Hey everyone, I finished NaNoWriMo on the 1st and finally have time to update fanfics again! I hope this chapter was worth the long, long wait!
Riverrun loomed before them, tall and formidable. The scouts and the boy called "Red Walder" were still with them at this point of the journey. The boy would break apart from them when they left Riverrun and reach his grandfather days before the armies.
Robb still disliked the plan, even more than he disliked the man who had devised it. The golden haired lion rode next to him on an impressive black destrier, which — like everything else the Lannisters owned — boasted just how much gold his family had. Sansa rode a humble red mare and Robb wondered if Jaime was using that as an insult to him. He thought not since the Lannister man did seem to have true affection for Sansa. The mare was likely chosen for its gentle nature — Sansa wasn't great at riding horses.
With the castle directly in front of them, Robb kicked his grey stallion into a gallop. He heard the hooves of another horse clattering just behind his, Ser Brynden Tully the rider. He and the Blackfish were to enter the castle alone and explain the situation that had brought Stark and Lannister forces together. They hadn't sent a raven to alert the Tullys of their coming — too risky.
At the sight of the Stark banner clenched in the Blackfish's fist, the gate lowered over the dry moat and the two riders entered the bailey. Robb and the Blackfish dismounted and Brynden planted the Stark banner in the dirt.
"Little prat couldn't meet us himself?" The Blackfish barked, noticing the obvious absence of Lord Edmure Tully in the welcome party.
Robb rolled off the insult and let himself be led into the castle. His mother waited just inside the keep with his youngest sister.
"What's going on Robb?" The worry was etched on every inch of her face and Robb wanted to ease it, he really did. He just didn't know if what he had to say would do the trick.
"Where's Edmure?" He, instead, asked.
"Why couldn't the cunt see to us himself?" Brynden spat, clearly upset by it.
"Language, uncle!" Catelyn said, nodding toward Arya. The girl was grinning at her great-uncle's vulgar language.
"My apologies, sweet one." The Blackfish said to Arya. He slipped something into her small hand, Robb barely noticed the exchange. Arya's eyes lit up. He was about to ask, but his uncle came down the stairs.
"Robb, Uncle! Safe journey, I hope." Lord Edmure Tully looked like he had been handling the burden of the war all on his lonesome — his face was lined and not from scars earned on the battlefield, with ones from worry, ones that hadn't been on it when Robb had left mere weeks ago. "Let's talk in my solar—"
"No, we haven't the time to make that journey. This is of paramount importance, Uncle. The chambers above the Great Hall will do." Robb was already leading the way there. Edmure followed, scowling.
They settled into the private audience chamber above the Hall and Edmure took the lord's seat. Robb chose to remain standing, as did the Blackfish. Catelyn sat next to her brother, Arya crosslegged at her feet.
"Why do you march with a Lannister army, Nephew?" Edmure said, bluntly.
"He's your king, Nephew. Treat him as such." The Blackfish spat, glaring at Edmure.
"And when will you start treating me with respect, Uncle?"
"When you bloody deserve it—"
"You're acting like children!" All three men looked at the little girl on the ground, eyes wide. Arya shrugged, as if to shake off her outburst.
"She's right, you are. Now, behave like adults or I'll send you to bed without supper and take away your war." Catelyn scolded, her voice very cross.
Edmure grumbled something that sounded like, "Fine."
Robb's jaw clenched momentarily, annoyed by his uncle's childish acts. Finally, he spoke. "Jaime Lannister and I have made a pact—"
Edmure scoffed. "A pact with a Lannister? What's that worth? He'll turn on you as soon as you blink."
"We have a common enemy." Robb's voice was even, he forced himself to speak civilly to his uncle. Edmure was a lord after all and he a king. "Lord Frey called for my head, and if I wasn't given up, he called for Lannister's…"
"So? Let him take fucking Lannister's!" Edmure yelled, slamming his hand down on the side of his seat.
"Edmure!" Catelyn snapped.
He sulked in his chair, arms crossed over his chest.
"Sansa's here—"
"Sansa?" Catelyn asked, her hand flying to her mouth. Robb nodded. She smacked her brother over the head and said, "Let them in."
"But it's Jaime Lannister!"
"Let them in!" She yelled. "If your king says it's okay, it's okay!"
"Last time Jaime Lannister was in this castle, he had me imprisoned in my own dungeons!" Edmure screamed. "The only way I'll allow him into Riverrun is if he sleeps in the dungeons. Fitting, no?"
"No," Robb snapped, glaring at his uncle, "Lord Jaime will have a room befitting his status as Warden of the West."
He and Edmure glared at each other for nearly a minute before Edmure finally gave in. "Fine. Open the fucking gates!"
No banners flew that night as both the Lannister and Stark armies set up camp outside of Riverrun, in case riders passing saw and reported to anyone. Robb's guard passed through the gates as well as Jaime Lannister's.
"Sansa!" Catelyn sighed as her eldest daughter dismounted her mare with her husband's help.
"Mother!" Sansa cried, rushing into her embrace. They hugged for what seemed an eternity and Robb just stood there, watching. Jaime Lannister did the same, he noticed, a small smile on the older man's face.
A sudden scream echoed through the bailey and it took a moment to pinpoint where it had come from. By that time, it was too late. Arya had already crossed the ten feet separating her from Jaime Lannister. Her sword, Needle, unsheathed and held tight in her left fist. She thrust the tip at his chest, but his metal hand came up to knock it away lazily. He shoved her aside when she tried to attack him without a sword. Grey Wind approached Lannister, growling as his hackles rose.
"I knew this hand was good for something." Lannister joked, looking down at Arya sprawled on the ground, completely unfazed by the massive direwolf snarling at him.
"Jaime!" Sansa stared at him incredulously. "That's my sister!"
His brows furrowed. "So? She was trying to kill me."
"She's a child. She could never kill you," Catelyn Stark said, astonished, as she rushed to her daughter's aid.
"She's capable of more than you know."
This brought a mischievous smile to Arya's face. She picked up Needle and sheathed it. She stared up at Jaime Lannister. "You're on my list."
"What list is that?" Lannister asked, an eyebrow cocked toward his thick hair in amusement.
"The men and women I will kill," Arya said in a monotone voice.
Jaime nodded as he ruffled Arya's short hair. "It's important to have goals."
He walked over to Sansa and took her arm, whispering something in her ear. Catelyn walked over to Robb and said, "Before dinner, I think there's something you should see."
Robb looked at her for a moment before his eyes widened. "Did she…?"
Catelyn smiled, beckoning him to follow her. "Come see."
Robb softly knocked on the door, his mother and two sisters behind him. He heard a quiet "come in" and opened the heavy door with a deafening creak.
Talisa sat in a chair by the window, rocking back and forth, a tiny baby awake in her arms. Robb's mouth stretched into the biggest grin. He hurried across the floor and kissed his wife full on the lips.
"I named him, I hope you don't mind." Talisa said, looking up at her husband and king, eyes wide as she worried her lip.
"Don't you think the father should have some say in—"
She cut him off, "Eddard."
Robb's eyes crinkled as he stared down at the little boy in her arms. Eddard was staring back at him with Tully blue eyes, the same eyes Robb had. Thick brown hair covered his head, his skin was tan like Talisa's.
Talisa asked, "Do you want to hold him?"
He nodded and she passed over the baby into his arms. He felt so awkward holding the child, but Eddard snuggled close to him and closed his eyes.
"He's beautiful, Robb," said Sansa as she walked over and peeked over his elbow to look at the baby boy. Arya even came over to look at her nephew, a small smile on her face. When she saw that Robb had noticed it, it disappeared quickly. Catelyn was beaming with joy, staring unblinkingly at the boy.
"Your father would be so proud of you, Robb." Catelyn said.
The Great Hall was filled with people who hated each other when the Starks arrived half an hour later. Lannister men sat across the hall from Starks and Tullys. The glare was the favorite expression as everyone settled in to eat.
Edmure, as Lord of Riverrun, sat in the middle of the high table. Catelyn was to his left, followed by Sansa, Arya, and Red Walder. Robb was to his right, then Jaime Lannister and Brynden Tully. It was the oddest collection of people they could have brought together, Robb thought.
"No hard feelings, Tully?" Jaime Lannister said as he leaned over Robb, an arrogant smirk tugging at his lips.
"Fuck off, Lannister." Edmure said bitterly. He must still be upset over his imprisonment. Edmure had always been a little childish and temperamental, his mother had told Robb.
After that, dinner was a quiet affair.
When the meal was finished, the women returned to Talisa and Robb's chamber to fawn over Eddard — Arya claimed to have gone reluctantly. The men had business to attend to. Jaime and Robb's large group of guards remained gathered in the Great Hall while Edmure's own personal guard joined them.
The tension in the room could actually be cut by a knife. Lyle Crakehall had to be placed as far from both the Blackfish and the Hound as possible, and both of those men didn't like each other much either so they didn't want to be seated near the other. It was a logistical nightmare, one in which Robb got to sit back and watch Jaime Lannister figure out. This was his plan, his idiotic idea — let him deal with the seating arrangement.
Finally, half an hour later, with the men seated next to someone they were least likely to kill, they could begin. The monstrous map had been stretched across the table by Josmyn Peckledon, the Kingslayer's squire, and Olyvar Frey, Robb's squire, while the men had argued. The two boys stood near the doors, chatting. The man given the place of honor in the hall was younger than both of the squires, just a page. One Robb didn't trust to carry out a plan such as this.
Red Walder sat at the head of the large rectangular table that had been formed out of many smaller ones. Jaime sat to his left, Robb to his right, and Edmure to Robb's right — staring sullenly at the table, taking it as a slight that he wasn't closer to the Frey boy. In his own castle, no less.
When everyone had stopped shouting insults and threats of maiming, Jaime stood from his chair, Stark and Tully men hurling more insults his way. Robb raised a hand to silence them. The noise ended abruptly.
Up until that point, they hadn't explained much to their guards, only sending pairs of Robb's men to several of Edmure's bannermen with orders to head for Riverrun. Many of them sat around the table now. Many of them were glaring at Jaime Lannister, still remembering the Battle of the Golden Tooth very well despite the two years that had passed.
Lord Karyl Vance, just a Ser then, sat across the table from the Lord of Casterly Rock, his jaw clenched. Karyl's father, a commander, had been killed in the battle. The other commander, Lord Clement Piper, had fled and sat next to Karyl now, his eldest son, Marq, by his side. More Vances, a Bracken, a couples of Rygers, a Goodbrook, the Mallisters, the Blackwoods, and a few Paeges rounded out the Tully forces at the table. Robb disliked how so many of his uncle's friends sat at the table.
With the room quiet enough, Jaime Lannister pointed at the map, running his finger along their route thus far. He stopped at Riverrun and looked up at the men surrounding the table. "We leave Riverrun the day after next. All Tully forces should arrive by then. Red Walder will ride ahead with scouts to silence any who might report back to the Freys. We march north toward Oldstones," his finger slid up the map, "to Seagard." Lord Jason Mallister, looked at him and glared. That was his castle, his home. Lannister ignored him, "From Seagard, we head northeast and six leagues from the Twins is where we part ways—"
"Why six leagues?" Lord Piper interrupted. "Seems a bit drastic, don't you think?"
"If I thought it drastic, it wouldn't have been said, would it?" Lannister said arrogantly.
"None of us riverlanders understand you who hide under rocks well." Marq Piper snapped.
Robb looked at his uncle, wondering if he would control his men. When it was evident that he wouldn't, Robb stood from his seat and yelled, "Enough. Lords, sers, gentlemen. We are not enemies here! Enough with the bickering and let us finish this so we may all rest after our tiresome journey."
"The Wolf siding with the Lion, never thought I'd see the day." Lord Tytos Blackwood bellowed.
"We have towers to topple and a bridge to burn, don't we?" Robb proclaimed. Some of the men nodded in agreement.
Jaime Lannister continued, "The Starks and half of the Tullys will go north of the Twins, the Starks to ride down from the ridge when I give the signal and the Tullys to attack from the river. The other Tullys will go east, to attack on the other side of the bridge, on the river. Frey will only see the Lannister army — we'll be out in the open."
"Now, wait a minute!" Edmure yelled, rising from his seat in dramatic fashion with his hands gripping the edge of the table. Robb rolled his eyes. "Why does the Lannister army get to lead? Why not mine?"
Jaime roared, "He only knows of my army's approach, Tully! Are you so vain to want to be attacked first, you idiot?"
"A Lannister calling a Tully vain?" Kirth Vance yelled from across the room. "That's rich."
Over the further arguing of the men, they didn't hear the heavy doors creak open. But the four men at the head of the table saw the girl with the auburn hair stride into the room.
Robb raised a hand to silence his men as Jaime Lannister hurried around the table to Sansa. He whispered something to her and she mumbled a reply back. Robb called out, "Sansa, what news have you?"
"More of a question, brother." Sansa replied as Lannister took a step away from her, his brows furrowed.
"Can it wait until after, dear girl?" Edmure chortled. "We're quite busy."
"I'm afraid not, uncle."
"Then ask it." Edmure offered, as if her words were a gift.
"Why would the Lannister army have reason to come to the Twins?" Sansa asked, timid now that she was in front of a huge group of men. The Kingslayer's eyes grew angry with the knowledge of what she was about to say. "They could hold up in Casterly Rock for as long as they pleased because Walder Frey would give up long before they ran out of provisions. But, why would Jaime Lannister risk his army by going to the Twins? What's something that would make him—"
"No, Sansa." Lannister snapped. They shared a very heated look and Robb's fist clenched in anger.
"What's she on about?" The booming voice of Lyle Crakehall filled the room.
"She wants us to let Red Walder take her as hostage to the Twins." Jaime said through gritted teeth.
Robb's nostrils flared. "No, Sansa."
It wasn't often that he agreed with the Kingslayer, but on this matter, there was no denying that the men had her best interests in mind. She started, "But, there's no other logical reason—"
"We said no!" Jaime yelled. Sansa recoiled as if he had slapped her.
Once Sansa was escorted from the room by Josmyn Peckledon, the meeting passed quickly. Edmure had ale passed around and made everyone drink, regardless of whether or not they wanted to leave the room. Robb wished to go to his wife and newborn son; he could tell Jaime Lannister was itching to talk some sense into his wife.
Over an hour later, Robb looked at Eddard in his crib. Talisa was in a deep sleep, sprawled across the bed. He smiled as he watched him for a few minutes. He moved to the window and looked out over his men, they were extinguishing their fires and heading for bed. He needed rest too, he knew he would have a long day ahead of him preparing the army to move.
Robb woke to little Eddard's cries early in the morning. The sun was in the early stages of rising, a dull light peeking through the darkness outside.
The door burst open, waking not only the baby but his wife too, and Robb was ready to murder whomever it was disturbing his family. Dacey Mormont was hunched over, panting from overexertion.
"This had better be damn important, Mormont!" Robb hissed as he rocked the crying child in his arms, trying to calm little Eddard back to sleep.
Dacey stood to her full height and panted out, "Sansa's gone. Slipped out in the night. Lannister's beside himself."