Eddard: If There's Nothing Else, I'll Hang Up First

Roose Bolton shifted slightly in his saddle, as though he were meeting the young man beside him for the first time.

If he had not been on horseback, he would have wanted to keep farther away from Jon.

Leech Lord cautiously glanced at Tywin and his son, then at Jon, whose expression remained perfectly calm.

He actually dared to make such a demand.

If that were the case, what the hell had the Lannisters been working so hard for?

They would be sent straight back to before they had helped Robert usurp the throne.

Tyrion's eyes widened even further as he stared at Jon as if he were some kind of monster.

Who had turned this young man into this?

This was absolutely not the Jon he knew!

Tyrion sized up the youth before him from head to toe as though seeing him for the first time.

After hearing Jon's terms, Tywin said nothing and turned his horse around.

In his view, there was no longer any need to negotiate.

But Jon suddenly spoke.

"Looks like Lord Tywin does not even care about the life of his eldest son."

Tywin, who had been about to leave, suddenly stopped. He turned his horse around and stared coldly at Jon, like a beast eyeing its prey.

The warhorse beneath him seemed to sense its master's fury. It snorted and pawed at the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"I imagine you will soon receive word of Ser Jaime... Surely you do not truly think Winterfell has only this handful of cavalry?" Jon revealed half and concealed half, intending to let the father and son draw their own conclusions.

"What happened to Jaime?" Tyrion asked anxiously.

Jon glanced at Tyrion. He knew the brothers were close, but he ignored him.

Roose Bolton was even more surprised. He had not received the slightest word from Robb's side yet!

It seemed Jon and Robb had a "secret line of communication."

Robb had been guarding against him from the very beginning!

Roose Bolton was displeased, but he did not show it. Only the hand gripping his reins tightened slightly.

All I wanted was to command the army and earn a little more merit. Did the Stark brothers really need to be this wary of me?!

Jon looked into Tywin's eyes and continued.

"I would ask Lord Tywin to write to King's Landing and ensure my father's safety. Otherwise, your son, along with these tens of thousands of soldiers—I will make sure they have the lives to come to the Riverlands, but not the lives to return to the Westerlands!"

This time, it was Jon who turned and left.

Tywin stared fixedly at Jon's back, as though he wanted to shoot arrows from his eyes and pierce that detestable man through.

All those conditions he had mentioned earlier had merely been nonsense. That last sentence was what Jon had truly wanted to say.

If Eddard could be kept alive, then the later "kings declaring themselves" would not happen.

The War of the Five Kings would have no reason to begin.

Would it not be better for fewer people to die and for everyone to save their strength to fight the White Walkers?

Once the conversation ended, both sides departed.

Sure enough, the moment Tywin returned to camp, he received news from Golden Tooth—Jaime had been defeated and captured!

"Tyrion! Write to King's Landing at once. Tell Cersei to keep a close watch on Eddard! No one is to go near him!"

"Yes!"

Tyrion answered, but a faint discomfort stirred in his heart.

If I were the one captured, would Father react like this too?

In Tyrion's eyes, Tywin's campaign into the Riverlands had merely been an excuse.

He had realized that Cersei and Jaime's relationship might have been exposed.

So he had struck first.

But at that moment, another letter arrived at the Westerlands army camp.

Its contents made Tywin feel as though the world were spinning around him.

Eddard Stark, Duke of Winterfell, Warden of the North, and Hand of the King, had been executed on the orders of Joffrey Baratheon I for treason!

"That idiot!!!"

Seeing that Tywin's expression was wrong, Tyrion craned his neck and rose onto his toes to read the letter.

When he saw it, he let out an inhuman howl.

With Eddard dead, Jaime was in danger!

At that moment, he wished he could fly to King's Landing and strangle Joffrey with his own hands.

After recovering slightly, Tywin issued a string of orders.

"Have Kevan reinforce the camp. Have Marbrand increase the patrols. Inform the mercenaries stationed at Harrenhal to strengthen their defenses." Then he looked at Tyrion. "Return to King's Landing immediately. No matter what, you must hold it!"

Tyrion nodded his oversized head forcefully and, escorted by Bronn, hurried off toward King's Landing.

Only after everyone had left the tent did Tywin finally sit down.

His face was deathly pale, and sweat poured down him.

In the Northern army camp, Old York was distributing armor and weapons to those Mountain Clans veterans in Jon's camp.

In truth, Old York was several years older than those old soldiers.

But he was, after all, a noble. His living conditions had been far better than those mountain folk could compare with.

As a result, he actually looked much younger than them.

After Old York's demands and inspection, the old soldiers' mental state and morale had improved greatly.

At least they no longer looked quite so much like a ragtag mob.

Old York was currently speaking to them at length.

After asking around, he learned that the two old men who had stopped Jon and asked for shelter were named Erwin and Fugas.

They were old companions who had grown up together.

Once Erwin and Fugas confirmed that they would serve as Jon's soldiers from then on, they were overjoyed.

They had also seen from the riverbank excavation that Old York was one of Jon's few capable subordinates, so they deliberately tried to curry favor with him.

"Back when Lord Jon was at Winterfell, he defeated a fully armed heavy-armored swordsman with nothing but a wooden stick.

"You came a little late. The army's discipline is so good because Lord Jon fought it into them!"

At that moment, Erwin suddenly asked, "My lord, how can a commander as formidable as Lord Jon have only you and Ser Tommen under his command?"

"Yes, why is that?"

"Because..." Old York hesitated, but his face soon darkened. "It is training time now. I will not lower my standards just because you are old. Anyone who drags the others down on the battlefield will be treated as a deserter! Get training, now!"

At Old York's rebuke, the old soldiers all ran off to drill.

Thinking of what had happened that day, Old York's aged face reddened.

Then he thought of Jon's raven and quickly pulled himself together. If he slept too deeply that day, even ten heads would not be enough to chop off.

Old York glanced toward the Westerlands army camp and wondered how Jon's talks with Duke Tywin had gone.

Before long, Jon returned to camp, and Old York hurried over to ask him about it.

On the way back, Jon unexpectedly explained things to Roose Bolton.

He told Roose Bolton that the matter about Jaime had actually been something he had made up.

Jon was unwilling to trust Leech Lord, but Roose Bolton had not truly defected until after Stannis fled from King's Landing in defeat, when the Lannisters and the Tyrells of Highgarden formed the "Lion-Flower Alliance."

After all, the Tyrells seemed unremarkable until they began raising troops—then they suddenly fielded seventy or eighty thousand men.

Such strength was terrifying.

The Lannisters' alliance with them had directly secured victory.

Jon did not want Roose Bolton to fail to turn against them because of the shifting situation, only to be driven into betrayal by suspicion instead.

At least for now, they were still eating from the same pot.

Jon only hoped Eddard could survive. Otherwise, there would be far too many battles left to fight.