The Pale Upstart ( GOT System Fic )

" If House Mooton is there as well, this would mean that House Blackwood would be in charge of the second army. They would not put all the main houses in the same army and the Freys remain at the Twins. The Boars did report that House Frey was training the missing forces from the main army and fresh men as well. This army then, should not be led by a particularly capable commander." The Blackfish pointed out, which seemed to please the lords. 

 " I would also believe so. But then again whilst Brandon Mooton is dead, he was a surprisingly good commander. Such knowledge eluded us before the battle at the Ruby Ford. We are not safe from another commander sprouting out of nowhere." Commander Slade countered the point. Lord Brynden acquiesced easily. 

 Back to square one, it was then. 

 " The possibility does exist; hence, should we not meet them on the field and crush them before they can regroup with the rebels approaching from Harrenhal? Even if our forces have not finished gathering here, we still outnumber them slightly." Lord Tully asked. 

 Gideon could swear he saw a few of the lords' eyes gain a cold glint. Apparently, Lord Tully was indeed not appreciated as a commander. No matter their annoyance, by now they had chosen their side and would live or die by their choice. 

 " Nephew, do you not see the risks? The army approaching from the north-east is not that far, the army you propose we attack could stage a careful retreat and lead us to the rest of their forces. Even if we avoid this and even if they do not attempt to draw us in, we still hold the advantage as defenders. Acorn Hall is not exactly Harrenhal, but we could avoid losses by fighting from this position. If they are impatient enough they will besiege us before the second army can pincer us. Then we just chew them out." Lord Brynden chastised his nephew who nodded numbly.

 "Hmm, young Lyonel," Lord Brynden started suddenly, catching the raven-haired young lord by surprise. So that was his name. 

 " Is there an issue with our pale friend here? You have stopped paying attention to this war council since you caught sight of him." 

 " Uncle!" Edmure whispered harshly but the Blackfish ignored him. There was potentially a story there. Lord Brynden did seem quite cold as he called out the young lord. 

 Lord Lyonel stammered over his words briefly. 

 " Ah, my deepest apologies, my lords. I was just…surprised. I know this man. I met him near the Westerlands some…three years ago, maybe." Lord Lyonel answered. 

 These were not the words the lords had wished to hear. Their curious eyes turned impossibly cold. 

 " Fuck…." Brynden cursed under his breath. 

 " The Westerlands? Might you perhaps be from there, boy?" The Blackfish spoke. 

 ' Wait…Is this about the Lannisters? Do they think I'm a fucking Lannister spy!?' Gideon panicked. 

 " I can a-assure you, my lords, that I am no westerlander!" Gideon squawked. " I was born a riverlander, living on the lands of House Mooton. For…certain reasons I have spent most of my life in Essos and only returned to Westeros in recent years. I have only ever been near the Westerlands once or twice…for, eh….mercantile affairs." He explained. 

 That seemed to placate absolutely none of the lords who remained suspicious of him. He loudly gulped despite himself. 

 " Yes, that is how I have met him. He was younger then and served as an assistant to Lord Aster Tyrell." Lord Lyonel said. This, however, was enough to calm the spirits a bit. But the Blackfish raised an eyebrow. 

 " The Tyrell none ever mention, eh? He was a wealthy merchant if memory serves me well. We received words of his death a mere fortnight prior to this council. You have moved on quite rapidly, boy." The man said, his voice dripping with distrust. 

 Gideon felt like a deer standing amidst a pack of wolves, but he resented the unspoken accusation. 

 " I would not dare presume the thoughts of the good lords assembled on this day, but I have no ties to House Lannister! My master, Lord Tyrell knew of my deepest wishes and released me before he died. I notified his family and left to build myself a new life. I was not even aware of House Lannister's potential funding of the Rebels before I had the idea to take part in this war." Gideon defended himself. 

 " So you claim…" The Blackfish spoke as he raised a hand to silence the lords. " Yet we have not fought for years now, only to take such risks without a healthy amount of suspicion. Lord Lyonel Mallister!" Lord Brynden exclaimed and Lord Lyonel stood upright immediately. 

 " What exactly about this boy captured your interest? I can hardly imagine you would remain so fixated on some assistant you randomly met one day… I also wonder what made you approach the Westerlands in a time of war? I was not aware the lands of your house had experienced such an incredible recovery that you could afford to just wander around." The Blackfish spoke. His words had the effect of a flash of thunder on the lords who all turned to Lyonel Mallister. 

 It became readily apparent that these were no mere rumours. The lords of the Riverlands were absolutely paranoid when it came to House Lannister. 

 It also appeared no other members of House Mallister were here to speak in Lord Lyonel's stead. The anxious young man was left to fend for himself. 

 " I…." The raven-haired youth took a deep breath. " I was merely acting on my father's orders. Or rather a comment of his. He had mentioned something in passing, an idea to seek support from the Reach. In recent years the Tyrells have had numerous spats with the Lannisters…" He gave the lords a disarming smile. 

 The Blackfish was ready to retort but Lyonel Mallister cut him off. 

 " As for this sellsword, I must admit it was mostly his…unique appearance that caught my attention. When I met him, I briefly conversed with Lord Aster, and he shared that he had once believed his young assistant to be of Valyrian descent…perhaps even a Targaryen bastard. That is all, my lords. The thought resurfaced when he caught my eye." He placated them with his hands before sitting back down. 

 The lords looked at each other, exchanged whispers and more than a few strange looks were directed at Gideon. He knew the words 'Valyrian' and 'Targaryen' were to be blamed for this. But, it was quite bizarre. 

 This Lyonel Mallister…his smile was off-putting as he observed the conversing lords. The remark sounded deliberate and not an actual thought of his as he had claimed. He certainly did not remember Lord Tyrell ever sharing with him that he believed him to be of Valyrian descent. 

 " Order, order my lords!" The Blackfish said after he'd slammed his fist against the table. 

 Lord Tully cleared his throat, and despite his uncle's clearly telling him not to speak with a quick glare, he did so anyway. 

 " We should focus on the upcoming battle, yes? What is to be our course of action? We need to make a decision now, especially since the other half of the army does not yet know of our predicament." 

 Strangely enough, the lords agreed with Lord Tully but did so quite begrudgingly. He really had an abysmal reputation. Then again, the war had been going on for so long, and the side that should have swept up the Rebels rapidly had yet to truly push them back. They had never capitalized on any of their decisive victories. 

 " Lord Tully is quite right, the army led by Lord Roote still operates under past and now obsolete orders." An older lord clad in plate armour spoke up. 

 " Should we then not call for them to regroup with us? We would defend the castle until the rest of our forces appear and engage with the Rebels. We could easily turn the tides on the rebels if, by this point, they had already committed to the siege." Lord Tully nervously added. 

 The Blackfish and numerous other lords mulled over these words. The same old lord raised his voice once more. 

 " We know by now that the filthy little cunts don't commit. They always go for easier and juicier targets. If they learn that the rest of our forces are coming to our aid, they will lay traps all around the castle and then leave to intercept our men with their greater forces. Lord Roote will never arrive in time. " 

 Both the Boar Commanders nodded their heads. 

 " I find myself agreeing with Lord Bracken. A certain avenue opens to us, my lords. We could wait until the rebels reach the castle and trigger our own traps. Whilst their advance is momentarily stopped, we will sally out of Acorn Hall and meet them whilst the rest of our archers engage from their position on the walls." Commander Slade proposed. 

 " They will probably have their second army attack from a different point, so we will not meet the entire force at once. Of course, they will be able to regroup before we can do significant damage to the first army, but their morale will be down by then." The Blackfish agreed with the plan. 

 But other lords voiced their concerns, and the council soon devolved into a shouting match. Gideon and Beryn left when they figured that no decision would be taken at least for the next hour. They had no place amongst the lords and it was not like they could share their own ideas. Not that Gideon had any. The plan proposed by the Boars seemed sound if somewhat risky. 

 That seemed to be usual for the company. Just about every idea of theirs held significant risks. 

 The two found themselves walking back to the camp to recuperate from training. It would not be before three additional hours that riders were sent to give the army led by Lord Roote their newest order. 

 The Loyalists would go with the Boars' plan, not wanting to risk seeing the rebels go after Lord Roote. That force was mostly made up of cavalry, meaning that they had far fewer options to defend themselves out in the open than with lines of infantry. It would be unacceptable to allow the Rebels to go after them. 

 None of this was ideal, but the ideal situation had been the Loyalists following their initial plan instead of being pincered by the two armies. 

 And so the battle was upon them. Now, they would simply wait for the Rebels and strike at the best possible time. 

 The men were ushered within the castle. Of course, the entire army could not fit within the caste walls, and so a large part of the cavalry, as well as a portion of the archers and infantrymen, left the camp to position themselves behind a nearby hill. 

 None of the approaching armies would come from this angle so they would not notice this hidden force. Right before the men inside the castle would sally out, this force would unleash a volley of arrows whilst flanking the rebel army. With the Rebels bracing for the cavalry, the forces inside the castle would then pour out. 

 Gideon was certain the plan was bound to change should the Rebels actually attack without waiting for their second army or even defy the expectations and attack from only one side of the castle with their entire force. He certainly hoped they would not do anything absurdly intelligent or absurdly stupid. Both sounded horrible. A smart adversary would be hard to outmanoeuvre, whilst a foolish one would be bound to act irrationally. 

 He was part of the infantry that would leave the safety of the stone walls to sally out. He could only hope the secondary force behind the hill would follow the plan perfectly, otherwise they would not be able to drag the Rebels' morale down as they hoped to do. 

 He kept thinking about all that could go wrong as he waited, one-foot soldier amongst many, standing in line. If not for his hair, he would be drowned in the sea of men around him but he guessed he could still be easily sighted. 

 Gods he hoped no one decided to specifically target him just because he made for a shiny target. 

 Something landed on the wooden shield coated with metal he had been given. It glistened off of its surface. A droplet of water. 

 He raised his head and let out a disbelieving laugh. 

 It started raining. And quite heavily so in fact. In mere minutes a heavy rain was falling on their heads. The men stood tall still and did their best to ignore the water. 

 ' This has got to be a fucking joke….The cavalry will have a hard time charging the Rebels on mud.' 

 He complained in his mind, if only because he had nothing else to do. Besides wondering where Beryn was at the moment, that is. He had told him he was to be part of the cavalry, but he did not know if he, too, had remained behind the walls or not. 

 It mattered not. He would try to find the man after he'd survived…if he did. 

 His heart beat faster and faster as time went on. Then, he heard some agitation on the walls. The archers raised their bows and took an arrow each in their free hand. He heard orders being barked in every direction and straightened himself. His hands were shaking. 

[ The Champion has confirmed his chosen side in the Quest. ]

[ The Champion's body has finished shifting. ]

 His ears were ringing and he felt hot. That woozy feeling had disappeared, replaced was something he could not quite describe. He heard shouting from the walls. 

 The rebels were upon them.

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A.N: Hey y'all, I would really appreciate comments or reviews as they allow me to see where the fic stands at any given point and if it is going in the right direction. It's also an incentive for me as a writer. 

So don't hesitate to share your opinion or ask any questions you may have.