Wolf of Númenor

Chapter 52: Blackfish and Mockingbirds

Ser Brynden Tully was a broken man.

He was forced to flee the place of his birth, fair Riverrun, his beloved niece and nephew slain by the treachery of the Boltons and Jaime Lannister, and his foolish nephew is now held prisoner by those inbred Freys it was grim fortune for the Blackfish.

He should have slain that wretch, though instead, he chose to mock him as the lamed lion. But it seems that the one mocked in the end was himself; there is no doubt that he underestimated the "Young Lion", and now he has paid dearly for his folly.

He had managed to escape by swimming under the portcullis that had been slightly raised at the Water Gate. He now roamed the Riverlands dressed as an outlaw while deciding what his best course of action was; for a while, Brynden had considered venturing to the lands of Lord Blackwood as they had been fast friends of his brother for many years or perhaps even taken shelter with the Whents.

Although that plan was cut short when he overheard at a Lannister camp, Lord Blackwood had forfeited Buckle, Woodhedge, Honeytree, Crossbow Ridge, and Lord's Mill, which is less than Lord Bracken desired. The lamed Lion also took one of Tytos's sons, Hoster Blackwood, as a hostage.

"It was grim fortune with the surrender of the Blackwoods. The last smouldering embers of his nephews' reign had been extinguished now the Riverlands would be ruled by lesser men"... It seemed he had only one course left to take.

He would have to go to the Vale of Arryn.

The relationship between him and his niece had been soured since he abandoned his duties as Knight of the Gate to join Robb and Cat in their grand rebellion, though if Bryden was honest, his relationship with her was rather patchwork at best .. Lysa's mind began to slip after each miscarriage and wedding her to a man old enough to be her grandfather hadn't helped matters. Lysa had been a soft, shy, and timid girl in her youth, prone to tongue-tied silences and fits of giggles. Her years at King's Landing changed her significantly, however, turning her into a woman who is by turns proud, fearful, cruel, dreamy, reckless, impulsive, timid, stubborn, vain, and inconstant.

Yes, Lysa was foolish to ever think Baelish would love her but to marry her to Jon Arryn... That was rather cruel even for Hoster.

But still, Jon Arryn tried to be a good husband to Lysa ... Only his time had passed, and Lysa was above all a Tully from "Riverrun". Her duty to her family should come before all else. Although she refused to comply out of fear. Still, Brynden knew there was something more to it; all his intuitions told him something darker was afoot.

Although the way things were, he had no choice; if Brynden wished to bring the lions to heel, he must plead for the Knights of Arryn to ride to war.

With that not-so-encouraging thought, he set off for the Vale with a very vague hope of enlisting his niece's help.

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He roamed the Red Fork until dusk; Brynden settled on the banks of the fork and lit a small fire and began to prepare his supper several trout he had caught in the shallow stream.

It was there when the Blackfish heard slight breakage of branches near him, though he gave no sign he was aware of their presence; however, he subtly brought his hand to his sword only to hear the sound of breaking leaves.

"Shit, there's more than one," The old Tully thought with annoyance.

Knowing that happenings were about to get unpleasant, the legendary Knight cast one of his hunting knives into the woods, and a yell of pain was heard.

They instantly fell on him like rats, and Brynden quickly dispatched them as they were mere bandits.

He had already killed two of them when he suddenly felt great pain in his shoulder, and he spied an arrow that had pierced his mail.