63 Making Moves

Sitting quietly, Jason Mallister read over the letter in his hand with a measure of interest. The news in the north didn't seem to be getting any better, nor did the news in the south. His King was marching with a host of fewer than thirty thousand men to defeat the Lannister host of fifty thousand. But despite those odds, Jason had trust that his King would prevail.

But one of their biggest threats to secure the south, Stannis Baratheon was now in the north and at the Wall. The plan to invite the Wildlings south of the Wall in return for aid was a good plan and one that would have been of great aid to them. But if Stannis got them then it would be dangerous.

Luckily, Jon had been allowed to go free which was a curiosity in itself, but one he wasn't going to take for granted. Stannis had from what Jon had estimated was roughly twenty thousand men. Even if the one hundred thousand strong hordes of Wildlings joined him, Jon had also estimated that only maybe ten to twenty thousand were fighters. That would mean half his forces would be barbarians.

This was certainly good news for Lord Mallister who despite the situation, could still see a way in which to keep this stalemate in the north going.

Already ravens had been sent out telling all those west of the Northern Mountains, men women and children to move to Deepwood Motte where they would be sailed across to Mormont's Keep. Meanwhile, all those east of the Northern Mountains were to move towards Karhold.

Would this leave the centre of the North completely open to Stannis? Yes, it would but that was the plan. They aimed to strengthen their garrisons at Karhold and Mormont's Keep to the point that Stannis would have no choice other than to move down lest he spends weeks if not months sieging a single castle. This would be something that Stannis as a strategical genius he was, would avoid as much as possible.

All because Stannis would leave himself exposed to possible attacks by the Ironborn, the Bolton-Dustin rebels and even Stark Loyalists. These were things that Stannis could not afford, and this meant that just like the North had been for the past few weeks, would remain in a stalemate.

Neither side could move without leaving themselves exposed to the other.

It was not a good thing for either side, except for theirs. So long as Stannis, the Bolton-Dustins or the Ironborn could not move meant extra time for Robb to secure the south and march North to give them aid.

Suddenly the door opened and in stepped Jonos Bracken, behind him four other men. "Lord Mallister, we have a clansman here claiming he was with the Greatjon on his attack at Winterfell." Lord Mallister frowned.

Lord Umber's attack upon Winterfell was one of the most infuriating things to happen in recent weeks. A noble and glorious death it may have been for the Lord of Last Hearth but if the attack had proved successful then Catelyn Stark and her children would have been killed as a last act of defiance. Hell, they could even send out body parts of them as a threat to them much like Ramsey had reportedly sent back a gift to Robb early on. No one knew what was in the bag, its contents something Robb kept a tightly kept secret, but the fact he had been thrown into a rage as a result of it proved that the Stark family had already been hurt.

The Greatjon's action may prove to be the catalyst to bring them further harm.

"Speak." Lord Mallister demanded, looking at the man clad in thick furs.

"I don't think he can, not properly anyway, took us a while to figure out what he was saying." Jonos Bracken informed.

Jason ignored him and looked to the clansmen, demanding an answer. "Greatjon attack." The clansmen began and Lord Mallister began to realise what Jonos was saying. Their grasp of the language seemed limited and their accent incredibly thick. "Sneak in. Find the Ned's woman, children. No."

Jason took a few moments to try and decipher what he was told. "You were part of the Greatjon's attack, yes?" The clansmen nodded his head. "You sneaked in? Where did you sneak in? The Bolton-Dustin Camp?"

"No." The clansmen shook his head. "Winterfell."

"Winterfell? Lady Stark, Prince Bran, Prince Rickon were they there? Did you find them?" The man shook his head. "No, they weren't there?"

"No there." The clansmen said once more. "Look everywhere."

As the man spoke, Lord Mallister felt his smile grow. "You searched everywhere but couldn't find them." The clansmen nodded his head and laughed out loud. "See to it that this man is provided a reward, a comfortable bed and food."

As the door closed behind them, Lord Bracken let out a frustrated sigh. "Fucking Boltons, had us thinking they had Lady Stark and the Princes when they had nothing."

"Lord Bracken, the past is the past, all we can do now is look to the future." Clasping his hands together, Lord Mallister looked out over the marshlands surrounding the ancient stronghold of the First Men. "I want Lord Vance to march west with two thousand men and take Flint's Finger. Meanwhile, you're to take two thousand men and meet with Wyman Manderly and the host of two thousand men he's gathered. You're to sail up the river and take Castle Cerwyn."

"That's very close to Winterfell," Jonos noted, but he didn't seem bothered by that fact at all.

"Yes, I want the Boltons and Dustins to know that now that their leverage is gone by camping right next door to them." Jonos chuckled.

"Looking forward to it."