Lord Tully died a few days later. The funeral was small, and she stood beside her husband with a bowed head in respect as Edmure Tully failed to light the boat with his body in it with a flaming arrow. She heard her husband snicker, which caught both her and his mother's attention. Lady Stark gave him a look to make him stop laughing, and Belle pinched her husband's thigh, giving him a look as well.

They would have Tully men after this, which would help their numbers greatly, however it would mean that they are back to war camps, and Belle would have to pack everything the Maester could give her to treat the men, as well as her husband. She was scared, but there was no time for that. Her husband had a war to win. They had a war to win.

But when Robb's blue eyes looked at her, she could barely contain her composed appearance. That only made her pinch his thigh harder, shifting closer to hide her movements.

Eventually, the Blackfish took the bow from his nephew. He took an arrow, lit it, and then hit the boat on his first try. Much to Edmure's embarrassment. Belle made sure she and Robb were the last ones off the dock after the ceremony.

"If you are to be king, you best hide what you feel better than that." Belle whispered, but she let her smile show, and that was her downfall.

"You are right." Robb said. "Good thing I have time to practice. Surely you can help me with that."

"Right you are, your grace. I will."

XXXXXX

Belle took out her instruments that night. Her husband was laying in bed. They would leave in two days. Just enough time to get ready and head out. They would continue their way South. For tonight she would look over his cut, and see if he was ready for the stitches to be taken out. She wanted to sterilize the instruments before she used them on him. She then brought them to the bed, and sat beside him.

"Can you stay still for this?" She asked him.

"I stayed still when you sewed my skin I can stay still for them to take you out." He told her. "Do your worst."

"You know better than to say that." She teased him, putting a hand on his shoulder before her other hand began cutting the string. He did not flinch for that, but he did when she began pulling the string out of his skin.

"Yeah, I don't like this." He said.

"Then never get hurt again." She told him.

"I will try my best." He told her. "I would hate to disappoint you."

"Good." She said, taking the final string out. "And you're done."

"That was much quicker than getting them put in." He said.

"They usually are." She said. "But you did not struggle, some of the other men do when I sew their skin and take it out." She got off the bed, and cleaned and put her things back where she got them from, before returning to bed. "You'll scar." She told him. "It will be a little pink for a while, but like all things it will fade in time." She laid down next to him on her side, propping up her head in her hand.

"It won't be the last."

"Don't say that." She told him. "I would like to live in the world where the war is over, and we can go to Winterfell to live the rest of our lives in peace. That is what we are going to do when this if over."

"And if you keep saying it so assuredly, I am sure it will have no other choice than to come true." He said.

"That is my exact thinking." She smiled. "At least we have one more day of rest. After tonight, one more night in a feather bed."

"Is that what you will miss most?"

"Yes." Belle told him. "Well, comfort-wise. I could only sleep on our cot because I make sure to only go to bed when I'm exhausted. We both know I wake at dawn with you, and it's not because you wake me."

"Sometimes I do not think you even sleep." Robb said. "If you would like to stay—"

"Not a single chance of that, Robb Stark." Belle told him. "Not until I am with child."

"Then I would prefer you go to Winterfell." Robb said.

"Which I will. Getting my sister along the way." She told him. "But now, not a single chance of me staying behind. If you die, I am sure there is a death warrant on my head anyway."

"The North will protect you." He told her.

"If it is me or their families I cannot blame them if they give me up." Belle told him.

"The North is loyal." He said. "And you are a Stark now."

Belle did not respond right away, but she did smile. "Your mother said something of the sort as well."

"She likes you." Robb said. "Which I think she was even surprised about. That is a credit to you. You are amazing."

Belle turned her head towards him, kissing him lightly. "Well, as long as I am amazing." She paused. "Are you ever going to forgive her?"

He sighed. "It's not that simple."

"I know you cannot openly excuse her actions, but she just wants her daughters back, your sisters back." Belle said.

"She's lucky she is not in chains, I have done that much." He said.

"She's your mother." Belle said. "She is just trying to get her girls back."

"And if she had not given him up, we would be closer to doing that very thing." He said. "We would have leverage."

"Fine, then you be mad at her." Belle told him. "I will not be. If I were her, I could only imagine what I would do for my children. Even if it was going against your wishes." She rolled away from him, pulling the furs around her.

"You've made it very obvious that you will do what you like with or without my blessing." He said.

Belle turned back over to face him to find him on his elbow, facing her. "If you wanted a wife to bend to your every whim, you chose the wrong sister. Rosalyn would have been a better choice." She said this cooly, knowing that she upset him, but also knowing she would not back down. She was never good at that.

"That is not what I meant." He said. "You know it."

"But if you wanted a tame wife she is who you should have chosen." Belle told him. "You knew that."

"But I hoped we would agree on some things." Robb said.

"I am agreeing that I go to Winterfell when I become with child." She told him. "I agree that war is hard and grueling, and it makes me look for the good moments between."

"Two things." He said. "And the first only because your sister will go with you."

"I would have gone anyway." Belle told him. "I only want my sister because I trust her to help me. I trust her to comfort me when I am in the birthing bed. I trust her to care for the child when I am resting. If I die, I trust her to raise them until you return. I trust her to love them. Would you not want that for your child, even if you die?"

"You are obsessed with dying." He told her. "Has it crossed your mind that you may live?"

"I do not know if I will live passed twenty." She told him. "My mother died in childbirth. I have seen my father's wives die from the same. I have heard of my much older sisters dying from it. If you wish to go into the latest part of my life, we were married and though I was congratulated profusely for getting out of my father's command, I know if you fall, my head will be next to yours. I have treated men who I knew would perish. I have watched them die. I have had their blood on my hands as I fruitlessly try to save them. I was born into death, and I have been bathed in it. Forgive me if I would like to see my child safe if I join them."

"And if I fall while you are at Winterfell? What will you do then?" He asked.

"I do not know." Belle told him. "I guess it depends on how bad things get. I don't like thinking of it, to be honest with you. It would be easier if you outlived me. Just make sure my child is loved. Make sure your next wife treats them well."

"Because you're so intent on dying?"

"Because if I have hope of living and I don't that will only make my final moments worse. I will not be prepared. I will not make peace with the fact that I will not watch my child grow."

"All because your mother did not survive?"

"She was not given the agency to care for me, to even try to put people in my life that would care for me. It all happened by chance. I do not trust luck." She said.

"And you do not trust me?" He said.

"I do, but that does not matter." She said. "I will see my child safe, and you are fighting in a war. War is no place for an infant."

"Another thing on which we agree." He said.

"I do not want to argue with you." Belle told him. "I am who I am. Maybe one day I will grow into someone different, but no matter who I grow into, I will never not voice my opinion because you may find it disagreeable. I will not be your pretty little wife who speaks quietly with no thoughts of her own."

"I don't want that girl." He said. "I want you. I will never wish that I chose your sister. I chose you, Belle. I will not regret that decision."

"And I want you, I did not think I would, but I do. And I don't want to die. I just can't dare hope. I do not want to live in fear of what might take me from you. But if I do and you get the word, you must promise me to continue fighting for our child." She could feel the tears behind her eyes, but she kept them there. She refused to cry.

"I promise you." He said.

She rolled back into him, hiding her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

"You're not going to die, though." He told her. "I won't let you."

"When I go to Winterfell." Belle said slowly. "Please try to forgive your mother. I would feel better knowing you are looked after."

"I will think about it."

"Now look at us agreeing, Robb. I am rather proud of us." She whispered.

He kissed the top of her head. "We'll get through."

She closed her eyes, and let a single tear run down the side of her face, still hidden by Robb's chest. "We must."

XXXXXXX

They were moving West, to get the Lannister's lands. To take their home so they could negotiate peace. Belle and Robb only saw each other at night in their tent, or after a battle. Though the Lannisters had not expected them to go West, they had responded quickly. Much more quickly than they had hoped for.

But Robb had still won every battle, no matter the casualties. Belle still saved many men, no matter the casualties. She was usually back at the camp to tend to the casualties there, but she joined those who would wait over the battle to come in when it was finished. So she sat atop a horse, unable to look away from the carnage below her. Unable to fear for her husband, and Vince in the mess of it all. She knew Robb always was at the thickest part of the battle.

She wished he would not be.

He had kissed her before riding down there. A quick kiss, a promise to return to her the way he left her. Vince just smiled at her, and told her he would see her that night or in the morning, he may be tired after the battle and she had wounded to tend to. She would be far too busy to worry about an old man like him.

She watched at the two armies battled, like waves crashing against each other. She could hear the crash of metal against metal. She could hear men screaming in fury, or agony, or a mixture of both. She watched on in horror, unable to look away.

She wished she could see Robb's red hair from her distance, but even if he did not have a helm on she would need an eagle's eye to see it. She wished Catelyn was there. She knew the older woman would have the same feelings she did. She knew Catelyn would say something to stop her heart from beating out of her chest. She knew that Catelyn would put a hand on her arm, or take her hand and tell her things she already knew. Tell her Robb had yet to lose a battle. That he was skilled in battle as he was in tactics. She just wanted to hear the words said out loud.

And what of Vince? Belle had no idea where he stayed during the battle. Would he be in the thick of it as well? Would he be on one of the sides? What of the man who was for all purposes her father? What of the man who was the first person to take care of her? She knew it would be her to send the news to his family. She owed them all that. She knew she would have to survive without his smile to greet her. Without his steadying hand when she does not know what to do. Without his voice to calm her down. Without his mind to bounce things off of. Without someone there who knew why she did not like to be touched by those she was not close to or jumped when she was touched without warning.

She knew she was fragile. But Vince never treated her that way. She never thought her husband would be kind to her her. But Robb not only was kind to her, her cared for her. Vince knew her history. Robb would know her future.

With her heart racing, she watched the battle for hours, and when her husband prevailed, she rode down quickly to assess the damage to his men, until she saw Robb with the saddest look on his face she had ever seen.

"What happened?" She asked, as other healers made their way around. She threw her arms around his shoulders, holding him to her through his armor, trying to convince herself that he was safe.

"Belle, let's get you out of here." He said, his voice low.

"What do you mean?" She looked around, and spied familiar armor behind him. "Robb?"

"Belle…" he trailed off.

She pushed passed him, going to the body he was trying to hide with his own. She sank to her knees beside him. His body looked like a fallen marionette. Blood soaked his armor and there was a sword still inside his belly.

Belle did not cry at first. She removed his helm, and took his face in her hands. He was cold. "Vince?" She whispered. "Wake up. Please." She ran her fingers over his cheeks. She pressed a hand to his wound. She knew the feeling of old blood. Blood that as it dries gets thicker and darker. She knew there was no saving him, but she refused to let him go that easily. She shook him, bringing his head and shoulders onto her lap as she shook him. He was heavy in her arms.

"Wake up, Vince. Please. You said you wouldn't leave me." She rocked him, hunched over him. Tears running down her cheeks and splashing on Vince's face as they fell from her chin. "You said you wouldn't leave me." She looked to her husband. "What happened? Who did this?" She looked up at him, demanding answers.

"It was at the end of the battle." Robb told her. "He took the sword for me. I was with him when he died." He paused, and Belle waited for an answer, not looking from Vince's face. He did not look like himself. His eyes were closed and his face did not have its usual smile. He did not feel warm as he always did. His touch did not calm her now.

"What happened?"

"He told me it was my turn now." Robb told her. "And to tell you that she loved you. I do not know who 'she' is, but I have a feeling you do."

Belle's head bowed over Vince's again, her silver eyes shutting as she touched her forehead to his. She only let herself stay for a moment, before rising. She wiped her hands of his blood on her apron before wiping the tears from her face, leaving a bloody streak on her face. His blood.

"Promise me you will give his bones to his family." She said as another tear escaped from her eye.

"I promise." He said, not knowing anything to say to comfort her.

She nodded. "And I'm sure that that was hard for you to tell me. Thank you."

He just looked at her. "Why don't you go back to camp?"

She shook her head. "No. Vince would want me to keep going." She did not add that she could not deal with this now. She would not want them to see her scream and cry. "Vince would want me to save others."

"Belle…"

"No," she told him. "I can do this." She wiped her tears away again. "I can do this." She walked away then, her head held high as she walked to the nearest casualty.

He did not see her until late that night when she handed him a sealed letter with his family name on it and asked him to put it with his bones. She did not speak more than that. She went to sleep, trying to find peace in the unconsciousness.

But he awoke to find her thrashing and talking in her sleep.

"No, get off me, get off me!" She cried. "No. Please. Get off me. Get off me. Please. No. No. NO!"

"Belle," Robb shook her. "Belle!"

She awoke with a gasp and tears streaming down her face. She opened her lips as if to say something, but all that came out was a sob. Robb held her, not knowing what else to do. He could feel her shaking in his arms, terrified.

"What happened in your dream?" He whispered, holding her tightly as she shook. Her sobs had quieted, but he could almost feel what she was feeling. She was radiating it. The fear, the sorrow, the anxiety.

"It wasn't a dream." She said softly, her voice thick with tears. "It was a memory."

"A memory?"

"My own brother tried to rape me when I was thirteen years old." She told him. "And I killed him for it."

A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Please keep them coming! I tried to keep my promise and I know I'm a little late, but I hope to come up with a decent schedule to update in the next couple weeks. As long as I can keep the writer's block away. I do have a plan and an outline to this story, so the odds are in my favor.

Thanks!

Please review!

Kat