The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Inside the Raven's Eye's command tent, the golden sea monster banner fluttered in the wind.

Geord strode directly into the command tent, only to be stopped by a guard's outstretched hand. Geord's expression was grim. "Soldier, Lady Jeyne has agreed to parley. I'm here to report to the King."

"The King just drank poppy milk. Please wait a moment, Earl Geord."

"Very well!" Earl Geord replied, suddenly drawing the short axe from his waist and burying it in the soldier's head.

The short-handled axe became embedded in the guard's skull, splitting his helmet and sinking into his brain. Blood gushed from the helmet.

The soldier screamed and collapsed heavily.

The other soldiers were shocked. Before they could draw their swords, Geord's four knights had already unsheathed their longswords. *Thwack, thwack, thwack*, the longswords pierced the soldiers' bodies.

Geord strode into the tent, throwing back the embroidered silk on the couch. The person sleeping on the couch sat up in alarm, wearing an eye patch, resembling the Raven's Eye, but not truly the Raven's Eye.

"Where is the King?" Geord demanded, drawing his longsword with a *shing*, its tip pressed against the double's throat.

"The King left last night." The double's voice also sounded remarkably like the Raven's Eye.

Geord was furious. He pressed down hard, and the longsword pierced the double's throat. He withdrew the sword, and blood splattered on the embroidered silk.

"Drag him out!" Geord barked.

"Yes, my lord!"

The four knights worked together, lifting the double's twitching body.

"Gellan, sound the horn," the Earl instructed his third son.

"Yes, Father."

Gellan glanced at Edmund, the Drowned Man. Edmund had a horn at his waist and driftwood on his back. Edmund blew the horn.

Wooooooo!

Wooooooo!

Wooooooo!

It was the military order for emergency assembly.

In the camp, light horsemen and infantry gathered.

The three major families on Great Wyk were led by Earl Geord Goodbrother. The other nobles were his vassals, of whom the Sparr family and the Merlyn family were the strongest, and both possessed iron ore mines.

The remaining five thousand soldiers, apart from the Raven's Eye's personal guard, were all from Great Wyk.

The soldiers who remained did so for two reasons: first, they were prepared to live and die with the Raven's Eye; second, they were waiting for the Raven's Eye's army, which had withdrawn the previous night, to ambush the pursuing Crag troops halfway, catch them by surprise, and then everyone would retreat together.

Lannisport was a large city and a major port, but in fact, the small ports and fishing villages along the coast of the Westerlands were as numerous as hairs on a dog. As long as they reached the coast, with soldiers and weapons, the nobles could easily find boats of all sizes in the fishing villages to leave.

The Raven's Eye's ability to deceive was watertight. He was able to build the largest pirate fleet from scratch after being exiled. Apart from his personal strength, his strategies and his ability to deceive were also key.

The Raven's Eye's number of warships, apart from Braavos with its terrifying presence of the Isle of the Gods, surpassed the ships of the other eight Free Cities. His overall strength even overwhelmed many island nations in the Great Sea.

The Raven's Eye could get five thousand soldiers to stay until the end because the benefits he promised them and the perfect plan to escape were indispensable.

Giving hope to the hopeless was one of the Raven's Eye's basic qualities.

However, with Lady Jeyne's help, Geord had already discerned the enormous deceptiveness of the Raven's Eye's military plan. The Raven's Eye was not only deceiving the Crag troops, but also the nobles on Great Wyk.

Between his own life and the lives of others, the Raven's Eye chose his own life. This was the right choice for most people. Of course, the hidden dangers were also obvious. Once the betrayed people woke up, once they had not been killed, losing their loyalty was the standard answer.

The Raven's Eye himself had left the night before, leaving behind only a sick double. Earl Geord had been kept in the dark about this secret.

From ancient times to the present, many people had been brave warriors who were wholeheartedly sold out by their bosses and still counted the money for them. Geord was such a warrior.

*

The soldiers lined up neatly in formation.

After the Crag cavalry's baptism, the Ironborn and pirates, who did not like lining up in formation, grew rapidly. They learned to line up in formation in a very short time, and the formation was neat, which was very rare.

War was the best way to make a man grow into a man, and the fastest way to make a man a true warrior.

The five thousand Ironborn and pirates, determined to fight to the death, lined up in formation. Then, they saw Earl Geord and his family guards emerge from the command tent, their swords drawn, the swords still stained with blood. King Raven's Eye was being carried by them, covered in blood and filth.

The soldiers were all shocked!

Geord shouted, "Brothers, the King has abandoned us. The one commanding us in the command tent was not the King, but his double, one of his sworn men."

The double's body was thrown on the ground. The generals and centurions in the front row saw their King, the familiar eye patch, the familiar hair and attire, the familiar eyebrows and eyes, but that person was indeed not the King himself.

"We have all been betrayed by the King. He is not here. On our retreat route, the King did not arrange for an ambush to meet us. No one has dug the horse traps to deal with the cavalry pursuit in advance," Geord shouted loudly. "The King has abandoned us, leaving us here to fight, in fact, he wants us to die. He covets the iron ore mines on Great Wyk. This is a scheme to kill with a borrowed knife. When the Goodbrother family, the Merlyn family, and the Paege family on Great Wyk are killed by the Crag troops, the iron ore will naturally belong to the Raven's Eye."

The five thousand soldiers looked at each other, and at the same time, anger rose in their hearts. Most of the Raven's Eye's guards had been killed by Geord. Those who had not been killed chose to surrender.

"Brothers, I have surrendered to the Mountain and Lady Jeyne," Geord roared sternly. "Does anyone have any objections? Step forward."

No one stepped forward. Everyone was very shocked. They needed time to digest it. The consequences of betraying the Raven's Eye would be dire, without a doubt.

The Ironborn all feared the Raven's Eye.

King Balon was crazy, and High Priest Aeron was even crazier, but the two of them together were not as crazy as the Raven's Eye alone. – This was a rumor circulating on the Iron Islands, and even the children knew this saying.

The leaders of the Merlyn family and the Sparr family were silent. They were the two most powerful families in the army. The current situation was very serious. A slight carelessness would lead to complete annihilation. To openly betray the Raven's Eye, they had to guard against his bloody revenge in the future; but if they did not surrender to the Mountain and Jeyne now, they would die.

The nobles could understand Geord's position and situation, but all the information Geord had obtained was because he had gone to negotiate and returned. Obviously, the Crag troops had told him the truth.

This was unbelievable!

How could the Crag troops know more about the Raven's Eye's deployment and plan than they did?

The Ironborn had also learned the Raven's Eye's style of doing things after his long absence. After he became King, he alone decided everything, whether it was politics, military affairs, trade, wealth distribution, or rewards and punishments. The Raven's Eye's military actions were issued more often, and there was very little time for everyone to sit down and discuss the plan.

The Raven's Eye liked to be dictatorial and would not explain the reasons to his vassals.

Subordinates and soldiers were used to 'listening and doing'.

Geord's eyes swept across the field. His family's army was the most powerful here. At the same time, his foreign aid included Crag cavalry, infantry, and horse archers.

Geord decided to call out names: "Sparr leader, are you willing to follow me and submit to Lord Mountain?"

Rodrik Sparr had always been Geord's vassal, and the territories of the two families were the closest. He was a serious old man with watery eyes.

His son Stannis Sparr stood beside him, tall and burly, with a deep scar on his face.

Rodrik had contributed thirty longships to this expedition. His flagship, the *Sorrow*, had been burned to ashes by the Mountain's fire.

"Earl Geord, the Sparr family will always follow you, from the Age of the Old Gods to the present, from now to the future," the old man declared.

The two families were tied together. Even if the other families joined forces, they would not be a match for these two families.

Whether here or back on the island, the alliance of these two families would be feared by any family.

Geord received his old friend's support. He gave Rodrik a look of praise and gratitude, although it was only a glance, Rodrik knew it clearly.

In fact, those who did not surrender now and were unwilling to follow Geord to submit to the Mountain and Jeyne were all doomed.

Their invincible King Raven's Eye had abandoned them.

Geord's eyes turned to the Merlyn family.

The Merlyn family's coat of arms was two intertwined green drainpipes painted on a white background. The drainpipes had a deep meaning and were related to the mines. When digging iron ore underground, groundwater would sometimes be dug out, and there would also be torrential rain backflow, which would affect the lives of the miners and the production of iron ore. The Merlyn family was committed to solving the problem of underground drainage, and they had achieved results, so the family emblem reflected this achievement of the Merlyn family.

Earl Medred Merlyn, a fierce man who did not wear leather or armor, was known as "the Merlyn."

His son Manfryd Merlyn had started a family and married a rock wife. He was the captain of the Iron Fleet's *Kite*. He was not here at the moment, but was following Victarion in attacking the wealthy Reach.

The situation of the Merlyn family was somewhat complicated. The main bloodline was loyal to the Goodbrother family, but some smaller branch families were not, but were directly loyal to Balon Greyjoy of Pyke. After Balon's death, these people were directly loyal to Asha Greyjoy.

After Asha escaped, they chose to be loyal to the Raven's Eye. The Raven's Eye was also a Greyjoy, and although he was exiled, he had obtained the Seastone Chair of the Grey King's Hall and became the legitimate King of the Iron Islands.

These branches were led by Sunderly Merlyn.

Sunderly Merlyn participated in the Kingsmoot on Old Wyk. At the meeting, he clearly stated that he was a supporter of Asha Greyjoy.

Geord's eyes swept back and forth between Medred and Sunderly. He simply called out both of them by name: "Earl Medred, Ser Sunderly, are you willing to follow me and submit to Lord Mountain?"

Earl Medred said, "Earl Geord, the Medred family will always be your vassal."

"Thank you, Earl, for your trust in me," Geord said, looking at Sunderly. "Ser, what about you? I need your statement."

"Earl Geord, our family is a branch of the Merlyn family and has never submitted to any noble except the King of the Iron Islands. If we have to submit to the Mountain to survive, we will directly submit to the Mountain."

"Lady Jeyne said that anyone who wants to survive and surrender needs to submit to me first."

"What if we don't?"

"Then you can only leave our army, and the Crag troops will not accept your surrender either."

Ser Sunderly was silent.

He looked back at the warriors behind him, and he saw the warriors' desire to live. Sunderly sighed in his heart. His family, starting from his generation, would have to submit to the Goodbrother family. They would rather submit directly to the Mountain or the new King of the Iron Islands.

"Earl Geord, the Sunderly family is willing to submit to you."

"Ser Sunderly, I need you to kneel down and swear allegiance to me." Geord saw Sunderly's reluctance. It didn't matter. Over time, the family would naturally submit sincerely. Before that, ensuring Sunderly's loyalty required an oath.

To ensure Geord's loyalty, Lady Jeyne also made Geord kneel and take an oath. A woman named Dorea explicitly stated that she was a blood witch. She pierced Earl Geord's finger with a silver knife, took Earl Geord's blood, and cast a dark magic. If Earl Geord's loyalty changed, the blood witch would kill Geord through the blood spell and Geord's own oath.

Although Geord doubted the blood witch's ability, he still knew that it was best not to break the oath! Some wizards were very terrifying. The wizards themselves were vulnerable, but their magic was frightening.

Geord wanted Ser Sunderly to kneel down and swear an oath.

Ser Sunderly decided to do so!

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Ser Sunderly drew the short axe from his waist, raised it above his head, knelt down in front of Geord, and swore allegiance in the name of the Drowned God and the Sunderly family. He offered his short axe to Geord. If he violated the oath in the future, he would be killed by his own short axe.

Geord accepted Ser Sunderly's short axe.

After dealing with the Merlyn family, the remaining small nobles did not take much effort. Everyone knelt down to Geord and swore allegiance.

Geord said, "Thank you, everyone, for choosing to make me your lord at this critical moment of life and death. The Raven's Eye betrayed us and abandoned us here, but his guards did not all leave. Most of them are still here. We have already killed some of them. The remaining forty-seven sworn men of the Raven's Eye, I need everyone to work together to kill them all."

This was equivalent to completely breaking with the Raven's Eye. From then on, Great Wyk would no longer follow the Raven's Eye's orders.

One of the Raven's Eye's sworn men who had already chosen to surrender was furious and suddenly drew the longsword from his waist to assassinate Geord. A shadow flashed, and a flying axe spun out, hitting him directly in the face.