This could be a great story, but I never got anywhere further. Thanks for reading. ONE SHOT.
The man on the cot groaned and Estelle looked away from her writing and peered at the auburn haired man. There had been many false alarms where he'd only been restless in his sleep, but she was certain this was not one of them. His eyes fluttered until they revealed their blue coloring. They searched the room until they landed on her, confusion written on his face as well as weariness and pain.
"The rumors are true, Robb Stark, as it seems that you can not be killed." she murmured as she turned back to her writing. Estelle heard the cot creak and knew that he had attempted to sit up, but the groan indicated that he was stopped by pain. "The knife didn't quite reach your heart. Your family however, I could not save and I am deeply sorry."
Breathing filled the silence and Estelle believed he was taking a moment to process what he had heard. She could only imagine how he felt, she hadn't lost her mother and if she had she wasn't sure she'd be too upset about it. Her mother was a monster. After quite some time she heard an intake of breath before he said, hoarsely, "I know you."
Estelle cocked her head to the side and smiled, "And I know you." She had more than remembered him after only meeting on one occasion. He was a handsome man, one that was branded in her mind, but it was his kindness that had drawn her in. As a woman, she was taught to be seen and not heard. The raven haired girl was fine with that because a quite girl seen a lot, knew a lot. It was what had kept her alive.
She had watched him, thoroughly upon her visit to Winterfell. Estelle tried not to, but with the rumors of a betrothal, she simply couldn't help it. If she were to marry the man, at the least, she would want to see the type of man he was before the vows. The betrothal never happened, in it's place, his younger sister was to marry her awful brother. She pitied the girl given that her brother was an absolute troll, but felt solace within herself. She reminded free and untied.
Though, she wondered if what would be if she had married the young king. From the kindness he showed his bastard brother, Estelle felt that he would have been a good husband. As good as one could be to a stranger.
"Everyone thinks you to be dead, my lady." Robb added and she could hear the discomfort in his voice. She stood up and walked over to the cot, crouching down to check his wounds. They were finally beginning to heal and his fever had went down, considerably. She was glad, for days, his fever raged and she worried it would take him, but somehow it didn't. It was the northern strength he held, that she had no doubt of.
She could feel his eyes on her, waiting for her to respond. "I should be." Estelle said, finally. The Young Wolf tried to sit up and she gently pushed him back down. The horrors she escaped at King's Landing rifled her mind as she slept. Her brother and her own mother after her head. All because she wasn't a bastard. It hurt too much to think upon. "You're too weak, my King."
The man snorted, "You'd call me a king? Your king?" Robb sounded skeptical. "The Iron Throne is rightfully yours. If I had known you still lived, my lady, I would have fought in your name, the Baratheon name."
She gave him a tight smile. Honorable as a Stark should be, even now as he barely walked away from death. It was admirable. The trait of a true king. "You shouldn't fight for a name, Robb Stark. I don't deserve that throne, nor do I want it."
He looked confused, "But my lady, you're the sole heir, the only true heir."
Estelle shook her head in disagreement. From birth, she knew she's never hold power. Not with her mother around. However, she had no quarrels with this. She knew that Iron Throne was poison. "It's not fair to be born to rule. Not for me and not for a common person."
"Your birthright means nothing to you?" he argued, his tone slightly upset.
"Not when you have done more to deserve what I was supposedly born to do." She knew the stories, and had even saw a battle with her own eyes. She had never found war to be beautiful until she had seen him fight for his family. No one in her own had ever fought for her like that.
Robb frowned, watching her solemn expression. Pain was etched in his rugged features and she wished she could help more, but this wasn't physical pain. It was loss. "I don't understand."
She sighed. "Your family has been broken apart for what's right, for what my family did to make everything wrong. If anyone deserves the Iron Throne, it's a Stark."
The injured men did not reply, he seemed to be pondering what she had said. He just couldn't believe that she wasn't interested in taking the throne, one that was hers, rightfully.
"I've seen what that throne has done to my family, Robb. They are right about what they say about it's power, it tears families and all of Westeros apart. I want nothing to do with it."
"But if you could rule, better than they did, why not take that chance? Why not save Westeros?" he demanded from her an answer. His tone filled her with nothing, but shame.
"Because I would fail."
"Joffery is doing better?" he snapped which caused her to flinch. Not in fear of him, but at the severity of his words. She knew he was right and she felt guilty for hiding for all this time. She had fled King's Landing after her death had been ordered. Her only ally had been Eddard, his father, who warned her before her father had succumbed to his injuries. He was her salvation which is why she had tried her hardest to return the favor when she came upon his son. She owed the Starks her life. "He has my sister, Sansa hostage, he beheaded my father and I haven't a clue what has happened to Aria."
"Joffery won't last on the throne. He's mad and it will consume him like it did everyone else."
Robb snorted in disbelief at her words. She found it frustrating that he could so easily call her bluffs. A man she had met only once knew her better than her own father had. "So you're afraid?" he laughed, humorlessly. "It's not that you don't think you deserve it, it's because you're afraid. You make excuses, my Queen."
Estelle bit her lip, not even willing to deny it. She tried not to show how much the title he had called her had bothered her. It was just a strange thing to hear. Estelle never dreamed of being a queen, though she never dreamed a lot of things had taken place. "I'm afraid, but I also know you deserve it far more than I do. I wasn't lying about that."
"You must think very highly of me then, your mistake." he said, hollowly. The woman seen his despair and hoped it wouldn't drive him to give up. Not now, not after everything. She knew he had lost his new wife. His pregnant wife, two more lives she had failed to save. Estelle felt small because of her frivolous fear when he had been through so much. "I couldn't save my family, what makes you think I could save Westeros?"
"I do." she admitted in earnest. "Think very highly of you, Robb Stark. It doesn't matter to me that you couldn't save them, it matters that you tried. That's what Westeros needs. Someone who wants to save it, a man who will try."
The man stayed silent as he considered her words. It wasn't something she was used to. Men often looked at her, but they never listened. Except, he did. He was hearing her and he was thinking upon what she spoke. "How did you survive?" he inquired with nothing short of curiosity. "It was said that you had fallen ill and died shortly after your father."
"I was never ill." The Baratheon girl stated with a grim look on her face. "After my father died, I was visited by your father and he revealed to me the truth of my siblings heritage. The truth of my right to the throne. The truth of my mother's hatred for me. She wanted a Lannister on the Iron Throne and well, I was no Lannister or at least, not enough to please her."
She paused and thought of her broken family. Her mother was a vicious and cruel woman. In Estelle's eyes she had always been. She had treated her blonde siblings with love and a fierce protectiveness that she knew not. Cersei treated Estelle like she was a bastard child of her father's, not of her own womb. It had always been that way. She couldn't remember a time the Queen had treated as she did her siblings. Robert had been different. He looked upon her with a pride in his eyes. He called her his child and her called her sibling's Cersei's because of their blonde hair. Now, she knew that was truer than ever. She was his child, his only true child and Joffrey, the cruel little shit, born of incest, sat on the Baratheon throne reeking havoc. Heads rolled with the mad little boy on the throne, too many to count.
Myrcella and Tommen, though, were sweet beings. Very timid and curious, but Estelle knew very little of the two. Cersei made certain she was never alone with them. Uncle Jaime was no better than her mother, truly, he barely looked at her. Sometimes, he sneered when he had to as if he were disgusted by her. Tyrion was a drunk, but a clever one and he had taught her much. He often brought books to her and offered company that she rarely had. Of all her family, he was the kindest. That left her Baratheon kin. Her dead uncle and her fanatic one had both sought out the Throne at the word of her false demise. She knew they would have backed her, but after learning the truth of her family and escaped their attempt on her life, she wanted no part.
Estelle had not wanted the crown, she only wanted peace. King's Landing had offered none of that. Leaving had given her a feel of ease that she had never experienced, but now after speaking to Robb. After having her almost accuse her of betraying her duty as an heir, she felt a little angry. He was right. It was her place and in her hands to stop Joffrey's madness.
"She tried to have me killed and when I ran, said I was taken by a fever." she continued, heavily as she avoided Robb's blue eyed gaze. "You can't fight in someone's name if you think they're dead. My mother thought my uncles would support Joffrey's claim for the crown, but she hadn't known that your father had told Renly the truth and well, you know the rest."
Robb peered at her as if to be studying her. "You hold true and honest claim to the throne and I understand why you don't want it. I was handed a throne while trying to avenge my father and I almost died. My wife died, my child died, and my mother."
He swallowed thickly at the words as if he was accepting the reality of them. Her heart broke for him. He had lost so much, more than she ever had. "It's a dangerous game, this game of thrones, but I think we could win it. You and I. A Stark and a Baratheon have done it before."
Her eyes widened in surprise. A moment ago, he looked as if he were giving up and now… he was ready to plan his next move. "A-are you saying what I think you are?" Estelle stammered.
"With you by my side, Stannis would join us. We could free my men from the Freys and gather the others who road home. First we'll take the Rock, then the capital."
Estelle was a scholar if she was anything. She was a woman with a mind sharper than most swords and she knew he was right. Stannis would back her claim, her knew her uncle well enough for that. No Red Woman could change bloodlines. "So, we marry…" she concluded, shyly. The thought wasn't foreign to her. Estelle had been told for years she would marry him until it was finally decided that she wouldn't. "We bring Westeros together again."
Her patient appeared to be surprised that she was forthcoming with the idea of marrying him to help him. "I didn't think you'd even be open to the idea."
At that, she offered a small smile. "Then why did you propose it?"
"I had to try."
Those words only proved he was who she thought him to be. The Young Wolf was not disappointing in the least. "Then so will I." she decided with a little fear in her heart. Going to Stannis would certainly mean going against her family. The Lannisters did frighten her some. They had tried to kill her once before and she was going to dangle herself in front of them. She was going to reach for her Iron Throne and lions didn't like when others opposed upon their territory.