Beginning of the End

It was a bright and warm morning, not a cloud in sight allowing sunlight to fully light up the surrounding land for miles. Yet perhaps the most majestic sight was the large army that marched across the green fields. Colourful flags raised high from the Reach, Riverland, Westerland and even the Northern houses.

Sat upon his horse, Robb relaxed into his saddle as he watched the army march past him, the rhythmic sound of footsteps stomping across the earth filling the air. Nature itself seemingly going silent as to allow the true weight of his army to be heard.

Behind him, Robb's guard and the nobles that accompanied him sat on their horses waiting for the King to give a command. They'd arrived at the Antlers mere hours ago to find Karstark had secured the seat of House Buckwell. Lord Buckwell held no love for the Baratheons' nor the Lannisters.

The former had stripped them of much of their land and sent many of their members to the Black at the end of Roberts Rebellion.

The latter had forced them to empty their garrisons to reinforce Kings Landing and if the rumours were true, those very same men were going to march North with Tywin Lannister. No, there was no love between the Buckwells and the Baratheons and Lannisters, so when Lord Karstark had arrived, it was to find the Antlers greeting them with open arms.

They didn't have any soldiers to spare, but Lord Buckwell had agreed to turn the Antlers into a massive supply depo. Their grain supplies were being opened to allow Robb to store his food there and Lord Buckwell along with Willas Tyrell would oversee the supply lines. Their blacksmiths were working hard to forge spare weapons and armour should it be necessary to rearm soldiers in the battle to come. And practically the entire city and Keep was being turned into a massive medical centre.

Lord Buckwell had contacted practically all the Lords north of Kings Landing in the Crownlands, each held no love for the Lannisters who strong-armed them to empty their garrison and made them go bankrupt in order to fund their large army.

When Lord Buckwell had passed on Robb's message, they each answered sending any surgeons they could spare. Robb didn't know if the battle between him and Tywin would end in a day or it could last a week, but he wanted to make sure that either way, he would have the necessary people around that could save as many of his soldiers as possible.

As his eyes panned over the nearby land, Robb finally found what he was looking for. "There." He pointed towards a raised hill, higher than the one they were currently on. "We'll set up our main camp behind that hill."

As the signal was raised, Robb, his guard and his lords galloped down the hill to the head of the army and directed it to the west. As they did, Robb's mind studied the surrounding land for any sign of potential weak spots or good areas for traps. There wasn't much, but hopefully, it would be enough.

At the end of the day, he was outnumbered.

Even after being reinforced by ten thousand men from the Reach, he only had just shy of thirty thousand men. Tywin on the other hand was bringing fifty thousand men. Ignoring the difference in the experience and cohesion of the Lannister army, Robb was still wary.

The rumours of Tywin's military expertise were as he had soon realised grossly exaggerated. But that did not mean he was inexperienced; Tywin was still a skilled tactician and cunning leader. To believe that he wouldn't have recognised the same differences in their armies as Robb had would be the height of foolishness, and much like Robb would expect, no doubt Tywin had a plan to circumvent that.

At the end of the day, this would not come down to the soldiers that fought, but the men who led them. They were both men who commanded respect, this battle to come was to see who could command the most respect and make their men fight harder. This war was to see who could utilise their men in the best and most innovative ways.

At the end of the day, this battle would be dictated between who was better, Robb Stark or Tywin Lannister.

And that battle had already begun.

-X- Line Break -X-

Walking upon the battlements of Kings Landing, Tyrion looked to his friend, the Sellsword, Bronn and his squire, Podrick Payne. They were quiet, much like he was, much like the entire city. It was a strange thing to hear from the usually bustling and overcrowded capital of the Seven Kingdoms.

Yet many were gathered, watching as the large army of near fifty thousand men marched up the Kingsroad. His father had gone at the head of the army and had left hours ago, yet even now the army continued to march in full view of the city, the sheer size of the army could not be understated.

Turning his gaze away from the sight of the marching army, Tyrion turned to the Dornish delegation that was just a little further down the roar. The Prince of Dorne was sat upon his wheeled chair, besides him were three young women, one he recognised due to her expensive clothing was more than likely, Arianna Martell. There were two other women, who if Tyrion were to guess, were probably part of the infamous Sand Snakes he'd heard about.

But guarding the Prince was also Areo Hotah and several Dornish guards that had accompanied the delegation.

"Prince Doran, it is a pleasure to meet you." He greeted, his voice reaching their ears as the party turned to him, Aero, the guards and even the Sand Snakes seemed to tense up which was a curious thing. They were allies, were they not?

"Imp." Doran greeted, in turn, his eyes locking onto his gnarled features, his gift from the Battle of Blackwater Bay. "What brings you here?"

Tyrion smiled. "I imagine, the same reason as you." Stepping past the guards, Tyrion turned to look to the marching army. "What are your opinions on the battle to come? Robb Stark from what our reports state has marched us with just under thirty thousand men. And we are marching with near fifty thousand, by all accounts victory should be certain."

"You don't agree?" Arianna asked.

"Do you?" He shot back. Tyrion still found it difficult to believe that the Dornish would aid them, it all just seemed too good to be true. He wanted to know what their opinion of what the battle to come was, gain an opinion of what they thought the war and its participants.

"As you said, we have near fifty thousand men, the Young Wolf doesn't even have thirty thousand men." Arianna recounted. "Seems like a forgone conclusion to me."

"And that is exactly how we got into this situation in the first place." Tyrion chastised, honestly feeling a little disappointed. "Robb Stark hasn't even reached his seventeenth name day and has become the biggest threat to the Iron Throne since Robert Baratheon. He's been named a King and a Conqueror on the level of Aegon Targaryen. Most of it is just fanciful stories and tales that people say, but at the end of the day one should not ever underestimate him."

And that was the truth of the matter.

Perhaps if they had taken Robb Stark more seriously at the beginning of the war, then all of this could have been avoided. But they hadn't and as a result, they had lost allies in the Freys', then they had lost Jamie, Tywin had been kept locked down in Harrenhall giving the Young Wolf free reign of the Westerlands. And just when all things seemed to turn back into their favour with the Ironborn Invasion of the North, Robb still showed that he had tricks up his sleeves.

Even when losing the war in the North the arrival of the Bolton-Dustin Rebellion had resulted in a three-way stand-off. With no worries about enemies making a push further inwards, Robb could focus his full efforts in the south and that was exactly what they didn't want to happen.

Especially considering their greatest weapon, the Golden Company elephants hadn't arrived yet. They were a few days behind the main force considering specific boats were required in which to ferry them across the Narrow Sea. But they didn't have the luxury to wait for those reinforcements to arrive and so they were marching without one of their greatest weapons.

"And what is your opinion then, Imp? You sound almost scared of him" Doran asked.

"I think that Robb Stark thrives in a situation that is disadvantageous to him," Tyrion answered honestly. "And to tell you the truth, I am. I'm a Lannister and Robb Stark holds no love for us. This brings me to an interesting puzzle that I just, can't quite solve. Why is it that you have allied with us? You've made your disliking if not hatred of both Baratheons' and Lannisters quite clear in the past, so why ally with us?"

"For the one true King of course," Doran replied ambiguously, a smirk coming onto his face.