Chapter 217: Captive

The sunset in the desert is surprisingly beautiful.

The western sky resembles a golden-purple tapestry, and the clouds bloomed with brilliant and bright red colours, dyeing the Greenblood River red. The desert transitions from gold to orange and then to purple, and shadows resembling blood flowing across the ground.

It is a pity that Edmure Tully didn't have the heart to appreciate such beautiful scenery.

The eldest son of the Duke of Riverrun is extremely embarrassed at this time. His maroon hair was messy and tangled, seeming as if he hadn't washed it for many days.

His armour covered with mottled blood stains and messy sword marks. His left arm was injured, a white gauze wrapped around it several times, but blood was still oozing.

He sat by the Greenblood River, staring blankly at the sand.

Edmure still can't believe that things turned out like this.

Originally, the Second Army of the Iron Throne was progressing very smoothly. Under the command of Duke Tywin Lannister, they went all the way south along the Bone Road.

After conquering the city of Yronwood, the army in the east of Dorne fell apart and could not organize resistance at scale.

Some small-scale harassment could not stop the army's pace, and soon, they attacked the city all the way and reached the city of Sunspear.

Seeing that victory was just around the corner, suddenly everything took a turn for the worse.

The army of the western region withdrew without warning, and before leaving, they burned the food and supplies of the troops of the three regions of the Riverrun, the Vale, and the storm lands.

The fire in the middle of the night caused chaos in the camp. Fortunately, the Dornishmen did not rush out of the city to attack, otherwise, the troops from the three realms might have already met the stranger.

But even if the Dornish people missed this golden opportunity, the armies of the three realms were already in chaos.

The nobles were noisy, blaming and cursing each other.

Edmure Tully was not a tough person, and he lacked enough prestige. He couldn't even suppress the nobles in his own Riverland, let alone the other two realms...

In this campaign against Dorne, the commander of the Vale Army was "Bronze Jon," but he had already died in the battle at Skyreach City, and Lord Renly, the commander of the Stormlands, had not returned from his envoy to Sunspear.

Seeing sudden great changes, the nobles of the three realms refused to accept each other, and could not reach a consensus at all.

The nobles of the Vale clamoured to withdraw their troops. They started to quarrel when the news of the death of "Bronze Jon" came, and the Stormlands paid attention to the situation of Duke Renly, who was sent to Sunspear City and clamoured to send another envoy into the city.

As for the nobles of Riverrun, the air was even more chaotic.

Some said they wanted to withdraw their troops, some said they should go after the army of the western region, and some even gave a feverish request to attack Sunspear City as soon as possible to obtain food supplies... Of course, everyone agreed on berating Tywin Lannister, that's the only thing where they were unified.

They quarrelled from night to the next afternoon, and finally, the messengers from the northern border arrived at the camp, bringing the latest information about Skyreach City, and The nobles of the three realms were shocked to understand why Duke Tywin had betrayed them.

Then there was another quarrel; some wanted to withdraw the troops, some wanted to negotiate peace with Dorne, and some said they were going to pursue the army of the Western Territory...

Edmure shouted hoarsely and finally got the nobles of the three realms to agree to withdraw first.

But when they returned the same way, they were shocked to find that all the towns and fortresses in the rear had been reoccupied by the Dornish people!

When the Western army retreated, they did not forget to cut off their retreat.

The ruthlessness of the old lion made the nobles of the Three Realms gnash their teeth with hatred, and they vowed to make the Lannister family pay for their blood.

But they also have to wait for them to get out of this desert.

Without food and supplies, not to mention the lack of morale in the army, and without a powerful figure to command the entire army, the army of the three realms soon came to the brink of collapse.

In addition, the Dornish people continued to harass, and finally, on the seventh day of the withdrawal, the army of the three realms fell apart, and Edmure could no longer maintain the organizational system, so the noble knights of the three realms could only find their own way out.

But after being dispersed, although the troops of the Three Realms could move more freely and flexibly, they were also more likely to become the targets of the Dornish people.

Edmure originally brought nearly 2,000 soldiers from Riverrun with him, but under the pursuit and harassment of the Dornishmen, his soldiers became fewer and fewer.

In the end, the son of the Duke of Riverrun was left with less than two hundred defeated soldiers.

In desperation, he had no choice but to abandon the infantry and lead more than fifty cavalry to flee alone.

But even so, he still couldn't shake off the tail behind him.

Those Dornish people were like poisonous snakes in the desert, tough and dangerous, occasionally darting out of the shadows to bite.

"Lord Edmure," Sir Engel hurried over, "Our people spotted the ships of the Arbor Island Fleet upstream!"

"Really?" Edmure stood up abruptly, his eyes finally shining with hope, "How far is it from us?"

"Not far, the sentry found the purple grape flag five miles upstream."

"Okay! Then we set off immediately!"

Escaping from Dorne by land has become almost impossible. The Arbor Island fleet ships that appeared at this time became their only hope.

The cavalry mounted their horses one after another and headed east along the Greenblood River.

The setting sun has completely set on the horizon, but the moon has not had time to climb up.

Edmure Tully took the lead, already impatient.

He swore that he would never come to Dorne again in his life.

And the Lannister family, he must take revenge!

Suddenly the wind blew up.

The hot and dry wind whipped up dust all over the sky.

Edmure and his party had to wrap their mouths and noses with robes and continued to move forward with difficulty.

At last, they saw the great ship on the Greenblood River, with the purple grape banner flying on it.

The People of Riverrun never thought that the flag of Arbor Island would be so beautiful.

Soldiers began shouting, waving House Tully's banners, and even lighting bonfires, trying to get the attention of the boats in the river.

Finally, the Arbor Island warship spotted the Riverrun people on the shore, turned around and approached.

Edmure became more and more excited as he watched the warship getting closer and closer.

'I wish there was wine on board,' he thought to himself, but soon laughed at himself, "How could there be no alcohol on the boat from Arbor Island?"

Edmure decided that after successfully escaping this time, he must buy a hundred barrels of Arbor Isle's golden wine and store it in the wine cellar of Riverrun.

"My lord, something seems wrong!" Sir Engel's voice was solemn, interrupting Edmure's wild thoughts.

"What's wrong?"

"This warship doesn't look like it belongs to Arbor Island."

"Are you sure?"

Sir Engel looked carefully for a while and finally shouted anxiously:

"No! No! The boat from Arbor Island is not like this! This is a trap!"

Edmure was terrified, and finally got back on his horse under the urging of the knights, and began to run away from the Greenblood River.

But alas, it was too late.

After the warship found itself exposed, it immediately blew its horn.

Soon, traces of the Dornishmen appeared in the desert.

Edmure frantically urged the horses, trying to escape from the encirclement, but the horses were already extremely exhausted from the days of running around and lack of forage, so they couldn't run fast at all.

"Put down your weapons, surrender !" The Dornishmen began to persuade them to surrender.

Edmure turned a deaf ear and was still making the last effort.

He didn't dare to look back, for fear that if he turned his head, he would find that he had lost his remains people.

A dry willow tree appeared in front of them, and next to the tree was a stranded wormwood boat, which was turned upside down, like a simple cabin.

When they passed the "boat house," the wooden door slammed open, and seven or eight Dornishmen rushed out with long-handled axes, blocking the Riverrun people.

"Put down your weapons, surrender or die!"

Edmure clamped the horse's belly suddenly, the horse neighed sadly and tried turning, but was still hit by a long axe.

With blood splattering everywhere, Edmure rolled on the sandy ground, and when he finally stopped, he saw a Dornishman had put the scimitar on his neck.

It is finally over. He was a little relieved.

"Edmure Tully?" The Dornishman seemed to recognize him.

"Yes." Edmure gasped, "I demand captive treatment."

"You will." The Dornishman pulled him up and led him towards the river.

At this time, the "Arbor Island Warship" had already approached, and sure enough, there were Dornishmen standing on it.

Edmure was brought onto the boat and then saw a face that surprised him.

"Prince Doran?"

"Ser Edmure." Prince Doran sat in a wheelchair, and behind him stood a huge man with a long axe.

"I didn't expect you to come to arrest me in person. It's an honour."

"I personally directed this operation."

"Congratulations." Edmure said bitterly, "You finally won a big victory."

Prince Doran nodded and spoke softly." In fact, not much blood was shed."

"What do you mean?"

Prince Doran pointed to the shore, where the Dornishmen were detaining the prisoners :

"I issued a strict order that as long as you lay down your weapons, my warriors are not allowed to kill anyone. So, now I have nearly 60,000 prisoners from the Three Realms."

Edmure's eyes lit up; if the number of Prince Doran is not exaggerated, then the losses of the Three Realms army this time are indeed not heavy, and most of them have become prisoners.

"Thank you for your kindness." Edmure's tone slowed down a lot, "The Riverland will definitely pay the right amount of money to redeem these captives."

Prince Doran shook his head and said, "I didn't say I would let you go."

"What do you mean? Are you using us as a bargaining chip?" Edmure narrowed his eyes, "Which side are you on, Doran?"

"Of course, I'm on Dorne's side."

"Hmph! I see. You just plan to sell us for a price."

Prince Doran smiled slightly, neither denying nor admitting, but instead said:

"Now there is a problem that I need your help to solve?"

"What problem?"

"Food."

Edmure immediately reacted, "What? You can't afford so many prisoners ?"

"Yes." Prince Doran nodded and admitted, "So, if you don't want to see your companions starve to death, you'd better get me some as soon as possible."

"Then let me go back to Riverrun, and I'll go to the Riverlands to help you raise food," Edmure said.

"The Riverrun is too far away, I want you to go to the Reach to help me buy food."

"The Reach?" Edmure smacked his lips, "Okay, as long as you give me enough money."

Prince Doran spread his hands: "No money, only one person."

"Who?"

"Loras Tyrell."

Edmure sneered, "The third son of the Duke of Highgarden can't get food for an army of 60,000."

"Don't know if won't try ." Prince Doran seemed to have a plan in mind.

"Okay. Then I'll run for you."

"Thank you."

Edmure seemed a little unbelievable that the other party let him go like this: "Aren't you worried that I will run away?"

Prince Doran said with a chuckle:

"Of course, you can run, as long as you are willing to bear the infamy of abandoning the Riverrun army."

[END]