At the Red Wedding, the Stark bannerman Lord Gregor Forrester and his heir Rodrik are killed by the Freys. Lord Forrester's last word to his squire, Gared, are that 'he must protect the North Grove'. Gared escapes the massacre and safely reached the Forrester stronghold Ironrath to bring news of the deaths of Gregor and Rodrik. Ethan Forrester, third son of Gregor, becomes head of the house. Ethan must decide whom to appoint as his Sentinel; and how to punish a servant of the house caught stealing. Gared is sent to the Wall to escape the revenge of the ascendant Boltons, and Lady Forrester issues instructions to her daughter Mira, a lady-in-waiting for the King's bride Margaery Tyrell, to look for support for her family at the court in King's Landing. Lady Forrester also sends her brother, Malcolm, to search Essos for her exiled son Asher in the hope he can support them. But the young heir to House Forrester, Ethan, is nonetheless killed by Ramsay Snow, bastard and enforcer of the new Warden of the North, Roose Bolton, in order to gain control of the Forresters' valuable Ironwood reserves. Ludd Whitehill takes Ryon hostage and leaves a garrison of his men at Ironrath.