WILOW-Ch.384: Time to Take Action
Towards Golden Tooth, Westerlands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric slashed at the cavalry in front of him. His enhanced strength and the sharp edge of the Valyrian blade bit into the man's armor and cut him in half before the man could even raise his sword.
Then his upper half slid off from the horse and fell on the ground, the entrails and other organs leaking out from his body.
These kinds of deaths were always the messiest kind.
He looked around and saw that the battle had ended all around him.
He used the Aguamenti spell to wipe the fresh blood from the blade and put it back in its sheath.
"We're done here." He told the 50 riders who had come with him to deal with these foolish men who thought that using guerrilla warfare on him would be a wise idea.
Then again, they must be under the assumption that he would have all the gold of Casterly Rock with him. And greed could make people do the most foolish of things.
But he had already taken everything he had collected from the Lannister treasury to the treasure room in his secret underground base.
Therefore, even if they succeeded, they wouldn't gain anything.
"Take the horses to feed the direwolves." He said before turning his horse and going back to the main camp.
It has been two days since he left Casterly Rock.
After burning all the unnecessary things they could burn and destroying more than a few buildings, there was no reason to stay any longer in that Castle.
Plus, Tywin was coming, so he needed to get to the Golden Tooth as fast as possible and prepare a welcoming party for Tywin as well.
He was brought out his musings when the mirror inside his pocket started vibrating.
He took it out and noticed that it was from Lyra.
He took the call, and Lyra's face came into the mirror.
"Good news or bad news?" Lyra asked.
He mulled over the question for a bit and then said, "Good news."
Lyra nodded at him, "I have two pieces of good news. The first one is about Sansa. Well... about Mannequin Sansa."
"What of her?"
"She has left King's Landing with Ser Damon Lannister and his entourage of 300 Red Cloaks."
Normally, Domeric could track the mannequins' status himself in the system's Companions section and communicate with them.
However, lately he's been swamped, so he has left all the operations to Lyra.
"Joffrey allowed her to leave?" he asked.
"No," she shook her head, "It was a collaboration between Ser Jamie and the Spider."
"The Spider, huh…" he wondered what game the spider was playing this time.
"How is this good news for me?" he asked.
Although he had asked the question that way, he knew that Sansa's departure from King's Landing was an excellent opportunity for himself and the North.
Rescuing Sansa from the Lannisters would eliminate Tywin Lannister's last bargaining chip.
But Domeric wanted to hear Lyra's thoughts on the matter.
"Well… Ser Damon is heading for Lord Tywin. And Lord Tywin is heading toward you." Lyra said, "You could take your cavalry and attack Ser Damon and his men. Save the damsel in distress, so to speak. Take the only bargaining chip away from Lord Tywin. Gain a bit of reputation and honor for yourself and the goodwill of the Starks and the rest of the North."
He smiled and nodded. Lyra's plans and his plans matched perfectly.
"Then start preparing the newspaper article about Sansa's rescue. I want everyone to find out as quickly as possible that Tywin has lost his last bargaining chip." He said, then asked. "What's the bad news?"
"There is… another piece of good news before that. If you see it as such." Lyra said.
He raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to continue.
"Renly Baratheon was having a feast with the Lords of the Reach and the Stormlands last night when… a shadow of Stannis Baratheon stabbed him in the back. Through his heart." She said, "He died instantly, and the shadow dispersed after that."
"Shadow… of Stannis?" he frowned. "You sure about that?"
"Yes, my lord." She nodded, "All the lords sitting in the feast saw this."
He frowned and said, "Shadow of Stannis. This must be the work of the Red Priestess from Asshai. It seems Stannis's desperation has driven him to the point of resorting to anything."
"I think so, too, my lord. The Red Priestess's influence over Stannis Baratheon and her importance in his eyes seem to be steadily increasing." Lyra said.
Interesting.
He had visited 7 of the 9 free cities in Essos, but Asshai was much farther away than any of them, and he had not gone there yet, so he did not get any chance to learn about the blood magic, the shadow magic, and the sacrificial magic used by the warlocks there.
He wondered if this Melisandre would be willing to teach him.
"Stannis must feel quite desperate to resort to this. But converting to another religion and having a Shadowbinder from that religion kill his own brother... People will see him as a heretic and a kinslayer." He said.
"They've already begun to see it that way, my lord," Lyra said.
"What happened?" he asked.
"After Renly Baratheon died, a good many of the Lords of Stormlands defected and joined Stannis. But many thought King Stannis was a kinslayer and consorted with demons. So, they didn't join him. He currently has about 25,000 men. Enough to take King's Landing."
"And Margaery Tyrell is a widow now." He said, and realization dawned on him, and he smiled. "I see… This is not good news, Lyra. This is great news."
Domeric knew that things had unfolded similarly in the original destiny line and that Renly Baratheon had been killed in the same way.
And then, the widowed Margaery Tyrell was betrothed to Joffrey.
But this time, before the Tyrells could align themselves with the Lannisters, Domeric could use this situation to his own advantage.
Lyra smiled with him before her smile dropped, and her face became serious. "Shall I tell you the bad news now, my lord?"
He nodded.
"Queen Regent Cersei heard about the pregnancy of Princess Daenerys. Well... again, pregnancy of Mannequin Daenerys." She said, "To stop the birth of another Targaryen, the Queen Regent sent some assassins to kill her. Ser Jorah and the rest of her Blood Riders managed to save her. The story, unfortunately, didn't end there. When Khal Drogo later found out about this, he swore vengeance on Westeros and decided to gift the Iron Throne to the princess."
He sighed.
To go after an unborn child… He did not even know what to say about that.
"Keep an eye on them, Lyra." He said, "Right now, this is just talk, and I don't really think Khal Drago will take any action. But if this Khal Drogo is really serious about this, then I want to know."
But Domeric had far more information behind the scenes, and if everything went according to plan, Khal Drago wouldn't live much longer.
And then Daenerys would hatch her dragons. That is, if the mannequin Daenerys could manage it. And Domeric knew that Daenerys would then come to him for help.
Until then, he would let things take their own course.
Lyra nodded.
"Any news from home?" he asked.
Lyra shook his head. "Nothing important. Tyrion came to me to inquire about the state of the war, but since I didn't know how much information to give him, I sent him back to Regalis Port without saying anything."
"Send him a message and tell him that I kept my promise, and there's nothing to worry about. That should be enough to put his mind at ease." He said.
"As you wish, my lord," she said.
"And Lyra, keep the writings you've prepared for the Imperial Plan near to you. Also, have new writings prepared regarding Stannis's actions. But don't mention the Red Priestess or her name. I might need her later. I will need news articles on these two topics published in the newspaper very soon." He ordered.
"Oh? Are you planning to take action now, my lord? Would you like me to use the special materials we prepared for our Imperial Plan in the newspaper?" she asked.
"Why not? Just don't use it all up at once," Domeric said.
"Don't worry, my lord," said Lyra, a gleam in her eyes.
"Now, if you would excuse me, I need to write a letter to the Tyrells and Lord Stark."
"Good luck on that, my lord."
"Thanks, Lyra." He nodded, "See you later."
"Bye," she said, and he cut the connection and started thinking about the kind of letter that he intended to send to his future allies.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.385: Revenge and the Crown
Ch.386: Shocking News
Ch.387: King of the North