Crops were once again standing in the open fields, though they were sparse and scattered—survivors of the destruction that had swept through the land.
The thin crops looked like lonely sentinels, mirroring the solitary plumes of smoke rising from distant farmhouses.
The skeletons that had once littered the roadsides were gone, and life was returning to the villages.
The wounds of war seemed to be healing, but the overall feeling was still desolate. A group of about twenty people traveled along the main road, then suddenly stopped, deciding to rest for a bit.
Arya was the first to jump off the carriage. She turned back and called out to the sluggish Sansa, "Sansa, are you going to practice sword fighting or not?!"
"Coming, coming," Sansa responded from inside the carriage, sounding a bit self-conscious. She kept adjusting the narrow sleeves of her training tunic; without the flowing long sleeves of her gowns, every movement felt awkward and exposed.
Jeyne, also dressed in training gear, followed behind her, ready to learn alongside Sansa.
After everything that had happened in King's Landing, Sansa had realized the importance of learning martial arts.
Still, the thought of swinging swords and fighting like Arya made her feel a little uneasy.
But Jon had encouraged her, saying that exercise would be good for her complexion. That was what finally convinced Sansa to learn the Water Dance from Arya.
However, Sansa's athletic talent was clearly inferior to Arya's. She and Jeyne were stepping into unfamiliar territory, experiencing exactly what Arya used to feel during needlework lessons.
"Sansa, Jeyne, use some force, will you?! Your moves are so soft you couldn't even pierce a piece of paper!"
"Sansa, move faster!"
"Sansa, when you lunge forward, your feet need to move forward too."
"Sansa, you look like a duck!"
"Sansa—"
Arya was enjoying a mischievous sense of satisfaction. She finally made Sansa cry.
"I don't want to practice anymore!" Sansa threw down her wooden sword and turned to storm back to the carriage.
Seeing Sansa leave, Jeyne also chose to quit. Neither could handle Arya's "crushing" teaching style.
Not far away, Sandor watched the three girls playing around with a faint smirk. His gaze then shifted to Jon and Davos, who were talking by the river.
Jon had hit the road almost immediately after finalizing his betrothal to Margaery with Davos as a witness. He took only a dozen or so guards with him.
The army was still being reorganized. Once Jon settled things with Robb, the King's Landing forces would march out.
For this campaign, Jon had over eight thousand troops of his own, not counting Harkon and Sorra who had returned to the Mountains of the Moon.
Stannis had also provided about three thousand men. In reality, Stannis hadn't lost nearly as many men on the Blackwater as rumored—he didn't go from twenty thousand down to two thousand.
Most of his men had simply been captured.
Stannis still had over ten thousand troops at his direct command, and his numbers were recovering quickly.
In addition to Stannis's support, House Frey would also provide Jon with a thousand men. Stannis had completely pardoned House Frey for supporting Robb's claim to kingship and had accepted them into his new administration.
At this moment, Jon was telling Davos about Robb, Catelyn, Brynden, and other Northern nobles. The two were analyzing what their attitudes toward ending Northern independence might be and how to handle them.
"So you think Brynden might be the most stubborn one of them all?" Davos asked thoughtfully.
"Yes. Brynden and his brother, Hoster Tully, both live by the Tully words: Family, Duty, Honor. Brynden left Riverrun for the Vale years ago only because he refused a marriage arranged by his family. But when Tywin ravaged the Riverlands, he rushed back almost immediately. If Robb gives up his crown, Riverrun loses the North as a crutch, but the threat from the Westerlands is very real."
"And Lady Catelyn?"
"Lady Catelyn's attitude toward her children rivals, or perhaps even surpasses, Cersei's. I think she will lean toward peace talks. When Robb was first crowned, she wasn't actually all that supportive of it."
Jon and Davos also analyzed some of the centrists, like Roose Bolton. In this timeline, Roose Bolton hadn't had the chance to do anything truly evil yet.
At most, he could be accused of not being decisive enough; you couldn't condemn him based on suspicion alone. Compared to him, Jon actually looked more like the villain.
But since Robb's situation hadn't deteriorated to the point it did in the original timeline, Roose should behave himself and not rebel.
In fact, because the North and the Riverlands still had over thirty thousand troops combined, Stannis had decided after much consideration that if Robb was willing to lay down his crown and submit, he would be granted the title "Prince of the North."
After all, three hundred years ago, the last King in the North, Torrhen Stark, was known as the King Who Knelt.
The one who accepted the surrender of the King Who Knelt was Aegon the Conqueror, riding the dragon Balerion.
However, the Northerners didn't think much of Stannis, especially since he had just suffered a crushing defeat. It was only because of the variable that was Jon that Stannis had a place to stand at all.
So, offering the title of Prince as a condition for peace was a compromise for both sides.
"Sigh—it's just that Robb Stark lacks a bit of his own judgment. As a King, he really hasn't been thorough enough in many matters, and he acts a bit willfully." Davos was referring to Robb's marriage to Jeyne Westerling.
"Robb is only fifteen. He doesn't have much experience, so you can't blame him for everything. Surrounded by a bunch of nobles pushing him to be King... I don't think many people could resist that temptation," Jon retorted.
"Ah, Jon, you're right." Davos nodded, then suddenly realized—wasn't Jon only fifteen too? How could he speak with such maturity?
Davos reflected on himself. He had spent so much time with Jon lately that he subconsciously assumed a fifteen-year-old should act like this.
Thinking back on what Robb had accomplished, he was still an outstanding young man.
If only Stannis could have an heir like that. It was a pity—
An image of a little girl with a large patch of grey scales on her face floated into Davos's mind. That was Stannis's only child, Shireen.
Shireen had contracted greyscale as an infant. Greyscale was contagious, which meant Shireen couldn't be affectionate with her parents like other children.
She couldn't even attend the coronation ceremony. That decision had been unanimously agreed upon after much discussion.
"Alright, alright, you guys can take a break." In the distance, Arya, having experienced the joy of teaching for the first time, issued her command.
She wanted to talk to Jon, but seeing him still deep in conversation with Davos, she didn't approach. Instead, seeing Sandor standing there like an iron tower, she walked over to him.
Regarding the Twins, Stannis had also offered quite favorable conditions: "Old Walder," the Marquis, was to be elevated to Duke. From then on, House Frey would no longer be a vassal of House Tully, but an equal.
This was effectively a way to weaken House Tully.
Additionally, the City Watch of King's Landing—the Gold Cloaks—would absorb some Freys as officers.
Because of Jon, House Frey had become a beneficiary of the war, avoiding the fate of being wiped out by Arya in the future.
Ultimately, it was the Starks who broke the marriage pact with the Freys first. It was just that the Freys' method of collecting the debt was too crude—or rather, a massive overreaction.
The first stop for Jon and Davos on this diplomatic mission was the Twins. Davos would represent Stannis in elevating Old Walder and accepting his loyalty to the Iron Throne.
It was a win-win situation, so the trip to the Twins was bound to be relaxed and pleasant.
However, Davos had one worry, and it concerned Jon.
Jon had previously confessed about his past with Roslin Frey. Davos was worried—what if Jon threw caution to the wind and tried to back out of his current betrothal?
He decided to give a warning in advance.
"Jon, about Lady Roslin... I don't know if you still... are you..." Davos spoke carefully, stumbling over his words halfway through.
But Jon knew what he was trying to say. Before leaving, he had already written a letter of apology to Roslin.
"Rest assured, Ser Davos. I do still have some lingering feelings for Lady Roslin, but I won't try to take things any further. I am a bastard. I know what the looks from those around mean for a bastard. I will never let my own blood endure that again."