A Tale of Blades & Blood-Chapter 23: Assemble

[Magrae's Point of View...]

For the first time, the bastard lord wasn't with us. After the commotion at the war council, Lord Loreys rode elsewhere with five other men, telling us to march to Ale Hall and remember the plan. "I ride to the east..." he told us before he left. "I'll gather support from House Berros and whatever men we have left at The Aely." he said as he prepared his men. "I'll meet you all after you take Ale Hall north in Ten Towns. I beg of you cunts... don't throw our efforts at waste." he remarked as he moved with his five thousand men in the distance.

The king didn't care either. He was not present during Lord Loreys' departure as he sat inside his own tent, sitting on his throne, probably looking into a mirror as he admires the crown on his head. I, along with the young lord, Forien Strix, moved alongside the soldiers, making sure they packed everything as we would move in the evening.

Madester rode south with five thousand riders, taking the villages whose chieftains surrendered and burning those who didn't bend the knee. Their aim was Soth Fields, a town north of Iron Port, and only a few hours east of Ale Hall, where they would meet us as soon as they took the town.

Maerys and Mareste gathered the laborers we needed. "Three thousand builders" was what the old lord said. "Gather them and pay them fifty silver for every machine they build." I recalled him say. Maserr, on the other hand, helped the prince in packing up for the long march. The young lord approached, on his horse and holding a green banner.

"Thirty-five thousand men in our hands..." he remarked, the long shaft of his banner resting on his shoulder, "...do I recall correctly?"

"Thirty. Five thousand ride south." I corrected him. "Your Sers Mareste and Maserr will join us as we march to Ale Hall while Madester rides to the villages and gathers more support. Hopefully, we'll get there before the armies of House Levarion reach us. They have the only cavalry that rivals ours. If we meet in the open field-"

"We die." the young lord remarked. "I figured that one..." he began, turning his head towards the armies who slowly fell into formation, each tent disappearing as they packed to march. "The builders... where are they, Ser Magrae?" he asked, still admiring the soldiers.

I paused and focused my gaze towards the city, where Maerys and Mareste gathered the builders. It's been more than three hours, surely. "They'll arrive soon enough..." I told him, holding the reins of my steed. "Give them a moment and they'll arrive with the working men." I replied. No thanks to the sloth king, I thought to myself.

"Then perhaps we should ready the soldiers and pack it all up." he remarked, turning his horse towards the soldiers who began to become scattered. He raised his banner and aiming the tip to his right, pointing where they had to go. "I hope they arrive before noon. Men need time to gather wood and stone."

"That's true enough." I replied, moving my horse slightly forward towards the armies, giving myself a better view. "With the siege making the city crumble and burn, you'd think there wouldn't be any builders left." I remarked, spitting at the grass that began to show as it began to be warmer.

"At least the keep wasn't burned down." he said relieved, his gaze now pointed to the castle that stood at the center of the city.

"They had nothing to fight with!" I exclaimed with a laugh. "Those bastards were so focused in whatever shit they were doing they didn't realize the green men ravaging inside their very keep!" I said aloud with a joking tone. The discipline those soldiers had was a joke, I thought to myself. It didn't exist at all.

The prince chuckled at the thought, but it felt forced. "Come, Ser Magrae..." he called, "...we should get the men ready."

Soon enough, the army was in formation. The soldiers were armed with spears and shields, others with swords, and others with bows and crossbows. The tents and whatever remained of our food were stored in large carts pulled by donkeys, and so would the resources needed to build the trebuchets and battering rams.

Overlooking them all, was the prince, who looked with seriousness upon the view. His thoughts were well-hidden with his face showing no emotion, and his banner rested as it penetrated the soil, planted on the ground. You look just like me, I wanted to say, when I was a young warrior.

In the distance, the battered gates of the city open slowly, with pieces of wood falling out, and around three thousand men, each wielding axes, hammers, nails ans such, flood out of the city, with two armored men leading them on horseback. "Your grace!" I exclaimed, pointing at the city gates. "The builders and gatherers have arrived, led by my brothers!" I said aloud and proud as I watched along.

"Perhaps the fires did not kill all the builders in Northrest." the prince remarked with a soft smile as he continued to maneuver the blocks of soldiers on the field.

"Indeed, my lord." I told him. "Will it please you if I go and help them?" I asked, restlessly inching my horse forward slowly, step by step.

The prince nodded. "Go. I will see to it that the armies are prepared." he ordered as he went on to the other side of the formation, his stallion galloping fast. I myself made my way to my brothers, across grass half-covered with snow and small stains of blood that remained after the siege.

My long hair flew as I rode, and soon I arrive to my brothers who had taken off their helmet to breathe well.

"Three thousand?" I asked as I stopped my stallion in its tracks, looking at Maerys whose eyes grew weary.

"Three thousand at most..." he replied, his hands folded. "Give or take perhaps twenty men. We counted well enough." he remarked with a rough voice. His fingers began to shake ever so slightly as he pointed to the builders who continued to march to the camp, their expression both relieved and ashamed.

"You're beginning to grow older." I told him while letting out a small laugh.

He chuckles at the thought as Mareste went on ahead. "You dare and compare me to Lord Loreys?" he asked, his stallion restless and moving about, eating the grass of turning its head wherever it found anything curious.

"You'll reach his age soon, and you'll look like him well enough..." I replied, gesturing him to move forward slowly. Our horses slowly trot to the camp. "...but one thing's for sure: You're not as small-tempered as the old bastard." I remarked, a smug look on my expression half-hidden by my golden mask that covered the scarred part of my face.

Maerys looks at me with a laugh ever so gentle. "Ale Hall's a large impregnable fortress, brother..." he remarked, "...you sure these soft peasant folk will be able to build you trebuchets just in time before the south gathers their armies?" he asked, a brow raised as he stared at me with a cold gaze.

"Aye." I told him proudly. "Give me a handful of these free folk and an array of machines and I'll rape the fortress bitch within nightfall!" I exclaimed with a laugh. "Gods..." I began, "...we can finally laugh with the old man not around."

"That's true..." he replied, "...but the men will begin to lack discipline and morale. The old man may be small-tempered but he is a commander- and a good one, too." he remarked as we neared the half-packed up camp. The only tents that remained were now being disassembled by soldiers designated to stay at Northrest.

"Ten thousand men at your command..." I said as I rode up the mound to the center of the camp. "What in the name of the gods will your men do there?" I asked, stopping my horse by pulling its reins. "Don't you dare say fight. These men got nothing to split with a sword-"

"Aye. That's not much of a mystery is it?" he asked with a small smile, his lips curled. "They'll guard the city, but they'll fortify the walls we've destroyed and perhaps make this poor bitch of a city a well enough woman." he remarked proudly, confident in his abilities.

"You forget that a fair maiden is more vulnerable to lustful cunts..." I told him, my gaze now focused once more on the city. "Don't make it too beautiful or you risk your pretty little maiden of a city's state of being a virgin." I said, laughing at the line.

"Maiden?" he asked. "That's a fancy word for a soldier. Since when did you start speaking noble tongue?" he asked with a joking smile paired with childish eyes. His youth returns, I thought to myself.

"I've been with fancy nobles plenty of times." I stated, looking at the prince who now rode towards us. The carts were filled with supplies, but plenty remain empty for the resources and materials needed.

"Fair enough." my brother remarked as he moved aside. The prince towed behind him.

"Ser Maerys!" the young lord called joyfully. "The builders- have they gone to work?" he asked, looking left and right. "I do not see southern men working." he remarked, his gaze now turned into quite a serious expression.

"They work only half an hour's distance on horseback from here, my lord. The great forests lie on the north, and there they will gather wood." he replied, his eyes fixated on the young lord's own. "As for stone and iron..." he began, pointing his finger to the city, "...the mines of the city will suffice." he answered, confident in our situation.

"Ser Maerys..." the young lord began, "...call the empty carts and take them to the forests. I will see to it that Ser Mareste gathers the other half of the carts to the city mines." he commanded with a stern and bold voice.

"As you command, my lord." Maerys replied, bowing his head down for a moment.

The day was filled with nothing but preparation for the upcoming march to Ale Hall. By sundown, the tent city was completely disassembled, and the ten thousand men along with my brother, Maerys, settle into the city for a long night of rebuilding as the wood carts had arrived. The soldiers gathered neatly into a formation with the carts in the center, surrounded by armed soldiers.

My brothers, Ser Madester and Ser Maserr all gathered at the front on horseback with banners in their hands along with the prince and his father, Lord Folius Strix, who only got fatter after indulging in wine and bread. His horse looked as if it wanted to die rather than carry his weight. I watched over from the mound, making sure nobody was left behind. Then, the other carts came back.

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A hundred carts filled with iron and stone arrived in a convoy, with the youngest of us brothers leading them at the front. The carts were manned by three soldiers each. One was to drive, and the other two to protect what they had and secure it. There was no need to hide ourselves anymore, as word of the green invasion would have reached the castles of the west by now, and the eastern castles will get news of it sooner or later.

The thirty thousand men were ready to march on Ale Hall's walls. Let's impregnate the fortress, I thought to myself, and take their golds and women. I laughed at the thought. How did it all arrive to this? I asked myself. How did we go from fighting rebel cunts and joining tourneys with prizes of gold and wine to rebelling ourselves? There was a deep irony- no doubt. I could only imagine the thought in the young lord's mind as the armies of green finally assemble.