Lord Jorah Stark
Dragons and their wars, the conquest, the fighting in Dorne, there seemed to be no end to the trouble and problems that these Targaryens had brought to Westeros. Sometimes, Jorah deeply wished that his grandfather had not bent the knee to Aegon the Dragon, and had simply remained King in the North, that way the north would never have to get involved with all the petty squabbling that seemed to be going on in the south. That fool Westerling had placed a crown on his grandson's head and now Westeros was bleeding because of it, the Riverlands had been set alight, Wayfarer's Rest had been taken, as had Pinkmaiden and Acorn Hall, Laecareys Targaryen had proven his mettle, and the riverlords were bleating around like sheep trying to figure out what to do.
That was why Jorah's goodbrother Jaehaerys was in Winterfell now. He had come to get Jorah to side with King Vaegyl and the 'rightful' monarch of Westeros. Jorah had been severly tempted to simply tell Jaehaerys to return south and to never come back and bother him again, he would have done so had it not been for Daena, who had begged him to listen to her brother's words and to see whether or not he could be swayed. Daena, his beautiful wife, who he thanked the gods everyday for giving him, he could never say no to her and so he had bid Jaehaerys come to Winterfell, and now here they were talking about what should be done.
"What do you propose I do Your Grace? There is word from the Night's Watch that wildlings are massing behind some fool called Bael to invade the north. I cannot and will not leave my home undefended. Not whilst these savages come lurking at my door." Jorah said seriously.
Prince Jaehaerys ever the diplomat replied."I am not asking you to do so Lord Stark. All I am asking is for you and your men to march south to defend the rightful king's throne, and once the pretenders have been dealt with, the whole of Westeros may deal with this Bael."
Jorah snorted. "And how can you guarantee that King Vaegyl will wish to come north and help defend these lands, when the man has never set foot north of the Twins in his life? The man does not seem to hold me or mine in high regard."
"He will come Lord Stark; you may be assured of that. His Grace knows how to reward those who are loyal to him. Help us fight the pretender, help us win, and His Grace shall turn his attention and the might of the kingdoms northward, and with the dragons, the wildlings shall tremble and run like the cravens they are." Jaehaerys replied.
Jorah was silent for a moment and then he said. "I remember the stories that are told of my grandfather in the south, I heard them when I was a young lad. The southerners say that my grandfather was a craven and a weakling for bending without a fight. The south has never held much respect for the north. Be that as it may, I swore a vow to King Vaegyl when he was crowned, and I shall honour that vow, if you can promise me that help will be sent if requested, should Bael be too much of a threat for the north."
Jorah saw his goodbrother nod his head, before he answered. "Very well then Jorah, in exchange for your men, we shall come forth should the need arise." And with that the discussion of whether or not the north would fight for King Vaegyl or not was ended. The discussion had been a mere formality. Jorah had decided the minute the raven had come from King's Landing with declaration of war that he would fight for the king, not his pretender brother, he would not betray an oath his grandfather had sworn, he had told Jaehaerys as much when his goodbrother had come forth a moon ago. This pledging of allegiance was a mere formality, done so as to appease the members of his household and some of his nearest bannermen, that the north would not be cowed by the dragons, be they true or fake.
And so ravens were sent to Last Hearth, the Dreadfort, Barrowtown, White Harbour, Karhold and every major northern stronghold, calling them to Winterfell, calling them to war. All the lords of the north, who had long held allegiance to the Starks and to Winterfell, came in their great numbers, big brass and strong Lord Gared Umber brought with him 3,000 men amongst them two of his five sons and his famous uncle the giant Mors Snow. Aled Bolton, a cold and heartless man if there ever was one, brought with him 2,000 men. Donnel Manderly brought with him the greatest number of men out of all the major northern lords, some 6,000 men including 200 knights and many other retainers. In total 20,000 men assembled at Winterfell over a moon's turn, as the fighting in the south continued to rage, and the Riverlands continued to bleed. Jorah's goodbrother remained at Winterfell for that whole time, Jorah knew that whilst Prince Jaehaerys seemed to be spending the time with his sister and nieces and nephews, in actual fact he was getting the gist of the northern lords, to assess whether or not the right decision had been made in sending his sister up to the north in the first place.
Within a moon of all the bannermen of Winterfell arriving they marched south. Meeting up with the forces of House Reed along the way, news from the south came from Jorah's old friend Asgar Reed. Asgar was a short and burly man, some thirty or forty years old, and had been Jorah and his older brother's closest friend when they were growing up. The news he brought was of dire tidings. "Riverrun is under siege my lords. Lords Mooton, Ryger and Goodbrook have all joined their forces for the pretender."
There was much murmuring at that, and Jorah asked. "And what of House Frey Asgar? Who have they declared for?"
"No one my lord. They have remained neutral, though Lord Elgar has called his men to the Twins; he does nothing that my scouts and sources can see." Asgar replied.
There was more murmuring at that."We should burn the Twins to the ground my lord. The Freys are nothing more than up jumped toll collectors!" Gared Umber shouted.
"Nay, put the Freys to the sword, and take their men for our own." Shouted Edwyn Dustin, leader of the Winter Wolves.
"Frey men? Those who did nothing but sit by whilst the Boneway happened, those who are doing nothing now that their homes are under threat? Why would we want such men as part of the army or part of the Wolves Edwyn?!" Replied Galbart Mormont.
Jorah was silent for a moment before he spoke. "All noble suggestions my friends, but Prince Jaehaerys is the only one who should make the call, as one of the blood. Your Grace, what say you? What would you have us do?"
Jorah knew from speaking with Daena, that Jaehaerys had always been a careful and collected man, never speaking without thinking about what he was to say. He had negotiated a peace with the Faith in the early years of his cousin's reign, had done all he could to appease the Westerlings and the Lannisters, and now the effects of it were beginning to show, he looked older than his years, his face was lined and haggard. Therefore Jorah was surprised to hear the cold fury in his goodbrother's voice when he spoke. "House Frey are no more than up jumped toll collectors, but Lord Elgar has always had too much of a high opinion of himself, his children though are innocent. We shall march to the Twins and demand passage, should the man refuse, and we shall tear down the Crossing bit by bit, until the man learns the meaning of duty and honour." This was met by roars of approval by Jorah's men, and Jorah himself approved of the measure, too long had House Frey blithely ignored their duty to their liege.
They arrived at the entrance to the Twins one brisk Autumn day, 20,000 northmen and Prince Jaehaerys and his dragon Quicksilver, the banners of House Stark and House Targaryen flapping in the wind, they were greeted by Lord Elgar himself and 1,000 men from his lands. The man looked like a weasel, his eyes seemed glassy and cold, and clearly the man had never thought much of anything. "Ah well if it isn't the northern wolves and a dragon come to hound me from my home. So my lords to what do I owe the pleasure?"
It was Prince Jaehaerys who spoke for them atop Quicksilver. "Lord Elgar Frey we are here to ask for safe passage across the Green Fork to venture south to aid Riverrun."
Jorah saw the man snort. "Ah of course, the trout has got himself in a bit of a pickle eh? Unable to beat your cousin now, a green boy. Pah its disgraceful really the man's father would never have allowed such a siege to happen."
"And where were you when you heard of the fall of Wayfarer's and the marching of the pretender's armies on Riverrun Lord Elgar?" Prince Jaehaerys asked.
Jorah saw the Lord of the Crossing stiffen then, and heard the snarl in his voice when he replied. "Me? I was in my castle, defending my lands and my people. It is no fault of mine if Lord Edmund cannot beat a boy so green he pisses grass, now is it. He wrote for me to call my men to arms and I did, he did not ask me to come to his aid now did he?"
"Usually when a Lord asks one of his vassals to call his men to arms, that generally means that he wants you to come to his castle and assist in defending it Frey." Jorah snapped, tired already of listening to the man defend his unhonourable actions.
"Ah well if it isn't Lord Wolf himself," Lord Elgar snidely said. "Come to lecture me on propeity again have you Stark? Where's your wife? Fucking the stableboy again is she? Pah. Who are you to tell me what to do; your mother was a whore who sold herself to a savage."
Jorah felt his whole body stiffen with anger; he so desperately wanted to kill Frey then and there. But a roar from Quicksilver made him move his hand away from Ice. "Enough," bellowed Jaehaerys. "We are not little boys to trade insults back and forth, Lord Elgar we have come to ask for passage so we may help Lord Edmund Tully and lift the siege of Riverrun. Will you assist us or not?"
Jorah still bristling with anger, watched as Elgar Frey turned his head up to squint at Prince Jaehaerys. "Don't see why I should," the man said. "Aegon Targaryen has offered me a much sweeter deal, and you haven't even had the decency to pay me a toll. Why should I let the wolves past my door, when I can get the Lordship of the Riverlands and perhaps a sweet Northern bride of fiery blood for simply killing you all now. Men!"
Jorah watched in shock as then men who had come with Elgar Frey drew their steel and charged towards them. Jaehaerys on Quicksilver took flight with a bellowing roar from the dragon, Jorah drew Ice from its sheath on his back and rode forth to meet the Frey soldiers. He hacked at one man taking his arm off, he hacked at another and the man's head came off. Hacking and slashing, the fighting raged on, all Jorah could think of was making the bastard Frey pay for his deceit.
In the sky, Quicksilver seemed to be roaring his and his master's anger, though he did not unleash jets of fire, not yet at least, for the bowmen amongst the Frey party were losing arrows at the dragon and Jaehaerys was trying to lead the beast away from the arrow fire. Jorah brought his attention back to the fighting on the ground, and swung his sword at an approaching brute with a boar on his doublet, the man's chest was pierced by Ice, and Jorah grunted in triumph. He moved on, hacking and slashing the roaring and crying of men, it made his blood boil.
Frey seemed to have disappeared into the throng of battle, yet Jorah had the sense that he would be somewhere close by. "There my lord, there's the weasel!" He heard Mors Snow shout. Jorah followed the man's hammer and saw Lord Elgar Frey burying his sword into a man with the bear of House Mormont on it, Jorah felt the wolf's blood take effect then and he yelled a curse and spurred his horse on, cutting down men left, right and centre, not caring whom they were, simply that they had gotten in his way.
"Frey!" He bellowed, his sword stained red with blood.
Elgar Frey looked up and tried to turn his horse around to flee, but at that exact moment with a terrifying roar, Quicksilver the mighty bronze dragon landed in front of him, and with him was Prince Jaehaerys. "You have nowhere to go Lord Elgar. Surrender and you may yet be spared." Gone was the formal tone that Jorah's goodbrother had used when speaking with the man previously, in its place was anger and a fire that Jorah had never heard there before.
Frey raised his visor and spat at the ground in front of Prince Jaehaerys, his voice was laced with disdain when he spoke. "Pah never, I would rather die than bend the knee to an incest abomination. Long live the true king."
Jorah spurred his horse toward the two of them, "Let me have the pleasure of killing this bastard Your Grace."
Prince Jaehaerys looked at Jorah, and there was something in his goodbrother's eyes that unsettled him slightly, but it quickly disappeared. "Very well then Lord Stark, this is more than he deserves, but seeing as I am not a barbarian, you shall have a clean death." His goodbrother nodded at him and Jorah spurred his horse on further until he was at a gallop raising Ice high into the air when he came shoulder to shoulder with Elgar Frey he swung Ice, and lopped of the man's head.
Later that day Jorah found himself in what used to be Elgar Frey's solar discussing how to best move on Riverrun to lift the siege. After seeing their lord's death the men in the Frey army had thrown their weapons and had surrendered, though not before Edwyn Frey, Elgar's eldest son and heir was put to the sword for refusing to surrender. Edwyn's baby son was now Lord of the Crossing and his fate would be decided at a later date. Now though there were more pressing issues to discuss.
"We should split the forces in half if we wish to spring a surprise on the pretender's brother." Argued Dorren Hornwood.
"Aye that would be most sensible, Prince Laecareys may have done well thus far, but he is still a boy, and boys tend to lose their heads when it comes to battles as big as this one." Lefford Locke agreed.
"Pah, why should we do that? Let's attack the little stripling in full force, and send him running with his tail between his legs back to his mother." Gared Umber said.
"Splitting the forces sounds like a good idea," Jaehaerys replied. "We…" Just as he was about to continue a messenger came in.
"Sorry my lords, Your Grace. But a raven as just come. From Riverrun."
Curious, Jorah took the letter and read it and felt dread pool in his stomach, he handed it to Jaehaerys who slumped in his chair.
"What has happened Your Grace?" Asked someone.
Jaehaerys did not seem to be able to respond, so Jorah spoke for him. "There was an attempt to lift the siege of Riverrun by Princess Alysanne and those forces loyal to House Mallister. Prince Daemon killed Princess Alysanne, her dragon Silverwing is laying dead from her wounds."