Chapter 360

NED STARK POV

Ned looked at the Northern and Vale Lords that had gathered in the command tent.

"Those Lannister fucks are running Ned!" Greatjon said as he stood up from his chair "We go chase after Tywin or should we go to Kings Landing and save your daughter."

"I received a letter from Lord Bolton which explained why Lord Tywin left for the Westerlands instead of going down South to protect his children and grandchildren." He said.

Everyone in the room looked confused at his words and some even frowned.

He could understand why. They thought that Tywin feared them and ran away but that was actually not the case. Because if it was then Tywin would have left before the Knights of Vale could even arrive at the Trident.

"What has the lad done now?" Greatjon asked.

He waited for a second, knowing what kind of reaction this bit of news was going to get from everyone.

"I got a letter from Lord Bolton this morning." He said. Everyone waited with baited breath and he continued "Lord Bolton… has taken Casterly Rock."

There was a stunned silence in the command tent for a moment. And then as if a dam had burst, everyone rose from their seat and cheered so loudly that he felt the urge to close his ears.

He looked at Jon's and Robb's direwolves under the table and notice them covering their drooped ears with their paws.

The cheers for a long time before the command tent finally started to calm down a little.

He picked the glass and slammed it on the table a few times.

The men calmed down a little after that and he sighed inwardly, knowing that the next part would have the men cheering once again.

"Lord Bolton has taken 5 million gold dragons from the Lannister vaults and plans to use them to fund us for this upcoming Winter." He said and closed his eyes in resignation as the men started cheering once again.

He waited until the men calmed down once again before he took a look at the letter once again and continued.

"Lord Bolton is returning to the Golden Tooth where he would hold Lord Tywin and his army." He said "He plans to trap Lord Tywin under the castle. So that we could come from behind and attack the Lannisters. Our armies will act as hammer and anvil and we'll break the Lannisters under the Golden Tooth."

The Northmen cheered at his words and he waited for them to stop before he turned to the Vale lords. Lord Yohn Royce specifically as he was the commander of the Vale army.

"Lord Yohn Royce. Will the knights of the Vale join us in this venture?" he asked.

Lord Yohn Royce got up from his chair and gave him a nod of respect "Lord Stark. If Lady Lysa Arryn is right then the Lannisters murdered our liege lord, Lord Jon Arryn. Just like they murdered King Robert to usurp his power and seat their incestuous bastards on the Iron Throne. Lady Arryn has tasked us with supporting you and the Riverlands in this war. And that's exactly what we'll do. We'll join you."

The other Vale lords nodded in confirmation and he stood up from his chair.

"Have the men prepare." He said "We'll cross the river and chase after the Lannisters from tomorrow morning."

—————

CATELYN STARK POV

She sat on a stone and looked over the small waterfall in the distance.

"Lady Stark." She heard a familiar voice and turned around to see King Renly coming toward her with a huge smile on his face.

She got up and gave him a bowed in courtesy "King Renly." She said.

"I bring good news Lady Stark." King Renly said with his usual charismatic smile.

She nodded with a fake smile and waited for him to continue.

"Lord Bolton has broken the Lannister army outside Casterly Rock." King Stannis said "And not only that. It seems that Lord Bolton has done the impossible and has also taken Casterly Rock."

Her eyes widened at that and seeing her reaction, King Renly's smile widened once again "Lord Tywin has left the Trident to go save his castle and his wealth. And your husband along with the rest of the North and the Vale forces has crossed the Trident river and is now chasing behind him."

She came out of her stupor from and almost frowned at that news.

She would have rather that her husband and the army of the Vale go to Kings Landing and save her daughter. But she understood that if they defeated Lord Tywin then the rest of the war will turn in their favor.

She nodded at him and asked "What about your brother?"

At the mention of his brother, King Renly's expression soured and he let out a tired sigh "My brother… has decided to remain as stubborn as ever and has refused to see to reason." King Renly said "He would rather break than bend and doesn't see that his army stands no chance against my own. The parlay was a waste of time. We'll go to battle in to 2-3 days."

Battle? She almost scoffed at that.

King Renly had over 100,000 men while King Stannis barely had 10,000. This was not going to be a battle. This was going to be a slaughter. Unless King Renly decided to do something foolish and challenged King Stannis to a dual.

"Brothers shouldn't fight amongst themselves." She said, the words coming from her heart this time "What would your parents think King Renly?"

King Renly sighed at her words, looking for all the world like even the thought of fighting against his brother pained him even though she knew better now.

"I do not wish to fight my brother either Lady Stark. But as you know by now. My brother is a stern and hard man. He would rather break than bend. He doesn't make compromises and compromises are what keeps the balance and balance is what keeps the Kingdom stable. There is a good reason why my brother has no friends and few allies. He will not make for a good king my lady. So as much as it pains me to do so, I must step forth and take the Crown for myself. I only hope that my brother will survive and I'll be able to send him off to the Wall."

She nodded.

There was not much to say after that so King Renly took his leave.

Once he left, she gazed at the waterfall and thought about Lord Bolton taking the seat of power of the Lannisters. A feat which was considered to be impossible by almost everyone.

She wondered what would have happened if Sansa was still betrothed to Lord Bolton.

She closed her eyes and decided to not think about such things. Ifs and whats are what destroys a person and she wanted to be ready for what was to come.