Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun

Chapter Seventy-Eight

The walls of Gulltown had never seemed frightening to him, not for as long as he had lived. Elbert Arryn had spent many happy days exploring it's streets, going down to the docks with friends from the other houses to watch the ships from what seemed to be a thousand different lands came into port and then they would go to get a few bags of clams and oysters from the fishwives.

His favorite had been a little old woman with clouded eyes and who always had a smile on her face when he came by and would always give him more oysters and clams then he ever asked for. Elbert had to wonder what she was thinking now, did she still have her little stand by the docks where she would proudly hawk her husband's catch as being finer than any other.

Or would she be inside whatever home she and her husband had, terrified of all the armed men in the streets that mere moments ago had been peaceful, filled with the sound of children playing and carts going up and down them. Would they be praying to the gods that the armies outside of their walls would not attack their home?

And it was their own countrymen that would be attacking them, they might well die with his name as a curse on their lips. Elbert took a deep breath and steadied him, chances were that it might not come to that. There was still a chance that the lords who had fled to Gulltown would be able to convinced to come around to their side of this.

All the same Elbert wished that Lord Arryn was here, Jon had originally decided that he should deal with the traitors at Gulltown, as some of the more bold lords had taken to calling them. But Jon had felt that he had needed to march as soon as he possibly could and so the armies of the Vale that had come when their Lord had called for them to do so found themselves soon split in half, well, slightly more than half in point of fact.

Ten thousand Vale men had joined their Lord on the march out through the Bloody Gate and down the high road towards the Riverrlands while twenty thousand other Vale men had found themselves with Elbert as they marched on to Gulltown, to liberate the city.

Of course, Elbert was not the one in command of this host, the old and proud lords of the Vale would not stand for so young a man, even one already married and one who would one day be their future lord, to command them when so many of them were not only older but also had been fighting in wars when he had been a babe sucking at his mother's teat, as some of the more gruff lords had chosen to term it.

In truth, Elbert was more than glad that Jon had given the burden of overall command to Lord Royce. Elbert knew it was going to be hard enough to lay siege to the walls, he wasn't sure if he could bear the burden of giving the command to do so. Maybe when he was older and Lord of the Vale had no choice but to make those decisions, maybe then he would understand how anyone could do it.

For now, all he needed to do was be silent as the parley began. His horse whinnied and shifted it's weight and Elbert quickly soothed him. Perhaps the animals smelt the unrest in the air. His own stomach was twisted in knots and he wondered which of the two of them was the more likely to bolt for the hills, him or the horse.

A large grinding sound filled the air and the gates of Gulltown opened, like a great beast opening it's maw to swallow them all. A group of riders rode past the gates and made their way towards them. Lord Peterson Grafton was at the head of the riders, a beast of a man with a chest as wide as a field and shoulders not unlike the one you would see on a cart horse.

He was not a comely man to be sure, with his squashed nose and his brow that seemed to arch over the rest of his face, his hair like rusted copper ran through with grey. But all the same, something about his commanded the respect of all those who saw him. Yes, Elbert could see why this would be a man that others would choose to follow.

Lord Grafton was not alone, of course. Riding behind him were Lord Edison Seasmoke of Mermaid's hollow, a rotund man that did little to dissuade the cruel jest that all Seasmoke's were in fact fathered by Walruses, Lady Patrice Patruk, an elegant and handsome woman whose mother had been the daughter of a Myrish tradesman who her Lord Father had married to gain access to his trade routes for spices and silks and gold and gemstones.

Ser Graham Krass, knight of the Stony Path, a squat man with an ugly and unpleasant face and mean eyes rode up behind them. Stone's Throw, the seat of the House Krass had been seen by their forces as they marched up to the road to Gulltown, save for an ancient wretch of a steward, a half blind cook, a few maids and a stable boy. Their lord had taken all the men and gone on to the city, that was what all of them had said.

And to bring the group of nobles to a close, grabbed in soft blue with a falcon clasp keeping his cloak on his shoulders was Lord Lawrence Arryn, of the Gulltown Arryns. It was often whispered in the high halls of the Eyrie that the Arryns of Gulltown were not truly nobles, not anymore. They had marred their blood too much by marrying with tradesmen and ship captains and merchants. They were no better than merchants themselves now, according to the old and proud lords.

In truth, Elbert wasn't sure how much that disregard would bother them. While they may not have the respect of the other lords in the Vale, their closeness to the merchants and the traders had meant that they were very wealthy indeed, more wealthy in fact than most of those lords that sneered down at them. Lord Lawrence was the youngest of his companions and comely with brown hair falling in curls around his face, the chill in the air adding a hint of rosiness to his cheeks and Elbert could not be sure due to the distance, but he might even have been wearing some scent about him.

Lord Royce and Lord Grafton stared at each other for a few long moments, each seemed to be trying gauge the measure of the other until Lord Grafton was the one who finally broke the silence. "We've been friends for a long time you and I Yohn, I've sent gifts on the name days of all your children, we were both wards of old lord Templeton, do you remember that time when that Manwoody ward of his got the bright idea to put salt in his cup of lemon sweet and he convinced us to help him? Gods, I wasn't able to sit for a month after that. Templeton didn't hold with whipping boys after all."

If the Bronze Yohn was moved at all by the boyhood tale, then he did well in not showing it. His face was stone and his eyes were cold as he sat atop his horse, grabbed in the ancient bronze, rune inscribed armor that had belonged to House Royce of Runetone for thousands and thousands of years. "I remember it well." His voice was as cold as a mountain stream. "I remember that boy, he was a friend of mine. Never did I think for a moment that boy would grow to be a man who would disobey his liege lord."

"And never did I think that my friend would betray his king, the king he had sworn to obey as had Lord Jon, perhaps vows do not mean as much to you as they do to me." Lord Grafton sighed and shook his head. "You were a stubborn ass even when we were boys, and the stick you have lodged up your arse hasn't gotten any closer to being unstuck. Words won't settle this, so how are we to settle it."

"I am fairly certain that you know how we are going to have to settle it." Lord Royce spoke and the air all of a sudden just felt that much heavier. "You've all made your choice, we've made ours."

"Can my lord not be persuaded to step away from this madness?" Lady Patruk spoke, her black eyes shone with a plea. "I've three daughters within the walls of the city, and two brave and bold boys who will be the first in line of your swords. I know well of the beast that is raised in a man when he has a sword in hand and the battle blood is pumping through his veins, are my daughters to suffer for that? The servant girls and the old crones and the milkmaids? In the mother's name, will you not have mercy."

"We are noble men, my lady. I will suffer no raping under my command." Lord Yohn spoke, his voice had not changed and nor had his face and Elbert knew that he meant it and but Lady Patruk merely shook her head, closed her eyes and let out a scoff. Black diamonds glinting in the pale sunlight at her ears and her throat and her fingers.

"And that, combined with their status, might save my daughters from their fate but my sons are given no safety from your swords and the lowborn maids are given no protection either."She shook her head once again and turned her horse around and rode back towards the gates, her long dark hair like a black satin curtain flowed in the wind and none of the lords she rode out with attempted to stop her.

"She is of the fairer sex, my lords. But she speaks from the heart and in that we might find some the Mother's mercy." Lord Lawrence spoke with a smile on his face, though Elbert noted that it did not reach his eyes. "Men are going to die if you attack us, maidenheads will be stolen away. If you will not turn away from your treason, would you not instead choose to march away from our walls? I am certain that Lord Arryn has need of you."

"So war and rape is fine if it is not happening to you." Contempt marred every single one of Lord Royce's words and Lord Lawrence reeled back slightly in his saddle. "I have my orders and that is to liberate Gulltown from you, I mean to see that done. You are outnumbered Peter, you know that you are. How many men do you have? Four thousand, five at the most? We know about the sellswords you hired, maybe they take you up to six. I have twenty thousand men behind me, I will have the city before long. Yield now."

"Templeton said it better than I ever could, but one man atop a wall is worth ten below it. The walls are strong and will hold and we have the ships, if the stores begin to run low we can be resupplied from there. We can hold you for years, if that is what we have to do." For a moment, Lord Grafton's eyes softened but only for a moment and then it was gone. "Come and try and take it from us, old friend. We will be waiting for you."

And with that there were gone, all riding back to the gates of the city. Lord Royce watched as they entered the city and waited for the gates to shut before he sighed and turned his horse around and made his way back down to the camp, the rest of them following after him. They were soon at Lord Royce's tent, around a table with maps covering every inch of it and all of them were arguing.

"Perhaps Lord Lawernce had the right of it." Lord Lucas Corbray spoke with his sons, Lyonel, Lyyonel and Lyn behind him. "The city is strong and while we waste time with a siege, a war is being fought. Perhaps we should abandoned this path and make our way to Lord Jon, to give him our aid in whatever he means to do."

"Lord Jon commanded me to bring him this city, that is what I mean to do. That is how we shall aid him at this moment." Lord Royce's tone left for no chance of an argument. "We must have the city, if we leave the Vale then the lords that hide behind the walls could make a push. If they were to make for the Bloody Gate, they could deny us the valley. No, we must take the city. Give me options as to how we do that."

"Starving them out won't work." Elbert spoke and he had to remind himself that he was the heir to the Vale and he was a knight as well, he had every right to speak and every expectation won't work. "The city has deep stores, and the harbor they can fish from and the ships of the fleet can resupply them. We cannot wait them out, our supplies would be extinguished first."

"I think, if we are to take the city-" He closed his eyes for just a moment, trying not to think of the poor fishwife and her husband and her oysters before he carried on. "If we are to take the city then we have to take it, by storm. It will be bloody my lords, I know it will but if we cannot turn away then I am afraid it is the only option that we have to us."

Lord Royce studied him for a moment and nodded his head. "It saddens me to say, but I am afraid that you might indeed be right Ser Elbert. There is some truth in what Peterson said, that one man on a wall is worth more than many below but there is only so far that lesson goes. And there will be no wall for them to stand on if we bash them down, I want men tying ropes and making ladders and bring up the siege engines. It might take us days to do it but by the old gods and the new, the city will be ours."

At that moment, a guard came into the tent. "My lord, forgive me for interrupting but there is a rider from the city. He came alone but he wishes to speak to you. Well, he said that he wished to speak to whoever was in command."

"Did he give his name?"

"My Lord, he claims...he claims that he is Lord Rickard Stark's son, Brandon Stark. Of Winterfell." A cold chill ran up Elbert's spine at the words the guardsmen spoke and suddenly the tent was filled with a restless muttering as to what this meant. Lord Royce held up his hand and thank the gods, the muttering went away at last.

"My lords, please leave us. Elbert, you stay." The Lords of the Vale hurried out of the room like scolded children and Lord Yohn gestured for the guard to bring the man who claimed to be Brandon Stark in. If it was Lady Catelyn's former husband, then he was certainly as comely as his lady wife had always described him to be.

But it was the smirk that settled any doubts in Elbert's mind, it was exactly how Cat had described it. The smirk of a man who did what he pleased whenever it pleased him to do so and heavens help anyone who tried to get in his way or tell him no. "My lords." His accent was strange, like his voice was at war with itself between the solemn northern tones that reminded him of how Ned Stark would speak and the tones that reminded him of the sailors from Essos. "Thank you for seeing me."

"You are welcome, the guardsmen who showed you in said you came from the city and you claim to be Brandon Stark. Why are you here, my lord? Why Gulltown?" Lord Royce asked.

"I am part of a band of sellswords, we've been hired to help make the forces of the city stronger than they are. My company is only one of many, all in all I say we are about twelve thousand strong inside those walls." Elbert looked at Yohn, but his face was the same grim mask that it always was. If that was true, then it meant that a storm was unlikely to end in favor for them, they still outnumbered them but with the walls it made it a much closer fight.

"And why is it that you are telling us this?"

"When I went to Essos, I rose high in my band. Enough that I made some friends in high places, this rebellion is the sort of thing that changes things for even those of the lowest of birth. When I told the captains that I was a member of one of the families that is rebelling against the king, well, it opened some possibilities for them. Our company is willing to fight for you."

"I see." Lord Royce spoke, his voice was deadpan. "Well, that is a very generous offer, Lord Brandon. But one sellsword company switching sides is unlikely to be enough, if you could convince the rest, then perhaps but I somehow doubt you've made friends in every company."

"Oh, I've made plenty of friends. And some enemies as well!" A laugh followed his words and Elbert frowned. "But no, I doubt that they would turn. However, that is not in fact what I've been sent to offer. We are inside the walls, enough of us can take control of the gatehouses. Tonight, when the moon is at it's fullest. Why bash yourself bloody against the walls when you can just walk in through the doors. This siege could be over by the morning."

It sounded, it sounded far too good to be honest. "And what is the price we will be paying for this help?" Elbert asked as he drew himself to his full height, though he was embarrassed to admit that he was slightly shorter than Brandon. "You are sellswords, I imagine the price will be the most painful part of all of this?"

"Oh, gold. Quite a lot of gold, but I would rather pay in gold then in blood. Some of the lieutenants want to be made knights and some of the captains want castles but that can all be negotiated later. You have one chance at this, I had to do a hell of a lot of convincing to be making you this offer and I need an answer, now."

"I will need to discuss it with the rest of the Lords, Elbert? Would you please take Lord Brandon to your tent. And keep him there." Elbert sighed but nodded and gestured for Brandon to follow him out into the camp, his tent was thankfully not so far away and Elbert could pour himself a cup of wine which he very badly needed.

Brandon poured himself a cup and started at him. "Do I know you? Because you've been burning a hole in the side of my head since I walked into that tent. Did I sleep with your sister? That is a common problem with me, give me your name and I'm sure I'll know what it is that I've done wrong."

"My name is Ser Elbert Arryn, heir to the Eyrie and the Vale." He spoke, his words as cold as he expected the Wall from the kingdom that Brandon Stark hailed from to be.

"Oh, my brother told me about you. Your Jon Arryn's son."

"I'm his nephew."

"Yes, that's it." Brandon took a sip of his wine. "So, I've never met you and I am fairly certain now that I think about it, that I've never actually slept with any women from the Vale. So, what I have done to upset you?"

"To me personally, nothing. But you did do something to my lady wife, you do know her. Lady Catelyn Tully of Riverrun, whom you abandoned with your babe in her belly while you ran off with Lady Ashara of Dorne."

Elbert wasn't sure what he expected to happen, perhaps for Brandon Stark to show some sort of shame for what he had done to his wife but it seemed that had been expecting too much form him as the man merely finished his cup of wine and then placed it down on the table. "I see." He spoke, like his castle maester had informed him that he was suffering from a chill. "Did she have the babe?"

"Yes, my lord. You have a son." And he was a bonny little thing that looked too much like his Father, with brown hair and brown eyes and a long, solemn little face. Elbert had to remind himself that it was not the lad's fault, he had been conceived in his parent's own true marriage bed. No one in the entire world could have expected this.

"I already had one, he was growing in Ashara's belly the day we left Winterfell. He was born in Essos and we named him Arthur." Brandon stood from where he sat. "I have a daughter as well, a pretty and happy little thing. I have my family, if you have some issue having to raise my bastard. Send him away, it's no matter of mine."

"He is your son, Lady Catelyn was your wife. Have you no regret at all for what you have to done to them?" And he wanted to tell him that the boy was not a bastard, he was a trueborn Stark if not one in line of succession for Winterfell, as he would have been if his Father had stayed with them as he was meant to do.

"No, not at all if I am going to be honest with you. I did not want to marry her, I did not want to get a child on her. All that was decided, probably long before either of us were ever born. Why should I have to be unhappy with a woman I do not want when I can be more than happy with a woman that I do actually want? It all worked out, she's going to be the lady of Kingdom, and that is all that she wants in the end. I assure you."

Elbert hit him, it was so quick that he almost did not know that he had done it. One moment Brandon was standing in front of him and the next he was crumpled over the table with his nose was bloody and Elbert's knuckles were hurting, quite a bit. Brandon righted himself and wiped his hand over his face, leaving a bloody streak over his features. "Well, maybe I should've given her cunt another chance if your willing to hit me over it."

Elbert was going to hit him again. And again. And again. And again until his entire face was nothing else than a massive bloody smear and he stepped towards him and Brandon Stark straightened himself and drew his arm back but before either of them could do anything, someone walked through the tent flaps and Lord Royce stood there, like the statue of the Father in the sept of the Eyrie. Sent to judge them.

"Enough, the both of you!" Elbert stepped away first and then Brandon followed his lead and stepped back as well, crossing his arms over his chest and letting out a scoff. "Lord Brandon, we have discussed it and while we have some misgivings...we have agreed, go back to your captains and inform them that we will be ready come nightfall." His eyes narrowed at him. "Your horse is waiting outside, I would suggest riding back now. We would not wished for you to be missed."

"I agree." Brandon pushed himself away from the table and made his way over to the tent flaps but stopped before going outside, turning his attention on to Elbert. "Call me curious, the boy. What did you name him."

Elbert sighed and shook his head. "We named him for the best man either of us know, the sort of man who would look at Lady Catelyn and would see that she was blameless in the choices that you made."

"We named him Jon."

End of Chapter Seventy-Eight

Irony!

But yes I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, one of the themes I am trying to capture in this story is that of young men and women being caught up in war and I hope I am doing well with that. With Elbert, one of those characters who I really wished we got to know more of, I want to capture someone who is maybe more prepared than say Ned, but still is very green.

Also, Brandon's an arsehole. That's all I have to say on that matter. As for where Ashara and Lauryn and Baby Arthur are...well, we will get to that later one.

Please leave a review, a follow and a favorite if you enjoyed. Constructive Criticism is always welcome.

With a ton of love,

DiscordantSymphony