Chapter 262 Dreamland
Surprise and astonishment were like a boulder falling into the lake, causing ripples in Samwell's heart.
In the past and present, this is the first time that he is about to have his own heir.
Since crossing, Samwell has never felt the connection with this different world so clearly.
He is finally here to put down roots.
"Was it the night in Green Valley City?" Samwell couldn't help but gently stroked his fiancée's lower abdomen, which had just begun to show pregnancy, and his tone became extremely gentle.
"It should be." Margaret pressed the man's big hand, and her smile had a hint of maternal brilliance, "Grandmother has agreed to let us get married early. We were going to find you in the storm, but we met you halfway. on this kind of thing..."
It was only then that Samwell knew why Mrs. Olenna was not trapped in High Court. It turned out that she came to find her pregnant granddaughter.
But maybe it was because Mrs. Olenna was not in High Court, so she failed to notice the change of the rebels.
"What's going on in Highgarden?"
"It's the Oakheart family! They united with the Ironborn and betrayed Highgarden!" Margaery's tone became extremely resentful.
"Oakheart..." Samwell had guessed it would be them.
In fact, when Omer Oakheart died in battle in Bronze Gate City, he and Earl Landau had a premonition that the Oakheart family might retaliate, so they wrote to High Court to remind Olenna Madame.
But now it seems that this letter is likely to be missed by Mrs. Olenna who came to Bitterbridge.
"Aside from Oakheart, are there other nobles of the Reach involved in the rebellion?"
"There are rumors that Sir Aegon Levill has also rebelled. But...the Levill family has written a letter, claiming that they will never participate in the rebellion."
Samwell knew that Ser Aegon was the captain of the guard at Highgarden.
"Where is Madame Olenna now?"
"Grandmother went to the Longtable."
"The Longtable Castle of the Merry Weiss family?"
"Yes. Lord Orton Merryweather organized an army to stop the ironmen who were trying to plunder upstream along the Mander River, but Longtable also became the key town for the ironmen to harass. Supporting the Marilynweiss family, they went to the Longtable Castle in person, and at the same time called on the other princes of the Reach to send troops to support them."
Samwell knew that the Longtable Fort was located in the middle reaches of the Mande River, and that it was the confluence point where the Lamboon River merged into the Mande River. If he held this place, he would also defend the upper reaches of the Mande River and the Lamboon River Basin.
However, if the Longtable Fort becomes the front line, it means that all the richest areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Mande River, including Highgarden, will fall.
This is very weird.
It is reasonable to say that even if the Shield Islands did not issue a warning due to the internal support of the Oakheart family, causing High Court to be attacked, but now that the news has spread, why did the princes of the River Bay respond so slowly?
Especially the Qingting Island Fleet.
As long as they block the mouth of the Mander River, the ironborn will never come back.
Reminiscent of the lack of support from the Redwyne family during the siege of Storm's End, Samwell wondered if the Arbor Island also participated in the rebellion this time?
Or at least deliberately let the rebellion spread.
"Grandmother asked me to wait for you at Bitter Bridge, Sam, how long will it take for the Northern Route Army to withdraw?"
"The main force of the infantry is estimated to take about ten days." Sam Well said, "But my father has let the cavalry go first, and it is estimated that they will arrive at Bitter Bridge in two or three days."
Margaret looked worried when she heard the words: "I really hope that the army can move faster. Father, mother and elder brother are still in Highgarden..."
Having said this, Margaery covered her mouth again, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
Samwell had no choice but to hold her in his arms again, comforting her with kind words.
"Sam, shall we join Grandma at the Longtable?"
"Let's wait first." Samwell said after a moment of consideration, "The two of us won't be able to help much if we go. Let's wait until the cavalry arrives."
"good."
Actually, the reason why Samwell didn’t dare to take Margaery to the Longtable Castle was because he didn’t trust the Marilynweiss family very much.
The civil strife in the river bend is raging this time, and Samwell always feels that someone is manipulating it behind the scenes, and this person is most likely Duke Tywin Lannister.
The old lion has been dormant in Harrenhal for some time, but Samwell doesn't think that the most fearsome strategist in the Seven Kingdoms is just watching a show.
Thinking about it carefully, although Sir Omer Oakheart's death was due to his own greedy and aggressive reasons, it does not rule out that someone secretly carried out an assassination in order to provoke civil strife in the river bend.
Moreover, the Ironborn attack on Highgarden was also very strange. The Oakheart family moved too fast, as if it had been premeditated.
But Sir Omer's death was obviously an accident—at least on the surface it should have been an accident.
The reaction of the Oakheart family seemed to be waiting for this excuse to attack.
A month ago, the Ironborn were still plundering the northern border, but now they suddenly turned around and attacked Highgarden.
Samwell suspects that the Lannister family may have been planning secretly for a long time to build a bridge for the Oakheart family and the Ironmen to make peace.
Moreover, he guessed that the old lion should have follow-up means.
Just letting the ironborn sack Highgarden doesn't mean much to the Lannister family, and it is impossible for the ironborn to occupy Highgarden.
Samwell suspects that the Lannister family has secretly encouraged many Deer Party families, and is planning to take this opportunity to make Riverbend change its position.
The Marilynweiss family is one of the Deer Party families most likely to be wooed by the Lannister family.
Because in the original book, Earl Orton Merryweather was later appointed as the Hand of the King by Queen Cersei. Although the Lannister family and the Tyrell family were allies at that time, it can still be seen that the Merryweather family The close relationship with the Lannister family.
And when Cersei was about to deal with Margaery Tyrell, Lady Tanya, the wife of Earl Merryweather, directly betrayed High Court and became Cersei's eyeliner and bed-mate, and made Tyrell Many of the family's secrets were revealed to Cersei.
Combined with their performance in the original book, Samwell has reason to suspect that the Merry Weiss family is very likely to have secretly participated in the civil turmoil in the river bend.
So in his opinion, Lady Olenna's behavior of going to the Longtable Castle was somewhat risky.
Moreover, after all, there are her sons and grandsons in Gaoting City, so it is inevitable that they will care about them and cause chaos.
However, judging from the current situation, the Merry Weiss family has not clearly rebounded. I don’t know if they are waiting for an opportunity, or Samwell is worrying about the sky and wronging them.
Samwell also hoped that he was wrong in his judgment, but no matter what, he would not risk going to the Longtable and pin his fate on the loyalty of the Merryweather family to Highgarden.
While his thoughts were racing, Samwell found that Margaery in his arms had actually fallen asleep.
It is estimated that she was too nervous and anxious during this period, and did not sleep well.
Samwell gently picked up Margaery, brought her back to the bedroom, and put her on the bed.
Helping her cover the blanket, he was about to leave when he found a wreath by the bed—
Wreath of winter snow roses.
Blooming petals are as bright red as blood, with a hint of enchanting beauty.
Samwell looked at the wreath, always feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
He didn't care, went back to his room, washed and changed, ate something, and went to bed early.
Samwell slept restlessly that night and woke up twice in the middle.
For the first time, he dreamed that he was sitting on the Iron Throne, overlooking the crowd.
The nobles below all bowed down to him, begging for his favor, and Samwell accepted their allegiance with a smile. In the end, he accidentally touched the ferocious barb on the throne.
His skin was cut, blood flowed down his arm, and dripped on the throne, causing the nobles to scream—
"The Iron Throne has rejected him! The Iron Throne has rejected him! He is not worthy to be king!"
Samwell stood up angrily, but found that his feet were stepped on the cracks in the twisted metal. The more he tried to break free, the more ruthlessly the Iron Throne climbed onto his body, as if to engulf him.
The nobles below began to laugh at him and curse him.
Suddenly someone rushed to the throne and stabbed the sword into his chest.
Samwell woke up suddenly, only to realize that he was sweating.
The last face in the dream still seems to be in front of my eyes—
With golden hair and golden eyes, that is Duke Tywin Lannister.
Samwell shook his head and laughed, thinking that he was really too tired to travel recently, so he actually had this kind of nightmare.
He got up and wanted to take a bath, but he hesitated for a while and still didn't wake up the servant to boil water for himself, so he just changed into clean clothes and lay back on the bed.
Sleepiness struck again, and Samwell dreamed that he had come to the Great Wall again.
The icy cold wind rolled up the flying snow all over the sky, dyeing the world into a pale color.
He stood at the head of the city, surrounded by countless figures—
No, they are not human.
His skin was as pale as snow, his eyes were like blue stars, and the armor on his body melted into the ice and snow, only reflecting a faint gleam in the sunlight.
They are a group of ice and snow elves, elegant, strange, dangerous, exuding a beauty that humans cannot understand.
They spoke, making a sound like ice cracking.
Samwell couldn't understand the language, and only guessed that they were cheering for him.
He turned his head, and saw an ice and snow beauty standing beside him, wearing a garland of winter snow roses on his head.
She also spoke, speaking the same strange language.
But this time, Samwell understood.
They're calling him—
"king."
Samwell woke up again and found that it was raining lightly outside.
He didn't feel sleepy at all, so he just got up and went to the corridor.
The night wind blew the drizzle down on him, bringing a little bit of coolness.
Samwell recalled the second dream, the ice-like woman in the dream, he had seen in the vision of the sky and the city.
That was the illusion brought to him by the bronze armor [Time].
Originally, he had almost forgotten it, but he was awakened by the winter snow rose wreath on Margaery's bedside.
He doesn't know what that means.
"Aw—"
A loud dragon chant brought Samwell back to reality.
He raised his head, and saw Cleopatra swooping down from a high altitude at some point.
It flicked its tail and stopped in front of Samwell, and the scorching air stirred by its wings rushed towards its face, dispelling the chill brought by the dream.
There is a pale belly in the east, and dawn is approaching.
Samwell jumped up, rode on the white dragon, and said with a smile:
"Let's go, let's go to the south to see the situation."
Cleopatra flapped her wings excitedly and soared into the sky.
Soon, one person and one dragon disappeared into the dark night.
(end of this chapter)