Chapter 610: The Rebellion of Stonehelm

Thump—Thump—

Thump—Thump—

Thump—Thump—

Punctual as ever, the bells of King's Landing rang out, followed by the melodious sound of trumpets.

The endless army of the Night's Watch began their journey towards their homeland amid the watchful eyes of many, accompanied by countless individuals who bid them farewell. Among them were mostly the Northerners exiled in King's Landing, their eyes filled with tears as they bid goodbye to the army departing towards their homeland, hoping they would reclaim it from the dead soon.

However, the local populace of King's Landing seemed rather disinterested. They had little interest in knowing what was happening in the distant North. For most, they would perhaps never leave the lands they stood upon in this lifetime, let alone concern themselves with the dead roaming at the world's end.

During the time when the army of the dead had massively invaded, they might have been scared out of their wits, feeling as if the end of the world was near. However, the dead were ultimately halted at the Twins.

The Night's Watch army marched northward along the Kingsroad, and as they passed the small hill where Robert Baratheon was buried outside the city, Eddard detached himself from the group.

"Robert."

He rode his warhorse up the small hill, paid his respects to his old friend, had a brief conversation with Robert, poured out a pot of good wine, and then, facing the sunset above, galloped to catch up with the troops.

The expedition of the Night's Watch to the North was a significant event in the new dynasty. The kingdom was now stable but still had not entirely emerged from the gloom; there were many matters yet to be resolved up and down the realm.

Viserys was not too worried about the expedition of the Night's Watch. The power of the old gods primarily involved traversing the past; however, occasionally, he could glimpse a bit of the future. Unfortunately, he couldn't see it all, merely traces and hints.

That's why Viserys couldn't be a complete seer, understanding past, present, and future. He could only get a glimpse, deducing the future's trajectory and development from the scant details he had.

According to the current situation, the expedition of the Night's Watch to reclaim the North had not met much resistance.

What remained in the North were only scattered wights. Without the command of the White Walkers, relying solely on barbarism and ferocity, they might deal with scattered mercenaries, but could not stand against a well-formed army. The army, nominally the Fifth Army of the kingdom but actually a more independent Night's Watch, only needed to deploy and push forward to reclaim their homeland.

The night outside was tranquil.

The Red Keep, standing atop Aegon's High Hill, was the commanding height of the whole King's Landing. Among it, the Maegor's Holdfast, serving as the royal bedroom, was the tallest. The king's bedroom was extremely spacious, with elegant and exquisite furniture, a huge soft feather bed, valuable porcelain vases on the table, and gorgeous drapes and window veils fluttering with the wind.

Viserys was sitting in front of the desk at the moment, facing the balcony extended outwards, enjoying the sea breeze, with one finger extended, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

"My love."

His beautiful queen of Dorne was lying on their soft bed, naked but covered with a thin transparent veil, her legs raised and entwined together, turning her head to look at her husband before she spoke.

She had been watching Viserys for a long time, as he had been lost in thought, wondering what was on his mind.

"Are you perhaps thinking about the situation in Stonehelm?"

Not long ago, a rebellion occurred in Stonehelm. Count Gullian Swann, dissatisfied that his last heir, Balon Swann, was killed by Robert in a trial by combat, believed that the Iron Throne should have spared his son and thus initiated a rebellion.

Gullian Swann first hosted a grand banquet, inviting many nobles from the Stormlands to participate. However, unfortunately, only a few who lived not far from Stonehelm arrived—Count Lester Morrigen of Crow's Nest, Lady Marie Mertyns of Mistwood, Count Alexander Staedmon of Broad Arch, and some other nobles of the Stormlands.

During the banquet, Gullian Swann suddenly cursed Viserys aloud, calling him a tyrant who violated the sacred rights of nobility, urging the Stormland nobles present at the banquet to join him in resisting Viserys.

However, the other Stormland nobles were startled by Gullian Swann's sudden madness. Now the spies of the Internal Affairs department were omnipresent. They had experienced it in King's Landing, even knowing the color of their underwear.

They feared being implicated by Gullian Swann, so they hurriedly tried to leave the banquet but were detained by the mad Count Swann.

Then Gullian Swann issued a final ultimatum to these detained nobles, demanding all Stormland nobles to join his rebel army to jointly resist Viserys's rule.

He even crazily declared that the Rainwood had become independent. If that young ghost Viserys wanted his head, he should personally ride his dragon to burn down this vast forest.

Unless all the trees were burnt down, any soldiers breaking in would be killed by the soldiers of Stonehelm.

However, the rebellion in Stonehelm actually happened three months ago, but the news only reached King's Landing two months ago, naturally because the news from Rainwood was too isolated. The reach of the Internal Affairs department was still limited to the royal domain, not stretching too far.

Then, embarrassingly, before the Iron Throne could personally send troops to quell the rebellion, this drama ended.

It turned out that the Onion Knight, Davos Seaworth, who was responsible for inspecting the kingdom's customs, happened to lead dozens of border inspection soldiers by ship to Stonehelm not long ago.

They discovered the unrest in Stonehelm, that the Swann family had begun to gather soldiers, having more than the allowed limit of private soldiers, and were sweeping through the Rainwood.

The Onion Knight was trapped in the Rainwood and couldn't leave, so he was forced to hide. However, eventually, leading a few dozen of his capable men, they seized an opportunity to burst into Stonehelm and killed Count Gullian Swann, quelling the rebellion.

Due to the new policy, the noble's armies were downsized and incorporated, so the soldiers hastily recruited during the Stonehelm rebellion were mostly local farmers with no combat strength. This allowed the Onion Knight to seize the opportunity and quell the rebellion.

However, it's worth mentioning that after the Onion Knight broke into Stonehelm, he also killed several prisoners detained by Gullian Swann—Count of Crow's Nest, Lady of Mistwood, etc.

Davos claimed that they had already surrendered to the Swann family, so he killed them.

And these people happened to be among the three nobles who had occupied Griffin's Roost a year ago when Stannis was assassinated. Davos avenged his former liege lord in passing.