Chapter 38
Arya had been torn about whether to march to Moat Cailin first or the Dreadfort. Jon had said to target the Dreadfort first otherwise while the men were gone from Winterfell those at the Dreadfort might march on Winterfell. That made sense. It was what Uncle Brynden said too.
The march towards the Dreadfort had been tedious. Arya had forgotten how slow progress was when riding with thousands of men, especially when only half were on horses. There had been snows too which hindered their progress.
The nightly camps were high spirited at first. The men were eager for battle. As the days passed and the march dragged on tempers began to fray, especially with a lack of wine and rationed food. The Blackfish and Robett Glover were seldom far from Arya's side. Each advised her that the men needed to be kept focused on what they were trying to achieve.
It became a nightly ritual to list the misdeeds of the Boltons. Mixed with that were awful attempts at singing. Arya joined in a few times, singing the filthy songs Gyloro Dothare had taught her in Braavos. Uncle Brynden had looked appalled for just a moment but then he had laughed and the rest of the men erupted into laughter too and asked that she teach them the songs.
Arya had kept her promise to Rickon. Every few days she wrote. There was little to say but still she wrote. The letters were short but that did not matter. He just needed to see that she was still alive and that he was not forgotten. She hoped he hadn't let Shaggydog loose on those still left at Winterfell.
Arya felt a mix of nerves, relief and fear when the Dreadfort could be seen in the distance. There was talk that it would be lightly garrisoned after the Boltons had marched for Winterfell but Arya did not believe anything until she had seen it. Besides, they had told her stories of the castle. It was a fortress with high walls made of thick stone and massive towers. The men spoke of the castle having torture chambers and a room where the Boltons hang the flayed skins of their enemies. Arya had not forgotten that Ramsay flayed Theon. She expected that the other stories might be true too.
They camped in view of the Dreadfort. The bannermen argued about how best to proceed.
"It is a fortress, we cannot storm the castle" the Blackfish mused.
"A siege won't work either" Robett Glover responded. "We will starve before they do".
The Whoresbane wanted to march on the castle anyway. Others wanted to set up trebuchets. It wasn't until the Blackfish aired a thought aloud that Arya got an idea.
"I escaped Riverrun by stealth" he said. "If we knew the Dreadfort better stealth might have worked for us".
That night while the men were busy arguing and singing, Arya crept away. She stole towards the Dreadfort quiet as a shadow, using trees to hide her advance. She wore a different face, a girl with red hair and a pug nose in case she was caught. She could see men were in the towers keeping watch but they did not see her. When she returned to the tents there was an uproar. Her absence had been noticed. Duck shook his head at her with a knowing look. The others reacted more strongly.
"Are you mad girl?" Big Bucket Wull demanded.
"I'm not" Arya said defensively. "I just wanted to take a look".
"You could have been killed child" the Blackfish said, his lined face looking haggard.
"You said stealth might work" Arya said slowly. "I found out where the postern gates are".
They all fell silent and gaped at her. The Blackfish's concern gave way to a reluctant smile. Ser Robett was incredulous.
"They would not be so foolish as to leave them unguarded".
"They're not" Arya admitted "but nobody saw or heard me".
That set them off on another round of talk about strategy even though it was very late now. Arya marked the location of the gates for them but after listening to them she had a different plan in mind.
They lingered during the day having determined that any assault on the fortress during daylight would be folly. As the sky darkened Arya gathered the things she needed. She took Duck aside and told him what she was going to do.
"You can't" he said, horrified.
She clenched her jaw. "I can. You know I can". She grabbed his arm. "You can't tell them. They must not know until I am in the castle. They you have to make sure they come".
She could see he was going to argue so she escaped before he could protest further. She had secured Nymeria, the direwolf was not to be freed until the right time. It was easy to find the gates again. It was easier than it should have been to access them and kill the guards. She listened as she crept through the castle. It did not take long before she heard what she was looking for, a whine of a dog. She had found Ramsey's bitches.
Arya had wondered if it might be harder but everybody seemed to be focused on the outside of the castle not the inside. They did not expect an intruder. She crept into the kennels, tossing offerings to the dogs and retreating fast. She left the door open and waited. It did not take long.
She watched for a moment impassively as the mayhem began then she stole her way through the grounds, ignoring the screams. The winch was almost unguarded. It took little to have the portcullis raised. She was relieved to see that Duck had followed her instructions. She could see the Northmen coming.
She stayed in the shadows and heard the screams begin to give way to shouts of confusion. When her men entered the fortress Arya dropped her disguise as she crept through the passages. Nymeria found her quickly, killing any who tried to approach her. There were more men in the castle than they had been led to believe but it made no matter. They had not expected the attack. They were not ready.
She was curious when she opened the doors to what was clearly the master quarters of the castle. There had been no word of who was now Lord of the Dreadfort. The man inside the chambers was standing looking out the window. When he realised Arya was there he turned to look and Arya froze. His eyes were as pale as she remembered and his voice was still whisper soft.
"The fools, I told them it must be a distraction but they did not listen".
He showed no fear, only mild curiosity.
"They told me you were dead" Arya whispered.
"I had heard the same of you" was his response. "Whose idea was the diversion? I had no warning".
Arya tried to make sense of what he was saying but she began to feel rage building inside her. "You killed Robb" she spat instead.
"I did" he said calmly.
Arya fingered her dagger but in the end she did not use it. Nymeria leapt instead.
Ramsay had pleaded for his life. Roose did not. Arya was still standing over his body when her men found her.
AN: I think Roose would be too cunning to have died in the battle for Winterfell so it is plausible that he somehow escaped and was under the radar plotting his comeback. I deliberately kept the action details minimal. Writing battle scenes is not my forte.