Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Attack Begins
Laughter and joyful speech was heard from the group of men that travelled along the Kingsroad, they felt much safer now that they were near the Vale. They were far from the Westerlands and Stormlands, the two houses that would have the biggest grudge with the north.
The men were more relaxed, they were in the Riverlands which were close allies with the North, thanks to Ned Stark being married to Catelyn Tully, they felt much safer on this side of the Green Fork. They had been on edge for weeks, barely able to sleep, constantly on guard against an attack.
Even when they were at Riverrun they didn't relax, even though it was the main seat for House Tully, it was still close to the Westerlands so an attack was not outside the realm of possibility.
Stark men were in front of the column while the Bolton men were behind them, Aiden was traveling in the middle with Ned and Robb Stark. Willam Dustin and Howland Reed were just ahead of Ned and Robb while Roose and Domeric were just behind them, they had offered to cover the rear.
"Almost there, the raven we sent from Riverrun should've reach Winterfell already, so stay sharp until we get reinforcements, we should run into them in a day or two." Ned reassured the men while also admonishing them to not relax.
Roose Bolton almost couldn't stop his smile as he heard Ned speak, he knew that the letter he wrote never left Riverrun. Holster Tully swapped it for a letter of his own, a letter to his daughter to let her know that Ned was on his way home and that she would see them soon.
He knew reinforcements wouldn't be coming, his excitement was building, he was going to accomplish his families dream of ruling the North. He couldn't wait to flay the two Starks before him and wear their skin as his cape, like his ancestors before him.
He would flay all the male heirs of the Starks, even the babe within Catelyn Stark should it be a boy. The daughters would be his hostages to keep the rest of the North in line, once they have served their purpose then so too would they eventually join their father and brothers.
Aiden could barely contain his anger as he rode with Ned, Roose's thoughts were driving him up a wall. He wanted the attack to happen as soon as possible, even Flamebird was excited to unleash justice upon the wicked. Although she didn't have the ability to see into the minds of others, she was bonded to Aiden so she felt his anger and other emotions.
Aiden gave her permission to show herself fully, he told her that none were allowed to escape, not one. Although not all the men were guilty of anything and were just following orders, however they knew what they were there to do.
Had the order's they had were to only capture Robb then Aiden may had let most live, he wasn't a fan of killing in any way, but their orders were to kill all the northmen except for the Bolton men, these soldiers all knew that little Robb was included in the ones to be killed.
Them showing up was just as bad as doing the deed itself, Aiden felt by them not doing the right thing and walking away, they were practically agreeing. He understood that many accepted because they felt they had no choice, but that also isn't the truth, you always have a choice.
Sure they would probably lose favor with their Lord, but they wouldn't lose their life should they walk away. Just like many in the Riverlands had refused to send men to assist Holster Tully, many of them knew the charges were trumped up and wanted no part of the plan.
In fact there were some who began to march to help the Starks, House Whent and Mallister both had gathered a force as soon as they heard of what Holster planned to do against his own son-in-law and grandson, they were angered by his actions.
Although they wouldn't be able to muster many men within the time needed, they felt the element of surprise would at least give the Starks and Aiden a chance to escape. They also made sure that their territories knew the Tullys were kinslayers, so even if they perished and unable to save the Starks, House Tully would suffer greatly.
Kinslaying was up there with breaking Guest Rights, it was one of the worst crimes in Westeros. House Tully would lose the support of all the other lords within the Riverlands, they would lose their seat as leader of the Riverland lords.
They had been riding almost all day, Aiden had seen the scouts hiding in the mountains to their right, so he knew the time was close, like Roose, Aiden was ready to let loose. Holding back can get tiring and stressful in many ways, and now he planned to unleash his anger.
As the northmen continued North, up in the mountains several miles ahead, Kevan Lannister was in a tent coordinating the troops with several commanders that were sent with the several groups of soldiers. As they discussed the plans a soldier came into the tent hurriedly.
"My lords, we have a problem, we have been found out somehow. The northerners have stopped and are preparing for battle."
Kevan Lannister narrowed his eyes, but this didn't change anything. They still had the advantage, so Kevan began to relay orders swiftly.
"Full attack then, prepare the men for a charge, send a rider to the ships and have them move into position, make sure the men know that they are to capture Aiden Sand alive, by order of King Robert."
They then quickly left the tent and began to move out in full force. They knew, even though they had lost the element of surprise they still outnumbered them greatly, plus they had a ally in the ranks of the enemy, so they still held the advantage.
Back at the northern group the men were dismounting due to Ned Stark, his direwolf had detected the army, he had wanted to turn back and escape but was stopped by Aiden and told to hold position.
As they began to dismount Roose was over with his men, he wasn't liking that the ambush site wasn't reached, but like the others ahead he knew they would still have the advantage.
"Don't make a move until after I have delt with the bastard, we need to time this right." Roose whispered to his men.
After receiving confirmation from his men, Roose approached where Ned Stark and the others were. They were asking why wouldn't they be retreating when they had an army ahead of them of unknown size.
"Simple, do you think that army will not just follow? Say you even make it to Crossroads Inn, now you have just added to the enemy. The locals will attack just to hand you over to save themselves from being attacked. There are no walls besides the inn itself which won't do any good if the owners willingly join the enemy." Aiden explained.
"So why here?" Roose asked as he walked up to the group.
"Here is actually not that bad. The mountains and river to our east and west funnel the army to us. They can't get around to our backs, should we run, not only are you immediately giving our backs to an enemy with rested horses, but we will easily be surrounded by not only the army but by the innocent locals, I'd rather not involve or fight farmers."
Ned Stark had to nod at Aiden's reasoning, but then stated, "But we are out in the open, they will just unleash arrows onto us. How are we to defend against a ranged attack, we don't have time to create a fortified position here."
Aiden gave a knowing smile, "Don't worry they won't be using any ranged assault. They will make it a melee fight."
"How can you be so sure? You are no commander or have any experience in warfare. You may have been trained by ex-Kingsguards but training and actual experience are two seperate things. Lord Stark has the experience, his judgement is sound, I'd rather follow a true-born than a bastard." Roose stated coldly.
He didn't like the fact that Aiden wasn't following what Ned had suggested, he too knew that they wouldn't be using long range since he and his men were also within their ranks. He wanted them to return to the inn, it would give a false sense of security to them, making his sudden betrayal easier and all the more sweeter.
Ned looked at Roose strangely, then nodded his head and stated calmly, "No, Aiden is right. I didn't take into account the locals in the area, I don't want to be forced to kill innocent men and women if we don't have too."
Roose had no choice but to agree, otherwise it may give him away, so he asked, "Then how are we going to position ourselves, we should have the best fighters in the front line to give the most disruption."
Ned looked to Aiden, he knew Aiden's ability as did his six men, while their men weren't aware as neither did the Boltons, they only knew Aiden was excellent with the sword.
"Lord Stark you and your men in the middle with Robb, Roose you can decide your own mens placement. I suggest your men form a perimeter around Lord Stark but that's up to you." Aiden said with a smile.
Roose gave a smirk, this was actually advantageous to him, his men would have the Starks surrounded so killing them would be easy since they would all be facing the front. His men that would be at their backs allowing them to kill many of the men before they realized what was happening.
"Fine, Lord Stark believes in your plan so I will follow. But I will be up front with you, I lead my men thru example, not from the rear like many lords." Roose responded.
Ned was about to also reply with the same but Aiden looked at him and gave a slight shake of the head and quickly responded back, "Of course. I look forward to seeing you in action. I have heard of how the Boltons fight, can't wait to see it for myself."
A howl was then heard and Ned's right eye clouded over slightly, "Let's move into positions, they are almost upon us."
Roose narrowed his eyes, "Your a warg. So that's how you knew of the ambush." Now he knew he had to kill Ned and his children, wargs and skinchangers were a powerful force.
Warg was a general term, they could only use wolves as familiars while skinchangers could use any animal as a familiar. Wargs were a subclass of skinchangers.
Roose went to his men to give them their orders, as Ned began to walk away, Aiden grabbed his arm and whispered into his ear.
"The Boltons are in league with the army attacking, that's why they won't be using ranged attacks. Have your men attack them as soon as you hear me say 'Now' and you will have your confirmation when you see Roose attack me, just don't wait for his attack cause that's what his men will be waiting on. It's their silent signal to turn on you."
Ned's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure? Why would he take me and Robb hostage?"
"They don't plan to take you hostage. He plans to kill you and all your male children, he has plans for your daughters. He was promised the north by both the King and his Hand. I will deal with the army in front. Trust me Lord Stark, you know I have abilities, I even know who the men in front of us are, it's Baratheon, Lannister, Arryn and Tully men. Your father-in-law betrayed you in exchange for his daughter and nieces lives."
"What about Bran and my child in her belly?" Ned asked as his fist tightened.
"Killed, both if it is a boy, a girl would just be used to secure his position further. I heard everything they planned after you walked out of that meeting after the tournament. They want to capture me so Robert can find your sister, he plans to take her and you don't want me to expand on what he wants to do with her if he does. But don't worry, that won't happen, I will be massacring all these men, you just need to figure out how you're going to handle Domeric."
Ned squeezed his fists even tighter, blood began to drip from his fists as he looked at Roose Boltons back as he talked to his men, his anger grew at the realization of everything he was told.
"Is Domeric Bolton involved?" He asked thru gritted teeth.
"No, but we are about to kill his father and men, so even if he doesn't join in right away, that doesn't mean he won't attack. I leave his fate to you, but he will be the next Lord of the Dreadfort, so he may seek revenge at a later date." Aiden said after shaking his head.
"Understood. I know you have abilities but are you sure you can handle so many? It's a large army, over five thousand men." Ned stated.
"None of them will live, besides, it seems we have friends coming from the south, tho its not many it's enough to give you more men to help take Riverlands back as an ally. Seems my friends came to help, which works out good. It means what's about to happen will spread thru the south, I want Robert and his Hand afraid." Aiden replied with a smile.
Ned walked past Roose, fighting the urge to kill him now, but he had his son here and didn't want to put him in danger.
It wasn't long before Kevan Lannister showed up, along with Lord Whent and Mallister who joined Ned Stark after he informed them to join his men, this would keep the Bolton men calm since they would still have the advantage of surrounding the men.
Kevan Lannister stepped forward, even though he wasn't too happy with having two more lords join the Starks, they were still extremely outnumbered, and from their formation the Bolton men held the advantage over them.
"In the name of King Robert, first of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoyner and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm. I Kevan Lannister will now execute the traitors to the realm, Lord Whent and Lord Mallister, you have but a few moments to leave with your men before you too shall be executed along with the traitors to the crown."
"Fuck that Usurper. I am loyal to the Dragon, so you can come now, no need to wait you dog." Lord Whent's voice boomed as his men cheered behind him.
"Aye, Robert is not my King, he has done nothing to earn my loyalty or respect, he's nothing but a stag in heat. I refuse to bend the knee to the Usurper. I am with the Dragon too. Long live the Targaryens!" Lord Mallister shouted, his men shouted in agreement.
"So be it. Kill the traitors!" Kevan Lannister shouted.
"Now!" Aiden shouted as he saw Roose about to grab his dagger.
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