Hello, hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. :)


The grey day dragged into an even colder night, and Robb found himself sitting alone by the fire as his guard got some well-deserved rest in their grey tents encircled by the golden tents of Renly's bannermen. Grey-Wind himself was slumbering soundly in Robb's tent, Robb could tell, He didn't know how he could tell this about his wolf, or how he seemed to have such a degree of control over him, but he simply went along with it. Robb did not like sitting here with only 50 fighters. He did not like waiting for Tywin Lannister to strike without having any way of knowing if he had yet or not. He was away from his own power, his army. Even Winterfell had fallen…Gods, how he would make Theon pay for what he had done…

So transfixed by the fire and his brooding thoughts, Robb almost did not see Margaery Tyrell come out of Renly's tent to throw a cold gaze at Robb before stalking off in the other direction. Robb then realized how odd it was that Margaery did not share a tent with Renly, and before he knew it, the King-in-the-North was up and striding after Queen Margaery Baratheon.

"You're not very quiet, you know." She said when he finally caught up to her near the river.

"I wasn't trying to be, if that means anything." Robb said, moving to stand beside her.

"Its not very proper, you know, striding after a Queen like that." Margaery said with a ghost of a smile.

"I only strode to apologize to a Queen." Robb was already smiling "I did not mean to cause any offence this morning."

"Oh. That." She said, as though remembering, she clasped her hands before her and looked out at the river for a few long, silent moments "Loras was more than a tad miffed that he'd been beaten by a woman. I thought it incredibly amusing in truth." She said, giving Robb a smile that seemed…sad, causing him to take a subconscious step forward. "I see you brought a warrior-woman as well. Is she your Queen?" Margaery asked, causing Robb to look confused for a moment.

"Wha-? Oh. Dacey? Gods, no! Lady Dacey Mormont of Bear Island. She has ridden beside me since the onset of this…war." Robb said, smiling at first before sighing at the mention of their burden.

"My ladies-in-waiting all assumed she was your Northern Queen. She's very beautiful, isn't she?" Margaery asked, looking sideways at Robb who shrugged

"I suppose. I mean Dacey's always been as comfortable in chaimail as she is in a dress. But she's…always been like a sister to me. The Mormonts and the Starks are close." Robb, who had never truly been with a woman, was unaware of what Margaery was doing, and simply assumed she was being inquisitive.

"Most Northmen I've met seem to have nothing but love for your House. What your army lacks in numbers it makes up for in morale. They fly your banners proudly. Why is that?" Margaery asked curiously, and Robb could sense that this was not a ploy, not some cheap trick of Renly's to get inside knowledge. Margaery Tyrell was genuinely interested in what he had to say.

"It was my father…" Robb said quietly "He was the best man I've ever known. A good man. They all loved him, because he cared about them all. He once told me that being a lord was like being a father…except you have thousands of children, and you worry about all of them. From the lords who swore him fealty to the farmers ploughing their fields, they were his to protect. He once told me…he woke with fear in the morning, and went to bed with fear in the night…" Robb said, looking over to see that Margaery was looking at him with those big brown eyes of hers, and it didn't seem like a King and another man's Queen, they were just two young people talking of their woes and the burdens of nobility.

"I've never heard Lord Eddard Stark be called fearful." Margaery said with a small smile to Robb who chuckled and nodded sadly.

"I didn't believe him either. I asked him…how can a man be brave if he's afraid? And he said to me…that's the only time a man can be brave." Robb said, swalloing away a thickness in his throat and a burning in his eyes to look up to Margaery who extended a small slender hand to grasp Robb's own calloused palm for just a moment of comfort.

"I wish I could have met him…" Margaery said quietly as she released Robb's hand.

"He would have liked you…" Robb returned, causing Margaery to give a soft laugh and a shake of her head.

"How can you be so sure he'd like me?"

"Because I do." Robb said simply, causing Margaery's cheeks to flush, even in the cold darkness.

"Would you…would you care to walk with me a little longer, King Robb?"

"You don't have to call me that…and I don't think we've been walking for some time, my lady." Robb smiled, before offering her his arm. They took a slow walk on the outskirts of the camp, away from the prying eyes of any guards or bannermen who could see them, and instead they sat on a hill with the moon high above their heads, talking late into the night of everything and anything.

Robb learned about Margaery's family, of her brothers Willas and Garlan who he had yet to meet, and who Margaery assured would get along with Robb far better than Loras.

"Believe me, Garlan is a far more impressive warrior than Loras. He just doesn't seek the glory. He's married to Leonette, and she's lovely and they're so adorably and disgustingly perfect together." Margaery laughed as she sat cross-legged across from Robb picking the petals off a daisy.

"And Willas truly still speaks to the Red Viper? I cannot believe it to be true. If a man had done that to me, I couldn't have ever forgiven him." Robb said earnestly, causing Margaery to smile and shrug.

"Willas is…so wise. Truly, he's taught me a lot about forgiveness, and even despite his leg, he will be an amazing Lord of the Reach."

"I believe you. I haven't even met him yet, but I believe you." Robb smiled, causing Margaery herself to smile down at the daisy after giving Robb a long glance over the top of her eyelashes with her head tilted down.

He learned about Lord Mace Tyrell and his profound wish for his daughter to be a Queen, of Lady Olenna Tyrell and how she was Margaery's truest mentor.

Margaery in turn learned about Robb's childhood at Winterfell. Of Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon. And of Jon.

"I'd heard about Ned Stark's bastard." Margaery said at the mention of 'Jon Snow'

"He's not a bastard. He is my brother." Robb said, looking up to her seriously.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean any offence."

"You didn't…I'm sorry. I miss him. He would have been my right hand throughout all of this. He would be fighting for father and counselling me in what was right. There's no one I trusted more than him. He is my blood, and when I return to the North, I intend to name him a Stark of Winterfell. He deserves as much."

"Why not write to him? To the Night's Watch and ask for his leave to fight with you? They could certainly spare one man, and with the promise of his return and perhaps supplies and more men from House Stark, how could they refuse?" Margaery did not realize she had placed a hand on Robb's knee until she withdrew it.

"You-..you're very right…I will do that as soon as I have a raven. Thank you, Margaery…" Robb said sincerely, freezing when Margaery went incredibly pale and deathly still.

"R-Rob-Robb." she stammered, grabbing his wrist as Grey-Wind's yellow eyes peered at Margaery through the darkness behind Robb and slowly began to pad his away over to them.

"What is i-? Oh. Gods be good, Wolf, you nearly scared the Queen to death. Come say sorry." Robb said, causing the huge beast to tamely trot over and sit on his haunches beside Robb before Margaery.

"This is Grey-Wind, my wolf. My father-he...we found him, and his litter before...before everything happened to my family. He's my best friend, really. Say helo, Grey-Wind." Robb said, patting his wolf affectionately. Grey-Wind whined and tilted his head at Margaery who laughed and reached a shaking hand out to scratch his ears.

"Margaery is a friend, you hear?" Robb told the wolf, who growled at his master in an almost sarcastic manner before he circled Margaery and settled down right beside her to keep her warm and so she could continue stroking him. This only caused Robb and Margaery to laugh.

"He is a monster on the battle field, a complete little puppy when he's around friends." Robb grinned.

They continued to speak of what they had wanted to do when they were children, and Margaery learned that Robb had wanted to be an adventurer, to travel the Seven Kingdoms as a rogue protector of the good and the innocent, and Robb learned that Margaery had always wanted to be a Queen because she had always wanted to help people, but being born in Westeros meant that she had had to harden up quickly and learned to grow her thorns to protect herself and her desires.

"For now…all I can do is sit pretty as Renly makes his ever-slow trek to King's Landing. Only then maybe can I actually start doing some good." She said with a sigh, throwing the stalk of what was once a daisy aside.

"I never thought things would be this difficult at sixteen. I thought I'd only just have a betrothal organized, and summer was still in its strength. Not war, not death." She said, leaning to lie on Grey's Wind massive sleeping form.

"I thought I'd still be learning from my father on what it was to be Lord of Winterfell as well. I never really thought on my marriage too much in all honesty. I always thought my parents would arrange it when it was time."

"And now?" Margaery asked, glancing up at Robb who looked at her and curled his lips with feelings he couldn't even understand.

"And now I am to decide on my own bride. And it appears it is to be a Frey." And then Robb told her about his marriage pact, and with each word he seemed to grow more desolate, and unseen to Robb as did Margaery.

"It was a tactical choice you had to make at the time." Margaery finally said after a long moment had passed between the two.

"Aye…it seemed so important…I needed to get to father then and there…and it just…seems all for nothing now."

"She-…do you like her?" Margaery asked with a smile that was real enough to fool Robb.

"I haven't even met her…" Robb sighed "But I must honor my oath. The Freys number 4000 of my river troops."

"I didn't meet Renly until the day I married him." Margaery admitted forlornly.

"And how do you feel now?" Robb asked causing Margaery to look up at him with her golden brown eyes vividly hollow.

"Wonderful." She said in a monotone that caused Robb to offer her a sad smile.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Margaery smiled back to him.

"Gods be good, I've kept the Queen from her King all night. I'll surely be executed." Robb said as the sky slowly brightened from a deep black into a navy blue. Margaery merely snorted as she rose to elegantly dust her skirts of grass. Grey-Wind rose to shoot off into the trees for an early morning hunt, leaving the two nobles alone.

"I am more than confident he didn't miss me." She said with a tone that Robb had learned meant she was not happy. But instead of prying, Robb decided to remain silent. He accepted her hand and rose to stand close to her for a moment, holding her golden brown eyes with his own piercing blue eyes.

"You…you are-…" Robb said softly, before Margaery leaned forward to peck his cheek.

"Let it not be said, Robb. Had we met sooner…things could have been different. But I am married to Renly, and you are to wed a Frey…we cannot." Margaery said quietly, taking his hands in hers.

"I know…" Robb sighed, looking from their hands back to her eyes. "I wish things could have been different…"

"So do I…" she whispered, placing a hand to the side of his face, before turning on her heel to walk back to the camps quickly. Robb merely sighed, and sank back to sit on the ground, watching her go.