A door on the second floor suddenly burst open, and three men rushed out, raising small crossbows and firing at Robb in the hall.
Robb's guards had already begun escorting him out the moment the war drum fell, but they were so focused on the Freys in the hall that they failed to notice the threat from above.
*Thunk!* A crossbow bolt missed Robb, striking Talisa in the back as she fled, her hand still clasped in his.
"No! Talisa!" Robb only realized she had been hit when he felt her go limp. He immediately tried to lower her to the ground.
"Your Majesty, we must go! The Freys will storm in any moment!" a guard urged, his voice urgent.
Robb knew this was no time to check her injuries. He could only drag her toward the exit with the guards' help.
The crossbowmen on the second floor were quickly dealt with by the Blackfish and another noble after their single shot. The hall had already descended into chaos.
When the Blackfish knocked over the war drum, Catelyn's guard had lunged at Roose, plunging a dagger into his back. Roose dodged by twisting aside, avoiding a fatal wound, and the two were now locked in a desperate knife fight.
Catelyn spotted Talisa struck by the crossbow bolt and started to run toward her when a scream erupted beside her. Her guard had been stabbed in the eye by Roose and was now writhing in agony.
Catelyn loathed Roose Bolton, the Northern lord who had betrayed them. She snatched a carving knife from the table and plunged it into Roose's back as he gloated.
The blade only sank a quarter of the way before being stopped by his soft armor. Roose spun around, feeling a sharp pain in his back, and saw Catelyn raising the knife to strike again.
As he drew his dagger to counterattack, a searing pain erupted in his throat, and blood gushed from the wound. He clamped his hand over the gash, gasping for air, but it was no use.
With a final, labored turn of his head, he met the Blackfish's cold, cruel gaze. He opened his mouth, a silent protest on his lips, and collapsed to the ground, defeated.
After killing Roose, Catelyn and the Blackfish rejoined Robb. The Blackfish looked at Talisa, already dead, and Robb, his eyes vacant with shock. Helpless, he supported Talisa and herded Robb toward the exit.
Walder Frey, his carefully laid plan having gone awry, watched Robb and Catelyn nearing the gate. He ordered his two guards to pursue them.
If Robb escaped today, House Frey would face annihilation. He knew Tywin, that cunning old fox, would never fulfill his promise of reward if Robb survived.
Before Robb and his group could burst through the gates, a squad of soldiers arrived from the outside, trapping them between two enemy forces. The guards could only form a defensive circle around Robb, Catelyn, and the remaining three to fend off the attackers.
Robb slowly snapped out of his daze. He gently stroked Talisa's cold cheek, took the longsword offered by a guard, and let out a war cry as he charged forward.
His wife and children had died because of his carelessness. He hated himself for not heeding his mother's desperate pleas and for being so consumed with reclaiming his lost honor. Now, all he wanted was to slaughter every enemy standing in his path.
Despite their desperate efforts, the enemy forces grew in number. Even Catelyn joined the fight. As the enemy numbers swelled, despair began to creep into her heart. She never imagined they would end up dying here, buried alongside Robb.
*Clatter-clatter-clatter!*
The sound of approaching hooves carried on the wind. Both sides in the battle froze, pulling back from each other.
"It's our men," Robb said to Catelyn and the others. "Look, there's someone on horseback."
Within moments, over a hundred cavalrymen charged into the fray. They swung their swords, cutting down the Frey soldiers surrounding Robb's group, and hoisted the surviving nobles onto their horses, galloping toward the city gates.
Frey soldiers continued to attack along the way, but they were held back by the outer cordon of cavalry.
Beneath the city gates, the Northern army held their position, defending the gates stubbornly. Only after Robb and his group had charged out did they slowly withdraw from The Twins.
The cavalry charged out of the city gates toward Riverrun, leaving the infantry to cover their retreat.
Pursuers relentlessly harried them along the way, and nearly all the cavalry who had escorted Robb out of The Twins were slaughtered.
A day later, the surviving cavalry were fortunate enough to encounter a patrol from Riverrun, allowing them to exchange horses and return to the city.
The Northern nobles were stunned to see Robb and the dozen or so survivors return from the wedding covered in blood. Upon learning that Walder had dared to murder guests at the wedding, they were aghast.
Back in Riverrun, Robb immediately ordered his men to arrest all of Roose's men for punishment. Only then did they discover that Roose's three hundred-plus men had slipped out of Riverrun hours earlier on some pretext, their whereabouts unknown. Robb realized Roose had long since arranged their escape.
Only a dozen or so nobles had managed to flee back from the wedding feast. Robb ordered all forces to withdraw into Riverrun and reinforce its defenses. The city, surrounded on three sides by water, was naturally defensible. Even if The Twins and Tywin joined forces to besiege it, they would find it nearly impossible to take.
After arranging the city's defenses, Robb held his wife Talisa's cold corpse for a long time, unable to let go, consumed by regret.
***
Beside the Green Fork River, the Hound and Arya rode slowly side-by-side, Arya gazing toward The Twins with tears welling in her eyes.
Last night, she had planned to sneak into the wedding hall to find her mother and brother. But before she could enter, she witnessed the House Frey soldiers clash with the Northern forces.
She saw her brother Robb's direwolf shot dead by Frey soldiers and immediately understood what was happening. Just as she was about to search for her mother again, she was knocked unconscious. When she awoke, she was already on horseback.
"Will Mother and the others escape?" Arya wiped the tears from her face and asked the Hound beside her.
The Hound was Sandor Clegane, one of Joffrey's Kingsguard who had escaped the Battle of King's Landing. He was also The Mountain's younger brother, the greatest swordsman in the realm.
When the Hound was a child, The Mountain had pressed his face into a brazier, leaving half his face disfigured by grotesque scars and his ear half-missing.
The wildfire that had engulfed King's Landing during the battle had awakened a deep-seated fear within him. He had fled the city, unable to continue defending it.
"No one would have expected the Freys to attack the wedding guests so openly," the Hound said, his face expressionless as he stared ahead. "Since Walder dared to do this, he must have prepared thoroughly. He won't let a single Northern noble escape—especially not your mother and brother."
"But I think I saw Great-Uncle Blackfish secretly set fire to a hayrick! He must know something!" Arya refused to accept the Hound's analysis, recalling the sight of Blackfish and arguing against his conclusion.
The Hound pondered for a moment before continuing, "Even if they realize something's wrong, it will be too late."
Arya knew he was right, but she still couldn't believe it, staring blankly at The Twins.
A day later, Varys received news from Riverrun. Seeing that Robb and Catelyn had escaped back to the castle, he let out a sigh of relief.
In the Prime Minister's Tower in King's Landing, Tywin slammed his wine goblet to the floor with a crash. He hadn't been this furious in years, and his rage was palpable.
Even the meticulously planned Red Wedding had gone awry. No wonder the Freys had never risen beyond the ranks of minor nobles—they were only fit to collect bridge tolls.
His plans completely disrupted and Tyrion's marriage alliance wasted, Tywin was forced to re-evaluate the political landscape of the Seven Kingdoms.
In the council chamber on Dragonstone, the Red Woman stared at Stannis in disbelief. "Robb... didn't die? How is that possible? No one could have survived that death trap!"
"The fact remains that he did not die. Has the Lord of Light failed us?" Stannis felt a flicker of doubt about the deity.
"My Lord would never err. The fault must lie with us. It seems your power is not as great as I imagined," the Red Woman said, her brow furrowed.
Hearing her words, Stannis's heart tightened, and he saw the image of Shireen as a baby in his mind.
-----------------------
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