Chapter 25
CATELYN TULLY
The realm had hardly recovered from the loss of its Hand when the news again came of the King's Death. Robert Baratheon, the Demon of the Trident, had died in a way that was rather conflicting with how he had ascended the throne. He had won the throne through battle and glory, and yet he had died because of a simple slip of his horse.
It was an act of nature, and one must always suspect foul play when it came to the death of a King, yet few deaths could be as unsuspicious as this one, and now, just as the realm had finished mourning the late Hand, it began to mourn its king.
The news had come as a shock to her, and it had come when her son had just woken up. For weeks, she had sat by her son's side, praying to any and all Gods that would listen to spare her son, and in the end, the Seven had shown her mercy.
Bran had woken up a few days ago, and though the Maester feared that he would never be able to use his legs again, Catelyn was relieved to have her child back. The loss of his legs had made him sullen, and rightly so, for he had always dreamt of being a knight.
Still, she was very grateful that her son was now awake, and with that, it was time for her to turn her attention and affection to her other children. In her worry for Bran, she had ignored them for far too long, but the Gods had blessed her with good-natured boys.
In her absence, Robb had taken to caring for her youngest, while also carrying out his duties as the Lord of the Castle, and now, as she saw him sitting in his Ned's solar, she could not help but feel proud of the man he had become.
"The King is dead," and he was just as surprised as she by the news, and Eddard had gone to the capital to mourn a different friend, and now he had no choice but to mourn Robert as well, who had left him friendless in the capital.
"Aye, and may the Seven have mercy on his soul," she prayed, and Robb was still reeling from that shock.
"How could it be?" and his was a death unsuitable to him.
"A split head," and there was no one to blame for this.
"The Stranger comes and gathers us in his grasp when our time is due," and she had feared that he would come for Bran as well, and yet he had spared him but had come and taken another.
"What will happen now?" Robb asked, and he was not the only one wondering about that.
Eddard had gone to the capital only because of the friendship between him and Robert, but with Robert gone, he was not welcome in the capital. The Lannisters had little love for her family, and though Robert had appointed him reagent, with Robert dead, his edicts would have very little meaning.
"There will be a Regency for a year, but then Joffrey will ascend the throne and become the next King," and none knew how this new King would serve the realm, but she feared that it would not be so simple.
"So, father will stay in the capital for a year?" Robb questioned, and she had no answer for him.
"Indeed, but not as a Reagent. I hardly doubt the Lannisters will let him keep the position," and in Ned's words, they had already hollowed out the Council, and he felt quite unwelcome in the capital.
"Why?" and while Robb may know some things about being a Lord, politics was a far crueller game.
"Power," she answered.
"A Reagent has a lot of power, and the boy King is more Lannister than he is a Baratheon. With Robert dead, the Lannisters will rule the court," and so one could argue that they would now be ruled by Lannisters, and many within the realm would not accept a Lannister King.
Many still remembered the treachery of their House from the war, and even up here in the North, she could feel the brewings of a conflict, and she was not the only one.
Eddard had been hesitant in his words, but they had been married for years now, and she could read between the lines. Her lord husband expected the same, and wanted the North to be ready for any such war.
"Then he should come back," Robb argued, raging at the humiliation.
"I feel much the same, but Robert betrothed your sister to Joffrey before his death. If the match comes to fruition, then for the first time in history, we would have a Northern Queen," and it was a dream match for any mother, yet Catelyn was filled with only worry.
"It will mean a great deal to our House, but we must see whether the match holds or not," and that was her worry.
"There are a few distasteful rumors about the Prince, and if they are true, then we might be forced into breaking the match," and she intended on going to the capital herself to see the truth of these whispers, and help her daughter and husband in any way she could.
Ned may not believe it, but she had been warned about Lannister treachery, and she did not have the heart to entrust her daughter to Tywin Lannister's grandson. She still remembered the tales she had heard of how he had presented dead babes wrapped in red cloth to Robert at the end of the war.
And the boy King was said to be just as cruel, if not more. She would not sacrifice her daughter for that, anything be damned.
"What distasteful rumors?" asked Robb, but he had enough to worry about.
"You need not worry about that. Your father and I will handle this matter," she assured him, and Robb wanted to ask more, but there was much to do before she could leave for the capital.
"Still, your father fears that a conflict may be upon us, and so he wants us to prepare," and Robb looked at the letter in his hand once more.
"He has not mentioned anything like that to me," and she smiled, relishing in the fact that there was still something left for her to teach him.
"No matter the oaths sworn by them, the Maesters and their acolytes are still people," she warned him, as Robb frowned.
"Robert is dead, and the realm is in turmoil. Under such circumstances, it would be unwise for any great lord to ask his lords to prepare for war, but that is what we must do," and she asked him to hand over the letter, and scoured it quickly.
"Here," she said, as she pointed towards his intentions.
"He has asked you to secure the Moat, using the pretence of banditry, and afterwards he wants you to shore up the defences at the shores at Seadragon Point as well through Lord Mormont, and Lord Dustin," she pointed out as Robb nodded.
"I see now," and he was a quick learner.
"You must also keep Theon close with you," she added, and though Eddard had treated him as a son, the boy was still a hostage, and if chaos rose, Balon Greyjoy would be no friend of theirs.
"Theon?" Robb asked, and she nodded.
"Aye, you may call him a brother, but there is no love lost between House Greyjoy and House Stark," and Robb shook his head.
"Theon would never betray us," he countered, and if it were only true.
"But his father would," she countered, and Robb did not know what kind of man Balon Greyjoy was. He had desired a crown years ago, and it was likely that his desire had not died down just yet.
Dorne would never bend the knee to a Lannister Court, and she still could not understand why the Baratheon brothers would flee the capital in such a hurry.
It felt almost as if....
She did not wish to say it, but Catelyn feared that a war was coming, and if so, she would make sure to protect her family from it at all costs.
"I will ride through the Riverlands on my way to the capital," and that was her home once, and the only ally she could trust put her trust in during these perilous times.
"I shall speak to Edmure and tell him of your father's worries as well," and the Riverlands would stand with the North if war came.
"So you are leaving?" Robb asked, and she nodded.
"I must. With Robert dead, your father has no allies in the capital, and he cannot steer the realm while caring for your sisters." As a mother, it was her duty to protect and raise her daughters, and it was time for her to do that.
"I must go to the capital and help him in any way I can," and Robb nodded, even as his lips thinned.
"Why doesn't he just come back?" he asked, and if it were only that simple.
"You said so yourself, the Lannisters do not want him as reagent and they have been making it difficult for him to do his duties as a Hand as well. If so, he should simply leave it all behind and come back," and that would be the emotional choice.
"He would if he could. Your father has no desire for power, but though the Lannisters do not want him as Reagent even they would not wish to break this betrothal," for it would leave them friendless.
"I am not even in the capital yet, and I can already see why father loathed it all as much as he did," and Catelyn could not help but chuckle.
"All lords must deal with this one day, and you will be no different, my son. But this is not your battle to fight right now. Your father and I will handle this, until then you should prepare the North...." and suddenly there was a knock at the door, making her frown.
"What the hell??
"I thought I was clear that I should not be disturbed," Robb whispered, as she turned towards the door.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"My lady, it is me Luwin," and it was the Grandmaester, and he was not a man without tact.
"Maester Luwin," Robb whispered as well, and her heart sank as she called him in.
"Come in," she said, and the door was pushed open, and the aged man's chains rattled as he walked into the room with some visible panic.
"I apologise for disturbing you, my lord, but I am afraid the matter required this urgency," and she raised a brow.
"What matter?" she asked, and the man slid forward a rolled message, and she was quick to unfurl it as she skimmed over the written words quickly, and it was just as she had feared.
"What is it?" Robb questioned, reading her expression.
"Renly Baratheon has declared himself King," and now it all made sense.
"What?" Robb was surprised, but she was not. Sadly, she was not.
"I am afraid he is not the only one," and this time he presented her with another rolled missive, making her frown.
"What do you mean?" Robb asked, as his head snapped towards the Maester.
"Stannis Baratheon has declared himself King as well...."
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