Leaning against the railing of the second floor of the guest room, Arya looked down at the busy Winterfell.

She had hoped it would be a nightmare, but she woke up and was still in it.

Residents who had taken refuge poured in through the gates, soldiers in various armors hurriedly arranged their defenses, and in the open space where the castle's standing army practiced on weekdays, countless men, women, and children had already unloaded their luggage and set up tents under their command in a certain order and distribution......

It was the dead of winter, and the towns outside the city walls were inhabited by tens of thousands of people who were huddled together to resist the cold. When the news of the land-giving rebels going south suddenly came, everyone's first reaction was to squeeze into the castle for refuge, but the Stark family's residence simply could not accommodate such a large number of people, so the defenders made differentiated arrangements for the inhabitants after consulting the lord: most of those who could walk were evacuated to the direction of Severn City and Torun Fangcheng, and the two families found other arrangements, while those who were not suitable for the long journey or who could contribute to the city's defense were guided into the castle for a while.

In order to allow as many residents as possible to escape the war, the guards made the most of every inch of space in the castle, and even the sons and daughters of the Stark family temporarily gave up their exclusive bedrooms at the request of their brother Robb and squeezed into a room with their siblings......

However, compared to the irritability and distress of being forced to squeeze into a bed with Sansa, the second lady was more in her stomach at the moment with indescribable anger and humiliation.

When she heard in Houguan Town a few weeks ago that Egg had grovelled to the Mad King's daughter, she had sworn in anger that she would never speak to that liar again in her life. But the anger of the moment came and went quickly, and when she returned to Winterfell safely, and after a few days of calm and boredom, Arya quickly justified the other party in her mind: perhaps she had misunderstood her master, and he was swearing allegiance in a play to trick the mad king's daughter into riding a dragon to deal with the dead. When the war is over, he will do exactly what he promised: kick the Mad King's daughter away and continue to be his Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch, a loyal doorman of the Seven Kingdoms, and a reliable friend of the Starks.

The little girl had even thought about how she would pretend to be reluctant to accept Egger's apology and explanation the next time they met, and finally choose to forgive him and reconcile with him. As a price, he must be asked to find a way to break the marriage contract for him immediately, and make himself the first female night watchman...... Well, you have to take yourself around the world!

......

Arya could not have imagined that she did not wait for any of the imaginary scenarios to come true, but waited for the news that Egg had led an army of wildlings to declare a rebellion and go straight to Winterfell!

and Robb or Winterfell Coach and Clay Severn...... What the men had on their minds was that she didn't think about "how to hold Winterfell", "how to deal with possible dragons", "how to suppress the Night's Watch rebellion", and so on. The first thought that jumped into Arya's mind was: Egger, who had been kind, protective, and companion to herself all these years...... Is it all hypocrisy, all of what he pretended to get to where he is today?

Is it actually very annoying that I am only qualified to be deceived by the people around me because I am Miss Stark? So when a woman with a higher status and greater use value appears, she will become the one who is really kicked away?

Her friend Margaery Tyrell in King's Landing eventually poisoned her father, and now the closest man in her life besides her father and brother has rebelled against the Starks. Could it be ...... Born destined to bring disaster to your family?

Arya, who was full of cranky thoughts and felt that she had been abandoned from the beginning to the end and became a broom star, became more and more aggrieved the more she thought about it, and a warm liquid couldn't help but come out of her eyes.

Blinking vigorously, Arya was determined to hold back. She is Miss Stark, the finest female swordsman in the Seven Kingdoms...... First, to those who dare to deceive and hurt herself, she will fight back with weapons instead of tears. The next time you see that guy, be sure to let him know how sharp and sharp the "sewing needle" is!

After sniffing again, she saw Maester Lewyn hurrying past the campus from the tower where she lived, towards the main fort.

Could it be that something new has happened?

Egger was still dozens of miles away, and although she wanted to stab him with a sword dozens of times, she actually had nothing to do at the moment...... After thinking about it, Arya left the railing and ran downstairs, and the girl ran dozens of meters to catch up with the bachelor.

"Master Ruwen, is there any news from the north?"

She wished the Master had told her that the previous alarm had been a misunderstanding, and that Egger was still honestly serving as his commander-in-chief at the Wall, but the old man looked back at her and shook his head: "It's not from the north, it's from the east." ”

"What is it?"

Master Lu Wen shook his head: "Arya, at this time, the good boy should go back to the room and stay well, instead of running around. The castle is crowded with people at the moment, and it is not very safe. ”

"I want to help!"

The old man shook his head and stopped preaching to the girl, but buried his head in climbing the steps into the main castle and walked in front of the guards.

The old maester had been serving Winterfell for more than twenty years, and he had watched every young man in this castle grow up, so although the two guards stretched out their hands to stop him, they still explained in a friendly tone: "Master Ruwen, several adults are discussing the war in the hall, and they have ordered that they should not be disturbed. ”

"I have important news from the Horror Fortress, related to the war. ”

The scholar in charge of Winterfell's Crow said that there was important news, it must be really important information, and the guard didn't doubt it at all, turned around and knocked on the door with a fist: "Lord Robb, Master Lewyn asked to see him, saying that there is important news from the Castle of Terror!"

Robb soon answered from behind the door that Robb had allowed him in, and the guards pushed the door open for the Bachelor, and Arya squeezed Ruwin's arm deftly and slipped inside.

"Arya, what are you doing here?"

"I ...... Come and hear what you have to say, and make sure not to interject. ”

Robb frowned and looked at the little sister, but he didn't bother to pursue her inopportune appearance, and turned his attention directly back to the bachelor - after nodding at him, he didn't talk nonsense and asked directly, "Good news, or bad news?"

"Lord Bolton wrote that his patrols had also detected the land-granting army...... In addition to this, he was sure that the queen and her two dragons were still in the last Hearth, and that the dragon hunting crossbow in the Castle of Terror was almost ready for actual combat in the near future, so please allow him to attack the Hearthcity after completing the preparations and wipe out the queen and her dragons. ”

！！！

Everyone at the map table straightened their backs and stared at Ruwin with wide eyes.

Robb also took the note handed by the bachelor in disbelief and reread it himself, and the distress that he had nothing to do a moment ago was suddenly swept away: "Bolton said that he will gather three thousand soldiers in a few days, and bring four to five dragon hunting crossbows to the north to surprise the last Hearth, and eradicate the Mad King's daughter in one fell swoop!"

"Really?"

"Won't it?"

Two cries of surprise came, and Sir Rodric, who was in charge of overseeing the progress of the dragon crossbow in Winterfell, was the first to disbelieve: "The drawings have only been here for a few days, how can they have been made?"

"I don't doubt that Fort Terror already had a ballista, and that it would be much faster to modify the base and sights to make it capable of anti-aircraft than it would be from scratch. Clay Severn shook his head, disapproving: "If the Castle of Terror can quickly gather 3,000 elite soldiers and a few dragon hunting crossbows and bring them to Winterfell to defend the feudal king, why risk dealing with the Mad King's daughter?"

"I think so too. Maester Ruwin agreed with Sir Severn, and turned to the lord of the city, "Do you need to write to Lord Bolton now, and order him to join the Kastark family in Winterfell?"

Robb flipped the letter over and over again to make sure it was correct, then handed it to Clay Severn for him to look at, and shook his head after thinking about it for a moment with his hands on his chest.

"My lords, my father taught me that being a lord is like being a father, and that every one of my people should be treated as a child. "Whether it's the farmer in the field, the servant serving in the castle, or the soldier fighting for me, I will do everything I can to protect it like my own child." ”

"Rather than defeat the rebels, destroy the traitors, and relieve the resentment and anger of the betrayal, I'd rather think about how to better protect my people?" After a short circle, Robb returned to the topic, "And now, everyone—if the Dreadbook can really get the dragon hunting crossbow in a short time, he will go to deal with the Mad King's daughter and his dragon, and the way to solve the problem is to solve the problem at the root." He pointed to Winterfell's location on the map: "The rebels have only won two great victories, and it is the peak of morale and combat effectiveness, if all the armies gather here to break the siege, even if they win, it will be a hard battle and bloodshed, even if the rebels are eliminated, there will still be the queen and her dragon will come to avenge their subordinates." ”

He swiped his finger across the map to point to the location of the last Hearth: "And the direct elimination of the rebels' allegiance is the end of the war!"

"That's two dragons and hundreds of Unsullied, and there is a castle to rely on, where is it said that a surprise attack can be successful?" Robb's remarks did not convince everyone, and Clay Severn disagreed, "The North is still at war with the Iron Islands, and the forces of Glover, Flint and Dustin are pinned down on the west coast and cannot move without permission, and the available spare troops are only more than 10,000, in case the three thousand elites of the Bo Don family are lost under the dragon flame, we will ...... behind It will be difficult to assemble an army that can defeat the rebels head-on!"

The people of the North have always liked to claim that they can defeat ten ...... This arrogance is based on the fact that the Northern Army really often defeats more armies than they own. But this time, in the face of the land-giving army led by Egger, no one in the house dared to mention this stubble again—they all agreed that if they wanted to defeat the five thousand enemies from the further north, they would need more than that.

Rodric also nodded solemnly: "Yes, what if Bolton didn't succeed in the surprise attack on the last Fireplace City?"

Robb Stark looked at Arya, who was looking at him with wide eyes, and then at the other three loyal subordinates with serious faces, and after a long moment of silence, he spoke again: "Although Lord Bolton has an unsociable personality, he has always been reliable, I believe...... He must have been sure enough to come up with this plan. But, in the unlikely event that his ventures fail, then, for the sake of the North's interests as a whole and the safety of millions of people, it seems that I will have to follow the example of my ancestor Torren Stark, bowing to reality and the Queen, recognizing her as the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Night's Watch as hers. ”

The room was silent, after Daenerys rode a dragon to participate in the Battle of Long Lake, the resistance of the north to his Targaryen identity had already decreased a lot, and the reason why Robb still refused to directly admit his legitimacy was that it was not in his own interests to stand in line for the Iron Throne, in fact, a large part of the reason was that she did not come directly to negotiate with her, but first secretly wooed Egg, a character who was supposed to be the gatekeeper of the north, which made him very unable to step down.

However, if it turns out that there is no way out of resistance, then following the established precedent and surrendering to the queen who saved the North and the Seven Kingdoms does not seem to be completely unacceptable.

Having said that, Clay Severn, Sir Rodric, and Maester Lewyn could no longer raise any objections. Robb's decision was actually a major concession, a declaration that he was willing to put the interests of his vassals above his own face. And this plan is essentially to transfer the losses and risks that Winterfell could not cope with the surprise attack to the Bolton family - if the old skinning queen succeeds, then Iger will lose the reason and confidence to fight......;

People are selfish, and for the princes of the northern realm, there will be no loss of good things in this way, where can they find it?

"In that case, our response will have to change dramatically. Severn Clay was loyal to the Starks and gave his life to defend Winterfell, but enough battles have been fought in the past two years, and the bullish view has long since lost its ground: "We still have to be prepared to defend the castle, but when the land-giving army comes to the city, you can send someone to negotiate with Egger every day, and delay time to create an opportunity for Lord Burton's plan." Anyway, no matter whether the good news or the bad news comes back, the negotiations will definitely come to fruition!"

Arya blinked beside her, and although she didn't understand why the adults seemed to have agreed everything in a few words, she at least understood one thing: the mad king's daughter, whom she didn't kill, now has an even more powerful fellow, Count Bolton, to lead the army to encircle and suppress it, and Egg, that damn fellow, is coming to attack Winterfell with great momentum, and this time he is going to run into big trouble.

"Robb, if Lord Bolton succeeds in killing the Queen, what will you do with my teacher...... "It's good that the queen is dead, but she asks another question about the other person she just wanted to stab to death.

"Him. Robb took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and replied, "When Daenerys is dead, if he is willing to surrender to us without unnecessary bloodshed, I can still leave him alive and banish him from Westeros." But if he dares to attack the castle and cause casualties......" He looked deeply at his sister for a moment and shook his head: "Even if only one person in the castle dies for this, someone must pay for it." ”

"Look at what I'm doing, I'm not interceding for him......! They deserved to be hanged. Arya grunted hatefully, and thought for a moment, wouldn't that be a curse to someone in this city to death?, and after sorting out the cause and effect, she didn't even know what kind of outcome she wanted, so she stomped her foot, turned and ran out of the hall.

——

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