Robb Stark's camp on the south-eastern border
The trees thinned on the backs of the hills where the brown tents of the Starks stood beneath the wolf heads stuck in the ground and the yellow-eyed horse skulls pinned high. From far away, the guards of the camp heard the bugle call in the trees, unmistakably signalling the arrival of Lord Rickard Karstark, allied with Robb Stark. The small group of men who rode into the camp were not allowed to enter the sacrificial circle of the northern septons, but they could watch the ceremony led by Robb Stark. He selected some of the finest horses that had strayed during the raid, but were later captured, to give his men plenty to eat before the final assault.
- King Robb!" said Lord Rickard, "We have waited a long time for the signs to be favourable. Now that we have shared the royal feast, we want to hear from you what you intend to do. We implore you to reveal the truth to us, for we all worship the same gods, we have taken up arms in the name of the same truth for the glory of Winterfell, even if our ancestors are different.
- 'For the ancestors!' said a man behind him, and then the escort repeated as one.
- For the ancestors! - Robb raised his gold-gilt cup and drank to the health of the Starks. - If you waited long, you did the right thing. The will of the ancestral spirits demands due respect, even from Lord Rickard, Lord of Carhold! To urge them without offending the order of the afterlife is impossible. Nor is it wise, for it is only on rare occasions that the clouds are broken by the light of heaven.
- "I'm not the one who's rushing you," said Lord Rickard, shining his eyes.
Robb searched the face of his ally's envoy. He was still a young man, with a barely beginning beard on his chin, his rank beneath his simple leather cloak only known by his gold belt with its wolf's ornamentation.
- I want to know if I've been led to the Sword of Barthogan Stark. The ancient weapon of power that legend has it will rise from the depths of frozen waters once a century. An ancient truth and justice, a legacy passed down from ancestor to descendant. As a child, my father shared with me the legend of the sword forged by the name of a common bloodline. The sword that disappeared from Barthogan's tomb, but will one day reappear to choose the true sons of Winterfell. And he who bears the sword will punish the traitors without mercy!
Lord Rickard snapped his head up.
- Not everyone has that insight! Your father must be one of those favored by the gods, which is why he passed on the legend of the Starks' legacy to you in your youth.
- "My father is a descendant of the Stark kings, from both branches," nodded Robb. We live for the law. We are guardians, the bearers of the legacy of King Wolf, and we cannot tolerate traitors, nor false kings like Tywin Lannister, whose bloodline is tainted, nor those who would change the eternal laws of the Northern Kingdom! My father's father, the great General Rickard Stark, contracted with your father by blood, not Tywin! He marched with him to defeat the wildlings and the Boltons, common enemies of the Starks and the Karstarks. Lord Rickard took King Rodrik Stark's daughter as his wife. And never let the North forget it! Don't you forget that my grandfather is of Cregan Stark blood.
- If the sword of Cregan, the sword of King Brandon, once held by Barthogan, is indeed in the hands of the usurper Tywin Lannister, who fights against us with false hopes and the strength of his allies, let us wrest it from his hands by a common force! You have my word on it!
- So be it!
Robb could hardly conceal his joy. If Robert's trapped army, now surrounded on all sides, is soon over, this rebellion will spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Casta's troops are waiting on the southern border, and with the support of the House of Martell lords at his back, he will sit on the throne of Winterfell. Whoever of his sons becomes heir to the Iron Sword would, under present circumstances, be a vassal of the Lannisters. The Stark-Karstark alliance, however, will end the humiliating tax imposed on him by the usurping false king. There is no doubt about the report of the envoys. The vassal houses in the north, groaning with slave blood, are already fed up with the outrageously high tax, and now that the Baratheon battalions have been shamefully lost in the war, now that the black-robed usurper King Robert has been so humiliatingly defeated, Tywin has few men left to fight. And Prince Oberyn, the brother of the Lord of the Sun Land's, hates him more than anyone. If the report of the envoys sent to him is reliable, he will get his chance when he, Casta and Jon Snow offer their triple alliance to Oberyn, with his armies breaking through the Red Mountains behind them. Then this great alliance can be consummated with other rebels against Tywin. But what is certain is that he will only launch his formidable armies against King's Landing once Tywin's forces have been defeated. And the prophecies of the old gods say they must win here and now! Rickard smiled encouragingly at the Young Wolf.
- As far as we know, Lord Eddard Stark's two bastard sons, Casta and Jon Snow, are fighting on the side of the enemy. Is this true, my king?
Robb pulled himself up in his chair.
- 'My father, like my uncle Benjen, raised the sword against dishonour, for freedom and the breaking of taxes. We, the descendants of Cregan, cannot tolerate tyranny and usurpation! Casta and Jon Snow are indeed fighting alongside Robert and Tywin. Robert has appointed Casta to lead his battalion, but the real leader is Prince Oberyn, the Red Viper.
- Well said, Young Wolf. We all live by the law of our ancestors! But Lord Eddard, had he continued to rule, would surely have supported our just cause against the usurper Tywin. Do you think his bastard sons will side with us if we try to convince them of our justice by imprisoning them? I think not, my king. They are both pledged to the Black Robe King, both under Tywin's influence. You will do best to end their lives in battle or after battle!
Robb raised his arm in a dismissive gesture, then placed his right hand, clenched in a fist, over his heart.
- Rickard Karstark!" he continued in a measured tone. - Thank you for your advice. The gods will decide the fate of my father's bastard sons, whom I have adopted as my blood brothers. The execution of those called traitors will only be the beginning. When I take the throne of Winterfell, will you support me and stand with me?
Rickard listened thoughtfully to Robb Stark's harsh words.
- 'By the blood offered to the old gods, I swear that when our victory is complete, I will kneel before you to see the edge of the iron blade cut your face! Why then, my king, do you delay? Why do you and your ally, Prince Oberyn, not give the order to attack?
The muscles in Robb Stark's face tightened.
- We will both give the order soon, Lord Rickard. But Stark's army in the south is led by Casta of the Outlands, not me.
- You will win and your clan will rise high.
- 'So be it,' he said, holding up his hands again, 'Finish the Lannisters and all traitors as soon as I receive the signal from my allies!