Theo Wells POV
Being a knight of Driftmark and an accomplished sailor meant that Theo has sailed from Driftmark to Kings Landing more times than he could remember.
That is why he knew, after two days of sailing, that they were now waiting in a place in the Sea of Blackwater Bay that was only a few hours away from Kings Landing.
Hell, if they sailed a few leagues forward, then they would be able to see the the tall towers of the Red Keep. And if you went a few leagues even further, then the entirety of Kings Landing will become visible to you.
A Kings Landing that was under siege right now by those damned Ironborn.
To make the situation worse, it seems as if the Ironborn have allied themselves with the pirates and sell sails from the Step Stones.
That didn't bolster their numbers by a lot. And the quality of such troops was lacking. But in situations like this, even the smallest force could tilt the battle into someone's favour.
"Do you think the battle has started yet?" Ser Lucerys Velaryon asked. The man was a distant cousin of the main branch of House Velaryon. And in the absence of the Lord and Heirs of the house (who had gone off to join the Royal Fleet), Ser Lucerys has been charged with leading the remaining levies of House Velaryon.
The only problem?
Lucerys Velaryon was a meek lad of Ten and Eight, who would rather spend his time studying books or praying in the sept than participating in a battle.
He was also very suspicious about how a lad like him got knighted. But as the grandson of a hedge knight, he had no place to question a member of House Velaryon and could only follow orders.
Regardless, the lad turned out to be as incompetent as he'd excepted. Not knowing how to command the levies at all. So in the end, as the most experienced knight in the Velaryon army (if you can call it an army) it fell upon him to administer the troops, see to their training, and keep the discipline. It was not a thankful task and would've been far harder if not for the good food and decent pay given to them by Lord Stephen. Or was it Prince Stephen?
"The last scouting ship reported that the Ironborn were almost at the shores of Kings Landing." He replied, scratching his beard. "If nothing goes wrong then yes, they should be battering the Mud Gate by now."
"Mud Gate?" Lucerys asked, looking confused. "Isn't Iron Gate closer?"
Spoiler:Kings Landing
"It is. But the Mud Gate is less sturdy and has smaller walls." He said, "If the Ironborn have even a lick of sense in them then that's where they'll put most of their forces. I say this because that's what I would've done if I were in their shoes."
There was silence between them as the lad fidgeted in his place for a moment before he asked. "Um… why are we waiting here. I mean why-"
"Why haven't we sailed forward and attacked the Ironborn in the rear?"
"Yes"
"I don't know." He said simply. "Prince Stephen has not shared his strategies with me."
"Oh…" Ser Lucerys said, looking dejected and slightly afraid as he stared at the distant horizon past where a bloody struggle must have already begun.
"I do have a guess though." He said, wanting to take the lad's mind off from the upcoming battle.
The lad looked at him with hopeful eyes so he continued.
"I think that the Prince want the Ironborn to commit all their forces into the battle before he attacks from the rear." He said "I would also guess that he wants the Ironborn to lose more of their men attacking the Mud Gate before he launches his attack."
"I see… that does make sense. But wouldn't the Mud Gate fall if we wait for too long?"
"Perhaps." He replied, feeling a bit hesitant for the first time himself. "But it's a risk we must take. And as long as the Red Keep remains standing, that's all that matters at the end of the day."
"That sounds barbaric." Ser Lucerys muttered. "I thought that Prince Stephen was the kind of person who cared for the small folk."
He frowned and put a hand on the lad's shoulder, giving him a smouldering look. "Don't ever say that to anyone else. Nothing good will ever come from talking bad about a member of the royal family. Especially one who's as well loved by the people as Prince Stephen. Do you understand?"
Ser Lucerys looked a bit shaken at the seriousness in his gaze but nodded. "Y- yeah. I… I'll keep that in mind."
He let go of the lad's shoulder and nodded. "And as for your worries, yes, it might seem callous to risk the gates of Kings Landing. But you must also understand, that if we are defeated in this battle, then not only will every single one of us die. But the Ironborn would kill the Royal family and every other lord and lady in the Red Keep. And after that, do you know what happens next?"
"What?"
"The Ironborn will be free to continue raiding the Eastern Shores of Westeros. Killing and enslaving any small settlement they find on the way." He said. "Waiting right here and letting the Ironborn bleed themselves on the walls of Kings Landing might seem like a risky plan, but it'll be worth it if we attain victory in the end."
Ser Lucerys nodded at his words looking slightly calmer now.
They waited in grim silence for ten more minutes before he heard a warhorn sound off from the main ship.
It was the signal to move forward.
"Unfurl the sails!" He shouted at the deck crew.
And at once, the deck turned into a flurry of activity as the sailors unfurled the sails and the ship started sailing forward, along with every other ship in their Fleet.
He looked in the distance where his own son was now the captain of one of the seven ships that were captured in the last battle. He hoped that the boy won't be too eager for glory and will use his head in the battle instead of rushing forward like an idiot.
"Forgive me Ser Theo, but how many Ironborn do you think there are in the Iron Fleet?" Ser Lucerys asked, looking nervous once again now that they were sailing closer to the battlefield.
"About ten thousand from what I've been told." He said "The Ironborn started with more men. About five and ten thousand. But they've lost a lot of men in the Battle of Arbor and in the aftermath. Though I would would guess that they must've replenished some of their numbers if they've allied themselves with the Pirates and Sell Swords from Step Stones. My final guess would anywhere from ten and two Thousand to six and ten thousand.."
"We only have seven men." Ser Lucerys said morosely and he shrugged.
"Kings Landing should also have four thousand to six thousand men, if not more." He said as he scratched his beard again. "And if those men make the Ironborn bleed at the walls then we might get the advantage in numbers."
"If the gods are willing, then we might win today." Ser Lucerys said, joining his hands and closing his eyes in a prayer.
He almost scoffed at that. It is not the gods who give you victory in a battle, but the men. But he decided against saying that to the lad.
They sailed forward in silence and soon enough, the topmost towers of Kings Landing became visible to them.
"That's the tower of the hand, isn't it?" Ser Lucerys asked, looking a bit more composed after his brief prayer.
"Aye." He said, not in the mood to talk as the battle jitters finally started breaking through his composure as well.
Knowing that you're going to a battle where you or your son might die would do that to you.
He stared at the ship that his son was captaining once again. Praying in his heart for his boy's safety even if he usually never prayed to the gods.
"Your son. He's the one who became the captain of Black Serpent, no?" Ser Lucerys asked, looking at the same ship as him.
He nodded. He was proud of his son for having gained the favour of Prince Stephen. Even if he wasn't happy about that at the start.
In fact, when his son first told him that he wanted to leave the service of House Velaryon in order to go and serve under Prince Stephen, he had almost slapped the boy right then and there.
They owed their loyalty to House Velaryon after all. House Velaryon, who took his grandfather (who was a hedge knight back then) and gave him land and a small keep to rule over in Driftmark.
So yes, he had been wroth when his only son decided to piss away all that goodwill in order to serve some fledgling Prince who was wet behind his ears.
Or that's what he thought of Prince Stephen at that time at least.
It only took one meeting for him to change his thoughts about the Prince.
The boy was very charming and charismatic. He treated people well, even the lowest of the small folk, and knew how to win them over.
In that sense, the boy was almost a complete opposite of his father Prince Stannis, who is said to be as hard as Iron and just as uncompromising. In fact, the boy was more akin to the King, who was said to be very charismatic in his young age.
There were already more than a few rumours going around among the men about the Prince being a son of the King and not Prince Stannis. And if Lady Selyse was a beauty, then some of them might have even believed it. But as it was, no one truly believed those rumours.
"To become a ship captain at such a young age… your son must have impressed Prince Stephen with his deeds." Ser Lucerys said, a hint of envy in his voice and he shrugged.
The truth was, he wasn't sure why the Prince had given his son the command of that ship. Though he could guess that it had something to do with how fanatically loyal the fool boy was to the prince. And the fact that the boy had been sailing with him for almost as long as he could walk.
The only thing he now had a problem with, was the fact that the foolish boy has started to believe the Red Priestess' words about the Prince being some sort of Saviour of the World. A Prince that was Promised or some crap like that.
Thankfully, his boy hadn't changed his faith, or he would've tanned his hide.
He wasn't a great follower of the faith. But changing your gods was just not done.
His son also wasn't the only one who decided to serve Prince Stephen in the last two moons they'd stayed in Dragonstone.
Hell, about a third of the guards, second sons, or hedge knights who came with him decided to change their allegiance to the Prince.
Lady Velaryon had been wroth upon learning of this. But had calmed down once Prince Stephen promised to pay a weregild for all the men he'd unintentionally taken from House Velaryon.
"I can only hope that the fool boy won't get himself killed in this upcoming battle." He said and Ser Lucerys gave him a sympathetic look as the entirety of the Red Keep finally became visible to them in the distance.
"Have faith Ser Theo. The gods will protect your son." Ser Lucerys replied and he grimaced.
He doubted that the gods cared about any of their lives, but decided against saying that to the lad. Telling the faithful that their gods didn't gave a crap about them was the easiest way of getting their ire, he'd found.
"I have faith that Prince Stephen won't lead us astray." He said, and wasn't that a strange thing to say about a boy of nine. Even if the boy looked old enough to be three and ten years old.
"I have faith in Prince Stephen as well." Ser Lucerys said, a fervant gleam in his eyes as he spoke of the prince. "He has already led us to a flawless victory. I believe he'll do so again."
He side glanced at the boy, wondering if he was going to change his allegiance and go over to the Prince as well.
"The Pirates and sell swords were outnumbered 7 to 1." He reminded the lad.
"Perhaps. But the battle was still well fought. And in the end, we gained 7 ships, killed all those slavers and didn't even lose 100 men in total." Ser Lucerys said as he turned to him in excitement. "And Prince Stephen stood in the front lines during the battle as well."
"Not in the front lines." He reminded the lad. "The Prince didn't take part in the battle. Though I would admit that even standing among those two hundred and fifty men was a courageous thing to do."
Ser Lucerys nodded. "The Prince… he's amazing isn't he? He gave me an invitation to visit his library in Dragonstone, and even recommended some of his favourite books."
Well… there goes another knight of House Velaryon. Even if the boy was more of maester than a knight.
"He is." He admitted softly as well.
He didn't believe that the prince was some sort of Saviour. But there was… something about him.
You would be a fool to not believe that after seeing the young prince thrash veteran knights in the sparring yard every single day.
Ser Lucerys seemed like he wanted to say more but paused as the walls of Kings Landing finally became visible to them.
And with it, the siege that the Ironborn had put the city under.
Even from this distance, he could see dozens of ladders put up against the wall close to the Mud Gate. And while the people were too far away to be seen clearly, he could easily imagine the bitter struggle that must be going on in between the city's defenders and the Ironborn.
A few moments later, the Iron Fleet became visible as well.
"There's about sixty ships out there in the Bay." Ser Lucerys said after a brief count. "Though some of them have already been sunk. So there must've been more at the start. About eighty to ninety, I think"
He nodded as he focused on noticed on the dozen or so ships that had already sunk into the Bay snf more were currently in the process of sinking.
He squinted his eyes and saw what he had been expecting in the edges of the Blackwater Bay.
"A Boom Chain" He said. "The defenders built a boom chain and used it to block and sink the first few ships to get close to the shore."
A cheer went among his crew as they noticed the same thing.
"Is it really such a big deal?" One of the younger guards asked. "I mean, the boom chain is pretty close to the shore. Won't the crew just swim to the dry land."
"No." Ser Lucerys answered before he could. "Ironborn are known to wear armour while on their ships. They don't fear drowning since it is considered a blessing of their religion. Which meant that when those ships went down-"
"The crew of those ships went down with them." The guard finished the sentenced and he nodded.
"Aye. And with over a dozen ships already sunk, not to mention the ones that are still sinking, I believe that the combined might of our army and the Defenders of Kings Landing should finally outnumber the Ironborn."
His crew let out another cheer upon hearing those words.
But those cheers died a quick death as the remaining Ironborn and Pirate ships slowly turned to face their own fleet.
Understandable as the enemy fleet was mostly made up of war ships while most their own fleet consisted of cogs, carracks and other mercantile ships.
So even if the enemy ships were only being sailed by a small skeleton crew, there was still a bit of danger in the upcoming sea battle.
After all, they'll have to destroy or capture all the ships in the Iron Fleet before they're able to reach the shores of Kings Landing and start the land battle.
And if they lost too many ships in the sea battle, then they would lose their numerical advantage.
He heard Ser Lucerys praying to the seven under his breath and rolled his eyes before he started giving command to the crew of the ship.
Their ship, Grey Martha, was one of the few Warships in their Fleet. So it'll be up to them to go to the frontline and take the brunt of the enemy's attention so that the cogs and carracks could reach the shores safely and land their army without being sunk.
But before he could give too many orders, he heard the warhorn blare from the main ship. Twice in slow succession, meaning that they needed to slow down.
He wondered if he'd heard the wrong signal. But upon noticing that the other ships were slowing down as well, he gave the order for his crew to do the same.
He frowned as he looked in the direction of the main ship and wondered what the Prince is planning.
After all, slowing down their ships in a sea battle was death. Speed meant everything in the first clash. Without their speed, they were merely sitting ducks waiting for the enemy to ram into their hull and sink their ships.
But he didn't have to think for long as one of their fastest scouting ship broke apart from their formation and raced ahead of the others, either uncaring of the Prince's command or for a specific purpose.
He squinted to get a better look at that ship and frowned upon noticing that while the sails had been furled to their full capacity in order to get the maximum speed, there was not a single crew member visible on the deck.
"There is something green on the ship's deck." Ser Lucerys said and only then did he notice the green colour staining the deck of that ship.
"What is that?" He asked, getting the feeling that he should remember that green colour from somewhere. But where?
"Is that wildfire?" Ser Lucerys asked and his eyes flew wide open as he remembered just what that green substance was.
In his youth, he once had the opportunity to see the Great Hall of the Red Keep with Lord Velaryon.
Unfortunately for him, he had come on a bad day. Because the King was in a foul mood and had decided to give a thief one of the worst punishment he could ever imagine.
Being burned by wildfire.
The screams he heard that day still haunts his dreams some nights. And as he saw the ship getting closer and closer to the Iron Fleet, he finally understood Prince Stephen's plan.
And then, just as that Wildfire filled ship reached the Iron Fleet, he saw a fire arrow fly from the main ship.
All of them stood in utmost silence and watched as the arrow flew through and sky…
And came down on the deck of the wildfire filled ship.
Boom!
Green filled his vision and he held his breath and watched with wide eyes as over half of the remaining Iron Fleet got destroyed in an instant.
For a moment, it was almost as if he was witnessing the end of the world. As if the green ball of fire would continue to grow larger and larger until it covered the entire world.
"Mother be merciful." Someone prayed. "Maegor's tits!" Someone else cursed. But all of them stood there and watched as a huge fireball erupted into the sky. The entire world turning green for a moment.
But then the fire settled down, and a hot wave of heat washed over them. Almost searing their eyes. But aside from giving them a slight burn in the eyes, the heat didn't manage to accomplish much else.
The same couldn't be said for the Ironborn, who had lost over half of their Fleet, while the other half now had to deal with green fire that started to spread in their own ships.
A cheer rose among his ranks but he was too shocked and more than a bit terrified to cheer along with them, the memories of the past coming back to haunt him once again.
The screams of that thief suddenly rang in his ears once again. As well as the cackling of the Mad King. And the deafening silence of the court.
It was the shaking of Ser Lucerys that brought him back to the present. Long enough for him to hear the warhorn from the main ship.
Telling them to split up and charge forward.
Charge forward… for what?
The remaining ships in the Iron Fleet were either burning or had broken the formation in order to escape on their own.
The Pirates and sell sails in the Iron Fleet were the first ones to break apart. Terrified that they'll be engulfed in the fire as well.
Seeing them fleeing on their own probably broke the morale of the remaining Ironborn ships and they started fleeing as well.
Soon, the only Ironborn ships in front of them were the one that were still burning with the green fire.
And then he saw the main ship in the Fleet, Gods Hammer, the flagship of Prince Stephen sail forward at full mast. Utterly ignoring the fleeing ships in order to get to the shores of Kings Landing as fast as possible.
Oh… they needed to get to the shores as well, didn't they.
They still needed to deal with the Ironborns attacking Kings Landing.
He cleared his dry throat and started giving order to his crew as well. And soon enough, they were sailing forward to deal with the Ironborns attacking Kings Landing.
They had to take a large detour around the burning ships but soon enough, they had reached the shores of the city…
Only to watch in dismay, as the Ironborn broke through the Mud Gate and finally entered the city.
"We're late." Ser Lucerys muttered, just as dismayed as the rest of their men.
He took a few deep breaths to centre himself before he shouted. "Men. Men! It doesn't matter if the Ironborn have already breached into the city. It just means that we'll have to get inside and slaughter each and every single one of them until we've taken the city back from them! Now who is with me!"
The cheer this time was weaker than when they'd seen half of the Iron Fleet burn to cinders. But despite how shaken he was from the sight, he knew that they still had the advantage.
They can win this battle. And end this entire rebellion once and for all.