Ranma's army was able to move far faster than the Westerlands forces, which was why that by the time Tywin's army was on the move Ranma and his army had already arrived at castle Shawney. They were spotted hours out, and outriders had gone forward to mark their passage so when the gate opened they were greeted by cheers from both the smallfolk and the armsmen around them.
Lord Shawney came out of his keep to greet Ranma and the others personally as they dismounted in the center of his castle. Not the entire army of course, the castle wasn't big enough to house that many men, even after Ranma had sent Jon and his forces off back at Fairmarket. Ranma, the wolfsworn and the other lords however could be housed in relative comfort. Daenerys joined them after making sure that the dragons were still hiding in the carts assigned to them, with Fenris and Nymeria watching them alongside Merry.
Silas Shawney was a swarthy man of average height and build yet seemed to have a nervous sort of energy to him, his hands and fingers constantly twitching. The stamp of Essos however was easy to see in his tan and a small tattoo on his bared upper arm showing the flag of the Windblown which he must've served with at some point. His grip was strong and his eyes calm when he nodded to Ranma. "Glad to see you my Lord, for many reasons." He looked over taking in the wolfsworn with a glance, nodding cordially to them all.
"It is good to meet you Lord Shawney, though I wish it could be under better circumstances." Ranma replied shaking the man's hand firmly. "Do you have any new information about the Lannisters and their movements?"
"I'm afraid not" Silas replied shrugging. "I pulled nearly all of my men into my castle after we retreated here, and I'd ordered my smallfolk to be ready for a similar move before I left for the ford in the first place. Still, come inside and you can tell me what our future plans are."
Daenerys joined the group as they were walking up the staircase to the dining hall and Lord Shawney looked at her quizzically before, when the door closed behind them, she pulled back her hood revealing her hair and eyes.
Silas' eyes widened and he bowed formally. "You must be Daenerys Stormborn. I heard about you while I was in Essos several years ago. The tales said you were growing into an amazing beauty, I am amazed that rumor was understating things for once." He glanced at Ranma and then across at Jason Mallister who he knew had suffered losses under the Mad King. "Though your presence here is astonishing to say the least."
Ranma chuckled, slapping the man on his shoulder. "You don't know the half of it." Then, with Hathan and Ser Barristan on guard outside the door, Ranma outlined what had been occurring, as well as his in Daenerys's position.
After he finished Shawney looked at him contemplatively. "I can't say I'm enthused about the return of the Targaryen dynasty my lords, but I won't jump to conclusions about you personally either Your Highness." he said almost unconsciously using the royal address. "However, my oaths are to lord Tully and I will Seven as my witness keep to them. You are his representative, and if something happens to Edmure you'd be Lord Tully's heir in any event so I will follow you."
"However, I can't give you that many men." He grimaced angrily. "My men and I were hammered hard in our retreat from the ford, and I'd like to retain a strong force here to defend my family and our smallfolk. May the Father strike down Vypren for his betrayal!"
"We'll be crushing that toad soon enough my Lord, in fact if we can swing it that'll be where we'll strike next." Ranma said grimly. "I don't really need that many men of yours. A hundred or more who know the lay of the land and are fit enough to travel quickly will be enough."
"Those I can give you and I'll go lead them personally. My castellan is one of my former subordinates from my time in Essos, he can keep the castle in my stead."
"Then, tell me what you know about Tywin's forces." Ranma said looking down at the map. "We'll see if it matches what we already know. Then tell me where the nearest place where we can put a barge in the Blue Fork."
It turned out that the Blue Fork actually dipped slightly nearby coming much closer to House Shawney's seat than Ranma had thought it did going by the map. Thus it was decided that the Army would split again there. Daenerys would take seven hundred men from the North and a thousand men from House Mallister as protection led by Lord Mallister and Smalljon plus the carpenters to the Blue Fork where they would create enough rafts to get the men down the river. She would then go across at the Ruby Ford, linking up with the rest of the army under Brynden and Greatjon, then begin discussion with the Houses there.
Jason would ostensibly be in charge of the mission, or at least would be the visible person giving out orders, while Daenerys would remain with her dragons keeping them under cover. The two of them had been flown to exhaustion every day on the march from Fairmarket so would hopefully be willing to remain undercover once they were within sight of the defensive bulwarks that the Riverlanders had thrown up on the Ruby Ford.
Who else was going with her however engendered some discussion.
"What do you mean you're not coming with us?" Daenerys asked slowly, looking at Myrcella in shock. "I need you along to watch over Rhaegon and Sunfyre when I can't for one reason or another, you and Fenris are the only people they'll listen to, and Fenris can't be spared."
"Nor can I, remember my main job isn't to help you with your little ones, I'm in charge of the healers, which will be needed with the rest of the army." Merry replied stoutly, staring back at the older girl, violet and emerald meeting.
"You're assumed job Merry, maester Martyn…" Daenerys paused, remembering her run-ins with the irascible healer, then shrugged. "Alright, he needs someone along to organize things and to make certain he doesn't insult his patients too badly, but that doesn't necessarily mean you."
"But no one else is as good at organizing and can also help him with the actual patients. The men he and I have chosen over the past few weeks can perform their tasks well, but that's not saying much alas."
Daenerys looked at her for a moment, frowning as she took in the set of Merry's shoulders, and the hard light in her eyes. It was clear that she wasn't going to budge on this. Daenerys leaned in slightly, despite the two of them being alone at present, Alayaya was off talking to the castellan for a moment. "This isn't because you don't want to leave Ranma, is it? Because if it is…"
"No!" Merry nearly shouted flushing red, then blushed even further while Daenerys continued to look at her and she went on somewhat self-deprecatingly, but firmly. "I mean, no, I believe that I can do more to help people by staying with the army. Not everything I do revolves around Ranma, I truly do love healing people, and you shouldn't need any help in that regard."
"I see. I could order you, you know I am the presumptive queen in these parts." Daenerys went on staring at the younger girl, wondering why that had even occurred to her, considering that she had known for months how seriously Myrcella took both her duties as a healer and her continued learning in that profession. A flash of jealousy perhaps?
"You could, but you won't." Myrcella replied, reaching forward and hugging the older girl, or was Daenerys now a young woman? When did that change over actually occur Merry idly wondered. Putting that thought aside for now she went on. "You're not like that, you know how much my duties mean to me and besides, you know I'll be safe enough. You, um, you also should know I won't do anything, well anything until you're okay with it."
Daenerys' arms went around Myrcella as well, and she sighed, kissing the other girl on her forehead, deciding to be honest with the other girl. "I know that in my heart, my head says different. My head is telling me to send you back to Winterfell, to keep you away from my husband. But my heart knows that's both not necessary and would be bad for the army's morale given your work."
She smirked suddenly, pulling back just slightly form their embrace. "Not to mention I'd miss your help with my little ones, and that both Ranma and I would miss your company. I trust you Merry, never fear." There was something in her eyes however that said 'don't make me regret this, or else you'll regret it quite quickly.'
Myrcella nodded, both hearing her words and seeing the message in those eyes, not taking offense. If anything, she loved Daenerys even more for her trust, and respected her more for the hidden warning. Rather reluctantly the two girls moved away from one another, then began to repack Merry's bag for her as Alayaya entered the room behind him.
Later that night Daenerys basked in her husband's embrace after their first bout of lovemaking of the night, there would, she was certain, be more. She loved this, absolutely loved this, feeling his chest move under her, his arms around her. Daenerys had seen those hands shatter stone, tear apart men in armor with an ease that should have been terrifying. Yet despite his massive strength Ranma was possibly the gentlest man she had ever even heard of, let alone met. Look at how he treated the ex-Frey children, or Sansa, or Merry, or Daenerys. And at moments like this, Ranma allowed his inner tenderness out with her and his possessiveness too.
She felt a low rumble make its way through her own body as she felt Ranma's hand trace down her back to grip her rear for a moment. That rumble turned into a moan as he began to knead her pliant rear then she laughed as a sudden thought struck her. Ranma's hand stopped its loving ministrations and his other hand gently raised her chin, turning her face up to him, his deep blue eyes laughing at her. "Sorry, did I find a ticklish part or something?"
"No, just a random thought. Besides, even if you had, you don't think I'd actually admit to that, do you?" Daenerys asked, her own violet eyes dancing, and her mouth twitching from a smile to a smirk.
Ranma cocked his head quizzically, and his wife, and by the old gods that felt good even thinking it in his head, laughed again. "Care to share Dae?"
"Oh, I was just thinking being queen and king would probably cut into moments like this, and then I thought that would have been a wonderful reason not to make a grab for the crown, just stay in the North with you like you would have if Tommen hadn't died and the war hadn't begun in King's Landing. Then I imagined my brother's face at the very idea of me using such an excuse and… well it was just funny." Daenerys shrugged. "You can't expect humor to make sense all the time can you?"
Ranma laughed then nuzzled into her hair, moving down the side of Daenerys' face then into her neck, breathing deeply. "Ya know what I think, I think I'm doing something wrong if you're thinking of your brother right now."
With that he began to nip and lick at the side of her neck, and Daenerys could feel herself responding. She moaned her hands tracing their way down his abs to his rising arousal, then lifted one of her legs over Ranma's body, moaning even louder as she felt his length slowly slide into her once more.
Later as Daenerys lay there nearly exhausted she shook her head, slightly irritated for once at Ranma's sheer endurance. Not once since they had married had she felt that she had actually tired him out in bed. It was immensely pleasurable to try, but embarrassing to fail at, striking at her pride as a woman.
Right now however even as Daenerys waved Ranma's hands away from her sensitive breasts pushing him lightly away with one weary thigh, she had something else on her mind. She reached above her, touching his face gently. "You will come back won't you?" For just a moment the queen in the making was utterly gone, taking with her the woman Daenerys was becoming.
All that was left was a young girl, who was, for the first time since they had married, watching her husband go marching off without her. This was vastly different from the time he had left her behind with the army at Moat Cailin as he faced the Freys, this time he would be away for longer, and was facing a much more dangerous opponent, one, moreover, that was one of the boogeymen from her childhood. Admittedly, the Starks themselves had been another one, but the point remained.
Ranma smiled at his wife gently, tracing her face with one gentle finger. "I promise Dae. I'll come back, I promise. We both have our roles to play love, but trust me, whatever else happens, I'll come back to you."
Daenerys nodded, leaning up to kiss him gently on the lips before realizing, as their tongues caressed one another in her mouth that perhaps she wasn't totally exhausted just yet.
The next day Daenerys had to be roused by Merry letting her dragons into the bed she and Ranma had shared. Their morning breath woke her up faster than anything else could have. She groaned, pushing Sunfyre's snout away from her face for a moment, growling as she saw Merry behind them, smirking at her. What threats she uttered Daenerys didn't know, but they were enough to chase Merry off, then she came back with a loaf of fresh bread and some mulled wine and Ranma, who kissed Daenerys one last time, murmuring 'I love you Dae', against her lips, before moving off resolutely to prepare to leave.
Hours later Daenerys was still out of yet somewhat, yet despite this she kept on looking back at the castle and the army marching out heading in a different direction from her own force. Under her, her horse moved on with the rest of the column with no input from her.
"He'll be all right my lady." said Smalljon quietly from where he road next to her on his horse.
"Was I being that obvious?" Daenerys asked wistfully, yawning fitfully every other word, thought her wits thankfully had returned to normal. "I know I am not the only woman to watch her man march off to war, but still, I can't help myself."
"No fear there, I doubt anyone'd begrudge yer worries." Smalljon laughingly replied. Indeed, the obvious love between Ranma and Daenerys was a major morale boost to the army. "Ya shouldn't worry though, the gold humper's army ain't near big enough to kill Ranma. And it's always better ta concentrate on what you can do, rather than worry about what you can't control."
"Philosophy Smalljon? I didn't think you had that in you." Daenerys quipped, looking at him quizzically.
Smalljon laughed. "Oh, I have hidden depths!"
"I don't doubt that, I just thought they were empty." Daenerys replied wickedly and Smalljon guffawed. Nearby Jason rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless, realizing that Smalljon had done that just to break the Queen from her maudlin thoughts. Alayaya joined in quickly, and between the two of them they were able to keep Daenerys' mind off of the danger Ranma and the rest of the army were marching towards.
OOOOOOO
Ranma's army force-marched all day that first day, resting at night and then starting out late the next day before picking up the pace again. They had to keep moving, that was part of Ranma's plan: attract Tywin's attention on him, keep moving, don't get bogged down and brought to a decisive battle. Just like in his last life where he fought Ryoga, Herb or anyone stronger than him, taunt and move.
Of course, that doesn't mean we're not going to be striking back. Ranma thought to himself as he raced alongside Fenris at the head of the army, with Arya and Nymeria on his other side.
When Lord Shawney and the local guides said they were coming into Vypren land, the army rested for an entire day before marching on quickly, covering the remaining distance by marching through the day and night. This put them within striking distance of the castle, though most of the army was too exhausted to take advantage of it. However Ranma and the wolfsworn were not. While the rest of the army rested far enough away from the castle that the defenders didn't realize they were in danger, Ranma and the wolfsworn moved forward.
Fenris stalked through the night, his senses at their highest level. He was one with the surrounding land, even if this wasn't the forest of the North where he had been weaned, much more open, much more shrubbery and small trees rather than the giants that ruled the northern climes. He paused suddenly, one ear pricking up at an odd silence in the cacophony of the forest at night.
Somewhere nearby there was no birdsong, and there hadn't been for quite some time. He moved lightly, circling the area of silent until he stopped sniffing the air slightly. Human, hiding under leaves from a tree, the one humans called oak, hadn't bathed recently.That last was most distinct, and Fenris' nose wrinkled at the smell.
He stalked forward, his movements easy and controlled, not a single sound or whisper of leaves betraying him. The man he was stalking was a veteran thief taker who Lord Vypren had placed in charge of scouting out around his castle after being told he wouldn't be in charge of its defense. The scouts scattered around the castle were supposed to give warning before going to ground. They would then wait until the army surrounded the castle and began to siege it before going to work on doing whatever they could to hamper the invading army.
That was the plan anyway. For this man in particular that plan stopped mattering when he heard a faint rustle in the grass behind him. He turned in his small hide under a covering of oak leaves, expecting to see some small animal or other. His eyes barely had time to widen before he died when Fenris ripped out his throat. The giant direwolf wrinkled its muzzle irritated at the taste. Humans always tasted foul for some reason unless they had bathed recently. Still, stalking like this was fun, even if the outcome was simply killing an enemy rather than feeding his stomach.
Elsewhere Ranma opened his eyes, having ridden Fenris' mind as it stalked through the woods. He stood up, nodding his head to the other wolfsworn around him save for Arya, who he placed on his back since she was too busy with Nymeria to really concentrate on her own body at present. With one raised hand he pointed with two fingers forward, and with Meera in the lead they made their way through the woods.
Eventually they stopped however, and Fenris appeared out of the woodlands around them, while Arya woke up on Ranma's back. She quickly pushed herself away then pointed to one side of the woodlands they were moving through silently, gesturing with five fingers twice to indicate that there were ten enemy scouts in one place, then gestured to her mouth before holding up four fingers, then moved her fingers back and forth, their movement barely visible in the starlight. Then she held up six fingers and motioned as if she was laying her head on her hand like it was a pillow.
Ranma nodded, then pointed at her and then away towards the sound indicating she and Meera should take the lead. Both of them grinned, and with Nymeria in the lead, moved off through the woods moving quietly. Ranma followed quickly with the rest bar Roger and Hathan who had never learned how to move quietly being cavalrymen. The two of them waited several moments before following as quietly as they could move.
They soon came upon the small, very well hidden camp, which looked to be a meeting place for the scouts so that they could get some sleep while their fellows guarded them. There were indeed ten scouts there, six of them asleep curled up by a small fire pit. Four were on guard walking around the perimeter.
While Daryn created a distraction causing one guard to turn in that direction Dacey crept up on him, an arm swiftly going around his throat from behind. With one hand over his mouth and nose and the other arm clamped around his throat she locked her hold in, hanging on beat at her arm futilely, but that faded quickly. Arya and Nymeria took out another guard between them, while Meera took out the one Daryn had distracted, a small skinning knife stabbing into the side of his throat, as her hand went around his mouth and nose.
On the other side of the small camp Ranma had made his way up into the trees, moving from one branch to the other with as much ease and noise as a squirrel. Such a natural sound didn't register on the last guard, who kept on glaring out into the woodlands until he felt a hand grip him around the throat lifting him up into the air and into the trees for a moment. He tried to kick out, but Ranma block it from impacting both himself and the tree as his other arm went around the man's neck in a sleeper hold. A moment later the man was unconscious and Ranma gently dropped him back down to the ground.
I know I should kill him, but by the old gods, I've already got so much blood on my hands and I know that I'll multiply that by ten before this war is over. Killing a man like this, from ambush and when he had no chance against me whatever, no, I'm not willin' to do that. And I hope I never am. He was also unwilling to kill the sleepers. He and the others moved over and thumped them all over the head. Such a blow might cause brain damage, but they would still be alive after this night's business was done.
With that accomplished they tied the survivors to another and a tree then gagged them just in case before the two direwolves took off through the Woodlands again, searching for more scouts. They found a few, but they were all scattered around the castle and fell easily enough to the warging beasts while Meera led the rest of the Wolfsworn towards the castle proper.
It took another forty minutes of travel before they were near enough to see castle Vypren, which was more of a keep really, looking for the watchers they knew would be there. Lord Vypren's castle had a few farms abutting it on all sides, but they were empty, the families inside having moved into the protection of the keep. There were at least three dozen guards manning the wall over the keep's main gate and a further eight men patrolling the rest of the wall in two groups of four. There was also torchlight showing in the two towers on two corners of the keep's wall.
That's actually a good sign, Ranma thought. The watchers are using too many torches, they won't have much in the way of night vision thanks to that. With a gesture he sent Fenris and Nymeria forward to smell out the smallfolk houses between them and the wall. Then Meera led the wolfsworn in a full circuit of the castle, meeting up with the direwolves there, neither group having run into further trouble.
Fenris stalked forward, with Ranma riding his mind as closely as he could to stare up at the wall at the back of the keep, trying to see if there was any movement there that might have been hidden in the shadows the torches. Wolf eyes were of course much better than human eyes at night.
Finally Ranma nodded. Signaling 'wait here' to the others he raced forward, crossing the distance easily disappearing under the Umi-Sen-Ken for a moment. , Once close enough he leaped up grabbing onto the wall halfway up its three stories, then flipping himself further up to grab the edge of the wall. He waited there a moment hanging in midair by one hand as one of the patrolling groups moved around above him. But as he had suspected their torches had killed their ability to actually see out into the darkness, so unless the light hit Ranma directly their odds of actually seeing him were close to nil.
"I tell yas boyo, the Northerners aren't on their way." One voice said, slurred with drink despite being on guard. "They's couldn't even be arfway 'ere from Fairmarket if der army is as big as rumors tell it."
"Yeah, but all of those northern direwolves can run like the damn beasts they resemble." Another younger voice replied morosely, the voice of a constant worrier the sort who aged prematurely. "No telling where they'll show."
"Bah, They'll never want to face us here, we're too strong for them to take quick, and if they take too long, Lord Vypren and the royal army will be crawling right up their asses." A third voice stated dismissively. "Nah, they'll bypass us, count on it."
Tonight is not your lucky night boys. Ranma thought as he hung there, amused. Soon the guards on marching along the parapet moved on, and Ranma slowly, carefully and above all quietly began to pull himself up by his one hand. He waited a moment his other hand having come up and grabbed a hand hold, until the guards were well away along the wall, then flipped himself up and over the wall landing as lightly as he could before leaping down into the castle's courtyard.
His landing however caused a light hiss from the ground in front of his feet, and Ranma froze, staring down at two luminous eyes staring up at him. Ranma raised both hands to his mouth, as he fought back the urge to shriek and jump away. Nonetheless he couldn't stop himself from backing away so abruptly he smacked into the bottom of the wall. Luckily neither the hiss nor the thump of Ranma's back carried very far, but that didn't help Ranma's current predicament. Damnit, a whole new life on a whole new world and I'm still scared of ca…ca… furry demons from hell! I hope Fenris eats you slowly you damned fiend!
The cat was a large fat tabby, his body scarred in places, obviously a cat that had lived it's nine lives to the limits. Right now it was staring at the strange human that had nearly landed on him as he lay there, sleeping off a nice juicy rat he'd found in the guardhouse. It was rather amusing to see a human skitter back from him like that, most of the time all he got from male humans were kicks unless females were around. After a moment however he sniffed haughtily and flounced away, looking for another place to continue his interrupted post-dinner nap.
Behind the tabby, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief still holding his hands over his mouth thankfully else the noise might have been loud enough to give him away then ducked into the corner of the wall between the wall and one of the corner towers. The deeper darkness there covered him while the next patrol passed by over him.
While he waited, Ranma took in the castle's courtyard at a glance. There were no tents anywhere, which meant the men, however many there were, could be kept inside the main keep or the barracks building set next to it along the back wall.
I'd guess at most a thousand or so then, that's a lot for just the wolfsworn, but if we can take the walls and the towers, then we can bring in the rest of the army to help easily enough. Luckily there aren't any signs of people on watch in the keep's upper floors. Also thankfully the keep itself wasn't any taller than the walls, indeed the guard towers on the wall were the tallest portion of the castle.
After they passed, he moved to a small door set into the outer wall of the castle. It was probably a servant's entrance, many older keeps and castles had were several barrows full of stone ready to be dumped down to block it but that had obviously been planned as a last minute defense.
Feeling at the hinges however Ranma noticed that they were badly rusted. He carefully lifted up the wooden bar over the door then began to grease the hinges as well as the lock before gently opening the door. There was a faint squeak and Ranma stopped quickly, looking around then up at the wall. He waited a few more moments for the next group of guards to move away then oiled the hinges again.
After that Ranma waited until the next groups of sentries were coming back along the wall facing away from the small door before opening it quickly. The wolfsworn had already covered the distance one at a time, hiding nearby in the abandoned houses or flattening themselves against the outer wall. With Arya in the lead they entered moving through the doorway while Ranma held it open.
Using the gestures they had developed over the march to communicate at times like this Ranma assigned each of them to a different tower at the four corners, then assigned Dacey and Fenris to wait here, before moving over to the keep's door. Then he gestured to his lips with his fingers, indicating they needed to keep the battle as quiet as possible.
They all nodded, and moved off quickly and silently, using the bushes and trees, which were probably laden with fruit of various kinds, as cover along with any other patch of shadow. Even with the guards patrolling the walls destroying their own night vision with the torches, a classic mistake, they couldn't take chances.
A moment later they were all in position, with Ranma waiting for the next group of guards to pass his current position, the wall across from his former one. A moment later the two of them heard a bit of commotion from the main gatehouse, which Ranma had assigned to Arya, Fenris and Nymeria.
The guards making their rounds above him had only a moment to register it before he had jumped up onto the parapet among them. There was no time now to knock them out, Ranma had to take them down quickly and silently, and that was what he did. His hands flashed out, crushing the throats the two men not holding torches and throwing the bodies of two men over the outer wall, then he turned hands flashing out again.
Two more bodies fell, and Ranma caught their bodies with his shoulders before turning swiftly with them over his shoulders to grab the torches before they could clatter on the parapet. Slowly he lowered the bodies to the parapet, then doused the torches one after another.
The other patrol had entered one of the towers, which had been a signal for the attack to begin. That tower had been assigned to Dacey and Roger. Hathan and Meera was assigned a second, Daryn and Edd a third. Ranma himself rushed on toward the fourth, moving as fast as he could.
The men inside hadn't noticed any of the noises outside, busy getting drunk and playing dice. Still there were ten of them, and again Ranma had to strike ruthlessly lest they have time to raise the alarm. A moment after he entered, Ranma was the only man alive in the guard room. Sighing sadly he shook his head, then resolutely turned away, racing along the parapet to the next guard tower.
Daryn and Roger looked up at him. The guards in this tower had been much more awake, but it hadn't saved them, with the two of them coming up the staircase placing Roger between them and one door to that wall and Daryn able to rush to the door Ranma had just come through. Both men nodded at him, and Ranma leaped down and then off again, arriving at the next tower just as that attack went in, while the two of them ran off to the last tower.
Hathan and Meera came up the stairs moments before Ranma arrived to slam into two men who had been about to rush out to spread the alarm. Ice gutted one man while a kick caved in the other man's face, flinging him back into the room.
Inside Meera stabbed the last of the four men who had been facing them, while Hathan's long sword took the head off of a man who had tried to rush past them out onto the opposite wall from Ranma's entrance. He need wearily at Ranma shaking his head. "They nearly got away for a moment."
Ranma nodded grimly then looked over at Meera, who was shaking a little. This wasn't her first battle, but it was the first one where she was up close and personal with her enemies. "You alright Meera?"
"I'll get there, I suppose. Just, Just different this way you know." The young crannogwoman said, gesturing with her bloody trident for a moment. "Don't worry about me Ranma, my father told me about this, I'll be alright."
Ranma nodded, gripping her shoulder for a moment before moving on. By this point the other tower had fallen as well. Ranma gathered the wolfsworn together, then sent Arya and Nymeria off to the rest of the army, where the remaining mountain clansmen and Karstark men were ready for the call. They were the best at moving silently, the rest of the army would be coming after them. And while waiting, Ranma amused himself by sending Fenris around to see if he could find that damn tabby…
An hour later Rickard and the three hundred men arrived, moving quietly throw the side gate which had been opened once more. They and the wolfsworn entered the barracks, but there luck failed them. A group of guards inside had just woken up possibly to take their turn on watch and shouts of alarm quickly abounded. Yet with the Wolfsworn and the northern army already inside the barracks, and fully armored, the battle was never in doubt.
The defenders held out through the rest of the night despite Ranma trying to call on them to surrender but by the next morning castle Vypren was in Northern hands. They had lost men certainly, over two hundred dead in the vicious fighting in the barracks and the keep itself, but the Riverlands and Lannister men on the other side had died in far greater numbers, only a hundred and fifty surviving to surrender.
Worse however was that Ranma had been forced to execute his first troopers. He and Dacey had battled their way up to the top of the keep where the lord's quarters were, only to find men in Hornwood colors there before them, holding down the lady of the House and a girl who had to be her daughter, a young boy unconscious on the floor. Ranma ripped them off the women then tossed them so hard against the wall they nearly died from that. However they lived to be brought before the army the next day.
Ranma stared out at his army, bunched in so much they couldn't move easily in the courtyard of the castle, his eyes hard as he addressed them. "You all have heard me speak of the penalty for rape or murder. These two men thought that I wasn't serious, or that they would not be caught. They were wrong. They now stand accused of attempted rape, witnessed by myself and Dacey Mormont."
The two men looked over at Daryn and their fellows beseechingly but Daryn stared back, his own eyes dark with fury and they subsided, knowing now that no one would speak up on their behalf. Behind them Ranma raised Ice. "The sentence is death, to be carried out immediately." Ranma swung Ice twice, and two heads fell to the grass of the courtyard to a murmured susurration among the men, though none spoke up.
After that Ranma set fifty men of House Karstark to guard the still shaken lady Vypren and her two children sending them back to Castle Shawney while another seventy from Hornwood took the prisoners in shackles back to lady and her children, both younger than Arya, were to be treated well. While their House would be destroyed for its treachery in backing the invaders, they personally hadn't done anything wrong. Something would have to be done with them in the future, but not yet.
"So do we invest the Castle and wait for Lord Tywin to arrive?" asked Lord Shawney, scratching at his beard thoughtfully, smiling slightly at how Ranma had enforced his discipline so ruthlessly. After an example like that he doubted many men would try anything further for a long time.
"No. Set fire to take out the supports, burn it to the ground." Ranma replied. "Then we'll move on. This was only the first battle of this campaign, we can't afford to be bogged down."
OOOOOOO
Tywin had anticipated Ranma would move to Shawney castle but the speed of Stark's army was much faster than he had anticipated, though his move to attack castle Vypren had startled Tywin, who felt he'd try to move down to the Ruby Ford and across to meet up with the rest of his his scouts, which he had out in their hundreds, had reported that castle Vypren was on fire he had to almost sit on Lord Vypren, who wanted to push ahead with his men, a bare nine hundred, but thankfully they were well back in the army's ranks as they marched.
"I sent a thousand men to secure your castle, yet this is what I hear happens. Who did you leave in command?" Tywin asked Vypren coldly.
"I, I left Ser Orme in charge, my lord. He, he is a knight from the Reach, and I, I thought…" Vypren stuttered, his bravado leaving him. He had raced forward to speak to Tywin the moment the news of his castle's destruction reached him. He had been all aflame to demand that he and his men be let to go ahead of the army but Tywin's face and voice had the effect of being dunked in ice.
"Evidently your belief in his competence was misplaced." Or could Stark have used that weapon he used against the Freys again? No, I can't assume that alas. If he could get into the castle, Ranma's own skills would have let them win the day, possibly even against those numbers against an inept commander. Still, we're close, and if the fool boy is offering me the chance to defeat his army in detail, then who am I to turn him down? Yet, better safe than sorry. "I want the scouts pushed out further, find us the Northern army, but their orders are to report back to us here while keeping in sight of them if possible."
Tywin motioned to his senior commanders. "Plumm, Brax, Lefford, our objective is to find and pin the Northern army then bring our full force down on it. This will not be easy, since the Northerners can seemingly move much faster than ours, but it needs to be done. You will each take a thousand men ahead of the main army on a different angle. If the scouts find them you are to move to engage them while calling in the rest of the army. Take five hundred archers each, use them to try to pin the northerners down but don't try to fight them alone, unless you can entice them to attack you in a position that gives you some chance of turning their numbers against them. Other than that, I'll leave it up to you how you go about doing it."
Daven had pulled out a map of the Riverlands, which was a worse copy than the one Ranma had been using from House Paege, but still accurate enough. "Stark has to know he can't take us on with the numbers he's got, so what is he trying to do?"
"Good question," Tywin said, nodding his head sharply at the younger man. "We'll keep that in mind, and keep track of where the Northern Army tries to march. We will also keep between them and the Red Fork, just in case they are trying to merely pull us out of our defensive position and then attack us from behind somehow. The rest of their forces however are immaterial for now, they won't be allowed to cross the Ruby Ford, not with the Riverlanders over there desperate to stay neutral, and if they march down the Kingsroad, they'll run into the blocking forces we have in Harroway, Darry and the rest."
His nephew nodded, knowing that even if the northerners could move around those defenses, no general in his right mind would willingly leave forces like that in their rear. Tywin nodded in turn and went on. "For now, let's see if we can net the Wild Wolf then spear him to death before going after other game."
OOOOOOO
Barely a week after Petyr had taken another step in his friendship with Joffrey, the combined armies of the Reach and the Stormlands came within sight of the capital walls. Despite his mother's protests, Joffrey rode out to the wall to view the approaching army. With Rupert there to watch over him the queen was forced to concede that it would be good for morale to see the King in attendance. As Joffrey watched, the army spread out slowly across the Southwest on the other side of the Blackwater, not actually coming close to the city yet. "They're not crossing?"
"I ordered the nearest bridges destroyed two days ago, your highness." Rupert Serret said smiling thinly. "This way they'll only be able to attack one side of the city, unless they want to devote enough time to build their own bridges. There was no food crossing them after all, so why not?"
Joffrey nodded officiously, as if he had been the one to come up with the idea and Rupert simply carried it out. "How long do you think?" he asked. "And if that is the case, should we try to meet them on the riverbank?"
"If we had near parity in numbers possibly." Rupert said diplomatically rolling his eyes when he knew the youngster couldn't see them. Joffrey had not impressed him at all, and that comment was part and parcel of why. There was also something all about the boy, something subtle but there nonetheless. Something about the eyes and those rumors he'd heard about how the little bastard treated animals bothered the hell out of him.
Joffrey sighed. "So nothing's going to happen today?" He said, his tone somewhere near a whine and a question. "I'd hoped that they at least would come within range of our trebuchets."
"Thankfully no, we've probably bought ourselves another week or so, and I don't doubt that Renly knows we've built trebuchets, it isn't hard to realize where the outer range of them would be and stay out of it. Frankly Your Highness, I'm hoping that Lord Stannis arrives soon, and the two of them battle it out weakening one another before either think of attacking us here."
Joffrey smiled, liking the idea of getting to of his enemies to fight and kill one another. "An excellent idea." He enthused, then sighed again turning away. "But one that we can't do anything to bring about. I'm going to head back to the Keep."
Rupert's prediction was proven correct as it did indeed take the combined army five days to build a makeshift bridge that was strong enough for them to send troops across. Soon after that however, they had invested two-thirds of the city's landward area, well out of siege range for now, but building their camps and preparing for battle to come, while teams of carpenters and levy forces were sent south to the kingswood.
Soon after that, a messenger was spotted coming towards the outer walls, coming straight down the Gold road. Below the white banner of parley flew his own, a white dolphin on aquamarine. Cersei actually had to think for a moment to remember the house that was from: Lowther, a knightly house sworn to the Tyrells whose lands were northeast of Highgarden. "In other words, someone who wouldn't be worth anything to ransom, but someone with connections all the same," she explained to Lord Serret, who had never made a study of the Reach houses.
The Lion Gate was open for him, and he was escorted through the city up to the Red Keep. Ser Lowther, the head of that house, was a young man of Renly's age, though he didn't run in the same social circles. Renly had chosen him because the youth had impressed Renly on his eye for detail, and because he was unassuming, plus, as Cersei had guessed, not important enough for anyone to try and capture. Renly had impressed upon all his commanders how dishonorable Joffrey was, as well as Cersei, so even the Stormlands lords with him, all of whom felt they could have done the job much better 'than this nobody', didn't make waves.
Ser Lowther knew why he had been chosen but he didn't let it bother him. Instead he did what he did best, notice things. He noticed both the numbers of the defenders and the glaring looks from the smallfolk, and paid particular attention to the fact that he only saw a few inns and taverns open, and none of the food carts that usually lined many of the main roads of King's Landing.
After being searched thoroughly for hidden weapons Ser Lowther was allowed into the King and Queen Regent'spresence. Of course Lord Serret was there as well, standing beside the large, gaudy, and above all, padded, chair that sat at the foot of the Iron Throne which Joffrey used as his throne.
No matter what he tried, the Iron Throne was simply uncomfortable to sit on regardless of the number of pillows you try to place on it. So he had commissioned this work of art. His throne was made of oak, with gold paint and glass gems studding it here and there, the padding a vibrant Lannister red. Of course it was merely a stopgap, Joffrey planned to replace the Iron Throne as soon as the war was over and commission a throne made with real gold and gems, but his mother had convinced him weeks before Serret arrived they could not afford the expense at the moment.
Cersei said next to him a small, much less ostentatious chair, as befitted her status as Queen Regent. Along one wall waited the rest of the small council, and the Kingsguard were stationed both at the door and on either side of the royals. Jaime had made certain that his appointees were mixed equally with Joffrey's just to make certain nothing would happen. He was concerned with how fanatic Joffrey's chosen appointees were to his orders and Joffrey wasn't the most diplomatic of kings after all.
Ser Lowther took the throne room in at a glance, then bowed formally holding out his missive at after standing upright again, deliberately facing Cersei rather than Joffrey. "Your Highness, I am here under token of parlay to share with you King Renly the First's…"
Joffrey scowled angrily. "King Renly! He is no King, I am my father's heir! Your Renly is simply an usurping rebel!"
"Indeed." said the Cersei motioning to one of the Kingsguard to step forward to take the terms from the messenger. Ser Balon did so, passing it over to her quickly. "Even if we were speaking of merely becoming the regent for my son, Renly would not have been considered, his rebellion has nothing backing it in law or custom, so your words, Ser, have no basis in fact."
More than one man there inwardly chuckled at that. After all while some might say Robert's Baratheon's kingship was based on the vaguest of connections to the Targaryen line, it was really about might making right: he won his rebellion and the crown. Renly was simply attempting the same.
Cersei opened up this roll of parchment and began to read while the messenger replied to her words. "We believe otherwise, we believe that the fact that King Robert, forever hallowed be his name, named Renly as Lord of the Stormlands means that he would have wished Renly to be his heir. And Joffrey is illegitimate, one only has to look at him to know that."
"I should have you flayed alive for that!" Joffrey shouted, bounding out of his chair. Rupert's hand however clamped down his shoulder pushing him down while Jaime glared at Ser Blount and Ser Buckwell who had made to move forward at their King's bellow. Both of them backed away, taking their hands off their hilts.
Joffrey shrugged off Rupert's hand but remained sitting, glaring angrily at the messenger. "That is slander! Lord Stannis has always hated the fact that Robert had children, and hated the fact that my father loathed him! The Starks too thought that none of us were legitimate, but it was a power-play, nothing more! I am the lawful heir to Robert Baratheon that is indisputable, as is the fact that any who follow Renly or Stannis have broken their oaths to House Baratheon!"
"Indeed," Cersei said, looking up from the parchment to stare hard at Ser Lowther. "The evidence of the Maesters in Oldtown do not match with the Maesters here and in that of House Baratheon lands themselves have found. There have been numerous occasions where Baratheon looks did not breed true. We have proofs here, and can send for more from Storm's End."
Those proofs were forgeries, all maester Pycelle's work and Varys, and of extremely good quality. The Baratheon looks not breeding true was still rare, they could do nothing with the vast majority of the names the Maesters in Oldtown provided as proof of Cersei's infidelity, but there were a few names of children in marriages to other houses, and one or two in past Baratheon and Lannister marriages where they had been able to… modify the history to serve their ends. Varys had even been able to get copies out to a agent of his, who would pass it on to another in Storm's End where it would be placed in the historical tomes there.
"Thus, let us face facts, Ser Lowther. Lord Renly is simply ambitious, he grasped that bit of calumny from Stannis and from the Starks to give him a reason to rebel. Everything else is simply excuses to cover his act of treason. As for your lord's offer of terms, I reject them utterly." These are not terms you give to an equal, these are terms you give to a supplicant! Full capitulation, opening the city's gates immediately and offering my son and myself up as hostage to my father's good conduct! To freely admit to that spurious bit of propaganda, never!"
Cersei's voice had become strident for a moment, but she controlled herself with difficulty before going on. "However I have a counter offer. Not for Renly Baratheon, his actions are inexcusable and nothing can change that. No, my offer is to the Reach and House Tyrell. The Reach has not done my family any true harm as yet, and there is no need to do so now since, according to rumor, the alliance between House Tyrell and House Baratheon has not yet been made permanent."
She held up a hand to one of her handmaidens who was standing obediently along the back wall. The woman moved forward, placing a roll of parchment in Cersei's hand which she in turn handed toSer Lowther after motioning the Kingsguard to let him come close. "Because of that I offer my son's, the King's, hand in marriage to Lady Margaery."
"I believe that will give Mace exactly what he wants, his little girl on a throne, and moreover I can guarantee the marriage will actually produce an heir which will not occur if she is forced to marry Renly. His preferences are known to me and to most of the royal court. Or is there some other reason why he has not married the girl already? She was certainly a beautiful young lady the last time I saw her here in King's Landing, why any young man should jump at the chance, irrespective of what her hand brings in terms of alliance."
Actually, Cersei was slightly understating things. Margaery had been a magnificent young lady when she was here, and if not for Robert Cersei would have quickly changed the marriage contract to her rather than Sansa in a heartbeat. Moreover, she knew there was a brain in that pretty little head, so above and beyond the strength of the house that it would bring into alliance with the Lannisters the marriage itself would probably be a good one.
She was not about to mention the fact Joffrey had passed a law allowing for the royal house to practice polygamy however. That bit of idiocy had infuriated her when she first found out about it, but he had passed it so quickly, with Varys and Petyr's help for some reason weeks before Serret had arrived, and it had passed with nary a whimper from the Faith, that she hadn't made an issue of it.
Since then she had found out why that was: Joffrey had promised that the law would only remain on the books for one generation, and that he would, upon winning the war against the Starks, use it to gain a foothold in the North, from which he would begin to convert the north to the Faith, by the sword if need be. That, the rumors about Renly's preferences, and the rumors quickly becoming fact about Stannis and his own faith, had won him and the throne the support of the High Septon and the Most Devout, which would be of immense value in the long term.
"If Mace agrees to my terms, all he need do is to retreat from this battlefield. Go home to the Reach, we understand that his realm is having issues of its own right now after all, and we would like our new ally to see to his own… House." She smiled thinly as did Varys and Petyr from where they stood along the wall.
Ser Lowther looked at her in puzzlement, not understanding that. The news of Willas and his campaign along the western front had not reached the army, nor had the news of the destruction of the Shield islands and the Arbor. But they had reached Varys, and he had shared them with the small council. He had not shared the arrival of Viserys or anything from Dorne however.
After a moment the man realized that Cersei wasn't going to say anything more and he bowed stiffly. "If that is your final word I will take my leave."
Joffrey nodded, having lost much of his anger in the face of his mother's cool control of the moment. "You may go, I hope that the next time we see one another that you have learned to curb your tongue when it comes to certain rumors, and that you bring good news from House Tyrell."
Ser Lowther bowed again stiffly then retreated from the throne room. The moment the door closed behind him, Rupert turned to Cersei. "That was well done your Majesty, though I wish you had talked to me about it before this. It'll give Mace something to think about, and the Reach forces outnumber the Stormlands two to one or more. But did you really think they would be able to break off?"
"Of course not." Cersei said waving one hand in the air. "It would be nice if the two armies out there were to separate, but I doubt they will. No, I wanted to give him something to think about, both him and his people."
She looked over at Varys who took his cue. "His Majesty is correct, with the issues that the Reach are facing on their own ground, their second echelon will not arrive here at full strength, if at all. The western front is in danger of being overwhelmed by what should have amounted to only a probing attack, the Shield Islands are gone as is the Arbor, and many of the lord's out there must worry about their homesteads now especially those fools who took nearly all their forces to war."
"Moreover, Renly has not exactly covered himself with glory since his little rebellion began. And I was speaking the truth, while for most men the Lady Margaery would be a prize almost beyond any, it is patently not so to Renly. Worse, Mace, or at least his mother Olenna, will realize that if Renly cannot perform in bed, that this will not be the last war of succession the realm faces. If there is not a clear line of descent, there would be room for others to argue the point especially with the precedent that has already been set here." Cersei concluded.
And before this with Robert's Rebellion,Varys thought to himself snorting internally at the sophistry of Cersei. Still, it was all to the good from his perspective. The more the Westeros houses fought one another, the more they weakened themselves before his true patron could take the field. He would have preferred things to not have come to open warfare, stability was what he really craved. But House Baratheon had never offered that, not with their throwing off all precedent by taking the throne from House Targaryen while doing all they could to butcher that line, and that didn't even consider the fact that the dragons had returned. With them the Targaryen Dynasty would be secure once more, regardless of which dragon took the throne.
"She is a beautiful young lady." Joffrey mused his eyes lighting up. And thanks to that law I passed I can have my cake and eat it too. I wonder if I should keep Ranma alive just long enough for him to watch as I take his sister, or make his head a wedding present to her? Those images caused an atavistic thrill to go through him, and he felt himself respond. Controlling himself with difficulty he vowed to head out to the city that evening and find something to use up some of his energy.
"What are the odds that Lord Tyrell will go for it though?" Rupert said looking at Cersei. "I've only met Mace once that after Roberts Rebellion, so I don't have a very good idea of his personality."
"Bluff, arrogant, childish, rather stupid." Cersei said succinctly. "That is his attitude my Lord. However, his stupidity will work against us here. He'll think he holds all the cards, simply because his army is the largest, and he will assume that a bird in the hand as it were is better than two in the field. No, I'm rather afraid that this was simply something to give him thought, their army will need to suffer severe casualties before he thinks about truly backing away from his current alliance with Renly."
OOOOOOO