Petyr·Baelish almost rolled and climbed into the castle gate.
There were more than ten personal guards at the time of departure, but now only five were left.
He leaned against the stone wall and gasped, his chest rising and falling violently.
"Master, we...
","Shut up!"
She should have been able to do it calmly and easily, but now Petyr is so frightened that even her fingers are trembling.
Damn black-armored knights, damn Randyll·Tarly, they are so disrespectful of martial ethics!
"Lock her up first."
After finally calming down his breathing, Petyr glanced at Sansa, who had been knocked unconscious, and gave instructions to the knight.
He wasn't too worried about the pursuers arriving.
Although Randyll·Tarly and those black-hand knights are very powerful, no one can defeat Bloody Gate in a frontal attack. The road at the intersection of Valley Avenue and Bloody Gate is very narrow, barely allowing four riders to ride side by side.
Moreover, there are hundreds of garrison troops under Sir Donal Waywood, which are enough to withstand the attack of tens of thousands of enemy troops.
Let's put it this way, without the dragon, the Eyrie would be almost invincible.
There's still time.
After calming down, Petyr walked towards the tower stairs, his steps returning to his usual rhythm.
No one could tell from his steps that he had just escaped from a tragic defeat.
Pushing open the door of Lysa's dormitory, warmth rushed into my face.
There was a fire burning in the fireplace, and the room was filled with a very strong smell of perfume, so strong that it could almost make people choke to tears.
Lysa·Tully is holding up two silk threads of different colors and comparing them repeatedly on the cloak.
The owner of that cloak, Robin Arryn, the titular Duke of Vale and the Lord of the Eyrie, was squatting in front of the fireplace at this moment, moving the red-hot charcoal out of the fireplace with great concentration, and then watching it leave black marks on the carpet.
"Is it better to embroider sky blue or moon white, little Robin?"
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Lysa thought it was a maid coming in at first, but turned around and saw the figure of her lover and immediately rushed towards her happily.
"You're back! Honey!"
"Come here and help me take a look. Next month is Robin's ninth birthday. I have some designs on this cloak and I can't make up my mind."
She stood up and took a few steps forward, only to see Petyr's robe stained with blood. She was immediately shocked and said, "Seven, what happened?"
"Mountain Clans, dear."
Petyr gently held Lysa's wrist and said calmly, "Those guys ambushed Sansa's team in the valley."
"When I received the news, it was too late to call for reinforcements, so I could only lead a few people in pursuit. Although I found Sansa, I lost many people."
"My captain of the guard is dead, and Sir Hall, and Sir Ryan... they are all dead."
Hearing this, Lysa covered his mouth with his hands in disbelief, and it took him a long time to react.
"Where is Sansa?"
"She's alive and unharmed."
Petyr's tone was understatement. "But the strange thing is that Mountain Clans is obviously the attacker, but he only focuses on my guards."
"They even took the initiative to avoid Sansa and her guards during the melee, as if they already knew who they couldn't touch."
"And what a coincidence, Randyll·Tarly was supposed to lead people to suppress bandits deep in Mountains of the Moon, but he appeared in the valley at the most appropriate time."
"He blamed us for not protecting Sansa, and now he is leading his troops to the Eyrie, aggressively demanding an explanation from us!"
Hearing this, Lysa's expression suddenly changed.
Although she is not smart, when it comes to power and survival, instinct is always one step faster than reason.
"This is their conspiracy. Iron Throne wants to take away the Eyrie?"
"I don't know." Petyr shook his head and gave an ambiguous answer.
But such a reaction is enough for a jealous and unintelligent woman.
"Don't even think about it!"
Sure enough, Lysa immediately rushed to the door and screamed down the corridor, "Go and notify Boots at once, and write to Ser Donnel Waynwood immediately! Order him to Bloody Gate tightly, and no one can come in or out, no one!"
Lysa turned around, walked quickly to Petyr, grabbed his sleeves with both hands and asked anxiously, "Then what? What should we do?"
Seeing this, Petyr comforted him like a qualified husband, "Don't worry, we still have Sansa in hand now."
"Sansa?"
"She is Corleone's fiancée, and she is also the link between that guy and the North."
Petyr explained, "As long as she is still in our hands, Corleone will not dare to act rashly."
Hearing Sansa's name, Lysa's brows frowned instinctively, and jealousy surged into his heart.
But now is not the time for her to worry about that.
Compared with the unhappiness caused by Sansa staying at the Eyrie, Iron Throne's army is a more urgent threat.
"Just do as you say and detain her."
"Just buttoning up is not enough."
Petyr continued to confuse, "You need to summon her and ask her to write to Iron Throne in front of you."
"Tell Corleone that Vale has closed Bloody Gate, and his fiancée will stay at the Eyrie as a guest until he recalls Randyll·Tarly and all the black-armored knights to King's Landing."
"This way the initiative is in our hands, dear."
Lysa listened very carefully, and his eyes gradually lit up.
This is the feeling she likes.
She was guided to think by Petyr, and then discovered that he had already plugged all the loopholes for her.
What she hates most in her life is using her own brain, and Petyr happens to never let her expend such effort.
"You are so smart Petyr! Just do it!"
Lysa turned around excitedly and shouted towards the corridor, "Go and invite Sansa·Lady Stark to my living room, immediately!"
After saying that, she let out a long breath and leaned against her husband again.
"Fortunately, you are here. Without you, I really don't know what I would do."
Petyr gently held her shoulders and patted her shoulders reassuringly twice with his fingers.
"Corleone is as cunning as a snake. Ever since King's Landing, I knew that sooner or later he would do something to Vale. But I didn't expect that he would be willing to use Sansa as bait."
As he spoke, he seemed to be feeling a little emotional. "When this matter is over, we will stay at the Eyrie forever and close Bloody Gate."
"Seven Kingdoms's matter has nothing to do with us anymore."
Hearing what Petyr said, Lysa was so happy that she didn't know what to do for a moment.
She watched blankly as her husband walked to the wine cellar, picked up a pot of Arbor golden wine, and filled two glasses with his back to her.
Passing one of the wine glasses to Lysa, Petyr whispered, "To the Eyrie, forever."
Lysa had no doubt about him. His wrinkled face smiled so much that it could almost kill a mosquito. He took the wine glass and drank it down in one gulp.
"Forever."
Putting down the wine glass, Lysa let out a long breath, as if he had finally vented his accumulated fear and anger.
But suddenly, she frowned, and a strong sense of suffocation and heart palpitations came to her heart.
Lysa's eyes were full of confusion and panic. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Petyr's sleeve, but couldn't make any sound.
"Don't be afraid, Lysa."
Petyr leaned over to hold her back and whispered as gently as ever, "It's just Tears of Lys.
Hearing this, Lysa's eyes widened and he made a "ho~~~ho~~~~" sound in his throat, as if he wanted to call someone.
But it's too late.
The poison acted very violently, just like when she threw it into the water of her ex-husband Jon·Arryn.
Soon, Lysa stopped moving.
"Finally...
Seeing Lysa lying limply on the chair, Petyr not only felt no guilt at all, but just wanted to laugh.
It was this crazy and stupid woman who climbed into Petyr's bed while he was drunk.
If it weren't for her power...
Petyr was relieved and turned to look at the boy by the fireplace. He walked over and gently took the stick out of Robin's hand and placed it on the iron frame beside the fireplace.
"Your mother is sleepy. Robin, please go back to the room first and let her have a good rest."
Sansa opened his eyes and felt a soreness in his neck.
After finally regaining consciousness, she found that she was sitting on a high-backed chair, and her hands and feet were unexpectedly not tied.
He propped himself up from the chair, rubbed the back of his neck with the back of his hand, and stood up slowly.
In front of her was the banquet hall of the Eyrie. There was a person sitting in the main seat with his back to her. She could recognize him even by looking at his back.
"Aunt?" Sansa called softly.
However no response was received.
"Aunt Lysa?" She frowned in confusion, but fortunately Sansa was not stupid enough to walk over directly, but planned to call someone quickly.
However, before she could stand up, Lysa's body fell from the chair without any warning.
At this moment, the door behind her was pushed open by chance. The maid barely saw what was happening inside and started screaming loudly!
The entire the Eyrie was alarmed.
There were dense footsteps in the corridor, and people continued to pour into the banquet hall as if they had rehearsed. Petyr·Baelish pushed past everyone and rushed to the front.
He knelt down in front of Lysa's body, then raised his head, looked at Sansa who had a blank look on his face and yelled angrily.
"What... did you do to her?!"
The reason why Bloody Gate is called Bloody Gate is not because the stone is red, but because anyone who wants to forcefully pass through it needs to pay the price in blood.
This is the only road from the Vale plain to the heart of House Arryn. The narrowest place can only barely accommodate four riders passing side by side.
And Bloody Gate is stuck at the narrowest point of this throat.
Since Andals landed, it has never been attacked from the front, except when Aegon the Conqueror's sister and wife Visenya·Targaryen Queen swooped down from the clouds on her dragon Vhagar and landed directly in the courtyard of the Eyrie.
It is said that King Ronald Arryn ran out of the castle at that time and was wet in his pants by Vhagar's huge size. That night he presented the Vale crown.
But it's a dragon, it can fly and breathe fire.
And Randyll·Tarly has no dragon and cannot fly.
He only had less than a hundred black-armored knights, and in order to arrive at the battlefield in time and to chase Petyr·Baelish, their horses had been running continuously for half a day without rest.
When the whole team stopped in front of the narrow pass in front of Bloody Gate, the sun had just crossed the eastern ridge.
Randyll·Tarly squinted his eyes and looked at the level made of steel and boulders in front of him.
The wall of Bloody Gate is not as high as King's Landing, but it doesn't need to be too high.
Its function is to cut off the entire valley, so that anyone who wants to pass has to walk under its gate.
The gate is made of pure iron, thick enough to withstand the continuous bombardment of trebuchets. The surface is covered with pits and hammer marks, which are scars left by countless attacks over thousands of years.
The towers on both sides are cut directly out of the rock wall, and the archer can shoot arrows from top to bottom while standing behind the crenels.
Randyll·Tarly looked a little gloomy because he had no battering ram, ladder, or trebuchet in his hand.
The heavy cavalry he brought could crush infantry ten times his own on the plains, but facing this iron gate stuck in the throat of the valley, the only role of the heavy cavalry was to squeeze into a row and serve as targets for the defenders' archers.
"I am Horn Hill Earl Randyll·Tarly!"
He had no choice but to raise his head and shout towards the tower, "Sir Donal Waywood! I order you to open Bloody Gate immediately and hand over Petyr·Baelish. He will face the trial of Iron Throne!"
After a while, a knight appeared behind the crenel, looking down.
"I'm sorry, Lord Tarly, I can't open Bloody Gate. Just half an hour ago I received an order from Lysa Mrs. Tully. Bloody Gate will be closed from now on, and no one will be allowed in or out."
Hearing this, Randyll·Tarly frowned.
"Lysa·Mrs. Tully may not know yet, but her husband Petyr·Baelish set up an ambush in the valley this afternoon, pretending to be Mountain Clans and attacked Hand of the King Vito·Corleone's fiancée Sansa·Lady Stark!"
"This matter occurred within the territory of Vale. As Master of Laws, I have the right to enter the Eyrie to investigate the matter and require Lady Lysa to hand over Petyr·Baelish to accept the trial of Iron Throne!"
These words were reasonable and reasonable, and Donal was silent for a moment, seeming to weigh the interests.
But soon, he refused again. "The order given to me by Madam is very clear, Mr. Tarly, no one is allowed to come in or out, no matter where they are from."
"This door will not be opened to anyone before receiving new orders from Madam."
Hearing this, Randyll took a deep breath, barely able to curse out loud, but still persuaded patiently, "Petyr·Baelish was a suspect in the poisoning of King Joffrey before he entered Vale.
"These things have nothing to do with me, Lord Tarly."
Donnel looked down, without wavering at all. "I am only loyal to House Arryn of the Eyrie, and other people's orders have no effect on me."
This stubborn and ignorant guy!
Randyll·Tarly never imagined that one day this idea would pop up in his mind, but there was no better way.
Break in?
What a joke!
Siege?
The material reserves of the Bloody Gate defenders are sufficient to last for at least one year.
But no matter what, Randyll·Tarly cannot leave like this. After all, his son is still in the hands of Corleone. If something happens to his fiancée, Dickon will definitely not be able to settle down!
But... what to do?
Looking at the Xiongguan in front of me, Randyll·Tarly couldn't help but think of a person.
At the beginning, Brynden·Tully had served as Knight of the Bloody Gate at Vale for twenty years. If he were here, he might be able to do something about it.
If I had known earlier, I should have brought the Blackfish with me from Riverrun.