Chapter 9: It is truly too barbaric to send troops at the drop of a hat

At noon the next day, Stone Hedge.

Just like at Arthur's home, the banner flying over Stone Hedge was also that of a red stallion on a gold shield.

The three of them had traveled for half the night, rested for half the night on the road, and then galloped wildly all morning to finally reach Stone Hedge.

For some reason, Arthur did not feel very anxious in his heart.

He even had the leisure to consider the design of his own banner.

The red stallion of House Bracken fit the theme of mounted combat, and if he added some imagery of hacking and slashing, it would be just to his liking.

Arthur pondered whether to add a great cleaver to the banner.

But there was no rush for this; he had to wait until the reinforcements lifted the siege first.

There were not many highlands in the Riverlands, and Stone Hedge was also built upon a hill.

But unlike Arthur's home, Stone Hedge was much larger.

Like Riverrun, Raventree Hall, Seagard, and The Twins, it was one of the few sturdy castles that had not been taken by Tywin's western army during the early stages of the War of the Five Kings.

Although only Riverrun and The Twins in the north held out until Robb arrived with the northern army to rescue them.

But this did indeed demonstrate the sturdiness of Stone Hedge.

Thinking of this, Arthur suddenly felt he should consider his direction for development.

The current point in time was known to be after Robert had headed south with Eddard Stark, but before they had returned to King's Landing.

And there was roughly a three-to-four-month window between Robert heading south and Tyrion Lannister being captured in the Riverlands after returning from the Wall.

During this period, many minor events that influenced the landscape occurred, such as Tyrion heading north to the Wall with Jon Snow and Benjen Stark, the "Emperor of the Ages" Joffrey sending someone to assassinate the comatose Bran, and Catelyn Stark heading south to deliver news.

And events like Stannis fleeing back to Dragonstone, the Lannisters of the Lion House pushing forward with determination, and the Tyrells becoming the men behind the "Three-Deer" Renly Baratheon, greatly swayed the future of Westeros.

Going out to live a carefree life was impossible; there would be massive turmoil in the coming Westeros.

With no turmoil now, Arthur's own money could be stolen by a servant who had known him for over a decade and served his family for decades; if he really went to places like King's Landing or White Harbor to avoid the war, he might be swindled out of every last cent.

One must know that neither the original owner nor Li Hao from his past life had ever really mixed in society.

It was better to stay honestly within his own territory.

At the very least, within his own territory, Arthur was the local emperor.

Moreover, there was the Mount and Blade System; if he developed well, it would be enough to make a name for himself during the War of the Five Kings.

Chaos is a ladder, after all!

And since he was a noble of the Riverlands, his faction was already very clear.

The faction of the Fish, House Tully, and the Wolves, House Stark.

In his past life, when he watched Game of Thrones, he felt very heartbroken over the fate of House Stark.

Although Robb's beheading of a Karstark and Catelyn Stark's private release of Jaime were behaviors that left one speechless, they truly did not deserve death.

In reality, the younger generation of the Starks—Sansa, Jon, and Arya—were all very good people.

Sansa, even when she could barely protect herself, spoke up for Dontos Hollard and saved his life; Arya even remembered the death of the butcher's boy, Mycah; Jon did not discriminate against Samwell Tarly like the other black-clad Night's Watchmen, and so on.

Even Robb's beheading of a Karstark had a justifiable reason.

Two scions of a Lannister branch were captured and then hacked to death for no reason, and the leader of the opposing force was actually willing to stand up for two dead men.

Although this matter was pedantic, it fully demonstrated Robb's heart for treating people equally.

Just like his father Eddard, pedantic enough to make one angry, yet impossible to dislike.

Because they saw all living beings in their eyes.

There was another reason for joining the Fish-Wolf faction—the "Archer God of the Three Rivers," Edmure Tully.

A true archer god who hit the mark with a single shot!

One must ask, for a man who allowed his smallfolk to enter his own castle to hide from the ravages of war and was then mocked by some for having a useless mouth,

how bad could his character possibly be?

While he was deep in thought, the horses had already climbed the hill and arrived before Stone Hedge.

Eight soldiers stood before the gate; seeing people arrive, the captain of the guard in the lead shouted, "Please dismount, my lord."

Arthur and the other two dismounted, and two soldiers came over to lead the horses away.

"You are Lord Arthur Bracken, are you not? May I ask if you have an invitation from Lord Janos or Lady Jeyne?" the captain of the guard asked as he walked up.

"No," Arthur said with urgency, "I have a big business deal for Lord Janos, and I must see him now."

Although he was coming to ask for help, the approach had to be changed.

Using profit to drive Janos to send troops—that was the only way to be secure.

With Brynden in his hands, he could surely demand a ransom of several thousand Gold Dragons; giving Janos half, he imagined he would be very happy to step forward.

"But Lord Janos is not here; he has gone to Riverrun," the captain of the guard replied.

"Then I will find Hendry."

Hendry Bracken was Lord Janos's nephew and also the heir the Lord favored.

Because the Lord had five daughters and not a single son.

By seniority, Hendry was Arthur's cousin.

Because Hendry had the sponsorship of his uncle, Lord Janos, and often traveled all over Westeros, he had not met the original owner, a shut-in, very often.

Their relationship was not very familiar.

But everyone was surnamed Bracken, and they were both families with First Men blood, which was rare in the south; persuading Hendry to send troops should not be a problem.

"Lord Hendry is at the training grounds behind the castle; please follow this soldier," the captain said, and then designated a soldier to lead the way.

Arthur and the other two followed.

In truth, the way Stone Hedge treated guests was a bit impolite.

If a noble came to visit, they should at least have invited Arthur into the castle's reception hall and then let Hendry come forward to host him.

Perhaps the captain of the guard knew the background of Arthur's family, or perhaps there was another reason, but they were not so particular.

This was just as well, as it saved a great deal of red tape.

……

"You mean to tell me that you want my family to send troops to help you out of a siege, and then go extort a count?"

In the training yard, Hendry sat on a luxurious chair, crossing his legs as he spoke.

Surrounding him was a massive crowd of noble youths.

Seated to his left and right were Karyl Vance and Ma Ke Piper.

The former was the heir to the Vance of Wayfarer's Rest, and the latter was the eldest son of Count Clement of the Piper House of Pinkmaiden.

The three seated were all the primary heirs to the most prominent noble houses in the Riverlands.

Those surrounding them included everything from Free Knights and Sworn Knights to minor nobles and the second sons of great houses.

Arthur had arrived at an unfortunate time, running into a group of nobles preparing to go hunting together.

After listening to Arthur's request, Hendry was unimpressed.

"We are family; now that I have an opportunity to make a fortune, how could I forget your house?" Arthur replied.

"Who is family with a minor noble whose territory only has nine small villages?" The three seated men said nothing, but a companion spoke up first.

Clearly, the mention of nine villages had provided these nobles with amusement, and some began to jeer.

Others were holding back their laughter. But Arthur believed that if just one of the three seated men let out a laugh, the rest would roar with laughter.

Hendry did not laugh at his own relative. "This Arthur, your proposal is truly uncivilized. Always talking about sending troops to fight; it's simply as barbaric as the Dothraki. How about this: I send someone to speak with Blackwood House and say you were just playing around? You release the prisoner, they withdraw their troops, how about that?"

This proposal was impossible; the family's savings were lost, and without the money from trading for Brynden, what would he use to arm his own people?

Arthur's eyes darted, and he suddenly thought of an idea.

PS: I have been researching materials recently, striving to familiarize everyone with the lords of the Riverlands so that the readers won't be overwhelmed when the War of the Five Kings begins. Also, please vote for recommendations and monthly tickets.