Chapter 117

|3rd POV|

"We should demand them to join our cause!"

"Are you out of your mind?! Look what happens to the Lannister when they demand the same thing!"

"Exactly! With the Lannister becoming their enemy, they are more willing to join our cause"!

"No! We should use a surprise attack to destroy them! They are from the south and will never join our cause!"

Lord Roose Bolton looked at his fellow lord in disgust. All of them are fools, in his opinion. They cannot see the obvious solution to this debate.

The Lords of the Crossroad only want one thing: neutrality. The same neutrality that the previous king signed. Ignore them, and all of them should be safe crossing their territory.

They did not even demand compensation for their neutrality, unlike the Frey, who demanded a lot of money for people crossing their bridge and looking where that got them. With the new canal, their bridge became useless. Their primary income is gone, and now they slowly fall into ruin.

"What do you think of Lord Bolton? You have not once said a word since we started this discussion."

Roose looked at the young lord before saying.

"I think the answer is obvious, my lord."

Roose decides to humor Rob Stark with an answer. Stark is on the rise right now, and with the backing of the healer from Lunaria, he knows he cannot take over the north. For now, the Bolton will bide their time and support the current Lord Paramount.

"Oh? Do tell."

"We should not do anything."

The Leech Lord holds a sigh coming out from his mouth when he hears the other lords start to shout and sneer at him. Sometimes he wonders if he is the smart person in the north as a barbarian currently surrounds him.

"The Lords of Crossroad want neutrality and we should honor their wish. We use their service, pay them and we can go south. The only reason why they attack the Lannister is that they demand their surrender and attack them. Look where it takes them."

The news of Lannister getting defeated in the Battle of Crossing is shocking to all. They never thought that five thousand men could win against thirty-one men, but here they are.

"We also did not know what kind of weapon they used. Our scout tells us the Crossroad Lords use some kind of weapon they get from Lunaria that changes the tide of battle. We don't know what it was but it was something else if it managed to defend the Lannister."

Rob Stark nods his head as he imagines what would happen if his men fought against the unknown weapon. He wanted revenge but did not want to sacrifice many of his men to get that revenge.

"Not only that secret weapon, but the Crossroad Lords also have a catapult and scorpion mounted on their tower. That is only their weapon, their wall is also too tall for our ladder to reach. Their city is a fortress that can withstand an army."

"Then we starve them!"

Roose releases a sigh, this time at Lord Karstark's suggestion. Rickard Karstark is a great commander, but his way of thinking is too obvious in Roose's opinion. Attack this, attack that and starve them is his only solution in a war.

Roose's frown gets deeper when he hears the other agreeing with the old fool.

"We can't. While you might not know this, I know that they have a small farm inside their city that can feed them for three years without a problem. That is not even counting on the magician in their rank that can grow the plant faster making their food output increase by ten times. Normal strategy cannot take them out without heavy losses on our side."

"Then admit we lose?!"

The Leech Lord releases another tired sigh and says.

"I never once said to admit we lose, gods give me strength. I only said that we should let them be and use their service to go to the south. Just like how Frey is doing but better. They will not demand a lot of money and even let us go for free as long as we follow their law. However, to make sure we arrive as fast as possible, we can use their service. That means we rent their ship to take us there."

Roose can hear disagreement from the lords, but they accept his word unwillingly because his word is true. Rob, who is hearing his word, also nods his head.

"Very well. I will send a letter to Lord Darry. We need time and spending a few hundred or even a thousand gold coins is something I can do if we can get that."

At least someone is mature enough to do so, Roose said inside his head.

=||=

While the north discusses the strategy to beat the Lannister in Harrenhal, one of the lions is currently pacing around in panic. This lion is called Cersei Lannister, the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

The news of her beloved brother and father's defeat had already reached her ears, and it made her scared. While she did not know anything about the war, she knew that an enemy surrounded the capital.

If not for the Baratheon Brothers having a civil war against each other, King's Landing would have already fallen.

While she is walking around her room in a panic, one of the servants knocks on her door.

"What?!"

"Your majesty, someone wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

"He is a Greyjoy, your majesty."

"Oh?"

Cersei looked at the servant for a few seconds before saying.

"Very well. Let's meet this man."

Cersei and the servant walk toward the guest sitting in the meeting room while drinking a glass of wine. When he sees Cersei come inside the room, he smiles a little and says,

"Your majesty, you are as beautiful as ever."

"Euron Greyjoy. I never thought I would see you again. The last time I saw you, it was in Harrenhal."

"Of course you are still as beautiful as in the past."

"What do you want?"

Euron drinks all the wine inside the glass in his hand, smirking at Cersei, and says.

"Do you want to win this war, your majesty?"

Euron smiled at Cersei, and it looked like a devil instead of a human.