Chapter 116: Do You Want a Wife?

The Great Council Chamber of the Red Keep.

The five members of the Small Council were staring at each other with wide eyes.

Not long after they had risen, news arrived that Sansa was missing.

"Lord Janos Slynt, can you tell me how a frail woman escaped from the Red Keep?"

Queen Regent Cersei's tone was as annoyed as her expression.

With the Northern army at the gates, the fact that the most important hostage in the city had run off was truly nothing to be happy about.

Janos Slynt, the latest addition to the Small Council, was naturally the most uneasy. "According to my men, not even a mouse slipped through the gates of the Red Keep last night, so Lady Sansa must have escaped through some secret passage unknown to us."

He had already meticulously checked the logs of those entering and leaving the Red Keep last night, confirming that Lady Stark could not possibly have exited through the main gates of the Red Keep by any means.

Grand Maester Pycelle, feigning senility, added: "According to the maid who was watching Sansa, as soon as she sensed something was wrong, she rushed to Sansa's room, but there were at least ten burly Northerners in the room at the time. One of them knocked her unconscious with a single punch, and she knows nothing of what happened afterward."

Pycelle's tone was slow and leaned toward excusing the old maid, which naturally infuriated Cersei on the spot.

"Does she think I am a fool? Ten or more burly men—do the Northerners treat the Red Keep like the fish market outside the Mud Gate, coming and going as they please?"

After the Red Keep authorities discovered Sansa was missing, they naturally found the old maid tied under the bed at the first opportunity and learned certain "truths" from her mouth.

And the old maid, in order to mitigate her own responsibility, chose to exaggerate the number of people.

In this way, the ones who should be held most accountable were the Gold Cloaks guarding the castle, as they were the ones who let people slip in.

But the old maid's testimony could not convince the Queen Regent, which was why this Small Council meeting was held.

Cersei insisted that Lady Stark must have ambushed and bound the maid before escaping on her own, just like her sister.

Master of Coin Littlefinger suppressed a smile; he would rather believe that ten burly men appeared in the Queen Regent's bed than believe that such a group of Northerners could sneak into the Red Keep to rescue Stark.

Pycelle, having been shouted at by the Queen Regent and feeling that he was losing face, suddenly caught sight of the unusually colorful expression on Littlefinger's face, so he fanned the flames:

"It seems our Master of Coin has a different perspective."

Cersei, having nowhere to vent her anger, naturally turned her head to look at Littlefinger, and the other three followed suit.

Littlefinger had been wanting to watch the Queen Regent berate the newly promoted Duke Janos Slynt—he himself only held the title of Count, while a butcher had become a Duke and even obtained Harrenhal, which made him burn with jealousy—but he did not expect to be the focus of attention himself, so he had to cough lightly and explain:

"Outsiders naturally cannot enter the Red Keep, so it must be that Lady Sansa escaped on her own."

Cersei was like a goose flapping its wings, biting whoever she caught.

"You mean to say that Sansa, who has stayed in the Red Keep for months, didn't escape, but as soon as the Northerners arrived, she had the courage to run out, and that too while the main gate was closed? Could it be that she flew out like a Sparrow?"

Eddard had been executed by his own son, and both Stark sisters had gone missing one after another, leaving King's Landing without a significant hostage. With the father and his own army far away in the Riverlands, the situation in King's Landing had become suddenly dangerous.

It was no wonder the Queen Regent was so distraught.

Littlefinger scanned the crowd and suddenly thought of the Master of Whisperers, Varys.

In terms of motive and ability, only the Master of Whisperers could have sent Sansa out without anyone noticing.

Littlefinger was also very annoyed by Sansa's disappearance, so he sowed discord: "Flying out is impossible, but one really can leave the Red Keep from certain places, such as the basement that a certain lord often visits. As far as I know, it leads to the sewage drainage stone tunnels, and the tunnels lead to the Blackwater River."

Like all castles, the toilets in the Red Keep were built at a height to let excrement fall naturally, so many small holes had been dug.

And among these drainage holes, it was possible that one or two had been widened to the point where a person could walk through.

According to Littlefinger's source, the Master of Whisperers, Varys, should have control over such a passage.

Although Littlefinger himself had such a way to enter and exit the Red Keep, he climbed down from the cliff and did not have to walk through the stinking sewer.

Although Littlefinger did not specify who it was, the gaze he cast upon Varys clearly hinted at it to everyone present.

So Cersei turned her head and asked: "Is that so, Lord Varys?"

The Master of Whisperers, with his hands tucked in, looked a bit bewildered. "Your Grace, this is slander. Clearly, this Lord Littlefinger is closer to Sansa and her mother; if anyone wanted to, or could, send Sansa to the rebels outside the city, it would only be him."

He was in a hurry to clear his own involvement and did not deny the existence of this passage at the first opportunity.

Cersei did not catch the implication and looked at the Master of Coin again.

"It sounds like you have more motive to commit the crime. Give me a convincing reason, or I will have you thrown into the dungeon."

Now that it had reached a life-or-death juncture, the Master of Coin's usefulness was not great.

Littlefinger, with his graying temples, suddenly became anxious. After a few breaths, he came up with the reason most likely to convince this muddled Queen Regent.

"When Joffrey I ascended the throne, my stance was very clear. The North is not lacking in clever people; they could naturally guess the role I played in it. What reason would I have to curry favor with them?"

Cersei thought about it, and it was true.

"Why is Sansa missing?" Joffrey's voice came from outside the door.

Afterward, the King, who had no interest in women, walked in angrily.

"Don't tell me that all of you don't know where she ran off to?"

Abusing Lady Stark had become a daily Task for Qiaodadi, so he was very angry about Sansa's disappearance.

"Joffrey, I have already sent men to search house by house in the city; I believe we will be able to find her."

The Queen Regent comforted her son in this way, and she was also comforting herself.

"The rebels outside the city haven't been dealt with, and yet someone can still be lost inside the city. You all are truly..."

Joffrey waved his right fist in anger, as if only this could vent the hatred in his heart.

Seeing her son's anger, Cersei hurriedly appeased him: "You don't need to worry. I already have a strategy to defeat the enemy army; within a few days, the rebels will go to meet the Old Gods."

Joffrey pointed at his mother: "It had better be so. If the rebels are not wiped out within five days, I will personally lead the troops out of the city and defeat the rebels, just like my father did at the Ruby Ford to decide the outcome. Then I will decorate my Throne Room with the heads of those Northern nobles who are as stupid as Eddard."

The current King was keen on renovating the Red Keep; the stag patterns on the windows of the Throne Room and Maegor's Holdfast had been replaced with the bleeding Seven-Pointed Star.

Cersei thought of the heads of Eddard and the others that had once hung outside the Red Keep, and she felt a chill.

"Rest assured, the Northern nobles will not be left with their bodies intact." She stood up and coaxed her son to leave the council chamber to focus on the repairs of the Red Keep.

Just as the King and Queen Regent were about to leave, Pycelle suddenly said: "Your Grace, Lord Littlefinger and Lord Varys both still control secret passages to sneak out of the Red Keep."

The Maester's brain might not be as sharp as those two, but it wasn't far off, and he naturally remembered this matter.

Joffrey looked back with a cold glance: "Have these two lords take men to block their secret passages, or I will let them enjoy the taste of the dungeon."

Although he was speaking to Pycelle and Janos Slynt, the meaning of the threat was accurately conveyed to the ears of the parties involved.

Then the Emperor and the Queen Mother turned and left.

Littlefinger and Varys exchanged a glance; the latter shrugged, indicating there was nothing to be done.

Littlefinger did not want to provoke the King at this juncture either, so he could only have Janos Slynt lead the Gold Cloaks to block the wooden door leading to the cliff.

As for the black well that Varys used to access the sewers, it was naturally sealed off as well.

No one knew if there were other secret passages to enter or exit the Red Keep, but nominally, there were none.

……

Three days later, at noon, by the banks of the Blackwater River.

Arthur was practicing throwing hand axes when a blue light screen suddenly appeared; it turned out he could level up.

【Baron: Arthur Bracken】

【Level: 8】

【Experience: 10031/20000】

【Strength: 20】

【Agility: 12】

【Intelligence: 7】

【Charisma: 9】

【Skills: Ironflesh 5, Power Strike 8, Power Throw 3, Power Draw 1, Weapon Mastery 2, Shield 1, Athletics 2, Riding 5, Horse Archery 0, Looting 0, Trainer 0, Tracking 0, Tactics 1, Pathfinding 0, Spotting 0, Wound Treatment 0, Surgery 0, First Aid 0, Engineering 0, Persuasion 1, Prisoner Management 1, Leadership 3, Trade 0】

【Weapon Proficiency: One-handed Weapon 74, Two-handed Weapon 125, Polearm 117, Archery 31, Crossbow 31, Throwing 51】

After adding the points, Arthur put away the panel.

The attribute points from the level-up continued to be added to Strength, both skill points were added to Power Throw, and the ten weapon points were added to Throwing.

Previous major battles and these few days of throwing practice had raised his Polearm proficiency to 117, and his Throwing proficiency had reached 41.

With this upgrade, he changed his reinforcement focus to throwing weapons.

Twenty points of Strength was already the peak for a human; throwing heavy axes and similar weapons with such force could increase Arthur's lethal radius to several dozen meters.

Of course, in terms of accuracy, throwing could not compare to bows and crossbows, but the strike range was much larger.

Arthur had already tested it; throwing a standard hand axe at a creature the size of a chicken or duck could cut it in two on the spot.

Although he had not truly tested it, he figured that an enemy's neck without a gorget could not withstand such an axe.

And to increase lethality, Arthur specifically had Gendry forge ten weighted hand axes for him.

Although Gendry had also learned the tempering steel method from his master Tuobu, he could not forge a Golden Guan Dao for the time being due to a lack of raw materials.

Since he had given the Greatsword Moon-Sunder to Taiwen Laoye, and the old Guan Dao forged by Tuobu could not last many more battles, he had to consider what weapon to use.

Fortunately, that great hammer was still there, so Arthur, who had taken a liking to throwing, decided to temporarily turn himself into a heavy infantryman.

Use the great hammer to deal with enemies within one meter, and use the weighted hand axes to deal with enemies beyond one meter and within several dozen meters.

It was lunchtime, so taking several Qohor Mercenaries who served as his Personal Guard, he returned to the Battalion to prepare for lunch.

"Yo, isn't this brother Arthur? How have things been lately?" Before Bracken could order Ary to prepare his lunch, Innes Frey suddenly walked up to him.

Beside him were Patrick, Hosteen, and Raymond from the Riverlands.

Because the Northmen generally looked down on the Frey family, Hosteen often went to the tents of Raymond and Patrick to drink and chat.

Innes was the Commander of the Frey soldiers and often stayed in his own camp without coming out, so he was truly a rare guest.

"Pretty good, occasionally going to guard the Lion Gate."

Of the seven gates of King's Landing, the Lion Gate was the gate on the far east side, and also the closest to the docks.

According to the allocation by Lord Bolton, the Riverlanders guarded the four gates on the north and east sides. Since the coalition camp was to the west of the Iron Gate and the Gods Gate, the Frey family chose the three closest gates, leaving the farthest Lion Gate to Arthur's men and the soldiers from Maidenpool led by Raymond.

"Just let the small fry go guard the gates; a fierce general like you is just at the time to nourish your body. When the day of the siege comes, that will be your time to shine."

Innes spoke nonsense, but his hand reached out and grabbed Arthur's arm directly.

"We brothers haven't seen each other in a few days; I brought a few barrels of good wine, just the time to build rapport. Come, let's go into the tent."

This person's actions left Arthur confused; he was over forty years old, older than the original owner's father, yet he still called Arthur brother.

In his impression, this person was usually very steady and had the air of a commander.

How did he look like a broker now?

Arthur looked at Patrick and Raymond behind him, wanting to know what had happened.

The two were suppressing their laughter, refusing to reveal anything to Bracken.

The five walked into Arthur's tent and waited for the food to be served.

During this time, Innes and Hosteen circled around Arthur, talking about this and that, pouring wine and making small talk, but simply refusing to speak of the real business.

And Patrick and Raymond watched the performance of the three, desperately holding back their laughter.

Finally, Arthur could not take it anymore and asked Hosteen, who was less cunning: "What is this about? Do you have something to say?"

Hosteen was quite honest and immediately stated the purpose of the two brothers: "Arthur, do you want a wife?"

Innes struck while the iron was hot, "Right, let us find you a wife who matches your status. Our Frey family is a Marquess family, and we even have kinship with the Stark and Tully families. Marrying into our family is decent enough."

If Arthur remembered correctly, the condition for Robb to cross the river this time was two marriages and one betrothal: Edmure and Robb would each marry a Frey, and Arya would marry a Frey.

This was even more demanding than the conditions in the original work.

The Frey family had not yet formally married into the two liege lord families, yet these two brothers were already hanging the kinship on their lips.

This was truly... thick-skinned enough.

Arthur thought for a moment and decided he should clearly refuse.

"Now is a time of chaos, I have no intention of taking a wife, so the two of you should not harbor this thought."

Seeing Arthur refuse, Hosteen immediately pulled a long face and became unhappy.

Innes, however, was indomitable, spending the entire lunch discussing the marriage with Arthur.

"The dowry is easy to discuss; how about silver equal to your weight?" After finishing the meal, Innes still wanted to talk about the marriage alliance, and made it clear he was not leaving.

This made Arthur a bit depressed, so he left on his own.

He took one hundred Qohor Mercenaries to the Lion Gate in the east to patrol, in order to avoid the two from House Frey.

Before dinner, the servant Meidan came to report that Innes was still waiting and would not leave, so Arthur's dinner was also settled near the Lion Gate.

The small episode did not affect his mood, but the firelight in the Battalion after nightfall made Arthur feel uneasy.

That was a heaven-shaking flame that dyed half the night sky red.

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)