Blackheart (GoT, Witcher, DC)

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***

Damian Blackheart.

Five more days after the arrival of the 'guests of honour' in the form of Loras Tyrell, Mary Mertins and Baylon Swann, four ships docked in our port.

Or rather, one ship first thing in the morning and then three more in the afternoon.

On the first one came to me an old acquaintance of ours, whom we have known for two years now. I am talking about Harven, that Dornish merchant whom I freed from captivity together with Varik and Gerda back in my first more or less significant rescue operation in this world.

- Harven, my good old friend. - I hugged him. - What are you doing here? Decided to visit old acquaintances?

- My lord, I have not only come to visit you, but also to present gifts and congratulations on your great achievement. You are His Majesty's Lord Bannerman now, and from what I have learnt, you have defeated Lord Renly's and the Lords of Angry Cape's forces.

- We know each other well, Harwen, so you can afford to be familiar with me by calling me by my first name. Besides, we're alone. Let's not make a comedy of it and drink like old friends. - I smiled at him, trying to remove the unnecessary officialism, besides, I'm already too often addressed by all sorts of petitioners. - So let's not say too much.

- Ah! You tear my heart to pieces, Damian. It is sometimes difficult for us Dornish to speak directly and without the traditional verbiage. - Harven exclaimed indignantly. - I understand that you are having a hard time, though. I've heard about your little problems. That's why I've come to help an old friend.

- And how is that?

- Mourningtown is rich, and a very lucrative place, but it could be more lucrative if it had new trading partners. And I mean, of course, my family's great trading house. We need new markets and partners. Also, I've had a look at your port, it's quite small, but if it's expanded and fortified a bit, there will be more profit and security for it during wars. I can help with that as well. Moreover, I'm willing to take care of the expansion and fortification of Sorrow's port.

- Expenditure on yourself? - I raised my left eyebrow, looking at him questioningly. - And what in return?

- The cancellation of duties for our house for five years. But besides that, I can help you recruit mercenaries from the Dornish. Lord Swann, when he learnt that you had captured his son and defeated the other lords and their forces, he began to gather all his vassals and mercenaries. Lord Berrick Dondarrion and his vassals even came to his aid. But he will have quite a lot of mercenaries, even without the participation of my Dornish brothers, whom I talked out of the contract. So he'll have to look for men in the Marks or the Expanse. But they're going to be quite a force. About a thousand or even a thousand and a half, maybe.

I cringed. I hadn't realised the Swanns were on such good terms with the Dondarrions. It could be a favour for old debts, or they could be related somehow. There's a lot of possibilities. Or else there is something I don't know...

I wish Swann had accepted my offer for his son's release from captivity - 300 gold dragons and my word of honour that his house would not turn against me in the next year. I could have disposed of that house as an opponent on the battlefield. It would have been easier. But fuck them. I'll ask more of them next time.

- Harven, you can help with information.

- Or should I say espionage? Ha-ha-ha, for an old friend, I'll try to get interesting information and rumours. I'll also help you recruit. How many men do you have under arms right now?

- A little over fourteen hundred.

- Hmm, not bad. I can bring in another 500 lancemen.

- Lari promised me a mercenary force from Sunspear. He said they're experienced fighters. Besides, mercenaries and border knights are starting to flock to Mourning Town. Little by little, my army is growing stronger and bigger.

- That's good, of course, but you need to consider that there are Morrigen, Wylde and Estermont. I don't think Rogers' men will fight any more battles until they've dealt with the problems they have. - Harven shared his judgement. - Did you ask our good King Robert for help?

- Yes, and he has untied my hands completely. So I want to take more from the situation. If I am not mistaken with the distances from Black Haven to Stone Helm, the number of troops and their composition, it will take about a month for everything and another week or a week and a half for them to reach my domain. In that time I can solve my major problems.

- I hope Seven will help you. - Harven smiled. - As for our partnership, I think we should talk more.

- Of course.

For another couple of hours, he, I and a couple of our accountants talked about trade priorities and all sorts of things that interested both sides.

As soon as I'd seen Harven off, I got word that three ships bearing the symbols of House Manderly had arrived.

Tom, Daren and John from the North had arrived with recruits for my army.

Soon all three were reporting back to me about what was happening in the North and how they had got there. They had sent messengers or ravens to all the clans, and in ten or twelve days they had arrived at Winterfell, where all three of them had made their selections. There were only a few, mostly because they were too old or too young for the war effort. Then they gathered and together with all two hundred and thirty-two northerners went to White Harbour, where they were provided with ships by Lord Minoga himself. And he sent his messenger with them to conclude a trade agreement. As it turned out, I'd recently learned that the previous lord and Renly Baratheon himself disliked trading with the Northmen, and also shrunk the trade of certain houses of Dorne, and generally had a strange policy on trade. If they had given more freedom to craftsmen and merchants, they would have made more profit than the Dusk House, which is a town twice the size. There's been little or no investment here, there's been a lot of grimaces from merchants, it's all just nonsense. I suggested drunkenly the idea of entertaining establishments, except brothels, and it was accepted by half of my guys, as well as a few traders and my accountant, who was left from the predecessor. Casinos and saunas (bathhouses) alone, as much money as they can bring in.....

In general, having told that they got here safely, though having lost about half a dozen northerners in a skirmish with pirates, my guys helped me with a new trading partner in the person of Manderly.

I briefed them on the events that had taken place without them, and then sent them off to settle in and rest. I left the new recruits to Gerda, she can handle them. And then I took in Manderly's messenger. The conversation with him was longer and more exhausting, but no less fruitful than with Harven.

When I had finished with the Minogue man, I called a council of war, which was attended by all my officers, and Donald Long, my two new vassals, and John as squire. Quibernus was not present, he was finalising preparations of ballistae and scorpions for the coming campaign. Varick had found this genius of the Seven Kingdoms and had arranged with him to supply him with test subjects and everything he needed for his research, he had promised me various pieces of equipment, medical treatment and anything else he could. We were pleased with each other.

Discussing and working out the whole plan and details of the trip took a long time, even until dawn. But we did it and gave the command to prepare for departure to the island of Estermont, which belonged to the house of the same name. Their ancestral fortress Jade was also located there.

It got this name because of the green rocks on which the pentagonal fortress walls were located and two sides overhung the sea, the others were already protecting their masters from the land. The port, which was almost twice the size of mine, could hold many ships of this house, but on their misfortune most of their fleet was destroyed or boarded. In the end, I, with all the fleet my grandfather had sent me, the requisitioned ships of the Estermonts, and hired merchant ships for transporting troops, landed on the island and laid siege to it, with my fleet finally defeating the remnants of the Estermonts' fleet or capturing ships. We lost three ships, but managed to capture just as many. So we came out at zero, hehe.

Just for good measure I negotiated with Lord Eldon Estermont and offered him surrender, he refused, then offered to pay me a token contribution, give me a hostage and swear not to attack me for a year. He again refused. Then I warned him that his intransigence would cost their house dearly. He grinned and spoke unkindly of my lineage.

What can I say? A boor! Even if he is a lord.

In the end, we dispersed to our men and went about our plans. Only Estermont had a plan to sit out while two and a half thousand mercenaries from Tyrosh headed towards him, consisting of the famous Raven-Briars and the Wind-Hounded. And I intended to take their castle that very night, defiantly preparing for a "long siege" to confuse the enemy about my plans.

And I succeeded. Around close to midnight, I led a night sortie to the walls of Jade, along with Rex, Gerda, Varick, and three dozen trained fighters. And in the three towers, which were to be guarded by a reinforced guard of Estermont's men, all the enemies were slaughtered and taken under our control, then came the turn of the only gate, which was guarded by twenty fighters. And they did their duty well, and did not sleep. It was hard work to take it and not make a fuss, but we lost six men killed at the gate, and only two on the three towers before that.

But in the end, the gate was ours, and we opened it for the hundred and fifty men who were crawling towards the gate and waiting for the signal. And they did, entering the castle and rushing towards the donjon, moving as fast as possible, but keeping in formation. They were soon followed by our other fighters, but already with noise. It was pointless to maintain secrecy. Street fighting had already begun. And the people of the "turtles" were trying to fend off a sudden night attack. These people had not yet witnessed our effectiveness at night. And our fame hasn't spread that far yet. But I think after this war, there will be a lot of people on Cape Wrath who will recognise us.

Towards dawn, Varick reported to me that most of Lord Estermont's men had been slaughtered and the rest taken prisoner. The few vassals of that house and Ser Aemon Estermont, Ser Alyn Estermont, Ser Lomas Estermont, and Lord Eldon Estermont himself were captured. But Andrew Estermont, another grandson of "Lord Tortoise" served Stannis and was at Dragonstone. So there was no way he could have taken part in this conflict.

With what pleasure I looked at the confused sleepy face of Lord Estermont can not be conveyed. After that, he had to agree to all my terms. He would give his grandson Alin to me as a hostage, and I would take away the entire, rather impressive treasury of the Estermonts, leaving them only a hundred silver reindeer. For these men are like deer to me, hehehe. Lord Estermont and his children also gave their word as knights and swore by the honour of the family in the sept in front of witnesses that they would not wage hostilities against me for two years now.

After this I informed them still with a smile and universal sorrow of the glad tidings that since they would not be able to defend their lands against brigands and pirates, a small portion of my men would remain for a time to provide the king's kinsmen with protection. Lord Estermont recognised the logic of my words, but gritted his teeth, turned pale and red at the same time "sincerely" thanking me for my participation in their fate. Five days later, the mercenaries, who had never been paid, arrived at the island. Harven had extracted the exact information that they would not be arriving on Estermont ships, but on other mercenaries and at their own expense. For they were going to pay the troops on the spot, and then with new forces to cross the land and strike at me.

Only it turned out quite differently. When the mercenary leaders learnt that the Estermonts could not pay them even if they wanted to, they offered to buy them out, and I gladly agreed, and we signed the contract. I immediately paid the deposit and their travelling expenses, as finances permitted, and instructed them to sail with some of my men to the Rain House and lay siege to it.

There weren't enough ships for everyone, so I and the rest of my men set sail for the Cape a few days later. By then, a raven came to Jade with news from the capital that a tournament in honour of King Eddard Stark's Hand would be held in forty days.

I really wanted to finish this quickly so I could get there. But there's no mistaking the rush. The main prize was tempting, but I'd get a lot more money, fame, and respect from Cape Wrath for this successful blitzkrieg. So I'll proceed as planned.

And when I arrived at Rain House, I had another round of negotiations with Lord Casper Wylde. He was not as arrogant as his predecessor, but he still refused my offer to "part ways" even when he learnt of the fate of the Estermonts. It's worse for him. He's unlikely to make a night sortie on the first day of my arrival. The Prince Oborvanian had tried to make one before, but he'd been counterattacked and had failed.

Rex tried another such attempt, but was also defeated in that endeavour, even wounded. Easily out of action for a while.

Eventually, we set about laying siege and preparing the guns for the assault.

What was my surprise when on the morning I was informed that a small detachment of three hundred men had come in from the rear. And, if I were to take the word of the local Storm Marines, they were Rogers' vassals.

I sinfully thought that they had decided to "avenge" the fallen house of their suzerain. But no, it turned out to be quite amusing and interesting.

This troop was led by Theon Tanbury, castellan of the late Rogers. And he negotiated with me. The point was that he wanted to take possession of Amberley, he was the closest relative of the Rogerses, except Casper Wild, who was the previous lord's maternal nephew. And if he should "accidentally" die, the Rogers estate would go to him by law. And he hinted that he wouldn't mind plundering the Morrigens. He's had a long history with them. So we agreed to play for the rest of the audience a scene of his troop being "pursued" by a small part of my army while we were storming the Rain House, and we would make sure that the little fellow played the box.

Half an hour afterwards I explained the task to the commander of the "pursuit" squad, which was led by Theo Frey, and they moved out to meet their "enemy." Those made a "manoeuvre" to move away from my main forces and give battle to this squad elsewhere. At least that's the official version for most. But I instructed Theo to be more careful, even giving him a detachment of four hundred and fifty trained men instead of the three hundred Lord Tanbury had suggested.

They rode off to act out an entertaining scene, so that Renly wouldn't make a fuss later, and we continued the siege, which after lunch was turned into an assault on the castle. The siege guns were ready, as were the shells for them. The bombardment continued for several hours, after which, under cover of our fire, the advanced troops pulled up a battering ram and began to rape the castle gates. Yes and infantrymen with ladders did not stand aside for long. Trying to disperse the enemy forces on the walls. After all, the wider the area of the "front", the harder it is to defend. And it doesn't matter how many men they have available. And given that I have many times more people, and the morale and training of my guys is higher than that of Wilde's men, the advantage is on my side.

Wilde's men were really brave and desperate, we lost a lot of killed, though mostly from the Wind Chased. As the Oborvan Prince wanted to show off his squad and more profit. Quite a strange line of behaviour, he behaved more reserved and reasonable in the book. Besides, he's a mercenary for over twenty years and he should have had experience in assaults. And he decided to drag the whole "blanket" on himself, so that the prey more got to his squad.

Of course, I don't mind that it's not my men who die, but this attack of his, even if successful, is quite wasteful on me. But in the end, our men climbed the walls and already, then repelled the gate, which still resisted against the battering ram, which was burned before with the brave men who tried to get into the city first. I'll have to worry about the battering ram at Quibernus later.

For now, we were taking the castle, where Wilde's warriors were still resisting. But for me, the most important thing was to get Casper Wylde out of the way so I could get Tanbury's support. Not that I trusted him too much, but I'd seen his eyes, and he didn't hide his desire for profit and his lust for what belonged to his former suzerain. Perhaps this Casper has also crossed Theon personally and that's why he wants him dead. There could be many factors and events intertwined here. But the main thing is that I know what strings to pull and where to pull them during the War of the Five Kings when it happens. I already know the details of the relationships and bloodlines of the lords of the Stormlands, and there's plenty of room to go around....

Three hours after the assault began, the castle was mine. Casper Wylde was wounded by Varick's stray arrows, Lesho and Sigurd managed to somehow miraculously take Casper's head off with his axe.

Well done. I specifically tasked my officers to hunt down and kill this lordling. And they pulled it off.

Soon the only relative of the already deceased lord, his uncle ordered the remaining defenders to lay down their swords, as he realised that otherwise we would kill all their warriors and that would be it. And so we only took most of the Wilde treasury, not to say that it is huge, but as they say "enough for bread and butter".

Then we made "peace" with the "captured" Theon Tanbury and even an alliance against the Morrigens. Theon didn't swear an oath to Renly, so he was free to spit on his wishes, and he wasn't even itching to check on his vassals.

I spoke to the late Casper's uncle, and after looting, or should I say legally seizing, the trophy money from the Wilde treasury, I offered to buy half the lands adjacent to mine. Already Lord Wilde gritted his teeth and frowned, but he realised that to "raise the farm" he needed money and men to protect all this good. And his memory was fresh after he heard our "counting". Turns out, as I overheard by chance myself from the servants, they had also heard it and seen the late Casper Wilde shudder at it. I didn't think Freddy Krueger's legacy would live on and thrive in Westeros, hehe.

In the end, he agreed and I increased my lands and, of course, took his young son hostage and his word that he would not break the peace first for two years.

As soon as we had agreed, a raven from Sorrowful flew in and informed me that a new army against me had gathered in Stone Helmet. Harven told me that his men had learnt the composition of the army, which consisted of two and a half thousand men and would be led by Berrick Dondarrion himself. He's a serious opponent. A no-nonsense, experienced commander who seems to have proven himself back in Robert Baratheon's Rebellion. That said, it was pointed out that one of the mercenary units had arrived, something Lari had promised me. He promised one, of course, but decided to take advantage of the situation and hired a couple more. As a result, without taking into account the five hundred Dornish copilots that are going to swim out to me in Tora, I already have nine hundred Dornish in Sorrowful. Led by three different commanders: Obara Sand, Nymeria Sand, and Herold Dane. I grinned at the amusing coincidence, or not coincidence (?), but gave the go-ahead for his actions and told him to prepare for battle. Apparently Berrick wants to fight in my territory and besiege Mourning.

I will have to postpone the siege of Crows Nest and go to my lands.

I set off by sea with a portion of the army, which mostly consisted of crossbowmen and my heavy trained and battle-tested infantrymen, while all the cavalry and the rest of the army will go overland along the coast.

We have time. But I will not waste it. I'm not playing with a girl, I can move quickly and finish my dark, bloody, but very pleasant business.

I even became interested not so much because of the future battle with Berrik, but because of the meeting with two Sand Snakes and Dark Star.

Continuation to follow....