A/N: I'm so sorry it took this long to write the update, my writers block was a killer. So, without further ado, let's get started.
It had been hours since the feast had ended and all in attendance had retired to their rooms. Catelyn's rooms were the hottest of the rooms in Winterfell. The castle had been built upon natural hot-springs, which meant little in summer, but during winter it was the difference between life and death. It was warm enough that she rarely had to light a fire, even in the dead of winter. Ned climbed off her then, walking to the shutters that he threw open, letting the cool autumn air flow into the room.
"I must refuse him." Ned said. His voice carried a haunted tone, in a similar tone as men coming back from war spoke of the horrors that befell them.
"You cannot." Catelyn said, sitting up. "You must not refuse him."
"My duty is here as Warden of the North, Cat. There is far too much to do. I have no desire to be Robert's Hand." he said.
"He won't understand." Catelyn replied. "He is a king now. Kings are not like other men. If you refuse, he will wonder why you have. The thoughts and paranoia will eat away at him, and continue to do so until our entire family is-"
Ned turned to face her. "Robert wouldn't harm me or any of my blood. We are closer to each other than we are to our brothers. He loves me more than either of them, and he is like a third brother to me. He will curse and shout for a time and before he leaves we'll laugh about it as he leaves. I know the man!"
"You knew him." Catelyn said. "The man is not who he once was." She remembered what had been described to her, the omen of the direwolf dead with a stag's antler in it's throat. He had to see. "A king's pride is everything, my lord. He came all this way to offer you these honours, you cannot throw them back at him."
"Honours?"
"He sees them as such."
"Do you?"
"I do." Catelyn shifted back, angry now. Why couldn't he see what she was saying? "He offers his eldest son in marriage to our daughter, what else would you call it but an honour? Sansa would one day be queen, and her sons would rule from the Wall to the deserts of Dorne. What is so wrong with that?"
"En chaous..." [Damn it] he said."Cat, Sansa is three-and-ten, yet she still doesn't understand the ways of the world. She is still too young for that. And Joffrey... Joffrey is..."
"The crown prince, and the heir to the Iron Throne of Westeros. I was only twelve when I was betrothed to your brother, Brandon." Cat said. She had nothing to say of Sansa's naïveté. Catelyn agreed that she needed to learn the ways of the world, but there was a time for everything and now was not the time for her to learn. Perhaps she would teach her before her wedding, but not now.
Ned's mouth twisted. "Brandon. Of course, Brandon would know what to do, wouldn't he? It was all meant for him. You, Winterfell, the North, he was meant to be King's Hand and father to queens, I never asked for this cup."
Cat looked him dead in the eyes. "It matters not that you didn't ask for this cup, you must drink it all the same. When your king has need of you, for the sake of your family you must obey."
"I obeyed when he sent his son here to grow up amongst our children ten moons past, I feared you were still cursing his name."
"That's not the same. Arya had nothing covering her top. And they were alone in a closed room."
"Yet nothing happened. If he'd harboured ill intentions towards her, he would not have stayed here." Ned said, seeming to get a haunted look in his eyes.
"Yet Sansa came away with a welt on her face!"Catelyn all but yelled, before putting her hands over her face. Ned looked at her carefully. Catelyn softened at that. Yet then it came to her as she remembered the careful explanation of what had actually happened, and she suddenly felt a heavy wave of guilt wash over her.
"I'm... I'm sorry." She said, finally. "That was... I promised to not... it was..."
"No, Cat. I apologise. I shouldn't have mentioned it."
Cat looked down. It had been nearly 3 moons past. Sansa had stumbled upon that scene, and had run to her with a mark on her face. Her reaction had been less than dignified, especially because the boy was a Prince, and you had to show respect to the royal family. Even the faith had begrudgingly accepted it, while the conciliator had promised to defend the faith he also issued decrees making sure the royals could control it. Even Baelor the Blessed hadn't repealed these decrees.
Catelyn prepared to go to Ned, when a loud knock came at the door. Ned frowned deeper and turned to the door. "What is it?"
Desmond responded. "My lord, Maester Luwin is outside, and begs urgent audience."
"You have told him I left orders not to be disturbed?"
"Yes, my lord. He insists."
"Very well then, send him in." Ned crossed to his wardrobe and put on a heavy cloak. A sudden breeze made Catelyn suddenly realise how cold it was. She clutched the heavy blankets close to her. "Perhaps you should shut the windows." she said. Ned nodded, not particularly paying attention, as Maester Luwin was shown in.
"My lord." he said with a bow. "I apologise for disturbing your rest, but it was urgent." After checking that the door was closed, he faced Ned. "A rider arrived not minutes ago. He told me that he carries a message."
"I believe I should meet him in my solar." Ned said then.
"My lord... he requested both your presence and that of the Lady Catelyn." the maester replied.
"Why would he-" Catelyn began.
"I know not. Shall I direct him to the solar then?" Luwin asked.
"Yes... please do so." Ned replied. Catelyn climbed out of the bed and slid a dress of blue and red onto herself.
"Gods, Ned. Who could be here now?" she asked.
"We will see, shan't we?" he replied. They entered through the door that connected the Lord's Solar to the Lord's Bedchamber. A small fire had been lit, presumably by a servant under Maester Luwin's orders. Ned turned to the door as Maester Luwin returned.
"He is outside the door. Shall I summon him in?" he asked.
"Aye." Ned replied. The maester nodded obediently and shuffled back to the door, and opened it, beckoning another inside.
The rider was dressed in grey clothing, with a hood pulled over his head. His clothes were worn from traveling, and his legs looked uneasy, likely from spending so much time in the saddle. He reached up and removed his hood, revealing a mess of blonde hair and bright blue eyes... Tully blue eyes. Both Ned and Catelyn recognised the boy immediately.
"Robert?" Catelyn asked, knowing it was her nephew yet at the same time uncertain.
"Yes, Aunt Catelyn. I'm... sorry to come to you like this. I hope I'm welcome to be here right now." he replied, looking ashamed.
"Robert... of course you'd be welcome, but why would you ride to us in the night like this?" Ned asked.
"My mother gave me a letter, and told me to bring it to Aunt Catelyn by riding along the Kingsroad to avoid anyone seeing me. I was also to dress in common riding clothing, to avoid anyone recognising me even if they did see me." Robert replied.
"That was incredibly dangerous, if you'd been found by bandits or by anyone else, you may have been killed!" Catelyn admonished. She could hardly believe her sister would allow her son to do such a thing, let alone tell him to do so. Robert nodded, and produced a letter from a small leather satchel that he carried at his side. He handed her the letter. It was sealed with blue wax containing the falcon of House Arryn.
"Mother told me that only you would understand it." he said. Catelyn tensed herself, and opened the letter.
A/N: I finally finished with... a less that satisfactory update in my mind. But it's the best I'm going to get it. I cut it off here, because the letter and following scene is essentially the same as canon, and it felt redundant stuffing extra words in there. If you read the descendency chart I made, Robert is the son of Elbert Arryn and Lysa, and the new heir to the Vale. I did deliberately leave some pieces of information off of it, and as the story progresses, so too will the trees be updated. See you all next chapter.
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