"You said Riverrun fell into enemy hands?" Tywin said.
"Yes, my Lord." Jaremy Frey's voice was dull with exhaustion, and the Frey Family's twin towers sigil was obscured by dust on the front of his torn surcoat.
The Lords and commanders Tywin had gathered quieted down, listening to Jaremy recount what had happened. The firewood in the hearth crackled, making their faces glow red like fire.
Tywin was both angry and furious. He had lingered at the Green Fork for a long time, thinking he could cut off the Stark brat's southward advance, but all he received was terrible news: first Riverrun, then Riverrun.
"How is this possible? Wasn't Riverrun always impregnable? How could it have lost so miserably?" asked Ser Harys Swyft, an aging knight and Ser Kevan's father-in-law. Ser Harys was a chinless Old Man. He was flabby, bald, and had only a ridiculous tuft of short white whiskers.
Tyrion felt ill-tempered seeing this old coward. He had been slandering him ever since he heard his brother's news. His greatest achievement in life was marrying his daughter to his uncle, thereby forging a connection with the Lannister.
"There was no better way. Although Marquess Walder was somewhat complacent, the enemy's actions were indeed insidious and ruthless."
"My Lords, Ser Kevan is right." Little Weasel said with a mournful face. "my father's troops were actually quite well-prepared. We had a thousand elite soldiers in each of the West River and East Keep fortresses, and in the East Keep's large camp, we also had Mercenaries, farmers, and Free Knights who had been conscripted. These four thousand men were originally prepared to defend against the Starks. But the Stark army had no ships, and we hadn't heard any news of their arrival, so we did become somewhat complacent. The timing of the enemy's attack also caught us off guard. Earlier, we heard that Riverrun was under siege, and then Marq Piper was harassing Lannister's supplies, but there were only dozens of men... Alas, when we saw Marq arrive, we truly thought Riverrun was already completely surrounded, so we tried to control Marq first..."
Tyrion wanted to laugh but didn't. What was Old Weasel saying about defending against the Starks? No one knew whose side he would ultimately take. But Tyrion and Tywin both estimated that the Frey were most likely to side with the Lannister. (In the early stages, Tywin and Tyrion both fell into the trap of empiricism, not expecting that the ever-cautious Frey would want to gamble once.)
"Where are your scouts? Did they see nothing, and give you no warning?" Tywin asked coldly, the firelight casting an eerie orange glow on his face, leaving deep shadows beneath his eye sockets.
"Our scouts, the scouts might indeed be few, because we didn't expect the enemy to attack from the West River, most of the scouts were in the East Keep. And the occasional scouts who returned also said they found nothing."
"Useless." Tywin couldn't help but curse.
Duke Tywin looked around. At this moment, he missed his two dogs, the Mountain and Amory. There were few such terrifying wild dogs in the Seven Kingdoms, especially the Mountain. If the Mountain were here, he would surely suggest beheading a few Frey Family scouts. Thinking of this, his hatred deepened.
A golden glint flashed in Duke Tywin's eyes. If Riverrun were to fall again, then the Northern Army's southward advance would surely become easier.
"You said they had inside help and launched a night attack." Ser Kevan asked.
"Yes." Ser Jaremy nodded wearily. "Marq Piper and those Mercenaries were all inside collaborators, but they were wailing miserably in Riverrun with Hoster's handwritten letter. my father, my father, thought Ser Jaime's attack was like thunder, and the House Tully would surely be on its last legs, so he didn't think much of it at the time. Who knew, who knew that things would go terribly wrong that very night. That Mercenary, Bluebeard, led dozens of men, cut down some gatekeepers, and opened the side gate, allowing the enemy's main force to attack. The enemy attacked from two directions. By the time our men realized something was wrong, enemy cavalry had already rushed into the West River Castle, and the Seaguard taxi soldiers also came in small boats, from the arch bridge of Riverrun, controlling the River Gate Tower and the inner gates on both sides of the arch bridge. Riverrun instantly went into great peril. At that time, I was in the East Keep Castle. Our people heard the fighting, saw the West River Castle on fire, and heard the catapults roaring from the west, but we couldn't reinforce them. I only saw the Seaguard taxi soldiers charging towards the archway, armed with swords and torches, fighting to the death at the archway. After the west fell, the east was also in imminent danger. Those miscellaneous soldiers in the East Keep's large camp were not there to fight properly, but rather to loot. The farmers, hearing the bad news, fled in a swarm."
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