Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or anything related. It belongs to George R.R. Martin, the creator of this wonderful universe and David Benioff and D. B. Weiss who created the show.
Sequel to Lady of Winterfell.
Chapter One: The Aftermath.
The sound of the hall doors bursting open made the entire room pause for a moment, no one sure whose side the arriving men where on; at their lead was yellow haired man and the Northerners tensed assuming that it was Lannisters coming to help those who had betrayed them and sort to murder their King. Drawing his sword, Lord Arthur Tremaine looked around taking the sight before him and he swallowed fearing that he had arrived too late, he would never forgive himself especially after all he had done to get here.
"Protect the King!" Stevron Frey shouted from his position behind Arthur, his sword drawn and raised into the air; he would not allow his father's stupidity to bring down their house any further and shame them all. People already looked down upon the House of Frey for their actions during Robert's rebellion, his father had grown greedy and Stevron knew that it was time for a new Lord of the Crossing to take his place.
When he had heard from his brothers that their father had planned to betray the King in the North and murder him despite offering him guest rights for a wedding. Stevron doubted his actions would be forgiven by his kin for what he was doing but he cared not, what mattered to him is that he survived this battle; he did not care who got in his way now, his position all but secure now.
It was a relief that several of his many siblings had joined him, all agreeing that their father's madness must be put to an end. They had welcomed the incoming forces when they had arrived to aid the Stark army and Stevron was sure that they had had the element of surprise here; his father was arrogant enough to think that he would get away with this. Chaos consumed the hall and it was a little hard to tell who was on which side as the men fought; the incoming men forced their way through the fighting, helping those who needed it while making their way towards the front of the hall.
Robb Stark's eyes were stuck on one person and he slowly dragged himself across the floor to the fallen form of his wife; his shaking hands reaching for her stomach, her dress covered in blood from where she had been stabbed. He had seen plenty of battles since this war had started but this was something that had shaken him to the core; he had thought they would be ready with her seeings but this proven that not everything had gone to plan.
Robb barely noticed the fighting around him, nor could he bring himself to care as he finally reached Sanira; his hand pressing down on her stomach trying to stop the bleeding, her blood coated the floor and soaked into his clothes. Unnoticed by all, Roose Bolton stumbled his way back into the room unable to believe what was happening; everything had been going so well and he had nearly succeeded in the plot to kill the opposing Northern forces. The position as Warden of the North, replacing the Starks and rising up to a position that he had never thought would be in his reach was now dangling by a thread.
"Sanira," Robb whispered trying to get a response from her, he shook her gently but nothing happened; he prayed to whoever would listen that she would live, he did not know how he would carry on without her. He would trade anything in the world for the life of his wife, he did not care about the price only that he was not left alone in this cruel world without her by his side.
"Robb!" Arthur Tremaine shouted seeing the approaching Roose, he tried to push his way towards them but there was just too many people between them and no amount of pushing or slaying his enemies would help him. He could only watch as Roose grew closer to Robb who did not seem to have heard him calling out; he fought hard to try and get closer knowing that he just had to do something.
Kari Frey threw herself at the man before he could take another step towards Robb's turned back, her hands reaching for the dagger in his hands and she clung to it ignoring the stinging of her palms as she did so. The lives of her Queen and her King were endanger and she would not allow her father or Lord Bolton get away with murdering them. If it were the last thing that she did then she would die defending them, at least then perhaps her actions would atone for what her father had done and make it right; she held on with all of her might.
Roose gritted his teeth as he shoved Kari away from him, he had no time for this and Robb seemed oblivious to the world around him as he grieved for his wife; it was the perfect time to strike then he could flee. The Lannisters would reward him and he had no doubts that his new wife would give him a son that would inherit; his bastard held Winterfell for him and the Starks would end here.
However, before Roose could take another step towards him, he was suddenly shoved to the ground; he looked up startled and could not believe his eyes when he realised that it was his new wife. Fat Walda almost seemed surprised for a second by what she had done; however, her face quickly morphed into anger as she glared down at Roose.
"Are you stupid woman?" Roose hissed, she was his wife and she should realise that if he went down then he would take her with him. It mattered not to him what happened to House Frey, however if he disappointed the Lannisters then House Bolton would pay the price; he very much doubted that the Stark army would recover from the friendly fire that was occurring outside.
Should he succeed then it was them that would benefit from it, the Lannisters had assured him that House Bolton would be rewarded for the loyalty to the crown. However, Fat Walda did not budge she stared down at her husband knowing that she was doing the right thing; she could not allow him to get away with what he had done nor what he planned to do.
Kari stared at her sister, neither of them knew how their lives would be affected by the betrayal of their father and Fat Walda's husband but they could only hope they could be granted Mercy in helping save lives now. Finally making his way further into the room, Arthur almost stopped at the full sight of his sister; this was not how he had expected their reunion to be and he wished that he had been able to arrive sooner.
When the letter had arrived from Robb that they had needed aid at the Twins, Arthur had acted as quickly as he could while trying not to alert Arlenna about the fact that she was about to be overthrown. The last thing that he wanted was their mother to realise what was happening and alert Tywin that the North knew what he had planned for them; she was an issue that had needed to be dealt with carefully. Rushing forward, Arthur dropped down to his knees and tried to stem the bleeding from her abdomen; he cursed not knowing where most of the blood was coming from, there was so much of it and he feared that they were too late.
"Here use this," Kari insisted ripping off some of her dress so that they could use it to try and stop the bleeding; she cared not for her own bloody hands only that she could help her Queen in some way. They worked quickly trying to stop the bleeding as the fighting around them seemed to come to an end; Northern Lords grabbed onto Roose so that he could not escape and would face punishment for his treasonous actions.
Walder Frey remained in his seat, his newest wife cowering under the table like the little lamb that she was; his beady eyes taking in the events before him as he came to terms with the fact that he had been betrayed by his own kin. Appearing at the doors of the hall, Stannis Baratheon appeared with his men bloody from routing the Frey and Bolton forces that had been putting down the Northern forces while their King was being slaughtered inside.
"What is the meaning of this?" Walder Frey demanded trying to get up from his seat, however he was stopped by Ser Emmon Frey who seemed undeterred by his actions. A glare forming on his face, Walder stared up at him wondering just what they had been promised to betray him in such a way; he would never forgive them for this and he would disown them.
"You have violated guest right and betrayed your King," Stannis announced, he was not here as the enemy; he knew that he had to play this carefully if he was to get what he wanted.
Catelyn ducked out from her hiding place under the table and rushed over to Robb, her hands quickly checking her firstborn for injuries; her hands shaking as she patted down his chest for wounds that she could not see. She was sure they would be dead right now if it were not for the intervention that had happened; she shot a spiteful look at Roose knowing that he would get what was coming to him. If it were the last thing that she did, she would watch as his head was stuck from his shoulders for this; he had betrayed the North for his own gain no doubt and she would see to it that he paid for that.
Sanira remained unmoving as help arrived for the injured and Arthur lifted his sister knowing that they had to get her help if she was to survive what had happened; she needed a medic and even then, he did not know if it was enough. Never had he seen his sister so unmoving, he almost thought that she was asleep with how peaceful she looked despite the fact that she had been stabbed and he knew that such a thing would never happen again.
Robb stumbled to his feet, his eyes not leaving Sanira as she was rushed from the hall by her brother; he made a move to follow her only to be stopped by Catelyn knowing there was still things that needed to be taken care of. He glared at his mother, whose eyes remained focused on Stannis as he made his way over to them; she could only imagine what had brought him here and to their aid, she prayed that he would not expect Robb to bend the knee.
"Your Grace," Stannis acknowledged with a bow of his head, he had not thought that such a thing would ever occur but he knew that there was only one reason that he did so now. Lady Sylvina Baratheon was not a woman that should be trifled with and even Robert had acknowledged her as a fine lady of breeding; he had gifted her Beckton in her own right when he had risen to the throne.
"We shall do away with the traitors to your throne then we shall discuss an alliance between our royal houses," Stannis stated holding his head high, he watched Robb knowing that he would need to rest and be looked over by a medic first. He had made promises with those of House Frey that would benefit him, it would be up to the King in the North if he wished to uphold what he had promised those who had turned on the traitors.
Robb nodded his head, he could not find the words to express his gratitude for what the other man had done; he had saved his life and possibly that of his wife, they would be in his debt and he was not sure what he could do to pay it. He took a final glance at Roose Bolton then at Walder Frey, he would deal with them when he was ready to; they could suffer a few days in the dungeons while he recovered from this.
Then turning away from them, Robb slowly made his way from the banquet hall trying to not take in the devastation that lay around him; he knew that the repercussions for this would have to be great. Stepping into the hallway, Robb was surprised at the carnage that seemed to continue on and he could not imagine how the outside of the Twins would look; he had no doubts that this assault had been planned to subdue the North for the rest of time.
Anger bubbled inside of him, he would not forgive the Lannisters for this and he would make sure to wipe them from the map; their time was coming and no one would remember them once he was done. If that meant that he needed to join himself with Stannis Baratheon then he would do it, their armies combined would be a force that not even the Lannisters could stop.
They were weak and had extraordinarily little in the way of strong allies, there were few great houses that were left outside of their reach and many of them disliked the jumpstart Lannisters. The Lannisters had placed a crazed bastard on the throne and Robb was most relieved now that his sister had not married him even if they had dishonoured her by marrying her off to the imp.
There would be no mercy in his mind for them, he would make them pay and he would take everything they loved from them before they would beg him for death; only then would he grant it to them and Gods help them if Sanira did not survive this. Stumbling at the thought, Robb squeezed his eyes shut not knowing what he would do without her; he had been through this once before and he had never wanted to come back to this when he finally had her in his arms.
He fought back the tears and prayed that the Gods would not punish him by taking her away from him; they had barely any time together and their son needed his mother. Taking a deep breath, Robb righted himself and took a look around the halls to see that he is still alone; no doubt cleaning up from the battle and rounding up of the prisoners were taking place at the time.
The sound of someone approaching him made Robb look up and he stared at Arthur not sure what to say to him; the words seemed stuck in his mouth and neither man spoke for a moment. Slowly moving towards Robb, Arthur opened up his arms and wrapped them around him; tears starting to fall from both their faces knowing that Sanira could not leave them now.
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