Chapter 39: Broken Things

10th Month of 298 A.C. Storm's End

Lord Renly Baratheon

Much had happened since that day in the Kingswood with Robert, his brother had shown some strange fortitude in his words on that day, and truth be told Renly had wondered if perhaps there was more dragon in him than perhaps he'd ever have admitted to. Everything he had thought would happen had come to pass, Stark had betrayed him, and there was war within the seven kingdoms once more. Renly had to admit that he was not completely surprised, the Lannisters and Starks had never gotten along, not since the rebellion at least, and now Eddard Stark was dead, and that was one less thing there stopping the lions from obtaining complete control. Renly was still there of course, he had done as his brother had asked and had taken his oldest nephew from the forge, his contacts had come in useful and he had secreted him away to Storm's End where they were now. The boy was a good lad, but he was taking time to adjust to his new settings and surroundings, and frankly Renly could not blame him, Robert had done him, had done them, no favours by keeping the boy in the dark all this time. Still, he was here now and they would achieve their goals.

It had taken some sweet words to convince his lords that he had not gone mad, and that this boy was truly Robert's heir. There was no completely full proof record of the marriage, but Renly had always been good at speaking and at getting people to agree with what he wanted them to agree to, and so his lords had agreed and twenty thousand men had come to Storm's End, near enough the entire might of the stormlands had answered his calls, there were sixty thousand Tyrell men coming as well. They would have one of the largest armies out on the field soon, and his nephew would have his throne. All of this was on his mind as he spoke then. "How far away are the Tyrells?" he asks aloud.

A moment silence and then Lord Caron speaks. "Another four days no more my lord. They should be here before the moon is full."

"Good," Renly says, ideally he'd like to have his nephew here, a King should know the ways of war. But his nephew was having a hard time dealing the changes in his life, and so he was allowing him some time to get used to things, when they were on campaign though, things would be different, they would have to be if they were to succeed. "How many heavy horse do they bring with them?" Heavy horse were going to play a crucial role in the fighting to come he had a feeling.

"Around one third of their army is heavy horse my lord. And they are bringing their longbowmen as well." Caron responds, a note of something akin to disgust in his voice. Knights, they always had issues with archers, but Renly had seen the value of longbowmen himself and he knew that there was nothing better than a longbowman when the fighting was tough.

"Good, that is very good. And what of our own preparations here. Lord Cafferen, how goes that?" Renly asks. He does not know whether to trust the man, after all the man's father did fight for the dragons during the rebellion, but there are other issues to consider as well.

"They are coming along well my lord. Our archers are going to be good enough competition for the Tyrell archers. I think having the divisions will serve us well." Cafferen responds.

Renly nods, he has fought in only a few battles before, but he remembers his brothers both speaking about the importance of longbowmen in fighting, he intends to make the most use of them as he can. "That is good. And what of our own heavy horse, will they be enough to perform the manoeuvres they will need to perform?" Word of the dragons fighting alongside the Targaryen pretender had reached his ears, and though there is no clear method for bringing down a dragon, he knows that the key is to confuse them.

"I believe so my lord. They will be more than enough to cause some chaos amongst the traitors." Cafferen responds.

"Believing is not good enough my lord," Renly replies. "You must be completely certain. We are not fighting any old enemy, but men who have fought and won battles and wars aplenty. We must make sure everything is prepared and ready for when the King rides out to fight."

Cafferen bows his head, and Buckler speaks. "With all due respect my lord, we shall not how just how good the men are until we are out fighting. And as of yet, we have not moved from Storm's End."

Renly feels something akin to fear and anger coil within his stomach then, he knows that Buckler is simply asking a question that everyone is thinking, still it grates on his nerves slightly. "Whilst I appreciate that my lord Buckler, we must make sure that everything is prepared and ready before we advance from here. Once we head out, there will be no going back. We shall fight and win, or we shall fight and die."

The room becomes quite sombre then, and Renly finds himself wondering what is wrong with him, it must be the stress and worry of planning this campaign. He is the senior figure within the army as Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, and as the King's uncle as well, but he has never really fought a war of this scale, and he would be lying if he said he was not scared, he was terrified. Still, showing any weakness in front of these men would not do, and so he keeps his fears at bay and watches Buckler responds. "Of course my lord, you are right of course."

Renly nods and then turns to look at Lord Swann. "Tell me my lord, what have you learned from your raiding of Blackhaven?"

Lord Swann is an old man, but he still has a lot of men, and so Renly felt it was only right to entrust to him the command of raiding a traitor's castle. "I learned little and less my lord." Swann says regretfully. "But I did learn that Lord Beric is planning on returning to Blackhaven soon enough. When I do not know, but I think I would be right in assuming that the false King means to see him as a spy within the ranks."

There is some murmuring at that, as the lords before him attempt to show just how disagreeable they find such a thing, Renly hides a smirk behind his wine cup, knowing as he does that at least two of the lords are considering turning traitor. They won't get the chance though. "Very well, next time you go out, make sure to burn Blackhaven."

That surprises them. "My lord?" Swann stutters.

"Burn it. I do not want that traitor's castle remaining standing. If anyone sides with the wrong King, they shall suffer for it." Renly says simply.

"Quite right." Lord Tarth says.

Renly merely nods and then turns to his cousin Ser Andrew Estermont. "Tell me Ser, what word have you got for us from the riverlands?"

"Well, it seems that the Lannisters have been defeated twice now, once at Tumblestone and another time at Wendish Town. They have been forced to retreat back into the West, Tywin Lannister I believe was wounded during the fighting, but his brother was slain. They are in chaos, and as of now, they look less likely to make their way to King's Landing. The Targaryen pretender holds the riverlands firmly in his grasp now." Estermont responds.

Renly thinks on this and then says. "Tywin Lannister will try again; of that we can be sure. But he will not try soon. He will bide his time and wait, and perhaps hope that the boy will go looking for a fight in the west." There are murmurs of agreement there, and Renly looks at Lord Grandison. "What word have your sources brought you from King's Landing?"

Grandison was a sly man, he was someone Renly had worked hard to bring onside during his youth and when he had served as master of laws, Grandison's brothers had served as Renly's eyes and ears, the whore of the Rock did not know about them, no one did apart from him and Grandison. "There is chaos within the capital." Grandison says. "The false King rants and raves, but does nothing, the city is beginning to grow restless with fear. Soon enough they will need to do something before it ends for them."

Renly smiles then, a better piece of information he couldn't have asked for, now at last, the lions are bleeding, and soon he will bring them down completely, and have his revenge. "Very well. That is all for now my lords. We shall meet next later tonight." With that he stands and walks out of the room. As he walks he finds his thoughts running slightly wild, Loras had not been in that meeting, and though he knew his love did not like it, it was only appropriate, until the Tyrells arrived, it would be better to keep him out of the meetings, so that the lords of the Stormlands did not think he was a Tyrell spy. He sighs then, his men do not like the Tyrells, and truth be told he cannot blame them, but still, they have the most men in the entire seven kingdoms and it would be foolish to leave them out of this war. Eventually he comes to where he had been intending, the practice yard, his nephew and King is there bare chested, swinging his hammer looking all the world like Robert did once long ago. Renly stands there for a moment, and then he turns to Loras and asks. "How is he doing?"

His lover looks at him briefly, a look of anger and hurt there present on his face, Renly sighs inwardly, but waits, eventually Loras speaks. "He is doing well, he is improving. He wields that hammer as if it is part of him. He has strength but he needs to think quicker, he is a bit too slow sometimes."

Renly nods taking that in and then he asks. "Has he beaten you yet?"

His lover looks at him then, a look of complete shock on his face. "With how slow he is? No. Has he beaten anyone else? Yes."

"Did you fight a fair fight?" Renly asks.

Loras snorts. "No fights are fair Renly, you know that."

Renly looks at his lover then, considering whether to rebuke him for his insolence or not, Loras and he might be lovers, but Loras is only a knight and he is a lord, not only that he is a lord paramount. He eventually decides against that instead he says. "Next time you fight him, provoke him. Do what would actually happen in a fight."

"Why?" his lover asks.

Renly does not answer immediately, instead he looks straight ahead to where his nephew and King is battering away at some household knight, wrecking his shield and sword with that massive Warhammer. He can see Robert in the boy, he can see their father, though he never really knew Steffon Baratheon, and he can see traces of their founders in him. He takes a deep breath and then looks at Loras and says. "Because when you do that, then you will see why he needs to be King." Before Loras can respond, a great crash sounds from the training yard causing them both to look at where the King stands, breathing heavily, his hammer raised high, the household knight on the floor bleeding. Renly laughs softly, and looks at his lover. "You see, Ours is the Fury, Loras."