Moon One
The Lord of Winterfell
The late summer sun dappled the floor of the Godswood and made the red of the Weirwood tree's leaves seem to glow like fire. Robb could hear the sounds of Bran and Rickon giggling and screeching through the trees where they were playing in the pools fed by the underground hot springs. Something about it was strange to his ears now. A few months ago he'd have been with them. A few months ago Arya would have pulled Sansa in screaming. Arya and Bran would have been seeing who could make bigger splashes jumping in. A few months ago everything was different.
Now Robb was almost a man grown and with his father and sisters gone to King's Landing, he was Lord of Winterfell. Then, Mother and Ser Rodrik had gone too. And now Rickon cried and clung to him and had nightmares, Bran couldn't walk, Jon was gone to the wall, and Robb missed he and his sisters sometimes almost more than he could bear. Theon was still there and Maester Luwin, but Winterfell still felt empty and wrong somehow. He was glad to hear the younger boys sounding happy for once though, even if it only lasted a short time. He didn't understand why it suddenly felt that a great chasm had opened between them. Was this what being a man grown was really meant to be like? Increasingly, he'd begun to spend time in the Godswood the way he could remember his father doing. As a boy, Robb hadn't understood why his father spent so much time praying. He felt like maybe he was starting to understand now.
He stood and left the Heart Tree and the shouts of his siblings behind him. At the edge of the Godswood, he found Maester Luwin. He wasn't sure if the Maester had been coming to seek him out or not, but he did have a letter from Mother. Robb felt a measure of cheer about that. They had not had word since she and Ser Rodrik had left. Robb took the letter to the solar and bid the Maester stay while he read it and then passed it to Luwin to read as well.
"What do you make of it?" Robb asked Maester Luwin, his forehead creasing.
The maester smiled wanly. "Perhaps the proper question is what you make of it, Robb."
Robb had been afraid of that answer. Some part of him deep inside wanted to fling something in frustration, but he checked the thought barely before it was even formed. It would be childish and there was no point in getting frustrated with Maester Luwin, who hadn't caused any of this. So, he took a deep breath and read the letter again.
"At first… I would have said it seems like any other letter." Robb said, running his hand over the parchment and brushing his finger absentmindedly over the seal.
"But now?" Luwin prompted.
Robb looked back at the letter. "It's like a code. Sort of." It wasn't technically a code in the sense of the type of cobbled language he'd once made up with Theon and his siblings so they could send messages 'secretly,' and the words sounded like they came from his mother and the writing was certainly her hand. But it was not as direct as her writing normally was. This carried news from King's Landing, a wish that she had been able to see his sisters to pass on the greetings they had all sent south with her, best regards from Father, a bit about how being apart from Winterfell had made her realize how much she missed Aunt Lysa and Uncles Brynden and Edmure and her Father— none of whom could Robb remember having met so either he hadn't or he'd been too small to remember properly.
"Yes. Why do you think your mother writes as such?"
"In.. case the raven were to be intercepted?" Robb said, his voice somewhere between a question and a statement.
"Likely so. Only someone that actually knows your Lady Mother well would be able to recognize that, however."
Over the course of the next several minutes, the two puzzled out the major parts of the letter. Finally, Robb spoke. "This looks like Mother is saying things aren't going as well in King's Landing as she hoped they would. This all has to do with Jon Arryn's death, doesn't it? And that man who attacked Bran."
"I suspect so." Maester Luwin confirmed.
"Father's instructions… aren't just about strengthening Winterfell's own guard." They had already done that after the attack on Bran. Robb realized Mother and Father likely didn't even know Bran was awake yet. That was definitely something he needed to include when he wrote back.
Father had sent instructions to other Lords of the North for Robb to pass on. Robb swallowed slightly but pretended he wasn't at all nervous about the content of the letter. But he was. Once Lords started reaching out with instructions like this — fortifying things and increasing house garrisons — that often signaled significant unrest. Robb sighed.
"So, we need to reach out to Lord Tallhart and Lord Glover and ask them to raise 100 bowmen each and to fortify Moat Cailin to hold the Neck. Meanwhile, Lord Manderly should strengthen his defenses at White Harbor. And we're supposed to keep Theon close so we can let him know if we need his father's fleet." Robb's stomach clenched. "Those are all the possible points of invasion to the North."
"Yes. They are." Maester Luwin confirmed, drawing out a map and pointing out each of the points on it.
"Is the South going to declare war on us?"
Maester Luwin steepled his fingers as he stared down at Catelyn's letter. It was a long moment of silence before he responded, "I hope not, Robb."
But it was as if Robb's words had heralded some kind of dread premonition. They'd barely put down the letter when a knock on the solar door interrupted them. Maester Casales was without, and his expression was more grim than Robb had ever seen it before.
Casales was still a young man of only six and twenty. He was from Dorne originally and had come to Winterfell after completing his training in hopes of locating a castle in the North in need of his services so he might be able to learn some of Northern tradition and custom about which he was curious. Maester Luwin had offered to make inquiries on his behalf and, thus, he had remained at Winterfell and had been there for some months waiting for word about where his services would be needed. Both competent and kind, he had become well-liked around the castle.
"I thought you should see this right away," He explained without delay. "It just came from King's Landing." He handed the letter to Luwin whose forehead creased.
Robb took the letter when Luwin handed it to him and felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. A year before he would have cried, retched, or maybe both. His father and Jaime Lannister had gotten into a melee in the streets of King's Landing and eight men including Jory Cassel had been slain, his father was badly hurt, and Lannister had fled the city. Eight men.
"But why did they fight?"
"That's the other bit of news that came today. Though until I got this I thought it was only rumor. Now, I'm not so sure. It's said your lady Mother took Tyrion Lannister captive at the Crossroads Inn and rides for Winterfell with him so he can be tried regarding his involvement in Bran's attempted murder."
It sounded so absurd Robb might have laughed. His Lady Mother had found Tyrion Lannister in an Inn along the King's Road and was bringing him captive back to Winterfell? He stopped suddenly. "Not Winterfell. Either the Eyrie or Riverrun," he whispered, face paling. "That's the part of the letter we couldn't make sense of. The bit about missing Aunt Lysa and Uncle Edmure. She's not bringing him to Winterfell. That was a ruse."
Luwin sighed, "I think you're correct, Robb. I had wondered why she sent this. This sort of letter carries risk, no matter how masterfully it's crafted. If something had not delayed her —."
"Something like finding Tyrion Lannister."
"— Yes. Then she would have been able to come directly home to send these instructions to the Northern Lords herself and would not have had to risk sending a letter."
They worked through dinner, which was brought to the solar.
They prepared and sent letters to Lord Tallhart, Lord Glover, and Lord Manderly.
Robb found Theon and told him of everything that had happened. After vowing vengeance on Jaime Lannister for killing Jory, Theon had assured Robb that Lord Baelon would be prepared to help if needed and so would Theon himself. "Would that you could only exact that toll." Robb had said, and the ghost of a smile had danced across Theon's lips.
"I can, brother. Lannister's only a man."
"God's blood, Theon! That really would set the South upon us." Robb had said.
"I know it. I don't mean to be rash. I wouldn't find him anyway. I'm sure he'll make sure he's not easy to root out if he's fled the city."
Finally, after everything else had been dealt with, Robb and the Maesters began the tricky process of drafting a response to Catelyn's letter. Working on it, Robb felt some mixture of pride and fear, though he tried to push the latter far from mind — it wasn't very much like a man grown of him to be afraid, after all.
They puzzled over the proper way to word Robb's response for longer than Robb had ever taken writing a letter before — well into the night.
"Do you think we should offer to call the Banners?" Robb asked at some point during the letter drafting.
Maester Luwin paused and looked at Robb very seriously and for a long time before he finally said, "You are Lord of Winterfell, Robb. Only you can make that decision."
The weight of those words made Robb unspeakably weary.
"Not yet. We'll wait and see what happens. The last thing we want is for the South to think we are going to invade them — especially not with Father, Arya, and Sansa stuck in King's Landing."
"I think that is a wise decision." Luwin confirmed. He seemed as if he was going to say more but then stopped until Robb bid him continue. Even then, it was several seconds before he broke his silence. "It is also a decision you may be forced to re-evaluate depending upon how this situation unfolds."
Dear Mother,
It is with considerable pleasure that I learn of your intended return to Winterfell with Ser Rodrik. My prayers and best wishes travel with you for an uneventful journey and in hopes that you make good speed. You shall, I believe, find things here to be well under control, and you need have no worry on that account.
Bran's health is much improved. He is awake and alert, and the wolf Summer remains at watch over him. Maester Luwin says we need have no further fear for his life, though he warns us that he shall remain a cripple hereafter and shall not regain use of his legs.
Lord Manderly has sent word that he is undertaking considerable work at White Harbor. I am informed that similar work has recently been undertaken at Moat Cailin, as the sense seems strong that preparations must be made in case the weather should begin to turn. Such undertakings require a considerable amount of time, and whenever winter comes it shall reach the North before it reaches the rest of the Seven Kingdoms.
Various others among the Northern lords send their regards to you and to Father.
Your loving and obedient son,
Robb