iron throne of ice and fire

Chapter 428: Under the Rushing City 5
The firewood crackled and sparks flew out of the brazier.

Green took a sip of wine and said, "I know that Queen Cersei wants to suppress Tyrell's power in the Red Keep."

Ser Jaime gazed at the dancing flames, paused, and said, "But Tyrell is not an enemy of the Lannisters. I... can't change her mind."

Green's brown eyes moved to Jaime, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly, saying: "Since you knew that Cersei was hostile to the Tyrells, why did you leave her alone in the Red Keep?"

Sir James glanced at Green, leaned lazily on the back of his chair, raised his head and took a big sip of wine, and said: "To be honest, she no longer needs me. This has nothing to do with love or not."

Jaime didn't seem to want to continue talking about Cersei. He changed the subject directly: "Green, my brother...is he okay?"

Green glanced at James, nodded slightly, and said, "If there is no news, he is alive and well. You should believe his words."

James shrugged. "It's his flexible tongue that worries me the most."

Green smiled, then stood up, patted James on the shoulder, and said, "Sir, go for a walk with me."

The night sky was deep and blue. The Red Fork River flowed silently in the darkness. The reeds on the shore swayed gently, making a slight rustling sound.

"War brings destruction of all kinds."

Green paused and pointed in a few directions casually, saying, "Though those places are now overgrown with weeds, they were once fertile land."

He looked into the dark distance and said, "I will arrange for people to gather the displaced people nearby. I will also help them to reclaim the abandoned farmland, repair the farmhouses, and let them settle down. If there is no more harassment from the villains, they will soon be able to live a stable life again."

Hearing this, Ser Jaime couldn't help but recall what he saw when he rushed to Riverrun. The villages and farmlands were overgrown with weeds and thorns, bones were piled up on the roadside, and there was the howling of wolves in his ears... It was as if they had become the new masters of the land.

He sighed slightly: "The chaos in the riverlands has never stopped."

"I know you are curious about my real purpose..."

Green stood with his hands behind his back facing Jaime: "I can tell you directly that I came here for the suffering people of the Riverlands. I hope this land can be free from the war as soon as possible. So, you don't need to doubt my actions. Justice, humility, bravery, mercy, sacrifice... Ser Jaime, I have been a knight from beginning to end, and my knightly heart has never wavered."

Under the night sky, Green's figure was as tall as a mountain.

Looking at him, Ser Jaime's Adam's apple rolled slightly and his hands clenched into fists.

"Cleber is doing his best to restore order in the Riverlands..."

Green took a few steps and stood in front of Jaime. "But whether it's the Lannister army or the Tully army, I don't believe you or they will cherish the people who have finally waited for the light of hope. If no one restrains them, the soldiers under the city will act as looters at any time."

He stretched out a finger, placed the tip of his finger horizontally on the plate armor on Jaime's chest, and said, "White Knight, will your chivalry protect those innocent people and prevent them from being invaded by the Lannister army?"

Jaime Lannister closed his eyes.

He served as squire to Lord Sumner Crahey for four years...

When he was fifteen, he fought bravely in the battle to wipe out the Royal Forest Brotherhood, and was knighted by the Sword of the Dawn on the battlefield...

However, he put on the white robe for Cersei...

They spent that night in the shabby inn. Cersei's maid costume made him extremely excited. He had never seen her more passionate than that night.

Whenever he wanted to sleep, she would wake him up...

When dawn came, Casterly Rock was insignificant compared to Cersei, and he willingly put on the white robe.

Ser Barristan Selmy was wrong. His white robes were not stained black by his backstabbing of the king.

Yes, the world was wrong. From the beginning, his white robe should have been dark.

It was he himself who...had tarnished the knight's heart, which he had once been most proud of.

When James opened his eyes, he smiled broadly. He also stretched out his finger and touched the armor on Green's chest: "I have to admit that your knight's heart... is quite admirable."

Green raised his eyebrows slightly: "You seem to have found something important that you once lost. Is it my credit?"

The relaxed and happy smile on James' face faded, he stroked his chest and said seriously: "Thank you."

Green's body shuddered, and then he stepped back a little, with a slightly disgusted tone: "You should say now that a Lannister must pay his debts. Also, don't behave in a way that could be easily misunderstood."

Upon hearing this, Sir James burst into laughter: "My Lord Duke, I am sincerely expressing my gratitude to you."

Green smiled and said, "I know. No need to thank me."

He reached out and patted James' arm: "The person you should thank the most is yourself. To walk the path of knighthood well, it is ultimately up to yourself. Congratulations."

After a pause, he continued: "Back to the topic..."

Green glanced at the guards such as Braden standing in the distance, then called Sir Anger, drew out his sword with a swish, and said, "Sir Jaime, if you can beat me, I promise that the Crabbe army will be friendly spectators at the foot of Riverrun." Swish—Sir Jaime drew out his sword and said, "If I lose, I promise..."

Before he could finish his words, Green's sword had already slashed towards him. He quickly raised his sword to block it. A sharp sound of metal collision was heard, and the two of them took a step back almost at the same time.

"Hey, let me tell you, this is a sneak attack."

Green recalled James's strength and said, "This is called warming up."

Warming up? Before James could think, Green's sword attacked like a living thing.

Strike upwards, strike sideways, slash downwards, keep moving forward, keep pressing, and James can only parry.

There were bursts of sound and sparks flew from the swords.

Stab, stab, slash, slash, they drew their swords faster and faster, as if someone would be killed by the sword in the next moment.

The dance of death made Jaime's blood sing.

Clang, clang, clang, the steel continues to sing.

The moment he caught his breath, the offense and defense changed again. Green swung his sword violently, and James, who was parrying, retreated again and again.

There was a pause in Green's movements, and the offense and defense switched again. James's sword danced wildly, left-left, right-right, left-right, right-left, continuously launching attacks.

Back and forth, back and forth, James suddenly felt each blow getting heavier and heavier, his shoulder began to go numb, and his wrist ached.

He turned around and slashed, sparks flew everywhere, and James stuck the sword into the ground and had to rest for a while.

However, Green did not look embarrassed at all. He held the sword at an angle and said, "Old Knight, are you okay?"

Hearing this, James, who was already having difficulty breathing, almost couldn't breathe.

He staggered to his feet and grasped the sword again. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a voice from his throat that seemed to be smoking: "Come... again."

"It's over."

Green patted the hem of his robe and said, "You are proud enough to have the corner of my clothes stained with mud. You win this time."

After hearing this, Ser Jaime was so angry that he wanted to throw his sword.

"See you next time, sir."

Leaving James behind, Green left directly surrounded by his guards.

Looking at the figure that quickly disappeared, James' chest heaved more and more violently, and he almost roared like a lion on the spot.

…………

Starting from the next day, the Lannister army on the south bank of the Red Fork River broke camp and left, and Crabbe's soldiers, under the order of the lord, set up the first huge catapult.

The catapult is particularly eye-catching in the sunlight, like a dormant beast.

The thick rope was stretched tightly, and several strong soldiers pushed the capstan with great effort to accumulate power for the catapult.

Then, the soldiers struggled to put the heavy stones into the scoop of the catapult.

When everything was ready, with an order, the soldier operating the launcher swung his double-handed hammer and smashed it down.

In an instant, the scoop of the catapult suddenly bounced up, making a dull roar, throwing the stone high into the air and rushing rapidly into the sky.

The stone drew an arc in the air and whizzed towards the castle, with broken stones flying everywhere and smashing hard into the wall of Riverrun.

The soldiers repeated the previous operation, and the second stone flew out with a sharp sound of wind.

This time, the stone did not hit the city wall, but fell into the Red Fork River below the city, making a loud "splash" and splashing high water.

Several maesters in the camp talked in low voices for a while, and then said to Green who was staring at the direction of Riverrun: "My Lord, if you want to make stones fly over the walls of Riverrun, the fastest way is to increase the size of the catapult."

After a pause, Green retracted his gaze and said, "Let the soldiers get familiar with the operation first. When President Harlin delivers the 'stones' for training this afternoon, you can tell me the specific size of the trebuchet."

The use of "fruit" is dangerous in itself, let alone the new "fruit" that is said to be much larger than the head.

Tyrion had developed a safer training method before the Battle of King's Landing (Chapter 231). First the paint, then the fuel oil, and when the soldiers were proficient... finally they switched to cans of wildfire.

While the soldiers were training on the operation of the catapults, Green left the camp with his guards and rode on horseback to inspect the nearby abandoned villages and farmlands in order to begin gathering the refugees as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)