Roose
Roose knelt over the body of his son and stared at the bloody ruin that was his throat before looking at the hole where his eye used to be. He had warned Ramsay not to play his games, that eventually he would push someone too far and they would turn on him. Well, Theon had turned on him. He had ripped his throat open, buried a knife in his skull, and then left his body to rot in his chamber. The bedding hanging from the window gave him a good idea of where the traitor went. His only consolation was that Theon had no friends in the North. Anyone loyal to Roose would bring Theon back to the Dreadfort for him to deal with personally. Anyone loyal to the Starks would bring his head to Winterfell to reap rewards from Jon.
Unlike most fathers, Roose felt nothing at the loss of his bastard. He knew the boy was twisted and unfit to follow him as Lord of the Dreadfort. And he knew that he would never allow any of the children he had with Lady Walda to survive. They were a threat to his own position. He had been left with a set of unsavory decisions to make before Ramsay's death. Boy Lords were as often as not a terror on their people. Yet Ramsay would be no less a terror. Now he supposed it really didn't matter. Lady Walda would give birth to his child, the Maester believed it would be a boy, and assuming the Maester was correct he would have his heir. But only if his House survived the war against the Starks.
He had received a raven from King's Landing before the wedding informing him that Ser Jaime Lannister was leading a force of some seven thousand men to join with him in the North. That would be a welcome addition to his army. His scouts reported that Lord Manderly had raised a large force at White Harbor, with estimates ranging between fifteen and twenty thousand men. Other Scouts had reported that the Stark boy had wasted no time in retaking Winterfell after Ramsay had left it empty. They reported that the gates had all been fully repaired and the walls were well maned. Some thought that there might be a force of two thousand or so inside the castle. If his scouts were to be believed he was facing at least seventeen thousand men against his six thousand or so. He would need those men from Ser Jaime to even the odds a bit.
Straightening up, Roose waved in three servants who were waiting outside the room. They collected Ramsay's body and would bring it down to the crypt to prepare it for burial. It felt wrong to bury Ramsay alongside Domeric, particularly given his suspicions that Ramsay had murdered his son and heir, but the boy was still a Bolton, and putting him in a grave alongside the smallfolk just wouldn't do. Motioning over one of the Captains of his household guard, he told the man to turn out the hounds and send scouting parties throughout the surrounding lands. In his opinion, Theon would likely head for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to join the Watch and put himself beyond the reach of everyone who wanted him dead.
Leaving Ramsay's rooms, Roose put his dead bastard out of his mind and sent runners in search of Lord Ryswell, Lady Dustin and Lord Stout to invite them to join him in his solar to begin planning their attack on Winterfell. They would need to draw the Stark forces out of the castle and into the open field to have any chance at success. When properly manned, Winterfell was for all intents and purposes impregnable to any attack on it. He and his Lords would have some planning to do to force Jon to leave the safety of the castle.
Roose took his time and availed himself of the chance to refocus his mind from his dead son to the problem of crushing the Starks. By the time he reached his solar Rodrick, Harwood and Barbrey were all waiting for him. Entering the room that he ruled his lands from, Roose poured himself a glass of hippocras from a bottle that had been placed near the fire to warm it. Having done that, he waved his Lords and Lady to the sideboard to help themselves to the wine he kept there. Settling into his chair he looked critically at the three nobles. Lord Rodrick Ryswell was his former father by law and he had been Domeric's grandfather. Lady Dustin was Rodrick's daughter and Lord Stout was sworn to House Dustin. Of all the houses in the North, they were the three that he should be able to rely on to support his claim as Warden of the North.
Looking up at a large, beautifully handpainted map of the North that was hanging on his wall, his eyes drifted to Karhold and the sunburst sigil of House Karstark. He should have been able to count on the Karstark's support as well, but Karhold had been strangely silent. He had sent a raven to the Karstarks with an invitation to attend the wedding between Ramsay and the girl given to him by Littlefinger that was posing as Arya Stark, but he had received no reply. Perhaps Arnolf really would declare for the Starks to ensure that Harion would be killed by Tywin? He wouldn't put it past the old bastard. He lusted after the Lordship of Karhold more than most men lusted after a wet cunt. Loudly and publicly declaring for the Starks would would almost assuredly result in the execution of Harion and the ascension of Harion's sister Alys to the Lordship. A simple forced wedding between Alys and Arnolf's son Cregan, and the lordship would move to Arnolf's line. He would need to be careful of any support he may receive from that quarter.
Turning his gaze back to the three Lords in front of him, Roose took a sip of his hippocras and then said:
"My Lords and Lady. Yesterday was a day that began in joy and ended in sorrow. Perhaps I was a fool to think that Lady Stark would meekly submit to marrying my son, but what was done to him was appalling. Though it pains me to do so, we must put the brutal death of Ramsay behind us and begin to plan our campaign against Ned Stark's bastard. My son is dead and soon to be buried, but the war must still be won.
"Stark's bastard has wasted no time in reclaiming his family's seat of Winterfell and my scouts tell me that his gates are fully repaired and the walls appear to be well manned. Based on the reports of my scouts, I estimate that the boy has no more than two thousand men in Winterfell, drawn mainly from some of the Mountain Clans. While we have some six thousand men that we can put into the field and thus should be able to easily defeat him, the men in Winterfell are not the only men Jon can call upon."
Gesturing to the map on the wall while he spoke, Roose continued, "White Harbor, the Last Hearth, Bear Island, Greywater Watch and other holdfasts all continue to fly the Stark's banners. Lord Manderly in particular has anywhere from between ten to twenty thousand men in White Harbor alone that he was preparing to send south to our campaign in the Riverlands before Robb lost the war. While that is by far the largest part of the Stark's forces, Jon can also call on several thousand other men from the remaining loyal houses if they are needed."
Pausing to take another sip of his hippocras, Roose laid out the problem they were facing:
"While we could easily place Winterfell under siege, no army has ever taken the castle when it was properly manned. When Theon took it from the Starks, no one in the North knew of his treason yet and he was welcomed into the castle by the few men that remained there. When Ramsay took it from Theon, he had only 20 men and his own men betrayed him before opening the gates. Should we attempt an attack ourselves, I do not believe our chances for success would be any greater than anyone who has come before.
"And if we do lay siege to the castle, Lord Manderly could simply march from White Harbor up the White Knife and take our entire force in the rear, trapping us against the walls of Winterfell while the Starks sally out from the gates and slaughter us all."
Roderick Ryswell, being one of the more experienced men in the North in matters of war replied:
"Lord Bolton, with those forces arrayed against us, the odds of victory are extremely low. The only way I can see for us to win is by meeting Ned's bastard in the open field and taking him out before the Manderly's can arrive to support him. The loss of their King, and any hostages we may take, may well be enough to convince Wyman to return to his city and acknowledge you as his Overlord. But that is a large gamble.
"And it is not guaranteed to work. If Jon has any brains at all, he'll know that we outnumber him and will stay safely behind the walls until he receives support from White Harbor. Or any of the other Houses loyal to him for that matter. How do you plan to get him to leave Winterfell? Because if you don't have a plan for that, My Lord, we might as well all take the Black right now."
Smiling at his former father by law, Roose answered:
"Quite simple, Roderick. We don't. At least, not yet."
Seeing the puzzled expressions on the faces opposite him, Roose reached over to his desk and picked up two raven scrolls from the top of a pile of them. Holding them up for his Lords to see, Roose told them:
"We defeat the Starks with these. I have here one scroll from Lord Tywin Lannister and another from a Donal Noye, apparently he is the Acting Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. In the message from Lord Lannister, he informs me that his son, Ser Jaime, is leading some seven thousand men north to join with us. That will allow us to meet the Starks on nearly equal terms. And I have more confidence in my own ability to lead an army than I do in the bastard's ability to do the same. The message from Lord Commander Noye is not meant for me specifically, but was sent to every keep and holdfast in the North. You will all likely have this same scroll waiting for you at your homes when you return there. The Lord Commander wishes to inform every House in the North that by order of the King in the North, the Wildlings are being allowed through the Wall to settle in the Gift and New Gift to, and I quote, 'face the threat of the Long Night together as one people and to defend the realms of men from the threat of the Others."
The looks on the faces of his Lords spoke volumes to him. They ranged from incredulous to furious.
"He did what, My Lord?" asked Lord Stout.
"The Stark boy allowed the wildlings south of the wall. Jon has made a major error in allowing this and shows every sign of following his half-brother's footsteps. By allowing the wildlings south of the Wall and allowing them to settle on the very lands that they have raped and raided for centuries, he will have turned many of the Northern Lords against him. But more than just allowing them south, he has also agreed to defend the wildlings should they be attacked by any of his Lords."
Understanding slowly dawned on their faces. Instead of threatening their fellow Northmen, they could launch a series of small attacks on the wildlings with only a portion of their forces, which would force Jon to come out to defend them. And when they did, they could fall on him with their full might, thus ending the Starks as the ruling House of the North.
Only old Lord Stout seemed somewhat doubtful. Turning slightly to face the one armed Lord, Roose asked him:
"Something troubles you, Lord Stout?"
Nodding slowly, Harwood said, "Yes, Lord Bolton, it does. If we attack the wildlings, won't they just throw their lot in with the Starks, making the odds against even worse? I'll grant you that they aren't the disciplined fighters we are, but numbers alone can make up for quite a lot. And what was that last bit in the message from the Lord Commander? Something about the Others?"
"An astute observation, Harwood. I'll answer your last question first. The Night's Watch believes that the Others of ancient legend have returned. For the last several years, they have suffered the unexplained loss of a great many of their brothers beyond the Wall. Most without even a hint of what happened to them. They have also recently sent a Great Ranging beyond the Wall, several hundred men strong. Out of all those hundreds, one man alone returned, claiming that the rest of his Brothers were slaughtered by the Others. You should all have received a raven scroll from Castle Black about it sent by Maester Aemon. Whether or not you believe such things, well, the Watch certainly seems to. And it will be something for us to investigate once the war with the Starks is won. As to your first question, you're entirely correct. If we attack the wildlings, they'll simply be pushed into siding with the Starks. But if the Umbers or the Mormonts attack them..."
Roose trailed off and let the silence fill the air. Either the three Lords in the room with him would reach the proper conclusion or they wouldn't. If they did, his faith in them would not have been misplaced. If they did not, then he would know that they were too stupid to be of much use to him.
Lady Dustin was the first to grasp his plan. She told him,
"A clever plan, Lord Bolton. Attack under the banners of the Mormonts and Umbers, the wildlings will believe that the Starks have broken their word and will attack them in retaliation. When they do, Ned's bastard will be forced to leave the safety of Winterfell and either defend his people or try to negotiate. Either way, he gets drawn out of his castle and into the open where we can get to him.
"Once the bastard is dealt with, the rest of the North will unite behind you as you throw the wildlings back beyond the Wall. Your plan to be seen as the savior of the North from the reckless rule of the Starks will be a resounding success and House Bolton will be firmly established as the North's ruling house."
With the respect plain in Barbery's eyes, she nodded her head to Roose and said to him:
"Well done, My Lord."
"Well thought, My Lady. There is still much to do before it can be considered done," Roose corrected her.
Roderick now said:
"Still, my daughter is correct. That plan, if successfully executed, will show the entire North that the Starks can no longer be trusted to rule. And it will show the sheer folly of allowing the wildlings past the Wall."
"But what about the Mormonts and Umbers?" asked Lord Stout. "They'll know they didn't attack the wildlings and will be quick to point that out. Both houses are also almost fanatically loyal to the Starks. There's a reason Dacey and Smalljon were chosen to carry Robb's will to Castle Black after all. How do you convince anyone in the North that they were the ones to disobey their King?"
"My dear Harwood," Roose replied. "We don't need to convince Northmen. We need to convince wildlings and savages from beyond the Wall. Once the peace is breached, will anyone care why it was breached? And will anyone really believe wildlings over their fellow Lords? Would you? Would I? The answer is no. There is not a single one of us who would believe the word of a wildling over the word of one of us. I wager even Jon would believe me over a wildling.
"For now, I will send raiding parties around Winterfell to keep the bastard's attention focused on his own lands. He'll be too busy dealing with them to pay much attention to what's happening in the Gift with the wildlings or to notice what we are doing. Once his attention is fully occupied, and the forces from the Lannisters join with us, we will launch our attack on the wildlings, drawing Jon out and destroying him.
"In the meantime, My Lords, return to your holdfasts, prepare your men. Lady Dustin, when Ser Jaime arrives at Barrowtown have your men join forces with him and march towards Winterfell. There are many in the North who will not be pleased to see the Lannister's banners on the King's Road. Seeing your own banners in the column will help ease those feelings.
"Once we are all gathered together in force, the Starks will fall and we can begin the process of rebuilding the North after the disastrous war that Robb led us into."