Greetings. So I took a short break from writing, but writing is my therapy so I can never stay away for long. This is something I've been thinking of doing for a while and have finally gotten round to writing it. Its basically Ned and Cat's story from Game of Thrones told using Downton's characters. Obviously its a tricky one and I've messed a lot with ages and family ties and left out certain aspects or changed them around. After this chapter I have one more half written, but after that its up to you if I continue. I hope you enjoy it.

I own nothing. All rights belong to Julian Fellows and George RR Martin. May they never meet.

The towers of Riverrun, stretched high into the sky, giving a spectacular view of river below, which shone in the rising sun. Usually there were several fish wives and their children on the rocks by the river, but at this time of the morning there wasn't a soul to be seen. The castle, in which Charles Carson sat in, was always warm thanks to the sun always being on it, yet for a castle that housed a few hundred men it could also be incredibly silent, as it was now. Although Charles's father had returned a few hours earlier with half his army, Charles could almost hear the mice scurrying in the dungeons. A sad silence had enveloped the castle after everyone had settled their horses, filled their bellies and retired to bed. Charles suspected the eerie silence was caused by the fact that his father had only returned with half the army after suffering a grave defeat in Kings Landing, forcing the castle to go into a perpetual state of mourning. War took lives, this Charles was more than aware of, but losing his brother to the king and half his men to the royal army was a harsh reality that he wished he did not need to face. What was the point of war? Thousands died in order to gain a scrap or two of land. His brother had been captured while attempting an invasion on the capital and then brutally slaughtered while the King looked on and laughed. Rumors that circled the fishwives claimed that he was sick to the head and Charles imagined that you would have to be, in order to watch and enjoy someone screaming as they burned. Five hundred wives and their children would never see their loved ones again and Charles could taste the regret and responsibility at the back of his throat. Eventually he himself succumbed to a restless slumber, slouched in the chair by the window. It felt like he had barely dozed off when one of his father's squires had been sent to rouse him, the sun now much higher in the sky, and Charles could hear the children playing on the rocks below his window. After a quick meal of bread and honey in the kitchen, he made his way to the great hall where he found maps strewn across the table, a plate of barely touched food and his father, staring out of a window, watching the river below them go rushing by.

"You asked to see me?" Charles said, not knowing whether he should sit or remain standing. His father didn't move a muscle but replied in the short and clipped way he had recently developed.

"The North still needs to stand with us. We need their men more than ever if we are to end this war."

"Will they still side with us after Roberts... bethrothal came to such a brutal end?" Charles asked, trying to put his brothers death in the most delicate way he knew how.

"Of course they will. The betrothal still stands."

"But how can it? Robert was-"

"Of course she won't be marrying Robert!" His father snapped, glancing over his shoulder at Charles "She was promised to the heir of the Riverlands. Since Robert was killed, my title now falls to-"

"Me." Charles muttered "but father, I have never even met her. How can you ask me to marry a girl who I've never met?" He could almost feel the disdain that rolled off his father as he pondered the question

"You will marry her. After your wedding night you won't even have to see her. If we have any hope of ending this war we need the North to stand with us."

"Father, if the north had any inclination to stand with us, surely they would have done so without me having to marry their daughter."

Charles' father turned from his position at the window and gave him a look that could freeze ones blood.

"You know as well as I do, boy, that with only two daughters, one of which is incapable of ever being married, they dare not risk Lord Hughes going into war. Should he be killed there is no one to rule the North and it would fall into the hands of the crown, the very same crown, as it happens, that we are at war with." He said with a slight sneer. Charles resisted the urge to sigh. His father had aged by many decades in the last year. Losing his wife and eldest son while being at war with the crown had hardened him. Charles remembered the light hearted man, who was never too tired to tell the children a story even after riding for miles. He used to be able to tell if something upset someone within moments of laying eyes on them and would never have dreamed of forcing a marriage on someone. But desperate times called for desperate measures and here Charles sat, in the great hall of Riverrun, listening to his father discuss betrothals and war strategies, all in the same sentence.

"I understand that but why must it be me? Surely Thomas would be the better option?"

"Thomas? For Gods sake Charles, she is the eldest daughter of the North! Heir to almost half the country! It is only fitting that she be married to the heir of the Riverlands."

"Which should have been Robert."

"Yes, it should have been Robert. But Robert was murdered by our King so therefore the duty falls to you." His father strode forward and leant on the table in front of Charles. "I will not have you shaming the family name by causing us to lose this war because you have no wish to marry. Do you hear me?"

Charles nodded and his father straightened up. Charles watching him rolling up maps while he came to terms with his sudden betrothal. Eventually he cleared his throat and asked the dreaded question.

"And when are we to be wed?"

"She will arrive later today. You will wed on the eve of tomorrow and we ride for Kingslanding the morning after." He father answered sharply

"The morning after? And if I am killed?"

"Then I hope you will have done your duty by her and put a son inside her."

"You are giving me one night to wed and bed a daughter of the north before riding off to war?" Charles asked, feeling his jaw slacken slightly. His father flicked his gaze towards him before returned to focusing on the map once more

"I don't see how this is a problem. Surely one night is long enough to create one heir?" He asked in a dangerously low tone

"And what if I am killed? After I wed her."

"Then she will marry Thomas." His father replied simply, gathering the maps and piling them into his arms. He paused for a moment and added in the softest tone Charles had heard him use in months. "The North must stand with us Charles, if we have any hope of winning this war. The king may have lost his wits, but his family remains strong and while the Green's side with them they are no easy target."

"Can you at least tell me if she is pretty?" Charles asked quietly. Perhaps a pretty face would make this easier to bear. His father rolled his eyes and moved towards the stairs.

"No idea. I haven't yet laid eyes on her."

Next chapter will be Lady Elsbeth Hughes.