Wild Wolf

by Vimesenthusiast

Fed up with life in Nerima, Ranma runs away, only to be followed by Happosai, who has a magic scroll he want to try out. It works but Ranma suddenly finds himself in Westeros replacing the champion chosen by the old gods in a time of great peril for humanity. How will the world change with the Wild Wolf raised in the den of wolves? A lot. Thanks to Naj. P. Jackson for the picture.

16. Chapter 16

I don't own Ranma 1/2 or A song of Ice and Fire, mores the pity. I would have a lot of fun in either universe.

I would like to thank Antony444 for once again going over this for me and being my sounding board on all things Westeros. Again though, we might still have odd missing space issues, so if anyone sees any, PM me please.

Wild Wolf 16 Justice Given, Warnings Heard

---

While the events around King's Landing were coming to an end, down in the Stormlands Oberyn had continued his campaign of terror. The lands of Trant, Peasebury and Wensington had felt the Viper's touch, and were burning or otherwise despoiled behind him. That had brought him onto the lands of one of the more powerful Stormlands Houses, House Grandison, which he again began to despoil, but here it was somewhat more costly. And the young fool standing in front of him in his tent, cocksure and arrogant despite the remains of the storm dripping from his cloak and armor, was part and parcel of the reason.

"Perhaps my instructions were unclear." Oberyn said his voice a low thoughtful tone. But there was a hint of hiss in it that would've sent any man who knew him to flinching, or perhaps running. The young fool in front of him did not flinch, but his smile disappeared as well. "I believe I ordered your force to fall back if you ran into the slightest bit of resistance heading towards Grandview, is this in point of fact not the case?"

"You did, but I thought to see if I could go around it." Ser Gerold Dayne, the head of House Dayne of High Hermitage, answered. He was a young man with an aquiline nose, high cheekbones and a strong jaw, visible thanks to his tendency to keep his face clean-shaven. His thick silver hair, divided by a streak of midnight black, showed that he had some Valyrian blood in his ancestry, as did his dark purple eyes. "After all, our orders are to harry and harass the Stormlands is much as possible, how can we do that if we are afraid of getting too close to their castles?"

"By despoiling every bit of arable land they have, sowing it with salt, and poisoning the wells as we have been doing since exiting the Boneway you stupid young fool." Oberyn replied his tone now even more like that of a viper's, biting and poisonous. "Not by leading good Dornishmen into costly ambush after costly ambush! I get enough of that from the idiots who lead the mercenary groups! I don't want to see good Dornish soldiers wasted by their own commanders!"

"You're speaking as if it wasn't a total victory!" The man some called Darkstar said incredulously. "We killed all of the ambushers!" He had too, even those who had surrendered. That this wasted a valuable local resource and broke every law of war in Westeros didn't seem to occur to him.

"But only after their archer's had slain more than half your own men because you foolishly led them into the woods after them!" The area in question was not flat, it was hilly and overgrown with rocks and trees haphazardly thrown around the landscape, which made the use of horses impossible. That had negated the one true Dornish advantage when it came to war: horse archers. Dorne was famed for them and their use in quick, slashing hit and run attacks, and they were truly deadly in the desert.

However horse-bows didn't have the range of even Stormlands bows. Worse the locals knew the lay of the land intimately, and were able to fade in and out hitting Gerold's forces again and again before he was able to pin them in place and wipe them out. There had only been 100 men involved in that series of ambushes, but they had slaughtered at least 400 of Oberyn's precious Dornish forces.

Oberyn had been going out of his way since this campaign began to husband the forces actually from Dorne, using the mercenaries whenever it looked as if he would be taking losses. The mercenaries of course were fine with this, since if they did the lion's share of the fighting, they got the lion's share of the booty.

And so far the booty had actually been surprisingly good. Oberyn could do without the camp followers, which were really just women taken from smallfolk families here and there along their route of march. But the mercenaries' bags were bulging with wine, food and even some trinkets here and there. Most of those were taken in the sack of the holdfast of House Trant, and several small merchant groups that the army had intercepted here and there. But taking on Grandview, which was a small town and castle in one, was not something Oberyn was going to do.

"Men can be easily replaced." Darkstar said calmly, a faint sneer on his oh-so-pretty face. "Especially if you give me the order to go back to the main branch of House Dayne and order them to send you their men like they should have!"

House Dayne of Starfall, one of the more powerful Dornish houses, had not joined the muster. In fact Lady Allyria Dayne had protested the muster most vociferously via raven several times, and had refused to even provender the army.

If not for the fact that the reasons for this was well known, that her cousin and heir the lord who she was acting as regent for was lost somewhere in the Riverlands or dead along with her fiancé who she doted on, Oberyn would have called her out for treason. But not only would that have forced him to possibly besiege Starfall, which would not have been easy if it was possible at all, but none of his Dornish forces would've agreed to it.

House Dayne of High Hermitage, a Knightly House offshoot of the Main branch, had fielded all of its forces under its lead knight, the idiot in front of him. That amounted to around 800 men: 200 relatively decent infantry, 100 lancers, and 400 horse archers with the remainder made up of levy infantry. There was something going on between Gerold and the main branch, but Oberyn didn't know what it was and didn't particularly care.

"No." he said coldly. "If you were one of my mercenary captains, I would be executing you right now for incompetence. The only reason I am not is because you are young yet, and might, just might be able to learn from your mistakes. And you will need to learn from your mistakes. Remember you are not from the main House of Dayne, you are from High Hermitage, a House which is unimportant in the grand scheme of things, as are you. Make another error of judgment, or interpret my orders so loosely again, and I will not hesitate to kill you."

He watched in amusement as the youngster scowled angrily. He was almost hoping the boy would draw on him. Oberyn had a small crossbow ready hidden underneath the small folding table he used as a bench, and his spear was lying to one side of him. Please give me an excuse! 'Darkstar' thinks himself so dangerous and for an untried sword I suppose he is, but in comparison to those like me, he's nothing!

However the young fool seemed to have some sense, or perhaps he felt the hidden crossbow because he removed his hand from his sword and gritted his teeth angrily for a moment getting him up self under control. "Very well, I apologize, I made a mistake in judgment. It will not happen again." Gerold stood there for a moment, then bowed abruptly and left the tent.

"Young fool." Oberyn said scoffing and removing his hand from the small crossbow. With that bit of discipline taken care of Oberyn turned his attention back to the map. I have more important things to think about young sadistic idiots.

House Grandison was fighting him in exactly the style it should, using small bands of hit-and-run skirmishers who would fade out as quickly as they came, killing a few men here and there. The losses were negligible, but they were having an effect on the morale of his men. Actually, Darkstar's victory in wiping out the large group he'd run into had bolstered that morale, though not nearly enough in Oberyn's mind to make up for the losses.

Yet even that wasn't a major issue, since Oberyn doubted that House Grandison's forces would continue to harass his army once he left their lands. No, he had a much tougher enemy, autumn in the Stormlands. It seemed as if every other day the army was hammered by a new storm, and they were growing stronger and longer. It was raining, it was becoming colder with every passing week, and his men were simply not prepared for it. Thanks to the pace they were moving, disease hadn't quite yet set in among the army, but it would quickly. "Whose idea was it to invade the Stormlands in the autumn anyway?"

"I think that was Uncle Doran's and Visery's my Lord, and I seem to recall that you thought it a grand scheme too." A voice said from behind Oberyn.

He scowled a little but he couldn't put any real menace into the expression. "Quiet daughter, that was rhetorical."

Obara moved out from a patch of darkness at the back of the tent, looking at him quizzically. "What are we going to do? We can't keep up the campaign in the Stormlands for very much longer without falling to disease and other issues. And once we do, the mercenaries won't be willing to stick around, they'll break."

"Of course they will, they have a strong sense of personal self-preservation." Oberyn quipped, but shook his head. "I wanted to stick near to the coast or near to the rivers at any rate so we could make for the coast, but with the storm season upon us, that's not going to happen. Instead we'll go the opposite direction."

He moved his finger over the map marking out the new route. They were a little past Grandview now, though still on Grandison land. "The lands get easier if we keep going for another day in a northerly direction, then split off east. We'll have to pass through this patch of the Kingswood which will be hard going, but after that, we'll be onto the other side which will be in the Reach. After that, we'll march on Grassy Vale. That family is a weak one, and send most of its forces to bolster Renly. After a hard march an easy sack should bring up the troop's morale. After that, we'll follow the Blue Bryn, sacking what castles we can as we make our way deeper into the Reach."

Obara shook her head, wincing. She had not enjoyed the march, oh the fighting was fun when there were actual fights, but most of it had been burning, pillaging and raping their way across the Stormlands. The mercenaries and the Dorne troops were fine with that, she wasn't for many reasons, not least of which was her gender. Knowing what armies did on the march to the smallfolk whose land they marched through was one thing, witnessing it was quite another.

Yet she replied gamely. Obara was a Sand Snake. Poison ran in her veins not blood and she would not allow herself to be swayed by soft feelings when they were striking at those who willingly served they who had wronged their family. "That, that sounds like a good idea but I'm concerned that the Reach has so much more manpower than our Army does."

"True, but recall how much of that army has already been mustered and sent to King's Landing or down to deal with the Ironborn reavers." Up until they left House Wyl's land behind them Oberyn had been getting relatively quick reports from his brothers spy ring. Since then, messengers had been few and far between, until he finally stopped trying to send men back along their route, knowing that they were being ambushed somewhere along the line. That meant that by this point he was a little over three weeks out of date from any news, but he didn't think that would really matter.

"And better, I seem to recall my brother saying that he had a contact at Longtable, a lady willing to pass on information for anyone willing to pay her price. Once we're passed Grassy Vale I'll send a messenger ahead under disguise to talk to her, to get the lay of the land. That should allow us to make further plans to stay ahead of any response force that the Reach can still muster."

"In that case," Obara said sighing faintly. "We should get the army up and moving again."

OOOOOOO

Asha gazed through her glass from the crow's nest of Black Wind, frowning heavily. At the moment her ship was making good time skirting along shoreline of the Straits, closer than any deep bottomed galley would be willing to go. Strung out behind her or even closer to the shoreline to her east the majority of her fleet waited, drifting slightly for a moment, their sails furled.

From here she could barely make out the sails of the Lannister fleet as they made their way slowly but with a certain ponderous majesty through the Straits. They weren't spread out unfortunately, each ship was sailing much closer to one another than any Ironborn fleet would've been willing to do. Of course when Ironborn ships sailed together, they were careful to keep distances from one another, less old feuds suddenly flare up when someone spotted an ancient enemy on another ship, though of course if the captains themselves were feuding, the very idea of sailing together would have never ever occurred to them.

I wish I could say they're sailing that close because they're scared of sailing alone, but I doubt it. She didn't think the Greenlanders would be able to match her crew's skills as ship handlers, or even in a fight across the gunwales, but they really didn't have to be. With the number of scorpions those things carry, they could sink my entire fleet before we close if I do this wrong.

Her fleet consisted of forty-two longships, most of them fully manned with 150 crew members. She had been reinforced by a fourteen more ships from House Harlaw, but had lost seven ships that she had originally commanded including several that she had lead since coming down from the north. They had been left behind because she had mistakenly thought they had learned the need for strategy and tactics. They hadn't, and when a Blacktyde ship came by sharing the news of the Lannister's fleet being spotted, they all chased out after the first war galley that entered the Straits. According to the one longship that returned, that war galley had retreated, and they'd been jumped by the rest of the Lannister fleet in the open waters out past Fair Isle.

A few other ships had even come from the Iron Islands. House Farwynd of Lonely Light and House Volmark had apparently held some ships back from the Rise of the Kraken. Their captains said this was because they had deep reservations about Balon's grandiose scheme. That was well and good, though she was surprised that her father hadn't seen through their attempt.

Still she was happy to have them, even if she wouldn't have enough time to instill any kind of discipline into them or the second force out of Harlaw. Worse she didn't have time to make certain that they'd follow her orders in battle, which could be disastrous.

Thankfully she didn't have any concerns there about the Blacktyde or the first group out of Harlaw. Hopefully their examples would be enough to hold back the newcomers rather than vice versa.

"Keep us out of sight down of the horizon." she ordered shouting down to her crew. "I want us to be able follow them, but I don't want them to be able to see us! They're almost at Faircastle, now we'll see if my first little trap works."

Her crew responded quickly, trimming the sale even further and slowing the ship, signaling the other ships quickly while she continued to watch the enemy fleet. She watched as it came abreast of where they should've started to turn slightly westward to make for the bay of Fair Isle, holding her breath for a moment.

If they could catch that fleet in the narrower confines of the cove, they would be able to close far easier, and bring the fleet to battle on their terms. No matter how many scorpions they have, if I can get to grips with their fleet when they are hemmed in the bay, if I can board their ships, I'll back my man against any amount of greenlanders.

Yet it wasn't to be. Instead of turning westward, the Lannister fleet kept on going, only a few ships peeling off to head toward the bay. Those were quickly out of sight, while the rest of the ships kept on going further north and east, simply heading straight through the Straits towards the Iron Islands.

"Damnit." She muttered. Those few ships would be able to retake the harbor easily, since she had only left a single longship there. The Sea Foam had been damaged in the fighting for the harbor, and hadn't been able to put to sail before the deadline came for her fleet to remove itself from the harbor to bait this little trap. Luckily most of their spoils had already been transported back to the Iron Islands, and both the Castle and the small holdfast within the port had been burned. The castle still stood somewhat, but the holdfast had collapsed in on itself.

Still, that means that the greenlanders will have a somewhat closer supply point to call on. For a moment Asha pondered the idea of pulling back to the Iron Islands, letting the Greenlanders get to them and then raiding their supply lines until they were forced to retreat. But after a moment she shook her head. No, they've got too many war galleys, I'd have to keep most of my strength raiding their convoys to get through, and thanks to my father most of the islands don't have enough men to defend themselves and keep the thralls beaten down.

There were of course thousands of thralls, making up more than fifty percent of the population of the Islands. Most of those were from families of those taken in raids for generations, but many were not, since the Ironborn tended to work their thralls to death in the mines or at other tasks if need be. So many Houses had to keep at least some of their men at home to keep the thralls under control, especially on Great Wyk and Pyke itself.

If they get to shore, they'll be able to force a beachhead quickly enough just like in my father's first rebellion, and whatever their lack of wealth our islands are still able to supply us with food. No, I'll have to meet them at sea. But that doesn't mean I have to be stupid about it.

The Ironborn fleet stayed out of sight towards the inside of the Straits for several days following the Greenlander ships just out of sight while they made their slow way through the Straits. Asha had wondered initially why they were going so slow, but then one of her other captains had spotted several merchant ships sailing with them, indicating that they were bringing along their own supplies. Asha was curious about that, but decided it didn't really matter to her plans.

After a few days of this many of her captains began to get restless, saying they should strike now but Asha refused, wanting to wait for the right time. Despite Asha's string of victories she was forced to call a conference however, where she reiterated her position. When she gave them their reasoning, most of the captains grudgingly accepted, save for a few troublemakers here and there, but with House Harlaw still backing her as a whole, they subsided.

Asha knew she would only get one real chance at this. If it went badly, her control over her fleet would disappear like salt in the wind, and the Lannisters were keeping too good a tight formation for any kind of hit-and-run attacks to work. No, it was best to wait until the weather and the ocean itself could be their ally.

Several days after that meeting, the Ironborn had their chance: a massive storm, almost but not quite a monsoon, a deluge of water, lightning, thunder and above all, wind. It struck at just the wrong time for the Lannister fleet, where the Straits became treacherous all along their course forward, with several hidden shoals and reefs.

One ship was hit amidships by one such reef, and another lost its rudder. Worse, visibility because of the storm was almost nonexistent, cutting down the ability to see for a few leagues around to practically one or two at best. And so their formation had begun to break up.

And then Asha and her fleet came out of the storm from behind them. The first the Lannister's knew of it was arrows beginning to fall on the back-most ship in their formation. While it's nearby fellows tried to make tight turns in the pitching roaring waters to bring their scorpions to bear that ship was rammed by three longships, and the crews of those longships boarded with a roar.

Those war galleys had responded quicker than Asha had expected, but still not fast enough, and even so, they proved how green they were when it came to seas such as this. All four of them floundered badly in the pitching sea when they tried to move against the waves, and one almost was pushed over entirely.

One of them got off a single shot with its scorpions, most of which were facing ahead of the ship and to the sides covering a 145° angle in front of the ship but only one scorpion was directly facing aft of it. That scorpion took out one of the attacking longship's rigging, slicing through the sale with a thump, but it and the others were helpless to stop the longships from closing with them.

Asha and the rest of her fleet raced on. But behind them, the captain of a war galley had enough courage to actually set fire to his own rigging to hopefully warn his fellows.

The rest of the fleet had already begun to turn by the time Asha and the rest of her longships came into range. Most of them hadn't been able to turn entirely, but enough took her ships under fire to cost Asha six or seven more longships, sinking them or destroying enough of their rigging and oars to slow their advance. And any ship that went down in waters like this was doomed, along with every man aboard.

But the rest of the Ironborn fleet closed. Arrows flew from both sides and men began to die, falling to the rain drenched decks below while lightning zoomed across the heavily overcast sky and thundered bellowed. Fire arrows were practically useless in this downpour, which took out one of the most dangerous weapons of any fleet at sea, leaving the battle to be determined by steel, numbers and courage.

Five more Lannister war galleys were boarded in the next few moments, then Asha's Black Wind scraped alongside a sixth, and she had no more time or inclination to spend looking at the overall battle. "Up and at them!"

With Qarl leading the way her crew charged across the gunwales onto the larger ship, hacking and slashing at the crew who were barely in place to defend themselves. Asha charged with them, attacking one Lannister man with so much fury that she knocked him sideways overboard to die in the wild to tumult that had become the ocean. In the next second she was engaged heavily with several men, one of whom snarled at her. "Fucking barbarians, they even send their women to sea?"

Asha laughed wildly, crossing blades with the man and then kicking out hard catching him in the chest, sending him gasping to his knees, where her forearm caught him in the face. The other two men came in as one, trying to box her in, but she flung her hatchet at one, forcing him to dodge backwards, allowing her to engage the other sword to sword. Here he showed his inexperience, simply hacking away rather than with any form. She was easily able to knock his sword off guard, then grabbed her knife from her belt and thrust it into the man's unarmored chest.

"Lester!" shouted the man who Asha had thrown her hatchet towards then he was on her, hacking and slashing at her with rage but no skill. "You killed him, you killed my brother!"

Asha dodged to one side running the man through. Kicking his dead body off her sword before raising her blade and going after another man, hacking into his back as he tried to duel with one of her crewmen. Then she had enough time to reach down to grab up her hatchet before cursing luridly, seeing another war galley through the storm visible on Black Wind's other side.

Rather than taking her ship under fire with its scorpions however, the ship pulled in alongside hurling across grapnels and crashing into her ship, side to side. Then it's crew, which were much better armored and armed then the crew of the initial war galley she had attacked, charged across. Their warcries were so loud Asha could even hear them over the storm and the clangor of battle. "Burning bright!"

With a snarl Asha bellowed "'ware back! They're tryin' to take the Black Wind boys!"

That was enough for many of her crewmen to break off his engagement with the first war galley's crew, turning to this new group. But before they could re-board their ship, the newcomers had already slain practically every man that had been left on the deck of Black Wind, and several of them were even now breaking down the hatches to head further into the ship.

"By the Drowned God, you'll not take my ship!" Asha howled in anger, leading the charge back onto her longship alongside Qarl.

These newcomers however were much better trained as well as better armored, wearing chain mail as few greenlanders would at sea, and they worked in teams of four, each man looking out for one another in the midst of the melee. Even as she and Qarl struck down one such group others were wreaking a bloody toll on her crew.

Then four more longships crashed into them, sending many men to the slick deck beneath them with the impetus of the blow. Seconds later more Ironborn raced across the intervening space, shouting "For the Drowned God! That which is dead can never truly die!"

A part of Asha's mind heard that cry and knew these were the reinforcements that had come from Pyke, but she didn't care. All she cared about was that now the men from the second war galley were being pressed hard. Their armor was still allowing them to take the Ironborn on much more evenly, but the numbers were beginning to tell in the Ironborn's favor.

Not that Asha had any time to waste on that. She found herself engaged along with Qarl against a swordsman who was easily the best she had yet seen. He engaged her first mate's sword to short axes, smashing both of his axe's to the side, steering one down to the deck as his hand flashed up to smash into Qarl's chin, sending his head rocketing back under the blow.

Asha jumped forward engaging the man before he could capitalize. But she found herself handled almost with negligent ease, and was forced to duck under a blow that would've caved in her head, then roll to avoid a follow-on ripost that came so fast she had no chance of taking advantage of the man having seemingly been off-balance.

Desperately she brought up her hatchet to block a third below. She watched in shock when the man changed his sword's trajectory just slightly mid-blow, so that instead of impacting the hatchet's blade it cut into the wood of the hatchet's shaft right above her fingers. The man's sword cut straight through,, sending the hatchet's head flying through the rain.

It was only Qarl's intervention that kept her from dying in the man's next attack, and she fell back, grabbing up some of the fallen rigging. Heavy with rain and knotted at one end it made a decent enough weapon. She charged back, swinging both it and her sword at the man while all around her the battle continued.

The man ducked, allowing her attack with the rope to go over his head as he reached up as swiftly as a snake strike to grab her outstretched arm pulling Asha towards him, back first. His voice sounded surprisingly loud given the tumult of battle and the howling fury of the storm. "A rope, really?" Then Asha felt his boot hitting her backside and she was flung forward, almost impacting Qarl in the stomach but he leaped to one side, keeping his footing on the heaving, wet deck with the ease of years at sea.

Qarl began to attack the man again. Having lost one of his axes somewhere now he was wielding one with both hands, but the man matched him blow for blow, forcing him back until his back was against one of the masts.

Nearby Asha gutted a man who had attempted to take advantage of her downed status, thrusting her sword up between his legs and deeper into his body before pulling it out listening to the man's curdling scream. "GYAAAHHHHhhhhhh…..!" She stabbed another man in the back before he could finish off a downed Ironborn, racing to aid Qarl.

But the battle had shifted, and she could no longer get to them. She never saw Qarl go down, his knee ruined by a blow, or saw him take another man's spear to the back.

Indeed it was all Asha could do for a few moments to defend herself, but she slew two of her five attackers, and suddenly other Ironborn were there, bursting through the rest of the melee. She leaned against the bulwark at the back of Black Wind getting her breath back before pushing herself up and thrusting her way back into the battle.

Ahead of her she could see the man that she had recently been dueling with hacking Ironborn down, his movements fluid and fast, showing a skill she had never seen before. But she refused to be cowed. Instead she reached down, grabbing up a dead man's fallen hatchet and raced to meet him. The man smiled at seeing her come through the melee and the rain, turning his body slightly to give her a smaller target before bringing his sword around in a blow that she was forced to block with her new hatchet, almost losing it at the first pass.

"Your crew fight well for Ironborn." The man said conversationally, causing Asha to scowl. "And you picked the proper time to attack us I have to say."

"Shut up and fight greenlander!" Asha growled, her pride piqued at the fact that he could talk in so blasé a manner while engaging her. As if she didn't matter!

The man sighed, and his blows redoubled forcing Asha back, smashing her off-balance enough for him to spend a brief second to hack another Ironborn down as the man tried to come to her aid. "May I know at least the name of the young woman I'm about to kill? Oh, forgive me, my name is Ser Addam Marbrand. I've been told it's polite to give my name first."

Desperately, Asha lunged, but she was off-balance and couldn't get up enough speed to surprise her opponent. Instead he simply stood aside allowing her blow to pass, and she threw herself sideways in an even more frantic contortion to one side gritting her teeth as his sword cut through her chain mail along her side. But thanks to her last second evasion it wasn't a killing blow, but she could still feel her side start to bleed copiously.

Asha pushed herself to her feet, watching as another Ironborn tried to engage the man, only to die as the man moved through a series of blows that first forced the Ironborn warrior onto the defensive then off-balance and finally to the deck, missing both of his hands as they had been chopped off.

More Ironborn came between them separating them again, for which Asha was thankful. She wearily raised her sword and moved to rejoin the melee which had moved almost entirely on to the deck of another Ironborn ship while other Ironborn began to move up to her side, as well as behind her.

Some sixth sense warned her and she shifted her weight, turning to look behind her just as a dagger went in her back, piercing her chain mail and thrusting deep into her previously unwounded side. But again thanks to her last-second dodge, it simply skittered across her side rather than finding her kidney.

"What!" she exclaimed, staring in horror at the Ironborn all around her, one of whom was grinning maliciously.

"Euron sends his regards." Said one of them, knocking her sword out of her hand while another man grabbed her by the shoulder pulling her around for what she knew would be a death blow. "The Drowned God calls you, personally!"

From somewhere within her somewhere Asha found the strength to charge forward, her hatchet smashing the sword of the Ironborn who had spoken up to one side as she bodily rammed into him, taking them to the gunwales behind him. They teetered there for a brief second and then both of them went over the side of the ship and into the dark waters below.

Through the tumult of the battle Addam had seen that beat of betrayal, and frowned heavily. The woman might not have had much skill, but she had courage, and to die like that to a traitor struck him as wrong. Still he had more important things to worry about. He began to bellow orders to his men, restoring some sense of order in the chaos of the melee, while the larger battle continued.

Asha had planned her attack almost perfectly, but there was one thing she had forgotten in her calculations: the Ironborn signaled to one another through use of signal flags, usually brightly colored flags tied from their masts. But in this tempest visibility was so poor that they couldn't signal one another. So several dozen war galleys were heavily engaged, while many more were not engaged at all, or only engaged one-on-one.

Soon that began to tell, and more and more longships were sunk where they had grappled with their victims. Perhaps Asha could have figured out a way to rally her longships, or perhaps not. Once battle was actually joined, Ironborn were incredibly hard to control, and any attempt at doing so might have seen her labeled a coward and ignored even by the longships of House Harlaw. Yet without Asha, there was no coordination any longer, and even with the storm the war galleys were at least able to see friend from foe.

Hours later as the storm finally began to clear the death toll was bad on both sides. Of the forty-two longships on the Ironborn's side, 20 had been sunk outright. Fourteen more had taken massive losses to their crew, including Baelor Blacktyde and his forces but scattered enough for the ships to survive, for now. House Harlaw and its allies faired a little better, retreating out of the straits back to the Iron Islands, but even they had taken severe losses to their crews, and they lost four more ships sinking due to the damage they had taken on the way back to the Islands.

Ironically, among those ships lost with all hands were the ships whose captains had decided to betray Asha. Addam and his armsmen had wiped them out to a man before setting fires in their holds before their ship pulled away from the gaggle of ships that had been tied together during that portion of the battle.

Of the thirty-four war galleys of the Lannister fleet eleven had been lost outright, and six others had sustained damage that would force them to put in it Banefort for repairs. Seven more were complete write-offs, having lost their rudders or been gutted on the rocks which actually did as much damage to the ships themselves as the Ironborn. Of the men on those ships, most of their crews had been lost, but the remainder made up the losses that the rest of the fleet had sustained.

The ten undamaged ships and five merchant galleys, which had not been engaged, continued on their way defending their wounded fellows as they made for Banefort. After they were repaired however, the invasion of the Iron Islands would begin.

OOOOOOO

Thanks to the size of their army and the fact that the Blackwood portion of it wasn't used to the pace that Ranma set, the march to Riverrun took them a week and a half from the Raventree Hall. This was hampered by the need to once again go around the village of Sallydance, and the number of refugees on the River Road heading back to their various holdings along the Red Fork.

While many of the Riverlords were happy to see this, Ranma was actually rather ambivalent about it because he knew that when winter came most of those farmsteads would have to be abandoned in any event. They simply wouldn't be warm enough to get their owners through the winter nights. Worse, many of the smaller holdfasts out in the countryside had been destroyed by the Lannisters, simple one-story stone keeps torn down so they couldn't be used as rallying points. Thank the old gods that half of the Riverlands are still untouched, and that the Lannisters didn't have enough time to really ruin the land between the Blue and Red Forks. We might be forced to abandon some areas south of the Red Fork, but that just means we'll have more manpower to throw at other problems elsewhere.

When they came into view of Riverrun Ranma paused in surprise. "What?" Daenerys asked looking at him from where she and Merry were as usual sharing a horse. The two dragons were flying overhead, glorying as always in flight, but with orders to remain above the army for now.

"Given what we learned from the smallfolk, I'd expected there to be a shantytown of some kind built up by the refugees outside the walls." Ranma replied with a shrug. "I can't see any sign of one though."

"They wouldn't be on this side of the river." Tytos replied from where he rode on Daenerys' other side turning from a conversation he had been having with Rickard, who had caught up with the army along with Domeric and Alayaya, Jason and a few of his men a bare day ago, with Rickard reporting what he had heard of the Salt Pans. "There might be some on the other side though, the Whispering Wood is only a day's walk from where the Tumblestone goes around Riverrun on the other side, which would be a fine source of material and put the towns on the opposite side of any attack coming from the Lannisters."

"Make sense." Ranma said with a nod. Riverrun was built on a small island set between where the Tumblestone merged with the Red Fork before continuing down to the Trident. It had decently high walls that came out of the river there, and a moat between the castle and the city that took up the rest of the island that could be opened to the river to cut the castle off entirely. Ranma had plans for that waterpower, and hoped that Vincent Ryger had been hard at work on his designs.

As they neared Ranma could see banners on the walls and was surprised to note that House Grell and House Paege were in attendance. Next to them were some of the neutral Houses, including Piper and even House Vance of Atranta next to one he didn't recognize, a red fish on a white background surrounded by a yellow stripe. "It looks as if were not the only ones that received a call from my grandfather." He said, pointing them out. "What's that third one there?"

"I believe that is House Mooton, Ranma." Tytos stared at the banners, then out across the army sighing faintly.

"What is it Tytos?" Daenerys asked.

"I'm feeling rather maudlin your grace just thinking of how many Houses have been destroyed in this war. In that way, I think at this war might actually be the most horrible war on record."

Ranma bit back a sharp retort, that it was about time that the Houses of the nobility who went to war began to pay the lion's share of the price for doing so, but restrained himself for with difficulty. He remained silent as the army moved on, smiling faintly as he began to hear the blare of trumpets singing out from the walls.

"Speaking of which." Tytos said, trying to move off that depressing subject slightly to something somewhat more amusing. "You had time to get to know lady Ravella and her daughter, correct?"

"Somewhat." Ranma replied with a shrug, while Daenerys nodded. Both ladies were very much in the mold of southern flowers, so his dealings with them were severely limited.

"I spent some time with them, though they seemed to be a little leery of me for some reason." Daenerys replied with small smirk on her face. "I found them…" she paused looking for the proper words. "To be properly reared ladies, who no doubt would make fine wives for someone." Implied in her statement was that their knowledge was sorely lacking in areas that she found interesting, or perhaps vital for a queen. "Do you wish to discuss a suit for their hands my Lord?" Since no surviving male members of the family remained it was up to Ranma to discuss matters of marriage as the representative of the Lord Paramount.

"Yes actually, but for the Lady Ravella rather than her daughter." Tytos shrugged a small but very wry smile on his face. "My second oldest boy Lucas has always had a penchant for older women, and she is still of childbearing age. Moreover…" he leaned forward a little conspiratorially. "She seems to have returned the affections whereas her daughter hasn't replied to any interest shown her."

Ranma laughed. "He's not the only one I know who has a liking for older ladies. I doubt you've ever met her, but the lady Donella Hornwood is a good looking woman, and my brother Jon had a huge crush on her when he was younger."

"Are we going to exchange embarrassing stories now Ranma?" Jon asked defensively, a bright flush on his cheeks. "If so I have quite a bit to return fire with."

Daenerys laughed and Myrcella did as well. "I have one of those stories too." Myrcella replied, looking over at Ranma with a smirk. "Has he told you about how he and Fenris began to get Fenris used to carrying him?"

Now it was Ranma's turn to blush, while around them the Lords chuckled and the march continued. An hour later they were at the bridge over the Red Fork into Riverrun, passing under a heavy portcullis and through the gates at the far end of the gate tunnel to a tumultuous cheering from the crowds of smallfolk that were everywhere in the city.

At a glance you could tell that the city was crowded but not nearly as bad as King's Landing, nor as uncomfortably dirty. The common smallfolk here looked much cleaner than back in King's Landing, and the crowd wasn't as large as it would have been in that city.

Ranma and Daenerys would later learn that this was because Lord Tully had prepared Riverrun for the refugees the moment news of Wayfarer's Rest fall reached him. Instead of a shantytown on the other side of the Red Fork there were dozens of very decent wooden longhouses, each of which could billet three families in relative comfort. The families could then use the wood from the Whispering Wood to build their own huts slowly. A dozen families had even decided that they wouldn't be going back to their former farmsteads even after the war was over. That plus the severe edicts that the city guard kept on things such as freshwater and refuse had kept the city relatively clean and prosperous even with the massive influx of refugees.

There were gasps of awe and surprise when the crowd realized that Ranma, Jon and Arya were riding direwolves, but that was nothing in comparison to the gasp of surprise that the sight of two dragons flying over the city caused. There were some screams here and there at that sight, but not many. Evidently word of how well-trained the two dragons were had spread to Riverrun which was a very good thing in Daenerys's opinion. Her appearance too caused some shouts of surprise, but more shouts of welcome. While their Lord might have rebelled against the Mad King, the smallfolk still held a certain amount of awe in the Targaryen family.

Soon enough however, the army had trooped through the city and into the castle itself, where they were met by scores of servants moving forward to take their horses, looking in awe at the direwolves. While their mounts were quickly led away and men began to lead the army off into the barracks (and the prisoners to their temporary dwellings) Ranma and his lords were ushered into the keep and then into the dining hall.

There they found Lord Darry, Ser Grell, Ser Paege, Ser Blanetree and four unknowns. One was a young man wearing the tower and green dragon of house Vance. One wore the maiden of House Piper, another wore the red fish on white of House Mooton, and the last wore a tabard wearing a shield with wavy white, yellow and green lines. A young woman of fifteen or so stood next to the man from Mooton, wearing a dress of her houses colors. She was a pretty enough girl, but there was something about her eyes when she stared around her that set warning bells off in Daenerys' mind, or perhaps it was just when she looked at her father...

All of them rose as the Ranma, his wife and their allies entered. The young man went so far as to go to his knees for a moment to Daenerys and Ranma, while the others merely bowed their heads.

It took Tytos whispering in their ear to tell Ranma and Daenerys who the unknown man was. "Lord Butterwell, his House sat out Robert's Rebellion since they are still recovering from a massive loss of inlfuence during the Blackfyre Rebellion. Even now they are barely a Knightly House in size. I would look to him to follow Mooton's lead, for better or worse, though I don't know either very well. Lord Piper is a habitual fence sitter, rumors say that he was tempted to disown his son for the idiocy that got him captured by the Lannisters. His House is still strong, but not well led in the field."

Ranma nodded his head slightly. "My lords, I see we were not the only ones ordered to appear here. I am certain we all have fears about why that might be, but first, what's your name lad?"

"Er, Kirth, your, my Lord." The man said, trying and failing to cover the fact he was rather bemused about Ranma and obviously smitten by Daenerys. Ranma and Daenerys exchanged an amused look which thankfully for his ego the youth missed. He might be Ranma's age or at best a little younger but he was really a babe in arms in comparison. "Um, I, I was sent as my House's representative, because my father is blind and going lame my lords."

"I see, my condolences." Ranma replied. "For that and for your losses. Your House did the best it could against the Lannisters, I just wish we could've gotten down soon enough to save your men and your brothers."

The man nodded, and Tytos stepped forward. "Ranma and Daenerys Stark-Targaryen, be known to Lord Piper, Lord Mooton, and Lord Butterwell."

Lord Mooton bowed floridly while the others merely nodded their heads. He was a middle-aged man with a fat, overfed appearance, and small beady eyes that reminded Ranma of a mouse, with all the skittering timidity of the breed. "Your Grace, long has my house and others waited for the Targaryen's return, congratulations on that and on your victories to date."

Before Daenerys could reply, an elderly man came through the doorway. "My lords, I am Utherydes Wayn, steward of Riverrun. Please, follow me." Without another word he turned and moved out of the room to the staircase, expecting them to follow. Ranma looked at Daenerys, who shrugged, and then they and all the other lords followed the man out.

As they walked up the steps, Utherydes spoke up again. "My Lord Hoster doesn't have long Sers, and he must speak to you all immediately. News has reached us of a certain offense, and we need to take it into account going forward. Then I think he'd like some time with his family." He looked back at Ranma shaking his head sadly. "It's a pity you did not bring your mother along my Lord, I think he would have liked to have seen her or even Lysa, but such is not to be."

Ranma closed his eyes tightly for a moment then shook his head before opening them. "I knew he was failing quickly, but I had hoped…" he shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter now."

Behind him Jon and Arya both looked sad as well. Despite having never met the man Hoster was still family and the passage of family was always to be mourned. Even Jon who technically wasn't related to House Tully felt that way.

To one side of the Starks, Brynden's expression was much more conflicted. He and his brother hadn't really gotten along for most of their lives, which was further exacerbated by Hoster's heavy-handed attempt to get Brynden to marry someone who would strengthen the political ties of the family.

As they were led up from the second floor to the third a voice coming from one of the guest rooms on this level interrupted their passage. "Roger, there you are! I was told you'd probably be arriving with the rest of this lot, but if you hadn't arrived soon I was all set to head out to search for you."

Roger and the others turned at the sound of the voice and Roger gaped in shock at seeing his wife. "O-Osha, what are you doing here?" He gasped, shaking his head then smiling waving his hands in the air placatingly as the former spearwife's eyes narrowed. "I'm not unhappy you're here, I'm just wondering how and why. And who is looking after our son, Robbett?"

"The boys being looked after by yer family and the milk-girl well enough." Osha replied brusquely moving toward the group, her Common heavily accented. "Did you honestly think I'da wait at home for ya to return when yer out havin' adventures?" She smirked then shaking her head. "Mind you, I had a few of my own. Hah, there be a bit fewer people out there who'da try ta take advantage of a poor, lonely woman out on 'er own."

"I can't imagine my father actually letting you go out alone." Roger replied.

"As if I gave him da choice. 'Sides, 'e wanted someone to deliver this to you." She said holding out a sword in its sheath to Roger. "I volunteered, and when he turned me down I caught up wit' the group he sent with it, stole this from them during the night, left a message and then moved on." She shook her head sadly. "The men he chose tw'eren't 'xactly the best at keeping night watch."

Ranma laughed shaking his head, while Jon and the others were all smirking. "Why don't we just leave you two to get reacquainted Roger, you probably have a lot of catching up to do."

With that the rest of them left Roger and Osha heading further up the keep. Soon enough they were being led into the family suites, then into the bedroom that Hoster had occupied for over a year now.

Hoster was sitting up in bed with the aid of half a dozen pillows. His eyes were open, but rheumy with age. His hands and arms that were visible was palsied, and his breathing was labored, audible even from the doorway.

Ranma, his family and the Lords of the Riverlands trooped in with Ranma moving forward to touch the old man's hand gently. "Grandfather? I'm Ranma, your daughter Catelyn's oldest? I wish we could've met before this, but better late than never, right?" He asked with false cheerfulness.

The old man turned rheumy eyes on him, smiling faintly. "My eyesight hasn't gone yet, nor my mind. Heh you look exactly like the descriptions your mother sent me of you." He turned slightly to face, Jon nodded politely at him then moved on to look at Arya. "And you must be the runaway Arya. The last few messages from your mother have told me how you ran away to join your brothers' army. I can't say I approve, but I suppose that kind of strength is necessary in these days. Welcome child."

"Hello, grandfather." Arya said, nodding her head politely. If she was Sansa she might've moved forward to give the old man a kiss, but frankly Arya was a little disturbed at present by the smell of the room. Even so staring at the old man she could see the family resemblance between him and her mother. The cheekbones, despite being sunken with age were pretty obviously the same shape as her mother and a few of her brothers, Bran in particular. And the chin too, that looked a bit like what Arya herself had, as did the shape of the eyes.

Hesitantly she moved forward to take his other hand. "I…." she paused then went on, smiling slightly. "I don't suppose you have any embarrassing stories about my mother do you? That seems to be the best way of bonding with family, sharing weird stories."

Hoster laughed wetly, shaking his head and gripping both their hands with what little strength he had left. "We'll get to those eventually child, I will say that if your mother ever gave you any grief about your wayward ways, she was being hypocritical. There was many a time when she was young that she wished to gallivant off into the woods or go climbing."

He turned away from Arya with a sigh. "Unfortunately there are other things we need to speak of first." He looked over at Daenerys where she had respectfully remained by the doorway. "Welcome milady. While I may have rebelled against her family, it was never anything personal for me as it was for Robert or even Eddard. I simply felt that your father was becoming madder with every passing month, and he had to be removed for the good of all Westeros. I would never have been a party to the murder of children, nor of Elia Martell."

Daenerys's eyes narrowed but she replied calm enough. "I understand my Lord, and I have learned about my father's madness. His actions were unconscionable for any sane individual, king or no." She smiled faintly looking at Ranma and Arya. "If I do not hold the actions of the Starks against them in that war, I must extend the same to you."

Hoster nodded, then turned to the others then without further ado turned to the topic that was the reason he'd requested all of the loyal Riverlords come to Riverrun. "The Master of Whisperers has spies everywhere, but I have known some of his agents here in Riverrun for quite some time. I did not know until recently however that he knew that I knew."

A faint wintry smile crossed the old man's face for moment before he shook it off. "He used the spy, a unit commander in my city watch, to pass on a message to me." The old man closed his eyes, his hands moving as if to clench together, but he didn't have the energy to do so. "My son is dead."

That simple sentence sent a bolt of lightning through the gathered Riverlords and their heirs, and Tristan Ryger in particular looked shocked and appalled. Ranma and Arya were also shocked and Ranma sighed sadly wishing he had met the man before this. Still, I suppose after Tywin's defeat it makes sense they'd execute their hostage to send a message, really I should've expected this.

Before any of them could do more than shout and exclaim to one another Hoster went on his soft voice cutting through the bedlam easily. "He was not killed in retaliation for some of you turning against the Lannister's army, he was not executed for that which could, in the realm of politics have been understood. Edmure was not simply killed. Not to send a message, not to do anything!"

"Varys' message actually says that the Queen and the Hand were not even aware he was executed. They might have eventually decided to threaten him in that manner, but King's Landing was under siege when that message was sent to me by the forces of the Reach and Stormlands under Renly Baratheon. They had no time to spare for thought of what was going on here in the Riverlands."

Ranma's eyes narrowed at that, while he pulled thoughtfully at his ponytail. They had figured that King's Landing would be under siege, but they hadn't heard any confirmation of that before this, though Alayaya and Domeric might have since he'd last talked to them. How long has it been going on? King's Landing can't survive an actual siege, it'd stand well enough against any physical assault, or as well as any city could. But against a siege, where you simply stop supplies from getting in? It's got way too many people!

Not knowing Ranma's thoughts had gone off on a tangent Hoster continued. "No, instead my son and heir was butchered! Tortured before he finally died in the torturing. And this was done not by the Queen, not by the Hand's order, but by Joffrey the Bastard King himself!"

That caused a new round of exclamations of shock and surprise, but Hoster continued, his voice now an alloy of remembered grief and rage. "Apparently the boy is a sadist of the first order. Before my son's death…" here again Hoster had to stop to get his voice under control. "Before my son's death, Joffrey apparently went out into the streets to pick up random smallfolk and abuse them before depositing the bodies everywhere he wished. He is a monster beyond anything I've ever heard of before, earning the name the Vile One among the smallfolk."

Ranma growled angrily, as did the other Starks in the room while the Riverlords all were still looking very angry at Edmure's death rather than how he died. Hoster however had moved on and he gripped Ranma's hand feebly. "I have had my time to grieve for Edmure's death, and now need to deal with the results of it. With my son's death, you become my heir Ranma. All I ask would be for Riverrun to have a local lord chosen from your family to rule it in your stead. Other than that I concede the Riverlands to you. May all my loyal lords follow you as they would do me from this point forward."

His eyes swept the crowd, nailing Lord Darry, Lord Mooton, and Lord Butterwell in place, staring at them so hard Mooton actually quailed. After a moment he closed his eyes squeezing Arya's hand. "Now if you'll excuse us, I think I would like some time with my family. Including you, brother. I, I would not pass on with this enmity still existing between us."

Brynden looked at him from where he had stood by the doorway, then nodded slowly and moved forward, pulling up a chair next to the bed.

Still somewhat in shock at the horrible news they had just been given the Riverlords all trooped out, following Lord Wayn's brother into one of the nearest rooms. Behind them Ranma and his siblings remained by the bedside, talking quietly to Hoster.

Utherydes shook his head looking at them all. "That news arrived here about two and half, three weeks ago, and it nearly killed him. It was all maester Vyman and I could do to keep him alive after the heart attack hit. I don't think Hoster has even a few more days frankly. His body's just giving out on him." The old man smiled wryly. "Something I am beginning to feel myself frankly."

Lord Piper coughed slightly looking at his fellow Lords speculatively, in particular Lord Ryger and Lord Mooton. "Is no one going to comment about how fortuitous this is for Lord Stark? After all, now that the invasion of Westerlands has been halted, how many of us here would be willing to back him in the battle against the Baratheon brothers further south?"

"I would." Tytos said coolly echoed by Ser Blanetree and several others.

This of course included Lord Jason Mallister, who was looking at the man with scant favor. "And if you're trying to imply that Ranma had something to do with Edmure's death, I will tell you now not bring that idea up in conversation where he could hear it. Ranma would personally challenge you to a duel and then most probably rip you in half like he did Gregor Clegane. If you spend any time at all around the Starks, you will learn that family is incredibly important to them."

He held up a hand to stop the man from talking. "Not their family's personal power, but their actual well-being. They care about family, and even if Ranma never met Edmure, he was family to Ranma. In fact, Ranma was more than willing to discuss exchanging some of the Lannister prisoners for him in the future." The two of them had talked about that along with Tytos during the days Ranma had spent as Tytos' guest at Raventree hall.

"Indeed." Daenerys said from where she had been following the Riverlords, unnoticed by most of them. Now they all turned to her and she shrugged her shoulders slightly. "One of the things I most admire in Ranma is that he is a caring individual. Ranma would never torture anyone, and the very thought of harming or even planning to harm anyone like that is anathema to him."

Lord Piper would have said that she was a biased source, except looking around he noticed that the only three that were even listening to them at all were Lord Butterwell, Darry and Mooton, and none of them were speaking up in defense of the idea. "Very well," he said backing away verbally from the topic. "As you all know him better than I do, I will take your word for his thoughts on actions such as that."

"For your own sake my Lord, I would listen to lord Jason and never mention that concept again." Daenerys replied coolly. "Ranma isn't the only one who would challenge and kill you for it, regardless of the political problems it would cause later. Arya and Jon are both capable of doing the same thing, and even some of the Stark men might do it if they heard you insulting their King so."

She looked around at the others. "I am going to go talk to Patrek and the other Wolfsworn as well as the about housing for the prisoners. After that my lord steward, I will need to talk to you about organizing a space for several dozen trials. Regardless of this new tragedy we will need to see to the disposition of our prisoners before we turn our attentions elsewhere." With that she left him there, and the Riverlords turned to one another talking quietly.

It turned out that Utheryde's estimation of Hoster's life was off by two days. He had only been holding on through sheer willpower in a desire to talk to his grandchildren. Later that very evening, Hoster Tully passed away quietly with a smile on his face while Arya and Ranma were telling him about one of Arya's misadventures.

An hour or so later Ranma walked down the stairs into the castles dining hall, where all the gathered lords and many of their heirs were eating together, sharing the news that Hoster had told them with their northern fellows. Daenerys too was there, talking to Myrcella about the city's organization and a few of the city watch commanders.

They all quieted instantly as Ranma entered, followed by Arya and Brynden. Behind the trio maester Wyman walked, carrying a single candle. He set the candle down in front of the Lord's seat at the front of the hall, then Ranma and the older man, his eyes red with unshed tears, draped a long black cloak over the seat, signifying Hoster's passing. It was only every really used when a lord died of old age or in peace time, but it still had to be done. After a few moments silence, the maester formally put the candle out ending the ceremony.

Having sat nearby Arya surprised herself somewhat by actually feeling tears in her eyes. Those few hours she spent with her grandfather had been interesting and fun, but she couldn't say that she had really seen him as family, not really. Yet even so his passing hurt her somehow.

A second later she was surprised to feel Bess and Edric, who sat on both sides of her, each grab a hand where they lay on her lap under the table and squeeze. She looked at them and smiled nodding her head before she wiped away the tears.

Ranma stood next to the seat staring out across the gathered Lords and heirs, finding a few here and there to stare at harder than the others but mostly just letting his eyes roam over their faces. "My grandfather has passed." He said softly yet even so every man and woman there heard him, speaking much more formally than was his normal mode. "He passed peacefully, despite his son's horrible death. He was a great man, and a good, just ruler. I regret not having had the chance to get to know him better, but age is the one enemy that will eventually come for us all."

"By right of blood and by his own words, I was his heir and I am now Lord Paramount of both the North and the Riverlands. I have no doubt that my northern Lords have shared the fact that they have named my wife and I King and Queen of the North. I ask you all formerly now, will you weld the Riverlands to the North? Will you follow me?"

The Lords of the Riverlands all looked at one another then Jason Mallister stood, followed a millisecond later by his son. "I have stood with you thus far, and I will continue to do so. My sword was yours when you were only acting as your grandfather's voice, I see no reason to change it now when you have become my liege."

He made to kneel formerly, but Ranma held up a hand. "No! I ask no man to kneel to me. You said it yourself Jason, you've already stood with us in battle. That is all I ask. Will you stand with me? Will you stand alongside us as we face the threats to come?"

Knowing her cue even though they hadn't actually discussed it Daenerys moved forward at that point. She took his hand and joining him in staring out at the Riverlords. "Will you follow us, will you follow our new House, House Stargaryen?"

"When the Lannister's came despoiling, burning and raping across our lands, the Baratheons did not answer." Said Tytos getting to his feet. "You did, you came to not just the aid of your family but of the entire Riverlands, and of my family in particular. I will stand with you, my King."

Silas was next, simply standing with a firm nod alongside Ser Blanetree. Tristan and Vincent quickly rose to stand with them, prompting their uncle to reluctantly stand as well. "Long live Ranma Stark, King of the North and the Trident!" The two brothers shouted together.

Lord Charlton also stood, bowing his head slightly. But saying nothing as was his want. Kirth Vance stood next, his voice no longer showing any hint of wavering. "You avenged my brother's deaths, you've proven yourself an able general, and from what I've heard an able Lord as well. I also agree that you alone seemed to care about us. May you and your lovely Queen rule long and fairly, Your Highness."

Lord Mooton was surprisingly the next one to stand and speak, his voice smooth and polished, yet somehow ringing false in Ranma and Daenerys' ears. "Long has my family wanted a return of law and order, of precedent and lineage, rather than brute force." He smiled suddenly. "You seem to have both on your side now. Long may the Wolf King and the Dragon Queen reign!"

All the other lords and knights stood and shouted their approval, the Northerners reaffirming their loyalty with roars of sound and the Riverlanders formally acceding to Ranma and Daenerys's rule as king and Queen for the first time. Even Lord Piper, for all his concerns about their youth and about the nature of how Ranma became his grandfather's heir, was swept up in the moment. Where Ranma could have demanded their loyalties, he'd instead won them, where he could have demanded they kneel, he only asked them to stand. In that moment he had not just one then their loyalty, but their admiration as well.

The tales of Ranma had already begun with his masterful campaign against the Lannisters, but this solidified it. It also the first time someone penned the name that would remain with him throughout his reign. Daenerys too, would earn her own name in days to come. When she took the lead on the trials of the Lords they had captured and then organizing the laws of Westeros and streamlining the legal process. When she began to give rights to the smallfolk that had never formally been theirs before and making the laws so much easier to understand, Daenerys would earn her own name: the name of Daenerys the Just.

But for his deeds, both politically and on the battlefield, Ranma would be called something else, a name pinned that night by Domeric the bard from where he watched, his eyes gleaming as he watched the future of Westeros change for all time. For his deeds, Ranma would become Ranma the Great.

OOOOOOO

That evening Ranma and Daenerys met with their most trusted counselors. Tytos and Silas were also there, as representatives of the Riverlands along with Jason. That Tytos was there despite not having fought with the army was a mark of Ranma's trust in the man, who he had come to like almost as much as Jason.

The group however did not include Brynden, who was off getting quietly but competently drunk at the moment grieving in his own way for his brother's passing. The two of them had been able to come to terms with one another in the last moments of his life, but that only made Hoster's passing hurt all the more.

Ranma leaned back wearily rubbing at his forehead for a moment waving one hand at Daenerys to start. Daenerys nodded, rubbing at one of his shoulders commiserating. She didn't really have any family, but she knew that caring for his was one of the main tenants of Ranma's personality, even one who he didn't know at all like his grandfather.

She turned to the others nodding her head at Alayaya and Domeric. "Let's start with you too, since you joined us so late in the march. Before we get to any of your news elsewhere, have you been able to get a feeling for the morale of the smallfolk in Riverrun?"

"They are joyful and ebullient my lady." Domeric said smiling faintly. "That's what happens when someone learns that their side won the war. However, there is also a lot of underlying anger against the Lannisters. I don't know if you all heard it when you were marching through, but there are a lot of people in those crowds out there that want to tear the Westerlanders apart."

"I've already talked to a few of my former sisters in the business." Alayaya said delicately. "Several of them have long-term clients and one or two of them are worrying. They definitely have connections to the Westerlands, business-related ones for the most part, and I'd say at least one of them is a Lannister agent. He's a wealthy merchant, with several dozen armsmen to his name apparently."

"Is he a threat?" Tytos asked skeptically.

"Not alone my Lord, but…" Alayaya shrugged. "We haven't even been here a full day, yet there is already a rumor that Tywin will pay his own weight in gold to whoever aids in freeing him. I don't know who among our forces is letting that message out, but I think we need to take it seriously."

She smiled thinly when Domeric looked at her in surprise before leaning back and crossing her arms under her chest theatrically, bringing attention to her assets with the ease of long practice laughing internally as the eye of practically every lord in the room followed the gesture. "I have certain advantages in getting men to talk to me that you don't Domeric." She replied to his unanswered question in a dry tone.

Ranma came out of his funk somewhat to laugh at that, winking at the former whore who winked back with a giggle. After a moment however he addressed the matter more seriously. "I would prefer to put off Tywin's trial and execution until after we dealt with all of his men but those trials are going to take at least what, two, three full days? In your opinion Domeric, Alayaya, would putting his trial for that long be tempting fate? "

"Yes." both spymasters talked at once, then looked at one another shrugging. "Frankly my Lord, his swift execution would send a very strong message, putting it off to the end might make it more dramatic but in this case I don't think it's necessary." Domeric replied for them both

Daenerys nodded. "In that case, we will start with him the day after the mourning period is over." She closed her eyes in thought. "The Lord's dining hall here will do as a court room. We'll want about a hundred or so witnesses from among the smallfolk, as well as all the lords currently in attendance and a neutral scribe to take notes during the trials. Or rather several scribes. One for our own records, one for House Tully's, and one to be sent to the Lannisters. We might wish to check with Lord Piper and Lord Mooton on that, I think they are the most neutral Lords towards us at this point."

Tytos shrugged. "It's nothing personal my lady, as I said, Piper's a fence sitter, he's always been one to couch his bets. He's a cagey man, but you can at least trust him to do what is best not only for his family but for the smallfolk who look to them for protection."

"That's fine my Lord, but that doesn't mean I necessarily want him or his men serving with the main army. And speaking of which, it won't be all the Lords here. I think that the majority of the army with us should turn around and head to the camp outside Harroway. Greatjon, Rickard, you'll be in charge of that. I believe that most of the Riverlords should be here for the trials, is that correct?" Ranma asked.

Tytos and Jason both nodded firmly. "They'll want to see justice done, and the ones who haven't dealt with you in the past will want to get a better feel for the both of you Ranma." Jason said. "And after the trials are done, there will be other issues to deal with, specifically what will happen to the lands of the traitor Houses and the ones that have been wiped out by this war."

"Those are things with my wife and I have already been thinking about my Lord." Ranma said squeezing Daenerys' hand for a moment as she actually flushed at the memory. Ranma had only a few thoughts along those lines. But Daenerys, and she was quick to point out Merry, had a lot of ideas on that score, not just about what to do with the Westerlands after the Golden Tooth was taken. The make-out session the two of them had after she shared their brainstorming had been intense.

"We won't talk about that topic until after the trials however. For now, let's concentrate on the military and logistics. Domeric, Alayaya do you to have any idea what's been going on further south?"

Domeric and Alayaya looked at one another wondering how Ranma would take their news. Alayaya hadn't taken it well when she first heard of it, fearing for her mother's safety but not able to do anything about it. So Domeric spoke up again for both of them. "The two Baratheon brothers are apparently going to do battle in the near future according to rumor, or at least that was the case when we left Harroway, which means the battle might have already occurred, we might be able to get confirmation of that here in Riverrun, though that's doubtful. That fights going to happen near King's Landing, where a plague has apparently begun to reave through the people."

Everyone in the room gasped in shock and not a little fear. Plague was the one enemy that everyone feared equally. No sword or ax or strategy could work against a disease, and an outbreak could kill more people than the most horrible war. "How bad is it?" Daenerys asked her face paler than usual.

"Horrible." Domeric said bluntly. "The only reason we know about it at all is because Renly's army isn't trying to attack the city any longer, they haven't been trying for weeks. Rather they've been interdicting it, making certain that no one can leave. With the number of people in King's Landing there is almost nothing anyone could do to stop a plague from ravaging the city. There simply wouldn't be enough troops to control the smallfolk, and they would panic and riot and…" He shuddered a little cursing his bard's soul for once as it forced him to once more imagine the horror that King's Landing had probably become.

Ranma looked over at Myrcella who had paled visibly, even further than Daenerys, and her hands were clenched together almost hard enough for her nails to draw blood. He reached over, pulling her into a hug wordlessly offering what support he could. Whatever else had happened Merry still cared for her mother and even her uncle Jaime, both of whom were stuck in King's Landing apparently, along with servants and teachers and even a few acquaintances that she had known most of her life.

"Did you hear any hint about this Vile One that Joffrey is supposed to have become?" Myrcella asked after a moment. "I think it fits his personality, but not his skill. He'd need someone's help to get in and out of the Red Keep without mother finding out, especially during a siege. She must be keeping him even closer than normal now."

"I'm afraid not your Highness." Alayaya replied sadly reaching over to take the younger girl's hand in one of her own smirking internally as she noticed that Ranma haven't relinquished his one armed hug on the over the girls shoulder and that Daenerys seemed perfectly content with the sign of affection. Interesting.

"What are you are you thinking about Myrcella?" Ranma asked looking down at the girl.

"Remember how I told you that Joffrey and Petyr seemed to be coming close before my brother's death? I'm wondering if Petyr decided to back Joffrey for some reason. I am struggling however with what he would get out of it."

"Actually, I think that would be the easiest part of it." Daenerys said with a shrug. "In times of war a Master of Coin isn't exactly the most powerful position after all, especially for someone who doesn't have any other powerbase. But the King? He could add to Petyr's powerbase quite a bit even if he's a useless young monster like Joffrey. Do we know who the Hand of the King is?'

Domeric and Alayaya shook their heads. "That's kind of thing is a little too detailed and a little too high level for rumor among the smallfolk to pass it on this far away my lady." Domeric replied.

"Then is there anything else you can tell us about events happening elsewhere?" Daenerys asked.

"The Ironborn have taken the Arbor and the Shield Islands." Alayaya replied bluntly, grateful for the change in topic. "Wine merchants have heard all about it. Apparently, they used some kind of fire ships to cause a lot of chaos before their own fleet arrived, though how they took the Shield Islands no one seems to know. Since then, they've sent reaving parties up the Mander, no one knows how deep they've gotten."

"Joy." Ranma muttered shaking his head angrily. Frowning thoughtfully he tried to conjure up a map of Westeros in his mind then shook his head. "If Renly isn't a complete idiot he'll have already split his army and sent at least a third of his men back into the Reach to deal with the Ironborn. The Ironborn simply don't have the numbers to hold the Shield Islands and the Arbor, even given their skill at sea. But that will leave him facing his brother with what a four to one advantage or something? Do we have any idea how strong a force Stannis has been able to put together?"

"Other than the fact that he took Duskendale and seems to have at least four or five Houses from the Stormlands on his side, no. My best guess would be around 20,000 or so." Domeric said with a shrug. "Merchants that travel to Duskendale with their goods brought that news back to Harroway, but exact numbers? Why would they care about that? Um…"

The bard looked between Ranma and Daenerys for a moment then went on delicately. "On the subject of the Reach my lords, we received a messenger from the Lady Margaery to you Ranma. Note, I, I said the lady Margaery, not House Tyrell. I convinced the man to wait until we learned what your grandfather had summoned you to Riverrun for before asking for an audience with you, but he has no idea what the message is."

"Huh." Ranma shook his head, surprised, while Daenerys merely cocked her head thoughtfully. "Well, I'll speak to him first thing tomorrow I suppose. That bit of business will be allowed during the mourning period won't it?"

Daenerys nodded at that, seeing no issue with it. She and Ranma had talked several times about Margaery, and Daenerys knew the girl was no threat to her position by his side or in his heart. Though does she know the same thing?

"You can meet with him and read his message for certain, but nothing to do with laws or the running of the city should occur during the time of mourning." Jason replied.

"Anything else we need to go over tonight?" Ranma asked.

"There are countless rumors of this or that area in the Riverlands being plagued by bandits, but there aren't actually as many as I had feared. The rumors that you will actually try and execute the Lords mostly responsible for the atrocities have spread to the smallfolk, and the general response is a wait-and-see attitude. Smallfolk have been promised a lot in the past, they're waiting to see if you actually follow through." Alayaya replied.

"Oh we will do that. We surely will." Ranma replied grimly.

OOOOOOO

Early the next day the majority of the army turned around, heading back towards Harroway under Greatjon and Rickard's joint command. They left behind 7000 men but had gained around 1,500 from House Tully consisting mostly of archers, light cavalry and scouts to join Meera's growing command. But that was not House Tully's only contribution. Not only would Riverrun now become the center of the army's supply lines, but Hoster had also raised a pike regiment in the style that Jon and he had introduced in the North. They weren't as well trained as the Northerners from House Stark or House Cerwyn, but they were quite good and that final bit of training could be added on the march.

He had already turned that task over to a few of the unit commanders from the Northern Regiment, and was confident they would be whipped into shape by the time they were needed. The remaining Army however was there to guard the prisoners, not just the Lords but all of the Westerners soldiers that had been captured and gathered in Riverrun for the present time. House Tully retained around 900 heavy horse, around 500 archers and another 1000 heavy infantry.

Ranma also had plans for some of them, but that was for later. Right now, he had a letter from a friend to see to. He called for the Reach messenger to be brought to him in the dining hall while Daenerys remained in their rooms, having sent for Alayaya for something.

The knight from the Reach was a man of slightly below middle age with the kind of build that Ranma had often seen in heavy cavalrymen, heavy shoulders matched with bow legs. He also radiated a sort of solidness, which Ranma found familiar, having searched out men such as that for his small unit commanders all along. "Ser Knight," Ranma said as the man about his head slightly. He smiled, knowing that the brevity of that bow wasn't an insult, simply a statement that Ranma wasn't his king, or even Lord Paramount. "I'm told that you have a message for me from Lady Margaery?"

"Ser Willem Wythers, my lord. The Lady Margaery wrote it about a month and a half ago, so what is in it might not be all that accurate anymore. But it was my duty to deliver it to you in any event."

"I understand the fog of war Willem, believe me, I've even used it on occasion. May I have the message please?"

The knight nodded, and moved forward handing it over. Ranma leaned back slitting open the parchment, noting absently that it was sealed with both House Tyrell's and Margaery's own seal. The seal of House Tyrell was a large flower as seen from above with five petals and five thorns between them. Margaery's was a rose laid on it's side. Wondering why she used both Ranma unrolled the parchment, and began to read. 'Ranma, I hope this message reaches you. In some ways, I know it won't reach you in time, but in others I hope you take it to heart.'

From there it recounted in concise sentences what had occurred since Renly had left with his army, before reiterating the fact that she had not been in favor of the marriage. She made a point of noting that Willas had been sent northwest to deal with the Lannister despoilers sent into the Reach, before stating:

'Now the Reach lies practically defenseless, and the Ironborn have taken advantage of it. My father is a buffoon, my brother Loras is love-struck, Garlan has been roped into service to the buffoon, and Willas is dealing with one of the two threats already. Hopefully Garlan will have returned by this time and will be dealing with the Ironborn threats, but even if we beat off the Ironborn, the Reach will have been ravaged badly. What is worse in a way is how we came to this impasse and it is this matter that I wish to speak to you about.

'I have heard that you have married Daenerys Stormborn, and I cannot honestly fault you or declaim you an oathbreaker, since my family broke off the engagement first. But I would ask you and her to look favorably upon my House regardless of my father's actions. While I am in no position as yet to decry those actions, he is with the army, and I am still here in Highgarden, the seat of our power. Think on that for a moment.'

Ranma did, smiling slightly as he went over what else Domeric had shared with them last night. Seriously have to get some up to date news or at least the best we can get here about what's going on down there. After thinking about it for a moment Ranma went back to reading:

'As the only Tyrell within Highgarden at the moment, I have certain powers of regency. As such, I am formally recognizing the primacy of House Stark-Targaryen, and not only pledging Highgarden to you as king of the realms but I offer myself to you and your Queen as surfeit of House Tyrell's loyalty. I pray that this will be enough to offset whatever anger is incurred by my father's actions, and that you will look favorably upon your loyal servants. Signed, Margaery of House Tyrell.'

Staring at the last bit of writing Ranma brought his hand p to pull at his ponytail then began to laugh. Well played lady, well played indeed. Shaking his head he looked down at the Willem who was looking at him with his head cocked to one side wondering how Ranma had taken the message. "I doubt that you'll be able to head back to Highgarden with a message anytime soon Ser Willem, and I have to talk about the contents of this letter with my wife in any event. However, I can tell you that I personally am looking favorably upon what she says in this message, and what it could mean for the Reach in general."

OOOOOOO

Elsewhere in the castle Alayaya stared across the small table at Daenerys, then chuckled a little, her full, sensual lips quirking into a small smile. Though she had wondered, she hadn't really expected something like this. "I am going to look at this from two perspectives. One of them is from the perspective of your friend. From that perspective, I would simply ask you two questions. One, would you be comfortable with sharing Ranma with another woman, and I mean really comfortable with it? This isn't you trying to force yourself to bring her in because you think it would make him happier is it?"

"No, nothing like that." Daenerys shook her head. "I haven't even broached the subject with him. But I can see how he and Merry interact, and I can tell even if he can't that he loves her. Not as much as he loves me, or possibly not in the same manner yet, but there will come a time when he realizes she's blossomed into a woman, and his love will change."

"As to your question, if you had asked me four or even three months ago if I would be comfortable with the idea of sharing my husband, my answer would've been no, and I might've slapped you for even suggesting it. But since then I've come to care for Merry myself. Indeed I've spent so much time around Merry, it would feel wrong not to have her nearby."

Alayaya smiled thinking about another aspect of what was going on here. She knew many sisters of her former profession that enjoyed the touch of women just as much as men or even more so. Most of them had horrible experiences with men in the past, but some were simply born with that lack of preference.

While the first was obviously not the case here,there was an easy way to check if the second held true. "And you find yourself looking at her as well don't you? When you're talking to her and when Merry's laughing, you smile. When you're sharing a horse, when your arms are around her and your head on her shoulders, you think how good she feels in your arms, how nice she smells. Have you caught yourself thinking it would be so easy to lean in for a kiss?"

Daenerys flushed hotly, looking away then back at Alayaya. "W, Where did that come from!?"

"Is it true?" Alayaya pressed.

"I…" Daenerys paused. "I don't…possibly." She looked away again. "Possibly. I don't find her as attractive as I find Ranma, but there have been times where… where I've had thoughts like that."

"So this wouldn't just be about Ranma and Merry and then Ranma and you, it would be a true three-way if she feels the same way toward you." Alayaya said nodding her head. "That's good, the only way a three-person relationship can really survive is if they are as equal as possible behind closed doors, so to speak. That you all love and care for one another is incredibly important."

"On that note, I think that approaching the matter with Ranma after you've made certain that Myrcella feels the same way towards you might be a good idea. I've seen the way the two of them interact too, and you're right it's only a matter of time before Ranma wises up and realizes that Merry isn't his little sister no matter how often he tries to convince himself of that. But if she isn't attracted to you Daenerys, I think you should pull back and then find some way to send Merry off somewhere. Having her nearby would be a wrench on all of you in different ways."

Daenerys looked miserable at the very idea, having missed Merry almost as deeply as Ranma when she was with him and his portion of the army baiting the lion on the other side of the Red Fork. Still she nodded, knowing that having Merry around and not having her in the relationship might cause issues later on.

"If it makes you feel better, I think she is attracted to you in some way, but that's for the three of you to find out." Alayaya sighed, then her face firmed as she went on brusquely. "Now we come to my response to this issue as one of your spymasters."

"I doubt I have to point out the political downsides of this idea to you, but what about the social ones? The Seven teach that polyamorous relationships are a sin, and I'm afraid you already have too much sin built into you from their perspective for you to get away with adding more. The smallfolk have already been a major help thanks to the septons deciding to back you and Ranma. My information network has grown in leaps and bounds because of that, and I know that the Army is getting it's supplies even faster than would otherwise be the case. Jeopardizing that asset is a very bad idea."

"And politically it would be a very bad idea as well done." Daenerys replied nodding her head. "You don't have to tell me. And yet, I can't shake the feeling that the three of us would be happy together."

"Politics and happiness rarely go together your Majesty." Alayaya said sadly. "Unless you can think of some way of keeping the knowledge of your relationship from getting out, and there really isn't any way to stop that from happening eventually, I would recommend that you wait until we are forced to acknowledge she is a Waters rather than a true-born Baratheon princess. I doubt there will come a time when we would be in a position to place her as heir or lady of the Lannisters, so the connection to the Baratheon line is the more important aspect."

"So long as she is known as a baseborn, you'll have more leeway in what you can get away with in terms of keeping her by your side as a handmaiden or confidant rather than needing to think of arranging a marriage to secure her line. Until then, I beg you not to act on your feelings. With what Viserys has recently tried and added to your own dubious background it would cause a social shit storm like you would not believe!"

Daenerys nodded rueful agreement, and the discussion turned to other things. Though she was still worrying about the problem the back of her mind even as she walked out of Alayaya's room several hours later wondering if it would be worth it even so.

OOOOOOO

Later that evening Ranma and Daenerys sat taking a meal together alone for once in the suite that Ranma had taken over here in Riverrun. It was not the lords apartments, those Ranma refused to live in. Not only did they still smell faintly of his grandfather, but Hoster had lived there for so long his stamp was everywhere. They were in fact Edmure's former quarters, but they had been cleaned and personal effects removed long before Ranma had arrived.

"Interesting." Daenerys said thoughtfully laying down the message. "I wonder what she means when she says that she offers herself in service."

"I think we couldn't do very much better in terms of a representative on our counsel for the Reach in the future." Ranma said after swallowing his piece of bread quickly. "For right now, I think we need to wait until Domeric and Alayaya have time to hunt up some of the latest rumors from the Reach if they can."

"You realize if we agree to take her at her word, we might be forced to back Margaery against her father don't you? We will be setting a very strange precedent. If her father doesn't swear loyalty to us at any rate."

"Reading between the lines of the message, I think that she believes that Mace is too far in with Renly to back out now." Ranma paused thinking about what he knew of the man which unfortunately wasn't very much, and all of it built from secondhand sources. Mind you some of those secondhand sources were very good indeed as the man's own daughter was one of them. "I think that Mace will continue to fight for whoever offers his family the best chance of becoming tied to the royal line and I mean immediately tied."

"Which means Margaery is the tool of choice for him?" Daenerys asked scowling at the very idea. She knew that marriages between Houses were important, and she knew that women were a commodity in that market, but it seemed callous to her particularly when the man might not even be able to do his husbandly duty as in the case of Renly. "If she rebels against him then, will she be able to make it stick?"

"Again that's a question we can't answer just yet. Even so, it could certainly sow some discord among any Reach forces we meet."

"But if we agree to take her at her word it also forces us to send troops." Daenerys said critically. "What kind of forces could we send them, and would they even arrive in time to do any good?"

"The force to send would be easy enough. House Keath didn't send a representative here, which means we'll be forced to deal with that family's keep. They're situated at the mouth of the Blackwater, which we could use to transport a force much quicker down to the Reach than on foot. After we take the Golden Tooth, I'll send Jon and a force down that way, the composition of which I'll think about after we get some hard data both from the Reach and from what's going on in King's Landing."

"What do you think is going on?" Daenerys asked looking at him thoughtfully.

"I think that Stannis is going to massacre Renly." Ranma said flatly. "Renly never struck me as very intelligent and certainly has no experience at war. Stannis has both, and they might be closer in numbers than Renly would like."

"Stannis will be our more most dangerous opponent then. At least until my brother somehow shows up somewhere." Daenerys mused.

"From what you told about me your brother he didn't sound like he'd make a very good general, and frankly I think Oberyn is a little overrated as a warrior let alone a general, which I don't think he has any experience in even if he was a mercenary over in Essos for a time." Ranma shrugged. "With you, Sunfyre and Rhaegon able to take Viserys and the dragon you're certain he has out of the equation, we could beat any army he fields like a drum."

He watched Daenerys wince remembering that egg, but reached across grasping her hand tightly. "Daenerys," he said softly. "I know you still feel bad about leaving that egg behind, but you made the right choice at the time given what you knew about me. And even if you had confided in me, remember I couldn't fight an entire city up in arms, and if they had closed the port against us we would've been stuck."

"But there is something else you need to know." He went on earnestly, moving around the table still holding her hand and going to one knee in front of her to stare into her eyes. "That Dragon, whatever he could have become under you and your gentle touch, there's no way he's become that under your brother. Can you honestly say your brother would have been training him the same way you'd have yours, even without me telling you how to warg with them?"

Daenerys stared into his blue eyes for a moment then slowly shook her head sighing sadly. "No. No, I have no doubt that my brother has created a monster. It doesn't make it any easier, but up if it comes to that, I will I will do my duty there. I will even be, be a kinslayer if I must."

"I hope it won't come to that, and I'll try my damnedest to make certain it doesn't, but the dragon, you might have to deal with." Ranma said honestly squeezing her hands. Ranma could do it, if he tried, but only if none of his own men were around and even then he might have to get a bit closer than he could in a full battle situation.

Daenerys reached forward with her free hand, gently stroking Ranma's hair for a moment then cupping his chin and pulling him gently to his feet. "Kings shouldn't bow or kneel to anyone, not even their queens." She said with a laugh. Then she went on more seriously looking up at him thoughtfully. "We need to talk about something else soon. We need to talk about Merry after the trials."

"Merry, what about her?" Ranma asked trying to keep up with changing conversation and failing miserably.

"After the trials." Daenerys said firmly. "We'll discuss it then." After I make a decision about my own feelings. "Until then I want both of us on task."

"Oh really?" Ranma said with a laugh, leaning down to kiss her. She tried to pull back, but his arms went around her lifting her out of the chair as easily as if she were a babe. Holding her against his body while still kissing her ardently, he moved them over to the bed. "Well, right now." He said pulling back slightly. "I wish to focus on a different task."

Daenerys laughed, then began to help him untie her clothing.

OOOOOOO

Loras had been on the road after the false king and the other Lannisters for about five days now, but had been unable to catch them up just yet, while in turn a messenger from his father had been able to catch up with him and his force. He stared down the Kingsroad in that direction then back down at the message from his father. Then he looked across at Lord Ashford. "I have no wish to serve Stannis." he said simply. "I am a believer in the Seven, and his new religion is anathema to me. Then there are the rumors that we've already begun to hear from the smallfolk about some great burning going on further south. Whatever that is, I cannot imagine it was anything good."

The older man looked back at him, his own thoughts a jumble. For one thing, he somehow knew that if this force had thrown its lot into the battle back at King's Landin, they would have certainly changed its outcome, especially if they had attacked from the back or flank of Stannis's forces. And somehow he also knew that Loras knew that, and wasn't displeased or pleased about it. Whatever had happened between him and Renly had obviously been far more important than Lord Ashford had thought.

With that in mind he blurted out, "What happened between you and Renly my lord?" He held up a hand as Loras opened his mouth. "Please my Lord, I need to know. Did you throw that battle purposefully?"

"No." Loras said after a moment, thinking up a lie on the spot. "I did not. As to what happened between myself and my brother, I learned that he had decided to repudiate his agreement with my family, and to send overtures to the Dragon Queen to coerce Harroway from the Starks. He feared her dragons you see, and had felt that they and she would give his claim to the throne even more legitimacy."

"But then that Shadow Assassin attacked, and killed Emmon, who was the only other witness. Renly was going to send him as a messenger. After that, it would've been my own world against his, and even my own father would not have believed me under those circumstances, not since everyone knew the two of us had been estranged since my injury." He raised a hand to touch the burn scars on his face, scowling angrily as he remembered the pain of them.

That actually made a lot of sense, though it still was a little cold-blooded not to care overmuch about Renly after being his friend for so long. And Ashford could also tell Loras was still holding something back. Yet I too have my doubts about this new religion, and the rumors from further south have redoubled them.

There was also something else bothering him. "Lord Mace has changed sides to quickly and too readily for my liking," he said aloud. "Flip-flopping like that shows a lack of spine and mental ability. Worse, he is intending to marry your sister off to Stannis just as he did Renly? The idea of Stannis's setting his wife aside does not speak well with me."

Loras nodded but remained silent watching the man closely. After a moment Ashford smiled. "My family is loyal to House Tyrell my Lord, we have been for centuries, we will continue to be for centuries more Seven willing. But our loyalty to House Tyrell does not mean we have to be loyal to Mace. What do you wish us to do from now on?"

At that circumspect declaration Loras smiled, reaching across between their horses to slap the other man on his shoulder. "I think we should continue on, my father even commands us to do so we're not going to be forcing an issue there just yet. If we catch up to the Brat King and her party, if we capture them we'll have our own bargaining chip. And from there we can head up into the Riverlands easily."

Lord Ashford's eyes widened, but then he nodded quickly. All of the Reach had been loyal to house Targaryen, not just House Tyrell, and the idea of taking them such powerful tokens of their loyalty as Cersei and her brat would mean Daenerys and the Starks would look favorably upon them. "Catching up to them won't be easy my Lord." He cautioned. "All of them are pushing their horses hard, and we've got infantry."

"Yes, but we can live off the lay of the land just as easily as they, and no doubt Stannis has already sent out orders to all the remaining Crownlands Houses he can reach with ravens. They won't find any help at Sow's Horn. When they break off to head there, we'll send some scouts after them, but keep our main force heading up the Kingsroad, and then split off further north of their position. The Kingsroad will allow us to get ahead of them heading north, and we can then move east and cut them off from House Edgerton. At worst, we'll force them back towards the Riverlands."

Ashford nodded, going over a mental map of the Crownlands that wasn't very good if he was honest with himself. Still, that made some sense to him. "And we can stand a messenger up the Kingsroad towards Harroway my Lord, if the Starks have any forces there, they might send them south to aid us."

"Excellent notion my Lord." Loras said with a laugh. "But for now, let us continue the march."

OOOOOOO

The next day started with Hoster Tully being sent out into the Red Fork on a bier set alight by seven fire arrows on the first of two days of mourning Ranma had ordered for his grandfather, where businesses were closed and nothing formal could happen. Normally it would have lasted seven day, but in times of war the normal mourning period could be cut down. Having any time before the trials began was going against his spymaster's advice, but Ranma was adamant in wanting to honor the man, and his other advisors were right in how it would have looked to the city-folk if they felt Ranma was not grieving his grandfather's death appropriately.

Of course Ranma still used this time to train and to talk to Daenerys about some ideas he had going forward to deal with the fall out of the war so far in the Riverlands. The most important thing was the meeting they had with a merchant who had ties to Myr. They were able to negotiate a deal between them for enough glass to build a glass garden to match Vincent's design.

It would be very work intensive, and take a lot of coal to keep the waters running through it warm, since Riverrun lacked the underground hot-springs that had allowed the original to be built there. But it would work, using a portion of the area between the actual castle and the rest of the island to water the plants, while fires set into clay cisterns below it would heat the water which would create steam above, and keep the temperature in the glass garden regulated.

The startup cost was enormous, larger than the army's wages thus far by an order of magnitude. Even if the glass was on hand that would have been the case, but the fact it had to be transported from Myr over the ocean to Harroway and then up the river, multiplied the cost by three times. Indeed, it was only the fact that Ranma planned to take the Golden Tooth that allowed them to negotiate the deal at all.

The rest of the Wolfsworn did various things. Roger spent time with his wife of course, while Eddy and Hathan trained to get Hathan back up to speed. Smalljon, Dacey and Arya explored the city with Patrek, Vincent and Tristan as their guides. Daryn arrived a few days after the army with the bulk of the prisoners they had taken in the battle at the Ruby Ford, along with Wendel and the prisoners from the Kneeling Man ford.

The arrival of the prisoners caused a wave of anger through the refugees everywhere in the city, since they all were still wearing their tabards. The city watch however was up to the task of keeping a lid on things for now, aided by the rumor that the prisoners had been brought there to be formally tried and sentenced. That actually won Daenerys and Ranma some goodwill, since it showed yet again that they believed in justice and the rule of law.

No, it wasn't those prisoners who were the issue.

Ranma had placed Jon in charge of the prisoners along with Domeric. The two of them watched all of the servants who entered the prisoner's tower like hawks, and the two of them were able intercept a message for Tywin at one point, and foil an attempt to get a knife to one of the other prisoners. Both times the servants were caught and questioned, leaving to two different merchants who had ties to House Lannister. Those merchants were seized in turn, questioned, then executed as spies in wartime, their liquid assets added to the Stark-Targaryen war chest and their business given over to the Castle and to run in House Stark's name.

This was however only the prelude to the real attempt to break Tywin out.

The fourth night of the mourning period Jon was once more on guard, patrolling the corridor of the tower that was housing the noble prisoners. Ghost was around the place somewhere, but Jon hadn't been able to figure out a way to both be aware of what Ghost was doing, and watch his own surroundings. So he didn't have any idea where Ghost was in the tower at the moment.

Jon moved silently, having learned that at least from his bonded, and he didn't carry a torch either, trusting to his merely human eyesight. He moved through the dark of the corridors like just another shadow, pausing occasionally to listen before moving on.

It was his hearing allowed Jon to spot the strange discord, an almost inaudible scrape of steel on steel where there shouldn't have been anything. At that point he had just exited the intermittently lit stairwell onto the third floor of the tower to check on the rooms that had been given over to Stafford and Daven. At the sound however he turned back quickly, moving into one of the shadows by the doorway as he stared up the stairwell which wound on until it finally ended at the door to the room Tywin occupied.

Jon took a moment to get in touch with Ghost, who was currently on the first floor patrolling near the entrance. The direwolf had sensed something, a scent that shouldn't have been there, and was tracking it when Jon reached out to his mind, so Jon let him be. Jon then slowly pulled out one of his short swords, careful to make no noise as he did so. He waited a brief moment then moved up the stairwell on silent feet, pausing occasionally to listen. He stopped in the shadows directly before the last floor of the tower, staring upwards.

There was a man standing there on guard while a second man behind him was working on the lock to Tywin's room. It was the sound of one of his tools against the metal of the lock that had alerted Jon. Both of them were illuminated by a torch outside Tywin's cell, while Jon was practically invisible in the darkness of the stairwell below them.

Briefly Jon wondered if he should take one of them prisoner, then decided that yes that would be a good idea since if Ghost ran into any he doubted his bonded would be able to think of that. As such, Jon turned his blade slightly in his grip so that he would be striking with the flat rather than the edge before bounding up into the light of the torch.

His sudden and silent appearance took the two men completely by surprise. The one on guard had a brief second to gasp "wha-?" before Jon's blade smacked with punishing force into the side of his head, knocking the man out before he even hit the floor.

Though not on the level of a Faceless Man or a Sorrowful Man, the would-be liberator working on the lock was a thorough-going professional of the sort Tywin had seeded in many of Westeros' cities, and he reacted with all the speed he could. Turning he whipped out a small soot-darkened dirk lunging at Jon.

Anyone but another wolfsworn might have been surprised at the man's speed, but Jon negligently smacked the dirk to one side with his gauntleted hand, kicking out at the same time to catch the man in his midriff. The man flew backwards slamming into the door to Tywin's room with a booming sound, and when he tried to rise, another kick to the head knocked him out to join his fellow.

Jon moved to the door leading into Tywin's cell, looking inside to see Tywin standing near the doorway glaring at it and then at him when he showed his face. "Nice try, but not quite enough." Jon said, smirking just a bit to irritate the older man. Then he turned, grabbing the two prisoners and hauling them to their feet before placing them over his shoulders and heading back down the stairs. Behind him Tywin stared after the Stark bastard, biting his lip so hard it nearly bled.

Down below Ghost had found a group of invaders that had possibly been a diversion of some sort, five men moving around the first floor of the tower trying to release the Westerlands noblemen imprisoned there. Before they could open the first door however Ghost was on them like a wraith out of the night.

"GAHHH!" The first the men knew of his presence was when one of them screamed shrilly as Ghost chomped down on one of his legs, ripping his entire leg off with an ease that made the act all the more terrifying. With his first victim's leg still clamped in his jaws Ghost barreled forward, his head smashing into one man while he dropped the leg he had been holding.

Leaping to the side he dodged a man who had been about to thrust his sword into Ghost's side. One paw flashed out to catch the man in the shoulder and neck, breaking both upon impact while the man's body was sent careening down the corridor.

"Damnit it's just a fucking animal, kill it already!" Two men tried to strike at him with their short swords, only for Ghost to dodge backwards, his forepaws flashing out catching one man. Then he smacked the other man's sword aside, lunching forward to almost rip him in half with his jaws.

"M-monster!" The last man tried to turn and run, but Ghost bore him to the ground with a single leap, then his bloody maw reached down, ripping the man's head off.

Ghost stood there for a moment as cries of alarm, shock and horror began to be uttered by the prisoners all around him. He looked down at himself rumbling mournfully before resolutely turning away as the noblemen in their cells all began to shout out questions trying to figure out what had happened. Ghost didn't care about them, he cared about finding someplace to bath for a moment to get rid of the blood on his fur.

OOOOOOO

The next day Brynden and Domeric questioned the prisoners, finding out the name of the man who had hired them. A promise of sending them to the Wall rather than executing them saw to that. Ranma allowed Domeric to lead the raid on the man's house, while Ranma himself had decided to go out into the city. He had Domeric and Alayaya's reports of course, but he wanted his own read on what the townspeople thought about his grandfather.

He'd first thought to spend time in the godswood, here in Riverrun, but when he did, he still got the sense that he had to travel to the Isle of Faces, only much more clearly than he had in Raventree Hall. Ranma figured that it was a matter of distance, the old gods couldn't project enough of their presence this far south, not without a major local focus. A single weirwood tree wasn't enough to pass on whatever message the old gods were trying to send him. Ranma was able to get a sense of slowly growing urgency, but that was all, and Ranma had decided to turn his attention to other things for now.

In his normal clothing with a hood covering his face Ranma looked enough like any other off-duty northern soldier to blend into the city with ease. Moving from one bar or market stall to another Ranma was able to get the impression he wished, and found that Domeric and Alayaya had the feelings of the city-folk spot on. There was a great deal of grief at Hoster's passing, despite the smallfolk having had so long to get used to be idea that he would eventually pass.

There was a sense that while Hoster had his faults as Lord Paramount, he had been a masterful city administrator. The signs of that was everywhere. Even with the massive influx of refugees, the streets were decently clean and very well patrolled. The city was crowded, but it wasn't a messy sort of crowding. The city watch also looked well trained, and Ranma could tell that their unit commanders were old armsmen, who had served House Tully in the field before being allowed to semi-retire to the city watch. Even when he headed down into the poorer areas of the city that was the case, and there was no sign of the sort of slums he had feared.

Around midday Ranma headed back to the castle, hoping to find Daenerys in their quarters. Halfway there however he was halted by a servant. "Your Majesty" said the servant bowing his head. "A tailor has arrived and is waiting for you in your room to fit you for some formal apparel. Her Highness has asked me to inform you that the trials will be a, a 'command performance'?"

Ranma groaned a little but nodded his head. "Ugh, very well, but where might I find the queen?"

"She and the Lady Myrcella have taken over the suite of rooms that Lady Catelyn used when she was in residence." the older man replied, smiling faintly at some bygone memory. "I feel certain however, that they would prefer you to be fitted before going to see them." he said returning to the here and now.

"Too true," Ranma replied, shaking his head. Sighing he made his way to his rooms, where he did indeed find the tailors. For the next hour Ranma bore up with their poking and prodding him stoically, but when they began to talk about hose and leggings he put his foot down hard. He thought those things had been a horrible affectation of the court in King's Landing, and he would never wear the damn things. This caused some consternation among the tailors, as did his insistence on austerity. "I'm a Stark," he said sternly. "We are not known for ostentatious display, and I refuse to allow such now."

Eventually he was fitted with good simple black trousers, a black doublet with an image of a direwolf worked into the sleeves, and a cloak of wolf's fur. Fenris, who had been watching all this with amusement, sniffed audibly at that, but didn't make any other sign of irritation. The tailors on the other hand were morose, the design was so simple and barbaric, but it was one that Ranma could live with.

Ranma then left his rooms, smirking a little while he listened to the complaints of the tailors who were apparently not used to being told no, before he decided to try and find Daenerys. He wanted to go over the rules of the court with her one more time, because he knew that the trials to come would prove the basis of a new judicial system in the future. That was Daenerys' main area of interest, as the military was Ranma's (both of them could take politics or leave them at this point).

Eventually he found Ser Barristan guarding a hallway with the thousand league stare of a man sent away while women discussed fashion. A moment later he passed by some maids who were carrying several elaborate dresses each. Guessing that meant he was nearing his destination, he stepped to one side, allowing them to enter a room he had been accidentally blocking then moved on. Hearing voices coming from one of the rooms Ranma opened its door and stepped inside only to stop poleaxed at the sight before him.

OOOOOOO

While Ranma went out that morning to explore the city, Daenerys and Myrcella got a early start on choosing the dresses they would wear for the coming trials. Myrcella however was still having some misgivings about it. "I still don't understand why you and Ranma both think I need to be involved in the trials. I'm flattered of course, I'm just not certain that it makes much sense."

Looking at Daenerys she giggled a little, seeing the expression on her face. Merry had long since learned how to tell when Daenerys or Ranma were warging with their animals mentally in some fashion. The slack face and the thousand mile stare was a major hint. "How are Rhaegon and Sunfyre finding the woodlands hereabouts?"

"Rhaegon just killed his first bear, the creature actually tried to fight back, amazing. Sunfyre is eating a dear of some kind, thinking it isn't as tasty as crab." Daenerys replied absent-mindedly, sending feelings of love and amusement down her link to both animals, along with orders to come back to the castle of Riverrun when it became dark out.

That done, she blinked a little coming back to her own body quickly. "I'm sorry what did you say?" After Merry had repeated what she had said, Daenerys smiled, continuing down the corridor beside the young woman towards the rooms she had designated as the outfitting area.

Lady Catelyn had left several dresses here after she married Eddard either because they no longer fit or were simply not practical in the North. While the leaves had begun to fall and rains had begun to hammer the Riverlands one out of every four days it hadn't become noticeably colder yet, so that wasn't a problem. The problem of the dresses fitting could be solved with enough seamstresses working on the issue.

"Actually it is almost entirely a political maneuver my dear. Remember our position: officially, you are a princess, heir to House Baratheon. You might have removed yourself from the line of succession for the throne, but that doesn't equate to removing yourself from House Baratheon." Daenerys said, putting her arm over the other girl's shoulder so that they could whisper together more easily. She absently noted that the younger girl actually smelled rather pleasant, but not of the normal lilac and honeysuckle smell, she had added a rose or some other scent to her perfume.

"You know that's not true Daenerys, I've told you before." Myrcella replied softly, her own arm going around Daenerys's waist, smiling up at the slightly taller woman who had become her best friend and confidant over the months they had known one another. "Look at me, I don't have a single hint about me that I'm a Baratheon."

"True, but until we receive notice from the Citadel that daughters from marriages between Lannister and Baratheon also take after the Baratheon line we will continue to treat you as such. And besides, even without that, and leaving aside our current difficulties with House Lannister, you would be in the line of succession to that house as well through your mother. As such, you would still be high-ranking enough to put on the quorum."

"I suppose…" Myrcella replied shaking her head. "And I know this is rather silly of me, but I'd rather not be associated with the Lannisters at all after this war."

"Unless Kevan decides to remain at war with us and somehow forces us to invade the Westerlands, the Lannisters will still be a powerful family, Merry. Their control of Lannisport and the Rock would see to that." The silver-haired young queen smiled thinly. "If all goes according to plan they won't have access to the mines around the Golden Tooth soon enough, but they'll still have very deep pockets and a very strong logistical base."

Ranma was the one who had put it that way, but Daenerys understood what he was saying easily enough. "And if the city of Lannisport is as loyal to them as Riverrun appears to be to House Tully, taking it will be a nightmare."

"And of course the Rock would be incredibly hard to take at the best of times." Myrcella mused, nodding her head. Memories of the two trips the royal family had taken to the Rock went through her mind, and she quailed a little inside at what taking it would cost in time and blood.

Daenerys wasn't certain she agreed with that, she had seen what Ranma had done to the Twins. With that skill Ranma might be able to do the same to the spire of rock that Casterly Keep sat on, bringing the entire thing down. But that wasn't germane to the subject at hand. "True enough, but again you would only be the Lannister heir if we were forced to remove Kevan and all his children per force from positions of power. Frankly, we just can't afford to be bogged down in the Westerlands. Once Ranma takes the Golden Tooth we will have secured the Riverlands borders, and we will need to turn our attention elsewhere."

Myrcella nodded, leaving the subject of her being part of the quorum to the side for now as she looked at Daenerys. "Are you more worried about the fact we haven't heard anything about your brother, or the otherworldly powers that the Red Witch that Stannis employs can call upon?"

"Both." Daenerys replied, squeezing the other girl around the shoulders in thanks to the worry she saw in her face. "I'm worried that my brother has allied with Dorne, and I'm worried about what they might do. The Dornish are a strange people, full of strange, often violent passions."

She scowled, once more remembering the egg she had been forced to leave behind, and the princess that Ranma had been forced to leave behind. They couldn't have fought off an entire city, but still that decision to run was going back to come back to haunt them soon, Daenerys just knew it. "The fact we haven't heard from my brother yet in some fashion makes me very nervous."

"There's nothing we can do about that, so let's turn to more pleasant matters for now." Myrcella replied, squeezing the other girl around the waist as they came to the rooms where they would begin changing. "I'm thinking that you should wear something in violet, or at least with a violet hint, it'll bring out your complexion and those eyes of yours. They are rather striking, you know."

"I've been told that before." Daenerys replied in a similar tone, "but those green eyes of yours are just as good-looking you know."

From there the conversation segued into types of fabric, cloth, cut, the time it would take to change some of Catelyn's old clothing to fit the two women, and of course what colors went with their skin tones as well as what makeup they would use. The maids and the seamstress took part in most of the discussion, with the seamstress having several good ideas about style of cut once Daenerys made the position out of what she wanted the dresses for clear. "It has to be stern of manner and cut, if we can get away without hinting at any kind of sensuality, all the better."

That threw the head seamstress for a moment. She was not used to dresses that were not made to at least emphasis a woman's body if not put it subtly on display. But she still rose to the challenge.

By around midday the two of them had picked out their dresses, simple affairs for the most part, with little in the way of ostentation or sexuality, though they still showed the bodies of the two young women off to good effect, nothing could change that. The maids and the seamstress went off to their workstation in the next room over, where several more seamstresses were waiting to aid them to speed up the process, leaving Daenerys and Myrcella in their underthings for a moment.

Staring at the older woman Myrcella sighed sadly. "I wish I had your curves Daenerys, you're so gorgeous! And your skin looks like a marble." Merry said, reaching out to stroke a finger down Daenerys' side.

Daenerys shivered a little under the other woman's touch, shaking her head as feelings of more than affection once more arose in her. Curse you Alayaya! "Your young yet Merry, you'll grow your own curves. Trust me, I can see the process already beginning. You've grown from being smaller than a handful to filling out quite nicely in the time I've known you." She said, reaching over to emphasize the point by lifting up the other young woman's breast with one of her hands before pulling her hand away quickly. "And, and your hair is magnificent. You can do so many things with it, I'm especially jealous of the fact you can curl it like that. All I can do with mine is keep it straight."

One of the maids had tried to curl Daenerys' hair earlier, but it refused to stay curled and Daenerys refused to try to use some oils to keep it such. "And while you think my skin may look like marble, your complexion actually allows you to wear more colors than me. I look like a ghost in far too many colors for my liking."

At that point the door opened, causing both women to turn wondering if one of the maids was returning for something.

OOOOOOO

Ranma stared for a moment, unable to look away from the site before him. Daenerys and Myrcella were standing side-by-side on small footstools, dressed in nothing but their underthings, and as hard as he tried Ranma could not concentrate only on his wife. Myrcella at fourteen had become a young woman at some point without him noticing, her breasts blossoming from the small promise they had been, and she had gained curves to her hips as well. Her face had lost the last traces of baby fat, becoming as beautiful as her mother's had been, with none of the cold hauteur or the lines of fury that had marred Cersei's.

On the other hand Daenerys was simply magnificent, a very definition of beauty. Her body, which he had explored every chance he could, called to him on a deep level. The breasts lovingly worshipped were pressed up slightly by the brassiere she was currently wearing. Her legs, so long, so pristine and strong captivated him despite her simply standing still there. And her face, with it's high cheekbones and small but pouty lips under her violet eyes, drew his attention like a lodestone.

Realizing he was staring at the two pictures of beauty Ranma turned around rapidly, slamming his head into the side of the door as it tried to shut behind him. "OW, um, I'm sorry you two, I, er I didn't realize you were still changing, I'll just, I'll just wait outside."

The two girls looked at one another while Ranma quickly made his way out of the door, rubbing his forehead for a moment. Then they began to laugh gaily.

It was a sudden thing. It caught Daenerys like a up-swell, carrying her along in a purely spontaneous action. As Merry and Daenerys leaned forward, laughing so hard their stomachs hurt, Daenerys suddenly stopped laughing. Instead she leaned forward, kissing Myrcella on the lips.

Merry gasped a little, but didn't pull back, instead leaning forward a tiny, miniscule amount before Daenerys regained control of herself and pulled back quickly. Both girls stared at one another then jerked back as the maids came back in, one of them laughing about having seen Ranma walking down the corridor still rubbing his forehead.

This allowed the two young women to set aside what had occurred just now, at least on the surface. They continued to take full part in the womanly pleasure of dresses and makeup, laughing and joking with the maids and one another while inside both of them were wondering where that had come from, and, more importantly, what if could mean in the future.

OOOOOOO

The next day however, no one was feeling in the mood to laugh.

Tywin was not certain what he had expected, but being led into Riverrun's main hall before noon two days after the attempt to free him with the room full of smallfolk and Lords was not it. If Tywin was honest, he had expected to simply be marched up to a gallows and hung or executed, he couldn't remember offhand how the Northerners did their executions, but it looked as if they were going to perform some kind of farce of a trial.

As if the Stark boy can really call me out on treason, he scoffed internally staring hard at Daenerys Targaryen, sitting next to Ranma at the head of five lords sitting in judgement. Ranma and Daenerys were sitting in the center, with Jason Mallister to one side of Ranma, possibly as a Riverlord whose land had not felt the ravages of his army and could thus be called somewhat neutral.

The last two judges however surprised him. One wore the colors of a forked streak of lightning, and could only be Beric Dondarrion. Tywin had thought Beric dead, though the rumors of the Brothers without Borders and their attacks on his supply convoys had told Tywin that some survivors from that initial ambush were still around. Yet putting that minor mystery aside the last judge, the last could only be his granddaughter Myrcella.

The sight of her sitting there was shocking, as was the fact that she wore the colors of House Baratheon, without even a hint of Lannister colors about her person. Part of him wanted to nod approval at that, pleased that the girl had learned how to cozy up to the winning side. But the rest of him realized after a moment that there was nothing about politics in her alliance with the Starks. The fact she was glaring hatefully at him was enough for that.

Foolish girl, he thought coldly amused. No doubt she is some kind of bleeding heart, angry at me for starting a war, pathetic. Still, at least if Stark wins this war some portion of my direct line will survive.

He was marched to the front of the hall, where he stood with his guards behind him facing Ranma. For a moment the court was silent everyone, smallfolk and Lord alike staring at the Lion of the Rock brought low.

After a moment Ranma spoke shattering the silence. "Lord Tywin Lannister, you stand accused of treason against the former crown, inciting murder and banditry on the border of a peaceful land, and bringing war upon innocent smallfolk of the Riverlands. Do you have anything to say before the evidence against you is presented?"

Tywin's responded, voice cold as always and not hinting at the bit of fear he felt when Ranma's ice blue eyes locked onto him. "I find it amusing that you accuse me of treason to House Baratheon's rule when you sit there next to a Targaryen. Or are you talking treason against the Old, Mad King Aerys? If so, you would still be a hypocrite after all despite all the provocations, your House rose in rebellion against him as well."

"Actually my Lord," Ranma replied, "Only a portion of the inciting murder charge has to do with the events that occurred during Robert's Rebellion. No, the treason charge is defending your daughter and Joffrey Waters, the bastard on the throne. While his father is still unknown, the fact remains that there has never been a single son born between the Lannister and Baratheon that did not have at least some sign of the Baratheon side of the parentage. Moreover Joffrey himself is a murderer, apparently several times over, not as King but as an individual."

"Your evidence of my daughter's infidelity is circumstantial and would not hold up in any true neutral court." Tywin replied dismissively.

"That is true as far as it goes." Myrcella spoke up from where she was sitting at the far end of the judges table staring at her grandfather. "However, Joffrey is a kinslayer, Lord Lannister. He admitted that he planned the murder of my younger brother, and if you can come up with a good reason for that beyond his knowing that he was illegitimate and that Tommy was not, I am all ears."

While the smallfolk murmured in shock horror at the very idea of Kinslaying let alone the fact that someone who claimed to be king was guilty of it, Tywin stared at her in shock. Kinslaying was one of very few things that Tywin wouldn't do. Put someone from his extended family in a position to be killed possibly, but actually plan the murder of close family? No, he hadn't even done that to Tyrion, who Tywin hated for murdering his wife with his birth.

"Yet that is not the only allegation against you my Lord, and you have not said anything to combat the other accusations against you." Daenerys said. "As such, I believe we can move on to the presentation of proofs. You'll have the ability to argue against them as witnesses are called my Lord, we want no one to accuse us of arbitrary justice here."

There was a murmur of approval from the watching crowd at that, and Ranma nodded firmly. "Call in the first witness."

The first few witnesses were from the Brothers without Borders, the men who had been sent out well before war had actually broken out between the Lannisters and the Starks to deal with the banditry going on around the borders between the Westerlands in the Riverlands. They told of how they had been betrayed by the Westerlands forces led by Ser Lorch, who was well known as a man Tywin used for dark deeds since the end of the Rebellion, almost as well as the Mountain that Rode, though nowhere near as feared. The brothers had even captured one of the Westerlands armsmen later on and he had admitted that their orders to betray the king-mandated expedition had come from Lord Lannister himself, passed on by Ser Lorch.

Tywin tried to call that into doubt, saying that Lorch was a mad dog, whose actions could not in any way be said to be his own fault.

Beric however responded that after the Mountain that Rode's execution, Lorch should have been too afraid to act out, and if he did, then why would he have acted in that manner? "Furthermore, the mercenary band the Bloody Mummers acted to aid your army later by taking Acorn Hall before your invasion of the Riverlands began. Those mercenaries were the same that you yourself had begun to act as bandits on the Westerlands side of the borders. Therefore your argument is spurious at best."

Tywin frowned angrily as he realized that what he had seen as simply the next level up of the political backroom dealing that always went on in King's Landing looked very badly indeed to these men and women. Don't they understand what politics is? "I set that in motion to combat the growing power of the Starks," he said aloud now admitting it. "If any of you were a Lord Paramount you would've done the same thing."

"No." Ranma replied coolly we wouldn't have. "What you saw as a power grab my Lord was simply our family acting in honor due to our friendship and duty to the throne."

"And I say again." Tywin replied now actually angrily pointing at Daenerys. "That you cannot talk about treason when you sit there with a Targaryen by your side."

"It was Petyr and Varys who convinced Robert to send me to Essos my Lord." Ranma replied coolly. "And it was the death of Tommen that convinced my father to act against the Queen and Joffrey. If Tommy hadn't died, my wife and I would have been perfectly content to stay in the North." He smirked at his wife for a moment, allowing humor to show for the first time since this trial had begun. "For many different reasons."

Daenerys actually blushed, slapping his hand lightly mouthing the word 'behave' at him. This caused a ripple of laughter to go out around the smallfolk and Lords when they realized what Ranma had implied there.

Only Tywin was immune to it and he sneered at Ranma coldly. "Forgive me for not believing you, Stark."

"I will forgive you for that, there are more than enough other charges against you my Lord for that forgiveness to matter not at all." Ranma replied, smirking now as he watched Tywin twitch at his tone, but his eyes were bleaker than winter.

"We are not trying you as Lord Paramount, or as the mythic Tywin Lannister my Lord, and this is not personal, no matter how you try to twist it." Daenerys said shaking her head as she too became serious. "We are trying you as a man and as a Lord. This is about justice and the rule of law, which we hope to instill in all our realms after this war is over."

The trial continued from there, with smallfolk coming forward, having been found by Domeric and Alayaya, actual witnesses who had survived the march of the Lannisters through the Riverlands. They angrily denounced what the Westerlands army had done to them, though only rarely was one called forward able to say that he had seen the Lannister colors on the ravagers. Nonetheless, the fact that those men were allowed to act out in that manner spoke harshly against Tywin as their general.

Tywin tried to reply that such things happened with men at war, that it was human nature. Myrcella however spoke up before anyone else could, sharply reprimanding him on that pointing to the Stark-led army and its actions during the war so far, as well as the fact that such events had even happened on land of Houses that were neutral, Houses that had not had the time to declare one side of the other, and even allied Houses such as Bracken. There was a murmur of surprise from the smallfolk, watching the young Baratheon Princess take her grandfather to task, but the tales of Myrcella the Maiden of Healing had already spread, so it wasn't that big a shock.

After that Brynden came forward with his tale of the assassins sent after Eddard while he was in King's Landing, but here the evidence wasn't quite up to par. Eventually the witnesses were finished, and the judges removed themselves for a moment to a separate room before coming back quickly.

Ranma spoke for them all as was his right as king, staring down at Tywin from the small dais. "Tywin Lannister, this court has reached its decision. On the charge of treason against the crown, we find you guilty for knowingly trying to cover up your daughter's act of treason and acting against the duly appointed Hand of the king even before that began. On bringing war and rapine onto the lands of the Rivers, we find you guilty. On inciting murder, specifically the murder of my father Edward Stark, we find you not guilty."

That startled Tywin, he had assumed that the court would simply find him guilty of all charges, not that it really mattered. The other charges were easily proven, and his attempt to argue against them or try to wave them aside as simply how the game was played had not worked as he knew they wouldn't.

The effect of the trial however on the smallfolk and many of the lords that had watched it however was something he hadn't calculated. They're destroying my reputation, he thought with something approaching admiration. They're destroying not only any chance of making me a martyr in the future, but also the reputation of my House. Before this, terror and fear would've kept people from talking out against us, but now, with the military victories Stark's won and this trial that will no longer be the case.

We might still have gold, and we might still inspire fear, but it won't be a respected kind of fear, simple loathing rather than dread. Character assassination at its finest all couched in a trial that allows them to showcase their own sense of justice. Well played. Even now faced with his death Tywin was unable to truly change his thought processes.

Actually, the destruction of his reputation was really a secondary benefit to his opponents. Ranma and Daenerys primary goal was to show the smallfolk that their family would hold justice and honor over personal wealth, that even the highest of Lords would be called to account for their actions.

"There can only be one penalty for treason, only one penalty for starting a war as you have: execution, to be carried out immediately. Do you have anything to say before sentence is carried out?"

Tywin stared coldly at Ranma who have stood up and taken up Ice from where it had been laying on the table in front of the judges. He toyed with the idea of calling upon a champion to fight for himself, but knew it would be useless. Stark would of course stand as his own champion, and without Jaime here there was no one Tywin could call upon that would have a chance against him. "In the Game of Thrones you either win or you die, Stark. Whatever reason you are doing this, that is a truth that I have known my entire life."

Ranma at looked at the man then nodded respectfully, respecting the fact Tywin did not beg or plead for his life. He gestured, and Tywin's guards turned him around ushering him out of the room while Ranma made to follow. Daenerys stood as well as did the other judges even Myrcella following the group outside to the executioner's block.

Outside the keep the castle's grounds were somewhat crowded, but a cordon had been kept clear by armed soldiers from the door of the keep to the execution block, which stood on a raised wooden platform. As the crowd saw Tywin being pushed in that direction there was a murmur rising into a shout of triumph and many am insult and curse was thrown at him. Tywin ignored it all regally, staring straight ahead. With the attempt two nights ago, he knew his agents here in Riverrun were gone, without them no one would stand in his defense.

Tywin was forced to kneel, placing his head on the butcher's block as Ranma stared out at the crowd. Behind him Daenerys reached down, grabbing Myrcella's hand and squeezing it tightly. Merry squeezed back reassuringly, her eyes bleak as she stared at her grandfather, a man who had loomed so large in Westeros for so long, brought down at last.

"Tywin Lannister!" Ranma bellowed in a voice that quieted the crowd. "Was found guilty of treason against the crown and of inciting war and banditry in the Riverlands. The penalty for these crimes is execution. In the North, the man who passes the sentence wields the sword. I passed the sentence, I Ranma Stark wield the sword." With that Ranma raised Ice in the air and without further preamble brought it down. With a swing of the Stark family blade Tywin Lannister, the Lion of the Rock died, one of many steps that would cripple the Lannisters and their ability to wield power in the affairs of Westeros as a whole.

There was a moment of silence, then the crowds broke out into a loud roar. The Rains of Castamere would never again be played in the Riverlands or anywhere else. Instead it would be the March of the Wolf King.

After a moment staring down at the body Ranma wiped Ice off on a cloth set nearby then motioned to the guards to carry the body away before turning to his fellow judges. "There'll be a five-minute recess before the next trial. I could use some water after this, or something stronger to wipe the taste of this out of my mouth, I hate executions..."

The other judges all nodded, but when they left Ranma caught up with Myrcella, putting his arm on around her shoulder. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine." Myrcella said, her eyes staring into the distance for a moment before she shook herself coming back to the here and now. "He, he was such, this... She paused again trying to gather her words. "His presence was always there. He was like a mountain looming over my mother over my uncle, over the court, myself and my siblings. He was held up as an example to us, as someone we should emulate, and yet he acted so cruelly here in the Riverlands. It's a relief to have him gone, but watching him die like that… I don't think I'll follow you out for the other executions Ranma, if that's all right."

"That's fine by me Merry." Ranma replied while Daenerys took his place hugging the younger girl to her.

"Fine with both of us," his wife said. "The Lords, Ranma will have to execute personally, but the others can be done by lesser executioners, otherwise we'd be here all year." She smiled grimly.

The trials continued from there. Surprisingly, many of the Lannister armsmen were acquitted of charges against the smallfolk, and thus were added to the growing workforce that had been put under Vincent and the other engineers. They and all of the other prisoners thus acquitted would be sent up under guard to join the former Frey men already at work on the canal that would connect the Green Fork to the sea by Seagard. That work had proceeded apace since they left that city, and the canal was now fully planned with work well along near Seagard. It would still take a few months, but the canal would be done before winter hit.

The remaining captured Lannisters themselves were a mixed bag. Stafford Lannister had been seen looting House Deddings keep by a few of the survivors among the servants of that House who had escaped its final sack after its military force had been destroyed. But he had not been seen taking part in the rape or murder going on, so the judges could not decide on the death penalty for him. Beric and Ranma both wanted it, but Daenerys, Myrcella and Jason did not. As such, Stafford would be sent north to the Wall to take the black.

The three younger Lannisters however were acquitted of most of the charges against them. As such, they would remain as prisoners, hostages against their family's good conduct. When the war ended, and the monetary reparations demanded from the Lannisters arrived they would be allowed to return to the Rock. Actually, Ranma had plans for Daven. He'd impressed Ranma somewhat since his capture, and since he had been cleared of all charges (indeed no witness had seen him even leading troops that had taken part in anything outside of actual combat) he was the cleanest of the three.

For the next four days, the trials continued. Four more Lords, Hamell, Kenning, Moreland and Garner were executed and their men with them for their parts in the willful rapine of the Riverlands. Two of them, Garner and Hamell, were dragged to their execution still screaming at their captors that such things occurred in wartime. Lord Kenning however was made of sterner stuff, and actually demanded a trial by combat. He stood as his own champion, and Ranma executed him on the spot with a single blow from Ice. His men were executed along with the others. Moreland simply went to his death with as much dignity as he could muster.

Several of the surviving lords could not be found guilty of crimes that would have called for the murder penalty. Lord Spicer came through the war with as clean a record as any of the Westerlanders, though his men had already paid a high price in fighting it. There were only a handful of them alive, but they and Spicer would be added to the workforce on the various projects here, though separated of course. Spicer would stay here and a few other lords and prisoners from earlier in the campaign to enlarge the housing on the west of the river.

Lord Stackspear being acquitted was a surprise, but he personally had not led his men on attacks on the smallfolk. His son however had, and four women from Bracken land came forward telling of how he raped them, the women having been found by Dacey after the siege was lifted. When he verbally attacked them in court, calling the women sluts who had enjoyed it, the court found him guilty immediately and Ranma took some pleasure in executing him. Even the man's father looked appalled at his son's attitude, and did not speak up for him as he was lead outside.

Eventually the court ran through both the men and the Lords. It wasn't perfect, as Ranma knew all too well. They no doubt missed a few murderers and rapists here and executed a few here and there that hadn't. All they could do however was go by the evidence they had which centered around the colors the troopers wore to signify their allegiance to one Lord or the other. It was the best they could do, and that would have to be enough.

After that, Ranma and Daenerys turned their attention to politics. Proportioning the lands of the Riverlands houses that had been wiped out took a full day, but eventually everyone was, if not totally pleased with the outcomes at least happy with them.

Lord Mallister received some of the lands of the now defunct House Nayland that had controlled Hags Mire, and halfway up to the Green Fork, along with a promise of royal aid in building a new wall to protect the town of Seagard once it became too large for its current environs, as it would no doubt do, fueled by the trade of the new route.

From there up to the former Twins then down to the new canal junction was declared Crown Lands. A town was planned where the new canal joined with the Green Fork, but that would be in the future.

House Blackwood, as the only house south of the Red Fork to continue to fight the invader, was given more than half of House Bracken's land. They were also given even more territory to the southeast, which had been former Whent land, though that declining house hadn't exerted control over the area in years.

However Stone Hedge itself and the lands west of it would be kept for now by the crown, to be given as a reward to a knight who proved himself in the campaign to come. Lucas Blackwood and Ravella Smallwood would be wed here in Riverrun and would take over the ruins of Acorn Hall.

Shawney for his service would be given the former Vypren lands, giving him a goodly chunk of the land between the Red and Blue Fork. House Ryger would control most of the lands around the Ruby Ford down to the Trident, with Blanetree owning their land and a portion at the Trident itself, including a portion of the taxes from Harroway.

House Paege was risen from the Knightly to the Noble status, and given half of House Lolliston's former land. Further, they had been given a crown charter to allow Fairmarket to grow into a city. House Grell was given the other half of Lolliston's land.

House Piper woud retain their lands, but would receive no recompense or aid in rebuilding the town of Mummer's Ford. They did not help the invaders, but nor did their lord fight them, so they wouldn't gain or lose anything. Lord Piper didn't argue it, since he might have a chance to win more lands going on from the defunct House Harlton, which had been abutting his southeast borders before this.

House Wayn would gain the former House Haigh's land, but that was all, though their men would now join the army at Harroway and take part in the war from now on. Utherydes and his son both vowed to that effect, and Ranma would hold them to it.

Kirth Vance's House would gain quite a bit more land to the west of their castle and port town which was former Deedings land. That land was rich farmland and unspoiled thus far, though the keep there had been put to the torch. They also received a royal charter to enlarge their town, which sat on the massive inland lake called the God's Eye, into a city provided they meet the new taxation laws that Ranma and Daenerys would put in place after the war.

Because of their aid in defending the Cape of Eagles against Ironborn raids, House Charlton was raised to noble status, and given the land of the Cape as fief. Many had expected Lord Mallister to object to this, but while he had looked to that land as his to defend, it had actually never been his houses to control, and given the riches that was going to flow into his coffers from the trade of the new canal he was more than recompensed for the lost.

Charlton also received two royal commissions to begin mining copper, nickel and tin there, where deposits of those precious metals had been discovered a few years back. Daenerys and Ranma would fund the start of those mines, then the crown would receive half the mines output into perpetuity afterwards.

Of the Houses that had fought for the Lannisters, only House Wode was not removed from the roll of nobility. Ser Wode and his men would serve in the army without pay for five years as punishment for following the noble house they were sworn to, Whent in this case, into treason. House Whent, whether it still served the Westerlanders manning Harrenhal willingly or no, would also be destroyed.

Darry, Mooton and Butterwell would not receive anything at this time, but might later on from House Whent's lands. Whent was still allied, willing or no, with Westerlands forces, so would be annexed after Harrenhal fell. Keath had been sent a messenger according to Utherydes, and they had also been told about their lord's death along with his forces. But they had not sent a representative to Riverrun. Therefore, Keath would also be dissolved. That left several chunks of land that could be handed to worthy men, who could be raised to knighthood.

Then Ranma and Daenerys outlined their plans for the Westerlands. That there would be no invasion even though Ranma explicitly stated he would be attacking the Golden Tooth and the mines around it was a surprise to the Riverlords. Ranma however waved their astonishment off. "My Lords, we cannot invade the Westerlands and do onto to them as they did to you without seeming the hypocrites that Lord Tywin called us in his trial. Furthermore, Domeric and I have been going over the numbers of both the Lords and the Army we've faced here in the Riverlands. Domeric?"

Domeric nodded, smiling slightly. "Essentially my Lords, nearly all of the Houses of the Westerlands mustered their forces for this army. That army is now not just beaten, but annihilated. There hasn't been a victory this lopsided in centuries. The only areas that might have enough men to challenge us is the area around Deep Den down towards Silverhill, Banefort and Crakehall."

"House Lannister may have a few thousand more men to their name, as does Marbrand but that's not enough to form an offensive force. They just don't have enough manpower to face us in the open field any longer. It would take them at least a year of summer to train up another army. And without Tywin, many of the other Houses will probably rebel if called up again after this disaster. Kevan is a good organizer and administrator, but he doesn't command the respect and fear that Tywin did. If we take the Golden Tooth, we will show that we have the ability to strike at them, and be dealing with all of the Houses in the Westerlands from a position of strength."

"Taking the Golden Tooth won't be easy," Lord Piper said, stapling his fingers and looking at Ranma quizzically. "You seem to almost be glossing over that in your planning. It isn't the largest castle, and it doesn't have as formidable a reputation as some other fortresses, but it's defensive position is one of the best. Taking it will require either a full siege or months of work and lots of lives to try and crack the walls somehow."

Ranma and Jon exchange an amused look. "That will be a task for the Wolfsworn my Lord. You haven't had enough time to really understand what we are." Jon replied for his brother. "We're not just the best warriors, we're something else entirely. Specialists at sneaking around and taking castles like that being one of those things."

"My wife will stay here to further see to the administration of the Riverlands and lead the army at Harroway, while I lead five hundred Tully men and the wolfsworn down to take the Golden Tooth." Ranma added.

Piper was not the only lord who looked astonished at that, but those who had known Ranma for longer all simply nodded, and Tytos and the other southern Riverlords subsided. However after a moment Jason spoke up. "One area we haven't talked about is the former Tully lands my lord." he said apologetically. "Will Brynden be taking his place as Lord Tully?"

"I think that Brynden would react rather violently to the very idea." Ranma replied laughing while Brynden scowled. He didn't want to enrich himself right his brother's death like that, even if both law and custom dictated that he was now Lord Tully. "Besides," Ranma went on, "I have something else in mind for him. When we take the Golden Tooth we'll need a commander to place in charge of it and the assaults on the nearby mines. And after this war is over, that position will be one of the most important in the Riverlands."

Brynden looked at him in surprise then nodded his head, formally agreeing to the idea.

"In that case who will hold Riverrun?" Alayaya asked. "I have to say that the people here are much more loyal to House Tully than they ever were to House Baratheon in King's Landing. I would highly recommend someone at least connected somehow to the family or else you may have issues here later on. You have a connection with them Ranma thanks to your mother, will you hold it as Crown lands?"

"No." Ranma said shaking his head. "I think there should always be a Tully holding lordship here, just like a Stark in Winterfell. And I have the one in mind too. Tell me my Lord," he asked looking at its Tytos for a moment. "Which of your sons would you say is the best administrator?"

"That would be Edmund, or Ben as we call him, my fourth son. He's not the best blade, but he's a good administrator and a very decent mind. he's out with his brothers at the moment in the godswood." Tytos replied promptly, looking at Ranma in speculation.

"As I said, I think there should be a Tully in charge here Riverrun, and I can think of no one better to take over then my sister Sansa." Ranma smirked as shouts of surprise abounded around the room, though most of the reactions were positive ones. "Therefore, I will be sending Ben Blackwood and Edd Karstark up with a small party to escort her down from Winterfell. When she arrives, she will be formally inducted as Lady Tully, leaving the Stark name behind."

Tytos and Rickard both got it at once then smiled thinly at one another. It wasn't very subtle, but the trip down from Winterfell would not just be a trip. It would be a courtship, with their sons vying with one another for Sansa's affection.

Watching the two lords Ranma smirked. He had known about Edd's crush on Sansa for years now, but he honestly doubted that when the two spent time around one another anything would come of it. Ben however, was something different. From Ranma's interactions with him, he knew the man was a romantic, as good with a lute as with a pen, though he was also solid, and had a very decent sense of humor that Ranma felt Sansa would enjoy.

Tytos however had some concerns. "My Lord, if that journey goes the way it might, my son Edmund would not be a very strong sword for your lady sister. That could cause issues in the future."

"No it won't," Ranma said, laughing while gesturing at Jon and Arya who nodded. "She is our sister my Lord, she will have our swords on call regardless of the future. She needs no other. And let me be clear on this, she will know from the beginning that Edd and Ben are there for more than protecting her, and it will be her decision who she marries. There will be no pressures either on her or on Edd and Ben." He stared hard at Rickard and Tytos until both men nodded.

With that Ranma went on. "House Tully will continue to control Riverrun and the area between the Red Fork and Tumblestone towards Golden Tooth." There was some muttering about that, after all there had been three other Houses in that area.

Kirth in particular looked angry, considering it would mean that no attempts to produce another cadet branch of his own House to hold Wayfarer's would be heard. But given the way they had all been enriched in terms of land and other things none of them could honestly complain.

The meeting broke up shortly after that, with the Riverlords leaving then the northern Lords and the wolfsworn, leaving Ranma and Daenerys alone once more. "Are you as certain as you make out that you can take the Golden Tooth so easily?"

Ranma laughed quietly kissing her briefly on the lips before pulling back. "I'll give you a hint if it's bothering you. What is the one direction that humans never look to for danger?"

"Directly below them." Daenerys replied promptly.

Ranma twitched. "Okay fine, the second direction."

"Above them I suppose." Daenerys replied frowning thoughtfully then smirked at Ranma. "Your little joke failed. Remember I am a Targaryen and I was weaned off stories of dragons fighting one another. In that kind of combat, you always look above you for danger. Though I still don't understand what your allusion could mean in this case. Now," she said dragging him to his feet. "I think we can find something far better to do with our time tonight then exchange bad jokes."

Ranma laughed getting to his feet and easily picked Daenerys up in his arms, her legs locking around his waist. "I think we can too."

OOOOOOO

"What?" growled Cersei, glaring angrily at the man before them, a messenger from out of Sow's Horn.

He was a youngish man, thin and weak looking, but he stood there resolutely even if he didn't quite meet her eyes. "My Lord Hogg has decided not to give you shelter your grace," he said again. "Ravens have been sent to practically every castle in the Crownlands, informing us of your son's illegitimacy." He backed away quickly as Cersei made to strike him. Thankfully Joffrey wasn't there, having been directed to where the forage parties were already making up some food.

All around them Lord Serret's men were quickly and efficiently moving supplies off the mules and carts the young man and his party had brought with them, adding it to their own very meager stores or cooking it up on the spot. Foraging had slowed them down badly, and their back trail scouts had started clashing with their fellows among the Reach force that was pursuing them yesterday.

After a moment he went on. "Lord Stannis has declared himself King of the Crownlands and Stormlands."

"He declared himself that before he actually marched." Said Cersei still glaring. "What exactly changed to make you and possibly others in the Crownlands believe him now?"

"He has emerged victorious from the battle down in King's Landing against his brother, and now commands the largest army in Westeros. Perhaps the Riverlands and the Northerners could match him, yet my Lord feels that the Targaryen has had its time." Actually Lord Hogg didn't, he just felt that Stannis was going to defeat the Stark youth in battle, regardless of whatever trickery he had used against the Westerlanders.

But the young man Hogg had sent as messenger wasn't about to share that bit of news with Cersei, not with her standing in front of him looking like she wanted to rip his throat out like the lion on her family's crest. He'd never been in her presence before, and it was overwhelming.

She wasn't quite as beautiful as the tales told when she was glaring at you like that, and she was certainly thinner than most stories made out in face and body, but that didn't take away from her intense glare which seemed to be drilling into him even when he wasn't looking into her eyes. Unfortunately for the messenger, his men didn't have quite his grasp of how to keep silent.

"Mother!" Joffrey's whiny shouted from somewhere else in the small camp. Cersei turned to see her son and two of his Kingsguard came forward, the two Kingsguard dragging a third man who was looking frightened, and had been around the face a bit already. "Mother, you'll never believe what lies this fool is saying! He's saying that grandfather lost entirely, that he was captured, and the Westerlands army crushed! I wished to whip him for telling lies, but Ser Swann stopped me. "

Cersei turned angrily to the messenger. "Is that true?"

The young man gulped twitching worse than ever now when the Kingslayer moved up to stand beside his sister glaring angrily at him. He looked around, now realizing that he was so entirely surrounded by Lannister men. "I, um, I am…"

"Speak the truth boy." Said a deep voice, and Lord Serret pushed through the throng of Lannister armsmen. "Is it true? No harm will come to you so long as you tell the truth." He glared at Cersei and Joffrey making certain they knew he was serious.

Cersei simply nodded sharply, understanding that news was more important than punishing the messenger while Joffrey simply scoffed and looked away. Rupert glared at him for a moment, he had becoming more and more wary of the boy throughout this trip. There was just something about him, something about his eagerness to go on the hunt with the foragers, and the way that his eyes gleamed now when he mentioned whipping the man who had apparently been overheard discussing rumors.

After a moment the House Hogg messenger replied. "I, yes my lords, Your Highness, it's true. We don't know any of the details, but rumors have spread from the Riverlands quickly, the Westerlands army is literally no more. All that remains of it is small groups of bandits here and there. We have no idea how it happened, but the rumors say that Lord Tywin himself was captured and is already in Riverrun awaiting trial and execution."

By this time Tywin had already been executed, and Ranma was well on his way down to the Golden Tooth and Daenerys back to Harroway. But rumors had to spread both ways, from the source of the rumors on back to them here in Sow's Horn territory.

Cersei and Jaime exchanged a shocked glance. While there had been scant love between them, their father had dominated the largest part of their lives and the affairs of Westeros. To hear he was brought low was simply impossible to consider, no matter how much Cersei in particular had wished to see the man get some sort of comeuppance.

Joffrey on the other hand raised a hand angrily. "You lie! How could he beaten by those Northern barbarians!"

"Remember Stark might have two dragons on his side, Your Majesty." said Rupert, stepping forward slightly to be close enough to stand between the whining brat and the man from Sow's Horn just in case.

Joffrey scowled at him then turned away angrily. He was serving the legitimate crown, how dare he lose! I'll have his head for this, all their heads for this! Stannis, Ranma, my sister, grandfather, his men! My enemies will die, and those who failed in their service to the crown will join them! I am King and I will make all of Westeros realize that!

Behind Joffrey, Rupert stared after the youngster then nodded at Ser Swann and Ser Buckwell who he had come to respect as an able sword and honorable man. When the men came forward to stand close by he whispered. "Watch him and his cronies among your brothers. I don't like how much control he has over them, or how close he is to Lord Edgerton."

Those two have been as thick as thieves since Edgerton rejoined the column. Though thankfully Edgerton's own power base within the column had been smashed during the feint that got them out of the cordon around King's Landing. He only had a few men to his name now, but all of them were close to Joffrey for some reason.

Buckwell nodded, shrugging his shoulders in his white enameled plate armor. "I understand, and I'm not exactly happy about being brothers to most of those men milord. One or two of them might have the skills of a Kingsguard but for the rest…" He shrugged again. Bowing quickly to Cersei and to his commander, the man left, while Ser Swann stayed a moment to bow himself before following.

With that done Rupert waved the messenger away with his thanks, then moved close to Cersei and Jaime. "I had never really intended to stay overlong at Sow's Horn anyway. Maybe leave a few hundred men there to help defend it and make it look as if we were still in residence but Sow's Horn isn't a large castle, it could barely accommodate us all, and from what I can remember it's a rather weak one as well, is that not so?"

Cersei seemed to be staring off into the distance for a moment but she shook herself and replied while Jaime continued to stare out across the Crownlands around them, frowning angrily at the news of his Septon. "Yes that is so, but where do we go from here?"

"We'll make for House Edgerton on a straight route as possible Your Highness." Rupert replied. "As I said that was the way I would have been going anyway."

Though honestly I'm a little more leery about it now. I'm not certain I want to put myself in to Edgerton's power like that. Although, how many men can he still have left? I wish I knew more about the power of the Crownlands houses, I know they were smashed in Robert's Rebellion, but how has Edgerton recovered? They had a lot of men in King's Landing, but was that their full complement? For some reason he didn't want to ask Varys or Lord Edgerton himself those questions, because he was almost certain he wouldn't get a straight answer.

He was still thinking about that as around him the column began to reform, moving away from the carts and mules from Sow's Horn quickly marching off down a side road from the small track they had been following. Eventually it would lead them to House Edgerton, but not quickly. Thankfully the Crownlands here were rolling plains, the soil not quite good enough for farming in comparison to other areas nearby, but they would be passing through a few hamlets on their way up to Edgerton land. That would allow them to resupply at least.

Rupert was roused the next mode morning by a growing clamor outside his small tent, one of the very few that they had been able to bring with them. He pushed himself to his feet quickly grabbing up his axe before hurrying out brandishing it in both hands. "What is it? Have the Reach forces caught us up somehow!" He roared.

One of his guards shook his head. "No my Lord, something seems to have roused the Lannisters over in the Royal section of the camp."

Rupert carefully didn't mention the man's contempt when he said the 'Lannisters' or the 'Royal section'. It was a small area of the camp where the Lannister men had cordoned off an area for Cersei and her family, but that wasn't what drew the contempt. That was Joffrey, who every man who was beholden to House Serret had begun to look down upon in private.

Cersei still commanded their esteem, since she had put up with the hardships of the journey without complaint, and carried herself in such a way that demanded that respect. And Jaime the Kingslayer was too deadly with a blade for anyone to not respect. Joffrey's constant whining complaints about the trip, coupled with the vicious way he'd tended to his horses before he was stopped coupled with the fact that he hadn't taken part in the battle to break them out of the cordon had eroded what little respect remained for his crown in their eyes.

Nodding at his guard Rupert hurried in that direction, coming upon Jaime coming out of the Royal area looking around angrily. "My Lord hand." Jaime said crisply. "The eunuch seems to have disappeared."

A quick check of the entire camp turned up no trace of the Master of Whisperers or anyone who had seen Varys the evening before. He was simply gone along with two of the horses. Rupert had to stop Joffrey from having the guards on the horses flogged for that, as well as the guards on the royal portion of the camp, but Cersei came to his aid, her mind on other things.

After Joffrey had been brought to heel, Cersei turned to Rupert. "Has he fled us entirely do you think, or do you think he'll be coming back at some point with news?" Her tone made it clear which response she considered most likely.

"I think we both know what the eunuch is up to your grace." Rupert said with a sigh. A rat leaving a sinking ship, why am I not surprised?

"Traitor!" growled Joffrey, his hand moving to his sword, which Rupert knew the boy had never actually drawn in battle, and very rarely even in practice. "We should send a party to hunt them down, even with two horses he can't have gone far, could he? An example needs to be set for what happens when someone betrays the crown!"

"We don't have the men to spare, and I doubt that Varys would be brought to heel so easily." Cersei said shaking her head. "Before he was Master of Whisperers he was both a merchant and a spy in his younger years. If he meets up with any smallfolk, he'll blend in easily, and we'll have sent men off on a wild goose chase."

Joffrey glared angrily at his mother before stomping off. Cersei looked after him in shock at his bad manners, but Rupert was staring after the boy once again thoughtfully.

OOOOOOO

Having left only a small force to pursue fleeing royals from behind Loras and his main force had followed the Kingsroad north quickly, before cutting east overland to get in front of the Lannisters making for Edgerton castle. It had been hard going with the infantry, but Loras and Androw Ashford had hit upon a solution, allowing the infantrymen to rest occasionally by riding some of the spare horses in groups. It sped them up somewhat, and their better ability to forage given the number of scouts they had allowed them to get in position in front of the Lannisters.

"They are just out of sight my Lord, and they don't have any scouts out in front" said one of those scouts, a common-born man named Alec. "They must be using all of their scouts on their back trail against our fellows."

The land here around the Reach force was almost flat, with a few rolling hills here and there. Currently Loras and his men were currently in one of the dips between two such hills, out of sight slightly but even so Alec was quick to point out that the Lannisters would see them coming the moment they crested the hill line.

Loras nodded. "Alec's right, and Lord Serret is a wily bastard, remember how he tricked us near the Blackwater. Don't assume anything, but let's get ready to meet. From all around him the knights of the Reach nodded their heads, moving their horses into a line, while behind them the infantry readied themselves to follow up.

The young Tyrell knight turned to Lord Ashford. "I want to smash them if we can, but I don't know if we'll be able to do it in one battle. We should probably concentrate on causing as casualties to them as we can, so we'll try to envelop them. If the chance comes to capture one of the royals, I want us to take it." He sneered a little. "No doubt the queen and her brat will be somewhere in the back of the column once we begin our charge, but the Kingslayer will be at the front."

Ashford nodded, though internally he had no wish to cross swords with Jaime Lannister. The man's skill with the sword was superlative and Ashford knew his own skills well enough to not want to test him.

Soon enough the other army was in sight., and Loras nodded his head grimly, waving high the Tyrell banner he was carrying o signal the canter before handing it off to his standard bearer.

Across from the advancing Reach force Rupert scowled angrily. "They got ahead of us somehow." he growled to Jaime, who was riding at the head of the column with him.

"I think I see a bit of rose-enameled armor over there." Jaime said with a laugh. "I didn't realize that we were being chased by the Rose Knight himself!" He pretended to feel faint, holding up one hand to his forehead. "Oh no, whatever shall we do?"

Then he let his hand fall back to his sword hilt, his smile becoming more like a shark than a human's. "I don't suppose you'd mind me just going forward to deal with him would you? Loras thinks himself my equal just because he's pretty with a lance and blade in tourneys. I would dearly love a chance to disabuse him of that notion."

Serret burst out laughing, but shook his head quickly. "No, I'll want you with your sister and her brat." With battle coming, Rupert wasn't about to waste time hiding his opinion of the royal idiot. "Keep the Kingsguard all around you, and follow the rest of the column, but give all your banners to some of my men first. I have a plan…"

While the Reach force continued to canter towards them, waiting until they got within their horses charging distance Rupert quickly reformed the column. He put his arms men who knew their way about on horses and the few remaining nights backing them up with the Kingsguard on the rightmost portion of his line. He also made the line thicker there as well, though somewhat at a distance, almost creating a second, far smaller line of battle. He also ordered his archers to drop from their horses and began to fire on the Reach forces. Rupert doubted they'd do anything, but riding them down would take some of the Reach forces away from pursuing the rest of his men.

Lord Edgerton anchored the right side of the battleline, while Serret himself was near the center, his bannermen all around him. His personal banner was high in the air, while the Lannister and House Baratheon of King's Landing banner was on the right behind the Edgerton portion of the line.

By the time he was done the Reach forces had reached charging distance, and their lances came down. There was a bellow of war cries, but most of all there was "Growing strong", and "For the Reach!"

Lord Serret flipped his visor down, couching behind his shield grimly in the saddle. He nodded at his banner bearer, who dipped his banner slightly. "Charge!"

That first charge was somewhat disastrous for Lord Serret's forces. Only a few of his knights had lances or even makeshift spears, and the lance was the weapon of choice for horsemen for a reason, it gave much more range than anything else could in the saddle. The Lannister forces must've lost at least six or seven hundred men in that first few moments of the charge.

But Loras, in his attempt to encompass Serret's forces, hadn't been able to create as much depth in the charge as he should have and had put all of his own men with lances in the first line. After that it became a much more even contest.

For a moment all was a snarl of combat, and Rupert hacked left and right with his axe, using one hand as often as he could so as to let his shield be of use in blocking return blows. One man fell from the saddle his armor ripped open by Rupert's axe, then another man fell, his horse going down under him from Serret burying a back swing in the animal's neck. "I have no rival!"

Behind the Lannister's initial line of battle, Jaime and the rest of the smaller, reserve line had quickly raced from the right side to the left at Rupert's signal, leaving behind their banners and even leaving the archers unprotected. There they joined the battle, swiftly smashing into the snarl of combat on that side, but not as a line abreast, but a column.

Jaime had ignored Rupert's orders, moving toward the front of the initial battleline quickly. He was one of the few men there who was able to slay one of his counterparts among the Reach in that first line, ducking under the man's lance and smacking it upwards with his shield while he leaned far out of the saddle before righting himself and bringing his longsword around with all of his weight behind it as they passed each other. That man's horse continued on his way, while his rider slowly fell out of the saddle, head nearly chopped clean off. "HEAR ME ROAR!"

Jaime then forced his horse around rather than continuing the charge through the enemy line laying out about him with his longsword, seeing that Buckwell was down, unhorsed, his helm and shield missing and shield arm hanging loose at his side, but his sword was flashing out, cutting one man down then hacking at another's horse. Jaime slew four more knights of the Reach trying to defend his sworn brother before he fell, then Jaime turned angrily, hastening away to catch up with the royal party which was just now blasting its way through the back of the enemy line.

Elsewhere the battle wasn't going nearly so well for the royal forces. While their leftmost flank was cutting through Loras' lines, the rightmost flank had become bogged down quickly, and now the infantry among the Reach forces was getting involved, racing forward everywhere.

What they should've done though was to try to move around the battle to encompass it from all sides, but Loras didn't have a man among the infantry as good at their job as his brother Willas did. The unit commanders simply charged forward with the rest, getting bogged down quickly. But the weight of their numbers further slowed the charge of Lord Serret's forces, which would've been enough to win the battle, if Lord Serret had intended to try to win it in the first place.

No, Rupert knew that he couldn't win this fight not with the numbers against him like this, and with most of his own men trained infantry rather than cavalry simply placed in the saddle. Rupert himself had continued moving, his men following grimly, ignoring their downed fellows. Eventually they broke through onto the infantry, cutting several of them down in turn but losing two more men, before breaking through the infantry line as well.

You didn't leave enough gaps boys, Rupert thought grimly. That allowed us to punch through, some of us at least. With that he raced on, rejoining the rest of the royal house and two men around it which had burst through the line with Jaime at their lead, his sword and armor stained with blood.

Behind them the battle continued. Half of Serret's forces were pinned in place and were slowly being wiped out. But local control was utterly lost, with Loras and Lord Ashford involved at the front of the battle. "Away!" Rupert bellowed, pointing westward. "Away! Before they realize it!" Around him about 1,400 of his remaining men raced on, along with the royal family.

Loras had been unhorsed at one point, a lucky blow impacting his shield with enough impetus to carry him out of the saddle. He'd gotten his revenge however, cutting the other man's own horse's legs out from under him before goring the man with his sword. Now he dueled with four unmounted men in Edgerton colors, cutting one man down swiftly before backing away from the others bringing his shield up into play to block a blow.

Ducking under another sword thrust he thrust a boot forward tripping that man up, then rolled heavily down upon him. Not to kill him, but simply dodging more blows from his fellow before coming up quickly. His sword flashed again, cutting into one man's thigh almost cutting his entire leg off before he brought his shield around to block another blow. The downed man groaned, but before he could get up Loras' shield drove down side first into the back of his neck where his helmet had fallen askew, breaking it.

That left only one man facing Loras, and he died quickly from a lance from behind him. Lord Ashford pushed up his visor, scowling angrily. "We've been tricked!"

Loras looked at him uncomprehending for a moment. "What?"

"The royals were never on this side of the charge, and Cersei was definitely not among the archers and the others left behind!"

Comprehension dawned on Loras and he growled angrily searching for his horse, one of Willas' best, which had moved beside up him, waiting faithfully. He patted its nose affectionately for a moment before pulling himself up into the saddle as he looked around them. Everywhere they looked the battle was dying down, men either surrendering or dying where they stood while in the distance a small band of cavalry was chasing the remains of the archers who had fled the battle the moment they could without being cut down by their own fellows.

Dammit, he thought to himself. I knew Lord Serret was wily opponent, why didn't I think he'd try some trick! "Which way did they go do you think?"

"I don't know, our scouts were involved in the battle as well of course. We'll have to get them out and searching quickly." Ashford shrugged. "With the forces he lost today anyway, I doubt Serret will try to match us in an open battle again."

Loras nodded. "Get the men to go through the wounded, I want to know what our own losses were, and I think we deserve to take the rest of the day off from this chase. Except the scouts of course."

He moved his man well enough away from the smell of the battlefield before setting up camp, and every man there was effusive in the victory, jubilant for the most part though their own losses had been quite a bit higher than Loras had hoped. He had lost somewhere between 900 and 1,200 men, though they killed and turned about 3000. That first charge with lances against mostly swords and axes had been decisive, but not decisive enough.

Elsewhere Lord Rupert rode to one side of where Cersei was once more trying to keep her son under control, his anger at 'fleeing the battlefield' in his words a palpable force in the air. "I didn't want to go to Edgerton anyway." He said aloud bringing Joffrey's screaming remonstration to a halt as he, Cersei and Jaime all looked at him. "Remember it's not that good a castle just like Sow's Horn. I would have been more in favor of heading towards the Riverlands anyway."

"But if the rumors are true we won't find any aid there!" Cersei said sharply. "Why would we head that way?"

"We might not have found much in the way of aid from House Edgerton." Rupert replied with a shrug. "But I know at least one castle that our forces are almost certainly still holding."

"Harrenhal." Jaime murmured thoughtfully. "Yes, Father would never have allowed Whent to remain neutral, and would certainly have invested it with at least…" he paused for a moment. "Maybe 800 men, no, at least two times again the forces of House Whent. He wouldn't want them to be able to do some kind of double-cross, and lady Whent isn't exactly the bravest sort either."

"Exactly." Rupert smiled thinly. "With the forces already there, and our own men, we can hold that castle till doomsday. At the moment, that's probably the best we're going to be able to do."

OOOOOOO

The evening before his departure, Ranma and Daenerys spent most of their time going over the messages that he would send into the Westerlands from the Golden Tooth, as well as a few more they would be sending from Riverrun. Those would not go to Westerlands houses, but rather to other castles in Westeros, to practically every non-Riverlands castle the maester here had ravens trained to.

One of them was sent to Dragonstone. Ever since Jon had told him about it, Ranma had long been concerned about needing to use dragonglass against the others, and had decided that whatever the differences between him and Stannis were, he wanted the men Stannis had left behind to know that he would pay good silver for all the dragonglass arrows and knives they could hack out of the stone for him. They wouldn't be in a position to actually take possession of any such shipment for a while, but it would be good to get the work on that started now.

Another message was penned for Highgarden, which included his reply to Margaery's letter. It would lay the groundwork for the position of the men he was going to send down there under Jon, but it was important that those in Highgarden understood his and Daenerys's position. Thus that letter was sealed both his own and Daenerys's personal seals as well as the seal of their new house. That was a dragon and direwolf moving around one another tail to snout in what Ranma considered a yin-yang symbol, though no one save the Wolfsworn and his wife, who he had explained it to, would recognize the term.

Daenerys read it aloud before affixing her own seal. "We, the royal house of Stargaryen look favorably upon the measures that Lady Margaery Tyrell has taken in ensuring the safety of the realm. In regards to her offer of loyalty, it is accepted, and further aid will be coming to defend Lady Margaery from any threats, both foreign and those within her own house should the need arise.

"We are sad to hear that the former Head of House has become so disdainful of all honor and duty as to continue with his current course rather than seeing to the smallfolk and the lands that are his charge. As such we remove him from his position as Lord Paramount, and formally acknowledge House Tyrell under its eldest son Willas as Lord Paramount of the Reach. We are glad to know that Lord Willas and his own forces have battled so valiantly to protect the men and women under their care from the depredations of the Westerlanders. Further rewards for this show of duty and loyalty will be forthcoming both for House Tyrell and those who stood with Willas upon our formal meeting in the future."

"Signed Ranma and Daenerys Stargaryen, King and Queen of Westeros."

She smiled faintly after stopping her recitation. "I know you're not exactly happy with the wording Ranma, and I'll admit it does go against your northern sensibilities to claim something like that when you actually haven't won it just yet on the battlefield, but we need to start acting the part now. Especially considering how much trouble this might make for the Reach forces down the line."

"Not so much in their army I don't think. I doubt word of this will get to them in time for it to do anything, though if it does that would be nice." Ranma said with a laugh. "But you're right it's kinda hard for me to talk like that."

"Yes you're such a down to earth fellow." Denny replied laughing as she sent the letter down. She moved around the table, standing behind him and beginning to knead his shoulders. "Are you nearly done your letter to your family?"

"Almost." Ranma said raising one hand to take one of her hands in his kissing it gently before turning back to his message. "Have to convince my mother somehow to let Sansa out a for sight again so she can come down here, but I think that the fact we're sending Ben and Edd up will be the selling point. She'll see what that could mean right away. And she shouldn't have any fear of her safety with one of the Wolfsworn with her."

Daenerys nodded, continuing to knead his shoulders and neck while Ranma went back to writing his message. As he finished however she stopped. "We need to talk about Merry."

"You mentioned that before, but I don't know what you mean. Is there something wrong with her? Or are you worried about taking her back out into the field?"

"No, none of that, in fact I wouldn't like leaving her behind all, and that is sort of part of why I want to speak to you about her." She moved away from him, gesturing him over to the bed where she sat down. Ranma moved over to her, standing in front of her looking at her quizzically. Daenerys looked up at him with a faint smile on her face. "She's not a little girl you know." She smiled wider. "In fact I know you've noticed that. When you walked in on us your face was quite a picture, and it wasn't just me you were reacting to."

Ranma flushed and looked away, his mind going over that day before he could stop it. "I did apologize y'know."

"That's not what this is about." Daenerys sighed faintly reaching forward to take his hands in hers. "You are a good man Ranma Stark, too good for your own good at times. That little crush of her's, or what you thought was a crush, It isn't. She really loves you. And that that poses a problem, because I can see it in you sometimes, that you love her as well. And I don't think it's just as a little sister any longer is it?"

Ranma looks down at her, then away quickly. "You know I would never…"

"I know that." She said firmly interrupting him and pulling at his hands to get Ranma to look back at her. "And that wasn't my question. My question was do you realize that you have also fallen in love with her?"

Ranma stared in him into her eyes, then sighed with a nod. "I do." He said honestly. "But again you know I'd never act on it, and frankly the change, it, it just sort of sort of came at me from behind you know, creeping up on me. Part of me still sees her as that little girl who just needed a big brother around, and the rest see the…"

He paused and Daenerys spoke up before he could go on. "And the other half sees the magnificent young woman she's grown into since this war really began. And she is magnificent, inside and out. Myrcella is the sort of person that is very easy to fall in love with. In fact, if she wasn't we wouldn't be having this conversation. If she and I…

Daenerys paused in turn before going on. "If I hadn't…" she looked away then back again taking a deep breath. "If I hadn't realized that I was falling in love with Merry and vice versa we would not be having this conversation."

"What are you saying?" Ranma asked frowning.

"I'm saying that I think I think that I would be happy to have her join us in our bed and in our lives going forward. It doesn't erase the problems that having her do so will cause. Our official stance is still that she is the heir to house Baratheon, let alone House Lannister, and that isn't considering the social issues it would cause if it became known. Polygamous marriages were one of the two main reasons why the seven was so often at odds with my family."

Ranma went down on one knee in front of her where she sat on the bed staring into Daenerys's eyes. "Are you sure about this Dae? The problems you mentioned with this are big ones, but they can be overcome, or covered over or whatever you want to call it. But…but are you really sure about this?"

Daenerys smiled, one finger touching her lips as she remembered the kiss that she and Merry had shared after Ranma had walked in on them like that. The two of them hadn't spoken about it in the past few days, both because they were so busy, and because neither of them really understood what to do next.

But now, Daenerys was sure of what she wanted to do next. "I think I am more than sure, I am happy." She smirked then reaching for to twist one of his ears playfully. "But Merry is the only one, you understand me? I don't care how good-looking this Margaery woman is, or how close the two of you had become as friends before you were sent to bring my brother and I back. I'll share our bed with Merry, but no more."

"Wasn't even dreaming of it." Ranma laughed, leaning forward to kiss her on the lips pushing her back onto the bed as he began to work at her laces.

OOOOOOO

Myrcella chuckled, smacking Fenris lightly on his nose when it began to quest upwards towards the basket that she was holding. "No, that's for your master and our mistress. You already ate today anyway and I know it, you greedy little wolf."

Fenris huffed turning his head away, though whether or not it had been to be called little or greedy was something Merry couldn't tell. She shook her head still chuckling though not at Fenris. Wait until I tell Daenerys what's going on in the servant's quarters right now. Her face flushed a little as she thought of Daenerys and the kiss the two of them had shared. It had been brief but sweet, yet since then the two of them just haven't had any time to spend just the two of them.

What little free time Myrcella had she spent with maester Vyman and the local septons, going over what she had learned about healing while on the road so they could copy it all down. Ranma had been true to his word about wanting to start a Healer's Hall, and had already put out notices within Riverrun of the fact that the maester and septon would be willing to test individuals on their healing knowledge in order to start taking classes. She would not be here to see that continue, but it was at least a start on something that Myrcella felt was long overdue.

Maybe someday medical aid will be available for everyone, regardless of the rank of their birth she thought to herself as she him to walk down the corridor. That day's far in the future, but it has to start somewhere.

She passed by Ser Barristan, who insisted on being on guard at least occasionally for Daenerys, even though Ranma was with her. She passed the man with a curtsy and a smile which he returned with a nod of his head even as he had to squeeze against the wall of the hallway to let Fenris and her past. Frankly, Myrcella thought the idea of his needing to stand guard like this was ludicrous. To get at Daenerys while Ranma was around you'd have to bring an army, and the only army in the vicinity was theirs.

Fenris huffed again and suddenly sat down, turning away and laying down across the corridor, a large, and furry wall blocking all passage. Myrcella looked down at him and he wrinkled his nose. "That's right, sorry Fenris." She said smiling a little trying to keep a giggle out of her voice. She knew that the smell of human sex bothered the direwolves sometimes.

She knocked on the door and after hearing Ranma's "come in" opened it walking inside, though she was surprised to see Ranma was still partially undressed. Not unhappy, since it allowed her to stare for a second at his bare chest and wide shoulders, just surprised since the army was due to leave soon. For all that he was now 20 or so, he still didn't seem to have any hair on his body, a possible holdover from his past life he said, but Myrcella couldn't care less. She wasn't one for hair anyway, and this way she could watch all of his muscles move under his skin so powerfully.

Daenerys on the other hand was almost entirely dressed, and she moved forward to take the basket for Myrcella. "Thank you Myrcella, I'm starving."

Myrcella tore her eyes away from where Ranma was going through some kind of stretch to wake himself up and turned to Daenerys. "The army is almost ready to go, both of them. Oh, and young Edric wanted to talk to you before you all set off, Ranma." Edric wasn't actually that young in comparison to Myrcella, barely a year younger if that but that didn't seem to cross her mind.

"I wonder what he wants." Ranma mused, coming over to lay a gentle kiss on Daenerys's forehead then reaching over to pull Myrcella into a hug. Myrcella missed the look he shot Daenerys, or the smiling, happy nod he got in return. One moment she was blushing hotly against his chest, the next she felt his hand gently her chin and Ranma was leaning down and…

The world faded for a moment, as Myrcella suddenly realized this was all a dream. She couldn't possibly be really feeling Ranma's lips against hers, feeling his arms tightening around her waist, her dress clad chest pressing into his bare on. It was only when she heard Daenerys laugh, and say "let Merry breathe you brute!" that she realized it wasn't a dream.

Myrcella opened her eyes wide, standing back rapidly her face flushed as she stared at the two of them. "What!" She gasped "What…"

"Do you remember that kiss we shared Myrcella?" Daenerys asked softly, coming from forward from the table to take the younger girl's hand in hers and slowly bringing her over to sit down. "Do you remember how it felt? I enjoyed it, and I think you did too."

Myrcella flushed but nodded her head shyly. "It was, it was lovely…" she said chancing a glance towards Ranma, who had followed them to the table and was smiling down at her. "But, but I don't…"

"That was…" Daenerys paused, frowning slightly. "It was a sort of a test I suppose, both of you and myself. I've long known that your crush on Ranma wasn't really a crush Merry, in fact I think I knew that long before we originally had our talk by the Blue Fork. I just didn't want to admit it. But since then I have come to love you as well, and I think you have come to love me. Is that not so?"

In response Myrcella nodded her head rapidly, squeezing the other girl's hands back. Then, feeling greatly daring. She leaning forward quickly to press her lips against Daenerys in a sweet but very brief kiss before she pulled back flushing. "Yes," she said gasping a little. "I I love you, and I love you Ranma! But this, where, we…"

"This is about you joining us Myrcella, joining our relationship. I don't think I'll ever be able to marry you or even kiss you or stuff like that in public, and I won't lie this is going to cause trouble if it ever gets out. But I think that it will be worth it to make all of us happy, or happier in my case and Dae's. Are you willing to face those challenges with us for this chance?" Ranma asked touching her cheek gently.

Under that gentle touch Myrcella shivered again, but nodded fervently. "Whatever we face, if, if we're together we can, I can face it with you!" She stammered, not quite making sense but getting the gist of what she wanted to say across.

She watched wide-eyed as Ranma leaned in and kissing his wife ardently on the lips, so passionately that when they broke their lips apart their tongues were still dueling between their mouths for a few seconds while she watched, hyperventilating a little. It was easily one of the most erotic sights she had seen in her life, right up there with seeing Daenerys the morning after she and Ranma had spent a full night of fun together.

It got better however when Ranma turned to her and kissed her. Myrcella squeaked as she felt herself rising a little in her chair, with Ranma's hands gently gliding down her back, not touching her rear just yet but pulling her up by gentle pressure on the small of her back into the kiss which Merry returned as passionately as she could. She was still surprised though when Ranma's mouth opened slightly, and his tongue came out gently tapping at her lips. She gasped, opening her mouth slightly and his tongue entered her mouth, questing for her own.

Myrcella felt her body responding, arcing into Ranma's chest, as she began to perspire down below. Their tongues twirled around one another in her mouth, and she felt as if she was in heaven for a few moments.

Eventually however she had to pull back, her own smaller and much less rough tongue licking at the underside of his for a moment as she fell back into her chair her eyes wide and gasping. Myrcella looked over at Daenerys whose face was also flushed from watching, and leaned forward towards her, meeting the other girl midway and sharing and equally eager kiss with her. "I love you too…" she said after pulling back.

"Then I think that's all that matters between us." Ranma said with a smile as he moved off to find his shirt. "Unfortunately, we need ta deal with the real world for a bit before we can continue this."

Myrcella pouted, looking away. "Damned teases, the both of you."

Ranma and Daenerys laughed, but Daenerys put her arms around the other girl. "You and I will still be together Myrcella sharing a horse as usual."

At that, Myrcella clicked her fingers together. "That's right, I forgot to say this before, um," She flushed and looked at them both. "You two drove it out of my mind but the servants downstairs, they're frantically trying to prepare a carriage for you!"

While Ranma laughed, Daenerys looked at her blankly. "What?"

A few moments later the three of them had finished eating, though that was not to say the meal had not been interspersed by kisses, caresses and various cuddling. Now with Myrcella and Daenerys clasping arms together and with Ranma walking beside Fenris they moved through the keep and out into Riverrun's courtyard where the last portions of the army were preparing to go along with the Wolfsworn. And yes, a carriage.

The majordomo of the castle hurried up, bowing grandly to Daenerys and Myrcella. "Your highnesses, we have the carriage prepared, but we would have preferred to have some more time to choose out servants to go with you." Despite his bow his words came out sort of crossly. If you had told us that the two of you were leaving before we heard it from the soldiery, we would've…"

He stopped as Daenerys held up a hand looking at him quizzically. "I did not tell you to prepare any servants because I do not have servants while I'm on the march good ser."

"Y-your highness?" he asked hesitantly gesturing at two maids who looked much more worried about the upcoming trip than anything else. "But servants, your highness you are a queen, you need…"

"I need nothing on the march that my men cannot provide, or that I cannot carry myself." she replied sternly. "Myrcella and occasionally Alayaya see to what little aid I need, and vice versa. The march is no place for fripperies." Actually on this march there would be Bess as well, but that wasn't important right now.

She exchanged a smile and a nod with Grege, one of Myrcella's guards, who had come up just then with their horse. Daenerys let go of Myrcella's arm allowing the man to hoist the younger woman up into the saddle. "I hope good ser, that you made certain that nothing else was added to our baggage?"

"Aye lady, the servants tried to add some more dresses and all a few hours ago too, and there apparently was some kind of row between them and Patrek and a few of his supply men. It might have come to blows but I'm not certain, you'd have to get the full tale from him." The man replied in that soft tenor and tone that sounded so odd coming from a face like his.

To one side Myrcella's Eric Proudthenn smirked evilly, an easy thing to do with his face. "The moment they hear the word 'queen' it seems to go to these southron's brains your Majesty. As if a carriage'd make any time in this weather even on the Kingsroad!"

"Truly!" Ranma laughed then stepped forward to help his wife into the saddle. He easily lifted Daenerys into the saddle, showing off a strength that few possessed before he turned away. "Now, I understand that Edric wanted to talk to me?"

"I did your highness." Edric said from behind Ranma, having moved through the crowd while Daenerys was dealing with the servants.

"We did." Arya said, standing beside her friend. "Edric's coming with us."

Ranma looked at them quizzically been over to Beric. "Yes, that was the plan." he said slowly. "Beric's in charge of the rest of the force coming down with us to Wayfarer's Rest." From there it would be easier to head east towards House Keath, the land wouldn't be as bad and there was an actual road for half the journey which would carry them to the Stony Sept. From there they could make for House Keath's keep at the mouth of the Blackwater easily enough.

"He and Lord Piper's son. Are you ready as well?" Ranma asked looking over at the Marq Piper, who nodded his head grimly.

His father had not been happy that his House wouldn't gain anything from their fellow's downfall, but nor could he argue against it. He couldn't even complain about being sidelined from the main action, since that was in fact what Lord Piper wanted. Marq on the other hand, wanted a chance to earn himself some glory to offset his ignominious defeat at the Lannisters hands.

"No what I mean is he's coming with us, with the Wolfsworn." Arya said, clutching Edric's hand tightly.

Ranma looked at the boy sharply, not commenting on the fact that his little sister was holding the other youngster's hand so tightly. "Are you sure you can keep up with us? We're going to move damn fast, and I think you should talk to Roger and Hathan to understand what that means."

Or to Roger's wife, who had insisted on following him into battle, though Osha had winced when she learned that Ranma was going to push the pace. Osha had experienced something of that when Ranma was racing home to Winterfell from Hornwood.

"I do my Lord, and I want to try at the very least. If I fall out, you are of course free to leave me behind." Edric said seriously. "But I still want to be with you when you take the Golden Tooth. I, I have an need to prove myself worthy my lord, not just to my lord Beric, but to the memory of my kinsman and the training you have already given me."

Ranma looked over at his wife who shrugged, then over to Beric who also shrugged his shoulders. "Very well, but we will leave you behind if you start to fall out of the march." Edric nodded again and walked over to his horse while Arya made her way over to stand beside it with Nymeria next to her.

After that Ranma and Daenerys, on her horse, moved over to where Jon was waiting with the rest of the Wolfsworn smiling slightly at the sight their younger sister and her friend. "I think those two might feel something a little more than friendship for one another" he said before Ranma could open his mouth. "I don't know if they've got to the 'practice kissing' stage yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened sometime soon."

"Arya's leaving Bess here right?" Ranma asked looking around for the young bracken girl. "She didn't try to dress her up and hide her among Beric's men?"

"Yes, Bess knows she's marching with the rest of the army. She and Cley seem to be close to an understanding of their own despite how young they are." Jon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know if it's serious, or simply the fact that they're both the same age and somewhat friendly with Arya, but we'll see. Everything is ready for our departure."

"Well I suppose that will sort itself out without us needing ta poke our noses in, though given the fact House Bracken's been broken, Cley's mother might not wish ta pursue it." Ranma said them looked up at his wife and Merry, sighing sadly. "Which means it's time for us to depart, love."

Daenerys nodded and leaned down when Ranma leaned up kissing one another their while the rest of the Army watched on. After a moment Daenerys pulled back and stared down at his her husband. "I will see you in Harroway."

"I'll be there. I'll see you." He said his eyes flicking over to Myrcella where she sat in front of Daenerys making sure that the younger woman knew his words were meant for both of them. "I promise."

With that he turned away, moving over to the other Wolfsworn quickly. Edric and Arya had joined them, and he nodded at them all. "Let's run brothers." He said simply. With that he turned and raced off out of the courtyard out of Riverrun and out into the city beyond, where Jon and the trio of wolves along with Arya caught him up one after another, and from there out onto the River Road heading Southwest. Behind him the rest of the Wolfsworn save Edd who had departed days ago for Winterfell, either raced on, or put spurs to horses in his wake.

OOOOOOO

After being given the command to retake Dragonstone, Davos had decided to take it slowly at first, not knowing what he might run into. With his ships well out to sea he went ashore on Driftmark, where under a simple disguise he began to mingle with the sailors and smallfolk of the port.

He returned to his fleet with news shaking his head. "Driftmark and House Velaryon joined the Targaryen whelp willingly. The port's all a flutter wit' news that Dragonstone has fallen" He sneered slightly. "Apparently they're trying to bait a trap for us, and the castle will still be flying this Baratheon banner, but let's not be fools all right?"

His captains and his pirate friend laughed, then Salladhor gestured at the extremely detailed map of Blackwater Bay and the waters around it. "So what do you suggest we do? What force do you think they've left there?" the gesture was flamboyant as all of Salladhor's movements were, and indeed that word seemed to encompass the pirate prince of Myr rather well.

Salladhor Sahn was an elderly gentleman about fifteen years Davos' senior, with a sleek build and a ready smile. He always wore extremely good clothes, mostly silk in silver and white, with a green cap decorated with peacock feathers. He could have been a bard or a musician or even and Essosi actor, but he was also one of the most renowned pirates of the last thirty years.

"I'll take my ships around the southern side of The Gullet, stayin' well out of sight of Dragonstone before coming back in and landing on the island's seaward tip. From there we'll march overland, I know several ways into the castle that I doubt the defenders will've had time to find." Davos replied.

One such way was a secret passage straight from the port and into the Castle itself. So long as they took the other end he could funnel men through it and into the castle itself, bypassing the walls entirely.

"Salladhor." He said nodding at his friend. "Can I trust you to deal with any ships that might be waiting in the waters around Dragonstone?"

"Show me the range of the Dragonstone's defenses." Salladhor said gesturing at the map again. Nodding his head Davos did so, marking out of rough circle around the site of the Castle itself on the map with copper coins.

Salladhor nodded his head. "Excellent, I'll keep well out of that range but I'll make it look like I'm trying to push whatever ships we see into the range of Dragonstone, as if I believe it's still in friendly hands, while we'll also try to stay out of its catapult's range."

"Good thinking." Davos nodded.

Several days later Davos led his men across the island, ironically tracing much of the same route that Ulwyck Uller had, until he broke off a straight march towards Dragonstone to make for the port. There his men disguised themselves with cloaks and entered the port swiftly. In the port they found the smallfolk going about their business guarded by several Dornish armsmen.

With his crew stationed all around the road out of the port up to the castle, Davos decided to chance taking one of the Dornishmen captive.

Two such were patrolling around a brothel set near the wharfs when both of them were suddenly surrounded. Before either could raise the alarm, they fell unconscious to sharp raps upside the head.

One of them woke up later that night with a splitting headache, only to find himself tied to a chair, his hands splayed out on a desk in front of him and tied thereby rope. At the moment his mouth was also covered, but as he shook himself and tried to pull himself free someone removed it.

"Now, my friend," said a voice from behind him. "We're going to play a game. You're going to tell me what I want to know, and you get to keep all of your fingers. Every time you try to lie, you lose one. Then I'll start cutting off other things."

In this manner Davos learned that Viserys had left 500 men behind, all of them infantry and archers, as well as a few dozen men from the war galleys who knew what they were doing with the siege equipment. All of which were still in good condition, then sent having deliberately made certain that it was kept that way.

For his part Davos had upwards of 1,200 men to call on from the Royal Fleet. Every ship of the Royal fleet that had been sailing with Salladhor's pirate fleet had been sent with him on this, thought he had only brought four ships crews ashore with him. Most of them were now hiding elsewhere on the island.

Davos decided to tell them to wait until they saw the gates being opened before advancing, since he knew they were safe where they were. He and his own crew, bolstered somewhat further, would be enough to open the gate from the inside. Besides, any more men being seen in the port might arouse the defender's curiosity and put the castle on alert that their ruse had failed.

With that in mind Davos made his way through the darkness of the port, stopping outside a small stone building, which had actually been the foundations of a large lighthouse at one point. Looking around he made certain the no one was watching him then ducked inside. Inside the roof had caved in, several of the beams crashing down onto the ground, making what looked like a large pile of rubble that almost filled the small hovel.

Davos moved over the pile very carefully and as he did what he was here to seek became visible. You could only see it if you stood on top of the rubble, but there was a small open area directly between it and the outer wall. The floor there was wooden, like the floor of the rest of the building and he moved down the pile, tapping at it thoughtfully. "Now, where… ah, there it is." Quickly he pulled at the small bit of loose wood in the floor, removing it entirely and placing it to one side. With that done he fit his fingers into it, pulling up on the floor rapidly. The piece of floor came loose, and he set it to one side, revealing an iron ladder leading down into the darkness of a tunnel of some sort.

Night passed quickly while his men joined him in threes and fours, heading down into the tunnel with torches until finally he had a force of around 400. With that Davos entered, pulling the lid back into place behind him while dawn was breaking. After climbing down what seemed a single story's worth of handles, Davos found himself standing in a long tunnel, which wasn't very wide, being barely wide enough for one man across.

Moving through his men to the front of the column was incredibly difficult, and cursing abounded in the tunnel as he made his way through them. Eventually however Davos was at the front of his men, and began to lead the way down the tunnel.

An interminable amount of time later they came upon a doorway, and Davos laid his head against the doorway for a moment listening hard. He couldn't hear anyone from the other side, but given what was on the other side that might wasn't definite.

With a shrug Davos reached into a pocket pulling out a small key and fitting it into a lock before slowly turning it. Luckily there was no noise of rust or grating steel. Instead there was a light click at the end, and when he pushed the door gave way easily. Davos moved forward quickly, drawing his sword while behind him his men began to pile through, all of them thankful to be out of the claustrophobic confines of the tunnel.

This side of the tunnel was the wine cellar for the Castle, but thankfully there was no one here. As more and more men began to come through Davos ordered them up into the rest of the Castle. "The servants can't all be on their side, but best ta order 'em to keep silent as you go. But no killing of the servants unless they try'n rouse the Dornishmen."

After that the battle was rather anti-climactic. The defenders had almost to a man been up on the castle's balustrades, readying the siege equipment while out to sea Salladhor went to work on the five ships that Viserys had left behind either to date or close his trapped one of the others. They looked up in shock as they heard the noise of the castles gate being opened, but by then Davos and his men were in firm control of the gatehouse and the hallways leading to it. There were a few moments of intense combat there, but after that the rest of his men stormed into the keep, and the Dornishmen were quickly overwhelmed.

Out to sea it was even easier. Salladhor was a consummate professional at his craft and came in too fast from too many different directions for the crews of the five war galleys, all of whom were captured Royal Navy vessels, to compensate for. He cut off any attempt that the Dornish ships could use to escape, forcing them back into the range of the catapults on the castle. When those catapults went to work firing on them in earnest and sinking one of the captured ships outright the remaining four quickly surrendered. The men on them would be sent with four ships of Sahn's fleet to Essos and sold there as slaves. That would give Salladhor and his men some recompense for his work thus far.

That was a point he was quick to bring up with Davos later that evening. "I like you Davos, truly I do, and I never truly liked the Targaryen or the Lannisters, but I am a businessman, and I need to be paid."

"I know." Davos said looking at him and then down at the map in the map room, not making any mention of the fact he knew the pirate captains had run a very profitable black market while around King's Landing before the plague hit. "Why are you bringin' that up now? Ya know that Stannis promised ta pay you at the end of the campaign."

"Ahh, that was before news of what went on in King's Landing reached me. Without the booty from that city, I'm far less inclined to believe him."

"What news?" Davos asked, going cold inside for some reason.

"You mean you didn't know?" Salladhor actually looked surprised, and reached across to grasp his old friend's shoulders. "You didn't know? You really didn't?"

Davos looked at him irritably then shook his hands off. "No I didn't, what happened?"

"A conflagration of green and red fire was seen bursting up into the sky around Kings Landing. Fishermen from further into Blackwater Bay are reporting it was seen for dozens of leagues around! The city is gone, possibly entirely, and if there's any gold or jewels to be had amidst its ruins, getting at them will be quite a bit of work, work my pirates and I are not suited for."

Davos slumped into a chair, not the Lord's chair just another chair in the room around the map table staring at his friend. "Are you certain?" he whispered. "Are you really certain?"

"My friend, you can question some of the fishermen yourself." Salladhor somewhat wearily. "There are dozens of them out in the waters these days. They're desperate to bring in food before winter gets here. Apparently there are hints the oldsters can see in the weather and that the maesters have passed on that this one will be a longer one than normal."

He shrugged. Salladhor Saan was from Essos, and winter very rarely if ever touched that land save around Ibben or Braavos. But since he was from Lys he had never seen winter. Oh, he'd been cold of course, he'd even sailed to the port of Ibben at one point, but winter?"

"I, I think I'd like that my friend." I know Melisandre had influence on My Lord, but I thought he was fighting it! In the name of the Seven, why! All those people! Davos had been born in King's Landing, in Flea Bottom in fact, and the idea of all those little alleyways, those taverns, those brothels, being turned to ash was distressing.

"As for how you'll be paid…." Davos paused, thinking hard. "Let me think on that as well."

There was a cough from the doorway, and both men turned. Maester Pylos stood there, bowing his head somewhat obsequiously. The Citadel had sent him before Cressen's death to eventually replace the ailing Cressen, whose legs had begun to give out on him, preventing him from performing all of his duties. Pylos was a quiet sort, loyal to his birds and to his duties as maester rather than to any one individual lord, which might've been why you can left on after the sack of the keep.

The man had even been blunt about it when Davos questioned him earlier, saying, "I bowed my head and surrendered, bowing to follow the Lord of the keep. That is my duty as maester, to the keep itself, to Dragonstone and whoever holds it at the time. If that changes hands, what is that to me?"

"Yes Pylos what is it?" Davos asked, smiling slightly at the younger man. He liked Pylos, who seemed to have a very pragmatic sort of honor, and had never made even a hint of being interested in religion one way or another.

"A message from Riverrun has arrived this past hour Ser Davos. I looked it up in the books, and Riverrun has only twice before sent messages here, during the War of the Usurper in fact. As such, I thought to share it with you. That, and its contents are rather disturbing in their implications."

Salladhor raise an eyebrow and looked at Davos. "Riverrun, that would be the Starks and their Targaryen ally correct, the Stormborn? At least so the rumors say."

"It's signed Ranma and Daenerys of House Stargaryen, King and Queen of Westeros, Lord Paramount of the North and the Riverlands."

"Hubris." Said Davos shaking his head. "Everyone seems to be declaring themselves kings these days." Even so Davos took the message from the maester, reading through it quickly. "It says winter is coming, and with it a force out of legend from the north, we need weapons to fight it, and as such we need dragonglass knives and arrow points…" his voice trailed off. "We, we will pay good silver for it to be delivered up to White Harbor."

"Silver for dragonglass!" Salladhor scoffed. "Why would they do that? Oh, the rock's pretty enough, and I've seen some work from the Basilisk Islands that are just incredible, but using it to make weapons? It's too breakable for that."

The maester coughed a little. "There's been a rumor my lord carried to me on ravens wings, that the black candles of the Citadel have been been lit, that the lights which are not candles have begun to glow again. Those are signs that magic has returned. And the black candles in particular are supposed to be lit only when, well it's just ancient history of course but…"

"Spit out man." Salladhor growled, looking at the man angrily. "Don't beat about the bush."

"The, the Others my White Walkers. The ones the Wall was originally built to keep out. It wasn't built so monstrously tall and imbued with fell magics just to keep out the wildlings. As many as there are, a normal wall would've done the trick with them. But, but the Others, the Others haven't been seen since the Age of Heroes! Thousands of years!"

"And how long has it been since the black candles were last able to be lit?" Davos asked, still staring at the message.

"Four hundred years at minimum my lord, during the Doom of Valyria."

"The Northerners…" Davos went on slowly. "The Northerners mobilized their forces long before hostilities began here in the South. They sent half of their total strength up to the Wall, ostensibly to deal with some King uniting the wildlings for a push south. But what if they had evidence that was good enough for them of this these White Walkers, but not enough to share with Robert or anyone else?"

Almost against his will Salladhor nodded. "I've never met any of the Starks, but I've had dealings with the men of White Harbor. They're shrewd fellows in the main, and their Lord is the shrewdest of all for all he tries to hide it. If he's willing to part with good silver, then they have strong evidence of these Others. What exactly are we dealing with here?" he asked looking at the maester. "Supernatural forces aye, but what kind?"

"I know not my Lord, I didn't make a study of ancient legends. They were, they were ancient! Past and done! All I know is that they had some kind of power over death. But this is simply preposterous! There can't be any…"

"You Maesters have long said that magic's time had passed in this world, but I think we've seen enough evidence that you were wrong there." Davos said grimly, thinking of all the things Melisandre had been able to do. "How many of the servants are still here? I want messages sent out, we need men to start mining dragonglass, as much is possible."

"What about chasing after the Pauper Prince?" said Salladhor looking at him quizzically and using the Essosi nickname for Viserys. "Or sending for more orders from your King?"

"Well you said you wanted to be paid. You can take tremendous amounts of dragonglass on your ships, and be paid in silver apparently in White Harbor." said Davos actually smiling a little now.

"Sailing that far north in this season isn't going to be easy." Salladhor shook his head. "I'd like a guarantee of that before I set sail."

"I know we have ravens trained to Winterfell, how long would sending a message there take?" Davos asked the maester.

"It would take about two weeks now given the weather. Even ravens are affected by wind and rain."

"Will the Starks word on it be good enough for you, my friend?"

"That'll do." said Salladhor nodding his head and now smiling. Silver for dragonglass, that would be an excellent trade in his opinion, especially if he could drive the price up higher given the demand for it. "And what about you and your fleet?"

"I'm going to hunt down Viserys. According to the servants he was let in here by Petyr Baelish, that means they'll be making for Gulltown or Maidenpool. Maidenpool if Viserys want to get to grips with the Starks and his sister, Gulltown if he's trying to whistle up more support. Whichever, I'll be able to pin him in the Bay of Crabs. I know those waters almost as good as I know Blackwater Bay, and whatever his dragon can do, it won't be able to make up for the numbers or my men's skill at sea."

Salladhor nodded. He then poured them both a glass of wine and the two men drank deeply while Davos' mind continued to go over what had happened to King's Landing, and what that meant about Stannis. And, perhaps most importantly, what it meant in terms of Davos and his family's loyalty to the man.

OOOOOOO

It had taken a week after the destruction of King's Landing for Stannis to reassert his control of his army. The Lords and the common armsmen's reaction to the sight of the capital burning as it did had been beyond what he had expected, but eventually Stannis had convinced the Lords that it had been the only way to defeat the plague, and they in turn had convinced their men. That wasn't to save the army was happy with that decision, they never would be, but Stannis didn't care one way another about that happiness, so long as they were willing to follow his orders.

After all, I'm not happy about it, and they all know it. Stannis thought to himself moodily, staring through the rain towards the remains of the city from well within bow shot of the remains of the walls.

It might have been that which allowed him to regain control of his army afterwards. The fact that Stannis showed genuine remorse for the act, that his grim self-control seemed to break when he viewed the remains of the city, might have done more than anything else to convince the men that it really had been a necessary evil.

He continued to watch the remains of the city watching a few men come out of its ruins, all of them wearing heavy leathers soaked in water, more than the rain could provide. Even now a week after the fires had died out the land of King's Landing was still incredibly hot, even steaming in the rain. As the men neared him Stannis barked "Well?"

One of the men was Lord Bolling, and he pulled off a heavy damp hood to stare at his king, shaking his head. "Nothing my Lord, you can tell where the Red Keep is, you can even tell where the Hand's tower and Maegor's holdfast were. But all the stone walls have melted! It would take weeks of heavy labor to break through to see if the corridors inside are still there, let alone get through to where the royal court is.

"I see." said Stannis softly, still staring at the ruins of King's Landing for a few moments. Then he resolutely turned his back, facing north not at all incidentally. A king could not keep thinking about the past, he had to think about the Future. "Get some rest my Lord, we have a meeting this evening, for wish I require your attendance."

"As you will, Your Majesty." said Lord Bolling smiling at his distant kinsman's back. The way Stannis had regained control of the army these past few days had been masterful, and truly showed that Bolling had made the correct decision in which Baratheon to follow.

That evening Bolling joined with the other senior (most powerful) lords in the army to listen while Stannis began to discuss the next campaign. "Thanks to information from sources still loyal to me there, we know that Dragonstone has fallen due to treachery. However we can leave retaking it in the hands of Ser Seaworth."

Mace was not the only Reach Lord to grumble at that, for more than one reason. For one thing, without Dragonstone and with Storm's End so far away and still not knowing of the change in House Baratheon's leadership, Stannis no longer had a real powerbase to call his own. For another, Mace wasn't the only one who resented the fact that Seaworth, a common born sailor had been raised to the ranks of the nobility. Added to these was the identity of the individual that had taken Dragonstone in the first place. If Viserys Targaryen had really come back along with a dragon, then there were more than one Lord there who might be willing to bend the knee to House Targaryen once again.

Stannis glared at them all angrily, quieting their mutters. "Ser Seaworth has the keys to several secret passages into Dragonstone, which will allow him to reclaim the castle in much the same way it was taken in the first place. Moreover, if the Dragon boy attempts to fight him at sea, Davos and Saan are well up to smashing his fleet to flinders."

Still seeing their ambivalent nature to the loss and to what he was saying Stannis smirked internally knowing exactly how to turn them completely against the newly arrived Viserys. "I hope that Viserys dies at sea, it's a horrible way to die, but not so horrible as the one, that according to my sources, he used to execute my wife." Those sources were Melisandre's visions but no one here needed to know that.

Mace sat up abruptly at that. Despite the fact that Stannis had agreed to set Selyse aside it would have been socially awkward at best. Politically possible certainly, the precedent of setting a barren wife aside was there, but it had so very rarely happened in the past that there was still a stigma attached to it. Especially if the House in question stood to enrich itself so much by its new arrangement, as was the case here. Mace still considered himself a kingmaker, despite the massive losses the Reach Army had taken, but even so he wouldn't have wished to face his Lords ire if Stannis had done so.

But the other Lords were simply looking at Stannis quizzically. Stannis replied to their expressions by elaborating quickly. "Apparently after Viserys took the castle through connections that Littlefinger had gained there somehow, he executed my wife by throwing her to his dragon."

There were oaths to the Seven and shouts of disgust at that, and more than one man's spine stiffened, the idea of possibly opening up clandestine negotiations with the Targaryen heir banishing from their mind. If this new Dragon Prince was so lost to honor as to do that to a noblewoman, regardless of whether or not his House stood against hers, they wanted nothing to do with him.

From there Stannis went on, changing the subject to the main point of this meeting. "Replies from the ravens we have sent from most of the Crownlands houses remaining are supportive." Stannis had taken the ravens found in Duskendale, Stokeworth and Rosby, which combined had allowed him to send ravens to nearly every surviving Crownlands house, as well as retaining several more to send into the Reach and elsewhere, including the Vale. It was an eclectic sorting, but it allowed him to put things in motion elsewhere at the very least.

One of them went to House Crane, the nearest Reach house to where Willas was leading a campaign into the Westerlands. That campaign was apparently going well going by Melisandre's visions, but those men could be of better use elsewhere in the Reach, let alone moving up to join his army, though he wasn't about to wait here for them.

"The Crownlands will supply us with foodstuffs and anything else we need on the march north. They will also supply a force to meet us on the Kingsroad near the God's Eye on the Kingsroad, which should be around approximately 2,000 men."

More than one of the Reach lord's sneered, but Stannis didn't join them. Given his losses here, and the fact he'd been forced to send so large a force down into the Reach to reclaim the Mander from the Ironborn, he might have barely force parity with the Riverlands and Northern army. Though he hoped that the raven he sent into the Vale would offset that. It was high time that nation got off the sidelines and chose a side in this war.

"Speaking of going North my Lord," said Lord Staedmon delicately. "There is a messenger here from House Grandison." The men House Grandison had sent to serve under Renly had taken severe losses in the fighting, along with several other houses. Selmy, Cafferen, Fell, Estermont, Gower, Hasty, Herston, practically every Stormlands house that had sided with Renly had taken losses, from middling to horrendous or utterly wiped out, like house Swygert.

Most of their lords, those who survived had of course been allowed to swear allegiance to Stannis, much like Lord Staedmon. House Morrigen and House Rogers were particularly important, because most of their forces remained intact.

House Cafferen however had not. They had defied Robert during the previous war, and had defied Stannis here, so the lord of the House had been executed after the battle. Their lands would go to reward some knight or other after the war, though Stannis had not sent any message to Fawnton to tell them of their change in status just yet.

The same was true of Estermont and Fell, much to the barely hidden delight of Lord Buckler. With Fell's death, his house and lands were ceded to Buckler after the battle ended, though it would be some time before they could take control of it.

Other lords, Hasty and Gower in particular, who had been captured during the battle, were quietly taken away and 'executed' during the chaotic days after the battle. Stannis knew those men, pious fools both of them, and knew neither would willingly follow him so long as he had Melisandre by his side. That this allowed their men, some three thousand all told, to be added to his own House's forces, making up much of the losses sustained under Renly, was merely a bonus.

On Stannis' side, Errol, Buckler, Massey and Stannis' own house troops had taken casualties, but they were still powerful, since most of the losses he had sustained had been among the former armsmen taken from the Royal navy. Bolling's armsmen hadn't taken many casualties at all, given they had been in charge of gathering up Cordwayner and that disastrous initial charge.

Stannis knew though it was worse among the Reach Lords. Several lords had died while their forces remained intact, or both lords and their men had been wiped out. This of course included the group that tried to betray their fellows, among others. Kidwell, Inchfield, Redding, Oldflowers, Woodwright, Pommingham, and several minor houses had been wiped out.

A few of the larger houses however still retained much of their military strength, like Ambrose, Appleton, Tyrell, and others. Many others had their lords captured, all of whom had been forced to swear fealty to Stannis. This included Lord Cordwayner, who had been enraged at both Renly and Mace after waking up a prisoner, and had sworn fealty eagerly to Stannis. Bolling had taken more than half that initial force and every lord involved captive, giving Stannis a major boost to the cavalry he could call upon.

After reading the message Stannis shook his head. "The Viper's march is a feint for this Dragon Prince." he said scornfully. "I have no idea what madness has taken Oberyn to use such measures against the smallfolk, but I cannot allow his diversion to work in pulling us away from marching north to deal with the Starks and the Stormborn before dealing with the Dragon Prince himself."

Before House Grandison's messenger or the other Stormlords present could protest Lord Boling cutting quickly. "Where do you think the Dragon Prince will try to land my Lord?"

"If Petyr was not in cahoots with him, I would assume they would look to land at Duskendale which they've already attacked, or Maidenpool. As it is, they might land in Gulltown in the Vale though I doubt Petyr will find aid there."

Stannis really wasn't worried about the Dragon Prince, despite his fury at having Dragonstone taken while he was away. No, he was more worried about the Stark boy and the other group that was soon to be arriving, the Golden Company.

The Golden Company was such a highly trained and organized force it could have an impact well beyond its 10,000 man size, and Melisandre had been unable to tell him where that force might land. Not that she couldn't tell, having taken power from sacrifices in the past few days secretly she had the power to see decently well through the course of the present. But the decision where they would land had yet to be made. She gave him several choices, all of which made sense, but Stannis couldn't fortify all of them, or indeed any of them given the distances involved before the Targaryen's new fang arrived.

As for the Stark boy, Melisandre's visions and his own learning that Edmure had died while in Lannister captivity meant that Ranma could call upon the Riverlands not just those Houses who he had already aided, but the entirety of that country. Those Houses that had been leery of joining him or had been forced to stay neutral to the Lannisters would join him now as their true Lord Paramount's heir, if Hoster was even still alive. That meant that he would be able field an army of around 20,000, giving Stannis only a bare 4 or maybe 5000 at best advantage over him.

Stannis was still certain that he could beat the Stark Youth as a general, and he had Melisandre and her acolytes working overtime to birth more Shadow Warriors to take north with them, to match Stark as a warrior as well as his so called Wolfsworn. Tales of their abilities had already begun to spread to the smallfolk in song and story. But even so, there was no doubt that the Stark lad was his most dangerous remaining opponent. I won't underestimate you like Tywin did, boy Stannis thought coldly. I regret the fact that we are enemies but I will smash you all the same.

"We'll be moving north in echelons with each in turn combining forces from both the Reach and the Stormlands. Without the Reach's levy forces, I expect the Reach heavy cavalry to be able to perform much better in the future." Stannis went on aloud, stroking the Reach Lord's egos in a way that made his insides crawl but which was necessary. He knew that portion of the army that was the least happy with him, and he did not wish to deal with any internal dissensions not now, not ever.

"I will command the first group. Lord Mace, Lord Ambrose, you will have command of the second echelon, which will comprise a somewhat larger than normal portion of the heavy cavalry. The second portion will be in a good position to react to attacks either on the first or third echelons."

Mace nodded, puffed up it with self-importance in such a way that Stannis actually had to look away for a moment so as to not say something to burst his bubble. He exchanged a glance with lord Ambrose, who nodded his head slightly understanding the message in Stannis' gaze. He would be the one really in charge of that echelon, no matter how much he had to sugarcoat it for Mace down the line.

"Lord Staedmon will serve as my second-in-command in the first echelon. Lord Buckler, you will command the third echelon, along with Lord Rowan as your second in command."

"My Lord, what about the Viper?" said Lord Peasebury anxiously. His lands were close to where the Viper was apparently attacking.

Stannis looked at the man, coldly at first but after a moment nodding his head in respect for the man's courage in speaking up. "If the Viper was going to stay in the Stormlands my Lord, I would send you and a force of our Stormlands infantry back to aid in dealing with them. However, remember the season."

It took only a second for every Stormlord there to get it, and all of them began to grin viciously. Lord Morrigen put it into words. "It's autumn now, no general wants to fight in the Stormlands in autumn!"

"Indeed. As much as I loathe what the man is doing, there is no doubt that the Viper's intelligent. Once faced with the reality of moving through the Stormlands in autumn, he'll either retreat back into the Boneway or make for the Reach. Which means that Lord Caron and his force might meet up with them somewhere. I'll write out a message to that effect and send it both by Raven and by messenger to House Caswell. I will also send a raven to the Houses in the Marches, both sides Storm and Reach, what few I have ravens for. I realize that House Dondarrion won't march nor will House Tarly, but the other Marcher Houses in both the Stormlands and the Reach will. I'll order them to organize themselves in such a way that they'll be able to meet with Lord Caron's command. Between then they'll have more than enough men to crush this Viper underfoot.

There were many nods of approval at that, though one or two of the minor Stormlords looked worried. Peasebury and Musgood in particular were looking concerned, since their lands had been named as areas that had already felt the sting of the Viper or might soon. But that simply would make them more determined to win glory in the coming campaign. If they could, Stannis would reward them, and they would make good any losses they'd suffered at home.

Shortly after that the meeting broke up, though Stannis ordered Mace to stay for a moment. "My condolences on the passing of your wife my Lord." Mace said before Stannis could speak.

"Yes." Stannis said coldly. "There was no love lost between us, and as I said she was barren yet there will be an appropriate mourning period."

"Of course." Mace said, smiling in what he thought was a crafty manner, but which made his face which hadn't recovered just yet from the blows it had took taken in the battle, to look even more idiotic. "But after that…"

"After that, yes. Did you send a message to Highgarden?"

"Indeed. I don't think that she will catch us up anytime soon especially if we are going to start marching north, but my daughter should arrive after we deal with the Starks and their allies. It will be a grand occasion, worthy of both our Houses."

Stannis nodded, not showing any of his thoughts about the buffoon in front of him on his face. After that he offered the man a drink wine, and the two of them toasted one another. Though again Mace didn't notice that Stannis's teeth were gritted throughout the pleasantries.

OOOOOOO

"You have to admit that Stannis won back the army's admiration in the past few days." Said Lord Fossoway to Lord Cockshaw.

"Not the total Army, or else you and I would not be meeting here." said Cockshaw tartly. "Lord Peake, Ser Shermer, and Ser Varner are all with us here, as is Lord Lonmouth."

The other Lords all nodded, looking around them carefully. None of them understood the Red Witch's powers, but knew enough to fear being overheard by anyone, not just Stannis's Fire Guard, the reputation of which had grown tremendously after the battle. They were meeting in a tent well off the beaten path of the main camp of the army, which was broken into several smaller camps.

Like his brother, Stannis had taken a brute force approach to making certain that disease and other health issues did not hinder his army, bringing as many maesters and septons who understood what they were doing along his march. He had also added every single one of them that Renly had commandeered. But he still had been forced to split his command into several different camps to make certain that overcrowding did not become an issue.

"We don't have enough forces to survive if we strike out on our own," said Ser Shermer, shaking his head angrily. His forces had been in the front of the main battle and had taken heavy losses before he was captured and his remaining men forced to surrender. Stannis had given him his parole, but the man felt that after learning more about the Red Witch and what Stannis had allowed her to do with the Shadow Warriors, let alone her own attempted assassination on Renly, that his oath to the Seven and the Faith was more important.

He was at a loss however as to what to do about it though, as he had just pointed out. "Stannis won't hesitate to crush us, even if that would weaken his own army."

"No, but it isn't just Stannis that we're dealing with here. It's Mace." said Lord Fossoway, his voice biting and angry. "He's acting like a fucking sellsword, or a common pimp using his daughter like that!" The bard's songs of the 'Rose of Oldflowers' had begun to reach the army, and as a minor noble he was more in tune with what his men were talking about than most.

Fossoway knew how Margaery was looked at by the smallfolk, and that the forces have been left behind in the Reach would also be looking askance at the idea of simply exchanging one Baratheon for another. Especially considering the fact that when the plan was first discussed, Stannis had yet to set aside his wife. The reasons for that were understandable, but the timing was not.

"That doesn't really matter." said Ser Varner, sounding morose. "We just don't have the forces to do anything."

"Not alone." Said Lord Cockshaw. "But, we are marching north to face the Starks and their army. And if the tales are true, Stannis may find himself overmatched, whatever he thinks."

"You're talking about turning coat during the battle," said the knight representing House Peake at the meeting flatly. "It's possible, but I don't know if it'll be as easy as you think."

"Perhaps not, but if we remain in the third echelon of the army, it is still possible. Lord Cockshaw smiled thinly yet there was no humor in it, it more resembled that of an animal caught in a trap. "And perhaps, perhaps we can send a message to the Stark youth at least informing him of our intentions."

"Do you think the Starks will care?" said another knight bluntly. "He's a Stark, they're all about honor and keeping your word. And last I checked, we all were forced to give our oaths to the Fire-Sanctified king. That word came out like a curse in his mouth, and he spat to one side making a sign of the Seven Star for a moment.

"I don't think it could hurt anything to look into it." Cockshaw shrugged his shoulders. "Frankly, we're running out of options here. Either we throw aside our oaths to him, or follow a man that all of us believe to be a greater threat than the return of the dragons to Westeros." He let the silence of that statement linger for a moment before speaking again. "And with that my Lords I think we should break up before anyone notices us missing."

As they all did, he smiled thinly. Varys would be happy with that, and anything that weakened any of the players as the Targaryens at last showed itself once again was all to the good. Pawns after all didn't need to know the real reasons they were being moved around the board.

OOOOOOO

Ranma had set a truly blistering pace out from Riverrun, not stopping for more than brief moments to eat or rest regardless of the weather or time of day, continuing to run through the night with the Wolfsworn. The Wolfsworn were able to take it, even Roger and Hathan, who had not trained to march on their own two feet could match the pace on their horses, changing horse every four hours. Though their horses were badly flagging by the time they reached Wayfarer's Rest, three days after they had left Riverrun.

That was a truly incredible pace, even for as small a group as theirs, since that same journey should have taken them a week at best in the autumn weather. Yet the wolfsworn had done it. As for Edric…

Several times during the journey Edric thought his rear and back were going to break, or he was just going to collapse out of the saddle. But he was determined enough to tie himself into the saddle, only undoing it when it came to switch mounts. Often he flagged, but then Arya would come back and slap his leg, and he would find it in himself to keep pushing.

And when they stopped at Wayfarer's Rest for the night, he saw something in the Wolfsworn's eyes that made all his pain worth it: respect. He collapsed into his bed that evening with a wide smile on his face, though when he was woken up early the next day, his body was quick to point out that he was still not quite as tough as he could hope.

That morning the holding force Jon had left behind here began to organize itself for the march into the pass. Mostly mountain men and a force of Hornwood and Grell archers they weren't going to be ready quickly, but that was alright, since the Wolfsworn would soon be heading up into the mountains, where their pace would slow considerably.

Ranma and the others met up with a local guide, who showed them a small trail that led from the main pass up into the mountains. He was a local man who had aided the Brother's Without Borders in the same way. It was obvious he had felt the sting of the sellswords depredations in some way, but Ranma and the others didn't push him for details.

The man explained the nature of the mountains to them as they went. "Ya can get small forces through the mountain passes milord, that's why da damn mercs were able to keep ahead of us, and why's bandits settin' up here worried the nobles so much. But, yer can't get no large force through 'em. Horses'll have trouble on most o' these trails, and that'll have been made worst by da rains."

"Most of the trails'll be unusable by now, but there're a few that c'n get us close ta da Golden Tooth. Though, I'sstill don't know what ye're going to do melord."

It had rained on the group once since leaving Riverrun, but that rain had lasted for a day and a half, and Arya and Edric in particular looked like wet rats after it had passed. Now however Ranma merely shrugged. "You'll see."

Even with a local guide it took six long, slogging days for them to find away through the mountains that led above the Golden Tooth, and from there it took another day before Ranma found what he wanted: an outcropping of rock that jutted out from the mountaindirectly over the Golden Tooth, far below them. From here they could make out men here and there marching around on top of the keep's parapet, but they looked about a quarter of their real size.

Ranma had no idea what they had heard by now, but he hoped that the news of the disaster that had befallen the Westerlands army hadn't reached here. If it hadn't, surprise would do the rest. If it had, this fight would become much more difficult.

"So what is our plan?" Smalljon asked, while next to him Jon looked on askance as Ranma pulled off a large and very heavy pack he had been carrying since they left Riverrun. "I agree with the local, it won't be possible to get a large force around the Golden Tooth at this time of year, not before they learn we're coming anyway. And from what we can see, that wouldn't really help us much. We'd still have to besiege the place."

The Golden Tooth was not a large castle, in fact it wasn't technically a castle at all, the definition of that being an inner keep surrounded by an outer wall with the keep either integrated into the wall or separate from and surrounded by it. Instead the Golden Tooth was a keep, designed simply as a wall built across the pass between the Riverlands and the Westerlands at this point, which was one of the narrowest points in the pass.

This spot had been chosen because it was also close to the nearby gold mines which were the key to both to the Lannisters and Leffords power. Without those mines House Lannister would never have had the deep pockets it did, and the Leffords would not be as important a family as they were.

The walls of the castle were incredibly thick on every side, about twice the width of most castles, and the keep's main gates continued straight through the entire keep, but only had a single entrance to the rest of the keep. The tunnel had dozens of murder holes, and several dozen portcullises that could drop into place all along its length. The solid keep's roof had heavy parapets, along with five catapults and four scorpions that they could see from where they were. Taking it would be incredibly costly in any normal fashion.

"You're still thinking like a regular general Smalljon, not a Wolfsworn. Always try to think outside the normal methods of attack, if you can see what I mean." Ranma pulled out long lengths of rope and held them up. "We can't afford to simply wait them out, so we're going to attack them from a direction they aren't expecting, above."

Jon looked at the ropes then down to the distant Golden Tooth then up at Ranma again. "You must be joking." When Ranma didn't smile, Jon groaned aloud, while Edric and Arya both looked over the sides of the cliff face then at the other Wolfsworn. Only Arya looked anything but incredulous, while above them the sky opened up and it began to pour.

It was pushing past midnight when Ranma began his dissent along the rope, yet it was still raining. He went down hand over hand silently as he stared down below through the heavy downpour, making certain that none of the few watchers still moving around the keep's top could see him. They hadn't made the mistake of having too many braziers around that would ruin their night vision, but none of them looked up either thanks to the rain. That was probably the best he was going to get.

He took a moment to stare down the pass towards the Riverlands, knowing that the mountain clan warriors from Wayfarer's Rest were waiting nearby, just out of sight of the Tooth. Fenris and Nymeria had hunted through the passes, making certain that the Leffords didn't have any watchers out, and finding surprisingly none. Complacency is the downfall of many a castle. Ranma thought now, rather coldly amused.

Alongside him Arya also rappelled down easily, grinning widely through the rain at her brother. This plan was so Ranma it wasn't even funny, so crazy and out there no one else would ever have thought of it, and she loved it!

Soon enough the two Starks were about fifteen feet above the heads of the watchers down below. Technically Ranma could've jumped even from the starting point, but none of the other Wolfsworn could have, and he wanted to show them that it was possible rather than simply showcase another impossible skill of his own.

Ranma looked at Arya, holding up one hand barely visible in the night and rain. In fact if lightning hadn't chosen that moment to light up the sky, Arya wouldn't have seen it. More lightning began to strike as the storm around them picked up, but Arya didn't have any concentration to waste on that, instead watching her brother's hands. When that hand ran out of fingers, Ranma let go of the rope with his other hand and legs, dropping the rest of the distance. Arya's eyes widened, then she hurriedly followed suit, restraining the urge to howl with difficulty.

He landed lightly on the stone below, directly behind one of the guards. Reaching out quickly Ranma grabbed the man around the neck with one of his arms, twisting and snapping his neck silently before turning and racing towards another man who had turned gaping at the dark apparition that had suddenly fallen on them. That man opened his mouth to scream and alarm, only for Ranma to throw a knife that caught him directly in the throat ending his scream forever. Another knife found another man in the back of the neck before he could to could turn.

The last two guards fell to Arya, who dropped directly on one, taking him to the ground loudly while Fang flipped out, catching the other man across the stomach. Stabbing downwards she ended the man below her and looked over at Ranma nodding her head. Ranma nodded back, then took one of the braziers, waving it in the air like it was a torch for a moment before setting it down lightly.

Above them Jon groaned, covering his face with both hands. "This will not be fun." he said aloud.

Daryn chuckled looking nervous. "Where's your sense of adventure Jon?"

"Down there on the flat, solid, ground." Jon replied growling angrily.

"Then I think we should go look for it, shouldn't we?" Roger quipped, tying the rope around himself before leaning out over the edge and quickly rappelling down, a silent Hathan beside him. They had to drop the last few feet, but that was easy enough. Hathan also took the trip down easily enough, showing he was closer to fully healed then his nurse had feared.

"I don't want to do this…" Jon groaned, tying the rope around Edric, after watching the fire below move again. He turned, staring into Ghost's eyes, who after a moment turned racing down the trails to get the mountain clans moving.

Dacey shrugged from where she was standing beside him. "I don't particularly want to do is either, but you know they'll need us in there."

"True." Smalljon grumbled, tying the rope around him. He looked over the side blanching a little then shook his head. "If Ranma ever thinks of something like this again I think I'm going to have to try to kill him." With that he and Edric turned then began to rappel downwards, the strongest of the wolfsworn aiding the young boy who had come so far with them.

Twice he had to help Edric when his grip on the rope slipped, and he hung there in midair for a few moments, but with Smalljon's aid he was eventually brought down to the top of the keep. There Arya greeted him, pulling his somewhat taller body against her own as she worked to release him from the rope around his waist. "Have a nice trip?"

Feeling greatly daring after the last few terrifying moments Edric replied by leaning in to kiss Arya on the cheek. "The end of the journey was much better than the rest of it."

Though no one could see in the dark Arya flushed brightly before pushing him away, huffing irritably. Nearby Ranma shook his head with a faint smile as he once again picked up the brazier and waved it through the wind and rain.

Above them, Dacey and Jon looked at one another then sighed and followed.

Jon actually closed his eyes as he began to rappel down the rope, not opening them again until he felt the rope around his waist go taut. Then he opened them, reaching down to untie himself with a very firm grip on the rope before staring down at the two feet he had to drop to the roof of the keep. With relief he fell to the ground below, kneeling quickly and kissing the stone of the roof, before glaring at his sister siblings. "If either of you think of something like that again, I swear to the old gods I will kill you in your sleep."

"Harsh." Ranma muttered, shrugging his shoulders. "Shall we go my friends?"

With a heavy mace in one hand and a long dirk in the other Ranma led the way over to the steps leading down into the keep. They passed the first two floors down without incident, though but they ran into problems when the door on the third floor opened, and several dozen guards stepped out turning to head up the stairs. They took one look at the approaching Wolfsworn and began to shout "Alarm, alarm! Invaders inside the keep!"

Ranma raced forward, his mace flashing out to catch one man in the center of the chest and flinging his body backwards with a shattered chest plate and ribs before his dirk took another man in the shoulder. his kick brought that man down with a shattered kneecap, allowing Ranma to turn quickly bringing the mace around to smash into his head with bone splattering force.

The last guard however had turned and run, closing the door behind him. Ranma slammed that door the door open with a single blow from his mace, shaking his head angrily as he began to hear the noises of men shouting and women screaming deeper into the keep. "That's torn it! Jon, take Dacey, Daryn and Hathan down, open the gates! Roger, Hathan, Smalljon, Arya and Edric with me."

With Arya by his side Ranma made his way down the corridor on this floor, running into several dozen more guards as they barreled out of their rooms. Ranma had guessed this might be the barracks level since some of the men had been heading up to the roof from this level and that seemed to be correct considering the armsmen coming out of nearly every door.

Most of the men facing them weren't armored, having been roused from sleep instantly grabbing up weapons. Many of them hesitated at the sight of the well-armed and very well armored men (and girl) moving towards them.

Arya jumped up, flipping herself in the air to kick off the ceiling of the corridor to land in amongst the men who had gaped up at her in shock only one of them able to raise his blade. Fang batted that blade aside and her free hand chopped out, catching that man across the nose shattering it before she used his head as a springboard, flipping herself around and lashing out with leg, foot and Fang to all sides.

Ranma also leapt forward, crossing the distance between him and the men facing them before they could turn to engage Arya, smashing into them with his maze and Dirk both flashing out slaying where they had. Edric howled behind him the motto of his family, "Thunder in the dark!" Then he raced forward, cutting and hacking at the men in the corridor to guard Arya's back, showing a skill and strength that even Beric would have been surprised by.

Behind them acting Roger and Hathan checked the doorways as they went. This guarded the three attacker's back, and the two of them knocked out or killed several guards who had apparently been given separate quarters. The female maids screaming their heads off gave the clue as to why. Hathan shook his head, "Don't worry!" he shouted trying to reassure them over the clangor of battle. "No harm shall come to you." He was not believed.

Hathan had Roger exchanged a glance after the first one, conveying the fact that they might well have just killed someone's husband, which was always a possibility of course, but hadn't yet been so bluntly shown to them before this. Yet there was nothing they could do about it now.

Arya and Ranma however had found the two barracks rooms on this level and were now each standing in the doorway holding them against the men inside. More than one man saw Ranma standing there in the doorways and quailed, not picking up their weapons instead layingback on their bunks with their hands visible on their chests.

However Arya did not get that response and several men came at her quickly, misjudging her dangerousness because of her size and apparent age. Those men died, and the ease with which Arya dispatched them convinced some of the others not to fight. By which time Edric had joined her in the doorway, the two of them able to fit in it easily.

Despite half of them choosing self-preservation however, the rest of the men in the barracks charged the people who had somehow made it to their barracks. For a few moments it was all Ranma, Arya, and Edric could do to hold the doors until Roger and Hathan could come up and help them. With the Five of them holding the two doorways on either side of the corridor the many inside couldn't get out and couldn't use their numbers to good effect.

Down below Jon and his group ran into their own difficulties. Thankfully since it was the middle of the night most of the servants were still in bed, and like servants everywhere when they heard the sound of battle they stayed put rather than running around until they figured out what was going on.

But they ran into problem the first floor. Here, forty-five men were stationed to guard the gate room. Worse, these men had had time to pull on armor before Jon and his group hit them. They tried to barricade the doors, but that failed when Dacey and Smalljon began to hack at it with their greatswords.

Dacey hissed as her shoulder took a hit from someone thrusting a spear through a rip in the door she had just made. The spear point smashed into her shoulder, then another hit caught her in the helmet, making her head ring for a moment. But the two of them had done their job, hacking the doorway into pieces, and now she fell back, letting the others go past her.

Jon raced in howling "Winter is coming!" His twin swords flashed, blocking five swords from finding his chest and head, then he pushing back at their owners, clearing the doorway for the others behind him. One leg lashed out, catching a man in the calf sending him falling to the ground with a scream of pain, while his blades flashed, battering and blocking.

Smalljon and Daryn hastened in after him, engaging the man all around Jon quickly. This allowed him to concentrate on three of them, hacking two down quickly before dueling with the final one as dozens more of them came up from behind, pushing in but mostly getting in one another's way thanks to the close confines of the gate room.

Dacey dropped her great sword, pulling out a small dirk and raced in after the others. The fighting in the gatehouse was close and heavy, where Jon's short swords proved deadly to the men facing them with longswords or worse spears. And the training, speed and toughness of the Wolfsworn saw them through.

The final man went down, and Jon gestured at Smalljon to the portcullis' wheel. "Get that open." he ordered. With that he opened the small door that was the only entrance to the actual keep from the pass between the two massive doors that led through the passage.

OOOOOOO

Brynden and Beric had pushed their men hard to catch up with the Wolfsworn, leaving several dozen men behind who couldn't keep up with the pace even on horseback. Their horses had been added to the rest, allowing more remounts and allowing them to keep up a decent pace though they never came close to catching up with Ranma and the others.

At Wayfarer's Rest, the force split. Beric was left there with the majority of the men, while Brynden marched on with seven hundred men of House Tully, archers and infantry. Several days later, the met up with the mountain clansmen just out of sight of the Golden Tooth.

Being told what was being planned by the mountain clan's leader, who Ranma had told his plans too, Brynden shook his head amused. "Audacity has a new name, and it is Stark." He quipped. "Who would have ever thought that?"

Muldan laughed. "The Starks always fall on their enemies, this one just be going about it differently."

The mountain clansmen had sent forward several scouts to keep an eye on the keep in the dark, hidden it only as they could be from anyone looking for invaders from the wall. It was several hours past midnight when one of them came back to report. "The guards be gone, I think we best be moving."

By the time the doors were actually opened, Brynden and the rest of the attackers were almost to the doorway, and feeling very nervous about things. When it opened Brynden breathed a sigh of relief, and led the charge inside.

OOOOOOO

Ranma stared out over the battlements, his hands methodically cleaning the dirk he had used in this battle, while next to him Fenris lay, irritated that he and his sibling had not taken part in the battle. The Golden Tooth was theirs, and the Riverlands were at last secure from further incursion from the Westerlands.

Fenris moved next to him then huffed as Nymeria lay her head down on his flank. Ranma turned to look at Arya, Brynden and Edric, who were leading a somewhat richly dressed youngish woman towards where he sat on the edge of the parapets. She was a striking rather than beautiful woman, with sharp black eyes that spoke of intelligence, a nose that looked somewhat like Jason or Patrek's, long black hair hanging loosely down her back, and a frown on her face.

"Lady Alysanne." Ranma said, nodding her head. Alysanne Lefford was the only child of Lord Lefford, who had died in the campaign in the Riverlands. She had ordered her men to surrender the moment she realized that her keep's gateway had fallen, saving a lot of bloodshed. "I suppose it's obvious by this point, but I'm afraid you are now our prisoner. And regardless of anything else, your keep will be held in House Tully hands from here on, joining the Riverlands rather than remaining part of the Westerlands.

"Since you not only took my castle but apparently killed my old man I have no issue with that."Alysanne replied bluntly. She sneered a little at the mention of her father. "Let's just say he and I did not get along, and considering how disastrous being loyal to House Lannister has apparently proven, I have no issue with my House joining that of the Riverlands."

"There's a story there. Care to share it?" Ranma said cocking his head to one side, not commenting on her assumption that her house would remain intact. Her clear thinking had saved dozen of lives on both sides, and she obviously hadn't agreed with her father's decision to back House Lannister in this war. That could mean she might just be too good an asset to simply set aside.

"Well, I've always fancied knives for one thing, and horseback riding, never was really a proper lady as he saw it. He also was holding back my hand in marriage until Daven Lannister suddenly realized he needed a wife." She scowled angrily. "Several young men have come seeking my hand, and even a few I would have been happy to marry, but none of them matched my father's standards."

But she wasn't looking at Ranma, instead she was looking at Arya. No, not Arya, Brynden. Ranma noticed that Brynden was looking at the young lady with some interest, and the girl was actually responding looking at him equally interestedly, and Ranma suddenly had to hide a smile as a thought occurred to him. It might not be a love match,he thought to himself, but I don't think either of them are going to be unhappy with that idea.

Over the next few days Ranma and the others consolidated their control of the Golden Tooth, as well as emptying the keep of half its coffers. Several dozen pack mules worth of gold were taken, and began to make their way back to the Riverlands under guard.

While it was quicker than he would have liked, Ranma ordered Brynden and the lady to marry within a few days of the conquest of the keep. This served two major needs, tying the Golden Tooth and the House to the Riverlands in as certain a way as possible. And it settled down the locals fears that the Riverlanders would force them all out and install another family in House Lefford's place. Despite what anyone had thought, House Lefford was looked on favorably by the locals, and doing so would have had major repercussions.

The septon of the keep at first refused to marry them, saying that marrying a woman under duress like that was wrong. However the lady herself took the man aside, and after a few minutes had convinced him that she was not exactly against this marriage. In fact over the past few days she and Brynden had been seen walking the keep together, laughing quietly to one another.

This had an effect on the armsmen they had taken prisoner, and every one of them had given their parole and was released. After that they began to head out with parties of House Tully . The workers of the local gold mines, the mines that had made House Lannister the danger it was, saw this and actually aided the patrols in bringing up even more gold, which was quickly shipped off back to the Golden Tooth. There it would be smelted into coins before sent under heavy guard back to Riverrun.

When Ranma asked if he was in love with Alysanne, Brynden shrugged. "Not yet, but I can see it happening easily enough. She's quite intelligent, well read, and outgoing, all of the things I like in a woman. She actually reminds me somewhat of Tyene Sand, though much more innocent in matters of the flesh. One of those that have quite a lot of anecdotal information but no actual experience." He smirked a little. "I look forward to correcting that disparity."

Ranma laughed, and left it at that.

Leaving Brynden the mountain clan forces along with the men of House Tully that had made the journey to the Golden Tooth, Ranma and the rest of the Wolfsworn left the Golden Tooth after lunch the next day. This was caused by Ranma needing to send the messages out via raven, and the rest needing a break. Thankfully thanks to its strategic position, House Lefford had ravens trained to all the houses he and Daenerys wanted to send messages to, not just Casterly Rock.

Ranma hoped that the diplomatic moves he and Daenerys had thought up would keep that land from attempting to make war against them again. In the long term the Lannisters might have to be dealt with further, but for now Ranma could turn his attention to the two Baratheon brothers, or whoever won the contest between them at any rate.

With the messages sent winging their way out through the Westerlands Ranma led the Wolfsworn back down the pass to Wayfarer's Rest, where they met up with Beric and his men. From there the combined force moved down to the Mummer's Ford, crossing it quickly. Though not as quickly as they had been moving which was Edric, Hathan and Roger were extremely thankful for.

Beric and his forces numbered around 2,000 men made up from Houses Tully, Grell and Paege added to the Brothers Without Borders, and they picked up another seven hundred from House Piper. Their force would grow further when they joined up with the force that had marched overland from Raventree Hall to interdict House Keath, another 580 man.

This, and the anti-bandit force under Ser Blanetree still left Ranma the better part of 20,000 men, with a force of 6000 stationed around Harrentown and the rest up by Harroway. As he moved along at the front of the column Ranma chuckled evilly as he contemplated the numbers especially in relation to the force the North had started with.

Disease thanks to Merry and his own knowledge had not been an issue at all, something which would have amazed any other army in the history of this planet. And in battle, the northern forces had taken around 4,800 losses in the campaign against the Westerners.

The additions they had since gained since destroying the Westerlands army more than made up for it before House Tully, Wayn, Darry and the others joined (or were forced to join) them. Even better the pike regiments were almost entirely intact, their losses made good by the pikemen of House Manderly.

However such thoughts couldn't stay in his mind. Now marching through the Riverlands with nothing to really concentrate on Ranma's mind went back to the warning he had gotten back first in Raventree Hall, then again in the godswood in Riverrun. That the Old Gods needed to speak to him, but couldn't use a single weirwood tree to do it was worrisome. It meant they had something big they wanted to impart to them, and he badly needed to make time to head to the Isle of Faces to hear it. Need to make time to do that on my run up to Harroway I suppose, or after.

Five days of hard marching from Mummer's Ford brought them close enough to House Keath land that they began to see scouts from the force sent down here from Raventree Hall. They were quickly informed that the force that kept out of sight of House Keath, not wanting to warn the holdfast that it would be under attack soon.

"Excellent Job!" Ranma said clapping hands with the man that Lord Blackwood had sent down here, a knight sworn to his house by the name of Franklin. He was an older man, but still hale and hearty, and though he was missing one hand having lost it in the Rebellion, there was nothing wrong with his mind. "What is the holdfast like?"

"Small my Lord, decently made but small. It lies almost directly on the head of the Blackwater, you can hear the sound of the falls before you can see the actual keep. It's defenders appear to be very cautious, my men've been forced to dodge several patrols they sent out." He smirked. "Somehow I don't think they'll be anticipating the amount of trouble they're going to get."

"Too true." Jon said shaking his head sadly. "By the old gods why didn't they just bend the knee? With the death of their Lord in battle, and destruction of their forces at Raventree Hall we would have left them alone if they had just sent a representative."

Coming up behind them, Beric shrugged. "There's been a rumor for years that House Keath had economic ties to House Baratheon of King's Landing, and I know that they kept an apartment in the city, Jon. Perhaps their ties to House Lannister went beyond that or what came out in this war already."

"Doesn't matter," Ranma said with a sigh, then looking at the Blackwood knight keenly. "Franklin, did you see what else I hoped might be here?"

"Yes my Lord, they'd built several barges, in fact work is still going on them for some reason."

"Excellent, that will make your trip shorter Jon."

Jon frowned. They had talked about this several times already, but he still didn't like the idea of being sent further south. Still, he had to admit it somewhat made sense. "If I have to deal with the Viper, will there be any limitations on what I do? I don't want politics to decide what I can and can't do to him."

"No torture but other than that you'll have leave to do with him and his army as you see fit." Ranma said with a nod. "I think that the Dornish have shown themselves to have no understanding of honor or decency in this war. Hell if you can, I want his army wiped out, not just defeated, but utterly destroyed. If it comes to it, I'll be doing the same to Viserys and any force they sent with him. With those losses, Dorne will have lost any ability to influence the rest of Westeros. And we'll be able to deal with them later whenever we wish."

He leaned forward, whispering his next words. "We can't do anything permanent about Dorne, it would take too long and you and I both know we've got other enemies we'll need to deal with. Something is telling me that we need to hurry this campaign up and head north again as soon as possible Jon. Whatever you do, do it fast and do it well."

Jon nodded "I will. Now, what about House Keath?"

Ranma smirked. "If they don't know we're here yet, I think we need to take advantage of that."

Later that same night Jon, Ranma, Aria and their direwolves slunk afford, moving across the open ground around House Keath's keep. The forest had been sharply cut back in recent times, allowing the archers on top of the keep a far better line of sight, and there was no natural cover anywhere.

Yet even so they moved as silently and as quickly as possible across the open land, pausing occasionally when they saw one of the silhouettes on top of the keep turning in their direction. There were a few braziers up there, set behind the palisade on the roof of the keep, so as to not take away any of the watchers night visions. But there weren't enough of them to cover all of the area around the keep constantly.

Soon the trio of humans were close by the outer gate of the keep, which was a heavy iron portcullis backed by another heavy gate of wood. At night of course both were closed, but that didn't matter to their current mission.

While her brothers went to work below Arya climbed up the gate, tying several large wineskins to it, though only a few of them actually contained wine. Most of them contained flour, very recently shaken flour dust. Following Ranma's instructions Arya shook several of them as she was hanging them. Ranma had simply said that they were more important than the wineskins to their plan, but she didn't understand why.

Jon and Ranma did the same, tying their own wineskins into place then moving along the wall quickly while Arya jumped down from below landing silently in the grass. She moved up to her older brother whispering. "Are you sure this is going to work? Why flour?"

"Not flour." Ranma said smiling thinly. "Flower dust in the air of the wineskins."

With that he pulled a short bow he had grabbed from one of his men off his back, motioning to Jon who handed him a fire arrow. The three of them waited until the sounds of the guards on duty above them seems to reseed, then Arya lit the arrow from a piece of flint and tender that she had kept with her. She and Jon leaned against the wall as Ranma raced forward a little bit away from it.

Someone up on the top of the keep was awake, and shouted "Light there!"

But it was too late. Ranma pulled back his bow, letting fly at one of the wineskins that he could see hanging from the portcullis.

"KRAKOOM!" There was a tremendous boom as the fire arrow penetrated the wineskins he had aimed for, which was one of the ones with powdered flour dust in it. The explosion was massive, and it was an explosion not just a sudden conflagration. It ripped the wooden gate into pieces, sending those pieces further into the keep while it smashed the metal of the portcullis as well, though it didn't actually knock it out of its runs entirely.

While screams and cries abounded Ranma saw that and cursed, nodding to Jon. "Grapnels, now!"

Jon raced forward with Ranma and the two of them stood in front of the gate while the keep guards were roused rushing to their stations. Arrows began to land around them but Arya stood in front of them, blocking the ones she could see in the night with a shield while her two brothers through grapnels into the portcullis. Waiting until they clanged into place the two of them then began to heave.

Elsewhere Smalljon, Roger and Hathan all looked at one another. "I think that was the signal don't you?" Roger quipped.

Hathan grunted in response, couching his lands and moving forward, shouting his new war cry. He hadn't yet decided what the words of his new family should be just yet. "Shieldarm, Shieldarm for the king!"

All around them there was the bellow of the rest of the army units around here. "For the king!" Then the men of the North and the Riverlands charged towards house Keath through the night breaking out into the open area around the keep quickly.

Jon and Ranma heard them coming and redoubled their efforts, Ranma gripping the rope and heaved so hard that the portcullis came screeching out of its runs in the stone of the gate, skittering across the ground towards them. The rushing Northern and Riverlands men raced past them, slamming into the keep.

An hour later the battle was over. The Lord of the House, a sallow faced youth who reminded Ranma strongly of Joffrey in everything but looks, had died in the battle. His mother was captured, while most of remaining armsmen of the house killed in the battle were executed after.

Ranma was grim as he ordered that staring hard into the woman's eyes. "You had a choice, you could've bent to the knee to me, and I would not have asked anything of your House given its losses already. Instead you didn't send a single messenger when called to Riverrun, defying not only me but my grandfather, who was your Lord Paramount at the time. That's treason lady, and your house will answer for it."

That very evening the lady of the House was sent to the Stony Sept, which had a small septa of the Silent Sisters, who would take her in. The House would be turned over to Franklin for now, which might be made permanent in the future. "After all," Ranma said the next day to Franklin, who was staring at him in astonishment. "There's a nearby town, and I think that a knight holding that in the name of the crown and another holding this keep would be a good idea.

There was no rest for the army however. The next morning the portion of the army that was heading south began to pack the barges. The barges that had been prepared for the Westerlands Army's arrival was barely enough to contain the men being sent to the South, but it was enough.

Ranma left that aspect in Jon and Beric's hand, while he personally questioned some of the servants, as well as a few of the smallfolk in the area as to rumors about what was going on further south in particular along the Westerlands border, and at King's Landing.

In this manner he learned that Stannis had won the battle it King's Landing and that something had happened in King's Landing, though the locals didn't know what. The last servant was walking away from where Ranma was standing by the Blackwater's edge when Arya walked up to them. "I'm going south too." She said bluntly.

Ranma looked at her in shock. "Um, what? I'd thought you'd want to stay with us and see what you could do against some of the Shadow Warriors we're bound to face. What brought this on?"

Arya blushed, looking away from him for a moment and Ranma followed her gaze. Nearby Edric was helping some of the horses onto a few of the barges while bellowing orders to a few of the other men in a voice that a young boy of his age should never been able to use. Ranma had to admit that the boy's experiences meant he was no boy really, even if in comparison to the Wolfsworn he still had a long way to go.

"I see." He laughed. "You're going along to, what, protect your investment? Should I send a raven to our mother?"

Arya smacked him on the arm blushing hotly but not actually saying anything.

"I suppose you can go along, so long as you promise not to make me an uncle anytime soon." Ranma laughed again, enfolding Arya in a brief hug before moving out of punching range quickly.

Seeing his sister's expression he raced off, with her chasing him angrily, Nymeria joining in the chase quickly while the army looked on a bit bemused at the play of the royal house. "I'll, I'll uncle you, you, you cowardly wolf, you lizard lover, you rarrg!"

Nonetheless later that same day while the sky once again opened up above them Beric, Jon, Arya Edric and their men began to move down the Blackwater. Ranma stared after them for a moment, before turning to the remaining Wolfsworn and smiled thinly. "Let us run my brothers." He said, deliberately using the same words he'd used back at Riverrun.

They all groaned aloud but even Hathan and Roger simply nodded, turning their horses and leading their re-mounts through the rain while Ranma sped off with Fenris beside him.

OOOOOOO

At the same time that Ranma was leading the assault on the Golden Tooth, Daenerys was leading the remainder of the army east along the River Road back towards Harroway to join the rest of it. It was an uneventful journey, despite the fact that every evening as the army set up camp Daenerys began to train her two dragons in carrying her. It was a slow process, but both of them were taking to it as well as could be expected though in very different ways.

Rhaegon could easily bear her weight for longer than Sunfyre, and the one day she decided to test his endurance he had been able to fly the entire day following the army with Daenerys on his back. But he wasn't quick to pick up the verbal commands, or what her shifting her body could mean. Sunfyre didn't have his brother's size and endurance, but picked up everything else far quicker.

"It's a tossup." Daenerys said to Myrcella one evening as the two of them lay in the cot they shared in their tent. With Ranma not there, neither woman felt comfortable with doing anything other than sharing a few occasional kisses. Myrcella wanted her first time going further than that to be with Ranma even if Daenerys was there watching or participating which Daenerys fully understood.

Cuddling however was something both girls enjoyed. "I think that Rhaegon would be ready to carry me into battle faster, but I don't know if I would trust him in battle as much as I would Sunfyre. Whereas Sunfyre will take longer to actually build up the endurance to carry me for long periods of time, but I think the two of us would work better in battle."

"I think that Rhaegon can look after himself with only a few mental commands." Myrcella said thoughtfully so used to the warging ability of the Northerners and Queen that she didn't even bat an eyebrow at it these days. "Sunfyre doesn't seem to have as much as an aggressive streak however."

"True." Daenerys replied with a nod. "Still I want them both trained to the saddle and to a rider. The best mental commands can't really substitute for a rider in the saddle. As fast as I can think, I can't react to something I see on the ground as fast as I would if I saw it from the saddle, you see."

Myrcella nodded, but didn't have any other advice to give.

Later the next day they came within sight of Harroway, or rather the army camp that was built around the town in various clumps. Their arrival was greeted by several horn blows and Greatjon and Rickard coming forward to meet her. "Your Majesty." Rickard bowed formally, while Greatjon moved over to envelop the short girl in a hug, purposefully getting both her and Myrcella in his arms where then sat in their saddle.

"My Lords." Daenerys were replied as Greatjon released them, smirking up into his face for moment and pushing him back slightly. "Anything to report?"

"A lot actually." Rickard said smiling thinly. "First, Lord Mooton and Lord Butterwell have passed through, heading back to their town and castle saying they'll meet us here after they raise the rest of their men." He sneered, showing his contempt for both men. "Frankly I think that's the last we'll see of them until after the war is over. There also seems to be a small force or two small forces moving down in the Crownlands near the border. We sent scouts that way to see what was going on but they haven't reported back yet."

"Jason sent word that he arrived at Harrenhal, and the portion of the army there is ready for battle." Greatjon said, moving his horse alongside the queen's on the other side from Rickard as they moved through the camp towards the town. He frowned then, shaking his head and pulling at his beard. There is some news from further south that have all the merchants in the town in atwitter, Domeric's trying to verify it along with Alayaya right now. It just arrived with the latest merchants from further south, so I don't know what it is yet."

"That doesn't sound good." Daenerys thought to herself shaking her head. "Still, we should know what's going on regardless of whether it's good news or not."

"There's also a group of Seven worshipers here to see you, your Majesty." Rickard said scowling a little. He had no truck with the soft southern religion, finding it too easy to corrupt, and frankly too limited for his tastes. The Old Gods, for all the harshness of the North, seemed more compassionate than the Seven, yet also harsher and harder when he came to things like oaths. If the Seven worshippers believed in oaths and honor as much as the Northerners, none of them would've had to come south in the first place.

"Are they led by an old man who looks as if he was hewn out of a tree?" Daenerys asked thoughtfully.

"Aye," said Greatjon nodding his head. "I'll tell you plain, I don't like much of the Seven, all that stupidity of worshiping in a man-made place, and the idea of the Seven itself always makes me laugh. Yet that man, he's hard. He could've come from the North hard as he is."

From Greatjon that was a great complement, Daenerys thought amused. "I'll meet with them in Harroway's keep. Before that though, give Jaryd Waterman enough horses and men to see him to Crackclaw Point. Ranma and I have a message that he is going to deliver to the houses there for us."

'You expect them to offer any aid?" said Rickard doubtfully. "Those houses aren't very strong, are they?"

"No, but supplies, food, weapons and arrows would be a help. Besides, in comparison to the rest of the Crownlands, those houses weren't as badly hammered in the Rebellion despite being loyal to my house to the last. Their combined strength might add around 3000 man to our forces which is nothing to be sneezed at."

"Speaking of supplies," Rickard said changing the subject. "Supplies have arrived from further north, more weapons, carts pieces for repairing armor, and something from Seagard as well: three shipments of those odd spears that Ranma ordered from the smiths there. I tried a few, and it took me a while to figure out what he intended with them." He smirked evilly. "Those are going to come as a big surprise to any infantry or cavalry force that runs into them."

"I'll take your word for it my Lord, since off the top of my head I can't remember anything about them." Daenerys replied with a shrug. "Tell me about the other supplies here, will the army be ready to march, and how is morale? Oh, and before I forget have the local fishermen prepare enough crabs for my little ones. Both of them have been looking forward to those ever since they realized we were coming back here."

OOOOOOO

Later that day, Ser Barristan frowned heavily as he stared at the seven septons in front of him. One of them was carrying what was undoubtedly a sword under some kind of cloth. "Your highness stay back." he said coldly, moving forward and loosening his sword in its sheath.

"My knight, I doubt that this is an assassination attempt." Daenerys smiled, affectionately laying a hand on his shoulder. "Nor do I think that the Faithful have any reason to do so to me. Is not that correct Septon Sparrow?"

Septon sparrow smiled slightly, bowing at his head deeply to Queen. "That is indeed correct your Majesty. It has been decided through debate among the septons of the Seven that given some of the signs and portents that we have seen your own actions and the actions of your husband the King, it is the duty of every right thinking Faithful to proclaim you and Ranma King and Queen of Westeros."

The words were simple the impact behind them was not. Even the Northerners behind Daenerys gaped at that, while Lord Ryger and the other Seven worshipers among the Riverlords gaped in astonishment. Such an endorsement at such a time as this was a massive boon for the legitimacy of Ranma and Daenerys's campaign further on.

It wouldn't matter so much to the military side of things. But after they won those battles they would have a much easier time convincing the smallfolk and the various lords who had not taken part in the war of their legitimacy.

"These brothers with me all represent different orders among the Faithful my lady, and we have come to bow to you. You may consider us the new Council of the Most Devout. For all intents and purposes King's Landing it is no longer a part of the equation, and the High Septon is not as well."

Daenerys leaned back in the chair she was sitting in, tapping her fingers together thoughtfully for a moment in her lap. "And who might I ask will be elected to be the new High Septon?"

Now the seven men in front of her exchanged glances. "We do not know as yet your Majesty." Said one of them stepping forward and bowing deeper than Septon Sparrow had. "To be perfectly blunt, the position of High Septon seems to carry with it an odor of corruption regardless of the purity of the man's faith who takes the office. We are in the process of trying to come up with another method of internal organization. Various signs have pointed to the need of this of late."

"Signs? You mean miracles don't you? There are certain rumors about the 'Stand of the Rose at Oldflowers' that piqued my interest." Daenerys asked.

The seven men in front of her looked at one another then nodded as one and Sparrow spoke again. "Such as that, yes. Miracles are occurring in groups of seven to aid the Faithful down in the Reach, not just the Lady Margaery but elsewhere. Though we only have confirmed a few such miracles. Other signs are more worrisome. Some of our brothers have fallen ill, ranting and raving about winter, winter not as a season, but as something stalking the land, rising in the far… north…"

He trailed off as Daenerys swiftly turned to the Northerners and Tytos the only Riverlords there who had been informed of what might be occurring beyond the Wall. Jason had learned of it long since, but he wasn't there. They all looked back at her in but it was Greatjon who spoke up. "If the Seven have begun to warn their worshippers about it my lady, we should take it seriously."

"My husband had already declared that he wouldn't want to spend more than four more months dealing with our human enemies my Lord." Daenerys replied gravely. "Even so, we will discuss this when he arrives." She turned back to the seven worshipers who were looking at the Northerners in shocked speculation. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Not tell you my lady, but there is one thing we wish to give you." Said Sparrow gesturing to the man who held a covered blade in his hands. "This is brother Maccabee, leader of the Silent Brothers. He has something of your family that was left in his order's keeping during the Dance of the Dragons."

Daenerys's breath caught in her throat and she leaned forward eagerly as the man stepped forward under Ser Barristan's still watchful gaze, slowly peeling away the cloth covering the sword he held. The blade thus shown was of Valyrian steel, anyone could have told that by the wavy lines in it, but it was the hilt and the shape of the blade that told Daenerys what it was. "Dark Sister!" she said reaching forward and taking the hilt.

The man backed away as she did, and Daenerys stood up, gesturing with her free hand for Ser Barristan to give her some space. Though she hadn't trained with them often, she had trained with the Wolfsworn on and off throughout this war and she was no stranger to a sword. She moved into one of the exercises that Ranma had taught her, the blade whistling in the air as her eyes lit up in delight.

It was several moments before she came back to herself, to the murmured appreciation of the watchers who had never seen her train before this. "A magnificent gift gentle Sers, one I will treasure."

It was also yet another sign of the legitimacy of her own personal claim over her brother's. Two dragons, Dark Sister, a marriage to a powerful house, the Seven's backing and the Riverlands along with the North behind me. Maybe just maybe with all of that I'll be able to talk my brother out of any stupidity. Or at least his Dornish backers.

She looked at Sparrow speculatively. "My husband and I have talked about the Grand Council that we wish to put together after the war ends. We want a permanent resident of the Seven on it. Would you recommend someone to fulfill that role Septon Sparrow, and to stay with the army now?" Given the large number of Riverlands men we've recently added, I feel certain that the addition of a septon to our ranks will not go amiss."

Sparrow nodded his head gravely. "We will discuss this a little together your Majesty and one of us will indeed join you. Thank you, having a voice on the actual council of the King will be a major step in the correct direction."

Just then Domeric burst in, causing Ser Barristan to whirl towards the doorway, his sword out and ready before Domeric got two steps in. "Your highness," he said gasping in air. Then he looked around, only now noticing Daenerys wasn't alone or the blade Barristan held ready in his hand. "Your pardon Lords and ladies, but some news has reached my ears, and I have just confirmed it. Things that we need to know now and things that will affect all of Westeros in the future."

"Began with what we need to know now Domeric." said Daenerys calmly, gesturing towards Rickard who was sitting nearest a table set with wine. He quickly poured the bard a glass, and watched as he gulped it down quickly. "What is so important that you rush in like this?" With one hand she gestured the septons out of the room, though making a signal for one of them to stay just in case.

The seven older men all looked at one another. Then in some kind of communication Daenerys couldn't follow six of them moved towards the door, leaving one man who hadn't spoken up yet, a thin, middle-aged fellow who looks more like a hunter then a septon, behind.

Domeric finished his drink and put the cup down, his hands visibly shaking. "First, I was finally able to find one of our scouts who had spotted the banners of one of the forces moving around down near the Crownlands border. Serret, and House Lannister banners are flying above one of them. For some reason the Serret banner is larger than the one Lannister banner that the scout saw, I don't have any idea why that is, but it doesn't matter really. That force is now making directly towards Harrenhal I think judging by the direction the scout reported them going."

"How many men did the scout report?" Greatjon asked leaned forward intently.

"I don't know my lord, the man can't count, though he says perhaps the size of the men from House Wayn, so a little above or below two thousand."

Daenerys frowned. "Send one of the pike regiments down to join the forces already gathered at Harrentown. With them as aid, that small force won't be able to break through the cordon around the castle, even if those in Harrenhal try to sortie."

"An excellent idea." Rickard said, showing approval for the queen's quick decision in a nod. "I'd send the Regiment from Cerwyn, but who should command it?"

"Timot." Daenerys replied quickly. "He did an excellent job here before Patrek arrived, and with Patrek here his presence is no longer necessary to continue with the Army's resupply. He will serve Jason well down there."

There was a murmur of approval from that from the Northerners, though Lord Ryger looked irritated at his and his sons not having been considered.

"There is something else about the force my lady, the scout I talked to got close enough to see what they were wearing. He saw several men in white enameled armor, and several people who could only have been Lannisters. I think coupled with what else I have to report, that these men are all that remains of the Lannister force from King's Landing. I don't know how they broke out, but I think they made a run for it from the plague and from the cordon."

"Then it makes it all the more important my lords that we set out down south as soon as possible. Send for some messengers, I'll want the army ready to march tomorrow morning early."

Ser Barristan moved towards the door, opening it and bellowing outside for pages to be gathered. Doing so he nearly deafened young Cley who was waiting by the doorway for just that order. He clapped the younger man apologetically on the shoulder, turning back inside as Domeric continued.

The Bard gulped a little, seeming ill at ease with what he was about to say. "My lords and ladies, the other bits and pieces of news that has so agitated the merchants here has also, I have to say been confirmed. Too many mouths are saying the same thing for it to be a lie. Though I desperately wish it was so."

"Just tell us my friend." Daenerys said reaching out and taking one of his hands in hers, squeezing it hard.

Domeric nodded squeezing back. "Your brother has arrived, my lady." Daenerys sat up abruptly, gripping his hand so hard he winced but went on quickly. "House Targaryen banners were seen flying from war galleys that sacked and burned several dozen royal galleys that Stannis had left there crewless. There were also reports that he took Dragonstone, though those are unconfirmed. He hasn't landed yet, but there is no doubt he will within the next month or so."

No one spoke after Domeric finished speaking, everyone else watching Daenerys for her response. She closed her eyes briefly, sighing long and loud before opening them, pinning the bard in place. "That is not all you have to share with us Domeric, spit it out."

Domeric gulped, licking his lips for a moment, not in fear at anyone's response, but perhaps fear of what he had to say. "Your Majesty, King's Landing is, is gone. The Red Witch that Stannis employees, she did something, created this massive fire that could be seen for dozens of leagues around! King's Landing is just, just gone, along with everyone who was still alive within its walls."

For a moment it simply didn't sink in, then Daenerys was on her feet shouting angrily along with all of the others clamoring saying it couldn't be so. Such a disaster in particular deliberately caused was impossible to contemplate!

Yet eventually the shouts ended, and Domeric went on. "All of the merchants who deal with Duskendale are saying it, smallfolk have been flooding into the city from further along the coast claiming to have seen the fire for leagues, green and red soaring high up into the sky. I don't know what the damage to the actual city might've been, but no one could have survived such a conflagration."

He sighed sadly. "That's why Alayaya isn't here. She's sobbing in her quarters, her mother and friends and everyone else she knew are gone."

To one side where she had been standing silently Myrcella began to cry softly. While she wouldn't have minded if Joffrey had died in such a manner, and she was happy to hear that her mother at least might have escaped, she doubted that the tutors she had known, the few friends among the children of courtiers, had been brought along in the breakout. That meant that they were all surely dead, and that hurt.

"Why!?" said Tristan his hands clenching and unclenching. "Why would anyone do that?"

Daenerys shook her head. "Plague. Remember my lords, we were told that there was plague in King's Landing. Stannis must not have wanted to devote the time and men to keep it boxed in, and so hit upon this solution. It's disgusting and abhorrent, but it does make a ruthless kind of sense."

She stood up, her grip on Dark Sister's hilt making her knuckles go white. "But it is not an honorable one! If he had kept forces in place, we would not have attacked them, we would in fact have supplied them with food if need be, or aid in defending the cordon! To do this, to do this not because it was the only solution, but because it was the most expedient one! It is yet another affront to all that is good and honorable to lay at Stannis's feet my lords, and his time of recompense is coming!"

OOOOOOO

The day after she received Dark Sister, Daenerys and the army began to march south, while messengers went out before them down towards the portion of the army under Jason that was sitting outside Harrenhal. Even with the new forces from the Riverlands with them the army made good enough time that they were encamped around Darry once more that evening.

Of course, Lord Darry offered Daenerys and her lords rooms in his castle. Daenerys told him she would not be accepting that offer since the men of the army outside could not be housed in his castle, and she refused to sleep in a bed when her men could not. He had however asked that she come in and join him for dinner. To that, Daenerys could not say no without giving offense, and so she found herself, with her lords, Merry, and various others.

From his place a seat down from her at the head of the table (a place had been left open signifying her husband's place) Lord Darry looked askance at Dark Sister. It was strapped to Daenerys' side, and had yet to leave her presence since she had taken possession of it. Still he smiled equably, while Domeric began to play one of his own ballads in the background form his position near the windows. "Might I ask what has caused the rush South Your Highness? Not bad news I hope?""

"Nothing of that nature my Lord." Daenerys replied smiling thinly at the man while Myrcella reached in quickly and took a bite from her plate grinning at her playfully though there was a serious reason for her antics.

This was after all one of the men who Ranma and she had talked about as not fully trusting. Indeed if Daenerys had been able to she would not have entered his Castle, but the offer of guest rights, and of breaking bread in particular, was something she could not turn down without showing that she distrusted him, which was an insult no lord could stand.

Myrcella had come up with a solution however, volunteering as taster for Daenerys during this meal. The new septon, Ehric, was a middle-aged man, who had a surprising amount of knowledge about healing, which might have been why he had been chosen. With his aid and her own growing knowledge, Myrcella had dosed herself with several cure-all's against most poisons, so even if there was something in the meal Myrcella might be fine.

Subtly Myrcella nodded her head, indicating the meal was wasn't poisoned. In response Daenerys tried hard to keep a sigh of relief from passing her lips. Myrcella's courage had made Daenerys love her all the more, because she knew whether Myrcella did or not that sometimes the cure-all's didn't block everything. Even so, watching Merry take on that danger without making any overt sign had been one of the most nerve-wracking things she had ever done.

With that Daenerys began to eat, telling Lord Darry what they had learned, and their hopes for the upcoming battle.

Through it all he nodded his head, and as the meal went on he acted the perfect host with one subtle exception. He seemed a little irritated that none of his guests touched the wine. Even Greatjon, known as a heavy drinker, was staying away from the wine, having brought his own keg of ale to share with Tytos and Rickard, while Daenerys, Myrcella and the others were drinking from prepared camp water, following Daenerys stern injunction about not getting drunk this evening.

Whatever the reason for his irritation, Darry's face and body language was so controlled that only Myrcella, who had been trained by a mistress of the subtle art of social discourse, could see it. After several moments watching him from out of the corner of her eye she caught the flick of his own eyes toward Daenerys' untouched wine cup.

Reaching forward picked up her own wine glass and brought it up to her to sniff as she had seen her mother and father do so often. Then she made as if she was drinking, while staring at the color in the light of the torches set into the wall behind her for a moment. She couldn't tell anything from looking at it, but something in the man's eyes...

Deciding to act on her misgivings Merry subtly tapped Daenerys side, then when the queen's eyes flickered to her for a second, tapped the wine glass still in her hand, crossing two fingers to make a brief X. While Daenerys tapped her thigh back making a circle there to indicate she understood, Ehric too had caught it. The septon sipped his wine briefly, then pushed it away.

As the evening went on, Darry kept on glancing at their wine cups, untouched thus far. His eyes flickered, growing cold when they latched onto Cley who stood behind his queen with a pitcher of camp water, almost empty now, then to Bess, who stood further down the table with another pitcher standing behind Tristan. Whatever was going on, his guest's use of camp water and their penchant for ale rather than wine had stymied it. Still, Merry and Daenerys were becoming more uneasy as the meal went on.

Finally the meal was finished, and Daenerys was about to make her excuses and leave when Lord Darry stood up. "May I propose a toast then? To your success your highness! May our enemies feel your fire!"

Daenerys actually winced a little which was not unnoticed by anyone. She was not her dragons, outside of their mental link, she got no pleasure from burning people, and indeed was scared of what she would feel the first time she had to use for dragons to their full effect against an army. "I will drink to my success my Lord, though I hope the method does not match the rest of your statement." she said, reaching for her water glass.

"It is customary to drink a toast with wine my lady, or is there something wrong with my cellars that you would shame me so?" Said Lord Darry coldly.

"There might not be aught wrong with your cellars, but there is something wrong with the wine." said the septon coldly getting up as well. "Do you take us for fools?"

At his tone Ser Barristan moved from his place by the doorway, his sword singing out of its sheath while next to him Grege did the same. Rickard and Greatjon, who had been sitting together at the far end of the table rose to their feet, their own hands going to their weapons. Lord Darry had not been happy when Daenerys insisted that they could all carry weapons to this meal, saying it showed a sign of distrust, but she had reiterated her point: she had already dealt with one assassination attempt on her life in the Riverlands she was not going to tempt fate again.

"That is a serious accusation." said Lord Darry. "One even you should answer for!" The man blustered, but there was more than anger in his eyes. He rang a bell quickly, and suddenly a dozen men burst through the doorway.

"I wanted to do this the easy way." He said now in a conversational tone as Ser Barristan was forced to turn to engage the men by the door along with Rickard and Greatjon, the Rygers, Tytos and the other loyal lords. Behind the man his own servants moved forward, revealing along with daggers hidden under their robes as he also grabbed up his sword from where it had been hidden under the table. "But I am fully prepared to do it the hard way as well."

Cley dropped the jar of camp water, causing a crash against the stones as he pulled out his sword, while Bess reached forward quickly grabbing up a knife from the table. With that done she hurried to take up position behind him.

Domeric moved forward from where he had been playing beside one wall, his harp dropping to the floor as he wrenched out his sword, moving to stand with his queen as she drew Dark Sister with a surprising, at least to Lord Darry, amount of skill. Behind her Myrcella and Ehric moved back, knowing they didn't have much skill and war craft.

"Why?" said Daenerys coolly, pointing her blade as Lord Darry as more of his men burst in through the doorway, forcing the defenders there back, though paying for it with six dead men in as many moments. "Why? We asked nothing of you, only that you remain loyal and you couldn't do even that? Who bought you my Lord?"

"Your brother. My house is one of many that have long served the true rulers of Westeros, and while you may be a Targaryen, you are a traitor to its true heir! An heir who has promised me rulership of all of my family's original lands including Harroway and deep into House Whent lands as well! Whereas you promised me nothing, and only gave me stern and cold words? Foolish girl! Any Lord will follow the ones who promises him more profit."

"Only lords without honor do that." said Domeric coldly then moved to engage him sword to sword while the servants moved forward, showing themselves not to be servants at all but armsmen in the disguise of servants. Yet even so they only had long knives that they had been able to hide under their coats, whereas Cley and Daenerys at least were armed with swords.

Daenerys smashed one knife to flinders with Dark Sister, her back sweep taking another man in the side before she dodged under a blow from another man, bringing Dark Sister up to thrust forward into the man's chest ending his life. At the same time Cley guarded her back killing two others and wounding a third. His skill with the blade wasn't up to Wolfsworn standards, but it was a little bit better than Edric's when he first met Ranma.

It served him in good stead now, though he froze when he looked down at the men he had slain. It was only Bess darting forward to threaten another man with her purloined knife that saved his life in that moment of indecision.

"Cley snap out AHHH!" She went down with a cry, cradling a broken arm from the flat of the man's sword.

"Old gods damn you!" Cley roared, charging forward to engage that man, slaying him in two strokes before pulling Bess behind him again, while all around them the other's continued to cut down the armsmen of Darry.

Daenerys however knew that the numbers were against him no matter how good they were as individuals. Trading blows with four servants she reached inward, shouting down her link to her dragons. Aid, danger, help! While her two dragons, which had been hunting several leagues away, turned as one and flew towards the castle, she shouted aloud, "The window, someone hold something outside the window!"

The window in question was actually a murder hole cut into the outer wall of the keep which abutted the back of Darry, but Myrcella understood what she meant. Grabbing the tablecloth she pulled it out causing clanging and ringing sounds to abound as tableware was sent crashing to the floor. "Get me to the window." she ordered Cley.

Cley nodded, cutting another man down who had broken past the battle going on by the door. The man died looking astonished at the boy who had just slain him so quickly.

With the rest of the servants concentrating on Domeric, Tristan and Daenerys Merry was able to rush to the murder hole. There she stuffed the blanket through and began to shake it while shouting out through it. "A rescue, a rescue!"

Outside the castle a few men whose tents were set up right against the outer wall of the castle looked up at the barely heard shout and saw the fluttering tablecloth. One of them was quite a bit faster on the uptake than most, and he nodded urgently. "Go get Lord Patrek, I think something's going on in there."

Patrek's own tent was situated directly in front of the gate into the castle. The gate itself was open, but Patrek was watching it closely even before someone had run up and told him about your tablecloth in the window. He looked up quickly at the top of the castle, and saw more guards up there than there should be. "Grab as many men as possible, get in there now!" he barked.

With that he grabbed up his own sword and raced out, followed by Eric Proudthenn and seven men nearby who'd heard his shout. Eric had been turned away from the dinner, his face and manners not up to even being a guard for such. The two men raced through the gate at the head of the men and into the gatehouse just as Darry armsmen there were beginning to bring the portcullis down. It fell, but Patrek took command of the gatehouse and soon it had risen again under the power of several of his men.

Outside archers along the wall began to fire out into the army frantically, and dozens of men began to attack Patrek's position in the gatehouse, trying to force their way through the doorway. Yet they could only come at Patrek one at a time there, and Patrek was easily able to best them under those circumstances.

Not a minute after Patrek barked his orders out hundreds of men from the army poured in, and if most of them were unarmored having taken off their armor for the evening, they were all armed, and greatly outnumbered the defenders. And they were utterly furious at this betrayal. "The Queen, the Queen! Save the Queen!"

Six more men joined Patrek in the gatehouse and he nodded at them grimly. "Hold the door, I need to see to the Queen's safety."

Inside the battle had begun to turn against Daenerys and her people. Lord Ryger was down, as was Ser Wode, both men dead. Ser Grell was holding a broken arm, and Tristan had taken a knife thrust to his side which had opened up a nasty gash there. The fact that the Riverlords hadn't come armored was now beginning to tell, and even Silas was forced to fall back leaving only Rickard, Barristan and Greatjon to continue to hold the doorway. All three of them were armored, and it served the men in good stead, though they all had wounds by this point.

Daenerys was wounded as well, a long gash on her forearm that was bleeding badly, but otherwise not slowing her down. She was still dueling with some of the servants, while more and more men were getting around the trio by the doorway.

Bess screamed out "Lord Domeric, no!"

At those words Daenerys whipped her head around in time to see a guardsmen run Domeric through his side. As Domeric turned, his own sword lashing out and catching that man in the leg, Lord Darry brought his own sword around hacking into her friend's chest, sending him falling to the ground.

"No!" she shouted angrily, breaking off her assault on an arms man, kicking the man it hard in the leg putting them off balance enough for a head butt to come crashing into his nose breaking it and sending him backwards in a welter of blood.

Cley pounced on him then Daenerys froze, feeling her dragons arriving outside. With no further orders from her, Rhaegon began to rake the outer wall with fire, slaying dozens of men in his fiery fury, aiming for the men firing at the army which served his queen. He even showed a remarkable understanding of when to stop, pulling back and rising up to aim for the towers and top of the keep when other men began to force their way up onto the wall.

Sunfyre however was circling the keep trying to decide where to attack, and she reached out to his mind. The fluttering thing, flame through it!

She felt his response, felt him begin to actually cling to the outside of the keep, heard his intake of breath... "Everyone down!"

Her words came out with such a tone of command that even the men locked in combat by the doorway obeyed, dropping to their stomachs where they had stood. It was as well they had, because the door into the dining hall was directly across from the murder hole where Merry had pushed the tablecloth through.

A spear of bright fire roared out of the murder hole, searing across the dining hall and immolating a few servants who hadn't been fast enough on the uptake to obey Daenery's command, along with more than a dozen men by the doorway. Here and there her own men grimaced in pain from the searing heat of the blast, but none of them had been caught in the flames.

Daenerys had remained standing, the flame of the fires not hurting her or Dark Sister where she stood in the center of it, blade having locked with another servant, who died screaming. Her clothes did not survive the flames, but she didn't care. Sending a thanks to Sunfyre and ordering him to start circling the castle took a bare second, while the men out in the corridor began to get their courage back from the sudden fiery assault. Those men knew they had only one chance to live through this, and that was to take the Dragon Queen hostage.

But she ignored that too, racing forward naked to engage Raymun Darry, where he had been out of the flame's range. He had been staring in horror at the mangled, burning wreckage that had been his men, including his son and cousin, but then turned, his eyes lighting up murderously as he saw Daenerys coming for him, racing across the bloody stones of the dining hall.

He met her charge just as furiously, but found himself overmatched in speed if not strength or skill, and Dark Sister flickered here there, everywhere, forcing him back. Raymun then found his back pressed against the wall. He desperately dodged to one side as Daenerys blade sought his face.

Dark Sister made sparks where i clanged against the wall, but Daenerys turned quickly, bringing up a foot kicking Raymun in the stomach before he could bring his sword around. He groaned in agony, losing his grip on the blade, then tried to scramble on the ground for it as Daenerys turned bringing Dark Sister around. "AGHH!" The sword bit deep into his back severing his spine and he screamed like a stuck pig before she wrenched it out then thrust down hard, impaling his head.

Before Daenerys could shout to order the remaining attackers to surrender, there was a sound behind her, a soft "Oh!" of shock.

She whirled, only to stare in horror as Myrcella fell to the ground her hands clutching a knife low down in her side. The man who had killed had been one of very few of the servants in the hall that had headed Daenerys order, and he had begun to sneak up on Daenerys from behind while she went for Raymun and his fellows began to fight with Cley and the others once more.

But Myrcella had seen him, and had thrown herself between the two. She hadn't spent nearly as much time training as even Daenerys had however, and her attempt to defend herself hadn't worked it all. She had lasted for a bare few seconds, allowing Daenerys time to finish Lord Darry off, before the man had run her through.

The man only had a brief second himself to look up as Dark Sister whirled in the air and Daenerys voice rose in a howl of anguish. "No!"

The man's head flew off like a shuttlecock, but Dark Sister clanged to the ground out of Daenerys's nervous grip while she instantly went to her knees beside her friend frantically trying to staunch the flow of blood. "Hang on Merry, just hang on, please!"

Suddenly Ehric was there, smacking her hands aside and ripping off a bit of his own robe, tying it in place as a tourniquet while he examined the wound. "Tis bad, sore bad. I'll need needle, thread, clean wine, anything I can get my hands on!"

Daenerys stared down at Myrcella, her hands moving forward again to try and help to staunch the blood flowing out of Myrcella's stomach, weeping as she saw blood began to appear on those lips she had so loved kissing. "My lady!" said Ehric sharply, reaching forward to slap her cheek gently bringing her out of it. Get me everything get me the maester of the Castle, he'll have what I need!"

For a moment Daenerys looked at him, then, unmindful of her nakedness, she moved forward toward the doorway, where Patrek's voice and others had begun to be heard as the royal army surged through the traitor's castle.

OOOOOOO

The death toll of Lord Darry's betrayal was heavy. Tristan would survive, but may never regain the use of one of his arms. The new Lord Wayn had a concussion, but thankfully would survive. Lord Ryger was dead, making Tristan Lord of House Ryger. Tytos was unwounded, but his heir Brynden had taken a blow to the side and would be laid up for weeks, and Lucas had a gash on his face that ruined his good looks. All the other lords had various nicks and wounds, and Greatjon had lost one of his ears. Grege, Merry's gentle giant of a guard, had lost his arm from the shoulder down, but would live.

Domeric was dead, and Myrcella was still being seen to by the maester of the Hall later that night. Daenerys waited outside his door, slumped against the wall of the corridor while Greatjon, at her orders, saw to the death or capture of the rest of the armsmen in the castle. If they attempted to continue to fight they were slain instantly. If not, they would be sent to the Wall to take the black in recompense for their aiding their lord in this bit of treason. Darry had already lost his sons and nephew, his only family, because of his treason.

"My lady," said a soft voice and she stared up at Alayaya. Alayaya had not been invited to dinner, which she had been amused about at the time, saying she could've gone as one of the men's lady for the evening, but Daenerys had decided against it. But Alayaya was now staring down at Daenerys worriedly, noting that her queen hadn't dressed again, simply covering herself with a cloak so great was her worry for Merry. "Are you well?"

She went to one knee beside her friend, and then Daenerys flung her arms around the other woman. She began to sob brokenly, not just for the wounds Merry had taken, but for Domeric's death. He had meant so much to her, been the one who truly helped Daenerys gain her freedom, had helped teach her and guide her. They had been planning to name him Lord of Stone Hedge after the war or anything else he wanted. Now he was gone, and the world was suddenly a darker place.

Several hours later Daenerys had regained control herself, but had not moved from that position. With Ser Barristan looming like a grim shadow in blood streaked white armor nearby she stood up when the door to the healing room opened. The maester of the Castle stepped out shaking his head. "It's bad, sore bad. If not for the septon getting there so quickly, we would've already lost her."

"Will she pull through?" Daenerys asked sharply.

The maester hesitated. "I don't know my lady, were doing all he can but…"

Daenerys held up a hand interrupting the man. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear here maester." She said coldly. "Your Lord tried to betray me, your queen. Even if you don't wish to acknowledge that, I am the wife of the new Lord Paramount of the Riverlands. This was treason however you cut it, and he had poison in his wine! Where do you think he would come up with that?"

She watched as the maester paled. "Now, my friend will live. If she does not, you will not. I will have you executed as a traitor do you understand me?"

The maester nodded his head then turned and entered the room again. Daenerys slumped against the wall, then turned to Ser Barristan and Alayaya. "Come, I need to see to my little ones, I imagine they are quite anxious."

They certainly were. Indeed none of the men of the army was willing to get near them where they had landed in the castle's courtyard. Only Alayaya's words stopped her form stepping out of the keep still with only a cloak covering her. While the Summer Island girl dressed her, Daenerys concentrated on sending feelings of wellbeing and happiness to her dragons. It worked, and by the time Daenerys actually stood before them, both dragons had calmed down significantly.

Yet even while she tended to them, touching them and scratching their scales to reassure them of her survival her mind was elsewhere. Inside Daenerys prayed, prayed in a way she had never done before not even when times were hardest for her, prayed as deeply and as powerfully as she could to any god that was listening for her friend's survival.

OOOOOOO

Ranma and the Wolfsworn had met up with Meera and her scouts several leagues distant from the Army further south, hearing the news from them. Not all the news, since news of Lord Darry's betrayal hadn't spread that far, but the fact that the army was on the march down south to capture the Lannisters. As such Ranma left the rest of the Wolfsworn there, racing ahead with Fenris beside him, moving far faster than any of the others could go on horseback. He wanted time to talk to his wife before that battle, and maybe to spend time with her and Myrcella.

Those thoughts left his mind as he ran into outriders of the army the next day. The army had not moved from Darry just yet, and they informed him of what had occurred. They watched in awe as their king raced on even faster with his direwolf matching his speed, leaving their galloping horses to flounder in his wake.

The sun had barely moved in the sky above him before Ranma arrived at Darry, racing through it with Fenris a moving wall of fur behind. Inside Daenerys was once again sitting vigil outside the maester's room. She stood up quickly as she saw Ranma, and then was in his arms being held and nuzzling into his shoulder as he kissed her cheek and neck murmuring her name for a moment as the too hugged, simply reveling in the fact she was alive.

His euphoria at that however dampened quickly and he pulled back. "Myrcella?"

"They've been in there ever since she was injured. I didn't even let them look at Tristan or the others, I sent them out to the army's healers."

"Don't worry about that my lady." said Ser Barristan shaking his head behind the Queen. "Merry's helpers did a magnificent job, and all of our wounded will pull through easily, even Grege and Tristan. Myrcella was the worst hurt."

Ranma nodded, and leaned against the wall beside his wife holding her in his arms while they both stared at the doorway into the maester's room.

They were still there several hours later when the door opens to reveal the septon and the maester. Both of them looked incredibly weary, but jubilant. "She's alive, she'll pull through! She will wake up for a few days more I think, but she'll pull through now." Ehric was personally ecstatic, having come to like Myrcella in the few days he had known her.

The maester however was much more cautious. "There was a problem however. While she will pull through, and do so entirely, the sword it, the wound it…"

"Spit it out man." Ranma barked.

The maester gulped. "My Lord, the sword tip sliced into her womb, and did irreparable damage. The princess will never be able to have children..."

OOOOOOO

Later Ranma and Daenerys stood over Myrcella's sleeping body. "I need to get the army moving if we're going to pin the Lannisters between us and Jason's forces." he said, sighing faintly. "I don't want them to be able to escape. I'll leave half the army here, all of the pike regiments for certain and the Riverlands portions that are still being rearmed, along with Patrek and Greatjon to help you command that portion of the army."

Daenerys nodded. "We'll still be here. If she wakes up, and if the Maesters say we can start moving her, we'll meet you outside Harrentown."

"Good, there's something else I'll need to do down there anyway." He kissed his wife and leaned down and kissed Myrcella's sleeping lips gently. Then he moved to her ear whispering. "Get better Myrcella, I love you."

Beside him Fenris moved forward, laying out alongside the bed, staring up at Ranma. Fenris had come to care for 'she who smells like lilies and honey' and knew she was sorely wounded. Often in the wild, predators would go after the weakest in a pack, but if they tried that here, Fenris would be there to protect her.

Ranma stared down at his bonded, and nodded his head. With that he moved over to his wife kissing her much more thoroughly, then with a final squeeze of her shoulder, left to go back to war.

OOOOOOO

Ranma decided to leave the pike regiments along with the portions of the army from House Blackwood and the other Riverlands houses that had joined them since crossing the Trident since they were still being refitted with new armor and in many cases better weaponry. Instead he only took the Northerners in residence, though he also took all of the Riverlands houses horses with them, giving him enough horses to let his infantrymen to rest in shifts while also allowing him to push the pace even harder.

So three days later the army joined up with the scouts and the Wolfsworn who had stayed with the scouts just on this side of the border with the Crownlands. By then news of what had occurred in dairy had spread to the scouts and then from there to the Wolfsworn so the first word out of Dacey's mouth was "Myrcella?"

"She'll live." Ranma replied though his face became grim as he remembered how she had looked there on the bed, so small and frail, but not weak, never weak. "Daenerys is all right, though her arm will bear a scar for the rest of her life." He grit his teeth angrily at the betrayal that had come so close to claiming both his loves' lives despite the fact that they all feared something similar might be coming.

But who would've thought that Darry would ignore guest rights? Or strike so blatantly when an army was camped around his castle! Hearing he had intended to capture Daenerys and the others rather than kill made it a little more believable, and if he had, it might have even succeeded. "In other news, do we know anything more about who is moving down south?"

Meera, who had been standing silently nearby, nodded her head. She had been ordered by Jason to move out from Harrentown to take control of the scouts to the southeast, and had done so with alacrity. While she couldn't move quite as fast as the Wolfsworn could, she could still cover a lot of ground quickly, and was as much at home scouting here as she had been back in the neck. "We do. The two forces down there, they're coming close to where they'll intersect the Kingsroad before moving on towards Harrentown.

"Can you tell us anything more about them, Meera?"

In response she began to describe the banners she had seen before shrugging her shoulders. "The only one of those I recognize is House Lannister. "

"House Tyrell and Ashford in the second force." Ranma mused. "And House Serret and House Lannister in the first one. Whoever decided to put a peacock on a banner has almost as much to answer for as the man who thought a blue rooster was a good idea on one."

"The second one is also being led by a man, um…" Meera coughed a little. "It looks as if he's got a garden enameled on his armor. He's very handsome, but a little too Southern-soft for my tastes." Her flush gave her the lie, but none of the Wolfsworn were in the mood to call her on it.

"How far away are they?" asked Daryn thoughtfully.

"From our current position, about two day's hard march for the army I'd say. From each other, I just don't know. The second group is pushing themselves hard, too hard frankly. She gestured to six horses which were nibbling at the grass behind her. "I've used my remounts this to keep in touch with the scouts trailing them, and our horses are flagging, so both group's horses should be close to exhaustion."

Ranma nodded his head grimly. "Good. I think we'll rest here then, let them come to us a bit more."

There were firm nods all around and Ranma went on. "I'll want to enclose both forces with our own. But if the second force is chasing the first, it's to be treated as an ally until they prove differently."

Loras and Lord Ashford had indeed sent a messenger up the Kingsroad. But he and his party of four men had been ambushed by bandits, all former Westerlands men, and been slain. The bandits in turn had tried to jump Meera and some of her scouts a week or so ago, and been slain. Worse, the message had only been oral rather than written down.

So no one in the Stargaryen army knew anything about the incoming Reach forces. Because they were chasing the Lannisters, Ranma was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt mostly thanks to Margaery's message, but that was all.

OOOOOOO

Loras really didn't want to get out of the saddle, because he knew he'd just have to get back into it in a few hours, and right now that was more than his heart could bear. His horse and his remount were two of only about 20 animals in his entire force that looked as if they were more than a few steps away from dropping in exhaustion, but Loras himself was ready to collapse.

Once Loras and Lord Ashford had figured out where the Lannisters must be heading they had pushed the pace as hard as they could to try and catch up to the Lannisters and their allies. Unfortunately, the Lannisters had been doing the same thing, and the chase had become a long-drawn out thing, with both forces pushing themselves to exhaustion.

Before this, Loras had considered himself hardy, tough and durable as befitting a knight. Now after interminable days and nights in the saddle, all he wanted to do was curl up somewhere, preferably on his stomach to give his abused ass some rest. And Loras wasn't the only one. Every man in his army was feeling the same, and they were beginning to look it too.

Lord Ashford shook his head from where he was leaning against his own horse's flank, whose head was drooping wearily. "We can't keep this up. Our horses are close to being worn out, they'll be of no use in a charge! And our knights and infantry aren't much better."

Actually the infantry, who by and large did not wear plate armor were actually in far better condition than the knights. Thanks to the pace they had been forced to set the knights had been riding and even sleeping in their armor for the past week since chase began after the battle that had slain Lord Edgerton.

"Agreed." Loras said with a nod. He pulled out his map, which was not a very detailed one in this segment of Westeros admittedly, but it still had marks painted on it on the other side of the Kingsroad moving towards Harrentown indicating a forest. Not a large forest, but reportedly a decently overgrown one. "Here's what we'll do instead. We'll rest here, and we'll send another message further north instead and one around the Lannister army as well. No doubt the Starks have a holding force encamped around Harrentown, so if we can warn them, they can pincer this group from that side while we ride up their back."

"I'm worried we haven't heard from the last group we sent that way." Said Lord Ashford. "That's not good."

"We don't know what happened." Loras said with a shrug. "He might never have gotten there, we did only send four men remember, and I have no doubt that there are bandits roving the lands around here, former Westerlander armsmen if nothing else." They had gotten some news from various smallfolk their scouts had run into about what it happened to the Westerlands army, which had both shocked and impressed both men.

"True enough." Ashford nodded. Then he pushed himself away from his horse wincing as his buttocks shifted as he moved. "I'll get the men caring for their horses, then we'll bed down for the evening."

Loras nodded, and turned to see to his horses.

OOOOOOO

"Now we turn on them," said Lord Serret looking at Jaime who smiled coldly. Cersei and Joffrey looked at Rupert askance for a moment and he shrugged. "Your Majesty, I've been pushing the pace only almost as hard as we could, given the number of horses we have for the number of soldiers. Moreover, I've firmly fixed in the minds of the men be back there that we're running away. They won't even be able to think that we can turn on them, and once we wipe them out we can move on to Harrentown with impunity."

Cersei was not nearly as confident of that as Lord Serret was, as if she had been the Riverlanders, she would have assaulted Harrenhal already, wiping out the last of the invaders of her kingdom. That it would become a bloodbath wouldn't have mattered to her overmuch, in light of the atrocities that were being laid at the Westerlands army's feet.

Still she nodded her head. They were at least another four days travel out from the woods alongside the God's Eye, which would slow their progress even further before they made it to Harrenhal, even if they weren't crossing the full expanse of them. That would allow them to take a break from the hard pace of the march, and allow her personally some rest as well.

"I want to come too." said Joffrey angrily. He hadn't been able to find anyone to vent his frustrations on, and had taken to beating his horse again until he was stopped by a few of his Kingsguard. Horses were too precious at this point to allow the boy to waste his spleen on them like that.

Cersei shook her head quickly. "No. You are the king, you cannot be risked in a small skirmish like this. Kings fight only in important battles my son, I've said it before. This will not be a vital battle, in truth it will be barely a ambush. You should husband your strength until you need it most."

Joffrey sneered at her, which caused Cersei to actually recoil a little in shock. He had never looked at her like that before! "I need to show that I am a warrior as good as my father, and I have to show it now! Our plans from now on entail us forting up and not fighting much any longer after this. I have to do it now, to show our men that I am my father's son! Don't think I haven't heard those whispers!"

Despite their desperate flight the army's scouts had met up with smallfolk who had passed on rumors. One of them was that Ranma and Daenerys had formally declared that Joffrey was illegitimate while Myrcella was legitimate in their eyes along with the dead Tommen.

Worse in Joffrey's opinion was that according to what the scouts relayed the smallfolk practically worshiped the ground Myrcella walked on these days, even more than they did Margaery Tyrell down in the Reach. The Maiden of Healing they called her, and venerated Myrcella for her work in bringing medical attention among the smallfolk to the same level that the nobility could call upon.

Why, why are my siblings so intent on stealing the attention of the people that should rightly be mine! I am king! And here I am, running like a rat, while my sister spreads her legs for our enemies and is heralded as a saint among the ignorant masses! I need to show them I'm strong, I need to show them that I am the real King here in Westeros!

"The smallfolk all think that Myrcella seems to, to almost walk on water, but they know nothing of me, simply believing the lies our enemies spout! Until I do something, something to show I am my father's son, those rumors will spread!" He said aloud, his voice a thing of petulant wrath and darker emotions when he said his sister's name.

While Cersei tried to form words, still shocked by the way Joffrey glared at her Lord Serret frowned, staring at the youth. Despite his age, Rupert simply could not bring himself to call Joffrey a young man. Then he looked at Jaime who shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to get involved. That was all too often Jaime's issue, Serret thought. If he had done his duty as an uncle maybe this brat would've amounted to something.

Finally he sighed, and just as Cersei opened her mouth to reprimand her son for glaring at her so Rupert held up a hand. "I think his Majesty actually does have a point. There comes a time when a King must show that he can wield the sword. As such, all accede to that, you can be in part of the second charge."

While Joffrey puffed himself up importantly, Serret shook his head slightly at Cersei who subsided. The second charge would in fact be the reserves, which if Serret had gauged his opponent's exhaustion well enough would not be used at all.

He looked at the Kingsguard, gesturing to the men who seemed to cater more than they should to Joffrey's whims, Ser Edgerton, Ser Blount, Ser Gaunt, and Ser all nodded, understanding what he was set telling them, and Blount actually looked relieved for an excuse not to join the battle.

"Ser Swann, I leave you to guard the queen." Serret went on. "I'll leave about 15 men with you, but I don't think I can afford to leave any other men behind." Not when I'll have to leave at least 200 with the brat to keep him happy.

Ser Swann nodded his head, bowing from the waist to the queen. Cersei responded with a single nod of her head, then went back to staring at Joffrey, still shocked by the way he was acting so independently now. That and the way he looked at her, as if she was some kind of obstacle in his way. And there had been something in his voice when he spoke of Myrcella, not anger something deeper, darker, which her conscious mind refused to grasp.

Turning away and leaving Cersei to her thoughts, Serret began to organize the attack.

They rested themselves through the night before marching back down there trail for of time until his scouts, carefully husbanded up to this point, reported they had seen campfires in the distance. One of them smirked evilly. "Milord, they don't even have scouts out! A few guards here and there, mainly around der horses, and about, two hands wort' still awake repairing their bridles or someat, but that's all!"

Serret smiled grimly. "You see." he said looking at where Joffrey had moved up to stand beside him and Jaime. "They have the fact that we were running from them so thorough firmly fixed in their minds, they're not even thinking of any other option."

"When do we attack?" asked Joffrey eagerly.

"At dawn." Serret replied. "That'll allow us to rest our men some more, and we'll have daylight to tell friend from foe. In any battle like this that's a necessity." Joffrey scowled at needing to wait but nodded his head understandingly. "In that case, let's get some sleep."

None of them saw a young woman perched in the top of a pine tree nearby, listening avidly.

OOOOOOO

"It was tough to get away." Meera reported several hours later. "But I think that Lord Serret's forces are almost as exhausted as his pursuers. He might've waited a little too long frankly, those men are drooping with weariness. I mean most of them just fell down where they stood rather than getting out there bed rolls, if they had any, and none of them even bothered to check their weapons or gear."

Ranma shook his head. "Once they know they're winning the fight they'll gain more strength I think, humans are kind of like that at times. Will we be in position to attack them at dawn?"

"At dawn or a little after." Meera, replied trotting hard to keep up with the moving column. Now so close she hadn't needed any horses, which was why she had been up a tree enough in the first place, which had allowed her to sneak away far more easily than otherwise.

"You did good Meera." Ranma said, reaching out and ruffling her hair for a moment before turning to look up at where Ser Wendel Manderly was mounted on his horse nearby like a large armor-clad boulder. "Wendel, I believe you'll be going in first, try to flank them from the south if you can. The infantry will come in straight from the north and west." He looked over at the Wolfsworn. "We'll rest for about 20 minutes when Meera tells us we're near at enough, then we'll charge." He turned to Meera. "That means that our stopping is on you, if we get to the battle and our men or horses are too exhausted from charging to fight, it could be a disaster."

Meera gulped but nodded. "I know just the place, there's a large rock near where the Westerlanders camped today. That'll do for a landmark."

OOOOOOO

Dawn was just beginning to break when war cries suddenly shouted around the Reach encampment, wakening those within from deep slumber. "We have no rivals! Hear me roar!"

Loras pushed himself up off the ground, he had been too exhausted to actually unroll his sleep roll last night, and had simply been using it as a pillow as he bedded down beside his horse. Yet a single night's uninterrupted sleep wasn't enough to overcome his body's exhaustion, and he was groggy for a moment.

Nor was he alone in that. All around him his men were taken completely by surprise, the almost equally exhausted Westerlands men pressing in from the north and west. Dozens of men died in those first few moments before the Reach warriors truly realized what was going on and fumbled for their weapons.

Here the infantry responded much better than the knights, not being as exhausted as them. Here and there clumps of them formed actual lines of battle, or at least groups working together to defend themselves from their attackers. They held long enough for the knights to grab up their weapons and move to their aid, but hundreds of men died in the next few moments, though on both sides considering the attackers were nearly as exhausted as the defenders.

Loras found himself at the front of the battle, his mind engaged and sharp now with the scent of blood in the air and the cries of the dead and dying in his ears. He swung his sword left right and back again, blocking two men from attacking both him and a wounded infantryman next to him, before riposting quickly, thrusting his sword blade through the chain mail of one man while kicking out at the legs of the other, sending him crashing to the ground. The wounded infantryman finished him off, and Loras moved on, killing as he went.

He slew five more attackers before he found himself face-to-face with someone he had dearly wanted to cross swords with since this war began. "Jaime Kingslayer. A pleasure."

"Rose Knight, trust me the pleasure is all mine." Jaime grinned, not even wearing a helmet for the battle, his green eyes glinting with dark amusement.

The pleasantries over with, the two men moved together, their swords flashing as one seeking one another's bodies.

Loras was fast, constantly mobile, and thanks to Ranma having sparred with him a few times knew to use the rest of his body as a weapon just like his sword, though he wasn't nearly as skilled with feet or hand. Even so he landed a few hard punches and kicks to Jaime before the Kingslayer could compensate for his shift in style.

Where Loras jumped around and moved from side to side, Jaime moved with an economy of movement, each shift of his body calculated in a way that no one else but a true swordsman would've recognized, happening as it was on an instinctual level. Jaime was precise, controlled, in a battle like this he lost all of his normal flamboyant nature, concentrating his entire being on the conflict. He also had a shield, which he used to great effect until it began to fall apart under the repeated blows.

Jaime lost one of his Kingsguard white enameled pauldron from his shoulder. Loras' sword had sliced into his armor there at just the right point to pull out the rivet that was holding it in place when he had knocked Jaime's blade just off center. But Jaime had dodged at the same time, and Loras' blade didn't penetrate his armor beyond that.

In response Jaime had lashed out with a forearm that caught the Rose Knight in the temple, jarring loose several teeth and throwing him backwards. Jaime moved his shoulder for a moment lashing out with his blade into the side of Reach man who had been trying to charge at him with a spear. "I'd say sorry for ruining your pretty boy features, but someone already did that. Or is Stannis not the only Baratheon brother with a fetish for fire?"

He laughed, and that laugh was like a brand applied to Loras' still sore buttocks. He growled, charging forward angrily, his blows flashing with even greater speed and strength than before, but lacking any of his style or control.

Jaime laughed again, though internally this time watching the fool fall prey to his own passions. The two of them exchanged blows again, and Jaime took another slash, which opened up his armor along his side and produced a small cut there, but nothing fatal. His face also took a slash from just above his mouth to right below his right eye.

In response Loras was almost crippled when Jaime's blade caught him low in his leg, just missing his knee and biting slightly into the side of his thigh. That caused him to fall off balance just a little.

Jaime was on it in an instant, ducking underneath Loras' desperate defensive blow, and running the younger man through his chest. The Kingslayer's blade caught Loras point first right below his heart smashing through his plate armor and punching deep into his intestines, going so deep as to almost break out of his back. Blood began to immediately flow from the wound, as well as his mouth and when Jaime wrenched his sword back out that flow became a flood.

"Good fight." Jaime said conversationally while Loras went to his knees, none of the other Reach men near enough to be a threat to him just now. "You almost had me a time or two there."

Loras stared up at him from his knees, then both the dying man and Jaime turned their heads when suddenly a howl erupted beyond the melee. Not from a single throat, but from thousands. "The king, the Wolf King! Winter is coming!"

Jaime gaped in astonishment at the noise. Loras however smiled even as he fell forward, his eyes clouding over with death.

OOOOOOO

About a league distant from the battle, the Queen and her guards had suddenly found themselves surrounded by men wearing northern colors. Ser Swann and his men try to fight back, but were slain or knocked unconscious quickly.

Ser Swann was the only one who really put up much of a fight. He slew one of the attackers and knocked another unconscious before a giant was upon him. Smalljon's greatsword slashed forward, smashing at the somewhat older man with both strength and skill that Swann could not match. Within a minute of exchanging blows he found his sword being forced down to the ground then Smalljon's fist came up under his chin. Smalljon laid him out with that one blow, the power of it lifting Balon off his feet and flinging him twenty feet into the air to land heavily several yards behind where he had stood.

Cersei had at first attempted to escape, only to find her path barred by a young wild looking woman, as well as another older looking woman that if anything looked even wilder. "Ah don't think so soft one." Said Osha, her sword pointed easily at Cersei. "You try to run, you die."

"Queen Cersei Lannister, you are under arrest." said Meera coldly. "The charge is treason with others to be added later."

OOOOOOO

Ranma led the charge from the north and west while Wendel had encircled the battle, coming up from the south with his cavalry. They slammed into the battle with all the force their charge could convey, spilling what few men were in the saddle at this point, killing even more of the Lannisters in those brief moments than they had slaughtered among the Reach men. Every unit commander began to bellow the same thing, "Lay down your arms and surrender or die!"

Ranma let them to it, carving his way through the battle knocking out those who were surrendering or weren't in any position to fight back as he forged his way towards the yellow head that could only be Jaime. Breaking through the melee he saw Jaime standing over the body of Loras and scowled angrily. Whatever his problems with Loras and Renly, he had been friends with the man once. With a roar he charged Ice in both of his hands. "Winter is Coming, Lannister!"

Jaime turned, his green eyes becoming vicious as he moved to engage Ranma. He knew if he could kill the Stark then the fight might go out of these northerners. He parried Ranma's first wild slash, but then had to block another blow as Ranma reversed his blade's course as easily as if the Valyrian blade was a Braavosi rapier rather than a greatsword. Jaime was barely able to get his own sword in between his body and Ice before he was flung to the side with the impetus of the blow.

Even so Jaime rolled with it, coming up and thrusting hard with all of his body's weight behind the blow hoping to catch Ranma with his sword out of position to defend. But Ranma leaped into the air, dodging the below easily while bringing Ice around in a wide arc. Jaime ducked in turn and by the time he stood back up Ranma was back on the ground, Ice swinging again.

After blocking two more blows, Jaime tried to move inside Ranma's reach with the greatsword, his own longsword much more nimble in close quarters, but then had to fall back his head ringing from a blow from one of Ranma's fists that had nearly caved in the side of his face. Only the fact that he had moved with the blow and rolled away had saved him. But he was forced to sacrifice the remains of his shield do defend his body from Ranma's next blow.

In fact Jaime was quickly coming to realize that he was entirely overmatched for the first time since he had been ten or so. "Damn you Stark!" he shouted, rage and humiliation coloring his normally controlled voice. "How much were you holding back!?"

"I wanted you to underestimate me." Ranma said breaking his silence, his voice calm and measured. It was only then that Jaime realized the boy wasn't even breathing hard! "I want to humiliate you now. There's a big difference."

Jaime growled, attacking his opponent even more savagely while Ranma simply absorbed his blows waiting. When Jaime lunged again, he dodged one side, bringing Ice down so quickly Jaime couldn't pulled his sword back or do anything. But instead of aiming for Jaime's body, Ranma aimed for his outstretched hand where it was clenched around his blade. Ice sheared through Jaime's dominant hand right below the elbow, cutting it off in a welter of blood.

For a moment Jaime stared down at his stump, not even registering what it happened. Then he screamed, loud and long like someone who had just lost everything in life, and indeed in Jaime's case that was true. He had defined himself his entire life as a swordsman. To lose his dominant hand like that was a blow to his world view beyond anything he had ever endured before.

It was almost a mercy when Ranma brought Ice around again the flat of it smashing into the side of Jaime's head with carefully calculated force. Jaime was unconscious before he hit the ground. With that done Ranma knelt, and began to put a tourniquet on the Kingslayer's hand.

OOOOOOO

Considering that Lord Ashford had also been shouting for them to do so, most of the Reach forces that had survived until Ranma and his army arrived had surrendered quickly. The Westerlands portion had also started to surrender rapidly, though that had more to do with their fear and exhaustion than any shouted orders from their leaders.

Now Ashford stood in front of Ranma, explaining what had happened during the long chase from King's Landing. Ranma shook his head. "We never received any message, I assure you we'd have been here much sooner if we had. Still, that's disturbing news about Mace wishing to sell his daughter off again. I doubt Margaery is gonna stand for that." He smiled thinly. "In fact I know she won't."

He looked around as Daryn moved through the prisoners and the Reach men who were gradually being given their blades back, pushing the bound and gagged Joffrey before him. The Hornwood heir grinned viciously. "He had four Kingsguards with him, all of them are dead now. Dacey and I took them apart, almost literally, including a man you mentioned, Ser Blount? Dacey near sliced him in half."

From another direction came Roger, pushing Lord Serret in front of him. Roger had a cut on his arm, and was clenching and unclench one of his fists as if it pained him. "Ranma Stark, be known to Lord Rupert Serret, Hand of the little bastard boy that is trying to shout imprecations over there. He uses an axe rather well, though not quite up to my standard."

The older man rolled his eyes. "You're younger stronger and faster, what do you expect from me?" He nodded his head it Ranma. "My Lord Stark."

"Lord Serret." Ranma replied, smiling at the older man's poise. "You're remarkably cheerful for someone who's a prisoner."

Serret shrugged his shoulders. "I did my duty as per my oath to the Lannisters my Lord, no more no less and I have not done a single thing that I am ashamed of. Kill me now or later, that will remain the same and I will meet the Father with my head held high."

"Well said." Hathan replied while the other Wolfsworn simply nodded respecting the man's position.

"If that is the case, and if it is proven to be that case my Lord, then you'll only face either exile to the Silent Brothers or working hard labor for five years." The older man was hale and hearty, he'd be able to survive that where someone like Joffrey wouldn't have.

"I regret to inform you however that by my authority as King, by right of conquest of the Golden Tooth, the destruction of the Westerlands army and the execution of Lord Tywin Lannister, House Lannister is no longer the Lord Paramount of the Westerlands. Indeed, there might be no Westerlands any longer soon."

Rupert looked at him in astonishment. "What do you mean by that?"

"My wife had some interesting ideas, and it will be fascinating to see how the different families we've sent those ideas to take them, but I think you can say that the anger at how horribly the Westerlands were led in this war would have forced a change in power anyway."

Serret nodded thoughtfully, wondering what Ranma and his wife had outlined to the Westerlands. But Ranma wasn't about to tell him. "If you could take your place with the other prisoners my Lord, we should be on our way."

He turned to Ser Wendel and Hathan. "Stay behind with some of the light cavalry and burn the bodies." He ordered. Both men nodded soberly, not looking forward to the duty but understanding the necessity. With that Ranma began to reorganize his men for the march to Harrentown.

From her position near the front of the forming column Cersei glared at him angrily, then at the two men guarding her son who was still trying to shout through his gag. A sudden thought occurred to her and she looked around. "Where is my daughter Stark! You promised to protect her!"

There were some angry mutterings at the sheer effrontery of a prisoner and moreover an enemy queen shouting that at her captor, but Ranma merely smiled grimly. "She is with my wife at the moment. She's safe, though I won't say that she hasn't come through this war completely unscathed."

"What do you mean?" Cersei said her face now pinched with anxiety.

"Not my story to tell." Ranma replied with a shrug. "You'll see her soon enough. She'll be with the Army around Harrentown."

OOOOOO

That was the last time Ranma spoke for the next three days in Cersei's presence. He honestly wasn't certain how he felt about her. Ranma had liked her more than Robert, and there had been respect between them if not much trust. Then there was his relationship with Myrcella to consider and the fact this was her mother, balanced out by how the woman had treated her three children, and the fact that Joffrey had slain Tommen. He wondered who the brat's father was, but really it didn't matter and the least he could do for the woman was not to force her to air her dirty laundry in public.

Deep down Ranma didn't know if he could bring himself to execute Cersei as her treason to the crown deserved. This is one execution I might have to hand over to someone else he thought sadly. If it happens at all. I hope it doesn't, I don't want to think what it would do to Myrcella knowing that she's in love with the man who executed or even ordered her mother's execution, and I really don't want her to come to resent me for it.

Jaime on the other hand was a much easier case. He had put family loyalty above his oath to the king, but other than that and the fact it had forced him into treason against Robert, were the only two charges that they had any proof of. Therefore he would be stripped of his status as a Kingsguard, which should've happened after he killed Mad King Aerys. After that, Ranma would send him up north under guard to join his brother on the Wall. Some would say he deserved death, but Ranma had gotten his revenge on the man for his nearly killing Ranma's father when he took his sword hand.

Lord Serret too was a pretty cut and dried case. His House' territory of the Westerlands was the strongest in many ways now, since neither Lydden nor Serret had sent their full force to war, and indeed Lydden hadn't sent even a fifth of their forces. There were also two other minor Houses in the area that hadn't sent men, or at best a token force to war, since their job was to aid House Lydden in protecting the Golden Road. That road was actually a slightly better road for the invasion of the Westerlands than the River Road, and so they had been excused from the muster.

So Ranma couldn't politically afford to kill the man, which would mean he would be added to the growing penal forces and forced to work for five years.

And as for Joffrey…Ranma stared over at the youth who was glaring around at him angrily, his hands twitching occasionally on the pommel of the saddle that he had been roped to. He was also still gagged. Even when he was allowed to eat Joffrey had shouted imprecations with every other word. As for Joffrey, his execution is long overdue.

Soon after they ran into scouts in the woods near Harrentown Ranma and his men were escorted into Jason's camp where they met Jason himself quickly. "Your Majesty!" he said clasping Ranma's arm firmly and smiling at the younger man. "I see you bring prisoners."

"Jason." Ranma replied with a smile and nod of his own. "Is Harrenhal still holding out?"

"No, they surrendered when the queen and her dragons showed up. Many of those men were descended from people who remembered the last time dragons sacked Harrenhal, and they opened the doors despite the Westerlanders best efforts. It was a pure slaughter in there apparently, but the Whent men got control of the castle's gates long enough for me to ram an assault column in on it."

He grimaced angrily spitting to one side. "But it was no better than either side of that clash deserved. When they learned of my army's imminent arrival, they put Harrentown to the torch and I think they slaughtered several hundred of the smallfolk. Your lady wife heard of that, and ordered the execution of Lady Whent and the Westerlands leaders on the spot. With them dead we only took about 400 or so prisoners from both sides."

"Didn't lady Whent or her forces try protest the burning of their own damn town!?" Smalljon asked, aghast.

Around him the rest of the Wolfsworn also muttered angrily, while Ranma simply closed his eyes gritting his teeth as he tried to get control of himself. That kind of thing, that kind of gross defilement of what it meant to truly be a noble in his eyes, bypassed all of his self-control and smashed the button marked pure rage in his mind.

"A few, and those few that survived the infighting in the Castle were given clemency on the surviving townsfolk's words. Your lady wife heard the statements of the smallfolk who we ran into. A few of them were let off with only three years like the levy forces, the rest five years with no chance of parole."

"And where are Daenerys and Myrcella?" Ranma asked.

"In their tents Ranma, I'll show you."

Halfway there Ranma found himself engulfed by a hug that was fit to break a weaker man's ribs. He smiled happily lifting his wife into the air for a moment and kissing her thoroughly while all around him the army cheered and laughed or whistled as their personalities dictated.

He slowly pulled away, asking softly "Myrcella?"

"Standing up and walking around. She's recovered remarkably quickly. And…" Daenerys went on in a whisper against Ranma's ear. "Merry's remarkably upbeat about her inability to have children any longer. Said she didn't want any anyway. I'm not certain I believe her, but I don't want to push her on it just yet."

By that point Fenris had reached them, moving slowly because Myrcella was next to him, stroking his fur occasionally. She had initially needed Fenris's aide in simply walking, the giant direwolf standing in for a cane rather easily.

Ranma swooped down on her, lifting her into the air for a gentle kiss on the cheek and a hug, which under other circumstances might've raised some eyebrows, but considering what Myrcella had been dealing with none of the watching armsmen thought it strange.

Myrcella smiled at him, laying her head against his shoulder for a moment before pulling back. "My family?" she asked softly.

"Captured. Jaime I'm going to send to the Wall. By the time he gets there he might be able to actually wield a sword with his offhand." At everyone's looks he shrugged. "I cut off his dominant hand during the battle. Cersei is alive, though I honestly have no idea what we'll do with her. And your brother is alive too."

"Oh really? Merry said one eyebrow raising. "Pity."

By that point the Wolfsworn had caught up with Ranma and they pushed the 'royal' prisoners ahead of them. Cersei's eyes lit up with joy at seeing her daughter, but Dacey held her shoulder firmly.

Myrcella curtsied to her mother, knowing the two of them had never been the kind to enjoy hugging one another especially in public, though Myrcella herself had since discovered that she rather liked cuddles. "Mother, I'm pleased to see you well."

"You as well my daughter." Cersei said, her voice one of intense relief, matching her face.

Merry nodded at her, but then turned her attention on her brother staring at him coldly while he stared back with rage in his eyes. She looked at Daryn, motioning to her mouth and Daryn grimaced, but removed the gag from around Joffrey's mouth. "Brother, you look well I suppose, for now anyway. I've long thought you were a young idiot ripe for hanging, maybe I should have said beheading instead."

Joffrey growled trying to escape the grip of the two Wolfsworn holding him back shouting, "I should've killed you when I had the chance!"

There was a gasp from practically everyone around, not just the Wolfsworn or the prisoners but the watching soldiers, Jason, the other Lords who had joined them and loudest of all Cersei. Joffrey didn't notice any of this simply continuing to shout vitriol at his sister. "It was you, you and Tommen! Always taking attention away from me, always trying to over shadow me with unimportant things, I should've killed you when I killed him! I am the king! All of you should be bowing before me and begging for forgiveness!"

"What you are is a kinslayer!" Myrcella shouted back, her own green eyes snapping with fury as she goaded Joffrey to confess openly. "You couldn't even take Tommy on in a fair fight! Instead you hired a damn poisoner to do your dirty work for you! And then you didn;t even have the courage to come out into the open with your sadism, hiding under the name of the Vile One!"

"He deserved it!" Joffrey barked back. In his anger he completely forgot his audience if he ever had noticed them in the first place. He didn't even notice his mother's paling expression as she mouthed the word 'no' over and over again, shaking her head wildly. "Father and that traitor Stark would've named Tommen heir over me! I am the eldest I was the rightful heir!

At that point Cersei had heard all she could take. Her mind simply shut down, and she slumped into unconsciousness, while Joffrey continued. "As for my sadism as you put it, who cares! They were only smallfolk, only traitors, like that bastard Tully! There are always more where they came from, and Edmure paid in fool for his treason against me! I am king, and you should all bow to me for forgiveness!"

Ranma looked over Cersei, shaking his head somewhat sadly. Regardless of anything else, he doubted that any woman really deserved to learn she had birthed a monster. "I think my Lords that we have heard enough from the bastard king." He said softly. "Does anyone wish to say anything in his defense?"

Not a person there did anything but shake their heads staring at Joffrey in disgust. Not even Lord Serret had realized how sadistic Joffrey had been or for how long. And that was without discounting the whole kinslaying bit. That was a crime against every known religion and law of the land, even if he hadn't done the actual deed.

"In that case my Lords, I see no reason to put off justice being done." He pulled Ice out from its sheath on his back and gestured to Daryn and Roger. They pushed Joffrey to his knees, pushing his body so that his head was leaning forward from the rest of his body. Even so Joffrey continued to shout angrily ordering them to release him that he was the king, that he would have them flayed alive for this effrontery. But no one was listening any longer.

It was only as Ranma stood next to him with Ice raised that Joffrey fell silent, staring up at Ranma, his face paling as he suddenly understood that nothing he said now mattered at all. "Joffrey Waters, by your own words you have proven guilty of the charges of treason and murder most foul in the guise of the Vile One of numerous smallfolk and my kinsman Edmure Tully, and of slaying your brother Tommen, the trueborn heir of Robert the First. The penalty is death."

With that he brought Ice down, and Joffrey Waters, would-be King of Westeros, the Vile One who had terrorized King's Landing before the plague hit, died.

OOOOOOO

Later that same evening Ranma was staring out across the water of the gods Eye towards the Isle of one side Myrcella was shaking her head sadly. "She's catatonic. I don't know how long she will be so, but my mother can't do anything for herself now. I ordered one of my helpers to feed her, but honestly, I don't know if my mother's mind can recover from the strain of hearing about Joffrey's acts. She devoted so much of herself to him that hearing about how evil he had become, it broke something in her Ranma, and I don't know if she'll ever heal."

Daenerys stood beside the old younger girl, one arm over her shoulders. "I have no idea what justice would be in this case Ranma. All my old concerns and fears are telling me to execute the woman, but the queen in me says that wouldn't be justice now. How could it be justice when she can't even feel it, which can't even realize why she's being killed? "

"We'll send her to the Silent Sisters up in White Harbor. She'll get aid there I suppose, and that will put her far enough away from the Westerlands that no Lannister agent will be able to rescue her for whatever reason. If she ever regains her mind, we might have to rethink it, but until then I don't think there's anything we could do to Cersei now that her own mind is doing to her on its own." Ranma said with a note of finality his voice.

He looked up smiling slightly as Rhaegon flew above. Rhaegon would be carrying Daenerys to the island, while he rowed himself and Fenris out to it. The rest of the lords were busy reforming the army to march, or investing Harrenhal. But something told Ranma that he needed to be out there and getting the message tonight, when the moon was high in the sky and waning, when the skies were remarkably clear for an autumn day.

When she heard about it Daenerys had refused to let him go alone, saying she wished to see if she could hear the message as well. Myrcella had also wanted to come with them, but Ranma and Daenerys had put their feet down. Merry needed her rest, and there was no telling how long this might take. Myrcella had acceded to that, before curling up with Sunfyre, who had become almost as protective of her as they were of Daenerys. They wouldn't obey her commands of course, but they were protective of the girl-who-helped-to-groom-them.

Rhaegon landed with a splash on the shoreline of the large inland lake, grinning widely around a large fish that he had captured somehow. Daenerys laughed, rubbing her fingers over his eye ridges above his eyes causing him to croon a little before moving to get into the saddle. Ranma nodded at her, and said simply, "I'll see you over there. But don't land until I wave the torch all right? There might be other people over there for all we know."

Daenerys nodded, saying nothing. In actuality dragons could see in the dark almost as well as cats and Rhaegon had already scouted around the island, seeing no sign of any kind of habitation. Still if it that makes Ranma feel better I'll agree to it. She knew Ranma had beaten himself up inside several times since the treason of House Darry because he had not been there to defend her or Myrcella. It was foolish of him, after all who else could have led the attacks on the Golden Tooth or House Keith and accomplished both tasks so well. But it was still there.

Actually she and Rhaegon only had to circle the island twice before Ranma was there, the speed with which he was rowing himself through the water leaving a wide churning wake behind him. He jumped up over the side of the boat, then allowed Fenris to sniff the air for a moment before sending him deeper into the small forest that dominated the island. Standing there he stared at the trees he could see in the light of his torch. Each one of them had a face on them, and more than half he could see were the white of weirwood trees. God, there must be more weirwood trees here then there are everywhere else South of the Neck combined! No wonder the old gods have enough strength to reach me here!

After a moment Fenris came back, every inch of his body radiating happiness. This island was almost like being home in the North, still too warm for his tastes but the feeling the air was almost the same. And there were no people here either.

After getting that message through their link Ranma waved the torch he had kept from the boat, and soon Rhaegon landed in the shallows by the island's shore. Daenerys jumped off, then sent Rhaegon off to hunt for more fish. They weren't quite as good as crab, but they were good, and hunting them from the air was tremendous fun.

Daenerys stared around at the faces in the trees her own face showing awe. "This is, this is incredible! I've read about this place, but to see it for myself, to feel it... Can you feel that?"

"The power of the Children of the Forest, and the Old Gods is very strong here." Ranma said with a nod. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply in the air as one hand found Fenris' neck and scratch there deeply. "Come on. I think we need to go further in."

Arm in arm the two of them moved through the forest, while Fenris padded the side them silent as a forest creature could be. Soon enough the three of them came to a gigantic weirwood tree, carved not with one face, but with several. A few of them were quite clearly not human, too elongated, to thin of face and with their ears too pointed and large to be that of a human. The other faces were humans, and one of them in particular called to Ranma. He moved forward, gently tracing its features. "This one, this one could be my ancestor I suppose. Same cheekbones, same general features, frankly it looks like the carving in the crypt I've seen of my great-grandfather."

"That would be correct Stark," said a voice, causing Ranma to whirl, Ice suddenly in his hands as if teleported there. Fenris growled as well and, Daenerys quickly pulled out Dark Sister.

From all around them through the trees came ten men dressed all in green. The leggings were green, their shirts were green, their hair, what could be seen in Ranma's torch, was green and the masks they wore were also green. Those masks were simple affairs, simply bunches of leaves and a wooden mask. They could've been comical, but somehow, maybe because of the way they had snuck up on the Fenris and Ranma or because of something else, they were not.

"We are the Green Men." Said one before Ranma could ask who the hell they were or how the hell they had snuck up on them. "We tend the trees and we keep away those who would harm them. We have known of your coming for months now Stark, though you arrive barely in time. The Old Gods have a message for you, one that we do not know, but one which is important enough for them to speak to a mortal in such a way that we have never heard of before."

Ranma was silent, not speaking of the few times he had already felt the touch of the old gods on his mind. He understood that they had been more proactive of late to stave off a disaster they could see coming, but it would probably come as a shock to these men. Something about them said they were no longer men to his senses. Not really, they felt almost like trees themselves, but not quite.

"Kneel Stark." said one of them, his features and voice indistinguishable from all the others. "Kneel and hear the voice of the Old Gods!"

Ranma growled, shaking his head. "When I pray to the old gods I bow, I don't kneel." He moved over to the massive tree with the many faces carved on it, and reached out with both hands gently touching the weirwood tree on either side of his ancestor's face. Then he closed his eyes, and began to send his own senses out into the tree. The response was immediate and almost overpowering. Suddenly his mind was taken over, deluged with images after images.

He saw a woman of impossible beauty, with too perfect features to be truly human, locked in an embrace with a man, whose features were obscured. A voice whispered in his ear. An old trick used again.

Blood in the snow, hundreds men fighting in a snowstorm the likes of which Ranma had never dreamed. The dead walking, under a banner whose face he couldn't see raised in dead hands. Ice, mountains of ice moving slowly South. Creatures from out of nightmare, giant spiders, things that looked like polar-bears only with four heads and six arms wearing armor, undead dragons, massive undead mastodons with fell blue light gleaming in their eyes along with an inhuman intelligence.

And he saw the Others themselves, clad in armor of blackest night, their swords glistening like ice in their hands as they moved. He saw the dragons in the sky, he saw the Wall standing, he saw the passing of two moons and somehow knew that he had to be back in the North in two months' time. He saw death, he saw destruction, he saw sieges, he saw winter coming alive and engulfing the land of men.

He saw, and he saw until he wrenched his hands away from the tree and collapsed gasping for air.

Daenerys was at Ranma's side instantly, dropping Dark Sister to the ground beneath them as Ranma cradled his head in his hands. Blood was streaming down his from his face from his nose and from his eyes, but already his healing ability was kicking in. "What did you see Ranma! What did they want to tell you?"

Ranma looked up at her shaking his head. "T, two months, we need to be back in the north in two months' time, or else we'll be too late to stop the White Walkers from gaining a foothold on this side of the Wall. We're running out of time."

End chapter

---

And with that, we will have a chapter of what is going on up north, FINALLY, as well as other people, and we finally see what has been going on in the Vale. I wanted to put in a Margaery portion here, but decided against it simply because I couldn't quite get her speech in that part right. As such, I am afraid it will be shown in a "Two week's before' sort of thing. Not a flashback, but still not a literary tool I liked to us

As always hope you enjoyed it, and please review.