My first GoT fic so go easy on me! Not really happy with it but I'm sick of starting it again. Also the title sucks but all mine do so hey :) I love this ship :(
Catelyn looked back sadly as she left Robb's tent, leaving him with his pretty young wife. His hair was still damp even though Talisa had been drying it with a towel for the last fifteen minutes and was now starting to curl. The curls came from her side and when he was younger you would have sworn he was no child of the north but now no one would ever question he was truly the king of the north. He looked more like his father every day, and had inherited his gentle yet firm manner as well as his sense of honor. Robb was now wrapped in a heated embrace with his queen, the towel long forgotten on the floor, so Catelyn ducked out into the rain which promptly soaked her to the skin. The weather matched her mood, dark and miserable. Seeing Robb and Talisa like that made her miss Ned all the more. She remembered a very similar scene she and Ned had shared a few months after he had returned with Jon Snow
C&E
"Has Lord Stark returned yet?" She asked Maester Luwin as she sewed.
"Not yet my lady, no doubt the weather has slowed them down a bit" he answered in his usual quiet way. He was probably right, even though it was summer the snows still continued to fall in the north. Today they had been bombarded with icy sleet which was making everything slippery and wet. Cat herself had nearly lost her footing when she went to insist that the master of arms came in from the training yard and had only managed to remain standing by holding onto a washer woman's arm. She had then banned old nan from putting one foot out doors as she was sure to break something. She hoped Ned was alright, and that he was taking it easy or had delayed their departure from the farmer he had gone to see. She shivered as she imagined his horse slipping and him lying injured somewhere
"Would my lady be more comfortable in her Chambers? The fire is lit." Maester Luwin told her but Cat shook her head. She wanted to be able to see when he returned.
"My lady I doubt he will have risked-" Maester Luwin started to say but was cut off my the shouts of the guards. Catelyn stood in time to see Ned and the men he'd taken with him ride into the Courtyard. She was about to run towards the door when the Maester called her back
"Lady Stark, it would be best for you to stay dry." He advised gently and she sighed and nodded. A little while later the door opened and in squelched Ned as well as several drenched men
"My Lord" she greeted, forcing herself to remain calm. She knew Ned felt uncomfortable by great displays of affection in front of his men
"My Lady" he replied, kissing the back of her hand. She jumped as he took her hand with his icy one
"Gods but you're cold! Drenched to the skin to!" She exclaimed
"I'm fine" he said, as he shook tiny icicles from his hair
"No you're not" she insisted grabbing his cold hand again causing his men to smirk slightly "Maester Luwin, please make sure the men get dry as soon as possible and get some hot food into their bellies" she ordered before carting her husband up the stairs towards her chambers
"Cat I really should stay with them." He protested weakly as they climbed but a shiver ran through him as he said it so she ignored him "we north men are made for the cold" he tried again
"When you've got the right garb on mayhaps. You're soaked and freezing Ned" she said as they entered her Chambers. She left him dripping a puddle into her Carpet as she went and retrieved a towel and a robe which she handed to him and turned round while he changed
"You know, you are my wife. You don't need to turn around" he told her, amused by her actions
"Natural reaction I'm afraid" she smiled as she turned around. She moved him to sit on the edge of her bed before attacking his hair with the towel.
"Why didn't you wait for better weather?" Catelyn asked as she rubbed behind his ears
"One of the lads wife is expecting soon and he wanted to be home for the birth" He explained, his voice slightly muffled by her actions. Catelyn smiled and shook her head, this was the man she had fallen in love with. She had loved Brandon deeply, but she knew deep down that he would never have remained true to her. He was too wild to ever settle down and be happy with one woman. Although Ned hadn't been true to her either she couldn't really blame him. They'd met, married and the next day he was off to fight a war. He returned a year later with a bastard son in tow but it was only after that that she had fallen in love with him.
"Why are you smiling?" Ned asked, looking up at her. She loved it when it was just the two of them, his walls came down and he relaxed.
"Its just like you to risk your life for the sake of one of your men's wife and unborn babe" she explained gently pushing his damp hair behind his ears.
"...and does that bother my lady?" Ned asked softly
"Not at all" she said "it makes me love you even more."
Ned looked up sharply and Catelyn froze. That was the first time she'd ever said it out loud.
"Forgive me, I must go and help Maester Luwin" she muttered and hurried towards the door, only to feel Ned gently grasp her wrist and pull her back.
"Did you mean that?" He asked quietly "do you truly love me?"
Cat looked up at him "Yes" she whispered
"And what of Brandon?" He asked, still holding her hand
"I loved him too, but not in the way I love you. I'm IN love with you Ned" she answered gently squeezing his hand. Ned used his free hand to tilt her head up towards his
"I'm in love with you too Cat" he whispered against her lips before kissing her thoroughly. Neither of them reappeared until the next morning.
C&E
Catelyn smiled sadly as she sat at her small table in her tent and combed out her long auburn hair. It was that night that she'd discovered that Ned loved to play with her hair and she had always taken special care of it afterwards. Now she wondered why she bothered to put so much work into it as he wasn't there to enjoy it any longer. She ought to cut it like Brienne had done. But she knew she would never cut it. Because some day she'd be with him again, some day he'd run his fingers through it again. Some day...
Reviews warm me up and winter is coming...;)
