took the northern army two and a half weeks to cover the distance between Castle Cerwyn and Moat Cailin. It was an amazing time for an army of their size covering that distance, and it had only been made possible because of the way they set the pace plus the fact that their supplies all came with them, keeping their need to stop to forage for food to a minimum. To aid in this the wolfsworn went forward every day to prepare the campsite for the evening and hunt up some meat to add to the stores. This kept the army's morale up and physically moving at a brisk clip despite spending so much time every evening exercising and, in the case of the pikemen, drilling in formation.
The wolfsworn too had been training. Ranma was happy to see that all of them had shown at least a little bit of being able to use ki, though Daenerys and Myrcella were lagging far behind of course. The only ones who could not strengthen their blades with ki for at least a few moments were Dacey, Roger and Smalljon, whose chosen weapons were much larger than the others, which probably explained it. Despite that, Ranma was pleased with their progress.
As they arrived Jon and Ranma were at the head of the column. Jon smirked, seeing several dozen carts full of goods waiting for them. "I see Lady Dustin has gotten over her funk, at least enough to keep that 'lady' in front of her name." he quipped.
"So far, though you, Domeric and your factors should go over it. Make certain that everything we ordered is there." Ranma had been rather irritated with the woman not showing up for the war council and had jumped at Daenerys' suggestion there. Honestly Ranma had been looking for an excuse to remove her and place a more favored House in charge of Barrowton. A town like that was a major resource to any house, and Dustin was wasting it at this point, simply happy to live on with her anger and angst alone. Still he wouldn't remove her until she gave him good cause.
"Look who else is here?" Ranma said pointing to the side. Meera stood there, her trident sticking in the ground next to her and her bow on her back. Ranma ran up to her, as did Jon and they took turns pulling her into a hug laughing as she tried to beat at their shoulders to let her go. "Hey little Meera," Ranma said laughing as he set her down. "How are you, and where's your father? I'd expected him to be here. Not that I'm unhappy to see you, or the work done on the Moat though."
Indeed that was an understatement. Moat Cailin would never again be the massive fortress it had once been, before the land shifted and the Neck came in, but the tower and wall that had been repaired removed its one glaring weakness, that it was open to assault from behind and from the Fever River. Now the largest of the towers stood repaired, with a ballista on top and room for at least a hundred archers on the roof alone. Any one tower of the Moat would be a difficult proposition for an invading army to destroy or bypass. All three of them combined would be impossible, especially with the Crannogmen on the side of the defenders.
"My father's out with our scouts." She replied pushing Jon away breaking their familial hug her grin at the Stark boys' antics disappearing. "You see…" From there Meera went on to explain what the Freys had been up to and their houses.
Through it all Ranma frowned while the rest of the army arrived behind them. Daenerys and the rest of the command group arrived soon after, peeling off to join them save for Domeric and a few other lieutenants who took charge of getting the army situated for the night. Travel through the Neck would be tough since Ranma wanted to move quickly enough so that the men wouldn't come down with any of the local diseases, at least not any of the worse ones. But that would mean sending them forward in small lots so they didn't get bogged up in any one area. It'd taken the Kings party two weeks to cross the neck. Ranma intended to do it in a third of the time.
Arya interrupted proceedings by pulling Meera into a hug of her own as soon as she saw her. "Finally, another tomboy! Save me from the girly talk!" She glared at Daenerys who was laughing at her. in truth the conversations most nights between the girls hadn't truly been all that 'girly' most of the time, but the few times it was had obviously been enough for Arya.
She turned to look at Ranma, not realizing her hold on Meera. "She's coming with us." Arya stated firmly. "I'll share a tent with her from now on, I refuse to listen to one more discussion about heraldry, what different cloth costs or anything about Daenerys and my brother's relationship!"
Daenerys flushed slightly at that while Meera looked a little interested before wiping the look of her face when Arya turned to look at her. Ranma however simply shrugged. "I'd been planning to ask you to join us anyway Meera. Great-uncle Brynden could use a second in command of the scouts, and you're one of the best I know of for that.
"You mean it?" Meera asked, her eyes shining. While she would never think to offend her home, Meera had long wanted to see other lands, and going south with the army would let her do that. Plus, she might eventually join the wolfsworn itself.
To one side of the conversation Rickard scowled at the idea of another young woman joining them, but he knew better by now than to object. Arya thumping him twice when he joined the wolfsworn in their exercise had a lot to do with that, as did the fact Daenerys almost did the same despite having only been trained with Ranma intermittently since they meet.
"Yep, I'll need to clear it with your father first of course. For now though, keep going with the news about this blocking force in our way."
After listening to what was going on, Daenerys frowned. "They're just sitting there, just to make a point? If the Freys are really that powerful, should we try to make a deal with them? They control a very strategic position that we could use, one we must deny to our enemies."
"No." Ranma said shaking his head firmly. "The Freys have never proven to be trustworthy or even good allies. Late Lord Frey is what the old man is known as further south, because he never joins any war except at the very end when it's time to divvy up the spoils. He did it for the War of the Usurper, he did it for the Ironborn Rebellion, and even for the Ninepenny Kings War. That's especially damning since the Ironborn attacked Seagard and the Cape of Eagles, which given its position House Frey should have been quick to reinforce. They never did."
"All that means is that his strength has never been diluted before." Daenerys argued back. "Besides, this force is sitting right in our path. They've had weeks to build up that defensive position, they could plead our army badly if we decide to fight them."
"I think we should send a small force forward to talk to these Freys and see what they might want in exchange for their help. Depending on who is in charge we might learn more about the house's intentions." Domeric said diplomatically, coming up behind them both
"Agreed." Ranma said nodding his head. "Myself Jon and the rest of the wolfsworn. Daenerys, you'll stay here. I don't want news of your dragons to get out just yet if we can help it."
Daenerys frowned, not having much faith in Ranma's diplomatic skills, but she nodded. It wasn't as if she could leave her draklings here after all. Oh, Myrcella and Jon were decent enough with them. Cley too had proven helpful, the draklings apparently willing to let young children near them where they would not adults. How much of that had to do with their natural temperament or Fenris' lying nearby his golden eyes piercing both of them Daenerys didn't know. Jon on the other hand seemed to connect with them almost as well as Bran.
But none of them could really control her little ones. At least not without Jon warging with them, which was unproven at this point. Nor would Daenerys allow that except under dire circumstances. It wasn't proven just yet if an animal could bond with more than one human after all, and Daenerys didn't want to let anyone else bond with her children. Befriend yes, bond no. That was selfish of her, and a weakness, but Daenerys couldn't help it.
OOOOOOO
The next morning Ranma and the wolfsworn raced ahead of the army. Each of the wolfsworn on horseback taking three each with them so that they could keep up with the wolves as they entered that ground devouring lope of theirs with Jon, Ranma and even Arya racing along with them. Admittedly Arya had to rest once a day on Nymeria's back, but it was still an impressive feat. They crossed the neck in four days, an amazing time but one that had most of their horses lathered.
Ranma took one look at the horses and looked at Roger, Dacey, Daryn and Smalljon. "You lot stay here, hide yourselves back at that last campsite. Jon, Arya and I will go on."
"Are you sure you should take Arya?" Roger asked dubiously.
"Are you sure you can stop me?" Arya asked looking up at him challengingly. Despite having grown another inch since this march began Arya was still the shortest one there by a considerable margin. Unless you counted Daenerys or Myrcella, then she was still shorter than the former, but a little taller than the latter.
"Thought not." Ranma laughed, ruffling his sister's short, choppily cut hair for a moment before pulling himself up onto Fenris back. The wolf shifted a little irritably, and Ranma moved forward slightly which caused him to calm down. "Let's go make an impression."
The three Starks road forward on their direwolves, and Ranma was pleased to see that they were indeed making the correct impression on the Freys behind their barricades. He was also pleased to see that said barricades were not nearly as well constructed as they should have been given the amount of time that the Frey men had been here. Which shows that House Frey really is trying to play both sides here, he thought to himself. Stupid, very stupid, since I doubt Tywin Lannister is any more forgiving of betrayal than I am, at least when someone is betraying him at any rate.
After a moment while the Frey men ran around and shouted, the three of them continued on, with Jon carrying a flag of peace while Arya held up the Stark banner, a gray direwolf on the black background. Just out of bow range they stopped, waiting. After a moment four men rode out, though their horses were visibly nervous around the huge predators. It'd taken nearly the entire march for the horses of the northern army to get used to them, so that was fair at least. Two of them road forward under the banner of House Haigh, a knightly House that was known to be sworn to House Frey, and the one whose men Meera had told them had been the ones causing trouble.
The other two were both Freys, wearing their colors. The one in the lead was of medium height and looked wiry, with dark black eyes and a thin, arrogant smile on his face. The other was a fat man, older than the first, who looked as if he had… well Ranma thought he looked like he was OD'ing on something or just plain stupid. That man and one of the Haigh men stopped several horse-lengths back, while the other two kept coming.
The conversation got to that off to a bad start as soon as the men stopped their horses within speaking distance. "I am Black Walder of House Frey and I speak for my house and its allies." Black Walder turned to Arya, leering at her suggestively. "And is this supposed to be your offering for safe passage? I hope she cleans up better than she looks right now."
Arya proved Ranma proud with her response. Instead of doing anything she simply smiled back, her eyes like chips of stone so cold that the man actually flinched away for a moment. "You looked much more intelligent with your mouth closed, I think you'd look even better with your head separated from the rest of you."
"Enough." Ranma said smiling internally. "We came out here to actually talk, not exchange insults. "Why do you block our path? For that matter, I see…" he paused ostentatiously to count the men in the small defensive formation in front of them. "Something like, what, a thousand five hundred men here? Why aren't these men down south where they could be of use against the Lannister army?"
"But Lord Tully did not send any such message to us, all we heard was that Ser Edmure might be wanted for treason. The same as your father I believe." Black Walder went on ignoring how all three Starks eyes had turned dangerous at that. "Nonetheless, due to the number of different stories coming out of King's Landing, my great-grandfather Lord Walder Frey has decided to take a neutral stance in regards to this conflict at this time. My great-grandfather wishes to speak to you in person, to hear your insights on what really occurred to spark this conflict." Despite the words the man obviously didn't care about the truth of what had happened, his tone and rote words said as much, though his eyes were calculating as they watched Ranma.
"In other words." Jon murmured. "Your lord wants to see if we can match or exceed whatever the Lannister's promised you?"
"Exactly." Black Walder smirked. "If you can offer us something more real or tangible then the promises of the Lannisters, my family will join you. That'll add another four thousand men give or take to your army."
Ranma cocked his head staring at the other man, then asked bluntly. "And if I had proof that it was the Lannisters who committed treason first? And that your Lord Paramount's heir is being held as a hostage against his father's good conduct? Would that matter?"
"It might have mattered to my grandfather Stevron." Black Walder said with a shrug. "He had a bit of an accident a few weeks ago though, and that didn't leave many Tully supporters among us." The fact that Black Walder had helped create that accident wasn't about to be something he would share. Despite being the firstborn son, Stevron Frey had been sort of a disappointment to Old Walder, never showing the proper amount of ruthlessness that Old Walder prized so much and his children. His male ones anyway.
"I see. Would you recognize Lord Tully's handwriting by any chance?" Ranma asked almost lightly but his eyes were sharp as they gazed at the other man. One hand however tapped his thigh, a finger point past the Frey delegation. Jon saw this, and used the same signal to pass the silent message on to Arya on his other side.
"Not at all, and anything that the Old Fish wrote wouldn't change my mind anyway."
"Thought not. Well here are some thoughts for you, Black Walder. My grandfather has appointed me his voice, his deputy until Edmure is returned to him." Ranma said sternly. "As such I command you to move out of the way immediately. You may join my forces or not, I care not and need your men not. But you are standing in my way of protecting the Riverlands from the Lannister's, of going to my grandfather aid and seeking justice for the Lannister's treason. Remain here, and you will be treated as just another enemy."
Black Walder fingered his sword, smirking insolently at Ranma. "If that's your final word on it, that's fine. You go ahead and bring up your army boy, will see how many of you can die here."
"Against your rabble, be serious." Jon said scoffing and spitting and one side.
" The Freys haven't even fought in any of the last few wars." Arya piped up staring past Black Walder at the line of defenders. "You sure your men even know which way to point their spears?"
"You." Black Walder said his anger rising to the fore with its usual ease. "I'll save you for last girl. My men and I will have some fun with you."
"Your guts will look very pretty on the ground, I'll be sure to put them there personally." Arya said, her eyes glittering.
"We're done here." Ranma said turning away. At a mental command to Fenris he leaped forward, followed by his pack mates away from the former position. It was well they had, because as soon as Ranma had said that Walder had raised his hand in the air, and a dozen archers had fired at where the three Starks had been, having moved up during the talks using what little cover there was. There hadn't been enough however, and Ranma had seen them in time to signal his siblings.
Jon quickly ducked under one of the arrows that flew past where his head had been, while Ranma plucked another arrow out of the air right before it would strike Nymeria in the side. "Run!" Ranma barked. At this distance only Ranma would survive to get in close range with those archers, and that was unacceptable. Better to retreat for now.
More arrows flew after them as the rest of the Frey archers moved up to join their fellows, but the three wolves were already moving faster than the archers could track, dodging this way and that randomly. Soon they were out of bow range heading into the Neck up the Kingsroad once more. About twenty minutes later they came upon their friends, all of them resting on the ground of the small campsite, their horses tied up for the day and still looking knackered. Daryn saw them first and smiled grimly. "I take it diplomacy failed?"
"If we wanted diplomacy to work we should've brought a diplomat." Ranma said shrugging his shoulders. "And so should they."
"They sent Black Walder of all people!" Jon said shrugging his shoulders. "Great uncle Brynden said he was one of the worst of the lot. He hinted at the fact that the only one Brynden and Domeric said was anything, Stevron, was killed recently in an, an inter-family power grab I'd guess. If that's the case, the Freys have lost the one voice that had any sense of honor among them."
"Black Walder, really?" asked Roger. He and Hathan exchanged glances then shook their heads in unison. "That man's a rapist and a murderer, he's only gotten away with it because he is Frey. There been tales of him taking liberties with smallfolk girls and women for years, as well as his own female family members. I heard about one such episode when I went down to Fairmarket for a tourney once."
Hathan nodded agreement, having heard the same thing from a tourney held by House Darry several years back. "The tales say he slept with one of Old Walder's wives, and either coerced or raped one of his nieces, the man who shared that tale with me wasn't sure which."
"He's mine." Arya and Dacey said at the same time. Dacey looked at Arya and Arya shrugged. "He insulted me to my face, he's mine." Dacey shrugged her shoulders so long as one of them was going to get that bastard she didn't care.
" That means we'll have to take out the Twins too." Daryn said, working his shoulders under his plate armor. "That's not good. And I hate to say it, but their defensive position is pretty good. The only way to get an army out of the Neck is by the Kingsroad, and with their position they'll cost us sore to break through."
"You're making the same mistake they did." Ranma said shaking his head and getting off Fenris at last. "Just because no appreciable force can go through the marshes doesn't mean no force can, and just because the crannogmen built that dock by the Kingsroad doesn't mean that's the only place where marsh boats can go ashore. Trust me Daryn, we'll get past them."
"Your words are wise Lord Stark, and before I forget, congratulations on both your elevation and achieving it while your father is still around to enjoy his semi-retirement." A voice said from the swamp beyond the hardened rock and ground of the campsite's edge. All the Wolfsworn turned, most of their hands flashing towards weapons as over a dozen crannogmen paddled their small boats out of the marshes behind the small camp area.
Ranma however smiled going over towards the edge and catching the ropes tossed his way by the crannogmen, then began to pull their tiny boats up alongside the Kingsroad. "Lord Reed, just the man I was looking for…"
OOOOOOO
While Howland stayed there with his hunters to make certain that the small Frey force remained where they were, Ranma and the others raced back through the Neck, Ranma laughing quietly at how Lord Reed and he had been thinking along the same lines. By the time they got back to Moat Cailin dozens of tiny marsh craft were there, each of them with a single steersman.
When they arrived, Daenerys and the rest of the command staff were waiting, and she looked at Ranma quizzically. "I take it didn't go well? The arrow that Arya is playing with sort of gives me the clue."
Ranma shook his head. "You might say that." Once they were all gathered he gave the gist of the conversation, and was unsurprised by Greatjon and Rickard both taking umbrage at the attitude of the Frey man.
"Surely his entire family can't be like that can they?" Daenerys asked, looking a little sick at the past exploits of Black Walder.
"They weren't." Domeric said promptly, as well as Brynden. Brynden waved his hand at Domeric who he had discovered had actually been to the Twins several times before heading further south, much more recently than Brynden. Domeric nodded at the older man then went on. "Stevron was a good man and took his oaths seriously. He acted as Old Walder's eyes and ears in the world abroad, though that was changing when I was last in the Riverlands, and he was taking over as the castellan of the Twins. But if he is dead due to interfamily politics, that removes the only voice of honorable opposition in House Frey that had any weight to it. Not good. Old Walder has made that place a cesspit, where every family member is out for their own gain and that of the family above any other consideration."
"So you're saying there's no chance of us trying to gain their support?" Daenerys asked looking a little crestfallen. "We could certainly use the aid, and having both the supply depot and the Twins on the other side of the Neck would be a great boon to our supply lines."
Greatjon scowled, but Rickard was the one who spoke up. "Even if we tried to make a deal with the Freys, and I don't think we should, we can't trust them to keep it. As the bard said, the Freys are always out for one thing, their own largess. They don't care about anything else, that's why the old bastard has had so many wives and killed all of them in childbirth. He's used his children like tools, or spider-webs rather, spreading his influence over the Riverlands and beyond. I've heard tell he even married one of his sons to a Lannister, which means they have already chosen their side in this conflict."
He looked at Ranma. "That's why myself and Lord Hornwood joined with your farther to argue your lady mother down on the idea of you marrying one of his daughters. Yes it would've helped in the short term, but in the long term…" Rickard shrugged. "It would be like having a viper in your bed, docile at present but ready to strike when it can. You can't trust someone like that, not someone who's willing to turn over to a new side the moment there's anything to gain by it."
"In any event, we'd have to match whatever the Lannisters promised him, and I'm not about to even try to do that." Ranma said, nodding his head in agreement.
"But that means we'll have to take out the Twins won't we?" Myrcella asked from where she stood by Daenerys, waiting to ask about medicine ingredients, having talked to Meera about them earlier. All eyes turned to her and she shrugged looking a little uncomfortable and embarrassed at the attention. "I, I mean, I've heard stories about the Twins, and it's supposed to be a very tough castle. How are you going to do it without losing a lot of men?"
Ranma smirked a little. "By playing to what Old Walder thinks is strength, but is in reality a weakness." Everyone looked at him quizzically but Ranma would say no more on that subject.
Later that night after Ranma had detailed given out his orders in preparation for the coming battle, he and Daenerys shared a room in one of the towers. The two of them, Myrcella, Jon and Arya had taken dinner together, and the others had all retired by this point.
Daenerys decided to try once again to broach the subject of the Freys. "Are you sure there is no way we could get them on our side? They would be such a massive resource for us going forward. I hate to see that going to waste, and I hate to think of what it might cost us to take the Twins."
"If it's just the taking of the Twins don't worry. I have a plan to at least minimize our losses as much is possible. Besides you saw how Rickard and Greatjon reacted." He said turning back to Daenerys after having divested himself of his jerkin.
The sight of his muscled chest caused Daenerys to shiver a little, looking forward to what was about to happen after they finished talking. They hadn't had much time alone on the march, neither of them having the privacy to indulge. One thing that had impressed Daenerys was that Ranma refused to live any better than his soldiers. While he had a slightly larger tent, he shared it with Jon and Cley, much like she shared her own, even larger tent with Myrcella, Alayaya, Arya and Dacey.
She tamped down her excitement with difficulty, concentrating on his words for now. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that the Freys have a certain reputation. Old Walder's been in command of that House for too long, he stamped it with his own image, and everyone who has dealt with them knows it. I have no doubt that if we allied with the Freys we would gain more than just that House, we could then call on the Houses it has connections to, but we would also alienate other Houses, including my own lords. You can't deal with a man of dishonor and assume that others won't come to think the same of you."
"I see." Daenerys said thoughtfully. "I hadn't considered that. I had heard so much of their power, and my brother and I and the magister had talked long and hard about how to get them on our side, I guess I'm just having trouble letting that go."
Ranma grinned, taking her into his arms. "You might know which houses are dangerous, or could be loyal to you are ambitious or whatever, the weaknesses in each realm, but that's all. I know people, and I know how the Freys are seen." Indeed, that had been the lesson that Ser Desmond Grell had taught him in King's Landing, and one that Ranma had taken to heart.
"Now, I think that's enough talking." he went on, picking her up and tossing her onto the bed where she landed with a laugh.
Daenerys then reached out, pulling Ranma down to join her and those were indeed the last words spoken for the rest of the night.
OOOOOOO
By lunchtime the next day Edd, Meera, Smalljon and Domeric had disappeared, taking the archers with them. They would soon be followed by nearly four hundred irregular infantry, mostly from the mountain clans. The operation had begun last night, with the small hunting coracles that Lord Reed and his people had supplied spiriting the men away into the marshes.
Able to move only four men at a pinch Reed had taken every boat his house and the minor houses beholden to him could supply. Even so they would still need to make two trips to bring over the full force assigned to this part of the battle. That force however would be split in small groups and staying well away from the area where the Freys were patrolling. That was something Howland and his men had noticed, the Freys were not patrolling nearly as aggressively as they should. Now they were going to pay for it. By the time the mend with Edd and Daryn were all across, Ranma, the rest of the wolfsworn and the heavy cavalry would be in position.
Once the Freys were smashed out of the way, Ranma would send Fenris back through down the Kingsroad to Daenerys, who along with Rickard would lead the rest of the Army through the Neck at a fast clip. They would keep on going during the night, only stopping for short hour-long rest to keep up their strength until they were out of the Neck.
This way they would be able to break out of the Neck within four or five days. Their speed would also be helped along by Lord Reeds' people. Once the gathered coracles dropped off the archers and infantry they would come back and start to drop off food and other supplies allowing the Army to move without needing to bring along their own baggage for this part of the trip, and would even carry most of the armor and weapons for the infantry.
The heavy cavalry took two remounts each, having stripped the light cavalry of their horses for this. They switched horses at every rest, but kept going during the night, exhausting themselves but crossing the entirety of the Neck within five days, a feat unheard of. Near the end of the Neck they rested along the same area of the Kingsroad where the wolfsworn had rested before, getting ready for the battle to come. Thanks to their speed only a few men had fallen ill, and all of them simply had stomach viruses from the bogs rather than any major illnesses. That was good, and this move had put the entirety of the northern heavy cavalry force, a thousand plus heavily armored armsmen and minor lords, within striking distance of the Frey line.
It was deep night when they were ready. Ranma took the Stark and peace flag banner, letting them rest on his shoulders easily where he sat astride Fenris. He looked over at the wolfsworn with him and at Greatjon, who rode at his side. "Ready?"
"Ready to gut the dishonorable bastards." Greatjon snarled, patting the hilt of his heavy greatsword where it hung from his saddle. It was half again the size of his son's, which was a little longer than even Dacey's. That made him slower than either of them, but he had more than enough strength to wield such a weapon at least in the normal manner. "But are you sure that the Karstark and Hornwood boys will be in position?"
"I trust all the wolfsworn to perform their duty to their utmost, as I do every man of the North." Ranma said firmly looking over at Jon and Arya who also looked eager to get on with it. Both of them stiffened in pride, and he could see his words had an effect. Even Greatjon sat up straighter in his saddle.
Ranma smiled back at them all, his face showing his pride in them all. "Who is with me?" It was only the fact they had to keep quite that kept Greatjon and many of the others from shouting out at that.
Seeing that, Ranma sent a mental command to Fenris who turned and began to lope out of the Neck. Soon he was within sight of the Frey barricades, lit up by dozens of torches along their line. Earthing both of the banners to either side of Fenris Ranma then took out a torch and lit it, holding it above his head.
The light drew the attention of the men on watch, and they shouted into the camp. It took what seemed forever but which was probably only half an hour before the men in the camp had roused themselves, moving to their positions along the earthworks they had thrown up, which hadn't been added to overmuch since Ranma had last been here. That was astonishing, but given their inability to bring in wood, he supposed it was the best they were going to do.
Once he was certain he had the defenders attention completely on him, Ranma cupped his free hand around his mouth and shouted in a loud clear voice. "This is your final warning. Disband, bend the knee to your Lord Paramount's lawful representative, or prepare for battle."
His response was jeers and catcalls, and more than a few arrows. Only one actually was on target, and Ranma negligently smacked out of the air whenever they came near him. He could distantly hear a voice shouting "See! I told you, no one believed me but I told you all, I saw the Stark boy catch an arrow the last time!"
Ranma laughed lightly while below him Fenris too snapped at an arrow that was coming towards him tossing it aside with a contemptuous noise deep in his throat. "So be it, your bones will feed the earth when we are done with you!" Ranma shouted, feeling a little foolish at how formal he had to be for this.
With that he turned, disappearing back into the neck. As soon as he joined Jon and Arya, he nodded at them. All three of leaned forward, whispering into their direwolf's ears.
Greatjon and the rest of the heavy cavalry knew this was a signal, and every man there gripped the reins tighter. The three wolves sat there, their riders momentarily getting off their backs as the wolves howled. A normal wolf's howl was loud, and could be heard for miles around. A direwolf's howl could be heard for a dozen miles more, and three Stark 'pets' singing a duet was possibly the most terrifying thing many a man there had ever heard.
OOOOOOO
Edd shivered where he stood with a band of thirty archers and ten mountain clansmen. The clansmen had lead them so close to the Frey camp undetected it was astonishing given the lack of trees or other natural camouflage. "Okay, that is a little more of a visceral sound than I expected."
One of the archers spat to one side. "Don't know what visceral means, but if'n it means terrifyin' you're right milord."
"Yeah." Edd said. "That'll do. That was the signal, let's get started."
All around the Frey line groups of similar disposition were making their way towards them, using the darkness to come closer and closer to the well-lit Freys line. Several of the mountain clan scouts further proved their worth by silently killing the guards on watch elsewhere around the Frey camp that should've been alerted to their approach. Now, with the rest of the Frey force up and on their feet waiting for an attack from the front, Edd, Daryn and their men began to assault them from behind and to their left flank.
This would force them to retreat right if they could retreat at all, away from the Twins. There would no doubt be a few who got away in the night, during the confusion of battle there could be no other outcome. But if the majority of men couldn't go that way, that was enough for Ranma.
Aimed thanks to the Freys torches, arrows flew, falling among the Frye men with deadly force. More than a dozen men went down, then a hundred as other small groups took up the barrage from elsewhere. Smalljon's bellow was almost as loud as his father as it came from directly behind the Freys defensive line. "The Giants Fury!"
Edd responded shouting his own family's words. "The sun of winter! The sun of winter!"
The effect on the enemy battle line was pandemonium. Black Walder wasn't a very innovative thinker except in areas where it allowed him to get into a woman's panties. The torches he had ordered lit the moment Ranma and his torch came into sight had robbed most of his men of their night vision, and now they couldn't see a damn thing while their attackers sent arrow after arrow into them with impunity.
Here and there men of both House Frey and House Haigh took command of the men near them and turned, ordering them to charge in the direction of the attacks.
Black Walder did the same, cursing inventively. "That Stark bastard's suckered us, he wanted us to concentrate our attention on the Neck, when he'd already gotten a few of his troops across. Dammit, how many of them can there be do you think?" he asked the nearest man, his father Ryman. He was ostensibly in charge here, but Old Walder had bluntly told his least intelligent son to let Black Walder handle everything.
What insight Walder thought his father could have given him at that point the man didn't know, and would never find out. Ryman would never answer that or any other question ever again, an arrow taking him in the neck at that moment.
It was about to get worse for Walder and his men. Back at the entrance to the neck all three of the direwolves had stood up, ears cocked and Ranma smirked. Soon even the humans could hear the sound of battle, and he pulled himself up onto Fenris' back once more. "I believe it's time for us to join the party, Greatjon."
Greatjon and the others laughed, and soon the heavy Cavalry cantered out of the neck, then formed into columns. Each column was headed by a wolfsworn or Greatjon and each of them had been assigned a very specific point along the defensive circle that was the earthworks of the Freys. Ranma was straight ahead, with Arya and Jon on either side their wolves howling as they raced ahead of the cavalry. Despite weeks of getting used to the direwolves none of the horses wanted to be any closer than they had to beat to the direwolves on the hunt, which was just fine by the three of them.
The other columns spread out, each of them hitting another point along the use circle of the Freys. What little heavy or light cavalry the Freys had begun to put together to chase down the archers shattered like glass when the direwolves and the cavalry behind them hit their line from their back.
Men were unhorsed by their rearing animals, frightened out of their wits by the howls of the wolves, the smell of blood all around them. Other men were simply hacked out of their saddles. Each column then spread, every fifteenth man carried a torch allowing everyone around them to see as the Freys, having left their earthworks to start chasing down Edd and Smalljon's men found themselves encircled and outnumbered.
Arya didn't care for any of that, she had a very specific target in mind. She made for the House Frey banner that she could see moving away from the battle trying to escape. That their line of retreat brought them closer to Smalljon's men didn't seem to register, but she didn't care about that either. She wanted Black Walder, and howled with joy, sounding almost as much of a wild animal as Nymeria when she saw him.
Walder had just noticed the banner man following him still holding the banner and he the man down yelling. "You fucking fool, you've doomed us!"
A second later Arya was on them. Fang sliced one man's neck open as she vaulted from Nymeria's back. Landing she rolled to dodge another blow, her small buckler slamming out into the outside of the knee of the man who had tried to take her head. He went down screaming clutching his leg, but not for long. Arya's sword came around punching into the side of his plate armor, before she pulled it out to engage Black Walder.
What Black Walder lacked in many areas too numerous to mention he made up for in skill with the sword and sheer viciousness. The two of them exchanged a few blows before he kicked out, trying to catch Arya in the knee, then an elbow that should've taken her in it her head. Instead Arya had blocked the kick with her buckler, then ducked backwards to dodge the elbow blow to her face, pushing it aside with her shield arm and then bringing her sword up in a underhand blow to cut into his arm, sending it flying away in a welter of blood.
Walder screamed, falling back for a moment, using all his willpower to remain upright. "You bitch!" His sword came around faster than Arya had expected given his injury and she barely got her sword back in time to block it. Even so she was thrown back a few feet by the force of the blow.
He attacked her maddened at the loss of his arm forcing Arya ever backward. Then Walder overextended slightly, and Arya guided his blade downwards as she leapt up, kicking out with both feet, her boots slamming into Walder's face with pile driving force. His nose, jaw and many of his teeth shattered under that blow, and he flew backwards with a squeal of agony.
Impacting the ground Walder groaned, his sword lost as he had flown backwards from Arya's mule kick and the pain of his arm now overcoming is rage-fueled adrenaline. He looked up blearily to see Arya standing above him, Fang poised to stab down into his chest. "I told you I'd kill you 'Black' Walder, maybe in the next lifetime you'll learn how to speak to a warrior like me." With that she thrust downward, smashing into and through the man's good plate armor straight into his heart.
After the body had stopped kicking Arya tried to pull it out, only to realize it was stuck. She looked up as a man wielding a mace came at her, only to be hacked nearly in two by a giant greatsword as a cavalryman came up on her side. "There's a trick ta stabbing someone through plate armor lass." Greatjon said, almost conversationally as he hewed down another man, sending the man's head and arm flying with the massive overhand blow. "Best stick to necks and faces until you get the hang of it."
"I'll keep that in mind, my Lord." Arya said demurely, pulling Fang out finally and taking up position alongside Greatjon. Greatjon guffawed, and the battle continued.
Forty minutes later it was all over, and the only surviving Frey men word those that had surrendered. A few might've escaped in the night, but not many. The way out of the Neck was clear.
OOOOOOO
After sending Jon and Ghost back up the Neck to start the rest of the men marching, Ranma consolidated his position. The archers had barely lost a dozen men during the night attack, though their mountain clan protectors had lost forty-two against the Freys. The cavalry had barely lost three, with two having severe injuries that they would live through, but which would force them to be sent back to the Moat and a single death from a particularly unlucky cavalrymen who had run into a group of ten spearmen who had retained their position. Jon had slaughtered all ten of them after wheeling back through.
While Ranma was doing this, he also sent messengers towards where he had expected the supply depot to be. The men he sent however reported that the port was actually about twenty leagues further down. It was a far better position for the workers, but further away from the Kingsroad, and the land there was just as inhospitable as the Neck minus the threat of disease, but in a far different way. Ranma understood why Wendel had done that, and respected the man's decision. He wanted commanders who would act on their own accord if they knew something he didn't, and this was a prime example.
On his orders the Manderly pikemen remained at the supply depot with the House Locke archers, but Wendel ,his heavy cavalry, the Locke maester and the supplies joined Ranma where he was. They arrived a half day before the rest of the Army began to come out of the Neck.
Now while Wendel and Jon Domeric saw to the rearmament of the army Ranma and the rest of the commanders turned their attention to more important matters. After sharing a brief but very heartfelt hug with Daenerys, Ranma began. "We need to know where Lord Lannister is, and we need to know the current news. We've been out of the loop for too long, and I'm not happy about marchin' into the unknown."
"We also need to finish the Twins off." Rickard said. "Even if they hadn't decided to turn against us before this, they have no choice now. And the Twins is too good a position to leave in our rear if we stay on this side of the Green Fork."
"True." Ranma said with a nod. "But we still need information on what's on this side of the Green Fork as well. Brynden, Domeric, that's up to you."
If it pleases you my Lord, I can be of some help there as well." Alayaya spoke up from where she had been serving them all drinks. Water, not ale or wine. Ranma refused to drink either unless all of his men could do the same, and even then he wouldn't drink much. When all the lords looked at the Summer Island girl, she curtsied quickly. "I was one of Brynden's informers in the city, and served in that capacity for the former Hand as well. I know how to ferret out information even in an unknown environment. If there is even a small village nearby, I can get us some news."
Ranma shared a glance of Brynden who nodded slowly as if reluctant, but then seemed to change his mind, shaking his head. "I think Alayaya, that your talents would be useful in a village of any size, but the nearest village is…" He paused, thinking. "About a week's ride from here. It's a good idea, but I think we should leave off on it until we get down to where more villages and towns are around."
Understanding his point Alayaya curtsied once more. Brynden turned back to Ranma who nodded. "That's why I want you out there uncle, I want you to see if you can find one of the local lords, or at least someone who answers to them, a factor or something, to get us some of the news of what's been going on since we began our march."
"It might take some time." Brynden cautioned. "We have the initiative now, we can't wait here for that information."
Jon had joined them by this point and he broke in now. "It'll take us two days, maybe longer to reorganize and rearm the army, and get the baggage train settled down again. Our method of splitting up and sending the arms through by boats saved us a lot of time on the march through the neck, but will need to take the time now to redistribute it. Worse, the men are exhausted from the forced march, a few days rest would do them all good, let alone the draft and cavalry animals."
"We can wait here five days, that's it." Ranma decided. "I want scouts out in every direction, and the light cavalry is to take over hunting down survivors from the Frey force we smashed here. The heavy cavalry had been doing that job up to this point, but the light is much better suited for it."
"The two nearest houses to hear our House Haigh and Erenford, they're both rolled into the House spray, though from what Wendel tells us Erenford's military strength has also been smashed. We still might run into trouble though." Brynden cautioned.
"Then I expect you to handle it uncle." Ranma said smirking.
If only my two little ones could fly further, Daenerys's thought to herself, that way I could have helped in scouting ahead of the army. She'd recently begun to actually be able to see through their eyes for short periods of time even in flight rather than simply guide their movements. It was an astonishingly amazing experience, but they still couldn't fly very far, a bare five miles. Good enough to do close in scouting, but not distant.
Brynden nodded then immediately made his way towards the nearest batch of scouts, all of them mountain men. He led them off, leaving the camp that very hour.
"While that's going on, Domeric," Ranma said turning to the Bard. "Out of all of us you're the only one who's been to the Twins. What can you tell me about them? I want to know everything you can tell me."
OOOOOOO
Ranma was going over some numbers with Jon and Wendel for the next supply run when Merry burst into his tent, looking as angry as he had ever seen her save when Joffrey came up in conversation. "Oooohhhh that, that man! ARGH!"
The three men who were speaking looked at one another than back at the young princess. "Um, you're going to need to be a little more specific there, Merry. What's wrong?"
" The maester of House Locke, Martyn , is an arrogant conceited asshole!" Merry replied, stamping around and waving her hands in the air. "ugh, I know my language is foul Ranma, but ugh!"
Ranma pulled her down into a one-armed hug, rubbing her hair affectionately. "Calm down and tell us
Merry fought back her blush at the hug. Her love for Ranma had yet to fade despite him now being married, and moments like this fueled her fantasies, not of winning his heart away from Daenerys, but of possibly… joining them. It was a thought that should never have occurred to a high born noble lady, even one whose true father wasn't known, but it had to Myrcella, and she hoped to someday talk to Daenerys about that idea.
She had other things on her mind right now however. "Maester Martyn, he's very particular about being called maester, ugh, is an excellent healer. He knows a lot about herbs, medicines and how best to actually put someone together. His organization however is awful, and his opinion of me is 'a little girl who should be playing with dollies' rather than, as I was at the time, redoing the stitching on one of the injured men's wounds. His bedside manner is also atrocious, he acts as if the injured only become so to irritate him."
Though the fact the man she was working on had threatened to thump him had been gratifying. Indeed even after one battle Myrcella had become a hit with the soldiers, saving two men from gangrene and more than a few from fevers. If she had been closer she could have done even more directly after the battle.
Ranma decided not to point out that Myrcella was indeed still a young girl. Not little so much, but very young. That would not be a good move on his part just then however, so he simply nodded. "Is he unwilling to work with you at all or is it just he doesn't want you near him while he's working? Is he willing to continue your instruction?"
"No, he doesn't want me to even touch the healing supplies, and no!" Merry replied tartly. "He might be willing to let me handle the logistics aspect, but even that's a stretch, and I was serious when I said his organizing skills were awful. He somehow messed up the supplies he brought with him from House Locke, and somehow misplaced a full cartload of ingredients from Lord Reed!"
Realizing this was a real problem that had to be handled, Ranma stood up, letting his arm fall from around Merry's shoulders much to her hidden disappointment. "Let's go see this Martyn fellow."
After speaking to the maester himself, Ranma concluded that Merry was correct, and that if Arya or even the more mildly tempered Dacey heard some of his comments about women healers or warriors they would cut off his head. For now however they needed him. Good as she was Merry couldn't be called a full healer, and maester Martyn was the only one who was willing to come with the army.
Ranma sat them both down and explained that Merry would be in charge of organizing the medical area and handling the medicine and transportation of that and the wounded. Martyn would not be asked to train Merry further and would handle the healing, but if he refused to allow her to help after a battle, Ranma would break his legs.
"After all, you don't need working legs to be a good healer, now do you?" Ranma said, smirking a little at the older man's suddenly pale face. With that, the crisis was halted in its tracks for now, but it was yet another thing Ranma would need to think about in the future.
OOOOOOO
It actually did take four days for the scouts to return with news, and it was mixed to say the least. "We were able to get past House Erenford's land easily enough." Brynden said, gratefully sipping on the water that Alayaya and handed to him the moment he joined the rest of the command group in their tent. He had been in the saddle since early last night, and he was getting no younger. "After that we were able to talk to a few farmers and get some news from them. Apparently there's been a major battle down south on a ford of the Red Fork. Lord Lannister tried to force his way across and succeeded in smashing the defending houses, but they cost him enough men he was forced to halt his advance north. He's consolidating his position down there. It's odd, at first there were a lot of refugees fleeing before his army, but that seems to have slowed now."
"Where is Tywin's army now?" Ranma asked, looking down at a map of Westeros spread out on a field table. It wasn't a very detailed map, there wasn't a single map for the continent that was, but it would do until he found one that detailed the Riverlands.
"Still on the other side of the Red Fork, sitting right at the ford they tried to use. They've reinforced there, and are apparently waiting for a second army out of the Westerlands. There were also refugees from beyond his line, so it's possible he might have split his army, sending groups out against the Houses on that side of the fork that haven't bent the knee to the kinslayer." That was the epithet used by the army to talk about Joffrey, and there could be no more vile appellation in the Northern lexicon. The fact the Freys seemed to be practicing it these days had spread among the men, and all of them were incensed by it.
"I can't believe that." Rickard scoffed. "Why in the world would they stop if they'd smashed the defenders out of the way! Fairmarket couldn't have been reinforced before they arrived, and no offense to the local knightly houses, but they couldn't have raised enough men to stop Lord Lannister from taking that town. If he had, he could already be marching up to the Twins on the other side of the Green Fork!"
"There have been other battles down by Fairmarket and in Hags Mire, though the farmers we talked to didn't know anything about the why of those let alone the outcome." Brynden said with a shrug. "The farmers were remarkably open about it with Meera and I, our cover worked to perfection." He and Meera had posed as a father and daughter searching for medicine for a sick mother, and the farmers had all been very helpful, insisting that going further south was a bad idea and explaining why when asked.
It amused Brynden somewhat that he hadn't been recognized as himself, despite now being in the Riverlands where he had spent a lot of his life going from place to place. "But the Lords on this side of the Green Fork apparently banded together and moved down to the Ruby Ford, where the Green and Blue Forks meet before entering the Trident. They put up some serious earthworks there, even some siege weapons."
One of his senior men spoke up, a mountain man named Oscar Lebray. "Da farmer I talked ta said the houses might've made a deal with the gold shitters. So long as dey stay on their side of the river, da head gold shitter won't attack 'em, and dey don't need to decide right now ta bend the knee ta his kin-slayin' grandson. Don't know if 'at'll extend to not helping someone else attack them."
Ranma looked down at his map thoughtfully, tugging at his ponytail. "What can you tell me about the houses on this side of the Fort, uncle, Domeric?"
"Not much." Brynden said honestly. "I know several of their heirs were fri