RM: Interlude: The Lion Bearded Part I

Sarsfield had fallen, and with it, the last corridor that Tywin Lannister could take to break out of the trap that Stannis had enclosed him in at the Crag. The only possible way that he might even try to escape now would be if he went by sea. While that wasn't impossible at this point, as at least one of the feuding parties in the Iron Isles had clearly taken his coin, Stannis had received a letter of intent from that same party, led by Rodrik the Reader, the Harlaw of Harlaw. It claimed that once the bout of bloodletting the Ironborn were engaged in was over, Rodrik Harlaw intended to bend the knee to Stannis, though the Boy Lord Maron Volmark had the best claim to being the new Lord of the Iron Isles. Stannis realized that it would, however, be the Reader pulling the Puppet Lord's strings.

At this point, he cared little so long as Rodrik Harlaw followed through on his promises, something which, at the very least, Stannis could claim had a better chance of occurring under Rodrik than any of the Greyjoys. There was, of course, still the issue of Theon Greyjoy, who even now was with Lord Stark at the Wall. However, Stannis was content to let the issue simmer for the time being, at least until the Reader proved himself to be a man of his word, and not cut from the same, soggy cloth as the late, unlamented Lord Balon had been. If the Reader's Reformist talk and recent actions proved to be naught but a smokescreen to cover treachery, however, then Stannis would still have Theon Greyjoy, who had been raised by perhaps the most honorable man he had ever known in Lord Stark, to replace him with.

For now, however, he focused himself and his energies on the task at hand. Tywin Lannister was stuck in the Crag with, what at their best estimates, Stannis' Commanders guessed could be no more than twenty-five-thousand men, and likely a good deal less than that. Stannis, however, tended to err on the side of caution, especially in times like these. After all, when was an opponent more dangerous than when they were cornered? Tywin Lannister would have bartered, lied, cheated, robbed, or threatened as he needed to wrangle enough men to resist Stannis' onslaught. In fact, Stannis would not be surprised if the man had somehow managed to acquire more than the twenty-five-thousand troops that his commanders thought he would have at most. It was simply how his life tended to go, though that facet of his experience had waned somewhat of late.

It was still solid advice, however, so as his army of fifty thousand men approached the Crag, setting up siege lines and a siege camp, Stannis pondered the best way to go about this with the least amount of casualties. The Crag had, up until a few short years ago, been an utter ruin. The Westerling mines had failed years ago, and the gold, silver, tin, and copper that had built the magnificent castle overlooking the sea had begun to play out back before the Mad King had been so much as a gleam in Jaehaerys the Second's eye. By the time of Stannis' Birth in two-sixty-four, they had been on their last legs. That had been over thirty years ago, and the castle had begun to fall into disrepair.

That was until the Westerlings discovered that the previously worthless Niter deposits they had been left with after the silver, gold, and other mineral deposits had run out, formerly only of interest to Alchemists and Maesters and not in enough demand to count, had suddenly become as profitable as their previous gold and silver mines had been. Tywin Lannister had bought up great quantities of the stuff from the Westerling mines for his Powderworks in Lannisport over the past few years. It had allowed the Westerlings to renovate and repair their defenses. True, they had barely been expanded at all, the Niter mines weren't quite enough to allow for that, not in a few short years, but what had once been a crumbling ruin was once again a mighty fortress. Worse, the way the walls were rebuilt had made them thicker, perhaps even enough to withstand prolonged bombardment.

Stannis had to try at any rate. Tywin Lannister was inside, and unlike with King's Landing, he had no Ricasso Seawynd or any of his more daring companions with him to pull off some sort of attempt to seize control of the Fortress by Infiltration. Unfortunately, much like with Ashemark, the elevation of the walls and their thickness were making bombardment a slow process. Thankfully, by the second week of this siege, two things happened to make things easier for Stannis than might have otherwise been the case. The first was the arrival of Ironborn Longships, flying the standard of the Reformists, under the command of Lord Donnor Saltcliffe, a man perhaps three years Stannis' Senior with thick, burly arms and a ruddy red beard.

The Ironborn had arrived to fulfill at least one of Rodrik the Reader's written promises, to provide ships to aid in the blockade of the Crag and men to bolster Stannis' Force. There weren't many ships, compared to what Stannis knew the Ironborn could field. Perhaps thirty or so. However, Lord Saltcliffe had explained the reasoning behind this quite articulately. Contrary to the stereotype of the burly Ironborn Warrior that he seemed at first blush, Lord Saltcliffe was actually fairly soft-spoken.

"Apologies, Your Grace. The Harlaw regrets he cannot send more ships or men, but he is still fighting die-hards on Great Wyk. The Hammerhorn is still under siege, and Lord Goodbrother's neighbors in Houses Sparr and Humble are still holding to the Old Ways. He needs the rest to press home the victory." Informed Lord Saltcliffe.

"That you are here as a token of good faith is good. Lord Harlaw arriving with Lord Volmark to bend the knee would have been better. So long as they do so promptly once their Campaign on Great Wyk is finished, I care not. They will do so, then, however, else I will be forced to take alternative measures." Warned Stannis.

"Alternative Measures, Your Grace?" Questioned Lord Saltcliffe.

"Lord Stark continues to host Theon Greyjoy as his Ward." Reminded Stannis.

"Do you truly believe you need to threaten the Reader to get him to follow through on his promises?" Queried Lord Saltcliffe.

"Whether I need to or not, it is best to be certain. I have grown tired of treachery and find it best to be clear about expectations so as not to invite more. My brother parleyed with the Ironborn once, back during his Rebellion, only for Balon Greyjoy to begin plotting his revolt before Lord Quellon's corpse had even cooled, after all." Ground out Stannis.

"I see. You need not fear a repeat of Lord Balon's folly, Your Grace. The Reader is not the same sort of man as the Late Lord Reaper was." Frowned Lord Saltcliffe.

"That may very well be so. However, until it is proven, suspicion is still prudent." Intoned Stannis.

"Is the arrival of my fleet not proof enough, Your Grace?" Asked Lord Saltcliffe.

"Not by itself. It is a start, however. We shall see what the morrow will bring." Acknowledged Stannis.

And with that, Lord Saltcliffe was offered bread and salt, and his men billeted in the camp, as the Longships were crowded with both their crews and the landing force that Lord Saltcliffe had brought to add to Stannis' Army. Lord Saltcliffe took the guest rite and immediately moved off to see to his men and the unloading of whatever provisions and equipment they had brought with them from their ships, now with a clear picture of where the Ironborn stood in Stannis' estimation. At least for the moment, anyway. Of course, that was only the first thing that would eventually lead to the culmination of Stannis' campaign in the Westerlands. The other thing was the arrival of Bronn and his group of agents, recently returned from the Wall.

With them, it was possible to engage in at least some measure of skullduggery. Stannis summoned them to his tent, and the Former Sellsword, Marcher Bowman, Ibbenese Axeman, and Ex-Hedge Knight arrived promptly, their leader still with a horn of ale in his hand. They knelt all the same in his presence, even if Bronn did so carefully so as not to spill his drink. Stannis ground his teeth at that, but he had long realized he could not force others to share his distaste for drink. He bade them rise with a motion, and as soon as they did so, Bronn cracked a grin and began to speak.

"Your Grace. What've you got for us?" Questioned Bronn.

"How do you know I do not wish to ask after affairs at the Wall?" Queried Stannis.

"I made that report already to Vizimir. If you haven't seen it by now, then it's for a bloody good reason." Shrugged Bronn.

"Point." Nodded Stannis.

"So, I'll ask again, Your Grace. What've you got for us?" Asked Bronn.

"I am in need of a small group with a particular set of skills." Began Stannis.

"I'd say so. Castle Walls are too thick to blast down easy." Grunted Gragg Shorn.

"Indeed. Normally, I would task Lord Seawynd with handling this himself, however. . ." Trailed off Stannis.

"He's not here, we are." Surmised Likely Luke.

"Just so. I know you lot have done this sort of thing before. Do you think you can replicate that feat here at the Crag?" Questioned Stannis.

"We can sneak into any Castle, Your Grace. It's what comes after that's the hard part." Scoffed Anguy.

Bronn elbowed the younger Marcher Bowman in the ribs, something that Stannis appreciated. He was not used to this much backchat, and his habit of grinding his teeth in bouts of annoyance had begun to worry the Braavosi Physician that Lord Seawynd had provided him, as Maester Cressen was too old to accompany him on Campaign. Something about wearing at the varnish of his teeth and the possibility of infection from that. Thankfully, it seemed the backchat had ended with the elbow.

"Anguy might have phrased it better, but he's right about one thing, Your Grace. Sneaking in is the easy part, even killing a few guards here and there would be easy enough, but to let you in? That needs a plan if you don't mind me saying so." Explained Bronn.

"And if I were to give you a distraction?" Queried Stannis.

"I suppose that depends. How big a distraction are we talking about, Your Grace?" Asked Bronn.

"One that Tywin Lannister can't afford to pass up. I recently received armor that is proofed against musketfire from Lord Seawynd's Arsenal. I intend to give him a shot at me." Intoned Stannis.

"Risky." Huffed Gragg Shorn.

"Aye, but no one can say the King doesn't have the mettle." Nodded Likely Luke.

"But at what cost? Tywin doesn't just have muskets up there, you know." Frowned Anguy.

"Anguy's right, Your Grace. There's cannons up there too, bloody big ones. No amount of proofing is gonna stop a cannonball from staving in your ribcage." Pointed out Bronn.

"That is why I don't intend to be exposed for long. I am not a fool, after all." Intoned Stannis.

"We'll have to time it perfectly. Minimize the risk to you and give us the best shot at taking the Gatehouse." Mused Bronn.

"We can work on it. I want this to happen by the end of the month." Demanded Stannis.

"Then we'd best get to work soon as." Agreed Bronn.

And so they did. For two weeks, planning and drilling, all while camouflaged by continuous anti-sally drills. Stannis' troops drilled so much in camp that it would be impossible for Tywin to have picked out the few instances of drills that were more about timing than about defending the camp, even if he had been watching closely. Somehow, Stannis doubted he had been, though. Tywin Lannister likely had his hands full already just trying to maintain discipline in an increasingly poor situation for his army. By the time Stannis was confident that every part of this maneuver would go off well, he was already getting reports of Maidenpool being under siege by Lord Seawynd, which, given the travel times involved, likely meant that the fighting in the Riverlands had ended one way or the other. Stannis was determined not to be outdone by his Lord Paramount.

At the end of the month, he ordered the operation to commence. Hopefully, this would be the end of Tywin Lannister and any further resistance. Stannis wasn't holding his breath over that, however.

After all, his life was never that simple. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see how Stannis is faring in the Westerlands. Really well, it turns out. Tywin Lannister is stuck in the Crag, with all the holdings around it having fallen to Stannis, and any hope of a Sea Escape cut off by the Ironborn. Of course, Stannis is suspicious of the Ironborn, especially as they pulled this same thing with siding with Robert during Robert's Rebellion before Balon turned around and began to plot his revolt just as soon as Quellon had died. Fortunately, the Reader is no Balon. Unfortunately, Stannis is right about even winning here not being the end. He's just wrong about the actual source of continued defiance. After all, Littlefinger isn't going to go quietly just cause Tywin was killed or captured. It's likely that subduing him will turn out to be the last piece of the Civil War.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the Battle of the Wall for Part Two. Then we'll be back with Ricasso for the Battle of Maidenpool, followed by Part Two of this plot thread with Stannis and Tywin, before having another Interlude in the Iron Isles with Rodrik the Reader.

Stay tuned. . .