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Leaving the Tower of the Sun, Arthur still felt a sense of unreality. It wasn't until he returned to his guest chambers that the realization truly hit him: he was going to be a father.
He took out Lady Nymeria's letter and read it again.
An heir and offspring were key to stable rule. Even if Lady Nymeria's child was born out of wedlock, it would be enough to reassure the people of Arthur's domain and show his followers a future they could believe in.
After reaching a consensus with Prince Doran regarding his appointment as Governor of the Dornish Marches, Arthur did not linger in Sunspear.
Early the next morning, ignoring Arianne's intensely resentful gaze, Arthur boarded the Fury without looking back and set sail for Starfall.
Despite Arianne's best efforts at seduction, Arthur had refused to go along with her schemes or to propose to her as a sign of support for her claim.
Arthur had no desire to be dragged into meaningless conflicts.
The sea breeze filled the golden sails as the Royal Fleet sailed along the Dornish coast for a week.
If the winds remained favorable and no accidents occurred, Arthur would see the towering white stone Palestone Sword of Starfall in another week.
Clink, clink, clink. Arthur was playing a game of Cyvasse with Stannis, debating whether the doctrines of the Faith of the Seven were rational, when suddenly, alarm bells rang out on deck.
Almost the instant the bells began to ring, Stannis stood up immediately and strode toward his armor and shield displayed in the room. "What is happening?"
"My Lord! The lookout has spotted the Arbor fleet two nautical miles ahead! Over forty ships!" The voice of Mallick, the oarsmaster, shouted through the cabin door.
"The strange thing is, they've painted large crosses over their sails and the banners on their sterns with dye!"
Stannis strapped on his vambraces and roared, "Bryen! Get in here and help me armor up!"
"Those criminal captains must have heard of Paxter's execution. Knowing their sins are grave and punishment inescapable, they've seized the ships to flee!"
"The key question is, how were those fools at the Arbor so unprepared that they allowed this mutiny to succeed?!"
Arthur reacted quickly as well, sprinting to his own cabin and nearly colliding with a flustered Bryen Farring in the process.
After the initial confusion, the personnel on deck quickly rallied to battle stations.
By the time Arthur, with the help of Penrose and Zac, had donned his rattan armor and arrived on deck, Stannis was already fully armored. He stood conspicuously at the prow of the ship, barking orders loud and clear.
Reports from the crew echoed from all over the Fury.
"Ballistae loaded!" responded the commanders on either side of the deck.
"Pitch barrels ready!" shouted the sailors manning the catapults at the bow and stern.
"Oarsmen in position!" Mallick's voice came from below deck.
From the crow's nest, the lookout bellowed, "Wind is favorable! No need to lower sails!"
Under the signal flags directed by Ser Imry Florent, clad in heavy steel plate, the Royal Fleet quickly shifted formation, splitting into two battle lines.
The front line consisted of the three great ships—the Fury in the center, flanked by the Lord Steffon and the Stag of the Sea. Other hundred-oar warships gathered on the left flank, further out to sea.
The second line comprised the Black Betha, the Wraith, and the Lady Marya under the command of the Onion Knight, Davos Seaworth, along with other ships of fewer than a hundred oars.
"Signal them to heave to and surrender!" Stannis's voice cut through the sea wind.
As Arthur stood beside Stannis and looked toward the horizon, he saw exactly what Mallick had described: a swarm of ships of varying sizes dotting the sea ahead.
From the stern of every ship fluttered the deep purple grapes of the Redwyne sigil, now defaced with a large painted cross.
The distant fleet was in chaos, like a stirred hornet's nest. As soon as the Fury signaled, some ships turned sharply to starboard, fleeing away from the coast, while others raised their sails to retreat with the wind.
"They're trying to run!" Jimmy shouted from Arthur's side. "Don't let the men who burned the Peach Orchard escape!"
A cold sneer curled the corner of Stannis's mouth. "Don't press them too hard. Let them run for a moment."
This tactic of holding position worked immediately.
Seeing that the Royal Fleet hesitated to attack and did not pursue the fleeing ships, the Arbor ships in the front line broke formation. Watching their comrades get further and further away, they panicked and scrambled to find their own escape routes.
In the confusion, some ships collided as they tried to turn about, throwing their formation into complete disarray.
seeing the time was right, Stannis finally brought his arm down. "A pack of cowards. All ships, full speed ahead! Signal: those who raise the white flag shall be spared!"
As Stannis's command fell, the Fury, the largest ship in the fleet, surged forward with astonishing speed under the power of three hundred oars.
Like an arrow loosed from a bow, the Fury charged into the enemy formation. As the prow tore through the waves, Arthur felt the deck vibrate violently beneath his feet.
CRASH!
The iron-clad ram of the Fury, driven by immense momentum, smashed into a flat-bottomed barge attempting to turn around. The smaller vessel snapped in half like an eggshell.
Arthur watched as seawater rushed into the broken hull, and many men were sucked down into the vortex created by the sinking ship.
having broken through the line, the Fury's ballistae targeted the ships on either flank that were still trying to flee.
"Loose!"
Amidst a thunderous twang, the massive bolts flew with terrifying force. Some punched straight through enemy hulls, while others skewered two sailors at once, pinning them to the mast like candied hawthorns.
Arthur didn't stand idle. He took his Qilin Bow and fired at enemy soldiers on the ships that were still resisting.
The Fury had three decks, standing much taller than ordinary ships. This gave Arthur an excellent vantage point while making him a difficult target.
Arthur focused, aiming at a crossbowman loading his weapon. Although shooting humans didn't trigger the special effect of the Qilin Bow, his marksmanship was decent.
He released the string, and the arrow whistled through the air.
Hitting a moving target from a moving ship was difficult. Arthur watched his arrow veer off course and thud harmlessly into the deck nearby.
Unperturbed, Arthur nocked another arrow. Beside him, he heard Jimmy praying.
"Seven guide my aim... that makes seven."
Arthur watched as Jimmy released his string. The arrow flew true, striking an Arbor sailor dead.
Praying to the gods works that well? Arthur thought. In his mind, he silently invoked the name of a sniper known for headshots from five hundred miles away.
He didn't aim carefully this time. Instead, he just loosed an arrow in the general direction of a knight in full plate armor who was shouting orders.
Thwack!
The arrow arced through the air and, miraculously, found the gap in the knight's poorly fastened gorget, plunging into his neck.
No way.
Watching the knight stiffen and collapse onto the deck, Arthur's eyes widened. "That actually worked?"
Just as Arthur prepared to draw his bow again, he noticed that many of the Arbor ships on the Fury's flanks were raising white flags.
Behind the Fury, the Lord Steffon and the Stag of the Sea, leading the first battle line, had also crashed into the fray.
The Lord Steffon sheared off an entire bank of oars from an Arbor galley. Splinters rained down like hail as the enemy ship lost all propulsion.
Meanwhile, the ships of the second line, flying the black sails and onion sigil, rowed furiously in pursuit of the Arbor ships fleeing toward the open sea.