The Price of Crossing
Chapter One
She only knew that she was to be wed an hour before it was due to happen, which seemed the height of rudeness to her but Walda no better than to question her lord grandfather, and she also knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, or a gift wolf when she came to think of it.
Her lord grandfather had summoned all the unmarried women of the Twins who were of a good age to wed to his great hall, all of the women had been sent to the other castle on the bridge when the host had come within sight of their walls, for their protection.
When they had stood in the hall for the Lord of the Crossing to overlook them, Walda had not thought much of it even then. Lord Walder wanted more and more than what he had with every breath that he took, when the man was finally on his deathbed, he would no doubt ask for more and so it didn't take her long to realise that one of them was to be wed to whoever lead the armies outside their walls.
Still, she did not think it would be her.
When Lord Walder's eyes had landed on her he had let out that awful laugh of is, but Walda had not shrunk, she simply stood and waited. "You girl, the wolf will take you for a wife. Let someone else worry about how to feed you, I will suffer you no longer."
It was hardly the announcement of intent that she had dream of as a girl, but she was a Frey of the Twins, and you did not survive in this family for long if you did not know how to handle an insult or two.
The preparations in her chambers were sweeter, mother had squealed and pressed a thousand kisses to her cheeks and forehead and her father had puffed up with pride like he had something to do with it. Amerei had congratulated her and offered to teach her all the ways she knows how to please a man and Marissa had hugged her tightly, though her brother Walder had soon grown bored and was more interested in the fact that he was to ward at Winterfell.
Her cousins were there as well, sweet and pretty Roslin had hugged her tightly with a strength you would not have guessed she had to look at her and cruel and pretty Walda had glared at her when she had offered her congratulations.
"Why you, of all of us?" Fair Walda asked as she glared from the bed she was sitting on as the bride to be stood in front of her floor-length looking glass, Roslin brushing her hair gently. "It should be me; I am more beautiful than you are, and I am thin as well. I know how to put down a fork at least."
"And yet I am still the one who is getting married," Fat Walda answered with a smile, not turning away from the looking glass. "And I did not have to put my fork down even once, how fortunate for me."
"Only because Grandfather doesn't want you here anymore," Her cousin spat at her, the venom more than a match for any Dornish serpent. "And your husband won't tolerate it, the Northmen are always so concerned about winter, I hear they put almost all of their harvests away. How do you think your husband will feel about the fact you'll probably eat through all he has stored in a fortnight."
"Sweet cousin, you may be right." Walda turned away from the looking glass and gave her a smile, all sweetness and innocence. "Indeed, it might be right if you did marry him instead. You would surely be of more use to him, why, if you went North all my new husband would need is a thin and dry stick and you and he could get a fire started with no trouble at all."
Her cousin flushed and left the chamber, slamming the door shut as she let, and Walda hummed and turned to look at herself in the looking glass once again. Roslin had not stopped brushing her hair through all of that, her hair was certainly no Lannister gold, but she had always liked her yellow hair all the same and she hoped that her husband liked it as well.
When it came to what she would wear for her wedding she chose a grey velvet from her trunk, in truth Walda didn't like grey very much but she knew that grey was one of the colours of House Stark and if Winterfell was to be her place now then she wanted to show her new husband that she was ready to embrace her new life with as much willingness as was possible.
Her blonde hair was tied into a long braid, bound with silver wire studded with small sapphires carved into the shape of small flowers and a cloak with the sigil of House Frey was draped over her shoulders.
And just like that, she was ready.
Her father took her arm and lead her out of the chambers, her mother and sisters and cousin walked behind her, and they made their way to the castle sept.
All of the Freys that stayed at the Twins were all ready within, there was little love her as most of the looks on her kin's face could be summed up as indifference at best and hate at worst, but Walda did not allow the smile to slip from her face for even a single second. Let them hate her, let all of them hate her as much as they wanted to. None of them matter.
This was her day, and none would ruin this for her.
There were strangers there as well of course, men who could only be men from the North who all looked impatient for their ceremony to be done as soon as possible. A tall woman who could only be Lady Catelyn, only a Tully could look that superior without even trying to do so and standing next to her was a dark-haired youth who seemed to think that he knew something very funny.
And there, standing in front of the altar, was the man who was to be her lord and husband.
A flush came to her face as she realised how handsome he was, he was tall with wide shoulders and clear blue eyes that had clearly come from the Tully side of his family and his auburn hair was verging on being dark red and he wore it long to the top of his back, a dusting of fine red hair was on his chin and full lips that curved upwards naturally.
Oh yes, she liked the look of him.
His face was blank when Walda came to stand by him, she did not hold that against him as she doubted that he came here expecting to take a wife, but he said the vows all the same when the time came for it, no hesitation in his voice.
And just like that, they were wed.
There was a feast of course, the cooks had done the best they could considering that they had probably very little warning, no doubt Lord Walder had sent word to the kitchens before he had sent word to the women of his family.
Walda helped herself to three slices of beef and bacon pie, with carrots, peas and mashed neeps aswim in butter and two slices of her favourite cake, made with honey, breadcrumbs and fair flour. Her new husband at little and less of what was offered to him, though he at least had the manners to try everything off of every plate to ensure the cook's honour was protected.
The guests and her family came up to the high table where they were sat, some offered jokes, and some offered advice. There were no gifts given due to the rush with which all of this had happened, but she found that she did not mind that.
Lady Catelyn stood in front of them, she glanced at her son first and gave him a smile that Walda had seen on her own mother's face countless times. "Your father would be so proud of you, and he will understand when we have him back. He will just be sorry that he missed your wedding. Regardless, know that I am proud of you as well. Never more so, my son."
"Thank you, mother," Her husband answered, his voice was even but there was a wetness in his eyes that could be easily passed off as do to the smoke from the candles in the hall.
Then it was her turn, for all that her grandfather hated the Tullys for acting like they were better than them Walda wasn't sure they could blame them for that, what had her grandfather ever done to earn their respect, and when the beautiful woman turned to look at her there was nothing but kindness in her blue eyes. "I remember how frightened I was when I married my husband, I was betrothed to his older brother and then I was suddenly meant to marry a stranger that I had barely met before."
"But I soon saw that there was no need for fear, I had married a man who was good and true. And as the years passed and we had more children between us something began to grow, for a long time I did not know what to call it but one day we both knew. It was love," there were tears in Lady Catelyn's eyes and then they began to gently fall down her cheeks. "I pray that the same grows for you both."
"Thank you, my lady," Walda said in a whisper, not knowing what else to say but it seemed to be enough as Lady Catelyn smiled, bowed her head and withdrew back to her seat.
It wasn't long after that it was time for the bedding, her womankin descended on her husband like a pack of crows on a rotting carcass and Walda had to walk to her bedchamber with dozens of men she knew and dozens she didn't pulling at her dress.
Honestly, she was glad now that she hadn't worn a dress that she was truly fond of considering that what she was wearing had basically been reduced to tatters by the time she had reached the bedchamber where she would be spending her first night with her husband.
She had gotten there first it seemed and Walda looked around the empty room, sighing when she saw the pitcher, she asked for on the table next to the bed and she used it to fill up a pewter cup up with a cup of strong red wine, dark as blood before she sat down in a chair within the room.
It was moments after that when the door opened and her husband, half naked, was shoved into the bedchamber among a flurry of giggles and when the door slammed shut husband and wife were left alone for the first time.
Walda allowed herself to look over her husband once again, her eyes following the hair on his chest downward until it disappeared under the band of his trousers. She sighed heavily and took a small sip of her wine. "Does my lord not wish to consummate the marriage to me?"
"What?" her husband looked at her like she had grown a second head.
"I thought it was rather a simple question, truth be told but I have been told that I talk too much, and eat too much, I do everything too much it seems." Walda said as she rose from her chair, her husband seeming to take great pains to not look at her bosoms. "Do you not wish to consummate the marriage to me? I must admit that I am aware that I am not a great beauty, but I never thought I was so ugly as to make a man shrivel up so."
Robb Stark frowned at her then, and when he spoke there was something in his voice that demanded you pay attention. "My lady is not ugly, that is not why I..." He sighed heavily then and walked over to where the pitcher was placed and filled a cup for himself as well. "I am not a fool, I know that I am the heir to a great house and that any match I made would be to strengthen my family, my home, I understood that, but I did not think that it would happen this way."
"Nothing happened the way that I thought that it would." Was all that her husband said before he drank deep from his cup.
"I did not think that I would be getting married this morning, I understand." Walda said, hoping that it would give him some sort of comfort.
She didn't know if it comforted him, but he did put his cup down then and shook his head, as if to clear it. "Come my lady, it is our wedding night, and we should try and enjoy it. On the morrow I'm off to war."
End of Chapter One
