"Lord Robb tells me that Lady Arya is to marry when she returns to Winterfell," Gwen informed Lady Stark as she served her the next morning. She aided the woman into her cloak, the fur wrapping around her collar and keeping her neck warm. Catelyn winced as Gwen spoke the words, stepping away from the maid's touch. She moved around her own tent, tidying the furs on her bed instead of allowing Gwen to do it. She needed to busy herself. Her grief didn't allow her to stop. She knew that if she did then she would remember and it would hurt all over again.

"It was the only way to allow Robb to travel over the Trident," Catelyn whispered, her eyes closing in pain for a brief moment. Gwen watched her, saying nothing as she stood still, her arms folded and her eyes watching Catelyn intently. "He needed it and I had to agree."

"Lady Arya would never consent," Gwen said and instantly wished she kept her mouth shut. Catelyn huffed loudly, her eyes narrowed as she finally stood up straight again and turned to look at Gwen.

"Do you think that I don't know that?" Lady Stark snapped at the maid, her eyes widening and turning to orbs of anger. She had her hands balled into fists by her sides, her mouth hanging open as she thought of the pain her family was going through. "I do not want to see Arya hurt but I had no choice. I have to do anything I can to keep my family safe...Ned is gone...Sansa and Arya are trapped...my eldest son rides into battle and I do not know if I shall see him again...and Bran and Rickon are back in Winterfell and I want to do nothing more than go back to them. I want my family back together and Arya will see that this is the only way."

Gwen remained silent then, realising that there was nothing she could do to save Arya from this. Perhaps the agreement would be forgotten in the future. Kings Landing was such a far away prospect at that moment in time. Gwen would be there to comfort her when she found her again. She had to do that for her.

"I understand, Lady Stark," Gwen promised her and Catelyn shook her head, sinking down to sit on the side of the bed.

"How can you?" she wondered. "No one can understand. No one knows how this feels."

"I care for the girls as much as you do, my Lady," Gwen promised her and she hesitantly moved over to Catelyn, sinking down to her knees in front of the elder woman. Her hands folded into the creases of her lap as her eyes looked into Catelyn's, trying to show her some kindness. "I love them as if...well...I love them and care for them. I want to bring them back just as much as you do, believe me."

"I do, Gwen," Catelyn said, moving her hand and resting it on the maid's cheek soothingly. Gwen sat where she was as Catelyn sighed loudly and took a deep breath, shaking her head. Resting her elbow onto her thigh she dropped her head into her hand and smiled softly at Gwen. "I know how much they mean to you and you have been a blessing to them. I do not doubt that we will get them back. I have faith."

"Yes, my Lady," Gwen said and she stood up, realising that she should go and tend to Jaime. She had seen him fleetingly the previous night, Lady Stark hitting him on the side of the head and she wondered why she had completed the action. "If I may ask, I saw last night how you hit Ser Jaime with a rock...I wondered why?" Gwen enquired and Catelyn's blood ran cold at the mere mention of the Kingslayer.

"He does not deserve to be called Ser, Gwen," Catelyn spoke, her voice colder and harsher than normal as she tugged at the lapels of her cloak, pulling it tighter around her body to keep her warm in the chilled air of the tent. "He...he admitted to me how he was the one to push Bran from the tower."

Gwen did her best to act shocked at the sudden news. And if she had to be honest, she was slightly bemused. She never thought that Jaime would confess to his sin. She thought that she would have to be the one to do it. Before she had the chance to continue her questions the Lady of Winterfell spoke once more;

"He did not say why. He just said that he did it. And now...now I know that I started this feud. I should never have taken his brother. I was wrong and Lord Tyrion had been telling me the truth the whole time. It was not him."

"The truth would have been found out," Gwen reminded her. "A war against the Lannister's is inescapable. Ser Jaime is still a Lannister."

"Perhaps," Catelyn offered her weakly. "I do not want to see his face again. I do not think I can control myself if I were to see his smug smirk once more."

"I should imagine Lord Robb will have him kept away. He does not want his banner men anywhere near him if he can help it. He knows they are loyal to him yet they detest Ser Jaime for being a Lannister."

"My son is the one who is in charge," Lady Stark shrugged and Gwen nodded, redoing her hair behind her ears as she heard the commotion from outside, the men beginning to stir and seeing that daylight was upon them. "I admit I was shocked when I saw him with you last night...holding you close...he seems to have taken a liking to you..."

"My Lady?" Gwen wondered; her eyes widening in shock as Catelyn smiled softly, standing up and resting a hand on Gwen's arm.

"The two of you have become close, Gwen," Catelyn said. "You dine with him every evening and he cares for you. I admit I have never seen anything before between the pair of you but war can change things. Tell me, do you like him?"

Gwen almost snorted at the question, her mouth drying up and her throat clenching as her eyes widened. Frown lines appeared on her forehead and kept her looking too surprised to say anything. She had to admit that Robb was a nice man. Yet he was younger than she was. He was not much younger but she still had never thought of him in a romantic way.

She remembered when she had been fifteen and him ten and he would often listen to her stories which she told Sansa and Arya. He would hide behind the door, listening as she spoke of dragons and Lady's in distress. She pretended not to notice him, knowing full well that he would be mocked ferociously by Theon for his liking of storytelling.

"Lord Robb is an excellent leader," Gwen answered after a moment of silence, her words slow and deliberate. "But I do not feel anything...well...other than friendship, my Lady. It would be wrong. He is a Lord and I am a maid."

"We cannot help what we feel, Gwen, regardless of who we are."

"But I do not feel anything. I care for him just as I care for Lady Sansa and Lady Arya. That is all, Lady Stark. I am sure Lord Robb will tell you the same."

"Do you think so?"

"I am sure," Gwen confirmed.

"I needed to ask you, Gwen," Catelyn spoke hastily, her head shaking back and forth as she smiled sadly. "Robb has a duty to marry now and I do not want your heart broken again."

"You need not worry about my heart, my Lady," Gwen promised her, looking to the exit and wanting to do nothing more than take her leave and forget about the entire conversation which had just been held. "I should be going now. I have chores to complete."

"Yes," Catelyn nodded. "And I have business to attend to. I shall see you at dinner, Gwen."

"Yes, Lady Stark," Gwen said and she dipped into a curtsey before rushing out from the tent and shaking her head. She laughed in disbelief, unable to think of Robb Stark in such a way. She ran a hand over her forehead before grabbing the usual necessities for visiting the Kingslayer. She walked down the hill in the bright sun and she saw him still tied to the post, his eyes closed and his breathing coming out in ragged breaths.

"I was wondering when you'd show your face," Jaime called out as she finally came to stand before him. He peeled one eye open, looking at her as he squinted against the sun. "This blood is becoming increasingly annoying in my line of vision. And do you think it possible for me to sleep lying down? It is not comfortable leaning against a wooden post all night."

"You told Lady Stark what you did," Gwen simply replied, not acknowledging to his moans. She moved closer to him, the cloth in her hand and rubbing on his dirty face as he allowed her to complete the action.

"I told her before you could," Jaime responded. "I thought that she may continue hitting me with the rock until my head came off."

"I am sure she would have liked to," Gwen informed him and he chuckled at her. "She is not best pleased."

"No, I gathered that," Jaime said, his voice laden with sarcasm as Gwen rolled her eyes at him and ran the cloth down his neck. "I thought that maybe her son would stay and help her deliver a beating. He seemed to have other ideas...tell me...did he take you back to his tent and ravish you for the evening? Were you his victory prize for the night?"

"You really are disgusting," Gwen informed him, refusing to let his words truly affect her. She did not need him trying to gain a reaction from her for it would do no one any good. "But no, Lord Robb would not do that."

"Do you want him to?"

"Not that it is any of your business," Gwen informed him, her tone light. "But no, I do not want him to. I have known Lord Robb for most of my life and I have never felt like that towards him."

"Have you ever felt like that to anyone else?" Jaime asked her and she dropped the cloth onto her lap, looking at him intently as she realised that he was in need of a good shave. Unfortunately that was not something she was trained in.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I am bored," Jaime exasperated. "Have you ever been tied to a post for hours with no one to speak to apart from yourself? No. I suppose you haven't. It is excruciating. It is enough to drive oneself mad. I think I would rather hit myself over the head with that rock instead of being sat here with my own thoughts."

"I think you already have gone mad," Gwen said to him after his rant and Jaime chuckled, tossing his head back and opening his mouth as a large sigh escaped him and he looked to the sky, the white clouds floating above and blocking out the sun.

"It is possible," Jaime admitted to her. "So are you going to answer the question?"

"Probably not," Gwen shook her head and noted a bruise forming on his cheek. She leaned in, her fingertips tracing over the purple markings as Jaime glanced to the side, his eyes following her every movement.

"I take it that you did have some man who swept you off your feet if you don't want to answer the question," Jaime said to her and she rolled her eyes, concluding that the bruise would be fine before she pulled off another bit of bread.

"More bread?" he asked. "Does the Stark boy not know how well fed we are in the South?"

"Well, this is the North," Gwen reminded him. "And you're lucky you're being fed at all. Lady Stark would prefer to see you go without."

"I bet she would," Jaime muttered. "Come along, Gwen. Talk to me and tell me. I know you are not as boring as a simple maid."

"I really am."

"You are here which proves you're not. I imagine your fellow maids are holed up in Winterfell and dreaming of how Lord Stark will save them from war."

"They could be," Gwen agreed and Jaime groaned in frustration.

"Gwendolyn," he said and he noted the snap of her jaw as her teeth clenched together. She seemed to react like that every time he called her by that name. "Do not agree with everything that I say. Tell me of things which are of interest...did no boy try to get into that simple blue gown of yours?"

"Yes," Gwen admitted to him, tiring of listening to him moan at her.

"Ah, now we are getting somewhere," Jaime concluded as he chewed on the bread and Gwen poured a goblet of water. "Did he take away your maiden status? Don't tell me you mothered a bastard?"

"Wrong on both accounts," Gwen spoke back in a short snap. He could see the subject bothered her but he refused to leave it alone.

"So you were too prude for him?" Jaime checked. "Or did he prefer the opposite sex? It does happen. It is not uncommon, Gwendolyn."

"Stop it," Gwen snapped at him. "I have told you not to call me that."

"Why?" Jaime asked. "Is that what he called you?"

Gwen said nothing and Jaime took her silence as confirmation. He watched her as she pressed the goblet to his lips and he drank some of the water before she took it from him to rest it on the grass beside her.

"So what did happen?"

"What does it matter?"

"I'm intrigued."

"I'm not."

"Well no, you won't be because you already know the story."

"The story is not for you to know," Gwen responded.

He watched as she begun to stand up and he spoke again then, stopping her from moving any further away from him;

"Or perhaps he found you in the company of Lord Robb? The two of you seem rather cosy and he could not handle being with a whore."

Gwen's body turned rigid then and she dropped the goblet she had picked up, allowing it to tumble to the floor. She turned to face him again, the smug look on his face making her blood run cold. He thought that he would see anger in that blue gaze of hers. He thought that she would be annoyed with him but she looked nothing like the erratic maid he had come to know.

Her face held pain. Her eyes were watering as she watched him and the smug look instantly dropped from his face.

"I was loyal to him," Gwen whispered hoarsely to Jaime. "I loved him more than I loved anyone before. I was not the one who whored around. He was and he thoroughly enjoyed their company."

The Kingslayer allowed his gaze to narrow then as Gwen hugged herself in the cold, her eyes never leaving his and he could only listen as she told him the story. She couldn't stop herself. She didn't know why she rose up to his taunts. She should have ignored him and allowed the situation to diffuse. She should have stopped and walked away, her head held high.

But she couldn't.

"I risked everything for him. Night after night I snuck out from the castle and to his home. Night after night I would wait...thinking he would be working late while he was actually in the brothel...fucking whoever he wanted to. And then he would come back...he would come back and he would lie beside me...telling me how he loved me and he would never leave me...and I was foolish enough to believe him. I was foolish enough to lie with him and listen to his lies. I told him that I would not be with him intimately. I told him that I wanted to wait. I did not want a bastard within my stomach. I did not want to be my mother."

Jaime stared as she turned to look to the sky above her for a moment, her thoughts clearly turning onto her mother as she closed her eyes and her lips parted, a single tear running down her cheek which she wiped away promptly.

"I assume you found out," Jaime spoke, his voice slightly softer than normal and she nodded once.

"I saw him leaving the brothel. He told me he had to find some relief. He told me that I should simply just make him happy. I wanted nothing to do with him after that but he seemed to disagree. He told me that he deserved to have me after all of the waiting. And he tried...in broad daylight...he tried...no one attempted to stop him. They all walked past and left me in the shadows...I suppose I was lucky that Lord Stark was returning from his hunt. He took me back and Lady Stark looked after me."

Jaime saw how she took to sitting on the ground beside him once more. It was almost as if it were too hard for her to stand and sit up straight. Her back slouched and her shoulders were slumped downwards as she tore off some more bread, placing it into his mouth and her eyes met his.

"Men fuck other women, Gwen," he told her simply. "Even the honourable Eddard Stark did that and he claimed to love his wife."

"And so you think what he did was acceptable?"

"What he did is the way of life," Jaime told her. "You should not be shocked. I used to stand guard and listen to the King fuck his whores...I have yet to see a man who has been honourable...except myself..."

"Do not dare tell me that I should have expected that," Gwen hissed at him. "Don't sit there and talk to me about honour. I loved him...anyway...what the Seven Hells am I doing? I don't need to talk to you about this...I should never have said anything..."

He saw her shake her head hastily, moving to stand up and he wished he could grab hold of her arm and stop her from going.

"Gwen," he spoke. "You do not need to go. Stay here. I will go mad if you go."

"And I will go mad if I stay here and continue listening to your taunts."

"And if I promise not to taunt you?"

"We both know that you are incapable of doing that." Gwen informed him and she picked the jug and goblet up from the floor. "I need to go anyway."

"No you don't." Jaime protested.

"I will come back later," Gwen whispered. "I assume you will need changing and more food."

He saw her sniff loudly, running her hand underneath her nose before she turned around and Jaime sighed, rolling his eyes and watching her go, her skirts swaying behind her. Gwen rushed through the camp, not watching where she was going as she pushed her way through the ranks of the men. She kept her head down, another tear falling down her cheek as she bumped into a tall figure.

She looked up and saw Lord Robb stood there as if he had purposefully managed to get in her way. She stopped and watched him as he noted the tear on her cheek.

"Gwen, what is wrong?" he wondered and she shook her head. He saw the goblet and jug in her hands and his jaw clenched tightly. "Is it him? Has the Kingslayer harmed you?"

"No," Gwen spoke. "I...he simply said something and I...well...I remembered Beren...that's all."

"Gwen," Robb said sadly. "Do not shed tears over someone who does not deserve them."

"You are right," Gwen agreed, nodding and tucking her hair behind her ear once more. She felt the curls against her fingertips and she knew that they were in need of a good wash under water. "I should be going. I need to...well...I have things to do..."

"My mother spoke to me this morning," Robb spoke before she could rush off. She shook her head, managing a small smile as he returned one back to her. "She asked me if...well...we..."

"She asked me the same thing, my Lord," Gwen admitted and Robb shook his head, coughing awkwardly once. "I told her that there was nothing."

"I said the same," Robb assured her, taking the jug and the goblet from her hands and he began to walk forwards with Gwen by his side. She ran her hands up and down her bare lower arms as Robb spoke. "Besides, I do not go for girls who are older than me."

"I am not old, Lord Robb," Gwen said to him, managing to playfully nudge him in the ribs. He laughed at her and he saw that her eyes still held that of hesitance and he knew she was still thinking of Beren.

"I know you are not," Robb said. "But you are the maid who held me when I cried because I had fallen from my horse. Anything other than...well...what we are now would be odd."

"I couldn't agree more," Gwen nodded. "Besides, you are a betrothed man."

That seemed to cause Robb to turn silent and Gwen wondered if she should have said something. She looked at him and saw the hesitance in his gaze as he remained pensive.

"That's only if I survive this war," Robb mumbled.

"You will."

"Your faith in me is unquestionable."

"I remember you when you were eleven and won your first duel against Theon," Gwen spoke and Robb smirked at the memory. "If you won back then...well...there is no reason why you cannot win now."

"These men are better swordsmen than Theon," Robb assured her and she took the jug and goblet back from him as they finally stood outside her tent.

"That may be true," Gwen admitted. "But you are still good enough."

He said nothing back to her, wondering why she held so much faith in him as she curtseyed in front of him and disappeared into her tent without another word. He stood there for a moment before turning around, heading through the camp and calling for his banner men to continue training for when another battle approached them. He knew that he could not waste one second more.

...

A/N: So, thank you to Jofrench22 for reviewing again and thank you to my new reader in the form of Pannonique! I am sorry you had to stay up so early to finish reading this but thank you for the king words and I do hope you will stick with the story.

So, please do let me know what you think as we shall soon begin the journey with a certain lady from Tarth!