CATELYN

Catelyn caught Amina leaving Robb's chambers, as she knew she would. In the months since Ned's death the two had spent more time together than apart. Since Theon departed for Pyke, it had only gotten worse. "There you are, Amina." The girl had the decency to look guilty. "How have you been, since Theon left?"

Amina looked down at the floor for a moment. "I miss him. There's less to smile about now, he always found some way to make me laugh even if everything else was awful." Catelyn had never cared for Theon; he was too smug and too self-assured. But he and Amina had been inseparable since they were children, and though the girl had admirers and allies, she had a severe lack of friends.

"Perhaps it would be best for you to ride south with me, to take your mind off Theon." Catelyn would be leaving at first light with twenty of Robb's best men and five lordlings. They hoped to find an ally against the Lannisters in Renly. It would be good for Amina to travel; she'd done so little of it outside the North.

There were other reasons it would be best to remove Amina from Riverrun as well. With every passing day, Amina and Robb grew closer. Some had begun to note that Amina was Queen in all but name. Catelyn knew at the end of this war the two would scheme up some way to end Robb's betrothal, but the end was not yet in sight. Their Frey companions grew increasingly uncomfortable with Amina's presence. Cat worried there would be consequences. "Besides, you are better suited to treating with Renly than I am. You'll put him at ease."

The girl grimaced, and Catelyn wondered if Amina was also growing weary of the war and her role in it. Amina had always been skilled at getting her way and weaseling out secrets. But, playing that game in Winterfell was very different than the show she was expected to put on each day for Robb's troops. "You might like the Reach, it's beautiful. There are more flowers than you've seen in your entire life."

Amina smiled softly, and nodded. "I suppose I would like to go, and I suppose I would also be useful there." More than she had been here, while Robb's army bided their time waiting for their plans to fall into place. Amina smiled again, her momentary discomfort gone or at least hidden behind a mask.


Renly's outriders overtook them half a day's ride from Bitterbridge. The men led the Northern party to the small castle where their king was staying for the moment. Amina's face lit up as they walked among the pavilions. After Robb's somber Northern war camp, Renly's seemed more vibrant than King's Landing. Though when they reached the tourney grounds, her brows furrowed. "I seem to have been under the impression we were going to war," Amina said quietly, leaning toward Catelyn. "But it appears we were meant to be celebrating."

Though the girl made it clear she thought the tourney a southron folly, she took in the gathering with hungry eyes as Ser Colen led them to the dais. Amina had always loved extravagant things, if only because they drew an interesting crowd. Catelyn could almost hear Amina naming each house's banner as they passed and rattling off every detail she knew of them. She had been to few tournaments; they weren't common north of the Neck. But, it had been at a tourney at the Twins that Amina had been given her first throwing knife.

They waited, watching, while the melee finished. Ser Loras Tyrell was unhorsed and beaten by a tall knight in cobalt blue armor. The crowd was less than thrilled with the result, Renly only laughed and beckoned the knight forward. "Well fought, I've seen Ser Loras unhorsed once or twice, but never in quite that fashion." Renly addressed the crowd. "I present your victor, Lady Brienne of Tarth."

The words shocked Catelyn near as much as they shocked Amina, who looked on wide-eyed as the knight removed her helm. Lady Brienne was not a beauty, by any stretch of the term, but she had proven herself to be a fierce warrior. Still, Catelyn couldn't help but pity her, there was no creature as unfortunate as an ugly woman.

They were presented to the King in the South, though Catelyn refused to grant him the honorific of your grace. Amina curtsied to Renly as she was introduced, and Cat could almost see the lords soften toward her. It was hard to dislike the girl upon first meeting; she wielded her courtesies as flawlessly as her knives. It was only later, after one learned just how troublesome Amina could be, could one's opinion be changed. But by then, if Amina had done her job well, one would have accepted her warts and all.

She'd been right to bring Amina along. Cat had been in the North far too long to play along with these Southerners and their games.


They were housed in Renly's own pavilion, a massive silk tent larger than the common room of many inns. It was so well stocked; it was as if Renly had packed every possession from his chambers in Storm's End. Amina went straight for the wine, and poured them each a full cup. "I have never been so disrespected in my life," she said, after gulping down nearly half the goblet.

Catelyn was surprised to hear the words out of the girl's mouth. Amina had smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Renly's lords. She'd laughed off their slights against Robb's crown. Sometimes it startled Catelyn just how well Amina hid her feelings.

"I suppose it should be expected. All my life I've been Eddard Stark's ward, the Lady of an island everyone wants. Who would disrespect me? But here that doesn't matter." She shook her head. "But it isn't even that. It's that they so clearly expected me to be some Northern brute, as if we're all Wildlings. It's that Robb's crown means nothing to them, he means nothing to them."

Amina paced as she spoke, taking large sips from her cup between sentences. "Ned's death is only some distant tragedy, nothing for them to be concerned with. Renly had the audacity to say he'd send you Cersei's head. All the while they live like this." She threw her arms out, spinning around the pavilion. "War is not a tournament, war is death. They would know that if they'd been fighting with us. If they'd had the blood of a friend spatter across their faces. Most of these soldiers are children, they've never killed a man, they've never watched someone die. How can they expect to win?"

She spoke as if she'd aged decades in the last year, and maybe she had. Maybe Catelyn was still holding on to versions of her children that no longer existed. "You shouldn't know what those things are like either," she said quietly. "Neither should Robb. But I can't change that now, we can only move forward."

Catelyn took a small sip of her wine. "They're as naïve as you once were." At Amina's raised eyebrow, Catelyn amended, "Well, perhaps a little more. They will learn, eventually. But can you really wish it on them, the things you've seen?"

Amina let out a short breath. "Of course not. If I could snap my fingers and make every soldier lay down their arms, I would do it. But to be so idealistic...That's how people die."

They were both silent for a long time, until finally Amina lay down her glass. "Will you braid my hair for the feast?"

Catelyn smiled softly. "Of course, Amina."


On the dais, Amina was nestled between a broad-shouldered knight with a rainbow cloak, and the Queen herself. Queen Margaery was a tiny thing, of an age with Amina, but much more delicate. Looking at them, Catelyn could tell they would be very different sorts of queens. But to watch the way they talked like old friends, you wouldn't know it.

Between Renly's pavilion and Bitterbridge's great hall, Amina's solemn demeanor had eased a bit. It reminded Cat that Amina was just a girl, despite what she said to the contrary. Amina tasted every food and laughed as the young queen tried to goad the knight into smiling. Of the group at the table, only he looked as uncomfortable with the proceedings as Catelyn felt.

But the pair's laughter was interrupted when Lord Willum's eldest son banged a hand on the table. "Lady Corrigan," Josua said, and then repeated himself as if it was possible for anyone to have missed it.

Amina turned toward him slowly, a mask of serenity set firmly over her features. "Ser Josua?"

He looked slightly taken aback that she'd remembered his name, but quickly recovered. "Tell us, how does this feast compare to the ones among your camp?"

"It was a lovely meal," she said diplomatically. Turning to Lorent Caswell she added, "Thank you Lord Caswell for hosting us, it has been a long journey."

The skinny lord smiled proudly. "Please, Lady Corrigan, it is my pleasure." Beside Amina, Ser Caswell was staring pointedly at his plate. "Perhaps now that you've seen all the South has to offer, you may venture back one day."

Amina gave him a polite smile, but Catelyn could see it strained the edges of her composure. Cat had heard all about the endless line of Northern suitors and seen the men of the Riverlands behave the same. Beldain had enough natural resources to build Bitterbridge sevenfold. Men could be exhausting when they had riches in their sights.

"Must be awful up there," Ser Josua cut in. He took a long drink from his goblet that left a dribble of red down his chin. "A rose isn't meant for the cold and the dark."

"Not the roses of Highgarden, no," Amina said calmly. "But the blue winter roses of the North thrive, and many say they're the most beautiful rose of all."

"I believe my brother spoke of those a time or two," Renly said, joining the conversation. "He always did have a fondness for the North."

Ser Willum was not prepared to back down, not even for the King. "But to be fighting a losing battle...That must be the worst of it. To know that your king," he said the word like a curse, "will return home defeated, if he even returns at all."

Amina put her hand out abruptly toward her goblet. Catelyn was not sure if she meant to drink the wine in one go, or to throw it in the knight's face. But the girl did neither. Instead Amina rested her hand on the stem. After a tense moment, she pulled her hand away and returned it to her lap. No one seemed to notice Amina's momentary lapse of composure, save for Catelyn. "But we will fight to the last."

"Quite right!" Renly exclaimed, silencing further comment from the young knight. "The commitment of the Northmen is admirable. In fact, I believe it is time the three of us spoke, don't you?" His eyes flicked between Amina and Catelyn. "Let's take a walk."