The Tumblestone River originates in the Westerlands, flows into the Riverlands, and eventually merges into the Trident. Riverrun stands on the delta where the Tumblestone meets one of the Trident's tributaries, the Red Fork.
As the Long Night arrived, ice began to form on the Tumblestone. The river's flow dwindled, nearly stagnating, and its width narrowed. This gave the Others a route to cross the Tumblestone, leave the Westerlands, and enter the Riverlands.
In fact, more than 200,000 wights had gathered there.
They were discovered early by Bran, who had full-map vision from the very start. Daenerys then led the Westerlands volunteer army to intercept them, fighting a battle at the Tumblestone that was not glorious but fiercely contested.
Before they could rest, Bran sent another message: wights were massing near the Crag.
The Crag lies at the northernmost edge of the Westerlands, separated from the Iron Islands by a strait about one hundred kilometers wide. The Others might attack the still-unfallen Crag, or they might slip along the coastline into the Riverlands. Either way, the large-scale gathering of wights was a fact, and Daenerys had to go.
So after clearing the battlefield at the Tumblestone, they did not rest. They broke camp immediately and traveled one hundred kilometers, finally stopping at Tarbeck Hall for the night.
"The Rains of Castamere" involves two great houses: House Tarbeck and House Reyne. These two families once united in rebellion against the Lannisters. Tywin captured Tarbeck Hall and exterminated the entire Tarbeck family.
As for House Reyne, their castle, Castamere, was similar to Casterly Rock, built within mine tunnels and easy to defend. Tywin flooded the mines, drowning hundreds of Reynes.
Now, one hundred and fifty sled-buses formed a ring around the collapsed ruins of the castle. The main hall of the keep had been cleared of debris and cobwebs, and the Dragon Queen's main tent was set up inside.
The usual banquet had just ended.
At every dinner, the noble knights of the volunteer army would come to dine with the Dragon Queen. The food did not need to be lavish, but it was a Westerosi tradition for king and subjects to share a table.
If Daenerys was absent, Tyrion would host the knights in her place.
At this moment, dinner had just concluded. Dothraki maidservants directed the knightly squires in clearing dishes and cleaning up. On the other side, the Dragon Queen and the dwarf sat together, staring at a lit glass candle.
"Your Grace, please return soon. The people of the Crownlands need you," said the old Crab earnestly from the other end of the candle.
"The people of the Westerlands need the Queen even more. There are still a million wights here waiting for her to deal with," the dwarf replied with a smile.
"Sigh, the Crownlands nobles are the root of House Targaryen. Now that victories in the Westerlands are frequent, with tens or even hundreds of thousands of enemies slain each time, the contrast with other regions is stark.
"The Crownlands nobles have sent letters one after another, expressing their willingness to form a volunteer army and follow the Queen's command wholeheartedly.
"They are terrified by the increasingly frequent raids of the Others and hope the Queen will come to stabilize the situation," the old Crab said helplessly.
"No castles in the Crownlands have fallen yet, right?" Daenerys asked.
Before the old Crab could answer, Tyrion spoke first. "Not a single one. The Crownlands are very close to Harrenhal and Dragonstone. Reinforcements can arrive within two or three hours.
"In fact, they hardly need reinforcements.
"The last time Stokeworth was besieged by thirty thousand wights, Ser Buckwell led eight hundred household troops and held out for a full day and night. They killed over ten thousand enemies and drove off the attackers with minimal losses."
"That was a special case. House Buckwell just happened to have two bishop-level priests," the old Crab said, shaking his head with admiration. "They had been saving up spell slots for over a year. In that single day, they used more than two thousand divine spells. Terrifying."
Generally speaking, every noble house in Westeros is equipped with three things: a maester and a rookery, a septon and a sept, and a godswood.
Maesters, rookeries, and godswoods are nearly universal, while septons and septs are rare in the North. In fact, only House Manderly of White Harbor follows the Seven.
Stokeworth also had a sept, with an elderly septon of House Buckwell and a single apprentice.
He was the great-uncle of the current Lord Buckwell.
Since he had no inheritance rights as a second son, he had studied at the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing when he was young. After becoming a septon, he returned home to oversee the sept, and half a century passed in the blink of an eye.
Later, Ser Buckwell's younger brother, also without inheritance rights, studied under the old septon. After more than ten years, he became an acolyte, though he was not registered with the main church.
By coincidence, both second sons of House Buckwell possessed exceptional spiritual aptitude and were deeply devout. Over a year ago, they both advanced to become priests.
They belonged to a hereditary line of septons and did not go to the Great Sept to become high septons. In fact, many regional high septons never went to King's Landing after becoming priests, while some bishops from King's Landing were instead assigned to regional dioceses.
The two Buckwell septons quietly stayed at home studying the Seven-Pointed Star and were not well known. Lord Buckwell knew they had become priests but did not take it too seriously.
These two devout, homebound septons spent their days praying in the family sept and had few chances to use divine magic.
However, Mother Daenerys allowed spell slots to accumulate without limit.
After holding back for over a year, each of them had accumulated more than twenty thousand spell slots.
Twenty thousand—practically human artillery platforms of divine magic.
One could imagine the shock they caused when the wights attacked the castle.
Under the Faith's divine magic system, as long as one saves long enough, even bronze can defeat gold.
The scene was comparable to a hidden master suddenly appearing and overwhelming the greatest martial heroes, shocking both Shaolin Temple and the entire martial world.
The defense of Stokeworth was the first time people truly realized the immense value of septons in warfare.
Holy healing spells were not very effective against illness, but for sword wounds, especially stopping bleeding, they were almost overpowered. And in war, what was more needed than that?
"Since septons are so useful, let the Faith send them to every castle," Tyrion suggested.
"The nobles all think that way, but the Faith refuses," the old Crab said, shaking his head.
Daenerys disagreed. "Think about the Dawn Knights. No one would split them into hundreds of parts and scatter them across various castles.
"Stokeworth was a special case. Those two septons had been saving their magic for so long that together they were equivalent to a team of hundreds of priests.
"It's like splitting Dawn Knights. One or two Valyrian steel warriors might boost morale, but they wouldn't be very effective. Low-level priests only have a dozen or so spell slots per day. They can't turn the tide of battle.
"Only by gathering priests together into large groups, working alongside elite Sons of the Warrior, can they have a greater effect. For example, garrisoning King's Landing to contain the main force of the Others moving south."
At this point, Daenerys thought of the "Second Stag," who had finally become King of King's Landing, and asked, "What is Stannis doing? He has finally achieved his long-held ambition, taken King's Landing, and ascended the Iron Throne.
"Even if he cannot defend the Seven Kingdoms, he should at least protect his own lands, right?"
Tyrion nodded with a smile. "I almost forgot about Stannis. Although the Red Keep was destroyed by Euron, he has now been crowned king. The Crownlands are directly under the Iron Throne, so defending them should be the king's responsibility.
"Come to think of it, I've pledged fealty to him as well. As my liege lord, he should be sending reinforcements to Casterly Rock."
"Stannis's situation is a bit complicated…" the old Crab hesitated.
"How complicated? Just tell us what he's doing now," Tyrion said.
After a pause, the old Crab replied, "More than half a month ago, when he saw the Iron Throne, he suddenly coughed up blood and fainted on the spot.
"After that, rumors spread. Some say he was ambushed and seriously injured while pursuing Euron and has been recovering ever since.
"Others say he wasn't injured at all and just sits in a room, staring blankly.
"Still others claim he has developed hysteria, muttering things like 'Shireen,' 'the supreme and sacred authority of the king,' 'I am the rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms,' and 'I will conduct a great trial over the Seven Kingdoms, judging Euron and Cersei.'
"It sounds quite frightening. They say he may be losing his mind.
"There are too many uncertain reports, and he hasn't appeared in public, so we don't really know his condition."
Daenerys, of course, knew the story of the Iron Throne and dismissed it casually. "So what if the Iron Throne fell into a cesspit? What's so hard to accept?
"It used to sit in filth anyway.
"To be blunt, Euron and Cersei are filthier than a child's waste."
"If Stannis heard that, he'd go mad even if he wasn't already," the dwarf said with a grin.
"Perhaps he really is recovering from injuries and hasn't gone mad. After the Red Keep was destroyed, he pursued Euron and was indeed ambushed by scorpion ballistae.
"I can confirm that Davos, who went with him, had his abdomen pierced. Without the many priests in King's Landing, he would not have survived," the old Crab said.
"Stannis doesn't fear death, so why would he fear injury? He doesn't need time to recover unless it's a wound to the heart," Daenerys said, shaking her head.
"Has the Iron Throne been moved back?" Tyrion asked curiously.
The old Crab nodded. "The Flameheart Knight pried it out of the latrine with a crowbar, then ropes were attached, and three wyverns lifted it back to the Red Keep."
An image appeared in Daenerys's mind: the Iron Throne emerging from dirty water, dripping with foul residue.
She shuddered and quickly forced the thought away. It was too disgusting.
"And he can still sit on that chair? What an appetite," she said with distaste.
"You sit on it, you don't eat it. Why say 'appetite'?" Tyrion and the old Crab both looked equally disgusted.
"Sitting on a toilet to hold court?" Daenerys chuckled. "Not a bad idea."
The dwarf almost felt he could smell something unpleasant emanating from the Iron Throne during every court session.
"The Red Keep was blown into a huge crater, wasn't it?" he asked, changing to a cleaner topic.
"The outer castle became a massive pit. The towers near the crater collapsed, but Maegor's Holdfast and the White Sword Tower, being farther back, remained intact."
"Have the breaches in the walls been repaired?" Tyrion asked.
"They are being repaired. Davos is mobilizing the people of King's Landing to rebuild the walls and clear the burned districts.
"Rhaenys's Hill suffered the worst damage. He plans to relocate the population to Visenya's Hill.
"As for the area between Flour Street and Silent Sisters Street, nearly a quarter of King's Landing's residential district, including Flea Bottom, will be completely demolished."
"Pointless busywork. That effort would be better spent aiding the Crownlands lords," Tyrion said with a frown.
"No, he has no choice. You know how complex Flea Bottom is. Many wights are hiding there, making it impossible to clear completely. Recently, people have often reported seeing the undead moving through its dark alleys."
(End of Chapter)
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