32 Chapter 29: Advance and Schemes.

With a starting point on Orkmont having been secured by the Cult of Sauron, House Bolton was able to advance relentlessly against the Ironborn Houses on that Isle, making the situation even more desperate for the Ironborn and Greyjoy.

All the Westerosi Houses of the South knew that the Boltons would manage to invade the Iron Islands, so they were not surprised by such an event, but they were surprised by the fact that the Cult of Sauron led such an attack, who was more surprised but also furious at the news was the Faith of the Seven.

The Faith of the Seven and the Cult of Sauron have been in a Cold War for a long time, but the Cult had the upper hand as while the Faith of the Seven used the influence they had to gain some control in the South, the Cult of Sauron had its own armies and then the lands themselves, much like the Papal States of Earth, with the only difference being that they were loyal to a future Monarch.

In addition to the fact that the Cult of Sauron was sending emissaries to Astapor to convert the local population, along with one of those emissaries being part of the City-State Council, as the Cult was the "Majority Religion" of the City.

While the South reacted in its own way, the North was more divided than ever, as the Allies and Vassals of House Bolton celebrated such a victory, especially the Cult of Sauron (rumors say that Asha got drunk after such news).

Already the Starks and their Vassals were worried about such news, Eddard was trying to make both sides stop the war and make peace, but both the Boltons nor the Greyjoy didn't give a fuck for what Ned wanted.

In King's Landing, the Royal Family always kept an eye on the news that came involving the Bolton-Greyjoy War, as they wanted to know if possible a little of the capabilities of House Bolton in a Total War against one of the most important Houses in Westeros.

And when he refers to the Royal Family, he refers to the Lannisters, because Robert Baratheon didn't care much, because he focused more on drinking, sleeping with whores, and drinking even more. which infuriated Cersei even more and she just hoped he would die in some back alley, drunk.

Tywin was totally focused on this war, as trade with House Bolton has been decreasing a lot, especially in the matter of weapons and equipment made of Morgul Steel. He knew that this was only until the war ended but still irritated him a little.

He even considered interfering in the War by sending troops to help Domeric and get business back to normal, but he thought against it and knows full well that neither the Greyjoys nor Bolton wants outside interference.

Tywin would then just sit in his office and wait for news of Bolton's victories while thinking about sending someone to see that House Bolton and Lannister could communicate better with each other.

Apparently, he would have to send a certain "Imp" to be an envoy of House Lannister, even though he didn't want and hated such an idea, but he knew that it was the only one available, besides that he had been doing nothing for a long time, just drinking or going for Bordeaux.

House Lannister and House Bolton needed to be linked by blood through marriage, Tywin already decided to discard the idea of a possible assassination, as he was sure it would fail and they would only suffer retaliation in the end.

But it wasn't just Tywin who had plans for House Bolton...

HighGarden

In Highgarden, House Tyrell's seat of power, they were discussing what they should do, as the events that have transpired have given them an opportunity or a problem.

When House Bolton was rising, the Tyrells were quiet and just kept an eye out, but what happened during the Greyjoy Rebellion is what caused them to become watchful and concerned, as House Bolton's development seemed to have no stopping.

They were even angered that House Bolton had stopped nearly half of the North from importing food from the South thanks to its planting methods, in addition to the vegetables Northerners discovered could be grown in its cold soil.

Not to mention the Non-Human Question, they saw that House Bolton was becoming not one of, but THE Strongest House in all of Westeros, they even tried to sabotage their development, but it didn't work, plus they heard the rumors about the Uruk-Hai, which stopped Olenna Tyrell from sending spies who would become food at the end of the day.

Olenna was getting more than a little worried, because not only was House Bolton going strong in Westeros, but it also managed to have a firm foothold in Essos thanks to Astapor being used as a springboard, it also had a good relationship with the Lannisters, which meant that he was a "friend" of the Royal Family as well.

But the final straw was the Bolton-Greyjoy War, she figured someone would intervene, but no one did, so she made House Tyrell also keep quiet, even though she didn't have any compassion towards the Ironborn, she expected someone to ask the King to deal with this and stop the War, but that was not the case.

The only thing the South was worried about was a certain cut in Morgul Steel gear, weapons, and armor, but other than that everyone just hoped that House Greyjoy would be wiped out of Westeros' history once and for all.

Meanwhile in the North, more specifically in Winterfell...

"NED, YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS WAR ASAP, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?" cried Catelyn as she looked into Eddard's eyes seriously, the two of them were in his office.

"I tried, Cat! But both the Boltons and the Greyjoy don't want to stop this War, there's nothing I can do!" Eddard answered angrily, he was very stressed lately because of this War.

"Yes, Ned! You are the Lord-Protector of the North! You can force the Boltons, who are YOUR Vassals, to stop the War and make them sign a Peace Treaty with the Greyjoys!" Cat said.

Catelyn had been very worried lately, if the Boltons gained control of the Iron Islands, not only would they become one of the Great Houses of Westeros, becoming independent of House Stark, but they would also have Territories and Vassals both in the Iron Islands and in the North. , they could "split" the North and make the Bolton-controlled part a "North Bolton/Ironborn".

This was something Catelyn could not allow, as not only would it weaken House Stark, it would also put them in danger because of it, as they would be more vulnerable than ever, plus the remnants of the Northern Lords would not like it very much and might complain.