In this chapter, Catelyn advises Robb, but she's not the only one to advise him.
CATELYN III
Swamps filled the land all around them. Swamps and bogs as far as the eye could see. Stretching along the Kingsroad, the banners of all the lords of the North stood proud. Norreys, Flints, Umbers, Mormonts, Karstarks, Boltons, Cerwyns, Hornwoods, Glovers, Manderlys and many more, seventeen thousand men strong in all. A few had not arrived yet, mainly the Dustins and the Ryswells and a few other minor houses, but within three days, they would ride south to battle.
Catelyn had known from the beginning that King's Landing would be a dangerous place for Ned. Ever since Lysa sent her letter, she knew he shouldn't have gone. She was afraid something terrible could happen. She had lost a first betrothed to a king long ago, and now she was in danger to lose a husband. When Sansa's letter arrived, claiming that her father conspired against the king, she knew it was a lie, and she knew that these words were not from Sansa. At least, they knew Sansa was still alive, but Ned was in danger to be executed. As for Arya, the letter didn't mention her. They knew nothing of her situation.
Theon Greyjoy came behind her. "My lady, the war council is about to begin."
"Thank you, Greyjoy."
She was looking over the army of the North from the top of the Children's Tower, the tower Robb took as his residence while they were at Moat Cailin. The room they chose to hold the war council was lower into the tower and she climbed down the stairs. When she arrived, the most powerful lords of the North were already there. The loyal Galbart Glover, with his long brown hair and his greyish beard. Jon Umber, called the Greatjon, missing two fingers after Grey Wind bit them off, Robb's greatest champion. Maege Mormont, the Lady of Bear Island, the only woman apart from Catelyn in this room. Ser Wylis Manderly, the heir of White Harbor, one of the fatest man she ever met, though not as fat as his father. Rickard Karstark, with hard traits as if they were chiseled in stone, looking more like a Stark than her own son. Roose Bolton, quieter than everyone else around this table, imperturbable. Howland Reed, her husband's friend, Lord of Greywater Watch, the smallest man at this table. And finally her son, sitting at the head, with Theon Greyjoy at his side. He made her a sign, inviting her to sit by his right.
Robb had called the banners as soon as they received Sansa's message. Catelyn had decided to follow Robb to Moat Cailin. It was her way to make her farewells before he went to war. She would return to Winterfell, to Bran and Rickon, as soon as Robb and his army rode south. She wished she could force him to go back to Winterfell, but he was no longer a child. The boy she brought into the world seventeen years ago was now a man, as it was evidenced by the hard face he showed to his bannermen right now, the same Ned displayed in the face of his men. He addressed them with all the gravity of the Lord of Winterfell.
"My lords, my ladies, we received news from the Ryswells and the Dustins. They will be here within two days. On the third, we will march south to save my lord father, Eddard Stark, who you swore to serve."
"We're going to kick the ass of these Lannister bastards," the Greatjon said, causing a general laughter.
"My lords," Catelyn said, "if you permit, this is no time for japes. Your lord and his two daughters are in danger in King's Landing. We must set our mind to free them."
"Of course, Lady Stark. Forgive us," Lord Glover offered as an apology.
"You can see on the map right there that the Lannisters have two armies," her son resumed. "One is stationed at the Golden Tooth. The other one is progressing along the Goldroad in direction of King's Landing. Each is strong of thirty thousand men, levies from their population and sellswords all alike. We will have eighteen thousand men when the Ryswells and the Dustins arrive, while Ser Edmure Tully could muster about twenty thousand."
"What about the Knights of the Vale? How many men will they bring?"
Her son shot a quick glance to her. "The Vale didn't give us a number yet, but my father was Jon Arryn's ward. He was like a son for him. We can expect great support from them."
She suggested to her son to not tell the whole truth, while not lying at the same time. They sent two ravens to Lysa, and so far they received no reply. Catelyn didn't think the two ravens could have gone lost. Lysa received them both, and yet she didn't answer. She couldn't understand why. Surely her sister didn't believe the accusations thrown against Ned. She was the one to warn them about the Lannisters. She knew they couldn't be trusted, so why didn't she reply to tell them that she would help? Catelyn hoped the Knights of the Vale would come. Surely Lysa had a good explanation for her delay, though Catelyn had no idea of what it could be.
"My plan," Robb resumed, "is a direct attack on the Lannisters and their allies. They hold my father and my sisters. The only way to get them back is to defeat the Lannisters in the field. For that, we must force them to meet us in the field. Ser Edmure Tully is going to provoke the army at the Golden Tooth into battle while we ride for the Crownlands. If the Lannisters refuse to meet us, we will take cities and castles until they have no choice, and when their armies are defeated, they will have no choice but to give us back our lord, unless they want the capital to be besieged."
"What about the Tyrells, my lord?" Ser Manderly asked. "What do we know of their position?"
"We don't have any news about a Tyrell army."
"Lord Tyrion's wife is a Tyrell," Lord Bolton observed. "Mace Tyrell will not stand idle while his son-in-law fights us. We have to expect stronger armies from Highgarden than from Casterly Rock. And I didn't talk about Lord Stannis and Lord Renly."
"We will deal with the Tyrell armies just like we will deal with the Lannisters. As for Robert's brothers, I'm not worried about them. They know my father. They know he would never betray Robert. They won't believe the words of Cersei Lannister."
"I don't doubt it, my lord, but Joffrey is their nephew, and their king. They will be honor-bound to fight at his side."
"Do you doubt our cause, Lord Bolton?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be here, my lord. I don't doubt our cause. I'm merely pointing out that we will face armies with more men and better weapons than us."
"A Northerner is worth ten men from the south," Lady Mormont opposed. "The Kings in the North defeated greater armies than these, and against worse odds. The numbers don't win a battle."
No, numbers didn't win battles, but they helped. She was as conscious as Robb was that they would face an enemy who was more powerful than them. If they recruited all their available population, the Westerlands and the Reach together could field an army over two hundred and fifty thousand men, and they didn't consider Dorne or the Stormlands.
"My lords," Robb spoke, "I'm not saying that the task ahead of us is easy, but the Lord of Winterfell, my father, the man you swore an oath to, was taken prisoner by the Lannisters, falsely accused of treason. If we do nothing, he will die. We don't have the numbers on our side, we don't have the terrain, we don't have the weapons, but we are fighting for what is right. You swore to obey my father, to answer his call when he would need you, and today he needs you more than ever. Are we going to stay hidden in our castles as the Lord of
Winterfell is being imprisoned, and as we are being accused of treasons and crimes we never committed?"
The door opened at this moment. A guard came to whisper something into Robb's ear. Robb's expression turned to astonishment as he listened. "Are you sure? He's here?" The guard nodded. "I beg your pardon, my lords. I have an important matter to settle. It will only take a few minutes."
Robb walked away, the lords all rising as he left them. The lords began to chatter between them. They talked about Robb's plan, some praising his courage and boldness, others worrying about the large forces they would meet and the odds that were against them. Catelyn was worried as well, but they had no choice if she ever was to see Ned and her daughters again.
"You'll be leaving us soon, I heard, Lady Stark." It was Lady Mormont who talked to her. She was sitting right next to Catelyn.
"Yes. My place is at Winterfell, with my sons."
The Lady of Bear Island nodded. "I have daughters me too, my lady. I understand what you're going through. We'll make sure that all your children come back safely."
"I thank you."
Robb came back at this moment, holding a scroll in his hand, followed by the last person she expected. Jon Snow. She seldom thought about him lately. She didn't see him since that day in the Inn at the Crossroads. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be at Casterly Rock. From the state of his clothes, she would say he came back from a long journey.
"My lords, please forgive me. This is my brother, Jon. He spent the last months in the Westerlands, at Casterly Rock. He brought me a message from Lord Tyrion Lannister. I would like to have your opinion about it. Here it goes." Her son unrolled the scroll of paper he was holding and began to read it in front of all the lords. "To Robb Stark, acting Lord of Winterfell. I'm aware that the recent events in King's Landing must have troubled you at the highest point. I do not believe that your father is guilty of the crimes he is accused of, and if he is, then I am as surprised as you are. Lady Margaery and myself are going to King's Landing to make the light on this and to free your father and your sisters. By the time you will receive this letter, we might have reached the city already. I'm asking you to keep your armies north of Moat Cailin. In exchange, I will make sure that nothing comes to your father and your sisters."
"I know that you suspect my family of being responsible for the murder of Jon Arryn, and that you also suspect us of being behind the assassination attempt on your brother, Brandon Stark. I assure you that me and my wife have nothing to see with that."
Catelyn wanted nothing more than to snatch this letter away from Robb and tear it to pieces. He had the audacity to claim that he had nothing to see with the attempts on Bran's life, when they knew the dagger used by the assassin belonged to him. They should have held him prisoner and judged him at Winterfell when he stopped there on his way back from the Wall. But Robb didn't have proof of his guilt back then, and she didn't have the opportunity to send him a message exposing the little lord. Robb kept reading.
"We suspect people in King's Landing to be plotting against the Crown. Our investigations so far couldn't bring us to them, but I hope to discover the truth when I arrive in the capital and to clear your father by the same way. However, if your armies cross the Neck, I will not be able to stop my nephew from declaring you and your family traitors. I do not want a war with you. Even though I know this is a lot to ask, I beg you to trust me…" At this moment, almost all the table reacted, from scoffs to roars to knocking on the table. "… and to let me make sure that your family comes out of this unscathed. I sent your brother with this message, when I could have held him as a hostage. I hope you see it as a sign of goodwill from my part. Tyrion Lannister."
Robb looked at his bannermen. "What do you think of it?"
"A Lannister cannot be trusted," the Greatjon declared.
"I agree. To trust a Lannister would be no better than to make an alliance with the King-Beyond-the-Wall," Lord Karstark added.
"Ned wouldn't agree," Lord Reed said. "I was in King's Landing with him when the Lannisters took the city. We all know how Tywin Lannister butchered the Targaryen children."
"We are not talking about Tywin Lannister, my lord," the bastard said. "We are talking about Tyrion Lannister."
"With respect, my boy, I'm not ready to entrust the life of my lord and my friend into the hands of the son of Tywin Lannister."
"He's giving us a chance to save my father without a war."
"And I suppose the Lannisters are going to let Lord Stark leave without anything to say after they arrested him," Lady Mormont sarcastically said.
"Lord Tyrion and Lady Margaery were not in King's Landing when my father was arrested. They don't agree with the actions of the queen."
"They might be only trying to gain time," Ser Wylis suggested.
"It's possible, but we could use this time to our advantage," Roose Bolton said.
"Explain yourself, Lord Bolton," Robb said.
"Up to now, the army at the Golden Tooth didn't move. They didn't invade the Riverlands. If they wanted to defeat us, they could have done so immediately and taken the Tullys by surprise, but instead they wait. And instead of sending their two armies in the Riverlands to block our path on the Kingsroad, the Imp sent his other army to the capital. His strategy is of a person who is trying to defend his lands, not to conquer territory. I agree with Jon Snow. We do not stand before Tywin Lannister. If we accept to delay our march on King's Landing, we could gather more men for our army, give time to the Vale to join us, and try to negotiate with the dead king's brothers, to see if they would fight for us. We could make very good use of this time."
"As the Lannisters will," Ser Manderly interrupted. "They could be using it to slow us down while they prepare themselves."
"I don't think so," Jon Snow said. "Lord Tyrion mobilized the Westerlands as soon as he received news of my father's arrest. When I crossed the River Road at the Golden Tooth, their army was almost complete, while the river lords were still gathering at Riverrun when I reached it. He could have invaded the Riverlands and smashed down their armies any time, but he didn't. He mobilized his men only as a warning. He wants peace, not war."
"And you want to give them what they want? Peace?" the Lord of the Last Hearth roared. "I say we bring them steel instead, boy."
"Lord Umber, you're talking to my brother. You will show him respect, just like you show me," Robb warned.
"Forgive me, my lord. We will follow you, no matter what you decide."
Robb was silent for a long time. Roose Bolton broke the silence. "We don't need to take a decision yet. The Ryswells and the Dustins will arrive in the next days, and we won't leave before. So if our lord needs time to think about all this…"
Robb looked at the Lord of the Dreadfort with cold eyes, only to meet an emotionless face. Then he looked at all the people in the room. "I thank you all for your advice, and I will consider all of this. Until our last men arrive, I want you to prepare your men for the march ahead of us. You're free to go. Mother, Jon, Theon, please stay."
The lords departed, and soon she was alone with her son, the bastard and the Greyjoy. Robb turned to his brother.
"Jon, you shouldn't have argued this way with them."
"They rejected the offer without even considering it."
"I know, but the way you spoke, it was as if you accepted the Lannister's offer right away."
"Of course, I would accept it. It might our best chance to save our father and our sisters."
Their best chance? Catelyn couldn't believe what she heard. "Our best chance is to defeat them in the field. The Lannisters cannot be trusted," Catelyn said.
Jon Snow looked at her. "You're wrong. I spent months close to Lord Tyrion. I saw how he rules the Westerlands. His way of ruling is not that different from my father's."
Anger flared in her. He compared the Imp to Ned. "Your… father wouldn't try to murder a child in his bed."
"And Tyrion Lannister wouldn't either. His wife said so to Robb. He's not capable of ordering a child to be murdered."
"It's true, she told me, but I'm afraid it's not true," her son said.
"She probably lied," Theon added.
"How can you be sure of that?" the bastard asked.
"Because my mother went to King's Landing, to inquire about the attempt on Bran's life," Robb explained. He looked at her husband's son. "Jon, the dagger that was used by the assassin belonged to the Imp."
"What?" He had a bewildered expression on his face. "Are you sure?"
Catelyn stepped forward into the conversation. "I got the information from Petyr Baelish in King's Landing. The dagger belonged to Prince Joffrey, but the Imp won it in a bet."
Jon Snow's eyes were hollow for a moment. "The dagger could have been stolen."
Catelyn stared at him, furious. "Bran was almost killed on the order of this man!"
"This man stopped people from slicing my throat. I saw him sentence one of his own men to death for murdering a child in the streets while he was drunk. His wife is funding a dozen orphanages in Lannisport, and more across the Westerlands. Do you really think people like that could have murdered Bran?" He turned his head to look at her son. "Robb, you saw him give a saddle to Bran. Why would he do that if he wanted him to die?"
"Perhaps he only wanted to fool us." Catelyn was puzzled by the lack of conviction in her son's voice.
"Just like the Lannister lady fooled you, didn't she, Robb?" Theon Greyjoy asked, smirking. Robb glared furiously at him.
"Robb," Jon Snow resumed, "if the dagger found in the murderer's hand belonged to me or Theon, would you think we are behind this?"
"There's no link with this," Catelyn said.
"Someone can have stolen this dagger as much as he could have stolen mine or Theon's. and to be honest, if Tyrion Lannister really hired someone to kill Bran, would he give him a dagger that belongs to him?"
Robb sighed. "I don't know. Maybe not."
Catelyn looked at her son. "Robb, who else could have sent this man? My sister told us that the Lannisters are behind her husband's death. They murdered him."
"Lysa Arryn is mad."
Catelyn turned her head quickly to look at Jon Snow. No doubt, he was the one to tell this. "How dare you say something like that?"
"It's not me who said that." He looked at her with a defying expression. She only witnessed it once, when he said goodbye to Bran. Jon Snow always looked away when she stared at him, and this time hadn't been different, but to the opposite of the previous times, he had defied her with his eyes before looking away, after she told him to leave. This time, however, he didn't look away, and he defied her at the same time. "It's Margaery Lannister. How old is her son?"
"He must be ten." Why did he ask her this?
"Well, when Lady Lannister visited King's Landing for Joffrey's name day, she had a private discussion with Lady Arryn, and she fed her son to her breast during the conversation."
"That's a lie!" Catelyn knew her sister. Lysa wouldn't do something like that.
"Do you have any proof of that? I could say that Lord Baelish lied to you as well."
"Petyr would never lie to me. He is a friend. I've known him for years. He has no reason to lie to me."
"That's enough!" Robb spoke with authority. "Stop it. That's not an easy decision to take. I'm not sure if we can trust the Imp with freeing Father, but on the other side, if he is sincere… Jon, do you trust Lord Tyrion Lannister?"
"With my life." He nodded as he gave his answer.
"It's too great a risk to entrust your father's life into the hands of this… man. Our best chance is to fight them. If you defeat the Lannisters in the field, they will be forced to free your father and your sisters," Catelyn pushed forward.
"What if we lose? We're taking as much risk if not more by defying them on the battlefield," the bastard countered.
"Are you afraid, Snow? Did you lose your balls?" Theon mocked. Jon Snow looked at him, furious.
"You weren't at Casterly Rock with me, Theon. You didn't see how the Lannisters and the Tyrells fight. They have better weapons and better armors than us. Most of them were capable of beating me at sword fighting. On my way here, the Lannister army at the Golden Tooth was almost complete and ready to go to war, while at Riverrun the lords were still gathering. They have an organized army, and I'm not even talking about the army of the Reach. Are you ready to fight on the battlefield against an enemy five or ten times larger than you?"
"Your father once said that one man on the walls is worth a hundred, or a thousand men in the fields, I think. And Lady Mormont just said that a man from the North is worth ten men from the south."
"Then Lady Mormont knows nothing. I fought side by side with knights from the Westerlands, and they know how to fight."
"We cannot let Ned's fate, and Sansa's and Arya's fates in the hands of a Lannister," Catelyn declared, cutting their argument short.
Robb didn't say anything. Everyone was looking at him now. He clenched his fist, then unclenched it. "I'm going to think about all this. I need time."
"We don't have the time," Catelyn argued. Every hour that passed was an hour where Ned and her daughters were in danger.
"We can only leave in three days anyway, no matter what happens. I'll have taken my decision by that time." His words were final, and she could feel it. "I'll have a room arranged for you, Jon. It's good to see you again."
He patted the bastard's shoulder and left. Theon followed, and Jon Snow was about to join them, but Catelyn called after him before he stepped through the door frame.
"You, wait. We need to talk."
Slowly, Jon Snow closed the door behind him and looked at her, a heavy expression on his face. "What do you want from me, Lady Stark?"
"You…" She pointed him. "You may just have condemned my husband and my daughters."
"I'm trying to save them."
"The Lannisters won't show them any mercy. You might have just doomed them."
"Tyrion Lannister and his wife may be their best chance to get out from this alive."
"You're a fool to believe them. You are a fool, or else you're working for them, and you're a traitor."
She regretted her words as soon as she said them. They left her mouth before she could think about them. Jon Snow stared at her in utter anger. "You're not my mother, and I'm not your son, but your husband is my father, and your daughters are my sisters as much as they are for Robb, Bran and Rickon. I want to see them safe just like you do, and I will do everything I can to save them."
"By selling them to the Imp?"
"By trusting a man who saved my life and gave my brother a new chance to ride, and a woman who took take care of Bran after you were injured. They offered me a chance to do something of my life. Between trusting them, or a mad woman and a brothelkeeper, I think the choice is not very hard."
He stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
Catelyn spent the rest of the day to worry and to pray. There was no sept at Moat Cailin, but she prayed all the same to the Father to watch over her sons and her husband, to the Mother and the Maid to watch over her daughters, and to the Warrior to make Robb strong for the coming war. However, she was afraid that Robb wouldn't go to war. She was afraid that he would be convinced by Jon Snow's words. He wasn't to listen to him. Jon Snow had spent time in the Westerlands, close to the Lannisters, and like he told her, they gave him a chance to have a life somewhere else than the Wall. Catelyn suspected that the Lannisters were using him to prevent Robb from marching on the south in their own interests. They made the bastard loyal to them. Robb shouldn't listen to him. That was her own fault if her son gave so much credit to the word of the bastard.
Ten years ago, the two were practicing in the training yard at Winterfell, under the eyes of Ser Rodrik Cassel and her own. Arya had just been born and Bran was on his way. She watched the boy who already looked too much like Ned defeat her son time and time again, sending him stumbling on the ground. After a tenth fall, Robb grew exasperated. Ser Rodrik lectured him on his stance. When he and the bastard braced for another duel, Jon Snow said he was Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword in the Morning. Robb replied that he was Eddard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell, and he started to attack with rage. Jon Snow ducked the assault and brought his sword down on Robb's back.
"You can't touch me. You can't touch me," the bastard began to chant, right before Robb swung his sword like a wild animal and got him in the chest, taking away his breath. Catelyn felt relief to see that her son succeeded to reach his opponent. The relief lasted a very brief moment. Next, Robb was smashing at Jon Snow. The bastard lost his sword, but Robb continued to hit him again and again. Catelyn soon watched in horror as her son was punching an innocent boy on the ground. She yelled at Robb to stop, and soon Ser Rodrik and two other men took him away from his victim, but the damage was done. The boy lying on the ground had several cuts and grazes on his face, and his lips were opened. Catelyn didn't know it then, but the bruises would stay there for weeks.
Ser Rodrik was already lecturing her son after he made sure the other boy was taken safely to the maester, but Catelyn cut his lecture short and brought her son with her on the spot, dragging him by the ear. She brought him to his rooms, crying and begging her to let him go, saying he would do anything and that he was sorry, that she was hurting him. In his chamber, she forced him to sit down on a chair, and she berated him.
"What you did is wrong," she had told him.
"He kept beating me," he wailed. He was only six.
"That's no reason."
"You said that I would be Lord of Winterfell one day. That I couldn't let him beat me. That Jon couldn't be Lord of Winterfell."
"I did, but that's no reason to hurt him like you did."
"Why?" He was really a child.
"Because he's your brother."
The words had come out of her mouth like this, so easily. She gave her sons a sermon on the importance of family, of being loyal to your own kin, to those of your own blood. She told him that he and Jon Snow shared the same father and the same siblings, and that if he behaved in this way, then he didn't deserve to be Lord of Winterfell. Both he and Jon were to be entirely loyal to each other. Robb had finally understood what she said, and then he had cried, and she consoled him the best she could. No other incident of this sort ever happened afterwards between him and his half-brother.
Catelyn almost regretted what she told her son back then. She shouldn't have allowed her children to grow too close to the bastard. It was too dangerous. She made a mistake. No matter how she tried to make things better, she always did the wrong thing. But this time, she knew that Jon Snow's suggestion was the wrong thing to do. They had the right plan, their best chance to save Ned and the girls, and she couldn't let Robb make a different choice.
That evening, she went to see her son. He was looking over a map of Westeros. He looked up when she entered and smiled at her.
"Good evening, Mother."
"Good evening, Robb." She played with her hands for a moment. "I need to tell you something."
"I'm listening."
"You mustn't accept Lord Tyrion's offer. It's a trap, I can feel it. To trust him would be the biggest error to make."
He sighed. "I've been thinking about all this in the last hours, Mother. What Jon says makes sense. It's illogical that Lord Tyrion gave his own dagger to an assassin. It's quite possible that someone stole it. The assassin may have had access to Lord Tyrion's personal belongings and he took it among them."
"If that's the case, then it means he was in the Lannister retinue. He could only be working for them."
"Jon told me that Lord Tyrion and Lady Margaery don't get along very well with the queen. He even told me that they hate each other. What if the queen was behind all this and that she tried to frame her brother for this? She may have bribed one of his men, and it would explain why Tyrion Lannister and Lady Margaery are trying to stop her."
"I don't believe this is wise to trust them."
"You told me you trusted Lady Lannister."
"I'm no longer sure we can trust her."
Catelyn still wanted to believe that the Lady of Casterly Rock wasn't involved in all this, but she couldn't say it with certainty any longer now that Ned was under arrest. Could Lord Tyrion have done all these things without his wife knowing or suspecting anything? And Petyr told her in King's Landing that she was with her husband the real power in Westeros. She was afraid to trust this woman.
"Jon is saying that he trusts Lord Tyrion and Lady Margaery. His wife told me that the Lord of Casterly Rock couldn't have a child murdered. And I trust Jon. If he trusts them, then I can trust them as well."
"You're making a mistake."
"We will be facing an army much bigger than ours, Mother. The odds that we may win are limited. We might have more chances to save Father, Sansa and Arya if we let the Lannisters do as they say."
"Your father and your sisters might not come out of this alive."
"And they might die as well if we fight. If we reject Lord Tyrion's offer, then we will have him as an enemy forever, not only his sister and Joffrey. We must give a chance to the Imp."
"You are wrong to trust him on the word of Jon Snow. You shouldn't trust him."
He looked at her, skeptical. "Are you telling me I shouldn't trust my brother?" he asked slowly.
She gulped. "Your half-brother."
His eyes on her were hard. "It's unfair what you're saying, Mother."
"I'm just stating a fact. He is not your brother. He is your half-brother."
He looked at her for a very long time. "I took my decision. Our troops will remain at Moat Cailin to let the Imp and his wife deal with the queen. In the meantime, we will recruit more men if we ever are to march south."
Despair sunk into her heart. She thought of Ned, of Sansa, of Arya. Robb was condemning them. "Robb, please, don't do this!"
"I took my decision. I'm not going to come back over it. Without the Knights of the Vale, we don't have enough men to defeat the Lannisters and the Tyrells. And if what Lady Margaery said to Jon is true, then she's probably not about to send us any help."
"You really believe what she told him? That your aunt is mad?"
"I'll discard this possibility for good the day she will stand before me with the men we need. In the meantime, we stay in the North and we wait for Lord Tyrion and Lady Margaery to free Father, Sansa and Arya."
He wouldn't change his mind. It was set on it, just like when Ned brought the bastard boy home and said he would live with them. Catelyn wished so much that her husband never insisted on bringing up this boy. The Lannisters had succeeded. They could do as they wished in the south., and there would be no one to stop them. They used the bastard very well.
Catelyn's behaviour is always complex when it comes to Jon Snow. On one side, she hates him for being the son her husband had with another woman, leading her to be irrationally jealous of his mother because he looks more like Ned than any child she ever had, and to be afraid all the time that he could be a threat to her own children, when Jon shows no sign at all that he could one day threaten his brothers or sisters' positions or lives. On the other side, she shows regrets and even compassion towards Jon in some occasions, though it is so discreet that almost no one around her, and especially Jon, can see it. I tried to picture it the best way I could in this chapter, with this invented anecdote from Jon's childhood. It is not from the books or the show, and it is my own creation. Ironically, Catelyn's behaviour at this moment probably made Robb and Jon closer than ever, while at the same time Catelyn doesn't want her children to fully consider Jon like their brother. (Of all Cat's children, Sansa, who was the closest to her mother, is the only one to call Jon her "half-brother", probably an influence from her mother.)
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