RODRIK

He could feel the nervousness rush in his veins as they rode closer to the meeting point where lady Dustin would be meeting with the new Targaryen King. Rodrik could still feel the burning agony that had consumed the left side of his face and his left arm, he never wanted to face the wrath of a dragon again but here he was on the way to the negotiations.

He had to admit that he was surprised that the lady of Barrowton had personally asked for him to accompany the delegation. Rodrik had wanted nothing more than to tell the captain of the guards that he would rather be recovering at his home in Barrowton, but when a lady asked for you to come, you better obey.

Rodrik had only once talked to the lady Dustin and that was when she had come to the see all the injured men and asked them what they had seen at the battle of Winterfell.

Even though he had been in unspeakable amount of pain, he could still remember the look of cold fury on her face when he had told her the same story of what had happened on the day of the dragons as the rest of her men.

Rodrik had told her when Ramsay Snow had tried to shoot young lord Stark as the little boy ran towards the new Targaryen King, that two enormous dragons had come roaring from the sky and the pale and golden one had burned most of her cavalry along with the cavalry of the Boltons.

That was all Rodrik remembered from the battle itself, as he had gotten injured in the first onslaught by the pale dragon and did remember anything until he had woken up in a cart, on his way to Barrowton along with his fellow surviving cavalry men.

On the way back his superior officer had told him that the King had disarmed them all and sent them back home.

Rodrik couldn't help but to be confused by that decision of the new King, wouldn't it be better for him to just kill all the soldiers so that the lady of Barrowton didn't have any left to defend the town with?

Then again, maybe with the two dragons on his side, the King had decided that he really didn't need to, as dragons could just easily burn the town down to the ground.

Rodrik´s father had served in the rebellion under the late lord Dustin, and he had told his son all about Harrenhall when he had returned. His father had told him how the great castle had melted under the heat of the flames of Balerion the black dread, and now that Rodrik had felt dragon fire on his own skin, he could believe it.

He was still in pain from the injuries that he had sustained from the golden flames of the pale dragon, but he was slowly recovering. But he would never again see anything from his left eye and his movement in his left arm was very limited now. But he was one of the lucky ones, he had been far away so that he had survived the infernal flames, when so many had turned to ash.

Rodrik wasn't sure what he would do now after this, as he couldn't very well serve in the guard with only one eye and one working arm and he didn't have any trade that he could use to help to bring in coin for his family.

All the men in his family had served in the guards and the cavalry of house Dustin for generations now, but now the only family that he had was his mother who was still grieving for the loss of her husband.

His father had survived the rebellion, but lady Dustin had sent him south with Robb Stark to fight the Lannisters. Rodrik had begged the commander that lady Dustin had left in charge, to take him instead, as his father was getting on in years and Rodrik was still young and strong, but the commander had refused, saying that he wanted men of experience.

His father had sent them a letter with one of the traders heading north when he had been in Riverrun. It was an unusual for a guard to know how to read and write but Rodrik´s grandfather had saved one of late lord Dustin´s uncles and in return he had been taught how to read, something that he had taught his son and Rodrik´s father had taught him.

Making it much easier for them to know how each other was doing as Rodrik´s father was in the Riverlands.

But after the young wolf had returned to Riverrun, they hadn't heard anything, all they knew was his father would be following the young wolf north to the Twins to attend a wedding then they would be making their way north to attack Moat Cailin.

Rodrik could feel his new horse get nervous and agitated as they got closer to the meeting spot, he did his best to calm the horse down, but with only one good hand it was rather difficult for him.

He glanced at the lady of Barrowton and her serjeant Beron, and Rodrik could see the anger on their faces grow more and more severe with every step of that their horses took.

Sooner then he would have liked, they reached the delegation of the Targaryen King. The King was a tall and handsome man of maybe nineteen years, he had the famous coloring of the Starks and the crown on his head that was made of dark rippled steel and square cut rubies that shone in the early morning sun.

And beside him were many lords and knights, Rodrik could see some banners that he knew from his father's stories, but he had to admit that he didn't know any of the southern banners but that one of house Arryn.

But one of the things that drew his eye was the great white direwolf that stood beside the King and his black stallion that was draped in the Targaryen colors. While the horses of the other lords were nervous at having to be so close to the wolf, the King´s black horse was as calm as he was feeding in the stables.

The King must have raised the horse with the wolf for him to be so calm around the white beast, Rodrik couldn't see any other way for the young King to make his horse so calm around the large wolf.

They rode up to the King and his sworn lords, and Rodrik could feel the nervousness grow in his body as he started to glance up to the sky, he didn't want to be subject to another attack from the dragons. But for now, they were nowhere in sight and Rodrik couldn't decide if he felt better for it, or worse.

He could see that the King´s dark grey eyes that bore a striking resemblance to the steel of his own crown, started to look over the party of Barrowton. When his dark eyes turned to Rodrik, he could feel like the young King was boring into his soul with his eyes and he had to look away or the King would see all his secrets.

Rodrik had to be at least ten years older than the King, but when the young King turned to look at the guard, Rodrik had felt like a child that had been caught doing something naughty.

"Thank you for meeting us lady Dustin." The King spoke in a measured but a polite tone and Rodrik couldn't begin to fathom to even start what he was thinking at the moment.

But just as the young King had spoken the lady´s serjeant snorted angerly. "It is not like you are giving the lady a choice in the matter, if she had refused you would most likely just burned the town down with your dragons."

Rodrik could see the anger in the King´s sworn lords' eyes at Beron´s accusation, but he couldn't see any anger in the young King´s. It was like the young man was made from stone.

"How dare you accuse the King of burning innocent people, you worm!?" A large man in clothing for the mountain clans spoke up as he shook his fist at the Serjeant. "King Jon did his best to save as many of the common soldiers that he could in the battle for Winterfell, and he only killed those that were rallying against us."

The mountain clan leader that Rodrik didn't know, was saying what his fellow guards had told him when he woke up in that cart on the way back to Barrowton. That the young King hadn't been trying to kill the men who had not attacked, but just rounded the common soldiers up and took their weapons and then sent them home.

Rodrik could see the anger in the serjeant´s eyes at the man´s words, Beron was lady Dustin´s most trusted man, who was never far away from her and always whispering in her ear. There were rumors going around that they were lovers and had been since before lady Dustin had married the lord of Barrowton, as they were just as close as they had been when they had arrived at Barrowhall.

The serjeant had been one of her father's men and had not left with lord Dustin to go to war in the rebellion, and he had stayed in Barrowhall with the new lady.

"And just where are your dragons? I would have thought that you would have brought them here, thinking you could intimidate us." The smug tone in the serjeant´s voice and his words made Rodrik want to flee as fast as he could. If there was something that he didn't want to do, it was meeting the dragons again.

"They are around." The King said in a cold tone and stared at the serjeant with his piercing eyes.

That statement was followed by silence, before the lady of Barrowton spoke. "You asked us here to negotiate terms of surrender." The handsome woman turned her nose up as she stared at the King. "What are they?"

Rodrik hoped with all his heart that they could reach an agreement as he didn't want the King to burn down the town. Rodrik didn't want the people to suffer like he himself had suffered.

He could see the King´s white direwolf stare at the woman, and Rodrik thought for a moment that he could see hate in the unnerving eyes of the beast.

"You have until sunrise tomorrow to surrender yourself and the town of Barrowton or we will have to take it by force so that you may answer for your crimes against the North and stand trial." The King stated firmly as he continued to stare lady Dustin down.

Rodrik knew that if the lady of Barrowton hoped to survive the next few days, she would have to do as the King said, the army at their gate was rumored to be around thirty thousand strong and they had two large dragons that had already laid waste to armies before.

It would be madness to refuse.

"And what crimes are that?" The lady hissed at the young King and if her eyes could kill, the young man would be dead. "I will have you know, you Targaryen bastard that I have committed no crimes, I may have backed my good brother and lost, but I know that he would have been a better lord of the North than any of the Starks could hope to be, including the whelp and your whore."

Rodrik stared at the woman, along with everyone else and soon every one of the lords that were sworn to the King were shouting profanities at the lady of Barrowton, not that Rodrik could blame them.

But they were soon silenced by an overwhelming roar that came from behind the King´s party. Another roar followed and they could hear the beating of enormous wings, before the two dragons appeared in the sky.

Rodrik could feel the fear grip him and he had to fight all his instincts to let the horse just run away like it clearly wanted to.

He had been there when the dragons had appeared over Barrowton, roaring as they went and causing panic, but the guards on duty had made sure that order had been restored before any damage could be done, but the people were all taking about fleeing the town or just overpowering the guards to let the army in and give the King the castle.

The people of Barrowton seemed convinced that the new King wouldn't hurt them if they surrendered because he had been raised by Ned Stark, and even the small folk knew that he had been renowned for his honor.

Rodrik could see that something was clutched in the talons of the great green dragon that the King seemed to have claimed as his mount, according to the men who had survived the battle and been conscious long enough to see him mount the dragon.

The bigger dragon let the thing he was clutching drop to the ground and it was then he could see that it was a large brown bear.

As the bear crashed into the earth, the horses stated to panic, and it took everything that he had to calm his down. All the horses seemed upset with the dragons flying there, except for the King´s black stallion, who was still as calm as could be.

The corpse of the bear had landed close enough to startle the horses, but it was far enough to make sure that they didn't throw their riders in their fright and bolt.

It was then when the dragons decided to land, the larger green dragon placed his forelimb on the carcass as he stared at the lady of Barrowton with bared black teeth, and the dragon gave a low growl before he picked up the corpse with his mouth and the other dragon, who had landed gracefully beside him, grabbed the other end of the bear, and together they ripped the large bear apart, causing Rodrik stomach to turn as he heard the ripping sound of skin and meat and the bones breaking as they were crushed under the black teeth of the King´s dragons.

"Lady Dustin," Everyone turned to face the King, who had not once turned away too look at the dragons. "Your crimes are not only for siding with the Boltons in the battle for Winterfell, but also to have mislead King Robb when he had to march south to rescue his father from the Lannisters."

Wait what was he talking about? Lady Dustin had sent men along with Robb Stark when he had gone south, even Rodrik´s father had gone with them.

The lady of Barrowton swell with anger. "I have no idea what you are talking about, and I do not have to stand for such lies."

Lady Dustin made herself likely to turn her horse and ride away, but she was stopped by a short woman wearing the colors of house Mormont. "Oh really?" The short woman asked, her eyes spoke of such anger that Rodrik wasn't sure which was more frightening, her or the dragons.

"We all know you sent only enough men so that you wouldn't be questioned by King Robb, and the men you sent were all either greybeards or green boys. You never expected the men you sent south to come back because you were in on the plan to murder King Robb and betray house Stark."

Rodrik stared at the woman, could what she was saying be the truth? Rodrik had begged to be sent in his father´s place but he had been denied much to his surprise. Could the reason be because the lady of Barrowton had expected the men she had sent south to die, and she hadn't wanted to risk any able-bodied men?

But the King´s lords weren't done, an older man with grey hair and beard with a black fish on a red and blue field spoke up. "You were in on the plan with Roose Bolton and the Lannisters to murder King Robb, that is why you sent only young boys and old men to die in the Riverlands."

After a moment Rodrik recognized the sigil on his breast, the legendary Blackfish was glaring daggers at the woman in front of him as she stared back looking pale and fearful.

As Rodrik stared at the woman, he could feel it in his bones that what the Mormont woman and the fabled Blackfish had said was the truth. Lady Dustin had only sent the older men and untested boys south with the Stark heir, and even then, their numbers had been few. But in the battle for Winterfell, the cavalry had been made up of strong men and their numbers had been great, almost two thousand.

"Lady Dustin," The King spoke again, bringing Rodrik out of his thoughts. "You have a choice, you can stubbornly refuse us and hold up in your castle, making us have to kill hundreds to get to you." He started at the woman with his sharp eyes before he continued. "Or you can yield the town and castle and save hundreds of lives that don't need to be ended, and stand trial for what you have done and I swear to you that if found guilty, you will be laid rest with honor and I will make sure that your husbands bones are found and brought to rest here with his ancestors."

The King had barely let go of the last word when the lady Dustin shot back angerly. "I will never surrender to the likes of you," She turned crimson with anger and her voice was steadily rising. "It is your fault that my husband died."

Her eyes flashed with anger and she pointed her bone finger at the young man in front of her. "It is all your fault, and now you will pay for it, you will have to burn the castle and the town to get to me you filthy little bastard. I will be damned if I will let you keep your precious honor that your lying uncle no doubt beat into your head."

After her tantrum she turned her horse and made it gallop away, even her serjeant looked surprised at her reaction and there was fear in his eyes.

The King turned to face the serjeant before he could rush after the lady. "You have until dawn tomorrow to change her mind, or we will attack." The King´s eyes were sorrowful as he spoke those words and Rodrik had a feeling that he would rather not have to kill hundreds of people.

Then the King turned his horse and galloped away with the white wolf and his lords following him and as the King rode away, the bigger dragon let out a roar and took to the skies with the pale one following after him.

Rodrik and the other guards were all left on the small hill as they stared after the Targaryen King and his dragons, and Rodrik could feel the familiar fear seep into his soul, his mother was in Barrowton, and even if they ran away now, it wouldn't be enough time for them to get away.

They then turned away and rode after their lady, Rodrik turned his good eye to his fellow guards and he could see the same fear in their eyes that he was feeling himself.

SER BRYNDEN

He hurried the best he could over to the King´s tent, while Lord Royce and The Wull were sending out guards to rouse the lords that had travelled with them to the Barrowlands.

Brynden hated the fact that he needed to wake the King as he had most likely only slept of two hours at most, because the planning had taken such long time. King Jon seemed to want to plan for every possible outcome that could happen.

The tent itself was ink black with the three headed dragon of house Targaryen proudly roaring on the sides. The King´s tent was close to the command tent so that the King would be faster there in situations such as these.

But behind the black tent of the King was an empty field that his dragons were currently using, as the pale dragon, Viserion was sleeping and the larger emerald one, the King´s mount, Rhaegal was keeping an eye out for any danger that might come their way.

Brynden had noticed that the dragons seemed to take turns sleeping ever since they had left Winterfell, and he couldn't help but to be a little calmed by that. For he doubted that anyone would try and kill King Jon while the dragons were keeping watch.

He had heard too many stories about Kings and generals that were murdered on the eve of battle by someone sneaking into their tents, to rest comfortably until their enemies were all gone.

The blackfish knew that King Jon wanted to make peace with those he could so that they could all unite and defeat the Others and the dead, but Brynden was sure that they couldn't make peace with everyone, the scars were just too deep, like the ones with Lady Dustin.

But he was sure that the King realized it as well, he was an intelligent man after all. In the battle of Winterfell, or the day of the dragons as many of the men were now calling it, the young King had shown cunning in hiding the larger dragons from everyone until he absolutely had to use them to save Rickon.

Had King Jon showed the dragons earlier, who might know what Ramsay Snow would have done in his panic. If Brynden was a betting man, he was sure that the Bolton bastard would have taken Rickon and hidden in Winterfell, knowing that King Jon wouldn't burn down the castle with Rickon inside it.

Brynden walked over to the tent and nodded at the guards that were standing by the entrance, and let himself in. The tent was rather grand, and it made sense that it would be, as it had been given to the King by Lord Manderly.

Brynden doubted that King Jon would ever have commissioned a tent like this for himself, if anything the young man would probably be sleeping by the dragons if he could do as he wanted, but fortunately King Jon knew that it was expected of him to sleep in a grand tent, and he didn't want to be rude to lord Manderly and throwing his gift in his face.

As Brynden entered the tent, he could see that the young steward, Satin was taking a nap in one of the King´s chairs and the knight couldn't help but to smile. He liked the young man who had apparently followed King Jon and Brynden´s niece from Castle Black.

Sansa had spoken well of the young man, and she had told Brynden that apparently, he had fought valiantly in the battle for the wall and that was one of the reasons that Jon had picked him to be his steward.

Brynden woke the young man up from his nap, and the younger man jerked awake. Young Satin stared at Brynden with his dark eyes wide in shock. "Ser Brynden you startled me."

Brynden had to fight a grin at the man´s words. "Sorry about that, but I need to speak with the King, a situation as arisen."

The younger man´s eyes widened even more, and he jumped to his feet, and went to fetch the King who had probably been sleeping behind the curtain in the other end of the large tent.

As Brynden waited for the King to make his appearance, he looked around the large tent, it was similarly kept like how Robb had preferred his.

Thinking about Robb brought a sadness to his heart, his nephew had been a good man and a great commander, but as King the young wolf had been in over his head.

Robb had been so consumed with keeping the Westerling girl´s honor that he had scarified his by not keeping his word to Walder Frey and giving him a reason to back out of their alliance, even though Brynden had a feeling that old Walder had just been biding his time until Tywin could have moved against Robb.

Then there had been Catelyn´s betrayal of Robb when she had released the Kingslayer in exchange for the release of her girls, Brynden could understand her want to have her girls back, but that didn't change the fact that she had betrayed Robb and undermined him in front of his lords.

And as long as Robb had held Jaime Lannister, Tywin couldn't really move against him and Brynden doubted that the Red wedding could have happened if Robb had held the Kingslayer.

Tywin would never have risked the life of his favorite son by making such a heinous move, and as much as Brynden hated to admit it, Cat had sealed their deaths with releasing the Kingslayer.

But Robb had also made mistakes that had cost him the war, Robb had been too much like his father to appreciate the fact that one needed political savvy when one was fighting wars.

Ned had proved that he lacked any political instincts when he had been serving as hand in the capitol, Brynden had heard the rumors that had come pouring out of the capitol when Ned had been there and they weren't reflecting well on the late lord of Winterfell.

Brynden was glad when the new Targaryen King came out from behind the cover and pulled him out of his thoughts.

The King was pulling on a black tunic as he walked into the main room of the tent, and Brynden could see a glimpse of the ugly scars that littered his chest. Seeing these made him shudder with horror, at first he had been skeptical that King Jon had returned from the dead, but when he had seen the scars on the day Littlefinger died, Brynden had been horrified to see the scars the King´s murderers had left on his body.

It had left no doubt in his mind that those wounds had caused death, and he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the man in front of him had died and come back.

"Ser Brynden, what is going on?" The King asked as he rubbed his temple, and Brynden could see that the man was exhausted.

Brynden could see that Satin come in a hurry with a black jerkin with the red dragon on the chest and hand it to the King before he went to the table to pour him a mug of water. "There is a delegation from Barrowton that has arrived, and they wish to speak to you."

The King pulled on the jerkin and as he fastened it, he raised a dark eyebrow at Brynden´s words. "Really? Has Lady Dustin offered a counteroffer?" The young King rubbed his eyes before he spoke again. "Is it dawn already?"

Brynden couldn't blame the young man for his confusion, he most likely felt that he had just fallen asleep. "It isn't your grace; you can't have been asleep for more than two hours, and as for why the delegation has arrived from Barrowton, I cannot say."

The King frowned at Brynden´s words, after the failed negotiations earlier that day, no one had expected lady Dustin to want to negotiate with the King further. She had made it clear that her life would not be bought cheaply as she had yelled at the King that he would have to burn down the town to get to her.

The lords of the North had been all too happy to tell Brynden everything that they knew of lady Dustin and her hatred for Starks. But Brynden was surprised just how much anger and bitterness one person could feel.

And the fact that King Jon was the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen who had sparked the war that he husband had died in and he was also raised by his uncle Ned Stark who had left lord Dustin´s bones in Dorne but brought Lyanna home, had not been lost on the lady.

But the King had insisted that they needed to reach out and trying to negotiate peacefully for the sake of the people of Barrowton, and even though it had failed, at least the King had tried to negotiate.

Everyone had been surprised that the lady of Barrowton hadn't offered a counteroffer and instead just stormed of in anger but Brynden couldn't help but to admire that dedication the King had to make sure that his people were protected, he didn't know many other nobles that had the same drive to protect the innocent, even Robb who had sympathized with the small folk and would have liked to help them, didn't have that same drive.

It was most likely because Robb had been raised all his life to be the lord of Winterfell and lived a life of privilege, while King Jon had believed that he was just the bastard son of the lord of the North who had never been expected to take up a lordship.

Again, Brynden noted the differences between the cousins. Robb had been much quicker to smile and had been charming enough for three men, and King Jon was silent and stern. But Brynden had a feeling that if the Northern lord could choose between the two, they would have chosen King Jon instead of his cousin.

It wasn't because of blood or that Robb had been incompetent, but as Brynden had now served both men, he had to admit that his nephew didn't have the aptitude for leadership that King Jon had.

Sure, Robb had been a capable leader and had a great eye for military strategy, but Robb had never really had to work for his position as a leader as he had just been born to it, while King Jon had served in the night´s watch as a steward and then a ranger.

The King and his steward had told Brynden a little about his time serving at the Wall, and while the King didn't really talk much about how badly people like Ser Alliser Thorne had treated those around him, Satin was more than happy to tell Brynden everything that he knew.

Brynden could also see the differences in which the Northern lords treated the two young men, while Robb had been questioned at every turn by the lords, it seemed that the Northern lords were quick to carry out any and all commands the young King gave them, even before they had found out about the larger dragons.

Then again Robb had gone with the army as an green boy and been put immediately as the head of that army, while when King Jon had gone with Sansa to gather the lords he had already seen battles and been at the head of an military order.

The King pulled on the black leather armor over the jerkin and attached the two valyrian swords to his waist as the young steward handed him the crown of the conqueror.

Brynden couldn't help but to feel that even though both King Jon and Aegon the dragon, were both military men, they were almost complete opposites.

Aegon the conqueror had gone to conquer Westeros to become King and to establish a dynasty, but Brynden didn't think for a moment that it was the same thing that drove the new King. Not after seeing the dead man that had once been Ser Alliser Thorne.

King Jon believed that they needed to unite the seven Kingdoms before the army of the dead came to kill them all, if they wanted to stand a chance against them. But that didn't mean that King Jon wasn't without his flaws, Brynden had a feeling that King Jon would have a hard time with the courtly manners and dancing as he seemed to have no patients for such trivial things.

King Jon also wasn't a man that enjoyed polite small talk and would rather get right down to business, but maybe that was what the realm needed right now, a man who would rule rather than attend feasts and tourneys and drinking his life away.

Both Brynden and Satin followed the King to the commander´s tent along with Ghost, to meet the lords and the delegation from Barrowton to see what they wanted.

Brynden couldn't imagine that Lady Dustin had changed her mind after her tantrum in front of all the lords and would want to start the negotiations again. No, something else had to be going on.

They entered the tent to find the other lords already there, and as the King took his seat, Brynden couldn't even begin to guess what the man was thinking. Brynden took a seat next to the King on his left and on the other side of King Jon was lady Mormont, as it was her turn to sit at his right side.

Brynden recognized this continuing rotation of lords and ladies sitting at King Jon´s right when he had served Robb. It seemed that even though Ned Stark hadn't understood the finer points of southern politics when governing, he had taught both Robb and King Jon that it was good to make sure that all the lords and ladies under his command were respected.

The white direwolf however made his way between Brynden and the King and laid his large head in the King´s lap, so that King Jon could give him a pat on the head.

The lords were seated in a u shape so that the delegation could stand in the middle of the tent and everyone could see them and clearly hear what they had to say.

King Jon beaconed the guards to let the Barrowton party inside the tent. The delegation was made up of five men in the colors of house Dustin, and Brynden noticed that three of them had been in attendance in the negotiations this morning, but they hadn't said anything as they were most likely just common guards.

One of the men was particularly distinctive with large new burn scars on the left side of his face and hand, and it seemed that he had gone blind in one eye, by judging of the milky colored hue of his eye.

Brynden had suspected that lady Dustin hadn't taken the man with her to the meeting for protection but rather to throw it in the King´s face what had happened to some of the men that day when the they took back Winterfell.

He had to admit that he had found it rather clever, until lady Dustin had lost control of her temper and insulted both Rickon and Sansa.

That had been the height of foolishness in Brynden´s humble opinion. She had lost the high ground that she had tried to establish for herself and made everyone angry at her.

Then the dragons had appeared, King Jon had intended to keep them away, but Brynden had seen over the course of the weeks he had been around King Jon that both the white direwolf and the emerald dragon, responded to his emotions, and now that he thought about it, Brynden had never heard or seen King Jon give either one of them commands with words or gestures.

Brynden was brought out of his thoughts by the men as they bowed in respect to the King, before the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna spoke. "Has lady Dustin changed her mind?"

Even as King Jon asked the question, Brynden could hear it that the young King didn't hold out much hope that she had.

The men looked at each other, and the one with the scarred face took a small step forward. "No, your grace, she has not."

This omission caused the lords to grumble to themselves. "Then why are you here?" Asked lord Redfort with suspicion in his eyes.

The scarred man cleared his throat. "When we got back to Barrowton and told our fellow guards what had happened, we all decided that we needed to do something." Brynden could see that the man was pale and drawn and his hands were shaking with nervousness.

The man with the burn scars spoke again. "After hearing that lady Dustin sent the men south, knowing that they would never come back and the fact that she would let the people of Barrowton burn, we decided to take the town and the castle, and lady Dustin is now in our custody along with her serjeant and master at arms."

These words made everyone stare at the man in bewilderment. The guards had taken it upon themselves to just arrest the lady and her loyal men? Then again, he shouldn't be that surprised because she had made it clear that she would rather see the town burned than to surrender.

Before anyone could speak, Ser Lyn Corbray stood up in anger. "You captured the woman you are sworn to serve and protect and are now trying to save your hides by giving her up?"

Brynden could understand his way of thinking, many lords were brought up thinking that they were better than the people that were born into lower standing in society. Many good lords had that failing and the fact that these guards had taken their lady captive would make them very nervous.

"And why is that bad?" Spoke the wild haired wildling, Tormund as he scratched chin. "Wont it be better for us if we can capture the place without blood spilt?"

"Yes, it is." Stated lord Redfort firmly. "King Jon gave lady Dustin her opportunity to surrender peacefully, but she threw the offer in his face." Lord Redfort had stood up as he addressed the lords. "If these men give her up, then they will have saved hundreds of lives that would have been lost because she wasn't willing to except the inevitable."

Brynden could see that Ser Lyn´s lips had tuned into a fine line in his anger. But thankfully he didn't have time to state his opinion, because lady Mormont was quicker. "I agree with lord Redfort, King Jon gave her terms that are better than she deserved and according to the traditions of the North, she has to die for her crimes against the Starks and the people she was supposed to protect."

"Aye," The Wull stood up and shook his fist in the air. "She should face justice, not hide behind the people of Barrowton after insulting lord Stark, the King and the Queen."

As the lords cheered hearing the Wull´s words, the King held up his hand to silence them, then he turned to the five men. "The fact that you came here means that you are willing to negotiate," He looked them over with the same stony expression that he had on his face for the entire evening. "What are your terms?"

The guards all looked at the scared man, who cleared his throat again. "All we ask is that we are allowed to surrender the town and castle peacefully and that the inhabitants will not be harmed."

It was for the first time today that Brynden could detect a small smile on the King´s face. "You have my word that the people of Barrowton will not be harmed."

The relief on the men´s faces was seen as clearly as the sun on a cloudless day, and all the lords seemed happy that the matter would be resolved so much sooner than they had thought, as they were all eager to ride south and avenge the Red wedding.

But Brynden couldn't help but to be a little worried about how Ser Lyn was conducting himself, he rubbed his chin and decided to tighten the security around the King, for good measure.