-Chapter 29-
-10 days later-
-298 AC-
-1st day of the 10th moon-
-Royal Council Chamber-
-POV MC-
"Tyrion, I want you to make sure to hold the city. I know you're a Lannister, but I trust you. Do not betray me."
He nodded, and I said:
"Sir Barristan, in my absence, you are the Supreme Commander of the Dragon Guard and you have full authority over military matters. You have already received my orders and you will know what to do when the time comes."
"Yes, my king, but I still believe my place is by your side," said the aging legendary knight, probably offended that I did not take him into battle. But I did not want to lose him; he was undoubtedly one of my most loyal servants, and I did not want to lose him to an arrow shot by an unknown.
"Your mission is the most difficult, and I trust you," I said, and without waiting, he bowed and responded, "I will do everything that must be done, your majesty."
"I am counting on it, and I thank you again for the loyalty and dedication you show every day."
He nodded his head, and then I left with Jaime and Tristan, who had been following me like my shadow these last few days.
-War Council-
"Tristan, Vincent, Jordy, Carvin, Corian, Cedric, Elric, Samwell, Dorian, and Jonothor, you will each lead two cohorts into battle, 1500 soldiers per cohort, which makes 3000 soldiers under your command per person. Are you up to the task?"
"Yes, your majesty," they all responded in unison.
"Perfect, then I will explain what we will do. Tywin Lannister's army is marching towards Riverrun, and we will set out with all the forces of the Crownlands from tomorrow to attack Harrenhal. It is of course forbidden to pillage, it is forbidden to rape, and of course, it is also forbidden to massacre innocents."
"But if they rebel or refuse to comply?" asked Jonothor, the giant with his red beard.
"You can control the city or village, and you can punish insurgents, but no unnecessary violence. We are the royal army, the army of liberation, and we come to liberate my people from the tyrannical grip of the Tullys, nothing more, nothing less," I said, making it clear that if it happened, they would be held to act accordingly, or I would, and they would not like the result of my involvement in it.
"Yes, commander," they said, returning to my old title as well as to show that beyond the King I was, I was still their commander, and they respected me for that.
I smiled and then said, "Sam, you will travel with me. Your two cohorts are composed only of archers and are not skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so you will be part of the reserve army behind my Shadow Guard."
He nodded and said, "Okay, Aegon."
He is one of the few who has the right to call me that, as we have become very close. He was really kind, and I hoped he could become either the Lord of Horn Hill or the Grand Maester of my Royal Council.
After hard training that did not break him, he became more massive and less chubby. He was like a buffalo and fought well with a Mace and a Morningstar. He was pathetically mediocre with a bow, but I had placed him at the head of this unit because I knew the talent for strategy he possesses.
Unfortunately, I could see the sad and disappointed puppy-dog look he wore and clumsily tried to hide. I put a hand on his shoulder and said:
"Do not be disappointed; your time will come."
He nodded, so I moved on and said:
"I have decided to split the Royal Army into 3. Tristan, I want you to take command of 10 cohorts. You will take Cedric and Jonothor with you, and you will pacify the entire area between Deep Den and God's Eye."
Tristan nodded and said, "I will prove worthy of the task you entrust to me."
Tristan was a tall man, just under 190cm, with chestnut hair and blue eyes. Among our group, he was the only one the others had difficulty integrating with. He was what one might call a cold and unfeeling man.
There was only one thing we all knew about him: he had a hunger gnawing at him deep inside, a hunger that gave him the motivation to overcome all obstacles in his path, to become one of my closest and most effective lieutenants.
I know whatever I ask of him, he will do without flinching, but I also had this uncomfortable feeling that I should not trust him too much, as he reminded me of the kind of person Roose Bolton was in the GOT series.
This is not the time to think about that; first, let's finish this war council.
I turned to Jordy and said, "Jordy, you will do the same, and you will be accompanied by Vincent and Corian, but the direction you will take will be opposite to Tristan's. I want you to advance on our left and destroy every obstacle up to Darry. The area must be pacified with the minimum of losses. I am counting on you to carry out this task well."
He bowed and then said, "We will do it, your Majesty."
I nodded at him and then turned to the last man I was going to entrust an army to, Carvin. He was a veteran of the war like most of my lieutenants, but he had lost an eye in that conflict, which hardened him and pushed him to found a Sellsword company.
He learned to command and fought for the majority of his life. He was going to retire to settle in King's Landing with his pregnant wife when I posted the recruitment notice.
"Carvin, you had not planned to fight again, so I leave the choice to you. If you want, you can return to your wife."
He smiled and then said, "I had not planned to fight again, but if it's for you, Your Majesty, I would die with a smile on my lips. But I would just like you to take care of my family if I should..."
"Do not worry; you will not die. And even if that happened, I want all of you to know that the families of all our soldiers who die in battle will be taken care of by the crown, and I commit to you to personally look after your families, should you make the ultimate sacrifice," I said, interrupting him.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said.
The others said nothing, but I could see various expressions of relief and gratitude emerge. Although we were close, we were not friends, at least not in the literal sense of the word.
I was a noble from a noble family for millennia when we met, and on top of that, I was their superior while they were just commoners. We could not be on equal footing because I had too much power over them.
The fact that I became King has further deepened the gap in this unnamed relationship we all shared because whether I was a good friend or not, they all owed me unwavering loyalty, and I would accept nothing less.
"Carvin, you will lead the remaining 10 cohorts and march at the vanguard. You must eliminate any problems we might encounter on the road, be wary of ambushes, and destroy all dangers," I said in a more solemn tone.
He gave a military salute, one that I had seen in an anime from my previous life, Attack on Titan, a fist over the heart while the other was behind the back. I smiled and then said, "We cannot fail."
A glint of determination shone in everyone's eyes as the council ended...."