A/N: It still belongs to GRRM, I'm just writing for fun. Thanks to everyone for reading/alerting/favoriting/reviewing. It really does keep me motivated knowing that people actually seem to enjoy this story. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint as I've had a rough time starting PT for my knee. This chapter was a bit shorter than I expected after my revisions, but oh well. Let me know what you think!

Robb IV

The banners flew over the winter town. The Karstarks were the last addition to the men, their black banner with the white sunburst adding to the Bolton's flayed man, the mailed fist of the Glovers, the Mormont's bear, the Umber's fierce giant, the Tallhart's trees, the battle axe of the Cerwyns, and the bull moose for the Hornwoods. The Manderlys were to meet them on the march south, the march that would happen at dawn on the morrow. He had waited long enough, they had all the men they could expect from the north. He would have to hope his mother's family's men in the Riverlands rallied to their cause as well.

Robb had no desire to lead his father's bannermen into battle, but he also had no choice now. King Robert was dead and his father was imprisoned on some false charge of treason. They had to march south if they were to free him and the girls. The fighting had already begun in the Riverlands and they had to aid the Tullys if they wanted to be able to move against Lannisters and on to King's Landing.

They had no clear idea of what they were facing. Every new bannermen brought with them strange rumors of what had happened in King's Landing. Robb had heard everything from a rumor that his father had killed King Robert, to one that said his father's head now decorated the Red Keep, to one that said Arya and Sansa had been killed by the Hound, or even that his mother had killed the Imp and displayed his body from the Eyrie. The only real news he had gotten came in a letter that had gotten from Sansa saying that their father had been imprisoned for conspiring to commit treason with the King's brothers and that Robb, Dany, and his mother were all required to come swear fealty to King Joffrey. Sansa wrote that they must be loyal to King Joffrey and that she would ask him to spare their father's life in return when they married. She had said nothing in the letter about Arya. Robb had never hated his sister but in that moment he had come very close to it. So they would march south, but not to swear fealty to that brat Joffrey, they would march south with all the strength of the north behind them to free his father and his sisters, even Sansa.

Still, he had no real desire to lead the men himself. He had not quite reached his sixteenth name day and he had never been to war. Maester Luwin advised him to appoint one of the bannermen to lead, but Robb knew his father would never have done that, so he opted to lead them himself. He had told Luwin, and his brothers who had been just as upset, that he was doing what he had to do. He did not know if they believed him or if they thought he was just a boy seeking glory, but it was the truth.

The bannermen themselves had tested Robb. Some, like the Greatjon, had threatened him, others insulted him for his youth, and others still tried to bribe him into receiving favors. It had taken all he had learned from his father and much of Dany's curtsies to bend them to his will, but it had been done. They would follow him south and obey him.

He had not expected to have to fight his wife about the march south, but he had never expected that she would think she should accompany him. He had tried using her pregnancy as a reason she should stay here, but she had countered that Dothraki women rode on horseback until they delivered, when pointed out that she was not a Dothraki, she simply said that they would be travelling slowly with all the supplies and she would travel in one of the wagons. He tried using Bran and Rickon as a reason to stay, but she had said Lady Catelyn would be home soon and they would be fine, that her place was with her husband. He had then tried to tell her it would not be safe with all the fighting and she had snapped that it would not be safe for him either. Robb had then made the mistake of appealing to Theon, expecting he would show some sense. But he had shocked Robb by saying, "I think you should let her go. We're traveling south and we need allies if you want to defeat the Lannisters. There are many great houses in the south that fought under her father's banner that still have no love for the Baratheons. You see how some of these Northmen look at her. Your Targaryen wife makes quite the asset on a campaign. Not to mention I think she'll steal a horse and chase after you if you leave her, might as well get a midwife and take her with you. It'll be easier."

He wasn't pleased at the thought of using his wife to stir up Targaryen loyalists to join their cause, that was what their marriage was made to prevent after all, but Theon technically had right of that, they would need to garner more support as they marched south. Even Maester Luwin had reluctantly mentioned that House Martell and House Tyrell and many of their bannermen had stayed loyal to King Aerys even after his cause was lost. And Robb hated to admit that Theon was probably even more right about Dany sneaking out of Winterfell to chase after them if he left her behind. He would have to leave her locked in the dungeons if he wanted her to actually stay home. So they had compromised, she would stay at Riverrun once they had secured the castle from the Lannisters. Neither one of them had been happy about it, but she would be nearer to Robb which seemed to be what she wanted, and honestly he wanted that too, he was just afraid for her. For that reason, he had also commanded that she have her own guard on the road for the march south, something Dany though unnecessary but Robb had insisted upon.

Dany was currently trying to talk to Rickon about why they had to leave. He wished her well, the boy had been running wild since hearing the news. Robb felt bad for him, but he was a Stark and he needed to learn that some things in life were unavoidable. He hoped that the boy would settle down once their mother returned home. Bran had been nearly as upset, but he hid it better. He would have to be the Stark in Winterfell until they returned, hopefully with their father. It was a big responsibility for a boy of eight who had just lost the use of his legs, but he would be well looked after by Maester Luwin and the rest of the household staying behind.

Robb himself had called a meeting with the lords of his bannermen to discuss their final plans for the march on the morrow. He was sure they all had very different ideas for the march, but his father had taught him to always seek the opinions of the lords that swore fealty to Winterfell. Still, he did not relish talking to Lord Bolton with his cold eyes, that man scared him more than the Greatjon ever had. He had expected that they would all protest the fact that he was bring Dany on the march, but they had been surprisingly accepting of the fact. Perhaps it was because Maege Mormont had sent her daughter Daecy to lead her men. Or perhaps Theon had the right of it, the Northmen did all seem to look at his wife with a sort of awe, whether that was because she was so beautiful, or whether it was because she a direct descendant of Aegon the Conqueror, Robb did not know. Either way, he was glad he had not need to use Grey Wind to get them in line.

As he reached the door to his solar, he could hear them all inside arguing and Robb took a minute to compose himself. He supposed his was donning what Dany and Bran called his "Robb the Lord" face. When he felt ready, he opened the door and said, "Men! We begin our march to fight the Lannisters tomorrow!"

His words were met with a roar of approval that Robb used to boost himself up and tell himself that he was ready for this. He hoped he was right because if he wasn't ready, then his father and his sisters were doomed.

A/N: I will try to update again on Sunday when we get to see Catelyn again as we march south. I hope everyone enjoyed it. As many of you have pointed out, the Freys won't be able to get Robb in a marriage proposal, but as they're Freys I am sure they'll ask for something. Please feel free to leave a review as they are much appreciated and a massive thank you for just reading. You guys rock!