Seven City was only a day's journey from Winterfell, but Robb Stark took several days to bring back the Northern Lords who had gathered there. The delay wasn't intentional on his part, but simply because he couldn't move faster.
The first problem was how to speak.
The destroyed gates of Winterfell were witnessed by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Robb couldn't follow Aegor's example of lying and claiming he had been "persuaded by reason" by the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Since he couldn't hide the fact that his own castle was breached by the Gift Army and he was forced to pledge allegiance to the Queen, convincing his vassals to support the Queen under the premise that "he himself wasn't truly submitting" was clearly going to be difficult.
Daenerys Targaryen was of the Mad King's bloodline, representing the restoration of the old dynasty, and was surrounded by rumors of cruelty and terror. This background was certainly problematic, but there were still more ordinary people in this world than ingrates. As her involvement in the Long Lake Battle with her dragon, saving the Northern Army from destruction, spread, her image in the eyes of the Northmen quickly shifted from demon to something more normal. The dragon she lost in battle also gained her a massive amount of sympathy. As time passed, the Queen's reputation in the North had unknowingly risen above zero.
But whether it was going from foe to neutral or neutral to fan, the drastic change in favorability couldn't bypass a more realistic core issue: interest.
The Northmen, after returning home, were unwilling to go South again to fight in the war between Stannis Baratheon, Young Aegon, and The Reach. By the same logic, what could the North gain by overthrowing the two who sat on the Iron Throne and putting a dragon on it?
Land, the North of the Neck had the most of it; population, the fewer mouths to feed in Winter, the better; food, it was valuable, but if it wasn't harvest season, a thousand-mile expedition might consume more than they could seize; even gold and silver treasures, everyone had already plundered a large amount when they responded to Robert's call to invade the Westerlands a few years ago, and there was still plenty left. As for intangible things like the joy of victory and honor, this group of rough men who didn't even revere chivalry couldn't care less.
To summarize: the Northmen not only lacked a strong desire or need for war, but on the contrary, having suffered through repeated conflicts and being in a state of passive defense against the Iron Islands, everyone now only hoped to guard their small plots of land and live peacefully with their wives and children by a warm hearth. Even temptations that might have moved them in normal times were completely ineffective in persuading them to raise troops now.
...
The Young Wolf Lord was beaten black and blue by the Night's Watch, losing much of his confidence even when speaking to his vassals. He used every trick in the book and finally managed to get the Lords to reluctantly accept the fact that "the North has nominally pledged allegiance to the Queen," but trying to further persuade them to bring their house armies back to Winterfell with him to support the Queen's campaign in the South Expedition immediately hit a wall. Even when he laid out all the rewards that Daenerys and Aegor had promised, he failed to move any of the houses.
With his wife, daughter, mother, and younger siblings all in the hands of others, Robb couldn't and didn't dare return empty-handed. Having no choice, he hardened his heart and took out the rewards the Queen had originally promised to House Stark, distributing them. He was mentally prepared to receive nothing and help the Queen conquer the realm for free, treating it as spending money and effort to buy peace.
But even so, it still wasn't enough!
Now, Robb was truly at a loss. In the early days of his succession, he could rely on the shadow of his father's prestige. After his debut, he quickly built his own fame and influence, winning battle after battle. When had he ever encountered a situation like this, where he lost power and couldn't command people? He had anxiously thought he would likely return empty-handed. Fortunately, Aegor had already anticipated that he wasn't good at handling this kind of situation and had specifically allowed him to bring along a seasoned, prudent, and knowledgeable household retainer—Maester Luwin.
The old man offered him two pieces of advice:
First, lower his stance, adjust his mindset, stop holding meetings to try and command the Lords, but instead calmly think through the night, analyze the needs and personalities of each house head individually, formulate separate plans, and communicate through private visits, equal communication, and a half-negotiation, half-request approach;
Second, abandon illusions and stop thinking with a conventional mindset starting from family interests. Given the Stark house's previous mistake of choosing the wrong side and suffering a terrible defeat, preserving the family's legacy and the position of Warden of the North was the overwhelming priority. If necessary, he must bleed to avert disaster. Since the benefits promised by the Queen were still a bit short of moving the five noble houses, he must cut from House Stark itself and add chips to close that final gap.
The last sentence Maester Luwin used to advise Robb was this: "Money and food can be earned and grown again if gone, land given away can be reclaimed and developed... Only if people are gone, everything is gone!"
With no other ideas, Robb could only grit his teeth and accept the advice. After the large meeting dispersed, he rested briefly and then started making non-stop personal visits, calling on each house one by one.
Overdrafting his lord's authority, owing favors for help, spending Winterfell's savings and family fortune, and even wagering the marriage arrangements of Rickon and Sansa, the Young Wolf Lord, after bleeding profusely, finally persuaded four of the five noble houses gathered in Seven City... to agree to lead their troops to obey the command and fight for the Queen.
Spending two days straightening out positions and attitudes, sending away Lord Karstark, who remained unyielding and insisted on raising the anti-Targaryen banner, the Northern coalition army, which had returned under Robb's command, also carried out a personnel streamlining. The purpose of assembling these thousands of men was originally to relieve the siege of Winterfell. At that time, the consideration had been local defense, so they could naturally ignore how many people were brought in just to make up the numbers for logistics. But if they were to brave Winter and follow Daenerys South to conquer the Seven Kingdoms, then everything, whether it was food and supply, morale and combat strength, or the labor needed for planting after spring, had to be taken into consideration and calculated carefully.
Calculating the logistics needed and sending back some of the old and weak took one day, and the army marching out and traveling took another day... The situation was sensitive. To avoid arriving outside the city just as it was getting dark, causing Daenerys the awkwardness of whether to let them into the castle, and also to prevent misunderstandings between the coalition army and the Gift Army outside the city while camping overnight, or giving Roose Bolton an opportunity to create trouble, Robb deliberately slowed down the marching speed, controlling the army to arrive at their destination on the morning of the second day after setting off—conducting business under the clear sky was both calm and safe.
Everything was just right. Bringing back four out of five houses might not be a perfect result, but it was definitely enough to report to the Queen, regain nominal control of Winterfell, and rescue his family from house arrest. However, outside the tall walls of Winterfell, waiting for Robb Stark, who returned after enduring hardships, full of relief and expectation, was a sudden shock.
---
"What!" He widened his eyes at the black-clad rider blocking his path. "Winterfell is my home! It was your Lord Commander who forced me to persuade the various Lords, and it was also your Lord Commander who told me to bring back as many as I could. How is it that now that I've finally completed the task, I'm not allowed to approach!?"
"The specific situation is inconvenient to explain. In any case, the Northern Army is not allowed within sight of Winterfell. Crossing the line will be considered a threat, and the consequences will be on you!"
"Consequences are on us?" Lady Barbrey stepped out of the crowd. She was dressed in black from head to ankle, wearing no gold or silver jewelry. As one of the few female Lords of a house, she was not only imposing but also had a mind and intellect more resolute and sharp than the average man. "I'll wager a silver stag that you little brat are just a dog relying on your master's power, hoping to squeeze some grease out of the wolf because Lord Robb can't do anything to your master right now... Listen well, before you is the Warden of the North. Even if he's down on his luck, he's not someone a small fry like you can bully! Today this road, we are definitely passing. I'm curious what your Lord Commander will do when he hears that a mere soldier under his command dared to obstruct the Northern Lords who have come to pledge allegiance to the Queen?"
If the one blocking the way was truly just a self-important soldier, he would have been scared away by this resounding declaration. But the truth was, the rider not only showed no panic but also shook his head with a bitter smile: "I have delivered the warning. If you Lords still insist on going your own way, I naturally cannot stop you, but as I said—the consequences are on you."
With that, the black-clad soldier said no more and turned his horse's head, preparing to leave without hesitation.
Didn't scare him? Lady Barbrey inwardly thought something was wrong and quickly gave a look to Maester Luwin beside her.
"My Lord, wait a moment!" The old Maester understood and quickly played the good cop, calling out to the newcomer with a slightly weak voice. Dragging his aged, injured body, he ran over a dozen meters through the snow with great effort, reaching the black-clad soldier's horse.
"A little money, take it to buy some wine to warm yourself." Panting, Maester Luwin slipped a small money bag into the black-clad rider's arms, smiling as he said, "Lady Barbrey was just joking, please don't take it to heart. But begging your pardon, it's rather strange that the lord of the city of Winterfell is not allowed to approach Winterfell. Even if 'the specific situation is inconvenient to explain,' you must at least give us some idea of what's going on, right? Even just a few words, so we can give the Soldier an explanation."
The black-clad soldier curled his lip in disdain, originally intending to refuse sternly, but subconsciously weighed the money bag and froze.
This feel... this weight!
He freed a hand to pull open the pouch and peek inside, immediately suppressing the urge to throw it back in the old Maester's face.
"Something happened in the city, it's under martial law, no outsiders are allowed near." While calmly putting the money pouch back into his arms, the black-clad rider answered sparingly, saying it was only a few words, and it truly was only a few words.
"Something happened?" Maester Luwin's face showed tension, and he pulled out another golden dragon, forcing himself to ignore the pain and slip it to the rider. "That's Lord Robb's home, you absolutely must tell us in detail!"
The feeling of getting two months' worth of military pay for one sentence was truly thrilling, and the key thing was this wasn't even considered leaking a secret that would endanger the Gift Army's safety! The rider put away this golden dragon as well, and his expression softened considerably: "The Lord Commander, the Prime Minister, and the Master of Intelligence, the three Lords, have been poisoned. The city is currently conducting a strict investigation for the poisoner. No one is allowed to enter or leave or move without permission, and outsiders are not allowed near... You must understand, Lord Robb's family members also cannot escape suspicion."
This truly startled Maester Luwin. He didn't hesitate to take out his last golden dragon and slip it over: "How could something like this happen? Didn't the Lord Commander's people completely take over the castle? The ladies and young misses simply don't have the ability to poison anyone! How are the three poisoned Lords?"
"The Prime Minister and the Master of Intelligence are both dead. The Lord Commander... is said to be still alive, but if he were truly fine, even if just sitting or lying down, shouldn't he show his face to steady the troops? However..." The rider frowned, suddenly realizing he had unknowingly said too much. Startled, he quickly stopped: "In short, old Master, please persuade those Lords over there. At this critical juncture, absolutely do not do anything rash! Farewell!"
...
The black-clad rider spurred his horse and left, while Maester Luwin suppressed his fear and quickly turned back to relay what he had heard to the group behind him, immediately igniting the anger of the Lords.
"Poisoned?" Robb's face changed drastically. He wouldn't feel an ounce of pain no matter which of the three died, but the troublesome part of this matter was: the Stark house... specifically his mother and younger siblings, were the biggest suspects for the poisoning!
"How could such a thing happen?" Lord Touhar looked at Robb in surprise. "My Lord, based on your understanding of your family and subordinates, who among them would have the ability and the guts to do this?"
Maester Luwin quickly answered the question: "Absolutely impossible. The only one in Winterfell with any knowledge of poison is me. Everyone else knows nothing about it, not to mention... the kitchen has been completely taken over by the Gift Army and the Queen's people. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have any opportunity to access the drinks or dishes!"
"Then it wasn't done by the Northmen, but only we know this in our hearts. If we tell the Queen, she won't believe it." Lord Ryswell stroked his beard, looking worried. "What should we do? Can we find a way to rescue Robb's family?"
"What are you thinking, Father!" Lady Barbrey immediately interrupted the wrong direction of discussion. Although she was the former's daughter, she now represented the Dustin house she had married into and was no longer under his control. "Something just happened in the city, and it's when vigilance is highest. If we act rashly now, won't that tell the Queen 'we were the ones who poisoned them'?" After unambiguously rebuking her old father, the Earl's wife looked at Robb: "My Lord, I only have one question for you here: Do you have a way to deal with the Queen's two dragons?"
Although partly forced, Robb's oath of allegiance to Daenerys was serious—at least for now. How could he possibly secretly prepare a way to deal with dragons? Even if he had thought about it, there wasn't enough time!
One hand holding the reins, the other on his sword hilt, Robb's body trembled for a moment. He gritted his teeth and admitted: "No."
"Then the matter is simple. You currently don't have the ability to determine the direction of the situation, so you absolutely cannot fall into the emotional trap of being anxious and making mistakes!" Lady Barbrey scanned the crowd and said seriously, "The only thing we can do now is turn back to the temporary camp we left this morning, station our troops far enough away so the Queen doesn't feel threatened, send someone to the city to explain the situation and show we have no hostility, and quietly wait for things to become clear. Your family is in an extremely precarious situation. We can understand your anxiety, but My Lord, you must be clear-headed – taking any action at this moment will not save them; it will only push them into a more dangerous abyss!"
(To be continued.)
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