"Lord Paxter, long time no see."
I think back then, when Titus participated in the Harrenhal martial arts competition, the other party was the leader of the Reach delegation.
The two got along pretty well at first.
Now that we meet again, we are on opposite sides of each other.
The feeling that things are different and people are different lingered in this temporary study room for a while.
Paxter·Redwyne was wearing a purple silk robe, without a sword on his waist, and his face showed just the right amount of familiarity.
The founder of House Redwyne is also one of the many sons and daughters of "Garth Greenhand", known as Gilbert as "Vinegar".
It is said that this person inherited part of the magic power of Garth, which can make the soil of Arbor more suitable for planting.
It's a bit like a plant druid.
His descendant Redwyne, a family with purple grape as its coat of arms, indeed made its fortune from grapes--
mm
Paxter first smiled and greeted Starpike Earl who stood up to greet him, then sat down with him and said, "Sir Titus, it's been a long time indeed—"
The two of them exchanged a few polite words, and seeing that the host had a good attitude and was not as arrogant as rumored, Paxter got to the point. "----On behalf of Arbor and Redwyne Fleet, I would like to swear allegiance to Iron Throne, and I am also willing to serve the new dynasty."
Master Titus, you also know me. This whole year has been a real torture for me. If Mace had not insisted on having his own way, I would not have wanted to fight this battle."
He simply expressed his willingness to surrender and clarified his motives for participating in the war, saying that he had no choice but to do so.
Titus nodded in approval. "Of course, of course - it's all Mace·Tyrell's fault - Arbor's Redwyne Fleet has always been famous. With your help, Iron Throne's authority at sea will be unrivaled."
I'm personally very pleased - we can get support from House Redwyne."
The two exchanged a few words in a procedural manner. Paxter touched his beard a little unnaturally and took the initiative to mention Mace Tyrell: "Sir, I heard about Mace from Allister Earl. I also learned that you asked Highgarden for a ransom and compensation of up to one million gold dragons?"
This is a huge sum of money piled up with gold. Rich people like Arbor and Paxter also feel that this debt of Highgarden is not trivial.
He paused and said with a hint of pleading, "Not to mention Lord of Highgarden's identity, Mace is also my cousin. I know he made a mistake this time, but I also ask Earl to remember House Tyrell's long history in the south and be sure to save his life."
Titus looked at him and replied directly, "Of course, he is Lord of Highgarden, Warden of the South. I had no intention of killing him."
Paxter nodded, pondered for a while, and then continued to speak in a more sincere tone, "Sir, it's not that I want to ask for pardon for him, or to plead for a reduction in ransom - I just want to remind you that House Tyrell has been operating in the Reach district for almost three hundred years.
I won't talk about those clichés about whether the foundation is deep or not, just say that in the north, west and south of the Reach, many nobles are in-laws of their families, which of course includes Arbor.
A Mace·Tyrell doesn't matter, but if Highgarden is moved, I'm afraid it will cause a chain reaction of the Reach.
Those small nobles who are attached to House Tyrell will also be in turmoil, and the in-laws of the Tyrell family may be dissatisfied or even secretly rebel----
If the Reach is in chaos, not only Highgarden will be damaged, Arbor's interests, border peace, including the stability of the entire southern border, may be affected, as well as you."
Paxter is trying to explain to Titus that it may not be a good thing if the Golden Rose's family is really trampled to death.
The black Earl opposite is thinking about another thing:
Does the "secret rebellion" mentioned by Paxter mean that they will avenge House Tyrell, or will they wait for Tyrell to collapse and then compete for the inheritance rights of Highgarden as in-laws?
Titus's attitude became visibly solemn, and the other party was a little too talkative. The deep meaning behind the words was not only to preserve Mace's selfishness.
At this point in time, the consequences of tampering with House Tyrell are indeed likely to bring about a series of hidden dangers.
Just like Paxter said, if the Reach is in chaos, no one will benefit, and the same is true for Titus.
He has just obtained a large new territory, and it is time to lay a solid foundation, accumulate strength, and develop vigorously. The Reach is still in chaos for the time being.
House Tyrell must be kept - especially by their family owner Mace, this is a big treasure.
The Reach is too big, with a large population, many soldiers, many knights, and many nobles. It is "chaotic" in itself. If the Tyrell family doesn't act as a target, why should the Peake family do it?
Even though everyone is in awe of Peake now, as if they are following his lead, that is because he has just won a series of victories, and has the great righteousness of Iron Throne behind him, plus the hard power of the five alliances to rely on - it must be said that most of the Reach lords are indeed happy to see the guardian family of Highgarden defeated.
But this does not mean that the Reach princes will welcome the Peake family leader as their new leader, who is still such a strong leader.
If Titus really takes a liking to Highgarden, the next target that will be targeted will be Peake.
As the inventor of "Mace inequality", Titus will not make similar mistakes.
The one he defeated was Mace. The uniformity of his army and the degree of unity with other families were not in a perfect state.
And defeating Mace does not mean that you have defeated Highgarden.
Not to mention, behind the Golden Rose there are purple grapes and towering lighthouses at the other two ends of the iron triangle----
What's wrong with having an old, broken target standing in front of you?
Could it be that we should follow the example of the Tyrell family, which took so long and more than two hundred years to get to where we are today, just to have the confidence to speak loudly in the Reach district?
But even so, so what, aren't they surrounded by wolves?
Once you encounter an unfavorable situation and your position is slightly shaken, it immediately becomes dangerous.
It's not just Brightwater Keep who's waiting to be pushed down by everyone!
That location is simply a heap of trouble.
Titus feels that it is necessary to restrain greed and distinguish priorities.
Only by occupying Highgarden and becoming a nominal Duke of the First Realm can you show your power----
But when you are strong enough, you will naturally become the "King of the Reach".
For now, Black Earl has made more achievements than he has received - which is good, everyone wants Iron Throne to owe him something.
The kindness from Arbor caused a friendly smile to appear on Titus's face, "Lord Paxter, what you said makes perfect sense. I am not a murderous person, and I have no intention of accomplishing anything.
If it weren't for Mace, this person is too----"
He shook his head and looked like he couldn't stand this person and said, "I'm only targeting Mace, but I'm not hostile to Highgarden." He sighed and said, "----Oh, we didn't have to go to this step. Since you know about the one million golden dragons, you must also know what the initial conditions I offered to the Southern Border Army were?"
Five hundred thousand golden dragons is actually quite a lot.
But the most fearful of all things is comparison.
The original 500,000 yuan that all the families shared together, compared to the 1 million that Highgarden's family now needs to contribute - those are two completely different things.
For a time, the compensation figure of 500,000 seemed to be a quite generous request.
In fact, the key is that Titus won the war, so of course everything makes sense now.
"I will not mess around here. Of course I can guarantee the safety of Mace·Tyrell. I just hope that Highgarden can survive the harassment of Ironborn until the day they collect the ransom."
This joke made Paxter's heart tremble.
He has also heard about King Column's recent rampant actions of going deep into the Mander River and approaching Highgarden.
Arbor Earl thought to himself, House Tyrell is really unlucky this year, and I wonder if his aunt Olenna·Redwyne can survive it----
To put it bluntly, Mace·Tyrell, who were defeated, arrested and forced to surrender, are still considered war criminals.
Iron Islands, who supported House Baratheon earlier than the Reach, had the advantages of time difference and space, and also had some "righteousness" in him.
If they can really rob Highgarden once, they will definitely not stop. It is useless for anyone to say.
Just as Paxter was thinking, Titus spoke again, with a hint of hint: "Since Redwyne Fleet has surrendered, he should return to the south as soon as possible.
The coast of the Reach obviously needs the protection of powerful people, and the interests of Arbor should be protected by you personally, right?"
Paxter doesn't understand its meaning.
He originally thought that the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expeditionary Army would ask Arbor's fleet to stay here to help him stabilize the south, or turn north and attack Dragonstone to make up for the lack of Iron Throne's sea power.
But I didn't expect that he would remind me to rush back as soon as possible.
It just so happened that he originally wanted to withdraw from this place and go home early. Without further questioning the other party's intention, he immediately agreed, "What your lord said is absolutely true. As soon as I return, I will order the family fleet to immediately transfer to the west coast of the mainland to protect the tranquility of the Reach coast."
Paxter hesitated for a moment, then added with a sincere expression, "Thank you, Titus, I owe you a favor."
Titus nodded with satisfaction.
King Coren has his "golden finger". Not only did he not die in the sniper battle on the four shield islands at the Mander River's mouth, he is still alive and kicking and wants to plunder Highgarden----
Once Redwyne Fleet returns, it will just balance the balance of power on the west coast.
Of course, it would be better if Koren·Greyjoy hits a wall with Highgarden and returns Pyke on its own.
As for Dragonstone?
That place was very evil.
Titus is planning to consult Maester Cressen of Storm's End. He has been stationed at Stormlands for many years and must be very familiar with Shipbreaker Bay's strange storm.
Their relevant opinions can also be used as a reference for Titus's handling of Dragonstone.
Yesterday, when Cressen was acting as a "tour guide" for himself, Titus took a special look. This bachelor had several bronze links, and he obviously had profound knowledge in astronomy and astrology.
Titus is thirsty for Maester Cressen's knowledge of weather.
While Titus was asking Bachelor Storm's End for weather knowledge, a chaotic fire was also burning to the north of the Red Mountains.
Trident After World War I, the Reach people were not the only ones who saw things going wrong and shifted their strategies.
The remnant army of Dorne, which also retreated south and fled far away, retreated all the way to the junction of Stormlands, the Reach and Dorne.
Then, they stopped retreating.
Instead, they started making chaos on the spot.
According to the information passed on by the bachelors, it was known that although the defeated army did not dare to attack the castles and fortresses along the way, they vented all their anger and resentment on the local people.
They invaded the villages and manors of Dornish Marches, robbed food, property and livestock. Then they burned the villages, and thick smoke billowed up on the north side of the Red Mountains.
What's more, unarmed civilians were massacred. The elderly, women, and children were not spared. Corpses were strewn in the fields along the way, and the sound of mourning spread throughout the valley.
The Dorne remnant army was killing and robbing at the same time, seeming to want to make up for losses from civilians, or to relieve the anger of losing the war.
When Titus and others of Storm's End learned this information, "Hand of the King" Jon·Arryn in Tower of the Hand also received the information at about the same time.
Well, Minister Varys, who dared to show his face only after Titus left King's Landing, started working at Red Keep again.
Hand of the King's eyes flashed with worry.
He believes that the new dynasty needs a new "guardian" to protect Dorne, who has been away from the kingdom so far.
As for who this candidate is, it seems obvious.
Magical "Vinegar"Gilbert: