"It's not much of a view," Ser Allard opined from beside his longtime friend and brother by marriage. "A fat bastard there, and Shipbreaker Bay over there."

Ser Robin rested his arms atop the parapet, propping up his head. His chin felt rough, he had not had occasion to shave since leaving home near to a week prior. Away to the west he saw the fires of the Fat King's army burning, lighting up the horizon. They looked to outnumber them, but the walls of Storm's End were some of the strongest in the Kingdom. They could come with ten thousand men and still never breach them.

Allard turned back around. "Not much to say, eh?"

"What can I say?" Ser Robin asked.

"You could agree, I suppose," his goodbrother said. "I do tend towards keen observation."

It was true, many knew Ser Allard for his keen eyes. Robin shook his head and turned back to the fields around Storm's End, now bereft of all life but for the plants. "What do you make of this war, observer?"

An expression of... dread, perhaps, or even sadness crossed Allard's face momentarily. "We're losing," came the reply.

"Have we lost?" Ser Robin persisted. "Here we stand in Storm's End when a turn of the moon ago King Theodan's host had slain ten thousand of the Fat King's men. The Seven do not appear to have been very kind to us."

His goodbrother shrugged. "We lost a battle, even Robert Baratheon lost battles-- and he ended the Targaryen dynasty."

"Maybe," Ser Robin said, running a hand through his hair and turning away from the battlements. He began walking, weaving between men-at-arms preparing for the siege. Ser Allard followed him. "Perhaps Dorne will come to our aide."

"Perhaps," Ser Allard agreed. "That would be welcome, particularly if they arrived before Orys' reinforcements. His host must be near to as exhausted as ours."

"Most like," Ser Robin said. A team of archers climbed onto the walls from a stairwell and blocked their progress for a moment while they filed up. Several more men at the end of the column carried bushels of arrows in buckets, their fletching the only visible part. Upon moving, he began to speak again. "Where in the Seven Kingdoms did Pearse get to?"

"Said he was going to help organize the defense," Allard called, having fallen a few steps behind. He trotted up alongside Ser Robin. "Where are we going?"

"I want to look at the gates," Ser Robin said. He had experience with construction, having helped build some of the buildings that were likely now simply charred wood on Lord Peasbury's lands. It was a hobby of his, and he'd read a fair amount on the topic of construction. "Maybe they can be strengthened."

The two of them descended from the walls to the massive gates of Storm's End, great wooden doors banded over with steel. It would take a great many men to force them. Could he cost Orys more men?