Chapter 3: Marital disagreements

293 AC

Eddard

After his long talk with Luwin yesterday, he had gone to relax and think about all that had been said. As he came back, he found he didn't have the stomach to go over it with Cat again and so he had enjoyed a simple evening in the company of his wife and children.

He had told Robb, Jon and Sansa stories of Theon the Hungry Wolf. Robb and Jon had loved them, while Sansa had looked scared and found them 'unknightly'. She felt better after he took her in her arms and started telling him the story would be better if there was some tragic princess in there. Even his ward Theon seemed to appreciate it, as he imagined himself as Theon the Hungry Kraken.

Arya and Bran he had taken on his lap and asked about their day and what they loved to do. Whisperingly promising he would let them practice dueling with their sticks once, if they were nice to their mother and attentive in their lessons.

This morning in bed with Cat he realized he had to talk to her, but he didn't want to spoil their blissful morning.

So, after enjoying each other's company in the morning and breaking his fast with his whole family together, he took Cat apart and asked if they could speak of some things.

Surprised and slightly anxious she accepted, and after delegating some of her early morning chores to Vayon Pool and Septa Mordane she followed him into his solar.

"Cat, we need to talk about the children." He said after offering her a seat.

"The children, Ned? Has something happened? Has Arya done anything untoward again?" Catelyn asked perplexed.

"No, none of the children have done anything to displease me Cat. I want to talk of their futures with you. As it is only reasonable you have a say in what happens to them as well." He replied calmly, whilst trying to sound reassuring.

"A say in what happens? What are you planning Ned? They are only little children. What would possibly need to happen?" Catelyn asked, still not understanding anything about the situation.

"Robb is ten Cat, he isn't a little babe anymore. It is time we start to plan his future together. Some of my bannermen have already started asking me why he isn't being fostered yet. Besides that, I have started to notice that Septa Mordane is preparing Sansa for a Southern life and match. I wanted to ask you what you knew about that." He said, while looking warmly yet intense into her blue eyes.

Startled she looked at him for a while before hesitatingly answering "Yes, Robb is definitely of an age that he could be fostered. Although you never spoke of any desire to do so before now, so I'm surprised with this reasoning now … Who were the vassals that complained?" She asked at the end.

"Openly? Mormont, Umber, Karstark and Manderly. Less openly I think that in hindsight many a lord might have been wondering that, while asking after his health."

"Those are some of the strongest lords in the North!" She exclaimed wide-eyed.

"Exactly, which is why we are having this conversation." He subtly pointed out.

"Well, have you had any thought on it?" Catelyn asked him, suddenly very interested in the conversation.

"I have gone through it with Luwin yesterday and he tends to favor a fostering at either the Karstarks or the Manderlys for Robb. I tend to agree with him, if we decide to do any fostering at all." He said matter-of-factly.

"Well, Lord Wyman always has been a gracious and well-mannered guest although more than a bit gluttonous. I don't know why you would consider Lord Rickard at all? We won't be sending our son into those dreary cold forests that far north will we?" What values could he learn our son up there?"

"Fostering is about a lot more than manners and values Cat. It's about building solid alliances and bonds that can last a lifetime, sometimes even multiple generations. My father didn't send me down to the Vale to be thought about honor, he sent me down there to solidify an alliance between House Stark, House Arryn and House Baratheon."

"An alliance? Ned, these are your vassals. Surely you don't need to ally yourself to them?" Catelyn asked judgmentally.

"Really, Cat? You come from of the Riverlands. Even with your parents' marriage and your father and uncle's squiring, your house couldn't get the whole of the Riverlands behind them when we rose up against the Mad King. The only reason the North is somewhat different is because we, the Starks have been fostering and intermarrying with those houses for thousands of years." He lectured her softly.

She looked slightly offended at how he worded his response, so he decided to carry on to try to not get into a discussion about. "Luwin made me an overview of all the heirs of House Stark since the Conquest. It seems Robb is one of the only ones who hasn't fostered, although there were some who only started at his age." He continued.

She looked at him with wide eyes. "You're not just trying to foster him, are you? You're finding him a wife! The boy is only ten years old Ned! You can't do this."

He was surprised at his wife's quick thinking, although he should have known better.

"Calm down," He said reassuringly to his wife. "I won't be taking any betrothals for Robb for at least a few years. However, Luwin pointed out that most of the fosterings, where there is a female close to the boys age, do tend to result in a marriage. Sometimes it is for strategical reasons, other times out of love. I would not stand in the way if my boy comes back saying he wants to marry his foster father's daughter Cat. Therefore, we need to be very sure where we send him."

"Oh yes, that makes sense Ned, but please promise me you won't be accepting any proposals until he is at least close to coming of an age. Besides Robb could do a lot better than a Karstark or even a Manderly." His wife sighed relieved.

"I promise you, Cat. However, what do you mean with he could do better? They are both some of my strongest bannermen and such a union would tie the North together a lot stronger for future generations." He replied questioningly.

"Well Ned, he is the son of a Lord paramount and besides that the grandson of another. He will easily be one of the most eligible bachelors of Westeros when he comes of age. He might marry a lady from House Tyrell or Lannister, even a Baratheon isn't of the charts. I heard that besides the princess, Lord Stannis had a daughter, close to his age as well. Either one of those would help improve his standing in the Kingdoms one day." She said happily.

"Hmmn and do you think the same about Sansa?" He replied, already knowing the answer that would come and thinking it better to ask this now.

"Of course! She already is such a beautiful girl! She could be marrying very high up Ned! If only you could talk to Robert, we might have a shot at making her queen. If not the prince, then maybe Lord Renly as he is still a bachelor. If not them I was thinking maybe a Tyrell. Arya as well, it's a pity she is not as pretty as Sansa, but she can easily tie herself to Houses like Redwyne, Hightower, Royce, Bracken, Blackwood or Martell. Brandon too, as a second son could still go for those houses." She replied almost giddy thinking about their children's futures.

He looked at his wife in shock. He expected it for Sansa, but Arya let alone young Bran that was too much! "What about the North?" He replied coldly, looking at her with his piercing grey eyes.

"What about it?" She asked surprised.

"Who will marry into the noble houses of the North?" He explained.

"Oh, well I hadn't thought about that … well I suppose Brandon could marry a Manderly if there will be a younger daughter or something." She said sheepishly, averting her eyes from his.

"That will not do Cat! I have a duty to my bannermen and to the North. How can I keep the North together, if I give off the impression its nobles aren't even good enough for my children!" He exclaimed, both the anger and disappointment clearly visible across his face.

"Well because they aren't, not for Sansa or Robb anyway. They will be the most sought-after bride and groom north of the Mander." She said evenly with fire in her bright blue eyes, as if daring him to contradict her on how special their children were.

If Ned hadn't known any better, he would've thought his eyes would pop out of their sockets, so was his reaction to what his wife exclaimed. "How, how can you even say such things? If my bannermen would be here right now, we would face a rebellion in the same fortnight alone!" He gasped out.

She looked at him weirdly "Ned, come on … you can't honestly try to put a Karstark or an Umber, who have nothing to offer but woods and snowed-out farms, on the degree of a Lannister or Tyrell marriage, let alone a royal one. Your bannermen are good, honest and loyal men and I like them very much, but they could never be good enough for our two eldest children" She tried to explain frustratingly, as if he was the one not getting the simplest of things.

"Cat … after all these years do you think so low of us? Mine own grandmothers were a Locke and a Flint of the mountains. Whose houses are a lot less profitable to marry into than Houses Umber or Karstark would be. You can't honestly think it acceptable to have these kinds of thoughts. Umbers and Karstarks have stood by our House for thousands of years while the Southron houses squabbled amongst each other. I say let them squabble and marry each other out of pride while we rule and marry in the North in peace. I have seen enough of the South in my lifetime."

"You, you can't mean that Ned! You would throw away our children's potential? After all the work we put into our marriage you would throw the product of it, our children, away? You would rather see them married to a Clansman than to a Tyrell of the Reach?" She almost yelled at him.

"Are you asking me if I would rather see my child married to a true man or woman of the North, who I know and can get the measure of, instead of some stranger of a house grasping for power thousands of miles away from here with no possibility for me to protect or see them? Then yes Cat, I would." He responded bluntly. In his mind he was thinking about one of his daughters being stuck in a loveless marriage with a pompous Southern lordling, while he could do nothing as he sat in Winterfell thousands of miles away.

Before she could respond he continued more pragmatically, "It is clear to me the Northern vassals would need one of their own as Lady of Winterfell to placate them and keep the North as stable as it has been. As such I will only be considering Northern betrothals for Robb when the time comes. You are more than welcome to bring any proposals to me, and I will discuss any offer with you as long as they are Northern and that is final." He said with a finality in his tone that showed clearly that he did not wish to be questioned on this.

Catelyn looked at him with a mixture of looks on her face, going from surprised over horrified to settling on angry. She knew better than to contradict him when he was in this mood however and only said "As you wish, Lord husband."

Seeing that, he felt his features soften. "Cat, I only want what's best for our children and the North. Highgarden or Casterly Rock would bring nothing to either benefit except prestige. You can't eat prestige or warm yourself with it in winter, it is folly. However, I will admit to some of your requests. It is paramount that my heir marries a Northern bride to keep things how they should be and I will not move on it. However Sansa, if she would like the South, is open for discussion." He said as he looked up at her.

Seeing some of the anger disappear and flickers of hope starting to replace it, he continued. "Besides that, it wouldn't be the first time a second born Stark was fostered in the South either, so maybe Bran could foster with your father or brother when the time comes. If he is interested in such a damn knighthood, he could even squire for your uncle. Does that sound agreeable to you?"

He saw the hope flicker back more strongly into her eyes at the last sentences before her anger completely evaporated. "I understand Ned, I would like it to be different, but you have a duty to the North, I get it. Just promise me I can have a say in which girl we choose for him."

He smiled sadly at her "Of course you will Cat, I wouldn't dare to do it any other way. She just needs to be Northern to keep the Kingdom together as tightly as it has always been."

"And you promise that Sansa will get a high Southern marriage?" She asked suspiciously.

"I promise that I will consider every marriage prospect for Sansa from the Wall to Dorne and that I will not keep her North if there is a better choice of action." He said honestly. "Even so, from now on she will be educated in both Southern AND Northern customs so she may have the opportunity to marry into both." He added warningly.

"And Brandon?" she whispered.

"I promise Bran may go to Riverrun if your father accepts. However, he will not leave before the age of seven or eight. He needs to know that Winterfell is his home a little while longer." He promised.

Content, she let out a gasp of air. She stood up and walked over to his desk and laid her head on his shoulder.

He couldn't say how long they stood there for, only that he felt tired and happy that she wasn't going to stay angry with him. After a while she whispered in his ear "Arya?"

He smiled and responded. "If she keeps behaving like she does now, I doubt any Southern lordling would want her anyway." He smiled, thinking about his young daughter. He contemplated if she would be playing with sticks in the Godswood right now or if she would be running around the kitchen or smithy dressed as nothing more than a servant boy. Ah, some things never change. He thought with a sense of melancholy, thinking about another willful Stark girl running through Winterfell's halls.

That is it for this chapter.

The future of House Stark is starting to take shape.

- Robb will marry a Northern girl.

- Sansa is free for the whole of Westeros to pursue.

- Little Brandon Stark will go to Riverrun as a ward to connect to his grandfather's House.

Much more importantly, Catelyn is starting to see the need to placate the Northern lords and makes some concessions because of it. As Ned still loves his wife and it is in his nature to indulge her, he lets Sansa's future open and promises Bran to House Tully. The latter also has its merits on its own, as it brings House Stark closer to House Tully again. It also gives House Stark (and the North) the possibility to bring them closer to other Riverland houses as well, which is handy in a fractured kingdom (that is also one of the bread baskets of Westeros).

Leave your preferred fostering and pairings in a review, I do contemplate them all.

Next up we get our first timejump for a couple of months when Robb leaves to foster.

Reviews:

I will make a general review for all the pairings, but many thanks to Warlover 1015, DarthMaine, Afil94, Angeluszuko-z, as well as the many guest reviews suggesting pairings.

I do promise to use some of the suggestions in the comments, although not all as you see here with young Bran.

- Individual reviews:

- Angeluszuko-z: Thank you for your support!

- Guest(1): I will never ignore anyone that is civil. I'm not pro Catelyn either, neither am I against. She is a woman with a lot of flaws and gifts, both are also visible in her actions and partly in the education and advice she gives her children. She will not change in this story, however Ned might slightly curb her influences if they go against the things he has planned. If they don't it's good old canon you will receive.

- Guest(2): Wow to your review too!

- Guest(3): I agree, Ned is not going to become super smart or anything. He is the same man who wants the same things: prosperity for the North and his family, preferably in a just and honorable world. It's just that here he got some good advice out of some people he can't afford to (fully) ignore and that's making him think on things.

Northern infrastructure is obviously going to pass the revue as Ned starts thinking about the inner and outer strengths of the North. However, the main problem with the North is coin. He is not going to get some Deus ex Machina excuse to get loads of coin to fix all those things. He'll have to do with what he has, which quite frankly, isn't a lot.

The reason that Bran (in Robb's name) could built a fleet is because 1. The Manderlys paid for a big part and have most of the docks, shipyards and manpower at the ready 2. House Stark's coffers were ful(ler) after a very long summer 3. It was war and they were willing to dig into their reserves.

A major western fleet is, if you follow canon, impossible for Ned to achieve now/on time for the books as House Mormont is dirt poor after Jorah and doesn't have any of those things at such a scale as the Manderlys. Besides Ned hasn't received all those summer incomes yet. As he doesn't know that summer will last another 5-6 years (which is super unlikely), he is always keeping a lot of his coin on hand to be prepared for winter as any responsible ruler would. As such only small expenses (at a time) can be made. The Cerwyn Kingsroad repair is a small repair that is economically sound and that logically speaking needs to happen every few decades anyway, that's why I included it.

- Guest(4): Thank you for your kind review. Looking for to more of them as well!