House Sherrett had been watching developments in the south all along. He had only heard from the farmers of Goldengrove that the king was fighting the Ironborn in the Reach, and had no idea when he would make his move.
"Probably still along the Seaside Road. Lord Tywin has already put heavy defenses in place." Ser Gerold thought for a moment, but he was still very afraid that House Rowan might suddenly go mad.
Although many sentries had been posted along the south, they were probably not enough.
The lion's forces were stretched thin now, with nowhere near enough troops to spare. Though a camp's worth of troops had been transferred over, there were not that many soldiers.
North of Highgarden, vast stretches of fertile land belonged to House Rowan, the king of the northern Reach, sustaining a great many soldiers.
House Sherrett could not contend with House Rowan's strength.
"Young master!" A household soldier of House Sherrett suddenly hurried up from below the tower, gasping for breath.
"What happened?" Ser Gerold asked at once.
"Soldiers, the enemy is here! And the river-the river is full of longships. Soldiers are swarming everywhere, and they've already begun to move."
"What!" Ser Gerold collapsed onto the bed.
Without bothering to straighten his clothes, he ran out of the tower in a panic.
When he climbed the watchtower, sure enough, fires blazed below Silverhill.
Longships were coming upstream along the river, led by Earl Patrek of Seaguard.
On the ridge were climbers bearing lit torches, led by Jason Mallister and Timett.
All those selected were hardy, skilled climbers from the Vale and Crackclaw Point.
"Why don't we surrender?" the captain of the guards asked. "Lord Tywin's defeat is certain, and he has no strength left to help us. We already lost enough following