Battle of the Kingsroad
After the death of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, there were still factions opposing King Aegon II Targaryen. Lord Borros Baratheon, who had taken King’s Landing during the Moon of the Three Kings, led an army of nearly six thousand men to Storm’s End earlier in the war. Lord Elmo Tully gathered a similar-sized force at Riverrun, including notable lords like Benjicot Blackwood, Lady Sabitha Frey, and Lord Hugo Vance. After Elmo’s death, his son Kermit Tully assumed command.
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Borros marched against Rhaenyra’s remaining forces as they approached King’s Landing. He was joined by levies from various houses that had initially supported Rhaenyra but later switched sides to Aegon II. Borros’ army was larger but less experienced, as he had deliberately avoided significant engagements in the war. Although smaller in numbers, the rivermen were battle-tested, having fought in major conflicts such as the Battle of the Burning Mill, the Battle by the Lakeshore, and the Second Tumbleton.
The Battle of the Kingsroad
The two armies clashed on the Kingsroad, between a forest and a hill, with muddy ground from recent rains. Lord Borros Baratheon, overconfident, led a cavalry charge at dusk, believing inexperienced leaders led the rivermen.
Alysanne Blackwood’s archers on the hill broke Borros’s cavalry charge, and the mud slowed those who reached the rivermen’s shield wall. The Baratheon infantry almost broke through but were attacked from the flank by Benjicot Blackwood’s forces from the forest. Soldiers from Hayford, Rosby, and Stokeworth hesitated, and the rabble from Flea Bottom fled. The knights from Duskendale betrayed the stormlanders, attacking them from the rear.
During the Battle, Borros killed many men, including Lords Roland Darry and Jorah Mallister, but he was wounded multiple times before facing Lord Kermit Tully. Ultimately, Lord Tully killed Lord Borros Baratheon with his Morningstar after Borros refused to surrender.
Aftermath
With Kermit Tully, his brother Oscar, and Bloody Ben Blackwood closing in on King’s Landing and new forces led by Lord Cregan Stark marching down the Kingsroad to support Prince Aegon the Younger, King Aegon II Targaryen faced an inevitable defeat. Lord Corlys Velaryon, now on Aegon II’s small council, advised the king to surrender and take the black, but the king refused.
In a desperate move, King Aegon ordered the ear of his nephew, Aegon the Younger, to be cut off as a warning. However, the king’s fate was sealed. As he was carried back to his chambers in his litter, he was found dead upon arrival, his lips stained with blood, indicating poisoning. The death of King Aegon II marked the beginning of the Hour of the Wolf, a period of intense political upheaval in King’s Landing.
