70 The Vale

Once again, Robb watched from the hill as the left and right flanks engaged against their respective enemy flanks. And once again, Robb found himself frowning in thought as he watched the enemy centre, and the vast majority of the enemy flanks not engage his men. Tywin was stubbornly refusing to engage in a proper pitched battle which irritated Robb to no end.

He had prepared and planned for a long, bloody battle.

All his plans and careful considerations had been for such a battle and now he was finding the Old Lion stubbornly refusing to do just that. Considering the fact that his food supplies must be running dangerously short, Robb knew that Tywin would have to eventually engage him in a battle before he runs the risk of running out of food.

While the first day and even the second came and went, Robb could understand Tywin's cautious and light skirmishes. He had thought that Tywin had simply been trying to find weaknesses in his defences that he could exploit, but Robb was getting frustrated with the lack of action from the Lannisters.

He had wanted the Lannister's to be the ones making the move and allow him and his army to direct that flow. Now he was the one being forced to make the first moves, already several traps he had prepared had been abandoned. What was even worse was that the Golden Company and the Lannister elites had not even made a move, remaining out of the conflict, most of the fighting so far had been done between the Smallfolk and the Sellswords.

Their numbers alone nearly rivalled Robb's own.

Twenty-five thousand in total and while from reports, Tytos Blackwood and Rodrick Forrester had reduced their forces by thirteen thousand over the course of these four days. That was a sizeable number, but there was an equally sizeable number left remaining and perhaps most frightening of all was that they were getting better.

The Smallfolk, the Sellswords, were growing more experienced with every battle. It was a smart plan; Robb could begrudgingly admit that much to himself. The Golden Company were perhaps the greatest standing force in all of Westeros at this moment in time. And the Lannister elites were a rival for Robb's own most experienced and dangerous soldiers. So keeping them back was the best decision Tywin could make because they weren't expendable.

But the Sellswords and Smallfolk were, by throwing them into battle day in and day out was a good decision to make. Not only did it keep his best troops fresh, but it also put pressure on Robb by simply having them there. All the while his Smallfolk and Sellsword troops were gaining more and more experience with everyday and that made them even more dangerous.

But the question remained, what was Tywin Lannister doing?

'The first two days I could understand, he was probing our formations for weaknesses. But he should have more than enough information, Rodrik and Tytos are smart men, they've already created several openings for you to exploit, so why haven't you taken the bait?' Robb wondered, thinking back to yesterday when he told both Tytos and Rodrik to create openings to lure the enemy in. Not all of them were deliberate and in a few cases, Addam Marbrand and his soldiers had managed to create openings in Rodrik's force that hadn't been intentional.

But nothing had come of it.

'You're planning something, I know you are, but what? Your food is running low, and you have no access to additional supplies from which to draw upon. No wealth to buy anymore, so what are you waiting for? Reinforcements?' That last part made Robb pause, his eyes slowly widening in shock.

Practically every nation was involved in this war so far. Most of the North, Crownlands, Westerlands and all of the Riverlands and Reach had sworn fealty to him. Those few Crownland lords that had not were remaining neutral, those in the Westerlands were being subjugated by Randal Tarly and those in the North were being kept tied down by the situation up there, as were the Ironborn. Stannis' location was unknown to him, but he had a pretty strong feeling that he wouldn't ally with the Lannisters.

That only left one possible option.

"Ser Perwyn."

"Yes, your grace." The fifteenth son of Walder Frey rushed forwards.

"Gather some riders, go north, watch the High Road and the Bloody Gate." Perwyn bowed at the orders, running off to gather some men and horses.

Meanwhile, Garlan moved up to his side. "You think the Vale have joined the Lannisters?"

"I suspect that they have, it is the only answer I can find that would explain Tywin's actions. He's waiting for reinforcements from the Vale." Robb said.

"And when they arrive, we'll be caught between a host of over thirty-five thousand men from the south and forty thousand men from the north." Garlan frowned at the news. "If it's the truth that's not good news, Robb. We could lose everything we've worked so hard for."

Robb nodded his head. "I know." He turned back to look at Tywin's army. "That's why we need to force Tywin to come to us."

"By doing what?"

"Watch the battle, Garlan," Robb ordered. "I'm giving you command."

Garlan bowed as Robb headed back into his tent where Grey Wind, Nymeria and her wolf pack remained. Sitting down in the chair, he turned to Brienne, Patrek and Olyvar. "Don't let anyone disturb me, I need time to think."

The three bowed their heads giving the replies, "yes, your grace."