Chapter Two

In the books, the Stark plan had been to launch a chevauchee to humiliate the Lannister’s and force Tywin to respond. This move would draw the Lannister forces westward, where the Starks could engage him head-on. Robb thought that he had a solid chance of winning the battle- and if he had won, then he would have knocked out a powerful region opposing him.

This plan went awry when Edmure Tully chose to engage the Lannister’s at the Stone Mill and along the Red Fork, halting their advance westward and forcing them to turn east.

The victory that Edmure won was turned to ash when he talked to Brynden and Robb, both of whom lambasted him for his decision. The fault for the plan failing was laid entirely at Edmure’s feet- and no culpability was laid at the feet of Robb and Brynden, the two most at fault for the blunder.

Edmure had been told by Robb and Brynden that the Northern army was heading to the Westerlands to weaken the Lannister powerbase and pillage supplies for the upcoming winter. Given that Robb sent back supplies to Riverrun, there was no reason for Edmure to doubt the plan was what it was. The greatest danger to this plan, from what Edmure knew, was Tywin returning and putting an end to the Northern pillaging spree.

The most sensible action that he could take to benefit Robb’s cause, therefore, was to prevent Tywin’s return West.

Edmure acted as well as he could with the information, he had available. The fact that the information was inaccurate was not his fault. It was a flaw with Robb’s style of leadership, one that overly centralized the decision making and only informed key commanders of the tactics to be used, as opposed to the strategy at play.

Joffrey wasn’t eager to repeat the Young Wolf’s mistakes. Especially because, unlike Robb Stark, Joffrey was no military genius. He didn’t know much about warfare and it was too late to rectify that in any meaningful way. He was already in the middle of a war- the time needed to become proficient wasn’t available to him at present.

He didn’t have to be, however. Joffrey believed that no man could know everything, and a good leader ought to be humble in recognition of what he didn’t know. Joffrey didn’t hesitate to look for experts who were qualified to advise him.

Westeros was a feudal society. Consequently, all lords had martial training. The list of knights and lords qualified to advise him was long, but the list of trustworthy lords and knights were much shorter. It was an area where his knowledge of canon couldn’t help him, so once more, Joffrey looked for someone that he trusted to advise him.

His desire for competent advice ruled out his mother. Cersei was loyal, but she was likely to put someone like Lancel or Osmund Kettleback in charge of his army. Both of those men could be counted on to follow Joffrey’s orders to the letter, but neither were exceptional commanders. Not what he was looking for.

Joffrey didn’t trust Tyrion. In canon, he had murdered Tywin and served Daenerys Targaryen. In the show, he was somewhat reluctant to harm his family, but in the books, he joined expressly for the sake of killing as many Lannister’s as possible.

Joffrey wasn’t sure which dimension he was in, but what he was sure of was that Tyrion was one secret away from turning on the Lannister’s- and on Joffrey himself, by extension. If the truth about Tysha was ever revealed, then he would betray them. The best Joffrey could do was minimize the damage and hold him at arm’s length.

Varys and Baelish- neither were to be trusted.

Varys in the show shared the same flaw as Tyrion. He was too principled, determined to aid the common people of the realm. Varys in the books was loyal to Aegon Targaryen the Sixth. In both cases, he couldn’t be trusted.

Baelish, on the other hand, was a serpent. He was cunning and had his eye on the Iron Throne. He was useful for the time being, however. It was Baelish that had negotiated the alliance between the Lannister’s and Tyrell’s, after all. He would have to be rewarded- Joffrey couldn’t not reward those who did him a great service- but he would also be closely watched. Never trusted, most certainly not to recommend a general.

The last member of his small council was Pycelle, an old man with no connection to the military. Joffrey didn’t bother asking him.

Instead, he turned to his allies outside the capital. His first impulse was to try to recruit Randyll Tarly, a famed general and important Reach Lord. He eventually decided against it, however, because promoting one of their vassals over them would hurt relations with the Tyrells.

As a last resort, he turned to his grandfather, Tywin Lannister. Getting a message to him was slow and risky, given that he was fighting in the Riverlands, but the message went through fortuitously. Tywin’s reply came in the form of Burton Crakhall, younger brother to the Lord of Crakehall.

Burton was fifty-six years old and had lived through the War of the Nine Penny King’s, the Reyne Rebellion, Robert’s Rebellion, and the Greyjoy Rebellion. Burton had served both as a warrior and as a general in all four of those wars and had earned his nickname, Burton the Strong.

Even now, Burton was broad-shouldered with barrel arms, muscles visible despite sallow skin hanging off his frame like curtain drapes. Joffrey could scarcely imagine what he must have looked like at his prime. Despite his weakened frame, his brown flecked eyes were sharp and assessing, studying the world around him intently, always judging and ascertaining. It assuaged concerns Joffrey had about Burton’s age. His mind was as sharp as ever.

That first meeting was cordial enough, though Joffrey had been displeased to note that Burton wasn’t taking him particularly seriously. It made sense, on one level. Joffrey was physically twelve.

Under most circumstances, the kingdom would be ruled by the Regent until the king came of age at sixteen. The regent for Joffrey was his mother, Cersei. Burton was expecting to meet her.

In this case, however, Cersei had Joffrey coronated hastily to invalidate the final will of Robert I. The one that said that Eddard Stark should be the regent until Joffrey came of age in four years. In so doing, she had ensured that as far as the laws were concerned, Joffrey was the lawful king.

This didn’t necessarily translate to societal acceptance, however, and most people still looked to the Queen Regent for approval. If they approached Joffrey, it was probably because they were expecting an easily manipulated child. One who, on paper, wielded tremendous power and could legally give them quite a lot.

It was irritating, but there was little Joffrey could do about it until he was fully grown. Until then, his best response would be to keep his regent in the loop and involved in the decision-making process. Given how much Cersei loved him and how familiar she was with the local politics, it wasn’t a bad idea and he might have done that regardless. Being seen acting together also kept people from wondering who they ought to be following, so that was another plus.

This was one of the cases where he didn’t do that.

Joffrey knew precious little about warfare, but he had a vague idea about how the United States military-operated at the highest levels. It was something that he had learned about in the wake of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general.

From the little that Joffrey had gleaned from the news coverage surrounding the assassination, the highest level of the United States military was made up of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The members of the Chiefs were the highest-ranking army personnel in the United States, made up of leaders of the army, the navy, and the air force.

They would gather and make a list of options for the president- who didn’t necessarily have military experience despite being the commander in chief- to look over. They would explain the options and he would choose one from the list.

Joffrey liked the idea of setting up his military command like that for multiple reasons. The main one was that it facilitated communication between various branches of the military, and between different members of the brass, making sure that what happened with Edmure Tully and Robb Stark didn’t happen here. It ensured that all commanders were familiar with the strategic parameters and had flexibility as to how to meet those parameters on the field.

The second one was that having a plethora of generals and personnel advising him would offset Joffrey’s inexperience. From a list of five options, how difficult could it be to pick one?

The first step was to pick his chiefs of staff and ensure that they were all familiar with the strategic goals, so in that first meeting with Burton, Joffrey brought him up to date on the goals of the war and the problem with Westeros as he saw it.

The Seven Kingdoms of the Iron Throne- the name was the problem. Seven Kingdoms.

Even though the Targaryen’s had forced the independent kingdoms of Westeros to bend the knee to them, they had never truly taken those independent kingdoms and forged a single realm.

A peasant living in the North today had the same life as one living in the North three centuries ago. They lived under the same great house, the Starks. They lived within the same region, the North. The laws were the same, the taxes, the armies, etc.

Consequently, the people of the seven kingdoms were more loyal to their local lord than their lord paramount, and more loyal to their lord paramount than the king on the Iron Throne. This led to a very unstable power system that only got more unstable once the Targaryen dragons died, and with it, their ability to keep their vassals in check.

The Crownlands lacked the manpower and resources needed to keep one major kingdom in check, never mind seven. Ultimately, the system ensured that it was the king that was at the mercy of his vassals rather than the other way around.

If he wanted his family to retain their power going forward, Joffrey would have to change that, and this war provided an opportunity to restructure Westeros.

With the Tully’s rebelling, Joffrey had an opportunity to revoke their control over the Riverlands- and with it, turn the central region of Westeros into a new, larger Crownlands. With Stannis rebelling, Joffrey had an opportunity to take away Storms End and the Stormlands and turn it into the seat of the heir to his throne.

Let Storms End be to House Durrandon-Lannister what Dragonstone was to the Targaryen’s. Burton had questioned him on why his name had changed from Baratheon- Joffrey explained that it was a way to distinguish him from his treacherous Baratheon uncles.

This arrangement would give the Royal Family direct control over two major kingdoms with blood ties to the Westerlands and to the Reach, for at least one generation. Possibly more, depending on how things went.

This, Joffrey told Burton, had the potential to be the war to end all wars. Of course, to do that they would have to win the war convincingly. The larger the army the opposing side had, the greater their negotiating power. The smaller their army was, the more draconian the terms Joffrey could and would offer.

Joffrey gave Burton the civil vision and goal that this war was aimed at providing- a clear set of victory conditions. Now, it was up to Burton and the officers he chose for his army to figure out how to make it a reality.

It had been a week since that first meeting, and now Joffrey was meeting with Burton, the Chief General of his armies, as well as the rest of his Chiefs of Staff.

The Royal Navy had only twenty ships left after Stannis had stolen the rest on his way out. Consequently, the navy no longer could project power outside of the narrow straits of Blackwater Bay. Especially not with a chunk of Stannis’s navy stationed at Dragonstone, right outside the capital. Joffrey didn’t expect them to play much of a role in the upcoming conflict and their inclusion in the meeting was done more for the sake of appearances than anything else.

His expectations for the navy were so low that he didn’t even bother assigning them an admiral. Instead, he had the captains gather and elect one of their own for the position.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The man they settled on was Barrock Cantell, a peasant from the Vale with the looks to match. Poor hygiene had rotted away his teeth, marring otherwise handsome features. His blue eyes roamed the room nervously. Joffrey imagined it was his first time being around so many important men and let it pass.

The final member of his Chiefs of Staff was his mother, the head of the newly created Department of Military Information. Previously, the Master of Whispers oversaw everything regarding subterfuge; civil and militaristic alike. Joffrey changed that.

Varys was the head of the newly christened National Security Agency (NSA), which was theoretically focused on internal surveillance and protecting the king from assassination attempts. Also, theoretically, there should be a third branch involving foreign subterfuge- a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of his own.

In practice, training spies required time and money, and Joffrey had neither to spare. As such, Cersei oversaw an empty department with no employees. The height of her intelligence gathering capabilities was interviewing different members of the government and gathering information from them.

The one thing that this practically accomplished was that it gave Joffrey a way to invite Cersei to meetings without losing face. Having to have his mother babysit him undermined his authority- as did blatantly inviting her in her capacity as regent. It was more palatable to invite her as the head of a military department.

The members trickled into the War Room one at a time. Once upon a time, it had been the Small Council Chambers, but he relocated them to the Tower of the Hand. The only entrance to the War Room was past the Iron Throne itself. The room was in the most fortified place in the Red Keep, which meant that any spies would have a difficult time getting access.

The work that the Small Council did, while important, was not nearly as vital to keep secret. It could be hosted in the slightly less secure Tower of the Hand.

Joffrey entered the room last. The other members of the council hadn’t sat yet- it would be impolite to do so before the king. Each of the three members stood behind their chairs. Cersei looked annoyed, as though she couldn’t believe she had to observe these formalities. Burton did not react, face like stone. Barrock was glancing at the other two, trying to glean why they were both standing yet following suit regardless.

The room itself had minor cosmetic changes made to it. The chairs were still the same, black woods with a white cushion and back-rest.

The table was still the same stone table, but the coverings had been changed. It used to be an ornate brown and silver covering fitting for the place from which a kingdom had been ruled. Joffrey stripped the finery away, leaving the cool marble bare- the perfect surface for the map of Westeros placed atop it and a better surface to write on.

The fruit bowl that used to be in the center of the table had been moved and the jugs of wine emptied. Joffrey found the bowl irritating, so he had it moved to the corner of the room, and he didn’t want drunk advisers, so he replaced the wine with boiled water.

The painting on the wall was the only décor left untouched. The image of a joust was fitting for the walls of King Robert the First given his interests, but it wasn’t without a place at a War Room.

Joffrey took his spot at the head of the table, drawing his chair out and sitting. The sound of the wood scraping against stone was unbearably loud in the otherwise quiet room, but no one said anything. Somewhat embarrassed, Joffrey said, “You may all sit.”

A cacophony of noise followed as the rest of the council took their spots. The inelegance made Joffrey feel better. Once the last member was seated, Joffrey started to speak. “When I first discussed the war with you all, I made clear our objective and asked that you consider how to best accomplish them. Today, we are going to discuss what you came up with.”

Despite addressing all three of the members in the council, Joffrey’s eyes were focused on Burton, making it clear who he was addressing. Burton picked up on it and replied, “You wanted options. On the strategic level, we have three. We can go on the offensive against the Stark boy, we can go on the offensive against Stannis, or we could hold our ground and get killed when they come for us.”

The frankness of his statement startled Joffrey. “Why would holding our ground be such a bad call?”

“We have two enemies at present- the Stark’s and the Baratheon’s. One coming from the North, the other the south. If we try to fight them at the same time, we’ll be fighting a war on two fronts. Fronts that are hundreds of miles from one another. Shifting troops between the North and the South is going to be a lengthy and difficult task- it’ll be nearly impossible to get reinforcements where they need to go.

“If we manage to close one of the fronts, however- we currently have the largest army of the five…” Here Burton hesitated. The ongoing conflict was commonly being called ‘The War of Five Kings,’ but referring to Joffrey’s opponents as kings in his presence was unwise. The word that Burton settled on was, “Candidates. We have the largest army of the candidates- especially when the Reach join us with their hundred-thousand men.

“If we close one front, we can mass our armies and overwhelm the other front.”

“You mentioned that we could either strike at Stannis or the Starks. Which would you recommend?”

“Stannis.” Burton’s answer was immediate and without delay.

The speed with which he answered surprised Joffrey, but it was Cersei that objected. “Stannis is a veteran commander. Robb Stark is just a boy.”

“That boy has humiliated us- the grand host of the Westerlands and by extension, your lord father, more times than any other. He has slaughtered our armies and marches on the heart of the Westerlands. That boy has the backing of two kingdoms and by proxy, the center of Westeros. That boy controls the North, the only kingdom to have never fallen to outside invaders. If pressed he could fall back behind Moat Cailin and hold us at bay indefinitely. That boy is Robb Stark, the Young Wolf, and he won’t fall easily.”

Cersei frowned, though it wasn’t clear if she was frowning because he disagreed with her or because of what he said. “You sound like you admire him.”

Burton smiled. His lips quirked upwards and yet his eye didn’t crinkle. “Admire him? No, I despise him. And yet you don’t despise your enemies for being incompetent at what they do- you despise them for their competence.” Burton turned back to Joffrey, “Your grace, it is my honest opinion that moving against the Starks would be folly.

“A war in the Riverlands would be hard enough- fighting among the mud and the fords. The long twisting streams give the River Lords an advantage in maneuver- they know where the streams lead and have boats to travel them, moving their armies around quickly. Once the war in the Riverlands is done, we still need to push North and force them to yield, and that can’t be done quickly. When we do fight North, we are going to need our navy.”

Barrock jolted upright, as though surprised that his division was mentioned. “Me? I mean- my lord and-” he glanced at Joffrey, who wasn’t looking amused at his stammering. Barrock forcibly gathered himself and calmed him down. When he opened his eyes next, he wasn’t looking at the highborn, and instead, he looked at the map.

“I can guess what you want us to do. An attack on Moat Cailin would be folly. The castle is impregnable from the south and if it’s northern face is free; it can receive regular supplies and can’t be besieged. I’m assuming you want us to sail you around and land your armies on one of the coasts so you can ignore the castle entirely, am I right?”

Burton and Joffrey were both impressed. Given his less than stellar first impression, this was more than they expected of him. “That would be correct,” Burton replied. “Is there a problem with that?”

“Currently, the Royal Navy is stuck in harbor, courtesy of Stannis’s navy. If we try to attack the North first, then yes, there is a problem. If we can beat Stannis, then we’ll have free reign over the east coast, but that brings up a new issue. Mainly that we are down to twenty-three ships, only thirteen of whom are transports. At best, I can transport little over a thousand men at a time and given the distance…”

He trailed off, but Burton picked up on what he was trying to say. “Too slow,” he grimaced. “By the time we brought the second batch up, the first would already be dead. And that’s not counting supply lines.”

“If we beat Stannis on the field, can we convince members of the Royal Navy to come back into the fold?”

“You would forgive traitors?” Cersei didn’t sound judgmental, merely curious.

Joffrey shrugged. “Above all, I choose victory. Stannis isn’t the last enemy we are going to have to fight. If I can bring the Stormlanders back into the fold by showing amnesty and use their troops to kill Stark, then that is what I’ll do.”

A moment's silence and- “It might be doable, your grace.” Barrock was the one who spoke. He looked embarrassed when they looked at him, but he soldiered on, “Ships being captured isn’t all too rare of an event, but it isn’t particularly common either. Most certainly not on the scale needed for an invasion of the North.”

Another moment's silence and- “Sell Sails.”

“Pardon, your grace?”

“We can hire mercenaries to get us North. My grandfather is rich- he has all the wealth of Casterly Rock backing him up. We can use that money to hire Sell Sails if we have to.”

A final moment of silence while the four of them mulled it over. Eventually, Burton summarized their predicament. “I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. When the time comes for us to move against the Starks, the situation will be radically different than it is now.

“We might have more ships if we capture some of Stannis’s, or we might have less if we lose a naval battle. We might need Sell Sails, we might not. It is far too early to say.”

“Your right, of course.” Joffrey squeezed his eye shut, trying to collect his thoughts. “I think that all of us would agree that our best option, for the time being, would be to focus on Stannis?”

Barrock and Burton both let out a hearty, “Aye.” Cersei didn’t say anything, but when Joffrey glanced over at her, she nodded to show her support. “We have a target then. I suppose grandfather is going to have to hold with the troops he has. In the interim, we still must decide where we are going to fight Stannis- and how.

“I have taken initiative and started recruitment for a new host, as well as mobilizing the troops that we have. Given a month, we can expect to raise an army of twenty-five thousand soldiers, mostly peasant levies armed with either pikes or crossbows. On the naval side, we have twenty-three ships. I don’t expect them to play much of a role in the upcoming conflict.

“Lord Burton, you mentioned that we can’t afford to wait for them to come to us. How long do you think we should wait before we make our move?”

Burton was quiet for a long time. Eventually, he answered, “I can train my troops while we march south if I have to. I’ll get started on teaching the soldiers that we have how to fight in formation while I wait for more troops to trickle in. Once I’ve gotten the army gathered, I’ll begin marching, training as I go.

“Once I get to the Stormlands, I can focus on securing important castles like the Bronze Gate and set up a supply route, as well as serve as an improvised shock troop, picking off troops trying to link up with Stannis. When the Tyrell host arrives, send them to join me. Once our armies merge, we’ll smash Stannis’s main host and bring the war to its conclusion.”

Joffrey looked dubious, and Burton himself didn’t look pleased with the plan, but there was little to be done about it. Speed would be paramount in the coming campaign. With Stark continuously pressuring the Northern front, closing the Southern war as quickly as possible would be paramount.

No one else had a better idea, so Joffrey gave his assent. Outside the birds chirped and sang under a bright blue sky. Joffrey didn’t doubt that soon the sky would be darkened with smoke and the birds would sing no more.