Chapter 41: Raid

Gerold

War was filled with uneasy choices. Most of the time all you can do hope the choice you made the right one. This was what plagued Lord Gerold Grafton since their lady had joined the war.

For almost two years she had kept them out of the conflict between the sons of Robert Baratheon. For that Gerold was thankful, the last thing he wanted was to get into yet another pointless conflict. Others were less enthusiastic about it, Lord Royce chief among them. Since the war started he had been petitioning for them to aid the Starks.

Yet no matter what happened Lady Arryn refused to do anything and remained neutral. Still it didn't seem right that she would stay here while her siblings and uncle were off fighting the Lannisters. It was an idea supported by many which Gerold admitted was understandable. Nobody in the Vale had any love for the Lannisters, the brutality of their ruthless lord were looked down upon here where honor was valued. It was a sentiment that even he himself shared.

Then everything went wrong the moment that serpent Lord Baelish came to the Vale on behalf of King Joffrey. With his sly smile and witty tongue, he managed to win Lady Arryn over to his cause. Soon after he married Lady Arryn and she declared her support for King Joffrey.

It was this act that finally pushed many over the edge, many of their own valemen followed Lord Royce in defiance of Lysa's decision.

Lord Grafton wished they could go back to being neutral, this had been the hardest choice of his life, between his liege lord or his morals. In the end he chose to stay with House Arryn of only for the Sake of Jon Arryn's only son. He was said to be sickly, spoiled and unstable like his mother but he was still Jon Arryn's heir.

Since his declaration Gerold had been working day and knight to prepare the Arryn's fleet for war. The Vale lacked a proper navy unlike richer houses like the Westerlands and the Reach let alone the Iron islands. But having one of Westeros's five main cities dictated that they have a fleet to protect it. As such Gulltown had about thirty ships and this was bolstered by ships from the three sisters. In her paranoia Lady Arryn ordered Lord Grafton to seize any merchant vessel that came in lest their be spies aboard. The plan was to use their fleet to attack White Harbor to the north where rumor had it that the Northerners had begun building their own fleet.

As he drifted off to sleep, a loud crash was heard that bolted him awake. He rushed to the window and saw the harbor was under attack. Ships on the horizon were launching fireballs at Grafton's keep while down below it seemed a skirmish had broken out. This confused Gerold for a moment. No boats had landed surely they could not have gotten so close without the warning bell being rung.

A quick knock at the door followed by his maester turned his attention, "my lord, we're being attacked."

"How is this possible?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"We've been betrayed my Lord," the Maester replied, "by the Shetts of Gull Tower."

Gerold frowned he should have expected this . Their were two Branches of House Shett in Gull Town, one of which was a sworn bannerman of House Royce so it should not have come to a surprise when they declared for their overlords. but the other branch was sworn to his house, at least they were suppose to be. Then again Gerold didn't see the point of a house having two branches if they lived in the exact same place.

After donning his armor and strapping on his sword Lord Gerold rushed to the battlements From there he could see Grafton Men at Arms fighting fiercely against men with the sigil of House Shett marching on the keep and they weren't alone. He also saw the banners of Coldwater, Tollent, Templeton, and Hardying. Meanwhile, boats loaded with soldiers rowed from the attacking fleet and were swarming the docks and aiding the Shetts. Despite putting up heavy resistance Grafton's men were outnumbered and caught off guard and they were slowly whittled back towards Grafton's keep.

Surprisingly the Declarant forces didn't seem interested in taking the keep and Gerold noticed that the bulk of the fighting was centered around the Harbor. Gerold bowed his head as he realized what the Declarants were up to, It was not the town they wanted it was the Ships.

With Grafton's forces driven back to the Keep, the rebel forces proceeded to seal the gates and sack the city The Rebels took anything that would benefit their cause seizing weapons, supplies and any treasures they could find. These were then hauled to the ships for transport to Dragonstone. The rebel leaders were working to ensure nothing further happened such as Rape and murder, lest they answer to Lord Stannis or the Black Prince, who did not take such actions very well.

As the first light of dawn started to break over the horizon, the sound of a war horn could be heard. Gerold Grafton turned and saw an army approaching the city bearing the flags of Houses Cobray and Ruthermont. The Arryns had come to the aid of the Graftons.

Upon seeing the relief force the rebels quickly boarded their ships and sailed away. Though they took as many ships as they could they did not have the men to take them all so the ships they could not take were destroyed by the catapults of the main fleet waiting off the coast

As Gerold watched the fleet sail away with it's spoils, he swore he saw the Black Stag on one of those flags turn to him and smile.

Tywin

Kings landing became host to a force of newcomers from the Vale led by Ser Lymand Lynderly. He was brought before the small council to report on his battle with the Black Prince.

"The Black Prince caught us in a pincer at the ruby ford, and trapped us in the middle of the river." Ser Lymand explained. I was able to rally some of the men and break through but most were left behind. I also regret to inform you Lord Tywin that Lord Harys Swift was among those slain at the ford."

Tywin remained impassive on one hand Lord Harys had always been a bumbling idiot, regardless his daughter was Kevan's wife.

"I fear the news gets graver still Lord Hand," Varys said sadly. "It seems that Roland's fleet attacked Gulltown Harbor and with help from the forces of the Lords Declarant, manage to steal or destroy the Arryn ships docked there."

"Another victory for the Black Prince", Tyrion grumbled. Varys merely nodded grimly

"Where is Prince Roland now?" Tywin inquired.

"The Prince and the northern army are currently at the twins Lord Hand," Varys reported. "It appears that they are about to host a wedding between Robb Stark and one of Walder Frey's daughters."

"Why would he be marching North? Pycelle wondered

Mace laughed, "what is the boy abandoning the war so soon."

Varys shook his head, "it would seem he intends to deal with the Wildling Army that is currently marching on the wall."

Kevan frowned, "it's almost insulting to think that Prince Roland considers the wildlings a bigger threat than us."

"Would it be possible to sway Lord Walder to turn on Roland?" Mace asked.

"If he thinks Roland is loosing the war," Tyrion replied. "The Freys are never ones to fight for a loosing side. but right now Roland does not look like the loosing side. And as long as he keeps winning battles it is likely to stay that way.

As the lords babbled Tywin was in thought before he spoke up. "Regardless of his reasons, It seems our plans have reached a setback in the Iron Islands."

"What happened in the Iron Islands?" Tyrion inquired.

Balon Greyjjy died from a fall off one of the bridges of Pyke," Varys replied. The Ironborn held a kingsmoot to decide the next king Lord Hand," Varys replied. It seems they have chosen Balon's younger brother Euron as their new king."

Tywin frowned, for he knew of Euron Greyjoy all too well. He remembered that day in Lannisport he awoke in the middle of the night to see his great fleet set ablaze. He learned later that is was Euron who came up with the plan. With this knowledge he swore to capture him and make him pay for his crime. But the Greyjoy always manage to slip away from his reach. Tywin had let his guard down and it cost him dearly. He would not make that mistake again.

"What do we know about this Euron?" Mace asked.

"Not much personally," Varys replied, "what is known is that Balon's younger brother was exiled from the Iron islands a few years ago. Something that involved the Salt wife of Victarion Greyjoy, since that time Euron has been wreaking havoc across the seas. Now he is one of the most feared pirates in the known world.

"Unfortunately Balon's death is a great set back for us," Randyll Tarly added.

Tyrion cocked his eyebrow, "how so?"

Randyll frowned, "As part of our alliance with King Balon he agreed to provide a force of 100 longships to clear the river of Roland's ships this would have opened the way for our army to cross the Blackwater to deal with Lord Stannis.

Tywin nodded, "and now that Balon is dead our agreement may not come to fruition if Euron decided to go against it."

"So what can be done?" Tyrion asked.

Tywin rubbed his chin, "I will write to this new King of the Iron Islands, with any luck he is open to a new deal, we need those ships."

"And what if we can't convince Euron?" Tyrion voiced the question on everyone's mind.

Tywin's frown returned, "Then we will have to find another way to get our forces south or else we cannot retake the Reach before Roland marches back south."

Catelyn

Catelyn smiled as she read Robb's Letter. Ever since she made that deal with Walder Frey she worried that her Son would try find a way to back out on it. Bun instead not only did he choose a Frey as a bride it happened to be one of his liking. She wondered about the girl though , Roslin Frey, from what Robb described Catelyn could not recall seeing her among the other girls Walder had presented. Or perhaps she couldn't remember seeing her since they had been bunched together.

Of course, she did regret not being able to attend the Wedding but the moment she had returned home she couldn't bear the thought of leaving her youngest children a second time especially in these times.

When Catelyn arrived in Winterfell with Jeyne Poole in tow, Ser Rodrik decided to adopt her in light of her father's death in Kings Landing. Before long Jeyne and Beth Cassel were chattering away both hoping Sansa would rejoin them soon.

Robb had told her about the wildling woman they had taken into their service. Catelyn had half a mind to banish her from Winterfell. Yet the Maester had made no complaints. Osha proved to be both compliant and capable as a servant. But what completely baffled her was that her boys had grown strangely fond of her.

"Why do you serve us still?" Catelyn asked Osha one day after she had finished cleaning the dishes. "I was under the impression your people hate the Starks."

Osha shook her head, it's the crows we hate not the Starks." She then frowned, your son could have imprisoned me and a wiser man would have killed me but he chose to spare my life. I owe him this much."

"Don't you want to go back to your own people?" Catelyn wondered.

Osha laughed, "I did not go through all the trouble of climbing over your wall getting south only to go back." She bowed her head, "there's nowhere else for me to go if I try to flee south any other northerner would take my head in an instant."

"Why come all the way down here then?"

Osha looked at her dead in the eye and replied. "If you have seen even half the things I have you would want to go as far south a possible."

Her return to Winterfell was less happy than she had expected. Bran and Rickon were not the same two little boys she had left behind. Since waking up from his fall Bran became colder and more reserved while Rickon had grown embittered and distant due to her and Robb leaving. To make matters worse it seemed That Rickon's Direwolf Shaggydog had adopted his master's attitude, becoming increasingly aggressive towards everyone.

It filled Catelyn with regret, 'I should never have abducted Lord Tyrion,' she thought miserably, I should have avoided him entirely and continued on my way, Instead, I condemned an innocent man and started a war that endangered not only my husband but my daughters as well. Now, Arya, my little Arya is out there somewhere on the run so far from her family.

The year that followed was far from quiet for Winterfell. The two Frey wards named Little Walder and Big Walder had arrived at Winterfell about a month before she did. Catelyn smiled at the irony of the naming since 'Little' Walder was actually the bigger of the two, but when they were born this had not been the case hence the naming.

In the beginning Bran was welcoming to their new guests while Rickon hated having strangers in their home. The two Walders played many games with Rickon and the other children their favourite being Lord of the Crossing. Bran due to his legs could not participate and could only sit their brooding while the other children played. Soon enough Rickon began to like the Frey boys while Bran grew to hate them.

Meanwhile Bran had been having strange dreams where he is a wolf specifically Summer. Old Nan insisted that this was Bran unwittingly warging into his direwolf Catelyn dismissed this. But the dreams persisted and despite Maester Luwin giving Bran essence of nightshade, Bran continued to have these visions. That was until a visit from some particular people shed light on the situation and made Catelyn Question everything the knew and believed in.

Not long after her return, the Starks hosted a Harvest Feast where the lords that had remained in the north came to pledge their support not only to house Stark but to King Roland. Chief among them was Lord Wyman Manderly, the richest Lord in the north, Lady Donella Hornwood the last of her house, and Greatjon Umber's uncles, More Crowford and Hothor Whoresbane. The Lords discussed the coming winter extensively reporting their winter larders and the crops that had yet to be sewn. It was agreed that while this winter may be harsh they will be able to pull through.

Lady Donella was especially grateful to the Black Prince. She explained that ever since her husband and son perished in the south, Roose Bolton's bastard son Ramsay was eyeing her lands with greedy eyes. She was relieved when Ramsay ended up marching south with 600 men after learning that if he was able to crush the Brave Companions he would be legitimized by the king himself. This caused stirrings in the north for whispers of the Bolton bastard were widespread. But Ser Rodrik was quick to realize the soundness of the move pointing out that Roland lured him south by offering the one thing Ramsay desired more than Lady Donella's lands.

As the Harvest Feast continued, Winterfell received two surprise guests, a Boy and a girl. They introduced themselves as Jojen and Meera Reed, the children of Howland Reed a close friend of Eddard. The Reeds cemented themselves by swearing the ancient Oath and exchanging gifts with Bran. Bran knowing of their father from the stories he was told as a child by father welcomed them happily. The Freys on the other hand were not so kind calling them mud men, thieves and cravens. This was to be expected due to the animosity between the Houses Reed and Frey. Growing tired of the feast Bran decided to show them the wolves despite warnings from both the Freys and Catelyn herself.

Most of the guests returned to their homes to prepare for the winter. All except for the Reeds, they stayed in Winterfell and quickly became close friends with Bran. For this Catelyn was grateful, her son had few friends and fewer that understood his condition. Catelyn had never personally met a crannogmen and she found them to be a strange folk, Meera greatly reminded her of Arya with her frog spear, bronze dagger and round shield. Her brother on the other hand seemed to be the opposite, garbed all in green and carrying no weapons of his own.

However one thing still irked her, the Reeds talked heavily about ways of the Old Gods such as Greenseers and skinchanging. Maester Luwin was quick to dismiss such things despite Jojen claiming to have Greensight. According to the Reeds Bran was also one due to his constant dreams of being in Summer's Body and They talked about something or someone called the Three-eyed Raven. All of this disturbed Catelyn and wanted to send them away but several things stopped her. One was that these were the children of the man who saved her beloved Ned in Dorne and Ned had always spoken highly of the Reeds. The other reason was that ever since the Reeds arrival Bran had been at his liveliest since his tragic fall he smiled more and it seemed that he finally found people who understood him. To top it all Catelyn could not help but notice a gleam in his eyes whenever Meera was around and took many opportunities to steal glances at her.

Not long after the Harvest Feast, a Large northern host was seen marching through the neck led by many of the lords that had joined Robb on his march south. When Catelyn demanded to know why they were here and not fighting with his brother, they explained they came by orders from King Roland warning of coming ironborn attacks. Some like the Umbers didn't believe that the Ironborn would be so foolish but those that lived on the west coast knew better.

Alas Roland's predictions came true when the Ironborn attacked both Deepwood Motte and Moat Cailin. Though they were able to fend off these attacks, the Ironborn successfully sacked Ryswell Castle and capture Barrowton. Winterfell found itself filled with people fleeing from the Ironborn attacks. With the Ironborn at Barrowton, the only holding standing between them and Winterfell was Torrhen's Square who's garrison was reinforced by the remnants of Houses Dustin and Ryswell.

The attacks ceased with the Death of Balon Greyjoy and the North was given time to lick it's wounds but it wasn't over since the Ironborn still held Barrowton. The Northerners agreed that now was the time to take advantage of the currently leaderless Ironborn and Ser Rodrik began gathering forces to take it back. Once he had gathered 2,000 men Ser Rodrik marched on the captured city together with the Lords Tallhart, and Glover.

The day after Ser Rodrik departed, the Starks were breaking their fast when a messenger rushed in. He bowed before delivering the news, "Lord Bran, Lady Catelyn Torrhen's Square is under siege. The Ironborn came in force in the dead of night."

The Starks and Maester Luwin exchanged glances, Torrhen's Square was only 60 leagues away. Unwilling to let it suffer the same fate as Barrowton, Bran decided to take action. "Tell Lord Cerwyn to take 400 men to reinforce the Talharts."

Maester Luwin grew worried, "Bran are you sure that's wise? Sending so many would leave us with only 200 men which would make Winterfell undermanned. King Roland specifically ordered the castle to be fully manned at all times no matter the circumstances.

"Bran has to do this," Catelyn insisted, "the people must know that their lord can protect them, how can anyone expect to follow his commands if he cannot safeguard the north.

Maester Luwin sighed it was a difficult decision and in the end, he reluctantly agreed and the plan was put through.

That night was a new moon and a dense fog had descended on Winterfell. It was perfect for the force that was slowly making it's way towards the Castle. At the hour of the wolf, Winterfell was awoken to a great commotion, Winter Town was being attacked by brigands, numerous fires had started and smallfolk were running around in a panic this drew much of the Castle garrison to the eastern walls with some riding out to deal with the raiders.

While this was going on forty men had reached the base of Winterfells outer walls on the western side. With grappling claws and ropes, they scaled the walls crept into the gatehouse slitting the throats of the guards stationed there and opened up the Hunter's Gate. With catlike stealth, the forty men slipped past the majority of the castle making their way to the Great Keep.

Their presence would have remained unnoticed had it not been for the direwolves. Their barking alerted the reeds who opened up the gates to the godswood releasing the beast. they tore the throats of four men before the others swarmed into the Keep and barred the gates. Once inside the men searched the building looking for the chambers where the Starks were sleeping. But the barking of Summer and Shaggy dog had aroused the guards in the Keep who found themselves facing the intruders. While the guards dealt with the majority of the intruders, an handful slipped pass and a few rooms later found who they were looking for.

Catelyn bolted awake From the commotion a men at arms rushed in to see if she was alright. "What's happening?" She demanded.

"Ironborn are attacking Winter Town," the guard replied.

Catelyn's eyes widened in terror, 'that's impossible," she thought, 'they were suppose to be sixty leagues away.' But she didn't dwell on this long before her mind turned to something more concerning, Bran and Rickon. Instinctively Catelyn rushed out of bed to her boys, the memory of the last time such a thing happened. It had been a distraction to get to her son. She didn't care that she was in her nightgown all she knew was that she needed to be there.

Two guards quickly followed her but as she turned a corner she found her self faced with men who certainly were not Starks. Behind them was her sons' chambers where a fight had broken out. A gasp behind her caught her attention, Catelyn turned and saw her guards getting their throats slit by more raiders grinning at the sight of her

Before she could react they seized her by the arms while another knocked her out. The last thing she saw was the sigil one of the men's breastplates. A silver kraken with a large red eye in the center.