Lannister Gold and Northern Silver

As the noblemen of the North and Riverlands slowly trickled out of the war room, Roose stayed behind. His gaze firmly fixed on the hunched over figure of the Young Wolf. Lord Mallister had already made excellent progress in the last few weeks, having already retaken the keeps west of Acorn's Hall, the seat of House Smallwood and as far south as Wayfarer's Rest in the south.

All that remained on western front was Pinkmaiden, the seat of House Piper which had firmly opened their doors to quite a few scattered Lannister soldiers. The Lord Clement Piper had apparently lost hope and by all accounts was swayed by Lannister gold. Just like many of the lords and noblemen in the Riverlands.

Since then he had refused all calls to surrender to the new King of the North and Trident. The King in question calling for Lord Mallister to leave Pinkmaiden as he would deal with it himself.

It was done in order to show strength, but Roose also imagined it was due to the Young Wolf desiring battle. As a result, Lord Mallisters host which had grown from a simple two thousand to eight thousand had since marched north intent on reclaiming Lychester.

At the same time, Ser Brynden had marched his force of seventeen thousand strong up to Acorn's Hall and was entrenching himself there. He, taking command of the centre while Lord Edmure took the southern flank and Lord Blackwood the northern flank. Each of them keeping vigilance on Tywin Lannister who had been hunkered down in Harrenhall.

The boy King was certainly impressive, holding a mind for tactics and strategy that he sadly lacked. Roose was quite envious of the boy for that. Nonetheless, he moved forwards, his sudden movement alerting the Direwolf at his side, which in turned alerted the presence of the Young Wolf.

"Lord Bolton, you're still here?" Robb muttered, studying the Lord of the Dreadfort closely with narrowed eyes, the Direwolf, Grey Wind if he remembered its name correctly snarling in warning.

Roose took it as such and came to a halt, he'd seen what the beast could do the Greatjon back at the feast in Winterfell, now the young pup was much larger and more ferocious if the rumours were true. He'd rather not find out so soon, especially considering it was obvious that neither it or its owner trusted him very well.

A smart choice, you shouldn't trust any many in this world.

He had hoped that his victory at the Green Fork would endear him to the Young Wolf so that he would be in the profitable position. High enough in the northern army so that if, by some miracle he won, Roose would benefit greatly. But also high enough that if the tide started to turn against the Young Wolf, he could be of great service to the Old Lion.

However, it seemed that was going to be a more difficult task than he had original believed. It was quite obvious that despite doing incredibly well in the Green Fork, he was no closer to earn the boys trust.

Unfortunate, but not overwhelmingly so.

At the end of the day, he was one of the smartest men in the room. With a mind for strategies and tactics on par with the likes of Ser Brynden and Lord Mallister. Eventually, the Young Wolf would have to rely on him and when he did, Roose would be there.

After all, for his task to work he needed to prove himself to the boy King, so it looked like he would have to put more effort into the war.

"My King, forgive me. But may I ask where the the Greyjoy boy and Lord Umber was, they were noticeably absent from the meeting today despite marching upon Pinkmaiden on the morrow?" Robb studied him closer for a few moments, before sitting down on his seat.

"I have sent Theon to the Iron Islands to enlist the aid of Balon Greyjoy. If my future plans are to be successful, I will need a navy." Roose said nothing, though his eyes did alight in understanding. There were very few navies in the world let alone Westeros that could match the skill of the Iron Islands. "As for the Greatjon, I have him marching North to gather the soldiers of the Mountain Clans."

Roose remained silent, studying the boy closer.

And he found it difficult to argue with what he saw as the boy stared back at him with those same cold blue eyes. The Mountain clans alone were capable of fielding a force of over four thousand men. The problem was that the Mountains were scattered quite heavily over the Northern Mountains.

On short notice, they'd only be capable of gathering possibly a thousand. But Robb hadn't, or at least it seemed like he had decided to not call for the Mountain Clans, Roose had believed it a foolish decision.

However, it seemed that Roose had underestimated the boy. All this time the Mountain clans would have been able to gather their soldiers in secret as everyone was turning their attention to the war going on in the south. Then, all of a sudden another host four thousand men would be marching south.

"I see, an excellent decision." Roose murmured and Robb studied him closer for a few moments.

"You have no interest in Lannister gold, do you Lord Bolton?" Robb asked openly and Roose felt his opinion of the boy king drop slightly. To so blatantly ask about his loyalties showed a distinct lack of understanding about politics and subtleties. Perhaps he had begun to overestimate the Young Wolf a little too much, a mistake he'd have to rectify.

"No, your grace." Roose lied easily. 'So long as northern silver is more profitable.'

Nodding his head, Robb turned away and looked back at the map, all the while Roose watched on, stifling a viscous smirk.