Casterly Rock Duke's King's Landing mansion.
The candlelight was slightly swayed by the evening breeze that leaked in through the cracks in the window, making the blond Duke's face become increasingly gloomy in the study.
"King's Kingsguard?"
Jaime This idiot.
One hundred thousand golden dragons were wasted, and his son became the "minion" of the new king. Black Earl's plan was like a slap in the face, causing him to lose all face.
What's even more frustrating is that he still can't express his dissatisfaction.
Is it to blame Titus·Peake for not accepting money to do things?
He did comply with his promise and released Jaime·Lannister on the spot, allowing the latter to regain his freedom.
Or should he sacrifice his face and ask the king to release his heir?
This is even more impossible!
Your son can be the iron guard of Aerys II, but when it comes to Robert I, your family is unwilling? What does Lannister mean!?
Tywin can even guess what those people will say----
Baila Theon will never let go of the advantage of having Warden of the West's son close to the palace - if he were Baila Theon, he would never give up the opportunity to hold the son of the First Realm Guardian as hostage.
"Tywin, that Titus·Peake is really cunning, Jaime must have been deceived by him too - we have suffered a hidden loss!"
Sir Kevan stood by the table, the lion pattern on his armor was still eye-catching under the candlelight, and his tone was full of unwillingness. To be honest, he had opinions on Grand Maester Pycelle, who was the middleman.
"You don't have to speak for that idiot anymore. If your brain works, it can't be controlled by others with just a few words of persuasion."
Lord Tywin raised his hand to interrupt his brother, his voice was very calm.
"Red Keep, King's Landing, including Crownlands----now Theon, Arryn, Stark, Tully----
and Peake's world. Robert I seems to rely heavily on our Starpike Earl, and simply obeys his words----"
He walked to the window and looked at the dim outline of Red Keep in the distance, his green-gold eyes flashing fiercely.
"But Lannister can't sit still and wait for death. I have to leave an extra way out for the family."
Kevan looked puzzled. "The way out? Now except the Reach, which has a high probability of falling, and the irrelevant Dorne, Seven Kingdoms is all under the rule of Robert·Baila Theon. Who else can compete with the five alliances of Crowned Stag, Running Wolf, Crescent Falcon, Trout, and Star Shuttle?"
He also included Westerlands under the new dynasty, without mentioning their "good neighbor" Iron Islands at all.
"Dragonstone."
Warden of the West points to the east and slowly spits out the place name.
He put away his hand and turned to look at his shocked brother.
"The former queen Leila and Aerys's second son Viserys are still there. Although Targaryen has lost power, the skinny dragon may not be as powerful as the strong stag! They have dragon blood flowing in their bodies, and many of House Targaryen's old ministers still love them."
Sir Kevan was even more worried. "Brother, this is an act of rebellion! Once discovered, Lannister will be in danger----"
"What are you afraid of?"
Warden of the West sneered and rapped his knuckles on the table.
"We are just asking about the situation," and we are not going to defect immediately. Starpike Earl is resorting to various tactics. Robert I and Jon·Arryn don't trust us either. They are wary of Westerlands everywhere. Can't you tell?"
Since entering the city, everything has been rough.
Tywin·Lannister, who was very unwilling to accept this, planned to make two preparations.
A hint of calculation flashed in his eyes, and he continued, "Actually, Dragonstone still has the strength, and the Reach people have not surrendered yet. If we are added to the list, it will be an extra layer of support; of course, if Targaryen is really at the end of its crossbow, it will not hurt us at all - this deal is a sure profit."
Kevan was silent for a moment. After all, he trusted Duke Casterly Rock as always and nodded in agreement. "Okay, what you said makes sense, but this matter needs to be extremely secretive and no news can be leaked."
"Of course. I originally wanted to contact Dragonstone with pen and paper, but I'm afraid of leaving traces. I plan to——"
Tywin Master took out an envelope engraved with the seal of a standing lion from the drawer.
"----In your own name, write a letter to Dragonstone, and it cannot go through Raven. You need to personally select the most reliable confidant, have him dress up in disguise, and take your "secret letter" to Dragonstone.
See Queen Leila or Viserys·Targaryen who has already worn the crown, and tell them that you are dissatisfied with my decision to surrender to Duke Storm's End, and are willing to exchange information with them. If she needs help, as long as the conditions are right, there are many forces within Westerlands that are dissatisfied with me.
Once the time comes, their power is not unusable----"
He paused, and added with a somewhat ugly look on Kevan's face, "Remember, you only ask about the situation first, and don't mention the specific covenant. What we want is a way out," not to get involved in the dispute immediately.
In addition, ask your cronies to "be sure to find out Dragonstone's military strength, food and grass, and the attitude of those old ministers - without these, everything is empty talk."
Even if we are still on the side of Robert I in the end, we may not have no chance to make some contributions to the new government——"
Kevan took the secret letter and looked down at it for a while. In the end, he did not have the courage to resist his brother. He carefully put the letter into his arms and nodded. "I understand that this matter was done by me alone. If everything goes well, we can arrange for people to set off tonight without any delay."
He knew in his heart that if something happened, he would be the scapegoat.
No matter how loyal I am to Tywin and House Lannister, I still feel puzzled and resentful about being treated as an outcast.
Especially when thinking about what happened to Lannister's giant dog yesterday - "The Mountain" Gregor·Clegane, Kevan had even more distracting thoughts in his mind.
He also has a wife and children. If possible, he would never take this risk----
Tywin watched his younger brother disappear at the door of the study. He understood Kevan's personality and was not worried about him being a treacherous person.
I didn't have to make this decision myself.
Starpike's Titus·Peake----No, it should be that the five alliances of Deer, Wolf, Eagle, Fish and Star put too much pressure on him.
He didn't even dare to leave King's Landing without permission.
First, I want to take a closer look to see if there is any opportunity to intervene in the future. Also, I am afraid that this powerful alliance will turn its back and turn around and find an excuse to attack Westerlands.
Just like Kevan subconsciously classified Westerlands as a force close to Iron Throne, at present, even if they pretend, Westerlands's army must firmly stand on the side of House Baratheon.
Otherwise, what should I do? Run back in despair and admit the failure of Casterly Rock and Lannister to the Westerlands lords who came with him?
Then all the efforts he has made over the years have been in vain----
Looking in the direction of Red Keep again, Tywin's eyes were full of complicated emotions.
He knew very well that this move was extremely dangerous. If it was exposed, even if Kevan was standing in front of him, if he didn't make it right, he would be in danger of catastrophe.
Starpike Earl's operation somewhat left a shadow on him.
If the evidence of "Lannister having an affair with Targaryen" fell into the hands of the other party, he couldn't imagine what new tricks the other party would play.
As the candlelight flickered, the shadows in the study became thicker----
Titus on the other side was busy with his own affairs and didn't know that the lion wanted to get involved with the last dragonborn again.
Even if he knew it, he would feel happy.
Perhaps he would also sarcastically say:
This lion really regards himself as a person. The first one just killed the other party's head, and the other one wants to rebuild the old relationship with someone else?
Were the former House Targaryen and Targaryen royal families so cheap?
The lion who puts interests first and bases everything on rationality may not understand that the widowed queen and the fatherless prince both have the blood of House Targaryen in their bodies. They are not calm politicians, let alone negotiators who can be persuaded by reason----
Titus is preparing to go south.
Other armaments and logistics matters are all handled by his subordinates, and things are okay. He is mainly responsible for interviewing several deputies with whom he has not yet had a close relationship with each other to unify their combat ideas in advance.
Red Keep, in his temporary study room, the map collected from the Red Keep treasury covered the entire long table, with Crownlands, Stormlands and the mountains and rivers of the southern border marked on it.
The next thing he has to do is to win over the three representatives of the nobility who currently have a weak friendship. They are all core figures in their respective armies.
Facing the Reach army of more than 40,000 people, Titus cannot lack their help, nor can it tolerate any constraints from within.
The first person to step into the study room was Gulian Lord Swann from Stonehelm.
The relationship between Titus and him has always been neither far nor close.
The young Lord Stormlands was wearing a military uniform, and the black and white swan badge on his chest was eye-catching. However, his head, which was always held high in the past, was slightly lowered after entering this temporary study.
"Sir Titus, the teams of Stonehelm, Blackhaven, Harvest Hall, and Nightsong are almost ready and ready to go at any time."
Gulian's voice carried the vigor of a young man, but it had long since lost its original arrogance, and instead was filled with a bit of respect and reverence.
In the beginning, when Titus first showed his talents, Gulian relied on his prominent family background and often ignored the instructions from the Allied Cavalry Commander.
Things are different now.
Starpike Earl is already a high-end player who can confront Westerlands ministers in the throne room and show off to the Duke of the First Realm. When Gulian faced Titus, it was naturally difficult for him to maintain his airs.
At least on the surface, he was willing to fully cooperate with Titus's instructions, and Stonehelm's soldiers were also willing to obey orders.
Titus smiled at him and pointed the fingertips of his right hand on the side of Kingsroad on the map.
"I will leave the right wing of the southward army to the four of you. I will make it clear to the other lords in the future. In addition to marching south, your responsibilities are to send additional scouts to explore the Reach junction area to the west.
In the previous decisive battle between Trident, the Reach people did not take action at all. Instead, they left the field early and retreated. Their strength remained intact.
I suspect that they are hiding with Goldengrove - or Tumbleton - if the Reach people attack in tandem, or block the way for our army to attack, we will have a big headache."
Before confronting the main force of the Southern Border Army, Titus did not want any losses to the 25,000-strong force.
Gulian nodded to express his understanding, and his tone of response was quite firm.
"Titus, don't worry, Dornish Marches's soldiers are not comparable to the Reach."
Titus is really relieved.
According to the noble prisoners of the Trident battle, Highgarden instructor Fertimo Clyne only had an army of 10,000 men.
When facing frontier lords with better military qualities, such a number of people would not bring much advantage.
At the same time, he was also very satisfied with the change in Gulian Swann's attitude towards him - almost every battle, the other party became more submissive.
In the face of victory and power, changes in posture like this have always been so logical.
And among the other three--
Nightsong's Bryce·Caron has the closest relationship with him;
Although Harvest Hall's Astan Selmy does not have a deep personal relationship, he is also a reliable lord who is willing to fight under orders;
Blackhaven's Simon Dondarrion Earl has a good friendship with him.
Titus's influence on storm Dornish Marches has unknowingly become stronger and stronger----
Blackhaven's Lightning: