Chapter 121 -Moat Cailin (I)
"It's a big castle." Visenya spoke, observing the home of House Frey, Twins.
------
Three days later, a war march advanced towards the south of Westeros, made up of a legion of men wearing red armor and men in golden masks.
Mounted on a horse, Aenar and his court could be seen surrounded by the Sardaukar. Unlike the fifty thousand men of the Red Legion, the Sardaukar were fewer in number, around twenty thousand men, all wearing golden masks and white and gold cloaks.
This certainly made a strong impression on the four thousand soldiers of House Manderly. Many didn't dare approach the men in the golden masks.
"Your Grace, in order to reach the Vale and the Riverlands, we have to pass through the Twins, at the Green Fork, on the Trident." Oberyn spoke in a cold tone, mentioning the castle called the Twins.
An expression that Wylis, heir to White Harbor, shared. If there was a noble house more notorious than the Boltons themselves, it was House Frey. All kinds of bad and malicious names could be attributed to House Frey and its lord, Walder Frey.
Aenar nodded. Of course he knew about House Frey. There was no ignoring the noble house that had dared to kill Robb on his wedding day. Even if it was in another reality, House Frey was no different, and the Lord of the Crossing was an unscrupulous man whom Aenar planned to destroy with his own hands.
"Will the lord of House Frey dare block our march south? We have dragons." Visenya asked in a curious tone. Although she didn't know anything about House Frey, from Oberyn and Wylis' disgusted expressions, she knew that it was a House with a very bad reputation.
"He'll probably want us to pay for the passage," Oberyn replied to the future queen of Aenar, with a respectful tone.
"He would dare charge us!?" Visenya exclaimed in disbelief. They had over seventy thousand soldiers and four dragons!
This was an army that not even Harren the Black had had the privilege of facing hundreds of years ago. She couldn't imagine that anyone would be foolish enough to demand payment for their passage.
"Don't underestimate people's greed, my queen. Gold and silver are often more tempting than life itself," Oberyn said with a serious tone. Although he didn't think Walder would charge the army for passage either, given how cautious he was, he wouldn't be surprised if the Lord of the Crossing demanded something.
"When we reach the Twins, we'll attack the castle," Aenar declared at that moment, causing everyone to look at him in surprise. They hadn't really expected Aenar to attack directly, without even giving House Frey a chance to survive.
"Walder Frey will invite us to dinner and poison us. His sons will finish the job by killing us with arrows." Aenar spoke calmly, as if it were no big deal, but the expressions of the entire House Targaryen changed dramatically.
Rhaella, Visenya and Rhaenys knew that Aenar could see the future and trusted him completely. So, when they found out what would happen to them, they all displayed cold expressions. If they had previously been neutral towards Walder Frey, they now harbored strong negative emotions towards the Lord of the Crossing.
Although not everyone was aware of Aenar's abilities, like House Martell and House Manderly, the rest of the people who were connected to the Red Faith, like Kinvara, knew his capabilities very well.
Oberyn and all of House Martell looked at Aenar with strange expressions. The king spoke almost as if he knew exactly what was going to happen, which was completely impossible in their eyes. After all, seeing into the future was not a power a man could have, no matter how special he was.
So Aenar's words sounded more like an assumption based on the description he had heard from Oberyn.
"No matter how ambitious Walder is, he won't dare violate Guest Law, Your Grace. He would make an enemy of practically all the Noble Houses, including his own vassals, who would not dare trust their backs to such an untrustworthy lord." Oberyn spoke with a serious tone.
The Right of the Guest was something practically sacred, which few had dared to break over the millennia. And those who did suffered terrible fates.
"You forget that fear can do wonders for one's reputation. If he kills us, how much prestige do you think he'll gain? Who would dare attack someone who eliminated the Targaryen, who possessed dragons?" Aenar said, looking at Oberyn with a smile on his face.
"Walder could guarantee hundreds of years of peace and a lot of money. How could he refuse Tywin's offer?" Aenar said with a cold tone.
Yes, Tywin Lannister had already made contact with Walder Frey. The Lord of the Rock had promised the Lord of the Crossing money and power, including more land.
"Tywin Lannister?" Hearing the name of the murderer of his sister and nephew, Oberyn's eyes sharpened.
"Yes. My spies have discovered that Walder Frey and Tywin Lannister have exchanged letters several times." Aenar nodded.
"If Walder Frey and Tywin Lannister are allied, then Your Grace's hunch may indeed come true," said Oberyn. Upon hearing Aenar's confirmation, his eyes turned cold and murderous, resembling the gaze of a serpent. Perhaps that was the origin of his nickname among the people.
"Your Grace." called Tyrion, who had been silent until that moment.
"Yes, my lord Hand?" Aenar looked at Tyrion and asked with a smile.
"Since we know my father is involved, send the news to every noble house in Westeros. Let everyone know how vile he is. Break his reputation and make the vassals of House Lannister fear that Tywin will do something similar to them." Tyrion spoke in a cold tone. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of the blow he would be dealing to his father's prestige.
Believe him, one of the reasons the rules exist is to prevent exactly what Aenar mentioned. Without rules, anyone can die at any time, and no noble wants to die.
That's why everyone respects the Right of Guests: because they fear that one day they could be in the place of those who have been betrayed.
Tyrion's proposal brought a smile to Aenar's lips. As he had said, this really was an excellent move against Tywin. When the man goes to seek alliances, who will trust him? Only a fool would trust a man capable of ordering the death of guests protected under Guest Law.
Tywin probably never imagined that letters that only he and Walder would know could be discovered by someone. Unfortunately, he never even imagined that Aenar could see the past, present and future. Had he known, he might never have left King's Landing and would have concentrated all his forces on staying on the defensive instead of attacking.
"Do it." Aenar gave Tyrion permission and added. "Sign it with your name and current position."
Aenar took the opportunity to tell Westeros that he was someone who knew how to forgive, and accepted Tyrion Lannister as Hand of the King. This would deal a double blow to Tywin and Robert, which would make it harder for everyone to recruit more people.
Aenar just had to stay in Harrenhal and wait for the Lords of the Noble House to come to him and kneel before him.
"Yes, Your Grace." As an intelligent man, Tyrion knew what Aenar wanted to do by asking him to sign the letters.
"I'll help you, Tyrion." Oberyn smiled and offered to help.
Curiously, Oberyn and Tyrion became friends after a year and a half of living together, their hatred of Tywin having made their relationship much easier. They became close friends and frequented all the brothels in Volantis.
Seeing both of them walking away, Aenar smiled and continued marching towards Moat Cailin, where his uncle was at that moment, waiting for him to arrive and march together to Twins.
"Aenar, I see Moat Cailin!" Rhaenys commented, looking up at the gigantic castle made of black stone rising solitarily into the sky and gradually appearing on the horizon.
Of the original twenty towers of the castle, there were only seven still standing today. Originally there were only three, but another four were rebuilt in the renovation of the castle that will be the fiefdom of Rickon Stark, son of the Lord of Winterfell. The walls of Moat Cailin were the same size as the walls of Winterfell.
The castle defended the north from the south for ten thousand years and still looked majestic.
That was Moat Cailin.
Aenar smiled over Moat Cailin, now they just had to wait a bit and march towards Twins, starting the attacks in the Vale and Riverlands.
The reconquest had begun.
----------
Read more than advanced chapters in my Patre on!
Read chapters ahead on Patreon. Two chapters are updated every day except Sunday.
P-atreon.com/GOTSW
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)