Ramsay and Roose were standing over Myranda's body, along with their maester, a man named Wolkan. "I remember the first time I met her," Ramsay said. "Other people are afraid of me, but she wasn't. Theon Greyjoy is going to pay for this!"

"Should we bury her or construct a funeral pyre?" Maester Wolkan asked.

Ramsay considered. "She's good meat. Let's feed her to the hounds."

"Those musicians you hired have disappeared," Roose said to his son. "They must have helped Theon and the girl escape."

Ramsay stared. "I didn't hire them! I thought you did."

"Well, you need to catch them. My wife, Lady Walda, is pregnant," Roose said. "If you can't track them down, I'll make my new son my heir."

"I already sent Gideon Gleeful after them," said Ramsay.

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Stannis had thought he would reach Winterfell by now, but bad weather had kept him and his men stranded at an abandoned village in the wolfswood. He had taken refuge in an old tower. Now he was talking to Davos.

"We're runnin' out of food," Davos said. "The supply of fish from the lake is dryin' up, and there's nothin' to eat in the woods. Some of us have resorted to eatin' our horses, but the horses are starvin' too. Ser Corliss Penny and Ser Clayton Suggs even caught four men from House Peasebury tryin' to eat a dead man!"

"So, what do you suggest?" Stannis asked.

Davos said, "We can't stay here without any food, and we can't go forward, because we're in no condition to fight Roose Bolton's forces. It seems to me the only thing to do is turn around and head back to the Wall."

Stannis slammed his fist down on the table. "Accept defeat? Never! I'm the rightful king of Westeros!"

Just then, Ser Clayton Suggs came running in. "There's people coming this way!" he said.

"Could it be an attack from the Boltons and Freys?" Stannis asked.

"I don't know. There's only five of them, and they're on foot."

"I will go out to meet them," said Stannis.

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When Theon, Ruth, Hayley, Jeff, and Roger entered the village, Stannis and his men surrounded them. Stannis's soldiers pointed arrows at the intruders, but Theon noticed they were hardly in any better shape than he was.

"Halt!" Stannis commanded them. "Were you sent by the Boltons?"

"No, actually we're trying to get away from them," Roger said.

Stannis recognized him now. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Roger, after you went over to King Joffrey. If Chris Griffin and Balon Greyjoy weren't already dead, you might have been the first person to swear fealty to all five kings."

Roger laughed. "That's funny, cause Hayley here said the same thing when I met up with her."

Stannis squinted at Hayley. "I remember you. You're that girl who was with Renly when I visited his camp."

"Oh, yeah," said Hayley. "That was right before you killed him!"

Stannis averted his eyes from Hayley's gaze. "I had no choice. He was bein' too greedy, wantin' to take my place as king."

"Whatever," Hayley said. "I don't have time to deal with you. I've gotta get this girl to safety." She pointed at Ruth.

"Who are you?" Stannis asked Ruth. "You're not Meg Griffin, are you?"

Ruth shook her head. "No, your grace. I'm just someone who looks like her. My name's Ruth. I was sent to Winterfell so I could pretend to be her and marry Ramsay Bolton."

"Ramsay was going to rape her, but I saved her," said Theon.

"Aren't you Theon Greyjoy?" Stannis asked. "Son of the false king Balon Greyjoy? The man who attacked Winterfell and tried to kill Stewie Griffin?"

"I shouldn't have done that," Theon admitted. "You can do what you want with me, but don't hurt Ruth. She's done nothing wrong."

Stannis turned to Davos. "Well, you wanted to return to the Wall. Looks like you're getting your wish. I want you to bring this girl Ruth to Castle Black. And take Hayley Smith with you. I don't want her hanging around me or her sword might end up in my back. Roger and this other man-" he indicated Jeff- "can go too. But I will keep Theon Greyjoy as a hostage."

"What about you, your grace?" Davos asked. "What will you do?"

Stannis said, "I'm going to take my men and meet the Boltons head on while we still have a few ounces of strength."

Davos knew this would be suicidal. But he also knew there was no arguing with Stannis when he had made up his mind. "Okay," he said. "I'll be seein' you." But deep down he knew he wouldn't.

Gideon Gleeful had been hiding behind a tree nearby. He'd heard every word that passed. "I gotta git back to Winterfell," he muttered to himself. "Gotta tell Ramsay that Stannis is comin'!"