Chapter 4

On the road to King's Landing, Tywin Lannister had informed his officers that there would be no need for a siege.

The gates to the city would already be opened for them. Gregor knew that was because Grand Maester Pycelle was a Lannister spy.

Pycelle would get the Westerlords access to King's Landing by misinforming King Aerys Targaryen that Tywin's forces were coming to support the throne.

While there were few that Aerys would actually believe, he still heeded the counsel of the Grand Maester.

Although Tywin had not mentioned the fact that Pycelle was a double agent to his soldiers, Gregor knew full well that entering the city would not be an issue for the Westerlords.

What really bothered Gregor was what would come after.

Gregor could not recall the exact number of people that had died when Tywin's forces took King's Landing, but he knew it had to be thousands.

While he had no intention of abandoning Elia and her children, they were still just three people.

Before he could focus on rescuing them, he would have to take measures to minimalize the damage of the Sack of King's Landing.

The day before the Westerlords reached King's Landing, Lord Tywin assembled his officers in the lords' tent.

He explained that their forces would be divided into ten different contingents, each with a different objective.

One would monitor Blackwater Bay, one would patrol the outskirts of the city, seven would enter the city through the seven gates, and one would guard the gates after those seven passed through them.

Lord Leo Lefford and his units would monitor Blackwater Bay and ensure that no one in the city got out through the harbor.

Lord Regenard Estren and his units would guard the gates and ensure that no one used them to exit King's Landing.

Lord Garrison Prester and his units would enter through the Old Gate.

Lord Roland Crakehall and his units would enter through the Lion Gate.

Lord Lewys Lydden and his units would enter through the Iron Gate.

Lord Andros Brax and his units would enter through the River Gate.

Lord Damon Marbrand and his units would enter through the King's Gate.

Ser Harys Swyft and his units would enter through the Mud Gate.

Lord Quenten Banefort and his units would enter through the Gate of the Gods.

Lord Tywin Lannister himself would lead the units that would remain on the outskirts. Some may have thought it quaint that Lord Tywin was staying at a distance during the whole affair, but none of his bannermen dared to suggest he was a craven.

Although he was not tasked with leading any of the ten divisions of the Westerland forces, Gregor managed to put himself in a position to control the level of damage inflicted during the Sack of King's Landing.

After the other officers left the lords' tent, he approached Lord Tywin and requested to speak with him alone.

Since they were pressed for time, Lord Tywin allowed him a ten-minute audience.

Those ten minutes were all Gregor needed to convince Tywin that when the Westerlords seized King's Landing, they would need someone to supervise their forces within the city.

He pointed out that if the city was to be taken properly, they would have to limit the number of civilian casualties and the amount of destruction.

He contended that if they took those precautions, the smallfolk would more apt to cooperate with the Westerlanders.

Gregor spent five of his ten minutes convincing Lord Tywin that one of his generals should be chared with keeping track of all the activities of their forces within King's Landing. He spent the other five convincing Tywin that HE should be that person.

Gregor was easily the youngest of the officers in the Westerlander army, but based on his service record, Lord Tywin knew that he was competent, qualified, and capable of doing this job.

So he charged Gregor with overseeing the actions of their soldiers once they were inside the city.

When Gregor stepped out of the lords' tent, he came face-to-face with a portly man of average height. This man also had a pale face, and he bore a queer resemblance to a pig.

"Ser Amory," Gregor greeted him with a feigned grin.

"Gregor," the older man said dismissively, sauntering past the Mountain and into the tent.

Gregor had taken note of the conspicuous absence of Ser Amory Lorch during the officers' meeting.

But he did not linger around to find out why he was speaking with Lord Tywin now. It would not be worth the risk if he was caught eavesdropping.

Aside from that, it was not hard to imagine what Lord Tywin was discussing with Ser Amory.

While he had never failed any of his assignments from Lord Tywin, his policy of always getting the job done through the course that involved doing no harm to the innocent had not gone unnoticed.

Evidently, even if Gregor had not made that proposal, Lord Tywin only entrusted someone who was willing to kill indiscriminately with "taking care" of Rhaegar's wife and children.

Like Polliver and the rest of Gregor's men-at-arms, Amory Lorch could be classified as simple and dim-witted. Unlike the Mountain's Men, though, Amory Lorch truly was a monster.

Gregor had only seen him thrice, but that was enough to persuade him that the plump knight was cruel and murderous by nature. Reasoning with a man like him was impossible.

Fortunately, Gregor was prepared to deal with him.

When the Westerlords were within sight of King's Landing, Gregor assembled the commanders and informed them that Lord Tywin had charged him with heading the invasion force.

He laid out the guidelines for how they would seize the city:

Their units would only attack anyone who raised arms against them, which meant the Gold Cloaks, the Targaryen soldiers, and any Crownlander militias within the city.

No harm was to come to anyone who threw down their weapons voluntarily, or to anyone who brandished no weapon at all.

Most of all, the injuring or slaying of women and children was strictly prohibited. Anyone who violated those guidelines would be punished in accordance with his crime.

He claimed that these orders came directly from Lord Tywin himself.

Some of the generals assumed Gregor was jesting; civilian casualties were practically unavoidable, especially under these circumstances.

To prove that he meant business, Gregor conducted a public display of what would await anyone who defied these guidelines.

For the duration of their march, the westermen army had amassed quite a few camp followers.

The day before, a particularly attractive camp follower had been raped by three of the men from House Serrett, and when she tried to flee, one of the rapists killed her.

Gregor had already had the other two rapists gelded. The murderer he kept alive until that moment. He was brought forward in chains, pleading for his life.

Eggon placed a block of wood in the clearing, and Chiswyck forced the murderer to kneel over the block.

There, in front of all the officers, Gregor Clegane cleaved the man's head off with a single blow of his longsword.

His exhibition must have been rather effective. When the westermen entered King's Landing, the vast majority of them stayed away from the smallfolk and concentrated solely on eliminating and subjugating the city's armed defenders.

As a precaution, Gregor had tasked his own soldiers with keeping an eye out for anyone who broke the aforementioned rules.

If anyone did, they were to make a note of who, and then report the offenders to the Mountain later on.

Once the city had been secured, Gregor concentrated his efforts on preventing the original Mountain's most infamous act of barbarism.

Even when lightly clad, Amory Lorch was a very slow-moving person, and Gregor had seen him clad in armor that morning.

With that in mind, Gregor doubted Ser Amory was even halfway to Aegon's High Hill by that point in time.

Still, given what was at stake, Gregor was taking no chances. He and a dozen of his best men-at-arms swiftly made their way to Maegor's Holdfast.

Since the drawbridge was up, they had to gain entry by scaling the walls. After subduing the guards at the top, they entered the Red Keep and navigated their way to the royal apartments.

As they got closer to Rhaegar and Elia's bedroom, Dunsen thought aloud "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tobbot queried, looking to his colleague.

Dunsen gestured for the others to stop and beckoned them "Listen."

The thirteen men stood by and pricked up their ears.

"I don't hear anythin'," Eggon remarked after a few seconds.

"Yeah, your buggin' ears is playing buggin' tricks on you, bugger," Shitmouth claimed.

"No, wait," Raff stated, placing a hand to his ear, "Sounds like… gruntin'."

"And slashin'," Chiswyck observed.

Gregor also heard both those noises. It sounded as though someone was hacking a sword at a wooden door.

The group continued on their current route. The further they went into the holdfast, the louder the noises got.

Soon, they reached the corridor that housed the royal apartments. As they walked around the corner, they spotted the source of the commotion.

Ser Amory Lorch was standing with his sword drawn in front of Rhaegar and Elia's bedroom. He was hacking incessantly at the door with his blade.

He must have been at it awhile; his breathing was somewhat labored. Even so, the door looked as though it would give at any moment.

"Oh, fuck," Gregor drily mumbled. He promptly drew his sword and sprinted down the hallway.

Unfortunately, due to his size and the weight of his armor, he was not able to run very fast.

When he was almost halfway there, Amory finally broke the door down. Gregor heard a high-pitched scream, which must have been Princess Elia.

"Stay away!" she yelled in fright.

The only response she got from Ser Amory was a malicious chuckle.

"Where's the girl?" he demanded.

"She… she's not here," was all Elia could sputter.

It was a pitiful response, but it was the best response she could think up in her desperation. In any case, Ser Amory did not believe her.

When Gregor was two-thirds of the way there, he heard the sound of a cat meowing. That had to be Rhaenys' kitten, Balerion.

He then heard the sounds of Amory Lorch's armored kneecap striking the ground as he knelt down, and Rhaenys' scream as he dragged her out from underneath her parents' bed.

"Father, help us!" the small princess shrieked.

"No, no, please!" Elia begged the plump knight.

Then there came the sound of a gauntleted hand making contact with flesh, which must have been Amory striking Elia in the face. Elia's subsequent moan of pain and distress seemed to substantiate that.

Right then, Gregor reached the entrance of the bedroom. Princess Elia was propped against the wall. One arm was wrapped protectively around Prince Aegon; the other was pressed against a fresh bruise on her cheek.

In the center of the room, Ser Amory Lorch had Princess Rhaenys pinned down with one hand. In the other, he held his sword high over his head.

Before Ser Amory could thrust his blade into the little girl's body, Gregor lifted his own sword and gave a mighty swing.

Amory Lorch's sword went flying through the air. His right forearm was still clasped around its hilt.

Immediately, Amory shrieked at the new stump on his right arm. Gregor wondered what was more overwhelming: the pain or the shock.

At any rate, Gregor was not finished with him yet. He roughly shoved the portly man away from Princess Rhaenys.

Amory groaned as he collided with the wall. Before he had a chance to get up, Gregor approached him and grimaced down at him.

Then he gripped his sword in both hands and raised it high into the air.

Amory feebly lifted his remaining hand as though it would shield him. He pleaded pathetically "No… Gregor, don't! Please, don't!"

Gregor did not even acknowledge the portly man's pleas. Without hesitating, he plunged his sword into the older knight's chest.

He stabbed him directly in the heart. As blood began to seep through the new opening in his armor, more appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Gregor twisted his sword around and muttered angrily "Just fucking die already, you worthless pile of shit."