Chapter 111: Arya, Qyburn, and the Direwolf

Evening, somewhere on the shore of the Gods Eye.

"Heh heh, caught you." A Qohor Mercenary let out a strange cry, then placed his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle.

He rode a tall horse with black and white stripes, wearing old plate armor engraved with bronze runes.

Before him were Gendry, wearing a bull-horned helm; Arya, with her hair cut short to look like a boy; and Hot Pie, a boy too fat to be a commoner.

The three were heading north, intending to find a small boat by the lake to cross the vast, boundless Gods Eye, never expecting to run into such a freak.

What made them somewhat panicked was that the freak had actually blocked their path.

The fat boy Hot Pie muttered in a low voice, "I bet he's riding a zebra."

"It's not, this is a type of warhorse native to Essos," Gendry, tall with brown eyes and black hair, whispered to his companions.

His master, Tobho Mott, came from Qohor in Essos, and naturally, he had told him plenty about the customs there in their daily life.

Arya was the most old-fashioned of the Stark family, with the "Blood of the Wolf" flowing in her veins, so she was naturally bold and lively.

Seeing the freak blocking their way, she spoke up and asked, "Who are you? Which king do you fight for? Why are you blocking the three of us?"

"I fight for my employer; as for who he fights for, I do not care." The Qohor Mercenary let out that strange whistle again, seemingly summoning his companions.

Only then did he answer the last question, "Blocking you is because this person wearing the bull-horned helm matches the description of the person my employer is looking for."

Once the mercenary finished speaking, the three, already panicked, immediately drew their weapons and began to run along the lakeshore.

With friend and foe currently undistinguished, and the freak looking like no good person, leaving was the best choice.

It was just that the three of them on two legs could not outrun the mercenary on horseback, and instead, the mercenary's companions were alerted and came.

Arthur, brought along by a Qohor Mercenary, recognized Arya disguised as a boy at a single glance.

He rode his horse to the front of the three children, made the running trio stop, and looked down at them with a smile.

Little did he know this scene only made the three, looking up with their necks craned, feel a chill down their spines.

Arya tentatively stepped forward with her left foot, brandished her small sword "Needle" with her right hand, and said viciously, "If you come any closer, I'll stab you to death."

Although her tone was very fierce, her appearance really had nothing to do with that word, and instead added a touch of cuteness.

Arthur laughed and said to the three, "Ary, Gendry, Hot Pie?"

Arya's disguised name was Ary.

Hot Pie and Arya looked at each other, not knowing how this golden-armored, giant-horse-riding rider before them could know them and accurately call out their names.

Gendry, however, somewhat realized that this person was not an enemy; this golden armor and the great sword on the rider's back were things his master had forged over two months ago, so he naturally had some impression.

Arthur jumped off his horse and explained to the three, "I am Arthur Bracken, fighting for the Fish-Wolf Alliance; we should be friends."

Then he took down the great sword for Gendry to examine.

"This is the weapon your master forged for me; now it has been damaged beyond repair. I request that you come to my camp and help me forge a few more just like it. During this time, I will protect your safety."

Arya suddenly remembered that this person was the double champion of the tourney, and also the one who made her sister Sansa infatuated.

When she lived in the Tower of the Hand in the Red Keep, she had even mocked Sansa for this; she never expected that in just two months, she would become a stray wild girl, no longer able to tease her sister playfully.

Gendry nodded and accepted Arthur's invitation.

The fat boy Hot Pie had no strong opinions and naturally followed the oldest, Daniu, so the destination of the three changed accordingly.

Arya was lifted by Arthur onto his red giant horse, the other two rode with two mercenaries on their striped warhorses, and the group headed toward the camp in the east.

Because the target had been found, the dispatched mercenaries and Riverlands cavalry were called back.

Of course, these soldiers from various Riverlands houses were not all cavalry in the true sense.

After several battles, the Riverlands cavalry Arthur had borrowed were reduced to just over two hundred. But in the Battle of Harrentown, they captured over nine hundred healthy warhorses, so when he went to rescue the town of Lord Harroway, he took all the Riverlands cavalry and some infantry, totaling five hundred men, along with an equal number of warhorses.

Therefore, among the coalition, two hundred and eighty-two of the Riverlands soldiers belonging to Arthur were mounted infantry.

They were skilled in foot combat, but their skills in fighting on horseback were sparse and ordinary.

Halfway there, the group was attracted by the sounds of fighting.

"Go over and see," Arthur, who was leading, ordered.

Thus, the group of nearly forty people turned slightly, and after passing through a small grove, the situation on the battlefield revealed itself to them.

One side was twenty-some Stark soldiers wearing leather armor and round helms, and the other side was members of the Brotherhood Without Banners led by Beric Dondarrion.

The leader of the former was named Dia, a high-ranking officer commanding two hundred Stark infantry. The latter, after helping Arthur guard Harrenhal for a round, had left the city to fulfill the vows of the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Both sides were acquaintances, so this fight had to be broken up.

"Brother Beric, Captain Dia of the North, for the sake of me, Arthur, stop fighting." He rushed into the middle with his men, artificially creating a buffer zone.

Thus, the fighting between the two sides stopped.

Lord Beric was originally an enthusiastic and cheerful nobleman from the Stormlands, but had become taciturn due to the events of the past two months.

It was Captain Dia of the Stark family who first explained the cause of the matter to the friendly forces.

They had come out to collect military rations during a gap in the army's encampment, never expecting to run into this group from the Brotherhood Without Banners. When Beric Dondarrion saw the peasants' grain being forcibly seized, he immediately led his men to start fighting.

"Truly a madman," Captain Dia spat toward the members of the Brotherhood Without Banners, "You are also a great lord of the Stormlands; what is the meaning of running to the Riverlands to protect other people's peasants?"

On their way south, they had seized plenty of grain from peasants, and because of this, they had dealt quite a bit with Beric and the others who protected the peasants.

Now, in the Fish-Wolf Coalition on the eastern front, the reputation of Beric Dondarrion had been made.

Who would have thought that a lord from the south, instead of living his good life as a master, would run to the Riverlands to be the leader of some brotherhood, and even snatch away the military rations that the Northerners had worked so hard to collect, only to return them.

"I act under the orders of King Robert and Duke Eddard to come and capture The Mountain and his accomplices who are burning, killing, and looting in the Riverlands. Although The Mountain is dead, the evil act of robbing civilians still exists, so my mission is not yet complete.

From now on, whether it is Northerners, Westerlanders, or bandits in the Riverlands, as long as they seize the grain and property of innocent peasants, they will surely be pursued by our Brotherhood Without Banners."

Beric Dondarrion said in a low voice.

These words matched Arthur's heart, but they made Dia and the other Northern soldiers very angry.

Because this was equivalent to saying they were bandits.

Most of the Stark soldiers looked coldly at Arthur, wanting to know how he would handle this matter.

Arthur jumped off his horse and clapped his hands, "Brother Beric's words are exactly what I think, and I support what you are doing. How about this, you take this grain back and return it to the peasants first, then you come to the coalition camp, and we will discuss how to solve the problem of military rations."

He put his arm around Beric Dondarrion's shoulder and offered an idea that could only solve the problem for the moment.

This place was already at the southern end of the Riverlands, and there were no great lords nearby who could provide military provisions for the allied forces, so logistics were beginning to become difficult.

But without doing this, Beric would likely have come to blows with the Northmen right then and there, making it even harder to resolve.

"You still have a bit of a conscience; may the Lord of Light protect you." After saying this, Beric Dondarrion took his men and pushed away the carts loaded with military provisions.

He was now influenced by the Red Priest Thoros of Myr and had also converted to the new god, the Lord of Light.

The Northern soldiers and Arthur's men also left this place, heading toward the camp in the east.

Only Dia, who was walking, would glance from time to time at the short-haired boy on Arthur's horse.

He felt as if he had seen this boy somewhere before, but for the life of him, he could not remember where.

……

Although it was an allied force, the respective areas for the Northern soldiers and the Riverlands soldiers were clearly demarcated.

After returning, Arthur and those Stark soldiers each went back to their own areas.

"Hey, lad, the person you wanted me to find is here." Robett Glover, wearing a crimson cloak, walked out of Arthur's tent with his head held high.

A very tall, slightly hunched old man followed behind him.

It was Qyburn, who had been stripped of his Maester's chain and title by the Citadel.

Arthur dismounted, helped Arya down, and had a soldier lead away the red giant horse before nodding in greeting to Glover.

He had previously entrusted Robett to find Qyburn among the Northern army, and after nearly seven or eight days, he had finally found the man.

"Thanks, I owe you a big favor; just let me know whenever you need me in the future," Arthur said to Robett.

The latter nodded, said nothing, and walked away with his Personal Guard with his head held high.

If this Glover could have lowered his head just a little, he would surely have seen the short-haired "boy" Ary and then developed the same suspicion as Dia.

It was just that he was accustomed to being arrogant, so he failed to notice the little person following behind Arthur.

Having experienced many upheavals, Arya naturally would not trust others easily, so she had not yet acknowledged her identity to the Northmen.

"Lord Qyburn, may I hire you to be my Maester?" Arthur extended an invitation.

Qyburn, with his gray-white hair, said kindly and amiably, "Of course, I am just a useless person wandering about now."

The kindness in his voice could not form certain impressions for Arthur.

He knew that the man before him was famous for his love of vivisection, and usually, these experiments were fatal.

The relationship between the two was settled, and Arthur ordered people to arrange dinner and tents for Qyburn, Arya—who was using the alias "Ary"—Gendry, Hot Pie, and the others.

After dinner, the servant Meidan called "Ary" into the master's tent and then silently retreated.

"Arya Stark, I spent quite a bit of effort to find you," Arthur said in a low voice, holding a candle.

The little Stark girl was shocked when her name was called, but she quickly denied it.

"You have the wrong person; my name is Ary, and I am a boy."

Arthur smirked, "Is that so? Let me see how you pee standing up."

"Fine, I am a girl, but my name really is Ary, not that 'Arya' you speak of." Arya's face was a bit embarrassed, but she insisted on not admitting she was a Stark.

"Fine, from now on you are my female cupbearer, and your name is indeed Ary." Arthur did not dwell on her identity for long.

Since she did not even trust her own soldiers, the little girl would not open her heart until she saw her family.

This was fine, too; hiding her identity could protect her.

Otherwise, if Roose Bolton found out, he might pull some disgusting little tricks.

"Very well, my lord." Arya vaguely remembered that her father and sister had a good opinion of this person, so she silently accepted the arrangement.

Arthur placed the candle on the small table and was just about to go to the main command tent to discuss matters when he suddenly remembered something.

"That Direwolf of yours, the one named Nymeria, is active near the Gods Eye; if you want it, I will capture it under the guise of protecting the commoners and bring it back for you."

Most of the Stark children could communicate with their Direwolves.

And according to the complaints of nearby commoners, that giant wolf had already grown terrifyingly large.

With a Direwolf guarding her side, plus the ability to communicate with it, Arya would be much safer.

The little Stark girl looked at Arthur uneasily, wondering how this person knew everything.

She pressed her lips tightly together and said nothing.

Nymeria was indeed very attractive to her; the little wolf in her memories was almost as dear as family.

And having lost her father and being far from home, she did indeed need the little wolf to give her a sense of psychological comfort.

"I don't know anything about any wolf, my lord, please stop joking." Her eyes welled with tears as she denied knowing the wolf.

Arthur smiled, knowing that Stark did not yet fully trust him.

Without another word, he walked out of the tent.

He would get the Direwolf back as a surprise for his future sister-in-law.

……

The main command tent.

"Look who has come, a saint just like Beric Dondarrion!" Lord Bolton sneered coldly when he saw Arthur walk in.

The other Northern lords, such as Lord Medger Cerwyn and Lord Harwyn Hornwood, all looked at Arthur with cold eyes.

They already knew that in the evening, Arthur had interfered with the foraging party and the Brotherhood Without Banners.

This matter concerned the army's logistics, so they naturally did not give Arthur a pleasant look.

The few lords from the Riverlands did not speak, but they consciously stood by Arthur's side.

Clearly, they supported the actions of the Lord of Red Mill.

Perhaps out of concern for the face of the Northern-Riverlands alliance, the great lords did not speak, but a minor Northern lord jumped out to accuse Arthur of doing the wrong thing.

"If Lord Bracken does this, I fear we will have to eat the grass on the ground. The problem of foraging must be solved."

Hosteen Frey saw this person's poor attitude, and a surge of anger rose in his heart, "Solve it? Back along the banks of the Green Fork, you refused to listen to our dissuasion and forcibly requisitioned grain from my family's subjects. Now you still think of using such methods; are you here to rescue the Riverlands or to rob the Riverlands?"

Aenys Frey saw his sixth younger brother's tone had clearly changed and immediately felt something was amiss.

He was all too familiar with this younger brother's personality; when his stubborn temper flared, he could even poke a hole in the sky.

What's more, his combat power was astonishing; once he went berserk, no one present except Arthur could restrain him.

"Alright, alright, say less." Aenys patted his younger brother on the shoulder, telling him to calm down.

However, the people of The North had fiery tempers, and after being retorted by Hosteen, several high nobles were immediately ready to make trouble.

Leech Lord was well aware of what kind of people his subordinates were; after he swept a cold, strange gaze around, the Northmen held back.

Marquess Bolton then asked: "Since you Riverlanders do not agree to requisitioning grain, then you come up with a practical and feasible plan."

Arthur actually had a few plans in mind, and just as he was about to speak, he heard someone shout from outside the tent:

"Lord Beric Tanderly has arrived."

PS: Seeking recommendation tickets and monthly votes.

(End of chapter)