The news of Eddard's beheading was still spreading across the Seven Kingdoms like wildfire, continuing to ferment.
Winterfell, the North.
Robb Stark, upon learning of his father's death, immediately began summoning his bannermen.
"The North remembers."
Tens of thousands of Northern warriors began to assemble at Moat Cailin, vowing to march south and avenge Lord Eddard with Lannister blood.
When Catelyn received the news, her vision went dark and she collapsed. When she woke, her tears had run dry, leaving only numbness and worry for her two daughters.
In Riverlands, House Tully naturally stood with the Starks, but their lands were on the front lines of the war, so they were the first to taste the flames of battle.
The Lannisters struck first. Lord Tywin dispatched two armies, one commanded by The Mountain and the other led by Amory Lorch. These two executioners of the Westerlands disguised themselves as bandits and entered Riverlands, burning, killing, and looting, as smoke rose across the Trident basin.
At this time, the old Lord Tully was advanced in age and bedridden with illness, unable to command. His heir, Edmure Tully, was a lord with no military talent.
Facing the attacks, he dispersed Riverlands' forces, stationing men in every village in an attempt to protect everyone. As a result, they were picked off one by one by the Westerlands' army, suffering heavy losses in a short time and leaving House Tully in a passive position.
Stannis on Dragonstone was currently in the most awkward position; he was the weakest among all the major powers rebelling against the iron throne.
He publicly declared himself the rightful heir to the iron throne, but he only had the Dragonstone navy and a pitifully small castle garrison. This was because Dragonstone was his only fief, and no one else supported him.
He had previously pinned his hopes on the family of his wife, Selyse—House Florent of The Reach. He sent letters, hoping they would send troops to support his claim to the iron throne.
Unfortunately, the letters vanished like stones in the ocean, with no response whatsoever.
House Florent of Brightwater Keep was an ancient house. Their sigil was a bright red-gold fox surrounded by a circle of lapis lazuli flowers, and they were long known for their shrewdness and caution.
They were currently very concerned about the threat of the Targaryen dragons across the Narrow Sea and would never support Stannis's claim to the iron throne, refusing to tie themselves to a ship that was likely to sink.
To make matters worse, this time he did not have Melisandre to cast shadow magic to deal with Renly, making it impossible for him to gain the support of Stormlands lords.
However, Stannis was a very stubborn and headstrong man; he still planned to bring his fleet to the Blackwater and launch a forced assault on King's Landing.
In fact, Melisandre was already on Dragonstone. She had come here seeking the prophesied savior, the reincarnation of Azor Ahai.
She firmly believed that Dragonstone was the place of smoke and salt from the prophecy, the place where Azor Ahai would be reborn.
But because magic was currently at a low ebb, she couldn't perform any miracles. Consequently, Stannis didn't believe her talk about the lord of light at all and had not abandoned his faith in The Seven.
However, things were quite different on Renly's side.
He raised his banners at Bitterbridge. In addition to the houses of Stormlands, an army of about ten thousand from Highgarden had joined his ranks.
Leading the contingent were Lord Mace Tyrell of Highgarden and the third-in-line heir, Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers.
While Loras's arrival was understandable—after all, his relationship with Renly had already spread among the nobility back in King's Landing...
...Lord Mace Tyrell's personal command of the troops was quite intriguing. This duke, whom others called "Lord Puff Fish" behind his back, was harboring a surge of ambition.
He believed the Targaryens across the Narrow Sea were too far away, and it was unknown when they would return. Supporting Renly's bid for the iron throne now was the shortcut for House Tyrell to expand its power.
Furthermore, he had another calculation: his daughter Margaery was already in Valyria. Given her charm, he believed no one could refuse her, providing them with a fallback plan with the Targaryens.
More importantly, he was fed up with being suppressed at every turn by his mother, Lady Olenna, and desperately needed a victory to prove himself and shed the mocking title of "Puff Fish."
Thus, despite the strong opposition from the Queen of Thorns, he insisted on mobilizing troops to support Renly. After all, he was the Duke; if he insisted, no one could stop him.
Of course, Lord Mace also issued a summons to the other houses of The Reach, but unfortunately, none responded except for Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill.
This lord, famous for his strict military discipline and tactical talent, answered the call not out of any fondness for Renly or Lord Mace, but because of a deep-seated sense of feudal obligation: if his liege lord spoke, he would obey.
Unexpectedly, however, was the reaction from The Vale.
Bronze Yohn Royce immediately took action upon receiving the news from King's Landing.
He first blockaded the Gates of the Moon, cutting off The Vale's contact with the outside world. Then, joining forces with several closely allied houses, he marched on The Eyrie.
However, they only laid siege; the army was stationed outside the Bloody Gate, but they did not attack the fortress that had never been taken by frontal assault.
Every day, loud-voiced soldiers shouted up The Mountain, demanding the surrender of Lysa Tully, the murderer of Lord Jon Arryn.
They also demanded the handover of the young lord, Robert Arryn, stating that the rightful heir of The Vale should be raised under the joint guardianship of his upright bannermen.
King Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands, seeing the Seven Kingdoms fall into chaos, felt his long-dormant ambitions flare up once more.
The cry of the "Old Way" echoed on Pyke, and the Ironborn's Iron Fleet began to assemble, their greedy eyes once again fixed on the wealthy shores of the green lands.
The merchant ship Arya was on was sailing across the Narrow Sea.
She rested her head on the small bundle Varys had given her, listening to the sound of the waves lapping against the hull. She couldn't sleep; whenever she closed her eyes, the image of her father's falling head and Sansa's screams would surface in her mind.
Just then, a shout came from nearby.
"Stop! Furl your sails!" a gruff voice roared in the common tongue, with a strange accent.
Suddenly, the ship jolted violently, as if it had struck something. Chaotic footsteps and cursing echoed from the deck above.
"Pirates! Dammit, they're flying black sails!" a sailor screamed in terror.
Pirates. Arya stood up immediately, grabbed the small bundle from Varys, and her eyes quickly scanned the dim cabin.
Unfortunately, she found nowhere to hide her things, and her heart pounded. She had never seen a pirate, but she had heard stories from Old Nan at Winterfell—of throats slit, cargo plundered, and people tossed into the sea to feed the fish.
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