Lady Catelyn was waiting for them in the courtyard of Riverrun with a storm brewing on her face. Robb rode in first, and she yelled so loudly at him that Myrcella swore the rumbling river stopped flowing.
'Robb Stark, I cannot believe that you would do this!' she bellowed, and Cella found it hard to believe that such a sound could come from such a graceful woman, 'Running away in the middle of the night, kidnapping the poor Princess Myrcella- do you not know what this has done to my nerves?'
'Mother, I-' he started, but then Cella dismounted, revealing the slender figure of Sansa behind her. She turned and put her hands on Sansa's waist to help her down, and Catelyn let out a noise halfway between a sob and a scream. She ran over to them and, as soon as Sansa's feet touched the ground, flung her arms so tightly around her daughter that Cella was pushed back by the sheer force of the wind she pushed aside. Her horse was led away, and Myrcella found herself stood shoulder to shoulder with Robb, looking on as the two Stark women remained tight together.
Robb's fingers brushed hers, and she turned to look at him. He smiled, and she couldn't help but smile back. Cat finally released her daughter, and turned to look at her son, keeping an arm around Sansa's waist as though to release her for a second would be to lose her again.
'Thank you,' Catelyn said softly, beaming through wet eyes at Robb and Myrcella, 'It was a reckless quest, but I cannot thank you enough for bringing my daughter home to me.'
…
Myrcella slept straight through the next two days, and awoke on the third feeling more invigorated than she ever had. She went for a brief walk, and read a little, and suddenly it was evening. Sansa was not well enough to dine in the great hall that evening, still weak from her imprisonment, so Catelyn invited only family up to her solar to eat. And, as her foster sister, that included Myrcella.
She left her room in a comfortable pair of Robb's trousers and a woollen dress which she had cut down to make a kind of warm, loose doublet, and as soon as she stepped out into the corridor, she crashed into Robb's side. They hadn't spoken alone since that night in the inn, and when she looked up at him, she found it hard to find words.
'Cella,' he said softly, wrapping his big palm around her forearm, 'Good evening.'
'Evening,' she replied, a flustered courtesy. She didn't have to think about courtesies.
'I trust you slept well?' he asked, grinning.
She nodded, 'And long, it seems.'
Robb was smiling at her and touching her, and it was hard to remember what words were.
He remembered, thankfully. 'Are you joining us for dinner?'
She nodded, and so he took her arm and led her up to Catelyn's solar. They entered together to find they were the last to arrive, and Cat, Sansa, Edmure and his sweet wife Roslin were sat around a table, drinking mead with a steaming meat pie in the middle of the table.
'At last!' exclaimed Edmure when he saw them, 'We can begin!'
He plunged a knife into the pie and started dishing up whilst Robb and Cella sat down in the last two seats, Cella beside Roslin and Robb opposite her, beside his mother.
'I trust you are feeling well again now, Myrcella?' asked Lady Catelyn, smiling at her ward.
Robb's foot nudged hers under the table. She blushed involuntarily.
'I'm very well, my lady,' she replied, 'I fear our journey tired me quite completely.'
'Me too,' piped up Sansa, her clever voice clearer than it had been but nowhere near as confident as Cella knew it had been, back before her father had died and everything had become awful.
'And how are you feeling, Lady Sansa?' asked Myrcella in her kindest voice, trying not to patronise her friend, who she kept having to remind herself was actually older than her.
'Happy,' Sansa answered simply, smiling with pure joy. Myrcella recognised the feeling, although it was not one she was too familiar with. Sansa was out of danger, back amongst her loved ones, where she didn't have to worry about outwitting everyone around her and being constantly on her guard. She could relax and laugh in the knowledge that she loved and was loved. Myrcella's family had never been home for her, not since she was very, very small- before her mother had become disappointed in her and her brother had bullied her. But, and the realisation came upon her like a warm fur being tucked over a sleeping child, as Sansa laughed with her and Cat complimented her and thanked her and Roslin (rather surprisingly) became interested in Cella's comfy trousers and makeshift sweater; and most importantly, Robb spoke to her in that lovely, smooth, deep voice of his and watched her when he thought she wasn't looking with eyes soft as honey- well, she thought she just might have found home somewhere else.
And after dinner, when Edmure and his wife left and Robb stood to go, Sansa grasped Cella and her brother's wrists and said, 'Please stay a while, brother and- my sister.'
The two exchanged a glance, Cella wondering if she could trust herself to stay in this room with Robb and not reach beyond the barrier of sister and Robb- well, he smiled at her welcomingly. Catelyn slipped away.
'It would be my pleasure,' Cella said, and sat down beside Sansa in the broad armchair by the fire. Robb sat by his sister's feet, but her knees were narrow and one of his shoulders rested against Cella's shin. She couldn't complain, the touch was brotherly, after all.
'I used to dream that I would be rescued, Sansa confessed, lolling her head against Cella's shoulder, 'Some days my rescuer was Robb, some days Loras Tyrell, some days… A broad, battleworn knight- no, not a knight, he was never a knight,' she shuffled, clearing her throat, 'One day I even dreamt Bran flew in on the back of a giant crow and carried me away. But I never, ever dreamt that it would be you, Princess Myrcella.'
Myrcella laughed, and let the arm that was squashed between them fall to Sansa's waist.
'I… I always knew you were kind, so much kinder than your brother,' Sansa explained, and she sounded tearful, 'But I never knew you could be so brave, braver than me, braver than Robb.'
'Oh really?' Robb said, turning to grin at his sister, 'Are you calling me a craven, Sansa?'
Sansa giggled, 'Of course not, Robb,' she ruffled his hair, 'But Cella escaped that place and then came back, just for me... I truly can think of nothing braver.'
'Sansa, you never need worry,' Robb said, turning and placing his hand on her cheek, 'Myrcella and I will always save you.'
Cella laughed, 'Of course,' she declared, standing up before the fire and tipping her head back proudly, 'None will ever harm Lady Stark, not when she has a Wolf and a Lioness to protect her.'
When she turned back to the Starks, Robb was looking at her with a strange expression on his face, but Sansa just laughed and jumped up to wrap her arms around Cella and drag her back to the seat. When Cella next glanced at Robb to try to read his expression, he just grinned and threw himself over the two of them, an arm around each girl's waist.
They spent an hour or so in Sansa's chambers, until she was tired and asked to go to bed. Cella helped her to undress and settled her in, briefly calling Robb in to wish his sister a good night, and then the pair of them left.
The moment Robb shut the door to Sansa's chambers, and they stood in the cool half-light of the corridor, Cella stopped the King in the North with a hand on his arm.
'Robb,' she said, sharply as she dared, 'You... you looked at me strangely when I stood by the fire... I... We can never be, please...'
'Oh, Cella, no,' he said, smiling sadly, 'I know I must leave you be. That look... you called yourself a lioness.'
She stared at him, confused. 'Yes?'
'You took pride in your Lannister heritage,' he pointed out, 'I... I'm just glad you have realised how wonderful you are, as I have known all along.
A/N: Well, I enjoyed this one anyway. I hope it was worth the wait, Reallybadatphysics- and it's probably a good thing that you nagged me because it wasn't getting done by itself! I predict four, maybe five more chapters? This author's note is terrible I'm sorry.
Edit: Thank you to dhh for pointing out that half of this chapter was repeated, not sure why that happened but it should be sorted now!
