Chapter 5: Chapter V – Misdirection

Blood and Winter

War in the Riverlands

Chapter V - Misdirections

"Be safe, Robb." His mother pleaded worriedly as he swung himself up onto his saddle.

Looking down at her, he spared her a smile. It had taken a lot of effort on his side to argue for his mother to not come south with the main army. But he had succeeded, he would set off from the Twins first, his mother following a few days later with a small guard. "Don't worry, mother. I will be fine, I have Grey Wind, Ser Brynden, Theon and all the men of the North by my side."

Even though she nodded at his words, he could tell she was still worried and wanted so badly for him to be out of harm's way. But he couldn't be, his bannermen would never follow a man that did not lead his armies into battle personally.

"Look after him, uncle." She spoke to Brynden this time the man grunting, but Robb paid the interaction no need as he urged his horse round. Theon, Brynden, Smalljon and Dacey Mormont along with many other heirs of the North gathered around him. He had requested this personally, it was said in the past war, his father had fought alongside many of the young lords and heirs of the North in Robert's Rebellion.

It was this act that had fostered such great loyalty and love for him, despite not being raised in the North.

Robb intended to do the same.

Behind them, a host of just under five thousand men followed after him, a mix of both Northmen and Frey's. There was of course discontent and distrust amongst his army, mostly due to the reputation the Frey's had, but Robb was sure that this fight to come should at least get rid of some of those animosities. Nothing worked better to rid distrust between allies than fighting beside one another.

That was something his great-uncle, one of his most trusted commanders and advisors had told him. Robb found it hard to disagree, he just hoped it was true. Tywin Lannister was reputably a genius of warfare and other matters of state. If he learned of rifts between his men, Robb had no doubt the Old Lion would pounce upon that weakness.

Either way, he urged his horse on.

"Great-uncle, take some men and scout ahead, make sure our approach is kept secret. Surprise will be our greatest advantage." He didn't need to see or hear Brynden's affirmation of his orders as he could hear the man calling for certain men before he rode past them at speed.

"So, now we go to war," Theon murmured from beside him, a smarmy grin on his face that hide the nervousness that lay beneath.

"Bah, I'm looking forward to it!" Smalljon exclaimed, a savage grin on his face. Beside him Dacey Mormont remained quiet, her countenance giving nothing away.

"Well, you'll get your fill soon," Robb responded, his face firm. His mind worked hard, playing over every possible scenario just like he had done all along the journey south. No matter how hard he tried, his mind was never calm.

---

"It's a victory, my Lord. The young pup ran with his tail between his legs, his entire host is retreating back north. Shall we pursue?" Lord Harys Swyft proclaims joyously, the men around them clamouring and cheering at their victory.

The fools, the lot of them.

It wasn't even a battle, but a small skirmish. For days they had stayed camped at the Ruby Ford waiting for the Northern host to arrive at the Twins. In preparation, Tywin had ordered his army to march up so that his men lay between the east of the Green Fork and west of the Mountain of the Moon, a few miles north of the High Road that led to the Bloody Gate.

There they had entrenched themselves and waited, expecting the Northern host to reach them within three days' time.

Except, that was not the case.

Three days passed and scouts reported that the northern army was still moving south. Then another two days passed and still, the scouts reported the same thing, that they were coming. It was ridiculous, he had expected the young Stark boy to be inexperienced, but even he had not expected it to be such an extent.

Then the host finally arrived and he ordered the vanguard commanded by the Mountain that Rides to charge. He hadn't expected much of it, the vanguard was a ragtag group of men consisting of mounted Clansmen from the Vale 'gifted' by his son, Tyrion, fresh recruits, Freeriders and Sellswords.

Overall, it came to about a thousand men.

It shouldn't have accomplished overly much, let alone bringing the battle to an end.

But it had.

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As soon as the vanguard led by the Mountain struck the Northern right flank there had been a brief battle in which things seemed to be relatively equal. The initial charge had been devastating, but the northern flank seemed to be holding.

Tywin had been about to give the order to the commander of his left flank, Addam Marbrand who commanded four thousand heavy cavalry to ride and run down the weaker left flank of the enemy.

Only for the entire northern host to withdraw.

It didn't make sense and his men who had been irritated by waiting for so long had nearly given chase to the retreating northern army. It was only because Tywin had anticipated this that he managed to keep order amongst his ranks and instead, watched as the northern army retreated back North.

The question remained, why?

Had the young pup attempted to lure Tywin to give chase only to spring an ambush on him? Most likely, Tywin had only seen a few hundred northern cavalry units, about six hundred in all on the right flank, half of which now lay dead on the field.

'He truly is inexperienced to believe that I would fall for such an obvious ploy.'

As he sits on his horse, he watches as a relatively large, but strong man is brought towards him. The man wore some fanciful clothes marked in blood and mud, but there was no denying that he was of noble birth.

"Your name?" Kevan Lannister demanded from where he was beside Tywin Lannister.

"Halys Hornwood." The now-identified man responded gruffly.

"Prepare some chains for this man, we shall take him back with us to camp," Kevan ordered and Tywin went to urge his horseback to the reserve ranks that he had commanded. This skirmish had been a waste of time and night was beginning to descend, it would be best to set up camp in a more defensible location just in case the Stark boy decided to attack them in the night.

It was only when he heard chucking that Tywin stopped.

He looked back to see Lord Hornwood laughing openly now, a full belly laugh as he threw his head back. His loud laughter attracted more attention from other Lannister soldiers.

"What the fuck is he laughing at?!"

"Fool's lost his mind."

Tywin ignored the muttering of his men and instead stared at the laughing Hornwood as he was pushed away by a few soldiers. The large Northman taking a number of men just to get him moving once more.

"Lord Tywin?" Kevan asked and Tywin ignored him, instead continuing to follow the figure of the laughing Lord Hornwood.

Why was the fool laughing?

That was not the laugh of a madman, he'd heard enough of that from the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen. No, this was different, this was the laugh of a man who seemed to have accomplished something incredibly funny.

Despite this victory and his confidence, Tywin found himself growing wary.

'Why is he laughing? The young pup's plot was foiled. Unless, there never was an ambush, or at least not one set for me.' He realised too late that it was never him in danger of being ambushed. 'The northern cavalry, they did not come down south to engage me, they came south to engage, Jamie!'

With a great deal of urgency, Tywin turned to his commanders.

"Order all the men to fall back from here, we move quickly to Riverrun to aid my son!" Despite their confusion, the commanders serving him didn't hesitate and quickly left and soon his host retreated southwest to Riverrun to give aid to his son.

So, another chapter is done and I hope you all enjoyed it. Anyway, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

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