You know, Corlys is not only the pillar of the family, but also the respected overlord of the entire Narrow Sea region!
Thinking of this, the anger in Tormund's heart burned even more fiercely, and he immediately ordered the entire crew to change course and speed towards the location of the incident without hesitation.
At the same time, he also sent a well-trained raven to convey the emergency situation of the enemy's attempt to harm Corlys to himself, so that he could prepare countermeasures in advance.
A thrilling sea chase begins...
Tormund Velaryon is indeed a battle-experienced general, and his reaction speed is extremely fast!
When he received news that a pirate force was approaching Stepstones, he immediately led his huge fleet to attack quickly.
And successfully stopped these vicious pirates in the waters not far from Stepstones.
In an instant, flames shot into the sky in the Narrow Sea, and a thrilling sea battle began!
However, facing the menacing enemy, Tormund showed no fear or flinch.
On the contrary, he took full advantage of the huge advantage in the number of his own fleet - more than twice as many as his opponents!
Ever since, under his skillful and courageous command, this powerful navy, like an extremely ferocious beast, launched round after round of fierce attacks against the pirates.
After a hard fight, Tormund finally won:
The originally arrogant and domineering pirates were beaten to the point of losing their armor and fleeing in confusion;
Most of them have been buried in the belly of the fish or become prisoners,
But there are also a very few lucky ones who managed to escape, and after traveling through Stepstones, they fled to the distant Summer Sea to seek a chance of survival...
When the news reached Redd's ears, he was watching a preview of a knight's competition on the sidelines of Red Keep's martial arts performance.
Mysaria appeared next to him like a ghost. Taking the opportunity to hand him a drink, he quickly reported the incident of the Narrow Sea in a very low voice.
Redd's originally relaxed expression of watching the show did not change at all, but his fingers that took the wine glass paused slightly, and a coldness flashed deep in his eyes.
He took a sip of wine, his eyes still focused on the confrontation between the two knights on the field, as if he had just heard an insignificant piece of news.
"I know." He replied calmly, without any hint of emotion or anger.
Mysaria's heart sank. The plan failed, and it failed so completely.
Not only failed to get rid of Corlys, but it alerted House Velaryon (especially the brother of "Sea Snake", the notorious Tormund) on alert, and may even start to track down the mastermind behind the scenes.
Although she thinks her hands and feet are clean, there may not be any clues to be found from the pirates.
"It was my mistake, Master." Mysaria's voice was lowered, with self-blame, "I underestimated House Velaryon's control and reaction speed at sea.
Tormund's fleet appeared too quickly, what a coincidence."
"Coincidence?" Redd chuckled, but his eyes still did not leave the martial arts arena, "There are not so many coincidences on the sea.
Tormund was able to intercept it in time, indicating that the Valery family's intelligence network is equally sensitive at sea, or... someone tipped them off."
Mysaria was shocked. "You mean... our internal..."
"It's not necessarily from within us," Redd finally turned his gaze to her, his eyes calm but sharp as a knife, "It may also be that the pirates themselves are not reliable enough.
Or, there are other forces that are secretly paying attention and conveniently sold a favor to Valery to settle down. Three Daughters Kingdom?
Braavos? Even... some people in King's Landing want us to fight the Velaryon family."
He put down his wine glass, his tone still calm, but every word was filled with pressure:
"This failure exposed our intentions and made Corlys and the entire Valery family more vigilant.
Next, any 'accident' against them will be subject to the strictest scrutiny.
Moreover, that lunatic Tormund will never give up after suffering this loss. He will definitely get to the bottom of it."
Mysaria lowered his head. "I will immediately start cleaning up all possible traces, strengthen monitoring of relevant channels, and investigate whether other forces are involved.
Also... do I need to adjust my follow-up plan?
Corlys Earl After learning the news, he may change his itinerary, strengthen his escort, or even return Driftmark in advance."
"Of course the plan needs to be adjusted." Redd stood up and patted the non-existent dust on his body, "If you are forced to do it, then try another way.
Corlys and Rhaenys... are temporarily unable to move, at least not in the short term."
He motioned for Mysaria to follow, and the two left the noisy martial arts arena and walked towards the relatively quiet corridor.
"Since it doesn't work at sea, let's look for opportunities on land.
Or, start from within their family." Redd whispered as he walked, "Laena and Laenor are still the breakthrough points.
The news of the attack on Corlys will definitely make them more uneasy, especially Laena. She was already dissatisfied with Daemon, and now her father was almost killed...
Perhaps we can try to contact them, express 'sympathy' and 'support', alienate their relationship with Corlys and Rhaenys, at least try to keep them absolutely neutral, and even secretly provide some convenience."
"Yes, Master." Mysaria quickly wrote down, "Laenor over there... he likes men's things, maybe he can make a fuss about it?
It doesn't have to be public, but it can create some pressure or leverage."
"You can try, but be careful. Corlys suppressed this matter very hard, which shows that he cares about the family's reputation. It will be bad if it is self-defeating."
Redd said cautiously, "The top priority now is to eliminate the negative impact of this failure and ensure that we ourselves are not traced.
Secondly, continue to exert pressure on King's Landing and use the example of Vale House Arryn to win over other nobles who may be wavering.
Finally... pay close attention to Alicent and the king. Perhaps, we should do something 'inside Red Keep'."
He stopped and looked at the blooming roses in the courtyard with deep eyes. "Tormund's intervention disrupted our rhythm.
But this also reminds us that the water in Westeros is deeper than imagined.
We need to be more patient and flexible. Tell our people in the East to speed up the integration of Norvos and Lorath,
If necessary, part of the fleet can be mobilized near Dragonstone... just in case."
"Understood." Mysaria responded, quickly thinking about how to execute these new instructions.
"As for you," Redd turned around and looked at Mysaria with a scrutinizing look in his eyes, "I don't want to make another mistake this time.