The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 212: The Loser's Dilemma
Since Aegon's conquest, the Tully family of Riverrun has gained the right to rule the rich riverlands by being the first to kneel and pledge allegiance to the conqueror, but this power that comes from grace is ultimately unstable.

Just like Tyrell, who rose from being a steward to the Lord of Highgarden, there has never been a shortage of challengers to power within the Riverlands.

For three hundred years, the Tullys have been struggling with these old nobles or up-and-coming ones, constantly fighting for the family's authority in the Three Rivers. When a capable monarch appears in the Tully family, the lords under their command will show obedience, but when the monarch becomes weak, they change their attitude and launch a new round of challenges to the Trout.

However, it was the first time that the situation had developed to the point it was today. Tully's ancestors probably had no idea that one day most of his vassals would rebel, and even Riverrun would be surrounded by the rebels' army.

Faced with such a predicament for future generations, they can probably only sigh that life is unpredictable.

At this moment, even Tully's in-law Stark was trapped in the city. The huge Frey army and their allies have set up a tight siege outside Riverrun. The lords who once fought under the Trout Banner have now turned against Tully and drawn their swords.

The besiegers were determined to dig trenches and build siege engines, and they seemed to be manufacturing the same siege engines that had appeared in Robert's eastern expeditions. It seemed that they would not give up until the city fell.

The besiegers' catapults and ballistas bombarded the city almost non-stop. The walls of Riverrun had been smashed into pits and many battlements had been flattened. It no longer had the grandeur of the former river guardian fortress.

However, what is most eye-catching now is not the miserable castle. In the camp outside the city, the besiegers dug a huge mass grave. Frey's raid annihilated the main forces of Stark and Tully outside Riverrun, and then all the corpses were stripped of everything on their bodies and thrown into this big pit.

To prevent the corpses from contracting disease, Frey threw a large amount of incendiary materials into the pit. The subsequent fire kept the entire pit burning for at least a day and a night. When the fire went out, only the charred corpses were left in the pit. This action was clearly seen by the remaining troops trapped in the castle.

There was jubilation outside the city every day. Now, most of the resources in the entire river region have been controlled by the Freys. As the head of the army, the Frey family quickly transported supplies from all over the place. The abundant supplies made the morale of the besieging troops stable and kept it at a high level. At the same time, inside Riverrun, their opponents were a different story.

Now, the flags of Trout and Wolf hung listlessly on the top of the city wall, as if to demonstrate the morale of the soldiers defending the city. Both the Rivermen and the Northerners listlessly found a place they thought was safe to sit or lie down in, to conserve their energy for the continuous emergencies in the future.

Since the expedition, the fierce war in the East has brought about a qualitative leap in Westeros' siege technology. In fact, most castles no longer have the conditions to hold on. Only a few towering castles that have gone through countless years can continue to stand in this era.

But Riverrun was clearly not one of them.

Riverrun's greatest reliance is the river surrounding the castle. As the water valves are opened and the river water pours into the river, the entire castle is surrounded by the river; but now, relying on the combat experience from the East, Frey has built several embankments, and they are only waiting for the completion of their siege beast to launch the final blow.

Therefore, many soldiers in the city have already resigned themselves to their fate.

As for the nobles, their situation was also very bad. Not to mention the river lords, most of them were now on the Frey side, and most of those who still stayed in Riverrun were related to the former, but due to their oaths and responsibilities, they could not directly jump to the other side.

As for the Northern lords, ever since Robb executed those Northern lords who killed Miss Westerling and her family, these nobles have become very quiet, so quiet that even those with the worst political sense have noticed the changes in the Northern lords.

Moreover, these people were full of resentment. Their headquarters were basically gone outside the City of Riverrun. A large number of their subjects had died in the battle, and the small lords under their command had also suffered heavy losses. Such a heavy blow had directly damaged the authority of the Young Wolf Lord.

In such a severe environment, something happened that made things even worse for Tully and Stark.

Hoster Tully, whose health has been deteriorating in recent years and who recently handed over the title of Duke and Governor of the Trident to his son, woke up from a coma recently. But when the old man learned that Walder Frey had sent troops to surround his castle, he became anxious and angry, and died without a breath.

In the clearing cleared in the godswood in the city, Catherine watched the knight light the pyre under her father. Sadness welled up in her heart. He should not be like this. He should be burned in the river like his ancestors, not in the courtyard of his castle.

However, they had to do this now. Riverrun was very short of supplies and had no ability to preserve corpses. Moreover, they had to prepare for unspeakable things. If Marquis Walder got his father's body, he would definitely... As for why the supplies were scarce, it was because when Frey raided, Edmure opened the city gates and allowed as many defeated soldiers as possible to enter. These defeated soldiers filled every corner of Riverrun, which greatly increased the manpower of the defenders, but also caused the castle's reserves to be rapidly consumed. Now the stench of hunger and feces and urine filled every corner of the city, and some epidemics began to breed.

What's more, this action itself was full of danger. Seeing the city gate wide open, Frey's army almost rushed into the city in one go. Fortunately, the northern lords ignored casualties and led their personal soldiers to fight hard and block Frey's soldiers with their lives. Otherwise, the city would have fallen long ago.

Catherine felt even worse when she thought of this, because among the nobles who had fought fearlessly in that battle, several of them later joined the massacre of the Westerling family. They were angrily executed by her son, which made the relationship between the Northern lords and her son even more tense.

The black smoke from the burning woodpile gradually rose, and it was as conspicuous as the towering tower of Hightower on the Three Rivers Plain. At this moment, Catherine heard a song coming from outside the city wall. It was composed of the sounds of countless voices. Catherine knew this song. It was a martial arts song called "Victory of the Two Towers". The content was that Frey boasted about their military exploits in the East. This song was a very thoughtful song among the songs that Frey hired people to create at a high price. It was indeed the most outstanding song among them. When it was completed, Marquis Walder even hired poets to play it for free at intersections and taverns. As a result, this song spread throughout the riverlands in more than ten years.

My father hated this song so much that he didn't allow the poet to sing it in the territory. It can be said that he was annoyed whenever he heard this song.

And now, Frey's song sounded, and she couldn't stop the sound.

There is no doubt that the news of her father's death has leaked out, Catherine thought, looking at the rising smoke. This is not surprising. Moreover, how many river nobles in the city can be trusted? The Three Rivers lords have always had the habit of marrying each other. In recent years, the marriages that Frey has made are all over this plain. The army outside are all their relatives and friends.

Marquis Ward was as mean and cunning as ever, even sparing no one but the dead. Catherine's mind flashed with that old, smelly and even more mean face. She really wanted to tear that face apart, but in the end, all she could do was loosen her clenched hands.

Seeing her father burning, Catelyn couldn't help but think of the current situation. There was a lot of news from the outside world, and she already knew how bad the situation was. Renly had been defeated, Stannis had been driven back to the Stormlands, and Lysa was still hiding in the Vale. She was more concerned about her sickly son than helping her brothers... As for Roose Bolton, he disregarded Robb and my trust and surrendered the Iron Throne directly. This time the Starks were still fighting, and it was Bolton who played the role of kneeling!

At this point, Catelyn was just thankful that at least Winterfell hadn't been in trouble. Ser Rodrik and Maester Luwin were protecting her young sons, and some of the younger nobles who stayed behind could provide support, plus the noisy Tallhart - he had organized a group of good men before - these people, combined with the previously stockpiled supplies, would not be a problem in defending Winterfell. Now that winter was almost here, Catelyn didn't think that the leeching Bolton could hold out for a year or two in the wilderness outside the city.

However, this was the end of the good situation. They were still trapped in Riverrun. When the siege beasts outside the city were finished, Riverrun would be captured, Catherine thought sadly.

Moreover, there is something even more worrying now, that is, her eldest son, Robb, is in a very bad condition.

After the entire Westerling family was killed, the angry son dealt with the people involved in the assassination with thunder, even the most loyal northern lords among them. Then, from then on, he locked himself in the room and never came out again. Even meals were usually sent in through the window, and the servants could smell the stinky smell through the thick wooden door.

Robb's current condition made Catherine extremely worried, but there was nothing she could do. At least Robb was surrounded by a group of loyal guards, and her son's wolf always followed him. In today's Riverrun, they were already a very powerful force. At least she didn't have to worry about ordinary people with ulterior motives.

Catelyn continued to look at her burning father. She saw her brother lying on the ground crying, her uncle Brynden standing silently by the city wall, and her retainers with sad faces in front of the woodpile. She couldn't help but feel sad. Was this the prelude to the demise of the family? Would the history of the Tully family since the Age of Heroes end with her generation?
At this moment, people suddenly cried out in surprise. Catherine looked over and found that her son had walked out of the room at some point. The current Robb was completely different from the original Young Wolf Lord. He looked like a savage who came from nowhere, and his eyes were red and bloodshot.

"What are you yelling about? You shouldn't be surprised when the Freys' trebuchets are hammering down on the city. You might as well do something else instead."

Everyone hadn't heard the Young Wolf Lord speak for several days. Although his words showed fatigue, everyone could feel that his mind was still clear, just like when he led the army into battle before, and not like when he insisted on breaking off the engagement.

"Mother, uncle, please do me a favor. You are more familiar with this place. Ask the servants to find a colorful flag. If there is none, just sew one... Send a few healthy people who can speak clearly to tell the outside world that I want to talk to Marquis Walder. This war has been lost. I am the leader of the North. When the battle cannot be continued, I should accept the defeat."

Robb's tone was very calm, so calm that it made everyone a little scared, but everyone could still see that the Young Wolf Lord was still the same, so no one dared to refuse Robb's order.

(End of this chapter)