personal6

Chapter 50

A storm before

Edmure POV

It was clear that Jaehaerys had not grown yet. A boy inclined to rash decisions and recklessness. As the lords were done discussing the battle plans, I stayed with Jaehaerys.

"You were lucky that Stannis refused."

"Do you think I wouldn't be able to defeat him?"

"Yes, you might be talented, but Stannis fought in many battles. He has more experience than you. Experience is an essential thing in a fight. Your declaration was reckless and would have jeopardized everything we worked on," I reprimanded the boy. "You should have stayed in the Westerlands and…."

"And what? Pillage and raid?" The boy interrupted me. "What would that accomplish. From our actions, only the smallfolk would suffer. Once we take King's Landing, we will end the war."

"End the war, you say. Don't be ridiculous," I replied to him. "After we defeat the Lannisters and Baratheons, we must march to the Westerlands and the Stormlands to put every lord who won't kneel to you to the sword. There will be a lot of cleaning up."

The boy remained silent at my words. Well, what was done was done. What mattered was how to win this battle and the ones that would come. The boy will learn and become a man. For now, I have to ensure he doesn't make any more mistakes.

"How should we proceed with this battle?" The boy asked.

"Both Stannis and Tywin want to rid of us first," I said. "This is a three-way battle. If we attack Stannis, Tywin will strike us from behind and vice versa. The best action is to keep pressure on the city and wait."

"Wait?"

"Yes, the city won't survive long without food," I replied. "It has half a million people inside; soon enough, the starving will riot and fight those who have the food. Stannis isn't in a great position either."

"Still, we can't just do nothing. We should try to hold the gates with foot and attack Stannis with cavalry."

"We would need to defeat Stannis fast. It would work if there were only one or two gates. But we would need to scatter the men to all the city gates, and then our advantage in numbers would be lost. Tywin probably has about thirty thousand men, maybe more if the conscribed men from the city."

"We have about fifty thousand," The boy agreed.

"For now, as I said, we have an advantage not only in numbers but in the situation too. We can always call for more men and more resources. At the same time, Stannis and Tywin are stuck with what they have. We should dig in and wait."

"I refuse."

"What?" I couldn't believe him.

"We could use this situation and lure the Lannisters out," He said.

"We don't need to lure them. Lord Tarly should come soon with the rest of foot from the reach. Then we can think about it. Lannisters are in the corner."

"Even rats bite when they are pushed into the corner. What a lion will do?"

I didn't answer. I knew it would not be an easy battle. Still, I refused to take a risk. We had the numbers and position. Time was on our side, too. There was no need to rush things even if we could find a chance.

"Fine, we can think of something later. For now, we should secure our camp with horse fences and pits," I told him. "We shouldn't let our guard down."

"Very well, but I will send scouts to watch Stannis. If he gives me an opportunity, I will use it."

"Stannis is a seasoned commander. If he gives you an opportunity, it will be a trap to set you up."

"Then I will leave you to decide when to strike."

"If, not when," I replied. "I still don't want to fight when we don't need to."

"We must fight," Jaehaerys told me. "The sooner we get over with this, the better."

I had no choice but to agree before I left him be. He was no fool but too eager and too impatient. I didn't show any disapproval in the public eye at Jaehaerys decisions, but I will question him privately. For now, I need to prepare the camp.

…

I rode around the camp, checking the tents of men in arms. I reprimanded every man who didn't tie his tent tightly or nailed it down to the ground deep enough. I made sure that the stables were secure. Next, I went to the armory and food storage and ensured they were well guarded.

To check the whole camp would take too long, so I only reviewed the Riverlands campsite. I left Lord Bolton the North campsite and to ser Garlan the Reach campsite. Riding through the camp, I met up with Lord Mallister.

"Lord Edmure, are you on patrol?"

"Yes, just finishing."

"You should leave that to others. Why bother with it yourself?" Patrek asked.

"To put fear into the men, now they will think that Lord Paramount will check on them. Next time, the men will do better, thinking it would anger me," I answered and dismounted my horse. "Now, let's check your tent, ser Patrek Mallister."

I walked past him into his tent. Seeing me, Patrek's squirrel spooked and, after greeting me, ran off. Patrek groaned when I picked up pieces of his small cloth from the ground. Good thing I was wearing leather gloves. The tent was a disaster.

"Common, don't you know a thing about privacy?"

"What this?" I asked, picking up a bottle of fine wine. "Unauthorized merchandise? No discipline whatsoever. Lord Mallister, I expected better from your knights."

"My apologizes, my lord," Lord Mallister bowed his head. "I will make sure to punish him accordingly."

"Night watch will be enough for his first misdemeanor," I laughed as Patrek groaned. "I will confiscate this."

After laughing with Lord Mallister at his son's expense, I couldn't contain myself and hugged my old friend. It was a long time since I saw him. He was left at Seagard to watch for any Ironborn activities.

"Are you done with this nonsense?" Patrek asked.

"Yes, yes. Still, you will keep night watch, and I will take this," I replied and took the wine bottle. "I heard that your wife is pregnant, Patrek. Congratulations, Lord Mallister."

"At last, the boy could do something right," Lord Mallister responded. "I will leave you to catch up with each other."

"You should have stayed with your wife, Patrek."

"Are you mad? I would better face an army than my wife," Patrek replied. "I swear one moment she as sweet as honey. The other moment, I could see fire spitting out of her mouth. I live in fear every day at home."

"You damn coward," I slapped his back.

"Well, at least father has gotten off my back," He said. "I swear once he heard the news, he became ten years younger and won't stop smiling."

"Let's hope your child will resemble your wife more," I commented.

"What that should mean?" Patrek asked. "I was thinking of naming my child after you if I have a son."

"It was your wife's idea, wasn't it?"

"Of course, I wouldn't want my child to have such a stupid name."

"What your tongue, Mallister, you speak to your Lord Paramount."

"I so sorry, my lord, please forgive his lowly subject of yours," Patrek bowed with one arm to his heart and another lifter above his head.

"When you will learn to bow correctly?" I asked, laughing. "Now I will feel bad that I didn't name any of my children after you."

"You still can," Patrek replied.

"Yes, if I have another girl, I will name her after you," I told him.

We walked around the camp laughing and japing at each other. Taking sips of the wine, Patrek brought. When we finished the bottle, the sun was already gone beyond the horizon. We both knew that today might be the last day we could do so.

Tomorrow we will start the battle. It would be a complicated battle with three armies fighting each other. There were few such kinds of battles in the history of Westeros. But today, I tried not to think about it and enjoy the night's cold breeze.

"Will you return home after this?" Patrek asked.

"Probably no, the Westerlands would need to be pacified, and I don't know what we will do with the Stormlands."

"Take me with you," Patrek said. "I can see that you have already forgotten how to relax while I was away. Someone has to keep an eye on you."

"You just don't want to return to your wife," I replied.

"It just part of the reason," Patrek laughed. "Still, I heard you gotten close to Lord Bolton. Of the little I know of him, I can say that I don't like him much."

"He is a powerful Northern lord. The Riverlands should get closer to the North after all."

"If you don't want to tell the truth, so be it," Patrek saw through me. "I don't care much about politics, and I know your plans' complexity. Even if they don't seem to go as you would want. The most I could do is think of where to get a drink."

I knew that I had made mistakes. I had been taken advantage of. There were moments when I should have done more. A part of me was afraid to change too much; it was a mistake. For all my planning, I lacked resolve.

In the end, I wasn't made for this kind of life, no matter how many times I tried to convince myself. Now I just wanted to end it and see my children grow to be better than me. I didn't say anything of it to Patrek. I hated to show myself being weak. We continued to jape at each other.

Just when I thought of how to get another bottle of wine, the rain started to drizzle on us. Taking it as a sign to stop for tonight. We both walked back to our tents, but the drizzle became a shower before long.

Before I managed to get into my tent, I heard a rumble of thunder coming from the sea. The wind started to pick up too. I felt like gods were on my side. The rain would make the ground muddy, making it harder for horses and men to do any fighting. And if the Storm is big enough, it might destroy Stannis' fleet.

The storm will only benefit us. We had enough resources and a good position to hold it out. Stannis, on the other hand, was stationed by the sea. His men won't have a good time. I am sure of that much.