Chapter 148: The Siege of Tyrosh, 2:00 PM

The defenders and mercenaries on the walls of Tyrosh had prepared their defenses. The city walls were crowded, and everyone was on high alert. This was the first wall of Tyrosh, and the inner city walls were similarly organizing their defenses. Once the outer wall was breached, they would quickly retreat to the inner city to hold it.

The sea was filled with fleets from the Seven Kingdoms, and the sea route to Tyrosh had been completely blocked.

The landing force of over ten thousand men from the Seven Kingdoms had already disembarked, gathering densely outside Tyrosh' city walls. They were arranged in formations by family and were sitting, resting, and waiting for King Robert's order to begin the siege.

The distance between the two sides was three hundred meters, just beyond the range of archery for this era.

King Robert occasionally picked up the Valyrian steel pocket watch hanging from his armor.

Robert closed the pocket watch: "Fire the letter of surrender over."

The Kingsguard member, Ser Lyn Corbray, strapped a bow and arrow to his back, took the prepared parchment tied to an arrow, mounted his horse, and rode to the front of the line with another attendant holding the stag banner.

Robert's royal forces were at the center, with the Westermen positioned at the far west.

Under the banner of the red lion, the blonde attendant, Donnel Sarsfield, stood up from the ground:

"Ser Jaime, with so many of us, why not just charge in? Why have we waited so long?"

Jaime Lannister remained lying on the grass, eyes closed, resting: "We have a huge advantage and ample supplies. There's no rush. It's the defenders who are in a hurry."

Donnel Sarsfield paced back and forth, but with so many people around, it wasn't noticed.

He drew his longsword and pointed at a spot on the opposite city wall where a blue-and-white crossed-tail flag fluttered.

"Ser Jaime, if I were leading this battle, I'd attack that place first. That flag looks the most tattered, their equipment must be the worst, hahaha."

Jaime opened his eyes, saw the flag, and waved his hand: "Hound, tell him about it!"

The Hound, Sandor Clegane, stood up in his black plate armor, his dog-head helmet in place: "That's the Windblown from Essos. If the Golden Company is the number one mercenary group, the Windblown are one of the strongest contenders for second. They've had over two thousand fully armed soldiers and cavalry before, and now they're hired to defend the city, so their numbers will be even greater."

Donnel Sarsfield's face turned red with embarrassment as he saw Jaime close his eyes again and ignore him. He turned to the Hound: "Windblown? More like the Windbag Company!"

The Hound said nothing, simply stood with his greatsword at his side.

On the Dorne front, the person standing at the head of the line was moving his arms and legs around, jumping up and down in full armor, with his helmet off. His figure and the slight bulge on his chest under the armor made Donnel Sarsfield laugh again:

"Hahaha, the Dornish really sent a woman to the battlefield! They should be at home having children!"

His voice was loud enough for the surrounding Lannister soldiers to hear, and they all turned to look in that direction.

Thousands had gathered here, and though Dornish troops were a few hundred meters away, none of them reacted. But the female warrior seemed to have heard. She suddenly stopped her movements, picked up two longswords from the ground, and started heading toward them, but was stopped by Prince Oberyn, though she continued to glare at the Lannisters from her spot.

The Hound saw the Dornish woman clearly and quickly moved a couple of steps forward, pushing Donnel Sarsfield to the ground and sitting him down:

"Don't provoke her! Ten of you wouldn't be enough for her to chop down!"

Donnel Sarsfield, furious, shouted: "How dare you push me! What's she supposed to be? She'd dare chop me?"

Jaime, irritated by the noise, snapped: "Donny! Shut up."

His son had always been close to Cersei. At first, Jaime didn't think much of it, but over time, he noticed that Donny had become arrogant, reckless, and impolite. So he decided to assign him as his squire. At first, things were fine, but after getting familiar with the people around him, Donny returned to his previous ways.

Jaime looked at the Dornish warrior clearly and slowly spoke: "The Sword of the Morning of the last generation, Arthur Dayne of Dorne, was the man I respected most. And she is the new Sword of the Morning, Ashara Dayne. She's become so strong that the nobles are discussing whether to revoke her qualifications for the upcoming melee!"

The Hound added, "She's also the first disciple of Wright Baratheon. One of the swords she carries is the Dark Sister, one of the two Targaryen family swords that Wight gave her."

Donnel Sarsfield exclaimed, "Again, Wright Baratheon! He ruined everything for me, he—"

The Hound quickly covered his mouth and looked at Jaime. Jaime tossed his head back, and the Hound, still holding Donny's mouth shut, lifted him up and carried him by the shoulders, walking him toward the rear of the army. He wasn't planning to bring Donnel into this battle.

Though the Northmen were few in number, Ned and Robert had a close relationship, so they were treated well and placed beside the royal forces.

Robb, Jon, and Jorah Mormont were chatting.

The large, older Jorah Mormont, nearly forty, already had wrinkles on his face as he scratched his stubble, saying, "How could Asha and Theon do such a thing? It's a shame. I escorted both of them from Winterfell all the way to Oldtown, and thought they were both quite decent."

Robb replied, "I think it must be because of that Valyrian steel sword, Nightfall. I've seen it in the magical school's catalogue. It did once belong to House Greyjoy."

Jorah looked down at his longsword, "These Valyrian steel swords have been passed down from generation to generation in different families. If someone takes one, it's only right to take it back. But I think there might be other reasons."

Robb asked, "What reasons? Asha and Theon grew up with us. I know their personalities well enough. Returning a family sword is an honor, but they shouldn't have just killed someone. The king and other council members were present, a judgment could've been made in the assembly."

Jorah muttered, "As I traveled with them, I kept feeling that they were hiding something from me."

"Everyone has secrets. Maybe Theon fell for one of your women on Bear Island?" Jon, no longer a young man, had grown up during this journey, having matured in the taverns.

Jorah glanced back at Daisy Mormont, then quietly whispered, "That's possible."

Jon, noticing Jorah turning away, quietly asked Robb, "How are things with the Dornish princess?"

Robb seemed somewhat disappointed. "I went to see Prince Oberyn. He said that Arianne Martell hasn't sought him out. Even Prince Doran is sending people to search for her, but there's no way to fix the marriage pact."

Jon placed his hand on Robb's shoulder. "If she can't be found, then so be it. I don't think Arianne was too fond of you either."

Robb sighed, "I know. She's probably been with more men than I have with woman, but I can't seem to let go."

Jon said with a grin, "Sigh! Take a page from Father's book. In time, you'll get over it."

Suddenly, a sharp horn sounded.

"Form ranks!"

"Form ranks!"

"Prepare for the siege!"

The mounted messengers ran between Robert and the rest of the army.

The over ten thousand Westerlanders stood up, dusted off the dirt from their clothes, and gathered into their formations. The assault columns and battalions took their positions, now fully alert. The leisurely atmosphere from earlier was gone, replaced by a tense, murderous energy that began to spread across the battlefield.