House of Metal 28

The reunion between the Starks was a happy affair, with many excited hugs exchanged between siblings. It also marked the end of the reason that the King of the North declared war; his father was already dead, so he couldn't save him, and his sisters were returned to him, so he did not need to take the capital to retrieve them.

And so he called a meeting of his Banners and asked them what they thought the next course of action should be. He wasn't surprised when they told him that they were hesitant to march on King's Landing. He was just as hesitant, even though he knew that it was only the Boltons and the Freys dead, as well as a moderate chunk of the Karstark forces, that were now nothing more than charred corpses on a burnt patch of land. He did not want to risk a second assault meeting with the same conclusion.

It was Arya who gave him an idea. She had insisted on attending the meeting between lords, and for most of it she had been silently staring at the war table, when finally, she asked, "Why do we need to go to them?"

Robb and his generals looked at the girl, and she continued, "You've already declared independence, you've got me and Sansa back, Father is dead and you have his sword. Which, compared to what state his body is in, is much better than what you would have gotten if not for Ultron. Why not wait for them to get antsy and try retreating back to the West?"

Robb frowned, and noted, "But then we will be leaving an enemy nearly on our borders."

"We'd be leaving an enemy on our borders no matter what," Arya notes, "Unless we went through the Westerlands and executed everyone we encounter, babes and elders alike, we'd always have an enemy at our border. And we aren't Lannisters, we don't do that."

There were a great many shared looks at how casually the young Stark had mentioned executing babes, but there was not much surprise. Reports from Theon and his men on how effectively the young wolf and her bastard friend had dealt with ten brigands had reached many ears within the Northern camp.

The bastard, the eldest son of King Robert apparently, had taken over in one of the forges, and begun the task of repairing equipment for food with glee. Most men went to him to get a look at the lad, and most of the camp followers had started to do the same.

"You're right," Robb nods, surprising a few of his Banners, it was not often that the King took a suggestion. They were honest with themselves when they thought that it was because most other suggestions were almost stupid, but they were still surprised. Robb leans over the War table and says, "We've dealt terrible blows to the Lannisters, I think it's time we let one of the other armies do the work."

Turning to Olyvar he tells him, "Send word to the Baratheons that we are pulling some of our forces back so that we can bring in the last harvest for winter, and warn them that the Lannisters have access to Wildfire and are not afraid to use it."

The squire nods and steps out of the tent to write the letters and prep the ravens, leaving the Lord of the North to talk about how they will pull back without attracting an attack from their foes.