King Benjen III Stark
Being married was a strange feeling for Benjen, oftentimes he had seen his father and mother interact around one another and he had often wondered what that would be like, what it would feel like to have someone with whom you could talk about your most intimate feelings and not worry about what judgements they might be making of you. Benjen was close with his siblings, Shiera especially, but there were some things that he often felt like he could not discuss with his siblings, some things that he felt were just too personal to discuss with his siblings or his parents, and whereas in the past he had gone to his uncle Barth to speak on these matters, since he had become a man he had increasingly found it harder to speak about these things to anyone. After the first failed wildling rebellion, his father had told him that he would be marrying a woman of the free folk known as Val, whose sister was wed to the rebel leader Mance Rayder. Benjen had thought nothing of it, he had no previous love interest to mourn, no proper prior experience with women though he had kissed girls before he was not like Donnel or Bennard who had already slept with girls. This had therefore meant that when he had met Val he had been quite shy around her and had not known what to say to her, but as time had gone on and he had actually gotten to know her he had opened up a bit more and they had become friends, they did not love one another not yet at least but they were good friends, and there was an intimacy there that Benjen had been looking for, for most of his life.
Of course he had wondered how his wife would feel about riding north to deal with the rebellion being led once more by her goodbrother, he had asked her and she had merely replied that whilst her goodbrother Mance was a good man he had little sense in his head, and as such she did not mind putting him to rights, so long as her sister and nephew were kept safe she did not mind. That was where they were different, Benjen would have felt completely uncomfortable with having to put down a rebellion if it was led by family, for he knew what would happen to Mance and he felt guilty about it and horrified about the potential of having to have a bloody conflict. Val on the other hand, seemed not to relish it but seemed to accept what she had to do, and what would be expected of her, and it seemed that attitude had gotten her many admirers both amongst the men and women of the northern court.
The rebellion itself had been going on for almost a year now, and as such had cost them much in the way of men from the actual lands north of the wall. Mance Rayder had actually declared himself king beyond the wall, and had managed to garner some 20,000 members of the free folk to his banners, and they had gone on a raiding spree around Thenn and the lands of the marches. There had been battles between the wildlings and when news of the Magnar of Thenn's death had reached them there had been a feeling of despair, Styr was a fierce warrior, a loyal member of the free folk and someone who they had counted on crushing early rebellions, his death had left his son the untested Sigorn in charge and as such the man was finding it hard to adapt. As such Mance Rayder had managed to smash the Thenns at the battle of the oxfeed, destroying their men and taking their holdfast as a base of operations, from there the man and his growing contingent had moved onto the Frostfangs where Mars the giant had been slain, brought down low by arrows and such. Rebellions had broken out amongst the giants and many of them had slain each other, such destruction had greeted them as they made their way through the passes.
Eventually Mance chanced to meet them in battle, sending his right hand man a wildling known as Jarl to lead his left and battle had occurred in the Milkwater passes, a fierce fight where many men and women had died but eventually the free folk under Jarl had surrendered though not before Jarl himself had been brutally killed... by Val. Benjen could still hear the screams of the dying and he knew they would haunt him until his dying day, he would never understand how people could enjoy fighting, or the killing that came with it, it was something that he could not comprehend nor something that he could truly want to understand. From the Milkwater Pass they met Mance Rayder at the Boneway crossing, and a fierce fight ensued there, though Mance and some 5,000 of his troops managed to retreat.
It was at this battle that Benjen's father Aemon had died, from his wounds, they had festered and had not healed despite the tending they had received from the maesters and healers they had with them. Aemon Stark had died not with a sword in hand, but feverish and sweating, calling out for his wife, but Queen Lyanna was many miles away in Winterfell with Benjen's other siblings. With his father dead, Benjen was now King and as such it was his duty to oversee his father's last rites, he had had his father's body burned and his ashes put into an urn to be sent back to Winterfell. His mother and siblings would be devastated at his father's death, Shiera would especially considering how close they were, Benjen himself had felt numb, for the longest time people would offer condolences and he would merely nod and accept them, but he would feel nothing. His father had died fighting to end some senseless rebellion, it made no sense to him, his father should have died an old grey man with his wife and children and grandchildren around him, not here in the cold. After the numbness came the anger, and Benjen had sworn himself to vengeance, he would make Mance Rayder pay and he would slaughter any who got in his way.
He had called a war council to assess what their next move should be and where Mance Rayder would be. Those who attended were the Greatjon steadfast in his loyalty as always, Tormund Giantsbane equally steadfast, Lord Galbart Glover, Lord Harrion Karstark, Lord Torrhen Dreadstark, Lord Brandon Cassel, Sigorn the Magnar of Thenn, The Under the king of the giants and of course Benjen's wife Val. Benjen swallowed and then spoke. "We all know why we are here, the traitor Mance Rayder and his band of outlaws remain free to do as they please, I will see them ended and I will see justice done for the hell they have put my people through. The question is where would one such as Mance go?"
Val spoke then, her voice clear and determined. "Dalla often said that Mance was quite the dreamer and would often venture many miles north to see what lay beyond the shivering river, though he would never tell her what he saw on those days when he came back, except that he had found a powerful place to hide from the world. He might have gone there."
The Greatjon snorted slightly. "Begging your pardons Your Grace, but surely Mance Rayder is not so big a fool as to go to a place where he knows that you would tell his grace of the moment you had the chance to? Surely he will go to somewhere we would not expect him to go?"
"And where pray would he go Lord Umber if not to the place that is the furthest up north any sane man or woman would go?" Tormund Giantsbane asked. "You don't think Mance will be bold enough to go to the Fist do you? My lads will have his balls in a vice if he did, no, he will go to that hideout of his and wait for us to die of boredom, I say we head north immediately and take him and his bandits out as soon as possible."
"He might be expecting us to do that though." Lord Brandon Cassel said. "He might be planning on us following that hunch, and be laying a trap for us along the way. We have lost one king already to his actions, we cannot afford to lose another, not with the way things are going south of the wall, and with Jeor Mormont not doing well after that last battle."
"How is Lord Jeor doing?" Val asked, concern lacing her tone, Benjen knew his wife liked the old bear.
Lord Jorah Mormont the man's son said. "He is doing better Your Grace, he sleeps most of the time, but I am not sure if he will be ready to march north anytime soon."
"It does not matter. Lord Jorah I shall be leaving you in command of the reserve, you are to remain here and await my word. I shall be taking the van and the right with me to this place of Mance's. Lord Brandon you shall hold the left and head towards the Frostfangs to clear up the mess left behind by the Raiders." Benjen says. "Now where is this hideaway my lady?"
If his wife is surprised by his directness she does not show it and says. "It is right on the border with the Lands of Always Winter, about thirty leagues from here as the crow flies. If anything, Mance will have his troops spread out on the pass waiting for us, and they will be armed with rocks and boulders ready to throw them at us at the slightest hint of movement through the pass."
"Then we shall need a distraction." Benjen says. "Under, as much as I hate having to do this, I need you and your brethren to cause a distraction that will get these boulder pushers killed and away from the main battle."
The Under nods and grunts his approval and so it is decided. A day later Brandon Cassel rides out for the Frostfangs with some 6,000 men to deal with what raiders are left in the Frostfangs, with him goes Torrhen Karstark of the Winter's Guard. A day after that, Benjen and the right commanded by Benjen and the Van commanded by the Greatjon ride out leaving some 4,000 men under the command of Lord Jorah Mormont. Three warriors of the winter's guard ride out with Benjen, his uncle and namesake Benjen Stark the elder, Theo Wull known as Buckets and Ser Mark Ryswell. Lord Commander of the Winter's Guard Brandon Stark rode south with Benjen's grandmother to avenge his friend Lucerys Blackfyre, and Jory Cassel, Lawrence Snow, Beren Hornwood and Benji Blackwood remained behind at Winterfell to guard the rest of Benjen's family.
It takes them some four days to arrive at the pass and when they do the Under and his giants cause quite the commotion, from where he sits underneath the ridge Benjen can hear their roars and the screams of the men and women who they are killing, their deaths still disturb him somewhat, but he pushes those thoughts away from his mind for now. Eventually the time comes and Benjen signals for both the Van and the Right to move through the pass, and when they do they pass through the lines of bodies both giant and human left in the wake of the distraction, he feels slightly sick but still he goes on and they come across the remainder of the host that makes up the wildling resistance, and the battle begins. Benjen cuts his way through them all, Ice swinging like a light weight from his hands, cutting and hacking, blood pouring down his armour as he makes his way towards Mance Rayder, they clash steel once, twice, thrice, four times and then on the fifth time Benjen cuts the man's armour, and on it goes, on and on cutting and slashing, cutting and slashing, until eventually Mance Rayder lies at the bottom of the pass his throat slit, the rebellion over. On the seventh day of the tenth month of the 299th year after Aegon's Landing Benjen Stark, now known as Benjen the Bloody for the bloodshed during the fighting returns home to Winterfell with his wife and nephew Aemon Steelsong and his goodsister Dalla.
King Rhaegon I Blackfyre
For years ever since he had learnt who and what he was, Rhaegon Blackfyre had dreamed of the day he would sit the Iron Throne. It was his by right of blood, and the fact that his aunt was such a firm believer in his claim only strengthened his resolve to ensure that at the end of this all he was sat on the Iron Throne, not a Baratheon, a Lannister or a Targaryen but him, a Blackfyre the rightful rulers of the southern kingdom who had been denied their right for years. So far it did appear as if that dream, that belief was about to come true, the Westerlands were largely vacant, of any actual fighting men, most of the strength having been with Jaime Lannister at Riverrun or at Harrenhal with Tywin Lannister. And so Rhaegon and the lords of the Reach and the Golden Company had found the path to take most of the Westerlands relatively easily.
The forces of Lady Oakheart and Lord Terrence Osgrey had done their jobs very well and had created a good enough distraction that the Rock had had to hastily send troops to Red Lake where they were met with a wall of men, the battle of Red Lake was also known as the battle of blood for the slaughter that had occurred. Rhaegon wielding Blackfyre had taken many lives that day including that of one Stafford Lannister who he had later learnt was the uncle of the main line Lannisters on some level. From Red Lake their vast host numbering some 50,000 men had broken up into factions, Terrence Osgrey had led some 10,000 men to go raiding along the coast taking what livestock and gold he could find and transporting it back to the Reach. Homeless Harry Strickland the captain general of the golden company led that traditional Blackfyre Company on a raiding mission of the Lannister gold mines, and the rest followed Rhaegon as he went about capturing castles. Cornfield, Siverhill, Clegane Hall, Deep Den, Sarsfield and Hornvale had all fallen to Rhaegon.
The Lannisters had assembled another host and at Oxcross they had met, the Lannister host had been commanded by Ser Daven Lannister a good man, and it had also contained an obscene amount of Lannisters many of the mainline Lannisters such as Willem and Martyn Lannister who were squiring for lords in the army were present and were killed in the battle. The deaths of one's so young disturbed Rhaegon but he pushed on, Oxcross was an easy victory but with it there was the quandary, what was one to do, move on for the Rock or risk being taken in the rear by another host? It was with these thoughts in his head that Rhaegon had decided that they would head north and join up with the Golden Company before going for a full on frontal assault on the Golden Tooth, where it was said the majority of the Lannister wealth came from.
The taking of the Golden Tooth was a bloody business, the Leffords offered a lot of resistance and Rhaegon saw many men he had grown up with killed before his eyes, something that had just made him all the angrier and determined to see justice done, eventually the tooth had surrendered and Rhaegon had had Alysanne Lefford the Lady of the Tooth following her father's death marry Ser Gormon Peake making him the new Lord of the Golden Tooth. With the tooth now in their possession they had effectively cut of a way for Jaime Lannister to return to the Westerlands, and with Tywin Lannister and his brother Kevan dead there was very little martial experience left in the Westerlands. The extermination of the Lannisters was continuing and continued at the battle of the pass where a host led by Ser Damion Lannister was put down before it could even begin. After that battle Rhaegon had ridden from the Tooth leaving orders for Peake to allow Lannister and some of his men back into the Westerlands when the man came.
Everything else was also going well for Rhaegon, Robb Baratheon had accepted his terms for alliance and as such Rhaegon had sent Wilbert Osgrey along with some 20,000 men to remove the Targaryen scum from the Stormlands. Viserys Targaryen held King's Landing now, but Robb Baratheon remained alive having fled the city along with his mother and siblings and wife before the man had arrived at the city, and with Wilbert approaching the Stormlands all the hard work Targaryen had put in would be undone soon enough. It was almost too good to be true, perhaps the gods were finally smiling down on his family?
There was just one issue how to take the Rock? They had marched from the Tooth and had been laying siege to the Rock for the past three weeks, Lannisport had been removed of any Lannisters in the vicinity something that Robb Reyne had carried out with some sort of grim satisfaction. And yet the Rock held out, it was beginning to grate on Rhaegon's nerves, the castle was supposedly held by an old woman Genna Lannister who stubbornly refused to surrender even though the odds were completely against her, her family was being reduced by the day and soon enough the rock would fall, the question was how to get it to fall completely?
Tyrion Lannister the imp, the youngest son of Tywin Lannister had ridden out of the castle not under a flag of parley but under a flag of war, dressed in armour it had been comical to see, but the laughter had stopped when the arrows had stared flying from the walls of the rock and as such another battle had occurred outside the gates of the rock, that had ended with Tyrion Lannister's head as well as the heads of several other golden haired shits on pikes. A clear sign to Genna Lannister that he was not to be trifled with, and as such it seemed as if the woman was either finally ready to listen or she was attempting to flee, for she had been brought before him dressed in begging clothes, Rhaegon was sat in his tent with Ser Elton Reyne the Lord Commander of his Kingsguard and his son Daemon who was also a member of the Kingsguard stood in front of his chair. Genna Lannister was brought before him and Rhaegon looked at her briefly before asking. "Have you come to surrender Lady Genna?"
The woman laughed then, "Surrender? To you? I think not. Blackfyres might have done well in the past, but you do not have the complete backing of the north nor any other serious houses behind you do you? No soon enough your success will run out just as it always has and perhaps Viserys Targaryen will sit the throne."
Rhaegon was silent for a moment before he said. "And if I told you that House Tully, House Arryn and House Baratheon as well as their bannermen have all declared for me and that the might of the reach is under my disposal, what then Lady Genna? Would you still believe that I do not have enough strength to take the throne and hold it?"
The woman looks up at him in horror and stutters to reply before eventually saying. "Then I would name you a fool and a liar, Hoster Tully is sworn to Stannis Baratheon, and now his grandson and the Arryns are far too noble to ever abandon their oaths to those they consider the rightful king. You might have their minor houses support but you won't have the strength to consolidate your hold or claim, and soon enough that will come to bite you in the back Blackfyre."
"Believe what you wish Lady Genna, but now I have to pay an old debt to a friend and mentor. With you as a bargaining chip the gates to the Rock shall open and your family shall come to an end. In retribution for what you did to the Reynes your family shall end the Lannisters shall be no more." Rhaegon said his voice firm.
"You would not do that, to do that would be to send a sign to the other great houses that they are a risk to your own reign, and would make them uneasy about your rule. You might be a warrior but you are not stupid Rhaegon Blackfyre. You won't kill my family if you know what is good for you." Genna Lannister said pleadingly.
Rhaegon merely looked at the woman and said. "Wait and see my lady. But for now we move towards the Rock." And so they did they rode from the campsite, the Kingsguard and his men riding next to him, up the hill and to the gates of the Rock where the gates opened and the Lannisters were soon presented before him in chains. He turned to Robb Reyne and said. "My friend the honour is yours, do as you will." And with that he walked away as the Lannisters were lessened by a significant amount. Genna Lannister was made to watch as her family was brought down around her, nephews, nieces and cousins were all killed one by one as the Reynes of Long Lake took their vengeance, a desert that had been served some thirty years ago by Tywin Lannister was now being served to his family. At the end Rhaegon had the woman put out of her misery at Genna Lannister was slain leaving Jaime Lannister, his sister and their bastards the last Lannisters left.
Soon enough battle would come and when it did, Rhaegon would crush Jaime Lannister and adorn his head on a spike and then Viserys Targaryen would also face the same fate, and the Iron Throne would finally belong where it should have belonged 103 years ago.