Chapter 162 - War of the Four Kings (IX)

Chapter 162 - 162 - War of the Four Kings (IX)"Let the curtains of fate open, the show is about to begin." Aenar I Targaryen, God Emperor of Planets, looking at the show about to begin.

-----------

Aenar entered the hall stroking his own hair still wet from his bath, he wore a loose, comfortable tunic over his body. His purple eyes were slightly narrowed and a smile was on his lips.

"Sorry for the delay, Lady Anya and Lord Harrold." Aenar commented, seeing all the chairs filled by the lords and ladies, who all seemed to be drinking and eating leisurely.

"Don't worry, Your Grace." Anya didn't show any dissatisfaction, on the contrary, the more Aenar showed himself comfortable in her presence, the more it showed that he trusted her and House Waynwood.

"Harrold, I won't beat about the bush and I'll get straight to the point." Sitting down in the main seat, Aenar spoke in a calm tone. "Robert Arryn is not fit to be Lord of the Vale of Arryn. I plan to appoint you as the new Lord of the Vale and you will take the surname Arryn as your own."

Although he expected those words, when he actually heard them, Harrold no longer suppressed the smile on his face. He stood up and spoke with an extremely respectful tone. "House Arryn will always be loyal to House Targaryen, Your Grace."

Aenar's lips twitched as he heard this; it wasn't just him, everyone looked at the sandy-haired man with surprised eyes. The new Lord of the Vale's shamelessness was admirable, but unlike Brynden's words, no one showed contempt.

That's because House Arryn really did have reason to rebel, as did House Stark, so no one looked at Harrold with contemptuous eyes as they had done with Brynden Tully.

"Kneel." Aenar spoke with a regal tone and Harrold obeyed, kneeling at the king's feet.

"Harrold of House Hardyng, do you swear allegiance to me, your king?" Aenar began.



"Yes." There was no hesitation in Harrold's words.

"Do you swear to respect my laws and punish those who break them?" Aenar asked.

"Yes." Harrold answered firmly.

"Just as Visenya I Targaryen, appointed Ronnel Arryn, King of the Mountain and the Vale, I appoint you, Harrold of House Arryn as, Keeper of the Gates of the Moon, Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, Warden of the East." Aenar finished the nomination with a smile as everyone clapped their hands at Harrold's appointment as Lord of the Vale and new Head of House Arryn.

"Thank you, Your Grace." Harrold stood up and spoke with a smile on his lips, even all his self-control couldn't calm the feelings bubbling up in his chest. This was his dream, how could he not be happy at this moment?

Harrold could even imagine Robert Arryn's indignant expression when he heard of his appointment as Lord of the Vale. He and the boy had never got along, especially Robert who had always thought that Harrold was just waiting for him to die so that he could inherit the Vale.

Although it was rather embarrassing to fight with a child, but Harrold didn't care, he could kill Robert without any hesitation if it meant inheriting the Vale. Others might call him cruel, but only he knew how much he longed to climb the extremely rigid hierarchy of Westeros.

"When will we attack the Eyrie, Your Grace?" Anya looked at Harrold approvingly and asked, looking at Aenar with a calm gaze.

"We'll wait a few days." Aenar commented, chewing on a slightly sour grape. "The lead actor has to be on stage for the show to start."

The lead actor Aenar was talking about was not himself, but Petyr Baelish. At that very moment, he could see the man crossing the King's Road towards the Valley of Arryn. In all honesty, Aenar was surprised by the route Baelish had chosen. Even Tywin never thought that Baelish would dare to ride along the King's Road.

Although he was confused by Aenar's words, Harrold, who had a high emotional intelligence, noticed that he didn't want to explain himself and instead of asking, the new Lord of the Vale simply changed the subject and made the atmosphere even more festive.

"May you all drink to your heart's content on this day, your noble presences fill these halls with joy."

Aenar looked at him and admitted that a conversation with an intelligent man was often quite relaxing. And compared to Eddard, Harrold was someone who was truly trained to be a Lord one day, which could be seen by his elegant words and erudition.

Not that Eddard was a bad Lord, but he could have been infinitely better, the man had been content with the situation in the North and never bothered to enrich the North. Wood, minerals and even ice were much sought-after items in Essos.



There were many things the North could be richer from, but Eddard never cared about that, he just managed the North well all the years he was appointed Lord of Winterfell and Protector of the North.

"Learn well, Uncle." Aenar whispered to Eddard with a smile as they both watched Harrold converse easily with the Lords and Ladys of the North. Even Maege's granddaughters seemed charmed by the handsome and dashing Harrold.

Eddard rolled his eyes at Aenar's words, but didn't refute them either, as Aenar had said, he really felt he wasn't fit to be Lord. He could manage, but never innovate.

"Let's not talk about me." Eddard changed the subject, he knew that if he let him, Aenar would fill his ears with how to improve the North. "How's the situation in the Riverlands?"

It wasn't that he didn't want to improve the North, but he felt that would be Robb's job, he was just an honorable fool who was trained to be a knight, not a Lord. That was his brother's job, which unfortunately fell on his shoulders.

"Don't worry about Riverlands, Robert won't move from Casterly Rock until I get to Riverlands." Aenar said with a calm tone as he took a sip of wine. "He's probably more anxious than I am for the fight."

"As for the war situation, my lovely wife and my impulsive sister are sweeping every castle heading towards Harrenhal." Aenar's eyes seemed to be glowing, Eddard knew that this was one of the signs of when his nephew's powers were active.

"But they both found Jaime in Darry." Aenar commented with a slightly interested tone, he wanted to get back to the Riverlands as soon as possible to kill Robert Baratheon once and for all.

"Does Your Grace want me to return to the Riverlands to join Queen Visenya's army?" Eddard asked with a worried tone. Even though Visenya and Rhaenys had experienced advisors like Barristan, Oberyn and even Kinvara, he was still worried about the safety of the two women of House Targaryen.

Aenar only smiled at his uncle's concerns. "Uncle, let them both be reborn in the flames of war, only after many hammerings can a metal be polished free of impurities."

"You're fourteen years old and you talk like an experienced old man." Eddard rolled his eyes at his nephew's old-fashioned but unexpectedly wise words.

"What can I say, I'm an incredibly wise king." Aenar spared no compliments when it came to praising himself.

Narcissistic, perhaps, but Aenar preferred to call it high self-esteem!

Eddard merely shook his head at his nephew's words, but there was a smile on the usually stoic and emotionless face of the Lord of Winterfell.

"But knowing that both women of House Targaryen stood up to Jaime, Eddard's mood was serious. You may question Jaime Lannister's loyalty and means, but the man was undeniably one of the three most powerful swordsmen in Westeros.



He was not only extremely skilled with the sword, but had strength and reflexes beyond anyone else. Eddard personally saw Jaime knighted at the age of fifteen!

Jaime fought knights twice his age, size and experience and still won every duel, which showed that Jaime Lannister was a terrifyingly powerful opponent.

Perhaps still noticing Eddard's slightly worried expression, Aenar pondered for a moment and spoke. "Stop thinking about the bad things that could happen, you don't really think I'll let my wife and sister get hurt."

"Of course not, but swords don't have eyes." Eddard shook his head and replied with a helpless sigh. He felt he was more worried about Visenya and Rhaenys than the daughters he had left behind at Winterfell.

"You stubborn wolf." Aenar couldn't help grumbling as he filled Eddard's glass with wine again. Only drink can ease a man's worries, pain and misery.

Although it was a somewhat decadent method, but people at rock bottom rarely care what others think.

----------------

Discount coupon for Patreon: 9A241 35%!!! 

Read more than advanced Chapters in my Patre on!

Read Chapters ahead on Patreon. Two Chapters are updated every day except Sunday.

P-atreon.com/GOTSW

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)