Chapter 488: prelude
Behind them is an army winding like a python, and the flags of various families are hunting in the cold wind, the four-color horsehead flag of the Laswell family, the chain roaring giant banner of the Umber family, the mermaid banner of the Manderly family, The black battleaxe banner of House Seven...and of course the pink flayed man banner of the Dreadfort.
These are the armies of the princes of the northern border, and they are nominally under the command of Roose Bolton, the guardian of the northern border.
Yes, the king gave the lord of the Dreadfort the position of Warden of the North.
But the strange thing is that the title of Duke was still given to the little boy of the Stark family in Winterfell.
That is to say, Stark is still the object of allegiance to the northern princes, but Roose Bolton, in the name of guardian, controls the command of the northern army.
Such an arrangement is indeed very reasonable. After all, the current Duke of Winterfell is only seven years old, so he must not be expected to command the northern army.
As for whether Roose Bolton thinks so, only he knows.
There are very few people on the streets of King\'s Landing today. The people either gathered in the Visenya hills, or hid at home, closing the doors and windows, for fear of being affected by the war.
Recently, King\'s Landing has indeed not been peaceful, and has been repeatedly attacked by wars. The people of King\'s Landing are naturally extremely sensitive to danger.
Earl Luce slowly marched towards the Great Sept of Baylor under the gaze of countless eyes hidden behind the doors and windows. There was no expression on his face, and his pale eyes were as indifferent as ever.
"Lord Luce."
At the intersection of Steel Street, he met the team of the Dustin family.
"Madame Ballerina."
Countess Barbaret Dustin rode a little white horse into the northern procession.
"Sir Karam of the Poole family has just been taken away by the people of the capital garrison."
Barbaret saw that Earl Luce didn\'t respond, so she said again:
"There are also Sir Bell and Sir Taolin of the Horwood family. It is said that they have secretly contacted the church."
Earl Luce\'s expression did not fluctuate when he heard the words, and said lightly:
"Idiots deserve no sympathy."
Mrs. Ballet didn\'t seem to be satisfied with Earl Luce\'s reaction, but she didn\'t dare to say something too explicit. After a while of silence, she said:
"Are you willing to only get the title of Guardian of the North? Guardian cannot be hereditary."
Count Luce heard the words and just looked at Madame Ballerina quietly, his eyes full of scrutiny.
"My patience has always been very good." After a long time, he spoke again, "Winter has just begun, and the heavy snow will cover many things and wake up many things. Mrs. Ballerina, have you ever been to the crypt of Winterfell? ?”
"No." Mrs. Ballerina looked puzzled, obviously not expecting the other party to ask this strange question suddenly.
"If you have a chance, you can go and have a look." Earl Luce said, "The Starks of the past are buried there, as well as their secrets."
"How do you know Stark\'s secret?"
The corners of Earl Luce\'s mouth twitched slightly, revealing a creepy smile:
"Bolton and Stark have struggled for thousands of years, perhaps we know ourselves better than they themselves."
Madam Ballerina didn\'t doubt this, after all, there were indeed several Starks who fell into Bolton\'s hands in history, were abused and skinned.
And just like the saying about the Bolton family in the north—
Naked people have few secrets, but skinned people have no secrets.
Stark may have a really hard time hiding any secrets in front of the Skinner.
"Winter is coming, what will happen to the Stark family?" Mrs. Ballet asked tentatively.
Earl Luce just shook his head slightly:
"You will know when the time comes. Those secrets buried underground will eventually reappear in the world with the arrival of winter. Righteousness or evil, long night or dawn, life or death, we will all make choices."
Mrs. Ballerina was silent when she heard the words, and no longer spoke.
…
On a tower not far from the Great Cathedral of Baelor, Tyrion Lannister listened to the situation report, and slowly glanced at the faces of the nobles of the Western Region:
"Remember, we are loyal to His Majesty Caesar. No matter what happens today, we must stand by the royal family. Do you hear me clearly?"
There was a moment of silence in the room, and then there were chaotic echoes.
Tyrion could see doubts in their eyes, and even some kind of unspeakable ambition, but he ignored them all and waved everyone away.
When only Tyrion and Kevan were left in the room, he asked again:
"Uncle, am I doing the right thing?"
"You did the right thing." Kevan pursed his lips.
After the Lannister family surrendered, he was finally released by Caesar.
The nearly two-year captive career made the former No. 2 member of the Lannister family much older, and it also made him accumulate unspeakable anger and resentment in his heart.
But he is very clear that at this moment, the Lannister family must not stand on the wrong side.
For this reason, even if Tyrion forcibly imprisoned his son Lancel, he didn\'t have any complaints.
"By the way, I\'m going to take Gina and Lancel back to Casterly Rock, and King\'s Landing will depend on you in the future."
"Uncle, are you leaving?" Tyrion was startled when he heard this.
"Yes. The climate in King\'s Landing is not suitable for me." Kevan patted his slightly stooped waist, "And it\'s time for me to go back to retire. The Lannister family will rely on you from now on."
Tyrion hesitated to speak, and finally just nodded:
"Okay, take care, Uncle."
…
"Sir Stevron, His Majesty cannot see you at this time."
"Why?" Stevron Foyle asked, holding back his anger.
But Loras Tyrell stood indifferently at the stairs, saying:
"Your Majesty said, we won\'t see you today. And I believe that Duke Edmure Tully should have issued a military order to the nobles in the river. Don\'t you have a mission?"
"I..." Sir Stevron gritted his teeth and said, "But I just want to know why they took my son away!"
"I understand your concern, but please believe that your Sir Wade will receive a fair trial from now on, and you will be there to witness."
Sir Stevron\'s hands were tightly clenched, his face was constantly changing, and finally he didn\'t dare to break into Maegor\'s Tower.
And at this moment, he suddenly saw a large shadow appearing above his head.
Lifting his head, he saw the huge white dragon appearing in front of Maegor\'s Tower. At the same time, a figure shining with dazzling golden light jumped out of the building and jumped onto the back of the white dragon.
It\'s Caesar!
The next moment, Bailong flapped his wings and flew into the sky.
The furnace-like hot wind blew down, almost making everyone in front of the building unsteady.
Sir Stevron looked at the figure exuding infinite coercion, and the fear in his heart finally overwhelmed his anger.
"Okay, I believe His Majesty will give the Frey family an explanation."