Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

The curtain separated Renly from the outside world.

He could only judge from the vague figures and noisy noises that there was probably a large gathering of people in the tent. What was Stannis's army doing? Where were they going?

The tent where Alister Florent imprisoned him was empty. The slightly sharp corners, such as chairs, pots and pans, were cleared out by Alister, leaving nothing behind.

Stannis must have been deliberately torturing himself. He didn't see a cup of water to quench his thirst, and he didn't see any food to relieve his hunger. Damn Stannis.

He coughed weakly, the hunger stirring his stomach, and his lips were so dry that they bled.

The violent coughing sound came from the curtain, and Renly opened his eyes and looked around the empty space. The rope tied him too tightly, and the burning pain spread all over his limbs. When the traitors of the Florent family tied him up, he was only wearing the single clothes he wore when he was sick in bed, and there was no way to reduce the squeezing and friction of the hemp rope.

Renly had never experienced such a situation. He grew up surrounded by maids and knights at Storm's End. He would take a bath with several kilograms of milk from the farm, and the surface of the bath water would float with fragrant purple petals. Occasionally, he would use Dorne's red mud and immerse his whole body in it. When he came out of the bath, the blushing maid would use a razor blade to shave off the red mud stuck on his skin one by one.

But since Ser Loras came to be his squire, this work no longer needed to be undertaken by the poor maid.

The Knight of Flowers praised him as the king of perfume, and it was not without reason. Renly hated the various knight trainings imposed on him by Ser Penrose since he was a child. He still remembered the words he refuted Ser Penrose when he was younger, "A qualified lord does not need to master a sword," he said to Ser Penrose firmly, facing the other's suspicious face, and continued, "What's more important is to master the person who holds the sword."

After this sentence was passed to Robert, Renly was almost beaten to death by his brother who had become king.

"You can make the man holding the sword work for you, then I'll take the hammer!"

Renly will never forget the hateful look when Robert mentioned the war hammer, and it is still part of his inner haze.

"If you can't learn the long sword, then learn to ride a horse and learn archery. I don't believe my brother can only hang out at banquets!"

Robert threw down the war hammer and smashed it on the ground, saying this coldly, but turned around and threw himself into the banquet of the Red Castle. The words that taught him always lost their value in this back and forth tossing, and Renly couldn't persuade him at all.

Renly couldn't lift Robert's hammer with both hands. Perhaps it was the frustration that made him more and more disgusted with hunting and knight sparring.

While thinking about it, the curtain suddenly opened, and Davos Seaworth looked at him calmly, "Lord Renly, we should go."

"Where to go?" Before he could say it, the soldier behind Davos quickly walked in front of him and cut the rope with a dagger.

The pressure of the rope disappeared, but the burning pain in his arms and chest became worse. Renly endured the pain and said, "I need food and water." Before he finished speaking, Davos handed over jerky and water, "Soldiers' food, I hope you can swallow it." Davos's tone was very light, and Renly swallowed the jerky without caring about his identity as a "king". "Where to go?" Renly swallowed the last piece of meat with difficulty, looked up at the Onion Knight, and repeated the question. "Go to your castle," Davos left a light sentence, walked towards the warhorse that came with his entourage, turned over and jumped on the horse's back, "Follow them, Lord Renly, we won't embarrass you." My castle? Renly's thinking was slightly stagnant, and he didn't think about where Stannis's army was going for a while. He circled the camp, and many familiar flags came into view. The turtle flag of the Estermont family, the blue-green swirl flag of the Wilder family, and the black crow flag of the Morrigan family.

Most of the flags of the Stormland nobles are here. A dizziness first surged to his forehead, but his keen political sense instantly calmed him down.

The Stormland nobles could not be convinced by Stannis's command. They probably knew what impression they had in Stannis's mind. They were traitors and rebels. Stannis would definitely think so, but it was not revealed during the war. The Stormland nobles must know it.

Renly felt a shove behind him. The soldiers controlled his arms and tied them to his hands with the iron chains used to imprison prisoners.

There must be many Stormland knights who are loyal to him, Renly thought silently.

His eyes suddenly became dark, and a black cloth was put on Renly's head, covering his eyes.

Damn it! Renly cursed secretly.

The walls of Storm's End are the smoothest among the castles of the Seven Kingdoms, Cortanay Penrose thought to himself, his fingers caressing the walls. The huge rocks that make up the walls are so tightly packed together that not even a wisp of wind can blow in.

Ever since Lord Randyll Tarly led the most well-preserved 8,000 cavalrymen in the Reach to attack Fallenwood and then returned to the Reach, he has been feeling uneasy.

The Battle of the Hills in the Stormlands once again proved the excellence of Stannis' military command, and Renly, whom he had raised, was too proud. Tens of thousands of cavalrymen were defeated by Stannis, who only had a few thousand soldiers.

Don't blame him!

Cortanay Penrose thought in annoyance. Renly had always followed Lord Randyll's arrangements. It was more of a failure of Randyll Tarly than a failure of King Renly. The man who had defeated King Robert on the front battlefield finally fell in front of Robert's brother.

However, if he sees through Stannis's suspicious troops outside Storm's End, if he can take the initiative to lead an attack, break Stannis's lies, and reveal his true tactics, then King Renly will not be defeated, he will not be defeated. !

He returned to his bedroom and studied the map again.

Where is the king? Cortanai sighed. He punched the table hard and the map trembled slightly.

He was too cautious and was unwilling to risk sending troops out of the city to search for traces. He only wanted to hold on to one-third of an acre of Storm's End Castle.

But the changes in the movements of Stannis's army attracted his attention. The Dragonstone fleet no longer blocked the sea of ​​Storm's End and disappeared. On the land, the smuggler Davos also led his army away. Stannis Ness seems to have turned its attention entirely to the siege of King Renly and no longer besieged Storm's End.

Could Stannis have exposed the army's backside so easily? Cortanai quickly overturned this idea. It was Storm's End Castle that was really being attacked from both sides. Moreover, the most dangerous thing about Storm's End Castle was not external forces. No matter how cautious Cortanai was, he would not trust the city defense of Storm's End Castle. Can be attacked from the front.

The real concern is the hearts and minds within.

Cortanai was lost in thought, but did not notice the door being quietly opened.

The little boy stood at the door of the room, his iconic big ears pinned to both sides. He looked at Sir Cortanai Penros frowning and staring at the map on the table. He took a deep breath and said: "Sir Penros "

Cortanai was awakened by the cry. He turned to look at the door, and the solemn look on his face suddenly turned into a smile.

"Edric, you're here." Cortanai said to the boy with a smile.

He looks so much like his father. Cortanai couldn't help but think about him every time he saw Edric.

With coal-black hair and dark blue eyes, he was a perfect replica of Robert.

"Lord Mae Dou asked me to send a message," Edric Storm said. "He will take advantage of the departure of Stannis's army to lead his troops to hunt in the deep woods to replenish the food of Storm's End."

Cortanai frowned slightly, "I believe that Count Meitu has not forgotten the fire that Davos set when he left. I am afraid that the prey that can run in the forest has gone to nowhere. Maybe the smuggler is waiting for us to go out, so that We fell into his trap!" His tone was quite harsh, and Edric took a slight step back.

Cortanai's tone suddenly became gentle, "Edric." He felt a little guilty in his heart, "I'm not saying these words to you. You are still young and don't understand many things."

Edric nodded ignorantly, stammering a little, "But Earl Mei Dou has left."

"Going out of the city against the orders of the acting city lord?" Cortanai said in disbelief, "How many people did he take away?"

"Less than ten people, probably"

"Ewood is really out of his mind! This Earl in his early twenties is really self-righteous!" He suddenly stood up from the table, paced, scratched his ears and head, and his hair, which was already as stiff as wood, was scratched and messed up.

Edric took a deep breath. He knew that he shouldn't disturb him at this time. He just closed the door quietly, leaned his back against the door, and waited quietly.

"Edric," Cortanai looked at him, "you and Sir Robert at the top of the city should inform him and ask him to guard the city gate strictly and not allow anyone to enter or exit, even if Earl Ewood Meadow himself comes. Wait for me at the city gate!"

Edric nodded, paused for a few seconds, and after making sure there were no other instructions, he opened the door and ran towards the city.

Renly's hood was taken off, but there was a pile of dead wood in front of him, and the smell of burnt wood filled the air, which was very choking.

"I didn't see the castle." He coughed violently again, this time lasting longer, and it took a soldier to help him beat his back.

Davos looked at him quietly, waiting for him to gradually calm down before he said, "Do you think Sir Cortanai Penros will open the city gate when he sees you?"

"Absolutely not," the corner of Renly's mouth raised slightly. He guessed what Stannis wanted to do, use him to trick him into opening the gate of Storm's End? It was absolutely impossible. He knew Cortanai Penros. As the acting Lord of Storm's End appointed by himself, his prudence and experience were obvious to all. "Sir Cortanai will only shoot arrows when he sees you threatening me."

"We have to try," Davos said, pointing to the huge tower in the distance. "Storm's End is not so much a castle as it is the largest tower in the Seven Kingdoms. It is close to the sea on one side, and the land route can be blocked on both sides. , I’m afraid it’s the castle that the Seven Kingdoms are most afraid of besieging.”

"The grain in the barn at Storm's End is enough to last more than a year. There is no way you can capture him." Renly said to Davos with a smile. He carefully looked at the knights escorting him from the corner of his eyes, trying to get the crest of their family from their family crests. Opportunities are revealed.

But unfortunately, these knights are all from Dragonstone.

Renly felt a little depressed inside, like pebbles sinking to the bottom of a river, unable to think of any chance.

"Look what we found," a knight said frivolously in the deep forest burned by fire, looking at Renly who was chained with a smile. Young knight, "The family emblem is a green shield with flowers of various colors, Earl Mei Dou of Green Valley City, haha!"

"Your Majesty?" The young Lord Plum Dou looked at Renly in surprise, "You" He looked around, loneliness and frustration written in his eyes, "You were captured by Stannis."

Davos quickly caught the emotion in Lord Maedal's eyes and said before Renly could speak, "King Stannis is going to chop off Renly's head himself. You have already failed, Lord Maedal. Only by kneeling down and swearing allegiance to the true king of the Iron Throne can you turn back from your wrong path."

Lord Maedal's eyes widened. No one knew better than him the morale of the Storm's End army. It was low. King Renly's previous failure had disappointed most of the knights of Storm's End, and it was difficult to raise their fighting spirit.

Renly was covered with a black cloth again, and something was stuffed in his mouth, blocking his throat, so he could only make a buzzing sound.

Edwood Maedal lowered his eyes and pursed his lips tightly, as if he was making a difficult decision.