Maekar's Pavilion

Rhaena followed Aegon in and took a place in the far corner, where she could see the other two, "Things have not gone quite as planned for me, brother, but we can get to that in a moment,"

"I marched on Cider Hall after learning that Lord Fossoway had surrendered to the Faith, and found five hundred of their men there. We destroyed them easily enough, and took the castle back, but it was a fool's errand," Maekar replied bitterly. "They fell upon Lords Serrett and Oakhearton the road south of Old Oak, and gutted their host. None of the survivors have given any indication of reliable intelligence about the enemy's movements, and my own reconnaissance flights have yielded nothing, though I have not yet flown more than a day from the castle, for I had no intention of leaving this army dragon less for more than that time."

"I brought six and a half thousand men, after leaving garrisons at Cider Hall and Bitterbridge. A thousand remain of the Westermen who were to join us, putting us at seven and half thousand. I'd say perhaps a third of them mounted, a fifth of them knights. I spoke with half the lords in Westeros assembling this army, and getting them to wait until we marched was a feat in and of itself," he said. "Still, I doubt there has been a better trained army on this content in centuries. Every man here is a veteran, and I've been drilling them every day for months."

Maekar went on to describe the siege machinery he'd had constructed, and the innovations he and a few of the captains had made, to increase the ease of transport and construction on the battlefield of the great engines. He also described the supply train he had constructed, its limitations on the march and the quartermasters' reports detailing what they had left. There was almost no chance of being able to live off the land, and Maekar had planned for that carefully, but even so it would be tight; they could only maintain a siege of Oldtown for so long before they would begin to run out of food and fodder.

"Twelve dragons on the field will be how we win the day, though if four of them turn on us in battle we shall likely be destroyed," he added, pointedly looking at Aegon. "Father truly trusted Aenar's spawn not to betray us in battle, you trust them?" he asked of the Prince.

[OOC: oops, I thought Visenya came too]

"As you say, brother," Maekar replied neutrally. "Lord Desmond Dustin brought four hundred armored lancers from the North, they call him 'the Barrowknight', I've seen fewer better men on horseback, and he has a superb mind for tactics as well; he leads the bulk of our cavalry, the heavy horse, and he rides with Ser Gareth Royce, who brought a thousand knights from the Vale. The Bastard of Riverrun, Ser Raymond Rivers, commands our scouts and outriders. Netiher Lord Tully nor his heir would join when I called, but Ser Raymond gathered seven hundred of his own light horsemen from various riverlords and they've proven extremely useful so far.

"The bulk of our archers came from Stoenehelm, Ser Owyn Swann brought eight hundred longbowmen and three hundred crossbowmen, drawn primarily from his lord father's allies on Cape Wrath, though none can match Ser Owyn's marksmanship. The foot are drawn from all seven of the Kingdoms; two thousand foot drawn from our father's vassals in the crown lands, led by Ser Alyn Celtigar, 'the Axman', he's probably the strongest man in the army. A thousand from the west, under Rhaena's command, with Lord Valarr advising her, and a further thirteen hundred drawn from the various lords of the reach, commanded by Ser Anders Rowan, the heir to Goldengrove.

"Among the host, I convinced Willem Stark, 'the White Wolf' to fight with us when I found him in solitude in the Rills; there's no better archer in the north they say, and he is rumored to be a skinchanger as well, with that massive wolf that always follows him around. I also recruited 'the Stormgiant', Ser Robert Morrigen. I nearly bested him in a contest of swords in the yard at Crow's nest, but he must be twice as strong as any man I've ever seen. Still, he joined our cause along with his cousin, Ser Rycherd Storm, who is an unsurpassed lancer. Ser Edmyn Arryn refused to ride with us, though I suspect his father forbid him from doing so and he is yet young enough to fear defying him despite how useful his lance would be. I am hoping to convince Lord Simon Tarly to ride with us; when we march south I intend to fly to Horn Hill to entreat him one last time, even if he cannot bring any men, Heartsbane in his hands is worth three score ordinary swords at least."

"Ser Anders has commanded in my absence, when I have been off scouting; he is able, though we've been lucky enough to face no difficulties except when Cyrax or Tyraxes has been present to protect the host. So far as I know, the keeps and castles are held loyally, but the countryside around them can conceal the enemy anywhere. They favor ambushes along the road, and lighting strikes to draw your attention somewhere specific, while they launch their true attack someplace else," Maekar replied.

Maekar appeared for a moment as if there was something else he wanted to say, but he closed his mouth without speaking and nodded. "That is all, brother. Tomorrow morning I will fly to Horn Hill to treat with Lord Tarly one more time; it shouldn't take more than a few hours and I imagine I'll rejoin the column before it has gotten far from Highgarden. My own estimates figure about ten days of marching to reach Oldtown, perhaps twelve, if we do not push the men to hard. Were it my decision, I would set a slower pace, so that they are hale and rested by the time we arrive at the city," he replied.

Maekar handed him the quartermaster's reports and tabulations of their supplies; they clearly had enough to get the army to Oldtown and to maintain it once there, albeit for a short time, but if the siege of the city stretched longer than a few weeks, they would begin to run out of food and fodder extremely quickly. "Not as much as I'd like, but enough if we do not squander our time," Maekar replied.

Aegon left before Rhaena could voice her objections to Aemy taking the position of third in command, having walked off after issuing orders to her. She knew she could wait until the council, which would result in embarrassment for them both.

After making up her mind, she quickly followed Aegon out, calling after him to stop.

"I wanted to have a word with you about who should be third in command," she said, appraoching him, so she wasn't shouting her words ac "I know it is your decision, but I can't let you make it without letting it be known how bad an idea I think it is making Aemy the third in command."

She paused for a second to think of the words, "I have nothing against Aemy, I know she did well in the west, but that was a long time ago, with a different army. She has little experience leading men, so should you and maekar fall, the fight would rest on the none experience of an untried commander. That not withstanding, while you are the crown prince and entitled to lead the army," she hated the use of the word entitled, but it served her purpose here, "Aemy does not know the men in this army, and the army does no know her, to ask them to follow the commands of an untried stranger is worse still than her just being untried. Is the weight of the war on a par with honouring your sister should you fall?"

Rhaena knew none of this was her place to say, but fuck if she cared about that.

Rhaena narrowed her eyes at that, "You know me very badly if you think that I am speaking of myself. If I would not put the hands of the war in Aemy's then I certainly would not trust them in mine. It is Valarr of who I was thinking of suggesting."

She had enough sense of self pride to feel she was being insulted, "This is a war, I'd not waste your time and the lives of the men by for one, suggesting that I take command of the whole army, and two, being narrow minded enough to not support my sister if she had to take command."

[OOC Note: Don't even]

"His name carries much more bearing to it than Aemy's, that alone would make men more willing to follow," Rhaena said, tilting her head to the side, frown leaving her face at her brothers apology, it would have been a fair assumption.

"Really? As much as a famed hero of the war?" she asked, "Who would you rather lead you into battle?"