Chapter Fifty-Four

Army Camp. The Westerlands.

The Goldroad was a major road in southern Westeros. Beginning at the Lion Gate of King's Landing in the Crownlands, it extends west along the Blackwater Rush and then through a portion of the northern Reach before it takes you to Lannister controlled lands.

This was important because the combined Imperial and Tyrell forces were marching up that road, and doing so slowly so the Westerlands could marshal its defences. I wanted to beat them at their best so as to show them how totally futile it was to resist the Imperium of Man.

"Our scouts report that Ser Kevan Lannister is gathering his fighting men at the castle of Deep Den" I was informed by a vox operator who was taking the reports off the scouts "We don't have exact numbers but we know that they have a lot of Calvary".

The castle of Deep Den guards the Goldroad as it passes through the hills of the Westerlands. The road ends at Lannisport and Casterly Rock, seat of House Lannister, so if we got past Deep Den there wouldn't be much between us and the Lannister's home.

"Then we'll prepare for him to attack" I said "We'll send a few riders ahead and have them pull back to our camp so as to tempt the Lions to attack. Our men are spread out on the Goldroad so we'll look like a tempting target".

Randel Tarley did not agree with me.

"Keven Lannister is an experienced soldier" he warned the rest of the council "He won't come running to us".

The new council was made up of myself as Acting Hand of the King, Viserys as King, Duke Tyrell as Master of Coin, Prince Oberyn as Master of Laws, and Lord Paxtar Redwyne as Master of Ships. They were not a full council and Ranel Tarley was not the Master of anything, rather he would be Duke of the Westerlands once he'd helped us to conquer it as I didn't intend to let the Lannister keep any land once they were captured or killed.

"Then what would you suggest?" I asked "If his force is mostly made up of Calvary then he won't remain on the defensive".

That many horses need a lot of food and having men on horseback isn't a help if you are going to be staying behind some walls.

"The Lannisters are cowards" stated Prince Oberyn.

That seemed to be all he was going to say.

"Ser Keven knows not to let his enemy decide on his course of action" Tarley told me "He will march and meet us on ground he choses".

That made sense and if both armies were equal then it would matter that Ser Kevan got to choose where we fought.

"So we'll march to meet him" decided Viserys Targaryen "We're in no rush".

"My ships will prevent the Lannisters from moving troops via the ocean" Lord Paxtar Redwyne assured us.

A man with a note for me came in and I read it.

"House Blackwood has agreed to our terms" I read out "Should we remove House Tully from power they will take up the mantle of ruling house. However Lord Blackwood wants the Bracken family destroyed and the Freys, he warns that Lord Frey plots against the Imperium".

Viserys was not pleased to hear this.

"Damn traitors," he said.

I figured otherwise. The Blackwoods of Raventree Hall simply wanted to make sure that no noble house in the Riverlands could challenge them. As for the Freys they would have to be destroyed because they would do something stupid sooner or later that made a mess.

"Lord Frey wouldn't dare offend the Imperium unless he had some way of deflecting the blame" I said "He's not a brave man, but nor can he be trusted. Perhaps we should take the Twins and hand them over to someone more loyal to the crown. No doubt Lord Blackwood has someone in mind".

There were no protests against this idea. No one liked the Freys.

"If we want to ensure that The North doesn't interfere then taking The Twins makes sense" said Lord Tarley "They couldn't move an army into the Riverlands without crossing at the Twins".

The North had made no sign that it was preparing to move its armies, but that could change even with our treaty if House Tully was removed from power since Lord Stark had married a Tully.

"I can be there in a few hours" I said.

Lord Mace coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Is it wise to divide our forces?" he asked.

He had a point. Even with my ability to move troops around quickly with my support ships I didn't want my attention divided. I was getting ahead of myself.

"You're right Duke Mace" I said "We can worry about the Riverlands once the Westerlands are secure".

Then we could turn our eye towards The Vale or the Crownlands.

"My lords we have news from Kings Landing" said the Vox operator.

Since my scouts had radios they were able to keep us informed with the latest news.

"We don't have all the details, but someone just tried to kill Lord Renly and now his men are attacking Kings Landing" we were told "There was an explosion of some kind and then the Storm Lords began attacking the city".

Well that was going to be a bloodbath.

"We need to get to Kings Landing," stated Viserys "We need to march now".

That wouldn't be wise and I wasn't the only one who thought so.

"If we turn around then Kevan Lannister will charge our rear" Tarley warned.

I also had concerns.

"We don't want to be there if the Wildfire ignites" I said.

There wasn't anything we could do to stop the fighting so we might as well let it play out.

"We can move part of the army towards Kings Landing" I was now saying "I'll send men via shuttle to secure a location in the Crownlands for more men to be transported. We'll need to divide our forces and keep marching into the Westerlands. I can give you more guns and men to help with that".

Viserys was now pacing the tense.

"If the city burns we need to be there to help with the recovery" he said.

He understood the value of winning hearts and minds. If he turned up with help the smallfolk would see him as a hero rather than just the son of the Mad King.

"And of course to salvage anything left of the Red Keep" he added.

If the Iron Throne got melted in the fires then I'd have to get a new one. That wouldn't be too bad, but the Iron Throne was a symbol of power so I'd rather it remain intact.

"Duke Mace, Lord Tarely '' I said while standing up "The king and I must go to find out what is happening over in Kings Landing. I'm sure that you can handle things here".

Well Tarley could and I had good Imperial Guard officers here.

"I'll come with you" decided Prince Oberyn "Seeing King Landing burn will be an interesting site".

Lord Paxtar Redwyne chose to remain here.