Queen of The North

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Twins was a formidable looking castle...or, rather a pair of castles connected by a long stone bridge that went over the green fork river. Both castles were the exact same right down to the smallest arrow hole. It would almost be impossible to take in a siege, you would need two armies on both sides of the river to properly lay siege to the castle and even then, it did not look like either castle would fall easily.

The whole point of the plan that her brother and Roose Bolton had cooked up, was that they needed the bridge to send a host of forces to intercept Ser Jaime and to life the siege of Riverrun while Roose Bolton himself marched down the Kingsroad to keep Lord Tywin busy. It was going to be a slaughter for those forces that Lord Roose commanded.

Still, it was an excellent idea, she almost didn't believe that Robb had been the one to think of it. The only problem was that they needed Lord Walder's permission in order to cross the bridge. She had never meet Lord Walder before but she had heard her Mother speak of him once or twice as she was growing and he did not seem like a lord that she would get along with, not as though that was important, but he was presumptuous, bitter and always greedy for more power.

She would be a fool to deny that she didn't see something of herself in Lord Walder, the darkest and ugliest part of her that lurked at the bottom of her heart and had been coming out more and more as of late, her anger taking to consuming her and clouding all of her reason as all her thoughts of late had turned to how Robb had been standing in her way since the day he had been born and Lyanna had never forgiven him for that.

There was no point in trying to let it go now, it had dug deep inside of her and had made her this. This bitter and angry creature that had nothing but one goal in mind, to get what she wanted at any coast. There was no coming back now. Her and Robb had been set on this path now, the damage was done and all she could do now was do what she was always meant to do, and that was win.

As of this moment, all that her brother was doing was debating with his advisors as to what the best way to get across the bridge would be, laying siege wasn't an option, they could resupply themselves from the other side of the river and Tywin Lannister would be on his way here already. They had to get across the bridge and they had to do it now. Time was not something that any of them had.

Sadly, they were wasting it by standing about in Robb's tent and debating what they should be doing instead of doing anything to get them across the bridge. Lyanna crossed her arms as she stared out at the crossing as the men debated behind her around the table what to do, if they should attack and try to take the castle by force or if they should treat with Lord Frey.

He was a sour and bitter old man from what she could recall of him, she had been little more than a babe when he had come to Riverrun but even back then he had been the oldest man she had ever seen and even then there had been whispers that he was not long to live but that had been when she had been little more than a babe in arms and now as a woman full grown the man still clung to life and seemed to stubborn to die, according to the stories that came from the Twins.

Even back then he had been spiteful and grasping and chocking on holding his own vile back, Lyanna remembered how his mouth, empty of teeth and wrinkled had puckered as his reputation had been dragged over the coals and how the veins on the back of his hands shown through his parchment thin skin as her Lord Grandfather called him the late lord Frey.

An epitaph that had never truly faded away and a story that was whispered between sips of wine and flurries of snickering, from the stories that had reached her ears Lord Walder would not allow such to reach his ears and if anyone spoke the tale then the punishment for it was banishment from the Crossing and since his many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all wanted his favor they made certain that no mention of their sire tardiness entered the halls of the Twins.

The nudge of a warm and wet nose against her hand made her look down and Lyanna could not help but smile once she saw Elia looking back up at her with brown eyes that seemed to hold much more wisdom than any wolf should have. She was the only female wolf pup that had been born in the litter and was leaner than all of her brothers and also seemed to be much more gentle than any of them but not even a blind fool could miss the sharp fangs she housed in her mouth.

Lyanna knelled and gently stroked the she-wolf's muzzle and let out a girlish giggle when a rough tongue lapped at her cheeks, it got harder and harder to think back to a time when she didn't have all of her wolves around her. In truth she didn't actually want to do so, she wanted to remember as far back as the day she had found them, found their mother in the snow dying trying to bring them into the world.

But that wolf wasn't their Mother, she was. She had been the one to give them all goat's milk, she had been the one to carry them through a snow storm and kept them covered in her cloak as the cold winds and harsh snows had buffeted her as she had to make her way back to Winterfell. She was their actual mother and they were her pack, the only one that she truly needed.

The sound of damp grass being crushed under the heel of a boot made her look up and she found herself wishing she hadn't as soon as she had done so. Theon Grejoy had taken her warning to heart from their last encounter and he had not bothered either her or any of the female servants since, no now his affections were left solely on the winter's town brothel to bear and they at the very least were compensated for it.

But while he had not bothered her or any of the girls in Winterfell he was still as arrogant as ever and ever since Robb had taken over Father's seat he had only gotten that much worse, as if he was the lord instead of either of them. For the last few times she had been practicing with her bow she had taken a great amount of pleasure in imagining that she was putting arrows into him instead of dummies made of wool.

"What do you want Greyjoy?" Lyanna asked as she stood and wiped the grass and the dirt off of her trousers, if only she could wipe Greyjoy away so easily. "Has something happened, it can't have been anything important if they sent you to tell me."

She took an unreasonable amount of joy in watching that arrogant smirk waver even if it was just for a moment before it came back in full force. "My Lady, your lord brother has sent me to inform you that you are to return to the tent, Lord Walder's sons have ridden out and given your Lady Mother invitation into the castle."

Lyanna didn't need to hear any more as she made her way to the horse, she could hear the sound of Elia's paws landing on the grass behind her and she knew without looking that Theon was already following her. She climbed on her horse and galloped her way back to Robb's tent. Once she arrived there she jumped off of her horse, shoved the reins into the hands of the nearest person and ran inside the tent.

Robb was standing at the head of the table with their mother on his left and GreatJon Umber on his right, his hands resting on the table as he stared down at the map that was spread out in front of him. He looked up at her when she walked in, his Tully blue eyes narrowing at her for a moment before he turned his attention back down on to the maps. "I need to get across that bridge, we've wasted enough time here as it is if we don't cross soon we will have missed our chance and our plan will be for naught. We have to cross now."

"I'm aware." Lyanna crossed her arms, from outside the tent she could hear the sounds of the camp. The men were dicing and drinking and arguing and laughing and enjoying themselves in a hundred other ways it seemed that men always did when they were away from their homes, a camp follower seemed to be enjoying whoever she was servicing or at the very least seemed to think that she could get more coin if whoever was fucking her thought that she was enjoying it.

There had not been any defections as of yet, they had only just left from the North and perhaps the thought of a return journey through the Neck held them off but the longer they stayed here that would not stay the same. Father had told her once that an army was like an animal that had taken an arrow in it's side, missing anything vital but still bleeding. It could go on for awhile but eventually the loss of blood would kill it.

It was never the sort of thing that he would tell Sansa or Arya, but then they were his girls. Lyanna never was it seemed but then she wasn't one of his boys either, she was allowed to train with a bow and arrows but never with a sword, allowed to attend executions but he always asked her if she would rather not attended when he never opportunity to Robb, Jon or Bran. What was she then?

A thought that filled her with a sensation that she did not wish to name so she cleared her throat. "Lord Walder invited Mother to come into the twins?"

"He invited me but I did not think it wise to give Lord Walder me, if he allies with the Lannisters then he can take me hostage. Mother volunteered to go in my stead." It seemed believable enough to Lyanna, Robb was many things and most of them she hated but even she would never claim that her younger brother was a coward and there was a certain sense to it.

They needed to get across the bridge and they could not do it by force, not without loosing a great deal of their force as they crossed and took the walls, no it had to be with a soft touch and Mother was more than capable of getting what she wanted by using said touch. But at the same time the thought of sending Mother in alone unnerved her, she would be going into the seat of Lord Walder's power and he would have a hostage even if it was not the more valuable one to Lord Tywin.

She was their Mother and she was a Tully of Riverrun, her being given to Lord Tywin would not end the war but it would be a blow. Riverrun was under siege and what message would it send if every member of the Lord Paramount of the Trident's family was taken captive? And Robb would not leave their Mother as a captive, he would bash his host to bloody bits against Lord Walder's walls while Lord Tywin came up to take them in the rear.

In that moment, Lyanna knew what she needed to do. "Let me go and speak with him instead." It made the most sense to her, however much hated the thought of it by law she wasn't recognized as her Father's heir and Robb hated her as much as she hated him, he wasn't like going to waste his men trying to get her back.

Their Mother looked like she was going to complain but Robb looked approving, she hated the thought that she might be giving him what he wanted but she reminded herself that she was not doing this for him but for Father, with a nod Robb gave her his blessing and soon enough she was back on her horse and rode down to the castle.

Whoever told the stories of Lord Walder having pulled an army out of his trousers could not be accused off over exaggerating Lyanna thought to herself as she was brought into the great hall of the castle. What had to be close to a hundred people were waiting for her and all had near enough the same features which marked them as family.

And in the middle of them all, sat on a chair that was carved to look like the two twin castles, was Walder Frey. She couldn't deny that she might have had a hard time in hiding her disgust, if Lord Walder looked anything like any of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren then he would have been an ugly man in youth but his advanced age had not helped matters.

He looked like a weasel, shriveled and pink with only two or three strands of silver hair left on his head, his mouth held no teeth and his lips were constantly puckering as though their own was desperate to kept them wet. When he spoke, his voice was just as unpleasant and the rest of him but it also might be the only thing about him that could be called strong. "So, the lord of the mighty host outside my walls sends a woman to do his bidding."

The familiar rage that always occurred whenever anyone referred to Robb as a lord flared up deep in her gut and for a moment she thought that she might lose control of it but she managed to keep a hold of it and forced a smile on to her face regardless. "Lord Walder, it is wonderful to see you again. I am uncertain if you remember me at all but-"

"I know who you are girl." The Old Lord barked as he narrowed his eyes at her and Lyanna had wondered if he could actually properly see her as his eyes did look rather cloudy. "I'm going blind, not fully there yet. You're old Hoster's granddaughter, last time I saw you, you were still sucking on your mother's teat. Did you know I asked him to convince your Father to let me take you on as a ward, didn't work. Was it because your Father didn't want too or because your Grandfather didn't ask him."

Lyanna didn't know the answer either way, it wasn't as if her maternal grandfather ever had much influence over her Father at any rate anyway, but either way the first thing she was going to do once they got him back was to hug her Father for not sending her here for her childhood. "I am certain no offense was meant to you my Lord, I was not send to ward anywhere neither were any of my siblings. My Father preferred to keep him family close, surely you can understand that."

Lord Walder laughed at that, but it could not be called a sound of joy. His laugh tapered into a rough coughing fit and once he had calmed himself he spoke again. "You think I want all these useless mouths hanging about the place? I've tried to get rid of this lot for years, seems the rest of the noble lords of Westeros don't want them anymore than I do."

"The lot of you out, I'll deal with wolf on my own." The horde of the crossing slowly filed out, the few that didn't look completely miserable seemed to settle on being enraged instead. A loud slapped filled the air and a woman younger than her moved away from the Lord's side, rubbing her bottom as inconspicuously as she could as she walked.

"Fifteen that girl, and her honey is all mine." It was taking a great deal of effort not to shudder, she was hardly the first young girl to be forced to marry a man old enough to be her Grandfather but that didn't mean that Lyanna had to like it. "So go on then, why are you here? Wanting to cross my bridge no doubt, that's all anyone ever seems to want anyway. Heh."

"We do wish to cross my Lord, with your permission and your blessing as our preference." Lyanna took the gage of Lord Walder once again, he was an old man clearly but a proud one and he was in the seat of his power, he felt no threat. "But as saddening as it might be, we fully mean to cross even if it means we must tear this might seat down stone by stone."

"And how many men will that cost you? Still think your brother will be able to face Lord Tywin after I've bloodied him a little." They both knew the answer, odious as the man was he was clearly not short of wits.

"Clearly not as we both well know but my brother has a warrior's courage and little sense or patience, if you refuse him then no doubt he will try and storm the castle which will more than likely end in failure. But do not think for a moment you would come out of it bloodless. Northmen fight fiercely when they have too and right now we have too."

"Why not make it painless for all of us and just open your gates?"

Lord Walder stared at her for a long moment. "And if I do and Lord Tywin happens to crush your brother, what happens to poor old me? I'd be a rebel against the crown and my head, and no doubt the heads of all my sons and grandsons, would be forfeit. Oh, he thumbs his nose at me but the Twins is a mighty seat and Tywin Lannister knows that. Once me and all my lads are dead no doubt one of my daughters or granddaughters will find themselves underneath a Lannister cousin in no time at all. Why should I risk the lion's wrath?"

She wanted to respond by telling him that the wolf was outside his door but she knew that wouldn't work, no honey was what was needed and it needed to be the sweetest honey of all. "Because Lord Tywin will do naught but thank you for upholding your oaths to the crown, and that is if he's feeling generous. You are a young family still my Lord, do not hold out hope for any advancement from him. But you are a vital part of victory my Lord and there is a saying, no one is more generous than a Northman."

At that moment she saw it in his eyes, a look she had seen so many times in her own looking glass. An endless hunger for everything that should have been ears but wasn't. In that one moment, Lyanna Stark understood Walder Frey more than she ever had before. She knew by the end of the day the agreement would be kept, they would have passage.

All that was needed now was to finalise the terms of it.

It was night when she finally returned to the camp, the tent was empty bar her Mother, Robb and Theon. Mother came to embrace her and Lyanna quickly returned it before she turned her full attention on to Robb who was staring at her intently. "Lord Walder has given us leave to pass, but he has terms and if you do not meet them you will find your gates barred to him."

Robb sighed and Lyanna wondered if for a moment he was imagining what she had agreed for him. "Go on."

"You will take one of his sons, Olyvar Frey, on as a squire and soon enough you will knight him. Mother, two of his sons or grandsons I'm not really sure will be going back to Winterfell as his wards." She closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment to enjoy what would come next. "Robb, when this war is over you will wed one of his daughters. Do not worry, I was sure to pick you a pretty one."

Robb looked like a pomegranate when his face went that colour with his hair and so Lyanna laughed at the sight and shook her head. "Relax pretty boy, the choice of your future wife is completely up to you. Though again, if you do not wed then you do not cross so make your bed with that now. He did try and suggest Arya for one of his boys but I stirred him away from that."

"Is that all?" When she nodded Robb closed his eyes and sighed. "If I refuse, he won't let me cross?" Lyanna wondered why people choose to ask questions they already knew the answer too but she nodded and Robb sighed once again. "All right, I'll do it."

"Good, come on then. You can tell Lord Walder yourself after the feast."

"What feast?" Theon asked with narrowed eyes and Lyanna smiled, oh she was going to enjoy this.

"Why, my wedding feast of course. A sweet term I offered him myself, to sweeten the pot. Come along now, my future lord husband is waiting." Lyanna took one moment to enjoy the looks on her mother, brother and Theon's faces before she turned on her heel and made her way over to her horse. Smirk growing with every step that she took.

Chapter Twenty-Five

So, who saw that coming?

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With a ton of love,

DiscordantSymphony.