Chapter 108 – Two Arrows

[298 AC]

"Your father, Lord Eddard Stark, has not only ordered my brother to be kidnapped and killed, he even schemed with Lord Renly Baratheon and Lord Varys to poison the King and change the line of succession, proclaiming my son, Prince Jeoffrey Baratheon to not be the rightful heir to the Iron Throne."

"And while we could luckily destroy this ploy before it came to pass and bring your father and the traitorous spymaster to the blade, the King could not be saved, while Lord Renly Baratheon managed to flee the city during the night."

"Still, your father died a traitor, child. And now it is left to you and your brother to clear your family's name of his crimes.", the Queen announced to a shell-shocked and grief-stricken Sansa Stark in her royal quarters, the master of coin, the Grandmaester, and the Red Priestess Melisandre by her side.

The young girl was still in a state of shock and denial, as she simply couldn't believe how her dream of marrying the Prince and becoming Queen one day had turned into such a horrifying nightmare in just one day.

The old Septa, Jory, and her father, along with servants and guards she had known her whole life, were all dead. Killed by Lannister men the night before who had been led by Jamie Lannister himself.

The only other survivors of last night's massacre had been her sister and her, though Arya was now confined to her room under the watch of the Queen's men, and Sansa had not even been allowed to visit her and comfort her.

"M-my father, h-he would never- … The King was his friend, why would he- ...", Sansa voiced out quietly, not fully comprehending the situation she was in as she insisted, "T-there must have been a mistake, there must have been!"

"What mistake could there have been?", the Queen asked with a harsh tone, "Lord Varys himself has confessed to these crimes before the Lady Melisandre after he had been caught trying to flee too, just like my husband's younger brother."

Hearing this, the young Stark girl couldn't help but look at the gorgeous red-haired priestess with fearful and pleading eyes, hoping that she may report otherwise, but the Red Priestess stayed quiet, her expression unreadable.

Sansa didn't dare to mention the possibility of Lord Varys lying and the priestess being wrong, too well she remembered the things her mother had told her about the members of the Red Temple and their dark arts.

Even in her grief and despair, she did not want to find herself at the receiving end of curses and blood magic.

"I want you to write to your brother in Winterfell, little dove.", the Queen stated in a milder tone, "Tell him of your father's betrayal and persuade him to not follow in his father's footsteps. Tell him to come to King's Landing and bend the knee to Jeoffrey so that the rest of your family doesn't have to share the crimes of your father."

…

[298 AC]

News of what had happened in King's Landing spread through the Seven Kingdoms, especially since letters had been sent out to invite for the coronation of Jeoffrey Baratheon.

The Southern Kingdoms, the Reach, and the Stormlands were mostly unconcerned by this news, though a small part of them were beginning to rally behind Renly Baratheon after he had announced his claim to the throne and even crowned himself King.

Dorne, on the other hand, was completely unaffected, as Doran already knew that this would happen, thanks to Moqorro keeping him informed about the events in the Seven Kingdoms. The dark-skinned High Priest having already become the equivalent of a master of whisperers and an important advisor to the ruler of Dorne.

And as one would expect from Tywin Lannister, he had already called his bannermen and was marching into the Riverlands raiding, torching, and pillaging every village and town he came across on his way North.

Robb Stark had likewise called his banners after receiving the news of his father's death at the hands of Jamie Lannister and his sisters being held hostage in the Red Keep. The young Lord Stark was thankfully still calm in his wrath and desire for vengeance while marching his armies south to meet the Lannisters in the field.

At this point, there was basically not a single thought in his mind about bending the knee, as war was the only viable option to reconcile the feud between the wolves and lions. And he knew that should he lose, his House would very likely not survive.

In the Vale though, the situation was more complicated, as Lysa Arryn categorically refused her sister's plea for support, seemingly unwilling to send the knights of the Vale into a battle that wasn't hers, intent on holing herself up in the Eyrie.

Or at least that was what she tried to portray, even though she was one of the instigators of this war and one of the main reasons why Ned Stark had been unprepared for the Lannister men attacking his courtyard in the Red Keep at night, along with the master of coin.

In the end, Catelyn Stark decided to make haste and return to her son's side to counsel him during this time of war and her uncle Brynden 'Blackfish' Tully decided to accompany her, despite Lysa's protests.

Blackfish, as the master of ships, still had the royal fleet under his command and a good part of the ships were currently anchored at Gulltown, the largest port in the Vale. The rest of the ships were patrolling the waters of the Narrow Sea and the Shivering Sea, though they could be recalled easily enough.

He knew that with the help of the fleet he would be able to support his niece in obtaining justice for her husband, and he may even be able to take King's Landing. Thanks to the Red Temple the royal fleet was indeed perfectly fitted for such a task, being roughly three hundred ships in size and equipped with the finest tools of war.

They didn't spare much time before they set off from the Eyrie, their party nearly two hundred men strong as the Blackfish had his own loyal knights and commanders with him.

They rode through the mountain valleys unobstructed, as even the Mountain Clans weren't dumb enough to attack a convoy of well-equipped knights and warriors on this side of the Eryie, at least that was how it was supposed to be.

…

Looking down at the convoy of knights and warriors from the cliffside, Iak was expressionless under the brownish-green hooded robe he wore to blend into the surrounding area, his gaze quickly settling on an older knight, who was riding beside a rather attractive red-headed middle-aged woman.

'Brynden 'Blackfish' Tully and Catelyn Stark, née Tully.', Iak recognized the two immediately.

Taking up his bow and loading it with two arrows at once, he aimed carefully while drawing the bow to its full capacity. Iak held this tension with ease, even though the bow was made out of Valyrian steel, both corpus and string.

It would be impossible for any normal man to even draw the bow the slightest bit, but Iak was not a normal man, he was a Feather.

Inhaling deeply, Iak held his breath and in a moment of complete stillness, he released the string and fired the two meticulously crafted ironwood arrows at once.

Directly turning around, he didn't stay to confirm that his shots had hit their targets, as he just knew that they had. The Feather left the mountain valley with untraceable steps, faster than anybody could react to or even catch a glimpse of him.

And just as the convoy of knights and soldiers broke out in chaos, roughly five hundred men from the Mountain Clans rushed them from every side, each and every one of them armed with high-quality steel weapons and armor.

…

Standing by the cliffside on Dragonstone, Sapphire in her dragon form by his side, Phenex gazed into the distance. He felt no remorse at having ordered Iak to take out the Blackfish and the Lady of Winterfell.

Catelyn Stark had long since written down her name on his list of people to eliminate during the Red Temple's conquest of Westeros with her outspoken disdain for the temple, while her uncle was a target for the same reason and the fact that he was the Commander of the Royal Fleet.

Still, for nobles from such a great House, they had surprisingly little tact with their words and actions, thinking that their blood meant that they were free to speak venomous words as they pleased.

It had not been difficult to convince the Mountain Clans to attack the convoy as a disguise for the assassination either, as the Red Temple had a very good relationship with most of them.

The situation in the Vale was rather strange for the temple from a certain point of view, as despite the late Jon Arryn being friendly towards the Red Temple and allowing them to build a temple in his territory, most of the Vale's inhabitants were devoted to the Faith of the Seven.

The only group that had been open towards the temple were the Mountain Clans, who on their side were treated as a scourge by the Lords of the Vale, especially considering that the Red Temple had been willing to trade them good quality weapons for low costs in large qualities.

A great many covert operations leading to assassinations of shamans and healers of the Mountain Clans using various methods slowly had had them depend on the Red Temple for such things, as its priests and priestesses had gained more and more influence amongst them.

This was something that nobody had realized yet, as there was no active communication with the Mountain Clans from any side which made them great hidden collaborators, though even Phenex had not seen Tyrion Lannister's death at their hands coming.

Still, for a task as important as eliminating Brynden Tully and Catelyn Stark, he trusted no one but his Feathers to do so covertly and without fail, so this time the Mountain Clans were nothing but a disguise.