Hey guys! Like I said, I started writing a bit ahead, and that means you get frequent updates! :) I think this one's interesting, and the end of the chapter mentions something on which I will try and focus on in the next few chapters. I slowed things down. While I know that you may find it annoying, I think that is for the best. This story is not going to end soon, I can tell you that :) I'm actually trying to decide whether to continue this one, or make a sequel at some point. Give me your ideas, I love feedback. Seriously, I love it, good or bad. Hope you enjoy this one. Ana
I have been through plenty of difficult moments over the course of my life. Every family feast I have attended comes to mind. Strangers, overly friendly strangers, being watched by many wandering eyes, even my own wedding. And still, none of that can even remotely compare to what I've felt now.
Catelyn, Jon and I are standing in the middle of a room, hall, storage, I do not even know how I should call it. We are surrounded by at least 40 Frey's. Men, women, children, all ages. His sons, daughters, grandchildren, bastards… The man didn't waste his 90 years.
Right in front of us, Lord Frey was sitting and looking at us with a bored look on his face. Even when I heard all I have heard about him, I still did not imagine him to be this wile. One look at him, one single look at him, and I know that we will somehow regret this. I am not sure how, but I am sure we will.
He looked like he was supposed to be dead for years now. Sadly, that was not the worst part. Standing next to him was a girl, literally, a girl, younger than me, looking anything but comfortable. From the looks of it, she's younger than Sansa and she is married to that old hag! This is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my entire life, and my brother and sister have three children together.
Not even that was the end of it. I do not consider myself a superficial person. I have never acted like a superficial person either, but my Gods, are they revolting!
This just goes to prove that gold and territory cannot buy you class. I have spent time with common peasants who had more dignity than these people did, I have been in the dungeons in the Red Keep and there I have seen people who were cleaner than this bunch.
I am not discussed by those Frey's who surround us. I am disgusted by the one in front of us.
He had enough gold to give his family good living conditions, not this rat hole. Everyone other than him look like they hadn't bathed in a month.
And it is all because of Walder Frey. He is selfish and stupid. And I didn't even get a chance to speak to him yet. This is just my first impression. I do not want to know how many bastard children of his are not in this room because they wouldn't fit in this already overly crowded mess.
Anyone else in Westeros. I would rather try to make a deal with anyone else. I would rather try to make my deal with Cersei, or Father, even Joffrey! Yet, here we are. Trying to cross that damned bridge, and keep Robb alive.
We were not even greeted properly, not that I care. Here I am, the Queen in the North, standing with the King's mother, and he did not even bother to stand up.
"What do you want?" He asked. I could write down a whole list of insults I have intended for him, but I need that bridge. And speaking my mind will not help me get it. Besides, Catelyn is talking now.
"It is a great pleasure to see you again My Lord." She said, her impeccable kind smile greeting the old man. She was believable. If I didn't know any better I would have thought she really is glad.
"Oh, spare me!" Lord Frey said. His voice is hoarse and high and I am not sure whether he is yelling or is that his regular voice. Well, at least he is smart enough to know that we do not want to be here." Your son is too proud to come before me himself. What am I supposed to do with the two of you? Sends his wife and his mother." He said. This was, most certainly, one of the reasons why Robb didn't want anyone else speaking on his behalf. I say, who even gives a damn on what Lord Frey says or thinks? The only reason we are bothered enough to talk to him is that bridge!
"Father, you forget yourself." One of his sons decided to speak up." Lady Stark is here to…"
"Who asked you?" Lord Walder said. No, this time, he yelled. He had no manners. He grabbed the girl right in front of us. I could see how uncomfortable she felt, and I could only feel bad for her. There were some scandalous marriages even before our time, but this has to be the worst of them all." You are not Lord Frey yet. Not until I die. Do I look dead to you?" He asked him.
I have always been impulsive, and I was used to speaking my mind. My Septa did her very best to train me not to do so. It did not work, thank the God's. Even so, some of it remained very fresh in my memory. It took all the strength I had in me not to laugh at Lord Frey's comment. And if it wasn't for that boring, mean Septa, I never would have managed to do so.
Does he look dead? Does he?!
With all the kills and slayings and accidents in Westeros, I am honestly surprised that one of his children did not kill him yet. Yes, that is very much a sin, but I am repulsed by spending moments with this man. Spending my whole life in his near proximity? I would rather jump straight of that damned bridge.
"Father, please…" Another one of his sons tried, but I knew that there was no use in stopping him. Elder people tend to be more head strong than the younger ones. I am not sure why, but I do know that from experience. I suppose experience is the same thing that makes them more certain in their beliefs.
"I need lessons in courtesy from you, bastard?" Lord Frey yelled. Again with that insult. Now I wish I did not insist that Jon joins us. It is uncomfortable enough for both him and Catelyn, even after all this time and that formal reconciliation. This whole thing was difficult enough. We did not need Lord Frey's colorful vocabulary." Your mother would still be a milkmaid if I hadn't squirted you in her belly." He said.
That was rude. Every other Frey in the room was embarrassed for him. I look at the bastard son who tried to treat us with some kind of respect. He was older than me, perhaps even older than Catelyn. He stood out from the crowd, and I knew, somehow, that he is a smart man with good intentions. I may be wrong, but something was terribly different in him than in his father. The milkmaid did a good job.
"You, come here." He said, looking at me. I did not exchange a look with Catelyn only because I knew that I would run out screaming if she tries to push me toward him in any way. I have to do this by myself.
I would rather apologize to Robb for something I didn't do, than go through this, because this was something I did not want. And I still did it. Everything for that damned bridge. Lord Frey offered me his hand as I was walking towards him, and I let gave him my hand. I did not make show my disgust once he kissed my hand. It took him surprisingly longer to move my hand away from his dry, dry lips, but I showed no emotion. I turned around and traded places with Catelyn, because now, he called for her. All I could think of is how much I need to wash that hand.
"Now. I did you both the honors. I can hope my sons can do me the honor of shutting their mouths." He said, in a kinder tone this time. Perhaps he realized that the way he acted just was not nice. There is a protocol to be followed, and it would be a hell of a lot easier for everyone if he just followed it.
I looked at Catelyn, waiting to see whether or not she will get straight to the point. The faster we are out of here, the better. If it were up to me, I would have said something. Thank the Gods it is not up to me.
"Is there somewhere we could talk?" She asked. I could clearly hear that she was not sure of herself. Her voice gave away her insecurities about this. It could be heard, but it could not be seen. I was looking at her, and not once did she show how uncomfortable this all was making her. Whether Lord Frey sides with us or not, we should get a chance to discuss this in private. It is only worse if we have about 40 people staring at us. He might not want to give us much, but he should at least give us that.
"We're talking right now." He told her. I almost said something. I have no idea what stopped me. Possibly the remains of my common sense. I am not happy with the way this is going. Not only does he look like he is not even remotely interested in what we have to say, but he is also playing dumb. Yes, we are talking right now. Why would there be a reason why we would ask for some privacy. No reason at all. Why stop here? We should have just yelled at each other from two sides of the castle walls. In that case, everyone would hear us and there would be no point in spreading second hand information.
I do not know about Catelyn, but this was it for me. I stared at Walder Frey, not backing down. He was staring at the two of us in turns. I did not look her way, but I can only imagine that Catelyn did not look amused.
"Fine." He grunted." Out! All of you!" He shouted and his sons, daughters and grandchildren started leaving the hall. It was quite something. At least we will get some privacy." You too." He said to his young wife and hit her on the behind. The girl jumped in surprised, possibly even in disgust and gave Catelyn and me a bow be for she walked out of the hall. Poor thing. Lord Frey stood up. I tried not to show my emotions and the way I feel about his marriage to a girl that looks even younger than me. I really tried. Yet I am unsure on whether or not I succeeded.
"You see that?" Lord Frey asked the both of us with a smirk on his face." Fifteen she is. Only a bit older than you." He said, his look directed at me. I would insult him right here and now if we didn't need that damned bridge." A little flower. And her honey's all mine." He said, and started to walk away from us.
"I am sure she will give you many sons." Catelyn said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. Of course, no one asked the girl what she wanted. No one ever asks the girls what they want. We are born, raised, trained, and then we marry someone. Our whole existence comes down to whether or not we will give children to the men we marry. There is no choice in that matter. I am just as same as that girl is. The only difference is, I was lucky enough to gain a husband who is kind, sweet, and the same age as I am.
Despite everything that has happened, I truly am lucky to have Robb as a husband. If I had to marry this old idiot, I would have taken my own life, no question about it. The girl may very well be scared, and poor and desperate, but she was also braver than I will ever be.
I looked over at Jon, and he knew what I was saying. Now is the time. He left the hall without one word. Like I said. We will either walk out of here together, or we'll die together. Now, the time has come to see which it will be.
"Huh. Your father didn't come to the wedding." He commented, and Catelyn and I shared a look. She was afraid that he will hold that against us. Thankfully, we were somewhat prepared for that.
"He is quite ill, my Lord." She said, as we both followed him as he made his way to the fire place.
"Didn't come to the last one either. Or the one before that." He said. It's clear that Lord Tully was trying to avoid this vile man whenever he could. And no one could blame him for it. No one but the vile man himself. Everything else aside, Lord Frey is a complicated person. I do not understand why doesn't he just aid us. Perhaps he thinks that my father will ultimately win this war. If he wants to side with my father, than he should just do it. This whole, I take no sides thing is getting very annoying." Your family has always pissed on me!" He said.
"My Lord, I…" Catelyn started, even though she was aware that he will find a way to interrupt her.
"Don't deny it. You know it's true." He said. strictly speaking, him and Catelyn are on the same level. The way he was talking to her was incredibly rude, but they were the same. I, on the other hand, was not. I am above them both, and it doesn't matter than I respect Catelyn more than anyone else in this world. I am a Queen, and she is a King's mother. Those are not two same things. I should interfere." The fine Lord Tully would never marry any of his children to mine." He added. We are here again. Aparently, it all comes down to whether or not you are ready to push your child into an arranged marriage. Lord Frey is an idiot. I could name a hundred reasons why it was better for Lord Tully to marry his children to House Stark and Arryn. Lord Tully did not care what his children wanted. That only leaves the political reasons. Then why on earth would he marry his children to a house that is sworn to him, if he can marry them off to more prominent Houses, and strengthen their alliances in that way? It made sense to me, but it obviously did not make any sense to Lord Walder Frey.
"I am sure there were reasons why…" Catelyn tried again.
"I didn't need reasons." He interrupted her, once again." I needed to get rid of sons and daughters. You see how they pile up?" He asked. Well, that one was true." Why are you here?" He asked. Finally.
"To ask you to open your gates, my Lord." Catelyn said, calm and collected." So my son and his banner men may cross the Trident and be on their way."
"Why should I let him?" He asked. I decided that now was the time for me to speak my mind.
"If you could climb your own battlements, you would see that he has 20,000 men outside your walls." I said. I did not sound kind. This was a threat. He needs to know the gravity of this situation. If he does not open the gates, than we will open them ourselves, whatever the cost.
"They'll be 20,000 corpses by the time your father gets there." He said." Don't try and frighten me, Lady Stark. Your husbands in Winterfell, safe and sound, waiting for the outcome." He said, looking at Catelyn. Then he turned to me." And your husband's got no fur to keep his balls warm." He said and he turned around. At this point, my sister was like an innocent little girl compared to him.
"You swore an oath to my father." Catelyn told him.
"Oh yes, I said some words…" He said. How despicable do you have to be to take back your words, just like that?" And I swore and oath to the crown too, if I remember right. Joffrey's King now, which makes your boy and his corpses to be nothing more but rebels, it seems to me. If I had a sense that Gods gave a fish, I'd hand you all over to the Lannisters." He said.
"Why don't you?" Catelyn asked him before I could ask him the same question.
"Stark, Tully, Lannister, Baratheon." He said as he turned around to face us again." Give me one good reason why I should waste a single thought on any of you?" he asked.
"Why don't you give us a reason?" I asked, and both he and Catelyn turned to me." It is evident that you will not open your gates unless there is something in it for you, my Lord. Tell me. What is it that you want?" I asked. The plan was not to give him a choice straight away. Yet I did it. I gave him a choice because we did not have a choice. Not anymore." Will gold do?" I asked, boldly. Now that I am confronting this man, I have no problem with being cunning and manipulative. I am living up to Robb's expectations. And I will get him that damned bridge.
"I have gold. I have too much of everything." He said. Even though he turned my suggestion down, I could see that he was interested. And I knew exactly what he wanted.
"Sons and daughters do pile up." I commented, and to my surprise, he smiled. We both knew it will get to that.
"Yes, they do. Having a daughter for a Queen would be quite nice." He said, and I smiled at him.
"The King already has a wife." I said, giving him my best fake smile. That one I did learn from Cersie. Who would have thought that her knowledge could come in hand?
"What about the rest of your children?" He asked Catelyn.
"Betrothed." She said. And I could not be gladder because of that.
"Interesting." Lord Frey said. "I suppose your first born is betrothed as well?" He asked me.
"Yes, he is." I said. I do not care what it takes. I really do not. My son, my Rickard, he will chose his own bride when the time comes. I will give him something his father and I did not have. We were lucky enough, as were his grandparents, but Rickard might not have the same luck we did. That is why he will have a choice." What will it take Lord Frey?" I asked. We do not have time for this nonsense. He will say what he wants, and we will see if we can give it to him. Or we will try to kill them all.
"One of my sons will become the king's squire." He said, and I nodded. That was easy." And he will become a knight." He added, and I nodded once again. I can make this choice. We do not have to consult Robb. We will do that, in order to respect him, but this, this was easy.
"What else?" I asked.
"You do plan on having more children?" He asked. We are finally where he wanted us to be from the moment we walked into his castle.
"Yes. If we survive this war, yes." I said. There is no point in lying. The answer was obvious.
"If it's a girl, you can keep her. I do not want more mouths to feed." He said. I expected that. There is no point in him arraigning a marriage where he needs to take care of one more child." If it is a boy, one of my daughters on granddaughters will marry him when they both come of age." He said.
"And if I do not have any more sons?" I asked. It was highly unlikely, but we could never know. And at this point, I need to cover as much territory as possible.
"In that case, you will marry your eldest to my one of my girls. I do not care what oaths you need to break." He said. He wants one of my sons. The ones that are not even born or the one who is safe and sound in Winterfell, completely unaware of what his mother is doing. I will make this deal with Lord Frey. And I will break it if it is needed. I do not care what that will make me. I can be a traitor Queen. In all honesty, I would wear that title with pride. But that will be a choice my son, or sons will make. If they want to marry one of the Frey girls, by all means, we will have ourselves a celebration. If they do not… Well, I hope Lord Frey is long dead by that time.
"Anything else?" I asked. One daughter and a knight for a son? That does not seem like a deal Lord Frey would consider enough. He needs something more, and I need him to not change his mind.
"You will take three of my children as your wards." He said. Three more Frey's in our lives. That is not necessarily such a bad thing. We will treat them well enough, that is for sure.
"Is that all?" I asked.
"If you promise me that, you may cross the bridge." He said, and I nodded.
"I believe we have a deal, my Lord." I said, holding out my hand.
"It appears we do, Your Grace." He said with a despicable grin on his face. This is the first time he called me by my title, and the irony in his voice did not escape me. But we shook hands. As long as we can cross that bridge, I do not give a damn about what this man thinks of me. At this point, I don't give a damn about what anyone thinks of me." My men will join you in your rebellion. 400 of them will remain here, to guard and protect this bloody castle if your father decides to show up." He said.
"For that we thank you." I said. "Should we get to it? We are wasting time now." I said, not even caring if my words insulted him. He's insulted us all more than enough during this short conversation.
"Yes, yes. Have a safe trip." He said and he walked out of the hall, leaving Catelyn and myself to decide what are we to do next.
"We should head back." I said, and she nodded. We walked out of the hall, where Jon was waiting for us. The look on his face said that he needs an explanation.
"We got the bridge." Catelyn said once they both realized that I was not quite able to speak myself." It was a good deal. We will explain everything when we're back at the camp." She said.
We were riding in silence for some time. I tried to make a plan. Do I tell Robb what we have done, or does Catelyn tell him? He still needs to decide whether or not to back up my decision. And he will, I know he will. The deal is a good deal; as good as it can be in this situation. Even if it wasn't, I think he still would have agreed with me. If nothing else, then to keep up the appearance.
"Elena, what happened between you and Robb?" Catelyn asked me, all of a sudden. She stayed out of it for too long, I suppose. Reminding myself that she has our best interest, I thought of an explanation.
"A lot of things happened. The short version is that we got in a fight, because I wanted to do what we did today. To go here on his behalf. He did not agree and he found a creative way of telling me just that." I said. I knew Jon was listening too, but that did not bother me. They both deserve to know, after all, and if Robb didn't say anything to his mother, I feel he didn't say anything to Jon either. What happened was something that was supposed to remain private, I was aware of that. The problem with that is, we are not in a situation where we could keep anything private. And this situation is most certainly not the time when we should have an argument of any sorts, let alone a serious one like this was. We need to be together in this, and yet, we are drifting more and more apart.
"What did he say to you, Elena?" She asked me in a low voice. She knew better than to believe my shorter version of the whole ordeal. It is frightening how much this woman actually knows me.
"He called me a true Lannister. He compared me to my sister. He called me cunning, selfish and manipulative. And he does not regret a single word he said." I told her. Until now, I avoided looking at both her and Jon, but the silence was overwhelming. They were surprised, to say the least. And it did not sit well with them, I could see that much.
"I am sure he didn't mean it…" Catelyn started, but I shook my head.
"It doesn't matter. Truly, it doesn't." I said. She knew I was lying, but we were about to enter the camp, and we should not be having this conversation here and now. As we were getting of our horses, Robb came charging out of one of the tents, the rest of the council following him.
"What happened?" He asked, looking at all three of us. It didn't escape me that his eyes didn't stay on me for too long. Well, his mother can explain to him that I just might have ruined our son's life. I walked passed him without even looking at him. I do not have the strength to deal with this now. I have more important things to take care of, and that is why I went to find the Maestar.
"Your Grace." Maestar said as I walked in the tent. He got up end bowed his head." What can I do for you?" He asked. I did not have enough time to consider this the way it should be considered, but for the time being, I have made my decision and I do not plan on changing it.
"I need a potion. Well, a daily supply of a potion." I said. He nodded, expecting something like that.
"Of course Your Grace. What is it that you need?" He asked.
"I need a potion that will prevent me from conceiving a child." I said.
No one ever openly talked about such potion, and yet, we all knew it existed. Whores use them on a daily basis, and I am aware that it was not an accident that Cersei did not have another child after Joffrey. I have never thought that the day will come when I will be in need for that potion, but alas, it has. Meastar looked surprise, and I have expected him to. It did not make any sense to him. It would not make any sense to anyone, not unless they know about the arrangement I made with Walder Frey.
"Of course, Your Grace." He said. I was glad that the men did not question me. I would not find that an insult, but I am afraid that questioning my decision would make me question my decision too. I do not want that. Not now, not when I am desperately grasping for this temporary solution." I will have one delivered to you before nightfall." He said.
"I hope you can be discreet about it." I said. He is the only one who can know, for the time being.
"Do not worry, Your Grace." He said, a small smile on his face. I nodded, and walked out of the tent. I hope I can trust the man. Things are bad enough between Robb and me as it is. I do not want to imagine just how bad they can get if he finds out about this.