Kapitel 24: Gods Among Men
(A/N: Ooof, sorry for being so late. Internet just came back after 2 days.)
Robb Stark sat in silence, watching as Lords of great and small renown alike mingled about the Great Hall, shouting and japing while others came to near blows...
The Northern Host would soon begin its march, and reinforce his mother's family, the Tullys against the Lannister forces running amok in it... but before that, Robb had to settle matters among his men, to ensure that everything went as smoothly as possible.
One thing he didn't quite appreciate was the way many among those present sought to use the war as an opportunity to advance their own houses.
The Mormonts of Bear Island and the Cerywns offered him marriage while the Boltons and the Glovers argued over who would command the flow of the battle.
Some older, aged, lords in their grand wisdom, thought he was green and questioned his command.
Serving girls waltzed around, pheasants and roasts were devoured with copious amounts of alcohol, men shouted amongst themselves, and all hungered for battle, revenge and glory.
Robb looked at them all with steely eyes, withholding any and all emotion from his face, and swallowed his mead from a steel cup before turning his head to stare at his sisters, sitting by his side.
It had been quite difficult to convince Arya to not cause trouble while Sansa questioned why he hadn't tried to enlist the 'noble knight' who rescued them to their cause even when he served their father.
Little Bran and Rickon were happy to see their sisters in good health, but the nature of the situation that would have arisen from their absence escaped their young minds.
Robb opened his mouth to ask them of their day, like their father used to, but was interrupted by the Maester of Winterfell, Luwin.
A small man, with a simple choker around his neck to signal his disposition as a Maester from the Citadel all of his peers studied at, his form was covered by voluminous grey robes, and he lowered his head in apology for his interruption, making some of the grey locks of what little hair he had hang loosely in the air.
"A raven, my lord." He said respectfully, "From... Seagard."
Robb raised his brow, "Another one?"
One had come in the previous day, addressed to Theon Greyjoy, and had left the young man fuming in rage, rage he funnelled into pummeling a poor squire that agreed to spar with him.
"This one is for you, my lord." Luwin reached into his robes and produced a sealed letter carrying the silver eagle of House Mallister.
Robb gave a small nod before unceremoniously opening the letter to read its contents.
The start was plain, with respect and introduction that was common courtesy, it was the contents shared thereafter that made even his eyes widen.
Lord Jason Mallister expressed his disbelief regarding the veracity of the events described, then affirmed that he had confirmed their truth with his own two eyes, accompanied by a contingent of soldiers.
The Twins of the Freys, fortresses built on a massive bridge that allowed direct entry into the Riverlands, had been destroyed, and burnt still... A fact that was eclipsed by the next piece of news.
The Iron Islands had met the same fate.
Pyke burnt, and the sea had swallowed up all else.
Robb couldn't bring himself to believe such a thing had occurred.
Then there was the final detail that made him want to disregard the entire report as a joke.
Apparently, all this had been done by one man.
Jason Mallister expressed his concerns about the man's nature of being then affirmed that he had judged him to be fair of character, and requested he halt the Lannister advance, as a favour and one final test while promising his help with their war efforts.
"Karl?" Robb muttered quietly.
But not quietly enough, Arya perked up from beside him, "What happened to Karl?"
Her inquiry drew the unsolicited attention of the rest of his siblings.
"Nothing, he's in the Riverlands, with Lord Jason Mallister." Robb's mind wandered as he tried to make sense of the news and held the letter out to Maester Luwin, holding up his other hand to stop his sibling's questions, "Do you think it reads true?"
Luwin cocked his head in doubt, before reading through it with trembling, old fingers, "I... I do not know."
"Do we have any way to know?"
"Lord Mallister is not someone with a love for jests... especially not like this." The old Maester let out a sigh and shook his head, "Yet these are a madman's claims."
Robb accepted his words with a small nod, "Then we'll see if his words are true ourselves."
For now... he needed to act as if this wasn't true, if the Lannisters were indeed stopped, then he would have no choice but to accept them as truth.
"Send a raven to Pyke." He commanded stoically, "Make sure Theon doesn't hear about this."
The old Maester nodded and shuffled away with a lowered head, a certain 'shock' to the way he moved... Robb shared his disbelief, but he didn't show it on his face.
"Robb, Robb, what happened to Karl?" Arya chided once the Luwin was gone, pulling on his sleeve.
Robb glanced at her, "As I said, nothing. He's in Seagard, helping the Riverlands against the Lannisters."
"Does that mean he's fighting?" She asked with a slight excitement to her words, though it was nothing like what he was used to and he understood why, "Well?"
Robb didn't get her meaning, "...Yes?"
"Hm, that means he's going to be famous."
Licking his dry lips, Robb allowed himself to smile slightly at his sister's words, "Why do you think so?"
"He cut down four Lannisters in the blink of an eye at the inn we stopped at! He did it faster than they could even move." She beamed, describing violence with a big smile, "Sansa was asleep though. She thought he was kidnapping us."
Sansa coughed lightly at her words, "I did not. Father tasked him with protecting us. And he did so like a true knight."
"And when he told you, you tried to hit him because your Prince Joffrey wouldn't do anything." Arya quipped back, an edge to her tone, "He didn't do anything, did he?"
The older girl recoiled at that, averting her gaze, "I... I didn't kno-"
"He killed Father."
"Enough." Robb interrupted, silencing both his sisters, "No one except Joffrey himself is at fault... and he will pay."
But there were other matters to consider as well, as the Lord of Winterfell, charged with the North.
Renly Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon had both declared themselves King, while the one who sat the Iron Throne was his father's murderer.
...Who was he meant to declare for?
What was the best course of action to take?
Robb decided he would deal with what was necessary first and that... was to do something about the Lannisters headed their way right this moment.
-
"You, I recognise you."
I tilted my head at those words, hands on the hilt of a greatsword I'd borrowed from the rivermen's camp when one of the lords wasn't looking. I took a look at the grey sky, then breathed in the fresh air carrying the nostalgic scent of wet soil.
Turning my head sideways, I cast a glance at the flimsy line of the rivermen that was supposed to somehow stop the forces in front of me.
Only once I was done looking at everything else did I look up at the young man who was addressing me, a neutral smile on my lips, "And I recognise you too... Kingslayer, was it?"
He had bright green eyes and curly, gold hair with looks that screamed knight of legend and renown.
The last time I'd seen him he was wearing the armour of the Kingsguard, at King's Landing, but right now he wore a golden armour decorated with a lion, a crimson cape hung from his shoulders and he held a lion-shaped helmet in the crook of his arm.
"I prefer Jaime Lannister." He spoke with a small smile, his horse ran away when he started approaching so he had to do it on foot, "What are your terms?"
Huh... right, I'd called for a parlay after my meeting with Lords Vance and Clement was interrupted by the Lannister arrival... The two were arguing about cutting their forces or something so I just rode out to meet the Lannisters myself.
"Turn back, or I take off your head, your choice." I offered politely.
"You'd be a fool to try."
No one could blame me for having a little bit of fun.
"Better a fool than a curious genius if it means I end up sticking it in my own sister."
He sucked in his cheeks at my words and his green eyes widened in shock, "How do yo-"
"How do you not expect people to know? Joffrey is mentally retarded, and he looks it too." I smiled, poking fun at his reaction even though I'd never actually seen his kid, "That only happens when siblings do it, in case you didn't know."
"Prepare your men." He spoke sharply.
I just tilted my head slightly, "Oh they're not my men. I wager they'd probably want my head if I rode back right now."
The rivermen were armed well enough, they had a good number of riders, and chainmail and leather where there wasn't plate but... compared to the Lannisters, they looked like beggars.
The sheer difference in numbers was glaring.
The difference in weapon and armour quality was outright insane.
They would crush the rivermen... except I was here.
Jaime drew his gilded sword, "Then I'll take it to them."
"Yeah, no."
"...What?"
"No."
"Ride along back to your men." I shooed him away with my hand, "Let's get this war started."
He grit his teeth and walked away, visibly angered by our little exchange.
"Now then..." I pulled my borrowed sword from the ground and raised it to the sky above.
My task was to rout this force, not destroy them, and thankfully for them, I wasn't particularly in the mood to do so either for no reason.
We were on a hill pass, and they were about to regret using it.
"Well... It seems my flair for the dramatic still burns brightly."
I drove the sword into the ground before holding out my hands to either side with a small grin.
Crimson lightning surged from the grey skies, before coalescing a few hundred feet into the air and crashing down between the two forces as they watched, unable to do anything.
It carved and burnt through the earth itself, ripping away massive swathes of hills as my coat fluttered in the strong winds from the rapid collisions.
Like a ripple, nature's unrestrained fury blew through hills and even land, creating new depths that none had any way of crossing.
And as I lowered my hand, pleased with my handiwork... I saw many men on their knees, their faces frozen in abject horror and disbelief so great they forgot their own words.
Their steeds neighed uncontrollably and abandoned their masters for their own survival.
A reaction that was shared by both the Lannisters and the rivermen without fail.
Of course it was.
"Well, it'd come out eventually so this is fine."
I shrugged and walked away.
The Lannisters were routed completely... without a single life lost... mostly because they had no clear cut way of entering the Riverlands anymore.
There were definitely other paths, but my work was done.
Hell, I was even looking forward to how many of them wanted to continue this war after my display.
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