This chapter was a fun one for me because I believe it's the first where no Lannister actually appears, although their presence is definitely felt. I hope you all enjoy this battle for Winterfell as much as I enjoyed writing it!
I own nothing but any OC's, all the characters and locations are the property of George R R Martin or HBO.
Dawn hadn't yet broken but Roose Bolton was stood on the battlements of Winterfell looking Northwards as the group of riders departed the castle under cover of darkness. The ground was covered in snow and the air hissed with wind which had kept the Bolton Lord from his slumber most of the night. Roose Bolton looked back at what had led to all of this, the ravens between Tyland Lannister and himself promising the North to Bolton hands, doing his duty to the North in beating back the Wildlings and ensuring they hadn't got the strength to threaten again…
Sighing, he silently cursed the stupidity of the loyalty to House Stark. The wolves had died, or so he thought. Ramsay had returned years ago saying that he had fed the boys to his hounds, and Roose then cursed himself at his own stupidity of believing him. Now at least one was alive, backed by Ned Starks bastard and the might of House Manderly.
"Brooding does you no good, Bolton." The cursed voice of Barbrey Dustin sounded behind him. Roose didn't turn, he didn't give her that honour. Instead he listened as her footsteps get closer, stopping beside him on the ramparts. "This was to be my castle once, you know." She stated.
"Bethany mentioned it once or twice." Roose said blandly, he rarely thought of his first wife, but that happened more whenever Barbrey Dustin was around. The two sisters had shared a close relationship before Bethany had died after all and they looked relatively similar too.
"She tried to convince me that it was idiocy, falling in love with the heir to Winterfell while Rickard Stark had his eyes firmly pointed below the Neck." Barbrey muttered with distain. "But alas, I fell for Brandon, and he fell for me. Now he is dead and together we must defend the castle from his nephew."
"Is there a reason for this reminiscing, My Lady?" Roose asked impatiently.
Bethany chuckled. "Forgive me, I am growing old and having been alone for so long my mind often wanders, especially as it seems that our time is likely to grow shorter."
"We have the castle, we have the numbers." Roose explained dryly. "My bastard will do his part…"
"Your bastard had better. Otherwise we're all fucked." Barbrey bit back. "If Rickon Stark lives, then you will always be threatened. It is no surprise that we have heard nothing from House Umber, nor that Harald Karstark has betrayed us…"
Roose clenched his teeth at the obvious comment. The loyalty these Houses had to the Starks was grating. "Thank you, Lady Dustin." He murmured, watching the sun begin to rise over the plains. "You would be better served inside the castle where it is safer."
Barbrey snorted. "We have the castle and the numbers you say, I would rather watch the coming battle from here, Lord Bolton, with hope that you are correct and you have not underestimated our enemy."
Outside of the walls of Winterfell and back in the advance camp of the Stark loyalists it was chaos as men were rushing around getting their final preparations in for the coming fight. The sun was just starting to rise and already Lord Glover had taken his men to their positions with Lord Karstark following swiftly. Jon Snow was to lead the Free Folk at the back, the Stark loyalists secret weapon. With Ghost at his side he walked around the camp, making sure to speak to as many people as he could before he arrived at the Free Folk's camp, where he was accosted by Karsi.
"This better work." She said sternly.
"It will." Jon said assuredly. "You have tricks that most people facing us have nightmares about."
Karsi grunted, but she nodded. "We will follow your lead, crow, but we want the Bolton boy."
Jon nodded. Roose may have given the orders for the flaying of Mance, Tormund and the other leaders of the Free Folk, but Ramsay had done the deed with far too much glee. "He is yours."
"Good." A creepy, deep voice growled from one of the tents, and Jon noticed the new Magnar of the Thenns, Sigorn, ducking under the entrance to join them. "I've never tasted lordling before."
Karsi snarled and skulked away from the bald cannibal with Jon following behind. "I fucking hate Thenn's."
Jon agreed, but he kept his thoughts to himself. They were closer to the gathered force now, and Jon noticed Rickon being spoken to by a small, bald man with a shadowskin cloak on his back, a man that gave Jon the shivers.
"The trick is to ease into it, like you're bleeding through its mind." The man was teaching Rickon. Rickon was enthralled, but Osha beside the little Lord was disgusted.
"Stop teaching him shit, Sixskins." Karsi called. "Fuck off and get ready."
Varamyr Six Skins smirked and looked back at Rickon. "Master the wolf, child, and you'll be a King." He said before wandering off.
Jon rushed over to his brother and knelt before him. He had had enough experience with the Wildlings to understand that Varamyr was no friend to anybody with an animal familiar. "Are you ok?" He asked.
Rickon nodded. "He was teaching me about my wolf dreams." He answered. "I can do it when I'm awake, did you know that?"
Jon did, though he didn't understand it much himself. "Ignore him, Rickon. Now you know what you're to do?"
Rickon nodded. "Stay here."
"Osha will protect you, as will some of Lord Manderly's men." Jon told him. "And I will see you very soon, once we have our home back." Rickon nodded again, his lips unmoving. Jon sighed and pulled his brother in for a hug, squeezing him tightly for a few moments until he pulled away. "Stay here." He warned once more, before turning away and moving towards Karsi, where Jon's horse was saddled and waiting.
"Jon!" Rickon called as the elder had made a few steps. Jon turned back and saw Rickon rushing towards him, anger in his eyes.
"Yes brother."
Rickon was scowling. "They killed Luwin. They killed everyone and burnt our home. Make them pay."
Jon was concerned about the aggressiveness his brother was showing, but he nodded all the same. "I have no intention of letting House Bolton survive the day." He said firmly. He hugged Rickon once more before parting again, this time he managed to mount his horse and give Rickon one final look before he kicked his horse into movement and led the march to war.
The battle lines had been drawn. In the middle of the clearing between Winterfell and the Wolfswood 4,000 men stood in formation, Stark, Karstark and Manderly banners the most prominent amongst a few Locke, Flint, Hornwood and other Northern banners from the Manderly and Karstark lands. The initial plan was to make it seem like only House Manderly and Karstark had shown up, and all throughout the Wolfswood lay the rest of the alliance just waiting to pounce.
Beyond his own men Jon could make out the burning crosses that Ramsay Bolton had made infamous throughout the North, and he could see banners attached to those crosses. The local Houses like Cerwyn, Cassel and Mollen.
"The bastard's had his fun." Asher Forrester grimaced, his family sword strapped to his back.
"I knew those people." Jon said, trying not to throw up. "We spent time at Castle Cerwyn, at Dawnforest…"
"Do not think of that, Crow." Karsi whispered harshly. "They are dead, we are not. At least they are burning and you won't see them again."
Jon nodded, and he watched from horseback within the trees as Lord Karstark rode from side to side, giving some kind of speech that Jon couldn't hear from the distance. It must have been a good one, as every single man in the clearing let out a ferocious cheer before the riders began to move forwards in unison. It took an age, but after moments of thunderous galloping, the men clashed, and the screaming started.
"I should be in there." Jon said through clenched teeth. "Robb fought from the front…"
"And he died." Asher whispered back harshly. "We have a plan, stick to it Snow."
They did have a plan, and Jon waited for the men at arms to catch up to the action and he watched as the Bolton and Dustin forces collapsed their flanks to draw the Stark loyalists in and hit them from the sides.
Somehow, above all the noise of battle, footsteps crunching in the snow filled Jon's ears. He turned his head to see the Red Woman walking as if she had not a care in the world. "You should be at the camp." Jon hissed. "Rickon…"
"Doesn't need me for his protection, Jon Snow." Melisandre interrupted. "But you do."
Jon looked back at the battle, seeing his men falling at the spears of the Bolton's. "Aye." He sighed.
Melisandre bowed her head and turned to Karsi. "Lift your sword."
"Fuck off." Karsi spat.
"Do as she says." Jon stated firmly. Karsi gave the former Lord Commander a look of disgust, but she did as she was asked and raised her blade.
"All of you." Melisandre added louder, and the men and women hidden within the trees did just that, Wun Wun included with a massive tree trunk he had fashioned into a club. Melisandre then placed her hand onto Karsi's blade and focused. "Fear is greater than numbers." She said softly. "Āeksios Ōño, aōhos ōñoso īlōn jehikās! Āeksios Ōño, īlōn mīsās! Kesrio syt bantis zōbrie issa se ossȳngnoti lēdys!"
The Red Woman repeated the foreign phrase three times before anything happened, but at the end of the third time all of the normal steel blades from within the woods erupted into flames. Even Wun Wun's tree trunk burst alight, though the object itself wasn't suffering. Jon needed to gain control after the initial surprise and fear that had been put into mainly the Free Folk, so he raised Longclaw up high and shouted. "FOR WINTERFELL!"
"WINTERFELL!" The Northmen and women cried out, and Jon kicked his horse into a gallop as he led Ghost, 5,000 men wielding flaming blades, a giant and six animals all controlled by Varamyr Six Skins out into the clearing to join the fray.
The sounds of battle could be heard in the distance and it was agitating the young Lord Stark. He was sat in his tent under strict instructions not to leave from Osha, and she had given him a whack of her spear when he tried to sneak past her. Nursing his shoulder, he looked at his peaceful black Direwolf.
"We should be grown, Shaggy." He muttered. "We should be helping."
The curtains burst open at that moment and Osha came in, worry on her face. The sounds of battle were louder at that moment than they had been before and Rickon could hear men shouting. Osha pulled the tent flaps shut and tied them. "Stay quiet." She said urgently.
"What's happening?" Rickon asked.
Osha didn't say anything, but she kept the point of her spear facing the tent flaps. Rickon sighed frustratedly and looked at Shaggydog, an idea forming in his mind. He settled back down in the bed comfortably and did what the weird old man had told him to do earlier, before he felt his eyes roll back, before they reopened in a different place.
He looked up at the bed and saw his body slump down, he heard Osha cry out and rush to him before looking down at Rickon. "Don't you dare!" She snarled, but Rickon got upright on his new four legs and ran like he did in his dreams, slipping under the tent and into the light snowfall of the fresh air.
He then saw the trouble. Bolton and Ryswell men were fighting with Manderly men within the camp, and a person that Rickon recognised as one of those that took Winterfell was leading them, laughing as he cut down Manderly forces. He snarled and barked loudly, catching everyone's attention.
"By the gods…" One of the Ryswell men whispered. "It's true…"
Ramsay Bolton grinned, pointing to the tent behind Rickon. "The boy is in there, get him!"
Everybody had stopped, and there was barely a sound made other than Rickon snarling in Shaggy's mouth. But then the Ryswell man wheeled his horse around and raised his sword in the air. "FOR BETHANY! FOR DOMERIC! FOR WINTERFELL!" He cried loudly, and the Ryswell men turned on the Bolton's, slaughtering the unsuspecting men.
Ramsay looked furious, slicing the neck of a Manderly man before wheeling his sword around and slamming it to the hilt through a different Ryswell's chest. Rickon snarled, not wanting any more death to come from the bastard of Bolton, and so he ran, then he lunged. He widened his jaw and snapped it shut on the bastard's arm, pulling him off the horse he was on with a thud before he snapped again, aiming this time for the throat.
The snow on the floor had given way to slush and mud. Jon's horse had perished ages ago from arrows being sent into the mix and Ghost had vanished, likely feasting on his Bolton prey. That had left Jon on his feet hacking away at anything who came within the reach of Longclaw, grunting and heaving at his enemies with blood and snow mixed in his now half tied up hair with the battle was still raging all around him with no end in sight. With a roar he thrust Longclaw through a Dustin man's side, before pulling it out again and spinning after hearing another man rushing at him, parrying the onrushing pike away and driving the blade deep into a Bolton soldier's chest.
They had the numbers now, but the Bolton's still held higher ground with the archers. After another volley of arrows barely missed him Jon picked up a yellow shield of House Dustin and used the brief respite to look around. The flaming swords were still burning around him and had done the job on the initial charge and Wun Wun was off to one side crushing as many people as he could with his tree, still burning and still secure in his grip.
A shout brought Jon back to the here and now as he noticed Asher Forrester facing off against two Bolton men, and the former sellsword skilfully parried them both before opening ones neck, then the others midriff. "Snow!" Asher called. "We have to get up the hill!"
Jon nodded, looking out to the archers of House Bolton again and noticing another volley was coming in. He tucked his body in behind the shield and waited for the whistles of the arrows to land, and then he started running towards the hill. "WITH ME!" He cried. "WITH ME!"
He slashed one man's arm off on route, then another's throat was opened as he tried to stop Jon too. More and more Bolton men were rushing at Jon and they all fell until he was at the edge of the battle staring down at the hundreds of bowmen. HE heard heavy panting from beside him and was grateful for Wun Wun, who pointed over at the archers and roared a devastating roar. That was seemingly a signal, as the surviving Free Folk charged, led surprisingly by a snow bear, a shadow cat, three wolves and a large blood-soaked albino Direwolf. Jon grinned at the image as the archers faltered at the animals rushing towards them and he swung his sword in his hand before plunging it upwards. "TO WINTERFELL!"
He ran, keeping an eye out for the fools that weren't fleeing back to the castle and had started aiming at him. His shield was getting peppered with arrows as he ran but Jon kept going, not allowing himself to even think about stopping. He almost missed the war horns and the cavalry charge of the orange clad Ryswell forces, but when he did stop in his tracks and notice them, he was grateful that they were trampling the archers with such ferocity that the bodies would end up being nothing but mush.
"Weren't we fighting them?" He heard Asher pant from beside him.
"Look!" A random Glover soldier cried out. "The head!"
Jon panned over to where the man was pointing and sure enough, near the back of the cavalry charge sat Lord Ryswell, a distinctly obvious head speared on a pike. Grinning, Jon continued his charge up towards the castle. They got there soon enough, and the Bolton's had more archers atop the walls. Jon turned, grateful to see Wun Wun nearby. "WUN WUN! THE GATE!" He cried. IT had been a long day, but Jon swore he saw the giant grin in response.
"Lord Snow… er… Jon!" A voice called. Jon turned to see Rickard Ryswell riding up to him, slowing his horse down to stop by the Bastard of Winterfell.
"Are you a friend now?" Jon called back, wincing as Wun Wun shoulder barged into the gate for the first time.
"I am." Ryswell nodded. "I can only apologise for not seeing it sooner… I thought the Stark boys were dead and the North were to be ruled by a Lannister woman."
Jon nodded. "Thankfully enough saw past that." He said coldly, not feeling bad at the wince from the Lord of the Rills.
"Lady Sansa wrote to me." Rickard explained. "Reminded me of my nephew and his suspicious death. Told me that it was the bastard that killed our Dom, kinslaying." Rickard spat on the floor. "But shamefully, it wasn't until I saw Lord Stark's wolf that I knew I was on the wrong side. I can only pray you can forgive me."
Jon looked up at Ramsay Snow's head, realising what the Bolton plan had been and why they hadn't seen Ramsay Snow on the battlefield. "You've done enough for me by protecting Rickon. I presume he is protected…"
"Aye, his wolf is a dangerous foe, as this one figured out." Rickard jolted the spear. "As is his Wildling woman."
"Free Folk." Jon corrected, before shaking his head at the confused Ryswell Lord. "It doesn't matter." A splintering sound was heard at that moment, and Jon turned to see the way was open. "Join us in retaking the castle!" He cried, rushing through the gates behind a tired out but still breathing Wun Wun.
From the top of a Winterfell tower Roose Bolton had seen the entire thing. He had watched as his men had gained the advantage, only for an army of beasts and wildlings to join the fight later. He was impressed by the Stark bastard, Robb Stark had almost cried at the thought of leaving some of his men to die yet Snow had risked half of his force for a surprise.
They had lost the fight as soon as the giant had arrived intact, but the moment Roose gave up was at the sight of the Ryswell betrayal. There was only one head that would cause that much panic in his own ranks, and Roose was smart enough to realise that he now had no sons and no hope.
Unfortunately for him, he was stuck with Lady Dustin. "Ah, the bastard is dead." She grinned at the sight of the head being paraded around as Roose's men got trampled to death. "Finally."
"Careful, My Lady." Roose warned. "That is my son."
"Was, your son." Barbrey drove in harder. "Now he's a head." Roose swivelled around to face the woman in anger, only to feel a blade punch forcefully between his ribs. He gasped, looking down at the hilt of the knife buried inside him. "You've lost, Roose."
"Traitor…" Roose gasped.
Barbrey scoffed. "I'll face punishments of course, I'll deliver your body and grovel, spouting how Lady Sansa's words moved me and reminded me of my duty to House Stark and no doubt they'll allow me to sulk in Barrowton for a few years licking my wounds. But I'll know I got my vengeance. I hated Ned Stark for bringing me a horse instead of my husband, for surviving instead of Brandon and Willam, I truly did, but that feeling is nothing compared to what I felt when I found out you knew your bastard was a kinslayer." She was spitting venomously now. "He killed Domeric, and you covered it up in fear of dying without an heir. Well here you are, Lord Bolton. Your heir is a baby girl at the mercy of House Stark." She ripped the blade out unceremoniously, wiping it on her black dress. "Your house will die, Lord Bolton. The curse of the kinslayer."
Roose Bolton wanted to retaliate, to murder the bitch that had stabbed him. But his legs gave way instead and he came crashing down to the stone floor with a thud, his life blood leaking out of his chest at an alarming rate. He couldn't speak, instead he pointed shakily at the woman that had murdered him. And then he died.
In the show they only showed Orell as the Wildling warg, though in the books Varamyr is seemingly better at it. I wanted to show that the Wildlings were more than just a giant and some men, so including him both gave me the opportunity to give Rickon his moment as well as include the animals in Jon's victory.
Sansa's letter went to the Ryswell's and Barbrey's plan was to hedge her bets until she knew exactly what was happening. It's all well and good Jon saying that Rickon was alive but until they had proof they didn't want to do anything. Once she saw her brother fighting for the Starks instead after killing Ramsay, she knew what to do.
I wanted to give Melisandre something important to do here, given that for the most part she's useless in the show after reviving Jon. The full translation for Melisandre's spell, which is the same as in Season 8 Episode 3, is: "Lord of Light, cast your light upon us! Lord of Light, defend us! For the night is dark and full of terrors!"
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This was a Lannister lite chapter I know but I felt that it was necessary to dedicate a full chapter to this battle. The Lannisters will be back next week in a huge way I promise.
Next Time: Winterfell settles back into Stark leadership, while Cersei flexes her new power and sends some new orders to Loren…
Reviews:
Supremus85: Tywin and Tyland discussed Ramsay's potential legitimisation in Chapter 21. Roose knows that Jon was only saying it to be the good guy and that even if he was to be reinstated as just the Lord of the Dreadfort, he would be isolated at best with fewer lands and vassals and shunned and attacked without recompense at worst. Cersei wouldn't have harmed Myrcella perhaps, but she would definitely have locked her up and would never have allowed her any independence as a Queen.
Silver crow: Cersei will play to the fear of foreigners, and make no mistake about it the Dornish are still mostly reviled throughout the Seven Kingdom's (perhaps a lack of imagination but it's the same tactic as the show really). I haven't specifically made a point in my chapter outlines of anyone but Loren thinking on Tyland, but there are plenty of scenes with Cersei's POV and Myrcella's POV to go so Tyland will be thought about.
Makanie: Tyrion now only really hates Cersei. Sansa is adamant in her protection of Artos, he is a Stark in all but looks to her and she has made that clear. You'll find out how this all ends in 13 more chapters!
McMysterio: You'll have to wait until next week to see some of Cersei's plans… The Tyrell's won't ally with her, the worst kept secret in the world is who killed Mace Tyrell. I hope you enjoyed the battle chapter!
Rolling Mist 13: In Cersei's mind Myrcella just can't be trusted and she's the only one that can protect the realm from the Dornish. As for Myrcella and Trystane, that was when it was Tommen's reign being threatened potentially by the Dornish, now they don't have anything to be opposed over.