They had all been awoken by the steady morning rainfall that peppered their faces where they slept on the rushes of the Riverlands countryside. Tristan thanked the gods that he had covered several bunches of wood with cloaks the night before. But the relief didn't last long. The men had to huddle over their bowls to prevent them getting half filled with the rain that didn't stop. After breakfast they had waited an hour or more, hoping for the rain to ease a little so they could continue their journey north, but with no break in the dark grey clouds approaching, Tristan had given the order for the men to mount their horses and continue their journey.
It had been slow going for the column of riders. One and a quarter thousand men, three horses each. When he'd proposed to Robb that he return to the Riverlands and start restoring order, he'd had the stupid idea that he would be riding to and fro, smashing robber bands and hanging ringleaders. No such luck. Instead they'd been making slow progress through the rain, stopping at villages to ask for directions and news. Half of the villagers were too scared to talk, the other half knew nothing useful. And the roads. The roads had started off paved, offshoots of the major roads built by the Targaryen kings, but now they were more mud than cobbles. Tristan wiped rainwater from his eyes and he pulled his horse out from the cover of the treeline towards the road again. "Do you know how much further it is?" He asked Elmar, who was bringing the spare horses up behind him.
"It all looks the same now, lord," Elmar replied, his hair already plastered to his face.
"Wonderful," Tristan muttered. "Well it can't be much further," he said, more in hope than truth. If he'd known that it would be raining all the way to Raventree Hall, he would have started his mission far further south. But he was committed now, Lady Blackwood was expecting his men to help deal with the problems on her husband's lands, and Lord Blackwood himself had asked Tristan to go there as fast as he could.
He and his friends had spent the last days with Robb's army asking for reports from the scouts and the Riverlords, information about how best to start. He wanted to begin with a big show of power, to demonstrate that Robb's writ ran strong, before splitting his small army to cover as much ground as possible. Almost every lord and every scout spoke of troubles at home, asking him to visit their castles and restore order across the country. But House Blackwood seemed to have the worst of it. Lord Blackwood has asked for permission to send men home to deal with it several times, and the letters from his wife spoke of how they feared to leave the castle without a strong escort. It was as good a place as any to start, so they'd sent a raven ahead to let her know that help was coming, and now they were committed. So the column emerged from the cover of the trees and back onto the road, heads bowed, banners limp, moods dark, looking for any sign that they were nearing Raventree Hall.
It was another two days before they were able to get exact directions, and one more cold and wretched night of sleep before the castle came into view. Situated beside a stream at one end of the Blackwood Vale, it was a strong castle, with moss growing up the walls and a squat tower at every angle of the walls. Tristan scanned the walls as they approached and frowned, holding up his hand to bring the column of riders to a halt. Something was wrong, very wrong. "Elmar," he beckoned his squire to join him.
"Yes, lord?"
"Look at the castle and tell me what you see."
Elmar scanned the castle, closely. "No banners?" He said.
Tristan nodded. No banners hung from a flagpole or tower, nothing to indicate that this was indeed Raventree Hall, but it had to be, there surely wasn't another castle this size so close to the seat of House Blackwood. "What else?"
Elmar looked at the castle again. "No guards."
"Exactly," Tristan said grimly. No one was on the walls or towers, no lookouts, no guardsmen, no soldiers. Even in the rain, especially in the rain, there should at least be lookouts, even if the castle was weakly held. Shield's fur stood on end and he was growling darkly. He turned in the saddle and addressed the men. "Spread out, and be alert." The northern riders handed off the spare mounts to the squires and rode forward, suddenly alert. As most fanned out in a wide spread, Tristan and his companion riders rode down to the castle, constantly scanning the walls, ready to kick their horses into action at the merest hint of a concealed archer or crossbowman. But no one emerged, so Tristan made his way up to a drawbridge approaching the main gate. He dismounted at one end. Lord Blackwood had told him that the castle's moat was normally dry, filled with sharp stones at the bottom, but the rains had been so heavy that there was now a healthy, knee deep swirl of muddy water at the bottom of the deeply carved trench. "Elmar, bring me my helm," he commanded, raising his leather skullcap and mail coif, chilled from the constant rain, over his head.
He took the helm and slid it on, letting Elmar fasten it securely. "Why do you need it, lord?" He asked.
Tristan pointed to the top of the gatehouse. "Murder holes," he said, "I'm not getting killed by a hidden crossbow bolt. Not that the helm would be of much use if a boulder was dropped on him. "Stay back, and stay ready," he commanded, pulling on his gauntlets, also freezing cold. Tentatively, he stepped onto the drawbridge. It was solid, so it hadn't been weakened as a trap then. He moved across, constantly scanning the walls, breath held tightly. At the gate he looked up, there didn't seem to be anything held ready above the murder holes, but still. He took a breath and called out. "Is there anyone in there?" His voice echoed above the rain, but no reply came. He raised his fist and hammered on the door until his hand hurt. "In the name of King Robb, I insist you open this gate and allow his men entry." He waited. After several minutes with no reply, he turned and marched back across the drawbridge.
By this point, Daryn, Cley and Domeric had all arrived with their own guards in tow, the line of riders stretched out around the castle. The tension could be cut with a blade. "I need you four to take your guards and check the other gates, be careful as you do. Check the walls as you go, make sure there is no breach."
Without pausing for banter, his friends wheeled their mounts and left to obey his orders. It didn't take long before they had returned, shaking their heads. "No breach."
"Nothing," Cley said. "And no reply when I checked the gate."
"Nor me," Daryn said.
"I only found a small postern gate, no luck with it, and no breaks in the wall," Domeric said.
Tristan nodded, lips pressed together. "That's worrying. Did you see anything to indicate the castle had been attacked?" They all shook their heads. "Then what happened here. Lady Blackwood's letters implied she dare not leave the castle, yet here it stands, seemingly deserted, without explanation."
"We should go in and check," Cley said, matter-of-factly.
"How, we didn't bring any siege engines, we don't even have a ladder," Daryn pointed out. "And there's no scaling those walls. The bits that aren't flat as plate mail are all slippery from the rain."
Domeric turned to Tristan. "What do we do?"
Tristan turned back to the castle, thoughtfully. "Get down here Dom," he said. "Daryn, Cley, send riders into the vale, find the villagers there, someone must know something, castles don't just become empty. The rest of you, scout the area, look for any signs of anything. Robben, take some men and set up a perimeter well out of arrow range. We're treating this castle as hostile for now."
Dom dismounted and came up beside him as the others all turned to obey their orders. "Why am I still here?"
Tristan smirked. "Because I need someone to hold me up, and you're the most comfortable of the three of you, and I don't want to crush Elmar here," he joked.
"Comfortable?" Dom asked confused. "And why do I need to hold you up?"
"Because I don't want to get a wet arse," Tristan said, pointing at the castle. "There may not be any answer to our calls, but there's got to be something alive in there, a mouse or a bird, so I'm going to have a look."
"And I'm holding you up while you do," Dom finished sighing deeply. "Fine, but only because I like you." He came up behind Tristan and wrapped his arms around his chest.
Tristan looked back over his shoulder. "I said hold me up, I didn't ask for a cuddle."
"Hey, if I'm holding you up, I'll decide how."
Tristan laughed. "Alright then, but I'm not as comfortable in my armour." He turned back to the castle, closed his eyes and reached out his mind.
The bird was clutching sticks in its claws as it winged back to the great Weirwood. It didn't have long, it had to complete the nest before the time came to lay the eggs still carried inside it. Tristan felt this and let the bird reassert control clinging on as a rider as the bird flew through the branches and placed the twigs on the growing collection where the white branches crossed over. He could see that this bird was not alone, other nests were being built all around the branches of the tree. The bird was trying to start building now, desperately starting to pick up the twigs and rearrange them, but Tristan needed the body and asserted his dominance over it, forcing the bird's conscience, screeching in protest, deep within the recesses of the animal and took control.
He launched the bird out of the tree and up into the air, taking flight and circling the godswood and gardens of Raventree Hall before perching on a crenelation. Nothing, no sign of anyone outside, but then the weather was terrible. As he contemplated the bird tried to take back control but Tristan warded it back down. Not yet. He launched himself out into the rain again and this time circled one of the towers, landing at every crenelation to look in. Again, nothing, that was more alarming. It was the same at every other tower. There was nothing else for it then. Tristan turned and, against the protest of the bird's spirit, flew towards the castle rookery, tapping into the bird's mind to see where ravens most commonly flew from and hurtling there.
The room was empty. Hungry ravens screeched in cages, while meat for them lay across the room. The desk chair was pulled out, but vacant, the desk was organised and clean. But the door leading into the rookery was open.
He forced the bird to fly in.
He flew down deserted corridors, listening, desperate. Was the castle truly just empty? Down, down to the hall, if there was anyone in the castle, they'd be there.
As he landed to rest his wings and push down the continued attempts by the bird to take back control of its body, Tristan heard the telltale sounds of voices. Immediately he flew towards them. Who were they? Lady Blackwood. He came to a rest on the stairs as two men came up towards them. The bird tried to flee, but Tristan held firm.
"Another bird," said one of the men, half amused. He was dressed in tough leathers and had a hardened face.
"Just don't let Luthor see it," the other joked. "Anyway, you were saying?"
"Yes, everything's ready, just as soon as the rains stop, we'll begin."
'Tristan,' he heard someone call his name, felt something grip him, shake him. It shook his control, the bird squawked and he tried to stop it as it retook control of its wings, it squawked again as he again heard someone call 'Tristan.'
He gasped as he pulled himself out of Dom's arms, staggering as his mind flew back into his body. He shook his head to clear his vision before turning back to Dom who had a look of deep concern on his face. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Tristan nodded. "Yes, of course. What's happened here?"
Domeric nodded at a rider in Hornwood colours. "Apparently Daryn has found Lady Hornwood."
"Good," Tristan said. "Very good. Now let's go, we need to ask her has taken her castle."
"Taken?" Dom asked.
"Yes, there are men in that castle, now we need to find out who they are."
The village of Bucklefield was not far from Raventree Hall in the Blackwood Vale. It controlled a large number of fields, with four mills positioned around the arable land, that still bore the scars of war. A longhall in the heart of the village was attached to a small watchtower from which the Blackwood banner hung. Tristan's horsemen were approaching the village from all directions, having heard that the Blackwoods had been found. Tristan gave orders that the men were not to enter the village, apart from the retinues of his friends. He didn't want to overwhelm or terrify the locals or appear to overpower Lady Blackwood, he was here to aid them, not dominate them.
Daryn was waiting with the remnants of the Raventree garrison by the longhall. There were three soldiers in Blackwood emblems talking with Daryn who waved Tristan over. Nearby were what appeared to be the cooks and scullions of the castle staff, and one man in robes and a chain around his neck that could only be the castle Maester, as well as local villagers, a septon and a smith stood out among them.
One of the soldiers stepped forward as he approached. "You are Prince Tristan?" He asked.
"Indeed," Tristan said, gesturing at Shield, "did the wolf give it away?"
The soldier was not amused. "Among other things. Come quickly, please, my lady is eager to meet you."
Tristan whispered to Daryn as they passed. "That was fast."
"No point taking my time," Daryn replied as they entered the hall.
The hall was long and musty. At the far end sat a willowy woman in a red and black dress. Clutching at her arm was a child who could only be her daughter, for she was the woman in miniature.
"Prince Tristan?" The woman said, moving down the hall towards him, her daughter trailing behind. The girl tried to hide behind her mother at first sight of Shield padding along at Tristan's side.
"I am, and you must be Lady Blackwood."
"I am," she replied. "Thank the gods you're here. Maybe you can help us recover from this catastrophe."
Tristan nodded. "Indeed," he said. "But I confess I didn't think that the situation was so bad that you had lost the castle."
The woman's face contorted in anger. "It's a castle, my prince, not a purse, I didn't lose it, it was taken from me. And if you'd been here three days ago it wouldn't have."
It all happened in a heartbeat. Shield growled, fangs bared. Lady Blackwood's guards half drew their swords, so Tristan's men drew theirs and suddenly the meeting was on the edge of violence.
Domeric stepped forward, his own sword sheathed. He came between Lady Blackwood and Tristan arms extended both ways, palms open. "Prince Tristan, Lady Blackwood, please, there is no need for this to get out of hand. Let us not focus on what did not happen, and instead what must happen now. Tristan." He nodded at Shield expectantly.
Tristan met Lady Blackwood's unflinching eyes, but in the end, he backed down, nodding for his men to sheathe their swords and patting his thigh for Shield to return to his side. When he did, Lady Blackwood's men sheathed their own swords.
"My apologies for the late arrival, Lady Blackwood," he said, bowing his head in respect. "But now that I'm here, let us make preparations. First things first, the men in your castle, who are they? What do you know about them?"
"Nothing much, save they fly no banner. Curiously they weren't very talkative as they were driving me and mine out of the castle. Just spitting curses and damnations."
"And they haven't replaced the banners with their own," the commander of Blackwood's remnant garrison added. "So we can't tell."
"Like we need them to tell us," Lady Blackwood said. "This was Bracken work, mark my words."
"Bracken?" Tristan asked.
"Who else?"
"Someone with an army," Tristan replied. "When I went to Maidenpool House Bracken had no more than a dozen outriders to spare, and two of them didn't survive, unless you're claiming they took the castle with ten men, I find that very unlikely."
"Brackens lie," Lady Blackwood replied. "But I don't know how many there were, but enough to overwhelm my garrison so I'd guess fifty at least."
Tristan glanced at the captain of the Blackwood guards, who nodded in confirmation.
"Well, they may have fifty, but I have a thousand at my back, warriors all."
"A thousand is no good if we can't get over the wall," the garrison commander said.
"Or through it," Daryn pointed out. "The vale may be deforested, but we wouldn't have to go far to get a tree, hack it down, it can be our ram."
"You'd destroy our castle gates?" Lady Blackwood said.
"It would get your castle back, and quickly, we don't have time for a long siege."
Lady Blackwood bristled. "Half my garrison is dead, with the gate destroyed how will they defend against the next attack to come our way."
"Mother," the girl behind Lady Blackwood whispered.
"Yes sweetling?" Lady Blackwood replied kneeling down and brushing the girl's hair, smiling softly.
"Please stop, don't be angry."
Lady Blackwood pulled her daughter into a tight hug, rubbing her back. "I'm sorry sweetling," she said, before turning to Tristan. "Speak to my captain, plan your attack, but do not leave me a ruin to return to." Lady Blackwood took her daughter by the hand and led her through a door leading into the back of the hall.
The soldier who had spoken to outside stepped forward. "Prince Tristan, I'm Gideon Farne, the captain of what's left of the Raventree Garrison." He was a stout man who looked to have spent a good part of his fighting life behind castle walls. Not a bad trait in a guard captain.
"How many men do you have?"
"Seventeen, here and ready to fight, another dozen are recuperating, but if you mean to attack today, they won't be joining us."
"They shan't be needed, I have a thousand men with me, more than enough to storm the castle, if we can get over the walls, since going through is forbidden."
"I apologise for my lady, but she is right, we won't be able to hold the castle again if the gate is broken down."
"How did you lose it this time?"
Gideon's face darkened. "A traitor in the castle staff let the attackers in the postern gate in the night, murdered the guard and opened the door. We were barely able to hold them off enough to break out of the main gate, thankfully they didn't pursue us. At least we got the family out, gods know what would have happened to them."
Tristan looked the way Lady Blackwood had left. "Her daughter, she's not coping?"
Gideon looked incredibly sympathetic. "Lady Bethany has never been this far from Castle Blackwood before, for this to be her first time…"
Tristan could only imagine. "The rest of the family? Lord Tytos' eldest rides with him, his second son with Robb, but he told me there were others."
"Resting in the village, my prince. The oldest is young Hoster, he's perhaps your age, but a bookish lad, the rest are far too young to be warriors. They're alive, even poor Robert, who was always frail, but they won't be joining the attack."
"Very well, we'll proceed without them. Which raises the bigger question, how do we get into the keep?" Even if they got over the walls, a full assault on a heavily defended keep could cost a lot of lives.
But for the first time since he'd arrived, Gideon smiled. "On that front, I think I can help you."
"Why do you have a tunnel that leads from a tower into the keep?" Tristan asked. Captain Gideon had drawn out a map of Raventree Hall that seemed to have only been drawn that morning. A crude x in one tower (a small square) was joined by a line to a second x in the keep (a bigger square).
"It was dug a long time ago, it allows us to get supplies and ammunition to the walls if the courtyard isn't safe," Gideon explained, dragging his finger along the map. "But it could help us get in. Most of the castle are unaware of it, only the family and the top men of the household."
"So the enemy will be unaware of it?"
Gideon nodded. "Exactly. It emerges into one of the stores in the cellar."
"And we can get in that way?"
"We should be, but the door will be locked, we'll have to break it down."
"Can we get a ram in there?"
"Not a chance, it's far too narrow, it'll have to be done with an axe."
Tristan winced. "That could be loud, the last thing we want is to be ambushed, especially if the tunnel is small."
"We can attack the keep from the outside," Daryn said, "just enough to keep the attention while some warriors get in through the tunnel to open the doors."
"That's probably best, but who will go down the tunnel?" Dom said.
"Me," Daryn said.
"Why you?" Cley asked.
"Because I'm the strongest of all of us," Daryn said, "and also, I said first, sorry Cley."
Tristan tapped the map to get there attention. "Very well, Gideon, assign a few of your men to go with Daryn and get him into the tunnel and the castle itself. Daryn, take twenty of your own men when you go. We'll go in at the tower with the tunnel, and Daryn will head straight down."
But Gideon shook his head. "That won't be possible, Prince Tristan." He pointed to the tower on the roughly drawn map. "The moat comes right up along the base of that tower, we won't be able to get the ladder up to the base of the tower, we'll have to go up this section of wall here," he indicated a stretch of wall two towers down from the one with the tunnel in it.
"That will leave us exposed, they'll see us as we go into the tower with the tunnel," Daryn pointed out.
"Which is why we'll have to go tonight," Tristan said. "We only have one ladder and one bridge to cross the moat, it will be slow going, but we can't wait to make more." Gideon and his men didn't have the time or resources to make any more than that before Tristan had made. And the bridge was far from a sturdy construction, they would have to be careful lest they fall into the moat. And if they fell into the moat in the dark they may not get out. Even the slight level of water could drown a man in armour if he couldn't see what he was doing. "Daryn, you and Gideon's men will go first."
"I'll go second." Cley said, "with your permission we'll take these towers."
"You can go after me, but I'll go second," Tristan said.
"No, Cley's right, he should go," Daryn said.
Tristan fixed him with a stern look. "Are you questioning my authority?"
Daryn wasn't intimidated. "Not at all, but we'll be climbing in the dark, you might find that difficult." Tristan clutched his claw to his chest. But Daryn was right, with only one ladder they couldn't afford to be held up. "Very well, Cley, you go second, while Daryn goes for the tunnel, you open the gate and let us inside. Then we'll keep whoever holds the castle occupied until Daryn opens the front gate."
"I won't let you down," Daryn said.
"Then let's get ready, it will be dark soon." They all left to prepare their men apart from Dom who stayed behind a moment. "What is it Dom?"
"Oh nothing," Dom said with a smile. "I was just thinking, you weren't so willing to use your one hand to get out of things here were you."
Tristan shook his head. "Go on you arse, go ready your men."