Chapter 33

Power stone!!

400 power stone by midnight= a extra chapter.

600 power stone by midnight= 2 extra chapter

Chec out my new novel.

Name=A Bet with Mighty Evil Being!

****

A few days after receiving that raven from Robert, Gregor put his assassination plot into motion.

Victarion and his crew set sail from Moat Cailin on the 'Iron Victory.' Allard, Garth, Osmund, and a handful of Legionnaires were also on board.

They plotted a course directly for Gulltown. After they arrived, they would stay there for a single night.

Then they would escort Baelish to the Bloody Gate as early as the following morning.

Based on Robert's letter, Lord Grafton and Littlefinger had already been informed of the latter's possible lordship of Harrenhal.

So he would be ready to leave Gulltown whenever the first platoon of Legionnaires was ready.

As the 'Iron Victory' navigated its way down the Cut, Gregor and his men-at-arms made their way down the Causeway.

Dacey, Oberyn, Lyn, Brynden, and Gerion rode with them. They brought along the usual amount of provisions, weapons, and armor for a company that size.

However, Gregor had brought along an extra cart of steel-based weapons and armor. That intrigued some of his men, as most of them carried far superior chainmail and armaments.

All the same, that cart was pivotal to Gregor's plan. Only his nine trustees knew that its contents would not be coming back.

To some, that may have seemed a waste. But with all the revenue the Legion had earned lately, they could easily spare a cart of steel weapons and armors.

The march down the Neck was relatively quick and straightforward. Gregor and his company followed the Kingsroad south until they reached the crossroads with Masha Heddle's inn. They stayed there for the night, and then they continued their journey on the eastern road.

As soon as they passed into the Vale, Gregor had everyone in his party on full alert. It would not do for them to be caught by mountain clansmen unawares.

But that was not to say he intended to avoid the mountain clans altogether.

In his youth, Gregor had done plenty of research on each of the nine regions of Westeros. For the Vale, one of the books he read was Archmaester Arnel's 'Mountain and Vale.'

The tome had included a thorough account of what Arnel regarded as the most notorious mountain clans in the region.

Alphabetically, he regarded the ten most infamous clans as the Black Ears, the Burned Men, the Howlers, the Milk Snakes, the Moon Brothers, the Painted Dogs, the Redsmiths, the Sons of the Mist, the Sons of the Tree, and the Stone Crows.

Of those ten, only four had been notably represented by the clansmen whom had entered Tyrion's services. Those were the Burned Men, the Stone Crows, the Moon Brothers, and the Black Ears.

Part of Gregor's plan involved making contact with one of those clans. After weighing the pros and cons of them all, he decided that the Black Ears were too extreme, the Moon Brothers were too few in number, and the Burned Men were too unpopular with the other clans.

The Stone Crows presented the best option. They were somewhat reasonable, their members were many, and they had the respect of most of the other mountain clans.

Plus, they possessed the most named members out of all the mountain clans of the Vale.

According to Archmaester Arnel, the Stoned Crows' largest settlement was located fairly close to the road that led to the Bloody Gate.

It could be found two miles north of the pathway and five miles east of the border to the Riverlands.

When they were three miles into the Vale, Gregor ordered his company to halt. Then he had them take inventory of their provisions, weapons, and armor.

After that, he had everyone take what they would need for a short hike through the region. Everything else was hidden directly south of the road.

The spare cart of steel weapons and armor was kept separate from the other carts. Gregor and his units brought it with them on their hike.

When they were about a mile north of the road, they hid the cart in a quarry. Like the other carts, no guards were posted around that cart; guards would only draw attention.

It may have seemed risky and foolish to leave their baggage unattended, but Gregor was confident that their belongings would not be stolen whilst they were away.

As the only Valeman in the company, Lyn Corbray knew the landscape better than anyone else there. He rode at the head of the group as they made their way through the mountains.

After another three-quarters of a mile, he gestured for everyone to stop. He announced that he spotted some movement a few hundred feet up ahead.

He soon verified that the source of the commotion was a small group of mountain clansman. Given their location and garbs, they could only be Storm Crows.

They were coming down the mountain, right towards the Legionnaires.

Gregor had already discussed with his party what they would do once they were noticed by the Storm Crows. He and a couple others would face the clansmen alone.

Everyone else would hide, and they would come out when Gregor gave the signal. His hope was that it would be an effective display of force to get the Storm Crows to cooperate.

Right there, Gregor ordered the majority of his companions to vanish. They – along with their horses – rushed to find hiding spots in the immediate area.

Before long, everyone except Gregor, Dacey, and Polliver was out of sight. The three of them remained mounted, and they patiently yet anxiously waited for the Storm Crows to reach them.

Not five minutes later, twenty men entered the vicinity. They were armed with a variety of makeshift weapons, and they wore mismatched suits of mail.

All of them were unshaven, unbathed, and appeared profusely inhospitable.

Gregor knew it was too late to have second thoughts about this part of his plan. He banished his fear to the back of his mind, and he stoically called out "Who approaches us?"

"Dolf, son of Holger," the man at the head of the group said brusquely, "Who trespasses on Storm Crow lands?"

"Gregor, son of Tarrence," the massive knight declared.

"Along with Dacey, daughter of Maege," his female colleague added in.

"And Polliver, son of… someone," his top man-at-arms finished. Sadly for him, Polliver's father had died when he was very young.

He barely remembered anything about him, including his name.

Gregor and Dacey would have laughed, but they did not, as they were mindful of Polliver's feelings, and laughing seemed inappropriate at the time.

The clansman laughed plenty, though.

"A giant, a woman, and one whose father was nameless," another Storm Crow perceived.

"We get lot of use out of you," a third Storm Crow muttered. Based on how he and his clanmates were eyeing Gregor, Dacey, and Polliver in bloodlust, longing, and curiosity respectively, he did not intend for each of them to serve the same form of "use."

"How quaint," Gregor drily commented, "We came here to get some use out of you."

That produced a wave of bafflement amongst all of the Storm Crows. Dolf queried "What meaning have you, giant?"

Gregor urged his horse forward a couple paces, and he said "You are native to this part of the Vale. The mountains are your domain, no?"

Dolf nodded and claimed "All mountains fall to us."

"Not all the mountains," Gregor cheekily countered. He pointed to himself and uttered "I have not bowed to you."

At that, the Storm Crows burst out laughing once more. As he chortled loudly, Dolf spat "You are mad. No mountain Dolf sees."

"I must disagree with Dolf," Gregor bluntly stated, "I am known far and wide as 'The Mountain That Rides.'"

The clansmen guffawed when they heard that. Gregor found himself in an interesting fix.

A moment ago, his biggest, most immediate worry was surviving this encounter with the Storm Crows. Now, it was being taken seriously by them.

"There are no mountains that ride," a fourth Storm Crow debated.

"There is one now," Dacey Mormont heatedly refuted, "This mountain could ride all of you over."

The clansmen swiftly shifted their attention to the tall girl from Bear Island.

"Come down from that horse," a fifth Storm Crow suggested derisively, "Coratt son of Curtt will ride you all over."

Gregor grimaced and barked "Watch your tongue. Or you may find it parted from you."

Noting Gregor's reaction, Dolf commented "This man-mountain likes his mate overmuch, methinks,"

At first, Gregor was bewildered by that statement. "Excuse me?"

Then he realized what was meant by it. He vigorously shook his head and murmured hastily "No, no, no. NO. She is NOT my mate. I mean, my wife. She's not either. She and I are unrelated."

Dacey and Polliver seemed amused by how Gregor was fumbling for words. The Storm Crows gave less heed to his stammering.

A few seconds later, Gregor composed himself and shouted "Enough! We are not here to discuss who's fucking whom!"

That outburst was enough to get everyone back on track. Dolf leaned on his longaxe and inquired "Then why are you here, man-mountain?"

Gregor had taken a couple knives from the cart of steel.

He got them out of his saddlebag and tossed them at Dolf's feet. Two of Dolf's men stepped forward to pick the blades up and examine them.

****

Power stone!!

400 power stone by midnight= a extra chapter.

600 power stone by midnight= 2 extra chapter

Chec out my new novel.

Name=A Bet with Mighty Evil Being!