Ursa Major | Tormund Giantsbane

Chapter 5

Aspen would not shut up.

All she could talk about as they approached Riverrun was Brynden 'The Blackfish' Tully, who'd been mentoring her during their time fighting in the Riverlands.

He'd been a close friend of their mother's back when they were young, and fought beside her at the Battle of the Trident. Greatjon didn't speak of him because it was The Blackfish who helped him carry Saga's mangled body away from the field of dead men.

He had taught Aspen and Arnal to improve their aim when shooting, something Thyrsa saw firsthand at the funeral. Edmure Tully, Hoster's own son, had failed multiple times to set the little boat with his father's body aflame. The Blackfish had shoved him aside, knocked his arrow, fired, and turned around without needing to check if it had hit its target. He knew it had.

"I'm not sure which of you is more excited to be in the presence of the Blackfish again," said Hother at dinner. "Arnal or Aspen."

"He's a great man," said Arnal. "And I heard he doesn't like his nephew."

"You shouldn't be gossiping in the Tully's hall," warned Aspen, though she leaned closer. "What did dear Edmure do?"

"He attacked Stone Mill. Lord Edmure was all proud and puffed thinking he made the Mountain run back to Casterly Rock."

"Wasn't that the opposite of what the King wanted him to do?" asked Aspen, passing Thyrsa another fish so she could cut it for them.

"Yes," said Thyrsa. "The only problem with that is that Robb didn't tell Edmure his plan. He intended to surround him in the Westerlands because he knew it would be hard to kill them otherwise. Edmure attacked prematurely and now the Mountain is gone. The trouble could have been avoided if the King had communicated, as Lord Bolton and I advised him to do."

"Idiot," said Hother under his breath. He made a face at Thyrsa when she glared at him. "I meant Edmure Tully, not the King. The King ought to have told him, but the only man that has explicit permission to make decisions in the field without waiting for approval is our father and now Lord Bolton."

"Lord Edmure's took a load of prisoners, too," said Arnal, accepting the chunks from Thyrsa. "A lot of Lannister boys. Truly, boys, very young, the two of them. We've said the same thing since we first started taking Lannister prisoners– Lord Tywin won't give a rat's arse about any of them if they're not Jamie Lannister. Why we keep any of them is beyond me. The men, we should execute. The boys, we should let go."

"Boys grow into men," said Hother. "I don't like the idea of killing them one bit, but letting them go would be a poor choice."

"They may remember our mercy," said Thyrsa. "We're not like the Lannisters, we don't kill children."

"Tell that to Lord Karstark."

"You've let Lord Karstark whisper loads of things in your ear as of late."

"Oi, he's not wrong, Thyrsa, you know that."

"I know that. But it does not mean he's fully right, either. He wants the Kingslayer dead and that is the one person we cannot kill. We still need to find him. He's right about the funeral being... well, a risk. But that being said, it does give us an opportunity to gather the Tully men."

Arnal made a sound between a cough and a grunt. "Two-hundred-and-eight of which are dead because Lord Edmure acted without the King's leave."

"Those deaths are on His Grace," said Aspen lowly. "Everyone knows Lord Edmure is a fool. I truly hope Father doesn't get any ideas about wedding me to him."

Thyrsa heard similar conversations taking place the entire time they were at Riverrun. Everyone thought that Robb had erred in not telling Lord Edmure his plan; the King insisted that Edmure could have been patient enough to learn the plan when they arrived for the funeral. How could anyone have known it would happen? It didn't seem right.