Chapter 126: Wedding in Progress

After the coup in King's Landing, even Janos Slynt—a man of butcher origins who turned oathbreaker in the blink of an eye—could be granted a ducal title and Harrenhal by the Queen Regent Cersei.

It is evident that in this era of the War of the Five Kings, high-ranking noble titles are no longer rare commodities.

Arthur could not help but lament that the older the ginger, the spicier it gets.

Duke Hoster and his son offered much the same, but the terms given by the head of House Tully sounded far more enticing.

"Not a problem at all; I will ensure the Westerlands Army in Golden Tooth receives my Great Hammer's greetings."

After confirming the tasks assigned by Duke Tully, Arthur left the main keep and headed toward the great hall.

The composition of the troops he led to campaign in the Westerlands included, in addition to two thousand Frey soldiers and over seven hundred Stark soldiers, a little over a thousand men from secondary and tertiary houses, hailing from over a dozen Northern families such as Cerwyn and Amber.

Among those leading these minor houses, many despised or even harbored hatred for House Frey, such as Rona Stout, who led the Cerwyn soldiers.

He had to smooth out the fur of these unruly Northmen so that both sides could cooperate sincerely and join forces to slaughter the enemy.

……

The following evening, the Sept of Riverrun.

Nobles from the Riverlands and the North stood in rows on both sides, waiting for the bride to enter and exchange vows with the groom.

Because the marriage was promised by Lady Stark, and coupled with the customary disdain for House Frey, Duke Hoster did not attend the wedding ceremony, citing poor health.

Edmure's injuries had not improved, so he could only lie on a stretcher, carried by four manservants to conduct the wedding.

This added another layer to the Northmen's contempt for House Frey.

The bald Innes Frey slowly led the bride inside.

Walder Frey did not come, and Duke Hoster did not attend, so it could only be him, of the younger generation, who delivered the bride to the groom's side.

In the row of Riverlands nobles on the left.

"It seems Lord Edmure is not satisfied with this marriage."

Said the Lord of Seagard beside Arthur.

Indeed, anyone could see that this Tully looked full of sorrow.

"But he can only grit his teeth and accept it," Arthur said.

If Edmure's betrothed was still Roslin Frey, then he had actually come out ahead.

It was just that House Frey's secrecy was truly well-maintained.

Getting married on Tully territory, yet not even the host family had guessed who the bride was, let alone guests like them.

The two walked to the steps, and Innes, representing Walder Frey, lifted the bride's veil.

Even though his injuries were still severe, the lying Edmure still stretched his neck, craning to see the bride's appearance.

The nobles did not know what this Frey looked like, but judging by Edmure's widened eyes and slightly smiling expression, his new wife was surely beautiful enough.

Then came the procedure: the bride stooped low so that Edmure, lying on the stretcher, could drape a cloak over her.

This symbolized the husband's protection of his wife.

Next, the Septon tied a white ribbon around Edmure's left hand and the bride's right hand.

Finally, the two swore their vows before the Seven-Pointed Star behind the Septon:

"Father, Mother, Warrior..."

During this process, everyone finally saw the bride's appearance clearly.

Her features were extremely delicate and pretty, with a petite chin, an exquisite nose, a pair of large brown eyes, and long, deep chestnut hair styled in loose curls that fell to her waist.

It was indeed Roslin!

In terms of beauty, she could be considered a top-tier beauty of the Riverlands.

"I had no idea The Twins had such a fine-looking person," Jason Mallister remarked with great regret. "Otherwise, I would have gone to propose for my son; he loves pretty girls the most."

Arthur was also stunned by Edmure's new wife; during the vows, he stared at Roslin's beautiful profile for quite a while.

Sensing someone watching him, he turned to the right, only to see Sansa standing among the Northern nobles with an annoyed look on her face.

But after he turned, the Lady Stark immediately assumed a solemn and haughty expression.

Arthur was so put off by this scene that he no longer had the heart to admire someone else's wife.

Thus, he dutifully waited for the vows to conclude and for the wedding feast to begin.

In recent days, whether traveling or in the food-scarce Harrenhal, he hadn't had a proper meal.

The wedding of the Tully heir was clearly a major event, so nearby villages untouched by war sent large quantities of live sheep, geese, and other livestock, cured meats, and vegetables like potatoes and pumpkins dug up this autumn. The nobles could naturally eat the best ingredients, and even the nearby soldiers could have a dinner with meat.

The vows ended quickly, and the crowd swarmed around the newlyweds to head to the great hall for the wedding feast.

Arthur was just about to edge toward Sansa when he felt someone tugging at his sleeve.

He looked down and saw it was Lothar Frey.

This man whispered, "I hear you have a dragon, a real, genuine dragon?"

Alduin was still a dragonet, and campaigning in the mountainous Westerlands was extremely dangerous, so Arthur had left Gendry and the dragonet at Harrenhal to develop in obscurity for a while.

In any case, the system had already forcibly bound Alduin to him as its master, so being separated for a while didn't matter.

"Yes."

Arthur readily admitted it.

After the Targaryen Dynasty ruled for two hundred and eighty-three years, dragons and the dragon-blooded held a special significance for the nobles of Westeros.

Even after the Usurper's War was won, the four-house alliance still insisted on having Robert, who possessed the blood of the dragon family, as King, which shows the legitimacy of House Targaryen.

Lothar's small eyes widened suddenly. "I have long heard that you are a fierce general who has never lost a battle, and now with the aid of a dragon..."

This man began to flatter Arthur, with all sorts of nauseating words pouring out.

The "Administrator" was made very uncomfortable by him, so after giving a few perfunctory replies, he cut to the chase: "Speak, what is your purpose?"

There is no such thing as closeness without a reason; Lothar Frey must have an objective.

Most of the noble knights had already headed to the great hall for the feast, and there were not many people left in the Sept.

Rosso gestured for Arthur to lower his head and listen, "If you are willing to marry a Frey, we will support your reclamation of the Iron Throne. This support includes an army of over four thousand men and countless wealth and provisions."

Arthur turned his head to glance at the man, amused, and said, "You are truly persistent. When I was outside King's Landing, your third and sixth brothers had already done the same thing."

"The situation then was different from the situation now," Rosso said obsequiously. "They were only thinking of marrying off an ordinary Frey; I can offer the support of the entire Crossing territory."

Arthur knew a little about this man's standing in the heart of Walder Frey, and he had not expected him to dare make such a promise.

After the business of the oath-taking was finished, the Septon and the others had also departed.

Thus, only Arthur and Rosso remained in this place.

"I have my own plans for my marriage, so there is no need for you to worry about it," Arthur refused flatly, then turned to head toward the wedding feast to have a big meal and, incidentally, deepen his relationship with Sansa.

Rosso, however, still held tightly onto Arthur's sleeve, "Wait."

He limped over to stand before Arthur and whispered, "You may name any condition you wish; even if you want my sisters or nieces as mistresses, it is fine, so long as you later legitimize the bastards born to the Freys, just as Aegon IV did, we can accept it."

The family that did the most of this business of legitimizing bastards was House Targaryen.

The most famous was the Aegon IV that Rosso spoke of; his many bastards were all legitimized by him, which then produced a pile of noble bastards, including Daemon Blackfyre, Bittersteel, Bloodraven, and others.

"Why are you so annoying!" Arthur looked at Rosso with some disgust and likewise whispered, "If I say I want Roslin Frey as my mistress, can you agree to it?"

He only wanted to shake off the cripple's entanglement and go to the hall to eat, so he said this preposterous thing, preparing to stop the man's mouth.

These words were just spoken for the sake of it; they were not his true inner thoughts.

Rosso was rendered silent by this single sentence.

To think there was someone who wanted to take another man's wife as a mistress.

What kind of hobby was this?

Arthur took the opportunity to pull his sleeve free and strode toward the hall.

The cripple could not keep up, so he had no choice but to gaze at the retreating back and ponder silently.

"Aegon IV... marriage... right." Rosso struck his left palm with his right fist.

He recalled a certain rumor about the "Unworthy" King Aegon.

A certain cousin of Aegon IV, Elaena Targaryen, had once married an elderly Count Arryk, and the groom died mysteriously on the wedding night.

Although Elaena later claimed that the groom had consummated the marriage with her and that the child was Count Arryk's seed, rumors claimed that the one who had climbed into the wedding bed was actually Aegon IV.

Rosso secretly mused that he was truly worthy of having the blood of the Dragon King; even his hobbies were so similar.

Although he could not make Arthur climb into the wedding bed—after all, this was Riverrun, the stronghold of House Tully—it was still possible to make Roslin Frey Arthur's mistress.

"The dragon is inherently lustful; if I satisfy his request, perhaps..."

Rosso decided to gamble on this bet.

In any case, it was just a woman.

Roslin Frey's marriage value had already reached its end; if she could still be used to establish a connection with the new Dragon King...

At worst, the eldest son of Tully would just be wearing a cuckold's hat; House Frey really would not lose anything.

The cripple Rosso no longer went to the hall to attend the wedding feast; he limped toward the tower where the Freys resided, preparing to plot a few small matters to revitalize the family.

Arthur walked into the Riverrun hall and caught sight of an empty seat next to Sansa; knowing it was reserved for him, he hurried over.

"Where did you go?"

Seeing Arthur walk over, Sansa elegantly wiped her mouth and asked as if casually.

"Someone from House Frey stopped me and told me again that he wanted to marry a Frey to me."

Walder Frey had plenty of daughters and granddaughters who could not be married off, so this matter was not strange.

On the table at the empty seat next to Sansa, two large platters of charcoal-grilled tender lamb chops were placed, far more in portion than anyone else's.

One look and it was clear it had been specially requested.

Arthur sat down with a thud, first nodded to thank Sansa, and then began to feast heartily.

"Why be so polite between you and me?" After the lady of Stark responded, she began to press for details about the Frey marriage proposal.

"How did you refuse?"

After Arthur swallowed a mouthful of hot lamb, he prepared to recount the situation at the time, but suddenly realized there was a bit of a trap in this.

What Sansa asked was not how Arthur had spoken, but how he had refused.

That is to say, she had already taken it for granted that Arthur would not enter into a marriage alliance with other families.

After his brain took an emergency turn, Arthur replied:

"I just said I already had someone in mind and intended to go and propose a marriage contract when the war eased, so as to make them give up the idea of marrying their daughter to me."

Sansa was quite satisfied with this answer and asked again, probing from the side: "Then, Lord Arthur, may I ask where your intended is now?"

A woman in love is a strange animal; their need for sweet talk is far higher than that of normal people.

Even if some things are obvious, they still want to confirm them over and over again in words.

"Right by my side, a lady of The North named Sansa."

Only after Arthur swallowed the food in his mouth did he articulate this answer clearly.

The lady of Stark was very satisfied with this reply and did not dwell on the matter, letting Arthur continue his great undertaking of eating.

Because a large number of Northmen were participating in the wedding feast, the atmosphere was extremely lively; Great Jon and Robett and others began to compete in drinking, and more people, after being full of wine and food, began to poke their wine cups on the tables to cheer for those they favored.

The Frey group was surrounded by the Sworn Knights of Riverrun led by Desmond; with them hosting, Innes, Hosteen, Symond, and others were quite satisfied.

Barrel after barrel of fine wine was continuously sent into the hall, and agile servants and Attendants wove through the crowd, both clearing away useless plates and serving new food and wine flagons.

After Arthur finished another plate of foie gras, someone finally remembered him.

Great Jon, with his two eyes focused together, stumbled over to Arthur's side, draped his arm over Arthur's shoulder, and said, "Brother, among the Riverlanders, you are the only real man I recognize. Come, have a drink with me."

Sansa saw that the scene was becoming chaotic, so she waved her hand to signal Arthur not to drink too much, and then left.

The side with her uncle and the new aunt was more suitable for a lady like her to stay.

Greatjon did not care that Arthur had no wine cup in his hand, and simply poured his own wine directly into Arthur's mouth.

"Drink... drink to your heart's content..."

Arthur hurriedly blocked Greatjon's wine cup, then found his own and clinked it against the man's.

Because the atmosphere-setters of The North had moved on, several Northmen immediately surrounded Arthur.

These Northmen looked down upon House Frey and did not follow them to disturb the bridal chamber, choosing instead to compete in drinking in the great hall.

It was hard to refuse, so Arthur also followed along, downing cup after cup.

A man's friendship is often built upon wine cups.

After downing who knows how many cups of ale, the Northmen beside him had already begun to call Arthur brother.

One must know, before this, most of them addressed Arthur as Lord Bracken.

Rona Stout also wandered over at some point, stuttering, "For your... sake, I won't hold a grudge against House Frey anymore."

After saying this, the man collapsed heavily to the ground.

Due to his robust physique, Arthur's tolerance for alcohol was not small.

Shaking his head to clear it, Arthur discovered that everyone in the hall competing in drinking had already fallen.

Only he remained standing.

The newlyweds had already disappeared, presumably having entered the bridal chamber.

It was just that Edmure did not yet have the capacity to care for himself, so the two likely had not consummated the marriage.

Most of these drunken nobles were men who led troops; those who originally lived here were carried to their rooms by servants who came in one after another.

Those living in the Battalion outside the city would likely be arranged to sleep together in a large room.

Arthur's room was in a tower near the Godswood; because he arrived very late and the main keep was full, he could only be arranged in a more remote place.

It was called a Godswood, but in reality, there was only one weirwood tree, and the rest were miscellaneous trees.

There were not many people in the Riverlands who believed in the Old Gods, so there were very few servants living in that vicinity.

Arthur rinsed his mouth with wine again, then left the hall and swayed toward his residence.

It was already late at night.

Except for a dozen servants near the hall arranging the drunks, the entire castle had quieted down.

Dark clouds obscured the stars and the bright moon, and in the castle, only the torches stuck into the walls emitted a faint light to dispel the darkness that seemed to have existed since time immemorial.

But the sun would eventually rise, and the light would follow; the darkness was merely showing off for a moment.

Walking into the tower and climbing up a floor while leaning against the wall, Arthur entered his room.

But to his surprise, the candles in the room had already been lit, and a figure was sitting by the wooden table.

"Why do you smell so much like alcohol? Didn't I tell you to drink less?"

It was Sansa's voice.

Arthur squinted his eyes and peered for a good while before he matched the figure to the image of Sansa in his memory.

"You also know what you Northmen are like when drinking; if I don't clink cups with them, they think I look down on them, and then they start making trouble."

Arthur swayed as he walked toward the bed, and seeing this, Sansa stood up to support him.

"I can still walk." Bracken gave Lady Stark a cheeky smile, then took her small hand and rubbed it.

After helping Arthur onto the bed, Sansa had him lie flat, "Sleep well, you won't feel uncomfortable once you sober up."

She withdrew her small hand, preparing to blow out the candles and leave.

But Arthur sat up again, "A kiss before you go?"

His face still wore a cheeky expression.

Looking at his rogue-like appearance, Sansa felt both love and hate.

Although the smell of alcohol was stifling, she still leaned over, and after a fleeting touch, whispered, "No more trouble, sleep early."

Arthur held her for a long time, and only let go after Sansa became a bit angry.

Then he lay down to sleep.

Due to the influence of certain concepts from Lady Stark, Sansa had always been very conservative regarding certain matters.

This often made Arthur feel regretful.

After confirming that her beloved had begun to sleep, Lady Stark blew out the two candles in the room and left quietly.

Originally, a servant could have done this, but Sansa wanted to come personally.

After she left the tower, a figure flashed out from a completely dark corner and silently went upstairs.

This person entered Arthur's room with a limp, walked to the bed, and whispered, "Lord Arthur, it has been arranged for you."

After calling out three or four times like this, Arthur finally reacted.

"Sansa, didn't you leave? Why are you back? Do you want to do that with me..."

Rosso leaned into Arthur's ear and said, "It's me, Rosso; the Roslin you requested is already prepared."

These words made Bracken sober up a little.

"I don't believe it..." he mumbled, and the overwhelming sleepiness made his head unclear again.

"She is in the Godswood; if you follow me, you can be with Roslin..."

The fire ignited by Sansa began to burn wildly; Arthur followed Rosso downstairs in a daze, and under his guidance, entered the woods to the side.

In a dark place, a young lady was waiting for Arthur's arrival.

(End of this chapter)