KINGDOM FALL
— 90. Battle at Casterly Rock

   Soon after leaving Torra's tent, Robb began to walk through the war camp alone. Soon enough, Tormund joined Robb and as much as the Stark man wanted to be annoyed by it, he found himself unable to.

"You think there's hope?" Robb found himself asking Tormund, turning to look him in the eye.

"I've never seen these Baratheon fuckers fight aside from that day beyond the Wall. And they've never seen the free folk fight, so, yes, there's hope," He explained, only to notice the look on Robb's face, "You want to avenge Annalys, don't you?"

"Stannis didn't kill Annalys, the Night's Watch did," Robb informed Tormund softly, trying his best not to look saddened, "Her dreams of changing this cruel world did."

"So you do think she's dead," Tormund stated, narrowing his eyes at Robb.

"Honestly? Every piece of evidence points to her being dead, but I still don't believe it," Robb confessed, causing Tormund to immediately stop walking.

Once seeing him do so, Robb did the same, watching as Tormund turned to face him fully, "What do you mean?" He asked the Stark king, a concerned look on his face.

Robb found himself feeling hesitant to tell Tormund since they weren't friends and he didn't trust the wildling man, but he believed  Tormund was the right person to tell. Annalys trusted him. That had to count for something, right?

"Annalys told you she died before, didn't she?" Robb questioned Tormund, who nodded in response, "All these people, the people in Westeros who believe in the faith involving some god called the Lord of Light...They have this obsession with Annalys. I saw it firsthand when she was resurrected at Winterfell. They're obsessed with keeping her alive long enough to kill the Night King during the Long Night. I wonder if followers of this faith took Annalys' body to resurrect her."

"It shouldn't, but I think it makes sense. The day we met, Annalys told me she believed that no matter how many times she died, someone would always be there to bring her back." Tormund explained to Robb, causing the man to frown in concern.

"But who took her and where did they take her?" Robb found himself asking the wildling man, a worried look on his face.

"I don't know, Robb Stark. Let's hope we find out soon or you'll be the one sitting on this stupid iron chair I heard so much about once we take it." Tormund explained, causing Robb to look uneasy at the thought of sitting on the Iron Throne.

He didn't want that. That was Annalys' dream, not his.

"I need a good drink to help me sleep the night before a fight. You want some? I have a jug of sour goat's milk, stronger than any of that grape water you southern twats like sucking on," Tormund explained, beginning to widely grin, "Annalys loved it when Mance gave her some."

"No, thanks. It's probably delicious if Annalys likes it," He told him, despite it being a lie, "but I better keep a clear head. I can never sleep the night before a battle."

"So what do you do all night?" Tormund questioned, knowing that Robb had fought in battles constantly since he was sixteen.

"You want to know the truth?" Robb responded, causing the ginger-haired wildling to nod, "Usually, Annalys and I spent the night in bed," He informed Tormund, who laughed since he knew he meant having sex, "But tonight, I think I'll just stay in my tent and figure out what we'll be doing to take King's Landing."

Tormund laughed, patting Robb on the back. "Happy war planning," He wished the Stark man good luck before walking away.

Robb briefly watched him leave, sighing in defeat. He made his way back to his tent after that, spending the entire night planning the perfect siege of King's Landing.

The entire night he thought to him, how would have Annalys taken King's Landing?

After all, Annalys had told him many things, but the plan to take King's Landing was something she never gave up. Because of that, Robb knew it must have been something she had been thinking up for quite a while. Something she must have planned out thoroughly, unlike most of the battle plans she was able to make up within mere minutes.

Robb was trying to keep himself strong. He wanted to believe that Annalys was alive. It was all that was giving him hope. But what besides her missing body pointed toward the idea of her being alive?

The following morning, in the front of the walls of Casterly Rock, Stannis stood with his army of forty thousand men, clearly outnumbered by Robb, who stood with his own men across the field. He sat on his horse, Grey Wind at his side. Torra stood nearby, alongside the archers.

On Stannis' side, Ser Davos rode around the men, giving orders in the name of his king, "Prepare to charge! Prepare to charge!" He shouted out loudly.

"Draw!" Torra shouted out as the Robb taught her to, leading to the archers, which mostly contained wildlings, to draw their bowstrings back and upwards, "Loose!"

Hearing her orders, the archers loosed a volley of arrows, which flew through the air in an arching motion.

Stannis was the first the ride forward on his horse, the rest of his cavalry following after him and charging toward Robb's forces.

The bulk of the Baratheon forces charged full on across the field towards the Starks, who remained in place. Stannis continued to rush the Stark forces, ahead of his army. He rode straight toward Robb, who glared at him hatefully. He couldn't believe it. Just three years ago, they had been allies. They fought against Annalys together. They won the Iron Throne together.

Now, here Robb was, fighting on Annalys' side and fighting to take the Iron Throne.

Stannis couldn't believe it was Ned Stark's son doing such a thing. Ned was the one who wanted Stannis on the throne in the first place and now his eldest son was fighting to take rip him off that throne?

Torra shouted out orders again, causing the archers standing alongside her to release a volley of arrows once more. Some of which landed in the body of Stannis' horse and other's, causing his horse and the other men's horses to tumble to the ground.

"Cavalry, charge!" Robb commanded loudly, turning toward Torra to give his last order, "Do what I told you to do."

"I will," Torra promised, watching as Robb led the vanguard of cavalry across the field to attack Stannis' cavalry head on.

After getting knock off his horse, Stannis stood to face the Stark cavalry, charging at him. He took a deep breath before unsheathing his sword, preparing to fight until his last breath.

The cavalry continued to approach him, before it could reach him, they collided with his forces of men on horseback. He watched men on both sides die in the frenzy. Bodies and weaponry flew everywhere on both sides and archers on both sides of the battlefield nocked their arrows and drew their bows.

While Ser Davos, who commanded Stannis' archers, told them not to release their arrows, seeing as though they'd kill their own men, Torra did the opposite.

"Loose!" Torra shouted out, despite Robb telling her exactly not to release arrows onto their own men.

Despite knowing Robb ordered them to do the opposite, the wildling archers obeyed Torra, seeing as though she was the daughter of their former queen. Robb was technically nothing to them. There was only one southerner they'd all have the chance of actually listening to and that was Annalys.

After all, she was the reason they were fighting with Robb and joining the sides of Northmen who hated their guts.

Torra watched closely as the wildlings obeyed her orders, releasing their arrows. The numerous arrows rained down on both Stark and Baratheon men alike, but luckily, it was mostly Baratheon men they were hitting.

Amongst the battling men, Stannis dodged several horses who galloped past him. Robb, who was on foot as well now, was suddenly charged at by one of the Baratheon men on horseback.

Robb, however, quickly raised his sword, slashing the man's horse across the legs. Once the man was knocked off his horse, Robb rushed over to him, slashing him across the chest to kill him.

He continued to cut down each men who came toward him. He never really fought in battles on foot. It was odd to him. He wondered how the hell Annalys ever preferred fighting battle on foot rather on horseback.

He was forced to dodge dozens of men on horseback while also cutting down dozens of men. He couldn't understand how Annalys took so much pleasure in it. He hated war, despite now fighting in his third war while only being twenty-four years old.

It was also his first battle without Annalys. Of course, there was Annalys' Rebellion, which he fought on the opposite side, but she was still there. Now, he was forced to fight for her, without even knowing if she was actually still alive.

Robb turned his head, watching as Grey Wind tore apart dozens of men while growling menacingly.

A volley of arrows rained down around Robb due to Torra's orders. He ducked and cursed under his breath due to Torra not following his simple directions. It reminded him of Annalys.

Everything seemed to remind him of Annalys.

It was all he could think about. It was tearing him apart, not knowing if she was alive or not.

None of the arrows hit him, thankfully. After the arrows stopped raining down upon the men, he returned to his feet, cutting down another man that came toward him.

He dodged another Baratheon soldier on horseback, who ended up colliding with one of the Reachmen who was on horseback.

A horseman galloped at Robb with his ax ready, but a passing Stark cavalryman speared him. Another Bolton footsoldier approached Robb, but Robb cut him down. The bodies began to pile up on the battlefield, the majority of them Baratheon men.

At her post near the archers, Torra ordered the archers to release several more volleys, over and over.

Robb continued cutting down each men who came toward him, some of them harder to defeat than others. The bodies near him began to pule up high enough to create small mountains of bodies, which men from both sides began to fight on top of and around.

From where she stood, Torra turned toward Tormund, who stood in front of the army of wildlings, "Now," She ordered and Tormund nodded in understanding.

"Run and fight!" Tormund hollered, he and the rest of the wildlings wasting no time rushing forward.

The remaining Reachmen on horseback rode forward, the small amount of Lannister soldiers Robb was able to convince to help going along with them. Unlike the Reachmen, the Lannister men were on foot, carrying spears and shields.

Tormund and his men run and charge across the battlefield. Robb continued fighting, but was soon knocked to the ground by a Baratheon footsoldier. He raised his sword to attack Robb, but before he could, Tormund appeared and stabbed the man through the back. After doing so, he grabbed Robb by the arm, helping him to his feet.

"Hey," Tormund called out, causing Robb to turn to look him in the eye, "It's time."

Robb nodded in understanding, realizing what it meant.

"Your Grace!" One of the Baratheon men shouted to Stannis, "Look!"

Stannis suddenly turned, finding Robb and all of his forces nowhere in sight. All he could see was Lannister soldiers carrying crimson and gold shields with the lion sigil on it along with spears.

"Spears and shields! Spears and shields!" Randyll Tarly shouted out as he rode around on his horse, "Get in line!"

Stannis and his men watch in confusion as the Lannister men circled around them, trapping them in a half circle with their tall shields and spears in hand. The other half of the circle was blocked by the piles of bodies that had grown severely high during the battle.

All at once, the Lannister army set their shields down on the ground in front of them, pointing the tip of their spears upwards.

Stannis frowned, noticing the way there was three different lines of soldiers with spears and shields circled around them, along with the cavalry standing behind them as well.

The Lannister men on the inner circle let out a large grunt before pointing their swords directly at the Baratheon forces trapped inside the circle.

"Infantry, advance!" Randyll shouted, commanding the Lannister army, since it was something that Robb couldn't do.

The shield soldiers grunted in unison, lifting their shields and moving in toward the Baratheon men while still pointing their spears at them.

Robb smiled proudly, realizing the plan was working. It was a plan that seemed a bit dishonorable in the eyes of most men but Robb saw no other way.

With each wave of movement, the Lannister soldiers stabbed more and more Baratheon soldiers with their spears. One Baratheon soldier attempted to climb up over the piles of bodies, only cut down by Tormund, who led the wildlings in their charge down and over the bodies to charge at the Baratheon from the rear alongside Robb.

"Break their line!" Stannis shouted out sternly, his men immediately attempting to do just that but failing miserably.

Standing just behind the pile of bodies, Wun Wun tore apart each man who made it close to escaping the circle they were trapped in.

The Baratheon that still happened to be alive rushed toward the shield wall, attempting to break it. Stannis jumped to the side of some spears and attacked a man behind the shield wall. Davos and other Baratheon soldiers defended against Robb, Tormund, and the Wildlings, but seemed to fail miserably due to being greatly outnumbered.

The bodies began to pile up again, the majority of them Baratheon men. For everyone man loyal to Robb that died, it seemed at least five Baratheon men died as well.

Stannis ended up pulling a shieldbearer down and killed him with his sword, only to get sliced across the arm. He was forced to fall back among the Baratheon ranks, his men quick to catch him.

"King Stannis!"

"Get him back!"

The shieldbearers continued to advance, pushing the Baratheon forces further in on themselves, most of the men loyal to Stannis dying in the process.

"Fuck this, come on!" Davos complained, immediately leading the Baratheon men back toward the piles of bodies.

Robb continued to cut down numerous men. He felt as though he never killed so many people in his entire life.

Robb froze for a moment, locking eyes with Stannis from a distance. However, before they could move toward each other, the Baratheon charge overtook them.

More and more Baratheon men were killed, far more than what the Starks were losing. Robb continued to fight his way through, searching for Stannis, who was, for some reason, nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, a horn blared, causing Robb to turn in the direction of the noise. He squinted his eyes, only to watch as a force of cavalry rode across the battlefield and toward them, carrying flags bearing the symbol of a cluster of gold skulls hanging from a red spear on what looked like a dark red field.

Robb frowned in confusion, not recognizing the sigil. It took him a moment before his eyes suddenly widened, realizing that it was the Golden Company.

He recalled back when he was allied with Stannis that Ser Davos Seaworth had suggested that his king hire the Golden Company to win the Iron Throne. Stannis had refused, however, believing that sellswords were unfit to join his army. Robb wondered, what changed his mind?

The Golden Company rode toward them, attacking head on with the remainder of the reachmen cavalry. Some attacked the Lannister shield bearers, breaking their lines and allowing the Baratheon men to escape.

There was at least fifteen thousand men from the Golden Company there and even if it didn't even out the battlefield, the surprise of it all made it a great threat to Robb's army.

Robb tensed up slightly, worried that his army would be defeated, "Fall back! Fall back!" He suddenly heard the Baratheon soldiers still alive shout, "Fall back! Fall back!"

"Stand and fight!" One of Stannis' most loyal commanders argued back.

The Baratheon men, however, did not listen to him and began to retreat from the battle, Stannis nowhere in sight, oddly enough.

Was he dead? Oh, how Robb hoped it was true. Of course, it wasn't.

Robb continued to frown, watching as the Baratheon soldiers fled the scene like cowards. The Golden Company destroyed Robb's cavalry, but didn't do much besides that, leaving the Wildlings and the rest the way they were.

Robb watched in confusion as they fled as well, leaving thousands of men still alive.

What the hell was happening?

Furious, Robb went to impulsively chase after the Baratheon army, only to have Randyll Tarly, of all people, grab onto his arm.

Angered, Robb turned to face him, "He retreated. There's no point. His army is depleted. You can defeat him at King's Landing." He warned the man in a stern tone.

Robb sighed in defeat, hesitantly nodding his head. He looked toward the archers, only to become concerned when he noticed that Torra was no longer there.

Despite Randyll still speaking to him, Robb rudely watched past him, rushing over to where Torra had previously been standing and commanding the archers. He glanced around, realizing that the majority of the archers were injured, dead, or knocked down.

Where Torra had formerly been standing, the sword Robb had given to her the night before was laid out on the grass, the blade covered in blood.

How could that be?

"Where is she?" He asked the man that had been standing the closest to Torra the entire battle.

Not being to control his anger, Robb roughly grabbed the man by his armor and lifted him up, "Where is she! Where's the girl!" He shouted out in a demanding tone, clenching his jaw in anger, "Where's Torra?"

"I-I don't know---" The man began to obliviously answered, only to be cut off by Robb.

"How do you not know!" Robb practically roared at him, "She was standing right next to you!"

"Stannis' men," One of the men suddenly spoke up, causing Robb to turn his head to see one of the Wildling approaching him, badly injured, "They took her."

Robb's eyes widened at the revelation, immediately becoming worried for the girl.

Why did Stannis take her? What could he possibly want with a nine-year old girl? How the hell was he supposed to explain Torra's disappearance to Annalys when he found her?

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Robb is really trying to claim that he only cares that Torra is gone because of Annalys🤣🤣

That is clearly a lie.

Idk about you, but I see a little father/daughter type relationship just waiting to happen between them 😂