The King appeared kind, a little loud and daring but what was to be expected of a man with power. Ned and Catelyn Stark had to host a feast for his sudden arrival at Winterfell. King Robert had thankfully his wife at Kings Landing. The Greyjoy rebellion had passed and the North appeared peaceful compared to the other six kingdoms. Catelyn was still uncertain of Robert. He may be her Lord Husband's friend, close to a brother, but his presence gave her unease. She put it to the amount of women he bedded, dishonouring his wife in doing so. She knew what it was like to be dishonoured; she was reminded of that feeling every day, as her own husband's bastard lived a privileged life with her highborn children, Robb, Sansa and Arya.
The king had only been present for a day, when Catelyn sat in her rooms waiting for the feast to begin. She brushed her hair as she thought of the possible topics of conversation. Lyanna was sure to be one, whores, drinks, Targaryens, whoring, Ned's bastard. The list would sure to be unsettling. A knock broke her musings, sitting the brush down, she called the person in. She stood as King Robert entered her chambers. "Your Grace."
"If you don't mind I would like to escort you down to the feast. Ned is caught up." She was uneasy, it was very rare for her to be alone with him. Ned had told her he would come see her before dinning.
"I mean no disrespect your grace, but I do wish to wait for Ned. He wished to see me before the feast. Not only that, the feast is a long way before it will be prepared for seating." There was a look in his eyes that Catelyn was unsure of. He was difficult to read.
"He won't mind, come." He held out his arm. Without another word, Catelyn took it. He was loud as expected and had obviously been drinking. He spoke of the wars that Ned had fought with him. He obviously had no idea where he was heading. They had reached the caught yard when he turned to her and played with her hair. "You really are a beauty. Ned was lucky. You have an elegance no women can have. If you were not Ned's wife, I would take you to the nearest brothel." With that, he left. She was thankful he did not say what he would do to her at least. Watching the king walk about aimlessly, Catelyn thought about Ned's reaction to hearing what Robert had said. He always protected her against issues of these sorts. But Robert was the king. If a man commented on her beauty, she usually blushed and thanked them, as Ned put an arm around her, or took her hand. It always depended on the manner that the person would use towards her. Deciding that Robert was drunk, Catelyn went to prepare her children. Sansa was the easiest to prepare; she brushed her hair and laid a dress out for her to put on. Robb was dismissed from his lessons and she trusted him to ready himself at his age. Though Arya was only a babe, she still wilful. She tended to cry when changing into a dress. However, since tonight was colder than the others Arya had been in, Catelyn settled for a nice dress that she had prepared, but wrapped her tightly in a thick blanket. When she had prepared Arya, she handed her to Sansa so she could prepare herself. She settled for a freshly made dress. Ned had not seen this one yet. It was the Stark blue, with a matching cloak; a darker blue with fur covering the inside. "You are very beautiful mother." Sansa beamed.
"Thank you my sweet." She kissed Sansa's forehead and took Arya from her arms. "Shall we head to the Great Hall?"
"What about father?" Catelyn had almost forgot, "Should we not wait for him to escort us?"
"We can wait." While waiting, Catelyn told Sansa a story as she fed Arya. Old Nan was more skilled in the telling of stories, but Catelyn told Sansa the story of how she fell in love with Ned. Of course she changed some details to make it more romantic, but the meaning was the same. She told Sansa of an arranged marriage, war, returning to a new born child and the beginning of happiness. As Catelyn was about to tell Sansa how the couple, resembling her and Ned, fell in love a knock came from the door. "Enter." Catelyn called. She was grateful Arya had finished feeding before the person came. Though, she was also thankful it was Ned and Robb. She was fearful it was the king. He smiled as they came to the bed and sat.
"The feast is about to begin. I do believe my three ladies need an escort." Sansa laughed, stood and took her brother's arm.
"Can we continue the story after the feast mother?" Her eyes were hopeful. Catelyn smiled, she did not realise Sansa was so taken by the story.
"We will see. If you are able to stay awake, we can." Standing up and taking Ned's arm, she followed her two eldest children to the Great Hall.

Old Nan had taken Arya to bed. She had begun to cry during the feast and refused to be settled. Catelyn had excused herself before she got worked up herself but Old Nan had come and reassured her Arya only wanted to leave the noise. She hardly had a choice; Ned had thanked her and grabbed Catelyn's hand to sit beside him for the remainder of the feast. "Arya is in safe hands, you know that." He was right; however Catelyn had wanted an excuse to leave. Although Robert was across the hall talking with various people, he always looked towards Cat. He unnerved her. Whenever he looked at her, she would avert her eyes or talk to Ned. She looked for another excuse to leave. She looked to Sansa. Noticing her eyes were heavy she decided it was an excuse. She had told Sansa that she would continue the story.
"Sansa, would you like to finish the story before you fall asleep?"
"We can finish it in the morrow mother. I wish to sleep. May I be excused?" Disappointed Catelyn and Ned excused their daughter. Robb followed her as he we tired. Catelyn suspected he had snuck more wine then he could handle.
"Are you tired my love? You need not make an excuse to leave." She looked to Ned. His eyes could see through her. He may look reserved and cold, but he was warm and caring. More aware of how people felt than half the men in the Seven Kingdoms.
Before she could answer, Robert came over to them. "She can't leave, I want a dance." She pulled her up. She turned to look back at Ned, whose smile fell when he saw her expression, hoping he would think of a plan to save her from embarrassment. Dancing was a skill of hers, but she had only danced with Ned at their wedding and on occasions with her brother for practice. As she thought, Robert was drunk. He could hardly hold himself up. His hand had crept down to her lower back, to close her backside than she appreciated. Pulling her closer he rested his face on her shoulder. She could hear him inhaling.
"Your butiful Caat." His words were slurred. As they turned, she could see Ned's face darken.
"May you excuse me You're Grace?" His hold tightened. He did not reply.
"Robert," Ned had come up. His tone was cold his eyes were ice. His expression scared Cat. She had never seen him with that much anger. He was reserved in that way, never showing how he truly felt. "I wish to speak to my wife, there is a matter concerning Arya." Robert let go and stood back.
"Off you o, 'at." Catelyn was not impressed. Ned put an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the Great Hall.
"I'm sorry. I should not have let you go with him." It was dark in the court yard, but she could hear the emotion in his voice. He was angry but sad.
"It's not your fault love, he is not in the right mind. He will be sober in the morrow."
"I doubt that, he has hardly stopped drinking. Pray the gods send him back home in the morrow." They laughed together, walking slowly. "Do you want to go back to your chamber love?" Catelyn contemplated for a moment. Her chambers were warmer but Ned would most likely have duties to tend to, or even want to return to his own chambers after tonight.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" She could see his face now from the flame of the wall torches. Touching her face Ned smiled.
"If that is what my lady wishes."
"It is." Kissing his lips soundly, they headed for her chambers.

She couldn't remove the images from her mind. Her nightmare was vivid. Every corner she turned, King Robert was drunk; waiting for her to take him to her chambers. He would slur over his words and stumble towards her. Due to her screaming in her sleep, Ned had shaken her to wake her. He had pulled her close as she cried. "Cat, my love, please tell me what frightened you?" The words were stuck in her throat. Robert had been his friend before she had married him, it wasn't right. It had been two incidents in the two years she had known Robert. Calming herself, she answered it was nothing of importance.

Obviously, Ned had not bought the reply. The next day Robert had not left and he constantly spoke of how enjoyable the night had been. "Has anyone told Catelyn she is a wonderful dancer, Ned?"
"Yes, I told her myself. She is graceful in every movement."
"I bet you know all her movements." Robert laughed as he took another mouthful of wine. "What's she like Ned?" Ned curled his fists. He could not tolerate more on this topic. The topic itself was not the issue, more than audience. He would only discuss this with Catelyn and he couldn't bring himself to do that. They made love. It was enjoyable, slow and passionate. They had been rough a few times, the need took over. Though it was a moment of pure passion, Ned felt more connected with his wife, when only he and her knew of their moments together. Overall, he was just private. Robert knew this.
"Catelyn is not a common whore; I will not discuss this further You're Grace." Standing Ned made for a leave. "I will speak to you later Robert, when you are sober."

The day had passed uneventful. Ned had tended to his duties and now headed for the Godswood to pray. Catelyn had spent most of her day doing needle work with Sansa. In the morning when they woke, she had informed Ned she wished to stay out of the way today and spend time with Sansa. Ned had his suspicions, but agreed. As long as Catelyn was comfortable he was happy. He knew Sansa would be temperamental if she found out he said no. He loved Sansa's lady-like attitude and grace. She was much like her mother. Her beauty was near equal to Cat's, though she had a grace Sansa would never grasp. When he reached the tree he sat near the pool; praying that all would be well with his family. He also prayed for the good health of his people and a winter that brought minimal death. He knew asking for no deaths, would not be granted. Less than the last would be enough for him. Many children died during the last winter. The mourning of parents was too much for him to handle at times. While remembering the events of last winter, Catelyn was striding towards him. The sound of her footsteps brought him back to reality. "Cat…"
"I want him gone Ned. I want him out of Winterfell and never to return without the Queen by his side!" Her eyes were burning and her face set. Ned knew this look, it was the look that was determined and a down right refusal to back down.
"What happened love? You know I cannot request the King to leave." She turned away but did not leave.
Her voice was only a whisper as she spoke, "I was helping Sansa with her needle work… he entered the room unannounced…" Her voice broke on the last word. Ned noticed her figure was shaking, her voice was quiet and weak. He waited for more. Walking to her, he turned her around and hugged her. He kneeled on the ground when she collapsed into him.
"Can you tell me what he did?" She pulled away and looked in his eyes. Her voice was still weak when she spoke.
"He told Sansa to leave, when I tried to object he told me to silence… when Sansa left he forced me onto the ground…" Ned pulled her into a tighter hug when she burst into tears. "He… he… blamed me for… Ly… Lyanna's death Ned. He said you blamed me." Ned was shocked beyond words. First, Robert invades her personal space, now blamed her for Lyanna's death. The man had lost all sense.
"Catelyn," Ned said pulling her face in front of his, so she could looked into her eyes. "Don't ever believe that, never, you are not to blame. What happened to Lyanna was unfortunate it could not have been prevented. That is something I am reminded of every day because… because…" He looked away briefly into the face of the ancient tree. "Because Jon is her son… not mine." He heard her intake of breath, felt the fresh new tears that fell from her eyes. She searched his eyes for something more, but there was no more, no hidden truths, no dishonour.