Part 3
Catelyn Stark stared at her husband disbelievingly. She was hurt and outraged.
"No."
"I…" Ned tried to say.
"No. Tell me that was what you said to Stannis Baratheon."
Ned looked distressed and a part of Catelyn felt the need to comfort him. A bigger part however could only think about how Ned had humiliated her. Betrayed her. Forced her to tolerate some other woman's child. Catelyn Stark considered herself as a good wife and mother, but she had never managed to completely suppress her bitterness toward Jon Snow.
Of course she knew that a child couldn't choose his parents and it was wrong of her to resent the boy, but she couldn't help it. Almost every time she saw the boy, she thought about her husband's betrayal. She had never asked anything about Jon's mother, there was nothing she wanted to know. That wasn't really true, but she would never admit it.
Of course she had sometimes wondered what this woman had looked like and what had been so special about her that Ned had broken his vows. Not that it mattered, what was done was done. That was what Catelyn tried to convince to herself. Her children had accepted Jon as their brother, but she just couldn't accept him. She had felt guilty because of that many times and she had really tried, but… She just couldn't. Perhaps that made her a bad person, she didn't really know. All she knew was that she had most definitely reached her limit.
"Cat, please listen to me…" Ned started.
"No, Ned," she cut in coolly. "You will listen to me now. If you love me, if you have ever loved me, you won't even think about giving him your name. If you humiliate me like that, I swear, I will never forgive you. Never."
She turned around and stormed out before Ned managed to reply. She was so angry that her hands were shaking. Angry at Ned, angry at Stannis Baratheon, angry at King Robert for arranging the whole thing, angry at Jon Snow's mother, angry at Jon Snow, but most of all angry at herself. Why couldn't she get past this? Well, maybe she could have if she wouldn't have to live under the same roof with her husband's bastard.
None of her children were married yet; Robb should have gotten married before Jon. He was Ned's oldest son and his heir. Now Jon was getting married and soon his wife would give Ned his first grandchild… The thought was driving Catelyn mad, she couldn't deny that. On the other hand she was glad that Robert hadn't chosen to use Robb in his ridiculous power game.
Officially Robert had wanted to "create a stronger alliance" with the north. If that would have really been true, he would have married Shireen off to Robb. Instead he had chosen Jon, his old friend's bastard son. The message he had wanted to send to his brother was very clear; he was the king and he had the power.
The truth was that despite of the Baratheon name, Shireen wasn't the most wanted bride and not just because of her appearance. Sure Stannis had some wealth and influence, but not enough to attract the most powerful Houses. Still this was nothing more than a humiliation to Stannis. Maybe so, but Catelyn wasn't going to let her husband to humiliate her any more.
"Mother?" Sansa's voice called. "Could you tell me your opinion about my dress?"
Catelyn smiled, all her tension disappeared immediately.
"Yes, of course. I will be right there."
Catelyn was grateful for the distraction; she needed a moment to calm down. The feast would start soon and obviously she needed to be a good hostess. After that she would have to start arranging wedding for her husband's bastard son. And as for her husband… He would have to find himself some other place to sleep tonight.
Shireen looked at her reflection in the mirror and tilted her head. She wasn't sure what to think, the dress felt very foreign. Back home she usually wore much more modest dresses, but her father had have few new ones made for her before their journey. He had wanted her to have suitable dresses for formal occasions. The thought made her quite nervous; she had never really participated in any kind of "formal occasions".
Usually she has had all her meals alone in her tower. Sometimes she had dined with her father, but there had been just the two of them. Her mother had never joined them nor come to Shireen's tower. Not that Shireen had really missed Lady Selyse's company; she had always been more or less afraid of her mother.
Lady Selyse had often said that Shireen needed to stay out of sight; she was a disgrace to her parents. There was no doubt that her mother was ashamed of her. Sometimes she had shouted that Shireen didn't deserve to live when her brothers were dead. Why hadn't gods taken Shireen instead of Selyse's poor sons? Shireen had heard those things as long as she could remember, but they still hurt.
She had tried her best to avoid her mother. Her father had been away a lot, but he had always been kind to her. She loved him very much and she would miss him. A knock on the door made her to look up. She smiled as she saw her father.
"Well…" Stannis started. "You look beautiful, my dear."
"Really?"
"Yes, absolutely. Just like a princess."
Her smile grew even wider; her father didn't compliment her very often.
"Thank you, father."
Stannis tried to smile as well, but it didn't come very natural to him. He walked over to Shireen and touched her long hair.
"What did you think about him?" he asked. "Your….betrothed."
"He seemed nice," Shireen replied. "He has kind eyes. Just like you."
Stannis didn't seem pleased by her words.
"Like me?"
"Yes, father," Shireen replied smiling. "You have very kind eyes."
Stannis cleared his throat.
"Thank you. I want you to know that I will stay right here as long as I have to and if he says or does anything that makes you feel unpleasant… I want you to come to me immediately. Agreed?"
Shireen looked at her father warmly before kissing his cheek.
"Agreed."
"Good." Stannis paused and sighed. "Alright, I suppose we need to go." He paused again and offered her his arm. "Shall we, princess?"
