"You couldn't have strength without weakness,

You couldn't have light without dark,

You couldn't have love without loss."

-Jodi Picoult

Chapter Nineteen – Stark Siblings

She rode beside her brother back to his camp.

Robb had told her that their mother had joined him and his army mere days before, having left the Eyrie once Tyrion had been released. Inwardly, Caryssa had been pleased that the Gods had found the youngest Lannister to be innocent, but she knew that her mother must have been disappointed as it meant that the person who ordered Bran's murder was still at large.

Caryssa was anxious to see her mother. She needed to be held, to be reassured that everything would be alright, in a way that she hadn't needed since she was a little girl.

When her mother had found her the morning after her seventh namesday, Catelyn had held her in her arms and she had clung to her mother, leaving bloody smears all over her mother's grey gown, and just sobbed. Her mother had cried with her, so upset that her baby had been forced to take a life to protect herself in her own home, and rocked her against her pregnant belly while her father had men dispose of the body.

Physically, Caryssa's hands now were clean, but she had taken lives today. She had broken a vow she had made with the Gods after she had killed the man who stabbed her father, and she was terrified of what the consequences would be. And there would be consequences. The Gods were nothing but swift with their justice.

She needed her mother.

"We're almost there," Robb informed her, cutting through her thoughts. When he only received a nod in return, he glanced at her and grew concerned. The last time he had seen her look so pensive and closed off was when Bran fell. "You had no choice. They could have harmed you."

Caryssa wasn't surprised that her brother had seen right through her and known why she was upset.

He always knew.

"They were my husband's men. They wouldn't have hurt me, but I didn't think of that. I just thought of getting away. I'm not a warrior, Robb. I've never wanted to be one," Caryssa admitted, her head bowed and her voice quiet. "I just…I didn't want to ever be put in that position again. I didn't want to be vulnerable. That's why I begged Jory to teach me…because I was scared. I still am."

Robb stared at her, but couldn't find the words to comfort his sister. She had never told him any of that. Whenever she had been asked why she wanted to learn how to defend herself, Caryssa had always replied with, 'Why not?', and when an answer was given, usually a rendition of, 'Because it's unladylike', Caryssa had always rolled her eyes and walked away.

Nobody told the She-Wolf of Winterfell that it was unladylike to hunt or do archery or attempt to learn to swordfight and if they did, they never said it twice.

Now, Robb was seeing his sister in a new light. That quiet confidence she displayed…that was just a mask, a defense, to hide the fact that those horrific circumstances had made her vulnerable and that sometimes she still was.

His hatred of the man who had attacked her that night burned all the more brightly now.

Before Robb could finally say something, anything, they broke through the tree line on the edge of their camp and saw their mother waiting for them with Rodrik at the top of the hill.

Caryssa silently dug in her heels and urged Snow into a canter, breaking away from Robb and his men.

As soon as she reached them, she was off of her horse. Catelyn mimicked her, and they crashed into each other, their arms snaring round each other like vines. Caryssa could feel her mother's tears dampen her hair where her cheek rested against the soft strands of ebony. The she-wolf managed to hold back her own tears. She had admitted a weakness to her brother, but she would not be a whimpering waif in front of his men.

"How are you here?" Catelyn questioned, as the two women separated slightly. She noted the red rims around her daughter's eyes and the general tightness and tenseness of her body, and knew that things had not been well for her.

"My husband," Caryssa's eyes lowered to the ground, focusing on a patch of snow where the grass was still fighting to be seen. She was still ashamed that she had not fought against him more to stay with her father. "He took me with him when he left King's Landing. I had no choice."

Catelyn saw how hard it was for her daughter to admit that. Having a choice was something that her daughter wished for most in the world, so being forced to leave her injured father behind and leave her sister's in King's Landing was something that her daughter would have hated.

As though Robb's men had heard the Kingslayer mentioned, the lion himself was dumped at the feet of the two women, who looked at him unsympathetically.

"By the time they knew what was happening, it had already happened." Robb revealed proudly.

Jaime righted himself and looked up at his wife and her mother. Stood side by side, he could see the similarities between them. Always being likened to her dead aunt, nobody saw Catelyn Stark in Caryssa, but Jaime could now. They were holding themselves in the same way, the same fierce dislike displayed on the two women's faces as they stared down at him, and their eyes were the same shade of ice blue.

"Lady Stark," Jaime greeted cordially, despite being tied up. Caryssa wanted to roll her eyes, because of course Jaime would try to downplay the seriousness of the situation he had gotten himself into. "I don't have my sword. I seem to have lost it."

"It is not your sword I want." Catelyn bit out.

Caryssa felt more than uncomfortable. This was the first meeting between them since she had married and she would have rather reintroduced her mother and Jaime on better terms. This should have been a happy moment for her. She should be showing her husband off to her mother, even with his Lannister name, not standing beside her mother as she glared daggers into his dirty face, probably wishing him dead.

"Give me my daughters back. Give me my husband." Catelyn ordered, and Jaime gave her a sarcastic response that had Caryssa fuming. He had caused this. The least he could do was show some respect.

"I've lost them too, I'm afraid. All but my lovely wife."

"Kill him, Robb! Send his head to his father," Theon advised, and Caryssa's eyes snapped towards the Kraken, wondering how he seemed to get more stupid instead of more intelligent as he grew older. "He cut down ten of our men. You saw him."

"Has sense taken leave of you, Greyjoy? If we kill him, Tywin Lannister will kill my father, my sisters, and any Stark men left in King's Landing!" Caryssa all but snarled at him. She had no patience for fools, not when it came to her family's safety. "And then he would not stop until House Stark was nothing more than a song sung in warning, like the Casterly's of Castamere. We cannot kill him, but we can use him to our advantage."

"Are you just saying that because he is your husband, Lady Lannister?" Theon responded, and Robb had to stop Caryssa from starting forward and showing just how wrong the Kraken was.

"He killed Jory. If it weren't for my father and my sisters being held prisoner by his sister and nephew, I would have killed him myself."

"I'm hurt, my love! I thought we shared something special-" Jaime's blatant attempt at riling her up was cut short by Lord Umber striking him in the jaw, silencing the Lion of Lannister before the She-Wolf of Winterfell could change her mind.

"Keep your mouth shut, Kingslayer."

"My sister is right. He's more use to us alive." Robb interjected before his sister and Theon could start arguing again.

"Take him away and put him in irons." Catelyn ordered and Lord Umber and Theon moved to do as she commanded, but, though he stood, Jaime did not walk away.

"We could end this war right now, boy. Save thousands of lives. You fight for the Starks, I fight for the Lannisters," Jaime tempted Robb, and Caryssa's eyes widened as she looked between them. Her brother and her husband. Fighting to the death. Right now, she could think of nothing worse than being put through that. "Swords or lances, teeth and nails, choose your weapons and let's end this here and now."

"If we did it your way, Kingslayer, you'd win," Caryssa felt a sigh of relief leave her body and she was grateful that Theon's stupidity had not rubbed off on her brother all of these years. Robb shook his head. "We're not doing it your way."

"Come on, pretty man. Say goodbye to your wife. I doubt she'll visit you often." Lord Umber taunted Jaime, and Caryssa's eyes connected with Jaime's green ones. They seemingly looked right through her.

"I believe she will. It's her duty, after all, and she is a woman of duty." Jaime said with a smirk, before Lord Umber tugged him away to the cheering of the Stark army.

Caryssa shook her head, and looked towards Robb as Theon approached him. He had a sad look in his eyes and it made her want to pull her little brother into her arms as she used to. She couldn't. Before he was simply her little brother, the one who came to her with his nightmares and troubles. Now he was Lord Robb of Winterfell, leading an army to save their father and sisters. He was no longer free to show affection and love as he used to be.

"I sent two thousand men to their deaths today."

"The bards will sing songs of their sacrifice." Theon replied, trying to soothe his friend's guilt. The one thing she could not fault Theon for was that he really did love her brother as if he were his own blood.

"Aye, but the dead won't hear them," Robb answered, and Caryssa took his hand, her eyes soft with understanding and sympathy. He tugged her along as he stepped forward to address his men, never relinquishing his hold on her. It was soothing to have her by his side once more. He felt more…whole again. "One victory does not make us conquerors. Did we free my father? Did we rescue my sisters from the Queen? Did we free the North from those who want us on our knees? This war is far from over."

Robb's speech had left his men silent and silent is how he left them, his sister in tow. He walked away, to the tents that had been hastily erected upon his return, and pulled his sister into the largest, the one that belonged to him.

It was only then did Caryssa speak again.

"I am proud of you."

"For what?" Robb asked, beginning to tug at his armor to remove it. Caryssa moved forward silently and helped him, undoing the clasps and buckles that held it together. Robb kept his eyes off of his sister as she helped him shirk his heavy armor, not wanting to see the understanding in them that was always there for him. "For killing men, for sacrificing two thousand innocent Northmen to Tywin Lannister-"

"For doing what you believe is right," Caryssa cut him off, cupping his cheeks in her hands to force him to look at her. Blue connected with blue and Robb saw pride and understanding and fear and guilt in her eyes. "For keeping your promise to me. I asked you to protect our family, to keep the North secure and to not forget who we are. You are doing more than what I expected to uphold that promise. I have never been more proud of you, little brother."

Robb shook his head, a little smile spreading across his lips.

"It's stupid, but when I called for the bannermen, I hoped you'd still be in King's Landing with Sansa and Arya. I wanted to defeat the Lannisters, ride into King's Landing and save you, like in those stories you used to tell me and Jon when we were little."

Caryssa smiled weakly at him. Those stories she had told her brothers was just one. The story of her Uncle Brandon and her Aunt Lyanna, except with a happier ending for all. She changed the names and changed the location to a grand palace in Essos, but the hero of her story saved his beloved sister from her cruel fate and took her home in the end. Unlike her uncle and aunt, who only returned home in spirit.

Robb and Jon had loved that story, and when she told it to Sansa when she was old enough to appreciate it, the little girl would make them all play it out with Jon being the wicked prince who stole the young maiden and Robb the gallant lord who went to save his sister.

She missed the innocence of their youth. She missed being able to pretend these tragic parts of their family history could have had happier endings. She missed believing in happy endings.

Caryssa just missed.

The young woman had half a mind to tell him the true origins of that particular story, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't tell Robb that he was her Brandon and she was his Lyanna, because that was like felt like tempting fate. It felt like asking for history to repeat itself, and she did not want her story to end the way her aunt's did, nor did she want her brother to die for her.

No, she could not tell him that.

The tale of Caryssa and Robb would not end in the same way as the tale of Brandon and Lyanna.

She would make sure of it.

A/N:

Hey Guys!

First, I'm going to apologise for the very short chapter. I've had to do a mass redecoration of my room and that involved cleaning everything up and out and then building furniture and painting and it's been a giant two week long pain in the ass. It also meant I didn't have a lot of time to write this chapter.

This ended up being a little filler chapter instead. The next one will be longer, I promise!

So we were very Robb and Caryssa heavy in this chapter, which the next few chapters will be. I want to develop them more and show exactly why they are so close. When I started writing this story, I had Brandon and Lyanna in my mind at all times when thinking of Robb and Caryssa and how I wanted their relationship to be, because my personal headcanon of Brandon and Lyanna is that they were the closest of their siblings, both in age and in bond, so that's what I wanted to sort of replicate with Robb and Caryssa.

I hope you guys are kind of seeing that in what I'm writing.

Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers for the last chapter;

DarylDixon'sLover, NicoleR85, Clw-x, OurLittleLives, MADStar529, Lucy Greenhill, Theresa5155, A, shika93, klandgraf2007, Hannah, Lady-Finwe, Beloved Daughter, myharlequinromance321, lisamariem and HermioneandMarcus.

The next chapter will be updated on July 13th. Look out for it!

Thanks for reading,

SophStratt.