Chapter 4: Chapter IV – The Freys

Blood and Winter

War in the Riverlands

Chapter IV - The Freys

Much like he and many of his Lords had expected, his mother's attempted negotiation with the Late Lord Frey had ended in failure. Walder Frey had amassed a host of four thousand men, bringing troops from its vassals of Houses Charlton, Erenford and Haigh to the Twins making the castle a virtual stronghold, a host of soldiers camped south of the Twins. It was also the only way to cross the Green Fork without going down south along the Kingsroad.

Which was a path they wanted to avoid considering Tywin Lannister was camped there with a host of twenty thousand men.

Robb had hoped to get to the Riverlands before Tywin Lannister managed to firmly entrench himself at the Ruby Ford, but it seems that hope had been dashed. Now he was stuck trying to make a decision between marching south and east along the Green Fork to engage Tywin Lannister, they had equal numbers. But that meant victory would be decided by a difference in commanders and Robb wasn't so sure about his chances of outmanoeuvring Tywin on the battlefield.

He certainly didn't want to risk his campaign ending before it even began.

His next option was to cross the Green Fork at the Twins and free Riverrun which was being besieged by Jamie Lannister with a host of fifteen thousand. The Kingslayer had taken some losses unlike his father as he had already fought two battles. The first was in the Battle near the Golden Tooth where he engaged a two thousand-strong host led by Lord Vance and Lord Clement Piper, the former dying in the conflict.

He had only taken moderate losses and had then gone on to face his uncle, Lord Edmure Tully and Lord Tytos Blackwood in the Battle near Riverrun. Again, he suffered losses but managed to break the host of four thousand before going on to besiege Riverrun, where he was still now.

With his uncle, Edmure captured the remainder of the Riverland forces had scattered and were apparently under the command of Lord Jason Mallister of Seagard harrying their forces while Tytos Blackwood bunkered down in Riverrun.

With all this, Walder Frey had seen an opportunity and had pounced on it like the parasite he was. He demanded that Robb marry one of his daughters when there was peace while his sister, Arya must marry his youngest son, Elmar. In addition, he demanded that two of his sons, Little Walder and Big Walder be fostered at Winterfell while one of his other sons, Olyvar squire for him.

The demands were long and ridiculous, many of his Lords had been outraged much like himself.

"What are you going to do, Robb?" His mother asked.

"Did Lord Frey say that he would not open his gates unless we agreed to his demands?" He asked in turn and his mother hesitated for a moment.

She then nodded her head with a frown on her face, an action he mirrored as he looked around at his Lords, studying the way they reacted to this news. All looked displeased and disgusted by this, which meant that what he would say next would make more than a few happy.

"I see no reason to agree to his ridiculous demands, the North does not treat with Oathbreakers." There were a few concurrences from the surrounding Lords, even if they all looked confused as to what he planned to do next.

"Do you mean to march south and engage Lord Tywin?" Lord Cerwyn asked. Some looked hesitant at the thought of engaging the Old Lion so soon, while others looked excited.

"Nay, my lords." He indicated to the map. "We shall split our host into two. One host shall comprise of all our foot soldiers and one-tenth of our cavalry. It shall be under the command of Lord…Roose Bolton." He spoke after a moment of consideration.

Robb didn't trust the man, but there was no denying his intelligence. No, if his plan was to work then as much as he didn't want to, he'd have to trust Roose Bolton to keep Tywin Lannister distracted.

"I myself shall lead the second host comprised of the remainder of our cavalry, where we shall march south and free Riverrun."

"Wouldn't that mean crossing the Twins?" One Lord asked and Robb let a smirk cross his features once he saw Howland Reed enter, the man had been absent from the meeting this evening and he gave Robb a nod.

"It does, and thanks to the efforts of Lord Reed, we have all the bargaining power we need to make the Frey's accept our demands." Many of the lords looked to Howland Reed as the man opened the flaps of the tent, allowing two of his men to drag an aged figure into the tent, dumping the figure unceremoniously onto the ground at the feet of the northern lords.

"My lords, let me introduce you to, Lord Walder Frey of the Twins."

-X-

Lord Stevron was not what Robb had expected. Oh, he looked very much like a weasel-like his father, but he at least seemed stronger, much like his position as a knight would have one believe even in his old age. And from his reputation, he was also better than his father.

Amiable and reasonable, who apparently also put a great deal of importance on family.

This was a marked difference from his father who seemed to view his children as nothing but pawns and, as shown recently would take a mile when given an inch, if not more if he could. Even so, looking upon the weaselly face of Stevron's face, Robb was still on guard, a very similar, but the aged face had cursed and taunted him nought a few hours ago.

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"Greetings, Lord Stevron. I believe congratulations are in order." Stevron let nothing show on his face, his gaze taking in the looks of all the lords around him, all but dismissing Robb due to his age.

Robb tried not to let it get to him, he didn't do very well as a slight scowl came upon his face. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was when people looked down on him due to his age. The earlier argument between him and the Greatjon over what to do with a Lannister spy had aired that problem too many of his lords.

"Thank you, Lord Robb." Stevron greeted in turn eventually, his voice stiff as he realised the full meaning of what Robb had said. By greeting him as Lord, a position only given to the head of a House meant that he was now lord of the Twins and of House Frey. That meant his father was either dead or would be very soon.

Even so, he returned the favour.

Rumours of Eddard Stark along with his daughter's escape from Kings Landing had spread across the Seven Kingdoms. Though no one knew what to make of it, was it true or was it false? The fact that Eddard had not been seen since nor had any evidence been given to prove he was alive, the common consensus amongst many lords was similar to Brynden's.

That Eddard and his daughters were dead.

Which meant that Robb was now lord of House Stark and all of its holdings.

"Your father as you know is now in my custody. His trial will be held in Riverrun once we free the Riverlands from the Lannister army. I have no doubt that he will be executed as an Oathbreaker."

What went unsaid was that the verdict was already a foregone conclusion, the trial nothing more than a formality.

"The question remains, will the rest of House Frey be punished for his crimes, or will you uphold your oaths sworn to House Tully?" Stevron frowned, he was very much aware that this was not a question, but an ultimatum. He would either uphold his oaths sworn to House Tully or be marked an Oathbreaker.

Now, normally Stevron would be confident in choosing the latter option. Robb needed to cross the Twins in order to relieve Riverrun from Jamie Lannisters host. Or he would either march south along the eastern edge of the Green Fork and engage Tywin Lannisters host. To every man here, it was quite obvious what choice the Northmen should make.

In most cases, Stevron would be content to just wait it out, just like his father had.

Riverrun would fall eventually and with it, nearly the entirety of the Riverlands would capitulate. Then the only problems would be the Northern host which would be still camped outside at the Twins, unable to cross the Green Fork unless they went around, which meant engaging Tywin's host.

However, this was no longer the case.

Walder Frey, his father and previous Lord of the Twins had been taken from his stronghold in the middle of the night, under the noses of four thousand men sworn to House Frey. They didn't know how or where they came from and Stevron had tried hard to figure out how, but he still didn't have answers. There were a number of Frey soldiers that were heavily injured until they managed to get ahold of his father and used him as a hostage to escape. But where they came from and how they infiltrated the Twins without being seen until they came close to his father's quarters was unknown.

But the fact remained, somehow the Northmen had managed to sneak into the Twins and steal his father out from under their noses and if he could do it once, what was to stop him from doing it again? It was an unsaid threat that was more terrifying when left unsaid, a silent threat that hung in the air.

In the face of that, Stevron only had one thing to say. "But of course, the gates of the Twins will be open and when you march, the men of House Frey will be at your side."

"Bloody good lot they'll do." He heard similar whispering but Stevron didn't let his displeasure at hearing his house being insulted so openly.

"I'm thankful for their aid." Robb smiled, reaching forward to clasp arms with Stevron who rose to match him. "I'm sure with your aid that this war will end much sooner."

Stevron nodded his head stiffly, he didn't like the position he was being thrust into, but he didn't have a choice.

He just hoped that he wasn't on the losing side. Even with his soldiers added to Robb's host, they were still outnumbered.

"Well then, m'lords." Robb turned to the rest, heading past them to a large wooden table whereon it, was displayed a map of Westeros and numerous wooden figurines dotted around to indicate armies. "The plan doesn't change, Lord Bolton shall march south with our main force including the Frey infantrymen and archers. Make sure it's slow, they'll be expecting me to lead it and in their eyes, I imagine they view me as nothing more than an inexperienced child, don't dissuade them of such a notion."

Lord Bolton nodded his head.

"I shall cross the Twins and march south with the remainder of the Northern cavalry and the Frey cavalry divisions. There I shall relieve Riverrun and crush the Kingslayers host. With him gone, we need only focus on Tywin Lannister."

Cheers sounded at his proclamation.

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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