Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

"It's dangerous to cross the river and the water level is rising." The soldier in the valley held a black cloth box, which contained the steel swords of the knights from generation to generation. He stroked the stubble on both sides of his beard that had just been trimmed with a dagger, and looked at the turbulent Ruby Beach.

The shallow pool had turned into a turbulent tide, and the opposite bank that was within reach seemed to be level with the skyline in an instant.

His young attendant squinted at the camp that had not been demolished in front of him, "I remember this place," he scratched his head, "our battle with the Tully family," the attendant pointed to the ashes left on the ground in the distance, "The embers from burning the bodies are still there."

The knight's face was old, and the white hair under the half helmet dragged in front of his eyebrows, like messy dry firewood placed in disorder.

He put down the black cloth box, "The camp seems to have been rebuilt." The knight stroked the wooden stakes next to the unmanned tent, and the traces of the stone hammer on it were obviously brand new.

"It's always good to have a ready-made place to live!" The attendant said with a smile, throwing the basket behind him to the ground and leaning into the tent.

"Plop!" The sound of water breaking under the horse's hooves came over. The knight did not react too much. He opened the black cloth box in his hand, drew out his sword, and looked vigilantly at the place where the sound came from.

The cavalry stopped in the distance, showing the spear in his hand, with the pale ribbon of the Corbray family tied to the top of the spear.

The knight frowned, waiting for the other party to announce his intention.

"Count Leonor Corbray received the military order of Duke Artis Arryn, summoned and dispersed the army at the pass of the Valley Road and the crossing port, gathered under the banner of Corbray, and was ready to go to war at any time!" The light cavalry shouted loudly, pointing the spear to the side of the camp. The knight looked along the line, and the valley soldiers appeared behind the hidden tents, and many familiar faces came into view.

In Artis's study, a letter was quietly placed on the table.

The raven "fluttered" and struggled in the cage, but the small door of the cage was still ruthlessly closed.

Attis picked up the letter. The emblem on the white background was very bright. On the emblem, three ravens flew up their wings, and each claw held a blood-red heart. This was the symbol of the Corbray family.

Count Leonor Corbray successfully gathered the army from the Twin River City and advanced unimpeded to the vicinity of the Valley Avenue, waiting for the next instructions.

In addition, the scattered soldiers who had crossed the river from various ports of the Green Fork River and seemed to be heading up the ramp and returning to the valley were also lurking near the Valley Avenue.

Due to the previous war, Ruby Beach, the pass of the Valley Avenue outside the Blood Gate, and the important ports along the Green Fork River all had more or less camps where the valley army had stationed.

Before dismissing the conscripted troops and knights, Attis gave orders to the craftsmen accompanying the army, asking them to renovate and reorganize these main camps to facilitate the re-concentration of the dismissed troops.

Interestingly, Lord Corbray also complained in the letter that he was over 40, but he had no son or daughter, and only a young brother followed him.

In connection with the tournament of Harrenhal, the earl's intention is self-evident.

Artis thought of the five beautiful golden flowers of the Bracken family at the dinner party in the Hundred Hearths Hall. The marriage between the two families caters to the needs of both parties. At that time, only the duke or princess will act as a matchmaker. Lord Lyonor will definitely not refuse to marry a young lady from a prominent family who is younger than himself. Of course, the latter's fertility must be guaranteed. This is what Lyonor Corbray wants.

He closed the envelope and pondered the marriage that the tournament might bring about.

The two parties to the marriage are from the great nobles, such as the Mallister family of Sealand City and the Royce family of Runestone City who are about to get engaged. The second is what Artis focuses on, the valley knights who have been granted the new land of the Green Fork River and the old knight family, and even the ancient nobles who still have some influence on the Green Fork River.

The Frey family of the Twins, the Root family who controlled the Crossroads and the Earl's town of Harroway, and the Harwick family who had lost most of their influence in the Saltpans, they still held the title of earl, and many knight territories should be their jurisdiction in Westeros legally.

Promoting the marriage between the new noble knights of the Vale and these old nobles of the earldom is also part of the plan.

The situation in the Twins has been determined. Although a large number of knight territories have been transferred to the new noble knights of the Vale, the Frey family who are still loyal to the Twins do not need to make more arrangements due to the special relationship between Artis and the Lady of the Twins.

On the contrary, the other two relatively prestigious families in the Green Fork did not get any guarantees from themselves. Whether it is territory or legal principle, this is ultimately an unstable factor, and they urgently need actual marriages to form a behind-the-scenes alliance.

The impact of the Vale is a revolution against the lower-level nobles of the Green Fork, but it must not continue to expand. Further prying the traditional legal order of the Seven Kingdoms will not help the future planning of the Arryn family, and may even leave disadvantages.

Rather than saying that the marriage is an arrangement to maintain the order of the nobles in the Riverlands, it is better to say that it is a remedial measure taken by the Vale to deal roughly with the laws of a large area of ​​the Riverlands.

Atis sighed and looked out the window. He knew that while he was busy with the internal affairs of the Riverlands, the confrontation and disputes between King's Landing and Stormlands were intensifying.

The nobles in the Riverlands were watching him, and they would continue to watch him even after the marriage went smoothly, waiting for the Arryn family to show fatigue and weakness. Once they showed their weakness, the backlash from the Riverlands could come at any time.

He could only win, and he had to keep winning. He could never lose, even if he only lost once.

He looked back at the cyvasse chess endgame on the table, reached out to pick up the white heavy cavalry chess piece, pushed it down and huddled in a corner of the chessboard, but his expression was as if he was the "king" of chess players

"During the war, the king must never leave the sight of the soldiers." Tywin looked at Cersei coldly, who was pleading, and decisively rejected the queen mother's proposal.

The Grand Maester echoed, "Soldiers must know who they are fighting for. King Joffrey standing on the wall will give soldiers the honor of continuing to fight. This is also very common in the history of the Seven Kingdoms." Pycelle began his long speech again, talking about events that happened in history.

Tyrion noticed that the learned Lord Pycelle always followed up a conclusion of the Prime Minister with many arguments, as if endorsing the legal principles of the Iron Throne.

Well, Lord Tywin's Iron Throne, Tyrion glanced at his father's cold face and couldn't help but secretly mocked in his heart.

Cersei had a stern face, but it seemed to others that she was sitting helplessly beside Tywin.

My dear sister is always surrounded by powerful people, but I have no power to make decisions. Tyrion looked at her stinky face and suppressed his irrepressible smile.

Of course, I don’t have the brain to make decisions, Tyrion couldn’t help but think maliciously.

Varys folded his hands and moved his lips slightly. After the Grand Maester finished his long historical quotation, he stood up and looked around at the ministers, "My little bird sent me an interesting ballad. I wonder if you want to listen to it to relieve your boredom."

"Pay attention to the occasion, Varys," Pycelle looked at the eunuch who stood up, "This is a royal meeting to discuss state affairs, not the main hall of the castle where minstrels show off their singing voices!" He looked at Varys with a stern face.

Varys smiled deeply and meaningfully, with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes, and shook his head gently, "The lyrics of the minstrels reflect the voices of many people in the seven kingdoms. Could it be that Lord Pycelle is unwilling to listen to the voices of his people?"

"Not really, I..." Pycelle was about to refute, but was stopped by Tywin.

"I hope you don't waste everyone's time. Tell me, Varys." Tywin unexpectedly did not refuse, and Tyrion looked over in surprise.

Varys coughed twice and then spoke. Tyrion did not expect that the eunuch's voice could become rich.

"The fallen monk with long hair, entangled by the thorns of lies before his death, and the snake-like poisonous tongue stretched out to the lovely princess," Varys' voice seemed to be singing, and the eunuch's shrill voice seemed to be blinded, replaced by a magnetic low hum.

"The crown of the stag, the black hair of the princess, the eagle of the mountain, pecking out the eyes of the fallen monk, woo~ the thorns of lies are the bloodshot in the blind eyes, the hideous face, the stranger took it away and made it into a mask of death"

"The soft singing of the black-haired princess, the carnival of the tournament, the duke sent a wreath, the stonemason sent a sculpture, and the maester recorded the truth, woo~ our beloved black-haired princess~"

Cersei frowned, "Black-haired princess?" She felt a lump in her heart, as if she had guessed something vaguely.

Tywin looked at the letter sent from Harrenhal in his hand, his face a little stiff.