The below is a sample of Nothing Burns Like the Cold- Part 2 of this Story. I wanted to make sure that everyone getting alerts on this story knew the new story was posted!

Chapter 1

Deirdre woke suddenly after the baby gave a few solid kicks to her ribs. She sighed, brushing her hand over her belly and wished she had nearly as much energy as her baby did. Or as much control over her body. When the baby decided to be active, Deirdre was forced awake but the baby also chose when to rest. Deirdre was forced to live on his or her schedule.

She wondered, yet again, about Robb's insistence that she carried two babies, two sons. The thought was strangely comforting; despite the fact it terrified her. To have two sons meant they'd never be alone, as she had grown up. Perhaps they'd have the close bond that Robb and Jon had. But she also worried that she'd lose one of them or even die in childbirth. The thought of not watching her children grow up terrified her.

Glancing over, she watched Robb sleeping for a few moments. As if he sensed it, he wrapped his arm around her, snuggling into her. She was glad they had made up before he left for the next battle. Kissing him gently, Deirdre wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head on his chest.

"You're awake early," he mumbled, kissing her. She loved his voice when it was still thick with sleep.

"The baby woke me. He controls my sleeping."

His fingers trailed down through her hair and he rested his hand on her back. "I'm sorry. I suppose lack of sleep is something you must be prepared for since when they're born, they will wake you often to nurse."

"Hmm," she agreed, not bothering to correct him about using 'they' versus 'he or she'. Robb was so convinced she was having twins, she suspected that was what he wanted to believe.

"It feels good to hold you again and wake up to you," he whispered, pulling her closer. "It's easier to forget what I've lost for a few moments when you're in my arms. Waking up alone is a cold feeling."

"I know." After a moment, she lifted her head to look at him. "I'm worry about the next battle and I'm glad we've resolved things mostly, but I must ask. Do you have any lingering feelings for Lady Talisa?"

"No. Honestly, I don't at all." Robb sighed and was quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure I ever had feelings for her. She was safe, or so I thought, but I don't miss or think about her, other than realizing what my relationship with her almost cost me. Once I realized what I had done to you, my only thoughts were that I must not lose you. And when I feared I might, I realized I'd give up anything for you: the crown, the war on the Lannisters, anything. I just couldn't lose your love."

"I don't think that love, true love, is not something you lose," she answered quietly. "But it is something you can destroy."

"I'll never forgive myself for almost destroying it," he admitted, shame crossing his handsome features.

"You said you doubted me partially because you always felt like you didn't deserve me." She sat up and looked down at him. "If you don't forgive yourself, you'll continue to feel you don't deserve me and we'll come to this place again. Robb, no matter who I loved first or who you think deserves me more: I love you and I chose to be with you because I think you deserve me. I'm tired of the doubts and fears between us. You almost laid with another woman due to fear I still loved your brother, who I haven't seen in almost a year, or that I'd chose my family over you, when my family threw me away a long time ago."

"I know. In my heart I knew it all along but my thoughts became so confused because I trusted Theon and he betrayed me."

"Theon was taken from his home as a child and kept from his family. He never stopped reminding people he was a Greyjoy or that the sea was in his blood. He always intended to go home some day. We don't know what happened once he did that made him betray you. Likely we'll never know. But I wanted away from my family long before I came to Winterfell. Do you remember what I said when Ser Amory and Willem came from Casterly Rock? I wanted to sign away everything just to be free of them all," she reminded him.

Robb studied her face for a moment before saying quietly, "I never thought Theon considered me as his enemy. And when Jon found out we were to marry, he said he had lost you to his 'better'. Theon was like a brother and Jon was my brother, but yet they thought of me differently than I thought of them."

"Jon loves you," Deirdre insisted. "He and I spoke many times about his feelings about being a bastard and he said the only thing that made it bearable was the love he felt for his brothers and sisters. He knew that none of you thought of him as your mother did. He only felt a distance from Sansa, but he still loved her. I think Jon just meant that the king thought of you as his better. Robb…Jon is not Theon. Theon's main loyalty was always himself."

"And my mother? How could she go behind my back like that?" Times like this, Robb stopped being the King in the North and was, once again, so young and vulnerable, his pain clearly visible on his face. Deirdre knew that no one saw this side of him now but her. She couldn't help but remember Bran calling it 'putting his Lord face on' when Robb looked so serious and mature.

Deirdre leaned forward and kissed him tenderly, stroking his cheek, before saying, "She was thinking of your sisters. She knew you'd be angry, but I don't think she thought about how dangerous it made your situation. She's lost your father, her home, her daughters, and her other sons are hostages. She was desperate and thought you'd understand."

"I do understand and I would gladly trade him for the girls if I thought that would end the war. Even though I still want revenge, if I thought we could go home to Winterfell and rule the North without Joffrey interfering with us or the Riverlands, I'd gladly trade Jaime and every other Lannister prisoner I have. But Joffrey and Cersei won't allow us peace; neither will Tywin, and now we have to worry about the ironborn." He sat up running his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "I want to go north and drive them out, I want to go home, but I can't without my sisters and a guarantee that we'll be allowed our freedom again in the north."

"I know," she whispered and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. "There haven't been good options for you, my love. This is why you and I must stay strong together." She lifted her head again and looked at him for a long moment. "I will always be here for you unless you push me away again."

He kissed her, desperately clinging to her. When he released her lips, he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and said, "I need you by my side or I cannot bear this. As you said, the north is crushing me; this crown is…I can't do this alone."

"You don't have to," she reassured him. "I'm never going to betray you so stop waiting for me to. I know it's hard for you to trust now but I have the most to lose if you fail so I'm trusting in you too." Placing his hand on her stomach, she smiled gently. "Besides, our child needs both of us."

Continued in Nothing Burns Like the Cold!