Oathkeeper

Chapter 23: The Red Wolf Pt.2

"What do you think our best move would be?" Sansa asked Brienne.

Brienne, Sansa, Ser Bael, Ser Galvin, and Ser Bjorn sat around the recently extinguished fire trying to devise a plan to infiltrate the abandoned castle. Sansa choked on the ghostly white smoke that vanished into the air now singing to her lungs. The Queen and her men stood in the forest just a few miles outside the castle walls. Their presence was masked by the multitude of trees full of leaves, and the fog that seemed to only grow thicker. The rest of the Queensguard and Winterfell's foot soldiers moved quickly and quietly through the woods trying their best not to alert anyone as they inched closer to the castle walls.

"We send two men dressed in plain clothing to the door. Once they open up to greet them, the rest of us force our way in." Brienne suggested.

"Ser Bael and I will go. We're Dreadfort born so they'll be more likely to let their guard down when they see we've returned" Ser Bjorn volunteered him and his twin.

"We start asking questions, and if they refuse to talk. We show them the ways of the Red Wolf" Ser Bael chimed in, now high fiving his twin.

"Good plan, Lord Commander" Ser Galvin nodded, giving Brienne an approving nod.

Brienne was taken aback by Ser Galvins compliment. Last she checked the man insisted on being in an imaginary competition with himself, taking great secretive strides towards the heart of the Queen. She nodded her head with a feeling somewhat uneasy by his politeness before facing the twins. Ser Bael and Bjorn took off their boots, then the armor that covered their legs, then the chest plate, then the arms. The mannerisms of the twins intrigued both Sansa and Brienne. They couldn't help but notice how inseparable they were, and how often they finished each other's sentences. Both stood somewhat tall, pale with raven colored hair. As much as Brienne had seen them eat, none of it stuck to them, leaving nothing but skin and thin layers of flesh left to cover their bones. Everyone had a hard time telling them apart, especially when they were dressed in the same outfit just as they were today. They wore thick dark wool pants, and a long sleeve loosely fitting white tunic.

As they began to lace their boots back up the Queen, Lord Commander, and the soldiers of Winterfell split up. Half of the group stood with their backs pressed against the wall just beside the gate, while the rest remained hidden in the woods. Sansa watched patiently as the twins stood in front of the castle gates. It took several minutes for anyone to actually come to the gate, and when they did, their swords were already drawn.

"Announce yourself or lose your head" Someone from behind the wall yelled.

"Bael and Bjorn Snow. We were Roose- Ramsay Bolton's men! We're Dreadfort men!" Ser Bjorn yelled.

"Drop your swords, they're telling the truth." A man said as he approached the twins. "It's nice to see you two again"

A small man with a thick and long blonde beard approached the twins. His hair, equally as long as his beard was tied back into one thick braid. An arrangement of barkless wooden sticks sat as a crooked crown on his head. The large grey stoned castle towered behind the man, making him look smaller than he actually was. He flashed the twins a smile as he pulled them into a hug.

"I thought you two died when that crazy Bolton bastard picked a fight with Jon Stark" He spoke with a low growling voice.

"Once the Knights of the Vale showed up. Jon Stark allowed us to surrender, and to join him in the fight against the Wights." Ser Bjorn answered the man truthfully.

"The Long Night. I didn't believe it to be true. After Jon and Sansa Stark spread the word about the wights rising again, we lost more than half our army. None of them returned while, Of course I stayed here, what in the seven hells could provoke me to give my life for Westeros?" He spoke. "But you two made it out alive. I'm impressed"