Chapter 247: Mayhem at Winterfell
Winterfell, Stark Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
-Clank
The collision of the two Valyrian blades made a sound that resounded in the corridor and throughout the entire castle.
Jamie Lannister blinked at how easily Domeric blocked his attack. Before Jamie could react, Domeric kicked the man away from him, turned, and ran.
Jamie got up from the ground and ran after him.
Except that Domeric was much faster than Jamie, and he had a good lead.
He ran out of the corridor, jumped down the stairs, and into the courtyard, where Robb and Jon were currently sparring against Varko.
Ygritte and Raksa were standing on the side and watching the fight, and his men were talking with the Stark men.
The problem was that the other side of the courtyard was filled with Lannister men. And the Red Cloaks easily outnumbered his men 3 to 1.
Oh well, he had fought worse odds.
Jamie Lannister came roaring down the stairs and ran after him, his sword raised high in the air, and his intentions clear in his eyes.
But Jamie's blade never managed to reach Domeric.
Varko stood between him and Jamie, their swords locked together.
Jamie had a moment to realize who he was up against, and then his eyes widened in shock.
Before Jamie could react, Varko disarmed him and flung him to the ground, putting his knee on Jamie's back and stopping him from moving.
Jamie reached for his dagger, but Varko reached it first and disarmed Jamie of that as well.
Jamie writhed under Varko's feet, and there was silence in the courtyard.
Then, slowly, all the Red Cloaks drew their swords, and one of them came forward and said, "Release Ser Jamie at once or there will be consequences."
At this moment, Domeric could use his silver tongue, a few subtle compulsion charms, and calm everyone down.
But right now, Domeric had no intention of doing any of this. He had a reason for provoking Jamie Lannister from the start, and events were unfolding exactly as he wanted.
"Consequences?" Domeric asked, feigning confusion. "I do wonder what those would be."
"So be it." The man said and moved toward him, raising his sword, the Lannister men moving ahead along with him.
A roar from the side alerted the man to what or who was coming.
The Red Cloak commander's eyes went wide, and he turned his sword to protect himself.
But his sword didn't work as he had hoped.
Raksa's giant 75-kilogram heavy sword broke through his sword and cleaved him in half before anyone could even register what was happening.
Domeric heard some girl screaming in the background, and then chaos ensued.
His men ran forward with their spears and shields and formed a two-row deep circle around him and Varko, who was still holding onto Jamie, who was now looking at Raksa in slight fear.
Ygritte came inside the circle a moment later, took out her Valyrian bow, and started shooting at the Lannister men, some of whom had surrounded Raksa, while the others charged at his men.
It was beautiful. She was beautiful.
The Stark men looked at the scene and then looked at Robb, who was looking somewhat confused and a bit afraid of the sudden escalation in violence.
He knew that Robb wanted to side with them, but with Sansa's betrothal to the Royal family, he was not sure whom he should fight, as both parties were his allies.
Then one of the Stark men shouted and charged at the Red Cloaks. He remembered the man being one of those who had accompanied him to the North of the Wall. In fact, a lot of the men in the courtyard had fought beside his men before.
So once that man charged against the Lannister man, the others didn't look to Robb Stark for order and charged along with him against the Red Cloaks.
"Ygritte, do not let the Stark men die," Domeric said to Ygritte.
"Don't worry," Ygritte replied, and began to direct her arrows at the Stark men's opponents, from time to time.
By now, the whole courtyard had become a three-way meat grinder.
The Stark men were fighting the Lannisters. His men were defending against the Lannisters and stacking bodies as the Lannisters failed to penetrate the magical armor of his men. In contrast, his men's magical spears easily penetrated their defenses.
Ygritte was already on double digits in kill counts, and Raksa had surrounded herself with a circle of dead Red Cloaks and was covered in blood herself.
Looking at her cleaving through two to three men at a time like that, for a moment, he was sure that he could send her against the White Walkers and she would take care of that problem on her own.
Robb looked at the scene that was now out of his hands and grimaced. Then he resolved himself, let out a war cry, and charged into the melee with Jon and their two grown direwolves charging beside them.
They didn't know it, but Robb and Jon were actually avenging their brother Bran. So Domeric felt no guilt in dragging them and the Stark men into this battle.
If they knew what Jamie Lannister had done to Bran Stark, they would probably thank Domeric for giving them this chance.
Domeric looked around and noticed that the small direwolves were with Arya, who was frozen in her spot and was looking at the whole thing in shock. At least she was behind the Stark men, so he wasn't worried about her being harmed.
But there was a stark difference between the Arya of today and the one who killed the Night King.
And Domeric doubted that Arya would embark on her own journey and learn the teachings of the Faceless Men now that he had changed so much of what was to come.
That's why Domeric thought of giving Arya a good training in the Dreadfort.
On the other side of the courtyard, Joffrey was shouting something to Sandor Clegane while pointing at Raksa, and Sandor held both Joffrey and Tommen with one hand each, looking at Raksa with apprehension and some well-deserved fear.
Then there was a bellow from the other side of the courtyard.
"STOP THIS MADNESS IN THE NAME OF YOUR KING!!!!"
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.248: Explanation
Ch.249: The King Yields
Ch.250: Bet of the Century