A problem arose with the logistical supplies and provisions. Joffrey wrote to Lancelot asking how to deal with Mace Tyrell.
His own suggestion was to imprison Mace Tyrell, just like Eddard Stark.
Lancelot thought Joffrey really didn't think things through!
Mace Tyrell hadn't committed any major crime; how could he just arrest a High Lord like that?
But Joffrey was a man of action. He had already arrested Mace Tyrell seven days before he even wrote the letter to Lancelot. And in the letter, he didn't mention that the deed was already done.
Three days after receiving Joffrey's letter, Lancelot received a plea for help from Margaery.
In her letter, she said her father had been arrested by Joffrey and begged Lancelot to persuade Joffrey to release him.
"Joffrey, you really are a handful. But why didn't Jaime, Cersei, or Tywin stop him?" Lancelot wondered after reading Margaery's letter. He couldn't figure it out.
"Never mind. Since there's nothing unusual happening at the Wall right now, I'll go back alone and check things out!" Lancelot decided.
He summoned Lord Commander Mormont and Ser Kevan, instructing them to take charge of repairing the castles along the Wall and communicating with the expeditionary force beyond the Wall.
Then, Lancelot mounted Hrakkar and flew south alone.
Joffrey had once thought of making a saddle for Hrakkar, but the lion grew too fast, so any saddle made became unusable. Lancelot eventually stopped trying to make one.
Besides, Hrakkar had plenty of fur. Lancelot could just grab handfuls of mane while riding on his back; it was stable enough, and he wasn't afraid of falling.
Just in case of any special circumstances, Lancelot left Melisandre at the Wall.
King's Landing, White Sword Tower. Eddard Stark looked at his new roommate who had recently arrived, finding the situation somewhat amusing.
Two High Lords, both imprisoned here.
"Lord Eddard, I never thought I'd see the day!" Mace Tyrell sighed.
"Lord Mace, the Reach hasn't seen a locust plague since ancient times. Why have so many locusts appeared this time?" Eddard Stark asked.
Even under house arrest, he had heard about the disastrous situation in the Reach from the Knights of the Round Table.
"Total crop failure!" It was that tragic.
"I suspect this is a plot by the Dornish. They've been bitter enemies of the Reach for thousands of years," Mace Tyrell said.
"I hope Prince Doran will come forward personally to explain the situation so that your two regions can resolve the dispute peacefully," Eddard Stark said.
Highgarden. Willas Tyrell had just returned from outside the city, covered in wounds. He had been surrounded by locusts and bitten many times.
"Damn it, these don't look like normal locusts. They're black. Have they mutated?" Willas wondered.
"The locusts came from the direction of Dorne. They couldn't have flown over the sea, so they must have come from within Dorne itself. Are they declaring war on us?"
Willas was anxious, but Prince Doran was even more worried than he was.
They had tested the drip irrigation farming method Lancelot described. At first, it went well, but in digging for groundwater, they had also unearthed insect eggs buried in the desert sands.
The eggs were tiny, mixed in with the sand, almost invisible. They were originally yellow, but upon exposure to sunlight, they turned black within a day and began voraciously devouring any nearby food. Dorne had few crops, so the locusts moved north. The Stormlands saw frequent rain, which the locusts disliked, so they headed for the Reach.
The Reach, with its abundant grain, was the breadbasket of Westeros.
The locusts wreaked havoc across the Reach. After stripping the fields bare, they even began swarming the granaries.
There was no good way to deal with the locusts. They were small, could fly, and their numbers were massive.
Some lords used fire and smoke to try and drive them away.
Others released flocks of chickens, ducks, and geese to eat the locusts. Some even tried using crows.
Birds were natural predators of insects, but there weren't enough birds in Westeros, and not all of them liked eating locusts.
In fact, swarms of locusts could even bite chickens and ducks to death.
When Lancelot arrived in the Riverlands, he encountered small swarms of locusts.
"The locust plague has reached here? Then the situation in the Reach must be even worse than I imagined," Lancelot said.
"Back to King's Landing first!"
Lancelot sped up and arrived in King's Landing, flying Hrakkar directly into the Red Keep.
Joffrey, Myrcella, and others were surprised and delighted by Lancelot's arrival.
"Lancelot, why are you back?" Joffrey walked over happily and gave Lancelot a bear hug.
Myrcella followed closely, hugging Lancelot's arm tightly.
"Joff, I heard you imprisoned Mace Tyrell. Release him quickly!" Lancelot said.
"Imprisoning two High Lords at once—even Aerys wouldn't have dared to do that, and he was the notorious Mad King!" Lancelot exclaimed.
"He was in charge of logistics and provisions. Since there was a problem, naturally, he had to be held accountable!" Joffrey argued.
"But since you've asked, I can't refuse you. Release him, then," Joffrey conceded.
"Can Eddard Stark be released as well?" Lancelot asked.
"He is the Lord of the North. We need his cooperation to operate in the North," Lancelot explained.
"Him!" Joffrey pondered but ultimately listened to Lancelot's advice. Since childhood, whenever he couldn't make up his mind, he would listen to Lancelot, and it had never gone wrong.
"I'll go to the White Sword Tower and bring them both out," Lancelot said, heading there immediately.
"I'll go with you!" Myrcella called out, following closely.
"Cousin Lancelot, how did you know about Mace Tyrell's house arrest? Did Margaery write to you?" Myrcella asked on the way.
"Yes, she wrote to me," Lancelot admitted.
"Then can I write to you anytime I want in the future?" she asked.
"You! It's best not to write too often. The Grand Maester has a limited number of ravens, and they're used for transmitting important information. In critical moments, every raven could bring an opportunity to turn the tide," Lancelot said.
Hearing this, Myrcella was unhappy. She stomped hard on Lancelot's foot.
"Hmph, I'm ignoring you!" She turned and walked away.
Lancelot sighed, putting aside her capriciousness for the moment, and arrived at the White Sword Tower.
A knight was always on guard—or rather, watching the house—here. Today it was Ser Meryn Trant, the knight who had been injured by Syrio Forel and fled.