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Chapter 2: Catelyn

It was not the life she had imagined for herself. Being the eldest daughter of Lord Hoster Tully, she knew it was her duty to marry into a household and bear good sons and daughters. At first, it was Brandon Stark, heir to the North she was to marry. But he was killed and she married to another man carrying the same title, heir to Winterfell. And then he became the Lord of Winterfell; Eddard Stark or Ned as he was called. While Brandon was called the 'wild wolf', Lord Eddard was called the 'quiet wolf'. After the debacle with Petyr and Brandon, she thought that her troubles with suitors were over. But a war had erupted that shook the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

Lord Eddark wedded and bedded her before riding off to war. He was gentle but she thought him dour and bleak. He was quiet and serious as his title suggested but thankfully he was not an abusive husband like she feared.

She was thankful that the brief few days they had together resulted in the birth of her beautiful sons. She was amazed that she was able to create such miracles. Though they were twins, her sons were different as night and day, more like sunrise and sunset. The eldest had the typical Tully features, red hair and blue eyes. He looked like a copy to her brother, both the dead ones and Edmure according to her lord father. He was proud that the Tully blood was strong. The younger twin had dark black hair and light grey eyes which almost seemed silver. She had heard from her lord father that Lord Rickard, her good father had black hair like that, so did Brandon. While her husband and the bastard Jon had dark grey eyes, her son had very light grey eyes. But they were both her sons and she loved them from the moment she held them in her arms.

She would have wondered if her sons were Brandon's given their coloring if she were not a maiden on her wedding night. Thankfully, Lord Eddard had proof that she was a maiden when he bedded her unlike her sister Lysa. Her sister had married Lord Jon Arryn, Lord of the Vale. She was amazed at her father's capability playing the Game of Thrones. He remained at Riverrun during the war but his daughters married into two of the great houses. He was also allied to the third great house of Baratheon since Lord Arryn fostered Lord Robert of house Baratheon along with her lord husband.

Like the words of her house, Family, Duty, Honor, she did her duty to her birth family and to her wedded family by birthing twin sons. She was glad that she remained at Riverrun for the birthing. She was grateful to her lord husband who had agreed to let her remain at her birth home until he returned from war.

She was proud and relieved that her husband had won the war. He was but twenty years old and had already fought a war as a Lord of a great house and won it. When he returned, she was waiting for him with their children. She was relieved to see him return from the war unharmed and healed.

She hoped that their twin children would help them connect again as husband and wife. Then he had dropped the big burden on her; his bastard, Jon Snow. She was infuriated. It was like he found a bed warmer immediately after he left her for war. Was he fighting a war or bedding whores?

It was not charitable of her but she refused to care for the baby. She had two children of her own to care for. She had not expected the man known for his honor to dishonor her by jumping straight from her bed to the bed of another. Now, he expected her to care for his bastard, a reminder that he deliberately dishonored her? She was a Tully, she would do her duty to her husband but she would not care for his bastard.

The vexing part was that her lord husband refused to tell her of the bastard's origins. She could not learn the name of the woman who had forced the honorable Eddard Stark to forsake his vows.

She refused to be treated as such. She was running the Tully household since her mother died years ago. She had learned from the best Septas that her lord father could bring to Riverrun. She would do her duty. She would go North to her husband's home and take charge of the household.

The travel North was taxing on her since she had yet to recover from the birthing. The wind was cold even though it was the fading months of winter. The men of the North were not prone to talking with the wife of their lord but she had a few kitchen helpers and handmaidens from Riverrun to keep her company.

Winterfell was an imposing castle. The first sight of its 80 foot outer walls and 100 foot inner walls made it seem like a formidable holdfast. It was certainly bigger and better organized than Riverrun. There was a deep moat between the walls and the gates were made of thick iron and steel. It was well manned and there were many servants and guards in the Stark household. There was a separate holding for each part of the household – kitchens, stable, smithy, Rookery, Library, Glass gardens, Crypts, Lord's keep, Great Hall and other things. She was astonished by the warmth permeated inside the holdings. She was told by her lord husband that it was due to the natural hot springs over which Winterfell was built over.

She was quite intimidated by the sprawling godswood inside the massive walls of Winterfell. It felt strange to her since she was a devout follower of the Seven. The Old Gods that her lord husband prayed to in the godswood made little sense to her. The nameless and faceless gods of the forest were not who she would ever adopt for herself.

The first few months were hard to adjust but slowly she began to understand the land and the castle. Everything was very different from her home. Her twin sons were her only constant source of joy in the strange land in those months. She spent all her efforts in caring for her children.

Her lord husband ordered a Sept to be built for her and she was grateful for the gesture. It was a place of comfort for her. It took some time for the household servants to accept her as the lady of the castle. The land was different and she had never tasted many of the foods served at Winterfell. Even though she felt like an outsider, she accepted Winterfell as her home within the year she arrived. By the time Spring arrived, she was proficient at running the Stark household.

XOXOX

The building of the Sept of the Seven started the reconciliation between herself and her lord husband. He made sincere efforts to make things comfortable for her and was genuinely respectful to her. He did not force himself on her or exercise his right as a husband on their bed. She began to see Lord Eddard as more than just a dutiful husband.

They bonded over their twin sons. The elder twin, Robb was a typical babe, always crying for attention and very fussy. He was cheerful babe at most times and quite loud. On the other hand, she could swear by the seven that her younger son was Lord Eddard reborn. He was quiet unless he needed feeding. Harold was also very curious and often seemed to listen to everyone around him. The strangest thing about Harold was that he consumed twice as much milk and food as Robb.

Both her children were very active and were crawling within their first year. Harold was even able to walk a few steps in that time. It was a great joy watching her children grow up.

As the years passed, she was grateful that the gods ordained Eddard Stark to be her lord husband. She birthed a beautiful daughter who was named Sansa. Apart from the issue of Jon Snow, they had a very happy marriage. She had come to love her lord husband whom she now called Ned.

Even though Jon Snow was the only child who had the looks of Ned, her children were cherished by her husband and the people of Winterfell. She still felt like a stranger in Winterfell but she hoped her children would grow and prosper in the large castle.

Sometimes she thought that the gods had scorned her because of all the children at Winterfell, Jon Snow was the only one with features eerily similar to Lord Eddard Stark – the grey eyes and dark brown hair. Her eldest child Robb favored the Tully look with crimson hair and blue eyes while Harold favored his grandparents with pitch black hair and silver eyes.

Therefore, when her daughter Arya was born during the Greyjoy Rebellion, she considered herself blessed. Arya was a female copy of her lord husband. She had brown hair and smoky grey eyes.

She was busy with taking care of her daughters and maintaining the household while her lord husband was away waging war against the ironborn. Her sons were growing sturdy and strong. She could not devote enough time for her sons as she desired but Maester Luwin cared for her sons adeptly. Robb was very rambunctious and rarely listened to any of his caretakers. He ran around Winterfell talking to anyone and everyone who would spend time with him. Robb liked to drag his brother around the courtyards to watch men practice swordplay. Harold or Harry as he liked to be called was very calm. He liked to spend time with Maester Luwin and Septon Chayle at the library. She hardly had time to keep track of her quiet son who seemed to be everywhere. Harry seemed to find interest in the kitchens, in the kennels, in the stable, in the library and in the smithy. She felt that such interests were not suited for a member of the nobility but the older servants and handmaidens all told her that her son Harry had the wolf-blood in him.

She had heard tales of wolf-blood among the household. Her good sister Lyanna and her good brother Brandon were said to have the wolf-blood. It supposedly made them hot-blooded and unpredictable. When she confronted Maester Luwin about the subject, he said it was a myth about house Stark. It was said that the members of house Stark born with wolf-blood were wild and uncontrollable; they were very stubborn and strong in their ways.

Being a follower of the Seven, she felt that these stories were just that, stories. The Old Gods that her lord husband followed made no sense to her. What did the stones, earth and trees have to do with gods? It was utterly baffling to her how so many in the North still followed the Old Gods of the forest.

She tried to teach her children the ways of the Seven. Her husband Ned was often busy with matters of the realm before riding off to war and thus, she had the most to do with their children's growth.

Robb dutifully followed her mother even though he was so young. Sansa was a precocious child who preferred to be carried everywhere and Arya was still a newborn babe. But Harry was intelligent. He asked questions.

She was conflicted when she watched her sons run around with the bastard. She wanted them to keep away from him but when her sons asked her the reason, she was could not find it in her heart to tell them about his status. She had hoped that Maester Luwin would have explained the issue to her sons but it was not to be.

It was tumultuous time in the Stark household. She was very grateful that her husband returned from the another war alive and unharmed. Catelyn was quite amazed that her husband was unharmed. Sometimes, she could not believe that Ned returned from so many battles with minor or no injuries and yet he was not as well known for his sword skill as Ser Jamie Lannister or Ser Barristan Selmy.

But it was not her place to ask. She was the lady of the house and she provided support whenever her husband needed it. She was grateful when her husband retuned and she dared not to ask about the war.

By the time the Greyjoy rebellion as crushed, she was truly accustomed to the Stark household and the North.