Chapter 6: Wars to come

Willam

He was nearing the Winterkeep together with Lady Stark and fifteen hundred Manderly soldiers, that were led by ser Willis Manderly and his brother, ser Wendel. They were both fat, and ser Wendel had a large mustache, and was loud the whole way, while his older brother was stern all the time "It´s because his daughter is bearing your brother´s bastard" Wendel said, smiling

"I thought Torrhen married Lady Wynafryd" Willam replied, confused and Manderly laughed aloud

"Not Wyna, but Wylla" ser Wendel sighed "My brother is mad as hell, but he cannot do anything because your brother is his family now"

When they arrived, ser Brynden, who rode with them, seemed impressed at first, but then he saw Moat Cailin, which was the south part of the Winterkeep and looked disappointed, but his niece quickly convinced him that it was mightier than it looked and that it was impregnable fort now. Blackfish only chuckled and continued.

There were banners above each of the three towers with the Stark banner above the Children´s tower. Moat Cailin served as a camp for soldiers, Willam counted some sixteen to nineteen thousand with the Manderly´s and his father´s eight hundred men-at-arms. Lady Stark, her uncle and ser Rodrik rushed for the Children´s tower while Willam and his men rushed the other way. He was tired and did not see his sister for three months, which were the tiring ones.

As soon as he dismounted and turned to the door into the castle he saw Lyanna running towards him with her dark brown hair flying in the air. She was laughing as she finally reached him, then his little sister hugged him. Then he saw his brother´s wife, Lady Wynafryd. She was pretty, with long brown hair and grey-blue eyes, she looked nothing like her father, who looked like ten Wynafryds, with lighter hair.

"Lady Wynafryd" Will bowed to his brothers wife "pleasure to meet you"

"Willam, your brother told me about you"

"Thank you, milady. If you excuse me, I want to change and eat something before my father needs me" Will said and went to his chamber, where he changed from clothes he had on his journey and headed right into the Children´s tower, where his father must´ve been.

Edderion

Joffrey sat on the Iron Throne and it was quite obvious he was bored and frustrated by the whole thing of hearing people´s complaining. He forced himself to attend because he wanted Jeyne to be safe from anyone. They were captives now, him, Jeyne and Sansa. One day, the Lannister men stormed the Stark household and killed every servant they found, took Edd´s sword, but before he killed one and wounded two. He didn´t know what happened to Sansa.

But here she was, dressed in black dress and sad expression in her face. Joffrey just ordered some singer to have his tongue cut out and he also dismissed ser Barristan the Bold from his Kingsguard, and now Sansa kneeled before him on ser Barristan´s white cloak.

"My king" she started "I beg you to show mercy to my father, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, who is being accused of treason" she begged the boy she was supposed to marry in few years

"I have thought you to be smarter, my dear" Joffrey´s mother said "we´ve had this talk before" What?, Edd thought. He remembered that few days after the slaughter Littlefinger came to his chamber with some proposal, but he was too blinded by rage that he didn´t listen and instead threw a chair on him. The last thing he heard Littlefinger say was something about Starks and hotheads, which enraged him even more so he sat on his bed and kept the rage inside, like father always did, when Edd and Will did something bad and he found out, or someone told him.

Then he returned into reality right when Varys said something, that made king´s mother shut her mouth. Then, after a while he continued.

"But did you know about your father´s treason?" asked Littlefinger

"No" Edd´s cousin said, with horrified voice "h-he must´ve been forced into it. L-lord Renly must´ve told him something while he was under the milk of the poppy. There´s no way he would plan something so sinister while conscious no"

"And your cousin?" the queen asked "Lord Baelish said your dear cousin, ser Edderion attacked him with a chair" Sansa looked back at him, horrified

"I admit" Edderion stepped forward "that I was a little bit angry"

"Furious" Jeyne said and Edd turned on her and saw her smile, so he smiled back

"While capturing" Janos Slynt started "you killed two lannister men and horrifically maimed half-a-dozen. How do you explain this?"

"First of" Edderion said "learn to count, Froggy, it was one man I killed and two I injured and secondly... have you even been there? Has any of you been there, when the Stark men were slaughtered like a bunch of sheep... not just men-at-arms, but stewards, servants, maids, septas, children, the girl I had my first kiss with! Everyone! Even my father´s men, who had nothing to do with whatever happened! And you call me a traitor after I try to defend myself!? Do you want to know the truth of what happened that day, Sansa? I was training with Fat Tom on the courtyard that day, while servants were packing our things, so we could leave. And then the almighty ser Meryn Trant" Edd pointed his finger on a kingsguard who didn´t try to do anything "came with at least three dozens of men and started the slaughter. Tom told me to defend you and my sister, so I ran. I ran to find Jeyne first and I found her. I took her from septa and ran into four men from Winterkeep. I told them to protect Jeyne and prepared for fight right next to your chamber! You know the rest, so I won´t bother you anymore, dear lords and ladies of Seven Kingdoms, because this gold-haired bitch will tell I´m lying and her pomperous son will agree with it like a trained dog" the hall burst in outrage which was stopped by Joffrey when he made a sign with his hand and smiled

"If your father, my lady, will confess his crime" the king started, surprisingly calm "then I will be merciful. But only if he confesses his crime and swears fealthy to me. You´re dissmissed, all of you" Joffrey finished and left the throne room

Torrhen

He watched the northern army leave south while he stood on the walls, with Damion beside him and Red Rain in his hand. Father left him here with six hundred men, to which Robb added next three, father insisted the same way he insisted Torrhen to take the Red Rain. Father took two hundred men and Will with him, while leaving Torrhen here, in Winterkeep, but he didn´t mind. Will was a better warrior then Torrhen would ever be, no wonder, he was trained by Damion who wasn´t the Sword of the Morning, but surely he was better than anyone else in the Neck.

"So" Damion said "what do we do now?" he asked and smirked

"Moat has a big hole on its western side of the walls, father said we should repair it"

"He didn´t do it when I told him?"

"There was no reason" Torrhen replied "and he planned to do it when he returned from the Capital, but shits happened and Robb has to clean it up... with Lannister dead bodies"

"Something tells me this will end badly"

"It won´t, dear Damion" Torrhen ensured him, while wishing he was right.

The men on the courtyard were doing their daily routine, some were sparring, some were making arrows and spears, some were on watch, some rested, and the rest was helping the builders repair the walls with huge stakes that were brought in Winterkeep a month ago. He also ordered to make traps in front of the most vulnerable places of the wall, but no one started that yet. There was no reason. He was about to stay here until the war ended, which was better sooner than later.

Few weeks after Robb´s departure the convoy with Frey banner arrived. There were four boys and seventy men guarding them. The boys were some Frey children, possibly grandsons or sons of Old Walder Frey. Two were about to stay in Winterkeep as wards and two were going into Winterfell with the same intention. They told him later that it was actually an arrangement between Robb and that weasel to do it that way, also with Robb promising to marry one of Frey women when the war ends and Willam marrying Fair Walda immediatelly. All that just for crossing a bridge and four thousand men. Pretty nice start of war, Torrhen thought bitterly.

Rodrik

"How is your wife?" Rodrik asked his second son while they were waiting in behind the trees for an enemy to come. He led Winterkeep men, all on horses, two hundred men and eight hundred northmen and rivermen that joined Robb. They were meant to attack the Lannister rear when the fight starts.

"Pleasant" his son said, still watching the valley where the trap was about to happen "I expected her to be less... pretty"

"They don´t call her Fair without reason" Rodrik said "and you two seem to fit each other"

"At least it wasn´t the fat one" one of his men said behind his back

"Shut up, they´re coming" Will said and prepared his lance, as did Rodrik and the rest of his men.

Then, the horn blew and the northmen attacked from three directions on the small Lannister host of mainly cavalry around one thousand strong. At that moment, Rodrik ordered his son to sound the horn too, and then he led the attack from behind.

He was first to strike a Lannister man, breaking his lance in the process with Willam right behind him, both Starks drewing their swords afterwards. He slashed into the face of another knight, opening his skull in the process and then continued while noticing that Willam was unhorsed, but still holding his own against a knight from house Westerling while Rodrik rode through the battlefield and killed other knights and soldiers.

Rodrik continued fighting his way to find Jaime Lannister untill he weren´t stopped by a wery young man in Lannister armour. It must´ve been a squire, because he slashed with his sword from one side to another. Rodrik used his horse and striked the boy on the ground, letting him be overhelmed by northmen and captured. After a while of fighting, some Westerling spearman stabbed Rodrik´s horse and Lord of Winterkeep fell on the ground.

He felt the mud and blood in his mouth and he saw everything slower. He got up on his feet and a pain striked through his left shoulder. Rodrik looked what caused it, and saw a spear head sticking from his shoulder, then, it disappeared. Rodrik turned and saw the Westerling spearman preparing to stab again. The man stabbed, but Rodrik put his longsword in the way. He was too slow and the spear, that was intended for his belly, pierced his side. Then, the man tried to push his weapon back, but Rodrik took it with his wounded hand and pushed himself forward the man, who started to panic.

Rodrik finally got close enough to be able to attack and slashed the man, opening his throat with a single blow. Then, the only thing he remembered before loosing consciousness was Jaime Lannister chopping off the hand of a young bearded man in Karstark colours.

Willam

They won. He couldn´t believe they won. His first battle, but probably the last of his father. Willam was the first one to find him, with a spear in his side and wounded shoulder. He nearly broke to tears, but controled himself. Many more men lost their sons and fathers today. But his father somehow lived. You Starks are hard to kill, he remembered Edd´s last words to him, before he left. Now he prayed his half-brother was right.

They captured a lot of Westermen that day. Two Freys, one Greenshield, one Banefort, one Estren, Lord Westerling, some Dornishman, but the most precious of them were two Lannisters, Jaime and Willem, one a son of Tywin Lannister and second his nephew. Both had long golden hair and emerald green eyes, but Willem was a little younger than Willam himself.

His father laid between other men wounded in battle, his whole upper body, except the head, bandaged and soaked with blood. The room stank of death and blood. Lord Rodrik Stark looked like a corpse, but he was breathing, which was good. Willam decided to look under the bandage on his shoulder and nearly puked in disgust. The wound was covered in pus and old blood, most likely infected. His father murmured something, but Willam couldn´t understand what it was. Then, he heard walking from behind. It was Robb, still in his armour dirty by mud and blood, but his face was washed.

"I´m sorry" his cousin said "for your father" he sat near Will

"You don´t have to" Willam replied "he was always searching for danger"

"Really?" Robb asked

"Yes" Willam forced a smile "Once, he found out about a huge band of bandits near the village south of Moat Caillin. He took twenty riders and took care of them. He was outnumbered three times, but somehow won and was the only one wounded"

"He was lucky this day" Robb said and Willam agreed "but my luck was better I guess"

"I can´t help but agree" Willam said and forced a bitter smile "Jaime Lannister nearly got you"

"He cut of the hand of Eddard Karstark, opened the skull of Daryn Hornwood and slit the throat of Torrhen Karstark, until you didn´t come and bashed your shield on him from behind and didn´t step on his sword hand. I want to thank you"

"You are a family" Willam said and stood up "you don´t have to thank me" with those words, he left the tent and prepared his horse for next march. He would lead his father´s men to victory, no matter what.


That´s it. Hope you enjoyed. Next time we finish the first book.

Also, next update will take a little longer because I plan to make two chapters next time (last from AGOT and first one in ACOK).

PS: Thank you for your patience, I hope (and I really mean it) that I´ll be able to update on a new year, but as I know myself, it will possibly come out by the middle of February.