Disclaimer, game of thrones does not belong to me. I only own the original characters. Warning, this story is not edited, please try to ignore all grammatical errors. Thank you.

A/N Hey guys, my god it has been sooooo long. I've missed this story so much, you guys have been absolutely amazing. Your response to last chapter was great, you guys are awesome. Since its been so long since I've updated, I'll provide a brief recap of the last chapter, I seem to have confused some people with what happened. Sorry about that.

Recap of Chapter 22

Everra wakes up after Lady Olenna agrees for her and Loras to marry. She does not know where she is or remembers what happened. Jon reveals her to her that Lady Catelyn is dead as a result of Stannis attacking Renly's camp during the night and setting it on fire. Andromache is back. Robb won the battle of Oxcross. It is revealed to Everra by Jon that she was attacked by a shadow, like the one that killed Renly, except with Robbs face instead of Stannis. It is revealed in a dream/flashback thing that despite running away from the camp when she first saw the fire, Everra went back to get Jon and Catelyn. There, she is attacked by Robb's shadow and when she stabbed it in the stomach, she got injured instead. Jon rescues her and since he could not find Catelyn, left with an unconscious Everra. The chapter ends with Jon pressing a fiery blade against Everrra's stomach in order to stop it from bleeding due to her injury. The alliance between Everra and House Tyrell has been broken and her and Loras are no longer engaged as far as she knows. . .

Chapter 23

Robb awoke with the sound of screaming echoing in his ears as his eyes flew open abruptly. His heavy pants filled the otherwise silent tent and he raised a hand to his forehead, sighing loudly.

Nightmares seemed to come with being a King, it seemed.

The sun had just begun to rise, and the camp was still quiet. The soldiers has been up until late into the night, celebrating their victory. Robb felt uncomfortable with their sudden vulnerability, what if the Lannister's attacked whilst they were busy celebrating? He did not voice his concerns aloud however, somehow he knew that they needed this. They had been at war for what seemed like years, but was only a few short months. Their first victory had been weighed down in the wake of his fathers death. Even soldiers needed a chance to celebrate, if only for one night.

Though Robb noted that it had only been his soldiers, the unsullied had merely continued on as they usually did, training. Robb had to admire their obedience and strength, he had never seen such dedicated and loyal fighters before, regardless of whether or not that loyalty had been bought.

Robb slowly brought his hand back down to his side, closing his eyes tightly. He had never felt this exhausted in his life. He had never felt so. . . drained before.

He wondered if he would spend the rest of his life feeling this way.

In the few short weeks of his reign, he had felt more stress and tiredness than he had felt in his whole life. Granted, he was at war but Robb feared deep down that this tiredness would never of away. He dreaded it with all his being. His mother would say that he was being to hard on himself, and that he just needs some rest.

His mother.

They still had not yet heard from either Everra or his mother and Robb had begun to worry. Why had they not yet heard from them? They should have arrived their by now and received an answer from Renly. That is, if they were not dead.

No, Robb told himself fiercely, they are not dead.

Renly would not kill them, Robb hoped so anyway.

He reluctantly opened his eyes once more and pulled the warm furs off his body, before getting out of bed.

They weren't dead. His mother could not be dead.

He didn't think he would be able to handle it if she was.

Everra awoke to the feeling of a heavy body lying right next to her and reluctantly opened her eyes, not quite remembering where she was.

The first thing she noticed when she opened her eyes was the sight of curly black hair inches away from her face and she drew back slowly, careful not to wake Jon beside her. The memories flooded though her head as she took in her surroundings, noting that Ghost and Andromache were lying near by.

The sun had just begun to rise, causing the sky to fill with colour. The pounding in her stomach had slightly dimmed, but not by much, and Everra gritted her teeth at the feeling. At least the bleeding had stopped.

She propped herself up on her elbow and look around warily. They could not be found by anyone, they needed to keep moving.

She looked down at Jon, her face drawing into a frown as she noticed how peaceful and calm he looked. He looked more like her- their- mother than she cared to admit. They had the same mouth structure, the same coloured eyes. Those damn brown eyes were the exactly the same as their mothers, it almost scared her. Almost.

"Jon," she snapped harshly, reaching over to shake his shoulder, "wake up."

He frowned and his eye's opened lazily and when he realised how close to her he was, he scrambled backwards and was on his feet in seconds, his tiredness forgotten.

"My apologies, my lady," he muttered, " I'll prepare the horse."

"You do that," Everra replied coldly.

Jon looked slightly hurt by her coldness before his features hardened slightly and he nodded at her, stalking off towards the horse.

Everra felt a head rubbing against her shoulder and was surprised to see Andromache up and next to her. She shifted slowly onto her other side, the pain in her stomach erupting, before hesitantly placing her hand on top of her head, petting it slowly.

"Hey you," she whispered softly.

She had missed her. Andromache nuzzled her head in Everra's hand in response, purring.

"Yeah I know," Everra whispered softly, looking over at Jon whom was preoccupied with the horse.

She stiffened slightly at the discomfort she felt near her stomach and glanced down at it, frowning at the gruesome sight. She had no idea how close they were to Robb's camp. That was in the border of the Westerlands. From the looks of it, they had just left the Stormlands. That would require at least another two days of non stop riding to get there. But with her injury and because they only had one horse, they would be delayed by at least another two days. Everra knew of the rather large chance that she may not survive until then. The blade may have sealed her wound for the time being, but that could change soon.

"My lady?" Jon called out, holding onto the horses reigns as he walked forward towards her.

Everra shook her head slightly and nodded, her mind clearing.

She could focus on the probability of her dying later.

Robb observed the man standing in front of him cooly, shifting in his chair slightly. He had been listening to suggestions and strategies for hours and hours on end.

"We need more allies," Lord Bolton was saying, how firm voice echoing across the room.

The rest of the Lords looked reluctant but Robb could see a few of them nodding their heads in agreement. Robb's eyes glanced down quickly, conflicted before looking back at the older man, whom was looking at him, his eyes like glass. Never revealing anything but merely reflecting Robb's own expression.

"My mother and Lady Everra have both been sent to speak to Renly Baratheon. They departed a few weeks beforehand and we have not yet heard from them. Once, we hear from them, which I suspect in the near future we will, then we will either have 100,000 soldiers on our side or nothing at all. Until then, no further attempts at any other alliance should be taken. We can not risk offending Renly Baratheon or any other of his associates," Robb declared, his voice cutting off Lord Bolton.

The Lords around him nodded in agreement but Lord Bolton's voice soon broke out, "With all due respect your grace we have not yet heard from your mother or Lady Everra, perhaps this is a sign that we should take further action in furthering our relations with another house before the Lannisters take them all."

Robb looked at the man coldly, before replying, "My word is final, Lord Bolton. We wait."

The man nodded reluctantly, his ice blue eyes tightening but Robb looked away from him. The room was silent at the sound of the obvious edge in Robb's voice and as he looked around he found that not many of them were looking him in the eye.

"I think we've had enough discussions for today, my lords," he declared, " This meeting is now over."

The room erupted into conversation at Robb's words and Robb did not even wait for them to say thank him and whatnot before leaving the tent, his head throbbing.

He walked calmly past the guards outside the tent, nodding at those whom bowed and muttered 'your grace'. He needed to breathe. His worries about his mother were getting to him and he needed to go somewhere where no one could see him. Just for a few minutes. He could not have his people thinking he was weak.

When he finally managed to make it inside his tent, he almost sunk to the floor in relief. His Lords also seemed to think that his mother and Lady Everra had failed. They couldn't have failed though, could they? Would they not have been informed by now? It had been a few weeks now had it not? They should have sent something by now. Been back by now. Anything.

Robb let his hands run to his head and tighten in his curls as he sank down onto his chair, sighing loudly. Whom else would he ally himself with? If Lady Everra and his mother had succeeded in their tasks, they would have both Renly and the Tyrells behind them. Their chances of beating the Lannister's would triple. If they had failed. .

Robb shuddered slightly and brought his hands to his knees. His blue eyes were conflicted as they looked around him.

Winning a war was harder than he could have ever possibly imagined.

Everra could feel the suns rays beating down on her head through her cloak and shifted uncomfortably on top of the horse. Jon was walking silently, his hands still clutching the horses reigns. They had not spoken for many hours, making the journey in silence. Andromache and Ghost had each taken to be on either side of the horse, walking next to Everra.

The sun had long since risen up in the sky, beating down on them. The sky was slowing turning into a shade of orange, a sign of the inevitable darkness creeping up on them. They had not stopped for hours on end, except for the occasional stop to refill their water and to give the horse some water.

They continued for another hour or so in silence, the sun finally beginning to set. Both of them had begun to feel just how empty their stomachs were and how their muscles were aching and so they stopped and set camp. The forest was a dark and unforgiving place, and despite their tiredness both Jon and Everra were on constant alert. Rapists and murderers lurked the woods, hiding in the darkness and despite both Andromache and Ghost being near them it would be foolish to believe that would stop them.

Everra propped herself up against the bark of the tree, watching Jon closely. He was gathering logs of wood and stacking them together in a small pile, preparing to make a fire. Everra watched as Jon looked around warily, his eyes narrowing and his eyebrows drawing into a frown.

"We need food," Everra declared loudly and she took amusement in how startled he look at the sound of her voice.

"If we're going to have the energy to keep on moving forward we are going to need something to eat, Jon," Everra said, "You can't find anything here, your going to need to go hunt."

Jon frowned at her, standing up from his crouching position, "I can't leave you alone, unprotected my lady, what if a rapist or a murderer comes-"

"If they come I'll be dead anyway," Everra interrupted, her voice final and her eyes cold.

"If someone comes, I'll scream. You need to hurry, we can not make our fire during the night or else we will alert other people to our presence. The earlier in the daytime we light the fire, the less likely it will attract anyones attention. Understood?" She demanded.

Jon nodded and looked down, his brown eyes still looking conflicted.

"Go," Everra snapped.

Jon reached for his sword hesitantly, looking back at her one last time before disappearing behind the trees, leaving Everra with only Andromache and Ghost for company.

She sighed loudly, her voice echoing across the inclosed space.

"You've been doing well," a voice said from in front of her.

Everra froze from where she was sitting at the sound of the voice and her hands curled into fists as she looked up at the old woman, her green eyes tightening with anger.

She didn't respond and merely stared at the old woman, her frosty glare speaking for itself.

The woman shifted on her feet uncomfortably, and cleared her throat before rasping out, "There have been changes-"

"Changes?" Everra snapped loudly, "I almost got killed. That was not supposed to happen. I got attacked by one of those shadows that Stannis sent after Renly, except this one had Robb's face. Please explain that to me-"

"A greater power than I could have foreseen is trying to thwart our plans, my lady," the older woman said defensively, "I am here to discuss with you those changes."

Everra looked down for a brief moment, collecting herself, before looking back up, "Go on."

The older woman took a few hesitant steps forward towards Everra before saying, "The red witch's powers are more. . . powerful than I thought they were-"

"Melissandrei did this to me?" Everra asked harshly.

The old woman looked reluctant before she spoke, "I'm not quite sure, I'm afraid my lady. Those shadows that she creates take the form of the people. The victims of those shadows see it take the form of the person whom wants them dead the most. The shadow which attacked you took the form of the Young wolf which can only imply that-"

"He wants me dead," Everra finished, her voice slightly tainted with bitterness.

The old woman opened her dry mouth slightly, before closing it. She had no reply to that.

"You figured out my riddle, however," The older woman said, her voice slightly proud.

Everra glanced back at the woman, her green eyes looking slightly annoyed, "Yes the only obvious conclusion could have been Lord Baelish. . ."

Her voice drifted off as something dawned on her, her eyes widening. The older woman frowned and asked, "My lady?"

"Lord Baelish?" Everra asked, "Was he there at the camp? I did not see him but if he saw Catelyn that means that she will want to set Jaime free and I can no let that happen. . ."

"Yes, that is a problem," The older woman agreed sympathetically.

Everra frowned as the reminder dawned on her, " But Catelyn's dead, how could she possibly. . ."

The older woman raised an eyebrow at her in response.

When Jon returns the woman has long left Everra to her own thoughts. Everra was slightly conflicted. She had no idea what she felt. Surprise? Shock, relief, anger. . . Her feelings towards the Stark woman were never anything more than dislike and bitterness and that did not change despite the recent developments in whether or not she was still breathing air.

Jon returns with two rabbits having from his hands and Everra watches as he skins them and lights a small fire, propping them on sticks above the fire.

"Jon," she starts, breaking the silence, "Are you absolutely sure that Lady Catelyn is dead?"

Jon looked at her weirdly, his brown eyes tainted with suspicion as he replied, "Yes I'm sure."

Everra pressed on however, for the first time oblivious to another's suspicion of her actions, "Are you absolutely positive-"

"I am sure that Lady Catelyn is dead," Jon interrupted coldly, his voice firm and filled with annoyance.

Everra looked at him, surprised at his tone. Her death was affecting him more than he cared to let on.

"You cared about her," she observed, her eyes narrowing as she watched him stiffen at her observation, "You always wanted her approval didn't you?"

Jon stiffened even more and diverted his eyes from hers, "Lady Catelyn was a. . . generous woman whom loved her children. She did not deserve to die as she did."

Everra almost snorted at his answer and did not stop her onslaught of observations, "Why are you pretending that she did not despise you with every fibre of her being?"

Jon's jaw locked tightly as his eyes locked with hers and he snapped, "Because, Lady Everra, I did not know my birth mother at all and I probably never will. Lady Catelyn was the closest thing to a mother I've ever had, regardless of her personal feeling towards me, that is important. It does not matter whether or not she loved or even liked me, she gave me my brothers and my sisters. Thats all I could ever really want for a family."

Our mother loved you. Everra can almost feel the words slip onto her tongue and the sudden urge she feels to reassure him that he did have a mother who loved him was unfamiliar and frightening. The words almost fell out of her mouth but she stopped herself and simply chose to look at him.

They did not speak for the rest of the night.

It is two days after his slight break down when Robb wakes up to the sounds of shouting from across the camp. Before he realises, he is out of bed and slipping a tunic over his head and slipping on his boots, running outside his tent. The soldiers part when they see him walking quickly past them as his heart leaps in his throat. They heard news of Renly Baratheon's death but nothing of his mother and Lady Everra and the hope he feels may be naive but it is unstoppable.

He stops in his tracks at the sight of his mother standing a few feet away from him, infant of he horse and next to a large blonde haired woman covered in armour. His heart leaps in his chest as his eyes connect with hers and he feels very tempted to run to her like a little boy before calming himself down and walking. He hugs her tightly when he reaches her, showing weakness be damned but it is only the realisation that Everra and Jon are nowhere to be seen that finally pulls him away.

It's then he touches the small scratch under his mothers eye, the dark grey that had covered her otherwise pale skin. Ash, he realises and lifts a finger to brush against the side of her cheek, frowning at the dirt that suddenly appeared on his fingers. He feels a presence near them and turns around slightly to see Ser Daavos looking around, his eyes narrowing as he also comes to the realisation that Everra is nowhere in sight.

"Mother?" Robb asks, his voice concerned, "What happened? Where are Jon and Everra-"

"I don't know," she replied, her blue eyes worried, "Stannis attacked the camp just as Renly was killed. There was fire and smoke everywhere, it was hectic, you could barely move let alone go and search for anyone. Lady Brienne and I managed to escape. We looked for Lady Everra and Jon but we could not find them."

Robb's heart suddenly dropped, his eyes narrowing slightly at his mother.

"Couldn't find them?" A cold voice asks from behind them, "My lady, what did you mean by you could not find them?"

Robb can see his mother frown at the mans tone before she responds, "If we had stayed we would have been killed, Ser-"

"Then you should have died looking for her," Daavos snaps loudly.

"That is my mother, Ser Daavos, I understand if you are upset but you will hold your tongue," Robb snaps at him, his blue eyes flashing fiercely, clashing against the furious grey.

Ser Daavos shakes his head at the both of them and stalks away from them, both disgust and anger clear on his face.

Robb's stomach tightened in his stomach as the sudden image of Jon and Everra being burned alive slowly engrained itself into his mind.

"Robb?" his mother asks gently.

Robb looks at her, slightly startled and says, "Go rest mother, we will talk later."

The only thing keeping Everra's soldiers from being here was that Everra wanted them to be here. To fight for him. If she was dead, Robb was almost absolutely positive that they would turn to Daavos for guidance next. If the look he had shot them earlier said anything, Robb knew that Daavos would stab him in the back the first chance he got. A man in love was dangerous, especially when enraged.

He could not lose her men. If he wanted any chance of winning.

Guilt suddenly flooded through him as he realised that Jon was dead too.

"Jon?" he calls after his mother, whom had begun to walk away.

Catelyn pauses in her tracks and turns to face him, her face looking grievous as she shakes her head in confirmation of the horrible truth.

Please be alive, Robb thinks, please please please.

They had been travelling for almost a week when Everra first begins to feel the numbness creeping in. Her stomach has been throbbing constantly and so when the pain dulls slightly she is relieved but when she can not feel it all is when she knows that she may die soon. She had not told Jon yet. With no sight of Robb's camp and nothing else to do but keep moving forward Everra did not quite know what to say.

They had not talked much since their small argument, merely talking when they absolutely had to. She preferred that to talking, she was already forming an. . . attachment to him and she knew that attachments were dangerous. She did not want nor need one. Yet he looked so much like her mother that sometimes she could not help it.

The day the numbness comes is also the first day they have an interaction with others besides themselves.

They had just set camp, Everra propping herself up against the bark of the tree when she suddenly feels the cool metal of a blade pressed tightly against her throat. Before the man can even speak, Jon had expertly thrown a knife directly at his face, watching calmly as the blood trickled down and dripped on Everra's head. The sword dropped in her lap as the man fell beside her, dead.

"You've been taught well," she commented, feeling almost proud.

Jon's lips turn up slightly as he looks at her, "Well I learned from the best."

Everra's lips quirk up slightly at his response and she watches as Andromache settles herself near Jon, her tail wagging.

"She likes you," She says.

Jon looks up at her her startled, "Is that a bad thing, my lady?"

"No," Everra replies cooly, "its merely unusual. She thinks that other people besides me are food."

Jon smiles slightly and gently pats Andromache's head and he shrugs in response.

Everra fears that she's attached to him already.

When they finally arrive at the camp, it is nightfall and everyone has slowly begun to fall asleep. When Jon firsts see's the sight of the camps straight ahead, he perks up, grabbing the attention of both Andromache and Ghost as he exclaims, "My lady, we are almost there."

Everra did not answer, she had fallen asleep and had slouched over onto of the horse. Jon reached up to gently touch her shoulder as he said, "My lady, please wake up, we are almost there."

Her green eyes look at him grouchily for a moment, before they snap back into their usual aloofness.

"Who goes there?" A voice yells and Everra can hear the sound of swords being unsheathed.

"Jon Snow and Lady Everra Legrath, Warden of the Bloodlands and ally to the King the North," Jon declares.

Everra can barely keep her eyes open, but manages to hear the shouts of recognition and could see the light from the torches heading towards them.

"My lady!" A familiar voice yells loudly, running towards them.

Everra can feel Jon's arms around her waist, pulling her down gently and holding her arms as she stumbles on her feet. She can barely make out Daavos's face and feels a fur being wrapped around her shoulder and she suddenly feels herself being supported by Daavos instead of Jon.

"Get Jon something to eat, drink and bathe in," she commands to a soldier that is surrounding them and she watches as Jon is escorted away from them, Ghost right at his heels.

She barely remembers the walk back to her tent and when she is finally hurried inside, Daavos hugs her tightly to his chest and she can practically feel his relief flooding through her.

Hesitantly, Everra lifts up her arms and awkwardly manages to return the gesture, allowing herself to be comforted by him just this once.

"We thought you were dead," he whispered, "I thought you were dead. Lady Catelyn said-"

Everra pulls back away from him, the moment of intimacy gone.

"Catelyn is alive?" she questioned.

Daavos frowned at her and quickly poured her a glass of water, passing it to her. She grabbed it from his hands greedily and gulped it all quickly.

"Yes," Daavos replied.

Everra placed the cup down on the table nearby and said, "We thought she was dead. I wasn't sure, the old woman said she was alive but. . ." Her voice drifted off slightly.

"The old woman?" Daavos questioned, "Why was she there?"

Everra hesitated for a moment, her eyes meeting his before saying, "Because something changed Daavos. Events changed. A shadow like the one that killed Renly Baratheon was sent after me too."

Her voice had delved into a whisper by then, her eyes glancing at the entrance of the tent warily. Daavos's eyes had widened slightly and he was about to speak before she cut him off.

"Except Daavos, the shadow sent after me had Robb's face on it."

"What?" Daavos exclaimed loudly, his voice rising with fury. "That pathetic son a-"

"Quiet Daavos," Everra snapped, " the old woman said that the victims of the shadow see it in the form of the person whom wants them dead the most. Accept, the only thing to this is, is that Robb has no reason to want me dead. Heck, he is probably almost in love with me anyway, or is getting there for that matter. He would not want me-"

Her voice drifts off at the sight of Robb at the entrance of her tent, looking at her, his eyes full of poorly disguised relief.

"Your grace," she says, her voice cool, "I was just about to send word to you about my arrival but I wished to properly prepare myself first. It is a pleasure to see you again."

Daavos's eyes dart between the two of them and he feels himself grow wary as Robb looks at him and asks politely, "Ser Daavos, if you would not mind leaving me and Lady Everra alone for a moment please."

Daavos looks at Everra for confirmation before he goes and when she nods back, he reluctantly leaves. His eyes connecting with Robb's as he walks out.

"My lady," Robb starts, " it is. . it is a relief to see that you are alive and well. We all thought you had perished in the fire."

Everra nodded at Robb and heard the words leave her lips, "Thank you for your kind wishes you grace, they are most appreciated."

There was an undeniable tensions between them. A newfound friction as they both stared intensely at each other. It was not sexual or romantic tensions, but one of great mistrust, confusion and well . . . something they did not even know.

Robb can still feel the relief flooding through him as he looks at her. He cares for her. Maybe more than he should, but he does. He admires her strength, her authority, her advice. Though he does pity her as well.

"What happened to you?" he finds himself asking. He frowns at the blank expression on her face, almost as if she had not heard the question he had just asked. Her hand had risen to her stomach and it is only now that Robb notices the large tear near her stomach, at the sight of dried blood makes his stomach lurch.

"Lady Everra?" he asks warily.

Robb can hear her gulp from here and so he slowly walks towards her, his face drawing into a frown.

"I'm fine," she mutters determinedly, her eyes looking slightly wild.

"I am fine, your grace."

She stumbles slightly as she says it and Robb can feel his heart begin to pound in his chest as he notices her eyes beginning to look dazed. When her eyes turn to the back of her head and her body begins to fall to the ground, Robb lurches forward and manages to catch her in his lap. He looks down at her face, how her usual pink lips were white and chipped and her usual coloured skin now pale and sickly. The fear he feels now is immense and the thought that she may die in his arms shakes him.

"Help!" he yells as loudly as he can, holding onto her unconscious form tightly, "Help!"

Weakness be damned.

A/N And we are out! Hope you guys liked it guys. There was a lot of character drama this chapter, I hope you guys all liked it. Also, there are some changes from the book and show, with the whole shadow thing, but it is an important part to this story. Also, I hope you guys liked the fact that Catelyn is not really dead. Usually I'm not a big fan of the whole oh she's dead but then she's not thing but I made an exception this time around. I still need Catelyn for this story, so.. . . I hope you guys are ok with that. Also, your response to last chapter was AMAZING GUYS! Marvelmyra, I know that it is not February yet, and that only because I took a break today was I able to write /upload this chapter but I wish you a Happy early birthday. I was also born in February too so I wish you all the best on your happy day. I don't know when I'll update next, I still have exams and stuff but hopefully it will be pretty soon. Thanks again guys. Remember to tell what you think and if you have any complaints, just tell me. Love you all. THANKS SO MUCH! :)