Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

Lord Yohn was not pulled out of the pile of corpses until dawn and sunrise. He was breathing weakly. The sword in his hand was broken, a corner of his helmet was missing, and his breastplate was obviously hit by a heavy hammer and was deeply deflated. , the famous bronze armor was not worn on him, but on his eldest son Anda. This may be the reason why he was defeated.

The army doctor placed Lord Yohn in the command tent, where Attis, Eustace, and the three Royce brothers Anda, Robert, and Weimar were all here.

Anda said regretfully, "The Alpine clan attacked the Western Camp, and the damn pirates besieged my father. They were covered in heavy armor!" After speaking, he looked at Eustace, who did not shy away and said bluntly: "It's a long bow. Hall of Ordnance."

Robert looked at Jon's injury and said, "Is father okay?"

The doctor was neither a maester nor a silent sister. He was brought by Jon from Runestone City. He replied, "The count is not seriously ill, but he may be unconscious for a long time."

Weimar frowned. He couldn't believe that his persevering father was so weak now.

Eustace was silent for a while and said to the three Royce in the tent, "Lord John is unconscious, the march must continue, and we need a commander."

Anda looked at Attis, Robert frowned and stared at Eustace, and Weimar still looked at his father.

"I propose that the army should be in the name of Aelin, and Attis Aelin should be the commander of the army." Eustace obviously didn't want to talk nonsense and said bluntly.

Anda nodded in approval and did not question, "How did these pirates find Lord Yohn during last night's attack on the camp? They obviously concentrated their forces to behead him!"

Luo Ba was in charge of the scouts, and he sighed: "The scouts have always found that there are Gaoshan clan following us, the number is around two hundred, and they may have provided information through their observation.".

When Weimar heard this, she looked at Robert in disbelief, her face trembling with anger, "Then, then why didn't you tell us!".

"Lord John stopped it. He believed that the pirates and the Alpine Clan belonged to two different parties and had nothing to do with each other. Moreover, their numbers were small. He expected that the Alpine Clan would not dare to attack." Eustace answered for Robert.

Luo Ba spread his hands and expressed his helplessness.

"How can father be so confident? The Gaoshan clan is a rogue robber savage who can be bribed with a little arms and food!" Weimar roared.

Attis stabilized Weimar's excited body and said in a deep voice, "Calm down, Weimar, if you bribe them like this, the valley won't need to guard against them.".

He closed his eyes and said helplessly, "The news has been leaked to the pirates by the Alpine clan. The Longbow Hall must have discovered our traces and cannot launch a surprise attack." He looked at Eustace. The idea was to take advantage of the fact that the Longbow Hall did not know about the rebellion and was leaked by the youngest son, so that Eustace could pretend to return to the city and capture the Longbow Hall in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, now. What's even more terrible is that Jerwood learned that the news had been exposed. Maybe he will fight to the death. Harlan, the youngest son of the Hunter family, may

Attis faced everyone and said softly: "The cavalry was sent out last night to chase the escaped pirates. They should be back now." Just when everyone was anxiously looking for traces of Lord Yohn last night, Eustace thought that he would suggest sending out The cavalry tracked the pirates, and he took the decision decisively, because the pirates with heavy armor and good weapons were extremely slow even if they were riding fast horses. He had to capture them before they escaped into the mountains.

The call to return to camp happened to sound at this time, and Attis walked out of the camp. The cavalry team carried more than a dozen prisoners. They were stripped naked and bitten by mosquitoes, causing bursts of wailing.

The cavalry plundered the prisoners' supplies, including not only ordnance and dry food, but even the flag of the Hunter family. Attis wondered why the Longbow Hall was so crazy. Since the pirates were allowed to lead a sneak attack, why did they bring these unnecessary things, which were cumbersome, laborious, and affected the speed.

Eustace's face was livid. He stared closely at the banner of the Hunter family. Not only did this completely confirm his brother's act of parricide and betrayal, but the thousand-year honor of the Hunter family was completely forgotten by his brother.

"Greedy pirates, you should be sentenced to death!" Weimar roared angrily, raising his sword to kill them, but Luo Ba stopped him.

Attis grabbed a prisoner by the back and pulled him close. Playing with the dagger between his fingers, he caressed the captive's frightened cheek. "I want to know what's going on in the castle.".

The prisoner did not resist, but spoke very quickly and recounted all the information he knew. "Interrogate them one by one and find out the contradictions between them. If any mistakes are found, they will all be executed." Attis let go of the prisoners and slashed down with his dagger. Half of the pirate's hand was instantly lost. The bloody scene shocked the captives, and then they were dragged away separately.

Attis returned to the tent and asked for paper and pen from Blue Robe. He sat in front of the long table with the map, thought for a moment, picked up the pen and wrote a letter, stamped it with the seal of the Arryn family, and carefully used wax After sealing it, guide the raven out of the cage, hold the raven alone, and release it behind the tent in a deserted area.

Returning to the tent, he took out another letter and looked at it carefully, with a slight smile on his face unconsciously.

The captives provided details inside the castle. They had never seen Jerwood in public. Jerwood had always stayed in his father's bedroom. All instructions were given through the herald. The maester who served Longbow Hall was also missing. Traces, said to be imprisoned with his youngest son Harlan.

The defense of Longbow Hall still mainly relied on the subordinates of Jerwood who commanded the coastal defense of the Five Fingers Peninsula, less than 100 people, and the remaining nearly 200 people were pirates hired by him, and these 200 pirates did not include them.

They stated that the army sent out to attack Runestone City did receive intelligence from the Alpine Clan, hoping to kill Yohn Royce and destroy the fighting spirit of the valley army. They brought so many supplies just because pirates were used to distributing supplies in this way when plundering. No one wanted to leave the things in the castle. Everyone planned to go out to sea after doing the last job.

Attis stood in front of the execution platform, and the dozen captives who told him the valuable information knelt in front of him with a noose tied around their necks. "Damn, you untrustworthy bastard!", "The gods will not let you go!", curses and pleas for mercy came one after another.

Attis had no expression on his face, waved his hand, and the executioner cut the rope, and the captives instantly stopped talking, leaving only the torture sound of the rope around their necks. He stared at the prisoner's gradually losing focus pupils until he was completely motionless.

Attis left all the infantry and Earl Jon behind, and gathered nearly 400 cavalrymen together, "The battle should not be postponed, it must be fought quickly!".

"The whole army is reorganized, set off immediately, the target is Longbow Hall!" Attis jumped on his horse and led the way. Weimar and the blue robes also followed on horseback.

Attis let the long wind slap his face wantonly, and the blue flag of the Arryn family led the army in front.

There were still survivors in the villages and towns they passed by. When they saw the eagle flag of the Arryn family, they finally chose to gather again and lined the roadside to welcome the valley army that came to uphold justice.

"Long live Arryn!" Many residents of the Arryn Valley were in tears, running to tell their relatives and friends scattered in different places, and mustered up the courage to return to their original homes.

Attis walked at the front of the team. He stood up straight. He witnessed the tears of the people in the valley. Some were as thin as sticks, as if their bodies were wrapped in a layer of skin. Some had lost their arms or legs, and the miserable situation was exposed.

The army in the valley fell into silent silence. The bloody facts were in front of them. The power of anger and mourning gradually gathered within the army.

"The army of mourning will win." Attis thought simply. He did not lose his mind. The cavalry of the valley quickly marched towards the Longbow Hall.

The heads of the captured pirates were inserted in front of the horses' heads by steel spears. A row of cavalrymen ran back and forth around each village they passed by. The residents were in turmoil when they saw the fate of the enemy. Praise and tears of gratitude could be seen on everyone's face. This was Attis's arrangement.

The three towers of the Longbow Hall were built according to the terrain. From the distant mountains, it seemed as if an open longbow was pointed at the Five Finger Peninsula and the other side of the Narrow Sea.

The favorable terrain of the hillside makes it a model castle that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is also an important support for the Hunt family, which was born from the ancestors, to stand for thousands of years.

Atis felt this personally.

The castle stood majestically on the hillside in the distance. The two towers near the foot of the mountain were well-defended. Archers were hidden in the towers, and kerosene and rolling stones were hidden in them. The flags of the Hunt family were flying on the towers, and people were crowded on the towers. It was obvious that they had been prepared for defense.

Weimar took the arrow from Atis, rode his horse, and quickly shot an arrow at the tower. The letter written by Atis himself was left in it.

The general content was very simple. In short, it was the deeds of Jerwood. Duke Jon Arryn was already clear that his inheritance rights had been abolished by the king and him, and Eustace was the current earl of Longbow Hall.

At the same time, Artis methodically analyzed Jerwood's situation. No one in the Vale would ally with him. With only one hundred soldiers and two hundred unreliable pirates, it was impossible to resist the impact of the Vale army. Even if Artis could not subdue him now, once there was enough time, Duke Arryn would have plenty of time to deal with him. Jerwood's original plan to conceal the truth had already been leaked, and the loyal ministers of Longbow Hall had already spread the matter throughout the Vale. Jerwood's thoughts were already known to passers-by.

So he had only three ways out: surrender and then be killed by Artis; commit suicide to apologize; escape from Westeros and go into exile in Essos.

Artis said that after his careful analysis, only the third way was the most beneficial to Jerwood, but for the sake of maintaining the honor of the Vale, he advised him not to escape.

However, when Artis was about to wait for the other party's response, the city gate suddenly opened slowly.

Anda and Robert looked at each other, Eustace pulled the mane of the warhorse anxiously, not knowing what his brother was going to do, and Weimar even raised a crossbow to the city gate.

When the gate was fully opened, Attis's eyes instantly caught a large area of ​​dried and coagulated blood behind the gate, which looked dark red and terrifying.

A man with a bloody face and messy hair was dragging a corpse towards him slowly.

"Harlan? Brother? How is it possible?" Eustace recognized the person and looked at the scene in shock. The corpse dragged by the youngest son Harlan, who sent a secret letter asking for justice, was the parricide Jerwood.

Seeing that there was no one behind him, everyone let down their guard. Eustace ran over excitedly and quickly dismounted. Regardless of how dirty Harlan's clothes were at this time, he hugged him to his chest. "What's going on, Harlan!" He asked anxiously, looking at Jerwood's body behind Harlan in pain.

Harlan almost fainted and said weakly: "The pirates did not divide the spoils equally, and there was an internal conflict and fighting each other. I took the opportunity to escape and killed him together with the retainers loyal to Hunter."

Eustace accepted all this in disbelief, Anda frowned at this scene, and Robert spread his hands helplessly again, "What does this mean? Is the resentment over the past few days over before we can let it go?".

Weimar lowered his head and wiped the dragon crystal dagger, curling his lips in confusion.

Attis rode forward and looked down at Harlan Hunter. He saw that the latter looked miserable, as if he had been tortured in every way. lice could even be seen in his hair. His beard was long and messy, but his young and handsome outline could still be seen. derived.

"Harlan, you are the hero of the valley." Attis said out loud. He did not dismount because he noticed that Harlan's wrists were white and smooth without any marks. The same was true of his neck.

When Harlan saw Attis, he quickly knelt in front of the horse and said, "Lord Aylin, the Hunter family has brought shame on you. I'm so sorry. I.I." He cried bitterly, tears mixed with the tears on his face. The blood stains made Harlan's entire face even more wet and messy.

"Hunter is a family with many heroes, and you have proved it even more now. I hope you will assist your brother well." Harlan's eyes flashed with light, and he bowed down and thanked him, "Hunter will protect Aylin to the death!" .

Eustace wiped his tears. His white hair was particularly dazzling in the sun. Attis did not want to look directly at him. He turned his horse's head and saw the tired cavalry. He looked back at Eustace. "Won't you entertain us? Lord Eustace.".

Eustace reacted. He realized that he had to perform guest etiquette, and quickly picked up Harlan and organized people to enter the city.

Attis looked at the blue sky, but the sea breeze blew in his ears, and his heart gradually calmed down. He followed Haran and said to Haran, "Ride on my horse, Haran."

Eustace looked at him with some confusion, but when Attis persisted, he stopped paying attention. Harlan froze on the spot, a little embarrassed, "Lord Aylin, I am too dirty, I am afraid of getting you dirty."

Attis immediately interrupted, "No, I'm dirty." Weimar couldn't hold back his laughter when he heard it. He urged: "Hurry up, Harlan Hunter, I haven't even ridden with him. Mahahahaha."

Harlan was hesitating, but Attis picked up the horse with one hand and protected him in front of him like he was carrying a child.

Walking into the city gate, he found many soldiers gathered on the city tower, and many burnt corpses scattered aside. "So many retainers loyal to Hunter?" Attis asked.

Harlan felt as if the tip of a knife was touching his waist, and he was so nervous that he sweatdropped, "Attis, oh, I mean, Lord Aylin, most of the soldiers are just idlers, and the leader, Jerwood, is dead. , and surrendered to Hunter."

Attis smiled even more, "That's it." He spotted the soldiers in the tower who hurriedly put away their crossbows.

As soon as the valley cavalry behind them entered, they found many people staring down at them and raising their shields. Eustace shouted angrily: "What are you doing! Get out of here!" The soldiers clearly focused all their attention on Harlan, who was hugged by Attis. Seeing Harlan nodding slightly, They all withdrew their gaze and went downstairs one after another.

Attis turned to look at Weimar seriously, staring calmly. Weimar paused when he saw this, then turned his horse's head knowingly, and patted the shields of the valley cavalry one after another with the hilt of his sword.

The valley cavalry moved quickly and divided into two teams. One team dismounted and held shields to seize the stairs leading to the city tower. The other team picked up crossbows from their backs with round shields on their backs to guard against the strongholds on the ground floor.

Before Eustace noticed anything was wrong, he was shouting for the cook to prepare a sumptuous dinner, and he stretched out his hand to call for the attendants to come and take away the horses.

Harlan looked around, realized something was wrong, and said calmly: "Master Aylin, your subordinates."

"Guest etiquette, Harlan Hunter." Attis said to himself, "I will not misbehave in other people's castles. Your brother is the earl, he is the master, I am the guest, abide by it, it It’s the final bottom line.”

Harlan seemed to understand everything. He lowered his head and looked at the sword on Attis's waist.

"Don't do anything stupid, Harlan. This is my final advice.", Attis murmured. Harlan was completely silent after hearing this. "Let your people put down their weapons. I am the eldest son of Lord Arryn. I will ensure your and their safety. After all, your brother Jerwood is dead, right? Why be nervous about your own people in the valley?".

Hearing this, Harlan seemed to grasp at the straw of words, "Yes, sir. The Arryn family values ​​honor the most.".

Attis smiled slightly, "Of course, above glory, all for the Valley, all for the Seven Kingdoms." He continued to intimidate Harlan, and they dismounted together. Attis winked, and blue robes quickly surrounded him. Harlan stood around, making sure he never left her side.

Harlan remembered what he was going to do, "Everyone, put your weapons at the blacksmith." Harlan shouted around.

Eustace looked around in confusion, and instantly felt the tense atmosphere. "What's going on, Lord Aylin." He strode closer and asked Attis.

"Everything is for the valley, Eustace." Attis raised his hand to signal him to calm down. After seeing the soldiers on the tower, he basically walked downstairs. Everywhere in the castle was replaced by Runestone City soldier stations. He just explained. Said: "It's not that I don't trust the Hunter family, it's just that I don't know how many hidden traitors there are."

Eustace narrowed his eyes slightly, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes spread out from the dry skin. He didn't express anything, and just walked into the main hall silently.

"Take it." Attis ordered.

Hearing the sound, the blue-robed man quickly drew his sword and stepped forward, punching Harlan in the face with his gauntlet. The blood on his face suddenly became even worse, and he fell to the ground unconscious. For a moment, the soldiers of the Hunter family were in chaos, shouting and yelling, but they suddenly stopped and shut up obediently under the steel swords and shields of the valley cavalry.

Eustace rushed out of the main hall, "What are you doing, Attis!".

"I thought you knew, Eustace." Attis faced the angry Eustace in a deep voice.

"You are violating guest etiquette!", said Eustace angrily.

"No, Eustace, we have not yet enjoyed your bread and salt." Attis said calmly, "Since you are so excited to question my actions, it is better to examine in detail why I did what I did.".

Eustace drew his long sword and said, "Knights of the Hunter family!" Upon hearing this, there was a commotion among the valley cavalry. "There are still two hundred horsemen from the Hunter family." Attis analyzed calmly.

Weimar yelled angrily: "Eustace!, listen to Attis!", and then the crossbow was aimed at him.

"Haran is the parricide." Attis hit the nail on the head.

Eustace was stunned when he heard this. He shook his head and said with a ferocious face, "Aelin! Don't talk nonsense!".

"If the Virgin of the Seven Gods is merciful, what I am telling you is a lie. Unfortunately, the gods never show mercy to the world. That is the truth, Eustace."

Attis stood in the distance and said loudly, "Harlan killed old Earl Hunter and killed Sir Jerwood Hunter. He pretended to send a message in an attempt to confuse right and wrong. He made up a story about a hero's escape from prison, and then Using corpses to lure us into the city, these are to kill us, and more importantly, to kill you, Eustace. Of course, he will also take this opportunity to get rid of me, so that he can complain to the outside world that the heirs of the Vale are fighting with pirates and Jay. He died heroically in the battle against the Wood rebels, preserving the honor of the Vale and Arryn. At this time, my father and everyone who knew about it thought Harlan was still in prison."

There was another commotion among the valley cavalry, and they looked at Attis in surprise, including Weimar, Anda and Robert.

"You are dead. He is the only youngest son left in the Hunter family. The title of Earl of Longbow Hall belongs to him." Attis was not unkind at all and directly informed Eustace of the truth he had observed.

"In fact, Harlan's plan is perfect, but the wrists of a man who has been in prison for a long time should not be without traces of binding, and the soldiers in the castle should not all aim their crossbows when his friendly forces arrive. These are all guesses. At the beginning.", Artis continued. "It's a pity that the soldiers here obey the master's words too much. It's too obvious. If they were loyal ministers, they wouldn't point their crossbows at you when you entered the castle. They didn't put away their crossbows until they saw Harlan who was riding with me. This is What a suspicious thing."

Every word Attis said seemed to hit Eustace's heart like a heavy hammer. His face was ashen, and a look of gloom crept onto his face.

"Harlan has only done one thing wrong so far." Attis put his hand on the saddle jokingly, "He didn't ride a horse to open the city gate for us, so I might be embarrassed to ask him to come with me. Riding on the same horse." Attis breathed a sigh of relief, "Or I don't have the guts to lead the troops into the castle and catch them all."

"You have no evidence, Attis." Eustace said weakly. He steadied his feet and straightened his waist and abdomen as much as possible, but did not dare to look directly into Attis's eyes.

"The evidence is easy to get. You know what to do, Eustace." Attis knew that he had gradually believed it. The blue robe held down a Hunter knight, and the sword was placed on his neck. The knight Looking at Eustace's lonely figure, he didn't want to speak.

"We need to add some spices." Attis's cold tone seemed to never put pity in his mind.

The blue robe understood instantly and cut the knight's eyebrow with the dagger, "Your eyes are big and round, Sir.".

The knight could no longer hold back his fear, "Yes! Yes! Ser Eustace, what Lord Arryn said is true, but I didn't mean it, I was forced!".

Eustace strode forward, slashed with his sword, and the sound stopped instantly. A head fell at the feet of the blue robe. He looked up at Attis deeply and said, "I have never seen the Aelin family act like this.".

Attis's mouth gradually opened, and a chuckle escaped from his mouth, "Forgive me for being rude, Sir, you should have only seen three direct descendants of Aelin at most.".

A cold feeling hit Attis from behind. The moment Weimar turned around, he saw this horrific scene. Jerwood's body suddenly twisted and stood up on its own, with a shiny dagger clenched in the hands of the body. , Jerwood jumped forward, and the Valley Knight behind Attis felt a black shadow flash above his head, still dazed.

"Attis!" Weimar was about to shoot an arrow, but it was too late.

Attis turned around, and the sharp wind of the dagger had scratched his pupils, causing itching for a moment. The tip of the dagger had touched his throat, and he felt bloodshot threads crawling onto his skin. The feeling of suffocation came instantly, and he Lean back naturally.

Almost at the same moment, a black shadow emerged from the bag on Weimar's horse, and the sound of several sharp claws tearing bones apart appeared in the air. When Attis opened his eyes again, the sky seemed to be hanging upside down. Above him, his head felt dizzy.

With a warm tongue licking his cheek, Attis looked up and found that he was lying on the ground, with Adam the lynx obediently staying on his chest, his cute head twisting, as if seeking praise. "Adam, you saved my life. Well done, kid." Attis hugged Adam and kissed him on the cheek.

When he looked again, Jerwood's bones turned into a ball of flesh, and a man climbed out of it, with blood spilling from his mouth. "I'm sorry." He staggered away from the flesh and crawled towards Attis. The crossbow arrows were fired in the direction, and the assassin turned into a hedgehog. "I'm sorry I didn't kill you.", he closed his eyes and shed tears.

"A regrettable guest from Qarth?" Anda said in shock, "Qarth sent people to assassinate the heir of the Valley. Does he want to declare war with the Seven Kingdoms?".

"Who wants to kill me?" Attis's first thought was this. He got up and walked towards the unconscious Haran, wanting to ask clearly at once, was it Haran who wanted to kill me? Didn't he want to kill Eustace? He didn't want to kill me, so who told him to kill me? Who is it? Who is it?

Harlan raised his head and smiled at him. He seemed to have something in his mouth, and suddenly he retched. Purple black suddenly filled his face like poison, and he seemed to be suffocated.

"No!" Attis ran over quickly, but it was too late, Harlan had already expired.

Attis stared silently at the corpse on the ground, his ears buzzing as if blocked by something, and he didn't care at all about the commotion around him. "You have not yet accepted the trial of the valley, parricide.", Attis Si turned around weakly and left. He wanted to escape from the castle.

Who pushed him to come to Longbow Hall? Father? If my father decides to let Jon lead the army at most, he cannot distrust Nestor. Lord Jon Arryn values ​​ability more than anything else. He trusts so many people. He trusts Lady Lysa so much. He also trusts Blackfish. Trust, he even trusts his little finger

Attis seemed to remember something. He raised his head and stopped in front of the castle door.

"In fact, not many people will benefit from my death. Lysa is an idiot. She has no such intention and no courage."

"Robin is only four."

"Who is that?"

Attis looked at the huge castle gatekeeper and said, "Only the careerists and conspirators are left." He turned and headed to the main hall.