WILOW-Ch.440: The Day of the Siege Attack

Imperial Army Camp, King’s Landing

POV of Domeric Bolton

After hearing Domeric’s offer, the expression on Brienne’s face was priceless. She probably hadn’t expected to receive such an offer when she was summoned by him.

But once her surprise subsided, Brienne quickly made her decision. She immediately knelt before Domeric and said, "I am honored, Your Majesty."

After all, this was something Brienne had long desired: to become a knight. Considering that there had never been a woman knight in Westeros history, this seemed like an impossible dream to many.

But now, this dream had been offered to Brienne by Domeric himself, the Emperor. Even Domeric’s recognition of her abilities was priceless to Brienne.

Although the title of the first woman knight in Westeros belonged to Raksa the Giantess, Brienne would go down in history as the second woman knight.

Domeric rose from his throne and approached Brienne, who knelt before him, drawing Excalibur from its scabbard and placing it on her shoulder.

"I, Emperor Domeric Bolton, hereafter declare you, Brienne Tarth, a knight of my Empire and a member of my Dark Knights."

After saying this, Domeric lifted his sword from Brienne’s shoulder and placed it on her other shoulder.

"From now on, you will bear the title of Dame, the title given to women knights. You will have no difference in privilege and status from the other knights bearing the title of Ser."

Domeric lifted his sword from Brienne’s shoulder, stepped back, and then sheathed it. Then he returned and sat back on his throne.

"You may rise, Dark Knight Dame Brienne. From this day forward, you are a knight serving the Emperor and the Empire, and you will serve under Lord Commander of Dark Knights, Ser Varko." Domeric finished speaking to Brienne.

Then, turning to Varko, he said, "Ser Varko, I entrust you with the task of delivering Dame Brianne’s Dark Knight weapon, armor, and cloak."

"As you command, Your Majesty," Varko said, and they left the tent with Brienne.

’Thus, I have completed another task that needed to be done before the siege began,’ Domeric thought.

There wasn’t much time left before the siege, and besides bringing Brienne to his side, he had other things to do.

One of these was sending a written decree to other army generals to ensure the safety of the peasants in King’s Landing after the city was captured.

In his decree, Domeric stated that the Old Gods did not want King Aegon Targaryen’s reign to begin with the shedding of innocent blood. Therefore, after the city was captured, all forms of looting, assault, and rape against the small folk were forbidden.

Domeric knew this decree wouldn’t work, but he hadn’t issued it to be effective.

He had only issued it as an excuse for the strange things that would happen after he seized King’s Landing.

The night he issued the decree, Domeric donned his camouflage cloak and hovered over King’s Landing on his hoverboard.

Domeric’s plan was simple. He intended to cast a spell that would affect the entire city.

But... However simple the plan was, it wasn’t easy to execute. Yet, even if it wasn’t perfect, Domeric thought he could at least cast an effective spell.

He didn’t think he could have accomplished this without being a Dragonlord and a Greenseer, without receiving the second portion of his power from Luna, without possessing Merlin’s Sapphire necklace, which allowed him to store ten times his own mana reserve, and without the Valyrian Staff.

But now, at least he could try.

Domeric summoned the Valyrian Staff from his inventory and then began gathering his magic to cast his spells.

Domeric planned to create a magical ward that would affect the entire city. With this ward, he would charm the peasants to stay indoors during and after the siege battle, keeping their doors and windows tightly closed.

Then, after the city was breached, the ward would place an unbreakable charm on the entrances to all buildings.

Finally, it would apply a notice-me-not charm to the buildings, preventing malicious individuals from approaching.

At least, that was Domeric’s intention. It was the first time he had cast such a powerful spell, and he wasn’t sure how effective it would be.

There was a possibility that strong-willed individuals might resist these spells, and the unbreakable charm might lose its effectiveness if subjected to damage for a while.

But Domeric thought it would be worth it even if he could at least secure some of the peasants’ lives.

So, during the process of preparations for the siege battle, he continued to strengthen his ward by flying over the city at night.

And finally, three days after he bestowed knighthood upon Brienne, the day of the siege attack arrived.

Today, after sunrise, final preparations for the assault were underway, and the armies were positioning themselves closer to the city walls.

Domeric’s envoy was about to set out to make one last demand for Stannis and his soldiers to surrender.

And if Stannis refused this demand, by midday the Imperial Army, composed of armies from four different kingdoms and Domeric’s own army, would launch its assault.

At least, that was the decision reached at the last war council yesterday evening.

But early in the morning of the siege day, before Domeric’s envoy had even departed, the men of the Reach army suddenly attacked the western and southern walls of the city.

The lords from the North, Riverlands, and Vale were just as surprised by this sudden assault on the walls, and that surprise soon turned into anger as they felt that Ser Garlan attacked this quickly so that they could take all the glory for himself.

Despite all of Domeric’s warnings, Garlan apparently insisted on doing things his own way.

Because of this, most of the lords led their army and attacked the walls.

Ser Wyman Manderly, Lord Karstark, and Lord Umber came to him to lead the assault on the Walls as well. For this siege, Domeric had deployed Manderly, Karstark, and Umber’s men alongside his own army, planning to attack the same gate together.

In doing so, Domeric would be doing a favor to the neighbors of the future Imperial Capital, for he was certain that his army would be the first to pass through the city gates.

Now, it was understandable that these three lords, seeing that the other lords were also attacking the walls following the Reach army, would not want to lag behind.

At least Garlan hadn’t started his attack on the wall three days ago as he had initially planned.

In that case, the unprepared lords would have attacked the wall after the men of the Reach, and the casualties would now be rapidly increasing.

At least the armies had now completed their preparations for a siege assault.

Still, Stannis’ men were defending the wall well, and it was clear that this siege wouldn’t end quickly unless Domeric himself intervened.

Therefore, Domeric sent his Giants to attack in order to break through the city gate as quickly as possible.

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Next Chapters’ Name:

Ch.441: The King’s Landing Has Fallen

Ch.442: Another Ritual Time

Ch.443: Ygritte Becomes a Dragonlord