A/N: Standard disclaimer here. I don't own ASOIAF and only write for fun.

The Rat Queen

Her little snout sniffed the air, as she paused for a moment to take in the surroundings and rest her legs. She was in a field of grass, much easier on her feed than the cold stone of the large castle. She picked up on the smell of food and drifted towards it, hoping to find more than seeds and insects to chew upon.

As she entered the clearing, there were men there, large and loud, they ate and drank as if they hadn't done so in ages. Barbarians, the lot of them! She would never act in such a way, to be stumbling and falling over without worry or care. What if they fell on her and crushed her little body? She would have to be careful.

She scurried through the clearing, dodging heavy boots and mugs that were tossed about carelessly. No one seemed to notice her, but that was the point. Get food and get gone. Those were the only thoughts in her small head.

She reached a table, it was wooden and larger than all the others and, from what she could see, a bald man with hair on the side of his face sat at the largest chair of them all. He too ate like he hadn't eaten anything good in a while, but at least it was more dignified than the other men. She scurried between his legs, the thoughts of food and leaving gone, and waited.

"Lord Baelish," the man finally spoke. He wasn't as loud or rowdy as the other men, and it seemed that he had the sense to not shout his words so that others could hear them. "You never told me how you got the support of the Vale."

"By the grace of your grandson," Lord Baelish responded. "He named me regent of the Vale on behalf of Lord Robin Arryn and permitted me to marry Lysa Arryn on behalf of the crown so that the Vale would be brought back into the fold. As a loyal servant to King Joffery, I was able to easily convince her that the right side of this war was the side of the King. Lord Robin agreed and so I called the banners."

"Some of those men fought along with Lord Stark during the rebellion," the bald man said. "How did you convince them to fight against him?"

"There were some… disagreements," Lord Baelish said. "Some men were had to be convinced that joining the Starks was treason as they are rebelling against the crown to put a fake Targaryen Prince on the throne. A lot of them remember that it was Aery's madness that they fought to get rid of in the first place. Those that did not were quickly imprisoned or valuable with hostages were taken. I was able to quickly secure the Vale. I do not anticipate any setbacks."

"What do we know about Lord Starks claim?"

"He claims that his bastard is the legitimate son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. That he didn't kidnap and rape her, but that they fell in love and were married after his marriage with Elia Martell was annulled."

"Nonsense," the bald man responded.

"Precisely, my Lord," Baelish responded, "but the Tyrells believe them. They have always been supporters of the Targaryen line and apparently, Ned Start provided them with adequate proof to sway them. They say that the boy and Margaery Tyrell are betrothed, to be married as soon as the war is won."

"Mace Tyrell has always been a fool," the bald man said.

"Even if these false claims by the Starks happen to be true, it appears they have backfired in some places," Lord Baelish continued. "Not only in the Vale, as I have told you, but also in the Riverlands and even the North. I have spies that report that there is some… discontent amount the Northern and River lords. Even if Rhaegar didn't rape and kidnap Lyanna, Aerys still murdered Rickard and Brandon Stark as well as many important sons. They still fought against Targaryen rule. Some of them don't forget that."

"The North Remembers," the bald man mocked before resuming his eating. He paused to swallow before he spoke. "Yet I doubt it would matter. As much as the North might remember, they are loyal to Ned Stark. As long as he lives, they might grumble and complain about the man behind his back, but with the amount of coin he made them these last twenty years, I doubt any of them openly rebel. We would have a better chance at encouraging infighting in the Riverlands."

Lord Baelish paused and although she couldn't see his face, she knew that something was wrong.

"Speak Lord Baelish," the bald man commanded.

"My wife," Lord Baelish started, "although she agrees that we have sided with the crown, she does not want to fight her family. She begged me to avoid conflict with her brother. She asks that we spare Edmure should we come into conflict with him, she asks that we spare her sister, Catelyn as well."

"For her support," the bald man responded, "that can be arranged. I take it that your men will be ready to march by the time the sun rises?"

"They will, Lord Tywin," Lord Baelish said, "I will have them ready to march to King's Landing."

"We aren't marching to King's Landing," Lord Tywin responded. "Take fifteen thousand of your men to King's Landing. They will help my son defend the city. The rest will march west with me and trusted commanders of your choice."

"Surely you don't think Robb Stark can take Casterly Rock," Lord Baelish responded.

"My reports say that he was able to take the Golden Tooth because his wolf found a goat path in the mountains that led past it. Those same reports say that his wolf has found a secret tunnel through the sewers of Casterly Rock. I have already written my son, Tyrion, who was in charge of reconstructing those sewers so that they worked better. He tells me that the boys' claims have some validity," Lord Tywin was seething now. "They already have my son. They will not take my home."

He stood up, suddenly and bits of meat and cheese fell onto the floor. Finally, she had gotten what she came for.

It had taken her five days on horseback to reach the castle where Marna Stark had told her she would be going. Outside the castle, there was a field of tents full of men and women of arms that wouldn't fit in the castle.

She rode quickly through them all and right through the gates of Riverrun, luckily for her Marna Stark was in the yard practicing with her men.

She dismounted her horse and swiftly walked over to her. "My Lady," she said getting her attention. "I have seen it all as you have asked of me. Fifteen thousand men from the Vale will ride to King's Landing to defend the city. The rest will travel with Tywin Lannister's twenty thousand men west. Thirty-five thousand men travel west to meet Lord Robb. The Lannisters are coming my lady!"

Marna Stark laughed hard and loud before speaking again. "House Stark thanks you for your service. Let them come. If you would excuse me, I have to go find Lord Edmure."

AN: Short one here haha. Sorry for that. Lol, I've been telling you that I have a Sansa chapter next for a while haven't I? Please don't hate me. I'm having a hard time writing Stark children not named Robb or Jon right now just for the simple fact that they are safe. Hahaha. A Sansa chapter, or a Bran chapter, or an Arya chapter feels like filler right now with all that is going on in the South. The Ironborn have been repelled and they are safe. So I won't say that the next chapter will be Sansa this time. Theon maybe? Robb? Tyrion is probably most likely tbh.

Anyway this chapter I thought it would be cool to write from the perspective of a rat lol. The cool thing about the Northerners in my story, and particularly Benjen's bunch, is that they have made friends and integrated with the Free Folk, who possess some special talents. My thought here was that well if they can warg into a bird and give info, why not something smaller, something that a bunch of drunk and hungry men would have a hard time seeing? Lord Baelish shot down the birds last time, but he isn't looking for rats.

Here we also have Tywin make the same decision he made in cannon. With the help of the Vale though haha. Whether it works or not, we will find out soon!

Until then. I thank you for all the reviews, favorites, messages, etc! The email alert system for FF isn't working right now, so I had to check my review and stuff manually lol. For a moment there, I thought I fell off lol.

See ya soon!

Young!