I own nothing but the plot. All characters and rights are of George R.R. Martin.
Heeyo! I'm BarrZ and welcome to my first story, I hope you enjoy it!
This starts with the premise that Robb receives a warning about the Red Wedding, along with Roose Bolton and Walder Frey treason. It will be a progressive AU from that, and also, there are no White Walkers in the story, so there are some sub-plots that will be completely AU.
Without further introduction, let's go!
Robb I
Olyvar Frey rushed inside the King's tent at the Stark camp.
"My king" vowed respectfully
Robb Stark, Lord of Winterfell and first King in the North since Torrhen Stark gave up his crown to Aegon the conqueror, looked at him with annoyance.
"What is the meaning of this, Olyvar?" His squire didn't respond and just handed him the letter. He took it and read it.
To Lord Roose Bolton,
A Wardenship for a wolf's coat. The twin towers will aid you. We pay our debts.
Tywin Lannister
He could feel his rage burning inside of him. He knew that Bolton and Frey weren't trustworthy, but he needed their men and appreciated Roose counsel, whose cold view of the situation tempered the war councils, considering that Greatjon Umber and Rickard Karstark, his other chief advisors along with Ser Brynden Tully, thirst for blood and vengeance were not that useful outside of the battlefield. But he knew the bloody history and enmity between their houses, and even his father hadn't trusted Lord Bolton at all. Decided to find the truth, he questioned his squire.
"Olyvar, where did you find this letter?"
"I saw a small shape slipping out of my tent. I tried to chase him, but at the time I was in front of my tent, it had banished into the shadows. When I entered, I saw the letter in my bed with a note saying that I should give it to you as soon as possible."
Truth to be told, he didn't know if he could trust him. It's true that he had always been a dutiful squire, who did everything he was asked for and who fought beside him in the Whispering wood and Oxcross, but he was a Frey, and if the letter was true, the Freys were sided with Roose Bolton. After thinking about it for a minute, he decided to keep him close for the moment, as he had been taught, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
"Very well. Bring me my sword and call for Lords Umber and Karstark. Tell them to meet with me at once, armed and with the utmost discretion, and prepare 10 of my most trusted household guards."
"At once my King"
He readied himself and thought about the war. He came from the North with twenty-two thousand men and had lost four thousand. He had won every battle, liberated the Riverlands from Pinkmaiden to Harrenhall, captured the infamous Kingslayer and routed his army, pushing the Lannisters into the Crownlands and sacked the Westerlands, but despite all of this achievements, he realised that he almost lost the war at the moment he married Jeyne Westerling. He didn't marry her for love, but for honour, and this was going to cost him the three thousand men of the Freys, and probably more than half of the Boltons, apart from being considered an oathbreaker. Thanks the old gods that Dacey Mormont stopped his mother attempt of liberating the Kingslayer in exchange for his sisters. He couldn't afford to alienate his bannermen or lose his most valuable prisoner.
He was in a desperate need of allies, but he had no options. The Tyrells would be soon bound by marriage with the Lannisters. Stannis controlled the Stormlands and the Narrow Sea, but he burned everybody who didn't follow R'hllor and had suffered a major defeat in King's Landing. The Vale was silent, and Dorne was out of question. His last resort were the Iron Islands, but Balon Greyjoy was a madman and he needed Theon with him. Anyways, his thoughts were interrupted.
"You summoned us my king" said the giant known as Greatjon Umber.
"Indeed my lord, and with the most dreadful news. Read this" he said, passing the letter to both Umber and Karstark.
Lord Umber turned red with rage. Karstark was speechless.
"This massive cunt! I swear that I will chop off his fucking head" yelled the Greatjon
"Relax Lord Umber. If the accusation is true, Bolton is a dead man walking, but if he suspects that we know anything, he will run with his tail between his legs even if he needs to leave all his men behind." added Lord Karstark putting a hand in Umber's shoulder while nodding at him. The Greatjon calmed himself and nodded back.
"So, how we proceed, my liege?" asked Lord Karstark.
"We will reach the Twins in three days, and I assure you my lords, that Roose Bolton will not make it alive. I will send a raven to Lord Glover and Lady Mormont, ordering them to gather half of the garrison in Harrenhal and march to the Twins at full speed. We lost three thousand men from the Freys, and we will lose all of the Boltons who don't see reason, so I will send another raven to Ser Rodrik Cassel with instructions of summoning the mountain clans, who are three thousand strong, and march them to Moat Caitlin, where they can be called when I see fit."
"What of the bastard of the Dreadfort? With his father dead he will call himself the new Lord Bolton. He was left in the North, and if a quarter of the reports are true, we need to get rid of him"
"Ramsay Snow will share the same fate as his father, Lord Karstark. When we received the news of the Hornwood, I sent word to Lord Manderly to gather a thousand men and to take him prisoner. He will die, and the Dreadfort will be rewarded to a more loyal family."
Both lords nodded their heads in approval.
"For now, we take Lord Bolton's head and take all his men prisoners. Those who abandon him and join our cause freely, will be spared and will prove their loyalty in the next battles. Those who fight us back will be put to the sword. I trust you both came armed as I asked."
"Aye" said both of them at the unison.
"Good. Olyvar, tell Lord Bolton that we have an urgent war council and that I need him here"
The three men poured themselves a glass of ale and waited for Bolton to arrive. He came in five minutes, accompanied only by two of his men, who waited outside with the Stark household guards.
"Your grace" vowed the Lord of the Dreadfort
"Lord Bolton, I'm glad you came soon, we have much to discuss. Please, take a sit"
"What can I do for you, your grace?" asked the Bolton, his pale eyes fixed in Robb
"I want the truth Lord Bolton, nothing more, nothing less."
"What truth your grace?"
"Your truth about this" said Robb, throwing the letter at him.
He read the letter. His face, who usually was expressionless, turned to something close to a shock expression, and his pale eyes met Robb's gaze again. It doesn't matter what I say, they know.Realising this, Lord Roose tried to get up and draw his sword, but at the same moment that his hand touched the hilt, he got his head severed by a swift swing of the massive greatsword of the Greatjon Umber, who despite his enormous size, was incredibly fast. Both Bolton guards entered in the tent after hearing the drawing of swords, only to get stabbed in the back by the Stark guards.
"It wasn't your right to execute him Lord Umber, even if he was a traitor we needed to prove it to our most sceptical bannermen" muttered an angry Robb
"He drew his sword against you, your grace. I was only doing my duty defending you."
Robb knew that he couldn't punish his bannermen only for defending him, be it in a battlefield or in the middle of his own camp. He calmed himself and spoke.
"Wake up and ready your men, with luck almost all of Bolton's men will be sleeping by now, so we will take them by surprise. Avoid as much bloodshed as possible and spare all of those who surrender, take his generals prisoners and put to the sword those who fight us."
Both lords nodded and left the tent.
In less than two hours, all the Bolton were dealt. Of the three and a half thousand who were loyal to Roose Bolton, only five hundred put up a fight or refused to follow King Robb. Half of the remaining Bolton men were passed to the command of Ronnel Stout and Kyle Condon, the other half was going to be distributed between Lords Karstark, Umber and Ryswell armies.
At first light, all the lords who were in the camp were summoned to council. Lords Umber, Karstark, Forrester, Flint of Flint's Finger, Ryswell and Locke of the North, lords Bracken, Blackwood, Tully, Mallister and Piper of the Riverlands, along with Brynden Tully, Dacey Mormont and Theon Greyjoy.
The King in the North spoke.
"As you are all aware my lords, the last night Roose Bolton was executed and those men who took arms against us were killed or imprisoned." Looking at Lord Ryswell, he continued. "I'm aware that some of you were blood tied with him, so I will show you why I gave such an order" And proceeded to read the letter.
"You trust more a letter who you don't even know who wrote it than one of your chief advisors?" An enraged Lord Ryswell barked.
"You will talk to your king with the respect he deserves, Lord Ryswell" a calmed Lord Mallister said.
"We all know the history between houses Bolton and Stark, and all of us are aware of the loyalty that house Frey process to their liege lord and king. We don't know who left the letter, that much is true, but they both had the reasons to do it. I support my king in his decision of punishing the traitors" Lord Blackwood added.
Surprisingly, Lord Bracken nodded his head in approval, along with the remaining northern lords with the exception of Lord Ryswell. The atmosphere calmed down a bit.
"I thank you for your support in this matter Lord Blackwood. I was going to offer Lord Bolton a fair trial in the eyes of the Old Gods, but he drew his sword when he read the letter, a more than sufficient prove that he was guilty. A man with a clean conscience has nothing to fear. My father taught me that the men who drew their swords against their liege lord lose their hands and the traitors lose their heads."
Even Lord Ryswell couldn't negate the logic of the argument, and all the other lords seem convinced by it, so for the time being, he will continue to follow his king. Hi nodded to his king, showing his acceptance.
"Your grace, you already punished the Boltons, but what we do now with the Freys?" said Lord Piper, glaring at Olyvar Frey, who was at Robb's back.
"That's the main reason I summoned you here my lords. I sent a rider to Riverrun to give word to Lady Mormont at Harrenhall. She will take half of the garrison and march to the Twins at full speed, leaving Lord Glover in command of our forces in the castle. Hopefully, we will arrive at the same time. With our men in both sides of the river, Lord Frey will suspect, and sieging the Twins would be tough and cost us many good men, so I need a plan to take the Twins avoiding as much casualties as possible."
The lords argued for a large time, and when the sun was high in the sky, they reached an agreement. When the men were ready, they started their slow march to the Twins, where Lord Edmure Tully was supposed to marry.
So here we are! I hope you liked it!
I'm not a native english speaker, so I'm looking for a beta reader, if you are interested, let me know!
I'll appreciate all the reviews you can leave me
See you soon!
