Chapter 66

After thinking about the matter a few more Minutes you couldn't help but admit to yourself that Marie had a pretty decent Point about your current perception of Gold and Wealth as a whole, though you supposed that now was really not the right time to divide your focus more than was absolutely necessary, so you didn't. Instead, you would focus as much as was possible on the Threat to your Brother's Life to make sure his Host would remain intact for future Confrontations of the same nature. Mercenaries for rather obvious reasons didn't have the best Equipment to take on Knights, but if there was enough Gold in it to properly gear up for such a Job, then they could still be quite unpredictable and lethal in such numbers.

You honestly couldn't bring yourself to believe for more than a Second that they could actually get anywhere near your little Brother while his three Companies of heavy Knights and your Statues were still standing. Not that you were mad enough to actually gamble with your Brother's Life, just because you couldn't conceive a Way for them to Win with their little Ambush. For all you knew they would bring something a little more exotic like Tactics or Weapons from the far East, or perhaps even some kind of Magic.

You had honestly no Idea what the Pawns of the Crown could and couldn't get their Hands on, so there was really no Reason to fight such unknown Foes half-heartedly just because their Chances of Success were none existent. No, perhaps not quite none existent, seeing as Marie and especially the Gods wouldn't have informed you of the Ambush if it was completely harmless. But you still had to wonder what exactly they were seeing that you had apparently missed, three hundred heavy Knights against five hundred armed Men was actually quite the enticing Fight for House Lannister to take, in your Opinion.

Slavery was of course outlawed in the Seven Kingdoms, but you were sure that you could still get some use out of a few hundred Prisoners as long as they possessed some decent martial Skill, as was naturally required of any and all Mercenaries. Yes, the more you think about it the better you like that Idea, it's not exactly uncommon for Mercenaries to turn to banditry when they're down on their Luck. If you were to add a few hundred Stone Collars into the mix to keep the Mercenaries in check, then you've got yourself your own little Band of Outlaws in no time at all, and that essentially for free.

It actually sounded more and more enticing the longer you thought about it as you considered how you could use them to raid the Reach to finally end their Support of the countless Bandit Groups spread throughout the eastern Westerlands. Those Groups didn't form like they usually would, so it's probably a good bit more effective to starve them of Supplies from the Tyrells to break them up, you were sure your Father would approve. Most of those Bands were even now still inexperienced, which meant that a few hundred Knights of the Rock might be enough to wash them out of their Holes so that you could add them to your little Band of Outlaws if everything worked out.

...

Three Days of creating Statues in the Rock and looking intently at the Woods surrounding the Road later, you could see the Wagon Fort blocking your Advance, but Jaime's Troops soon managed to spring the Trap successfully. His Host took a bit of Damage as was expected, but seeing as the wounded Knights could be counted with one Hand it was going surprisingly well, too well in Fact, but that's what you got your little Oracle for, so you and Jaime had already planned around what was coming next.

Lord Dainor's Plan was good, as in you absolutely loved it, but you knew that you couldn't recruit the Man to your Side, so you simply focused on dealing with him instead. His original Plan was split into only three overall quite simple Parts as far as you knew, but you were genuinely looking forward to using it yourself some time in the future despite how direct it was. Lord Dainor had gambled that attacking the Knights with nothing but Arrows would provoke a swift Attack from Jaime's Side, which obviously didn't happen, so that the whole thing came crashing down on him before it could even start.

Following that Attack he would have let the Knights bunch up nicely against the Walls of his little Fort and then use the Siege Weapons he had prepared to defend Stadley Castle to skewer them in the dozens from behind the Wagons. And while the Knights would be focused on Lord Dainor and the Wagon Fort, the Mercenaries coming from the East would simply use the Opportunity to encircle your Brother's Troops with their superior Numbers until the whole Host would be wiped out, yeah, you genuinely loved it.

But neither you nor your Brother had any Intention of playing fair this Day, so while most of the Host rode against the Mercenaries while they still moved into Position. You had by this Point already sent four of your Statues towards the Fort to open it up from all Sides, one Wagon at a time, to really make sure that none of them would return to Stadley Castle to fight another Day, as they say. For despite some genuinely good moments, you were by now pretty done with this Campaign and just wanted Jaime to safely return to Rose Hold in the Hopes that your Worries would finally quiet down again.

But those Thoughts were cut short as you swiftly focused on Jaime's Cub just a moment before some Madman fully clad in red from Cloak to Mask holding onto some kind of Needle crawls out from under the red Fabric of the Command Tent stored in Jaime's Wagon, manages to stab him. You've been too distracted with the Fort it seems, and that was probably by Design, everything considered, but you still saved the Situation by sending the Carriage flying with the Hammer of one of your nearby Knights while the Assassin was distracted by the Cub jumping directly at her Face.