When Catelyn left The Twins with the conditions offered by the Frey family, she felt some dissatisfaction with Daisy, unhappy that Daisy had not offered her any help during the negotiation, merely standing there.
"What? Marry Walder Frey's daughter?" Robb's face turned pale, and his eyes filled with anger when he heard the Frey family's conditions that Catelyn brought back.
The Frey family's appearance was notoriously ugly throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and Walder Frey was already so old, so his daughters naturally wouldn't be young. To be forced to marry an ugly old woman was simply a tremendous insult.
"No! For the heir to the Duke of the North to marry a Frey is not only an insult to Stark, but also an insult to our entire North!" Before Robb could recover from his shock, Rickard Karstark had already angrily shouted his opposition.
The rest of the Northerners also loudly clamored to raze The Twins and drag Old Walder out of his Frey den to be beheaded and flayed.
Only Roose Bolton and a few others remained very calm.
After everyone's emotions had somewhat calmed down, Roose Bolton stepped forward and placed a piece of intelligence on Robb's table, saying, "This is the intelligence I just received from the south. Tywin Lannister has completely controlled all the Riverlands territories from the Red Fork to south of the Tumblestone. His vanguard has crossed the Trident River and split into two forces. One force has blocked the Blood Gate in the Vale, so even if the Vale changes its mind, they basically cannot support us. The other force, about thirty thousand strong, is heading towards us."
Upon hearing this news, everyone was not scared; instead, they became very excited, demanding to go to battle. In their eyes, one Northerner could fight ten Southerners, and only a few thousand men would be enough to completely wipe out these thirty thousand Westerlands troops.
Although Robb also believed that Northerners were stronger than Southerners, he dared not underestimate these thirty thousand troops, especially in his current predicament. Once his army was tied down by these thirty thousand men, he would be unable to rescue Riverrun in time. If Riverrun fell, the entire war would pretty much be lost.
Roose Bolton then added, "Lord Robb, there's one thing I must remind you: Tywin Lannister's sister, Genna Lannister, is married to Walder Frey's second son. Although Lord Tywin has always disliked this marriage and detested the Frey family, if he wanted to use this connection, the Frey family would certainly side with them. Fortunately, judging by Old Walder's current behavior, the Westerlands probably hasn't contacted them yet. This is an opportunity for us: gaining an ally and losing an enemy."
Robb listened to Roose Bolton's words, fell silent, and then said to everyone, "Let me think alone. You all may leave now!"
Hearing Robb's command, everyone left the tent, except for Lady Catelyn who remained inside.
"Mother, what should I choose?" Robb asked Lady Catelyn.
Lady Catelyn said nothing, only walked over and placed her hand on Robb's shoulder.
Everyone thought Robb would need a long time to consider, but unexpectedly, after only a short while, Robb called everyone back together and said, "I will form a marriage alliance with the Frey family and take one of Marquis Walder Frey's daughters as my wife."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Even the most foolish person knew that if Robb rejected the Frey family's proposal, it would mean they would face enemies on multiple fronts, be completely on the defensive, and the likelihood of losing the war would rapidly increase.
Now that Robb was willing to make a personal sacrifice to win the war, while they felt relieved, they also felt guilty, believing that their own incompetence had brought dishonor upon their liege. Their attitude towards Robb gradually shifted from merely the heir of Winterfell to the Young Wolf.
"How should we deal with the Westerlands army coming from the south?" Roose Bolton asked then.
Robb considered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Send a force to intercept them. It would be best to tie them down, at least until we rescue Riverrun."
Everyone in the tent fell silent, looking at each other. Although they had just been clamoring about how fragile those Westerlands men were, and how one charge would make the Westerlands army flee, they were even more aware of how dangerous it would be to intercept the Westerlands vanguard.
That was thirty thousand troops, and they were only the vanguard, with tens of thousands more Westerlands troops behind them. If they were tied down by these thirty thousand troops, the intercepting force would very likely be encircled and annihilated.
Just as everyone was hesitant about the interception mission, Daisy stepped forward and said, "Leave this task to me! My army is entirely cavalry; we can fight flexibly, and even if we encounter danger, we can retreat quickly."
"I think that's a good suggestion," Roose Bolton was the first to agree.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"