The Ashen Company's battle report lay on the oak desk in the Red Keep's study, its ink still fresh.
Aegon raised his eyes from the unfurled strategic map of the Crownlands. On it, the marker for Stokeworth Castle was tightly enclosed by a ring of black lines denoting the siege.
"Ten days." His voice was calm, betraying neither pleasure nor anger, as his Violet Eyes turned toward the messenger guard.
The guard bowed his head and spoke clearly. "Yes, Your Highness. The Ashen Company has had Stokeworth Castle surrounded for ten days."
"Commander-in-Chief Luke ordered the men to work day and night. The siege towers, battering rams, and catapults are all in position."
"We launched four full assaults during that time, but Stokeworth Castle has high, thick walls, and its defenders have resisted fiercely. One man in particular, wearing a hound-shaped helm, leads the elite Lannister Red Cloaks. Time and again, he leads counterattacks at critical moments. Our forces... have suffered considerable casualties. Every attempt to storm the walls has been repelled."
"The defenders seem to have ample provisions, and their morale shows no sign of faltering."
The study fell silent for a moment, save for the faint sound of flames licking the logs in the hearth.
Aegon lightly tapped Stokeworth Castle's position on the map, then slowly traced the black lines representing the Ashen Company's encirclement. He did not speak immediately.
Maintaining a great army consumed food and pay. If every castle that stubbornly resisted required him to ride King Ghidorah there himself, burning its walls and breaking its defenders, what use did he have for this army?
A dragon was a deterrent, a trump card, the ultimate force that shattered the balance-not a cheap tool to replace an army in every siege.
An army needed to be tempered