Chapter 24: End of The Battle

[ Arthur ]

Just like I had predicted after the sellswords I had hired entered Gulltown, in a couple of hours they were able to completely take over.

It wasn't as easy as I made it look, after all, Gulltown was a city surrounded by mountains in almost all of the directions and the only way to put a real army on land was in the farms around it, then there are the strong walls that protect the city in case of that too.

I was able to take over this city so fast because I was using some modern tactics to deal with it, plus homemade dynamite.

Also, I told the mercenaries not to destroy too much. Golltown should still be intact by the end of it, if not… well, heads would start rolling.

Those mercenaries were paid for this, and if they couldn't follow orders, then I will use this as an opportunity to make an example out of them and their families.

I don't care if they rape or kill civilians, even Jon Arryn, who was such an "honorable" man wouldn't care by the end of it.

After all, even Ned Stark, in the original timeline after the sacking of King's Landing, was mostly worried about Elia Martell's children and how they had been killed.

So even now, if the ports and ships were burned, or the rich merchants died, then Jon Arryn would care. As long as the whole city wasn't massacred, then he wouldn't care too much.

Everyone had a price, and some people were easily replaceable. That was reality. Especially for the people high up, if a celebrity died, the news would cover it, and many people would be sad. Someone else dies, and the world won't care.

Reality was cruel, but it couldn't be changed. So I will simply use it to my advantage.

"Lord Arthur, Gulltown has been put under your control," a soldier came and bowed in front of me to report the matters. He was one of the captains in the Sellsword Companies I had hired. "Also, as you have requested, we made sure that nothing was looted, or burned."

"Good," nodding at him, I walked and my guards followed me.

"I will check for myself how good of a job you did. Make sure I don't see anything unsightly…"

I didn't need to threaten them, they knew the reputation I had built up by now. He wasn't the only one in danger, but their families and loved ones too.

...

As Arthur entered Gulltown, the streets were littered with blood and bodies. Mostly dead soldiers, but some civilians were amongst them too.

The buildings were pretty good too, in comparison to the rest of Westeros. Arthur made sure to try and memorize the weak points in the buildings. Just in case he needed to destroy this city in the future.

He didn't have qualms about the Vale always being on his side, so instead, he planned to pick his fights and make sure he had an advantage whenever he fought.

Arthur didn't mind the blood on the streets and kept observing for any damage done to the city. Except for the people of course.

Surprisingly, the damage done was very little and the people could easily be replaced. So up to this point, it was all good.

But as Arthur was walking, suddenly a child, who couldn't have been more than twelve blocked his way. He had a hateful look in his eyes as he glared at the soldiers in armor.

The child had tears in his eyes, and he used his bloody sleeve to wipe them off. The child pulled out a small kitchen knife and charged toward Arthur with a determined look. "You killed my mother!"

His voice was filled with despair. Due to his young age and voice, the child's gender wasn't something Arthur could tell. But even with his bravado, before the child could even get close, one of the guards went and pulled back his spear.

Fwish!

The spear pierced the child's eye and exited the back of their head. The corpse fell on the ground as the soldier pulled his spear out of its eye and blood oozed out of the hole.

Arthur stared at the perpetrator, it was one of his fifty personal guards. He narrowed his eyes at the guard and the man seemed nervous under Arthur's gaze and was about to apologize.

But before he could say anything, Arthur put a hand on the man's shoulder and took out a gold coin, putting it in the man's hand.

"Good job, that's how you are supposed to protect me. Even the smallest threat must be guarded against."

Arthur knew of the child assassins in the world, and there were people like Varys who used children as spies. Now he wasn't here to tell of how morally wrong that was, but Arthur wouldn't punish his guards for killing a kid either.

After all, he didn't want them to hesitate when a child assassin came after him. He even rewarded the behavior and incited the other guards to learn from the guard.

Then Arthur turned and addressed the other guards. "That could have been an assassination, even if it was a kid. By the way, if you ever catch an assassination against me I will pay you handsomely."

The guards nodded and some of them smiled greedily at the promise of more money.

'They would kill a child for money? As expected of savages. But they are my savages, so they are very useful to me, useful enough to keep around.' - thought Arthur, nodding at them encouragingly.

He didn't care if they were child killers. Why? Because they were HIS child killers. He didn't need guards with morals in this world. What Arthur needed was greedy and cold-blooded killers.

The enemy soldiers who were left alive had their weapons confiscated and were brought in front of their lord's keep in chains. The Lord of Gulltown, Marq Grafton, was also already on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back and a cloth sack over his face, so he couldn't see anything.

The rest of his family were the same too, from his youngest children to even his wife.

But while the situation was bad, it could become even worse. Everyone knew that. Especially Arthur as he walked, with his sword drawn towards Marq Grafton. "Lord Grafton, do you know of your crimes?"

"What crimes?!" The man yelled defiantly. "I am just following the King's orders and nothing else. I demand a trial by combat!"

"The fuck you do. At least have some shame in front of your men who died for a mad king and take death gracefully." Arthur raised his sword, he didn't care for the rules of this world and this was a war, he didn't have the time to dilly-dally and play around now.

If he gave every lord their trial by combat, he would get gray hairs until the war was finished.

Arthur was the kind of man that only followed rules when it was beneficial. Right now, it wasn't. Just when he was about to swing down the sword, the sound of a horse's hooves trotting in the roads rang out. Which made Arthur stop and turn around.

There, he saw Jon Arryn on a horse with some guards accompanying him on their horses too. The Lord Paramount of the Vale went towards Arthur and looked at him. "I thank you for your help, Lord Arthur."

While this sounded polite to the outside eyes. Arthur could see where this was going, and what Jon meant by this. So he smiled and sheathed his sword.

"It's nothing, I am just helping my friends, Rob and Ned. Though in no way am I a representative of House Frey, that is why I have now changed my name to Redhawk."

Arthur stopped for a couple of seconds, observing Jon and making sure the old man understood the graveness of the situation, before continuing.

"I wouldn't want to drag my family down if things go wrong."

"I must thank you for that. Putting everything on the line for Robert, or anyone isn't that easy," said Jon, sincerely. He could see that Arthur was risking everything and the side he was backing up didn't have any advantage against the Royal Army.

Arthur had even gone so far as to abandon his family name. Which was something no one else in Westeros would do.

At least that was how Jon Arryn saw it, but to Arthur, it was a whole other deal. Since he already knew the outcome, to him this was just a chance to get some benefits without any big risk.

Also abandoning the Frey name was something that he needed to do anyway, while from other people's eyes that family was strong, but in Arthur's perspective weak and an unnecessary leash around his neck. Being bound to them would only bring problems in the future.

He knew House Frey would fall, whether Arya hastened that destruction didn't matter. But they would fall within this generation of the family, and he didn't want to be anywhere near it. The management sucked.

Though Arthur knew how his actions made him look like a good friend, who was very selfless. He didn't bother to change other people's minds and played along with it.

This had been his intention all along, clouding everyone's eyes from what he was doing behind the scenes as they stared at his accomplishments.

'I do not like gambling with my life.' – thought Arthur resolutely. He didn't like taking chances that weren't to his advantage. Since the world had changed a lot from the one he remembered, there was a chance that Robert might lose this war. Arthur planned to use every method he could think of to have Robert win this war.

"Once again, I am very thankful to you and glad that Robert has a friend like you. So what are your plans for the rest of the war.?" Jon Arryn smiled politely.

Arthur saw this and smiled back. "Well, first I will have to try and take care of the Royal Fleet. That should stop the loyalists from banding together. Then there is the Reach to take care of, and hopefully, I can take care of them."

Jon Arryn nodded, he looked a little worried at the mention of the Reach. With an army of a hundred thousand, they would be the biggest contributors to the Mad King's reign.

If Arthur was able to take care of the Reach and keep it occupied for the rest of the war. It would be the same as if he would have handed them the victory. Of course, this at least would even the odds a little.

Arthur of course knew better, as he understood that the Reach would just go to starve out Storm's End. If they had joined Rhaegar in the original timeline, then he would have easily won the war.

It didn't matter how strong Robert's hammer blows were because a war between humans was mostly based on numbers.

And the strategies Westeros used weren't anything groundbreaking enough that would allow armies to defeat those of major higher numbers.

Jon Arryn just nods his head while seemingly contemplating something.

"That is a good decision. You should use your advantage and try to keep the Reach out of the fight for as long as you can."

"What about you Lord Arryn, what will you do now? How will you handle Gulltown?" Arthur inquired while his gaze wandered towards Lord Grafton. The message here was clear between them, Arthur wanted the traitor dead, while Jon didn't want to kill the captured Lord.

Not only had he known him for a long time, but also because that would create bad blood between the House Arryn and House Grafton.

Arthur noticed Jon Arryn frown, but he was insistent and still carried on.

"I would suggest you deal with this in a... more permanent way. We don't want any daggers in our backs while fighting the royalists."

Jon Arryn's frown deepened and courtly answered. "Don't worry Lord Arthur… I will take care of my people."

'You can not tell me how to discipline my men.' - thought Lord Arryn decisively. He wasn't going to take orders from Arthur and was even getting a little annoyed at the young man's insurance for telling him how he should do his job.

Arthur just nodded towards Jon Arryn with a solemn face. "I understand, then my armies will be pulling back to Essos," which made Jon anxious at the mention. But Arthur wasn't done as his gaze turned sharp.

"I don't know how you handle traitors amongst your midst, Lord Arryn. But I am not willing to fight in a battle that would have me always looking at my back and being paranoid." he sighed and shrugged.

"Then I guess taking Gulltown will be my gift to Robert. I can't participate in a war where we will just let our enemies go."

After saying what he needed, Arthur walked away and so did his guards. Leaving Jon Arryn with an ultimatum as he looked at the tied-up Lord Grafton and his family.

Not even an hour later, just as Arthur had promised, his soldiers were pulled out of town and after resting, they would set sail in three days. Whether they would return to Braavos with their fights over or go to the Reach to keep them occupied depended on Jon Arryn's decision.

...

Next day. News of the execution of Lord Marq Grafton reached Arthur's ears as he was eating breakfast. A small smile appeared on his face when he heard the news.

'Seeing things going my way is a nice start to the day.' - he thought, taking another bite of bread. Schemes were more up his alley than strategic warfare.

The Rebellion would have lost 20,000 troops if Jon Arryn hadn't killed Lord Grafton. Whether the Lord of the Vale had seen through Arthur's scheme or not didn't matter.

Also, Jon was checkmated too, because schemes like these couldn't be admitted publicly. Because then Jon Arryn would just be admitting that he sacrificed one of his vessel lords for a foreign army.

Now Arthur's animosity with Gulltown will be overturned by their hate towards Jon Arryn. The former was from the other side of the sea so the hate of the family that ruled Gulltown would eventually be stridden away. But their Lord Paramount was always close, just the perfect distance to hold a strong sense of animosity against.

Arthur took a sip of water and he couldn't help but think what he would have done in Jon's shoes. - 'Probably would have killed the whole family. But Jon Arryn's honor will never let him commit such acts.

Causing the death of a thousand men in battle is okay in his sense of honor. But killing five people was somehow dishonorable? Well, that was stupid.'

Though in his mind, Arthur thought that things like honor and pride were useless. He loved it when his enemies had it. It always made dealing with them easier.

Now, it was time for war, and Arthur couldn't help but contemplate that the battle of Gulltown would be nothing in comparison to the fight he would be a part of soon.

==================

Arthur won't give an inch. While he will fight in this war, it isn't because of charity. Now he has the power to make some "requests" which people can't exactly refuse.

He has power now. He isn't some knight that has to follow what other people say.

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