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Torrhen's Square was the seat of House Tallhart. It stood beside Winter Wolves Lake, southwest of Winterfell.
Its walls were built of hard stone and rose thirty feet high. A square tower stood at each of the four corners, and a square keep occupied the center.
As the defensive point southwest of Winterfell, Torrhen's Square had been built as a fortress meant for war.
"Lord Aeron, what I just told you is the general state of Torrhen's Square. Even if fewer than a hundred soldiers are left to guard it, there is absolutely no way three hundred ironborn can storm it by force.
"So tonight, let me trick them into opening the gate first. Then you can lead your men in under cover of darkness and take Torrhen's Square."
After ten ironborn longships followed the river into Winter Wolves Lake, Ramsay explained the castle's rough layout and offered his advice for the attack.
"Who said we were waiting until night to attack?"
Aeron, tall and gaunt, wore a coarse robe. Seaweed clung to his untrimmed hair and beard. He glanced at Ramsay and spoke in a cold, indifferent voice.
"Not waiting until night? If we go over there like this, they will close the gates long before we arrive."
Ramsay looked at the huge kraken sigil on the sails and asked in puzzlement.
"King Balon made preparations long ago. Between Winter Wolves Lake and Torrhen's Square, there is a checkpoint.
"You only need to do as I say and get us near the gate.
"As for Winterfell, we truly will need more effort from you when the time comes."
"Lord Aeron, please be at ease. I will certainly help you take Winterfell, and then the entire North."
Ramsay answered with a bright smile, bowing slightly and lowering his posture almost submissively.
Dagmer Cleftjaw, standing nearby, saw Ramsay's servile manner and let out a disdainful scoff.
Ramsay heard it, of course, but he did not react. He simply kept wearing that familiar smile.
The ten ironborn longships under Aeron's command continued across the vast lake for a while before landing at a hidden place.
A large merchant caravan made up of nearly twenty wagons was already waiting there.
The ironborn efficiently hauled the longships ashore and concealed them. Under Aeron's orders, most of the men climbed straight into the cargo wagons, while the rest changed into merchant clothes prepared in advance.
In the blink of an eye, the three hundred ironborn became a large caravan carrying a great quantity of goods.
At Aeron's silent signal, Dagmer kept close watch on Ramsay, while Ramsay's dozen or so trusted men were scattered throughout the caravan.
Those men were not put inside the cargo compartments because their obvious northern accents made them better suited to passing inspection.
As the fake caravan moved on, it reached the checkpoint between Winter Wolves Lake and Torrhen's Square.
Ramsay, a northman, handled the talking, and ironborn spies had already smoothed matters over with silver stags. The soldiers from Torrhen's Square at the checkpoint gave the caravan only a perfunctory glance before waving it through.
Seeing that they had passed smoothly, Aeron and Dagmer exchanged a look. Both of them could see the impatience in the other's eyes as they imagined the plunder to come.
But when the caravan drew near Torrhen's Square, they discovered that the gate was unusually lively.
Several hundred smallfolk were lined up to enter the castle, and many more had set up little stalls nearby, selling all kinds of goods.
The ironborn, who had never been to Torrhen's Square, saw nothing strange in the bustling scene.
But Ramsay's pupils tightened. His gaze flicked discreetly toward Dagmer beside him, while his face remained perfectly calm as he continued toward the gate.
"Move aside, all of you! These goods are urgently needed by the noble lords of House Tallhart. We do not have time to queue!"
When he reached the end of the line, Ramsay suddenly shouted at the top of his voice.
The smallfolk heard him. Their noisy talk cut off at once. Then, as if they had only just reacted, they hurried to both sides, clearing a path through the middle.
Hearing Ramsay shout without warning, Aeron immediately signaled Dagmer to strike the man standing to his right.
But when he saw the path the smallfolk had opened, Aeron stopped the motion halfway.
Clatter, clatter!
The fake caravan's wagons rolled forward through the channel between the crowd.
"Brothers! Kill these squid bastards!"
The instant the entire caravan had entered the crowd, Ramsay suddenly roared. With his right hand, he drew the hidden dagger from his left sleeve and stabbed it into Dagmer's lower back, about four inches from the spine.
"Now!"
"Kill them!"
Ramsay's sudden move was something no one had expected.
The "smallfolk" waiting on both sides froze for the briefest instant, then reacted at once.
They bent down, flipped over the stalls beside them, pulled out the longswords hidden beneath, and cut straight into the ironborn, who were half a beat too slow.
The lively scene before Torrhen's Square's gate instantly turned into one of blood and death.
Ramsay yanked the dagger free. Blood immediately gushed from the wound in Dagmer's lower back like a fountain.
Dagmer tried to turn and strike back, but it felt as if all the strength in his body had flowed out along with that blood.
He staggered two steps, his legs went soft, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Do not worry. I know exactly where to cut. That stab will not kill you.
"I will have someone stop your bleeding soon.
"After all, I have not had nearly enough fun with you."
Ramsay looked into Dagmer's hateful eyes, showed him a brilliant smile, and spoke in a low voice.
The ambush outside Torrhen's Square ended swiftly. The ironborn hidden in the wagon compartments had not even had time to get out before most of those disguised as caravan men were dead.
When a hundred archers suddenly appeared atop Torrhen's Square's walls as well, the ironborn who understood the situation chose to surrender.
Aeron, a devout servant of the Drowned God, did not surrender. He kept fighting until several soldiers stabbed him full of bloody holes, and only then did he fall, still filled with hatred.
Before he hit the ground, his hate-filled eyes stared fixedly at Ramsay, who was standing at the edge of the fighting with a smile.
"Lord Ramsay, did King Robb ask you to lead these ironborn into the ambush?
"He never mentioned it to me before.
"Still, your move just now was too sudden. We nearly failed to react in time."
Lord Helman Tallhart, dressed as a commoner, wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand and walked over to Ramsay, his tone carrying a trace of complaint.
"Ha! Of course King Robb asked me to bring these squids here. This was the final purpose of my mission to the Iron Islands.
"How could we possibly guess King Robb's plans?
"By the way, Lord Helman, before I set out, you said that if we won, we would drink together in celebration. Does that still count?"
Ramsay brushed aside Helman's question with a vague answer, then smoothly changed the subject.
"Of course it counts. But let us handle the proper business first. Lord Ramsay, are these the only ironborn here?
"Where are their ships?"
Lord Helman agreed with a nod, then continued questioning him.
"Yes. Only these men came to attack Torrhen's Square. More than three thousand went to Moat Cailin, and another thousand went to Deepwood Motte.
"As for their ships, they are hidden northeast of Winter Wolves Lake."
"No wonder King Robb assigned more troops to Lord Galbart at Deepwood Motte."
Lord Helman murmured to himself, then turned and ordered the men beside him, "Call back the troops lying in ambush along the Stony Shore. While you are at it, bring back the ships hidden on Winter Wolves Lake intact.
"Be careful not to damage them. King Robb emphasized the ships."
"Yes, my lord!"
After the subordinate took the order and left, Lord Helman turned back to Ramsay and made an inviting gesture. "Lord Ramsay, please enter the castle."
"Good. Today we will drink properly."
"By the way, Lord Ramsay, when you suddenly made your move just now, were you not afraid that we were actually lying in ambush inside the castle?"
"Heh. Torrhen's Square has never been a trading town. How could there be so many stalls and smallfolk queueing at the gate?
"Besides, I spotted you at once, Lord Helman. Your bearing stood out too much to hide in a crowd."
"Ha! You do know how to joke."
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