ASOIAF: King of Winter

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Chapter 19

Robb Stark

He takes a bite off an apple. "What's the latest from the Riverlands?"

"Last we heard, a great host led by Addam Marbrand attempted to cross the Red Fork by way of Mummer's ford, and was rebuffed by Lord Janos Bracken and his men." Stevron Frey rubs his beard. "Great victories abound, my Lord. I do not believe we have to worry about the Lannisters any time soon."

He hums, staring at the silhouette of the Golden Tooth in the distance.

"Let us not count our eggs before they hatch. The sooner we leave the Westerlands the better." Robb stands up, leaving the tent in order to get a better look of the castle. "And that, is on our way."

The Golden Tooth is the greatest obstacle for any army above a certain size attempting to enter the Westerlands, much like an inferior version of the Vale's Bloody Gate.

It is inferior simply because there are alternatives, there's the Gold Road that leads to the border between the Reach and the Riverlands, and his first life's knowledge indicated that he'd used the Tumblestone river to leave the Westerlands in the original timeline, marching alongside the river straight into Riverrun. Neither of the other options is suitable for the movements of large armies, however.

But no, the Golden Tooth is a crucial castle, and one that he'll have to conquer. His logic tells him that if he were to hold the castle and annex it to the Riverlands, it would all but secure their western flank from any significant force. Moreover, his Force senses are hinting at him that it would behoove him to conquer it, implying unknown happenings that would make the effort more worthwhile.

Robb suspects it has to do with Leo Lefford, the current lord of the Golden Tooth, having only one heir in his daughter, and that his heavy participation on the battles in the battles in the Riverlands might lead to his death, allowing for an easier transfer.

But for all intents and purposes, the castle is very well stocked and defended with enough men to hold them for months. Even now, he could feel his lord's apprehension, the only thing keeping them silent was a sense of loyalty cultivated by himself, reinforced through Force Empathy and his achievements.

"Any direct attempt to take this castle would not work with our current forces." Rickard Karstark remarks. "Any great ideas, Lord Stark? I certainly don't have any."

The other look each other in the eye, wondering the same thing.

Robb hums. "I want to see the captives."

"The hostages? Only Martyn Lannister and others who couldn't pay the ransom are left, my Lord." Jason Mallister says.

Robb turns to looks him in the eye.

"Not those captives."

*-*-*

"If I had it my way." Robb says. "You'd be rotting underground."

He ignores the rusty smell of the damp cages, staring at the many captives held for sentencing.

Rapists, murderers, deserters, all sorts were held here. Robb tried to enforce strict rules for his men, and battle meditation made for an amazing tool to dampen their bloodlust and keep their inhibitions in check, but not all methods are perfect and all sorts wander the battlefield.

He walked amongst the carts filled with cages, making sure to match eyes with any who dared to stare while sending a jolt of fear to their spines using the Force.

"But a situation came to me, upon which I am in need of men to commit to a dangerous task, men, good men, aren't worth the trouble. So I'll have to do with you scum." He explains. "Trust me, if the situation hadn't demanded it, you'd be rotting or wearing black, but it is not. So you pieces of filth get to have a chance at redemption."

"Whoever volunteers for this task shall find himself free after its completion." He says. "Not only that, he'd also receive enough gold to buy himself a nice farm somewhere nice and quiet to live out the rest of his life."

A stocky man, shrinking into himself raises a hand. "What may be the task, milord?"

He cringes at Robb's sight. "You will ride through the goat path straight to Riverrun, with a letter from me to one Edmure Tully." He says. "That's all."

"Where'd we get our horses?" The man asked once again.

"The horses will be provided to you." He answers. "Any other questions? No? Then who volunteers?"

*-*-*

Twenty men, that's about what he expected.

He watched as the clumsy bunch rode at full speed toward their destination, with one Stevron Frey at his side.

The middle aged man wipes a bead of sweat from his brow, letting out nervous chuckles. "My Lord, is it truly wise to depend on such people? Whatever is in that letter cannot be safe in their hands."

"That letter contains instruction to send the Riverlander reserves and storm the Golden Tooth from the East." Robb looks to the man. "When those men try to cross the goat path, they will undoubtedly come across Lefford Men on their way."

Bypassing the castle for the first was only possible due to the Lefford's ignorance about the path's existence. Now that they do, a mere 40 archers could guard its sides and shower whoever passes with arrows, it is no longer a method to be used.

A look of realization comes across Stevron's eyes. "You were planning on them to fail!" He exclaims.

Robb nods. "If it were you in charge of the castle, what would you do?"

Stevron frowns, mulling it over.

"I'd believe I had knowledge of enemy movements, so I'd make sure no more messengers manage to cross and shoot all ravens down in order to buy time."

"Agreed." Robb says. "Now they're going to expect us to camp here, building siege engines and waiting for another force that isn't coming. It is why, this night I shall lead some men to scale up that castle, it is now or never."

*-*-*

Robb managed to convince the other lords to lead the effort, and he chose people with which he was most familiar.

Most were young heirs or second sons, people who'd spent much time with him, Harrion and Eddard Karstark, Daryn Hornwood, Robin Flint, Donnel Locke, and Black Walder Frey are the only ones to be allowed to come.

Robb notices the lack of Riverlander representation, and thinks to add more to his inner circle.

Each opted for dark, easily hidden garb, mostly leather armor reinforced with minimal plate. Robb himself wore his usual armor, hidden by his prized pitch black shadowcat cloak.

'I must have Greywind hunt a polar bear.' He muses. 'I hear there are many north of the wall.'

Robb gives a silent signal, upon which they ride through the night at a sedate gate, making sure to be out of sight of any sentries or lookouts.

The chosen spot to climb was one quite far from the gate next to elevated ground, once they came close; Robb urged his horse to gallop faster and stood up on his own saddle.

When the time was right, he made a force assisted jump that allowed him to grab on a particularly jutting stone piece of the castle's wall. He grunts as he lingers for a split second, looking down at the others as they gaped at him before they unhorsed and followed suit.

Seeing that they'd be okay, Robb scaled the rest of the wall with ease, finally climbing on top of the rampart.

A simple glance showed only a couple of guards patrolling with their backs to him, and four others to further off toward the gate, for now.

He almost flew across the air as his empowered strength allowed him to surge toward the unsuspecting first guards.

He swiftly unsheathes his swords, using such a weapon in conjunction with his force abilities was awkward, not quite the same as a lightsaber, yet he was still an heir to a warrior's house, trained in its use since infancy.

So it was quite an easy feat to decapitate the two unsuspecting guards, yet it was futile to try to hide the noise they made, as their falling bodies alerted one of the four guards on the way.

Robb's eye singled him out instantly, he throws his own sword at blistering speed, and as it flew, he bends down to grab a new one, dashes across the parapet, and by the time the poor man gurgles blood with a sword pierced through his throat, another was already cut down.

The guards were panicked yet well trained, but no match for a man with his abilities. Robb pushes one's hand back in as he tries to pull his sword, an elbow to the face sending the other dizzy.

He slice's the first's head with his new sword, whilst another slash suffices for the other.

It was at this moment that the others finally followed in, scrambling toward him in order to catch up.

"You needn't leave us, my lord." Harrion Karstark reprimands, ignoring as his brother mouther 'six men' in disbelief to the others.

"I may have been overzealous." Robb says softly. "But we have some work to do, catch up." He sprints toward the gate.

The others swiftly follow, making their way toward their destination.

They managed to surprise some other guards, but the closer they got to the gate, the more concentrated their enemies were, so it wasn't long before a man sighted them approaching.

"INTRUDERS!" The man screams, lifting up his crossbow toward them.

He pulls the trigger before most of them could react, but Robb swiftly turns away from its direction, pulling with himself Black Walder as he was also on the bolt's path.

Dacey Mormont grabs one of her throwing axes and chucks it at the man, killing him instantly as it embeds itself on his forehead.

Walder sights the bolt in the ground. "First my grandfather and now this." He looks to Robb. "I will pay you back."

Robb simply nods.

"They know!" Hisses Robin Flint. "We must hurry."

They wordlessly agree, finally going much faster inwards.

With their renewed speed, and with Robb making sure they come out of it unscathed, they finally reach the gate's tower. Unfortunately, it was not only closed, but also barricaded.

"What shall we do now?" Daryn asks.

Robb inwardly sighs.

'This will gather even more doubts, but I guess I have no choice.' He thinks.

He steps forward, a hidden twitch of his fingers and simple telekinesis allow him to unlock the door, he attempts to open it normally, yet it clearly was reinforced by steel from behind.

So takes a step back, and focuses. It didn't take long for several fractures to be highlighted in his vision, and with a loud heave he aims for the left side of the door at one of the highlighted points.

The door shatters.

"Wha-?" One of the guards behind it exclaims, before having his throat cut.

Robb snaps his fingers at his gobsmacked companions. "Get to it." He grabs a charging soldier by the helmet and smashes him to the side.

Harrion Karstark recovers first as he follows head first into the fight, smashing a guard with his mace.

Robb dodges a swing, grabs an arrow from the air as it was heading for one of his fighters, and pierces his opponent's eye with its tip. He then pushes him down the stairs into two others. Dacey grabs a fallen crossbow and arms it, shooting one of the enemy ones in the throat.

They fight their way to the bottom, upon which Robb signals to Robin and Daryn. "Start pulling the winch." He points toward a crank connected to a spindle that's connected to the gate. "The rest of you, grab a crossbow or a pike, we need to hold this spot."

He then points toward the corpses. "Gather the corpses upstairs, use them to block the doors."

"But my lord, how will we know if our men are coming?!" Donnel Locke shouts over the sound of the heavy door opening.

Robb looks at him. "You should hear it by now."

"Hear what?!"

The question becomes rhetorical as a deafening sound of howling reach their ears.

Donnel shuts his mouth in realization, hefting up a body with another man as they climbed up the stairs.

Their attention was split, one half has to head up and defend against the people on the walls, and another has to shield the lower door.

Robb chooses to stay downstairs, many of the guards on the walls have been dealt with, and so they do have some time. But as he hears the sound of a ram hitting it.

Some of his men reinforce the door with chairs, tables and anything they can find, really, to no gain.

The door is eventually breached, letting heavily armored knights and many guards inside.

Robb spots a man with a Lefford emblem on his armor.

'That must be the castellan.' He thinks.

"Axe!" He orders.

Dacey responds swiftly, throwing one of hers toward him.

Robb grabs it easily out of the air, and a force enhanced throw meant that even metal plate couldn't stop the axe head from splitting his chest.

"Hold the line." Robb orders.

""Yes, my Lord!"" His men echo.

With their leader dead and his men in high spirits, they were able to hold until the cavalry charged through the open gates, their charge feeling like an earthquake.

And before long, the Golden Tooth was theirs.