ASOIAF: King of Winter

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Chapter 27

Edmure Tully

"Even now, we're hearing news of Lannister forces retreating, my Lord." His Maester Vyman informed him. "From the Twins to the Gods Eye, Lannister forces are finding themselves outnumbered and outclassed, especially once news of the Mountain's end was spread."

Edmure nods, a smile on his face.

Things were going well for him, especially after the debacle that was the Battle of the Golden Tooth, were he lost against Jaime Lannister and his host.

Now, he was the one who led a defensive war against Tywin Lannister, and won. He defended the line and forced the Old Lion to retreat.

Him, winning against Tywin Lannister, could you imagine it?

And it was all thanks to his nephew, the Wolf Lord, the Ice Stark, names and epithets and songs were made after him, and Edmure thought they were all deserved.

Not many met Robb Stark, and not many did so when he was strategizing. He was there, when he came up with his plan to head west, he was there, when he orchestrated the defense of the Crossings, planning for the death of the Mountain months before it actually happened.

He knew how to navigate the lords and politics very well, and he has the ability to inspire loyalty more than any he'd ever seen.

He's reclaimed quite a bit of reputation by claiming the organization of the war effort in the Riverlands, yet Robb did more so as the brain behind the strategy.

He'd admit to feeling quite a bit of jealously, but then he'd thought that he'd be far more miserable had his nephew been less competent in any way. After all, both Edmure and Robb's situation was very precarious at the beginning of the war.

"How goes the preparation for the coming host? My nephew and his army are but days away, after all."

Maester Vyman nods. "All is well, my Lord." He speaks. "Lord Stark will come with his own provisions; all I had to do was set the stewards to prepare for storage for the plunder and accommodations for the lords."

"What of the others?"

"Much of the camp infrastructure occupied by our previous army was left intact when those same soldiers left to reclaim their lands." Vyman answers. "Lord Stark's army should have no problem adapting, my Lord."

My Lord, Edmure thinks hearing those words from Vyman to be extremely disconcerting; after all, it meant that the Maester considered him lord in all but name, and a dreadful confirmation that he found no hope for his father's recovery.

"Any other matters to discuss, Maester?" He asks.

Vyman shakes his head. "The northmen have been a bit rowdy." He replies. "But Lord Umber has already stopped any problems before they could escalate. Otherwise, there's nothing else to bring to you, my Lord."

Edmure nods.

"Good." He says. "Then I shall take my leave."

Edmure ignores the man's bow, letting out a grunt as he stood up and made for the door.

His mind wanders again, to the letter he received some days before.

'The Lannisters are scheming to free the Kingslayer.' He thought. 'I don't know how Robb came to such information, but I don't think he'd warn me so carelessly.'

He'd already increased guards around the Lannister's chambers, and made sure to thoroughly search any outsiders that come into the castle. He'd even made sure to change the Frey's quarters to the other side of Riverrun, as they had the closest relations to the Lannisters, putting loyal guards by their side to look out for any funny business.

But something still gnawed at his mind, everything has been great lately, and honestly, Edmure began to feel that they were going too well.

'Could it have to do something with Catelyn's outburst?'

Some days ago, before he received the letter from Robb, Cat apparently had the bright idea to convince Jaime Lannister to confess of his misdeeds, some of which supposedly include adultery, incest, and cuckolding.

She thinks that in doing so, the Lannisters would be more willing to trade him for her children, which is logical idea, and certainly an avenue to be explored, but the way she went by it was way too wrong.

'Something doesn't add up.' He muses. 'Cat is certainly very smart, and her family comes above all for her, but no matter how much I think on it, this isn't an idea I think she could come up with.'

Indeed, his sister, despite her intelligence, never tended to come up with clever schemes and unconventional ideas, always direct and to the point. And they tend to get even worse when her emotions get involved, just look at that whole debacle with the Imp.

'This is more something that that snake Littlefinger would come with.' He thinks with distaste.

As he walks along the halls of Riverrun, the suspicion simply couldn't leave his mind, and he wouldn't stop trying to connect to some greater scheme. But he simply doesn't know what.

So, he simply decides to get closure by speaking with Cat.

He stops a passing handmaiden with a gesture. "Do you know where my sister is?" He asks.

The woman bows. "Yes, milord." She answers. "I believe she's in the garden, practicing her embroidery with her ladies in waiting."

Edmure sighs. "Of course she is." He then gestures for the woman to leave, which she does after a bow.

*-*-*

Riverrun's Godswood is the same as its garden, as in they share the same space; it is an especially verdant space with elms, redwoods, wildflowers, nesting birds, and streams. It is one of the most visited areas of the castle, and a favorite for women to relax and children to play, so it is always vibrant with the sounds of pleasant conversation and laughing children.

Catelyn always led embroidery parties in a specially built pavilion at the side of one of the large streams, it was set in an especially high spot that allowed one to see the breathtaking sight of the Godswood and its nature.

'Father had it built as a nameday gift, for her, his favorite.' He chuckles. 'Lysa was so mad.'

When he comes to them, he finds Cat and her ladies in waiting in silence, busy with needlework.

A slight smile was on Cat's face, but Edmure knew her enough to notice that it's fake.

When they notice him, all but his sister stands and curtsy.

Edmure nods. "Leave us, if you will."

The women don't take a second to obey, and in a few seconds only him and Cat were left.

Catelyn's smile falls flat, and a frown makes its way to her face.

"What is it." Her voice is chiding, as if he was a child who'd interrupted her work.

As he takes a seat, Edmure couldn't help but have his hackles raised.

"Convincing the Kingslayer, who gave you that idea?" He accuses.

Catelyn huffs. "That matter again?" She questions. "I thought we had an agreement on the matter."

Edmure concedes her point with a nod. One visit allowed per day, and only with a large contingent of guards, but most importantly, no killing the f*cking hostage.

"Yes." He says. "But I need to know who gave you that idea. It's not something that you'd usually come up with."

She scoffs. "I accepted your conditions; I even kept my mouth shut when you changed my guards, as if I'd have suborned them to my side." She shakes her head. "I won't let you question my motives; you know them, you know our family words. Family, Duty, Honor, I'm doing this for family, and you-"

He interrupts her tirade with a hand. "Guards?!" He exclaims. "I didn't change your guards!"

That'd be foolish, only the most disciplined and those with enough time served can be allowed to guard him and his family, and there aren't many of those, so replacing them can prove difficult, and not something he could do with a whim.

He turns around. "When was this?!"

Catelyn quickly notices the urgency of his words, answers quickly. "Today. I thought you came for that reason?"

Edmure stands up abruptly, his hand unconsciously grabbing on the hilt of his sword.

"Where are they?!"

"I don't know!" She answers. "I usually order them to leave us alone during our embroidery!"

"Shit!"

Edmure swiftly runs outside. The moment he sights a guard, he grabs him by the shoulder.

"You! Sound the alarm, and tell the commander that an attempt to rescue the hostages may be happening!"

The man's face reddens, but he quickly nods and runs to follow his orders.

Edmure rushes through the castle, dragging with him any guard or patrolman on the way.

But alas, when he reached the hostage area, there was already sounds of fighting.

Some of their men were barricading a door, so Edmure pulled one out as the ones he dragged with him went to help.

"What is the situation?!"

"My lord!" The man bows. "Some men managed to make their way inside, they killed the guards and freed the prisoners!" He says. "They brought weapons with them, so the hostages retreated back into the castle!"

'Shit!' He thinks. 'Changing the prisoner's guards was too difficult, so they do so to Catelyn's.'

The plan was quite ingenious, they convince his sister to visit the Kingslayer in regular intervals, change her guardsmen, and use that to allow them access to the prisoners.

Catelyn's guards would be easily recognizable, as they have the crest with the Tully's sigil crisscrossed with the Stark direwolf on their helm, so they make up a number of excuses to justify their entry without their lady's presence.

The hostage space was chosen carefully, the idea was to keep them as isolated from the rest of the castle, but most importantly, keep the greatest distance possible between it and the gates, making the captive's prospects of escape the least possible.

But these aren't dungeons, but simply repurposed chambers for holding noble hostages.

Whoever went inside would be expected to have at least some measure of the castle's structure, so it is to be expected for the hostages to know the shortest way to escape.

The Water Gate over the Tumblestone is halfway submerged into the water, and not only is it the most heavily guarded, but it would also require getting a ship to cross. The gate by the East is the least defended and leads to land, but they could simply open the sluice gate and the escapees would get drowned by the water.

The west gate leads to the Red Fork, but that river can easily be crossed by foot, so that'd be their target.

'The only way through to the West Gate is this door.' Edmure realizes. 'And since we outnumber them, their only choice will be to break through before reinforcements arrive.'

"Gods dammit!" He shouts. "Call all the other guards here! I want only the least amount possible guarding the other exits, those bastards are coming here!"

His order is heard, and others are called over to reinforce their position.

But not enough, as before everyone arrives an axe head breaks through the redwood frame of the door.

"Hold the door!" Edmure screams. "Do not let any of them pass through that door!"

"Is that the little fish I hear?!" The voice of Jaime Lannister echoes through the door. "How good to hear of you, after so long! You didn't visit me once for the duration of my stay, I've almost grown offended! Although, your sister certainly made up for it!" His arrogant words brought Edmure to the edge of rage, but he recognized his words for the taunt that it was.

"I was too busy crushing your father's arse to make time!" Edmure answers. "Next time, I shall make sure to free up some, just for you!"

The only thing he receives as response is the sound of iron slamming on wood, as the men on the other side pried holes into the wood.

Edmure was tense, yet unworried, at first. But he then noticed that their strikes were focused on two particular points.

Once the wood seemingly weakened, he saw spikes surging out of those two spots.

"Shit!" He turns to his men. "Crossbowmen to the back, get prepared! Pikemen to the front, in formation, abandon the door!"

His decision proved to be right, as with those spikes attached to the door, no number of barricades on their side would help, as the men on the other side could simply pull on them to detach the door.

"Fire at will!" Edmure shouts the moment the door is pried open.

His crossbowmen managed to hit the first unprepared few, but the hostages had apparently scavenged enough shields from their guards to keep themselves protected.

Edmure swiftly ducks under a thrown pike, their enemies had used them as javelins, and although unprecise, some hit his own crossbowmen.

A glint of gold makes its way to his eyes, Jaime Lannister cutting down one of the pikemen, allowing his other friends to break through their first line of defense.

The Kingslayer hefts his shield up, blocking a stay arrow.

"Do not aim for the head or torso!" Edmure shouts, it would be disastrous if their most important captive were to be killed.

Jaime cuts another man, a smirk on his face. "I do not think you can afford to do that!" He points his sword at Edmure. "Oh, have I waited for this day!"

Edmure steels his heart, gripping his own shield tighter.

Even now, reinforcements are coming here and there, but currently they were roughly equal in number, and most of the hostages were nobles or knights, much more skilled in combat.

He sights the Kingslayer's bandaged shoulder. 'Although they are also weakened, so it is not all bad.'

The goal became clear, hold on until reinforcements come. But that won't be easy, as even now their enemies are making their way in.

Finally, Jaime kills his final obstacle between himself and Edmure.

'I only have to last.' Edmure comforts himself, raising his sword up. 'He's injured and exhausted, just focus on defense, and wait him out.'

'Wait him out.'

But jitters pushed him toward another turn of action. Once the Lannister scion comes close, Edmure –for some unknown reason- thought that a kick would be a good idea.

Jaime smoothly blocks it with his shields, wincing ever so slightly as he felt the shock make its way to his injured shoulder, but he swings his sword toward Edmure's head.

Edmure scrambles to defend with his own shield, but his overextended foot meant that he was unbalanced, and the force of his opponent's blow pushed him to fall down.

Fallen to his ass, shield to the ground, Edmure looks up at the smirking face of the Kingslayer with horror.

"You shouldn't have done that." Jaime taunts.

"Nononono-"

The last thing he sees is the sharp edge of a sword.

When agonizing and deep, horrifying fear took him away, all Edmure could hear is the sound of a scream of rage and the thwick of a flying arrow.

[A.N: First major death of the fic, and the specific plot point where canon starts going to shit. Hope you had fun.

Edit: Jaime didn't escape, this was a failed escape attempt where Edmure got killed by his hand.]