When Cadmus, Viserys, and Jon were eating in the tent, a soldier rushed in and spoke with a tone full of disbelief: "The gates of Riverrun are opening!"
The sound of chewing ceased; Cadmus looked at Viserys as if saying: 'Look, I told you it would happen.'
Viserys couldn't believe what he was hearing; he didn't believe that Edmure would actually dare to kill his own father and usurp the castle. It was so insane that he wondered what was going through the mind of the heir of Riverrun. Did he really think he would survive? After all that House Tully had done? Don't mention Rhaegar; he himself was ready to completely destroy House Tully.
"Let's go." Viserys no longer cared about eating; he grabbed his sword and left the tent with quick steps.
Cadmus and Jon looked at each other; both saw the morbid pleasure in each other's eyes. All human beings liked to see family affairs; there was nothing more interesting than seeing a family killing or fighting each other.
"This is going to be fun." Cadmus commented with a laugh.
Leaving the food aside, Cadmus followed Viserys; he wanted to see if it was as he had predicted and Edmure had killed his own father. If it was true, the mage felt that Edmure was truly Hoster's son; the man had big balls.
Quickly arriving at the scene, Cadmus noticed that the three trebuchets had stopped firing flaming stones. All the soldiers gathered around, curiously looking at the lowered gates and the entourage of soldiers emerging from the walls.
Cadmus soon saw Edmure in the middle of the men. He was wearing bronze plate armor similar to scales, the House Tully sigil emblazoned on his chest as a symbol of pride and strength.
At that moment, the Heir of Riverrun was pale, which surprised Cadmus, but he presumed that killing one's own father could do very bad things to a person's mind. Edmure was probably feeling like the worst person in the world and it was normal to be as pale as a bloodless corpse.
Viserys was waiting with his hand on the hilt of his sword, while maintaining an elegant smile, but tinged with slight sarcasm. Cadmus stood beside Viserys as he watched Edmure approach with hesitant steps.
However, there was no more room for hesitation; Edmure had killed his own father, he had no more options. It was submission or death.
"My prince," Edmure greeted Viserys in a calm tone, but with a touch of flattery. Which earned many looks of contempt from both the Crown's soldiers and his own soldiers. Whether in this world or on earth, cowards are never admired.
"What brings you to my presence again, Heir of Riverrun?" Viserys looked at Edmure with a scrutinizing and curious gaze.
"You are mistaken about something, my prince." Edmure spoke, ignoring the looks he received and continued speaking, "My admirable father died in his sleep in his chambers, now I am the Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Trident."
"As for why I am in your noble presence, I am bending the knee to the Crown again." Edmure knelt, looking into Viserys's eyes with sincerity. "I will fulfill the oath my ancestors made when they bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror."
Viserys didn't answer and continued looking at Edmure with curiosity. "Where is the Blackfish? I don't see him."
Logically, Brynden should be by his nephew's side for such an important occasion, but there were no signs of Brynden anywhere, which was completely strange. Not even Viserys and Cadmus expected Edmure to also kill his own uncle. It was so audacious that they never even dreamed Edmure could be so decisive and cruel.
Edmure began to sweat; he looked away, but replied with a slightly trembling tone. "He wasn't feeling well, so he stayed resting in the castle."
Seeing his reaction, along with the guilt stamped on his forehead, Cadmus and Viserys looked at each other, noticing the shocked look in each other's eyes. If they were right, Edmure had killed Brynden Tully!
This was so crazy that they looked at the coward before them with an incredulous expression. No matter how much they looked, Edmure had no capacity to kill Brynden in a duel or even in an ambush.
Although Brynden was not as powerful a swordsman as Arthur, Barristan, or Jaime Lannister, he was still a renowned knight who fought in hundreds of tournaments.
Viserys's smile grew; he looked at the kneeling man and asked curiously. "Are you sure Lord Hoster died in his sleep, Lord Edmure? I know the old fish was quite resilient and especially slippery in the face of death."
The implications in Viserys's words were obvious to everyone. The soldiers and nobles looked at Edmure with strange and slightly shocked looks. The prince was implying that Edmure killed his own father!? This was so absurd that they couldn't believe what they heard.
The soldiers of House Tully looked at their new feudal lord and also showed strange expressions, but the idea became increasingly true when they noticed that Brynden had suddenly fallen ill, or even Hoster's death, which happened at the same time.
"Lord Edmure, I would like to visit the castle and see Lord Hoster's body and visit the ailing Brynden Tully." Viserys didn't unmask Edmure; he wanted everyone to see before doing anything. Of course, if Edmure refused, it was more than obvious what would happen.
No one was foolish, and the sudden illness and death of Brynden and Hoster were extremely suspicious; no one could ignore such a supposition.
Before everyone's eyes, Edmure forced a smile and said with a tremor, "All-right, P-prince."
However, his actions and panic made everyone even more suspicious. The absurd idea apparently wasn't so absurd.
"Did he kill his own father to survive?" One of the nobles asked with a doubtful tone to his friend beside him.
"I heard that Hoster Tully's son was a coward, but I never thought he was a kinslayer." The friend replied with a sigh.
"However, it's not certain; we have to see Lord Tully's body and visit the Blackfish."
"Yes, we can't accuse him of something so serious without proof, right?"
The whispers were loud enough for those closest to hear, making the information spread extremely fast. There were exclamations in the back of the army, showing that the information had spread fast enough.
All the most important nobles followed Edmure into the castle. However, when they turned the corner, they saw Edmure running with all his might. The plate armor made constant clashing sounds, leaving everyone speechless.
"...."
If before it was just a skeptical idea, now everyone knew that Edmure had indeed killed his own father. Everyone looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes. It had been a long time since Westeros had seen such a heinous act. A son killing a father.
Suddenly, Cadmus looked to the left and saw a maidservant, which wouldn't be surprising, given that he was in a castle, but that woman certainly wasn't a maid. Not with that stunning appearance.
Flaming red hair, cornflower blue eyes, a face so beautiful it shouldn't be human, and most importantly, she emanated magical energy!
The woman tried to hide her magical energy, but before Cadmus, the woman's magical control was somewhat deficient, showing that she was not an expert in magic. Perhaps in some auxiliary area? Potions or Alchemy?
Placing his finger on his lips, Cadmus smiled at the mage with a touch of amusement. He didn't expect to find another magic user, besides Stregobor's spy.
Snapping his finger, Cadmus discreetly placed a tracking spell on the woman and followed Viserys to the main room. He had more important things than interrogating a mage; besides, the woman wouldn't escape. Not when he emanated his terrible amount of mana.
If the woman tried to escape, he would show what it was like to easily catch a red fox!
Triss, seeing the mage's back, wanted to cry, but the tears didn't flow. 'Yennefer, you got me into big trouble!'
Remembering her friend's request to spy on Stregobor, Triss deeply regretted coming to this barbaric continent! However, faced with that colossal amount of magical energy, she didn't even dare to flee, especially feeling some spell falling on her.
She was sure it was a tracking spell. If she had known such a monster would arrive, she would have left earlier, but the mage before her hid his mana so well that it was unfair.
'No matter, I'm innocent and I didn't do anything, he won't kill me, right?'
Feeling disheartened, Triss quickly returned to her room and awaited the mage's arrival.
On the other side, no one pursued Edmure, there was no way the Heir of Riverrun would escape, so no one was worried.
"Sir, could you go to Sir Brynden's chambers?" Cadmus looked at a knight of House Tully and asked with a cordial and gentle tone. "After all, his brother probably died, he wants to see his brother's body."
The knight hesitated, but nodded and left the group, heading towards the Blackfish's chambers.
Already in front of the castle's main room, Viserys looked at Cadmus, asking if there was any danger and seeing the mage shake his head, indicating no, the prince opened the door.
Even knowing it was true, Viserys was shocked to see the body on the bed. He approached and turned the body, showing Hoster's face for all to see.
The expression of anger, disbelief, and resentment made everyone shiver. Just by Hoster's expression, one could see his intense emotions.
"Damn, now I won't be able to look at my son with the same eyes as before." A noble commented in a low voice. Although he knew his son wouldn't do such a thing, Hoster didn't feel the same and now he was dead by his own son?
"Strangulation." A visibly older noble commented, seeing the purple marks around the neck. "The cowardly fish is surprisingly cruel."
Everyone, including Cadmus, agreed with the old noble's words; Edmure was indeed cruel for killing his father by strangulation.
Suddenly, the knight Cadmus asked to bring Brynden returned, but he was alone and sweating profusely.
"Sir Brynden is dead!!!"
Cadmus and Viserys looked at each other and saw the admiration in each other's eyes.
Edmure was surprisingly cruel!
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