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CHAPTER 257

296 AC

POV THIRD PERSON

This time, a sinister smile flashed through Aermir's face; by calling him back to the table, Lord Arryn had accepted his position as the weaker side. They wouldn't allow him to break their back with war reparations, but he should be able to take a few fingers.

Jon didn't even remember the last time he was humiliated, but now he had to be patient. While Lord Grafton and Aermir were talking, all Jon could think about was cutting this arrogant child's head. He took one last deep breath and showed a smiling face.

"Lord Drasil, as we have stated before, your actions of selling weapons to our enemies hurt us a lot, but we do understand you were just doing business as we did when we sold weapons to Ironborn in the past. Right now, we shouldn't look at this in a divided way. As we fought against the Ironborn threat as a united front, we should face them, at least as neighbors. We shouldn't stand in each other 's way. We all know it doesn't matter how better prepared they are. They are still the mountain clans, and in the long run, they are going to lose this war, and we will still be neighbors. Rather than being antagonistic to each other, let's at least be tolerant to each other."

Aermir smiled back at Lord Arryn and said,

"My good Lord, first of all, we didn't fight as a united force because the Vale wanted to help us. We fought because our king demanded this from you. We were always fighting against the Ironborn; you just decided to ignore their existence as you ignored the existence of Sistermen until you could no more. Other than the invasion of the Iron Islands which the king ordered, what help Vale provided us? ...nothing."

Aermir gestured toward the other Vale lords and continued,

"This is why I despise Vale Lords; you are only honorable when it suits you, and don't get me wrong, I am not a naive youngling who thinks justice can rule this world, and I understand it, but I still don't like your hypocrites."

Aermir pulled a paper from his pocket and offered it to Lord Arryn,

"Those are the Druid Emry's demands. If you accept the terms here, I will accept the peace."

After this, Jon resisted as much as possible, but as the discussions continued, he received more news that mountain clans were marching north; he knew he could not allow himself to get pincered between two armies. So he had to get an armistice, at the very least.

...

Ned was trying to end this war, but he knew Aermir wouldn't go for it, so he had to convince Jon. The first day of discussions was fruitless, and everyone had retreated to their rooms. Jon was working on the report he received, and the situation was bleak. They had lost 6 thousand men against the mountain clans and all of their harvest was lost. The worst part was he had to feed the useless army in the Paps, too.

Aermir clearly stated that The Druid would allow supplies to reach the Paps, and all the other lords heard him. He had already sent a raven about this and that is how they were able to smuggle Lord Grafton from the Paps but only a select few knew of this. So he didn't really send real support to the island until today. He was only using one or two ships to provide a little support and managed to smuggle 35 nobles from the island.

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They had tried to smuggle a few hundred knights too but his beasts had sunken those ships after that they stopped trying to smuggle soldiers. But now everyone knew it and Jon had to feed 10 thousand men even though they couldn't fight. That sneaky old fox was using them to waste his limited resources. Now they had to spend their emergency resource supplies, and they had to buy grain from Riverland and Reach; the problem was Riverland had already sold his harvest to Essos 3 months ago.

There were still 3 to 4 months until their next harvest, but the Vale would be out of food long before that while feeding a big army. Vale's winters were never as deadly as the North, so they didn't have massive silos for grain, and even if they had it, the summer had just started a few years ago, so they wouldn't have enough supplies.

This attack of the mountain clans had come at one of the worst moments, and on top of that, mountain clans had enough supplies for at least 6-7 months thanks to their looted harvest. Jon was weary and thoughtfully rubbed his temple, and at this moment, the door knocked.

The door creaked open, revealing Ned Stark standing in the doorway. Weariness etched across his face mirrored Jon Arryn's sentiments. Jon gestured for Ned to come in, closing the door behind him.

"Sit, my old friend," Jon said, indicating a chair. Ned obliged, and the two men faced each other across a table strewn with maps and parchment.

"You are in a dire situation, Jon," Ned began, his gaze fixed on the maps. "Your losses are heavy, and Aermir seems hell-bent on continuing this war. I've tried reasoning with him, but his allegiance to the Druid is unwavering."

Jon angrily said,

"What do you mean you asked him? You are his lord. Are you not able to hold onto your man?"

This time, Ned got angry and said,

"What do you expect me to do? Order him to stand down when his war is righteous? Your people are the reason for this war; on top of it, you, as the lord, are at fault. When I asked you to deal with the Sistermen, did you do it or sweep it under the rug?"

Ned sat down and tried to be calm and continued,

"I can never ask one of my lords to stand down when it is their right to seek justice. I am not going to lose my nobles' respect just to save Vale."

Jon sighed deeply, leaning back in his chair. "I know, Ned. I made a mistake with the Sistermen, and I've attempted to find common ground because of it, but Aermir's demands are unreasonable. The Druid's influence over him is undeniable."

Ned leaned forward, his expression intense. "We must find a way to end this war. The Vale can't withstand further losses, and what is so unreasonable about his demands? Jon, please come to your senses. You are the defeated side; he is the victorious one. Of course, he is going to dictate his demands. You are still acting like this is a draw, but it was not; your men thoroughly got defeated. Do not underestimate him just because he is not the Druid. None of your men here saw how he and his men truly fought, and he is not bluffing when he says he can get out of this castle after killing all of you. Do not think of this as you bowing down to a child; think of it as cutting one of Druid's legs from this battle."

Jon took a sip from his wine and shook his head,

"I cannot do that, Ned; we lost because of the Druid's magic and his damned animals, not because of that boy, so I just can't bring myself to accept all the things he wants. I want peace, too, but not at this cost. The Vale will become the laughing stock of the Westeros if we bow down to a child, especially a child without a true heritage."

Ned didn't want someone he respected as a secondary father figure to be defeated and humiliated, but he knew it in his bones if he continued on this way, Aermir would crush him mercilessly, so Ned had to convince him, and this way, at least, he would have some power to rebuild.

Ned knew Aermir wouldn't end it with the war, as he did to the Ironborn. He would destroy them from within. It had been years since the war, but Ironborn was still fighting among themselves, and he didn't want this to happen to Jon. At a last-ditch effort, he said,

"Don't you know, Druid is the priest of the Old Gods? Are you that old and senile that you can't even think straight?"

Jon was taken aback by what Ned had said, and before he could say something, Ned continued,

"Do you really believe you will be only fighting against the mountain clans? Let's say you will raise 40 thousand men and crush the mountain clans; what do you think will happen when they start to lose? They are going to ask for help from Aermir, and most importantly, they are going to pray to the Old Gods. Who do you think is going to answer that prayer?"

At that moment, realization struck Jon like a slap in the face. Ned was right; he might be fighting against the mountain clan right now, but the second they started to lose, they would ask for help from the Druid. Ned continued,

"By signing a peace accord with Aermir, at least you don't have to divide your army against a second and more powerful army. To face Aermir's 5 thousand men, you have to at least leave 2 to 3 times the number, and he doesn't have 5 thousand; he has 10 thousand. Since your men attacked him, he can call the rest of the Templar army. Even then, you might not beat him since the Druid might help him. I am not even counting the Northern Lords that might join Aermir's side when the real war starts."