I own nothing, the world of ice and fire belongs to George R. Martin

The Blackfish watched as the column of Northern and Riverland cavalry rode past, the banners snapping in the wind. It had been three weeks since the battle of Oxcross and since then they had raided several towns and keeps in the Westerlands. Taking livestock as well as a rather impressive amount of wealth despite not seizing any major strongholds. The plan had been to draw Tywin towards the Westerlands to keep him away from King's Landing. It had worked to so far, they had heard that he had departed Harrenhal and headed west. All that was needed now was to keep he in the west. He followed the column through the day, talking with various soldiers throughout the day. When evening fell and the army began to make camp, he sought out Robb to see what he had planned to do. So far Robb had displayed an talent for war matched by few men, he had direct several minor skirmishes and destroyed two armies in less than a year. He also established himself as a skilled warrior and had earned the respect and admiration of the common men as well as the Lords. He found the man in question talking with the squidling, Theon Greyjoy. He couldn't deny that Theon was a loyal friend to Robb and he had given him some solid advice in the past and was level headed on the battlefield. But that didn't mean that Bryden had to like him. The Greyjoy rebellion was still too fresh in his mind for him to like any Ironborn. The boy did however provide some humorous moments, like when he had stupidly grabbed Dacey Mormont's ass. She had hit him so hard that he had spun like a top, lost a tooth and had been unconscious before he hit the ground. Dacey had kept the tooth and fashioned it onto a ring of bronze. She would show him the ring whenever he began to annoy her, it got him to shut up every time without fail. Brynden walked up to the pair and gave a greeting when they noticed him.

"Robb, Theon, how are you?"

"We're doing well ser Brynden. We were getting ready to take a walk through the camp before getting some supper, would you care to join us?"

Before he could accept their offer there was a thunder of hoofs preceded by cries of

"Make way!"

The three of them turn to see what was the source of the commotion. They saw two knights escorting a clean-shaven man wearing leather armour with a flayed man blazened on his chest. The Bolton man looked at the direwolf on Robb's chest before calling to him.

"I have a message from Lord Bolton for Lord Stark."

Robb stepped forward

"I am Lord Stark. What is the message?"

The messenger jumped from the saddle and kneeled before Robb presenting a leather case to him. Robb took it and read it over his face turning from intrigued to one of frustration. Theon approached him as well as the Blackfish

"Robb, what has happened?"

"Tywin is no longer heading west, he has turned south."

Seven hells, that complicated things.

"Do they know which way he is taking to King's Landing?"

"Lord Bolton thinks he will make for the Gold road, Lord Bolton has made to follow them."

The Northerners nearby had stopped what they were doing and were now watching and listening intensely to Robb. Robb stood for a moment and when he noticed the soldiers he straightened his shoulders and addressed them.

"Men! Tywin has decided that he would rather die in the crownlands than the Riverlands. Eat your fill then get what rest you can. For tomorrow we make for Kings landing, to finish off the Lannisters once and for all!"

The response from the Northerners was a roar of approval with a various assortment of insults directed at the Lannisters. Then they dispersed to the cooking fires as to eat quickly, knowing they had a hard march to make. Robb watched them leave before turning to the Bolton messenger.

"I'll require your services tomorrow, I'll write a response to Lord Bolton for you to deliver. What is your name?"

"Rogar mi lord, from the Lonely Hills"

"Well Rogar I want you to eat and afterwards I'll make sure you have a place to sleep."

"Thank you mi lord."

Rogar bowed then he left to the nearest fire where the Northerners made room for their countryman.

"Ser Brynden, Theon, I need you both to go notify the rest of the lords and their captains of the change in plans. Then have the lords come to my tent. There is something they should be made aware of."

The two nodded in response and went to spread the word. About an hour later the lords gathered around the table set in the center of the tent. Torrhen Karstark and Dominic Bolton were the last to enter. The two heirs had become close friends since the battle of the whispering woods. In the battle after Jaime Lannister had killed Torrhen's brother, it had been Dominic who had spared Torrhen a similar fate by tackling the kingslayer from his saddle. Giving Torrhen the opportunity to cut off the swordhand that had made the kingslayer so famous. Once they had all settled Robb addressed them.

"My lords, as I hope you have been made aware, Tywin has halted his western march and has instead made for King's landing. Lord Bolton has taken the river road and plans to march down the kingsroad in an effort to prevent him from reaching the city. I intend for us follow Tywin, if we are fast enough we can give the king time to take the city. Should we fail to prevent them from reaching the city, we will still be able to provide our aid in the siege of the city."

The lords nodded in approval of the plan except for Lord Slate who stood up to address Robb.

"My lord, I can understand wanting to prevent King's Landing from getting additional troops. I also understand wanting to make the Lannisters pay for what they did to your father."

He was briefly interrupted by the other lords growling in agreement and pounding on the table.

"But I was wondering if it was truly a awful idea to have them all trapped in that piss hole of a city? With their armies trapped there they wouldn't be able to feed them very long, nor would they have any means to replenish their supplies. Not with the Reach, the Stormlands and the Riverlands against them. Would it not be best to simply let the Lions back themselves into a trap and let them starve? We could get them to surrender without having to risk our men."

"You're concern for your men is admirable Lord Slate," Answered Robb

"But we can't risk the Lannisters having time to hire mercenaries from Essos or maybe finding allies in the Vale or maybe even the Reach. The Tyrells were robbed of a chance for them to have a queen, if Tywin offers the possibility of Joffrey or Joffrey''s children to marry a Tyrell. They might take the opportunity to switch sides."

"Aye, you can't trust those greedy flower picking twits."

Interjected the Greatjon to the general amusement of all present.

"Thank you Look Umbar for that insightful comment"

Robb turned back to Lord Slate.

"The second reason for us to go is to help because King Stannis has offered the North something that no Targaryen ever did, a royal marriage."

That shocked Lord Slate as well as everyone else. Lady Mormont choose to speak up to ask the question that was on the tongues of everyone present.

"My lord, does he mean to make one of your brothers king after him?"

"He does not" Robb answered " He as named his daughter his heir and would have my youngest brother Rickon take the title of Prince and consort to the Queen when Shireen Baratheon takes the throne."

Galbart Glover looked about before slamming his fist on the table.

"Well it's about bloody time we had Northern blood on the throne!"

The rest of the Northern nobles slammed on the table or shouted their agreement with Lord Glover.

Robb smiled as he raised his hand to bring them back to order.

"So Lord Slate, does that answer your question?"

Lord Slate bowed his head to Robb.

"It certainly does Lord Stark."

Robb briefly went over the order of the march and deployment of their outriders before dismissing the lords for the night.

Brynden and Theon stayed behind as the lords filed out of the tent. Robb poured them both a cup of ale before sitting down.

"So King's Landing is where the war will be decided."

"So it would seem." Robb replied "Ser Brynden, you know the roads of the Riverlands better than an of us. Do you think think we can catch them before they reach the city?"

Brynden took a sip from his ale as he thought over the question.

"It will be close. Bolton will be able to use roads that are in good condition, giving him a good possibility of making it to the capitol before Tywin. However the roads we will be using are not the best, so we will have a harder time catching up."

"But with our force being completely cavalry" interjected Theon " surely that would give us an advantage over them in speed?"

"Aye it will, but with the lead they have on us and the fords we will have to cross we are at a substantial disadvantage."

His response put a scowl on Theon's face. Brynden saw a similar look on Robb's face as well.

"Lads, we can't change the situation. Aye we almost had Tywin right where we wanted getting pissed about what could have been is useless. It's better to stay focused on the plan we have now."

The two nodded in agreement before draining their cups and bidding him good night. Brynden walked back to his tent as the last of the soldiers finished their meals and prepared to go to sleep. Amazing how life could change so quickly in Westeros, it seemed only yesterday he was the Knight of the Bloody Gate. Now he was partaking in a war to remove a bastard king, fighting alongside his great nephew and was most likely going to lay siege to the capitol. Hopefully that will mark the end of the war he wasn't as young as he used to be and even though he had been in the Vale for years. It still pained him to see how the Riverlands had suffered from the war, the sooner it was over the better.

Hello I just wanted to thank you for reading the story. I also want to thank everyone who had taken the time to leave a review, I really appreciate the feedback!