More than twenty warhorses trod along the Small Town's dirt road, their hooves thudding against the ground and stirring up a haze of pale yellow dust in the dusk.
Iron Leg Walton drew back on his reins, slowing his horse.
He turned toward the burly, middle-aged man beside him and gestured with his chin at a drab, two-story earthen building nearby.
"The place is a little shabby, but it's the only decent bathhouse you'll find for miles around."
"After a whole day on the road, a good soak will ease the weariness. Better than sitting around in camp."
The man beside him wore an old set of northern leather armor, its edges worn pale. Wind and sun had carved deep lines into his face.
He was both an officer and a member of House Karstark. His name was Cregan Karstark, and he was said to be Earl Rickard's cousin.
Ever since Robb Stark had beheaded Rickard Karstark at Riverrun, House Karstark had ceased to serve that King in the North.
They had left the joint camp of the northern and Riverlands armies, intending to return to the North, but House Frey had shut the gates of the Twins.
The toll to cross the bridge was outrageously high, far beyond their means, leaving them stranded in the Riverlands, skulking through forests and marshes.
Only recently, after Tywin's army had entered the Vale and the Bloody Gate had fallen under Lannister control, had Roose Bolton sent Tywin a letter.
He informed him that a remnant of House Karstark's army remained in the Riverlands and requested that the Bloody Gate be opened to let them into the Vale.
Iron Leg Walton was Roose Bolton's guard captain.
Naturally, he had come here on Roose Bolton's orders to recruit these remaining Karstark troops and persuade