Quick note, thanks to Dreaming while awake, brandibuckeye, 97hollster, and Azalia Fox Knightling for their reviews, I'm glad you guys enjoyed the chapter! We pick up with the show here, its been fun giving Robb and Freya a backstory, now we get down to business.
Chapter 11
The next morning Freya watched from her window as Robb and Jon attempted to give Bran an archery lesson. She was supposed to stay inside because of her ankle, but watching Bran gave her an idea. She carefully set off in search of Arya, it was time for the two of them to have a little fun with the boys.
It didn't take long to find the little girl, she was stuck in a sewing lesson with Sansa and Septa Mordane. Freya paused to put on her proper lady mask before sweeping into the room. "Septa Mordane," she said sweetly. "How are you?"
"Good, child," the older woman replied. She always referred to the girls as child no matter how old they got. "How is your ankle today? Have you come to join our lesson? Sansa is doing some lovely stitching."
Freya looked over Sansa's shoulders to see what she had done. "Sansa that is beautiful, you'll have to show me how you did that later. I've actually come to borrow Arya for a little while. I need her help with some books," Freya said easily. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Arya's face light up. She knew how much the younger girl hated sewing.
"That should be fine, mind your manners young lady," Septa Mordane warned as Arya leapt out of her seat and headed toward the door with Freya.
"Thank you Septa," Freya called before they left the room.
"Where are we going," Arya demanded.
"The courtyard, where is your bow?"
"I keep mine with the rest of them, why?"
"Bran is having a lesson, I thought we might have a bit of fun. Let's show those boys how good we are," Freya said with a smile.
Arya darted ahead of her to find their bows and some arrows. They carefully crept behind the boys waiting for the opportune moment. "Wait for it," Freya warned softly. She and Arya raised their bows and pulled their arrows into place.
"Relax your bow arm," Robb instructed Bran.
Freya paused for a few seconds before whispering, "Now."
Arya releaseed first hitting the center of the target. Robb, Jon, and Bran all turned in surprise to see who had fired. Freya released her arrow, hers splitting Arya's down the middle. They both dipped into small curtsies as Jon and Robb started laughing. Bran ran at them causing Freya to step back. Arya took off leading Bran on a wild goose chase.
"Don't hurt her Bran," she called after him. "It was my idea!"
"Freya," Lord Stark called out from overhead. She visibly paled which caused Robb and Jon to start laughing again. She quickly picked her way around the fence to stand in the courtyard. She glanced up and smiled sheepishly. "An excellent shot young lady."
"Thank you my Lord," she said with a bright smile.
Lord and Lady Stark turned away when someone else called for their attention. Freya jumped when she felt a hand on her waist. "You're supposed to resting your ankle," Robb said giving her a mock look of seriousness.
"Messing with you and your brothers is more fun," Freya pointed out. Robb glanced up at where his parents had been standing then quickly looked around the courtyard. He gave her a quick kiss before stepping back from her.
"You two," Jon warned motioning over his shoulder. Rickon sat on a saddle nearby watching them curiously.
"Robb," Freya cried as she hit his arm. She quickly walked over to Rickon and helped him down. "What have you been up to little wolf?"
"Why was Robb kissing you," Rickon asked a look of disgust on his face. Boys his age would always find kisses from anyone but his mother gross. Jon burst out laughing at the child's obvious discomfort. Freya shot him and Robb an irritated look.
"What's it going to take for you to keep this between the two of us," she asked seriously.
"Can I have those arrows," Rickon asked pointing to the ones she and Arya had fired. "I won't tell, I promise. Are you going to marry Robb?"
Freya blanched at the question and turned to pull the arrows out of the target. "You want to answer that one," she asked Robb.
"Not really," Robb replied as he glanced over his shoulder to see if his parents are watching.
Freya handed the arrows to Rickon who was still waiting for his answer. "Maybe," she said evasively. "Why don't you help Robb find the rest of Bran's arrows?"
Rickon darted after Robb, he followed his older brother like a puppy sometimes. Freya smiled as she watched them. By this time Jon had come to collect the arrows from Robb as well. Freya glanced over her shoulder to see Lady Stark staring intently at Jon, a hard look in her eyes.
Freya placed a hand on Jon's shoulder and squeezed slightly. She and Jon had a different relationship than the rest of the children. They had both grown up with an understanding of exactly who they were, no one ever let them forget it. Being bastards brought them closer together. It was harder for Jon though, being in Lady Stark's face everyday, at least Freya was away from people who would be truly cruel about her bastard status, people did not refrain from treating Jon that way though.
"Ignore it," she said softly.
"It's hard to," Jon replied as he glanced briefly over his shoulder. Freya nodded understanding exactly what he meant.
"About last night, Robb and I didn't," Freya started to explain.
Jon immediately cut her off holding up his hand and shaking his head. "I don't want to know, it's none of my business, I won't tell anyone though," Jon said reassuringly.
"Good to know," Freya said as Theon came into view. He had a serious look on his face, something residents of Winterfell rarely saw.
"What's wrong Greyjoy," Jon asked.
"Desserter from the Night's Watch, your father wants us to come," Theon informed him. "You're looking lovely today Freya, how's the ankle?"
"Look what she did Theon," Rickon said excitedly holding up the arrows for him to see.
"Impressive little lion," Theon said with a smile. "Always knew you were a better shot than these two. Where is Bran? Your father wants him to come as well."
"He wants Bran to come to the execution? He's only 10," Freya said looking up to see that Lady Stark had heard her. Catelyn gave her a look that indicated her agreement but it was obvious Lord Stark was not going to change his mind.
"We'll look after him, don't worry," Jon said as he moved toward the stables.
"Can I come," Rickon asked, he was to young to understand what he was asking.
"No," Freya, Robb, and Theon said together.
"Why don't you come with me? We'll go see if they have anything for us to snack on in the kitchen," Freya suggested.
"All right," Rickon said taking her hand and pulling her away from the other two. He stopped suddenly and turned to look at his older brother. "Robb, will you be mad at me if I hold her hand? I don't want to kiss her," he said quickly. Robb and Freya blanched at his question both looking from one another then to Theon.
Theon snorted loudly before bursting into laughter. "Apparently your charm doesn't work on all the Stark men little lion," he said through his laughter.
"Don't make me get my bow back out Theon, I've been craving some practice on a moving target," Freya warned.
Robb quickly came over to them and knelt in front of Rickon. "I need you to do something for me Rickon, I need you to watch Freya while I'm not here, she tends to get herself into trouble when I'm not around, so I need you to keep an eye on her for me. You can hold her hand all you want, I know you won't kiss her," Robb explained a grin steadily growing across his face as he spoke. "She's very important to me."
"Do you love her," Rickon asked.
"I do," Robb said smiling up at Freya. She blushed and glanced down at Rickon.
"Do you love him," Rickon asked her.
She pursed her lips and knelt down to whisper in Rickon's ear, "I do, but I haven't told him yet, can you keep it a secret?"
Rickon nodded a serious look on his face. "I can't tell you what she said, its a secret," Rickon informed Robb.
"Keep your secrets you two," Robb said with a laugh. For a moment, he could see how this scene looked if no one knew Rickon was his brother. It looked a bit like a mother and father with their son. The thought surprised Robb, he'd thought of marriage before, but he'd never thought about having children. He glanced at Freya wondering for a moment what their children would like, probably a good deal like Rickon, the Tully hair, but with Freya's green eyes instead of brown.
Freya laughed at Rickon's reaction before standing back up. Robb stood too and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Look after her," Robb said before striding away to the stables. "Let's go Greyjoy!"
"You heard him, stay out of trouble you two," Theon called as he followed after Robb. Once he caught up with him, Theon gave him a serious look. "What were you thinking about back there? You laughed and then your face went serious."
"Nothing," Robb said with a shake of his head. He didn't want to admit that he was thinking like a girl, what will our children look like and similar nonsense. He'd never hear the end of it from Theon.
"You know, watching the two of you with Rickon, you looked like a family, the two of you would make good parents," Theon commented. Robb's eyes widened in surprise.
"Who'd make good parents," Jon asked. They had arrived at the stables and he was standing near the door saddling his horse.
"Robb and Freya, you should have seen them with Rickon," Theon explained.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Robb said as he headed into the stables.
"You've thought about it though, marriage at least," Jon pointed out. "Theon's right, the two of you would make good parents."
"She hasn't even said that she loves me, marriage isn't going to happen for awhile, if it happens at all. There's no point in talking about it," Robb said as he led his horse out of its stall.
"Perhaps, but you have thought about it," Theon pointed out as well.
"Yes, I've thought about it," Robb said with a roll of his eyes.
I know this chapter is short compared to some of the others, but I've got longer ones coming soon, so stay with me! Let me know what you think! Your reviews always inspire me to write more!
