Whispering City, Lord's Council Hall.
Lord Green, Knight Pell, Knight Mason, Scholar Al, Steward Herschel, and Empalo were gathered around a table, discussing the "Eastward Campaign" to reclaim the ancestral lands.
A large map of the eastern Crab Claw Peninsula was spread across the center of the table.
The plan was nearly finalized. After pondering for a moment, Green spoke:
"Reclaiming the old territory is a long-range expedition. Securing military supplies is the highest priority. At regular intervals—based on half a day's march at a normal pace—we must establish camps protected by wooden palisades, advancing step by step."
"Everyone, the Crabb family hasn't conducted an expedition beyond its own lands in over a decade. Our battles have always taken place nearby, making it easy to replenish food and treat the wounded."
"But once we leave our home, everything changes. We'll be surrounded by enemies, and if our supply lines falter, we might collapse before the battle even begins. Without fighting, we'll have already lost. As battalion leaders, securing logistics must always be your top concern. The commanders of House Crabb must remember this well."
Everyone solemnly replied:
"Yes, my lord!"
"Pell, your reconnaissance unit must head out ahead of us to scout the path. You'll also need to select the sites for our camps in advance. When choosing locations, consider terrain, water sources, and other factors. I'll depart with the main army in three days."
Green stood up, and the others followed suit.
He slowly looked each of them in the eye and said:
"Reclaim the old lands—united as one!"
"Yes! Reclaim the old lands—united as one!"
"Reclaim the old lands—united as one!!"
"Reclaim the old lands—united as one!!!"
The military meeting had just ended. Everyone left the hall except Steward Herschel, who remained behind to report on other matters concerning the territory.
There were many affairs to address, and Herschel had to report them one by one.
Green was listening attentively when the council hall doors suddenly swung open. The tall figure of Sulanna appeared at the entrance.
Sulanna bowed and said:
"Pardon the interruption, my lord. I thought the meeting had concluded."
Green's calm gaze shifted to her.
"Sulanna, is it urgent?"
"Your cousin, Lady Lyanna Crabb…"
Before Sulanna could finish her sentence, another tall figure appeared at the doorway.
The newcomer had a slender build and bore a striking resemblance to Green—at least sixty or seventy percent similar in appearance. She was none other than Lady Lyanna Crabb, the cousin Sulanna had mentioned.
Green had just risen from his chair when the travel-worn Lyanna Crabb threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably, her cries filled with grief.
Green tried to guess what might have happened but said nothing. He simply wrapped one arm around her back and gently patted it, silently comforting her.
After a long while, Sulanna stepped forward and softly offered some words of consolation. She helped Lyanna sit in a nearby chair and poured her a glass of red wine.
Green patiently waited until Lyanna had downed the full glass in one go before speaking:
"Lyanna, tell me—why are you so heartbroken? I'm here now."
Lyanna's eyes were brimming with tears:
"Wushor wants to dissolve our marriage… sob sob sob…"
Wushor's full name was Wushor Mecca, a merchant from Seagull Town in the Vale. Lyanna Crabb had been married off to him around four years ago, arranged by Green's mother.
How could a noblewoman like Lyanna be married to a merchant?
After Robert's Rebellion, the Hand of the King and Duke of the Vale, Jon Arryn, never let up in suppressing the Crabb family—loyalists to the Targaryens on the Crab Claw Peninsula. Naturally, the forces of the Vale followed suit.
Green's mother struggled to maintain the Crabb family under this pressure. After ten years of endurance, exhausted, she opted for a "dignified compromise" by marrying off Lyanna—who had just come of age—to a so-called well-connected merchant in Seagull Town, Wushor Mecca.
Strictly speaking, this marriage was a humiliation imposed on the Crabb family by the nobles of the Vale.
For nearly a decade, the nobles of the Vale had blockaded and suppressed the Crab Claw Peninsula. Their initial enthusiasm for this had long waned, and this insulting marriage was enough to demonstrate their continued loyalty to Jon Arryn, the Hand. Afterward, they could afford to ease up.
While the Crabb family lost some noble dignity, the marriage did improve their relationship with the Vale. The blockade was lifted, traveling merchants gradually returned to the territory with much-needed goods, and Crabb leather could finally be sold at fair prices to buyers from afar.
Lyanna's marriage had been sacrificed in exchange for the Crabb family's chance to breathe—but the entire incident had sown deep resentment.
Back then, the Crabb family had been too weak for anyone to care.
"My dear cousin, why does he want to end the marriage?"
"Sob sob sob, I found out later… a noble widow from Stonehedge has taken a liking to Wushor! She has no children, and if they marry after our divorce, their child would be eligible to inherit her title…"
Hearing this, Green's long fingers tightened on his knee.
Lyanna continued:
"People from the Vale already mocked our marriage. If I get divorced, how will I even survive… I refused, of course. But then he struck me. I was so scared… when he left home, I secretly ran away with my maidservant. Sob sob sob!"
Green's eyes narrowed slightly:
"It seems the people of the Vale truly have no regard for us."
Sulanna was furious on Lyanna's behalf:
"Damn those Vale bastards! They should have their throats ripped out by White Walkers! That coward Wushor thinks that as long as he divorces Lady Lyanna and marries that shameless noble widow, he'll become one of the Vale's nobility. He assumes House Crabb is too afraid to retaliate and will simply swallow the insult."
Lyanna sadly nodded—yes, that was exactly what the wretch was thinking.
Green rubbed his brow, then looked straight at Lyanna:
"Cousin Lyanna, no one in Whispering City has ever forgotten your sacrifice. And you… are my family. After you left, your room was kept just as it was. Someone has always kept it clean, as if you never left."
As the lord of the house, Green had made his stance clear. Lyanna's eyes welled with tears again:
"Green…"
She had been deeply anxious during her journey. When she married and left, Green had been just eleven years old—shy and scrawny.
Green's mother was now dead. The Green she remembered was vague in her memory, and now he was lord of the territory. Lyanna had dared not hope he would show her kindness after hearing what had happened to her.
She felt she had brought disgrace to the family—how could she face Green? But in the end, she realized… aside from Whispering City, she had nowhere else to go.
Only in that so-called "savage countryside" mocked by others could she find safety.
So Lyanna came—against all hesitation.
Her cousin, whom she hadn't seen in four years, had grown up. His calm presence brought her peace.
Green gently reached out and held her slender, cold hand:
"Lyanna, this will always be your home."
"May I ask… if I were to bring you Wushor's head… would it make you feel better?"
.
.
.
🔥 The Throne's Last Flame — A Song Forged in Ice and Wrath 🔥
📯 Lords and Ladies of the Realm, heed the call! 📯
The saga burns ever brighter—30 chapters ahead now await, available only to those who swear their loyalty on Patreon. 🐉❄️🔥
Walk among dragons, defy the cold, and stake your claim in a world where crowns are won with fire and fury.
🔗 Claim your place: www.patreon.com/DrManhattanEN👤 Known on Patreon as: DrManhattanEN
Your loyalty feeds the flame. And fire remembers.