The younger Stark children played around him, teasing each other and laughing. To his right, Theon was recounting his latest tryst with Ros the prettiest whore in the village. But tonight, Robb Stark's thoughts and eyes were on one thing only, Cersei Lannister; her honey curls and glinting green eyes were all the heir to Winterfell could see.

Robb had thought of nothing but the queen since she'd stepped imperiously from the wagon earlier in the day and swept a cool gaze over her Northern subjects. That gaze had rested on him for the briefest of moments, their eyes meeting following his father, Lord Eddard's greeting. That moment had been enough to spark a fire of desire in Robb that he'd never felt before. This was wholly different from the lust he'd slaked with pretty serving wenches and tavern girls. No, Cersei Lannister, he thought, was the sort of woman men should do noble deeds for; fight and die for.

"Robb," Theon's voice broke through his reverie, "the king will have your cock if you keep staring at his wife like that." Theon had noticed his friend's distraction since the royal arrival, now it seemed he'd found the source of it.

Robb looked round the hall to where the king stood, his face buried happily between the large breasts of a serving girl. "Don't think the old sod cares," he responded. So far, his father's closest friend was turning out to be quite a disappointment. Robb had been named after the king and had grown up on stories of his skill and prowess on the battlefield. Clearly, that was where his admirable attributes ended. The man Robb had esteemed his whole life had turned out to be a fat letch and he could not understand what would cause a man to abandon a beauty like Cersei for a common wench.

The feast was still in full swing as Cersei made her excuses to Catelyn Stark. She'd had enough talk of children and marriages and all the other idle prattle, which she found she increasingly interminable, which was expected of her. More so, was her disgust at her husband, the king's, lewd behavior. Gods, she thought, The drunkard couldn't even keep his hands to himself in the presence of the cold Lord Eddard of Winterfell. She needed Jaime. She needed those strong arms around her and those worshipful hands on her.

A cry of alarm left her lips as a tall male figure came around a corner and bumped into her. "Apologies, Your Grace." Cersei had had too much wine as was becoming her custom, and she was grateful for the steadying hands on her arms. The grey eyes that looked down into hers were the same color as his father's, but Robb Stark's eyes were warm where Eddard's were cool and disapproving. At the moment, they were wide with embarrassment at running headlong into the queen.

The corners of her mouth turned up in the smallest hint of a smile, "It's quite alright." Quite handsome, she thought as she regarded the tall well-built frame, russet curls and full lips. Those grey eyes were looking at her with such innocent appreciation and his strong hands were so warm through the silk of her gown that she found her pulse quickening and her breathing coming harder. He was no courtier trying to curry favor with insincere flattery; the boy was genuinely taken with her. For the briefest moment she thought of taking him to her bed, she was already fucking Lancel Lannister, her husband's squire, a boy the same age as the young wolf, but no, she couldn't, not with Jaime so close. He'd kill the boy and start a war. All the same, she felt the heat rise in her cheeks at the thought of such a handsome and untried lover. "I must go," she freed herself from his grasp and hurried off to her chambers where Jaime waited.

It was that moment now that Cersei thought of as she walked the ramparts of King's Landing. Would it have given her an advantage now to have taken the Young Wolf as a lover then? The war had been raging for nigh on a year now. Her father's forces had lost every battle to Robb Stark's forces and now that Stark had joined his army with Renly's, their victory seemed inevitable.

"You can't be serious!" Renly was standing at the council table in his tent, furious at The King in The North. "Cersei Lannister is a traitorous bitch that needs to be put down! Tommen and Myrcella I will spare for the love I bore them while I thought myself their uncle, but Cersei! She committed treason every time she lay with the Kingslayer and her actions are what have brought this country to war!"

Robb stood looking at Renly Baratheon across the battle maps, "She's still heir to the richest family in Westeros and young enough to bear other children."

"And you'd play the jailor?" Renly couldn't believe the action Stark was proposing. Yes, he'd felt sorry for his sister in-law at one time; perhaps if Robert had been able to keep to his marriage bed Cersei wouldn't have needed to fuck everything in sight, including her brother. But, the time for sympathy was long past.

"She'd not be a prisoner, she'd be my wife," Robb countered.

"Safer to kill her and be done with it. She'll only cause trouble alive, even shut up at Winterfell."

Robb wanted to hate Cersei, he hated all the other Lannisters after all, but he just couldn't hate her. The woman had sunk her claws in with just a few words and glances when they'd met at Winterfell. Damn her! Robb thought. Renly was right, this mess was her doing. But, Robb had also seen the way the King had treated his wife, how he'd flaunted his other women and the cruel and dismissive words he spat at her every chance he got. For Robb, who had been raised in a loving family by parents who held each other in the highest regard, such treatment of one's wife was unconscionable. He'd wanted to hate her since that first raven had arrived with word of his father's imprisonment, but he kept thinking about the way she'd looked up into his eyes and the way her flesh had felt under her silk gown as he'd held her against him so briefly. Thinking back to that moment, he almost couldn't blame the Kingslayer for not being able to resist her, even if she was his own sister.

His decision was made, "I will take her to Winterfell, and make her my wife and Queen. And I pray to the gods you'll not be hearing much from us after that. I enjoy your company Renly, but I hope to never have to leave the North again."

Renly shook his head but he could see that his friend had made up his friend, "Very well, but on your head be it, as they say."