Catelyn III
Catelyn and her party had arrived in Riverrun several days ago, but she was still somewhat exhausted after the long journey from the heart of the Reach. It had not been an easy journey. The lands south of the Trident were still the scene of skirmishes between Lord Tywin's forces and his son's army. Many of the Riverlords had returned to their castles since the Battle of the Camps to reclaim them from Lannister hands, and most had succeeded. Most, not all. Darry had fallen back into Lannister hands after Ser Gregor fell upon the castle in the middle of the night and killed the last Darry. Pinkmaiden had changed hands several times in the last few weeks, as had the Stone Sept. Unfortunately for them, heavy fighting was still raging in both spots when they had to cross them on the way back, so the return journey was longer and more tortuous than they would have wished. Fortunately, that was the only regret.
Catelyn looked out the window of her father's chambers again. Beneath the walls of Riverrun stood several encampments filled with soldiers from both the North and the Riverlands. They were nowhere near as many as Renly had, but with each passing day more and more came from the lands they had gone to reclaim and defend shortly before she left. Catelyn knew what that meant: Robb was planning to put up a fight.
But to whom, she thought. There were only two options, and neither of them appealed to her. Marching into Harrenhal was exactly what Lord Tywin wanted. The great fortress was in ruins, but it still had more formidable defenses than most castles on the entire continent. Taking it would be far from easy, least of all when their numbers were so evenly matched. The other option was even worse. Facing Renly's army was suicide, it could not be defined any other way. He had at least four times as many men as they did and, as much as the northern soldiers were much more battle-hardened, courage would not give them victory in the face of such overwhelming numbers.
Behind her, her father slept peacefully in his bed. Seeing him like this, it would almost seem that the disease had not taken its toll on him, but the reality was quite different. When he was awake, the pains he felt were horrible and his face, pale and haggard from illness, was in a perpetual grimace of pain. It had taken a whole cup of milk of the poppy to soothe the terrible pains he felt and yet Catelyn could see how from time to time her father was still writhing in pain in his dreams. And that was not the worst of it. His once brilliant mind was completely gone. Since she had returned, her father had mistaken her for Lysa and sometimes even for her late mother. He raved about events that had happened years or even decades ago and found it horrendously difficult to articulate coherent sentences.
Catelyn could not bear to stay there a moment longer. Hoster Tully had been a strong and proud man, and that was the image that she wanted to remain with her when he was no longer here. She did not want to remember her father as a frail and insane man.
"Where is Maester Vyman?" she asked one of the maids she came across. The maester had told her that her father would be asleep for several more hours, but in her current state, Catelyn felt safer if someone remained with him at all times.
"I saw him head for his chambers, my lady. I will fetch him immediately" the girl replied.
"Yes, please," Catelyn said wearily. "Tell him I want him to be with Lord Hoster while I am absent."
The girl bowed before leaving in the direction of the maester's chambers. Catelyn then thought about heading to her room and taking the long rest she certainly needed, but she couldn't make herself do it. She had to see Robb, she needed to see him. Her son was leading a war, and while it was true that he had the likes of the Blackfish advising him, Catelyn couldn't help but worry.
When I take King's Landing, I will march on Harrenhal, and then on Riverrun. Renly Baratheon's words kept echoing in her mind, and with each passing day they made her more nervous. Since the fall of Oldtown, news from the South had become increasingly scarce and unreliable. Neither Stannis nor the Martells had tried to communicate with them again. Had they been defeated? If so, the sensible thing to do was to bow the knee to Renly while they had time, but Robb had refused to do so, even when Catelyn relayed the message Renly had given him before he left. In that he was much like his father, perhaps too much so for his own good. Ned's sense of honor had led him down a path fraught with danger, and she feared that Robb would travel the same path. But at this point there was nothing she could do to change his mind, nor was she sure she wanted him to. After all, that would be seen by his subjects and lords as a sign of weakness and it might lead them down the path of treachery which, at this point in the war, could be fatal to them.
Catelyn paced the courtyard, alone, her face tense. I have always done my duty, but... I don't know what I should do anymore. Should I do whatever I can to try to save Sansa and Ned, even if it meant going against what Robb had ordered? Or was it better to return to Winterfell and leave that to her son, Edmure and the Blackfish? Catelyn was a sea of doubt that grew and grew every day.
How can I do my duty if I don't know what it is?
Her steps led her to the sept, where she found she was spending more and more time in recent days. She knelt before a marble image of the Mother and lit a candle for Sansa and another for Ned. Protect them and bring them back to me, she prayed. Is this all I'm good for now, praying?
Catelyn rose without finishing the prayer. She was tired. Tired of the war that ravaged the lands of her ancestors. Tired of feeling weak and powerless as the world changed around her so fast that the days seemed like months. She left the sept without looking back and made her way to her son's chambers. Since she had returned to Riverrun she had barely spoken to him, nothing more than to tell him what she had discussed with Renly, and it was time for them to have a real mother to son conversation.
Her intentions, however, were thwarted when a pair of guards blocked her way before she could see him.
"What do you think you're doing?" snapped Catelyn at them, frustrated.
"I'm sorry, my lady. But Lord Robb has asked that no one disturb him," one of the guards answered her.
Lord Robb. Catelyn knew for a fact that everyone was already taking Ned for dead.
"And what is so important that he can't see his lady mother?"
"Lord Robb is meeting with Lord Lannister to discuss the terms of peace, my lady. " The other guard nudged him, indicating to his companion that he had spoken too much. But Catelyn could no longer forget those words.
Lord Lannister? Robb is meeting with Tywin Lannister? When had Lord Tywin arrived at Riverrun? And more importantly, why hadn't she heard about it until now?
The door opened halfway, revealing the face of her brother Edmure. His reddish beard was growing thicker and thicker, and Catelyn was reminded in some ways of her father when he was young.
"Let my sister pass," Edmure said as he tried to smile, as if by way of apology. "I'm sorry I didn't inform you, Cat, but it all happened so fast. Besides, we thought that in this case it might be better not to inform you until everything was settled. I'm really sorry."
"No need to apologize, Edmure," she said as she walked through the door. "The peace talks with Lord Tywin are your and Robb's business. The only thing I'm upset about is that I was distracted enough to have missed it..."
Her voice was in a knot when she saw who was sitting opposite Robb. There, in the very castle where she had been born and raised. Where she had conceived and given birth to her firstborn, sat so calmly the misshapen, vile creature who had ordered her son Bran killed.
"Good morning, Lady Stark," Tyrion Lannister said with a misshapen smile as soon as he saw her enter.
"What is that monster doing sitting there?" said Catelyn unable to contain her anger. "All he brings is deceit and lies. You should cut off his head and send it back to Lord Tywin."
"I am glad to see you too, my lady," replied the Imp.
"Lord Tyrion has taken my bread and salt, Cat," said Edmure. "According to the laws of hospitality, he is under my protection."
"I know the laws of hospitality well, Edmure. And I don't know if they should apply to someone who ordered a child killed in his bed."
"The gods already found me innocent of that crime Lady Stark, though your sister well did her best to try to kill me anyway. Nevertheless, I don't think my father cares in the least for my safety at the present moment, or else he would have sent someone else in my place, someone of a much higher position, certainly."
Catelyn gripped the skirts of her dress tightly, trying to suppress her anger as much as possible, and sat down in one of the chairs, letting out a long sigh. As much as she wanted to see the dwarf suffer, at that moment what she wanted didn't matter in the slightest. If by dealing with that monster she could get Ned and Sansa back to her, she well deserved to swallow her hatred and resentment.
"If the gods are just, Imp, you will not go unpunished for the crime you committed against my family, although it pities me that I cannot lay a hand on you today," Catelyn said.
"The gods are seldom fair, my lady. But I did not come here to argue about religion. You will find the proposal I have conveyed to your son and brother to be quite generous."
She did not yet know how generous the Lannister proposal might be, but Catelyn did not expect Lord Tywin to forgive the Starks and Tullys so easily. Whatever that dwarf said, the most they could hope for was a truce. He only hoped Robb and Edmure realized it, too.
"Lord Tywin offers us peace in exchange for letting his armies pass unharmed back to the Westerlands," Edmure explained with a goofy grin. "He will also give us several chests of gold and some hostages as a token of goodwill."
"Pocket money to please your vassals and unimportant relatives of some of their lords, I'm sure," said Catelyn. "What of the prisoners Lord Tywin holds within the walls of Harrenhal, what of my daughter and my husband?"
"We will make an exchange of hostages, ours for yours, without further conditions. And we will also return your dear Ned Stark to you, not that he has been of much use to us either" Tyrion Lannister replied.
"And Sansa?"
"She will stay as a guest at Casterly Rock. She's still betrothed to Joffrey, in case you've forgotten."
"Arranged marriages can be broken," Robb replied. "I will not allow my sister to be held another day."
"Like you, we too need assurances that you will keep your promises. And that is not all. You must also swear that you will never again take up arms against House Lannister or King Joffrey. That is essential."
"Joffrey is not our king," Robb said. "Nor will he ever be."
"We have sworn fealty to King Stannis," Edmure added. "And duty and honor are something that our family holds in very high regard, Lannister."
"I'm sure it is, my lords. Is it all right if I call you that? The truth is, this whole title thing keeps getting a little confusing to me," Tyrion Lannister said nonchalantly. "Swear allegiance to the king of your choice, my dear father doesn't care. All he wants is that, when the time comes, neither House Tully nor House Stark should take up arms against us again. What you do in the meantime is of no concern to him."
"And are we to believe that if your father manages to defeat Renly and Stannis afterwards he will not turn against us?" said Catelyn thoughtfully. All those words of the Imp sounded good, too good to be true. Something was wrong, but she couldn't quite see what it could be.
"Yes... the truth is that my father doesn't seem like someone willing to forgive and move on. I guess I can't blame you for that. I think the best way to reach an agreement would be to try to regain trust between our two houses, don't you think, my lords?"
"You treacherously attacked and plundered my grandfather's lands, and then captured my father, the Hand of the King, to try to use him as a bargaining chip. Do you think I can believe anything you or your father say?" said Robb, growing more and more furious.
"To tell you the truth, I believe it was your lady mother here who caused everything in that tavern, but we'd better let bygones be bygones. I suppose news has reached you by now, or you may have found out on your own, but Renly is at the gates of King's Landing. He may already be sitting on the Iron Throne as we speak," said the Lannister.
"What?" said Edmure. "Why are you telling us...?"
"I'm not finished yet," the Imp cut him off. "As you may have noticed, my lords, my dear father's army is trapped in the smoking ruins of Harren's castle, rather poetically, in my opinion. His intention, as you have well noted, is to rearm in the Westerlands, and wait for Renly and Stannis to weaken each other. And along the way he will also wipe out every Stark and Tully he comes across."
"What?!" Robb could hardly come out of his stupefaction, while Edmure gripped the edge of the table, red with anger.
"You come to us with the intention of peace talks and dare to spout such threats against my family!" shouted Catelyn, giving voice to her son's and brother's thoughts.
"You misunderstand me, my lady. More than a threat, this is a warning. My father intends to exchange prisoners here, right outside your gates. While you are distracted with the main army, which will come from Harrenhal, his second army, formed from the remnants of my uncle Kevan's army, will come down from the Golden Tooth, where it is encamped. At his signal, his troops will attack your soldiers while this second army cuts off your rear. He also intends to take the castle in the midst of all the confusion, putting to the sword every man, woman and child in his path. Surely you know what Ser Gregor and his men are capable of," said the Imp with total impassivity.
"Why tell us this, Lord Tyrion?" asked Catelyn, her anger increasingly appeased. "What is in it for you to warn us of your father's treachery?"
"I am as sick of this war as you are, Lady Stark. I just want it over as soon as possible."
"You would turn against your own family? Let me doubt it, Lord Tyrion," Edmure said. "Even someone like you is not so base."
"I am capable of more things than you think, Edmure Tully. Tywin Lannister ceased to be family to me long ago, as did my sister Cersei," Tyrion Lannister said, not the least bit unmoved. "Still, I have my terms."
"You have already told us all we need to know," Edmure said. "We do not intend to pay you for your treachery, Imp."
"We still need him, Uncle," Robb said, thoughtfully. "We still need Lord Tywin to leave Harrenhal, or this fight will not be over. Name your terms, Lord Tyrion, and we'll get them to King Stannis."
"I am negotiating with you, not Stannis. I want only what is rightfully mine, Casterly Rock and the Westerlands. I want your king's pardon, as I want it for my nephews Tommen and Myrcella."
"And what about your brother and sister? And your nephew Joffrey?" asked Catelyn. She could not believe what she was hearing. How could anyone betray his family like that? She thought of Lysa, and how much the years had changed her, but still she could not imagine betraying her, or the other way around.
"My brother is in King's Landing, maybe already dead. If he survived... I want a pardon for him too. With Cersei and Joffrey you can do whatever your king wishes."
"That is acceptable to me. I will let the king know..." said Robb, but Tyrion cut him off before he could finish.
"Let him know what you will, Stark, but you will hold Stannis to those terms, or there will be no deal. Your army is as big as his, so he can't afford to take you on." Tyrion Lannister jumped down from his chair and prepared to leave, ending the negotiations.
"You put a great deal of trust in us to keep our end of the bargain, Lord Tyrion," Robb said. "Why?"
"I trust you are your father's son."
"Lord Tyrion!" called Catelyn to him before he left the room. "As a wife and mother, I have no words to thank you for what you have done here today. I think I can say on behalf of those here, as well as my husband and daughter, that we are in your debt. We will never forget it."
Tyrion Lannister looked as if he was about to want to say something to her, but instead he gave a slight bow and turned, walking away from her.
"I am so sorry for how I treated you, my lord," Catelyn continued, unable to contain herself. "I was wrong about you, you are not the monster everyone takes you for."
"There I must correct you, Lady Stark," Tyrion Lannister said in a trickle of voice, almost imperceptible. "I am far worse."