"A motherhouse?!" Lysa screamed. "No! I will not go!"
"You will do as you are told! You have brought enough shame on our house!" Hoster Tully replied coldly.
"Shame? I've brought shame?! You forced me to drink moon tea years ago when I was pregnant to Petyr, and it nearly killed me… then you married me off to a man old enough to be your grandfather… a man whose seed was so bad that those pregnancies nearly killed me… my son has been stolen from me… I love Petyr, I've always loved Petyr… please, let me go to him, let me go to my son."
"Petyr doesn't want you, he has however sent a marriage proposal for Cat." Hoster replied coldly.
Edmure watched as Catelyn paled at the comment. Lysa spun around to her sister and moved to strike her but Catelyn caught the hand. "I hate you." Lysa whimpered. "He always wanted you… our first time together he called out your name." Lysa suddenly burst into tears and Catelyn hugged her. "Tell me you won't marry him, please." Lysa begged. "Promise me."
"I will do whatever our lord father commands, dear sister, as will you." Catelyn replied sadly.
"The proposal has already been refused." Hoster advised.
Edmure was shocked, he could remember when he was young that Lysa had been very ill, but she couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen at the time, had she really been pregnant? Lysa cried and begged and screamed, but a week later she was on her way to a motherhouse and the start of her Septa training.
Hoster hadn't taken either of the divorces well, he had tried to convince Catelyn to return to Winterfell, but Jon Arryn had arrived with a long letter from Ned Stark stating that all blame for the divorce should be put on Ned alone, and that Catelyn's honour was not in question. The letter had been carefully worded and included an open invitation for Hoster to come visit his grandchildren any time he wished. Jon Arryn had talked with Hoster and convinced him that Ned was still an ally. Still, Hoster was nervous, he was determined to find a Stormlands bride for Edmure. When Hoster had heard of the 'less than beautiful' heiress of Tarth he had insisted that Edmure go meet her, and allowed Catelyn to join him in the hopes that she might find herself a suitable new husband in the process, after all, Renly Baratheon had been fostered at Tarth.
Edmure, Catelyn, and their retinue arrived on the island on a clear day. Lord Selwyn Tarth greeted them warmly, but tried to skirt them past the training yard on their arrival. Edmure caught sight of a scrawny young girl with straw coloured hair, and freckles, in armour - a tournament sword in her hands. The girl was tall, almost as tall as Edmure, but there was a youthfulness to her coarse features that suggested she would get taller still. Although not conventionally attractive, her blue eyes were stunning. Her nose looked like it had recently been broken and was still healing, there were dark bruises under her eyes, but there was also a determination that reminded him of his uncle Brynden.
Edmure was intrigued, he knew it could be considered rude to step away from his host but he couldn't help himself, he watched as she easily defeated her opponent, a man at least twice her age. As her opponent yielded Edmure stepped onto the training field.
"May I have a go?" He asked.
The girl looked to Lord Selwyn as if asking permission and Selwyn nodded. "Brienne, this is Ser Edmure Tully."
Brienne? Wait, this was the girl he was meant to meet? But Brienne was only twelve… he smiled at the young woman and removed his sword belt, handing his sword to Catelyn. A tournament sword was offered to him and the duel began. She was good, far better than he had been at her age, and Edmure was impressed. As the afternoon progressed Brienne also showed off her skill with a mace, although he was thankfully not her opponent for this. Brienne was nothing like the pretty girls that Edmure favoured, but if he was honest, he didn't respect those pretty girls… especially when they spread their legs too easily. By the time that they sat down for dinner Brienne had his respect.
Lord Selwyn was firm that if a betrothal was arranged it would not be at the expense of Brianne's martial training, and Edmure agreed, he discussed tactics and weapons with her over dinner and discovered that the girl was quiet intelligent. They discussed how Edmure had gained his knighthood and he quickly realised that Brienne wanted to be a knight herself.
"No woman has ever been knighted in the Seven Kingdoms." Brienne said quietly.
Catelyn reached out and clasped the girl's hand. "No woman has been knighted in the Seven Kingdoms yet." She replied.
The young woman had given Catelyn a shy smile and Edmure had been taken away by the purity of it. In that moment he had known two things for sure, one, he would marry this girl, and two, he would get her that knighthood. They stayed for a week and Edmure trained with Brienne every day, when they returned to Riverrun he asked his father to arrange the betrothal.
~~/~~
Brienne was fourteen when they married, the ceremony was held at Evenfall and to Edmure's amasement Renly Baratheon was amongst the honoured guests. The youngest brother of the king took Edmure aside and made him promise that Brienne would be allowed to continue to train, Edmure countered by making Renly promise to be the one to knight her when the time came. Renly's icy blue eyes widened in surprise and he gave Edmure a bright smile. "Now, won't that cause a scandal? I think you and I are going to be friends." Renly replied with a smirk and a nudge.
Brienne was nervous about the bedding ceremony, and rightly so, Edmure was angered by how openly cruel many of the lords were towards her, by the time she reached the bedchamber she was shaking. Edmure pulled her close to him and stroked her hair, he kissed her gently and shielded her as much from the view of those watching as he possibly could. "They're just jealous, because you're a better fighter than they are." He whispered to her quietly. "Good fighters are often good lovers too, this is just another form of combat, let's show them what they will never have."
Brienne seemed to relax a little at his words, he took things slowly and took joy in finding ways to make her moan, ensured that she had reached release twice before finally taking her maidenhood and consummating the marriage, by then her nervousness was gone, he was stunned when she flipped them so that she was on top, by the time she was finished with him all the men in the room were so aroused that they were off in search of their wives, lovers, or the closest willing servant girl.
"You are beautiful." He whispered as he held her close. "Not pretty, pretty is shallow and fades, but you are truly beautiful."
"I'm not beautiful." Brienne whispered, her eyes shut.
"You are as beautiful to me as Tanselle was to Ser Duncan the Tall." He replied. "She was not too tall for him, and you are not too tall for me, our family could use some height."
Brienne snuggled closer to him. "Go to sleep," She muttered.
He dropped a gentle kiss on her shoulder. "Yes, my Tanselle." He whispered.
It seemed that Renly was genuinely interested in Brienne's happiness. He, and his squire Loras Tyrell, accompanied Edmure's party back to Riverrun, an act which pleased Lord Hoster very much. Renly was gifted a room that would always be his at Riverrun, ten moons later Renly was present for the celebration of Edmure and Brienne's first born children, twin boys with reddish –blonde hair. Axel, whom was slightly older, had greenish-blue eyes, Catelyn said they looked much like Sansa's eyes. Edwyle had blue eyes, and was named as Lord Selwyn Tarth's heir. Renly had Brienne Knighted two weeks after she gave birth, much to the uproar of the Kingdoms.
Edmure was aware that his father did everything in his power to try and get a match between Renly and Catelyn, but when Hoster raised the matter directly Renly simply gave him a kind smile and showed him a locket with a painting of a doe-eyed girl, the girl was apparently Loras' sister. Renly admitted that they were not betrothed, yet, but he hoped for it.
Five moons after the birth of the twins a representative of a merchant Prince from Pentos, Illyrio Mopatis, arrived with a gift of a dozen Dothraki Horses for the first ever female knight of the realm. It was an amazing and unexpected gift, and one that made Brienne smile in ways that warmed Edmure's heart, yet he suspected that there was more to the gift, and the man's presence, than met the eye.
Six moons after that, as Edmure met his future brother in law for the first time, those suspicions were confirmed. Although Edmure could not begin to fathom what his father had to offer the Merchant Prince in return for Catelyn's hand? More gifts and horses came with Illyrio, including a dozen Dragon-bone bows. It was all so very generous, Edmure was sure that Catelyn would be well treated by her new future husband.
~~/~~