Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

The wealthy knights of the Five Finger Peninsula gathered on the coast. The surging waves beat against the dark reefs on the shore. The sails of the pirates were raised in a panic in the distance. The cold sea breeze made the pirate ships shiver.

"Lord Attis is very smart." Robert rode leisurely. Dozens of knights behind him stared into the distance. Only a few hired knights and mercenaries were lying on the ground searching the bodies of the pirates on the shore, trying to find some valuable things.

Weimar looked at the guy crawling on the ground without honor with contempt, and snorted suddenly.

A thin mercenary had been bending over to search. When he heard the noise, he raised his head and said, "It seems that some knights despise us dirty things." He had a thin face like a hungry wolf.

Weimar looked down at him proudly, "Real knights never plunder the dead."

"Oh ha, then it seems that the knight does not want to ask for the honor of knights from these dead people." The mercenary said sarcastically.

Weimar frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?".

The mercenary found a silver bracelet, blew it gently with his mouth, wiped off the fine sand on it with his gloves, stood up and smiled, "Lowly mercenaries make a living by taking property from the enemy, while noble knights make a name for themselves by taking honor from the enemy."

Seeing Weimar's disdainful look, the mercenary smiled and continued, "We are essentially the same, sir. If I were born in the same castle and the same family as you, I would also ride a tall horse and enjoy the sea breeze on the beach with a stinky face of "I am the best in the world"~".

This caused the knight next to him to laugh, and Weimar blushed. He found that his brother Robert laughed the most fiercely.

Just as everyone was laughing, flags rose from the sea level in the distance. The largest flag was the Blue Moon Eagle Flag of Arryn, and the surrounding flags were the Burning Tower Flag of the Grafson Family, with a yellow burning tower standing on a black triangle on a bright red background like a flame.

"Reinforcements from Seagull Town." Weimar whispered.

The pirate ship gradually sank to the bottom of the sea. No roar before death was heard, only the endless sound of waves.

"When I brought my brothers to the Valley, many residents said that their Valley Master Artis had a pair of eagle eyes and could find the sins of everyone, without exception." The mercenary walked to Weimar's warhorse and looked at the pirate ship that was gradually sinking in the distance.

Robert's voice sounded leisurely behind him, "Yes, if you were there at Longbow Hall, it would be even more shocking. Artis' eyes seemed to be able to see through all lies and truths."

"Ha, Sir! The story of Longbow Hall has spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms, at least throughout the Valley." The mercenary laughed.

Weimar didn't say anything. He knew from a young age that Artis had good facial features and could always detect subtle changes around him, except for the assassination of that regretful guest.

"It's difficult for large ships to dock on the Five Finger Peninsula. I'm afraid that Seagull Town can only send a few people ashore." Weimar said to his brother Robert.

Robert nodded in agreement. It had been more than half a month since he followed Attis's orders in the Longbow Hall and led his troops to join the scout team of the Five Finger Peninsula to clear the pirates who came ashore.

He brought Weimar with him when he came. The boy had been wondering why the pirates had to go ashore after escaping. It was not until he heard about the naval battle between the Valley Fleet and the pirate ship in the distance that he suddenly realized that due to casualties, the Valley Fleet did not try to attack the experienced pirate gang head-on, but blocked the complex straits of the Five Finger Peninsula to prevent the pirates from escaping.

In order to seek an opportunity to escape, the pirates had to return to the Five Finger Peninsula again, and they were caught by the cavalry regiment brought by Robert. After fighting for many days, the pirates only had one small boat left, and they had to go out to sea again, and the sinking of the ship in the distance was their fate.

"It's time to call it a day, brothers. What happens next is not our business." Robert turned his horse's head gracefully and walked away slowly.

Weimar looked at the mercenary on the side, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Just call me Bronn, sir." The mercenary sheathed his sword and turned to join his fellow mercenaries.

In the inland of the Five Fingers Peninsula, in the tower bedroom of Longbow Hall, Artis was holding a book and a candy in his mouth. He was reading the story of the legendary knight "Tall" Duncan. He remembered that Sir Yohn Royce, who had been in a coma for two weeks, rushed to Longbow Hall as soon as he woke up. He was dragged into the main hall to enjoy Eustace's dinner before he understood what was going on.

When he understood what happened, he was so ashamed that he said to Artis, "You shouldn't be my squire. I'm not worthy of being your knight." Then he knighted Artis that night. Artis kept vigil in the only Seven Gods Temple in Longbow Hall and was anointed with holy oil in the name of the Seven Gods by the monks. This was much more decent than Sir Duncan in history.

After that night, Artis could finally call himself a knight.

Attis stood up, walked to the window, and looked into the distance through the crystal clear glass. The Longbow Hall was clearly close to the Narrow Sea, but he could not see it. Attis was disappointed with the only big castle in this area and even in the Five Finger Peninsula.

The maid walked in against the darkness of the room, and the candles with flames were placed at the head of the bed. "Sir, your wine." The maid's plain gauze set off her beautiful face and figure, and her bright eyes attracted Attis. Attis stopped to admire it and politely took the wine glass.

"Miss, your beauty adds a few different colors to this night, like the shining stars over there." The maid lowered her head shyly when she heard it.

After the maid left, Artis pushed open the iron window and passed the wine glass to the air. A black shadow swiftly hung down from the air and licked the wine in the glass. At this, Artis drank it all.

He was not idle, but used his ability to write letters again. He was going to write a letter to Robert in King's Landing and his father at the same time. Artis could not ignore his suspicion and doubt. If there was no mountain cat Adam, if the guest who came was not the regretful guest from Qarth, but the faceless man from Braavos, he might have died here.

But he could not say who he suspected, he just hinted.

He felt that a meticulous and vicious plan was presented to him, from the pirates landing in the Five Fingers Peninsula and breaking into the Arryn Valley, to Harlan releasing a fake secret letter to frame Nestor Royce to lure his father into the trap, and then to his own assassination when he stepped into the Longbow Hall. It seemed that everything was logical and linked together.

The part that Attis was most concerned about was who persuaded the Prime Minister in King's Landing to let Attis follow Bronze John to the war in the name of his eldest son.

"Littlefinger, is it you?" Attis didn't expect anyone to be able to do this, but Littlefinger was not Lady Lysa. He knew very well that Lady Lysa's pillow talk had a great influence on his father.

His father stayed in King's Landing for a long time. His views on Attis's ability and the views of the lords of the valley on Attis basically came from the content of the letters with John and the nobles. He might have let himself follow John to the war for the sake of training.

Although this reason is simple, it is actually very important and effective. Generally, in the process of fighting between the two families, unless it involves a life-and-death struggle involving a core conflict, in most cases, if the heir of the other party is captured or encountered on the battlefield, he will still be given a break.

And for the nobles of Westeros, the tradition of military nobility is rooted everywhere, whether it is the North of the ancient culture and the old gods, or the Central Plains of the Andals, or Dorne, the descendants of the Rhoynar, it is particularly important for the heirs to command the army and fight on the battlefield. Training is especially important for the older generation who have just ended the war of Robert's Rebellion. The military education of their children cannot be left behind.

If it were not for this consideration, Artis would not be sent to Lord Jon as his squire. He might be sent to Seagull Town to be the squire of Earl Gerold Grafson.

At this time, many mercenaries and wealthy knights who heard the news gathered in Longbow Hall. They hoped to gain money, prestige, and even honor from this war to quell the pirates and bandits in the valley.

Therefore, the brothel business outside the castle was particularly prosperous, and the newly appointed Earl Eustace also hoped to expand the reputation of his family. He opened the warehouse of the castle and entertained the knights who came for several weeks. The name of "generous" Eustace spread in the mercenary world.

The area from the main hall of the castle to the parade ground was crowded with people and noisy. Fortunately, the tower where Attis was located was specially cleaned up by Eustace for him to live in. It was quiet and leisurely, which reminded him of the scene when he was in the Eyrie when he was a child. The castle was large in scale. Except for a few noble servants and female relatives, the rest were extremely disciplined canyon knights and Eyrie guards. These knights were often quiet and steady when they talked. The sound of the terrifying wind was louder than the voices in the castle, and the sound of the Alessa Tears Falls was more attractive than the voices.

Attis rarely left the Eyrie. When he was a child, the farthest he left home was not to the Bloody Gate. He only went to the Dangerous Rock Castle, which was closest to the Bloody Gate after leaving the Eyrie.

His father said that the Bloody Gate Knights really mastered the Eyrie, but in the eyes of Attis as a child, he had to go through at least three more levels to reach the Eyrie. At each pass, there was a castle that could not be opened by thousands of people - Dangerous Rock Castle, Snow Mountain Castle and Long Sky Castle. An exposed and steep goat path connected the three castles.

The saying that no one can break through the Bloody Gate also applies to the three castles mentioned above.

The letter he secretly sent in the military camp was originally sent to Seagull Town, requesting the Seagull Town fleet to block the Five Finger Peninsula to prevent the pirates from escaping.

And just after he had a new idea, Artis took advantage of the news that he was assassinated by the Qarth assassin and wrote another letter "angrily", pointing out that Harlan Hunter colluded with Qarth and betrayed the Seven Kingdoms. "According to reliable information," this group of spies had been in the customs and finances of Seagull Town for many years and had serious infiltration. He asked Seagull Town to immediately replace a group of customs officials. He attached a list of trustworthy personnel in the name of Prime Minister Jon Arryn, because it was from the Prime Minister's order. Although the customs and finances of Seagull Town were under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Finance of King's Landing, they could be directly executed.

His father also cooperated well. The Prime Minister's warrant was sent quickly, but he also used the letter to express his doubts to Attis. Although Attis did not directly point out that the accusation of the appearance of Qarth spies in the customs was against Littlefinger, the Minister of Finance could at least be accused of dereliction of duty. Attis did not respond to his father in the letter, but went to King's Landing in person to make it clear, including his suspicion of Littlefinger.

The nobles who had been very dissatisfied with Littlefinger's usurpation of the Vale for many years finally saw this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and wrote to King's Landing one after another, demanding a thorough investigation of Littlefinger. Robert was furious at first, but calmed down under the Prime Minister's advice and dismissed Littlefinger from the position of Minister of Finance, letting Jon Arryn serve as Minister of Finance concurrently, which was considered an explanation to the Vale.

At this time, Attis could not help but blame his father. Littlefinger had always been regarded as his own by his father. At this time, he really regretted that he was not in King's Landing and failed to apply the art of language to King Robert. It would be best if Robert cut off Littlefinger in excitement.

Now he knew that he had no chance. Robert, who regarded money as dirt, would definitely miss Littlefinger again. The customs revenue of Gulltown would certainly be lower than before. The decline of the treasury would definitely make Littlefinger return to the royal meeting.

With such analysis, Attis could not help but feel regretful.

Of course, King's Landing did not regard this matter as a major matter that needed to be dealt with urgently. Robert sent a diplomatic envoy to question Qarth on the other side. The diplomatic issues between the two countries became the most noteworthy thing for the Seven Kingdoms.

Although Attis was the cause of the incident, he was not in the vortex of the incident. He stayed in the valley safely and thought about his future.

Some people have always said that the cavalry of the valley is the best in the seven kingdoms. Is there a historical prototype? Or is there any basis?