A/N: It still belongs to GRRM. I suppose I misspoke in the last chapter in my author's notes when I said that I love the warrior side of Dany, I suppose what I meant was more of her leader side, like she shows in A Storm of Swords especially. Anyway, I know I said I would try to post on Wednesdays and Sundays but I just found out I'm having knee surgery on this Thursday (4/4/13). So while I will definitely post again post-surgery and hopefully once more beforehand, I'm going to have to see how loopy I am after surgery. I'll do my best but I definitely do not have a high tolerance for pain pills. And onward with Robb. A lot of the dialogue is straight from the book but I couldn't see a way around that.

Robb III

His mother slept immediately after the attack aided by the milk of the poppy that Maester Luwin had given her. Robb wished he could sleep as easily. He'd never in his life realized how stressful being in charge could be. He had mistakenly thought that life in Winterfell would calm down after the wedding and King Robert's departure, but then Bran had fallen and his mother had collapsed, Dany had received her dragon's eggs and the letter from her brother, and now the fire in the library and the dead man in Bran's room. Robb had never imagined he and Dany would have to handle so many strange things in such a short period of time. In fact, he had pictured the weeks after their wedding going much differently.

The first thing that he had to do once his mother had been seen to was to handle the investigation into the identity of the dead man. However, no one knew who the man was or even where he came from. Some people had mentioned seeing him around the castle but everyone who saw him had assumed he came with someone's party for the wedding or had been attached to the King's retinue. It transpired that after the castle cleared out, he had been hiding out and sleeping in the stables. Theon said that was easy enough to determine based on his smell, but they had also found the stall he had been sleeping in and in it there was a bag of ninety silver stags.

"I suppose it was easy to hide in the stables with all the chaos," Robb said to Dany one evening after the attack while they were dining in private. "We have been short on stable hands since my father rode south with so many men. They say Hodor has been acting strangely, he might have noticed him hiding though there's no way to know for sure with Hodor. I wonder who would have paid him to burn the library down."

"You cannot honestly believe that is what the man was after, Robb," Dany replied incredulously. "After he set the fire, he went straight to Bran's room armed with that dagger. The fire was a distraction, nothing more."

Robb turned over what his wife said in his mind. All of what she said seemed true enough, after all the man had been armed with Valyrian steel according to Ser Rodrick, a blade far too fine for one of the dead man's ilk.

"If that is true," Robb said slowly, "and I think that it is, then who was the target, Bran or my mother? And why?"

"Those are the real questions," Dany replied. "Perhaps Lady Catelyn can tell us more when she recovers, the man might have spoken to her. Though perhaps you should place additional guards on her and Bran until you know more."

"You are right," Robb said, thoroughly impressed with Dany. "Though I think that Bran's wolf will do more than twenty guards."

Dany smiled, agreed with him, and changed the subject to some of the household positions that still needed to be filled. Robb was not sure if he could have managed running things without Dany. Maester Luwin was helpful, but he still deferred to Robb in all things. Dany on the other hand offered suggestions and corrected him when she thought he was in the wrong. Some men might not have enjoyed that, but Robb knew that there was no one else he would rather have input from, and she frequently knew better than he did as she had just shown. He was glad to see that she had moved on from the stress of her brother's letter. They still had not heard back from the father or the King on the subject, but perhaps the messenger Maester Luwin had sent with the letter had not yet caught up with the King's party. He thought that Dany was helped by her dragon's eggs. It might have seemed to odd to another person, but Robb understood, it was the same for him with Grey Wind. Maybe there was something to their house sigils after all.

Four days after the fire, one of the servants brought word that his mother was now awake and had requested food and Maester Luwin to change her bandages. Robb arrived before his mother's food and with him he brought Dany, Theon, Ser Rodrick, and their new captain of the guard, Hallis Mollen. Robb was pleased to note that his mother seemed back to her old self as she immediately asked after the man who attacked her. He told her what they knew and then asked if the man had been after her or Bran.

His mother looked impressed with him as she answered, "He was after Bran. He kept muttering that I wasn't supposed to be there. I imagine he thought I would rush out with any guards to put out the fire, and I would have if I had not been half mad with grief. I am glad you realized he was an assassin."

"It was not me, Mother," Robb said sheepishly. "Dany thought of it, and she suggested adding a guards for you and Bran. But why would someone want to kill Bran? He's only a helpless boy..."

His mother gave Dany an appraising look and asked, "Do you have any answers, Daenerys? If you were sharp enough to realize the fire was a ruse, have you thought the question through to its conclusion?"

Robb felt chagrined that he had not given the subject much thought. He'd been too concerned with the other matters going on at Winterfell to think much on it besides to post the guards, which had been Dany's idea as well. Before he could hear what she had to say on the subject, his mother's food arrived along with Maester Luwin and his supplies.

His mother instantly asked the maester about Bran's condition and though she looked saddened when he told her there was no change, she did not sink into despair as she had done before the attack. When all the servants left the room, his mother turned back to Dany and nodded at her to continue with answer.

"If someone was trying to kill Bran," she said almost tentatively, as if she were afraid of her answer, "then someone must want to make sure he never wakes up. Bran must know something that whoever hired the killer is afraid he might say when he awakes."

"Very good," his mother replied proudly. "We must keep Bran safe, there could be other killers sent when it is discovered this one failed. How many guards do you have watching him Robb?"

"Just one on the door right now and his wolf inside. I'll add one inside the sickroom and two on the stairs since we now know that Bran was the target," he directed to Hallis. "And make sure that no one sees Bran without the express permission of either me or my mother."

"Very good," his mother said, and Robb felt himself stand a little taller. "See to it now if you will Hallis."

After the captain of the guard left the room, Ser Rodrik brought up the fine make of the knife to Lady Catelyn and their thoughts that it was too fine a blade for the man to have himself.

His mother looked thoughtful and instructed Robb to close the door. After he had done so, she said, "What I am about to tell you must not leave this room. I want your oaths on that. If even part of what I suspect is true, Ned and my girls have ridden into deadly danger, and a word in the wrong ears could mean their lives. I already suspect that there are spies inside Winterfell from what I remember about Robb and Daenerys telling me of her wedding present arriving in secret. I am sure with all of this going on, you all understand why I would want your oaths."

"Lord Eddard is a second father to me," Theon said. "I do so swear my oath."

"You have my oath," Maester Luwin said.

"And mine, my lady," Ser Rodrik echoed.

"I am now a Stark by marriage, this is my family," Dany said. "I swear my oath as well."

"And I swear mine," Robb said.

His mother then proceeded to tell them of a letter that his aunt Lysa had sent in secret that said Jon Arryn had been murdered by the Lannisters. His mother then went on to remind them that neither Queen Cersei nor Jaime Lannister had gone on the hunt the day that Bran fell, they instead had stayed in the castle, though she could not say where in Winterfell they were during the day. His mother then softly said, "I do not think Bran fell from the tower that day, I believe he was thrown."

Robb could almost feel the shock in the room at his mother's words. He heard Dany gasp next to him while Ser Rodrik argued against it and Theon argued for it. Maester Luwin reminded them of how sure footed Bran was and that he had never fallen before. All Robb could do was mutter a curse. He could not quite wrap his mind around it, all he could think, absurdly enough, was that his aunt Lysa's letter explained why his mother had thought something had arrived for her when he and Dany had gone to tell her about the dragon's eggs. As soon as clear thoughts could return to him, Robb felt himself grow angrier and angrier, he wanted to punch someone and had to fight the urge to draw his sword, but he reminded himself that he was the Stark in Winterfell and that the Lannisters, damn them all, were hundreds of leagues away. Instead, he asked the room at large what the next step should be.

Maester Luwin pulled at his chains nervously and pointed out that they had no evidence and they were accusing the queen and her brother of a most grievous crime.

"How can we prove this before Bran wakes up?" Dany asked.

"Your proof is in the dagger," Ser Rodrik answered. "A fine blade like that would not have gone unnoticed. Surely someone can help us to discover its origins."

"Someone must go to King's Landing," his mother said just as Robb was coming to the same conclusion.

"I'll go," Robb said instantly. It was only right that he be the one to go into danger.

His mother and his wife said no at the same time. Dany looked alarmed at the thought of him going south while his mother looked oddly resolved.

"You must be the Stark in Winterfell while your father is away," she said gently while she rose from her bed. "And Daenerys will stay here with you and take my place as she already has done. I am the only one who can do this thing."

Robb felt utterly lost. "What about Bran? You can't mean to leave him," he said in shock.

"I have done everything I can for Bran," she said as she stood and placed one hand on his arm and her other on Dany's arm. "His life is in the hands of the gods and Maester Luwin. You and Daenerys can handle things here as you have both proven while I was lost in my despair."

"Will you want an escort, my lady?" Theon asked eagerly. Robb imagined that he wanted to accompany his mother on this trip. Theon had always loved any sort of danger and excitement. However, Robb did not want him to go and judging from the glare Dany was giving Theon, neither did she.

"I can send Hal and squad of guardsmen with you," Robb offered before Theon could ask to go.

"No," his mother said. "That would attract unwanted attention. I cannot afford the Lannisters to know that I am coming."

Dany nodded in agreement but Ser Rodrik protested, "My lady, let me go with you at the very least. The kingsroad can be dangerous, especially for a woman travelling alone."

"I am not taking the kingroad," his mother said looking lost in thought. At last she nodded and said, "Very well. Two riders can move as fast as one and much faster than the royal party will be able to move with all their supplies and people. I intend to take a ship from White Harbor to King's Landing. If we leave on the morrow, we should beat Ned and the Lannister there as long as the wind is with us."

And then, Robb thought, Dany and I shall really be alone. He hoped they were ready but with so much already happening, the treachery of the Lannisters and the strange tidings from across the Narrow Sea, Robb could only imagine that the trouble for the Starks was only just beginning.

A/N: I'll try to update again on Wednesday but this has been a very rough week. I'm not getting a lot of sleep with the knee pain and I'm working an insane amount since I'm about to be off for two weeks which is not helping with the knee pain. But I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and thank you to everyone who read and especially to everyone who reviews and a huge thanks to everyone who already reviewed/follows/has this story as a favorite, I wouldn't have managed to update at all right now if it wasn't for all the support.