Chapter Eleven
Robb and his family were sitting in the hall having some food when he turned to Margery "who is it that you wanted me to meet?" "telling you would spoil the surprise but if you want we can bring them in now" "yes" Margery nodded to Brienne who knew exactly what she was being asked to do. Shortly afterwards Brienne walked in with Barristan Selmy Robb looked shocked as he recognised the man he had met once before the war, Ser Barristan knelt before Robb "Your Grace I am here to beg your forgiveness for not doing the right thing and standing up for your Lord father" "Ser Barristan was removed from Joffrey's Kingsguard after the death of Robert Baratheon" Margery added. Robb stated at the man for a few moments before speaking "my father always spoke highly of you Ser Barristan and it is true my Kingsguard does need more members and good people at that so I accept you into my Kingsguard" Ser Barristan bowed once more before rising "Your Grace" "yes Ser Loras?" "you made me the commander of your Kingsguard because I was the only one it it at the time but I will stand aside and let Ser Barristan Selmy be your Lord Commander as there is no better man for the job" "Ser Loras is correct there is no man alive with as much experience commanding a Kingsguard so as Ser Loras has offered to stand aside I name you the new Lord Commander of my Kingsguard" "Thank you Your Grace I will not let you down" "I know you will not Ser Barristan" Ser Barristan moved to take up his position guarding the Royal party "while we are on the subject of the Kingsguard I have one other appointment I would like to make Lady Brienne of Tarth please come forward" Brienne moved and knelt before Robb "you have proven yourself to loyal so I name you to the Kingsguard as the personal guard to the Queen" "Thank you Your Grace" Brienne said before moving to her position.
That night after a few hours break from the war Robb knew he had to get back to the task at hand, "if you will excuse me and my commanders we have to plan the next stage of this war" "of course" Margery and Catelyn both said before they and Arya and Roselyn stood up to leave the hall, before she left Margery kissed Rob on the cheek and whispered "do not be too long you have already been away from our bed long enough" Robb simply smiled and nodded. Once it was only his commanders left Robb spoke "firstly as soon as this meeting is done I want word sent to Theon Grejoy to start sailing towards Kings Landing" "I will see to it personally" replied Garlan "Thank you Garlan now I have decided that we shall use the same strategy that we used at Lannisport with everyone still in the same positions is everyone agreed?" "Your Grace I think my father should be with Lord Tarly on his flank and I will join you with your permission of course" "very well Mace you will be on the flank with your bannermen and Garlan shall be with me in the centre" "Thank you Your Grace" Mace added "now if you will excuse me my Lords the Queen has requested that we make this as quick as possible as she has another urgent matter for me to attend to" all the lords even the Tyrells laughed before Robb left.
Robb made his way to the chambers that had been allocated to him and Margery with Greywind, Barristan and Loras just behind him, Brienne bowed and opened the door for him as he walked past "good night everyone" "good night Your Grace" they all said in unison. The door was barely cloed behind him before he was embracing Margery and kissing her passionately "your meeting was quick" "my wife hinted that she wanted me all to herself as soon as possible" the pair laughed before they made their way to bed. A few hours later they were lying breathless in each other's arms with Margery lying on Robb's chest "Robb?" "yes Margery?" "was the Twins as bad as the letter said" "It was worse" Robb sighed "at least you made the Bolton's pay for their crimes" "I wonder if I went too far" "what do you mean?" "we killed them all I mean all the soldiers Roose and his son Ramsay and left the Dreadfort to burn what if I am just the same as Tywin or Joffrey?" Margery propped herself up "Robb look at me" he did as she asked "you are nothing like those monsters you brought justice to a group of monsters who killed innocent people whether the soldiers were just carrying out orders or not does not matter and it will let anyone who dares to think about doing anything like that under our rule know exactly what will happen to them" "our rule?" "yes Robb ou said we would rule together and I support what you did cries like that cannot go unpunished if we intend to build a better Kingdom under our rule" Robb kissed Margery on the forehead and with that they fell asleep.
The next morning Robb got up early and was making the last minute plans with his lords before the army was to head out. Margery, Catelyn and Arya would be heading for Riverun with a small force to protect them and eventually to escort them and the prisoners and loot to King's landing if the army was successful in the siege. The three women had said their farewells to the Tyrells and Brynden before walking to their horses with Robb. Arya hugged her brother "go get the people who murdered our father" "I will" he replied before hoisting her onto her horse and turning to face his mother "stay safe Robb" "I have the best people possible with me I will be fine mother" "I know but" "do not worry mother I wil be fine and I will send word as soon as we find Sansa" Robb hugged his mother and helped her onto her horse. He then turned to his Queen who embraced him and kissed him passionately "go finish this war so we can start to rebuild this rotten Kingdom and forge a dynasty that will last for generations" "hopefully we will be sitting together in the Throne Room of the Red Keep soon enough" he replied as he helped her onto her horse. The small force then departed with the larger one heading in the opposite direction a short time later.