*DANY*
One full day of rest did Sansa have to before having to contend with Bolton and his troops, who will be here in a few hours time. Were it me I would slay the lot of them. Burn them down with dragon fire.
My sister means to strike a bargain with Lord Bolton perhaps he will refuse her but Barriston thinks not, as does Sandor and my Lord husband.
I do not trust this pale eyed man, anyone who could sire such a monstrosity as Ramsey is not to be trusted I feel. Tyrion and I have discussed at length how best to approach the matter.
After much banter among our group it is decided Sansa should lead the proceedings, to have an outsider, even though I was born of this land, such as I would only aggravate an already volatile situation.
*SANSA*
Today is the day we learn if all my observations and training will serve it's purpose, having the Great Jon join our cause was momentous but other Lords think of him as only joining us out of a sense of duty to my father. Others feel he is nothing but a Northern animal brought to heel out of his need for vengeance. By now word has spread the world over of the Twins fall and the current status of the Frey line.
Sandor, always my strength behind closed doors instructed me to remember my place in the scheme of things, the North is mine by right and if needs be, by force of arms. " Fear not he said ", his dark eyes searching mine own.
Yet I go now to parley with the man who struck the fatal blow to Robb, it was he who twisted the blade deep within and allowed my Lady mother to have her noble throat slit, her life sprayed out around her, to allow her remains to be tossed as so much refuse into the very waters her house called home.
I must remain true, I must remember the siblings, Lynon and Laena and their sacrifice for me and this land. I will counter offer terms as Tyrion believes he is here to offer us amnesty, lands, titles, whatever necessary to halt or at least slow our progress.
I will offer him terms tis true, a small part of me hopes he comes as an aggressor, that I may be justified in releasing a dragon's fury upon him and his. Then I remember, men of the North make up the bulk of his troops, men who are fathers and sons and above all else, MY people. I will not rule a vacant land, it is enough I rebuild upon the bones of my kin.
Sandor and Souzahn circle above us and watch for Bolton's approach after what seems like an age Sandor's loud whistle is heard.
He comes.
Down the road the flayed mans banner whips in the wind, a bloodrider atop his horse gallops forward to meet him. He brings instructions that Bolton come with a small contingency to present his message.
*LORD BOLTON*
Weeks of chaos leads me to this impasse, if the She~Wolf and Silver Queen mean to rule this land who am I to stop them. I well remember the story behind the song of Castamere, I do not wish my line to end and as long as Tywin led house Lannister there is naught to be done but yield to his will.
Now that Tywin no longer holds sway and has the ear of another boy King, it is time to turn my cloak once more, true, some will say I am on a fools errand from the Tyrell's who also promise more lands, titles and such but I wish to save my line. I will do as this She~Wolf and Silver Queen require of me.
My fat Frey wife is with child, my malevolent Bastard, Ramsey still resides Winterfell and there he shall stay until I have assurances that these women who lead this army allow my name to continue. I do have a gift for Sansa, one that would thaw even the coldest of hearts.
I see a horseman approach, his skin is a coppery hue, his almond shaped eyes the shade of dark amber. He carries at his side an Arakh, a savage weapon indeed. So it is true, they have brought the brown men from the grassy wastes across the sea.
In the language of Westeros he says I am to come with him bring only a small amount of men. I agree, there is nothing to be done but comply as I eye the winged menace above.
As we gain a cluster of people, four step forward.
Sansa, taller than last I saw her and in armor made for her, Lord Tyrion, Ser Barriston and what can only be Daenerys Targareyn. The silver of her hair and violet eyes make her unmistakable.
An enormous black dragon snakes his head above her small frame and lets loose a bellow to bring down a mountain, it is all I can do not to bolt my mount neighs wildly and if not for a tightened rein he would have fled. He must be her mount, the one she calls Drogon. She strokes his under jaw with the handle of a small black whip. Her eyes never leaving mine own.
*SANSA*
I hope I am not visibly shaking, I am conflicted. I wish with every fibre of my being that I kill this misbegotten filth. My husband circles with Souzahn warding us from above. I step forward and say, " Lord Bolton, what have you to say this day ? "
*BOLTON*
" I bring terms for you and yours from the houses of Lannister and Tyrell, if you halt your advance, Winterfell will be granted you and all the lands your Lord father held sway over, I am also to tell you that house Tully will also be under your purview. "
" I am also to tell Daenerys that she may have the rebuilt Twins and all the lands of house Frey, as is befitting a woman of her station. "
*SANSA*
I am hard pressed to not bark laughter in his face. " Winterfell will be granted to me ?! " " It is my home and I mean to take it back, if it means I must wrest it from your Bastard's cold dead hands, so be it. "
" Here are our terms, you will turn your cloak, you will join your forces to ours. " " You will be used in an advisory capacity and nothing more, do you agree, Kingslayer ? "
*BOLTON*
The She~Wolf has bared her teeth, if I had not heard reliable reports of her demeanor from others I would think she was nothing more than a figurehead. But the icy glare of her eyes to mine did not flinch. Very few men could bear up under my own steel grey eyes glare.
I wonder what dead Ned would think to see his eldest daughter giving terms to a man thrice her age almost without so much as a stutter or blink.
" That is your terms, that I merely join forces with and march on King's Landing ? "
*SANSA*
" No, I also require your services...your expertise in flaying my Lord. " " hat and you will provide men and provisions to send to the wall and help us in repelling the cold menace that come for the land of men. "
" In a show of good faith you will flay Lord Walder Frey the old and soon dead and you will bend your knee to your Queens. "
" I have needs of a new banner, I hear tanned hide lasts a fair bit longer than cloth. "
*LORD BOLTON*
And there it is, the price I must pay to keep my line intact. There is no going back to King's Landing now unless it is within an army, were it any other but a daughter of the deceased Eddard Stark I would think this a ruse to gain my complacency.
" As you wish your Graces'. "
*SANSA*
And so the animal bends a knee, I will watch him closely. It goes without saying that Winterfell will foster the child in his wifes belly, be it male or female.
I instruct Bolton where he may make camp and he pauses for a moment to ask what of the other men that were meant to surround us. I walk over to the basket and pull up the severed head of the Bolton man by his muck encrusted hair and toss it half hazardly to bounce once and roll to his feet.
It is then Bolton motions to a man who leads another horse who's rider is stooped and his head covered by a cowl. The man dismounts and helps the other who seems to be lame. Ser Barriston and our Unsullied escort close ranks as the man is led to within a few feet of me.
He sways and murmurs quietly to himself, Bolton throws his cowl back to reveal a wild-eyed pale youth. His eyes dart from the ground to the faces of the people about him, all the while repeating his mantra in low tones. Bolton nudges him forward and the youth whimpers.
" Reek, Reek it rhymes with peek. " " I won't tell I promise please, please don't hurt me, pleeeaaasse...", his soft tones now have gained in volume. I step to him and he flinches and ducks and prostrates himself before me, wallowing in the mud at my feet.
I roll him over with my booted foot and look into his eyes...
I know them, though his visage is scarred and he is missing fingers from his hand, his teeth that were once so white and straight and smirking are now brown and broken.
This is Theon Greyjoy...
His time spent with Bolton's Bastard was a horror indeed. I feel no remorse for this quivering heap of flesh, he who sat at our table, slept under our roof, was educated and treated as one of us...Betrayed us.
He who took Winterfell by guile and then had it wrested from his meager grip to have my people tortured and terrorized and murdered by his captor. I wish he had ten manhoods and that each was severed, root and stem only to grow anew so he may suffer all the more again and again.
*DANY*
The sister of my heart has shown her Northern steel, the cub that left Westeros returns now a Wolf who bares her teeth. As I but a babe spirited away return now a Queen and the Mother of Dragons.
If Bolton will bend a knee will others follow his lead ? We have yet to unleash the full power of the dragons against Westeros.
Theon is led to the dungeons where he will spend his time with us.
A runner sprints up to us and presents a rolled bit of parchment, no doubt from a raven. I open to read Davos cramped handwriting informing us that the lord Commander of the Night's Watch has acquired a loan from the Iron Bank as well and Lord Davos sails now to meet us.
Why by the old Gods and new would the Lord Commander require a loan ?
*SANDOR*
It is the dawning of a new day and work ceases as the bedraggled old man is drug from the Fails Safe and scrubbed clean, a shabby shift put on him and he is brought to meet his justice.
A platform had been hastily constructed to raise him so all may see.
The former Lord Frey is carried bodily up the stairs to be four pointed, his thin limbs pale and straining. Bolton takes to the platform and unrolls a leather pouch holding all manner of knives, it reminds me of sets that butchers use in cutting meat.
Nothing breaks the silence of the assemblage as Bolton hones his blades and as he runs the steel over the whet stone the only sound to be heard was SKTCH, SKTCH...SKTCH, SKTCH...
