Author's Notes: And out of blue, comes another Catwin story again! My, it seems like it's been ages since I last wrote for ASIOAF. I do miss this fandom terribly. The next book needs to come out asap so I can get my inspiration again!

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I claim partial blame for this ship.

A Cat in Lion's Clothes

One year, two months, and three days. That was how long Catelyn had been married to a monster. How she had managed to not lose her mind once more was beyond her, but then perhaps she had never truly come back to her own self after Robb's death. She did know that the marriage had transformed her into someone else… Something else.

Tonight she would be the monster.

The truth was, the thought had been a reoccurring theme in Catelyn's mind ever since her son started a war, but she had never expected it to come to this. Now she was so close to her goal that she could taste it – but it was bitter and had come at a price she had never wanted to pay. She had done a lot of things since then, some horrific and others downright mystifying. It was hard to say when the fake began and the real ended and she lost sight of who she was every now and then.

Could she lay claim to Catelyn Tully anymore? The young Lady of Riverrun, a mere child when she took over her mother's duties. Was she still Catelyn Stark in her heart? A lone young woman in an unfamiliar place as the Lady of Winterfell. Or was she now Catelyn Lannister? A prisoner turned Lady of Casterly Rock.

Well, she could take a page out of her husband's book. Treachery was a game that he had perfected. A wife was supposed to be a reflection of her husband. She had only ever been as honorable as Ned when he had been alive, until his honor-bound nature betrayed him and he was killed. Tywin Lannister did not know that Catelyn was just as good at the game of thrones as he was. The last few years had been hard fought practice.

She should have done something sooner, but there had been unexpected turns. The sleeping bundle in the room next to hers could attest to that. With his Lannister blond hair and her Tully blue eyes, their son had been more than a shock.

She honestly still don't know what to think about that. As a mother, she thought… She should love the child unconditionally. She'd carried him in her womb for nine months, given birth him, fed him and held him. He had been born with an clean slate. But the matter was that the child had been born out of something horrific, a union so foul and dirty that it managed to make her shiver.

Her pregnancy had kept her dark thoughts at bay though. She couldn't afford to do anything during it. Tywin had ordered a close eye on her after she had told him the news. Everything had been so tense. And despite herself, she could not end a life when she was creating it.

"Something on your mind?"

Catelyn forced herself to breathe evenly. She didn't want to appear to be lost in thought or nervous in the slightest. Tonight was like any other night. "Merely thinking of our son," she responded as she turned around to face her lord husband. "He was fussier than normal today."

Tywin was still wearing his garments for the day. He looked more regal than anything else. People looked to him as if he were the king instead of his young grandson, but then in those clothes, he looked like it. "You take a very keen interest in him. We have plenty of wetnurses for that."

"Wetnurses aren't his mother," Catelyn pointed out, handing him a glass of wine. He always preferred rich, oaky red wines. The liquid looked like blood in the right light.

"Is that why you've repeatedly had them sent away during his feeding time?" Tywin asked her, sipping on the wine and eyeing her closely over the rim of his glass.

Catelyn blinked back at him in earnest surprise. She hadn't thought he had known that. The man wasn't an attentive father. She could see why his children had turned out the way they did, clawing and fighting one another for his attention and turning to each other. That wasn't the way she did things though, even if she was conflicted.

"I should be there for him," Catelyn said softly. "Like I was there for Robb." She did not look away from Tywin as she spoke. "Like I wasn't there for Sansa, Bran, Rickon, and Arya."

The golden goblet slipped out of his grip and clattered on the floor, the expensive wine staining the carpet. Catelyn still did not turn her gaze as Tywin stumbled backwards until he hit the bed and sank down on the mattress as he began to wheeze. He brought a hand up to his gaping mouth, pulling it away to see the blood bubbling on his palm. When he jerked his eyes up to her, there was a look of accusation in them and yet also understanding.

"You said it yourself, my lord husband," Catelyn told him. "I'm a lion now – and a Lannister always pays their debts."