In the dim black of night, the newly assembled army looked like a river of steel slowly uncoiling, spears and armor gleaming in the dark. The Winter Wolves marched south, and the stag moved east.
The vanguard of the newly formed Winter Wolves numbered about three thousand men. This force was made up of the homeless, the childless, the unmarried, second sons, and old men, led by the "aged" Lord Rickard and Lady Maege. Gendry had sent over some black scale plate, ordered the storerooms and armories of the Twins turned inside out, and supplied the Winter Wolves with a good deal of blue steel armor as well.
Boom boom boom boom! As the war drums sounded, the army marched out from the Twins. From the moment they set out, the Winter Wolves had become a host with death as its aim.
"Unfurl our banners!" Lady Maege ordered from inside her full plate. The commanders rode armored warhorses at the head of the men, while standard-bearers marched beside them with their house banners held high.
Most striking at the head of the formation were the golden quartered banners of the storm and the banners of the direwolf, visible everywhere.
The white banners of House Stark snapped in the wind atop their long poles, the grey direwolf on them seeming almost to leap and run. And the quartered banner on a field of gold blazed like wildfire across the plains, the black warhammer, the crowned stag, the red three-headed dragon, the grey wolf pack, and the blue-and-white slave shattering his chains all seemed to come alive.
Then came House Mormont's green bear banner, House Bolton's flayed man, House Hornwood's moose, House Karstark's sunburst, Lord Cerwyn's battle-axe, House Glover's armored iron fist...
At a glance, these battle standards looked like a grand alliance of lords, but a veteran like Tywin would notice that the army did not have enough men.
"Fight if you can. If you cannot, withdraw," Gendry told Lord Rickard and Lady Maege. The Winter Wolves might serve as the vanguard, but their more important task was to cover the storm's surprise strike on the Bloody Gate and the campaign for the Vale. Even sacrifice had to mean something.
"Rest easy, Prince," Lord Rickard promised, then added softly, "Please look after my family for me."
Gendry nodded. Family and bloodline were the foundation of all continuance.
Dacey also bid farewell to her mother, Lady Maege. Maege looked at her daughter with quiet satisfaction, tall and straight, a beautiful warrior woman. Dacey had joined Gendry's band of knights, along with the bastard Jon.
"If you get the chance, tell that bastard Jorah how hard it's been for us to hold Bear Island together. If he's not a coward, then at the very least he ought to go and see his father..." Lady Maege said to her daughter.
Dacey nodded. Then Lady Maege beckoned her closer and whispered a few instructions in her ear. Dacey nodded again, then glanced over toward Gendry and the others.
Gendry's cavalry rode on both flanks of the Winter Wolves, like the outstretched claws of a lobster, acting as scouts and outriders.
What Gendry relied on most were the knights of the Vale and the men of Crackclaw Point. Crossing the Mountains of the Moon by force would be impossible without them, especially the Vale men, who knew the mountain roads best.
"Anguy, your mounted archers are to keep a close watch on the Lannister scouts. Not a single one is allowed to make it back."
"Yes."
"Though from what I've seen, Tywin may already have withdrawn south to Harrenhal," Ser Barristan said. "He has always been cautious. If he sees the Twins have fallen, and fears being attacked from three sides, he will retreat to Harrenhal in hopes of supporting the Westerlands from there."
"I'd say the she-bear rather fancies the Prince," the Blackfish suddenly said under his breath, his tone teasing.
"Now, that is not the sort of joke you should make lightly." Gendry looked at the Blackfish. He really was not that casual where women were concerned, nowhere near Robert, who had indulged himself to excess. Speaking of beauties, Daenerys was in a class of her own. Then again, a beautiful wife had never stopped a man from straying.
"The late king?" Bronze Yohn frowned. "We all know he was forever chasing women, and never seemed to make much distinction between them. Pretty ones, plain ones, women from brothels, country girls, he enjoyed them all well enough. The late king could swear eternal love, then forget all about it before nightfall."
Gendry suspected Robert had been a sex addict as well, much like Aegon the Unworthy, father of King Daeron the Good, Daemon Blackfyre, Aegor Bittersteel, Brynden Bloodraven, Shiera Seastar, the Black Pearl of Braavos, and the rest. The two had been the brightest young men of their age. They shared one great flaw above all others, a lack of self-discipline. In the end, lust, appetite, and greed had ruled them so completely they could no longer break free.
That said, the quality of Aegon the Unworthy's lovers had been far above Robert's. Robert had truly been starving, with no taste too low for him. Aegon the Unworthy, by contrast, had many noble-born mistresses. He even cared for his bastards, which in the end helped bring about the Blackfyre Rebellion, making him very different from Robert. Gendry thought it still came down to power. Robert's kingship had never been secure, and he had always depended on the lion.
"Enough, Ser Brynden, Lord Yohn. It would not do for the Dragon Princess to hear talk like that," Ser Barristan said, cautioning the Blackfish. He knew Robert's womanizing well enough. "Not every Baratheon is like the late king. Stannis, at least, has been faithful to his marriage."
"But do the women of Bear Island even need men?" Anguy cut in quietly, seeing that Dacey had not yet ridden over. "I've heard they bed bears."
"That is utter nonsense," the bastard Jon said at once. "As far as I know, Lady Maege's husband may have come from a lesser noble house than the Mormonts, or even from the commons. In that case, she might well prefer to keep her own name for herself and her children."
The bastard Jon knew the North inside and out, and because bastards learned to watch people and the world around them, he was far more perceptive than Robb. Added to that were his brooding nature and Stark looks. It was only natural that Lady Catelyn disliked him.
"That is true," Ser Barristan said with a nod. "The Dornish have customs like that as well. Prince Oberyn and his kin, for example. Their fathers' names are not much spoken of."
Dacey Mormont came riding up just as their conversation was still going on.
"When men march together, each has something to teach the others. For the sake of the realm, and for the North, I will have much to learn from you both," Gendry said, looking at Snow and old Ser Barristan.
"You are too modest," Jon said with a smile. Being with other young men, and not having to look at Catelyn's sour face, made him feel much lighter.
"It is not modesty. When it comes to smithing, none of you is likely as skilled as I am. Did not Tywin and some of the Magisters call me the Little Smith?"
"That does no harm. According to the tales, many smiths became kings, and the Smith is one of the Seven."
Everyone laughed, as though the bitterness and war waiting ahead might be worn smooth for a little while.
The army pressed south at speed, their spirits still riding high. But when they saw the burnt manors and ruined fields, they understood that supply would be one of the greatest difficulties in continuing the march. The Lannisters had truly been vicious, ravaging the Riverlands again and again.
"Our supply is difficult, but the Lannisters' is in even worse shape," Gendry said. "Robb and the others will need to step up their harassment of the Lannister supply trains. Ser Marq has experience in that already."
At the inn at the crossroads and the land around it, the Winter Wolves' vanguard wiped out some of the sellswords Tywin had left behind. Tywin had indeed withdrawn to Harrenhal, while the Imp had been sent back to King's Landing, and several detachments devoted to burning, looting, and killing had been scattered between the Gods Eye and the Red Fork.
"Take that body down," Gendry said when he saw the gallows Tywin had set up in the yard. In the night wind, the innkeeper's corpse swayed endlessly on the rope. What little flesh remained on her looked thin and broken, like the wretched people of the Riverlands themselves.
"Tywin hanged her to punish her for standing by and doing nothing," Ser Barristan said.
"The Lannisters pay their debts, and so do we," Anguy said angrily, ordering that a grave be dug for the innkeeper by the river.
"If we keep moving south, Tywin will have strong forces waiting by the river to stop any crossing," Ser Barristan said. Tywin's main camp was at Harrenhal, but he would certainly have men guarding the river crossing on the Kingsroad to the south. Tywin might think this host had come to fight him to the death, but that was not the case.
"We are ready, Sun of Winter," Lord Rickard said.
"Fight if you can. If you cannot, withdraw," Gendry told Rickard and Lady Maege. "Even if you cross the river mouth, there is no need to strike Tywin's main camp. Scatter through the Riverlands and wage guerrilla war instead. If you cannot cross, then return to the Twins."
"Understood." Rickard and Maege both nodded. The two forces split apart there, and under the deepening night, the force bound east for the Bloody Gate also set out.
The journey east through the Mountains of the Moon was bound to be a harsh and grueling one. The Vale was a land made perilous by nature. In chaos or in peace, it could always sit apart from the rest.
"I heard the Imp did something clever and recruited a band of wildlings. That may work to our advantage."
"They should have gone into King's Landing with him, the savages and the little lion."
"The dwarf may not be much of a warrior, but he has a sharp mind."
Thinking of the slight but real bond he had once shared with the Imp, Jon felt a pang of sorrow. He had so few friends to begin with, and now in the blink of an eye, they were to meet as enemies in war.
Gendry and the others took the road under cover of darkness. Once they left the inn and turned east, the hard, cold rock that rose before them made everyone uneasy. The land here was steep and treacherous. The so-called road was little more than a stony path.
But then Gendry thought of it another way. Great deeds were born from hardship. If they managed to strike out through such a roundabout route, the Eyrie would surely be caught off guard.
They moved slowly through the night. The road was so rough that even with the best guides, plenty of horses would still be lost.
"Once we reach the Bloody Gate, I will need to send another letter to Runestone at once," Bronze Yohn said. The plan to write ahead had already been made, but now the details needed to be fixed more clearly.
If they were to fight for the justice of the Vale, then with Bronze Yohn's standing and the widespread resentment toward Lysa, a force of lords was already quietly preparing itself. Lysa ruled the Eyrie, yet she refused to let little Robert learn anything of governance. Because of the need to guard against Littlefinger, word could only be passed within the smallest possible circle.
"The Eyrie may be easy to defend and hard to take, but all its supplies come up from below," the Blackfish added. "If we drive straight through, we can pin down the Gates of the Moon and cut off food and supply."
They advanced with great caution, moving carefully through the narrow stretches and quickening the pace where the ground widened. The soldiers had to watch for shadowcats and wildlings. They got little sleep, but enough, since their numbers allowed them to rotate watches in shifts.
When daylight finally broke, Gendry once again saw the narrow stone road ahead, the hills around them growing steeper and more dangerous, and on the distant horizon the jagged line of snow-capped peaks.