The torches burned low in the war chamber of Grey Keep, casting flickering shadows across the jagged iron throne where Queen Belladonna sat, her crimson robes pooling like blood around her feet. The Alliance Conquest maps before her, detailing past conflicts, were scarred with ink and fury – many were reminders of betrayal, others were targets for retribution.

For over a year, the BWF alliance had bled. Once mighty, its ranks had thinned as trusted commanders defected to the rival BBS alliance, lured by promises of glory and power. Belladonna had watched silently as her empire crumbled, her banners torn down in event after event. But silence was not surrender. It was strategy.

The defections had begun subtly. First, a few knights. Then entire battalions. Whispers of BBS’s rising strength echoed through the halls of the Keep. Many had left —those she had raised from obscurity—had turned their backs on her. They had mocked her defeats, celebrated her losses, and left her throne to rot. If you asked those who had left, the stories were very different, but that was of no concern to her. Truth was always in the eye of the storyteller; loyalty was what mattered in the end, and it was loyalty that had created and sustained BWF.

But Belladonna was no fading monarch. She was a queen forged in war, sharpened by humiliation, and now fueled by wrath. Her closest allies still stood alongside their queen, including Larwain, Daenerys Rey, and VanCy, who were all making their own preparations for the battles to come. Others had been marshalled to the BWF banner, with the promise of fortune, fame, adventure, and most of all, a legacy in exchange for loyalty through battle with her bitter foe.

In the beginning, only the closest to her knew of her most secret desire – the thing that burned so deep inside her than it was practically subsuming. She called it the Iron Vow—a secret campaign to reclaim her honor and crush BBS from within. The normal plans of infiltrating BBS with spies and feeding them false information had failed; random attacks of vulnerable castles had weakened BBS, but not significantly, and the alliance had a tremendous bank of resources with which to recover. Event battles had proved difficult to win consistently, because of BBS’s tenacious nature and power. So it had become necessary to share the Iron Vow with the entire alliance.

Like Cersei Lannister, Belladonna ruled with calculated precision. She didn’t seek approval—she demanded obedience. Where others saw defeat, she saw opportunity. Where others mourned betrayal, she plotted revenge. And just as Cersei had used wildfire to burn her enemies in the Sept, Belladonna had her own version: not a physical weapon, but a psychological one: the Iron Vow.

The Iron Vow was more than a strategy—it was a doctrine. Belladonna etched its tenets into the stone walls of her war chamber, a declaration of intent for all who dared to doubt her. “They will pay,” she whispered each night before sleep, as if the words themselves were a spell to summon justice. Her advisors had heard it so often, it became a rallying cry, a curse, and a promise.

As the Alliance Conquest loomed, Belladonna stood before her war council, her voice cold and resolute:

“They think me broken. They think us forgotten. But we are the storm they never saw coming. Let them gather. Let them cheer. When the dust settles, they will kneel—not to BBS, but to the Iron Vow.”

And so, the queen who had been cast aside rose again—not as a victim, but as a conqueror. At first, she would think of those who abandoned her frequently, cataloguing each defection. But soon she realized that her effort was better geared toward asserting her superiority. “They will pay,” she said as she watched the flickering flames consume a map marked with BBS strongholds. “Not just in blood, but in legacy. Their victories will be rewritten. Their pride will be shattered.”

The horns of war sounded across the realm as the Alliance Conquest began. Both sides bound forward to seize control of the key opening buildings, and as had been discussed at length, BWF was prepared, with Larwain, VanCy and others swiftly taking control of all the towers and outposts. The message was clear to both sides – the game was afoot.

Belladonna watched in silence. Too many times she had seen overconfidence – hers and that of others – lead alliances from victory into defeat. BBS managed to storm their way into the field’s outposts and ports, but with a quick nod from the queen to Maverik and HuntsmanX, the ports were quickly returned to BWF’s control. “Everyone fill those ports. Immediately!”

They did, and as the battle raged on, BWF found themselves faltering somewhat. Sirio Forell, one of BBS’s most intrepid fighters, lodged a massive force of soldiers within Casterly Rock, and BWF defenses at other buildings were thrashed. The situation had become quick bleak. The generals looked warily at the queen, whose face was stoic and unyielding, knowing better than to offer any advice at this point. It was time to wait for Belladonna to decide a direction. And then it would be time to execute her plan.

“We are warriors. Every rally leader, get the Warrior Tower back and strengthen our troops for what is to come.”

No time was wasted in sending all available troops there, and very quickly BBS was caught unaware by the onslaught. Everyone on both sides knew what was to come next. As the tired and wounded returned to their camps, they knew that there was no time to rest. “To Casterly Rock. NOW. I will lead you. Solaris, I leave you in charge in my absence.”

Queen Belladonna rode at the head of the BWF columns, her banners snapping like thunder in the wind as she rallied her forces toward Casterly Rock. By the time the white towers came into view, the troops were primed for triumph, certain that the queen’s determination would reverse the tide.

But as the first rallies crested the final ridge, the victory they imagined dissolved into disbelief. A shimmering barrier—vast, humming, and unmistakably engineered by their rivals, the BBS—wrapped the entire fortress in a protective shield, created by a well-timed battle strategem. Arrows clattered harmlessly against it; siege engines stalled in confusion. Belladonna’s expression hardened, not with defeat but with calculation. The shield was a setback, yes, but also a challenge—and she had never been one to retreat from a challenge. Even as her troops murmured in frustration, she was already plotting the next move, her mind racing faster than the magic that now stood between her and the Rock.

It was unsaid, but everyone knew what was uppermost on the queen’s mind. “They will pay.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Spoiler alert: if you'd like to see the highlights of the

whole story in video form, links are below:

https://youtu.be/Bynbxw80e7A

https://youtu.be/YLzl4C668dc