Sunspear. The lord's hall.
People filled the seats on both sides of the long table.
Afternoon sunlight slanted through the high windows, casting shafts of light across the flagstones.
Arianne sat at the head of the table, in the seat that had once belonged to Prince Doran.
Her gaze swept over the nobles on either side of the table. "You should all have received the news from the north."
The nobles remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
"Tywin Lannister has gathered an army of three hundred and seventy thousand in the Vale and declared war on the Targaryens in King Tommen's name."
"Leyton Hightower of the Reach has also sent out his forces," Arianne said. "Three hundred thousand of the Faith Militant, divided into two armies. One is marching toward Tumbleton, the other toward the Stormlands."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Then someone spoke.
It was Earl Uller of Hellholt. His fingers rested on the rim of his wine cup, but he did not drink. "Three hundred and seventy thousand. Three hundred thousand."
He repeated the two numbers, as though making sure he had heard them correctly.
"I've fought in wars," he said. "During the War of the Usurper, I marched north with Prince Lewyn and fought in the Battle of the Trident. In the end, only a handful of us returned alive."
"The royalists and the Usurper had fewer than eighty thousand men between them in that battle, yet they already filled the plain. When the cavalry charged, the dust they raised blotted out half the sky."
"Three hundred and seventy thousand..." He shook his head. "Spread them across a plain, and you wouldn't be able to see the end of them."
"All Seven Kingdoms united against a common enemy," Earl Qorgyle, seated opposite him, added