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"Wildfire? Lord Robb, what are you talking about?"
At Robb's words, the corner of Torrhen's eye twitched slightly. A confused expression appeared on his face, and he asked loudly.
"He didn't come up here empty-handed, did he?"
Robb completely ignored Torrhen's question, turned to the two guards, and asked directly.
"That's right. He was carrying a wooden crate. He said it belonged to you, so we didn't dare ask anything else."
"You idiots, why didn't you say that earlier?"
Hearing the two guards' answer, Crey could not hold back his irritation and scolded them with a frown.
"Lord Crey, but Lord Robb didn't ask..."
Robb shook his head. The thought Bloodwind had just sent him had already confirmed everything. Added to his earlier suspicions, it finally made him speak to Torrhen.
"Torrhen, so you are the Lannisters' spy, aren't you?"
"Spy? What do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about, Lord Robb!"
Hearing the accusation, Torrhen's pupils suddenly shrank. As he answered loudly, his right hand was already moving quietly toward the back of his waist.
Crack!
The instant Torrhen pulled out what he had been hiding and prepared to throw it, the giant wolf, who had already been watching him closely, lunged the moment he moved and bit off his entire right hand.
Thump.
"AAAH!"
Amid Torrhen's sharp cry of pain, a small flint fell from the severed, bloodied hand still hanging from the wolf's mouth.
"Torrhen, why? Why did you betray us?"
Eddard, who had not said anything until then, looked at his brother, remembered the companions who had died in King's Landing, and finally raised his voice, demanding an answer.
"Hahahahaha... why?"
Clutching his mutilated arm, his face twisted by pain, Torrhen began to laugh frantically. Then he answered at the top of his voice.
"Because it isn't fair!
Harlion was born before us, so by right, Karhold's inheritance was always his.
I don't even complain about that. There's no way to change it.
But why, after we came to Winterfell, after we trained together, after we all entered his wolf guard, Robb Stark's guard...
Why were you always more worthy of his trust than I was? Why did he treat all of you better?
When he spoke to me, he was always polite, always keeping his distance. But with you, with Smalljon and the others, he spoke as if you were friends.
Is that fair?
From beginning to end, none of you ever truly accepted me!
And then the facts proved it. All of you became commanders of elite troops.
Only I was thrown into the rear guard, managing supplies.
When we defeated the Dreadfort, how much reward did all of you receive?
And me? After working myself to death transporting the infantry and cleaning up the battlefield, how much did I get?"
Torrhen's voice echoed loudly through the entire South Tower as he poured out, one after another, all the grievances he had kept buried.
After a long exhale, he continued.
"Back then, I couldn't even sleep in peace anymore. Every time I closed my eyes, I dreamed of those injustices repeating over and over. And the dreams were so clear, so real...
Brother, back then I couldn't eat properly, couldn't sleep properly. Did any of you care about me?
All you knew how to worry about was Robb Stark lying unconscious.
But I'm your brother!
Thankfully, at least there was Lord Jaime. During the entire time in Winterfell, he taught me swordsmanship, took me drinking, took me to women.
And when I decided I would start working for Lord Jaime, that night was the last time I had nightmares.
A strange raven taught me how to take revenge on all of you!
Maybe... maybe it was just my hatred taking shape."
"Do you have any last words, Torrhen?"
Robb fixed Torrhen's words in his mind, storing them away to reflect on later. But this was not the time to think calmly. Raising Ice slightly, he asked coldly.
"Lord Robb... may I be the one to do it?"
After hearing his brother's confession, Eddard, his face filled with sorrow, turned to Robb and asked in a pleading tone.
Robb nodded, then turned to the others behind him and ordered:
"You go first. Crey, lead the group along the withdrawal route."
"As you command, Lord Robb!"
Crey answered immediately, then led Sansa and the others forward along the wall.
"Torrhen, it isn't that we never accepted you!
It's that you never truly let yourself become one of us.
Do you know something? Robb originally wanted to put you and Smalljon in command of the cavalry and leave me with the rear guard.
I was the one who privately asked Robb to switch our positions. It was because of me that he placed you in charge of supplies.
Do you know why?
Because the casualty rate in the rear guard is much lower than in the cavalry, which always rides at the front.
So... that should never have been a reason for betrayal. I'm sorry, brother. The mistake was mine!
Rest easy. I will ask Lord Robb to tell our father that you died in battle."
Grief filled Eddard's face as he looked at his brother and spoke in a surprisingly gentle voice.
After finishing, he approached with sword in hand.
First, he embraced Torrhen one last time.
In the same motion, he drove the sword into his heart.
After hearing his brother's words, Torrhen simply stood there, as if all his strength had left him. He offered no resistance.
With his heart pierced, he collapsed limply against Eddard's shoulder and, coughing blood, still whispered a few words into his brother's ear.
Until then, Robb had been focusing all his attention on Eddard within the King's Landing group. After all, when Varys said that only Eddard Karstark had survived the escape, everything seemed to point to him far too obviously.
But precisely because of that, Robb had begun to grow suspicious.
If Eddard really had been the spy, he could have acted long before the escape, when Robb was still vulnerable.
Because of that, Robb had begun working with another possibility. What if no one inside the King's Landing group was the spy?
Who else knew the address of the shop at Cobbler's Square?
That was when he remembered that, on the afternoon they arrived in King's Landing, Eddard had left the city to contact Torrhen and the others.
While Robb was still thinking about it, Bloodwind brought him the crate Torrhen had hidden.
When they opened it, they saw that it was full of glass flasks containing wildfire.
Looking at Jaime and his men, who had already stopped and were keeping their distance, Robb gave up on using the flasks there.
He had Bloodwind carry the crate in his mouth and set off with Eddard toward the withdrawal point.
Seeing that the wildfire hidden on the wall of the South Tower had not exploded, Jaime immediately knew Torrhen's plan had failed.
Earlier, at Cobbler's Square, Torrhen had taken advantage of a moment when his companions were distracted and murdered the other two Winterfell riders.
After that, he and Jaime had followed the beast while carrying the wooden crate and settled on the wildfire ambush plan.
Having seen with his own eyes the absurd level of Bloodwind's power, Jaime did not believe that this handful of men would be enough to stop Robb.
Because of that, he did not bring the Gold Cloaks any closer to the South Tower, avoiding a pointless sacrifice of men.
The escape route Robb and the others used was the same one Sansa would use to escape King's Landing in the original history.
Crey had found this path after more than a month of searching and testing, relying only on the vague information Robb had given him.
After leaving the South Wall, since the wolf was too large to pass through the narrow alleys, Robb and Eddard had to circle around by a more open route.
When they reached one of the branches of the Blackwater Rush, Sansa and the others were already split between three small rowboats.
Using the tools Crey had prepared in advance, they tore the rivets from Bloodwind's armor, completely destroying that first version of the wolf-forged armor, already covered in blood and scored with scratches.
When everything was ready, everyone boarded and began rowing toward the winch tower in Blackwater Bay.
Carrying the crate of wildfire in his mouth, Bloodwind raised his head, plunged into the water, and swam with obvious pleasure. Although most of the blood had been stuck to the armor that had already been discarded, there was still plenty of blood clinging to his fur, and the water washed it away perfectly.
When the boats reached the winch tower on the Blackwater, Gendry was already waiting for Robb, wielding a hammer.
After he climbed aboard, Beric asked to part ways with Robb's group there.
Robb nodded and wished him good luck, without insisting any further. After all, Beric was the Lord of Blackhaven. He could hardly follow them back to Winterfell.
The winch tower on the Blackwater was the same place where, in the original Battle of Blackwater Bay, Bronn would fire the arrow that ignited the wildfire and destroyed Stannis's fleet.
Now, a beautiful three-masted ship was waiting for them in silence.
...
Jaime descended with several Gold Cloaks to the first level of the dungeons.
Everything there was in chaos. After being freed, the criminals had been the first to destroy their own cells.
On the second level, the situation was slightly better. After all, the prisoners there were nobles, and some trace of decorum still remained.
When he reached the corridor of the third level, Jaime smelled the thick scent of blood in the air.
Ignoring everything around him, he went straight to the cell where Eddard had been imprisoned.
Seeing the door completely open, he shook his head and prepared to leave.
That was when he heard the sound of chains moving inside the cell.
With a surprised expression, he entered.
There was Eddard, his face expressionless, adjusting his posture in the corner of the cell.
"Lord Eddard... your son didn't come to rescue you?"
"He did."
"Then why didn't you flee with him?"
"Because I would never be able to explain it if I returned as a man who betrayed his king and stabbed him in the back."
Hearing the irony in Eddard's words, Jaime became irritated and answered:
"You... if I hadn't struck that blow, King's Landing would now...
Forget it. You would never believe me."
Eddard looked at Jaime, who had clearly swallowed the rest of his words. He remained silent and said nothing more.
Seeing that Eddard had no intention of continuing the conversation, Jaime then spoke sincerely.
"Lord Eddard, although the two of us could never sit down and share a peaceful drink... it was an honor to know a knight like you."
After saying that, Jaime turned to leave the cell.
That was when Eddard spoke behind him.
"Tell Cersei... that I am willing to confess."
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