Game of Thrones: The Impaler of the Blue Fork

Chapter 96: The Deadlock in the Mud and the White Knight in the Great Hall

On the mudflats across the Lancha River, the twenty-five human heads impaled on sharp wooden stakes slowly dried in the cold spring wind.

The dark red blood plasma seeped into the sand, turning into hard scabs that emitted a foul stench.

Tytus Blackwood stood on a high ground three hundred paces from the riverbank, coldly watching the heads of his elite troops.

Several ranger officers knelt in the mud, their eyes bloodshot, gritting their teeth and begging the count to order a crossing and a full-scale assault, even if it meant filling the river with corpses, to smash that damned gray stone wall of Hohenzollern to the ground.

"Shut up, all of you."

Tethos's voice wasn't loud, but it made all the officers lower their heads.

There was no irrational fanaticism in his gray eagle eyes, only a deep wariness.

"That's a trap." Tethos pointed with his riding crop at the wooden sign on the riverbank that read "Suppress the bandits." "If we cross the river now, we'll be going to our deaths. Even if we flatten that stone tower with our lives, Riverrun will immediately send our whole family to the guillotine on charges of 'attacking a baron appointed by the king and instigating a civil war.'"

"Relay my orders."

Tethos turned around and lashed his whip hard into the air.

"The entire army shall retreat two miles and camp outside the range of arrows! Cut down trees and set up chevaux-de-frise. Block all trade routes and paths leading to the territory of Hohenzollern!"

"He has retrieved the water, but he has no salt or food. I will turn this land into a tomb for the living dead. Not even a single bird will be allowed to fly out of that stone tower!"

The top floor of the stone tower on the opposite bank.

Otto Hohenzollern watched as Blackwood's army receded like a black tide, beginning to systematically set up camp on the distant hillside.

Supervisor Polliff stood to one side, his fingers trembling slightly with fear and anxiety.

"Sir, they're not leaving. They're going to starve us to death." Pollifer swallowed hard. "We've gotten our water back, but the oats in the barn will only last ten days. And once the rumors of dysentery spread, no one will dare buy our salt. We won't last until next month."

"No need for next month."

Otto turned around and walked to the rough, hard wooden table. He picked up a sharpened quill pen and dipped it in ink.

"Tethos thought he had me by the throat. But he forgot that he took more than half of the rangers from Raventree, and now his pastures and mills to the south don't even have an old man on watch."

Otto wrote down lines of secret messages smoothly on the parchment.

The letter was addressed to Count Jonos Brecken, the owner of the Red Horse Banner and a member of the Brecken family.

The letter contained only three pieces of information:

First, Tethos' main force was firmly pinned down at the Blue Fork River.

Secondly, the territory south of Brightwood is now an unsuspecting piece of meat.

Third, this was a spring gift from Hohenzollern to his White Salt allies.

Otto rolled up the parchment, dripped hot red sealing wax onto it, and pressed it heavily onto the baron's gold seal.

"Give this to Rosso's brother and have him swim across the Red Fork River through the culvert under the East Tower overnight to deliver the letter to the Brecken family's caravan."

Otto tossed the secret letter to Pollive, his eyes gleaming.

"Tethos wants to wear me down here. Well, let's see if this old tortoise can still sit still when Brecken's light cavalry sets fire to his old granaries."

Two days later, in Benliu City, more than a hundred miles away from the Blue Fork River Valley.

This magnificent triangular castle stands at the confluence of the Tengshi River and the Hongcha River.

Inside the main hall of Flowing City, sunlight streamed through the tall stained-glass windows onto the expensive carpets, filling the air with the aroma of incense and roasted meat.

Duke Horst Tully sat on the high oak throne.

Although this supreme lord of the Riverlands was getting older, he still maintained the same dignity he had when he participated in the Battle of the Trident.

Inside the main hall stood a dozen or so well-dressed nobles from the Hejian region, who were arguing heatedly about the upcoming spring planting and the allocation of water rights.

"Bang!"

The heavy, copper-clad wooden doors of the main hall were pushed open with difficulty by two guards.

A strong, foul stench, a mixture of fermenting excrement and rotting flesh, wafted into the main hall through the draft.

The nobles who were about to launch into a long speech all changed their expressions, took out spiced silk handkerchiefs to cover their mouths and noses, and retreated in disgust.

A tall figure strode into the main hall.

It's Gareth.

This once radiant white knight on the training ground now looks like a beggar who has just crawled out of his grave.

His once black cloak was now unrecognizable, covered with silt, weeds, and unidentified filth from the sewer drain.

His boots trod across the smooth gray stone floor, leaving a trail of shocking black water footprints.

But he walked very steadily, his back straight like a long spear.

In his deep blue eyes, there was no humility in the face of a nobleman, only a burning grief and indignation from witnessing the tragedy.

"Halt! Who dares to disturb His Highness the Duke!"

A Tully family captain drew half of his longsword and shouted sharply.

Gareth did not draw his sword.

He walked to the center of the hall and knelt heavily on one knee on the most precious red velvet carpet.

"I am Gareth, a knight anointed by the Seven Gods, a vassal of Baron Hohenzollern of the Blue Fork River."

Gareth's voice was hoarse, but every word was as loud as if it were being struck on an anvil.

He untied the heavy bundle wrapped in greaseproof canvas from his back and placed it in front of him with a clatter.

The hall fell silent.

Duke Horst frowned slightly and leaned forward.

"The Baron of Blue Fork? That young man personally appointed by the king?"

"Knight, you've come to my palace reeking of the sewers. If it weren't for delivering some important intelligence, I would have stripped you of your knighthood."

"My lord, I bring blood, fire, and the rules of the Riverlands that are being trampled upon!"

Gareth suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, his voice trembling slightly with extreme grief and indignation.

He lacked the shrewdness of a politician and had no prepared rhetoric.

He simply dumped the hell he had witnessed at the Blue Fork River onto this magnificent palace, in its entirety.

"Earl Tytos Blackwood, in order to vent his personal grudge, lowered a giant log from upstream, destroying the watermills and filters on the Blue Fork River!"

"He cut off the clean water supply during the spring floods, forcing more than five hundred of his people to drink the poisonous water contaminated with dysentery!"

These words caused an uproar in the hall.

Cutting off waterways and spreading plagues are grave offenses that must be avoided in the Riverlands.

"We sent three unsuspecting farmers south to deliver some life-saving rations. But the rangers from Brightwood ambushed them!"

Gareth slammed his fist hard on the carpet.

"They chopped the farmers into mincemeat, even burning their bodies to a crisp, and threw them back at our barricades like garbage!"

Duke Horst's face darkened completely.

Gareth untied the package and opened the heavy iron box.

Eighty golden dragons, shimmering with a cold, eerie light, were exposed to the light of the main hall.

That was the foundation fund left by Albrecht, and also the dead money Oto used to bribe those in power.

"This is the last blood and sweat of the Hohenzollern lands. The lord said that if justice requires gold to redeem, he is willing to give everything."

Gareth pushed the metal box forward.

"We don't ask for reinforcements, we only ask that His Highness the Duke send a messenger to see those dried-up wells and those charred corpses!"

"Go and see how Tytos Blackwood is trampling on the lord's oaths in your own lands!"

The main hall was deathly silent, with only the soft clanging of the golden dragon inside the iron box.

Horst Tully slammed his hand on the oak armrest and stood up.

"Blocking the river, burning the farmers. Has Tethos gone mad? What does he take the laws of Riverrun for?!"

The Duke's anger was finally ignited.

For him, the stability of the river region and absolute control over water rights are bottom lines that no one is allowed to challenge.

"Put away your gold, knight! The justice of the Tully family is not for sale!"

Duke Horst loudly issued the military order.

"Sir Lyman! Take fifty elite Riverrunners, my seal, and immediately accompany this knight to the Bluefork River!"

"Tell Tytos Blackwood that if he doesn't immediately withdraw his troops and provide a reasonable explanation, I will personally lead a large army to Raventree City to greet him!"

Gareth lowered his head deeply, and two murky tears fell onto the carpet.

He thought he had saved the territory, and he thought justice had finally been served.

Next, we just have to wait for the fire burning in the old house in Blackwood to completely illuminate this spring.