Chapter 357 Kneel down in the dust
Stannis was still walking forward.
However, he didn't realize that he had fallen into a perfect ambush.
Lord Arstan Selmy decided to follow Jon Connington's advice.
The moment he reveals his malice, his fate...
It’s already been decided!
Although this was a hasty decision, it was only after Aegon Targaryen ascended the throne.
Only the things promised to the Selmy family can truly be implemented.
But Astan Selmy has no regrets.
He believed that if given the same opportunity to any noble in this storm land, they would make the same choice.
The Baratheon family, both the older brother and the younger brother, are no longer worthy of their allegiance.
Neither harshness nor gentleness can lead them to the road to victory.
So, you might as well jump out of here early.
Nothing to criticize.
More than three hundred years ago, when another Aegon Targaryen landed here, the nobles who defected to him made the most important and correct decision in their lives.
Nobles are responsible for their families.
For bringing the family into the abyss, they deserve to be spurned for thousands of years.
But in turn, no matter how he got it, the honor will always be his.
This is the logic of this aristocratic society.
night.
Quiet and cold.
The cold wind of winter passes through the thick and dense forest.
Finally arrived at this land.
Stannis's body was covered with mud, and he didn't look like a king at all.
He was breathing heavily.
Walking at night in this rainy countryside is very exhausting.
He never knew this before.
Then a few bits of moonlight peeked out from the dark clouds, and Stannis suddenly noticed.
The burning heat he breathed turned into smoke as thin as gauze.
cold.
He felt it instantly.
Before setting off, he received the announcement of winter brought by the fluttering white raven from the Cardinal Chancellery in the city.
The Stark family language became a reality at that time.
A daze.
His right foot sank into the mud again.
Subconsciously I wanted to pull out my right foot.
But found that he failed.
Stannis was tired.
He was born in 264 AD and is now approaching forty years old.
This is not a happy age.
Although no one has done statistics, this is the level of productivity.
The average life span of a Westeros person is just over thirty years old.
Nobles may be longer.
But on average, the data is actually ugly.
Unclean drinking water and food, and bad living habits corrode the human body day after day.
Although Stannis is a king, he still cannot escape this fate.
Death will find him at any time.
Whether he wants it or not.
Pulling his boots out of the mud, Stannis took a deep breath of cool air.
The moonlight shines on his gray hair.
Making him look older.
"Where are we now?"
Stannis asked his guard.
"Antlers Village, we are still more than twenty miles away from the Harvest Hall."
the guard replied.
In the words, the word "Your Majesty", which represents the most noble title, has also disappeared.
Stannis turned a deaf ear.
In fact, it's not that he can't hear it, or that he can't understand it.
Lost the army and did so many wrong things.
Even the noble blood of the royal family cannot support him from shouting at these guards anymore.
"Antlers Village...this is really not a good name."
Stannis grunted.
He had seen it, for said village.
It was located in the wilderness north of the dirt road they were on.
Not far.
He felt his completely dry strength.
Stannis sighed and whispered:
"Let's stop here tonight, let's go into the village."
The guards looked at each other and then agreed lazily.
He walked towards the village without looking back.
The village is just beside the road.
The two hundred of them are not a small number at all.
Of course, this is for this village.
Arrived at the entrance of the village.
Next to the wooden village gate, there were two torches soaked in grease.
In the night sky, it looks very bright.
This is a sign that the village is relatively wealthy.
When Stannis reached the village gate, his steps could not help but slow down.
He suddenly understood why this village had such a name.
Because, in his field of vision.
Two huge antlers, illuminated by torches.
Glowing with an iron-like luster.
It seems to be growing out of the wooden board above the village gate.
This must have been skinned from a rather large buck.
Stannis knows.
For no reason, his heart felt an unnatural contraction.
It's like someone is holding it.
The troubled king let out a deep breath, as if trying to get rid of this strange feeling of discomfort.
One last look at the antlers.
For some reason, Stannis thought of a question.
The antlers are here.
So where is the buck's head?
…
Never underestimate a noble family after they have been lingering on a piece of land for hundreds or thousands of years.
The strength of their hold on the land.
When Jon Connington informed Astan Selmy of the location where Stannis landed.
The powerful Earl of the Stormlands, who controlled a large area of territory near Harvest Hall, immediately calculated Stannis's approximate location.
So, the elite cavalry, who had been carefully selected from thousands of people, were in the dark.
Quietly left the east gate of Harvest Hall Castle.
Heading toward the southeast, they advanced rapidly.
For the infantry, the night march was quite exhausting, but the trained cavalry seemed to be as fast as flying.
Soon, they arrived further east of Antler Village.
There, they found the footprints of Stannis and his party.
The number, as well as the unique traces left by the iron boots, all prove that the person they are tracking is King Stannis Baratheon.
Therefore, under the personal leadership of Count Astan Selmy.
The cavalrymen turned their horses and immediately ran towards the direction they came from.
Following the cold moonlight, the traces of footsteps became more and more obvious.
Count Astan Selmy tracked all the way to the outskirts of Antler Village.
Look at the footprints leaving the dirt road and going straight to Lujiao Village.
Baojue from the Harvest Hall knew that he had already set his sights on the goal of this trip.
In other words, it's right in front of you.
Why is it said that the cavalry selected this time took a lot of effort.
There is no one from the east of Harvest Hall here.
Because, this Earl, from the very beginning, had planned to erase anyone who had seen all this.
Whether alive or dead.
"Surround the village. No matter who wants to break out, no matter who he is, kill them all!"
Astan Selmy gave his cavalry a final emphasis on the order before the action.
No one answered the count's words.
In the bleak night wind, there are silent and determined faces.
They knew exactly what they were there for.
Part of what the Count had promised them had been delivered to their homes.
The rest is up to them to earn.
Anyone who wants to stop them will have trouble with them, their poor and weak families, and their families who have escaped from the sea of suffering.
So, from the beginning.
All Astan Selmy's mobilizations were unnecessary.
They didn't hesitate at all when they started.
In this society where levels of responsibility are upward.
The subjects are only responsible to their lords.
Without exception.
…
Stannis had a dream.
On the dark sea, he was riding a huge ship with a broken keel, but with full sails, constantly breaking through the waves.
The things in the dream were not very clear.
But he could vaguely feel it.
This seems to be the "King Robert's Hammer" that has sunk in the cold water.
Looking up and driving away, Stannis subconsciously felt startled.
Because the sail appeared full and bulging in the howling wind.
Above is not his crowned stag.
Instead, it was a pattern he had never seen before.
Black base, red center.
Like the colors of the Targaryen family.
But the thing in the center is not the three-headed fire dragon that Stannis is familiar with.
"it"
There is only one head.
And, Stannis knew, it was definitely not a dragon.
That thing is ugly and ferocious.
It's like the mating between a dragon and dirty things.
Bastard, disgusting.
Stannis felt that that thing made him more uncomfortable than looking at the three-headed fire dragon flag.
But for some reason, his attention was firmly attracted by this thing.
Under his gaze, there was something on the sail.
eyeball……
There seemed to be a sudden movement.
Stannis suddenly felt that an evil gaze was shining on him.
For a moment, he wanted to draw his sword.
However, the palms on his waist came up empty.
The next moment, the thing on the sail suddenly came to life!
The indescribable monster changed from a flat plane to a three-dimensional one.
After letting out a heart-stopping roar, it brought up a gust of wind and rushed towards Stannis Baratheon who was stunned on the spot.
The moment he was swallowed by the monster into the smelly mouth full of fangs, and was about to be chewed to pieces.
Stannis wakes up.
He suddenly sat up from the iron-cold bed.
Breathing heavily.
When people are in a dream, it is difficult for them to realize that they are actually in a fuzzy state.
So, at this moment, Stannis realized that everything he just saw was not real.
However, everything that happened in the dream just now was so clear.
There seems to be some vague direction.
But in a hurry, he didn't have the time to think about what it meant.
This night, he was destined to have no sleep.
However, just when he put his tired body back on the bed made of wooden planks by the villagers.
The sound of horse hooves reached his ears.
That's right, it's the sound of horse hooves.
Originally, Stannis thought this was the mobilization of his own army.
After all, he had become accustomed to this sound over the past few years.
However, the next moment, he immediately realized something was wrong.
Now that he is defeated, where can he get his war horse?
There is a raccoon horse in the village, but it is only one.
It is simply impossible to hear the sound of horse hooves that is so powerful and chaotic in number, so it appears to be numerous.
Here comes a large group of cavalry!
His nerves were tense for a moment, and Stannis's right hand went directly to hold the dagger hidden next to the bed.
Although the long sword is more effective, in a hurry, the dagger is the most suitable weapon.
Just like that, the embarrassed king rushed out of his "palace", a villager's wooden house.
Then, he saw the cavalry rushing into the village.
And the swords in their hands.
They are here to kill.
My own soldiers, the two hundred people who survived.
There is no shortage of capable people.
But they had traveled half the night and were exhausted from the day's fighting.
Therefore, he was unprepared to face the killing that came like a ghost.
Like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Some drew their swords.
Stannis was a little anxious, imagining that he was looking in the wrong place.
However, the resistance of his own soldiers shattered his expectations.
Where in the countryside are there farmers armed with standard weapons?
Now, Stannis, the remnant of the troubled king, was here.
It can no longer be hidden.
Stannis thought hard and didn't know why his whereabouts were exposed.
Along the way, no one had the chance to deliver news to the outside world.
Moreover, Stannis knew it when he saw the heads flying up at the entrance of the village.
These people are here to kill. Don't expect any survivors in this village.
Run away!
Stannis's sanity was alarming his brain like crazy.
He knew very well that no matter who sent these guys, they must be here to take his life.
If they were here to save him, they wouldn't use the knife right away.
At this moment, Stannis was extremely clear-headed.
He hesitated for a moment, in order not to be dragged down by the soldiers he could no longer trust.
Stannis decided to leave alone.
You know, at this juncture, it is really possible for the soldiers to surrender and then surrender him.
He knows it very well.
However, when the guards were in a panic, he slipped to the back of the village without paying attention.
After climbing over the wooden fence, I felt like I had escaped.
A heartbreaking sound of horse hooves appeared behind him.
In an instant, Stannis understood.
The number of these cavalry was more than he imagined.
This cannot be achieved by a small force.
The Selmy family? Or...Renly?
The question popped into Stannis's mind.
However, instinctively, he had already taken steps and was preparing to escape.
The cavalry behind had already caught up.
The riding crop struck Stannis hard on the back.
The king, who lost his balance, once again came into close contact with the nauseating mud.
Get up from the ground and spit out the dirt in your mouth.
Stannis was about to say something.
A steel boot stepped on his back.
"take away."
He heard someone say.
Then, he was hit hard on the back of the head.
His world fell into the deepest darkness.
…
When Stannis opened his eyes again.
He found that he and the remaining living people in the village were all pressed into the open space at the entrance of the village.
The smell of blood filled the nostrils.
I don’t know if it’s my own or someone else’s.
But it probably belongs to someone else.
Because wherever you look, there are dead bodies everywhere.
They have their own soldiers, but more of them are the villagers here.
The depression where Stannis knelt was already covered in thick plasma.
In front of them stood a large row of figures.
Although the vision is a little blurry.
But with the burning torches in their hands, Stannis could still clearly see the signs on them.
The green crowned stag!
