Chapter 6 (May 8404 - October 8406 ) : "Bend the knee, petty king"
Chapter 6
May 8404 - October 8406
"Bend the knee, petty king"
May 8404 - October 8406
"Bend the knee, petty king"
The lords of the realm weren't slow to annouce their camp. Immediatly after the civil war's declaration, the lord paramounts of the Iron Isles, the Vale and the Reach stood behind Haerys, who was the clear leader of this revolt, meanwhile the Stormlands and the Summer Islands chose to stay under the king, followed a bit later by the other Haerys of the kingdom, the lord paramount of the Stepstones.
If some minor lords make a move like the one of Mantarys, in Northern Valyria, who followed the rebels, and Jaekar of Draconys, who crawled in his castle, some others decided to stay loyal to the crown, in the person of Castamere Garrenhor Brax of Hornvalen or Willas Tackerton of the Ring.
But the worst stab in the back came from the Trident's lord paramount, who followed the rebels, and his grandfather Arthur Martell, who, following a long Dornish tradition, stayed neutral.
If this wasn't worse, the very realm of the Crownlands revolted once more, led by the Kingsguards Lord Commander Robert Strong, and the Citadel's Maesters.
While the loyal lords were delaying the massives Westermen and Reachmen armies and Jaenar was desesperatly hunting the dragons in King's Landing's lands, the loyalist army started to regroup in the Crackclaw Point.
All in all, the composited forces of Crownlanders, Stormlanders and Summermen were rougly 14 thousands, maybe enough to stomp on the rebelled kingslander and Trident's troops, but surely not the 18 thousands of the Vale or 15 thousands of the Westerlands, and certainely not the 31 thousands Reachmen, or the 16 thousands Ironborns who were sailing toward King's Landing.
The situation seemed really hopeless for the new king. He had two dragon riders, the Stepstones's lord paramount had a dragon and a dragon rider's commander, including the massive Drogon, but with only 6 thousands and half soldiers, no miracles were awaited.
And it even get worse as the lord paramount of the Stormlands imprisoned the lords of Straits of Tarth and Serena, depriving the king of 7 thousands soldiers !
Now, Jaenax was just praying to find a dragon, and that the lord paramount of the North and his war versus the Wildlings, as he received a vow of help from Daemion once he finished to reinstall the Night's Watch.
After evacuated the army from the Crackclaw Point, which was overwhelm by the Vale, Ironborns and Duskendale's forces, the mere 7 thousands loyalists crushed the 4 thousands Farring Cross's rebels, led by nothing else than their lord Rhaegel Targaryen, the king's troops found themselves trapped in Dalston, holding thanks to the dragons three waves of reinforcements, one time from the crownlanders rebels, another from the Reachmen.
Finally, the 4th wave from the Reachmen will break the 3 last exhausted thousands soldiers in late January 8045, and the lasts 1 300 soldiers will retreat to Amberly, leaving around 13 500 bodies near Dalston Keep.
While the few remainings loyalists were trying to reach Storm's End, where some ships where waiting for them, Stepstones forces were besieging Lanns Hall.
Some good news finally arrived from the Trident, as with Osmund's death, his daughter Amena choose to withdraw from the rebellion, before giving her title to her husband and cousin Josten Tully.
But it wasn't enough. Despite Dorne neutrality, Haerys managed to attract some Dornish lords, who join the rebellion too, giving more men to a faction who was already in a incredible numerical superiority.
And so ended the second rebellion in four years.
But it wasn't even done that another rebellion showed up. A horde of kingslanders, led by an ambitious knight, brother of Bronn of Stokeworth who thought he could took King's Landing for himself.
After all, why not ? The crown was broken, and he had 20 thousands angry secessionists behind him.
Yet, this time, Jaenar could count on his vassals.
The rebel leader, in an injudicious move, divide his army in two parts : the main staying and laying siege on Farring Cross, the over capturing Dalston Keep, then Mormead. But Jaenar, who gather the kingdom's host, quickly move to crush the smaller army, and besieged the captured Dalston fort, but not after the rebels decimated a good part of the reigning family, the Gaunts.
While this could be seen as a strange move by everyone, as crushing the rebels could easily end the war, Jaenar didn't forgot that Rhaegel, the lord of Farring Cross, was one of the Crownlanders to join the rebels in the last rebellion. And he wanted to make him direly pay for this.
And they did. Nothing less than 9 Targaryens who were in his court were killed, including his mother, his two wives and 4 of his children.
Once the lynching made by the rebels done, Jaenar decided to move to save his kin.
Despite the 13 thousands strong men standing with the Stokeworth, they were mainly peasants, exiles or bandits poorly equipped assembled around the charismatic knight, while the king had 22 thousands professionals soldiers, with talented commanders. The battle was a slaughter, yet a formality.
The leader, as a knight, wasn't executed but sent to the newly reformed Night's Watch, travelling through a North who was in a noble's revolt since the end of the Wildling's war.
Everyone back home, hoping that this time, the next years would be a peaceful and prosperous era.
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For those who are wondering why I'm trying to kill the young lord paramount who rose after the rebellion, he is already gathering a new faction to put the precedent king, the young Aerys, son of Orys on the throne.
This is starting to looks like the musical chairs.
