Chapter 16

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***

Damian Blackheart.

What a lovely picture still of this beating we've taken, straight-up eye-rolling at the spectacle.

- Damian! - Varick called out to me.

He rode up to me on a trophy Dornish stallion, and with him on the same trophy horses were Gerda, Lari and Asgen.

- What happened? - I asked them with a smile that made them twitch. It seems they still aren't used to it. Although I haven't shown such pleasure in battle for a long time, they could have relaxed.

- The men are fully prepared for the siege of the Misty Forest, all the spoils have been collected, and the prisoners are ready to be taken to Sorrowful. The six dozen mercenaries Donald had rounded up have arrived. A messenger from him arrived with them, saying that several Estermont ships were visible on the horizon, if they had seen the turtle correctly. Donald Long also relayed that those eighteen dozen militia were almost ready for battle. But asks that they be left for the Mourner. He senses that Lord Estermont's fleet will soon be attacking Sorrowful Township.

- It's quite possible. Let him keep them. - I nodded as I considered the situation. - I'll move to Sorrowful as well. I'll take three dozen men with me. The rest remain under your command. How many dead, wounded, and how many of them badly wounded who either can't fight or will die?

- One hundred and twelve dead, also three dozen badly wounded, but they'll survive. Although five of them definitely won't be able to fight at all. They've either got their arms cut off or their legs. Little Ollie, your squire, has his left arm cut off at the elbow.

- Looks like he'll be head stable boy instead of knight. The lad was close. - I chuckled, remembering my squire's dream. - I see. What about the lightly wounded?

- Most of them can even stand in formation, but they won't be so strong fighters. Their lot for the next decade will be mushing, guard duty or the like. But we have time and men too. You got nearly three-fifths of Donald's men off Mourning.

- We can get more men straight from the captives. - I said.

- What do you mean? - Gerda didn't understand.

- There are, I think, a couple of dozen mercenaries who served the Rogerses, but both son and father were lost in battle. No-one will pay them. And I can offer them money and whores left over from the battle and pretty words about victory and prospects under me.

- But that's only two dozen mercenaries. - there's a lot of scepticism in her voice. - It's not bad, but it's not enough.

- And the squires? By the way, about a fifth of them are boy servants and squires of knights who have already died and they are orphans who are not needed for nothing. We can even offer a generous choice, either let them go to the four corners of the world or swear an oath to me. I'll leave half of them here and take the rest with me.

- You'll take the rest of the prisoners with you to Grieving?

- Yes. You won't have enough men for a full siege, so you'll waste them guarding the prisoners.

- Understood. - Varick nodded and scratching his beard asked hesitantly again. - Listen, how were you sure of this, as you called it, "operation"? It's hard to fight at night, even if it's a castle takeover or a night sabotage. We're used to it. But this is actually a full-fledged battle against superior forces. How did you just calculate everything?

- I didn't calculate everything. - I think I'm gonna have to give them a little lecture. - By the way, by my calculations, the casualties should have been halved. But as I realised, most of those who fell were Donald's men. - I was answered with synchronised nods. - They weren't used to our training and commands, though they weren't green. But preparation and a proper plan could do far more than an army four times our strength. I could meet them outside the walls of my city and win the battle. But not only do I want to flick Renly Baratheon and all the lords of Angry Cape and the Tyrells on the nose, I also want everyone in the Seven Kingdoms to know that no matter how many men they put up against me, I will turn anyone or destroy anyone who lays claim to ME! This battle was meant to instil fear and respect for me and I think we've done that. The only thing left is to wait for the outcome of this battle and take more of this fortress of Mary Mertins. I want Mace Tyrell's youngest son as my prisoner. The ransom for him will be huge, whether it's paid by his father or his lover.

- But why the night? - Gerda persisted. - Knowing you, I'm more than sure you could have thought of a plan to get away with as little loss as possible. But you chose night.

- You are deluded about me. - I smiled at her. - I am flattered that you so extol my skills as a commander and tactician, but my answer is no. Or rather, not exactly a victory with the same result I would have had at the end. The casualties on our side would have been far greater. Although, if all our men would have been trained the same way and practised all the formations and manoeuvres, then another option was possible. But the human factor is, as they say, sacred. That's why I chose night time. After all, with the onset of darkness a decrease in the amount of visual information that can be received by the viewer, and this causes a number of interesting side effects. One of the main ones mentioned is the unconscious desire to compensate, which is expressed as a desire to see as much as possible. Which in turn causes the head to become overworked and affects the person's behaviour.

- I don't quite understand. - Asgen said bluntly.

Listen to the end and you will understand. - I stopped the Braavosian from asking earlier questions. - As for behaviour, in particular, we can give an example of a man in the dark, when he outside of closed rooms has a habit of directing his gaze above the horizon line, trying to consider the silhouettes of objects against the sky. And any sources of light cause increased attention and interest. Being in darkness, people move much slower, and due to scarcity and limited perception the process of its analysis and decision-making is delayed. And the human brain, I tapped my temple. - has an unconscious property to compensate for the missing fragments of the picture in front of the eyes by recalling its previous experience, which may be completely out of place. In most people darkness serves as a strong stimulus for the imagination, causes increased anxiety, nervousness and a feeling of isolation, in some people even a strong fear, which is often based on lodged in their heads because of the age-old memory of their ancestors about scary monsters, demons or ghosts.

- So you fight again with the help of fear, surprise and calculation? - Gerda sighed. - I thought you had something of the berserker in you.

- Well, the sight of blood makes my dick hard. - I reassured her. - But we don't live by feelings alone, do we? Right?

- And that weird counting song was for intimidation? - our Valkyrie asked in the affirmative.

- That's right. Any more questions?

They didn't say anything.

- Well, then I think we need to knight someone.

The knighting took place rather mundanely, at the site of the recent battle. I personally knighted twenty men, including Varick. I intend to give him land as well, once I sort out the current problems.

After that, we had already recruited twenty-six former mercenaries. As it turned out, there were two of them from the already destroyed Brave Boys. I immediately enquired about the fate of their "ex-meister" Quibern. It turned out that he had managed to hide in the castle with Loras Tyrell's fleeing squad. I have instructed Varick, who will command the siege, to take him alive. I'll need him in the future. We can't afford to miss such a man, I even explained to Varick the man's capabilities and prospects and he seemed to realise that we needed him!

And then there were the squires and servants. Some of them decided to leave quietly and peacefully, but almost thirty former squires decided to try their luck under my hand. Not all of them. After all, about half of them went as squires to the new knights under my hand.

We stayed near the battle site until Varick led his men to besiege Lady Mertins' castle, and I, with my small detachment, the squad medic, his apprentices, some of the wounded, the new squires and the prisoners, with some of the booty loaded on captured mules and horses, left for Sorrowful.

We were greeted with jubilation.

Mourning already knew of my triumph and Tyrell's ignominious flight. I think Maric was even actively spreading the rumours by exaggerating the Storm Lords' army. But either way, it was good for me.

After this, I will definitely not remain invisible to the people, and my claim to this city will not be challenged so easily. Besides, Donald said that the number of those who wanted to join my squad had increased from among the younger children of merchants, townspeople, commoners of the town, and peasants of my lands. There are now three hundred who wish to join, but not all are suitable. As I learnt, Donald even sent young maidens who also saw women in the ranks of my guard and decided to join it. But I decided to give Gerda the task of selecting the most able and making them archers or crossbowmen. It will not be possible to make warriors out of them quickly, they are not Dornish, northern women or ironborn, but they will make something.

There was no attack from the sea yet, and I could limit myself to a little rest and sort out some affairs of my newfound lands. I left the preparations for the defence to Lari Short-handed, whom I decided to appoint my castellan, while Donald, of course, remained in his place.

Four days passed during these preparations, rest and training of my men. Varick sent a messenger every twelve hours to report on the progress of the work and that the besiegers were quiet.

On the morning of the fourth day two small bands of about 30-40 men each with two banners of the Musgoods and the Horps (my official vassals) were seen near the Mourner's Gate, and two older knights who turned out to be Lords Davos Musgood and Kevin Horp rode up to the gate. As I realised, the men had realised that they couldn't sit tight without getting their heads kicked in by me or Baratheon, so when they saw that the Storm Lords had lost and I had besieged Misty Forest Castle, they decided to swear an oath to me. I even realised that they were driven by two other desires, to protect their descendants, who turned out to be all maidens in marriage. And, of course, to make a little profit from this war at the expense of the unlucky neighbours. And though they didn't have many men with them, I could use a fresh mounted force and some infantry. I took their oath of vassalage and sent them off with a small supply of food and an additional two dozen craftsmen to help build Varik's siege machines.

The Lords departed safely with my other men, and a little after noon a whole flotilla loomed on the horizon.

For moments my face crumpled with anger. There were ships with a turtle on their sails ahead, but then I saw more ships behind them with a different banner - a white lion's head on a red background!

A couple of minutes later, as soon as the whole fleet of eighty-six ships of varying sizes and styles showed up, they anchored without approaching the harbour. Only one dinghy separated from this fleet, and on it I saw Rex, through a spyglass of the local type, a Myrian.

I was very glad to see him.

- Hello Rex, I'm so glad to see you! - smiling, I hugged my brother and turned my attention to his companions. - Who are they? And what fleet is this?

- They are sailors of your fleet, and this is your fleet. - He told me briefly, but continued under my patient gaze. - Our grandfather "saw" when we were in the North that we would need help, so he started gathering a fleet and mercenaries for you when we were just about to enter Winterfell. And also allocated some money for a temple to the Lion of Night in Mourning and his "brothers" to do the service. Originally the fleet was bigger and there were more mercenaries, but we got ambushed by Estermont, we miscalculated our forces a bit and weren't ready for the attack. In the end, we lost almost half of our fleet and mercenaries, but we also boarded eleven turtle ships.

- How many warriors?

- Three hundred Myrian crossbowmen, two hundred and fifty-five light horse riders, six dozen archers, and another two hundred foot soldiers. Quite a force, I assure you.

- Excellent. - I smiled even wider and scratched my chin. - I've defeated Loras Tyrell and the Lords of Wrathful Cape, and now Varick is besieging the Misty Forest, with the bitch Mertins and Tyrell, who escaped, locked up there. But I think these boys you've brought with you will help take him faster.

- My Lord! Rex! - Lari called out to me, accompanied by a couple of other Dornish knights, in other circumstances he would have addressed me as you. - A raven has arrived from King's Landing. From the king himself.

He handed me a message, and I read it aloud:

"I am King Robert Baratheon, First of This Name, commanded to give the lands and vassals that once belonged to the extinct House of Lonne to Lord Blackheart and make him my vassal bannerman. And no other lord shall levy the taxes that should go to the crown. Therefore, I reaffirm the right of Lord Damian Blackheart to defend his lands. And the punishment of intruders into his lands!

King Robert Baratheon, First of This Name, King of the Andals, the Roynars, and the First Men, Guardian of the Peace and Protector of the State!"

Everyone was well aware that our hands were now untied for any action....

- I think I may cut in with my suggestion, my lord? - Larry asked with a gambling gleam in his eyes.

- And what is it?

- I have an old comrade in the Sunspear who has assembled his own squad of some of East Dorne's finest spearmen and is now mercenary. If I'm not mistaken, they are, at the moment, in search of a hirer. I think my fellow Dornish would not pass up the opportunity to bleed the Storm Lords for a decent price. They are good warriors and true to their word. Even if they are already taken, my friend will help me find equally good Dornish fighters.

- That would be wonderful. - I nodded, "Since the king has given me the go-ahead to 'Defend my lands and punish invaders,' I'll need more men.

- You're not just plundering the lands of the Lords of Wrathful Cape in return, but even capturing another castle? What? Come on.

- Ha ha. Yes, I did decide to make the most of them all and embarrass Renly Baratheon. - I told Larry with a laugh. - It's not enough for me to win. I need a little zest in this situation.

- You're insane! But perhaps that's what I like most about you. You're a brilliant and very lucky madman!

- You may prepare a message to your friend, or if you must, you may go to the Sun Spear yourself and recruit more men.

- Of course, my lord!" and he bowed.

Then I gave the go-ahead to unload the mercenaries and decided to talk to my brother alone over a cup of good wine.

The topic of my interest was probably my lineage and, as funny as it sounded, "faith".

During the last battle, I clearly understood, or rather after it, that I enter a state that is close to Gerda's description, to the state of berserker. But at the same time I do not completely lose my self-control and reason, just my animal instincts and bloodlust increase. And I don't feel any pain at all. In addition, I noticed that during that fight I could "feel" around me in a certain radius of living and dead people. At the same time even somehow distinguish them from each other in terms of friend-enemy. This was new to me, so I decided to ask someone who might know more about it.

Rex listened to me carefully and recognised the phenomenon almost immediately.

- It is rare among us and mostly occurs in the females of our kind, but it can also occur in males. The fact that it manifested in you is probably the intervention of the Lion of Night himself and his gift. This side of our power is known as the blood call. In a couple of weeks you will still realise that your hearing, sight, smell and touch will improve. You'll even gain a little speed and stamina. But don't count on much, he could give great powers to Jon Snow or as you said "Hidden Targaryen", but not to you. You're just his guide, and I'm your bodyguard. Your role is not so great. If Jon converts to our faith," and I wanted to say your brother, but I couldn't. I'd grown fond of my brother, and I didn't want to offend him. - The True God will surely give him great strength to win the new Dawn Battle. You, on the other hand, are more of an encouragement. I'm not omniscient, but I can see things.

- I see. So they gave me a little something to chew on so I wouldn't have to chew on all the shit I'd have to deal with in the future. - Rex nodded. - Nice. I'm happy about that.

- You better tell me the details of your journey here and your actions, I'm interested to hear.

- All right, but then you'll tell me the details of your journey to Braavos, the latest news and rumours, and your journey here. And tell me more about the mercenaries who came with you and the fleet you defeated.

After that our leisurely conversation lasted about two hours, including meals. Until we were disturbed by Theo Frey. He was covered in sweat, but happy, like a young boy who had lost his virginity and wanted to share it with the world.

- Damian! Varick has taken the Misty Forest!

- What?! That fast? - I was surprised. - You shouldn't have finished building the siege weapons yet.

- We weren't exactly storming it. As it turned out, there were just over a hundred and fifty of Lady Mertins's men in the castle, the rest of them lost on the battlefield, and Loras Tyrell arrived with only a hundred of Renly Baratheon's guards, whom he commanded. They couldn't lift the siege and thought we would leave, but we didn't. And last night they decided to fight their way out of the besieged castle. One of Lady Mary's servants heard this and decided to make the same escape from the castle with some of the lady's jewellery, but was caught by our troop and pretty quickly made up his mind about the place of the breakthrough. Varick set up a competent ambush there and took both Lady Mary and Ser Loras alive, as well as Ser Baylon Swann, Lord Swann's youngest son. Our casualties are small with only a dozen and a half killed. The Knight of Flowers and Swann laid down the most. After the besiegers learnt that we had their Lady and Tyrell as prisoners, the castellan, under orders from Lady Mary, whom we quickly persuaded to order her men to surrender the castle, opened the gates and we occupied it. Therefore, the Misty Forest is at your service, my lord!" he said with pathos, and immediately could not contain his smile.

- You see! - Rex echoed me. - The Lion of Night is on our side.

Sometimes the faithful irritate me, but I am too happy about this event to pay attention to my brother's words.

- I'm glad of it. We need to take this news to the people. Roll out a couple or three dozen barrels of ale and wine at my expense.

- That's a must. But Ser Varick asks what to do with the prisoners they took and those who languished in the dungeons. As it turns out, there are many former smugglers and poachers. Should we turn them over to the Night's Watch? Or take them under Ser Varick's hand. They were willing to do so, so Ser Varick decided to ask. He also asked to be told that Lady Mertins' treasury was quite meagre, but the food supply is quite large, as is the armoury.

- Let Ser Varick take them under his wing. But let him pay special attention to their discipline and training, he's in charge of them now. And if he doesn't want to be responsible for their actions, he can send them to the Night's Watch. And those prisoners they've taken... the noble ones should be brought here, and the ordinary servants should be kept there.

- Understood.

Theo Frey left, leaving me and my brother alone again. And I was once again overcome with emotion.

- We're too lucky. I don't mind luck being on our side. But I don't want it to go sideways. We have to be careful. - Rex advised.

- Of course I'll be careful. - I assured my brother immediately. - I remember that success can make you dizzy and you can get lost in reality. But the most important thing is to be careful. Even my actions must have limits.

- But you will still strip all the lords of Cape Wrath to the bone, won't you? - he grinned.

- Otherwise I wouldn't be me! - I righteously "resented" him.

And then the room was filled with our drunken laughter.

Continuation follows....