"Oh gods. Oh gods." Ella cried, looking at the marks she had been counting since her last moon cycle on a piece of parchment.
"Are you all right?" Catelyn said, walking into the King and Queen's tent.
Ella flipped the piece of paper over, and stood up. "Yes. I am completely fine."
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. It's just paper." Ella told her.
"It didn't sound like just paper." Catelyn replied. "You can tell me. It's not good keeping everything inside you."
Ella paused for a long moment. "I think I might be pregnant."
Catelyn stepped towards the girl. "Sit down." She told her. "How long has it been?"
"Over two months." Ella told her. "I promised Robb I would tell him but if I do he will send me back to Winterfell."
"Because that is the safest place for you." Catelyn told her. "He just wants to protect you and your child."
"But my place is here, next to him. Advising and letting him know of the weaknesses I know of. That is my place." Ella told her, rubbing her temples. "I don't want to leave him here."
"You love my son, don't you?" Catelyn said.
Ella nodded. "I do."
"Then you have to do what is best for all of you. Tell him, maybe stay another month, but it will be best for you to be around people who can help you. Get a midwife. Get seven, you'll need it." Catelyn told her. "My girls will help you however they can. You can take Snow with you if you want."
"His name is Jon, Lady Catelyn." Ella told her, her voice getting a bit harder. "And yes, if he agrees, I would love to bring him with me. But he can make his own choices."
"I meant no offense."
"I know you didn't." Ella said. "But he is a person, even if you do not like him, you don't have to be unkind to him."
"Of course, your grace." Ella knew what that meant. She had heard it enough. It's what people said to her mother. To her father. It meant that they would agree. It meant that they would lie. It meant that they stopped listening to whatever royal that was speaking.
XXX
"Robb?" Ella asked when she was putting on her nightgown that night.
"Yes?" He asked.
"I think I'm pregnant." She told him, not facing him. She knew what he would say. She knew what he would do. He would leave the tent. He would get an entourage to lead her back to Winterfell. To keep her and their unborn child safe from harm
"What?" He was out of bed in an instant and standing behind her, stark naked. "You're pregnant?"
"Please don't send me to Winterfell. Not yet." She finally turned around to look at him, and the look on his face was pure joy.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"As sure as I can be." She said. "Please don't-" But he cut off her request with a kiss. Ella knew that this is the happiest he had been in months.
There were good and bad moments during everything. Even in a time of war, with people dying, and him losing his father, he still was happy with the prospect of Ella having his child. He was happy. So happy. Ella could feel it in his kiss. Ella could feel it in his touch. How he pulled her to him before pulling away, smiling.
"We're having a baby." He said softly, before kneeling in front of her and pressing a kiss to her abdomen. "Do you think it's a boy or girl?"
"I'm very sure it's too early to possibly tell." Ella laughed quietly, running her fingers through his hair before her hands cradled his face. "I'm sure we will have to wait until the baby is born."
"Gods, I love you." He stood and kissed her again, pulling off the dress she had so recently put on, making her laugh.
"You know, there was a time where you slowly undressed me." She said, though she didn't stop him, and pressed her naked body against his.
"I always liked you without clothes most." He told her. "I'm just not afraid to make it happen quickly anymore." He pulled her in for another kiss.
Ella broke away, laughing. "You're ridiculous."
"You love it." He said before he bit at her neck.
"Hmm." Ella hummed happily. "Yeah, I do."
Robb rubbed his hands up and down Ella's back slowly. Ella tilted her head back, enjoying him just touching her as she ran her fingers through his hair. She loved his hair, and hoped that their child would have his auburn curls as well.
Robb pulled away from her, his eyes still shining bright in the candlelight. "If it is a boy can we name him after my father?"
Ella smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course."
He kissed her again, able to be happy in that one moment. Truly happy.
XXX
"You're going to see Renly and Stannis if the battle goes as planned." Jon said.
Ella nodded. "If everything goes as planned we will get Riverrun. The last thing I can do before I go to Winterfell is get my uncles to join us. Would you like to come? I will feel better if I have someone I know well with me."
"Of course I will." Jon said.
Ella smiled. "Good. We leave at dawn."
Jon nodded slowly.
"How are you doing? With losing your dad." He had been very quiet in the last few weeks.
"I'm all right." Jon said. "He told me when he left that he would tell me who my mother was when we saw each other again. I guess I'll never know now."
Ella frowned. "I'm sorry." She put down her bow and walked towards him. "Do you want to talk?"
"No. No. I'm fine."
"Jon..." She reached out to touch his shoulder. "Don't lie to me."
"Okay, yeah, I do." Jon said. "But I don't know what to say."
"Sit down." She told him, pulling him down with her to sit in the grass.
Jon didn't fight her.
"Just say whatever you want to. I'm here to listen." Ella told him.
"I want to kill Joffery." Jon told her, ripping some grass out of the earth.
"I know you do." Ella said, her hand rubbing between his shoulder blades.
"It wasn't even a move for the war." He said. "They just killed him because they could, not because it would help them in any way."
"They're sick." Ella told him. "They just wanted to cause pain."
"Then they got what they wanted." Jon said. "I'm ashamed to give them the satisfaction."
"Don't be. We cannot help but feel what we feel." Ella told him. "Turn it into your strength."
"You sound like your uncle." Jon told her.
"Which one?" Ella replied.
"Tyrion. He told me to use being a bastard as armor, and now you're telling me to use being sad as a strength." Jon told her.
"You're not only sad, Jon. You're angry. They're very powerful emotions, and only making it easier to fight." Ella said. "It's a terrible thing, but it helps focus us on what needs to be done."
"Is this what it was like when you lost your father?" Jon asked her.
Ella shook her head slowly. "I did not love my father as you love yours."
Jon stood up, and let the grass in his hand go. "You should probably gather your arrows."
Ella nodded, "Okay." She stood and walked to the arrows she shot.
"The soldiers are returning." Jon said, looking across the field as they watched soldiers returning to camp. There was a big group of them, and they could hear yelling. The group was normal; the yelling was not. "Something's going on."
Ella put her arrows back in her quiver. "Let's go see what is happening, then." She said, slinging her bow over her shoulder.
The two walked back to camp to hear yelling.
"We got the Kingslayer!" Some lord cried.
Ella felt her heart drop to her stomach. She must see him. She must see her uncle. For more than just to hear him confirm what she already knew about her siblings. Out of anyone, he would be the person who knew the reason why Cersei killed her first child. He could tell her everything she wanted to know, and she would be able to tell if he was lying or not. She had to see him.
But the moment that Ella made it through the crowd of men with Jon close behind her, and her husband saw her, his eyes widened.
"Jon get her out of here." Robb yelled at his half brother.
That made the Kingslayer look up. He looked nothing like her uncle. He was covered in mud and blood. His hair was matted, and his once shiny armor had dulled. He was held by two men with his hands behind his back. He stared at his niece, but did not show any emotion. Not in front of her.
"No!" Ella cried as she felt Jon's arms wrap around her waist. "Please, just let me see him." She fought against Jon, but he was much bigger and stronger than she was. Though he struggled, he was able to pull her away as she struggled.
"Jon. Please. Please. Please." She begged, fighting him the best she could, but she was shaking at the thought of seeing her uncle again. She had to see him, she had to.
"You know I can't." Jon said. "It would not be good for you."
"I can handle this." She told him as she stopped struggling.
"And you will, after he is in chains and you will be safe."
"He wouldn't hurt me." Ella said confidently.
"Isn't that what you thought of your mother as well?" Jon asked.
Ella slowly turned towards him. "Okay, I am blind when it comes to people I love. But he could never hurt me. Especially if the rumors are true. I look too much like my mother. Everyone tells me so"
"But you don't." Jon told her. "You have black hair and blue eyes, you are beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I don't see much resemblance anymore."
"Anymore?"
"When you first arrived in the North you were angry at everything and everyone."
"And I am still angry."
"No, you are passionate. You know what needs to happen and how to get it." Jon said. "Much better than the cold woman your mother is."
Ella paused. "She wasn't always so cold."
Jon grimaced. "Let's get you back to your tent. I'm sure you can see your uncle later."
Ella nodded slowly, knowing that there was no way she would be allowed to see him until after the spectacle had ended.
XXX
"You may not see him." Robb told her after already a half hour of arguing. "Look at what your own mother did to you. You are not Jaime's child, imagine what he would do to you given the change!"
"He is not like my mother! He is chained up in a cage." Ella replied. "I just want to ask him something."
"I have Greatjon asking him questions right now." Robb replied. "He is not answering."
"He will speak to me!" Ella said. "I am his niece. We have been through too much for him to just ignore me."
"That was before you betrayed your family."
"Is that what I am? A traitor?" Ella demanded. "If I am a traitor what does that make the rest of my family? My mother is a kinslayer, then. My siblings are products of incest. Maybe we're all just a bit too fucked up for this world. I wonder what that makes you if you love me."
"I did not mean it like that." Robb said. "You're being irrational."
"I'm being irrational? Out of everyone here, who will he speak to? A girl he has known since her birth or a brute of a man who he has never seen before?" Ella replied. "Do you see my logic here?"
"You will not see him." Robb told her.
"Is that an order, dear husband?" Ella asked.
"Yes, it is." He told her. "You are my wife and you will do what I say."
Ella stared at him a moment before she laughed without humor. "We both know I take orders so well. Should I undress and lie on the bed as well?"
"You're being unfair."
"I am being unfair?" She demanded. "You're the one giving me orders!"
"It is what is best for you!"
"What is best for me? How do you know what is best for me? I believe that I can take care of myself just fine."
"Do you not remember when you took care of yourself when you ate what your mother sent you?"
Ella took a deep breath. "That is low, Robb." She turned away from him.
He seemed to know how far he went over the line. "I'm sorry." He reached for her.
Though she couldn't see him, she flinched away from him. "Don't touch me. Don't you dare touch me."
Robb just froze, unable to speak.
"Go too sleep, your grace. You have a war to fight in."
"Ella."
"I don't believe I need to repeat myself."
Robb backed away from her, knowing that she would not speak to him for the rest of the night.
Ella didn't face him, and he watched her back, her dark hair down her back as sat in a chair, a glass of water in her hand. He watched her until he fell asleep hours later.
Ella could tell when he was asleep by his light snoring. She turned to make sure his eyes were closed when she stood up. He couldn't order her around; no one could. He may be her husband, but she was the queen by birth.
Ella left the tent quietly, it had to be just hours before dawn. She would not have been able to sleep anyway. Not with answers being so close to her.
Grey Wind padded up to her and nuzzled against her.
"Go away." She told him, but with every step she took, he would follow.
"Will you stay quiet?" She asked the wolf, feeling a bit ridiculous for doing it.
The wolf whined a bit, nuzzling against her stomach.
"I'll take that as a yes." She said as she walked towards where she knew the captured Lannisters would be, in the center of the camp.
When she arrived, her uncle was alone in one cage. Six people were guarding the cages, and she was stopped as she walked towards them.
"My lady, the king said no one can see the prisoners."
"And now your queen is giving you orders to let me inside." Ella said, her voice hard. "Now are you going to get in my way or do the smart thing?"
The soldier paused, causing Grey Wind to growl beside her, and the soldier quickly got out of her way.
"Good decision. Take ten paces farther away from the prison if you please." She told him before she strode passed him and walked towards the cage before opening the cage door. Grey Wind walked in beside her.
The kingslayer was tied to a post, sitting in the mud. He slowly looked up to see his niece standing before him. "I wondered how long it would be until you came to see me."
A/N: I honestly meant to update this sooner, but I've been working a lot this week, and if I haven't been working, I've been prepping for a training course I'm doing later this summer, and if I'm not doing that I'm working on getting in colleges. In case anyone is wondering, this is the scariest, hardest summer of my life so far…and I've only been out a few weeks.
ptl4ever419: Joffery's an idiot, remember? Haha. Thank you for your review!
ZabuzasGirl: Here you go! Thank you for your review!
Ojha: Exactly! Haha. Thank you for your review!
fairydaisy777: Here you go! Thanks for your review!
Masks and Teapots: You have described Joffery perfectly! Thank you for your review!
LunaEvanna Longbottom: I know! I did too! GRRM tricked us all. Thank you for your review!
metaladdict: I completely agree; Ella isn't Arya. Thank you for your review!
Please review!
Kat