Chapter 4

Friend or foe

Jon was exhausted when he finally headed to his chamber. He had been in many battles, but dealing with the drunken lords had been worse than most of them. Everything was so much clearer in a battle; at least he knew who the enemy was. Politics had never been his thing, he preferred action, but he had been forced to learn. Robb needed his help, probably more now than ever. Losing their father, Sansa and Talisa had changed Robb, made him harsher and colder.

Yet Jon didn't want to believe that his brother would hurt an innocent young woman. At least she seemed innocent, even if she was a Lannister. Of course it was possible that she was acting, Lannisters were known for their manipulation skills. Could she be here to spy on them? Perhaps, but her terror earlier had most definitely been genuine, Jon was sure of it. He had seen enough brutality toward women to recognize genuine fear.

He was willing to bet that the Lannister girl had never been with a man. Her brother seemed to care about her deeply; he had pleaded Jon to help her after some of the drunken lords had stopped him from following them. Jon couldn't deny that he had actually felt bad for Tyrion Lannister. If someone would have done that to Arya and Jon would have been unable to help her…

Minea Lannister hadn't deserved to be treated like that. Robb should have said something; the girl was his wife now. Jon sighed tiredly and bumped into someone who was coming from behind the corner. Minea Lannister and her handmaiden. Jon's eyes widened when he saw Robb's newlywed wife. She wasn't very tall, but now she looked even smaller and her naturally pale skin looked even paler. Her eyes were swollen, he guessed from crying, and she was leaning on her handmaiden who seemed to be supporting her shaking body, stopping her from collapsing on the floor. She was wearing a nightgown and a cloak that she had wrapped tightly around her petite body.

"My lady? Are you alright?" he managed to ask.

"Yes, thank you," she murmured. She kept her eyes on the floor, but her handmaiden glared at him, struggling to control her anger. The look in her eyes told him that she was willing to do anything to protect her lady in case Jon would try to hurt her.

"Where are you going?" Jon asked.

All three of them knew that she was supposed to spend the whole night in her husband's chamber.

"I am afraid my lady is unwell," the handmaiden stated. "The excitement was too much, High Lord told me to escort her to her own chamber."

Jon had no doubt that was a lie. His eyes narrowed when a very unpleasant thought crossed his mind. If they had done something to Robb…

"Did he now? I think I will go and ask him…"

"No!" Lady Minea suddenly cried out and slowly looked up. "My lord, I… I am aware I have no right to ask anything from you, but I beg you to hear what I have to say."

Jon couldn't help but to think that she looked like a wounded animal, scared and exhausted. He noticed a bruise on her neck, although she had tried to hide it with the cloak. There was no doubt that she had many more bruises under her clothes, the lords had treated her very roughly. The thought of several grown men taking their anger and bitterness out on someone half of their size was nothing more than repulsing. What kind of a coward did that? Jon did feel bad for the girl, but he didn't know yet was she an enemy or not.

"Alright," he stated as carelessly as he could. "I'm listening."

Clearly she was nervous, but she tried her best to look confident.

"I fulfilled my duty," she said quietly but clearly. "High Lord…fell asleep afterwards and I did not wish to disturb him. I don't have his permission to leave, but Ersa told you the truth, I am not well. Will you be so kind and allow me to go to my chamber?"

She was trying to hold on what was left of her dignity and Jon didn't see any reason to take that from her. Clearly she had been through enough for one night.

"Yes, you may go, my lady."

"Thank you, my lord," she replied cautiously. "I bid you good night."

Both women curtsied before Ersa wrapped her arm around Lady Minea's waist again and started to lead her towards her chamber. Jon needed a moment to clear his thoughts before he marched to Robb's chamber and opened the door. The first thing he smelled was the alcohol. Robb was lying on his bed, passed out. It seemed that his wife had put a blanket over him. Jon sighed and walked over to the bed. He noticed the blood on the sheet. There was a lot of blood.

The girl had been a virgin; Robb could have at least tried to go easy on her. Who was he kidding; Robb had been so drunk that he probably wouldn't even remember anything about his wedding night. Robb had made it clear earlier that he didn't want to remember anything about it. His wife however would no doubt remember every moment, whether she would want to or not.

Jon shook his head; this wasn't the Robb he knew. His brother had always been an honorable man, just like their father. The Robb he knew would have never harmed a woman. He had worshiped Talisa and despised all the men who mistreated their wives. Yes, Jon had liked Talisa as well and he had mourned her, but losing her didn't give Robb the right to treat his new wife like this. If she had some kind of hidden agenda, they would find it out, but right now Robb needed to get a grip. Jon was determined to make sure that his brother would pull himself together and start to act like the leader he was supposed to be.