Chapter 143: Arianne Martell

North of Blackwater Bay.

Night had already fallen, a gale was blowing, and the turbulent sea surface surged with massive waves from time to time; an anchored longship was moored here, the surrounding wind and waves seemingly having nothing to do with it.

The sailors and spearmen on the ship did not seem to care about the situation outside either, going about their own business.

In a room in the hold, a boy who had not yet shed his childishness looked at the beautiful woman who had slipped in silently and asked in a low voice, "Can you give me something to eat? Water will do too."

Since being knocked unconscious by a club, the boy had opened his eyes to find himself tied up here, and had since lived a life of starving eight meals out of every three days.

The sailors who usually delivered food were dark and thin; this beautiful woman was the first to appear in the boy's sight.

"Of course, no problem. You have been frightened."

The beautiful woman's expression was unusually arrogant when she entered, but after speaking, she became meek and submissive. She walked to the boy's side in a few steps, pulled a dagger from her boot, and cut the ropes binding him.

The boy was a bit dazed, not understanding what this beautiful woman was trying to do.

"Shh! I am here to rescue you, King Tommen, please come with me."

It turned out the boy was Tommen Baratheon I, whom thousands of people were searching for high and low.

Over the past month, the three major forces of Stannis, the Lion-Flower Alliance, and the He Jian Wang Guo had each sent hundreds of riders to scour the northern Crownlands, all just to find the missing Tommen.

Over a dozen castles, including Rook's Rest, Antlers, and even the now-ruined Duskendale, had changed hands repeatedly, all to dig three feet deep to find the missing king.

The boy was so hungry his eyes were dim and his lips were cracked; hearing that someone had come to save him, he summoned the last bit of strength in his body and followed the beautiful woman out of the compartment, which was clearly a cargo hold.

The two slipped through the corridor silently, and the beautiful woman brought Tommen to a place resembling a kitchen, finding some moldy food and "fresh water"; the boy devoured it greedily, completely ignoring the rot of the food and the strange smell of the water.

After forcing down the last bite of food, Tommen said, "I have regained my strength, let's hurry and escape!"

He did not know how long he had been trapped here, only that he was likely on a ship. Now that a rescuer had suddenly arrived, Tommen was naturally full of hope.

This must be someone sent by Mother!

The plump and charming woman smiled faintly, "Alright, please follow me."

The boy followed the woman out of the room, winding through dim and lightless passages and corridors, finally stopping in front of a certain door.

"Push this door open and you will be out, Your Majesty, please go first."

The joy on the boy's tender face could not be hidden; he walked to the door and pushed it open.

Before he could react, a kick suddenly came from behind, sending him stumbling into the room, and then the sound of the door locking rang out.

"A bastard born of incest only deserves to drink dog piss!"

After saying this, Trene Sand spat at the door and turned to find her sisters.

Tommen, with a look of astonishment, took a long time to figure out what was going on; once he realized what he had just drunk was dog piss, a wave of nausea surged up from his stomach.

Ugh!

The food he had eaten was vomited back out, along with some stomach acid.

Trene—one of the Red Viper's bastard daughters—walked to the largest room in the upper passenger cabin and pushed the door open to enter.

There were three women in the room, some sitting, some standing, in various postures.

Two of them looked similar to Trene, both being beauties that made one's eyes light up, but in front of the most beautiful one, they became mere foils.

The most beautiful was naturally the eldest daughter of Doran Martell, Arianne Nymeros Martell.

She had the olive skin common to the Rhoynar, yet it was even smoother and more delicate; her features were as if carved by the most outstanding sculptor, three-dimensional yet without losing softness.

What made the three cousins, including Trene, even more jealous was that Arianne's figure was plump to the extreme, round where it should be round, and perky where it should be perky.

"Fed him a meal of rotten food and dog piss," Trene reported to her sisters.

"In the current situation, we cannot take Tommen out of Blackwater Bay; we might as well kill him early to avoid any accidents," Obara—one of Trene's sisters—voiced her thoughts.

Besides the search on land, some longships of the Redwyne Fleet were blocking near Dragonstone, and some were searching the entire Blackwater Bay.

"But Father requires us to bring back an intact, living king to force Tywin to confess his crimes to the world, admitting he sent people to murder children and defenseless women," Trene stared at her cousin, knowing well that Arianne was the one in charge.

Ever since the result of the Battle of Duskendale reached Sunspear, the Red Viper Oberyn had sent his niece Arianne to take the three Sand Snakes north to capture Tommen.

The exceptionally intelligent Prince Oberyn was himself a master of both literature and martial arts; he had once studied at the Citadel and obtained five links in his twenties, breaking the record of the Maesters of several thousand years.

After carefully analyzing the situation, the Red Viper believed that Tyrion Lannister, whose intelligence was on par with his own, could not possibly have hidden Tommen in a small castle in the northern Crownlands, because it would be found by hostile forces sooner or later. Coupled with the fact that Duskendale was near the sea, he concluded that Tyrion had sent his nephew to Massey's Hook on the other side of the bay.

Massey's Hook and the Crab Peninsula were the two "arms" surrounding Blackwater Bay, but because the terrain of Massey's Hook was too narrow, and there were only two small castles, Sharp Point and Stag's Holt, it did not attract attention.

Arianne, having listened to her uncle's advice, set off from Sunspear, headed straight for Massey's Hook, landed at Sharp Point, and after a few days of carpet-style inspection, found Tommen and the others.

The target was successfully obtained, but retreating was not so easy.

The Redwyne Fleet was blocking the Gullet at the exit of Blackwater Bay and the area near Dragonstone, preventing this Dornish ship from getting out.

Arianne had no choice but to have the captain sail the longship back and forth in Blackwater Bay to avoid the warships of Stannis and Redwyne.

Nymeria, the last of the Red Viper's bastard daughters, said, "I think it is better to take Tommen ashore; now that three forces are competing in the Crownlands, we, who possess the noblest hostage, are actually quite safe."

Trene, who advocated not killing him, also agreed with this view, "We don't have much fresh water left; it is time to go ashore. Tommen cannot be killed yet; we must let Father deal with him."

Arianne, with an arrogant look, glanced coldly at Trene, who was closest to her, "What are you afraid of? Isn't he just a Lannister bastard? What is there to be afraid of killing?"

"Exactly!" Obara, who advocated killing Tommen, stood up with her arms crossed, "When they killed our aunt and cousin back then, did they ever have the benevolence you two have?"

The four people had two opposing opinions, making the scene somewhat awkward.

After thinking repeatedly, Arianne slapped the table hard, "Kill him, kill him now! Stick our Dornish Spear into the corpse, place it in some conspicuous area of the Crownlands, and let the lions taste the feeling of losing their kin!"

Trene and Nymeria exchanged a look and asked their cousin, "What do we do after killing him? We might not even be able to escape Blackwater Bay by then."

Arianne clearly had her own ideas, "We take people ashore to find the Dragonrider, and see his Dragon before making further plans."

She considered herself the future master of Dorne and would one day ride a Dragon to conquer the world.

"Father and Uncle did not respond to the Dragonrider's request to send troops; will he be angry because of this and take us as hostages or something?" Obara asked.

"How can you have so little insight?" A look of contempt appeared on Arianne's beautiful face, "Tommen is the only hub for the existence of the Lion-Flower Alliance; the one who benefits most from killing him is the Dragonrider. This person will be too busy thanking us to ever be our enemy, right?"

Unlike the six northern kingdoms, the order of succession in Dorne only looks at the order of birth, not gender.

Therefore, Arianne was the legitimate first heir of Dorne, and from childhood, she had received the princely education of political maneuvering and governing the people.

The three Sand Snakes looked at each other, having no choice but to accept their cousin's arrangement.

The four women took their weapons and walked together toward the room where Tommen was being held.

After Tyene unlocked the door, Arianne and the others filed in.

The boy, still vomiting, looked at the four women who had just entered with a blank expression.

"Look at that innocent, pathetic look on his face; he really seems like an innocent child."

Obara cursed, drew the small knife from behind her waist, and wiped it back and forth on her smooth arm twice.

"Do it together! We Dornishmen are all one big family; if there is a grudge, we settle it together," Arianne ordered.

And so, the four women stepped forward together and began to act wantonly.

……

Ten days later, Sow's Horn.

Five hundred cavalry and one thousand infantry carrying the white-field twin-tower banner entered the Riverlands Army camp one after another; judging by their less-than-orderly marching formation, this was a newly formed army.

Moreover, the soldiers' chainmail, plate-and-mail, helmets, and other gear were of varying styles and covered in dents and nicks, clearly armor stripped from dead men.

The combat effectiveness of such soldiers was worrying, but to Arthur, they were a very strong boost.

After several rounds of negotiations, the Riverlands King and his most powerful vassal, the House Frey, reformulated their alliance:

The Twins would provide Arthur with an army of about five thousand men and a dozen powerful Knights; upon obtaining Raventree Hall, the number of soldiers would increase by another thousand; both great territories would also supply as much grain as possible at fair prices.

House Frey gained quite a lot as well; in addition to the previously agreed-upon territories and the ducal title for the line of The Twins, Lothar Frey formally wrote the "noble bastard" clause into the alliance.

Specifically, Arthur must father a boy with a certain Frey girl and, just as Aegon IV did, proclaim to the entire realm that this child is legitimized, granting him the same status as a noble bastard equal to a trueborn son.

With trueborn sons present, a noble bastard could not inherit the throne.

But according to Targaryen tradition, the King's brothers and uncles often served as Hand of the King, and trueborn brothers often held titles like "Summerhall Prince" or "Dragonstone Prince"; noble bastards had lower status and received ducal titles, but they could also serve as Hand of the King, such as Duke Bloodraven, Brynden Rivers, who once served as Prime Minister for a long time and held immense power for a period.

If Arthur could truly take the Iron Throne, then this high-stakes gamble by House Frey would have truly paid off handsomely.

At the very least, their family status would rise to just below the seven great lordly families.

And in terms of strength, they would firmly establish themselves as the number one family in the Riverlands.

One must know that the strength of the two House Vance branches was not particularly eye-catching, but when outsiders mentioned the great nobles of the Riverlands, House Vance was always listed alongside families like Frey, Bracken, and Blackwood; the reason for this was the cadet branch of Vance of Wayfarer's Rest, and the House Vance of Yalan Cheng was also a count-level family.

After reaching the new agreement, The Twins soon sent this army, allowing the Riverlands King's forces to expand a little.

The central command tent.

The newly arrived fifteen hundred soldiers only made the Riverlands King happy for a short while, as a pair of very difficult-to-handle people were brought before him.

Locke Hoat called out boisterously: "Your Majesty, although I did not find that little child, I have brought you a female Knight about your height; you will surely have a great time riding her. She must be worth many Gold Dragons too!"

The female Knight Locke spoke of was none other than Brienne of Tarth, who had previously sworn allegiance to Sansa Stark and had been sent out to search for Arya.

Beside Brienne, who was in full Plate Armor, was Jaime, one of the golden twins.

Only, the once handsome and dashing Jaime was now disheveled, and the enameled gold-plated Plate Armor of the Kingsguard had been stripped from him, leaving him wearing only a tattered black robe.

What made this Lannister unable to hold his head up even more was that his right hand had been severed and was hanging in front of him.

Jaime's lifelong dream was to be a great Knight whose name would be recorded in history, and being selected for the Kingsguard had only reinforced this dream.

At the Tourney in the year 281, Tywin had already arranged for Jaime to marry Duke Hoster's second daughter, Lysa, and had agreed with House Tully on the timing of the uprising to support Crown Prince Rhaegar in rebelling against the Mad King.

At that time, the Riverlands were already half-allied with The North, and with the addition of the Westerlands and Rhaegar's wife's family, Martell, four regions supported Rhaegar. The attitudes of the other three regions were unclear, and the Mad King could only rely on the Crownlands and the Royal Fleet.

It was just that although the Mad King Aerys II was insane, his mind was exceptionally clear; having not left the Red Keep for many years, he even ran to Harrenhal, took Jaime—who was full of knightly dreams—into the Kingsguard, and brought him to King's Landing, vaguely using him as a hostage.

This not only broke the marriage alliance between House Tully and the Lions, but also made Taiwen Laoye hesitate, fearing for his son, and he dared not raise his army.

Later events were very surprising; Rhaegar, who had been preparing to rebel, ended up dying in battle to protect his father's throne, and the Targaryens temporarily exited the stage of power struggles.

Afterward, in order to save the five hundred thousand commoners of the city, Jaime killed the King he had sworn to protect and was mockingly called the "Kingslayer" by Robert and others; this caused Jaime's knightly dream to shatter right there, and because his marriage with Cersei was equally unsatisfactory, the two siblings got together, making Jaime drift further and further away from the spirit of knighthood.

Arthur looked at the Kingslayer whose hand had been severed, "You deserve it."

Bran, who had not yet lost his legs, and Arya had almost the same hobbies, but after falling from the tower, Bran's dream was also shattered; Jaime's right hand being severed and his knightly dream being completely destroyed could also be considered retribution.

Locke Hoat was still nagging, talking about wanting Gold.

"These two are also considered important figures, so I will give you and your men one thousand Gold Dragons as a hardship fee."

After waving his hand to let Locke leave, Arthur ordered Podrick to untie Brienne.

"Ser, the Sansa Stark you serve is currently helping me with work at Harrenhal; you can choose to go find her or stay here and help me."

Brienne, with a proud face, said: "Lady Sansa has other tasks for me, so you need not trouble yourself with arranging things for me. Just give me a horse and return my weapons and luggage."

Arthur nodded in agreement and sent Podrick to take the female Knight to handle the matter.

As for Jaime, the Riverlands King did not say much to him either.

Pushing that child Bran off the tower was his own choice; every choice in life has a reward determined by fate.

After Arthur ordered people to strictly guard the Kingslayer, the down-and-out Jaime was also taken out of the tent.

"An envoy from Dorne requests an audience."

Just as Arthur was preparing to go inspect the newly arrived Frey soldiers, a guard suddenly burst in.

"Who is it? Is there a Count Jason Mallister accompanying them?"

Since sending the Lord of Seagard to Sunspear two months ago, there had been no news from the Dornish side.

The guard replied: "The people who have come are a group of Dornish spearmen, and their leaders are four women; the one in the lead calls herself Arianne Nymeros Martell."

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(End of this chapter)