The Meeting:
Lord Gregor Forrester looked ahead of him as he saw the camp of the Company of the Rose. After his meeting with King Robb Stark, he had taken a few of his household guards along with his squire Gared Tuttle, the nephew of his castellan Duncan Tuttle. Ser Wendel Manderley had also come along since he would be able to get them passage. They had arrived at White Harbour and managed to get passage on a small merchant ship to Pentos and then travel on horseback to the camp north towards Braavos where the Company was currently camped having recently finished a contract to destroy some outlaws who were preying on travellers between Pentos and Norvos.
From the distance, Gregor could see that the Company of the Rose was a well established force, they weren't just a bunch of people interested in money, and they were a professional mercenary force which was clear by the uniform that the soldiers wore. They carried shields with the symbol of the Company of the Rose, a blue northern winter rose flower although he also saw some who carried that symbol quartered with the Stark Direwolf.
As they approached the camp, they were met by two guards who pointed spears at them "Halt, who approached the Company or the Rose?" one guard demanded
Gregor carefully approached "I am Lord Gregor Forrester of Ironrath." He called "I come as a messenger for King Robb Stark of the North, he wishes to negotiate a contract with the Company of the Rose."
The guards soon lowered their spears "We shall take you to our Commander." The guard spoke "But we have your eye on you. One wrong move and we won't hesitate to cut you down."
Gregor nodded and got down from his horse. He and Ser Wendel followed the guards while Gregor's household remained to look after the horses. They followed the guards through the camp and saw people training together, even though the Company had no contract, they were keeping their training up. Archers practised on the archer range while infantry sparred with each other. Gregor looked in wonder when he saw one fight between a young man and a woman. Gregor had heard that the Company of the Rose had women amongst their ranks but the strange thing was that the woman had flowing white hair like the Targaryens. It's likely this woman had Valyrian blood in her, that could still be found in some of the Free Cities but the Company of the Rose was known for hating the Targaryens. Gregor wondered about the girl but knew that who she was is none of his business.
Eventually, Gregor and Wendel arrived at a large tent and were led inside. The two northmen saw several men gathered around a table with papers on the table. While he didn't know who these people were, he did recognise someone."
"Edward." Gregor called.
The men stopped their talking and turned and the man who Gregor recognised looked at him "Gregor." He replied
"Hello brother, it's been a long time." Gregor replied
"Nearly five years." Edward replied "You know it is rude to interrupt a meeting."
"I apologize." Gregor said "I was not aware that a meeting was going on."
"As it happens, our meeting was finished anyway." One man replied "I see you are familiar with Edward Forrester, one of the Company of the Rose's best leaders. I am Commander Joseph Rostark, lord Commander of the Company of the Rose."
"I am Lord Gregor Forrester of Ironrath." Gregor replied "I have been sent here by King Robb Stark to negotiate a possible contract with the Company."
"King Stark?" Joseph questioned pretending to not know anything "I thought the Starks were still lords ever since my ancestor the King who knelt bent the knee to the Targaryens." He laughed at Gregor's look "Indeed, I have the blood of the wolf; my ancestor was Tohren's youngest son who founded this Company. His descendents have led the Company ever since."
"The North has declared it's independence from the Iron Throne following the murder of our good lord Eddard Stark." Gregor replied "My King has begun a war to achieve that but his grace fears we may not have the manpower to hold the forces of the throne off forever."
"And I guess since he knows I'm your brother, we might be willing to take a contract." Edward stated
"I do not wish to insult any of you." Gregor stated "But if we can form a contract, we can negotiate payment."
Joseph looked at him "The Company of the Rose usually fights for a cause worthy of them. We don't extort people but we can't work for free."
"My King is currently raiding the lands of his enemies, the Lannisters." Gregor stated "The North while not rich in resources will be able to get the gold from the mines of the Westerlands to help."
Gregor then saw a blond hair man approach him "Not to sound rude, but there is a small problem with that. I am Tytos Hill, spymaster of the Company of the Rose."
"You're a Westerlander?" Wendel questioned
"I use to be but I hate the Lannisters for what they did to my family." Tytos replied "But I have a few agents throughout Westeros and they have heard something interesting. The Westerlands were known for mining but mines don't last forever and it seems the Lannister's time is up."
Gregor realised what this means "Do you mean?"
Tytos finished "The Lannisters last working mines are beginning to dry up. It is estimate by the time this war is over, the Lannisters will have exhausted the last of their mines. Wars swallow gold very quickly to pay for the soldiers and to buy their armour and weapons. Not even sellswords fight for free, gold is still required to raise an army."
Gregor was surprised by this, this Tytos fellow seemed to be very smart "So what is it you want in return for your services."
Joseph looked serious "For nearly 300 years, the Company of the Rose has lived in exile from our home, longer than the Golden Company. We consider ourselves exiles since we refused to submit to the dragons."
"And the dragons are dead." Wendel stated "Greatjon Umber said that."
"House Umber, they use to be one of the houses where we got many younger sons come from." Joseph stated "While it's calmed down now, many northerns still don't like the southern influence, they fear that they will try to force the Faith of the Seven upon us."
"Fears that only increased with Catelyn." Edward stated "My old friend Brandon was appalled at having to marry her. That was why I argued with Ned a lot, I felt he was letting her have too much control over northern affairs. She had a Sept built and brought a Septa to educate her daughters. Brandon would never have allowed that, how long would it be before the Starks became worshippers of the Seven and then try to stamp out our faith. Ned thought I was overreacting but other houses had the same fears."
Joseph looked at Gregor "This King Robb, tell me about him. If I do decide to join him, then I need to see if he's worth following."
"Well, despite Catelyn's attempts, Robb does follow the Old Gods." Gregor replied, that was important as he doubted the Company would follow someone who believed in the Seven. "He has inherited his father's sense of duty and honour."
"That could also be bad as he may be reluctant to do what is necessary in war." Joseph stated "Wars are harsh."
"Well, he did gain the lord's respects." Gregor added "At the gathering in Winterfell when he called the Banners, Lord Umber threatened him when he wasn't given commander of the Vanguard, then his pet Direwolf bit two of his fingers off and the Greatjon just laughed it off and respected him. He's proven to be of a sound strategic mind as well, he managed to fool the Lannisters that he was marching to Tywin's army but instead managed to ambush Jaime Lannister's forces and capture him before pretty much destroying his army and relieving the siege of Riverrun."
Joseph thought for a moment "I need to see for myself." He said "I will return with you with a small force of the company while my son Cullen will wait for my response. If I decide that your King Robb is worth following then I will call them over. The agreement on if we return must be made between me and your King rather than his representative."
"Understood." Gregor replied, his mission looked like a success, while he had not gained the Company of the Rose, they were willing to meet and see. Hopefully, with Catelyn away dealing with Renly, she might not mess anything. But he still had something left "There is something else, King Robb asked me to try and at least convince his half sister Astrid Snow to return. He's hoping that as family, she might be willing."
Edward stepped forward "I will take you to Astrid although I must warn you, she is not who you expect."
"What do you mean brother?" Gregor asked looking at him.
"You'll see for yourself." Edward smiled.
...
Astrid smiled as she swung her sword at her slightly older opponent who had short blond hair. Unlike other opponents, this one didn't look down on her for being a girl. To the side, the man's companion, a dark skinned woman also smiled as she watched the fight. The two of them got knocked back and then Astrid charged towards him. But the man just ducked and then swung his training sword at her legs which threw her to the ground causing the man to laugh.
"And that is why you shouldn't always charge." He said as he helped Astrid up.
"Where'd you learn that trick?" Astrid asked
"Royland, the master of arms back home." The man replied "When your opponent attacks, drop down, avoid the blade and swing at the back of the knees, it will knock your opponent down. Why don't you try it?"
Astrid nodded and walked to the far end of the arena "Come at me." Her opponent ran at her and just as he arrived, she copied what he had done before ducking low, gripping her sword and swinging it at the back of her opponents knees knocking him down.
He laughed "You're a fast learner."
"And I see you still remember your training son." A voice called
Everyone turned to see Edward and another man approach, the other man being the one who spoke. No one knew who this was but Astrid's opponent did. "Father?"
Gregor Forrester laughed "Hello Asher. I didn't think you would be here."
Astrid's opponent was Asher Forrester, Lord Gregor's second son. He had always been a bit of a rebel, a man who loved to get drunk and sleep with girls. Gregor had tried to keep him out of trouble but one day, everything went wrong when Asher fell in love with the wrong girl. The girl was Lady Gwyn Whitehill, the daughter of Ludd Whitehill of Highpoint. The problem was that the Whitehills and Forresters were bitter enemies, both houses claimed to be the best at crafting from Ironwood, a very valuable and power wood found mostly in the Wolfswood. The Whitehills had lost their Ironwood groves over time and there had been times where the Whitehills had intruded on Forrester land stealing wood which resulted in clashes. Gwyn and Asher had a brief relationship before it was discovered. To avoid war, Gregor had been forced to exile Asher although Asher did not really care, he believed that the life of a sellsword was better for him.
Asher had sailed to Essos where he met his friend Beshka and the two had acted as Freelancers before joining the Second Sons but after a contract went wrong, the two left and soon were invited to join the Company of the Rose by Asher's uncle Edward. Asher had kind of left his old life behind as he loved the life of a sellsword.
"Father, why did you come here?" Asher asked
"Well, the north has now declared their independence from the rule of the Iron Throne." Gregor replied "The new King in the north is in need of men and asked me to negotiate a contract with the Company here."
Edward then carried on "Commander Joseph has at least considered it so there's a chance that the Company will fulfil their mission to return home to the north when we're free from the hold of the south."
"But I was exiled." Asher stated
"You would be returning with the company which makes you a soldier." Gregor stated "I will talk with King Robb to have your exile overturned, just stay away from the Whitehills. Anyway, King Robb at least wanted to see if his half-sister would return."
Astrid sighed, she knew what would happen now. "And what if she didn't want to return?" she questioned
"Well, it is her choice." Gregor stated not realising who he was talking to you "You seem to get along well with my son, might I know your name?"
Astrid looked at her "You're looking for Astrid Snow, well, you've found her. I am Astrid Snow."
Gregor was speechless, he did not expect this girl to be who he was seeking. Edward laughed "I did tell you she was not who you expect."
"But... how... is..." Gregor stumbled with his words.
"Well to put it simply, Eddard Stark has been hiding a big secret for years." Edward stated "You're not the only one who's never told anyone about something you've been hiding. I was there remember with Eddard at the Tower of Joy. Howland and I are the only ones left who knew the truth about what really happened. Eddard hid that fact from everyone else and when Astrid eventually found out the truth about her birth, she was upset that she had been lied to."
"So then, Ned never had any illegitimate children?" Wendel Manderley gasped
"No." Edward stated "I know why he tried to hide the truth, after what Robert and the Lannisters did at the capital, Ned was scared but they still had a right to know. He also made them outcasts by declaring them bastards. Ned never even stopped his wife from being mean towards them."
"And you know what hurt the most?" Astrid called out holding a strand of her silver white hair "It was the fact that Ned never even told me, it was Edward after I discovered my normal black hair having silver streaks in it. Soon after I came here, my hair changed into this. Edward told me about my true parentage, how Eddard was never my father but my uncle and that my mother was his sister Lyanna Stark"
"When she confronted Eddard about it, he was furious with me and warned me not to tell Jon." Edward added "That was when I called him out on all of his failures and why I saw him as a disgrace to the north. Brandon never would have stood for some of the things Eddard did, he was drifting away from the Old Ways no matter how much he denied it. That was when I left and Astrid joined me."
Gregor looked at Astrid "So would you like to see your broth... I mean your cousin?" Gregor started and then changed when he realised
Astrid sighed "Look, I began to think that maybe Robb would be better off without me. Maybe he just forgot about me. But since he asked for me personally, that means a lot even if his mother would hate it. After everything she did, I would love to see her face when she learns the truth." She couldn't help but smirk at that "And also, even though I've been here for a number of years and my father was a Targaryen, I am still from the north and if the north is threatened then I will help protect them."
"So you're coming them?" Wendel Manderly asked
"I will." Astrid replied.
"Then you and I will journey back with Joseph and the Northmen here." Edward replied "Cullen will remain here to prepare the rest of the men for the journey when Robb needs us and if Joseph decided that Robb is worthy of our service."
"And what of the Tully lady?" Astrid asked "Will she be any trouble?"
Gregor sighed "I will be honest; Lady Catelyn was very against this. It may be personal to her and she's scared. Her eldest daughter is a prisoner and the other one is missing, there's not much our king can do right now but it's leaving Cat scared."
"She does care for her family." Edward admitted "That was one of the only things I liked about her but she had no true understanding of the north. But she does not have the power to stop her son from making key decisions in war."
"Our king did know that." Wendel replied "After all, he knows that trading the Kingslayer for his sisters would not go down well with his bannermen."
It was then that Joseph came out and met them "Well, I see you've met some of my best men." He laughed "It will take a few days but we'll be heading to Westeros, I've had Tytas Wrought arrange a ship from Pentos to Saltpans, it will attract less attention than going to Maidenpool."
"So who else is going?" Asher asked
"Well, Visenya and Edward will be heading over as will Tytos, he's very interested in coming plus he may be able to help gather information, he is our spymaster after all." Joseph replied "Wrought will be remaining her with Cullen and Vass to help prepare the rest of the company for travelling." He then looked at Asher "And for now, you'll remain here, I'll talk with the King about having your exile overturned."
"Thank you commander." Asher replied.
"So, it seems that after nearly 300 years, the company's goal may be achieved." Edward stated
"Indeed." Joseph replied "The North is no longer under control of the south, but the king will need our help to keep it that way."
Chapter End:
Notes: Well finally after a long time, I've finally been able to update a chapter. Even though I've finished classes for University, I still have a 15,000 word dissertation to do for September which I have to focus on so I've barely had much time. Another problem is that I'm not the most proud of the current chapters since it involved a lot of conversation before I can get to the real action, I hope the wait will be worth it for when I get to rewriting the new version of my favourite scene from the original story which will have some changes.