Chapter 248 Wedding

   As night fell, the banquet hall in Tongmen City was brightly lit.

   There was still a faint smell of blood in the air, but it was quickly overshadowed by the smell of scented candles.

  A wedding is being held here, and the protagonists are Sir Oman of the Peake family and Miss Yali of the Buckler family.

  The two families were still fighting to death during the day, but they tied the knot at night and became a real family.

   It can be regarded as the norm in this ridiculous world.

  The wedding was promoted by Earl Landau, Earl Peake agreed with both hands, and Earl Buckler nodded in approval... This is a testimony of the friendship between the Reach and the Stormlands, and it is a big step forward for the bilateral relationship.

  In short, this wedding is no longer the affair of Sir Oman and Miss Yali. It is not even the marriage between the Peake family and the Bukele family, but has risen to the height of the relationship between the two realms.

   It also marks that the Stormlands is about to enter a new era.

  Everyone knows this, tacitly.

  The bishop holding the "Seven Stars" stood in front of the stage, facing the two newcomers, and said loudly:

"In the presence of the seven gods and the people of the world, I solemnly declare that Sir Arman Peake and Miss Aly Buckler are married. From now on, they will be one body, one mind, and one soul forever. Anyone who interferes with their marriage will be mercilessly cursed!"

  The two newcomers exchanged vows and approached for a deep kiss.

   Even before today, the two were still strangers.

  Miss Yali's face was a little pale, as if she was a little worried about her own fate, but Sir Arman smiled all over his face.

  He is the second son of Earl Peake, and it is impossible for him to inherit Star Shuttle City. Now it is an excellent arrangement for him to marry Earl Bukele's daughter.

  Although Earl Bukele still has a son... but who knows what will happen in the future.

  The River Bend nobles watching the ceremony cheered like a tidal wave, but the voices of the Stormland nobles seemed a bit reluctant.

   But at least no one dared to object.

  The ceremony is over and the banquet begins.

  Due to the hasty preparations, the banquet seemed very informal.

   Most of the food is marching rations, and there are some simple barbecues, salads, etc. Fortunately, good wine is enough.

  The wine cellar of the Buckler family was almost emptied.

  Because the nobles of the River Bend were still on the march, they naturally did not wear formal dresses, and all attended in linen shirts. The nobles of the Stormlands were more decent in comparison.

   But the real problem is that the ratio of men to women is too unbalanced.

There are no women on this side of the river bend, so it is impossible to bring camp skills, so we can only rely on the side of the storm to produce people. Earl Bukele took all the women in the family, from sixty-year-old old ladies down to Ten-year-old girls were brought into the banquet, and even their own illegitimate daughters were brought to the banquet, but it still couldn't make up for the gender gap.

  Samwell also spotted "Beauty" Brienne Tass in the crowd.

  The woman who had just fought with him finally took off her armor and put on lady's clothes.

   But to be honest, Samwell thinks armor is more suitable for her.

  She has no charm in women's clothes, but looks clumsy and incongruous.

  During the banquet, Brienne huddled her head in her seat, completely losing the confidence to fight against the knights of the River Bend during the day, and completely became a socially phobic girl.

  However, when the music started, a noble from the Reach approached Brienne and invited her to dance with her.

  No way, there are too few women.

   Out of politeness, Samwell got up and invited Countess Buckler to dance, and then danced with the bride again, then sat still.

  While drinking wine, he saw an old man wearing a bachelor's necklace hurried into the banquet hall and handed a letter to Earl Bukele.

  Earl Buckler's face changed slightly after reading the letter, and then he got up and came to Earl Landau.

  Samwell was sitting on the left hand side of Earl Landau. Seeing this, he also leaned over, and heard Earl Bukele say:

   "Lord Randyll, King's Landing has sent news that Stannis Baratheon suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Blackwater River. Except for a few ships that survived the disaster, the entire fleet was burned."

  Earl Randall was taken aback when he heard this: "Didn't Stannis have an absolute advantage at sea? How could all the fleet be burned?"

   "The Lannisters used wildfire." Samwell knew this clearly.

  Earl Buckler glanced at Samwell: "Maybe, it wasn't mentioned in the letter."

  Earl Randall nodded thoughtfully, and asked again:

   "What about the Stannis? Killed or escaped?"

   "It was not mentioned in the letter."

   "It seems that the Lannister family doesn't know either." Samwell said with a smile, "It is very likely that Stannis is still alive."

"It should be. If they confirm the news of Stannis' death, they will definitely not hide it." Earl Buckle hesitated, and then said, "In addition, the letter also asked the nobles of the Stormlands to lead their troops to gather at Storm's End. Avoid being defeated one by one by the River Bend Army..."

  Samwell laughed loudly: "It seems that King's Landing didn't expect that Tongmen City would be captured so quickly."

   "Yes." Earl Bukele's face showed a look of horror, "They would never have imagined that your giant dragon has such terrifying power."

  Samwell smiled mysteriously without explaining.

Earl Randall said: "Stannis lost so quickly, I am afraid that more nobles of the Stormlands will choose to fall for the illegitimate duke. Now that there is an order from King's Landing, it is estimated that many people who wait and see will choose Lead an army to support Storm's End.

  With the Bronze Gate City in hand, the nobles in the northern part of the Stormlands don’t need to worry, they won’t be able to make it through, but those south of the Bronze Gate City…”

   "So we still need to speed up the march." Samwell suggested, "Before the nobles lead their troops into the city, stop them outside Storm's End."

  Earl Randall nodded in agreement: "Tomorrow morning, you should lead the cavalry brigade one step ahead, find the Stormland army supporting Storm's End, and defeat them in the wild."

   "Okay." Samwell nodded in response.

   At this moment, there was a commotion at the banquet.

  Samwell looked up, and saw Brienne the "Beauty" actually fighting with a river bend knight.

   "Sam, go and deal with it." Earl Randall gave his son a look.

  Samwell understood, got up and walked over.

  Since he wants to rule the Stormlands, Samwell must properly handle the contradictions and conflicts between the Nobles of the Reach and the Nobles of the Storm.

  If he wants to control this land, he needs the support of the major families in the Stormlands.

   "Stop!" Samwell left the crowd and shouted.

  With his current prestige in the Riverbend Army, several Riverbend knights stopped immediately and stepped aside.

   Seeing that it was Samwell, Brienne didn't dare to be presumptuous anymore.

  Seeing that the commotion subsided, Samwell asked, "What's going on?"

  He looked at Mark Mullendall. The person who was grabbed and beaten by Brienne just now was the knight of Highland City.

   The two were old acquaintances, but at this moment Sir Mark felt that Samwell's gaze was as sharp as a steel knife.

  He's judging me. Sir Mark was apprehensive, lowered his head and said:

   "I just wanted to kiss Miss Brienne, but I didn't expect her reaction to be so intense..."

  Hearing this, Brienne blushed instantly.

  The expressions of the people around the audience were a little strange.

   It’s okay to be tempted to kiss a partner at a dance, as long as the partner agrees, but… Brienne Tars?

  Everyone speculated whether Sir Mark had a unique taste, or he had taken a fancy to the castle in Evening Hall.

  But Samwell remembered a small plot in the original book, his face darkened, and he asked:

   "Sir Mark, why are you kissing Miss Brienne?"

   "I..." Mark looked into Samwell's eyes, and he couldn't tell the lie immediately.

  Samwell looked at Haile Hunter again. This person also invited Brienne to dance just now, and asked:

   "Sir Hyle, did you want to kiss Miss Brienne just now?"

  Hale Hunter waved his hands in panic, as if to clarify.

  But Brienne said: "He gave me flowers just now, and I didn't accept them, but he insisted on stuffing them into my hands."

  The expressions on the faces of the audience became even weirder.

  Samwell looked at another river bend knight who had danced with Brienne:

   "Sir Ben, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

  Ben Bush dodged his eyes, obviously guilty: "We...we were just joking..."

   "What joke?" Samwell continued to ask.

  Finally it was Mark Mullendoyle who told the truth, and it turned out that these guys were making a bet to see who could get Brienne's first kiss.

   This is a cruel joke. Especially for a woman like Brienne.

  Everyone restrained their smiles one after another, and their faces gradually became serious.

  The person involved, Brienne, gritted her teeth tightly, her body trembling slightly, and she stared fiercely at the riverbend knights who danced with her just now, as if she was about to pounce on them in the next second.

   "This is not what a knight should do." Samwell said in a stern tone, "Now, the three of you immediately apologize to Miss Brienne and ask for her forgiveness."

   Under Samwell's gaze, the three river bend knights finally stepped forward to apologize obediently.

  Brienne's eyes were red, she squeezed away from the crowd, and strode away.

   This farce has just come to an end.

  The banquet continued, but the original festive atmosphere was gone.

  Considering that he would continue to march the next day, Earl Randall announced the end of the banquet early and asked the soldiers to go back to rest.

  (end of this chapter)