A month and a half after the great storm that destroyed many of the shelters in the poorer districts of the capital and caused the death of many, the royal army brought some captives from the regions far away from Winterfell, where a rebellious middle-class family started a riot against the young king.

The prisoners were less than Robb expected. He wouldn't held these people captive for no reason, but after the storm, most of the farmers were dead and there was no other possibility. If there was no people to cultivate the land, the every living soul in the North was doomed.

A long line of heavy walking, half-dead men and women was passing trough the main street of the city, swinging from side to side. Many of them wouldn't make it till dawn. Some of the men were badly hurt, some of the women – exhausted to death.

The soldiers escorted them to the prison cells in the dungeon under the castle and locked the prisoners.

The leader of the army, one of the bravest men of the North, named sir Ronald, headed to the throne hall, where king Robb was signing the newest contrasts, that he received this morning.

The knight went into the room and saluted his king. Fear rose in his chest when Robb's sharp, rapid glance met his eyes.

" They are barely one thousand, probably half of them will die tonight." said the king and returned his sight again to the documents, laying on the table in front of him.

" I know, Your Grace, but we had no other choice. The rebellion was massive, we barely managed to put it down." replied the older man with a bitter sigh.

" Tell me that at least you captured the revolting family." the young king turned his head to see the expression of sir Ronald, while he was announcing the bad news.

" We had to kill them, they possessed much more power over these people, that we had expected, Your Grace. We brought here just one. I assume he is the oldest son, but I doubt he will survive, he was stabbed lethally."

" I wish to speak with him. NOW." demanded Stark and rose from his chair, ready to leave immediately the hall. His soul was burning with desire to find out what caused the rebellion.

" You might find that hard, Your Majesty." answered the knight, trembling like a leaf.

" Why so?"

" He doesn't speak the common tongue."

Robb took a moment to close his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

" Take me to him." he demanded.

Speechless, sir Ronald took his king to the dungeon. He showed him the cell, where he personally left the dying riot.

From the corner of the cell was coming the deafening sound of someone's heavy breathing. The half-naked body of a man, almost the age of the king himself, was lying on the ground, waiting for mercy from the Gods.

Unlike the rest of the prisoners, who were filling the dungeon with screams of agony, this man was as quiet as a Northern winter morning.

Robb approached the stranger and saw a wound,big almost seven inches, yawning on his lower, right abdomen. The lowered himself over the stranger, examining the deep cut into the rebel's flesh.

"Bring some water and food. And a maid, he needs to be taken care of."

" Your majesty, he is a riot, he deserves his death anyway." answered sir Ronald.

" I need to get to the bottom of this rebellion. And I cannot do this without him, can I?" replied Stark gazing at his knight.

Sir Ronald hurried to the castle, while the young king looked after the prisoner. Now, when they were alone, he allowed himself to approach even more the stranger and examine him more carefully. His sunburned skin and dark hair were proof that he is not from around here. Most of the Northern people were pale and fair because of the absence of Sun. Moreover, the way this man behaved, bravely facing his own death silently, implied that he was probably a soldier.

Stark leaned over the dark man and whispered:

" I swear, I am not going to hurt you, if you tell me the truth." there was no verbal reaction, but the man almost succeeded to rise his chest and gave Robb a long stare. After a second the fell again on the floor and a quick howl came out of his mouth.

PS.

English is not my mother tongue, so I guess there are some mistakes. Sorry!

I hope you like it.