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[OUTSIDE OXCROSS, THE BATTLEFIELD]
[The Northern forces have completed their assault on the encampment. The view pans across bodies and wounded men in the mist. Horses neigh and soldiers cry out in pain. LORD ROOSE BOLTON and ROBB walk through the aftermath, followed by a handful of Northern soldiers.]
"Another successful attack" Brandon the Elder clapped his nephew on the shoulder. "I am impressed Robb, you're doing far better than I could have ever done."
"Thank you, uncle, but no doubt I have capable men counselling me" Robb replied, face tinged with a blush.
The Starks and those against the Lannisters were happy to see the state of the Lannister army, especially Ned Stark who was proud of his son's accomplishment on the battlefield.
"Five Lannisters dead for every one of ours. They're dead. Take everything they've got. We've nowhere to keep all these prisoners. Barely enough food to feed our own."
"We're not executing prisoners, Lord Bolton."
"If the need arises, you might have to do just that. Especially those that are not going to yield any value" Stannis Baratheon said with his ever stern mannerism.
"Lord Baratheon, it would not be right to do that" Robb argued, "they might be our enemy, but they are people as well."
"People who have signed up for this" Robert Baratheon, the King, spoke in support of his brother. "It is not a clean job, nor an easy thing to do. But those men knew what they were signing up for when they chose to become men at arms. Always put the needs of your men above your enemies if a situation like the one your future self is currently going through comes up."
Robb nodded, genuinely thinking about the King's and Lord Stannis' words.
"Of course, Your Grace. The officers will be useful. Some of them may be privy to Tywin Lannister's plans."
"I doubt it."
"Well, we'll learn soon enough. In my family, we say, A naked man has few secrets. A flayed man none."
"My father outlawed flaying in the North."
"Have you?" Rickard asked his son.
"Aye. It was too cruel of a ritual to allow to continue" Ned answered.
Rickard frowned. It was not like he hadn't tried to do something similar. But the Lord Bolton of his time had fought against the ruling hard. For Roose to give over and allow it to happen without conflict... Must have been because of Ned's connection to Robert.
"The high road's very pretty, but you'll have a hard time marching your army down it."
Many of the men in the room understood the weight of those words, especially those who've fought in wars and conflicts.
[A WOUNDED SOLDIER struggles as TALISA removes his tattered pants and tries to tend to his bloody legs while another woman tries to help.]
"Ah he's going to lose the leg" Oberyn hummed. It was never easy seeing a man become a cripple. The world is not kind to cripples.
"The rot's set in."
"No, don't! No, don't! Please, don't! It'll get better. It doesn't even hurt."
"The rot will spread if we don't take the foot now!"
[ROBB approaches, looking concerned as he struggles. ROBB kneels and holds the man down.]
"Ser! Please, ser. I can't lose-"
"You'll die if she doesn't."
"I don't think he cares if he does die if the alternative is being a cripple" Jon muttered.
"It couldn't be that bad, right? I become one and I think I'm dealing with it just fine" Bran asked.
"Yes, but you are my son, the son of the Warden of the North. You have resources and privileges that he does not have."
"That's unfair. Maybe we can help people like him!"
Ned smiled at his son and ruffled his hair.
"Surely one of our men needs your attention more than this cub."
"Your men are not my men, my lord."
"A Lannister healer?" Arya asked.
"She doesn't look like one" Jon pointed.
"She could be just there to help" Sansa suggested
"Nobody just walks into a battlefield to help" Robb rolled his eyes.
"Let's just watch and see who she is" Jon suggested and the other three nodded.
"Bite on it. It's better than biting your own tongue, believe me."
[ROBB holds the WOUNDED SOLDIER down as TALISA saws off his foot. He screams through the gag that ROBB placed in his mouth. ROBB watches the resigned TALISA see-through, impressed by her resolve.]
[ANOTHER PART OF THE BATTLEFIELD]
[A mounted soldier rides slowly, carrying the Stark banner. TALISA readies a cart carrying a wounded man. It starts forward, and TALISA looks exhausted. ROBB looks over at her. She notices and turns. ROBB approaches.]
"What's your name?"
"Talisa."
"Your last name?"
"You want to know what side my family fights on?"
"A perfectly valid inquiry" Tyrion noted.
"You know my family name. You have me at a disadvantage."
"That boy lost his foot on your orders."
"They killed my father."
"That boy did?"
"The family he fights for."
"Do you think he's friends with King Joffrey? He's a fisherman's son who grew up near Lannisport. He probably never held a spear before they shoved one in his hands a few months ago."
"Ah, so she's a noble girl who has little idea of how the world works" Tyrion stated calmly.
"She isn't wrong" Princess Myrcella pointed out.
"She isn't" Tyrion shook his head at his niece. "But she also is. That man has never held a spear in battle, but he has been recruited. And knowing your grandfather and his thing for honour, he would never allow a man who never held a sword in his life to fight in a battle. The Westerlands are the second most populous region in Westeros, sO unless our numbers are thinned for some reason, we have no reason to pull in civilians. And I doubt our numbers have been stretched thin against the Northern Forces."
"They might be brother if the North is winning one battle after the other" Jaime pointed out.
"Mayhaps, but I don't believe so."
"Whether you believe or not, uncle is irrelevant before what could be the truth" Myrcella muttered.
Tyrion stared at his niece a moment before cracking a smile and ruffling her hair.
"Mayhaps, dear niece."
[TALISA walks away in frustration, carrying a heavy pail. ROBB follows.]
"You'd have us surrender, end all this bloodshed. I understand. The country would be at peace and life would be just under the righteous hand of good King Joffrey."
"You're going to kill Joffrey?"
"I think that was obvious" Robb muttered. He was not appreciating the woman's way of speaking and insinuating.
"If the gods give me strength."
"And then what?"
"I don't know. We'll go back to Winterfell. I have no desire to sit on the Iron Throne."
"So who will?"
"That is not for us to think about, I think" Robb stated, framing it more like a question than a statement.
"I don't think so. You are fighting to avenge Father and free the North. Once that's been accomplished, the Throne can go to whoever."
"And what if the new King decided to invade the North and assimilate it back into the rest of the Seven Kingdoms?" Olenna Tyrell questioned, aged sharp eyes fixed not on Robb but on Jon.
The 'bastard' of the North frowned. He didn't like the fact that the secret of his supposed birth has now become an open secret but he still decided to answer the question.
"The North isn't easy to conquer if all houses return with their forces. Each castle fortress can withstand sieges, but at the same time, we know the terrain better and know how and when to attack without the enemy suspecting. Down from South if we can man Moat Cailin we'll be very safe. So our main goal then would be to secure the coastal regions. House Manderly are formidable at se amongst the Northern Houses, and we have Deepwood Motte, Torrhen's Square and Barrowton on the other side to deal with any Western threats. And that is if they were to attack in the summer. But if the Northern troops pulled back after taking down Joffrey and his forces and made It back home, the other two armies would clash to see who sat on the throne. By the time that threat is dealt with, winter would be upon us and the North in the Winter is a threat in itself."
"And what of the Riverlands who've sworn to you?"
Jon understood the question as the Riverlands swearing to the North.
"That... is complicated" Jon frowned. The riverlands were bare and open to be attacked from any side, with no natural protection to aid them. As Tywin Lannister had proved.
"Unless you abandon the Riverlands, the Northern forces can't truly pull back, now can they?"