Bidding farewell to her sister Lysa turned out to be the hardest thing for Catelyn. Lysa wept and would not let Catelyn go from her tight embrace. "Jon is taking me to the Eyrie and leaving me there. The Eyrie needs its Lady while the Lord is away, he said. Oh Cat! What am I going to do in that strange place?" Lysa whispered as Catelyn hugged her for the last time.

Catelyn said whatever feeble words of comfort and reassurance she could give to her sister. She could hardly blame Lysa for looking entirely unconvinced and uncomforted; Catelyn herself found her own words shamefully wanting. She glanced at Lord Arryn, who was deep in conversation with Stannis, both of them looking grave and solemn. "Lysa would be happier at King's Landing," she imagined telling her sister's husband. "I beg you, my lord, for my sister's sake," she imagined pleading with him, this man who did not look cruel, who in fact looked almost kind.

But kind or not, Lord Arryn was still a lord husband. Lysa's husband. "We women belong to our husbands when we marry. It is our duty to make a home for them, and for our children. A warm and comforting home." Her mother had taught her that from an early age. Catelyn had taken that lesson to heart. When her mother died and Hoster Tully did not seem inclined to marry again, Catelyn had taken over her mother's duties at Riverrrun without any complaint or reservation.

No, that was not entirely true. She had plenty of reservation, hesitation and doubt, but none she had ever voiced to anyone else. Catelyn kept her doubts to herself, always.

It was not her place to disagree with Lord Arryn about where Lysa's place should be, just as it was not her place to disagree with her own husband. Her mother had taught her that; Mother who was always warm, kind and loving, and wanted only the best for her children. How could Mother be wrong? She couldn't be, Catelyn reasoned.

"It will be fine, you'll see," Catelyn whispered to Lysa. "You will be a splendid Lady of the Eyrie, and make Jon a warm and comforting home."

Much later, when Catelyn had found her voice and finally realized that doing your duty did not necessarily preclude speaking out for yourself and for your loved ones, as well as speaking out for what was right and just, she would regret not speaking out on her sister's behalf that day. Perhaps she could have saved Lysa from a lot of heartache and misery.

"When will I see you again, Stannis?" It was a little boy's voice, sulking and complaining, but strangely, also sounding demanding and authoritative at the same time. Renly Baratheon was younger than Catelyn's own brother Edmure, but he looked like a boy who was used to getting his own way, who expected to get his way, in fact.

He is the Lord of Storm's End, Catelyn thought. Her brother Edmure was heir to Riverrun, but Catelyn could not imagine Edmure ever speaking to his father or his sisters for that matter in that tone of voice.

"I don't know," Stannis replied brusquely to his little brother.

"Will you visit me at Storm's End on my nameday?" Renly was asking Stannis, his eyes as big as saucers. He was still a little boy after all, Catelyn reminded herself. A little boy whose brother was leaving him to go to a land far, far away. Catelyn smiled at Renly. He stared at her for a long while, before smiling back. "Maybe Catelyn and her son would like to see Storm's End. Would you like that, Catelyn?" Renly asked, smiling shyly.

"I would love –" Catelyn started replying, but Stannis interrupted her. "Lady Catelyn, Renly. And going to Winterfell is not like taking a trip to the market. It would take more than two months to go from Winterfell to Storm's End and back again. Lady Catelyn and I are not going to Winterfell for a holiday. We have important tasks to do. There is no time to be gallivanting to Storm's End for a nameday celebration."

"But it is my nameday!" Renly cried out. "You've never missed my nameday. Robert has missed plenty, but not you, Stannis."

Stannis looked away. "Things are different now. Very different. You best learn that, Renly," he said, his eyes avoiding his brother and his wife.

Renly started crying. Edmure had cried too, when Catelyn and Lysa were leaving, but only when he thought he was alone and no one could see him. It took every ounce of self-control in her body to prevent Catelyn from running to her brother and embracing him, but somehow she managed to restrain herself. Edmure would not have liked it, Catelyn knew. He would have found it humiliating to be found crying by his sister.

Maester Cressen took the crying boy in his arms and tried to soothe him. Renly's shoulders were still hitching up and down, and the tears were still rolling down his cheeks. Catelyn noticed the maester giving a meaningful glance to Stannis, nodding his head vehemently a few times. Stannis seemed determined to ignore the maester at first, shaking his head and frowning, but the maester's insistence must have worn him out, finally. He walked closer to his little brother, knelt down so his face was level with Renly's head and called out his name. Renly turned to look at him at once.

"You must listen to Maester Cressen from now on. Will you promise me that?"

Renly nodded. "I always listen to him," he said, his tone almost peevish.

Stannis groaned. "No, you always say that you will, but then do things as you like. That will not be good enough from now on. You are the Lord of Storm's End, not a silly, sulking little boy."

Renly looked down, refusing to meet his brother's eyes. "Are you mad at me about Storm's End? Is that why you are going far, far away and leaving me behind?" He muttered under his breath.

Catelyn did not miss the sound of her husband's teeth grinding loudly. She imagined the entire Red Keep hearing it as well. Stannis stood up, sighed, and said," No, Renly, it's not you I'm angry at. Going to Winterfell is Robert's command, and therefore my duty."

"Everything is ready, my lord," the sound of Ser Davos' voice was a relief to Catelyn.

Stannis turned to Catelyn and asked, "My lady, are you ready to leave?"

She was not ready, would never be ready in a hundred years. But they both had their duty to do, and Catelyn was not one to shirk her duty, no matter how terrifying she found the prospect. "I am, my lord," she replied to her husband with a smile. Stannis escorted her to the carriage, where the nurse was already waiting inside with Robb. Catelyn took the baby from her, and scooted to the other side of the carriage to make room for Stannis.

"I will ride with Ser Davos," Stannis said stiffly. Catelyn was startled, but managed to hide it. "Very well, my lord," she replied. A crying child was perhaps not the best travel companion, Catelyn reasoned with herself. Robb was not a difficult or fussy babe, but who knew how the long journey might affect him. And Stannis probably had many, many things to discuss with Ser Davos before their arrival at Winterfell, Catelyn added another thing to the list of reasons why her husband would not want to ride in the same carriage as her and her son.

She kept adding more and more things to the list, until finally she had the courage to admit to herself what she feared the most deep down – that Stannis resented having to be a father to another man's child. And not just any man, but Ned Stark. Ned Stark whom the king had often proclaimed as his favorite and most-loved brother, above and beyond his trueborn brothers. How would she feel, were she in Stannis' position? I would still love that child, for he is innocent of any wrongdoing, she tried to convince herself. But she wondered. She truly wondered if that was really possible, to separate and compartmentalize your feelings about the wrong done to you, and your feelings for the child.

If that indeed turned out to be the case, she would have to make it up to Robb, she vowed. Somehow, someway, she must find a way to protect him from Stannis' resentment. She kissed her son's forehead, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief that Robb looked more like a Tully than a Stark.

And was immediately stricken with feelings of guilt and remorse towards Robb's dead father.