Iron From Ice:

Winterfell:

It had been two weeks since the Red Wedding and the death of King Robb Stark and now everyone was back in the north coming up with a plan for dealing with the current situation. Sansa and Arya were left in White Harbour with Yrsarald Thrice Pierced staying behind with his men to guard them while Tytos journeyed to Winterfell with the rest of the Company of the Rose.

Astrid had returned as well with the others and now it was time to discuss the war and plan their next move. Rickon was also with them in order to learn about being a lord, with Bran missing, Rickon was next in line to inherit. "What is our standing?" Astrid asked Joseph who had returned as well.

"In total we have 7,000 men ready." Joseph Rostark said "We have left 1000 though back at White Harbour to guard the port, Bolton controls the lands along the White Knife and we're heard he's taken Hornwood."

"Not only that but Ramsay is attacking our allies." Wendel Manderly, the new heir of White Harbour stated, "He's ruthlessly attacked both Ramsgate and Widow's Watch even flaying Lady Lyssa Flint leaving that branch extinct."

"And with my uncle Arnolf having planted men loyal to him in command of my house, he controls the entire eastern coast of the North." Torrhen Karstark added

"How many men does he have in his army?" Cullen asked

It was Tytos who replied "We estimate Ramsay commands at least 4000 men with an extra 2000 from Karstark." He said "Plus there is the added men that Stannis has at the Wall, an estimated 6000. Right now the armies are separate but if they unite they may outnumber us."

"As we say, Winter is Coming." Astrid said "With winter here heavy snows will impact his ability to march."

"Can't Jon do anything?" Rickon innocently asked

Astrid sighed and looked at her young cousin "Jon is a member of the Night's Watch and they are swore to neutrality." She said "Stannis is allowed at the Wall but the Watch cannot aid him directly."

"But he did help destroy an army of 100,000 wildlings." Torrhen stated "It is possibly he will seek to replenish his numbers."

Astrid looked at the remaining gathered northern lords which included Galbert Glover, Maege Mormont and Mors Umber. "What of the rest of the north?" he asked

"The enemy holds most of the eastern coast but one of Bolton's allies, House Whitehill, is causing trouble in the west." Galbert stated "They're using their old rivalry with my vassels of House Forrester as a reason."

The Forresters were a key ally of Astrid as Edward Forester, uncle to the now Lord Rodrik Forrester had been a mentor to her. Edward had returned to their home of Ironrath along with Asher and some of the Company men because he was concerned about this very thing happening. There was another reason why the Forresters were important, they controlled a large amount of Ironwood trees, one of the finest woods that made the best quality bows and shields. The Whitehills once controlled some Ironwood groves but they had not taken care and these groves had been lost. It was likely that the Whitehills would try to take the Groves from the Forresters.

"House Whitehill were involved in the Red Wedding." Torrhen stated "I saw them murdering our men."

"That makes them traitors and our potential weak link in the chain." Astrid said "Give aid to the Forresters, we will deal with the Whitehills and secure the west. What of the Rills and the area south of us?"

"The Ryswells and Dustins seem to be aiding us a bit." Joseph stated "They weren't as involved in the Robb's campaign but they have no reason to join Stannis. True they are kin to the Boltons as Bethany Ryswell was Lord Roose's wife before she died but they believe Ramsay poisoned the late Domeric Bolton. Lady Barbary Dustin still mistrusts the Starks over what happened during Robert's rebellion but she despise Ramsay. We may not be able to relay on them but they won't turn to Stannis."

"What of the Tallharts and Cerwyns?" Rickon asked remembering the other houses "And also Lord Reed?"

"Lord Howland is keeping Frey reinforcements bogged down in the neck." Maester Luwin stated "He says that a group led by Aenys Frey was ambushed and the Aenys drowned in the swamp. As for the Cerwyns and Tallharts, both houses are in chaos and are unable to lend any assistance. I'm afraid we will have to rely on the Ryswells and Dustins for now down there."

"Speaking of the south, there's been a strong development." Tytos said "It would seem my half brother Tywin Lannister is dead." That got everyone's attention "They are saying Tyrion may have done it, he has vanished but so has Varys the Spider. King's Landing is in chaos right now as sides seem to be forming over who should take over Tommen's regency."

"The south's affairs are none of our affairs." Astrid dismissed "We're staying out of it, we need to focus on the north."

"We cannot abandon Winterfell." Joseph stated "We will have to leave the east."

"And with my brother serving Ramsay to protect our lord." Mors stated "Our support is limited but we can try and harass them as they move south."

"Stannis knows he cannot wait out the war at the Wall." Cullen stated "He will move south but winter will slow him down. Perhaps we can use it to our advantage like Mors suggests."

"Do it but we cannot send too many men." Astrid replied "We need to keep Winterfell secured and our army is all that stands between the Boltons and Starks."

"The north will not fall." Rickon said determined and Astrid smiled, he was becoming more and more like a lord but she still wondered what happened to Bran. She hoped he was okay and he was wondering how Jon was doing, he was at the Wall where the major enemy was currently and he couldn't do anything about it because of his oath to the Night's Watch.

Castle Black: The Wall:

Jon Snow sat at a table in the hall of castle Black, the main stronghold of the Night's Watch. Today they would be electing the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. The last Lord Commander, Jeor Mormont, had been murdered during a mutiny a while back and since then Master of Arms Alliser Thorne had served as acting Lord Commander. The man had a deep dislike of Jon personally because of who he was. Ser Alliser had been the captain of the King's Landing City Watch during Robert's rebellion and had been exiled to the wall at the rebellion's end. He blamed his father for this which is why he had a dislike of him. But he disliked Stannis even more though not as much as Jon did since Stannis had been involved in the murder of Robb Stark.

Stannis had come to the wall answering their call for aid since Mance Rayder was leading an army of Wildlings to assault the Wall. While they had managed to fight off the first assault without aid, Jon knew it wouldn't be much longer before they were overrun until Stannis arrived. That was hard for Jon to cope, especially when Stannis tried to convince him to join him offering to make him Lord of Winterfell and remove his oath. Jon refused and wanted to be transferred away from Stannis before his opinion got the better of him. Alliser told him he was still needed here right now until the new Commander had been elected. Maester Aemon had told him about his own troubles. Aemon had been the brother of King Aegon V and he had been offered the same thing after he had taken his Maester vows, becoming king. Aemon had refused and in order to prevent himself being used as a symbol against his brother, he had joined the Watch in exile. Aemon had also given him some advice that he had once given to his young brother 'Kill the boy and let the man be reborn.'

"He'll make you a Stark with the stroke of a pen?" his best friend Samwell Tarly asked

"It's the first thing I remember ever wanting." Jon said "I would dream that my father would ask the king to legitimise me and I would never be the bastard of Winterfell again. But there is no way I would go against my family. Rickon is now the lord of Winterfell with Bran missing and Robb dead. I refuse to be Stannis' puppet, I swore a vow to the Watch."

At the head table, Alliser, Aemon and the First steward Bowen Marsh and First Builder Othell Yarwyck sat down with Alliser speaking "Crowded, you would think we were serving Venison Stew." That got a few laughs from everyone.

Then Aemon stood up "Does anyone wish to speak for candidates before we cast our tokens for the 998th Lord Commander."

It was Janos Slynt, another man exiled to the Wall, this time by Tyrion. He had also become a close friend of Alliser who stood up first and spoke "Ser Alliser Thorne is not just a knight, he's a man of nobility, he was acting commander when the Wall was attacked and led up to victory. He's a veteran of 100 battles and has been a defender of the Watch and the wall almost all his life."

Janos did speak true, it was no question that Alliser would have been a good commander but his attitude towards recruits was not the best. He was skilled but hard on people, perhaps too hard. But he was not the only option as another man stood up to introduce another candidate "Ser Denys Mallister joined the Watch as a boy and had served longer than any other Ranger." Ser Denys was the commander of the Shadow Tower, one of the other castles still manned at the Wall, the other being Eastwatch by the Sea which was commandeered by Cotter Pyke who had not put his name ahead for voting. "Through 10 winters he served and as commander of the Shadow Tower, he kept the wildlings away, we could do no better."

"If there is no one else, we will begin the voting." Aemon said

Sam knew he had to speak up. He did not think Alliser would be a good commander, not with the White Walkers out. Sam could see Alliser being too stubborn which would see the Watch destroyed and while Denys was good, he was also old and everyone knew it. Denys would not be voted and Sam knew he needed to get another candidate even if he didn't want to. "Maester Aemon." He called out which got everyone looking at him. Jon knew what he was about to do and shook his head trying to tell him not to do it. Sam ignored him and threw shade at Janos by telling everyone about how he hid during the battle in a puddle of his own urine. That would make some question voting for Alliser. "Whist Lord Janos was hiding despite from battle, it was Jon Snow who led to our victory after Ser Alliser was injured to carry on. I'm not questing Ser Alliser, he did fight bravely during the battle but he did not lead us to victory, it was Jon that did. He took command of the Wall, he killed the Magnar of the Thenns, he went north to deal with Mance Rayder knowing he would almost certainly not return. And before that, led the mission to avenge Lord Commander Mormont. Mormont chose Jon as his steward, he saw something in him and we've all seen it too, he may be young but he was the commander we needed when the night was young." People cheered for him and Aemon called for the tokens again.

One by one, all the members placed one of three tokens into a jar. Triangle tokens for Alliser, square for Denys and circle tokens for Jon. When all the votes were done, the jar was smashed and the tokens countered. When they were all counted, it was a tie between Alliser and Jon.

Othell knelt to Aemon, "There appears to be a tie Maester. You have one vote to make." Then Aemon made his vote with a circle token. This meant that Jon would be the new Lord Commander and the members began cheering his name. Only a few did not cheer. Alliser was unhappy but he did accept this.

Ironrath: The Wolfswood:

Ironrath, the seat of House Forrester, was located within the Wolfswood in a clearing of trees. The castle was built on top of a small rock formation with timber walls and a timber keep. The castle was not as big when compared to other castles but then House Forrester wasn't a very powerful house, they were sworn to House Grover of Deepwood Motte but their knowledge of handling Ironwood made the House quite a powerful ally since Ironwood made the best shields and bows.

The main room of the keep was a simple meeting hall but it was home to the Forrester family. With the death of Lord Gregor Forrester, it meant that Rodrik Forrester was now the lord. He had seen battle during the War had had been injured at the twins with his face now scared but thanks to the help from the Company of the Rose, Rodrik had escaped further injuries. Now he was gathered with his entire family. His mother Elissa formally of House Branfield, a small house from the south which had been Targaryen loyalists during the rebellion and now only her brother Malcolm was left. All of Rodrik's siblings were with him including Asher, Ethan, Ryon and Talia. Only Mira was not with them, she was at White Harbour serving the Stark sisters. Also with then were the Castilian Duncan Tuttle, Master of Arms Royland Degore and Maester Ortengryn. Gregor's brother Edward was also with them leading a force of 500 Company of the Rose soldiers stationed to defend Ironrath.

"Even with the Company of the Rose being here, our situation is grim." Duncan stated "Whitehill soldiers have been running around our lands like they own the place. They say that this land belongs to the Whitehills now."

"Then Royland will take some soldiers and send a clear message." Rodrik said

"That would be reckless my lord." Duncan replied

Royland scoffed "So you would have us do nothing then?" he questioned "We should just let these traitors run around our lands doing what they what."

"Duncan does has a point." Edward replied "It may not be long before the traitors serving Stannis may move here. They've already secured the entire eastern coast of the north and taken Last Hearth. We need our men here to defend the castle, if we keep wasting men chasing these raiding parties then we will lose our army."

"What of our allies?" Rodrik asked

Duncan sighed "We don't have many of them thanks to those bastard Freys." He replied "Even with Deepwood Motte back in the Glover's hands they have few men. Houses Elliver, Greyson and Brownbarrow were all slaughtered at the Twins and the rest of our allies are too scared of Ramsay."

Ellisa had a thought "What about the Glenmores?" she suggested looking at Rodrik "If it weren't for the war then you would be wed to Elaena Glenmore and her father isn't a coward."

"Rillwater crossing is far from Bolton control right now." Edward stated "And they still have men. Plus her brother Arthur is no friend of the Boltons."

"Speaking of that I had a raven come in." Ortengryn replied "It would seem that Lady Elaena and her brother are coming here."

Rodrik looked up at that "Why is she coming here?" he asked

"I'm not sure." Ortengryn replied "But it would seem that her father, Lord Rickard Glenmore is abandoned Rillwater Crossing, he even burnt the bridge there. I don't think he's an ally of the Boltons, that crossing would have been important. Maybe Eleana will be able to explain, she'll be here within a day."

"A day?" Rodrik gasped "Then we have to get ready for her."

"Don't worry my lord." Duncan replied "I'll have the castle ready for her."

...

The next day, the castle was prepared. Duncan had the servants prepare some food to serve for Elaena and Rodrik dressed up in his best clothing. He was shaking with nerves, he and Elaena had been fond of each other but she hadn't seen him in his condition and was worried about what he would think. Soon he got word that Elaena had arrived and so he went outside and saw both Elaena and her brother Arthur arrived.

"Rodrik." Elaena greeted with a smile

"Lady Elaena, you look as beautiful as ever." Rodrik stuttered not knowing what to say but Elaena just laughed "I'm sorry you had to see me like this, I only got word that you were coming yesterday."

"You don't need to worry about that." Elaena greeted "I hope you don't mind us coming here so quickly but something's happened at home."

"What happened?" Rodrik asked

Eleana's eyes filled with disgust "Lord White decided to pay my father a visit a Rillwater crossing. He said that his house had subdued yours and..."

Then Arthur spoke up with anger "And that my sister would make a fine reward!" he snapped

Rodrik's eyes widened "Wait, are you saying."

Elaena nodded with disgust "He demanded that I end our betrothal and marry his son Gryff instead. That arrogant pig eye prick."

Rodrik roared with anger "WHAT!"

"He threatened my family!" Elaena added "Said that if he refused, we would all be slaughtered and used what happened at Ramsgate as a warning."

"It gets worse." Arthur added "Gryff was then and got a bit touchy with my sister. I lost it and punched that brat right in the face. Broke his nose." He was proud "Ludd didn't take too kindly to that and a fight nearly broke out between my father's men and Ludd. Ludd retreated but threatened to return so my father abandoned the crossing. He declared for the Starks now. He's fighting for the Ryswalls now but he's still suspicious of them so he sent us here. And that's not all." He gave a nod and soon a small force of armoured soldiers walked into the castle yard.

"You brought your men?" Rodrik gasped

Arthur smiled "I command father's elite guard." He replied "These men are trained archers and swordsmen. Father tasked me with bringing them to you and they agreed with me. They're experts in both archery and close combat."

"We brought you 20 well trained soldiers." Elaena replied "Together, we will help stop the Boltons."

Edward looked at them and smiled "Maybe we might have a chance."

Royland also came forward "We might need them soon. One of the scouts says that Gryff Whitehill, youngest son of Lord Ludd is on his way here with a force of men."

Rodrik nodded and looked at Arthur "Keep your men hidden for now and we'll surprise him. Show him that we stand together."

...

A day or so later, House Forrester was prepared for the confrontation. It would seem that the Whitehills and Boltons were unaware that the Company of the Rose had sent a small force here as Gryff Whitehill only came with about 20 men. Edward had led the men in secret to try and fool the enemy by travelling under cover of night, plus the Wolfswood was a heavily forested region.

Gryff Whitehill strolled into Ironrath with his men with a smug look on his face and looking around like he owned the place. "What a pile of rotten timber!" he mocked "There will be some changes around here." He soon walked over to the great hall where Rodrik stood with his family, Ser Royland and Duncan "Ah Rodrik Forrester, fled the Twins with his tail between his legs." Rodrik held in his temper "You're standing in front on my great hall."

"This is not your land Whitehill!" Edward spat "This land belongs to House Forrester, and so does the land your men have been trespassing in."

Gruff scoffed and pulled out a piece of parchment "Not anymore it isn't" he sneered gleefully "In the name of King Stannis of House Baratheon and Lord Ramsay Bolton, House Forrester is hereby stripped of all it's titles and lands. Ironrath is to be passed to me and as it's new ruling lord, I am ordering you to arrest these traitors." He said it so confidently.

Edward drew his sword first "House Forrester served House Glover who remains loyal to House Stark, not Ramsay SNOW!" He roared out the last word "Kinslayer and traitor, we will never serve a traitorous House. That degree means shit here."

"I'll be dammed before I serve a turncoat." Royland added drawing his own sword. Other remaining Forrester men did the same."

"We serve House Forrester." They agreed.

Gryff scoffed "If you want it to be like that, then you can all hang. When my father comes here, we'll..." he gasped when he saw someone standing behind Rodrik "Elaena Glenmore? What are you doing here; you're supposed to be marrying me."

"You!" Elaena spat "I'd rather marry a dead horse than you!" she spat in his face.

"You watch your tongue wrench!" Gryff spat and tried to slap her, only for Rodrik to grab his hand and then throw him down the steps into a pile of mud.

"You will never marry Elaena!" Rodrik spat "You're nothing but a foolish boy who thinks he can boss people around. You're just a bully whose come unprepared." With then he stomped his foot which was the signal. Then Arthur and his men came out, nocked their arrows and faced the Whitehill men. Then more Company of the Rose men came out as well surrounding the Whitehill men.

"Orders my lord." Arthur asked

Gryff caught by surprise quickly regained composure "I'm the only one here who gives the orders!" he shouted

"Not anymore." Edward sneered

"Indeed." Rodrik agreed "Take Gryff, kill the others." The men did so, Arthur and his archers shooting the men before they could draw their swords. Gryff was a poor fighter and was quickly grabbed.

Even in the face of defeat, Gryff was still defiant "My father will go straight to King Stannis and Lord Ramsay. He'll flay you and your whole fucking family."

Rodrik punched Gryff hard in the face "Shut your bloody mouth Gryff. It's over."

Gryff spat "No it's not, my father is coming here soon. He'll put this rebellion of yours down and secure the Wolfswood for Stannis, once they've finished dealing with the Mountain clans, you're next."

Rodrik smirked "Just like always Gryff, never knowing when to shut your mouth. Thanks for giving us information. Take him to cells, where he belongs." Gryff's eyes widened when he realised what he had done.

Royland looked at him "What he said, could it be true?"

"There's only one way to find out, we need to send scouts to search the Northern Mountains." Edward stated

"And we'll send word to Winterfell." Ortengryn added "They'll want to know this information."

"If Stannis' entire army is coming we won't stand a chance." Duncan said

"That's why I sending mother, Talia and Ethan away." Rodrik sighed "It's not safe for them here. I'll contact lord Glover and ask them to take them in." He looked at Elaena "I want you to go as well."

"Rodrik." Elaena gasped

"Please Elaena, I don't want you in danger. There's no guarantee that we'll be able to defend this place." Rodrik said

"I'm staying with you brother." Asher stated

"As am I." Edward added "I'll track this army and we can try and weaken them but we'll have to fight this on our own terms. I'll try and muster some more men but Commander Joseph has said he may not be able to spare more men. They can't abandon Lord Rickon."

"What of our prisoner?" Elissa asked talking about Gryff.

Rodrik thought for a moment "Send him to Winterfell, let him be judged, we'll have a hostage."

"Lord Ludd won't really care about Gryff." Royland stated "That man has never really cared about him, after all he let his elder sons bully him."

"Now he only has Torrhen." Asher pointed out "His eldest son Karl died from Greyscale and Elbert is at the Citadel."

Ethan looked at him "How do you know this?" he asked

Asher smiled "Gwyn told me before all this mess began."

"Gwyn Whitehill?" Rodrik questioned thinking "Could she be involved in this?"

"I don't know." Asher sighed "I hope not, she was always a kind woman but she also cares for her family. But my loyalty is to you, I can't let my feelings for her blind me."

"Thanks for the understanding Asher." Rodrik said "And I want you to escort our prisoner back to Winterfell."

"Understood." Asher replied "I'll take the long route back, that way we can avoid being caught by the enemy army."

"Good." Rodrik replied "I have a feeling that this is only just beginning. The War for the north is only just beginning."

Chapter End:

Notes: Well here's a new chapter and the start of the War in the North arc. I want to make things evenly odd for both sides in this conflict so while the Company of the Rose still has their men, they're still at a disadvantage as the Boltons are combined with Stannis' men. As for the Ryswells and Dustins, in the books they did side with the Boltons after the Red Wedding but were not involved in the plan. Roose Bolton's first wife, Bethany was from House Ryswell and was related to Barbary Dustin who was her sister. In the books they were hostile towards Ramsay who they blamed for Domeric's death. Since Ramsay killed Roose in this story, they wouldn't side with Ramsay but they still don't fully believe in the Starks. I don't see why the Ryswells and Dustins would side with the Boltons without Roose. The first part of this arc will cover the Forrester storyline, I have condensed the game storyline a bit as unfortunately, season two was cancelled so I don't have the full story on what happened. As for why Gryff went with few men, he was arrogant and believed that the Foresters would be brought to heel easily, he is not a smart boy, just a bully who like many others cowers when someone fights back.