Chapter 91
-20th day of the 7th moon of the year 299 AC-
-POV Robb Stark-
Bam Bam Bam Bam
I was jolted awake when I heard someone pounding on my door, and I quickly opened the door that I had locked.
I asked Maester Luwin, who was in front of my door ready to knock again to wake me:
"What's happening? Have the Boltons attacked again?"
"Your father's army has returned and has taken the Bolton troops by surprise; we are saved," said Maester Luwin in a tone filled with relief.
I stifled the relief I was feeling and said, "Gather all the men and order them to stand in front of the castle gates as quickly as possible; we are going to encircle them."
-5 minutes later-
Once in front of the gates of Winterfell, I stopped in front of my men, all armed to the teeth, and I shouted while drawing my sword from its sheath: "My father and the army of the North have come here to save us, but we are not weak and fragile unable; we are also Northerners, and we will show Roose Bolton and his dogs that we are the sole rulers of the NORTH."
"STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK"
"STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK"
"STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK"
"STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK" "STARK"
I nodded, seeing the morale of my men skyrocket, and then I mounted my horse and whistled for Grey Wind to stand beside me because we were going out charging to quickly breach the flank of the Boltons, who had to reform by now since about 30 minutes had passed and the battle was still not over.
The gates opened, and I yelled while spurring my horse: "RIDERS WITH ME"
-30 minutes earlier-
POV Roose Bolton
"To arms"
"The enemy attacks"
"DEATH TO THE BOLTONS"
I grabbed a sword and stood up only to come face-to-face with Harry Strickland shouting orders to his mercenaries.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"The Starks have launched an offensive on our rear," he said, frowning while giving silent instructions to his captains, who were running everywhere to rejoin our forces that were increasingly dispersing.
'That's why I wanted to slow down our offensive to strengthen the security of our camp,' I thought, even though I said nothing.
"Duke Bolton, we must withdraw," said Arnolf Karstark with a worried look.
I thought for a few moments before entering my tent to put on my armor, Arnolf Karstark, and Harry Strickland followed me inside my tent, as did the guard to whom I had nodded for him to help me with my armor, and then I asked the captain of the Golden Company: "If I sound the retreat, what do you think will happen?"
"In my humble opinion, I think it would be better to confront them now, the Starks only have 1,000 cavalrymen, and we spotted them well before they attacked; we can still win."
"But if we leave the battlefield now, what will happen?" I asked again while fastening my armor straps.
"We will surely lose men as many will desert, we will also lose other men in the retreat as our enemies will continue to pursue us for a few kilometers and kill the stragglers, we will still have the numerical advantage, but then we will end up in a deadlock, and the situation will return to what it was before you killed the previous Lord Karstark," he said, quickly analyzing the situation.
"I agree with you, and if we stay, what are our chances of victory?"
"If we continue to talk like this, we will have none, but if you give me control of the battlefield now, I can promise you that we will not suffer a defeat."
"Very well, you have it," I said, nodding and gesturing for my guard to leave as he had finished helping me with my armor.
"Perfect," he said, quickly exiting.
We followed him, and I grabbed the reins; he looked at the battlefield in the distance, which had been primarily blocked by the Ryswell forces, who had taken the opposing cavalry by surprise, and then I said, frowning: "Why are they fleeing?"
"The Ryswell cavalry is the best cavalry in the North," said Arnolf.
"No, it's too good to be true; they haven't lost a single man in this retreat. Look at the distance between the two units; they started to flee before they even made contact; it smells like a trap from miles away."
"Order the Ryswell cavalry to return immediately," said Harry Strickland, nodding in agreement with my point of view.
"It's too late," I said, seeing a rain of arrows fly from behind the hill to land on the Ryswell cavalry, who charged recklessly towards their deaths.
"Who was leading the cavalry?" I asked Arnolf Karstark.
"The heir to House Ryswell," quickly answered one of his sons who had joined us in the meantime.
I nodded coldly and said, "Send a messenger to Viscount Ryswell to express my condolences for the loss of his nephew."
'I hope the message is clear enough, that fool ran straight to his death, but he will not drag us down with him. Ned Stark is trying to reproduce the Battle of Riverrun strategy; unfortunately, I will not be drawn into such a simple trap,' I thought, disdainfully observing the poor attempt he had made to trap us in order to shorten the difference in forces between us, while also watching my men slowly exit our camp in formation, ready to fight to the death.
'The real battle begins now,' I thought.