CATELYN
Tywin Lannister was dead. No one knew how, except Catelyn. She knew in her heart that he must have been killed by a shadow assassin just like the one that had killed Renly Baratheon. Stannis must have been responsible, but Stannis was dead now.
"I'm sending a message to Kevan Lannister offering peace talks," Robb said.
"Everyone knows that Kevan Lannister always followed his brother Lord Tywin," Edmure said. "What if he refuses to make peace?"
"Tywin Lannister is dead," Brynden said, "and his only surviving brother is another man entirely. With the end of the Iron Throne and the Lannister claim over the Seven Kingdoms, he will not continue a war just to avoid the appearance of weakness, as long as we offer peace with honor. No, do not worry about the Westermen. Worry about the ironborn."
Robb was taken aback. "Ever since the Greyjoy Rebellion the ironborn have kept peace. Balon Greyjoy will not attack us as long as Theon is with us."
"Will he not?" Brynden asked. "It may be that only the combined power of the Iron Throne has kept the ironborn at bay all of these years. And while it may be case that Balon Greyjoy would prefer for his son to succeed him rather than one of his brothers, he is already an old man and Theon has been gone from the Iron Islands for nearly a dozen years. The ironborn might not accept him as one of their own, let alone as their king. And Theon has three living uncles, none of them peacable men from what I have heard."
"If Balon Greyjoy attacks us, we will send him his only surviving son's head," Edmure said. Robb looked horrified.
"Uncle, how can you speak like that? Theon and I have grown up together; he is like a brother to me."
"He is right," Catelyn said, knowing that what she said was exactly what her son did not want to hear. "Theon was sent to Winterfell as a hostage in case his father should attack the mainland again."
"All of that may not even matter if one of Theon's uncles usurps the throne," Brynden said.
"But Theon is the rightful heir to the Iron Islands," Robb insisted, "a son's claim comes before an uncle's, everyone knows that."
"The ironborn do not always observe such niceties," Brynden said. "We cannot count on Theon as a guarantee against ironborn attacks in any case. What I suggest is an alliance with the Tyrells and the Lannisters against potential ironborn attacks."
"With the Lannisters?" Robb was dumbstruck. "Make an alliance with our mortal enemies to prevent a threat we don't even know actually exists?"
"He speaks sense," Catelyn said. "Tywin Lannister and his children and grandson were our enemies. Kevan Lannister need not be."
"The ironborn have always attacked whenever they have sensed the slightest weakness," Brynden said. "Send a message to Kevan Lannister offering peace talks and a defense pact against the ironborn, and send a message to Mace Tyrell as well. The Reach has the largest navy in Westeros as well as the largest army."
"You know he's right, Robb," Catelyn said. Robb gritted his teeth and prepared the two messages.