Chapter 119: The Bolton Leech

After returning to the battalion with Gendry, Arthur ordered him to stay with the mercenaries, then turned to find Sansa.

There was a more important matter he needed to do:

Have Sansa Stark strip the Leech Lord, that old schemer, of his position as Commander.

The infantry the Bolton House brought to the south numbered about three thousand; even adding their potential allies, the Frey House, it was only five thousand.

The forces of the Karstark, Manderly, and Umber House, along with other second-tier Northern families and those loyal to House Stark, totaled just over five thousand.

Considering that before Robb broke his marriage contract, the Frey House was still considered loyal to House Stark, Roose Bolton still dared not openly defy the orders of House Stark.

And since Sansa and Robb were siblings, with her present, the matter of replacing Bolton could be justified.

After removing Roose Bolton from the position of Commander, this allied force would not need to fight; they could go directly to the West Riverlands to find Robb or station themselves at Harrenhal.

By then, Tywin would be trapped in the West Riverlands, and the time for the Lion-Flower convergence would be greatly delayed; even if the twelfth son of Walder Frey, "Lothar Frey," contacted Aemon Frey in the Lion camp to make the Frey House secretly defect, with a top-tier fierce general like Arthur there to hold the line, whether the Red Wedding could even happen was uncertain.

Moreover, as long as the Northern soldiers on the eastern front who were loyal to House Stark remained, Bolton would not dare to harbor any ulterior motives.

After all, "The North Remembers" refers to the loyalty of the Northmen to House Stark, not to his Bolton House.

Sansa's tent was surrounded by a circle of Stark soldiers; as far as Arthur knew, the Leech Lord had already sent about seventy percent of the three thousand Stark infantry from the eastern front to their deaths.

The Stark soldiers on guard nodded to signal him before moving aside; they also knew that after their eldest lady "escaped" the Red Keep, the first person she found was this Bracken, so they trusted him very much.

After lifting the curtain and entering, Arthur went straight to the point: "Sansa, the time has come for the life-and-death survival of your House Stark; you must remove Bolton from his position as Commander, or this allied force cannot be saved."

Sansa, who was still sewing clothes, put down her needle, thread, and fabric, and looked at Arthur, who was still covered in blood.

"Why don't you clean the blood off your body? It looks terrifying."

Sansa's focus was different; if she didn't have to maintain the image of a lady in front of the tall and handsome Arthur, she would have long since pinched her nose to avoid the suffocating smell of blood.

For a noble lady like her who had rarely seen blood—who hadn't even smelled the blood of chickens, ducks, or fish—this rust-like scent was truly unsettling.

Arthur glanced at the already battered plate armor on his body and felt it was not a big problem.

In previous battles, it was usually only after the situation had completely stabilized that he would have his servant Meidan clean and maintain this plate armor and the chainmail underneath.

The only time he was forcibly asked to clean the blood off his body was when he borrowed troops at Riverrun.

At that time, he was covered in horse blood and viscera, and was wary of the Westerlands pursuers behind him, so he did not clean it. The weather was hot back then, and in three or four days, it fermented until it was sour and stinking.

Fortunately, the weather had turned cool now, so the blood on his body should not turn foul; with the war being tight recently, he could only find time for simple cleaning and could not manage a full maintenance of the entire set of plate armor.

"That is not the point." Arthur also sensed that Sansa was a bit overwhelmed by the bloody smell on him, so he only stood at the tent flap.

"The point is that while Willis Manderly, Robett Glover, and the others are still here, you must replace Roose Bolton as Commander; otherwise, according to his way of fighting, the only Northern soldiers left will be his own."

Sansa brushed her auburn hair and replied: "What you say makes a lot of sense, but will Roose Bolton obediently listen to us? Will the others in the North support me?"

Although she felt the smell on Arthur was pungent, she still beckoned him to come a little closer.

"Glover, Herman Tallhart, and Willis Manderly go without saying; those three are die-hard loyalists to your house. Although the heir to House Karstark, Harrion Karstark, has been captured, his house was also a loyalist to yours in the past, so the soldiers will support you too. This way, half of the people in the allied force are on our side."

Arthur thought for a moment and added: "The Frey commander Innes is very good at commanding troops, but he is not very sensitive to political alignment. Before his father Walder Frey explicitly issues an order, he should also support the orders of a member of House Stark."

Before Robb broke his marriage contract, the Frey House performed very well; they made many contributions to the Fish-Wolf Alliance, and even the first heir to The Twins, Stevron Frey, died while following Robb into battle, and Stevron's grandson Black Walder was always the first to charge in every fight.

As long as Robb did not break the marriage contract and the Lion-Flower convergence did not occur, the loyalty of the Frey House was still quite reliable.

"Alright, let's go now. What should I say when we get there?" Sansa was not very clear about military matters; she only knew that her own soldiers were decreasing rapidly.

Arthur, who had snuck into the Red Keep to rescue her, made this Stark, who had been filled with anxiety since her father's death, feel very safe, so she followed his lead.

Arthur had long since prepared the rhetoric for her:

"First, say that he is preserving his own strength while sending soldiers from other families to their deaths, then accuse him of acting wrongly last night; originally, the force had the advantage and could have charged into King's Landing in one go, but he wasted several thousand loyal soldiers for nothing, and even caused two earls, Harys Hornwood and Medger Cerwyn, to die in vain. The Northmen should be able to feel these two points deeply. Finally, in the name of House Stark, remove his command and have Robett Glover, Herman Tallhart, and others take joint command, leading the allied force to Harrenhal to await Robb's orders."

The inheritance law in Westeros was quite enlightened, allowing women to inherit titles and lands, though most lords chose to let men inherit, so there were not many countesses or duchesses.

Therefore, before Robb explicitly named Jon Snow or his two younger brothers as heirs, Sansa indeed had the right of inheritance.

The Northern nobles also had to consider her opinion.

Sansa blinked, her attention highly focused, and she memorized all of this.

"There is one more thing: later, old Bolton might refuse and do something excessive, so you must always stand by my side so that I can protect you."

Arthur concluded that the Leech Lord would not dare to make a move against Sansa where there were many Northern nobles, but he could not guarantee that he wouldn't use some underhanded tactics to keep his position as Commander, such as claiming that Sansa had been deceived by the Riverlanders and therefore refusing to hand over command.

In that case, some violent means would have to be used.

If Roose Bolton really dared to refuse openly, Arthur decided to settle the new and old scores together.

Arthur still remembered how the Leech Lord used his own men as cannon fodder last night.

Even if he didn't die, he would have to be skinned alive.

If Robb blamed him later, he would have a justifiable reason.

After all, he was flying the banner of Sansa.

Lady Stark nodded, straightened her dress, and followed Arthur out.

Twenty Stark soldiers followed suit.

The main command tent.

The Northern nobles were still discussing the next move; a group of radical young people insisted on taking King's Landing before leaving, and of course, they were also discussing how to kill Joffrey.

The more seasoned ones, like Robett Glover and others, advocated going to Harrenhal, firstly to guard against Tywin leading his troops east, and secondly to prepare to go to the West Riverlands to fight the main force of the Lion House head-on.

The Leech Lord, however, had a gloomy face, not knowing what he was thinking.

The arrival of Sansa and Arthur caused most to shift their gaze.

"In view of Lord Bolton's rather immature performance last night, I have a proposal."

Lady Stark walked to the center of the large tent and said to the crowd.

At this, basically everyone's eyes turned to her.

The Leech Lord sensed something was wrong. "What mistakes have I made? Please, Lady Sansa, point them out; I will faithfully fulfill the task entrusted to me by King Robb."

He emphasized the words "King Robb," because the Northmen still cared a lot about this point.

Arthur followed quietly behind Sansa, without making a sound.

On an occasion like this, it is necessary to let the Stark and the Northmen hash it out; no one else's words carry enough weight.

Sansa took a deep breath, "I believe everyone is aware that Lord Bolton insists on sending our soldiers and those of other Northern houses to the front lines in every battle, while keeping his own men in the rear as reserves; this is wrong. Furthermore, we could have marched into King's Landing last night..."

Combining this with what Arthur had said, she began to stir up the Northern nobles.

A woman's soft voice is always easier for people to accept.

As Lady Stark spoke eloquently, this group of proud men began to nod in agreement.

"... Therefore, I have decided, in the name of Robb Stark, to revoke the status of Leech Lord as commander of the allied forces and transfer his command to Lord Robett Glover, Lord Wylis Manderly, Lord Herman Tallhart, and Lord Arthur Bracken. Future operations of the allied forces will be decided by these lords through consultation."

Listening to Sansa's words, Arthur suddenly felt there was a small problem.

Previously, when they were in her tent, Arthur had not requested to be added to the joint command.

For one, he was preparing to head south to find Yule and the Dragon Egg to hatch the dragon; for another, in the eyes of the Northmen, he was a fierce warrior who charged at the front, not someone skilled at commanding armies.

The three men mentioned before were all high-ranking Northern counts; although Arthur had a great reputation and was respected by them, his influence might not be sufficient.

However, Sansa had acted on her own initiative and added him; while there was no major issue, some might seize upon this to object.

The Leech Lord listened to Sansa's words in silence, and only after she finished did he explain:

"It seems Lady Sansa may not be well-versed in marching and warfare; the lords present should be able to understand my previous actions of sending men to secure the food supplies."

He had originally intended to refuse to surrender his command, but upon seeing Bracken standing proudly behind Sansa with dried blood still on his plate armor, he suddenly changed his mind.

Although he held a personal appointment from Robb, if Lady Stark were to order his arrest on the grounds of insubordination, no one present could stop the God of Hammers from the Riverlands, and a single accident could send him to meet the gods in heaven.

It was better to prioritize saving his own life.

After subtly disparaging Sansa, the Leech Lord expressed his loyalty: "Of course, I absolutely obey any order from the Stark family. Since you are even better at selecting commanders than King Robb, I also agree to hand over my command."

He was still subtly disparaging Sansa for being ignorant and disrupting Robb's plans.

Although these words were very sarcastic, they made Arthur breathe a sigh of relief.

"It is just that the Riverlanders should also participate in the command; I believe Ser Innes Frey must have something to say." The Leech Lord shifted the topic, prompting the leader of the Frey family to state his position.

Innes had been standing there perfectly fine, but when suddenly named by Roose Bolton, he was slightly stunned and did not know what to say.

But after seeing the Leech Lord's slightly narrowed eyes, he understood the man's intent.

The Marquess Bolton was likely afraid that if he lost his command, he would be sold out by others, so he wanted Innes to step forward and fight for a role in the command.

When the Northmen were infighting, the Frey family, as Riverland lords, found it difficult to participate, but Innes happened to see his youngest brother, Elmar Frey, who was serving as an attendant to Roose Bolton.

According to the agreement between Robb and the Frey family, at some point after the war, Elmar would marry Arya Stark.

Originally, Arya was just a Duke's daughter, but after Robb proclaimed himself King, Arya became a proper Princess.

Therefore, Elmar, who was about to marry a Princess, had been very excited lately, constantly boasting to the Freys about how noble the Starks were.

After weighing the pros and cons, Innes felt that even if Bolton had married into his family, it was still better to curry favor with the Stark family, who held higher status and more noble blood.

After all, with two marriages and one betrothal, the Frey family was truly deeply bound to the fish and the wolf.

So, he ignored the Marquess Bolton's hint and said loudly: "King Robb is the King of our Frey family, and his sister is also a Princess. We will certainly obey the orders issued by the Princess in the name of His Majesty the King."

Roose Bolton gave Innes a sinister look, not expecting this man to be such a coward.

The other Northern nobles present naturally had no objections, and the matter was settled.

Robett had always advocated for taking the troops north to Harrenhal after retrieving the remains of Duke Eddard, so as soon as he was nominated by Lady Stark, he actively expressed his views.

This was originally content Arthur had instructed Sansa to include, so Stark also indicated her support for this point.

Thus, the group reached a consensus to march north to Harrenhal before making further plans.

Near noon, Count Herman Tallhart, who had gone to exchange Tyrion Lannister for the remains, returned.

Because Duke Eddard's torso and head had been separated, and the torso had not been treated by Maesters while the head had been hung outside the Red Keep and had become foul-smelling, the Northmen became agitated the moment they saw the state of the remains.

Some wanted to kill Joffrey on the spot, while others prepared to storm into King's Landing to finish off Cersei and the other royals.

Although Sansa had seen her father's head from afar, it was her first time seeing the remains up close, and she burst into tears on the spot.

After the more rational people comforted them for a long time, the crowd finally quieted down to listen to the conditions brought from King's Landing by Count Tallhart.

"The Queen Regent Cersei knows it was Arthur who snatched Joffrey, so she says to let Bracken enter the city to negotiate with her; she will agree to any condition."

(End of chapter)