A cloud has fallen on our shore

Ser Arthur Corbray couldn't help but look at their situation, after receiving a message from Lord Arc he had to prepare the whole troops garrisoned on Moat Cailin in a look out against any Ironborn ships that would trek the Fever River or would try and overtake them over the Northern part of the castle ruins, they had over a hundred men-at-arms, not enough to get everyone within the castle ruins to be stationed but enough to defend the place, despite being a ruin itself, Moat Cailin is the key to the North, if it falls the whole North will fall, Arthur thought as he remembered training under Lord Jaune Arc, despite being forced to leave Venice because the other sworn houses to House Arc hated him, Ser Arthur Corbray, still manages to maintain contact with his lord and mentor, the man's a tactical genius as well as a fearsome warrior, his wife too, Arthur thought as he remembered the Lady of Venice was the better fighter than the two, even now he had just received a message from his former mentor to prepare Moat Cailin for any invasion and also from what he had read from Lord Arc's letter he had called on other lords and Castellans in the North asking them to prepare the Stony shore fortifications that he had worked on for some time, "the Ironborn would likely try again, this time we will face the full brunt of their wrath" he remembered Lord Arc's words as he had advised Lord Eddard Stark to prepare some of the vulnerable positions that could have been attack by the Ironborn.

"Traps are armed and ready Ser" one of the soldiers said as Arthur patted the man's shoulder, "are any of the positions of the castle ruins where the Ironborn will likely attack held on account?" he asked to his lieutenant as the man was shouting orders towards the other soldiers of the garrison before turning towards him.

"Of course everything is accounted Ser! We just had to position the thick of our men towards the points that we can call weak then we are ready" the lieutenant than called for wine to which one of the men handed him a wineskin, "bah! Not bad for a year old wine" he gestured for Arthur to drink too but the knight shook his head.

"No thanks, I need a clear head should we be attack" he said as they went towards the nearest high point of Moat Cailin, "every night we light the fires and make sure that there is a patrol at every corner of the castle ruins, send messages to the nearby castles, villages, farmsteads, and towns to bring up any men that can take arms or to report to us should there be anything suspicious" Arthur ordered as his lieutenant gave a salute and then went down of the wooden platform while shouting at the men to fix whatever can be fixed.

"I want those arrows ready by midnight!"

"Get those ditches filled with pitch!"

"Come on! Come on the Ironborn are not going to stand somewhere and wait for us to get ready!"

"Ser!" his squire called out, a mountain clansman youth, Owen Snow, he took the boy during his travels in the North after he was knighted, he was almost killed in an avalanche if not for a mountain clan who saved him from dying in the cold, he took Owen as his squire as a favor to his lord father whom Arthur owed his life too, "Ser Arthur message from the Stony Shore!" he gave the letter to Arthur as he quickly took it from the boy.

Just what Lord Arc had predicted, Arthur thought as the Ironborn had clearly attacked the Stony Shore base on the reports they were able to drive out the defense but had a hard time trying to advance because of the skirmishes and the fact the Bear Island ships is harassing their longships, burning as much ships that they can get their hands on before retreating back to Bear Island to make another attack, "Ser there's also another message from Lord Howland Reed" Owen said as the squire began to hand him the second message, Ironborn forces led by the Greyjoy at the mouth of the Fever River, Arthur sighed as he looked at the letter, Howland Reed had began to skirmish the Ironborn troops that try to cross the river that connects Moat Cailin to the Neck, knowing the crannogmen they will give whatever can be called hell to the Ironborn.

"Owen I need you to quickly check our supplies, just to be sure, also please make sure the men at the western side are not drunk again in their stations, remind them I will personally whip them all for ignoring their duties" Arthur said as the squire quickly followed his orders while Arthur Corbray watched him go, the knight then remembered when Lord Arc knighted him, flinching as he remembered the stinging slap that came to his face as a reminder of his duty.

"Be responsible for your actions, no matter how good or bad, hold it as your own, defend those who are defenseless, help those who are helpless, and accept all people as your equals no matter their station of birth, treat them how they deserve to be treated, you now kneel before me as man, you may now rise as a knight" even to this day Ser Arthur Corbray still held those words as his own, Arthur then sighed as he began to take a drink on his waterskin, I think I need to write something to Lord Arc gods damn man is always right, Arthur thought as he quickly went to his quarters to write the said letter.

After the talk with Robb Stark that told his father to guard their Lannister prisoners, since the Karstarks are not to be reasoned by now, Jaune Arc had taken it upon himself to make sure that the prisoners were as comfortable as possible while also sending a letter to Tyrion about any possibility of ransoming Sansa Stark, the reply came within the fortnight, what it said is what his father had expected, the queen had once again rejected any possibility of negotiations stating the usual terms of surrender, Carolus thought as Jaune then read the reports from Moat Cailin and the Stony Shore fortifications, the reports are as what Jaune had predicted, once the wolves are away the prey has come out to play, Jaune then sighed as he looked at his son Carolus as he began to stand up and fix some of the reports that he had received, of course after telling Robb of the current events that happened after their talk he was angry and devastated to say at least, that his childhood friend and brother-in-arms had betrayed him for his blood family, the Lord of Venice had left the man in company of his wife, it had been three days ago.

"One of the subject that the king and I had talked is if it would be possible if I were to betroth one of your sisters to one of Walder Frey's sons" Jaune said as one could notice a nerve twitching under his jaw, "of course I refused I wouldn't want your mother to send me out of the keep again for making a marriage agreement without her knowledge" Carolus at first was tensed but then relaxed as the said arranged marriage wouldn't happen, "also I will pity the unlucky man who will marry one of your sisters."

Carolus had to smirk at his father's words, knowing Artemisia and Apollina the two would make the lives of whoever marries them miserable, "Willem and Martyn are kept to the same rooms, Jaime isn't held with any of the others and is also under heavy guard, I sent Cleos back to his relatives at the Twins if you're not against it" Jaune nodded as he let his son continue on, "I made sure to keep an eye on the Karstarks should they try do anything stupid, Lord Karstark didn't like it but he had to relent" he said as he watched his father began to take a drink from the waterskin and then sat at the edge of his bed.

"I need you to call Vhaqo, I need him to do something in King's Landing" Jaune ordered as his son quickly nodded and then left his father's tent looking for the dothraki among their camp fires, only to find that the man had sought company in bed.

If one were to observe the Arc camps outside of Riverrun one can notice that per ten soldiers there is only one who looks after their food, weapons, and armor, of the three thousand troops that left Venice only two hundred were non-combat personnel, mule drivers, leather workers, blacksmiths, and nurses included, the reason being to encourage the whole army to become self-sufficient and disciplined you have to remove some comforts in their life, camp whores were strictly discouraged, if you want company then go to a nearby tavern where you were camped, desertion and insubordination was strictly punished with whipping and forcing the man in the front lines, plunder, pillaging, and molestation from various degrees is punished ranging from whippings, physical training, and execution of the defender. The rule was observed particularly during the Greyjoy Rebellion, where his father personally executed five looters and rapers from his army upon learning of the deed, it did not just sent a message to his army, it also made a strong encouragement to obey the man.

Knowing Vhaqo, Carolus knew were to look, the tavern nearby the gates of Riverrun where men, whether he wants to get staggering drunk or is just a person who wanted some company he will find it at the tavern, taking a deep breath Carolus stepped inside letting the smells and sounds of ale and laughter enter his senses. "Ah! If it isn't the son of Lord Arc!" Anguy had greeted him as he was sitting on a stool next with Beric, Gendry, Edric, and Thoros who all greeted him with a raise of a mug, a whore was sitting on the archer's lap greeted him with a smile and a wink, "come to enjoy what we lesser men enjoy?" Thoros had called out as Carolus shook his head.

"I'm looking for Vhaqo one of my father's retainers and also I'm betrothed" Carolus said as he heard laughter from his crowd of friends, "ya hear Thoros he's betrothed!" a man had called out, if Carolus were able to remember the man's name, he was Lem Lemoncloak notable because of his yellow cloak that covers his shoulders, he had that soldier's build and look on him, Carolus remembered the man fighting with Lord Beric's cavalry during the Battle in the Green Fork.

"Aye too highborn to fuck a whore are we?" Anguy japed as everyone laughed except for Gendry who seem to be minding his own mug, ignoring the others as they drunkenly jape about Carolus, he seems to be solemn for some time as he was brooding over something and then as Carolus looked he could have swore that he saw dead King Robert at the man's place, father would often tell that Robert was quite a herculean figure himself in the past, Carolus remembered the when they were back at Winterfell, Jaune would often remark that Robert had eaten far too much, much to the laughter of the king who often pretended to be offended but seems to take the joke too and remembering the recent reports of their spies in King's Landing it seems Queen Cersei Lannister seems to want to remove any questions regarding her son's lineage as she slaughtered all of Robert's bastards which prompted a civil riot on the streets and from all the reports the rioting still hasn't stopped, and judging from Gendry's story it can be said that he was one of the King's bastards.

Walking towards the second floor of the tavern, Carolus could hear grunts, moans, and the banging of wood against wood, he saw Oberyn Martell being dragged by Ellaria towards the room, upon seeing him the Dornishman gave him a lusty wink before joining his lover to their room, the eldest son of Lord Arc had to sigh as he remembered the man inviting him to his bed with his wife, it was already awkward to refuse the man without even offending him to which Oberyn seems to take it as some part of a joke. He has to draw a line somewhere, Carolus thought as he quickly saw Vhaqo going out of a room with a big grin on his face.

"Blood of my Khal!" the man approached not minding the fact that he was only wearing his breeches and is as sweaty like some roasted pig, "what brings you to this place of pleasure, looking for whores to test your manhood with" Carolus shook his head as he looked at the man, plainly there are many questions coming from his mind starting with, why did my father ever put up with this man, he thought looking at the savage.

"Father wishes to speak with you urgent business" Carolus said as the man gave him a grin and a pat with his sweaty palms as Carolus had to sigh once more, they finally found themselves out of the walls of the castle, then to the Arc camp at the entrance of his father's tent a serving made quickly went out in such a hurry that she hit Carolus.

"I'm sorry my Lord"

"Its fine" Carolus said as she let the serving maid quickly go out of their way as they both entered the tent, the Lord of Venice had an irritated look on his face as they enter, "father" his son had called out as Jaune quickly gestured for them to enter.

"Good you're here" he said as he took a drink from his cup and then sighed, "the other lords think its funny to send some woman at my tent so as to 'attend to my needs' I pity the girl so I just handed her a gold dragon and then send her off to whoever sent her here in the first place" he said as he began to serve the others with cups of wine in hand, "Vhaqo."

"Yes my Khal?"

"I need you to go to King's Landing and do something that requires a quite amount of stealth to accomplish" Jaune said as he looks at the dothraki then at his son, "you need to rescue a certain bird trapped in a tower" the Lord of Venice said as he began to show them the map of King's Landing, most specifically the Red Keep.

Author's note: now that I'm fine, I have a lot of explaining to do, first off I've edited the current posted chapter and second I have quite a conflict to do as to whether to make Ramsay indiscriminately attack Winterfell after Pyrrha repelling the Ironborn at the next chapter or shouldn't I, I mean I know I have to kill off Robb at some point because seriously the Freys wont have it if they were married off to Edmure Tully or to one of Jaune's sons or daughters, but also they need the support of a certain Northern lord at one point, and also the other thing that I've forgotten is that I will have Catelyn still try and exchange Jaime for Sansa, only that it will fail and then Jaime and Brienne will be brought back to the Stark camp where a point event will happen (playing a lot of game novels does this to you) anyways happy reading!

Oh and by the way this will be a short omake or what I will call: the scenes that didn't make the cut, also this will make a quite easter egg as to what I plan to happen

I'm still alive, Carolus thought, waiting for the blackness and coldness that is death, to which didn't came as he opened his eyes to see a litter of corpses of Frey men around him, in front of him were four women, one wears a red hood, the second, a white dress with a short skirt, one wears a strange clothing with a combination of black and white and the other wore leather breeches that seem to reach on her thighs, the one with the red hood notices him and turns with a smile, her grey orbs reminding him of the moon.

"Oh hi there! My name's Ruby and you are?" the red hooded one known as Ruby greeted as the son of the Lord of Venice stood, staggering from the tiredness that he felt.

"Carolus, Carolus of House Arc, son of Lord Jaune Arc" he said as he watched the four look at him with disbelief their jaws dropping at shock, "did I say something my ladies?" he asked wondering what he said to make them look at him with strange expressions, as silence seem to reign ahead it was the blonde one with lilac eyes who whistled.

"Jaune surely took his time around here, like he really is busy" the blonde haired lilac eyed had said as the others look at her then groaned in apparent disgust and irritation.

"Damn it Yang!" the other three said in unison, making Carolus jump back in surprise as the woman, now known as Yang just grinned then gave them a thumbs up gesture, who are they? How do they know my father? those were the question that came up from his head as he looked at them.

Criticisms and Praises are appreciated!

Miko 56