The Twins

As Edwyn caught sight of the twin towers that gave the home of the Lord of The Crossing its name, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The force of 5000 men that his brother King Robb had entrusted him with to help defeat the Ironborn forces in the north, had been marching for a week now and were beginning to feel rather tired and restless.

When news had reached the northern forces camped at Riverrun about the Ironborn invasion of the north, many opinions had been voiced but ultimately it was decided that Edwyn would be leading a force of 5000 men accompanied by Lady Maege Mormont, Lord Galbart Glover and Ser Perwyn Frey, to relieve the north of the Ironborn scum. When Edwyn had asked his brother why he specifically had been chosen to lead the relief effort, Robb had turned to him and said "I trust no one more than you brother, to get those iron bastards out of our home." Edwyn could tell though that Robb was worrying about whether or not his decisions to send Theon back to the Iron Islands had not been a huge mistake or not.

Edwyn was taken out of his reverie, by the sight of Lame Lothar Frey marching out to greet them. Edwyn quickly stole a glance at Perwyn who nodded encouragingly, before turning back to face and speak with Lothar Frey. "Good morrow my friend, we have come from Riverrun to cross the bridge so we may march north to rid our home of the Ironborn scum that infest it."

Edwyn finished speaking and waited for Lothar to speak expecting him to present some sort of terms from Lord Walder, and was not surprised when Lothar said "Good morrow my prince, we would be delighted to assist you in any way we can in removing the Ironborn from your home, but my father would like it you would be so kind as to stay a few days so that you can choose a bride for yourself as per terms of our prior agreement."

Edwyn had been warned by his mother that Lord Walder might ask him something like this, so he put on his most winning smile and said "Why of course my friend it would be no trouble whatsoever."

Lothar reciprocated Edwyn's smile and said "Come then and follow me."

And so as Edwyn and his companions dismounted, and gave their horses to the stable hands that had appeared they followed Lame Lothar into the Twins, with Edwyn's grey and black direwolf Storm following close behind.

Their party was relatively quiet until they were led into the main hall of the Twins, where Lord Walder was sat on his throne. Lord Walder looked up at the sound of the doors of the Great Hall closing, and had what Edwyn thought was his attempt at a friendly smile, something that was reinforced when he said "Ah my prince, so nice to see you again, to what do I owe the pleasure? Ah yeas of course Ironborn scum raiding your homelands aren't they? Suppose you need to make use of my bridge now then don't you? Hmmm yes well can't have a prince here without having a wedding now can we?" With that Lord Walder clapped his hands together and suddenly out of seemingly thin air all of his daughters and granddaughters appeared in the hall all wearing their best dresses and looking all done up. Edwyn realised that Lord Walder must have expected him to come and must have had this all prepared.

Remembering the warning his mother had said to him, Edwyn asked for bread and salt thus invoking the guest right and protection for himself and the men and lady who had followed him into the hall. Once these had been given, Edwyn thought that he might as well get on with finding a wife for himself and began walking up and down the hall looking at the girls who were being presented to him. Some of them were tall, some small, some skinny, some fat, some robust, others flat chested, some pretty, many weasel haired. Edwyn began to despair until he was stood in front of one girl who was slightly shorter than him, with curly brown hair and green eyes and a rather attractive face and body. Edwyn asked her name and when she replied "Minisa your grace." Edwyn found himself curious, and began asking Minisa various questions such as what she liked to do, whether or not she liked to sing and dance, whether someone else held her heart. As far as he could tell she answered truthfully to all of his questions and when she said that no one else held her heart, Edwyn decided that she was to be his bride. Turning round to face Lord Walder who had been watching proceedings with those weasel eyes of his Edwyn said in a clear and confident voice "My Lord, I thank you for your hospitality and for allowing me to see and talk with your fine daughters and granddaughters, I have chosen Lady Minisa for my bride."

Edwyn was relieved to see a look of satisfaction pass over Lord Walder's face and when the old man said "Very good your grace, we shall have a wedding feast tonight to celebrate this marriage, and shall allow you sometime today to get to know your bride eh. For I trust you do not want to wait too long before marching north?"

Edwyn could simply nod his head, and then giving his arm to Lady Minisa, walked out of the hall followed closely by Lady Maege, Lord Galbart and Ser Perwyn. The time he spent talking with Lady Minisa seemed to fly by and before he knew it, he was getting ready for his wedding, as he stood in front of the Septon in the Sept at the Twins waiting for his bride to walk in, Edwyn's only regret was that this marriage was happening during a time of war, he would have liked some time to get to know his bride beforehand, but then again he supposed those few hours he had had in the day would have to suffice. His breath caught when Minisa walked down the altar of the sept towards him on her father's arm, she looked like a vision all in grey, with her hair done up in those braids that Sansa had liked so much.

As she came to stand next to him in the sept, she gave him a weak smile which he tried to return to try and sooth his nerves as much as hers. As they recited their vows, Edwyn thought of the battle that he had fought, the Battle of Whispering Wood where he had managed to somehow disarm Jamie Lannister and the battles yet to come, and how he truly wished that they could all just bugger off and let him and his family alone so that they could all return back to Winterfell, Him, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Jon, Mother and Father back in Winterfell with Bran and Rickon. He was brought back to the real world when he heard himself and Minisa say "And With This Kiss I Pledge My Love." Bending down, he put lips to hers and kissed her deeply for the whole congregation to see, and then pulled away so that they could both breathe.

He heard cheering and felt people patting him on the pack as he walked to the Great Hall with his with Minisa Frey-now Stark- on his arm. As they got to the hall, and were seated Lord Walder stood up and said "Your Grace, I am so happy that I have lived to see the day where our two great houses have been joined in marriage, I look forward to seeing your brother wed to another Frey very shortly. To Prince Edwyn and Princess Minisa Stark! To The King In the North!" After that toast was met by a deafening roar and a quick drink of wine, the proper eating began, Edwyn soon found himself eating course after course of food, and soon found that he could not eat anymore. Taking a drink from his cup he turned to talk to his wife, and began asking her how she felt and what she was thinking when the musicians began to play and Edwyn found himself being led by his wife to the dance floor, to lead the dancing. After dancing for what seemed like an age, Edwyn returned to the high table and took a deep drink from his cup, looking out at the hall and seeing his wife laughing with her brothers and various northerners Edwyn felt a pang in his chest wishing that Sansa and Arya could be here as well.

Soon though all the dancing stopped as Lord Walder hit a spoon against his cup and turned to Edwyn and said "Your Grace, some vows have been said, food has been eaten, but I don't think that this marriage is truly a marriage unless there's a bedding. What say you my prince?"

Edwyn got up and replied "My Lord I would be happy to comply if my lovely wife would care to join me!" Which was met by a deafening roar of approval, and soon Edwyn found himself being hoisted up in the air by several Frey women, and being carried off toward a bedchamber.

Moat Catlin

Victarion Greyjoy Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet plunged his sword into the heart of some Northern bastard and grimaced. This land fighting was hard work; the northerners left to defend the Moat had not been expecting this attack which had played into Victarion's hands as had the fact that they had sailed up the Saltspear and struck out from the West, thus preventing them from falling into the bog devils' traps.

Victarion continued to plunge his sword in and out of northmen and found himself wondering how his niece and nephew were doing, his brother Balon had sent Asha to capture Deepwood Motte, whilst Theon had been sent to go raiding across the Stony Shore. Victarion hoped that Theon's time spent with the Greenlanders had not softened him too much and that he would be able to fight these northerners, he would need to prove himself on this mission if he were to ever get back into Balon's good books.

As Victarion cut his way through more northmen, he heard one of his crewmen say "Lord Victarion, we've captured the Drunkard and the Children's Tower."

"Good" Victarion shouted, "Continue fighting we have to capture the Gatehouse Tower if we want to keep hold of this place."

He continued to cut and kill northmen and saw them falling like flies around him. The Young Wolf had seriously underestimated how defenceable his home was, and his trust in Theon was startling. Victarion though had no more time to spend dwelling on the mistakes of the Young Wolf as he soon found himself at the foot of the Gatehouse Tower. Bellowing for some men to follow him, he ran up the stairs of the tower, cutting through whatever northmen were stationed on it, and soon found himself at the top of the tower overlooking the other two towers and the surrounding area. He shouted down to the ground "Are there any northerners left?"

The replying "No!" was confirmation enough for Victarion. They had captured Moat Catlin, as he raised the Kraken Banner of House Greyjoy over the Gatehouse Tower Victarion felt a sense of achievement, they had effectively blocked any chance of the Young Wolf trying to march home, now if someone could get Winterfell...

The Twins

As Edwyn saddled his horse, he took one last look at the Twins, his wedding night had come and gone, he had wedded and bedded his wife and he just turned five and ten. It was a startling fact, one which he had just about managed to wrap his head round.

The reason for their early departure from the Twins as Edwyn had had to explain to his wife that morning when she appeared most distressed, was because they had received a raven from Lord Howland from Greywater Watch telling them of the fall of Moat Catilin to the Ironborn and therefore Edwyn and his men were needed north if they wished to come back and end this war.

Lord Walder had seemed to understand the situation plain enough when Edwyn had had to explain it to him this morning. He had simply said "Very well your grace, defeat the Ironborn and hurry back soon."

So as Edwyn mounted his horse and signalled for his men to begin the long march to take back Moat Catilin, he could only hope that they were successful, for Robb, for Minisa, for Sansa, for Arya and for mother.