Catelyn Stark's return to Winterfell was followed by a short moment of joy as Rickon, Arya and Robb reunited in the courtyard of the castle. Robb had hugged his mother, when he felt her stiffen in his arms, he pulled away to see Jon had walked into the courtyard.
"What is he doing here?" Catelyn asked stiffly, her nose wrinkling in distaste as Arya excitedly sprinted into Jon's arms and nearly tackled him off his feet. Jon was preoccupied with Arya, and thankfully so, for he did not hear the beginnings of the argument that Robb and Catelyn got into.
"You did what?!" Catelyn asked fiercely, all but pushing her son away from her as she stepped away from his arms to glare fiercely at him.
"It is one thing that you have claimed the Iron Throne, broken your pact with Walder Frey and you're now marrying Margaery Tyrell without saying a word to me! But this! This?! Robb I cannot stand! If you are to go to King's Landing, the Warden of the North must be a Stark, your father's son!"
"Bran is a cripple, mother!" Robb exclaimed, by now everyone in the yard was watching them. Arya slowly slipped off Jon's back as Jon himself looked to the ground, feeling those all too familiar feelings of being an outcast rushing back into him. Robb looked around to see that they had an audience, and with a growl, he stood up straighter.
"As you were!" Robb called, causing those in service to him to jump and return hastily to their duties. "Jon…take Arya and Rickon back to their rooms. Have Maester Luwin settle mother's party. She and I will be in my solar." Robb said stiffly, looking to his mother, who looked like she was about to burst a vein in her forehead.
"The realm is at peace now, the title is purely ceremonial. Why in the name of the Gods would you grant it to him?" Catelyn snapped, the moment that Robb had closed the door to the solar of the Lord of Winterfell.
"You're a fool if you think the realm is at peace. Not only am I a usurper who has yet to gain allegiance from the Houses of the Vale, the Crownlands and Dorne…there is an army of White Walkers marching on the wall." Robb said, standing behind the desk to speak seriously to his mother, who scoffed at her son's claims.
"Did you hurt your head?" she asked with a half-worried tilt of her head
"Mother! This is serious! I was at the Wall, and I prevented an army of a hundred thousand wildlings from destroying the Night's Watch. They are trying to escape them. The Long Night is coming. I've seen it with my own eyes…and our family…we play a central role in stopping it. I have legitimized Jon as a Stark of Winterfell and placed him behind Arya in the line of succession." Robb stated, earning a swift look from Catelyn that preceded her lurching out of her chair.
"Your did what?! Robb Stark! How could you?! He is a bastard, a stain of honor on our family, on your father and on me!"
"HE IS NOT FATHER'S!" Robb shouted, causing his mother to stop abruptly in confusion.
"What? What do you mean he's not your father's?"
"Did father ever tell you explicitly that Jon was his son? No. All he ever said to any of us…was that Jon was his blood. Jon is not father's bastard. My father was the most honorable man in Westeros and he loved his family more than anything in the world. Jon…is Aunt Lyanna's son...by Prince Rhaegar." Robb sighed, causing Catelyn's eyes to wide and her lip to tremble.
"Impossible…" she breathed, sinking slowly into her chair.
"It's true. Lord Howland Reed, father's bannerman and companion to the Tower of Joy, he told me all. Jon was born when Rhaegar kidnapped Aunt Lyanna and seduced her to sire a child. When the war was at end, Jon was born…Aunt Lyanna knew that King Robert would kill him, and she wanted him safe. She made father swear to keep him safe and to keep his true identity secret…and so father claimed him as his own…and to protect Jon…to protect us all…he hid the truth for eighteen years…" Robb said in a sad tone, as Catelyn held her head in her hands.
"The burdens he carried all his life…that foolish man…" Catelyn said, her voice cracking with emotion.
"Father's remains are with me…I've been…I didn't want to leave them anywhere…and I wanted to wait till you were here. Bran and Sansa aren't here but…I had his crypt carved already…" Robb said sadly, Catelyn nodded silently until something Robb said registered with her.
"Bran isn't here? Where is he?" she asked, her words sharp.
"Calm down, mother. If Bran is to be Lord of Winterfell, he must know his lords bannermen. He asked me to let him go to our bannermen around the North for short visits to claims oaths of fealty. He will be back in Winterfell soon, but sadly not before we leave for the wedding. He needs to do this, mother. He's not a boy anymore…" Robb's lie did not sit well with him, but it was something everyone had agreed upon before Bran left, for Catelyn Stark would surely have gone mad if she learnt her baby boy was Beyond-the-Wall.
"None of you are." Catelyn sighed, rubbing her temple "All these years…all the hate I gave him…all the pain I put him through…all because I couldn't love a motherless child who was a stain on my honor…" Catelyn said quietly, her voice shaking.
"There is still time to make up for that. Jon will understand. He's a good man, mother. He always has been, and he loves us all." Robb said, crossing around the desk to place a comforting hand on his mother's shoulder.
"I will. But first…Margaery Tyrell? Robb Stark! Do you know what the rumors are about her?"
"Mother, she's a wonderful girl. I love her, and she is going to be my Queen. She also brought me the Reach and the Stormlands, without which we would have lost this war and died the way father died…or worse." Robb sighed, causing Catelyn to nod dejectedly.
"You've grown up haven't you?" she sighed, rising to cup his bearded cheeks.
"You will be a good King. You had an amazing father." She said, kissing his cheek. Robb smiled slightly and nodded.
"Aye, I did."
"And an amazing mother too." Catelyn smiled, a glint back in her eyes, causing Robb to chuckle.
A fresh snow had fallen, and it seemed most fitting for the morning. Gathered in the courtyard were the Stark household, Robb's friends and commanders, and the family themselves. A great stone tomb was being carried by six Stark soldiers, inside it were the remains of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.
Robb had a tear running down his cheek as Arya and Rickon openly wept into their mother's embrace. Jon Snow himself bowed his head sniffing, tears dropping off his nose as the men took Ned's tomb down to the crypts. The torches and candles had been lit in preparation for the ceremony, the Stark family trailed behind the tomb with Robb leading them.
They walked past the tombs of Ned's father Lord Rickard, his brother Brandon and sister Lyanna, until they came upon Ned's own likeness, carved to sit wisely beside a direwolf with a freshly forged iron sword across his lap. Robb's lip trembled at the likeness of his father which was remarkably well done. The Stark soldiers looked back to Robb who nodded once, sending them forward to kneel and place Ned's tomb beneath the statue carved of him. With a great groaning of stone scratching against stone, Ned Stark's tomb slotted into place beside his brother, sister and father.
The Stark family now could not control their emotions as they embraced together to mourn Lord Eddard. Jon stood apart, holding himself until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see a teary-eyed Catelyn Stark opening her arm to him. Jon was shocked, but said nothing as he joined the family embrace.
Author's Note: While writing this section, I was listening to a certain soundtrack and picturing Robb's grand arrival into King's Landing and the small reunion of the Stark family. For anyone who wishes to hear it, it was "Mother of Dragons" from the show
A week after the ceremony, the Starks and two-thirds of Robb's army marched for White Harbor, where fifty of the war ships he had sent east were docked and waiting to take them back to King's Landing. Robb had tasked the other third to sweep through the countryside and restore justice and peace to any villages or towns that still suffered from crimes of brutality.
Though the men wore different armors and carried different shields, they all flew the same banners. This was Robb Stark's Royal Army, and he was determined to outfit them with plate and mail when he had settled in King's Landing.
The Manderlys had been most accommodating to Robb, especially after he had granted them a quarter of the silver of the Sarsfield mines to replenish their supplies and expand and develop the city of White Harbor in Robb's name.
The journey to King's Landing was surprisingly smooth, though it took the better part of two weeks. The fifty grand warships navigated the seas with ease, Robb named Ser Davos Seaworth as Captain of the Fleet, Davos having promised to stay by Robb's side to prove his loyalty. The sails and banners of the ships were now a unified grey direwolf's head upon a field of white.
Fourteen days after they set sail, the peak of the Red Keep finally came into view as the sun rose. The fleet caught a strong wind that carried them quickly into port, Robb himself was standing on the bow of his flagship, the Fury. Stannis' former flagship before Robb had seized his fleet for his own.
The wind blew through Robb Stark's thick locks, his crown firmly in place as he stared at King's Landing with smoldering blue eyes. Robb was dressed in fine black leathers, a fur cloak draped around his right shoulders and held together by a shining silver direwolf's head clasp, strapped on his left hip was his longsword. He held the pommel of his sword as they sailed closer to the docks.
When the fleet came into view of King's Landing, the bells of the Great Sept of Baelor and the Red Keep began to toll. Jon Stark, Dacey Mormont and Smalljon Umber came to stand behind Robb as the bells got louder.
"They're welcoming their new King." Jon said in slight awe.
On the docks, a great royal welcoming party had assembled, Princess Margaery was dressed in a magnificent gown of grey and white, her long curly brown hair draped around her shoulders in a Northern fashion. Randyll Tarly stood beside her, looking greatly relieved to be done with King's Landing. Sansa stood behind Margaery and beside Ser Loras who still wore the gilded plate of the Knight of Flowers, as Robb had not yet established his Kingsguard. Varys rounded up the party, his hands hidden in his sleeves as he watched the ships approach with great interest.
Lord Tarly and Loras's thousands men kept the peace in the city as the crowds grew overwhelmed at the sight of their hero King, cheering wildly and chanting his name. Direwolf banners flew from countless walls around the city and from the standards held by the soldiers on the ground. Robb, however seemed to have eyes for no-one else but Margaery as the Fury alone docked in the port while the other ships anchored a ways offshore.
A dozen soldiers filtered off the ship to line the pier with their hands on their swords. Robb was the first to disembark after them, striding down the pier with his followers and family in tow. Robb could only grin as he heard cheers erupting from somewhere, he didn't know where. He saw Margaery, he saw her smiling at him, and he saw her stepping forward to meet his passionate embrace. Jon, Dacey and Smalljon rolled their eyes while chuckling as Robb and Margaery pulled apart to have their arms around each other. Sansa could not hold herself back from running to reunite with her mother, Arya and Rickon with tears in her eyes. Catelyn held onto Sansa for dear life as Arya wandered over to stand in front of Robb and Margaery who had turned to wave at the cheering crowds.
"Margaery, allow me to introduce my sister, Arya." Robb chuckled as Arya tilted her head to observe Margaery for a moment. Margaery herself smiled and curtsied at Arya.
"Its lovely to meet you, Arya. Robb's told me so much about you, we were all so glad to learn you were safe." Margaery said sincerely, causing Arya to give Margaery a small smile.
"Thank you." Robb turned away, smiling to shake hands with Lord Randyll Tarly.
"My lord, you have my thanks. Not only have you held this city, but you did it through a great disaster. What reward could I grant to you, my Lord of Horn Hill?" Robb asked, clapping his shoulder.
"Whatever Your Grace deems a worthy reward would be enough for me. But if I could ask two things, it would be for my son Dickon to be knighted at your hand, and to be given leave to return to Horn Hill. I have not seen my lands for some time."
"Done and done, my lord. I am here now, and the Age of the Wolf begins in earnest." Robb smiled, turning back to glance at Margaery, his family and his friends who beamed at Robb before he turned back around to look back at the Red Keep.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed it! Please do leave more reviews people!