TDC: Missing Scenes and What If Scenarios

By

Arrow4131

And

Leilani972

Chapter 17: What If Edmure had been captured?

Summary: We all enjoyed Edmure Tully's fate in the original timeline. The one called the Floppy Fish had fled his camp at Stone Hedge, leading to his demise on the Red Fork.

What if he hadn't? Would his fate be better or worse than the one he had before?

This work is inspired by The Dragon Cub by Alperez16. Each chapter is a missing scene from key moments in the original story and a chance for us to answer a few what-if questions.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Stone Hedge, 298 AC

Edmure Tully, aka, The Floppy Fish

The gall of that traitor for speaking that way to those who would follow a true king instead of a bastard!

Edmure still couldn't believe that Jonos Bracken had turned on him. He expected it from the fellow Targaryen Loyalists. Darry, Mooton, Whent, all those good for nothing lords and that shrew he had to call kin to his dismay. Even Tytos Blackwood, as that Tree worshipper was known for being duplicitous due to his supposed Gods.

But Bracken? Never in a million years would he have thought that they would be ones to betray his family.

He would make them all pay. Starting with the Old Stallion.

"What are your orders, my Lord?" one of his soldiers asked as wine was brought to his tent. He would need more if he wanted to focus.

"Get some rest, we will attack before dawn."

"Before dawn?" the soldier gasped. "My Lord, it's -"

"They can call upon more men than what we have. We need to take them by surprise or else they will oppose way too much resistance. We do not have time to lose and we have to bring them to heel. Raze the village down first and let Bracken see it burn."

"My Lord!"

"Let him see what happens when you do not follow your Liege."

The soldier bowed and left to relay his orders, while Edmure raged internally. He would show them, yes. First, he will scorch the Brackens' land, then the Blackwoods, the Darrys, all of the traitors. They wanted to follow a fake dragon, they would see how a Tully could also bring Fire and Blood to his foes.

So the rest of the day was spent strategizing with the loyal lords he still had and then when night came, the wine came out with the camp followers and the local whores. They all spent the night drinking and whoring without a care in the world. And as the hours passed, the more confident Edmure became.

Bracken may have a bit more men, but a surprise attack along with having to watch his lands burn will lower his traitorous spirit.

He sent for more wine, to his followers' delight, and toasted loudly to his upcoming victory. When it was time for the attack to be launched, he was way too drunk to lead the men himself. Not that he had planned to do so in the first place, but he had the perfect excuse for not doing so with his physical state.

"Lord Karyll will lead the attack on the village while I get some rest, and we'll join you as soon as it falls." He said, half-conscious, before heading to his tent.

As usual, after he got too drunk, Edmure was awakened in the middle of the night by the violent spasms of his bowels. He was nauseous and dizzy, and he struggled to remember where he was until he could focus on the interior of his tent.

Right, the Siege.

He managed to run outside without falling down and he quickly thanked the Gods for not giving him the strength to bed a whore the night before, for he would have been seen rushing to the privy completely naked or in his small clothes, which would have been humiliating, to say the least.

He almost didn't make it on time and he was glad most of his men were too busy fighting, the sounds of clashing swords masking the emptying of his bowels. He cursed as relief surged through his body, making the act he just did close to a blissful one.

He felt his body relax and closed his eyes to try to calm the dizziness down. The day wasn't starting well but he was the only one to blame for it. He drank too much and needed to get a hold of himself so he could join his men on the battlefield soon.

First things first, he needed to finish emptying his bowels completely to not have another near accident again. The last thing he needed was to end up leaving the battle in order to go to the privy again. To be caught with his pants down by the enemy would've been far more humiliating than being caught by his own men.

Right then, he heard the sound of a horn blasting in the distance, but didn't pay too much attention to it since he was lost in his immediate needs. Besides, he highly doubted it was anything important. More than likely the sound was coming from his army as a way of announcing their advancement towards the keep, so he willed himself to hurry things along. He wouldn't miss the look on Jonos' face as he watched his precious village burn to the ground.

As he was about to finish, he heard a new noise, the sound of screaming coming his way. But these were not like the battle cries from before, they sounded like screams of terror.

Sounds like they started burning the village without me. I need to leave now.

Curiosity got the better of Edmure, who pried the door to the privy opened so he could see what all of it was about. Unfortunately for him, he was not faced with the impending victory he was so certain would happen.

What he saw was impossible chaos.

Horses were trampling over his camp's tents as some of his soldiers seemed to run for their lives.

Where were they coming from? Were they Bracken's men? Did they underestimate their foes?

So dumbfounded was he from the scene taking place in front of him that Edmure noticed too late the horse riding toward him. His survival instincts took over and he started running from the privy, which got overturned as the horse ran over it. He couldn't figure out where to go. His sword was still in his tent, far away from his location, and he couldn't muster a word to one of his soldiers as he was struggling to keep up the pace.

He realized all too late that he wouldn't run for long. In his hurry to run away, he didn't pull up his pants and found himself tripping over it until he fell onto his face, right into the mud.

Was it how he would die? With his pants down, with mud on his face and filth on his lower body? Would people mourn him or laugh at his disgraceful death?

He could hear laughs coming his way and he closed his eyes, hoping for a quick death. He was however surprised to feel his body being lifted.

"Come, my Lord. This is not the way to greet your bannermen!"

His eyes shot open and he let out a startled gasp as he recognized the voice addressing him.

This cannot be…

The shock made his body freeze while his gaze locked with Tytos Blackwood's amused one.

"How? Why are you here?"

"Why? Well, my King asked me to protect anyone willing to fight for him. Even if it was a Bracken. So, you see, when I heard that you wanted to lay siege over Stone Hedge, I did what was asked of me."

"You fought for Lord Bracken?"

"Aye. It's still difficult for me to say it, but in this case, the enemy of my enemy is my ally." Tytos said before turning to one of his men. "Bring him to the Keep. The fighting will stop when his men see him in our custody."

"Would you at least let me pull my pants up?" Edmure asked, trying not to sound too desperate.

Lord Blackwood seemed to hesitate before nodding his head toward his soldier and Edmure sighed with relief. It was already humiliating enough to get captured, the last thing he needed was for his moment of misfortune to be seen by more people and changed into a song.

It only took them a short time to write that damned song about him, Edmure thought as he heard them sing it outside the room he was being held captive in.

The next day was even more humiliating than he could have ever imagined. First, he was bound and gagged and led to a donkey instead of a horse. Then he was made to ride behind his own bannermen. And last, but most assuredly not least, he was being forced to ride back to Riverrun where apparently an army of lions and traitors were waiting for them.

He gasped as he saw the extent of the army of the West. Hearing that it was just part of the real one made him shiver, and the death glare he received from the one in charge made him fear for his life. The man was a Lannister, for sure. He had seen him before with the bastard but never bothered asking for his name because of the company he kept.

"We will have a parley tomorrow, my Lords. Myself and my goodson will go with the prisoner to ask for the surrender of Riverrun. It shouldn't be much of a problem, seeing that we have their Lord into custody." Edmure heard Gerion Lannister say during their council.

"Was it necessary to have him here, my Lord?" Jonos Bracken asked.

"I want to take no chances, my Lord. We are close to his keep, and some loyal men of his could try to rescue him in the dead of the night. I will not let that happen, so I'll keep him where I or Cregan can see him every second if I have to."

"Fair enough. Any news from the rest of the King's forces?"

"My nephew Tyrion and his men should have met with the Northern forces already. I also heard that the Stormlords already surrendered."

That got Edmure's attention, as well as the others.

"Who fought them?"

"The Dornish, led by Oberyn Martell. They have Stannis Baratheon into custody."

"What about the Vale? Do they march with Arryn or did they hear about what he'd done to his wife?" Lord Blackwood asked.

"His wife?" Edmure gasped. "What happened? What happened to Lysa?"

An uneasy silence filled the tent and Edmure felt dread creeping in his heart.

"Your sister was arrested and thrown to the Black Cells, my Lord," Blackwood answered sadly.

"Nonsense! Jon Arryn would never do that! Lysa has committed no crime!"

"Well, he would and she did," Gerion Lannister scoffed. "She went behind his back and had an affair with your friend Baelish. And the child, your nephew, is his, not Arryn's. So that makes him a bastard."

"You lie!" Edmure yelled, outraged.

"I do not care if you believe me or not. I guess you will know soon enough if I'm lying."

"Why would he do that? Why would she do that?"

"Lady Lysa has always been close to Littlefinger," Lord Bracken said. "That was the reason why your Father exiled him back to the Fingers after the stunt he pulled with Brandon Stark."

Edmure noticed the young lad's double take at those words but was too far lost in his thoughts to care. Why would Lysa risk her position, her marriage, for someone so beneath her? That made no sense. But then again, nothing made much sense these days. Jon Snow being a Targaryen bastard, raising armies to get to the throne, the Dornish willing to fight for the proof of their Princess' disgrace… Cersei Lannister cuckolding the King, and now this.

Edmure was living a nightmare. He had hoped that The Vale and the King would come to save him, but if Lannister was telling the truth, they could care less about the family of an adulterer, even if they had been willing to fight for them. In sealing her fate, Lysa had also signed his away.

Family, Duty, Honor. What a load of crap!

He was in this mess because he had followed his family. He had wanted to restore Catelyn's honor and it went back and bit him in the rear. He followed her advice to press the other lords to follow him, their Liege, while she stayed comfortably in the keep and he got captured. And he would receive no help because his other bitch of a sister couldn't keep her legs closed.

His father could very well be laughing at their misfortune wherever he ended up.

"Why wouldn't Jon tell me about Lysa?"

"Why, to get your support! Seeing how angry you were when Ned Stark had set your sister aside, for good reasons -"

"It was not -"

"I guess he didn't want you to bitch and whine knowing what he did to Lysa. He needed your men, or whatever men you had managed to rally behind you."

Later that night, Lord Gerion had him sit among his bannermen after the evening meal and listen to the bard sing several songs that were apparently being sung in every tavern and inn all over the realm.

The Hidden Dragon, The Greedy Falcon, and the Rutting Stag, and The Mockingbird Who Fooled a Falcon were the favorites. The last one made Edmure even feel even more humiliated now that everyone seemed to know what his whorish sister had done.

How did he end up with such stupid sisters? How could they have ruined him like this? One sister gave him terrible advice that ended up making him a prisoner, while the other shamed their house by birthing a bastard. His house was in ruins thanks to them. Everything that he had worked towards was now going to be in shambles all because his foolish father had given him such terrible sisters.

"My Lords! I have one more song for you. It's a new one that was written for the Riverlands in honor of House Tully." The bard said with the biggest grin he had ever seen on any man's face. "This one is called, The Fall of the Trouts."

As he listened to the song, Edmure felt more fear than he had ever felt before in his entire life. How could this bard have known? Only Cat, Littlefinger, and himself knew what they had done and neither of them would have told anyone and risk being punished in some way. So how? How did this happen?

He could feel the glare of the Lords surrounding him. He knew they wanted to hurt him for what he did to the bastard and the semblance of safety he felt while being held captive, shredded at that exact moment.

Scheming sister, with slimy cad

Sent hired knife, to kill the lad.

False word of death, was cunning bait

Tricked foolish trouts, to celebrate!

The Floppy Fool, so drunk and crass

Laughed at a feast, and raised his glass.

King's Quiet Uncle, sad truths faced

His Trout wife exiled, and disgraced.

Edmure gasped, suddenly understanding what had happened. Somehow Lannister had known about the ploy and managed to fake Jon Snow's death in order to make the culprits reveal themselves. And, in a moment of weakness, Edmure and Catelyn had foolishly celebrated the bastard's demise. Him, in front of his bannermen, adding more fuel to their fire. His sister, at Highgarden, putting her at odds with Sansa who had caught her in her act and made her leave the Keep in the middle of the night.

The song said it was the reason why Ned Stark set Catelyn aside. Did they all know about it? Stark, Tyrell, Lannister, were all waiting for Edmure and his family to make a mistake so they could be punished. But why? Was the bastard really that important to them? Was he really who they claimed him to be?

"I guess you realize now that everyone knows what you did," Gerion Lannister said briskly.

"I… This…"

"Go ahead and deny it! I dare you to deny it!" Gerion challenged and Edmure trembled under the Lion's fiery gaze.

"So, it's true then?" Raymun Darry gasped. "You've sent assassins to kill a young boy?"

"I will not speak about that with you. I demand a fair trial and I know I will not receive it from Targaryen loyalists."

"Oh, you will get your trial, my Lord. Do not worry about it. When you'll face Jaehaerys I hope for your sake you will already learn how to bow to the ground." Gerion said. "Not that it will help you keep your head on your shoulders, mind you."

"You're speaking as if the war was already over. Your king hasn't been crowned yet. Anything can happen."

"That's right, and in the meantime, anything can happen to you, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut for now, Tully." Tytos Blackwood retorted harshly.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Oh for the love of the Gods, someone make him shut up or I will!" Jonos Bracken sighed loudly.

Where did that beast come from? Was what Edmure thought as the next thing he saw before passing out was a dark direwolf's fangs close to his face.

The Next Day

When Edmure finally woke up, he found to his embarrassment that he had pissed himself in fear of that direwolf. But that fear had added some more questions to his already jumbled mind. But those questions will have to wait since it quickly became obvious that he was not alone.

"Gods, you reek! Cregan, ask for a bath to be drawn for the Floppy Fish!" Gerion Lannister said, wrinkling his nose. "The last thing we need is to have the Lord of Riverrun covered in filth during the parley. Your authority is already lacking, if we want you to be useful, you have to appear at your best!"

"What do you want from me?"

"Simple. I want you to order the surrender of the keep."

"Why would I do that?"

"To prevent more bloodshed?"

"Will it help me in any way?"

"No, your life is forfeit. But your sister can still be saved."

"Like the bastard will not have her head! He hates her probably as much as she hates him," Edmure scoffed.

"But he loves his siblings. He will not seek to harm her as she is their mother. In fact, he suggests she joins the Faith to atone for her sins."

"Her sins? He's the one who's sinful by birth."

"Haven't you heard? Jaehaerys Targaryen is not a bastard. He has never been, so your little excuse for your behavior toward him doesn't work. He is not born of sin or lust. He is not coveting things he has no right to. If anything, it's your sister whose child is usurping his family."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you've seen the lad with the direwolf in my tent and with me this morning. Doesn't he look familiar?"

Edmure frowned and shook his head. Assuredly, the lad looked Northern, and the fact that he had a direwolf proved that he was of the North.

"Another bastard?"

"Far from it, Floppy. That lad is the son of Brandon Stark and Ashara Dayne. Their trueborn son."

Edmure stared at the Gerion in disbelief.

"That's impossible!"

"Brandon came to Riverrun to tell your father he didn't want to marry Catelyn, but Lyanna Stark's supposed kidnapping prevented him from claiming it out loud. He married Ashara and they had a child."

"Lies! You're lying! There's no proof of what you're claiming and Ashara Dayne is dead!"

"Trust me, she is very much alive. I would know since I married her."

"You… Married Ashara Dayne?"

"Aye," Gerion answered proudly while the lad, apparently Brandon's son, appeared to inform them that a bath had been drawn.

Edmure's gaze studied the boy's face. He definitely looked like a Stark, like Eddard and Jon Snow, but his build was the same as his supposed father. If Gerion was telling the truth and the boy was trueborn, then he was the real Lord of Winterfell, meaning that Eddard was usurping his nephew and Robb would not be Lord.

What if the bastard had promised his nephew Riverrun so that this one could take back Winterfell? What if Lannister and his new son wanted Riverrun for themselves to get back at the Tullys?

The boy frowned back at him before turning to Gerion.

"You told him?"

"I felt it was the right time to let him know."

"Does Stark know?" Edmure asked desperately.

"You mean about Cregan being Brandon's trueborn son and the rightful heir of Winterfell? Aye, he does. He and his children."

"And yet he parades around as if he hadn't wronged my sister and our family once more?"

"Because he didn't. He learned the truth about me a few months ago and he knows that I don't seek Winterfell." the boy, Cregan, said with determination.

"So why are you here? What do you want?"

"I want justice for my cousin. For my family. I want those who wronged him to be punished and I want to see the look on your sister's face when she realizes that all she had believed in, her status, her worth, everything she had claimed was superior to Jaehaerys', her whole life had been based on a lie."

"She did nothing to deserve this. She didn't even know about you!"

"Heavens forbid if she had known, with how she treated my cousin and the fact that she had tried to kill him twice. My mother and I would probably be dead to this day." Cregan said with anger clear in his voice.

"I won't let you slander my sister -"

"If you want to do something for your sister, convince her to surrender Riverrun and bend the knee to Jaehaerys." Gerion cut him off. "Else, she will lose her life. Your choice. Meanwhile, you should go and take that bath, for your sake and ours. You really reek."

They left him no time to protest as two guards seized him to bring him to the room where the bath had been drawn.

While scrubbing the filth out of his body, he thought about the things he'd learn from the Lannister Lord so far. He couldn't believe that Brandon Stark would humiliate his sister that way. Not after his duel with Littlefinger when he almost killed the man for Catelyn's honor. If he didn't want to marry her, why would he bother fighting for her? That really made no sense for him.

But that boy, that Cregan was definitely Northern and he resembled Brandon in truth. Would that be another plan coming from Jon Snow? Could he be his brother they would try to pass as Brandon's? Coming from Ned Stark, it wouldn't surprise him, since he'd lied about his bastard being his nephew. But he wouldn't dare rob his trueborn son with Cat from being the rightful heir of Winterfell, right? Unless it had been his goal since the beginning. Did he hate Cat that much? Was Ashara Dayne the mother of Jon Snow, too? Did he blame Cat for the fact that he had to wed her while he was in love with another woman? Did Ned Stark want to punish Edmure's family for whatever he blamed them for, going so far as to put his trueborn children's claims aside for his bastards?

When he got out of the bath and dressed for the parley, he had no idea what to do. He had no hope left for a possible victory for Robert. He wasn't even sure it would be a good idea if they won, since his family would be disowned by Jon Arryn because of Lysa's wrongdoing. He had a small chance of surviving should the actual king win, but he would be severely punished even though he wasn't involved in the affair.

He was brought to the camp's limits, where he was surprised to see two familiar faces before the parley.

"Ronald! Hugo! What are you two doing here?"

"We're prisoners just like you, you imbecile. Why else would we be here?" Ronald said sarcastically.

"You may be my friend Ronald, but that doesn't give you the freedom to disrespect your Liege Lord. So I would watch your mouth if I were you." Edmure said feeling both angry and confused. In all of the years that he had known the Vance brothers, neither one of them had ever spoken to him like that before. So what had changed in the short time since he had last seen them?

"Why should we show respect to someone who would send assassins after a child? Bastard or not, killing a child goes against the Seven, especially the Mother. What in the seven hells were you thinking?" Hugo asked with a scowl.

"You don't actually believe that do you? You know me!"

"Aye, we know you alright. And we feel ashamed that it took a song for us to figure it out. It should have been so obvious. After all, you spent the entire trip back from the tourney muttering about how you were going to get even with the bastard. Then a few months later a group of bandits just so happened to attack the boy not far from your lands. Coincidence? I think not? You never were good about letting things go, especially a perceived slight." Ronald responded with anger in his eyes.

"It should have been even more obvious to us after you had raised your glass to the boy's supposed death. But we blinded ourselves to the truth and continued to follow the biggest fool the realm has ever seen. And now we're paying for our stupidity." Hugo continued his brother's line of thinking with anger in his own eyes. "In fact, it should have been obvious to us after you told us about the letter you received from King Jaehaerys. Why else would you have been so terrified if it had just been the honor duel that he took issue with?"

"Not you too! He's a bastard, not a king!"

"Then why are both Ser Barristan and Ser Arthur Dayne guarding his back? And how do you explain the documents and letters that both the Starks and the Lannisters have in their possession? Would the men be liars and the papers all fake?"

"Of course they are- Wait, did you say Ser Arthur Dayne? That's a lie, he's dead!"

"Whether you believe it or not it's the truth, but it's not just him. We talked to Raymun Darry yesterday and he told us how he met with Ser Richard Lonmouth. Apparently the man has been King Jaehaerys' Master of Whispers for several years now. Which certainly explains how they were able to keep all of this a secret for so long. Who would look for a dead man and suspect him of being a spymaster for a hidden king?" Hugo asked with a bitter chuckle.

"In any case, Ser Arthur was at the Tower of Joy so he can attest to King Jaehaerys' legitimacy. While Ser Barristan is an honorable man who would never go along with a mummery. So they have plenty of evidence at their disposal without even adding the documents proving Rhaegar and Lyanna's marriage. And don't even start about them being forgeries. Raymun said that they showed those papers to Randyll Tarly to get his support and you know how prickly that man is. He wouldn't have been fooled by fakes." Ronald said while continuing to glare at him.

Listening to the words that were coming out of the mouths of his friends made Edmure feel so many different emotions at the same time. The one emotion that came to the forefront of his mind was shock. He felt shocked that they would believe the things being said about him, the bastard, resulting in them speak such cutting words to him. He had known these men his whole life so he never imagined that they would believe the words of traitors who were speaking such obvious lies.

Even if what they said about the two famous knights being both alive and in the bastard's company was true, it didn't change anything. Selmy was an old fool who had turned his cloak before, so how could anyone take his words seriously? While The Sword of the fucking Morning had disgraced himself by helping Rhaegar kidnap Lyanna Stark and holding her prisoner at the tower. Neither men were true knights of the realm and thus cannot be trusted to speak the truth.

As for these documents that supposedly proved the bastard's claims, papers could be forged very well if one had enough money, and the Lannisters had had plenty on hand to spend over the years for the right ink. Moreover, Tarly had hated Robert for years and would gladly accept any false evidence that would allow him to march against his enemies.

Lies can only stay hidden for so long until the light shines on the truth for all to see, his father once told him many years ago. And on this he was right. But until that time came, he would have to do whatever it took to keep his head long enough to see this false dragon fall. So for the time being, he would have to make do with his friends' foolishness so he could show them later just how wrong they were.

First thing first, change the subject.

"How did you both come to be here? I would've thought that you and your men had made it home after the battle."

"Ha! If that was a battle then I'm Aegon the Conqueror. What kind of battle results in a… leader being captured with his pants down right next to the privy?" Hugo asked, resulting in the brothers starting laughing at him.

"It wasn't just me, we all got caught with our pants down," Edmure said, trying not to whine.

"Oh don't you go whining about it Edmure, you were the one who was too sick to join us on the battlefield when it happened because our 'glorious leader' got too drunk the night before. At least we were able to keep our pants and our dignity intact." Ronald retorted with a smirk. "But to answer your question, we had almost made it home after we had managed to chase down our men. Unfortunately for us, the Lannisters had to pass through our lands in order to reach Riverrun so guess who we ran into?"

"Lord Gerion?"

"Mhmm. We explained to him what had happened at Stone Hedge and that House Vance would be standing down in the war from this point forward. So he told us that he would accept our surrender and allow our men to return home under the condition that the two of us would accompany him as his prisoners and face judgement from King Jaehaerys. We agreed and we've been here ever since."

"You stood down and left me, your friend behind to be captured? How could you? What kind of men are you?"

"The kind of men who do what they must to keep their men safe. What kind of man pushes his friends to the battlefield without even trying to curb their impulse to be able to join them as soon as he could? Did you even think about us when you were running from your life? What's your excuse?"

Edmure was about to defend himself but Ronald shook his head.

"It doesn't matter in the end. Face it Edmure, the war is over and we never stood a chance against the combined forces of the North, the West, the Reach, most of the Riverlands, and now Dorne. We have to think of our people first and foremost. Something that we failed to do after the King revealed himself."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Simple, both Ronald and our father wanted to stay out of the conflict because they were certain that the Reach and the North would support the West. But I convinced them that we needed to go because of our 'friendship' with you and said 'how will that make us look if we don't go?'" Hugo scoffed with a look of shame on his face while Edmure stared at Ronald with disbelief.

"And now look where we are," Ronald continued. "Our first battle ended in disaster and our father is forced to bear the burden of having both his heir and his spare as prisoners of a boy we had greatly mistreated in the past."

"He's a bastard who was reaching for Winterfell. A position that rightfully belongs to Robb. We were only showing him the errors of his ways."

"And by doing that, you have lost your position as Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Trident. The fucking irony." Ronald sighed.

"I am Lord of the Riverlands!" Edmure retorted.

"For now you are, but not for much longer. Thanks to your stupidity, House Tully will be little more than a story that's told to warn others not to harm children because of their perceived stature."

A short time later he was led to the parlay on foot. They had given him decent attire but they clearly wanted to make him look like a prisoner which only added to his humiliation. Plus it didn't help that he was still stewing over the words that had been spoken to him by his so-called friends.

After all these years of friendship, how could they speak that way to me. How could they believe those lies so easily?

Those thoughts stayed with him until they got closer to their destination. When they arrived, he frowned as he saw Littlefinger riding proudly next to his sister, and only Cat's gasps prevented him from asking what he was doing there, in a parlay that only family and trustworthy people were welcome.

"Edmure! What did they do to you? Are you well?" Catelyn asked worriedly and her attitude warmed his heart. At least she still cared about him.

"I am well, sister. And I am glad to see you are too."

"Lord Gerion, my wife and I are most upset to see you in such circumstances. Most upset to see you go against the king's peace in such a way." Littlefinger smirked and Edmure startled at those words.

Did he really say wife?

"My king trumps yours mockingbird, just as our army trumps yours Lady Baelish," he said and watched as Cregan and Dusk stepped forward, the lady hesitating to answer as she looked at Cregan with narrowed eyes.

"As my husband says, my lord, we're most distressed you've come here under false pretenses, serving a bastard pretending to be king," Catelyn said looking from Cregan to him.

"So why I was out there fighting, you decided to get married?" Edmure said frowning, still confused about the situation.

"I... I wanted you to be there, truly. But I had no news from you and then Petyr came, saying you were taken prisoner... When I got the confirmation -"

"How did he know?"

It was Catelyn's turn to frown.

"How did he know I was a prisoner before you did?"

"That... That is not the most important thing here, Edmure," Littlefinger said.

"First of all, I was not addressing you!" Edmure yelled. "Second, I am not your friend, Baelish, and I will never be. In fact, I should kill you right here and now for all the hurt you've caused my family!"

"Edmure!" Catelyn squeaked in surprise.

"Oh, it seems you didn't tell her about Lysa before marrying her?"

"What are you talking about?" his sister asked.

"My Lord, what you've heard about Lady Lysa are rumors set to divide the family," Baelish replied placidly, which angered Edmure more.

"What rumors? What is going on?" she asked once again.

"Family? You say that word as if you were one of us." Edmure spat, ignoring his sister and focusing his ire on Littlefinger.

"He's my husband, Edmure, and the acting Lord of Riverrun in your absence," Catelyn said firmly.

"He will never be my family and I am the Lord of Riverrun! He will never have it, you hear me? Not after everything he's done to this family!"

"You're being unreasonable, my Lord." Baelish retorted, his annoying smirk never leaving his face.

"Not satisfied with ruining Lysa's life by sleeping with her behind her husband's back and giving her a bastard, you're willing to get your way to redemption through my other sister? You are a despicable thing, Littlefinger. Not even a man."

"And yet, my Lord, I haven't been the one who got captured with my pants down on the battlefield."

It was all Edmure needed for his anger to explode. He quickly ran to Littlefinger, ready to end his life then and there, but he was restrained before he could reach his target. He however managed to spook the man's horse enough to make him fall off his saddle.

"For the Gods' sake, Edmure! Have you lost your mind?" Catelyn shrieked, appalled.

"You are the one who lost yours! How could you marry that man, Cat? He is a disgraced Lord, the reason for all our troubles, and you let him inside Riverrun without a care! After what he did to our sister! What happened to Family, Duty, Honor? What happened to our House words?"

"You dare speak on our House words when you cannot be bothered to live by them?" Catelyn's voice ran through him like a bucket of ice and he found himself shocked by her response. "You wanted the benefits of being a Lord and never even cared about really running the keep. I was the one who did it with Utherydes's help when you were busy with your friends and your whores. You couldn't even keep your Lords in check and you got yourself captured in the most pitiful way possible!

"You were the one who sent me away!" Edmure protested. "You have to do this, Edmure. You have to make them see who is their Liege Lord and they need to be punished! Remember you said that to me? Yet you never believed I would come back from this, did you? You wanted me to fail since I can see now how little you thought of my skills. You wanted to be the one to get the Keep! That's why you fell into Baelish's bed. I wouldn't even be surprised to hear that you've been the one to ask him to marry you. You stupid useless shrew!"

"You dare call me useless? Riverrun would have fallen apart if it hadn't been for me! Nobody respected you! Nobody wanted their daughters to marry you. Not even Walder Frey! Twice he'd refused you a bride! Twice! Father would probably curse you from the Seven Heavens seeing you now!"

"Do not talk about Father when you spit in his face by trying to sell me to the weasel's daughter and by marrying the good for nothing he had exiled from Riverrun years ago! He knew he was up to no good and it's a shame none of us realized it before it was too late."

"He is still a better Lord than you ever will be! It is a miracle we've survived under your rule, and we barely did thanks to me!"

"As much as I hate to say it, your sister does have a point. We could have easily exposed your crimes years ago if we had wanted to. But His Grace decided that the best way to acquire the Riverlands was to allow you to stay in power since an idiotic and incompetent lord would never be able to rally his bannermen. They all knew that following you would lead to disaster even before they knew of King Jaehaerys. So when they received his letter calling them to arms, they did so gladly because they knew then that ignoring you had been the right choice." Lord Gerion said with a smirk.

Edmure's head was spinning with rage. How dare they judge him that way? None of them had been irreproachable in their ways, and he was the one being called out? After all, he'd done to support his sister? After sending people after the boy she hated so much to ease her mind? After giving her the money she needed to hire another cutthroat? After graciously welcoming her in HIS keep when he had no obligation to, other than she was his family?

He could barely hear the conditions Gerion Lannister gave for the surrendering of Riverrun. He would be tried and lose his head once he was found guilty, and judging by how quick Cat was to turn on him, she would put all the blame on him if she was given the chance.

But he will not let her get away with this. Not after how she treated him.

"We reject these terms my lord, We…" Littlefinger said.

"There is no need to parley, my Lords. As the Lord of Riverrun, I surrender the keep to you and agree to go to trial for the crime we've been accused of."

"What?"

"The keep is yours, and King Jaehaerys', Lord Lannister."

"You have no right to give it away like that!" Catelyn yelled.

"I can and I will. By law, I am still Lord of this land, and you are under my orders, sister. So if I say you surrender, you do."

"I'm a married woman!"

"I never gave you leave to marry."

"You have no right over me, Edmure!"

"I am your Lord and your brother. I have a say in what you did and I didn't consent to this marriage."

"This is ridiculous!"

"My Lord, I give you leave to take these people as prisoners and to take control of the keep."

"You cannot do this!"

"Actually he can, he is the Lord of Riverrun until he's removed from his position by the King, and the Lord has spoken. Guards," Gerion said as he gestured to his followers.

Littlefinger grabbed Catelyn unceremoniously and managed to put her on his saddle before riding away in a hurry.

"You will never have Riverrun! Never!" They could hear her yell as they rode back into the keep.

Edmure didn't recall having run so quickly in his life. His focus was on those who were getting away. Those who sent him on a mission to take over the keep and usurp his position. He was sure of it now, seeing as Catelyn didn't hesitate to belittle him to defend her sad excuse for a husband.

Gerion Lannister and the others on a horse were quicker than him, but they didn't catch the couple before they and their guards got past the gate. He cursed loudly when he saw the drawbridge being raised and the chasing party had stopped at the riverbank.

"Ser Desmond! Lower the drawbridge and stand down right now!" he yelled, knowing the guards could hear him.

The master at arms seemed to hesitate.

"Are we to surrender, my Lord?"

"I order you to lower the drawbridge this instant!" Edmure insisted, too blinded by his rage at the moment to care for anything else.

"My Lord? Do we sur-"

"Do not open this door, Desmond, or I will have your head!" Edmure could hear his sister shriek before he saw her walk on the parapet.

"You have no authority here, Catelyn! I am the Lord and those men follow my orders."

"Your orders?" she scoffed. "Those men have been following mine since I've been acting Lady of Riverrun!"

"You are no such thing!"

"Really? Where is your wife? That's right, you've been too busy fooling around to look for one! So since you didn't marry, as the eldest member of the Tully family, I am entitled to the position of Lady of Riverrun."

"You're entitled, indeed! An entitled bitch, that is!"

He heard chuckles behind him and remembered that he wasn't alone with his sister. He was giving a spectacle to his bannermen and his enemies and he was sure they would make another song out of it, but he found in his heart that he didn't care.

Let the Seven Kingdoms know how much of a backstabbing whore his sister is.

"This was your plan all along, wasn't it? You couldn't have Winterfell since Ned Stark set you aside, so you set your sights on Riverrun!"

"Don't be silly, Edmure! I was trying to help you rule our lands. You on the other hand made no effort to do your duty, so do not blame me for your shortcomings."

"I can and will blame you for usurping my authority!"

"You want us to surrender to the bastard! I will never do it! I'd rather burn this keep than give the bastard this satisfaction!"

"So you do to me what you fear he would do to your son? You take my keep, my men, whereas you wanted me to kill the bastard to prevent him from doing so to Robb?"

Suddenly he heard roaring laughter from the men behind him. When he turned around to glare at them, he saw to his surprise that more men had gathered at the riverbank.

Littlefinger had joined Catelyn on the parapet, looking displeased as his wife started sobbing into his arms. The Riverrun guards stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and disappointment.

"That is a grave accusation to put forward, my Lord." the Mockingbird said. "I cannot in good conscience let you slander my wife when you have been the one bearing ill wills to the boy who had humiliated you in a tourney when he was ten namedays."

"Who suggested that the bastard should have an accident when he traveled in the Riverlands? You both did!"

"You hired -" Catelyn gasped and stopped as Littlefinger shook her briskly.

"So you admit it. You admit that you tried to kill Jaehaerys Targaryen when he was known as Jon Snow." He heard Gerion Lannister behind him.

Edmure realized all too late what he had done. In his anger, he all but gave away what he had denied for years.

"I did nothing of the sort. But they had planned an attack in the Riverlands because she loathes Jon Snow and she feared that his position in the West would help him take Winterfell from her son," he said pointing at the angry couple. "When it didn't work, they hired a catspaw and tried to have him killed in the West. Catelyn had the motive and Littlefinger the means to an end, but it didn't work as they wanted!"

"But you knew about it and you cheered about his death all the same." Gerion retorted.

"I heard about their plan afterward. As for cheering about Jon Snow's death, I will not deny it. I thought my sister was right about him and after my loss at the tourney I didn't hold him in high regards."

"Yet you never said anything until now."

"She is, was my family!"

"How convenient for you, Lord Edmure, to throw my wife to the lions when you are already a prisoner. Did they ask you to lie about her to keep your head?"

"As much as I would love nothing more than to watch you destroy each other, whether or not Lord Edmure's claims are true is irrelevant here," Gerion said, albeit reluctantly.

"The Lord is right!"

Edmure startled at the voice who came from inside the keep and smiled as he saw Utherydes, his steward, come to the forefront.

"We will know the truth soon enough. For now, our Lord orders us to lower the drawbridge and to stand down."

"Utherydes! You cannot:"

"I love you like you were my own daughter, my Lady, and it breaks my heart to see how low you've fallen, both you and Lord Edmure. However, as the steward of Riverrun, it is my duty to follow the rules of the lands."

"He never considered you, Utherydes! Remember how he didn't listen to you and how he relieved you from your post in all but name?"

"I do, and I will forever be grateful for your interference, but his authority supersedes yours, Lady Catelyn. Lower the drawbridge."

Relief and gratitude went through Edmure as he heard those words. Catelyn hadn't been wrong when she'd said that he hadn't treated the old steward well through the years he'd been Lord of Riverrun. Utherydes was the symbol of the old generation. He reminded him of his father and since Hoster's death, Edmure never wanted to think about him. But at that moment he was truly grateful for his presence.

It only took a second for Edmure's relief to come crashing down the river.

He let out a cry as he watched helplessly his father's oldest friend was stabbed by one of his guards before being thrown from the battlement.

Panic grew on the parapet while some other guards were murdered with no time to react and Edmure fell to his knees as Ser Desmond suffered the same fate as Utherydes.

As his bewildered gaze fell over his crying sister, Edmure couldn't help but notice the smirk growing on her husband's face.

"I'm sorry, Edmure, but you're not in charge anymore. I am." Littlefinger said smugly.

Notes:

Yes I know that we are absolutely evil for leaving you all hanging like this. But we couldn't resist the temptation and we wouldn't be very good writers if we didn't have at least one cliffhanger.

Next Chapter: Part 2 of this 'What If?' scenario continues as we see Edmure face some more hard truths.
How will he react?
Will he…
A. Accept some if not all as truth
B. Soil himself again in front of everybody and a new song is born
C. Further delude himself into thinking that everything is someone else's fault and that he's a good Lord who's being treated unfairly.