Recaps

After repelling the Burned Men Wildlings, Suleiman explained to Roslyn why inexperienced troops could not safely pursue them and planned to weaken the Wildlings besieging Valleydeep Town through guerrilla warfare. The chapter ended with Suleiman hinting that Roslyn would soon get his chance to fight the Wildlings in the village.

• Roslyn reported that two of Suleiman's soldiers had died in the battle, and Suleiman promised to record their service and bring their families to Foulkeep if their lands were seized.
• Roslyn asked why Suleiman had not pursued the retreating Burned Men Wildlings, and Suleiman explained that his inexperienced troops would lose the protection of their fortifications and risk being scattered in close combat.
• Roslyn realized that the Wildlings had carried off their wounded, showing that their retreat had been orderly rather than a rout.
• Suleiman concluded that he could not directly break the siege of Valleydeep Town and planned to use his small force to ambush isolated Wildling groups and reinforcements.
• When Roslyn asked what they would do about the Burned Men Wildlings in the village, Suleiman told him his chance to fight them was coming soon.

After the Burned Men’s failed attack, Walker, Son of Nego discovered that the wounded were rapidly developing severe, festering infections and suspected the Flatlanders had poisoned their weapons. As the warriors prepared to sacrifice themselves to hold off an enemy attack, Walker chose seven uninjured warriors to go with him.

• The Burned Men warriors angrily blamed the Flatlanders’ defenses for their humiliating defeat, while Walker, Son of Nego considered his next move.
• Val, Son of Nango summoned Walker, Son of Nego to see the wounded warriors’ swollen, pus-filled wounds and rapidly rising fevers.
• Walker, Son of Nego realized the Flatlanders’ weapons had been treated with poison and feared the raiding party would soon collapse.
• The wounded warriors urged Walker, Son of Nego to let them hold off the Flatlanders while the healthy clansmen escaped to the High Mountains.
• Walker, Son of Nego accepted their resolve and called the seven uninjured warriors to come with him.

Suleiman prepared to attack the Burned Men Wildlings after their wounds kept them hidden, and rallied his troops with promises of loot and a bounty on Walker, Son of Nego. The soldiers eagerly prepared to fight, with Toman fixated on the eighty-Silver-Stag reward.

• After two quiet days, Suleiman told Lushen and Roslyn that the poisoned weapons had likely left the Wildlings too sick to fight, then ordered them to assemble the troops.
• Suleiman told three hundred soldiers that the Wildlings feared them and were hiding in the village with stolen goods.
• He promised the soldiers a share of the spoils and urged them to kill the Wildlings and take everything.
• Suleiman offered a bounty for Walker, Son of Nego's head and limbs, adding Silver Stags from his own share to the soldiers' reward.
• The soldiers erupted over the bounty, and Toman gripped his spear and trembled at the prospect of earning eighty Silver Stags.

Suleiman led his army into a ruined village, where Burned Men Wildlings ambushed the troops and a hidden group targeted him. The soldiers charged at Walker, Son of Nego, drawn by the enormous bounty on his head.

• Suleiman ordered Lushen and Roslyn to return to their units and lead their soldiers from the front.
• The troops entered the burned village and found the remains of its massacre.
• A Wildling ambush struck near a farmstead, and Suleiman sent Lushen's squad into the granary while Roslyn's squad held position.
• Suleiman spotted Walker, Son of Nego, and six warriors hiding on the flank, and Roslyn led his men to face them.
• Walker and the seven warriors charged Suleiman, but Flatlander soldiers rushed to meet them, shouting that they would kill Walker and claim his body.

Suleiman's soldiers overwhelmed the Burned Men raiders, while Suleiman killed Val, Son of Nango, who had ambushed him. Walker, Son of Nego, led the remaining clansmen in a final charge and died as the Flatlanders crushed them.

• The Flatlander soldiers swarmed and killed the seven Burned Men raiders as Suleiman focused on their hidden attacker.
• Val, Son of Nango, ambushed Suleiman, but Suleiman severed his arm and then beheaded him when he charged again.
• Walker, Son of Nego watched Val die and led the surviving clansmen in a furious attack on Suleiman.
• Lushen arrived with reinforcements and ordered the spearmen to form ranks around Suleiman.
• The Flatlander soldiers killed Walker and the remaining Burned Men, and one soldier shouted that Toman had taken a head.

After the costly fight against the Burned Men Wildlings, Suleiman worried about building a loyal army and recruiting more soldiers. Lushen’s fierce loyalty moved him to tell the wounded farmer to stay alive and share in future wealth and glory.

• Suleiman assessed the heavy casualties and considered recruiting refugees because House Deddings would not surrender its soldiers and local farmers refused to enlist.
• Lushen rushed in after hearing Suleiman slam the table, fearing Wildlings were hiding nearby, and Suleiman laughed at his bandaged appearance.
• Suleiman remembered how Lushen had led the assault and taken many wounds, then realized he did not want Lushen to die.
• Suleiman asked why Lushen had charged into the farmstead first, and Lushen explained that he had wanted his men to follow without delay.
• Suleiman told Lushen not to die and promised to share wealth and glory with him, and Lushen knelt and vowed to stay alive.

After Roslyn reported the profits from selling the spoils, Suleiman prepared to fulfill his promise to divide the battle loot with his soldiers. He distributed the soldiers’ shares according to their service, then personally rewarded Toman for his bravery.

• Roslyn rushed in with an account of merchants trying to cheat his men, and Suleiman ordered him and Lushen to gather their troops.
• Suleiman made the assembled soldiers wait, then reminded them that half the spoils belonged to him and half to them.
• Roslyn and his men opened chests filled with wealth, and Suleiman announced that Lushen and Roslyn would judge the soldiers’ service and distribute their shares.
• Lushen and Roslyn gave purses to soldiers including Gate and Dell for their deeds in battle.
• When Toman found the chests empty, Suleiman gave him a small chest and praised the bravery he had witnessed.

Suleiman’s ambush caught Dell, Son of Chek’s Burned Men in the woods, where arrows and wooden spears killed and wounded several warriors. Suleiman ordered Roslyn to block their escape and led Lushen in a direct charge.

• A young Stone Crow scout warned Dell, Son of Chek that the forest seemed strange, but Dell struck him and dismissed his fears.
• The Stone Crow leader separated his warriors from Dell’s band, while an old Burned Men warrior warned Dell that Flatlanders might be waiting in the woods.
• Suleiman prepared his hidden soldiers to attack and told Roslyn to avoid hitting the Riverlands prisoners.
• Suleiman’s forces opened fire on Dell’s band with arrows and wooden spears, wounding Dell and throwing the Burned Men into chaos.
• Suleiman ordered Roslyn to cut off the Wildlings’ escape and charged with Lushen.

Suleiman’s forces defeated the wildlings and killed the wounded survivors, while he questioned the brutal army his soldiers had become. At the Mountain Clans’ camp, the chieftains argued over rumors that Flatlanders were hunting them, and Timett’s meeting ended in division.

• Suleiman led his soldiers and Roslyn’s squad in a two-sided attack that trapped the wildlings and cut off their retreat.
• Suleiman refused to take prisoners and ordered his soldiers to kill the remaining wounded wildlings.
• Suleiman saw his bloodstained, eager soldiers and wondered whether this was the kind of army he wanted.
• The Milk Snakes’ chieftain warned Timett Son of Timett and the other chieftains that Flatlanders were hunting their raiding parties.
• The Mountain Clans’ chieftains fought over whether the rumor was true, and Timett told those who wanted to keep raiding to follow him.
• The chieftains left without reaching an agreement, and each tribe decided to act on its own.

Suleiman admitted to the Riverlander captives that his orders had caused deaths during their rescue and apologized. He offered them safety and farmland at Foulkeep or the chance to take up arms, and the survivors began to step forward, driven by hatred of the Wildlings.

• Suleiman led his small force in swift raids against scattered Wildling bands, avoiding large enemy forces and covering their tracks.
• Suleiman approached the surviving Riverlanders and told them he had ordered the arrows and spears that killed more than forty of their people.
• A Riverlander described how the Wildlings had killed his children and wife, then said he did not blame Suleiman for rescuing the survivors.
• Suleiman offered to send the Riverlanders to Foulkeep for safety and farmland or let them join his army with food, armor, and weapons.
• The Riverlander men stepped forward to join Suleiman, united by hatred of the Wildlings.

Suleiman welcomed more than twenty men into his following and hurried his troops toward a town, where they encountered a skilled swordsman who claimed to be a mercenary named Bronn. After hearing his explanation, Suleiman held off from attacking him and asked his name.

• More than twenty men joined Suleiman, who promised them new lives in his domain and ordered his troops to search for a settlement.
• Suleiman's soldiers passed two villages destroyed by Wildlings, then a scout returned battered and reported that a thin swordsman had defeated five of his companions in a town.
• Suleiman led his troops into town, where they found the swordsman rummaging through the wounded soldiers' belongings.
• The man said he was a mercenary hired by Valleydeep Town and had disguised himself as a Wildling to seek help.
• Suleiman questioned the man, who introduced himself as Bronn.

Suleiman confronted Bronn about fleeing Valleydeep Town and forced him to admit the truth. Bronn revealed that the town was nearly out of food and its exhausted defenders were close to collapse.

• Bronn watched the Riverlands soldiers and decided he needed to get away from their bloodthirsty camp.
• Lushen summoned Bronn to meet Suleiman after the wounded soldiers confronted him.
• Suleiman claimed he had a letter from Lord Grover ordering Bronn arrested for taking his fee and abandoning Valleydeep Town.
• With Lushen's dagger at his throat, Bronn admitted he had fled the town and said its soldiers were exhausted and nearly out of food.
• Suleiman ordered the guards to sheathe their swords after Bronn insisted that the rest of his account was true.

Suleiman pressured Bronn into joining his ranks by offering a share of war spoils and threatening him with execution or the Wall. After Bronn accepted, Suleiman ordered him to apologize to the soldier he had injured and told Lushen and Roslyn to watch him and learn from his swordsmanship.

• Suleiman unsettled Bronn by revealing he knew Bronn had killed a man when he was twelve.
• Suleiman offered Bronn a chance to earn money and make a name for himself, but threatened him with the Wall or a rope if he refused.
• Bronn accepted Suleiman's offer after hearing that spoils would be divided according to merit.
• Suleiman ordered Bronn to apologize to the injured soldier, then told Lushen and Roslyn to keep an eye on Bronn and learn from him.
• Suleiman revealed that the parchment was blank and described Bronn as a fine sword but not a good man.

Suleiman relied on the Wildlings’ hunger for revenge to create chaos in the besieging camp. After Flatlanders killed Wildlings near the camp, several tribes abandoned the siege to pursue them, leaving Timett Son of Timett to hold the rest back and insist they capture Valleydeep Town first.

• Suleiman reasoned that he could not relieve Valleydeep Town by force and counted on the Wildlings’ vengeful nature to distract them.
• Timett Son of Timett struggled to breach Valleydeep Town’s stone walls when screams erupted throughout the besieging camp.
• The chief of the Howlers mourned his burned son and accused Flatlanders of hunting Wildlings near the camp.
• The Howlers, Milk Snakes, Painted Dogs, Stone Crow, Black Ears, and other warriors ignored Timett Son of Timett’s orders and left to pursue the Flatlanders.
• Timett Son of Timett refused to join the pursuit and promised the Burned Men they would take revenge after capturing Valleydeep Town.

Suleiman learned that four or five hundred Wildlings were searching for his force near Valleydeep Town and devised a plan to defeat them without a direct battle. He ordered Bronn, Roslyn, and Lushen to prepare a scorched-earth trap, leaving the chapter with Bronn stunned by the sixteen-year-old lord’s strategy.

• Bronn trained Lushen and Lausman in swordsmanship and confirmed that he had apologized to the injured soldier.
• Suleiman told Bronn, Lushen, and Roslyn that scouts had spotted four or five hundred Wildlings searching for them.
• Suleiman ordered Bronn to ride ahead with five men and leave believable tracks to lure the Wildlings while keeping half a day’s lead.
• Suleiman instructed Roslyn to ruin water sources, burn farmland and food stores, and evacuate locals toward Foulkeep while compensating them for their livestock.
• Suleiman ordered Lushen to take two hundred men and build a dam whose timing would be crucial to the plan.
• Bronn wondered how someone as young as Suleiman could have devised such a strategy.

Suleiman sent Bronn to lure the pursuing Wildlings into a trap after they found the villages destroyed and their supplies ruined. Bronn killed the chief of the Howlers with a thrown axe, then escaped on a slow horse while demanding more money from Suleiman.

• Lushen and Roslyn left the tent, and Bronn told Suleiman he would flee if their situation turned bad.
• The Milk Snakes and Howlers followed the Flatlanders through ruined villages, finding burned supplies and polluted wells that left them hungry and thirsty.
• The chief of the Howlers grew wary and ordered scouts to inspect the river valley, while the chief of the Milk Snakes urged the group onward.
• Bronn emerged from the woods and threw an axe into the chief of the Howlers' head, provoking the Wildlings into a furious pursuit.
• Bronn escaped on a Mountain Clans warhorse as the Wildlings chased him, and he shouted that Suleiman owed him more money.

Lushen and his soldiers struggled to block the river while Bronn tried to avoid returning to Suleiman, but Toman’s bluff forced him to turn back. As the Wildlings approached Suleiman’s outnumbered fort, Suleiman killed his horse to show he would stand and die with his soldiers.

• Lushen drove stakes and hauled stone-filled sacks into the icy river as his exhausted soldiers followed his example.
• Bronn argued that his mission was over and tried to keep his five Suleiman soldiers from returning to the battle.
• Toman claimed Suleiman had put a bounty on Bronn and warned the riders that abandoning the fort would endanger their families, so Bronn turned back with them.
• Suleiman learned the Wildlings were approaching with four or five hundred fighters against his roughly hundred men.
• Suleiman killed his frightened white horse and declared he would live and die with his soldiers as Roslyn drew her sword.

Suleiman prepared his soldiers to defend their hilltop fort against hundreds of pursuing Wildlings, whose hunger and thirst fueled their desire for revenge. As the battle approached, Suleiman declared that he trusted Lushen and promised to stand and fall alongside his men.

• The Wildlings reached the fort and began searching for trees to make ladders, while the Milk Snakes' chieftain vowed to kill the attacker who had slain a chieftain.
• Suleiman rallied his frightened soldiers, told them they had nowhere left to retreat, and offered two fallen warhorses as food.
• Bronn questioned whether Suleiman trusted Lushen, and Suleiman eventually answered that he did.
• Roslyn reported that the soldiers were ready, and Suleiman ordered them to conserve arrows and spears and target climbers and the Wildlings' chieftain.
• Suleiman promised Bronn his wages if he survived and told Toman he would fall alongside him; Toman was moved that Suleiman remembered his name.
• Bronn watched Suleiman with growing curiosity as the Wildlings prepared to attack.

Suleiman and his soldiers fought off wave after wave of Wildlings at Arc Palisade until the main gate gave way. Bronn appeared alone at the gate, raging at Suleiman and demanding to know where the water was.

• Roslyn ordered the archers and soldiers to attack as the Mountain Clans charged Arc Palisade with ladders.
• Suleiman and Bronn fought atop the palisade, killing Wildlings as they climbed while the defenders grew exhausted.
• Roslyn took a Beast Blade meant for Suleiman, and Bronn tried to escape before discovering the horses were dead.
• The Milk Snakes' Wildlings battered the main gate with a tree-trunk ram as Suleiman prepared his soldiers for a final stand.
• The gate burst open, but Bronn stood there alone, shouting at Suleiman and asking where the water was.

Roslyn led Suleiman’s soldiers in a desperate defense against the Wildlings at the camp entrance. As the flood rushed down the valley, the soldiers drove the Wildlings back, climbed the wooden wall, and hailed Suleiman.

• Roslyn rallied the soldiers, who fought the Wildlings in a brutal crush at the narrow gate.
• The Milk Snakes' chieftain tried to regain control of his fighters, but Bronn killed him with a thrown dagger.
• Bronn and Suleiman urged the exhausted soldiers forward as the ground began to tremble.
• Suleiman ordered the soldiers to drive the Wildlings out, and they counterattacked as the flood approached.
• An archer spotted the torrent, and Suleiman’s soldiers climbed onto the wooden wall while the flood swept away Wildlings at the entrance.
• The soldiers raised their swords and shouted Suleiman’s name as the flood surged through the valley.

Suleiman’s forces flooded the battlefield and finished off the Wildlings, while Bronn demanded payment and claimed he had killed three clan chiefs. At the High Mountain Clans’ camp, Timett Son of Timett realized the Flatlanders had deceived him and that a large part of his people had vanished.

• Suleiman ordered his soldiers to kill the Wildlings caught in the flood, then collapsed from exhaustion and Roslyn caught him.
• Bronn planted his sword before the soldiers and demanded payment for their lives, including Suleiman’s.
• Bronn leaped into the water, killed three Wildling clan chiefs, and returned with their heads.
• Timett Son of Timett grew uneasy as his warriors failed to take Valleydeep Town and his raiding parties disappeared.
• Chella daughter of Chek warned Timett Son of Timett that the Flatlanders had deceived him, and he angrily cut down a tree, realizing he may have lost more than five hundred people.

Timett Son of Timett ordered the remaining Burned Men into a desperate assault on Valleydeep Town, while Lofor of Valleydeep struggled to hold the walls as his exhausted defenders faced defeat. A distant metal horn sounded, interrupting the battle at a critical moment.

• Timett Son of Timett learned that only about six hundred Burned Men remained and ordered them all to attack the castle.
• Shagga son of Dolf led the Stone Crow Tribe away from the camp, while Chella daughter of Chek gave Timett Son of Timett a strange smile.
• Lofor of Valleydeep and Heluo of Valleydeep prepared their starving, depleted soldiers to repel another Wildling assault and worried that Suleiman of Foulkeep had not arrived.
• The Wildlings stormed Valleydeep Town, overwhelming the defenders, battering the gates, and breaking through onto the walls.
• A piercing metal horn sounded in the distance, causing the attackers and defenders to stop and turn toward it.

Timett Son of Timett abandoned the attack on Valleydeep Town after mistaking Suleiman’s dust-making deception for a huge Flatlander army. Suleiman sent Bronn to keep the Wildlings retreating, leaving Valleydeep safe for the moment.

• Timett Son of Timett saw a vast dust cloud rising from the eastern woods and ordered his clansmen to retreat from Valleydeep Town.
• Lofor, Lord of Valleydeep, and Heluo of Valleydeep celebrated the apparent reinforcements, but Lofor refused to pursue the Wildlings.
• Suleiman’s soldiers and livestock churned up dust in the woods to make his small force look like a huge army.
• Bronn explained Suleiman’s deception to Lushen, then considered the fame he might gain from the campaign.
• Suleiman ordered Bronn to get ahead of the retreating Wildlings and keep them from turning back.

Timett Son of Timett fled through the mountains with the battered remnants of the Mountain Clans while Flatlander forces pursued them. After capturing four Vale ironclad men, he learned that the Riverlands had sent no army and that Suleiman, a sixteen-year-old noble with only three hundred peasant farmers, had defeated them.

• Timett Son of Timett refused to let his exhausted, wounded clansmen stop as the Flatlander vanguard pursued them through the mountains.
• A Burned Men warrior told Timett Son of Timett that the Stone Crow Tribe and the Black Ears Tribe had deserted during the siege and taken their share of the spoils.
• Timett Son of Timett learned that fewer than four hundred Mountain Clan survivors remained, down from the more than one thousand warriors who had descended from the mountains.
• A scout warned Timett Son of Timett that four Vale ironclad men on horseback were blocking the path, and Timett ordered his clansmen to capture them and burn them alive.
• The captured leader told Timett Son of Timett that the Riverlands had sent no reinforcements and that Suleiman, a sixteen-year-old noble, had led only three hundred peasant farmers.

Timett Son of Timett discovered that only a little over twenty men were tracking his Wildlings, confirming that Suleiman had bluffed him into fleeing. Bronn then kept his small force near the Wildlings and sent word to Suleiman about their true numbers, preparing to continue his maneuver.

• Timett Son of Timett ordered scouts to check the pursuers after the captured Flatlanders insisted their story was true.
• The scouts confirmed that only a little over twenty men were tracking the Wildlings, and Timett Son of Timett realized Suleiman had tricked him into fleeing.
• Timett Son of Timett killed one captive and released the other three, telling them to report that the Burned Men needed food to survive the winter.
• Bronn explained to Toman that he had deliberately let the Wildlings discover his force's small numbers and ordered two men to tell Suleiman there were only a little over three hundred Wildlings.
• Bronn watched three knights of the Vale ride away from the Wildlings and ordered his soldiers to follow him.