Outside Riverrun, along the River Road, lay a nameless village that had long since lost its peace.
The houses were weather-beaten, their wooden walls darkened by soot and damp mist rising from the nearby rivers. Soldiers moved quietly through the narrow paths, their red cloaks dull and stained after weeks of campaigning. Beyond the village, dominating the horizon, stood Riverrun.
From the upper floor of a commandeered house, Tywin Lannister gazed through a narrow window.
The castle in the distance appeared bluish-gray under the overcast sky, tinged faintly with yellow where torchlight reflected off its sandstone walls. The rivers wrapped around it like iron chains, making it look less like a fortress and more like an island of defiance amid hostile waters.
Riverrun had been under siege for nearly two months.
Yet it still stood.
"This is the latest military intelligence," Tywin said calmly, breaking the silence. "It concerns Crow Tree City, the Riverlands north of the Red Fork, and the current movements of the Northern army."
With a single finger, he pushed the letter across the table toward the man seated opposite him—Stafford Lannister, his cousin.
Stafford straightened slightly.
Although he already had a general idea of what the report would contain, he still picked up the letter and read it carefully. His brows gradually furrowed as his eyes moved line by line across the parchment.
"Karl Stone?" Stafford muttered when he reached the most striking name in the report.
He looked up, surprise evident on his face.
"He seems more intelligent than Gregor Clegane," Stafford said slowly. "But whether he's truly more capable… that remains to be seen."
Tywin's expression did not change.
"I didn't ask you to evaluate Robert's bastard," Tywin replied coldly.
Though his tone remained measured, the temperature in the room seemed to drop. Stafford instantly sensed the displeasure beneath his cousin's calm exterior.
"Very well," Stafford said at once, placing the letter back on the desk. "Let us return to the matter at hand."
He leaned back in his chair, fingers interlocked, and after a moment of thought, spoke again.
"We should withdraw our forces north of the Red Fork immediately, Tywin."
Tywin did not respond at once.
Stafford continued, choosing his words carefully.
"Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark are marching south with the full strength of the North. Now they also have the support of House Frey. If we continue to commit troops there, it will bring us no benefit whatsoever."
He paused, then added quietly, "Continuing to reinforce those positions would be… unwise."
Tywin finally looked up.
"You're suggesting we abandon the territory we've already taken?" he asked. "And allow our men to withdraw?"
Stafford frowned slightly.
"Karl Stone's appearance was unexpected, yes. But the reality is that the more than three thousand men you sent north have been nearly wiped out. What purpose do they serve now by remaining there?"
"Indeed," Tywin said softly.
He tapped the armrest of his chair with one finger, the steady rhythm echoing faintly in the small room.
"At this point, they can't even slow Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark."
"But…" Stafford hesitated, guilt creeping into his voice. "You never expected them to do much more than that in the first place, did you?"
Tywin's lips twitched, as though he might smile.
But the expression vanished before it could fully form.
"They have fulfilled their mission perfectly," Tywin said flatly. "Exactly as I intended."
He rose from his chair and walked toward the window, looking once more at Riverrun.
"Let them remain where they are. Stark will need time to clean up that mess."
With those words, the fate of thousands of men was sealed—decided casually, without ceremony, within the confines of a small, borrowed room.
Stafford felt a chill run through him.
He had known of this plan before it was enacted. Tywin had informed him directly. That was why Stafford understood, with grim clarity, that in Tywin Lannister's eyes, those three thousand men were nothing more than expendable pawns.
Their lives had been traded for time.
Time for other, greater schemes.
And they had succeeded—without ever realizing it.
What Stafford had not expected was that even now, after the plan's success, Tywin had no intention of ordering a retreat for the survivors.
Not even mercy.
Looking at his cousin's resolute profile, Stafford could only sigh inwardly.
This plan concerned the long-term survival and dominance of House Lannister. Though guilt gnawed at him, he could not oppose it.
Fortunately—if such a word could even be used—most of the dead and dying were minor nobles and lesser houses of the Westerlands, families loyal to Casterly Rock but not of Tywin's direct bloodline.
The loss was… acceptable.
At least, that was how Stafford forced himself to see it.
"As for Riverrun," Tywin said suddenly, turning back to the desk, "have you considered a solution?"
He gathered several documents into a neat stack.
"Does Hoster Tully truly seem willing to abandon his son?"
"Edmure Tully is his only heir," Stafford replied, pulling his thoughts back to the present.
When the topic shifted to Riverrun, Stafford's brow creased with doubt.
"The old man hasn't shown himself even once. It's as if he truly intends to do nothing."
"Riverrun refuses to sally out," Stafford continued. "Our siege has accomplished nothing—not even after you ordered men to capture members of families loyal to him and threaten them."
He shook his head.
"Does he really have such faith in Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark?"
Over the past month, lords and heirs from across the Riverlands had been dragged to their camp as prisoners. Stafford had seen their despair with his own eyes.
The prisoner camp, deliberately constructed directly opposite Riverrun's main gate, echoed daily with cries of grief and rage.
Yet Riverrun itself remained silent.
Cold.
Unmoving.
It was as though Hoster Tully had become utterly indifferent to the suffering of his own bannermen.
Even more strangely, from the beginning of the war until now, no one had laid eyes on the old lord.
When the Lannister army had marched down the River Road toward Riverrun, Hoster had abandoned resistance without hesitation and chosen to hole up inside his fortress.
Now, when Lannister soldiers shouted insults and threats at the gates, the only response they received was the grim stare of Lord Tytos Blackwood from the battlements.
Yes, they had taken Pinkmaiden, Stone Hedge, Crow Tree City, and other holdings. Riverrun had been effectively isolated.
Tywin had even ordered continued raids throughout the Riverlands—burning villages, looting supplies, pushing toward the ferry crossings on the Trident.
And yet…
None of it mattered.
"They are his only hope," Tywin said quietly.
Stafford turned to him.
Tywin leaned forward, planting both hands on the desk. His green eyes narrowed as he stared out the window at Riverrun's stubborn silhouette.
"Riverrun is easy to defend and difficult to attack," Tywin continued. "Two sides face the rivers. The western side has a wide artificial moat."
"If the sluice gates are opened, the castle becomes an island."
Just as it was now.
Water surrounded the fortress on three sides. Sandstone walls rose directly from the riverbanks, their battlements lined with merlons and narrow arrow slits. Towers loomed above, their fields of fire overlapping both banks.
Tywin had tried to take Riverrun by force.
He had failed.
After several costly attempts, even he had been forced to admit the truth.
Hoster Tully was resolute.
Unshakable.
The old lord remained inside his shell, unmoved by threats, unmoved by blood, unmoved by suffering.
For a long moment, Tywin said nothing.
Then he straightened.
"It seems this plan must be abandoned," he said at last.
He turned back to Stafford.
"Gather all the Riverlands nobles we have captured," Tywin ordered calmly. "Every last one of them."
"And move them deeper into the Riverlands."
Stafford's eyes widened slightly—but he nodded.
The war was far from over.
And Tywin Lannister was only just beginning to reveal the true shape of his conspiracy.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)