Chapter 2: We can fight for the right price
Here is the second chapter, the third one I will upload later.
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Wilhelm POV
'I have some notion of where we are, and it's no good, these lands are from the book series and the TV series Game of Thrones, I should have allowed myself more time to read the damn books or watch the series, why did I listen to people, who said the TV series was bullshit, it would have helped a lot if I had that knowledge now'.
Well first I must know where I am, then plan what to do to get out of this horrible situation we find ourselves in now.
''Lord Jon Arryn and Lord Eddard Stark, could you please explain to me where we are? It is not pleasant to admit, but my men and I are lost. We have used every means we know of, to find out our position, but nothing seems to be working." I said with a friendly tone as I looked at the two nobles.
"So you are lost, with such a large army in the middle of a rebellion?" said Lord Arryn with a tone that showed he didn't believe me.
'I don't blame them, who would believe someone who claims to be lost with an army of nearly fifteen thousand men behind them?'
"Well, it is the truth my lords, I do not wish to harm you, I only seek information, I only wish to get my men home, we are tired and wish to avoid further trouble." I said as I pointed to my men.
"And how do you explain the fact that you speak the common tongue so well and even speak High Valyrian?" Lord Arryn said with a curious tone.
"Where I come from, the common tongue you speak is called English and High Valyrian is the language of the Romans and priests, Latin, all the knights take oaths in Latin, you could speak to any of the knights wearing white tabards in High Valyrian, and they will answer you with great fluency in that tongue.".I said with a respectful tone
"mmmh... well, we are in the seven kingdoms, currently in a civil war, we support Robert Baratheon's claim to the iron throne." the old nobleman said
'I looked at Charles, and he only replied by shrugging his shoulders in a clear sign that he knew nothing.'
'A rebellion, this must be the rebellion that put house Baratheon on the iron throne, so this is the winning side, I suppose, eh, a chance to gather supplies and take advantage of the situation'
''Would you be so kind as to hand me a map of these seven kingdoms? I would be truly grateful for your help, for the information you have given me, I'm afraid it doesn't help at all'' I said while keeping my tone polite.
'At this point, Lord Eddard Stark moved with his horse to attract attention'.
"We have no maps and no time either, we have to rescue Robert, who is being pursued by the royalist forces, and if you are not on the Targaryen side, don't waste our time with you" said the young nobleman.
The nobles began to return to their host, as their soldiers began to move south again
'Well I guess you're not the smartest of the nobles, he gave a lot of information, from what he said, I understand they are in a tight spot that helps to negotiate better terms, with these nobles.'
'I can offer my sword in service to these nobles and get something in return, it won't be popular among my vassals for us to act as mercenaries and much less with the prestige that mercenaries have for being men without honor, but who knew that having such a large army could be a curse, if I don't do something now in a few days we will start eating our horses and then our shoes if we don't get supplies soon'
'To hell with honor and prestige, the important thing is the survival of my people, nothing is more important than that'
''Wait, my lords'', I shouted and rode towards the nobles who were riding away
"My lords wouldn't by any chance be looking for mercenaries?". I said looking at Lord Arryn
"But weren't you and your men lost?" said Lord Arryn, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, we are lost and with the information you have kindly given me, I seem to think we are nowhere near our beloved home, that is why I ask, is there a war I can help you with, I have the sword, and you have gold and wheat, what do you say, do you want to hire us?". I said, smiling looking at the old nobleman
"We don't have the gold to hire so many mercenaries," Lord Arryn said, saying no with a nod of the head
"My good lord, we are willing to accept other payments, we can always set conditions, such as land for my services or rights to prisoners and plunder." I said in a kindly tone
At my insistence, Lord Arryn looked at my men and was surprised to see my knights armed in full plate armor and especially the standardization of their equipment, it was quite obvious when he opened his eyes fully
"Well, we will negotiate your terms when we rescue Robert, so we can see how much your services should be paid with, follow us, Hohenzollern." Said Lord Arryn a little nervously and sweating slightly.
''Of course, Lord Arryn, begin your journey, I must head off to speak with some of my men'' I said as I rode back to my soldiers.
I ride until I am close to Charles and Aleksanteri.
''Charles I need you to go back to camp and report what happened now and try to control the reaction some nobles might have, I got a job as a mercenary with the Arryn's, they are in a civil war, we can get a good deal if we show our martial skill here'' I said looking at the knight
''yes my king I will do everything I can to calm things down among the nobility, but what do I do if it's that, you know, some of them don't cooperate and don't see reason and try to stop us from doing your orders'' Charles said looking me in the eye
''You arrest them and judge them under the precept of treason, but don't kill them they will serve as an example for those who think of doing something stupid, we are in a time of need, we can't let the pride of some nobles prevent us from getting out of this critical situation, that's why Charles do everything you can, use all your connections with the nobles, so they can see the situation we are in now'' I said with a serious tone looking at Charles
Aleksanteri nodded his head as he listened
''Yes my king, I will try to have everything resolved in the most peaceful way possible''Charles said with a kind tone.
''well , I wish you luck in your mission, when you stabilize the situation, send Aleksanteri's men, they will be very useful scouts in our service to avoid unexpected problems, we must avoid as much as possible battles that could cause deaths, it is better that the rebels die than our men'' I said looking at the knight
Charles nodded and started riding back to the camp as fast as his horse could
Aleksanteri approached me with his horse.
''Some will not show their displeasure openly and the scheming will begin, how should I put an end to these corrupt parts attacking from the shadows, quick acting poison, slow acting poison, assassination, an accident with their horse or that when sent on a scouting mission they will simply not return''Aleksanteri said with a cold tone.
''Keep me informed only, we can't start killing each other now, not now at least, but if you hear of anything serious, let me know or act as you see fit, I don't want a rebellion or insubordination with my men now'' I said to the Finn who had his face covered with a cloth
''I will keep an eye on everything, if something happens among your vassals you will know, as soon as I come into knowledge about it ''said Aleksanteri looking at the nobles we just met.
''you want me to place a couple of spies in their camp, you know cut the necks of some of their soldiers and replace them with one of ours so we can find out what they plan to do if they don't trust us much'' Aleksanteri said with his cold tone staring at me with his eyes
''No, I doubt very much that your men can master their language fast enough and this could end terribly if they discover us, we will have to trust them for the moment'' I said looking at the Finnish man
After that, I turned to my officers and ordered them to follow us, we quickly rode to catch up with the rebel group and join their force to rescue the Baratheon, who must have the royalists on his heels if the rebels are in such a hurry to meet him.
We rode together with the rebels for an hour, many whispers could be heard about us and many curious looks from the knights and soldiers of the rebel lords, they must not have trusted us too much, Finally, I decided to approach their leaders again to try to get more information where we were headed.
I rode until I reached the vanguard where the leaders of the rebellion were, but there was a third man I did not recognize, the man had the heraldry of a trout.
"Lord Arryn, Lord Stark and...?" i said, waving my hand to try to get an answer from the third rebel leader.
"Lord Hoster Tully, mercenary," the third man said in a rather unpleasant tone.
"I have a question, Lord Arryn, where are we marching to? I didn't ask before why I had to inform the rest of my men, about our aid to your cause "I said with a kind tone
Lord Arryn was about to answer when we heard cavalry approaching near us
It was Charles riding with a large group of the Finns, as he had been ordered to do.
''Are they your Hohenzollern men?'', Lord Arryn said in a serious tone.
''Yes,they are my men'' I answered quickly.
''You see Jon, I told you he couldn't have so many men in armor, they only wear animal skins'' Lord Hoster Tully said with an arrogant tone.
''They are scouts, Lord Tully, I don't see how wearing plate armor would help a scout to ride faster and be able to observe the enemy's movements''I said with a friendly tone as I looked at Lord Hoster.
Charles rode beside me while Aleksanteri went to give orders to his men on how to proceed.
In a matter of minutes, the scouts quickly began to gallop south after Aleksanteri gave his orders to his men
''Well, lord Arryn, could you answer my earlier question'' i said
"To Stoney Sept, and we will arrive shortly, are your men ready to fight?" asked Jon Arryn.
''They are in perfect condition and ready to shed blood for your cause,'' I assured the three rebel leaders.
After that, we rode again, the silence continued, although I was close to them, they were not talking about anything, they were focused on observing their surroundings in case the royalist forces appear.
After riding for 15 minutes, one of my scouts came galloping quickly back to me.
''My king, I bring information'' said the Finnish scout.
''report'' I quickly replied
''Not long ago a force numbering between eighteen thousand and twenty-seven thousand men, arrived at a town in the south and have begun to deploy in the area, I apologize for the inaccuracy of the enemies, but they entered the town too quickly to be counted accurately'' said the Finnish scout
''What is going on mercenary'' said the Hoster Tully
''The royalists have Robert by the throat, they have reached our destination, we must hurry'' I said to the rebel leaders.
After providing the information I had obtained we began to gallop until after a short time we came near a village of considerable size
I could see that the village was under the control of another army. If Robert was there, he must be about to be captured. I approached Jon Arryn and Lord Stark.
"Orders, my lords, "I said in a serious tone.
"Let us charge immediately, Robert could be captured at this moment, you must flank the royalists, Hohenzollern, we will lead the center" said Lord Arryn as he led his knights towards the city.
I turned to my knights and spoke to Charles
"Charles, you are responsible for leading the charge. We have orders to outflank the royalists" I said, pointing to the city.
"And you, my king?" the Teuton asked in a worried tone.
"What are you waiting for? I will stay in the center of the formation where there is less danger, we are in unknown lands, if I die, the army will be left leaderless and nothing would prevent the nobles from starting to fight over the power vacuum'' I said with a serious tone
The knight nodded, and we began to mobilize to attack the royalists.