohn Royce, Ser Brynden."
He had expected Crown Prince Robb Stark to be present as well, but the boy was nowhere to be found for some reason.
King Aegon's face was stoic. The boy was emulating King Stark's cold expression and pulling it off with great success. "You were gone much longer than you initially said, your majesty."
"I was." He nodded and sat down in the empty seat reserved for him.
"Prince Oberyn was on his way back, so Prince Doran requested that I stay back and meet the whole family before leaving." He explained.
"Hmm… Did you succeed in what you set out to do, your majesty?" Blackfish asked.
"The negotiations with Dorne were successful." He replied.
"Could we learn the details of the meeting, your majesty?" Lord Yohn Royce asked.
"Dorne is now a separate kingdom and will henceforth be known as the Kingdom of Dorne. Doran Martell is the King and holds a status equivalent to the kings of other kingdoms in the Empire. Oberyn Martell's exile has been lifted, and he will continue to use the title of Prince." He said.
Then he looked at Edmure Tully. "Dorne is also open to forming marital ties with other kingdoms. I would have suggested Ser Edmure for Princess Arianne, but everyone knows her promiscuous nature, and I didn't know how Ser Edmure would feel about marrying someone who has already been fucked by more than a few men of Dorne."
Edmure grimaced at that while Lord Yohn Royce made a disgusted expression.
"The names Sansa or Arya were mentioned a few times by the Martells for Quentyn Martell or Trystane Martell, but they never made a formal request." He said, looking at King Stark, who looked rather uncomfortable. "Any ideas?"
Everyone remained silent, and he nodded, "It's a good thing I didn't make any promises. If the Martells want to forge ties with other kingdoms, they can find willing allies themselves. In any case, they have now pledged their allegiance and loyalty to the Empire."
"Anything else of import, your majesty?" Blackfish asked.
"Hmm… yes. The Royal Fleet has gone back to Storm's End after the Tyrells chased it away." He said, "And when I flew over King's Landing, I noticed that the Tyrells have yet to start the siege."
"Why?" Ser Edmure asked, "Don't the Tyrells outnumber the Baratheon forces?"
"By 3.5 to 1, yes. But King Stannis is not someone to be taken lightly." He said, "Even if the Tyrells lost two men for every man they killed during the siege, it would still amount to a loss of over 40,000 men. So as cowardly as this tactic is, it's also the smart move."
"I see. So, we now only need to worry about the Stormlands, Westerlands, and Iron Islands." Lord Yohn Royce said.
"Not really." He said, "The Lannisters have already been destroyed and won't be able to get up on their own for a whole generation. And the same would be true for Stormlands. Half the lord there didn't support King Stannis, but those that did would either be convinced to change sides peacefully or be destroyed."
"So only the Iron Islanders remain a problem?" King Aegon asked, and he shook his head.
"No. After what we did to the Iron Islanders after the Greyjoy Rebellion, they barely have the strength to get on their own knees. They won't be making any moves any time soon. At least for the next summer." He finished, giving a meaningful look at King Lord Stark and King Aegon.
He then added, "I also have other plans regarding Iron Island. I'll deal with them after we take King's Landing. So you don't need to worry."
"That is indeed good news for us, your majesty. Thank you for your efforts." Lord Yohn Royce said, and Domeric got up from his chair. "If there were nothing else, I would love to go back and get some sleep."
He was about to leave, but King Aegon got up as well. "Your Majesty!"
He turned and looked at King Aegon, who gave him a nervous smile. "If we could talk for a moment."
He nodded and left the tent, and the King was quickly followed out.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.428: Welcome to Politics
Ch.429: New Sworn Shield
Ch.430: A Reckless and Desperate Plan