Robert I looked at Titus and Eddard with some envy, thinking how cool it would be for brothers to be able to lead troops in war.
Before defeating the royalist army of Rhaegar·Targaryen and entering Harrenhal, the five alliances had made decisions on the southern border strategy after capturing King's Landing--
There is no doubt that Starpike Earl will serve as the commander-in-chief of the army going south.
Duke Winterfell Eddard·Stark, who previously held this position on behalf of Robert, will also become the deputy commander-in-chief of Titus.
In fact, the main purpose of Eddard's trip south this time was to find the whereabouts of his long-lost sister Lyanna - from the mouths of the royalist prisoners, they had learned that Rhaegar was King's Landing who had returned from the south.
At that time, once Eddard leaves midway, the entire army will be controlled by Titus·Peake, that is, Starpike Earl will have the final say.
The army participating in the subsequent march south will consist of 6,000 people from Starpike, 4,000 border soldiers from Stormlands, more than 13,000 people from the North, and more than a thousand canyon knights from Jon Hand of the King.
The total number is about 25,000, of which a high proportion is cavalry, as well as teams of heavy cavalry.
The remaining Vale army and Riverlands army will continue to defend the royal city along with Hand of the King and Master of Laws to prevent the 10,000 people from the west from causing trouble.
"Master Titus, this time we go south to put peace first, just ease the tension in Stormlands and relieve the siege of Storm's End--
Jon·Arryn does not want to pour cold water on young people. It can be seen that Robert and Titus are gearing up, and they are still rationally admonishing the future commander-in-chief of the new army.
When he made Hand of the King, of course he had to start from the overall perspective. After his consideration, it was best to put peace as the most important thing.
According to Duke the Eyrie, Highgarden's Tyrell will never be able to sustain itself alone. As long as Lord Mace is willing to surrender and submit to the Iron Throne of Byra Theon, and let Highgarden compensate some money, that will be enough.
But young people obviously have their own opinions.
"Lord Hand Don't worry, since it's up to me, I will naturally handle the matter beautifully."
Titus raised his eyebrows slightly, leaned back on his chair and said confidently, "I will not only quickly resolve the siege outside Storm's End, but I will also quickly pacify the rebels in the entire southern border, make them pay the price for their previous choices, and then surrender under the military power of Iron Throne."
To pacify the southern border, pay the price?
Judging from the consistent performance of Starpike Earl, Jon does not believe that the other party does not know that the new kingdom cannot withstand any setbacks.
But the other party still said that, could he be sure of victory?
If Titus knew the doubts of old Hand of the King, he would definitely answer him: His greatest confidence is that "Seven Kingdoms is the first general", Lord of Highgarden-Mace·Tyrell.
No matter how powerful Queen of Thorns is, she is just an old lady. She has no ability to appear on Stormlands's battlefield and personally advise her idiot son.
Her surname is Redwyne, not the real Duchess Highgarden.
Jon thinks peace is the most important thing, but Titus has his own plans.
Since it had been negotiated a long time ago, Starpike Earl would be solely responsible for the affairs of the South. Hand of the King only gave his suggestions and had no intention of insisting on questioning.
Everyone talked about other things, and House Baratheon's first Small Council, which was also the last army meeting of the five rebel alliances, came to an end.
After the meeting.
Eddard came to Titus and thanked him personally, "Titus, you found House Stark's "Ice". I haven't had time to express my solemn thanks to you."
Titus doesn't care at all, after all, he has a lot of tile steel swords on hand.
"It's okay, we're all good brothers, no need to be polite to me!"
"Ice" is a two-handed giant sword Winterfell House Stark passed down from father to son from generation to generation, forged from Valyrian steel.
The sword's blade is as dark as black smoke and stands upright. It is about the same length as Titus's "Heartsbane" and is wider. It has a history of four hundred years.
According to Ned, "Ice" was originally an ancient clan sword passed down from father to son by "King in the North" during the Age of Heroes period, but was unfortunately lost in a battle with the "Red King".
So House Stark, like Lannister, began to look for a replacement for his family sword.
They had better luck than Casterly Rock. About four hundred years ago, they found this corrugated steel giant sword as a replacement, and gave it the same name as the clan sword from the Age of Heroes period.
During the time when Titus controlled Red Keep, in addition to preventing foreign invasion and taking care of orphans and widows, he also did a lot of things, including searching Targaryen's treasury and exploring secret passages deep inside the fort.
Even for the faucets, he picked out a few that were not that exaggerated in size and planned to take them home for collection.
Later, when Robert entered Red Keep, Titus, not wanting to cause any misunderstanding, made a special report.
The former laughed loudly after hearing this, and Robert I, who originally planned to remove all the dragon skulls in the throne room, said, Starpike Earl, if you like, you can move all these big dark bones back to Starpike.
Occult lovers rejoice.
Robert I I really have nothing to say about "generousness".
In addition to retrieving the Stark family sword that Duke Rickard "dropped" in Red Keep, Titus led Wenda and the others, and also found a lot of useful things or information.
Among them are the keel tile steel dagger that contains the prophecy of "A Song of Ice and Fire" and the architectural design drawing of Summerhall----
Titus, who has handled the N-Dova steel sword, became an expert and discussed with his second brother Ai how to use the giant sword.
After the two brothers said goodbye, Titus Earl went to Red Keep Tower of the Hand in the East District.
This famous building located inside Red Keep has witnessed the entire dynasty history of Targaryen.
It has seen Lucas Earl Harroway being thrown from the top of the tower by Kingsguard of Maegor·Targaryen;
I have seen Princess Visanrilla Targaryen stimulate the attendants who admire her to climb the tower to complete some dangerous tasks;
I have also seen Jaehaerys I's Hand of the King "Chun Xiao's" Baelon·Targaryen Prince died painfully in the tower due to liver and abdominal rupture;
I even saw "Blood" and "Cheese" sneak into the tower during "Dance of the Dragons". After forcing Queen Helaena to make a cruel "choose one", they stabbed her child to death in front of her----
A Tower of the Hand, half of the history of the dynasty.
The private reception room in the tower is much smaller than the reception room at Maegor's Holdfast. The floor is covered with thick carpets, the luxurious hangings on the walls and the golden round windows give it a noble and private atmosphere.
It is not difficult to guess that those golden decorations were all the work of Tywin·Lannister.
Now that As High as Honor's Arryn has moved into Tower of the Hand, this place will surely soon be filled with the blue and white colors of the Crescent Falcon.
"Master Titus, what do you want to talk about when you come to me alone?"
Of course we want to talk, we all want to "find a wife for the king".
Titus smiled and made some necessary preparations before getting to the point.
"Master Jon, do you think Ned can find her sister and the king's fiancée?"
"Lyanna·Stark disappeared for a whole year. Although I don't want to think that, but occasionally I have to prepare for the worst."
Old Jon has a deep relationship with his adopted son Eddard·Stark. This is because he has no children and has stayed with the young man from Winterfell on the Eyrie for many years.
Lyanna·Stark?
She is just a strange little girl, Jon·Arryn has no feelings for her.
"Yeah, you really have to prepare for the worst——"
Titus nodded in agreement and changed the subject. "----No matter how bad things are, you don't have to blame it on Casterly Rock, right?"
Jon·Arryn, who was sitting behind Hand of the King's desk, leaned back slightly, crossed his hands and placed them in front of him.
-A psychological mapping posture that creates a sense of defensiveness towards the outside world.
Some of his thoughts were seen through by the black Earl opposite.
Although the opponent is young, he is very, very difficult to deal with.
As the two parties interacted with each other more and more often, Jon also looked up to this young man from House Peake with admiration again and again.
His face was calm, as if he wanted to continue to probe the other party's tendency, "Oh? Mr. Titus, don't you think that as an alternative, the daughter of the Warden of the West family is a very suitable candidate?"
Titus made a sound and made a stern expression saying, "Sir, please stop teasing me."
"The daughter of the Warden of the West family - you mean - the Prince Rhaegar who has always wanted to marry Prince Rhaegar, and everyone from Red Keep to Casterly Rock knows this, Cersei·Lannister?"
At this juncture, Titus will not talk about the forbidden love of the golden twins that has been "heard about", but will talk about the information that can be found on the surface with a quick search.
Sure enough, Jon·Arryn's eyes showed obvious emotional fluctuations, but he still did not give up.
"Little girls will always look at handsome princes with special eyes - but Robert is no worse than Rhaegar, not to mention, he is not only a prince, but a real king!"
The adoptive father sees handsome men, and Jon really feels that the brave and capable Robert·Baila Theon is much better than the pretty boy Crown Prince.
Trident The result of that battle can prove his point!
"If----"
Titus didn't argue with him too much, and finally offered his advice. "What if, Lyanna really can't come back - and I happen to have a better candidate for the queen here?"
"Huh?"
As Hei Earl continued to speak, Jon Hand of the King's expression changed from listening attentively to a slightly rude mouth slightly open--
When Titus left Red Keep, the sun was already setting.
This scene reminded him of an evening when he was in King's Landing.
That was his lost youth.
That day, in such a time period, in such weather, and in such scenery, he, Wenda, and Bowen—the three found out that a group of Gold Cloaks of unknown origin was following them, so they led the unlucky Gold Cloaks group into a dark alley and killed one of them with blood splashing——
He was still looking back on the past - the "peak years" when he was not yet in power. On the side of the road, a child's voice interrupted him, "Master Titus, Master Titus! Master Varys wants to meet you!"
"Silent Wolf" and "Ice":