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#191 - Chapter 1

A message spread throughout Westeros like wildfire.

Ser Garon Morningstar refused the royal order to protect his adopted son, Rickon Stark, and officially declared his rebellion against the Iron Throne, refusing to acknowledge Joffrey's legitimacy as king.

He not only killed Ser Preston Greenfield of the Kingsguard, who had come to deliver the message, along with the accompanying Lannister cavalry, but also Count Janos Slynt and his two sons who came to suppress the rebellion, along with all eight hundred Gold Cloaks. Their heads were all impaled on the tips of spears and lined along both sides of the Kingsroad.

Passersby saw Garon's army impaling the heads. According to eyewitnesses, they were all elite cavalry, numbering several hundred. However, these cavalrymen did not indiscriminately kill innocent people, and didn't even bother to look at the passing caravans.

News reached King's Landing, and it is said that the King and Queen Mother were furious. That night, bodies wrapped in white cloth were secretly carried out of the Red Keep, and the next morning, the Red Keep recruited several new servants.

However, the Small Council could not come up with a better solution for the time being. The forces in King's Landing were already insufficient, and Janos had eliminated one-sixth of them. The remaining four thousand four hundred Gold Cloaks were already stretched thin to maintain a city with a population of nearly half a million.

Cersei ordered, "Ser Jacelyn Bywater, former captain of the River Gate, is hereby promoted to Commander of the City Watch. Begin recruiting new members for the City Watch and replenish the ranks to over eight thousand within a month." Cersei was truly panicked, and she remembered Jaime warning her not to provoke Garon.

This time, the Small Council learned its lesson and dared not start another war lightly, instead sending out a large number of spies to gather information. Some of the neighbors of the Thorn City, and some vassals who did not belong to the Riverlands but were directly under the royal family as crownland nobles, did not dare to rebel against the Iron Throne. Some news from Thorn City was leaked, and Varys summarized this information and reported it to the Small Council. Of course, he did not dare to reveal Liu Yuan's strength in Essos, but even this information shocked everyone.

Littlefinger's hand trembled slightly as he held the paper, "How is this possible? In nine years, Garon has built a city of tens of thousands of people. How did he do it?"

Grand Maester Pycelle: "At least six or seven thousand full-time soldiers, of which no less than a thousand are cavalry! Lord Varys, this is your dereliction of duty, allowing Ser Garon to develop an army of such scale right under the nose of King's Landing."

Varys spread his hands, "This cannot be entirely blamed on me. From the very beginning, Ser Garon's territory only allowed entry and not exit. My little birds are not real birds; they cannot fly out. Moreover, he used money to buy off the surrounding small lords to provide him with supplies. And those people were also afraid that others would compete with them for business, so they were willing to hide the news of White Thorn Manor."

Joffrey was furious: "These damned guys! I will kill them all. That damned Garon, and his family, he is from House Celtigar, right! Immediately send someone to question them and let their head of house come to King's Landing to be punished."

Littlefinger panicked even more and quickly stopped him: "Your Majesty, absolutely not! The strength of House Celtigar should not be underestimated. Three years ago, they could easily produce three thousand professional soldiers, and they also have a considerable fleet. If Lord Adrian is angered and joins forces with Garon, they will have nearly ten thousand men. The current King's Landing cannot withstand them."

Grand Maester Pycelle also advised: "Even if House Celtigar is not involved in Garon's rebellion, Lord Adrian cannot be provoked casually. With Crab Island's unique geographical location, they are less than half a day's voyage from Dragonstone. Doing so will push them into Stannis's arms."

Joffrey said angrily: "I am the king! They should obey me!" Littlefinger rolled his eyes. Whoever has enough strength is the king. You are only sitting on the throne because we used force to seize it for you.

Fortunately, Cersei was not too stupid and hugged Joffrey: "Darling, calm down, everyone supports you. You are all important ministers of the kingdom, what good solutions do you have for the current situation?"

Varys: "There is something I must remind everyone. I have reliable information that Lord Renly has returned to Storm's End. He is summoning his vassals, and the Tyrell family of the Reach is very active in this matter."

Cersei: "These rebellious traitors, immediately write to my father and ask him to send troops to support us. As long as the Lannister army arrives, neither Renly nor Garon will be a threat."

Littlefinger: "I'm sorry, Queen Mother. Lord Tywin is currently fully engaged in dealing with the Riverlands, and the Northern army has already marched south. He may not be able to spare the time to come here for the time being. We must save ourselves. I think we should summon the crownland vassals in the name of His Majesty to lead their troops to defend the king, and at the same time expand our forces."

Joffrey: "Do as you say!"

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The Twins are the ancestral seat of House Frey, located at the crossing of the Green Fork, consisting of two castles on either side of the Green Fork and a stone arch bridge connecting them. The stone bridge is very strong, and the bridge deck is wide enough for two four-wheeled carriages to pass side by side. There is also a tower called the Water Gate Tower in the middle of the bridge.

The original House Frey spent three generations building this fortress. Originally, both sides were guarded by wooden fortresses, but after six hundred years of management by the Frey family, they have now been rebuilt into stone. They have become very wealthy by charging high bridge tolls, because this is the only crossing point within hundreds of miles up and down the Green Fork to get from the North to the western Riverlands.

If you want to detour, it will take at least two more days. Because the Frey family is wealthy and prosperous, especially the head of the family, Old Walder, who is ninety years old, has twenty-two direct sons and seven direct daughters, over a hundred grandchildren, and an unknown number of illegitimate children. He is the most powerful vassal of House Tully, without exception. There are at least four thousand troops in the Twins.

In order to win over the Frey family, Catelyn personally went to meet Old Walder. Finally, an agreement was reached, and she picked the prettiest one among all the Frey's daughters.

As soon as Catelyn returned to the camp, Robb asked eagerly: "Mother, what did the Frey say?"

Catelyn: "Lord Walder has agreed to let you cross the river. At the same time, the Frey family's army will also be at your disposal, but he wants to leave at least 400 people to defend."

"Then what are his conditions?"

Catelyn: "His son, Olivar, will become your personal attendant. After that, you will knight him and give him land."

Robb: "I agree to this, what else?"

Catelyn: "Arya will marry his son, Walder, of course, after they come of age."

Robb slapped his forehead: "Arya won't be happy when she finds out, she might draw her sword and chop up that Walder. Anything else?"

Catelyn: "After the war is over, you must also marry one of his daughters or granddaughters, the choice is yours."

Robb raised his eyebrows: "Have you seen those girls, what do they look like?"

Catelyn: "Um~ One of them is quite good."

"Pfft~ Hahaha" Theon started, and everyone laughed.

Early the next morning, the Northern army crossed the Twins, accompanied by 3,500 Frey soldiers.