Chapter 10

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***

Damian Rivers.

Twins.

Damian's past didn't have many happy memories with this castle. But not many bad ones either. It was something out of that realm - been there and done that.

The Twins themselves were a little different than shown in the TV series from HBO. The castle was built in a part of the river that was characterised by its swift and deep current. The bridge over the river had long been a source of enrichment for my family.

The castle was specially built to protect this bridge. This predetermined the peculiarities of its construction. It is not one castle, but two squat, aesthetically not beautiful, but very strong castles, similar literally in everything. Hence, it seems, the name.

According to our maester, the castle was impregnable. In any case, neither I, nor the chronicles did not remember that it at least someone seized it. There were attempts, but never a real success.

The bridge was a massive span of smooth grey stone, wide enough for two vans to drive across in a row. The Water Tower rose in the middle of the bridge, blocking the river and the road with its loopholes and bars. High walls, deep moats, bars; strong sashes of iron and sturdy oak protected the gates beneath the hanging towers.

A water tower covered the crossing itself. There were even catapults on the walls in case of an assault.

As soon as we approached the southern castle, I involuntarily remembered Varick's words to "old Damian": only a true madman could dare to storm this castle.

As soon as I told the guard who I was, though he seemed to recognise me, even we were let through on the orders of one of my "nephews", who is twice my age (why be surprised, this is Frey, it can happen here). My men and I entered the courtyard of the South Castle quietly without any obstacles and began to settle in the guest quarters. Both castles were quite large after all, not like the ones shown in the show.

My dad decided to host me right away in the Throne Room. So I followed Oliver my half-brother, who in canon would become Robb Stark's squire. With me went Gerda and Rex.

As I walked down the long and rather gothic corridors of the Twins, I was once again reminded of the canon "daddy". It was said that under his leadership, our family had utilised its advantages to the fullest. Lord Frey was quick to judge and ruled his lands with a firm hand, but he was careful to take care of himself and his family before everything else, including his duty as a vassal to the king or the Tullys. He tried to take the winning side every time.

But despite my father's wealth, nobility, and personality, the other noble houses still see us as upstarts.

Not to mention a few old but valid examples: the case of Walder Frey asking for the hand of Titos Lannister's only daughter, Jenna, for his second son, Emmon. Lord Titos Lannister agreed, and the marriage was resented and despised by his vassals, especially young Tywin Lannister. His suzerain while still alive, Hoster Tully, was already so sick of his marriages that he didn't attend his last weddings, and he also refused the marriage of his only living son Edmar and one of my sisters. Another glaring case is when Jon Arryn refused to take several small Freys as apprentices to the Eagle's Nest, or to give him his son Robin as an apprentice.

The three of us entered my father's throne room without further ado. Besides him and the few guards, there were a few maids serving Walder, who was still eating alone. As well as several of his sons and grandsons, who are both Freyas and Rivers. The only ones I recognised accurately were Emmon Frey - the one who is Jenna Lannister's husband, Martin Rivers and also Theo Frey my third cousin. As they say, "a very distant Frey."

- Welcome home, Damian. - said my father in a husky voice. - You've matured in these two years. A lot. Come closer, I want to see you up close. My eyesight's not what it used to be.

- You're only ninety years old, father. - I smiled at him. - I think you've already found a new wife and you're complaining about your eyesight. - but I approached him nonetheless.

Emmon Frey blushed and wanted to say something to me, but kept silent after my father's sign.

- At least his cock is standing up. Heh-heh-heh-heh. You're more fun, Damian, than you used to be. - Walder said thoughtfully.

- And you're older. - I returned the barb.

- These two years have done you good, my son. I'm glad. You're not the wimp you were when you were a boy. Your mother would be proud of you. - and turned his eyes on Rex. - Who is he? The kid looks exactly like you. I thought at first my eyesight was really failing me and I was seeing double.

- Rex, he's the son of my mother's sister from Braavos. In my wanderings I met him there and found myself with certain goals in life for the coming years.

- Is that so? - returned his gaze back to me. - That's good. Tell me, then, what do you seek?

- Power, wealth, prosperity and the future. The future. To have a future.

- Quite reasonable for a bastard. - Father nodded. - It will be hard for you to achieve, despite your best efforts. It is possible, but very difficult. Sometimes legitimate second or third sons can't do anything about their situation, let alone bastards. - Emmon smiled here. - You want to earn some lord's attention and get lands from him?

- I want to become a Great Lord at least. - I grinned. - Better yet, I want to become a master of something or even a Hand. - I admitted honestly.

- Ha ha ha. It's true what they say about bastards having brains. - Emmon wailed. - But...

- Shut up, Emmon! - His father shouted irritably, and he choked on his next words. - You're even more annoying than your wife. I shouldn't have called you here. Go pick up some maid's hem or lick Jenna's vagina. See if you can do something good for someone.

Stunned and hurt, my "brother" walked away in silence.

- Emmons is an arsehole. - muttered my father. - Always meddling in his own business, especially at the behest of his wife. I'm not glad I made this alliance between us and the Lions. - he complained and raised his eyes to me. - Listen to me carefully, my son, and heed my wisdom - choose a wife rich, noble, but stupid. Beauty is not the main thing, you can spread your legs even prettier woman if you want, but not everyone has wealth, land and nobility. But again, don't forget, stupid!

- I'll remember that, Father. - and smiled.

- Good. - He nodded contentedly. - I can see in your eyes that you're not a stupid boy. And you understand the meaning of my words. I don't know what other crap is flying around in your head, but I'll burn it out for you. In the meantime, here's my advice. Stay here in the Riverlands, I'll find work for your staff. Our family is not poor and they will serve us. You will remain their commander. See if I can find you a good match. Or maybe you'll be a little more agile. Did you know that Daisy Mormont, the heiress to Bear Island, is single? She might take you in, just show her your prowess. Oh, I've been talking too much.

Why is he bringing up the Mormons? Is old Walder playing some kind of game with me?

-Get some rest. We're having a feast in your honour tonight. Plus I just had a couple of grandchildren born a couple of days ago. That's a good reason.

I wonder which family is more numerous than ours, or are the Tyrells and Lannisters more numerous?

- Thank you, Father. - I bowed. - I'll go and see that my men are well settled.

- Go. - He waved his hand and turned to Theo, indicating that he wanted to talk.

- And why were we here? - Gerda asked as soon as we were outside the Throne Room.

- Just for beauty and pathos. - I smiled at her, but she just turned her face away and snorted irritably.

- Are you expecting trouble? - Rex asked me.

- Maybe. My father's got some kind of combination on my account. But I don't know what it is yet. Besides, Varick's with us, and Black Walder's coming back to the Twins, if he hasn't already. There's gonna be a clash between them. And possibly me and my nephew.

- I see. My brother took note of the information.

We went to our men and followed them. And in the evening, there was a banquet.

***

The feast was quite impressive and generous. In spite of my father's "stinginess", if he made any festivities, he usually did it to the best of his ability.

So it was the same this time.

My nephews and I and everyone in the neighbourhood were honoured first. And then the turn came to the "newcomers", i.e. us.

Most of my boys were seated in the courtyard, where there was room for squires and common soldiers. In the Twin Tower, where the most "generic and important" were seated, only my officers, Rex and all the anointed knights were allowed. But the latter were seated at the bottom of the festive table where the knights of the realm usually sat.

I sat next to my father as guest of honour, with Rex, Varik, Gerda, Asgen, Marik and Lari on my left hand.

I ate in moderation and drank even less. Not because I didn't want to, just out of decency. And besides, a lot of good home-cooked food after the hike we'd taken could quickly thaw the body. 

I didn't talk much to Old Walder. I tried to talk to him a little at first, but he didn't often give me substantive answers and gave me hints to keep quiet and not annoy him. So I analysed the situation and tried to understand my dad's train of thought.

About an hour after the start of the feast, one of the most dangerous and famous Freys, Black Walder, entered the hall where we were. I think he's my nephew, or grandnephew. Funny, he's twice my age. Although this is the Frey residence.

What can I say about him? A very wiry, black-haired and black-bearded man who looks a bit like a Goth. Tall, about half a head taller than me, he seems to be walking right up to the old man.

- Greetings, Lord Frey. I hope I haven't interrupted your meal too much. - and smiled slightly, in a predatory way. - I've just arrived from Riverrun. With a return letter from Lord Hoster.

- Give it to Emmons. - Father waved a careless hand. - And sit at the table, out of sight.

Black Walder obeyed and sat down nearby. I noticed that Varick, though he didn't show it, was still a little nervous. I remembered that Walder had threatened to kill Varick, and the look he cast at one of my officers suggested to me that bloodshed was imminent.

What's more, he wasn't just eyeing Varick, he was eyeing Gerda. And this was fraught with the possibility of attacks on two fronts at once. At any rate, we should be careful. I let Rex know that there might be additional trouble, but he noticed it himself.

About half an hour later, I decided to check on my men. They were fine, eating and drinking and not in need of anything. But at the same time they could have resisted in case of trouble.

The guys were having fun, and after wandering around the walls of the Twins for a while, I decided to go back to the table. As soon as I got nearer to the loft, Black Walder jumped out in front of me. He was already tipsy, but unlike Emmon Frey, he was on his feet. We were alone.

He was grinning wickedly and clearly intent on some kind of shenanigans.

- You've grown up, little one. - He grinned. - I remember you as a sucker who, when he saw that I had Amarea in my arse, got scared and fell down the stairs, running away from me in fear. Broke his leg in the process.

- And you didn't, Walder. You're still the same old stinking goat. - a grimace of anger made me swallow the next words he was about to say to me. Such an insult to his ego couldn't be ignored.

He swung his fist at me, but I pretended not to expect a blow, let him get closer, and at the very belly I intercepted his hand and hit him on the knee, making him growl and drop to one knee. He wanted to grab the dagger on his belt with his free hand, but I elbowed him in the solar plexus and he dropped it. Then another blow to the ear, and then to the throat. And then, I knocked the dagger aside, gave him a knee to the stomach. After that, I opened his stinking, rotten mouth, which actually had a good chance of finishing me off with its stink, and put two fingers down his throat to induce a gag reflex. I succeeded. The reaction was coming. But I didn't just let him throw up. I covered his mouth with my hand while going behind him and up his nose with the other. Bent his head up and held him there while he choked on whatever was in his stomach.

Walder to his credit was making almost successful attempts to get out of this position, but pushed his chest against the wall, knocking the air out of him that was there. This made him weaker and yet he choked on his vomit.

I lowered him halfway down onto the railing that gave a view of the river, so that his arms and head were hanging down. Found his dagger and put it back in its sheath. Looked around for any random witnesses, found no one and calmed down. And only then did I walk back down to the narthex.

There were Gerda, Varick and I think Marik and Rex waiting for me. But I reassured them with a happy smile and told them how I had "pecked" a marquess from behind and described in colour what had not happened. But what I was going to do soon.

Gerda was snorting defiantly with a "I can screw anyone here" look on her face. Varik realised that there was no marquette and that Black Walder was missing for a reason and nodded gratefully. Marik didn't seem to understand anything, but he took Gerda's look as a challenge, saying, "I can fuck everyone here too. Rex looked at us like we were morons and tried to pretend he wasn't with us.

Larry and the others were gone. They'd gone off to their corners to drink ale with the rest of my kin and the Frey dozens or fuck whores. It's a matter of course.

Black Walder was never taken care of that night. He just fell into the river and was fished out the next day. And everybody, well, almost everybody believed that Black Walder had had too much wine and had fallen into the river and drowned, or, as the maester insisted and was partly right, that he had died as a result of choking on his own vomit. But my papa insisted that he had "drowned," but squinted at me, which the maester himself noticed, but both remained silent.

A couple of days after Black Walder's funeral, Old Walder Frey summoned me to him:

- "That was a nifty way to send him to the afterlife. Thought you'd smash his head and throw him in the courtyard or poison him. But you did it... dirtier and more humiliating for him. - he said.

I could see the look on his face and the eyes that were like lasers burning into me. It was stupid to deny it. And if he wanted to punish me for it, he would have done it a long time ago.

- Well, he pissed me off. - I smiled.

- Don't do that again. The fact that he's dead is good for me. It'll be less of an annoyance. He wanted me dead before my time and to eliminate anyone who stood in his way of becoming Lord of the Freys. I know that, I'm old and weak in body, but not in mind. You've done me a favour. But next time, remember, no amateurishness and not such a humiliating way to die. It will reflect badly on the glory of our house.

I looked at him with undisguised surprise.

- Ha-ha-ha. Yes, you are right, the Freys are not respected properly, even though we are one of the richest houses in the Riverlands, only the Tullys are richer than us. But we are despised. What do you say to that?

- Fools! We can be strong allies to many houses, even the Great Houses. With proper management, our clan can not just breed with dozens of families, but join different cities, lands and even associations, allowing us to increase our influence and profit from many things. The main thing is a certain plan and competent actions. - I gave him my thought. - You, father, do it as best you can, but a good half of your descendants let you down. And hurt your plans.

- That's right. You're smarter than most. That's what I like about you. Too bad you're a bastard. - he said, almost with genuine regret. - But that's not why I wanted to talk to you, not that you're a bastard. Walder's dead and his men are still here. They're a rabble. But strong and experienced. Five hundred men who can cause trouble in my absence. I'm leaving for King's Landing any day now for Prince Joffrey's birthday party. They might start a riot. So they'll be divided into 100s and handed over to sensible commanders. I reckon you're one of them. Will you take the hundred?

- I will, but there are still my men, and I will not abandon them.

- Ha! Who says you're leaving them behind? You'll add them to your men. They'll be your retinue. I'll pay them a generous stipend, and I'll give them a roof over their heads, and I've heard about your exploits, as well as those of your men. They suit my service here. As are you.

- Any plans for me? - I asked you directly.

- You do. I have many plans. But which one comes to fruition depends on more than just us. Hmm. I have to go to lunch. You go ahead. Mind your own business.

That's how quickly I was escorted out. But I don't mind. I was interested in the elder Frey, most of my current family is a nasty rabble I'd like to cut out. But the old man's not like that. He's smart and calculating. We have that in common. So I've decided to stay in the Twins for a while, and when the time comes I'll take mine. After all, the canon has already effectively arrived.....

Continuation follows...