Blood and Thunder
The soldiers of Casterly Rock had a vague feeling that something was wrong; their grooming time seemed to have been compressed lately.
In addition, the servants responsible for fetching water also spread the news throughout the castle that the water in the cistern was running low.
Casterly Rock is only so big, and once news spreads, it's incredibly fast. In the early stages, it might be possible to cover it up, but the longer it goes on, the less likely it is to be stopped or suppressed.
Creylen, dressed in a brown-red robe, arrived at Tywin's side early in the morning, while Tywin was being helped by servants to wash and shave.
"Any news from King's Landing?"
For the past ten days or so, Tywin summoned Creylen, the maester of Casterly Rock, almost every morning, and the first question he asked Creylen was about the reply from King's Landing.
Logically, a raven should have more than two days to make Raven from east to west, but it has been almost a week and there has still been no reply, which is obviously abnormal.
At first, they considered that the ravens might have Raven or been preyed upon, so they sent several more Raven to King's Landing, but still received no response.
"Not yet, sir."
Creylen's voice was slightly weak as he answered. He saw Tywin's brow furrow slightly and instinctively took a step back.
Having served Tywin for so many years, Creylen knew perfectly well how proud and ruthless the Lord of Casterly Rock was. The only reason he was willing to bow down to Stannis was because he felt he could not bear the loss of the Lannister legacy that had been lost for generations. Otherwise, given his temperament, he probably would have already led his soldiers to fight Jon to the death.
Soon, the barber finished shaving Tywin and wiped the stray hairs off his face with a warm towel.
However, the Lord of Casterly Rock kept his eyes tightly closed, as if lost in thought. After a long while, he dismissed the barber and then ordered Creylen, "Send another Raven to King's Landing's Landing, as soon as possible."
Tywin finished speaking, but Creylen didn't move. After a moment of silence, he spoke as if gathering his courage, "My lord, we have run out of ravens to send to King's Landing's Raven."
"What?!"
Feeling Tywin's green eyes suddenly turn to him, Creylen felt his hands and feet go numb with cold.
"My lord, we have run out of ravens that can fly to King's Landing's Raven."
11
Maintaining the Raven communication network of the Seven Kingdoms was extremely complex and troublesome, because Raven, after all, could not understand human speech and could not read maps.
To get them to deliver messages, you have to personally take the Raven to that place, and sometimes several times, for them to remember the route, which is quite costly.
Although Casterly Rock is the capital of the Westerlands and has a rich stockpile of Raven, it cannot send them out indiscriminately. Tywin recently tried to negotiate with Stannis and then sought peace with King's Landing's Landing, leaving Casterly Rock's Raven depleted.
Upon hearing Creylen say that the Raven were all used up, Tywin's expression visibly stiffened.
Tywin was shocked by the fall of Golden Tooth, and he didn't sleep a wink that night after hearing the news.
Now that the Raven sent out by Casterly Rock have gone unanswered, he suddenly had a vague feeling that the fall of Golden Tooth must also be related to the Raven.
But after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't understand how the Raven decided that a city would fall.
Tywin exhaled a breath of stale air and then asked, "What kind of witchcraft did that bastard child use? Have you found out?"
"I—" Creylen wanted to say that he was still investigating, but judging from Tywin's tone, he might be torn to pieces if he knew that he hadn't found out yet. Thinking of this, Creylen had no choice but to lie, "I, I found two or three ways to break the witchcraft, but I don't know if they will work."
Although Tywin frowned slightly after hearing Creylen's explanation, he hadn't lost his composure; after all, no one had ever encountered anything like this before.
"Let's give it a try," Tywin said, looking out the window at the sea. Redwyne Fleet seemed to have regrouped, forming a long line, while the dark clouds overhead appeared to be gathering again.
He knew that Jon was about to start blocking the rain again.
These days, whenever there's any sign of clouds gathering in the sky, Jon will have Paxter create artificial rain, as if he has no intention of giving Casterly Rock a single drop of water.
Soon, Tywin saw flames reignite on the House Redwyne's warships, though the fires seemed slightly smaller today.
Soon after, Creylen ordered his ritual to break the witchcraft to be prepared.
On a spacious terrace, several sika deer were pulled out of their cages. As if sensing their impending death, the deer, which had been kept in the garden, retreated with mournful cries that were hard to bear.
At this moment, surrounded by a group of guards, Tywin, Damon, Damion were watching the method that Creylen had found for them to break the witchcraft.
Seven sika deer were bound by their four hooves and pressed down on a long table, while the butcher sharpened his already gleaming knife beside them.
Tywin and the others watching all had very serious expressions, unsure whether the ritual would actually work.
Seeing that preparations were almost complete, Creylen said to Tywin, "My lord, all we need to do is put the deer blood into leather bags and then have the catapults launch them at their fleet."
Tywin remained silent, but Damion spoke up, "Then let's begin."
Upon receiving the order, the butcher approached the sika deer, aimed at the artery in its neck, and suddenly released it!
Crimson streams gushed out and then gushed into the golden basin of blood that had been prepared beforehand.
The sika deer's mournful cries gradually weakened as its blood flowed, while the distant thunder slowly grew stronger.
As the bloodletting reached its final stage, the sound of deer blood dripping into the basin gradually became clearer, and the air was filled with the smell of rust.
Adam watched the ceremony unfold before him, feeling both nervous and expectant. His gaze kept shifting between the distant fleet and the deer blood before him.
"Will this really work?"
He found the whole ceremony incredibly dubious, and even began to have some doubts about the renowned Lord Tywin.
The butcher divided the deer blood into seven leather bags, which, under Creylen's command, were then placed into the catapult.
He saw Creylen approach Tywin and say, "My lord, we've reached the final step. All you need to do is personally launch the deer blood towards Redwyne Fleet."
Tywin stepped to the back of the catapult, drew his sword, and severed the rope used to store energy. With a bang, seven blood sacs filled with deer blood were launched by the catapult.
Everyone watched as the blood sac rose higher and higher, until it was almost submerged in the leaden-gray clouds before plummeting downwards.
The blood sac hit the waves on the sea surface without causing any ripples.
Click -
Lightning bolted from the dark clouds above the fleet in the distance, and just like before, a torrential downpour fell only on the fleet's head.
"Rain! Rain! Rain! Let it rain!" Creylen prayed and roared in his heart, looking up at the gray sky.
Just then, he suddenly felt a coolness on his face, so he reached out to catch it and felt the dampness in his palm. A sense of relief and joy washed over him.
"My lord, it's raining!" Damion said happily.
Tywin's face relaxed as well.
Raindrops began to appear underfoot, and the air became damp.
However, compared to the torrential rain in the distance, it was still far from enough.
It's good that it's raining, even if it's just a little.
"Quick! Go and get someone to collect the rainwater!" Damion shouted, but as soon as he finished speaking, the rain stopped!
The small brown dots underfoot, wet with raindrops, were fading quickly, as if the recent rain had been nothing more than a ridiculous illusion.
Creylen anxiously raised his hands, as if praying or begging for mercy. The rain stopped, and he knew his attempt to break the ritual had "failed."
The atmosphere, which had just become a little lively, quickly turned somber again. However, just a few leagues away from them, a torrential downpour continued to fall above Redwyne Fleet.
The contrast between the two is like a silent irony.
Creylen hesitated to turn around, his mind racing as he pondered how to quell Tywin's rage.
Sir, we have other ways; it should work.
"Tsk, looks like it might not work."
"Sir, we have other ideas, let's try them again."
Perhaps we should affirm something?
"Sir, we—uh."
Creylen looked down and saw that Tywin's gleaming longsword had pierced through his reddish-brown robe, the blade protruding from his abdomen and back, the tip still dripping blood.
Damon and Damion were somewhat bewildered by what they saw. Maesters were not ordinary servants; unless they had committed some crime of betrayal or harm to their lord, they should not be executed arbitrarily.
Otherwise, the Citadel might not continue to send scholars to serve the lord.
But neither Damon, Damion, nor Adam dared to step forward to dissuade them, because they knew, as Tywin had said, that the Lannister had been driven to the brink of despair.
Tywin drew his sword, looked at Damion and the others, and said, "We have sent out all the Raven that can reach King's Landing's Landing these past few days, but we haven't received a single reply. Staying in Casterly Rock will only lead to our deaths."
As Tywin spoke, thunder rumbled in the distance.
"I will personally lead the army and fight that bastard who covets Casterly Rock to the death. Only in this way will the Lannister have a chance of survival."
Creylen wasn't quite dead yet; he could only feel his body rapidly losing temperature, and dark red blood spreading quickly beneath him, soon touching Tywin's boots.
"Damion."
"Grown ups."
"You stay here and guard Casterly Rock."
"Yes, sir."
"Damon, sir."
"Fight alongside me in three days."
"Yes, sir."
Finally, Tywin's gaze fell upon Adam.
Adam Lannister.
39
"Grown ups.
"I personally legitimized you as Lannister from Hishan, and now I will entrust you with the heavy armor of Casterly Rock, to be our vanguard!"
"Huh? Me?!"