A/N: Hey guys, thanks for your support on the sequel. It's much appreciated. Hope you enjoy this new chapter, only one more after this until part one is over with.
unnamed visitor: Thank you, I'm glad you're looking forward to it. None of those things you mentioned will happen in the last few chapters, they will all be part of the sequel. I do hope to start posting it soon after this story ends, but it may take me a few weeks to get ahead with things. Yes, you can bet they will be keeping and eye on Connington, especially given what happened with Bolton. Yes indeed, Sansa certainly had a happy chapter. Imagination is a great thing, and I really do appreciate you sharing your ideas with me, but I would just hate to promise to write something when I don't know if I can manage it. Anyway, thank you so much as always, hope you enjoy the new chapter.
Guest: Yes I will still have Jeyne around, she just won't be as prominent as she has been in this story, thanks for the support.
Right-ho folks, onwards!
:)
XLIX
"My queen," Ser Damon bowed to her when he came through the door, and Roslin managed a smile for him. "I am attending council with the king," she told him, "I would like you to stay here and guard the princess." He frowned at that, and she couldn't blame him. There were already guards outside her daughter's nursery, and guards stationed at either end of the hallway. Robb had ordered them there even before the Targaryen host had arrived. Roslin knew she was likely being overcautious, but she did not trust that man Jon Connington one bit, and she would not be able to settle in council unless someone she trusted implicitly was guarding Bethany. "She is likely to be much less trouble than I am," she raised a brow in Ser Damon's direction, and he inclined his head. "I will still keep one eye on her, and one on the door," he assured her, and she managed another smile for him.
"I don't know how long I will be," she said apologetically, smoothing the front of her dress. "I will be here until you come back," Ser Damon promised her, and she inclined her head gratefully. "Thank you," she said warmly, whispering her fingers across the back of her daughter's hand before bending into the cradle to press a kiss to her forehead. With that she straightened up, inclining her head once more to Ser Damon before she made her way to the door. She took a deep breath once out in the hallway, standing herself as tall as possible before she made her way back to her chambers. Robb was pacing when she opened the door, his crown already atop his head. He paused and sent her a strained smile when he caught sight of her, and she determined to return the gesture. "How was Bethany?" he asked her as she moved to the dresser to place her own crown atop her head.
"Oblivious," she told him drily, hearing him snort slightly in response. "Lucky her," he muttered, and she couldn't help but agree with him. "I asked Ser Damon to stay in the nursery for the day," she told him as she turned around, catching sight of the muscle twitching in his jaw. "You ought not to have to," he said irritably, "we are supposed to be safe here." Roslin crossed to him at once, her hands coming to clasp around his upper arms. "We are," she said firmly, "likely I am being overcautious, I was told it was something that comes with being a mother."
"I pray you're right," he said distractedly, and she rubbed her hands more firmly up and down his arms, feeling how tense he was. "What is it?" she asked him softly, and he sighed heavily in response. "I feel like all of this could be simple, if not for a few things," he told her, and she smiled slightly. "Connington?" she guessed, and he nodded curtly. "And Stannis," he muttered, "what you did with him was right, but we were allied with him for a time, and a meeting was agreed upon."
"Grudgingly, on his part," Roslin reminded him. "But it was still agreed," Robb insisted, "and when he hears of this, I have no doubt that he will be insisting on us living up to our side of the bargain." Roslin nodded her agreement at that, they did still owe Stannis a meeting, whether they liked it or not. She couldn't help but feel that Robb was right, that the man would insist upon it happening as soon as he discovered just who Robb was entertaining at Riverrun. "Things are different now," she reminded her husband, "we have another choice lay before us now, an easier choice, some would say. We could never allow Stannis to seat the Iron Throne, he would destroy everything the people hold dear. He would destroy the Gods themselves, Robb. You know we could never have backed him, not like that."
"No, I know," Robb agreed, albeit distractedly, and Roslin sighed heavily. "We ought to go, we shouldn't keep them waiting too long," she said, "all of this is going to be edgy enough without adding any unnecessary tension." Robb agreed with her, stepping away and going to the door. She followed him, closing it shut behind them and taking his arm. Their guards fell into step behind them, and as they drew closer to the end of the hallway she noted that Lords Flint, Tully, and Cerwyn were waiting for them with stony expressions. "We keep control of the North and the Riverlands," Robb told them in an undertone, and they nodded. "If he agrees to that, then we can talk about the Iron Throne, but not before," he continued, and again they nodded, Roslin's grip increasing slightly on his arm.
"Good," Robb said, though he sounded anything but pleased. Again they went on their way, the three lords joining their party as they made their way to the council chambers of Riverrun. The doors were stood open, and Roslin could see that the Targaryen host were already in attendance. As one she and Robb stepped through the doors, and Roslin made sure to hold her head up high as those waiting turned in their direction at once. Sansa greeted her at once with a wide smile, and Roslin returned it, not missing the dark look that crossed Jon Connington's face at the exchange. He could scowl all he wanted, Roslin decided, it was only Aegon that Robb was interested in treating with. Roslin just hoped that his companion and guardian did not have his claws sunk in too deep. Robb would not ally with a puppet, she knew that well enough, and she agreed with him on the matter.
"I don't think we have been introduced," Robb said pointedly, looking towards a portly man, whom Roslin could only describe as grey. Grey hair. Grey eyes. Dull complexion. "This is Harry Strickland," unsurprisingly it was Aegon who answered, "the commander of the Golden Company." Roslin raised her brows at that but made no comment. He did not fit the role physically, in her mind, but perhaps he was a good tactician and leader. Rapport with the men was one of the most important attributes of a general, she knew that well enough. "Well met," Robb said slightly stiffly, and Harry inclined his head. "Your…Grace…" he said almost uncertainly, glancing towards Aegon, and looking relieved when he wasn't chastised for his choice of title. Roslin was slightly relieved herself, daring to hope that Aegon would not challenge Robb's right to the crown of the North and the Riverlands.
"There are some in your company I have not had the pleasure of meeting," Aegon said smoothly in the next moment. "My Lords Tully, Flint, and Cerwyn," Robb introduced, gesturing to them each in turn. Aegon inclined his head to them all, and they each inclined their own back. Though the action looked rather stiff and grudging to Roslin's eye. She repressed a sigh. This was going to be a long day. "Perhaps we ought to sit?" she suggested, and thankfully there were nods of agreement. Robb moved to take his place at the head of the table, Aegon moving to sit at the opposite end. Roslin slid in on Robb's right, and she watched as Aegon encouraged Sansa to take the place on his right. She also noted Jon Connington's deepening frown at the action, and he took the space to Aegon's left in a rather undignified manner.
It was a stark contrast to the way Edmure slipped easily into his place on Robb's left, Lord Flint taking the place next to him, while Lord Cerwyn seated himself next to her. They were at an advantage already, Roslin realised, all of them firmly on the same side, and firmly aware of their places. Jon Connington obviously still considered himself Aegon's closest confidante, but she wondered if it was possible that Sansa had edged him from the role. If she had, it would work well in their favour, she was certain of that. She glanced towards Robb, seeing him looking more relaxed as his clasped hands rested in front of him on the table. Roslin folded her own hands in her lap, and decided to make herself look as demure as possible. Robb had told her to speak up whenever she felt necessary, but for now she was happy to play the part of the obedient wife and keep one eye firmly on Jon Connington.
"Well," Robb began, "you asked for leave to treat with us, what is it you want?" Everyone present knew damn well what Aegon wanted, but Roslin knew that Robb was more interested about what he wanted in exchange. And what it would mean for the crown set atop his head that he had never asked for, but fought so hard to keep. If Aegon thought to take it from him, Roslin knew he would be crushed in an instant, kin or not. She hoped he were not so foolish. "I want to take the Iron Throne, as is my birth right," Aegon said calmly, his stance almost identical to Robb's. The rest of them may as well not be in the room, given the intensity with which they were staring at one another. "Those who claim the Iron Throne tend to claim themselves Lords of all of Westeros," Robb said just as calmly, "if you intend to do the same, then we are going to have a problem."
Roslin took a deep breath at that, waiting for Aegon's reply. To her surprise, when she glanced in his direction, he was smiling. "I don't want you to surrender your crown," he said in an assuring manner, "I am not fool enough to think that you wouldn't destroy me if I even thought of asking you to bend the knee. As it is, I never had any intention of trying to force you to give it up. You fought for your title as King in the North, and as my wife quite rightly pointed out on our first meeting, Starks were kings long before dragons came."
"And the Riverlands," Edmure spoke up, "we named his Grace our king, our queen is of this country. We are joined in blood and marriage, my own wife is of the North. We do not wish to bend the knee either, as Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, I named Robb Stark my king, no other, and that is how myself, and my lords would have it remain."
"Let me make myself very clear," Aegon said slowly, "I relinquish any claim I have to the kingdoms of the North and the Riverlands. I will do so formally if you insist upon it, I will sign my name in blood if it's what it takes to assure you that I do not seek to take your crown." He was addressing Robb, his eyes fixed insistently upon him. Roslin looked towards her husband, seeing his gaze searching, and not quite trusting. "Ink will suffice," Robb finally said, and Aegon nodded, clearly taking a deep breath. Roslin's eyes flickered towards Jon Connington, and she did not miss the look of distaste that he was sending towards Robb and Edmure. "You didn't come just to assure my husband you have no desire for his crown," Roslin finally spoke up, "I assume you will not deny that you came here for his allegiance, and his aid in taking the Iron Throne."
"I will not deny it," Aegon agreed, and she took a deep breath. "You have yet to fight a battle," she said, "my husband has fought many. He has lifted a siege, captured Casterly Rock and Lannisport, overrun the mines of the Westerlands and been wounded at the hands of his own bannerman. You ask a lot of him, to consider marching out once more, when the boy he set out to destroy already lies cold."
"I only ask of him what he would have done himself," Aegon responded, "am I not right, your Grace? Perhaps I am wrong, but I assumed that you would not march north and leave the Lannisters clinging desperately to the throne they have no right to. I assumed you would want it finished for good. That you would want to ensure that they never again had the potential power to harm you or yours. Was I wrong, your Grace? Have I wrongly assumed?"
"No," Robb said quietly after several long moments of quiet, and Roslin closed her eyes in despair. She had been expecting his answer of course. Despite everything he still hungered to be rid of the Lannisters. Though Tywin and Joffrey were dead, he would not rest until he had ended the reign of the poisonous Cersei, and recaptured the Kingslayer. She could understand why, of course she could, but the thought of him fighting again after what had befallen him at Casterly Rock filled her with dread. The look in Connington's eyes only caused the fear in her to rise higher. Would the man betray his own king? Would he go against what Aegon had ordered if he thought he could harm Robb? Remove him from the picture? Roslin bit her lip. She couldn't risk a betrayal like that again, none of them could. Once had been more than enough. If Robb did ally with Aegon, then she was damn well going to make sure that he employed a Kingsguard.
"I only ask for what you had already planned," Aegon said almost pleadingly, "only now, you have someone to seat the Iron Throne once the Capitol is in your grasp. My wife is your sister, we are bound as kin, and I would honour that. I swear it." Robb looked uneasy when Roslin looked to him again, and she could almost see the inner turmoil raging behind his eyes. She herself was torn. There were positives to supporting Aegon's claim. For one he wasn't Stannis, nor a bastard Lannister. For another he seemed rational, calm, and without trace of the famed Targaryen madness. That was the trouble though, how would they ever prove his claim to be true? By his own admission he had no proof, and even his colouring and looks would not be enough to convince everyone. Likely his reign would be plagued by doubts if he ever took the throne.
There was the real worry that uprisings and rebellions could start against him. Would Robb be called on then to help? Would the fighting ever end? Could her husband really go on forever and never lose a battle? No one was that lucky. Not even Robb with all his tactical mindedness and skill with the sword. "I don't trust you," Robb said bluntly, pulling her away from unsavoury thoughts. "Yet," he added as Aegon opened his mouth, no doubt to protest. "But my sister seems to," he continued, "and that is something at least."
"The people will be divided," Roslin said warningly, "they will whisper about you, and some whispers will not be favourable. For all they know you are long dead, and that belief will not easily be erased. If you succeeded in taking the throne you would have to defend yourself on it forever. There will be those who always see you as false, and for every one of them who merely whispers behind their hands there will be another who would happily rise up against you. All it takes is one rich, charismatic lord to convince enough people to his cause, and then you have a rebellion on your hands. Then what? Would you expect the North and the Riverlands to aid you again? We may be kin, but you cannot expect us to fight all your battles when we have lands and people of our own to protect."
"Such a thing is not a certainty," Aegon said, naively in Roslin's opinion, "and besides, with the seasons turning, once I have my throne secured it will become more difficult for any potential rebel to unseat me. If they lay a siege around the Capitol they would freeze to death before any of us starved. I know not all will support the accession of another Targaryen king, but many will, I am assured of that."
"But that's just it," Robb spoke up again, "you have no proof of being a Targaryen. Forgive me, I cannot deny your look, but there will be many against you who will disregard it. If I am honest, without your marriage to my sister, I would have dismissed you outright. Backing you is a risk, a big risk, to my people, my honour and my reputation. I have a family to consider, and that does not only include Sansa. I have my lords to consider, my people to consider. Those in the North have dealt with more hardships that I care to dwell on in my absence. I have been betrayed by my friend and rebelled against by the Ironborn, and I have survived an attempt on my life from one of my own bannerman. I cannot afford to take another wrong turn, and at this moment, I cannot be sure that backing you would be the right decision, kin or not."
"Robb, if he is a good king then the smallfolk would never rebel against him. Higher lords might try, but if their men will not rise with them then they stand no chance. Please, I believe that Aegon will be good for the kingdoms, that he can bring peace. That is surely what the people want after all this fighting, surely they want an end to it. A king they can trust on the Iron Throne again. One look and they will believe him true, and if you, a Stark with famed honour, trust in him then others will too. If you join with him others will follow, Robb. You are as respected as father was, even those at the Capitol whispered of your victories. They will not doubt you, not when you have allowed your own sister to enter into marriage with him," Sansa implored Robb, and Roslin couldn't help but think that she might have a point.
"I didn't allow you though, did I?" Robb said pointedly, and Roslin moved her hand under the table until she could rest it on his knee and squeeze warningly. They could not give anyone even a hint of a familial rift. "They wouldn't have to know that," Sansa said calmly, "no one knows that Aegon and I are married besides his men and yours. We could have married here for all our enemies know, and our enemies are all the same, Robb. You and Aegon want the same thing, you don't want to seat the Iron Throne but he does. We are kin, and alliance between us makes sense, Robb, please, I know you don't want to fight anymore, but would you please consider this. Please?"
Roslin felt a stab of sympathy towards her good-sister. She could not imagine being in her shoes, torn over whose side of the negotiating table she really belonged on. It could not be easy, torn between a family she had missed for so long and a husband she had only just gained, but who she clearly cared for. Roslin wondered what she would do if Robb refused. Would she take the way out of her marriage and have a second annulment granted, or would she leave with Aegon? Somehow, Roslin imagined that she would stand by her husband, though likely she would do so with a heavy heart. She wondered if Robb was considering the same possibility, as he gazed towards his sister with a conflicted expression adorning his features.
"I think, perhaps, that there is enough to be thought about for one day," Roslin said quietly, when it seemed clear that no one else was going to speak up into the heavy silence that had fallen over them all. "I agree," Aegon said awkwardly, and Sansa sent her a grateful smile. "I will think on your proposal," Robb said, rising up to his feet, "but I can make no more promise than that." Roslin rose up too, sending an apologetic smile towards Sansa at their abrupt departure. Clearly Robb had had enough, the brisk Northerner that resided in him making himself known as he stamped towards the door. "I'm sure we will all speak again, soon," Roslin said, trying to keep up some façade of politeness, given Robb's manner of leaving. "I'm sure," Aegon said, and she was sure she could detect a hint of disappointment in his tone. There was little she could do to quell it, she had a conflicted husband to catch up to, hopefully before he could say or do anything rash.
"What are you doing here?" Jeyne asked with a frown as she entered the nursery, seeing Damon sat near the princess' cradle. "I could ask you the same thing," he returned with a raised brow, and she sent a smile towards the princess' nurses who were sat sewing in a corner of the room. "I have just come to check on the princess, as is routine in the first few months of her life," Jeyne told him as she approached the cradle. "The queen asked me to stay and guard her while she attended council with the king," Damon told her in an undertone and she leaned down to scoop the little princess out of her cradle. "Do you think she was being a mother, or that she is suspicious of the new visitors to the keep?" Jeyne asked him quietly as she weighed the baby in her arms. She definitely felt a little heavier than last week, which was what she had been expecting. "Both, perhaps," Damon answered her question as she lowered the little princess back into her cradle, rearranging the blankets carefully around her.
She was a beautiful little thing, with all the dainty features and dark colouring of her mother. Her eyes were unmistakably Robb's though, the big, blue orbs blinking up at her as her little arms waved, and soft grunts left her mouth. "Is she well?" Damon asked, and Jeyne nodded her head. "She has put on weight, definitely grown a little more, and she seems bright and alert," she elaborated, and Damon stood up from his seat near the cradle and came towards her. He leant his hand on the small of her back as she gazed down at the little princess, his lips finding her cheek. "I do not blame the queen for being cautious," Jeyne said, "if I were blessed with such a beautiful gift then I would do all in my power to keep her safe as well."
"You will be blessed," Damon murmured against her skin, and she took a deep breath. "Yes," she agreed with him, and he pulled back slightly. She turned her head to meet his eyes, seeing the suspicion dancing in them. "Yes?" he repeated questioningly, and she bit down on her lip. "I don't know for certain," she told him in little more than a whisper, "but my bleeding is late, and I have never been late before." Damon's eyes lit up at that, and she sighed heavily. "It does not mean that I am with child," she cautioned him, but it did little to make the grin on his face fade. "But you believe you are, don't you?" he pressed her, and she tried very hard not to smile. "I hope I am," she corrected him, "but please don't you assumed we have been blessed. Gods, I should have known not to tell you unless I was certain."
Damon looked as though he were about to say something else, but the sound of the door being opened had them both stepping away from the cradle, and putting a few more inches between one another. It was Robb who had entered, and Jeyne could sense almost immediately that he was not in the best of moods. "What's going on?" he asked at once, a hint of panic in his tone as he strode to the cradle. "She's not sick, is she?" he asked, gazing at Jeyne with an almost wild look in his eyes. "No," she shook her head at once, "it is her weekly check, that's all. I would usually wait for the queen, but she was in council and I didn't want to disturb her. The princess is just fine, I promise."
She could see it in his eyes that he believed her, all the tension in his facial muscles relaxing at once. There had been an almost anger about Robb when he had strode in, but it seemed to melt as he turned his attention to his baby daughter. He took her into his arms with a tenderness that was something wondrous to behold from such a powerfully built man. Jeyne could imagine Damon as a father all too well then, imagining him holding their baby with the same care and adoration on his face. She turned to face him, smiling widely at him, and silently praying that her suspicions were true, that she was indeed pregnant with his child. Damon seemed able to read her mind, leaning in a pressing a kiss to her forehead, his hand skimming along her stomach lightly before coming to rest on her hip. Jeyne closed her eyes at the touch, realising for the first time that he wanted this as much as she did. Gods, she hoped and prayed with every fibre of her being that her hope would come to fruition.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! One more to go until part one is over. I will give more info on the sequel at the end of the last chapter, I have a few more things to decide on first!
:)
