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Chapter 16

The fall of Freys

Edmure POV

It worked better than expected. Black Walder has run back to the Twins first, even leaving his family's bodies. Well, he needs to dispose of his opposition before something happens. Emmon Frey went to Westerlands, calling for support to bring Black Walder to justice. Everything was going according to my plan. I just need to watch how the Freys act for now. Nobody realized it yet, but it was already the end for both of them.

After giving the dead Freys to the silent sisters, I sent Catelyn to the Maidenpool to get a ship back to the north. Jon was taken by Patrek and left for Seagard. I, on the other hand, have taken Arianne back to Riverrun. Prince Doran, with the rest of his family, went back to the Dorne. The King has left, too, not wanting to get involved in the infighting of the Freys.

When we returned to Riverrun, I found out that my father's condition was worse than expected. Maester Vyman said he should be fine. Once he rested for a while, he could resume his duties. But I knew in a few years, he will be bedridden indefinitely.

"Don't burden my father much, Maester," I commanded him. "He should eat vegetables and fruit more and make sure that he only drinks boiled water. Everyone coming to see him should be clean too."

"Don't worry, Edmure, I know how to do my job, thank you very much," He replies to me.

"I just want to make sure my father gets the best treatment, but you're right. I should leave it to you," I tell him before leaving.

…

Months went by, with nothing much happening, until Emmon Frey was seen traveling with almost two thousand men to the Twins. I didn't know what he expected to accomplish with just these few men, but then at the Twins, he was joined by another thousand sellswords.

Most of them were the ones we have hired. Well, they have outlived their usefulness for me. I let the Freys fight for a bit while I gathered my guard and other men-at-arms. The houses near Riverrun supported me and send the men they could.

After gathering my men, the news reached me of the start of the siege of the Twins. Black Walder has failed to gather more support. Now he sits in the towers with little less than a thousand men. I have sent orders for Patrek to stand by the west side of the Twins while I went to the east. Ser Marq and ser Roland have joined me with couple hundred men each.

It only took half a month after I set my trap for my scouts to report me of Black Walder getting killed by his own men. Emmon Frey stormed the Twins to take his seat, but the fool was quickly betrayed by his sellswords, killing him. The sellswords have taken everything worth and ran to the east where I was waiting.

…

Seeing us in their way, the sellswords were surprised. Some of them were of the company of Rose, some of Sormbreakers. But most of them were gathering of smaller companies and rift-rafts. The de facto leader thought I will let them pass, as I have given him my word. The fool thought because I am a knight of Seven Kingdoms, I am honor-bound to do as I said.

"Do not let anyone escape. I have given the sellswords work and trusted them to keep peace in our lands. Fool I was to trust a sellsword, I have paid for my foolishness now it is time for them to pay for their betrayal," After giving my reasoning to the men around me. I held up my lance. "Charge, let's show those Essosi bastards what happens to those who betray us."

With my command, my two thousand cavalries charged at the unprepared sellswords. It was easier than expected to get inside their formation. Without a clear leader to command the men, the sellswords gathered were in chaos about what to do. Some thrown their weapons and surrendered. Some started to run away. Only a little more than a half of them faced us.

It didn't matter what they did. I cut them down anyway. Sending one flying with my lance, running down another with my horse. There was no opposition. My men ran through them until we got the core of the sellswords. There we were met with the elite.

"This isn't what we agreed with, you bastard," One commander yelled at me and rode to meet me.

"You think I would let you and your men do as they wished. Don't be ridiculous. Now you pay for what you had done," I replied with a raised voice so my men could hear me.

Our swords sang when they collided. We exchanged a dozen strikes until I saw his sword started to chip. Seeing this, I become more aggressive, striking with all my might. Breaking his sword, I quickly finished him by cutting his head off.

He was the commander which I have made a deal. I have offered him a sum of gold to betray his new employers. My deal was that he could take the gold from them and then everything he wanted from the Twins, and I would let him go back to the Essos. That is why he had to die. If someone found out about it, it would bring me endless trouble.

The deal was made before the conflict started. It was my plan to Black Walder or Emmon Frey to hire him. Afterward, he would have sacked the Twins. And it seems everything worked according to this plan. Now that the sellswords are dead, I will blame Lannisters for this folly.

"Ser Edmure, what should we do with the captured men?" Ser Marq asks, interrupting my thoughts.

"The Black or the block, there won't be any other choice for them," I answer him.

After dealing with the rest of the Sellswords, we rode to the Twins. The two towers were burning with the smoke filling the skies above. It won't do much damage to the buildings themselves as they are made of stone. The insides, on the other hand, would be destroyed beyond any repair.

Looking around, I saw dead bodies everywhere, children and women among them. The river below the Twins was filled with dozens of more bodies. Servants, men-at-arms, farmers, and everyone in between. I knew it was my fault. I killed those people for my ambition. At this moment, I realized I won't be the same person. This image will haunt me in my dreams for the rest of my life.

"Gods, this was a massacre," One of the guards shouts. "It was a mistake to hire those damn sellswords."

"Shh, you fool, don't speak so loudly," Another man warns him.

"Is alright. Most of you feel that way right now. But don't forget what started this. It was Freys inability to control their greed," I declare to the men around. "But it is my fault too. I trusted the men that work only for gold. The least I can do is to clean up this mess. Gather the bodies, look for any survivors."

After day and night, we gathered all the dead. There were thousands of bodies, but only a few survivors. In the cellars of the Twins, we found women and children hiding. They were lucky that fire only spread up the towers and everything below the ground floor was relatively safe.

The next day Patrek showed up with his men. We buried the knights and highborn, given some bodies to their families. Everyone else was burned. It was the safest way to not spread any diseases. Along the river, many fishing villages use this water. So I send riders to every one of the villages to inform them of this. To try and limit the usage of water and, if needed, only use boiled water.

"What will happen to the Twins?" Patrek asks. "There are Emmon children and many others who have a claim to it."

"The new heir will be chosen by my father, but no matter who controls the lands, there won't be Twins anymore," I answer him. "Order the men to dismantle the towers. The materials will be used to build two small villages at the sides of the river."

"Is it smart? Many will be unsatisfied," Patrek asks with a concerned voice.

"It must be done. When the word spreads of what has happened, only the most deranged men will raise their voices," I respond. "Some sacrifices will be made. The new heir will get an east village with the lands. The west village will be ruled by house Mallister, with the lands being distributed to various lords."

"My father will be delighted," Patrek replies with a half-smile.

"Don't start to patronize me," I tell him. "Mallisters are the only house I can truly trust in the Riverlands to hold the bridge."

"Sorry, but was this part of your plan too? Was it worth all the dead, children, women, innocent lives?" Patrek asks with disgust in his voice.

"I don't know. Only the future will tell. I know I lost some trust in you, but I want you to believe in me. The fate of Riverlands would be crueler than this if I have done nothing," I answer him.

"What are you hiding? How can you expect me to trust you when you refuse to put trust in me?" He asks me with a harsh voice.

"You're right." After checking that we are alone, I decided to tell him. "Before I tell you anything, you have to promise that you won't say anything of this to anyone, not your father, not anyone,

"Very well, I promise," He says.

"The children of the King aren't his," I tell him.

"What?" He asks with a horrified and disbelieved voice.

"The children do not resemble Robert in any way. Golden hair, emerald eyes are all Lannisters traits," I explain to him. "I know what you think, that it means nothing. But all Barathereons and even the bastards in the history were black of hair and blue of eyes. Someday someone else will use this information to wage war. Lannisters will, of course, deny this and will do anything to hold on to their power."

"The Riverlands once again will burn, and if we side with the wrong side, the Freys will have the opportunity to take over the Riverlands," Patrek puts everything together. "Shit, it won't be just Baratheons and Lannisters who get involved in this. Starks will support Stannis. Tyrells have to support the Lannisters. Otherwise, they will put a Florant as a queen. The question is, who will you support?"

"Who knows, North and South will fight in my lands, no matter who I support. Neither the Baratheons nor the Lannisters are any friends of ours," I tell him. "You should not forget that there are still Targaryens in Essos. Once the chaos starts, they probably use this to invade the Westeros once again."

"The future stinks," Patrek says.

It is hard to trust these conspiracies for someone like him, but we were friends for a decade now. He believes me to at least think of this before talking to him. Patrek knows me well. He knows that I take something like this seriously.

"It is what it is," I reply with a sigh.

"Will you support a Targaryen? Is that why you married the Martells?" Patrek asks with a low voice.

"Yes, but not a silver one," I answer him.

"What do you mean by it?" He asks, confused.

"It's better for you don't know about it yet. I have to confirm some things first. In the future, you will realize how much trust I have put in you. Now, you should let me handle the preparations for the future," I try to explain to Patrek, but it isn't time to reveal everything.

With the Twins done, I have to deal with the rest of the sellsword companies in the Riverlands. As it was my idea to hire them, it is my responsibility to fire them.