Sixth Month of 298 A.C. The Eyrie
Lady Catelyn Stark
The howling of the wind was somewhat disconcerting for Lady Catelyn Stark, it reminded her too much of how the moon door had rattled during Tyrion Lannister's trial. Well, if it could be that, her sister as regent for Lord Robert, had hurled accusations at the Lannister with little to no proof, once or twice her sister had seemed ready to explode but then had looked at a man Catelyn knew to be Lothor Brune and her sister had quieted down. When the imp had demanded Trial by Combat, Catelyn had been certain her sister would refuse, but of course so determined was she to prove something or the other to those who had come, that she had accepted. Vardis Egen, had been named as the Vale's champion, the man had gone against Bronn, the sellsword and lost. Tyrion Lannister had gone free, leaving behind a world of guilt for Catelyn.
She had taken the imp based on word from Petyr, and yet every time she had thought to question the imp he had denied any knowledge of the assassin or the knife. When she had confronted him on what Petyr had said, he had merely laughed and said that Petyr was telling more tales than there were kingdoms in Westeros. He had asked her if she truly believed he would bet against his brother the Kingslayer in a joust, and after some long hard thought Catelyn did have to conclude that the man was right. So had Petyr lied to her, and if so why would he do so? What was he hoping to gain from doing so? Her actions had caused trouble for her father and brothers. Word had come of fighting in the Golden Tooth where Jaime Lannister had marched with an army and descended on men her brother Axel had left to guard the border. It had been a complete rout.
Gods, she hoped her brothers would be okay. She knew their father was ill, Lord Hoster had fallen ill some two years ago and had not truly recovered, leaving her elder brother Axel in charge of running Riverrun. She hoped things would be okay, her brothers were as different as the sun and the moon, where Axel was calm and collected, their younger brother Edmure was bold and brash, something would have to give, otherwise there would be fighting between the two of them. Once more she wondered why Petyr had told her it was Tyrion Lannister who had given his knife to that assassin. What could he possibly hope to gain?
If she had not taken Tyrion, the invasion would not have happened, and Jaime Lannister would never have attacked Ned. She was certain the accusations against him were false, her Ned would never dare to commit treason, and she did not know why Cersei was labelling him as such, unless there was truth to his accusations. That was why she was trying to convince her sister to call the men of the Vale to arms to aid their brothers. "Lysa please, listen to me, they are threatening Riverrun and the Riverlands. We cannot merely stand by whilst they do so."
Her sister was sat on the wierwood throne of the Arryns, looking petulant. "I will not send my men to go and die in a war that they do not need to fight. Doing that would only bring the Lannisters wrath down upon us, and that is something I shall not allow."
"Tywin Lannister will not just allow you to be Lysa." Catelyn responds. "He knows it was you who ordered Tyrion Lannister's death, he will come calling here when he is done in the Riverlands."
"And he will not get past the Bloody Gate. Regardless he would never have had cause to look here, had you not brought that imp here." Her sister snarls.
"I brought him here to get justice for Lord Jon, and to make sure that he answered for his crimes. You, yourself warned me of the threats the Lannisters posed." Catelyn says, her temper growing.
"Yes! To warn you! I did not want you to bring that imp here. Now you have doomed us all, Tywin Lannister will burn the Riverlands because of what you have done." Her sister shouts back.
"Not if we work together to beat them. The Lannisters have broken the king's peace, they cannot hope to stand against the might of the north, the riverlands and the vale and hope to win. Lysa, see reason, they are coming for us all. We must act fast." Catelyn pleads.
Her sister looks at her, her mouth set in a petulant line. "No. I will not send my son's men down to fight in a war just because you tell me to. We are not children anymore Cat, you cannot tell me what to do. I will not leave my son defenceless."
"For god's sake Lysa, this is not about bossing anyone around, it is about sticking together and aiding one another when we are in danger. We are all family, and we must act to protect one another. If we all join together the fighting will be done before the year ends, and then we can force the Lannisters to recognise their crimes." Catelyn says her voice showing her impatience.
And still her sister shakes her head. "No, I shall not do that. Why should I do that when my family was never there for me when I needed them the most?"
Catelyn sighs. "Lysa, I do not know what you mean, we have always been there for one another."
Her sister's eyes are ablaze then. "No. Do not lie, none were there for me when I needed them, and now I shall not be there for you all. It is only right and fair. I have my son to think about. I do not care if your husband rots in a black cell, he can stay there for all I care."
Catelyn feels anger begin to boil inside of her, but instead of retorting she merely nods and turns and leaves from the hall. As she walks through the halls of the Eyrie, she wonders how it has come to this. She knew Lysa had often felt jealous of her when they were children growing up, but she never thought it would become something like this, something so petty and vile that she would refuse to help her own family. And what had happened to drive Lysa so thoroughly away from them all? She did not know, but she wondered if her uncle knew. Alas as she looked around she could not see him anywhere, she wondered where he was.
"My Lady Catelyn!" she hears a voice calling her and she stops her walking. A tall man with dark brown hair and pale eyes comes to a stop next to her. This is Elbert Arryn, Knight of the Vale and Jon Arryn's nephew. "Ah thank you for waiting for me my lady." The man says.
Elbert Arryn was a handsome man that much was true, she had met his wife and children during her stay here and she had to admit he had a very happy family for the darkness of their origins. "Yes Ser? To what do you wish to speak of?" she asks.
The man takes a deep breath then, and she remembers something Ned had said to her once of what Elbert Arryn had been like before the rebellion, filled with life and joy, now she looks at the man and she sees a man worn down by the years. "I wished to speak with you of the fighting in the Riverlands."
"Oh?" Catelyn asks.
"Yes, I believe that Lady Arryn was wrong to deny you the knights of the Vale. I know for a fact that they are willing to fight, to protect Riverrun and to honour Jon Arryn. I know that I can get around 10,000 men ready and willing to fight before you return to the north." Ser Elbert says.
"And how would you do that Ser? It is a crime to go against the orders of your liege lord, or in this case Liege Lady. Would you truly risk so much?" Catelyn asks.
"I admit that this is perhaps not the right way to go about it, but Lady Lysa has not entirely been herself since she returned from King's Landing, surely even you can see that my lady. Not getting involved when the Lannisters are clearly in the wrong is something I cannot stand by, and I know there are many others here who feel the same." Ser Elbert responds.
At hearing this Catelyn feels distinctly uncomfortable. "Ser, I would not advice a continuation of this conversation. I do not wish to cause my sister trouble."
The man snorts. "As if she has not already caused you trouble my lady. I know of the letter she sent you, she was doing that deliberately. There is a reason for all of these things, and the only way to get to the root of all of this is to find the Lannisters and deal with them."
"What do you mean she did it deliberately Ser?" Catelyn asks.
The man is silent a moment. "There are things that need to be discussed in more depth, but now is not the time for them. Just tell me this my lady, do you want your husband freed from King's Landing? Do you want your girls back?"
Catelyn looks at the man hard. "Yes. But how would you get them out of King's Landing? No doubt they are being watched very closely."
Ser Elbert merely smiles then, a twisted thing it is. "I have friends in damnable city who owe me a favour or two. I believe it is time that I called those favours in. Now with regards to the Riverlands, it will be necessary for you to persuade your son to call the banners, the riverlands cannot hope to defend itself alone."
Catelyn nods she had already considered that. "And what of the Vale? How would you convince them to come, when they are honour bound to do as my sister says?"
Ser Elbert snorts at this. "Honour is not as straight a concept as some would believe my lady. There is no honour in hiding and cowering whilst lions prowl and prey on the weak. They will come, you must leave that to me."
Catelyn looks at the man somewhat uneasily then. "And what would happen to defence of the Vale Ser?"
The knight looks at her a moment then replies easily. "The Vale will be well defended, I shall not allow for all the men to leave. Just those most hell bent on fighting for the true cause. Fear not my lady your nephew shall be safe."
Catelyn nods and then says. "Very well then, I shall wait to hear from you before I leave." With that she leaves the man standing in the hallway. She enters the room she had been given and sits down, mulling over all that has occurred during her time here. Gods she hopes things go according to plan she does not know what she would do were something to happen to Ned or the girls.
A knock on the door takes her from her thoughts, and after the door opens she finds herself speaking to her uncle. Ser Brynden Tully. "When do you plan on leaving Little Cat?" he asks.
She is somewhat taken aback by the question but manages to compose herself enough to respond. "Within the next few days. Why ever do you ask uncle?"
"Because, when you return north I intend to come with you. It is complete nonsense that Lysa is not sending men to aid your brother in the Riverlands." The Blackfish replies.
"She is scared uncle, for herself and for her son." Catelyn says defending her sister.
Her uncle snorts then. "She has been scared her whole life. It is time she grew up and faced reality. Otherwise her son will end up just as she did."
Catelyn wants to defend her sister, but she sees the truth in what her uncle is saying. Instead she asks. "I had thought you would go with Ser Elbert when he went to rally men from the Vale."
Her uncle looks at her then and his voice is soft when he says. "I see Ser Elbert has promised you that which Lysa did not. Be careful of him Cat, he is a dangerous man."
