Davos said nothing, bowed to Kevan, and then turned and left.
The next day, Kevan led tens of thousands of troops, with the Mountain as the vanguard, and marched towards King's Landing. Along the way, he made no attempt to conceal his movements, openly approaching King's Landing, precisely wanting to inform Stannis that reinforcements had arrived, so that Stannis would not be able to wholeheartedly attack King's Landing.
At the same time, in Riverrun, the lordly and noble houses of the Riverlands and the lordly and noble houses of the North, who had once cooperated seamlessly, now stood opposite each other like enemies, glaring at each other. Some even had their hands on their sword hilts, as if ready to attack at any moment.
"Calm down, all of you, calm down!" Robb, who had just returned to Riverrun, stood directly between the two confronting sides and shouted at them. Then he turned to look at Jon Umber, who had already half-drawn his longsword, and angrily said, "Jon Umber, what do you intend to do? Draw your longsword to attack your allies?"
Jon Umber's face flushed, and he forcibly suppressed his anger, sheathing his longsword.
Willis Manderly, standing next to Jon Umber, stepped forward and, with a serious expression, said to Robb, "Your Majesty, we considered certain people allies, made sacrifices, rescued certain people from the Western army, and helped them reclaim their lands that had fallen into enemy hands. But what was the result? The result was that they accused us of destroying their lands, accusing us of being more hateful than Tywin. Can such people still be considered allies?"
Willis Manderly's words resonated with many lords and nobles of the Riverlands, especially those whose lands were north and west of the Red Fork. Their lands had indeed been reclaimed with the assistance of the Northern army, and it was not an exaggeration to call the Northern army their benefactors.
However, Lord Tomas Smallwood of Acorn Hall stepped forward and said with great dissatisfaction, "Did we say anything wrong? Look at the good deeds Roose Bolton has done. His destruction of the Riverlands exceeds that of the Western army's soldiers a hundredfold. The Western army merely occupied our lands, and we were able to reclaim them, and the lands remained intact. But what about Roose Bolton? He completely destroyed our lands. Even if we reclaim them, the lands are already ruined beyond recognition. Forget farming, it's difficult even to live there. Are we supposed to live in swamps and the wilderness like you Northerners?"
As Tomas Smallwood's words fell, the anger of the Riverlands, which had just slightly subsided, was reignited, and even the expressions of those lords who had been somewhat grateful to the North turned cold.
Just as Tomas Smallwood said, Roose Bolton's destruction of the Riverlands was simply too great. So great that even if the riverbanks were restored and the floodwaters receded, the lands of the Riverlands would not recover in a short time. And that land was the most important farmland in the entire Riverlands. It was foreseeable that the Riverlands would fall into an unprecedented famine, and the prosperity of the lands would probably take decades to slowly recover.
For instance, although the Western army plundered the lands and killed farmers, etc., these actions were not considered much by the lords and nobles of the Riverlands. As long as the lands remained, their actual losses were not very great.
In contrast, Roose Bolton's actions were tantamount to pulling out the very roots of the Riverlands lords. The losses of the Riverlands lords could no longer be described as merely heavy. Their extreme fury and their ill-timed confrontation with the Northern army were understandable.
Edmure was also helpless in the current situation. He had just succeeded to the title of Duke of Riverrun and become the Defender of the Riverlands, but he did not possess the prestige of the old Duke. He simply could not control these lords and nobles under him.
Moreover, deep down, he didn't want to suppress them, because he also felt that the Northerners had gone too far this time. If he had known that Roose Bolton would use such extreme methods to cross the river, he would never have agreed to Roose Bolton's plan to raid Harrenhal. Therefore, he felt that he also bore some responsibility for Roose Bolton's flooding of the Riverlands, and it was even harder for him to suppress the anger of the Riverlands lords and nobles.
As for Robb, standing between the two groups, he was utterly distraught. When he received news that Roose Bolton had captured Harrenhal, completely severing the connection between the two Western forces and trapping Duke Tywin's Western army in a pincer movement, his heart was filled with excitement and joy, for he had seen the dawn of victory in this war.
So much so that he completely overlooked the methods Roose Bolton used to attack Harrenhal, only realizing the seriousness of the situation when the Riverlands lords and nobles turned on their Northern army.
But even so, he did not believe that Roose Bolton had done anything wrong. Instead, he felt that the Riverlands lords and nobles were making a mountain out of a molehill. Their main enemy now was Tywin, and dealing with Tywin was the most important thing to consider. As for other things, they could be put aside for now. If something was destroyed, it was destroyed. They could make up for it later from Tywin's West. Why be so aggressive?
Although he was dissatisfied with the Riverlands lords and nobles, he could not show it. So he could only appease their emotions, saying, "What is done is done. Nothing we say now will help. War is cruel like this; anything can be sacrificed for ultimate victory. If you wish to blame anyone, please blame me! After all, Lord Roose Bolton was acting on my orders. However, I hope you all understand that we should now unite to fight Tywin, and completely deal with Tywin, who is hiding in Duskendale. At that time, I will offer my share of the spoils of war as compensation to the lords whose lands were damaged this time. My Lords, what do you think of this arrangement?"
"Your Majesty!" Seeing Robb take responsibility, the Northerners looked excited and wanted to say something.
"Silence, all of you! This matter will be handled as I said." Robb knew very well that what these Northerners would say would be unpleasant and would only worsen the relationship between the two sides, so he sternly reprimanded everyone, directly interrupting what they were about to say.
The nobles of the Riverlands all showed surprised expressions, and then their faces turned somewhat grim, because although Robb had taken responsibility, the compensation he ultimately offered was merely a drop in the bucket compared to the losses of their lands. It would have been better not to compensate at all, allowing them to continue rightfully accusing the Northerners.
Seeing the change in the expressions of the Riverlands nobles, Edmure thought that everyone was complaining about the small compensation, so he also emulated Robb, stepping forward and saying, "If Robb's compensation is not enough, I will add mine. My Lords, we must now unite to deal with the West. Other minor frictions should be temporarily set aside and not affect the overall situation."
Hearing Edmure's words, the Riverlands nobles felt somewhat speechless. In their opinion, Edmure, as the Lord of the Riverlands, was absolutely the one who suffered the most from this flood. He should have led everyone to hold the North accountable, but instead, he completely sided with the Northerners and turned to suppress them. This left them at a loss for words for a moment.
Even the Defender of the Riverlands, their liege lord, had spoken. What reason did they have left to blame the Northerners? They could only lower their heads and swallow this bitter pill.
However, just as the atmosphere in the hall had eased slightly, an official from Riverrun responsible for guarding the dungeons rushed in. Without even having time to bow to Robb and Edmure, he quickly said, "Your Majesty, Duke, something has happened in the dungeons! Lord Rickard Karstark of the North broke into the dungeons, killed Ser Aemon Rowell, who was guarding them, and then killed all the prisoners inside, including the prisoners from the Lannister of the West, and also those lords who had previously been forced to surrender to the West and were temporarily held captive!"
Hearing the official's words, Robb was stunned, then his face turned incredibly grim, his eyes filled with fury.
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