THE NORTHERN CRUSADE

THE OFFER

Alyn shrugged "I wouldn't know, Your Grace" He said in amusement "Afterall I  am just a lowly soldier".

The King In The North chuckled. "Show me the way then" He said "Let's see what the Flowers wants with us now".

"Aye, Your Grace," the man said, a sigh escaping him. The guard turned and led Robb through the camp. The men who were guarding the King felled in step behind him.

The camp was alight with activities. The sounds of men laughing and shouting reached his ears, as he made his way. And accompanying the laughter, were the sounds of fires crackling and horses neighing.

The noise was followed by the sight of some forty thousand men and women of The North And The Trident camped in a grove surrounded on all sides, but one, by trees. Fires and tents passed by him on both sides, the deer and hogs of the Crownlands roasting for his men to eat. Wagons and carts were present too, filled with supplies and loot. The wagons which were empty, we're used as a make shift wall, to protect the camp from unexpected attacks.

As he walked through the camp, his soldiers took notice and immediately began chanting his name as a greeting.

"King! The King In The North!" They yelled. The call was picked up by his Rivermen who chanted "The King Of The Trident".

Without stopping, he acknowledged them with a smile and a raised hand and wished them a full meal and an enjoyable night.

After all, of the thousands of camp followers that attached themselves to his army, many were whores. His men were content to rest on their laurels largely because of that.

And he understood, Robb took a whore to bed four separate times on their march to King's Landing. Losing Dacey and his unborn child, had been a huge mental blow to his heart and the comfort the whores provided, temporary and fleeting though it might be, was a balm to his war-weary mind.

"Your Grace, Lords Bolton and Mallister had taken the messenger to the war tent" Alyn intoned "They thought it will be good if all the Lords hear about the Tyrell's proposition".

Robb returned to his senses as the man finished, turning away from his army to face the tent the man indicated.

It was a huge tent, one that can easily host all The Lords Of The North And The Trident, along with their sons, without any problem.

His own personal tent was smaller. He never did enjoy too much excess space and that space only made it easier for his enemies to find him. His tent, an unremarkable thing but for the guard presence around it, sat amidst his army. This one was near the edge of the clearing.

"Here it is Your Grace" Alyn pointed.

"Thank you, Alyn," Robb thanked the man starting toward the flaps of the tent.

But before he entered, he stopped, instead turning back to the Northern man. "I'll see you rewarded for your loyalty to myself and my father, Alyn. If you've no house within the walls of my keep, you will have one, after this war is done."

The guard's eyes widened, as the King In The North expected. He knew the man lived in Winter City, just outside the walls of Winterfell.

But a home within Winterfell's very walls was hard to come by, only the most accomplished of Smallfolk (guards, smiths, healers), are allowed to stay.