[THE WOODS OUTSIDE WINTERFELL]
[BRAN STARK runs through the woods, holding a bow.]
"I must be dreaming" Bran muttered. The future him had lost the use of his legs, that was the only explanation.
[He stops, eyes searching. He turns to move again, but a raven startles him as it swoops past his face and alights in a tree.]
"That raven has been appearing in a lot of Bran's dreams" Robb pointed out, having come to the same conclusion that Bran was dreaming.
"Maybe there's some symbolism about it?" Jon suggested.
"Or it could just be a dream!" Arya rolled her eyes.
Over on his own, Brynden watched the sequence along with a soft hum.
[BRAN steps closer, notches an arrow and aims.]
"Don't think too much, Bran."
Jon smiles at Bran's remembrance of him.
[Suddenly, JON SNOW and ROBB STARK are by his side.]
Now Robb was smiling as well.
"Relax your bow arm."
[BRAN carefully lets the arrow fly. It misses and the raven takes flight.]
"Somethings never change," Arya said teasingly.
Bran swatted at her with a huff.
[JON and ROBB laugh.]
"And which one of you was a marksman at ten?"
[BRAN looks to the sky, trying to locate his father's voice.]
"Father?"
Ned stared with a sad smile.
[JOJEN REED appears next to him.]
"Who's that?" Sansa asked.
Bran shrugged.
"He does look familiar" Ned muttered. He just couldn't put a name to that face.
"You can't kill it, you know."
"Why not?"
"Because the raven is you."
"Ominous" Arya frowned. "What does he mean the raven is him? Bran's not a bird!"
"I don't think he meant it literally" Lyanna explained, but even she was frowning. That was a weird dream.
[HARRENHAL CHAMBER]
[ROBB looks pensively into a fire. TALISA stands nearby.]
"My mother always told me you Westerosi were a grim lot. Grim, bearded, stinking barbarians that would row across the Narrow Sea and steal us from our beds."
"Odd how that is more or less how we think about the Wildlings" Shireen spoke, doing so after a long time.
"The difference is that the Wildlings have done all of that" Jon pointed out. "The North is full of such incidents, sadly."
Shireen nodded. She did not have a reply to that.
[TALISA walks over to ROBB and half-embraces him]
"Did you ever think you'd marry one?"
"I never thought I'd marry anyone at all."
"Never?"
|Not until I met the king of the grim, bearded, stinking barbarians."
[They kiss.]
"Disgusting" Jon muttered, earning a whack on the arm from his brother for it.
[The chamber door opens and ROOSE BOLTON enters.]
"Pardon me, Your Grace. My queen."
[ROOSE BOLTON holds two raven messages, one in each hand.]
"Word from Riverrun and Winterfell."
Catelyn's brows knit in worry. Riverrun and Winterfell…
[HARRENHAL COURTYARD]
[ROBB stands and CATELYN STARK sits in an archway. CATELYN is dejected.]
"I hadn't seen him in years. I don't even know how many."
"We'll travel to the funeral together."
"Oh," the realization hit Catelyn like a ton of falling stones from a great height, squashing whatever remnant of control she had over her emotions. The woman sobbed and Ned brought her face into his chest as he embraced her.
The people gave them time to themselves, allowing Catelyn to go through her emotions and let them out. The loss of a loved one was something they had all suffered through. None of them would be unkind to her about it, not now or after.
Eventually, Catelyn calmed down, but she did not pull away from her husband's embrace.
"Lord Bolton will garrison here until we return."
"Will I be wearing manacles when I lay my father to rest?"
"It is deserved for the shit you pulled" Olenna drawled.
Catelyn could only sigh in defeat. She knew she deserved that much for freeing a prisoner of war, a valuable one at that.
[ROBB does not answer.]
"Something else?"
"By the time Bolton's bastard Ramsay got to Winterfell, the Ironborn were gone. They massacred everyone and put the castle to the torch. And Bran and Rickon have not been found. They may have escaped. Or Theon may have taken them back to the Iron Islands as hostages."
"Oh, you guys don't know" Lyanna muttered.
"Nobody could send them ravens, so it's not a surprise" Jon spoke gently beside her. "And they wouldn't know the boys were alive. Nobody knew that."
Lyanna nodded, her hand gently grasping her son's.
"Have you received any demands?"
"No."
"Have you heard anything from Theon at all?"
"No."
[DUNGEON]
[THEON is bound on an X-shaped cross in a dungeon.]
"I was captured?!" Theon almost got out of his seat. "How is that possible?! Dagmar dragged me out!"
"Guess your men turned on you" Robb spoke, loud and clear, with clear satisfaction in his voice. "Hurts doesn't it? When someone you trust stabs you in the back.
Theon said nothing to that, only gripped his seat arms tightly.
"Robb" Jon whispered, "you or your mother don't know Theon is a prisoner" he whispered.
The satisfaction was whipped off of his face.
"I must know" Robb argued in the same tone.
"You are expecting a ransom from Theon, meaning you don't."
Robb frowned deeper.
"Well… torturing him would be nice as well" the Heir to Winterfell said at last.
[Someone drenches him with a bucket of water to wake him. He wakes, shaking, and takes stock of his location. A blurry TORTURER looks on.]
"Where am I? Who are you? What do you want?"
[The TORTURER approaches and grabs THEON's hand, roughly.]
"I want to do this."
[The TORTURER thrusts an awl under THEON's fingernail. THEON screams in pain.]
Every hair on Theon's arms and neck stood up as he stared in shock. Torture! He was going to torture him!
Yara grabbed her brother's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Stay strong" the woman whispered harshly.
Theon swallowed thickly but gave no indication he had heard his sister.
[RIVERLANDS FOREST]
[JAIME relieves himself on a tree, while BRIENNE looks on.]
"How did you come into Lady Stark's service? There's something we can talk about."
"Not your concern, Kingslayer."
"You're awfully chatty" Tyrion groused, trying to push away his foul mood.
"Travelling in silence is dull" his brother shrugged.
"It had to be recently. You weren't with her at Winterfell."
"How would you know?"
"Because I visited Winterfell. I would have noticed your dour head smacking into the archways."
Jaime and Tyrion both snorted, receiving a smack on the head each from their mother for being rude.
"Were you pledged to Stannis?"
"Gods, no."
They both snort again, this time Renly joining them.
"Ah, Renly. Really? He wasn't fit to rule over anything more important than a 12-course meal."
The amusement vanished from Renly's face.
Jaime looked over and smiled.
Renly looked away with a sneer.
"Shut your mouth."
"Why? I lived with him at court since he was a boy, don't forget. Could hardly escape the little tulip. Skipping down the corridors in his embroidered silks. I knew him far better than you."
Now Renly blushed in embarrassment, to the amusement of Jaime and Robert.
"I knew him as well as anyone. As a member of his Kingsguard, he trusted me with everything. He would have been a wonderful king."
"Blind loyalty… such a foolish thing" Tyrion mused out loud. "I should know, I have seen blind loyal fools all my life."
"Perhaps getting yourself some might save you from the embarrassment of being shoved aside after battle" Renly snarked.
"Funny you should say that. I fought in battle twice and lived to tell the tale, as embarrassingly short as it was. You on the other hand… tut tut tut. Afraid of blood! Oh, what a king we would have gotten in you!"
Renly glared at the imp, but the imp only grinned back. He looked away with a snap. He knew he wouldn't win in a battle of words against that abomination.
"Sounds like you quite fancied him."
"I did not fancy him."
"Oh, gods, you did. Did you ever tell him? No, of course not. You weren't Renly's type, I'm afraid."
"She isn't" Robert grunted.
Renly only sighed. Everyone here knew what his type was now, no use fighting it.
[BRIENNE yanks on his leash in response.]
"He preferred curly-haired little girls like Loras Tyrell."
Margaery held back a little snort. Her brother did have a certain girlish charm to him, pretty and willowy.
"You're far too much man for him."
"I'm not interested in foul rumours."
"Unless they're about me. It's all true about Renly. His proclivities were the worst kept secret at court. It's a shame the throne isn't made out of cocks. They'd have never got him off it."
Renly blushed, daring to not meet a single pair of eyes. Known as it was, he still refused to meet the judgemental eyes of anyone.
[BRIENNE grabs the back of JAIME's head and yanks roughly. She puts her face directly in his.]
"Shut your mouth!"
"I don't blame him. And I don't blame you, either. We don't get to choose who we love."
His head snapped up and snapped again to the Kingslayer. Jaime just shrugged before looking away. Renly's eyes lingered, but he too looked away eventually.
[A man approaches, leading a horse.]
"Where are you headed, then?"
"South. You?"
"Riverrun. Staying off the kingsroad, are you? They get you no matter where you go. You can't win."
"No, you really can't."
[They both laugh, kindly.]
"Looks like you're safe enough, though. Meaning no offence, my lady, but I wouldn't tangle with you. Seven blessings to you."
"And you."
[The man starts to walk away, but looks back over his shoulder.]
"He knows," Jaime said with finality.
"Probably" Tyrion muttered.
"He knows who I am."
"He doesn't."
"Naïve girl" Olenna clicked her tongue.
"Maybe you're right. But what if you're not? What if he tells someone?"
"We're not doing it. He's an innocent man."
"More innocent than Lady Stark's daughters?"
[BRIENNE pushes JAIME forward, and leads him further along in the woods.]
"Bets on him coming back with a horde of other men?" Tyrion whispered to his brother.
"And lose? I dare not" Jaime chuckled.
[KING'S LANDING, JOFFREY'S CHAMBERS]
[KING JOFFREY BARATHEON is being fitted by a TAILOR. QUEEN CERSEI LANNISTER, seated nearby, looks on. The TAILOR lays some sample fabric on JOFFREY's shoulder. Displeased, JOFFREY snatches it away and dismisses the TAILOR."
"Bloody flowers. On the king."
"Looks like a Tyrell rose. Give it to Margaery for her wedding gown. Should be more than enough fabric."
[JOFFREY tosses the fabric away and moves to his bed to change back into his clothes.]
"Tell me what you think of her."
"Who?"
"Margaery."
"She's an ideal match. With the Tyrells beside us, we'll crush the Northerners. Hang their lords, burn their strongholds, sow their fields with salt, and no one will think of rebelling for another century."
"He had an oddly clear head about these things. Cruel yes, but clear. He's driven by profits rather than beauty" Olenna noted with a hum. "A shame he lacks in every other department."
"And he's a bastard" Margaery added.
"That he is."
"It is a good match, but what do you think of her? She's beautiful and intelligent."
"Yes, she is."
"Her concern with the well-being of the common people is interesting."
"Not to me."
"I only meant that to go out of your way to endanger yourself."
"This is becoming one of the most boring conversations I've ever had."
"It is" Arya muttered. What did it matter what Margaery liked to do?
"Margaery Tyrell dotes on filthy urchins for a reason. She dresses like a harlot for a reason."
Margaery snorted. She did not dress like a harlot!
"She married a traitor and known degenerate like Renly Baratheon for a reason."
"She married Renly Baratheon because she was told to. That's what intelligent women do what they're told."
Tyrion snorted. There goes Cersei's loving and obedient boy. Not that there was any of it left after the coronation.
[CERSEI reaches out to him, but JOFFREY pushes her hand away.]
"You need to ask yourself-"
"I don't need to do anything."
[The TAILOR returns with a different fabric sample. He drapes it on JOFFREY's shoulder.]
[KING'S LANDING, SANSA'S CHAMBERS]
[SHAE brushes SANSA STARK's hair as SANSA sits before a mirror.]
"I still don't believe it."
"He didn't. He didn't want anything. He just takes an interest because he loved my mother."
"I wouldn't count on that" Margaery commented.
Sansa'a head shot to her.
"You couldn't mean… but he's old!" the girl stammered.
"Old men want young and pretty things all the time" Margaery shrugged.
Sansa was filled with disgust.
[There is a knock on the door. SHAE opens the door and SER LORAS TYRELL enters.]
"My sister Margaery invites you to take the air with her and our grandmother, the Lady Olenna, in the gardens. May I escort you to them?"
[SANSA exits with LORAS, while SHAE watches with concern.]
"What are you planning?" Rickard Stark turned to look atOlenna Tyrell, who was not so caring at the moment.
"We'll find out wouldn't we now" the older woman drawled, brushing the man off.
Rickard's gaze narrowed on the woman, but the Queen of Thorns did not react to that.
[KING'S LANDING GARDENS]
[SANSA and LORAS stroll together through the garden, her arm in his. They approach LADY MARGAERY TYRELL.]
"You're such a dear."
"I'll take my leave. Lady Sansa."
"Thank you, Ser Loras."
[LORAS exits. MARGAERY leads SANSA to a patio, filled with maids.]
"That's a lot of maids" Sansa commented.
"Only a small part of Highgarden, I'm afraid," Magaerys said with a smile.
"Come. Lady Sansa, it is my honour to present my grandmother the Lady Olenna of House Tyrell."
[They walk to LADY OLENNA, who is seated on the patio. OLENNA extends her hand and SANSA kisses it in greeting.]
"It's so good of you to visit me and my foolish flock of hens. We're very sorry for your losses."
Jon couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"You mean that lovingly, yes?" the boy asked.
"I'm afraid Margaery is the only one of my daughters and granddaughters to inherit my brain, my Prince" the woman answered with a smile.
Jon was shocked for a moment at the greeting before he looked away with a small frown.
"Are you alright?" Lyanna asked.
"I'm not sure how I feel being called a Prince" Jon confessed.
His mother smiled at him, rubbing his back gently.
"And I was sorry when I heard of Lord Renly's death, Lady Margaery. He was very gallant."
"Gallant, yes. And charming and very clean. He knew how to dress and smile and somehow this gave him the notion he was fit to be king."
Renly flinched at the sharp assessment. Had the Tyrells only supported him for the numbers? And not because they thought he was fit to be King?
"Renly was brave and gentle, Grandmother. Father liked him and so did Loras."
"Loras is young and very good at knocking men off horses with a stick. That does not make him wise. As to your fathead father-"
"Your father is a bumbling fool" Olenna finished for her future self.
Margaery could only sigh. There goes her father's reputation.
"Grandmother! What will Sansa think of us?"
"She might think we have some wits about us. One of us, at any rate. It was treason. I warned them. Robert has two sons and Renly has an older brother. How could he possibly have any claim to that ugly iron chair? We should have stayed well out of all this if you ask me. But once the cow's been milked, there's no squirting the cream back up her udders. So here we are to see things through."
Renly could only watch defeated at the wall. So this was what they truly thought of him then…
"What do you say to that, Sansa? Shall we have some lemon cakes?"
"Lemon cake's my favourite."
"So we've been told."
Margaery squinted at her grandmother.
"What are you planning?" she asked.
"Don't squint, it'll give you wrinkles" her grandmother chastised.
"I asked-"
"Be patient and watch. It will be revealed" her Grandmother cut her off sharply.
Margaery nodded meekly and turned away.
"Here, Sansa, come sit with me. I'm much less boring than these others."
[They move to a table away from the others.]
"Do you know my son? The Lord of Highgarden?"
"I haven't had the pleasure."
"No great pleasure, believe me. A ponderous oaf. His father was an oaf as well. My husband, the late Lord Luthor. He managed to ride off a cliff whilst hawking. They say he was looking up at the sky and paying no mind to where his horse was taking him."
"That's- what?" Robb blinked in shock.
"As I said, an oaf" Olenna rolled her eyes. Care as she might have for her husband, but she would not deny he was an oaf.
"And now my son is doing the same, only this time he's riding a lion instead of a horse. Now I want you to tell me the truth about this royal boy, this Joffrey."
"I-, I-"
"You, you. Who else would know better? We've heard some troubling tales. Is there any truth to them? Has this boy mistreated you?"
[SANSA looks down.]
"Joff-King Joffrey, he-His Grace is very fair and handsome and as brave as a lion"
"Yes, all Lannisters are lions."
"You know?" Joanna questioned.
"Hard not to. Look at him, look at all of them, not a drop of Baratheon" Olenna shook her head. "Only a fool would think otherwise."
The fools in the room shifted uncomfortably.
"And when a Tyrell farts, it smells like a rose. But how kind is he? How clever? Has he a good heart, a gentle hand?"
"I'm to be his wife. I only want to know what that means."
[A SERVANT approaches and brings a platter.]
"Bring me some cheese."
"The cheese will be served after the cakes, my lady."
"The cheese will be served when I want it served. And I want it served now."
[The SERVANT nods and exits quickly.]
"You have not changed a bit" Rickard Stark shook his head.
"And become idiots like the rest of you? No, thank you" Olenna snorted.
"Are you frightened, child? No need for that. We're only women here. Tell us the truth. No harm will come to you."
"My father always told the truth."
"Yes, he had that reputation. And they named him a traitor and took his head."
"Joffrey. Joffrey did that. He promised he would be merciful and he cut my father's head off. And he said that was mercy. Then he took me up on the walls and made me look at it."
[SANSA holds back tears. She quickly regains her composure.]
"I-I can't. I never meant- my father was a traitor. My brother as well. I have traitor's blood. Please don't make me say anymore."
"That should be answer enough" Margaery whispered to her grandmother.
"She needs to come out of her shell" her Grandmother argued.
"She's terrified, Grandmother. Just look at her."
"Speak freely, child. We would never betray your confidence, I swear it."
"He's a monster."
"Ah. That's a pity."
"Please, don't stop the wedding."
"Have no fear. The Lord Oaf of Highgarden is determined that Margaery shall be queen. Even so, we thank you for the truth. Ah, here comes my cheese."
[The SERVANT sets down the tray and slips away. SANSA sighs in resignation.]
"At least you don't have to marry him" Arya whispered to her sister.
"Small consolations" Sansa murmured.
[RIVERLANDS WOODS]
[ROBB's forces move along a path through the woods. The direwolf GREY WIND watches as RICKARD KARSTARK and ROBB watch the men march past.]
"We're at war. This march is a distraction."
"My grandfather's funeral is not a distraction."
"It is," Rickard Stark said plainly. "You are at war, do not let anything distract you from your goals, boy. Doing so means death at best."
"What is worst if death is best?" Bran asked, horrified.
His grandfather could only smile at him and shake his head.
"You may see it happen after whoever caught your friend Theon is done with him."
The boy in question straightened as a shiver ran down his spine.
But Robb did not believe it. Family could never be a distraction.
"Are we riding to battle at Riverrun?"
"No."
"Then it's a distraction."
"My Uncle Edmure has his forces garrisoned there. We need his men."
"Unless he's been breeding them, he doesn't have enough to make a difference."
"Have you lost faith in our cause?"
"If it's revenge, I still got faith in it."
"If you no longer believe-"
"I can't believe till it snows in Dorne. Don't change the fact that we've got half the men."
"You've always had half their men" Jon pointed out with a frown.
"The Tyrell numbers make them even more formidable" Rhaegar spoke to his son for the first time. "The last time the South and West banded together, Aegon the Dragon was out to conquer Westeros. And your cousin does not have a Dragon to even the playing fields."
"My Brother" Jon corrected the man coldly before he looked away with a scoff. Ignoring the look on his father's face, Jon knew the man was right otherwise. The Tyrell numbers did bolster the Lannisters by a lot.
"You don't think we can win?"
"May I speak my mind, Your Grace?"
"Has he not been?" Lyanna asked in shock.
"No. Lord Karstark's normal way of speaking may make it seem he is" Ned explained with a small smile.
"I think you lost this war the day you married her."
[TALISA rides past.]
Robb shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
[RIVERLANDS WOODS, FURTHER UP THE PATH]
[CATELYN weaves a wooden circle bound with twine. TALISA rides up and dismounts with the help of a soldier, her mount whinnying.]
"You're afraid of her. And she knows it."
"I'm not afraid of her. May I help you, Lady Stark?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- "
"You can't help because a mother makes one for her children to protect them. Only a mother can make them."
"You've made them before?"
"Twice."
"Did they work?"
"After a fashion. I prayed for my son Bran to survive his fall. Many years before that, one of the boys came down with the pox."
Ned's brows furrowed, trying to remember which of his sons had come down with the pox. When the answer came to him, he looked at his wife stunned.
But Catelyn said nothing, stubbornly staring at the wall.
"Maester Luwin said if he made it through the night, he'd live. But it would be a very long night. So I sat with him all through the darkness. Listened to his ragged little breaths, his coughing, his whimpering."
"Which boy?"
"Jon Snow."
"Me?!" Jon asked in shock. His cousins were equally as shocked.
"There is no other Jon Snow, is there" Catelyn said as a matter of factly, but did not even look at him once as she did so.
"When my husband brought that baby home from the war, I couldn't bear to look at him. I didn't want to see those brown stranger's eyes staring up at me. So I prayed to the gods, take him away. Make him die."
Lyanna's hands fisted in outrage, but Jon's grip on them stopped her from speaking. She looked at her son, who shook his head at her.
"She didn't know" he whispered.
Lyanna almost let a whimper escape her lips.
Instead of lashing out at Catelyn Stark, she embraced her son tightly.
"I'm so sorry you had to live like that" she whispered.
Jon simply hugged back without a word.
"He got the pox. And I knew I was the worst woman who ever lived. A murderer. I'd condemned this poor, innocent child to a horrible death all because I was jealous of his mother. A woman he didn't even know. So I prayed to all seven gods, let the boy live. Let him live and I'll love him. I'll be a mother to him. I'll beg my husband to give him a true name, to call him Stark and be done with it, to make him one of us."
"And he lived."
"And he lived. And I couldn't keep my promise. And everything that's happened since then all this horror that's come to my family it's all because I couldn't love a motherless child."
Catelyn's jaws set even tighter, hands fisting on her knees.
"When we return… you will give him the Stark name" Catelyn whispered to her husband.
"Aye," Ned nodded with a small smile.