Walder Frey slumped in his high seat.
His wrinkled, ancient face was twisted into a knot of sheer terror.
He had lived a long time, and he could tell at a glance that these mysterious figures were not to be trifled with.
This time, he was truly fucked.
The smugness was gone from his cloudy eyes, replaced only by pleading and horror.
He wanted to beg for mercy, but his throat was so tight he couldn't squeeze out a single word.
Besides, he knew begging wouldn't save him from the reckoning.
"You... you demon from the Seven Hells..."
Lysa Arryn pointed a shaking finger at Lynn, her voice screeching like nails on a chalkboard.
She had finally recovered from the shock of Lynn's face-changing, but now she was drowning in a despair deeper than the Abyss.
She couldn't fathom how anyone could create such a disguise, let alone see through her secret plot with Walder.
It was as if... as if Lynn had been lying right between her and Walder under the blankets!
How was this possible?!
It was over.
The plan, everything, was over.
Everything crumbled to dust the moment that mask was ripped off.
She just couldn't understand it.
"Demon?"
Lynn laughed.
He walked slowly toward the high table.
His pace was unhurried, yet the Frey soldiers blocking his path scrambled aside as if they had seen a ghost, practically tripping over themselves to clear a path.
"Compared to me, I think the two of you are far more deserving of that title, don't you?"
Lynn's gaze settled on Lysa and Walder Frey.
"Walder Frey! Lysa Arryn!"
A roar like thunder erupted from below.
Brynden "Blackfish" Tully, aided by the antidote, had regained some strength.
He used his sword as a crutch to stagger to his feet. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the pair at the high table, burning with enough rage to set them aflame.
"You... you dared to violate Guest Right!"
"You god-forsaken bastards!"
"You're worse than pigs and dogs!"
"You will burn in the Seven Hells for this!"
Guest Right!
Those two words jolted the shocked Tully bannermen awake.
They looked at the black blood staining their lips, the shattered goblets on the floor, and the Frey soldiers surrounding them with butcher knives.
A mix of lingering fear, humiliation, and sky-high rage rushed to their heads!
They had almost died here!
Died in a massacre disguised as a wedding, a betrayal so vile it defied description!
"Kill them! Kill the bitch and the bastard!"
"Don't let a single Frey live!"
"They defiled the gods! Send them to hell!"
The crowd exploded!
The Great Hall instantly transformed from a silent slaughterhouse into a furious tribunal.
Every Tully bannerman hurled the most vicious curses they could muster at Walder Frey and Lysa Arryn.
"Sister, do you hear them?"
Edmure Tully stood up as well.
He didn't roar like the Blackfish. His voice carried a heartbreaking sorrow.
He looked at Lysa, and there was no brotherly affection left in his eyes—only endless estrangement and disappointment.
"For power, you poisoned your husband."
"And now, you try to poison your own brother and your entire family."
"What is your heart made of?"
"Me?"
Facing the accusations of thousands, Lysa's fear began to recede.
It was replaced by the madness of someone with nothing left to lose!
She shrieked with laughter.
"My heart? My heart died long ago!"
"It died the day Father forced me to marry that old corpse Jon Arryn!"
"It's all your fault!"
"You all forced me!"
"I just wanted to take back what belonged to me! What did I do wrong?!"
"You ask what you did wrong?"
Lynn's voice was faint, but it instantly choked off Lysa's screaming.
"From the moment you started this absurd and unjust war, you were wrong."
"And you have only walked further down that crooked path."
"Today's outcome is exactly what you deserve, Lysa."
Then, Lynn walked to Edmure's side and gently patted his shoulder, his eyes holding a trace of pity.
"Lord Edmure."
"Some truths are hard to accept, but you have the right to know."
"Do you think your father, Lord Hoster Tully, really died of illness?"
That single sentence silenced the Great Hall again.
Edmure jerked his head up, staring at Lynn in disbelief.
"What... what did you say?"
"I said," Lynn turned his gaze to Lysa, his deep eyes seeming to pierce the darkest corners of her soul.
"Your father, Lord Hoster, did not agree with Lysa's mad plan."
"He wanted to stop her."
"So, your dear sister, Lady Lysa, used her own hands to smother Lord Hoster to death."
"The father who raised her and gave her everything."
BOOM—!!!
The world collapsed inside Edmure's mind!
He swayed violently, nearly falling again.
Father...
Father didn't die of sickness?
He was... smothered to death by his own daughter?!
No wonder!
No wonder Lysa's expression was so unnatural that day!
It all made sense now!
"No... no... you're lying! You're slandering me!"
Lysa screeched like a cat with its tail stepped on.
Aside from poisoning her husband, this was her deepest, darkest secret!
No one but her and Walder could possibly know!
Even when facing Edmure in captivity, she had been vague, too ashamed to reveal a hint of it!
How did Lynn know?!
She couldn't admit to this!
If she did, she would be burned alive at the stake!!!
"Whether I'm lying or not, you know best in your heart."
Lynn didn't look at her again. He turned to the broken Edmure.
"She told you that if you dared disobey, Walder Frey's soldiers would kill anyone who opposed her, didn't she?"
"She used the lives of your entire family to force you into submission, didn't she?"
Every question from Lynn was a hammer blow to Edmure's heart.
All true!
Edmure's lips trembled violently.
He looked at Lysa's twisted, mad face, recalling the conversation in the solar a few days ago.
"Brother, you must marry the Frey girl. It's your only way out."
"I won't! I will never ally with the Freys!"
"Is that so? Then prepare to bury the entire Tully family."
"Walder's men don't care about honor."
...
She had planned everything from the start!
Father's death was part of her plan too!
He had suspected something was wrong, and now with Lynn's confirmation, the truth was laid bare!
Father wasn't angered to death by Lysa!
He was murdered by her own hands!
He couldn't imagine...
How much despair and heartbreak his father must have felt in his final moments!
How could she?!
"AHHH—!!!"
An inhuman howl of grief tore from Edmure's throat!
Unable to control the sorrow and rage any longer, he charged at Lysa like a wounded beast!
"You animal! You killed Father!"
"You killed our Father!"
His eyes were red, his mind consumed by madness. He wanted nothing more than to tear apart the woman who had destroyed everything!
Two Frey guards instinctively moved to stop him.
But before they could touch Edmure, two flashes of blue light flickered.
SPLAT!
Two heads hit the floor.
The White Walkers behind Lynn had moved.
Edmure reached Lysa and clamped his hands around her throat!
"I'll kill you! I'll avenge Father!"
Lysa's face turned purple as she choked, her hands clawing futilely at Edmure's arms, her eyes filled with terror.
"Enough."
Lynn's voice cut through the chaos.
Edmure froze.
He looked back at Lynn, tears streaming down his face.
"Let her live for now."
"Death is too easy for her."
"After she receives her proper judgment, I will hand her over to the Tullys to deal with as you see fit."
Edmure loosened his grip.
Lysa collapsed to the floor.
She gasped for air like a fish out of water.
In the Great Hall, the way the Tully bannermen looked at Lysa was no longer just angry. It was cold, utter disgust.
Husband-slayer. Kinslayer. Father-slayer.
This woman was no longer human.
She was worse than a beast!
"Lord Lynn!"
The Blackfish walked up to Lynn and bowed deeply.
"Today, if not for you, House Tully would have been destroyed."
"Please, give the order! How should we deal with these godless scum?!"
All the Tully bannermen looked at Lynn in unison, awaiting his judgment.
In this moment, Lynn, an outsider, had become the de facto ruler of the Riverlands.
Lynn didn't speak immediately.
He walked slowly up to the high table, standing before the old man who had soiled himself in terror.
"Lord Walder Frey," Lynn looked down at him, a bright smile on his face.
"It is time to send the guest on his way."
Before the words faded...
A dagger made of pure ice condensed out of thin air in Lynn's hand.
He didn't give Walder Frey a chance to beg. His left hand grabbed the old man's sparse white hair, yanking his head back.
His right hand moved like lightning.
SHWICK—
A line of blood blossomed across Walder Frey's wrinkled neck.
The old man's eyes bulged, his body convulsing violently a few times.
Then, he went still.
Walder Frey died just like that—pathetic and suffocating.
Lynn casually shoved the corpse aside, letting it tumble down the steps of the dais.
He raised the dripping ice blade and looked around at the hundreds of petrified Frey soldiers.
"Hang his head on the walls of Riverrun."
"I want everyone who comes to the Riverlands to know."
"This is the fate of those who betray their liege lords."
"I want Walder to be cursed and spat upon by everyone, even in death!"
"House Frey will not be forgotten by history. They will be remembered by all. I will make the name Frey a curse for a thousand years!"
"As for the rest of you..."
Lynn's gaze landed on the sons and grandsons of Walder Frey, the corner of his mouth curling into a cruel smile.
"The show has only just begun."