Chapter 52: Grief, The Tormenting Monster

5th Month of 299 A.C. Riverrun

Lord Robb Stark

Grief hung heavy over Riverrun, and had done for the past week, word had come from White Harbour, from Wynafryd, telling them of Uncle Benjen's death as well as mother's. All at the hands of a family they had all long thought dead, it was a heavy blow to them when things were going so well in the south. Mother was gone, she was dead, most likely dead, or definitely dead, Robb did not know, all he knew was that there was a hole in his heart now, a hole where his mother used to be. Wynafryd and their son were alright as was Rickon, and for that Robb was deeply relieved, but mother was gone, and he did not know if there was ever going to be a balm for that hurt. Luckily he was not alone in his grief, for the King, Sansa as well as Bran shared it. They were all grieving for their mother and their uncle, but they had to keep fighting and preparing for a war, the ending of one war, to start another one. He ached for Wynafryd's embrace, to hold the son he had not yet seen, but that had to wait, they had a war to fight.

Robb snaps out of his thoughts when the King speaks, the King looks tired, as he is sure he does as well, but the man's voice is calm when he speaks. "The Westerlands is secure for now, Lord Tywin has formally seceded his rights to Casterly Rock to Lord Tyrion and as such, the westerlords that swore fealty to me, have now sworn fealty to him as their liege lord. Lord Tyrion, how long do you think the peace within the West shall last?"

Robb looks at Lord Tyrion, sizing the man up, assessing whether or not the man is still true, since receiving word of mother's passing, Robb has been convinced that someone within Winterfell must have aided the man and his family, otherwise how else would they have had such an easy time of it. He listens intently as Lord Tyrion speaks. "I believe that the Westerlands shall hold in its peace. The land there was quite damaged during the fighting, and as such I have been led to believe that the lords do not wish to keep fighting against you. That my sister and her children have disappeared from sight is another reason for their hesitancy to fight against you."

"They could be lying." Robb points out. "It could be a mere gesture intended to lure us all into a false sense of security Your Grace."

Lord Tyrion glares at him then, and Robb merely stares back, he is in no mood to mess about anymore, his mother is dead and his wife and son are barely safe, he will not tolerate traitors. "I assure you my lord Stark, the words these lords spoke were said to me under oath. None of them would lie to me. I would know if they were."

Robb looks at the man and asks. "And how would you know that? If I am not wrong in saying, you spent most of your time for the past few years at court, and you were never taught how to read people. You were not raised as the heir."

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Ser Jaime's hand go to his sword pommel, but before that can break out into something more, Lord Tyrion replies. "I assure you my lord, I might not have been taught how to read people as befits an heir, but I grew up observing people. And I know more than most about when someone is lying. And I promise you that my lords were not lying to me."

Robb merely inclines his head then, feeling too tired to argue the point. He does not trust Lannister, and he does not think he will ever trust again after mother's death. Still he listens as the King continues speaking. "Now that that issue is resolved, I think the time has come to discuss the Riverlands. Bran, you have done a good job at keeping the Riverlords in check and preventing them from venturing towards the behaviour they normally exhibit. I would know what you think of their capabilities."

Robb feels sorry for his younger brother, their grandfather is not yet dead, he continues lingering on, clinging to life stubbornly, but for all intents and purposes Bran is Lord of Riverrun, in his own right, what with mother being dead. He can see the grief etched into Bran's face when his brother replies. "Thank you Your Grace. In regards to your query on the Riverlords, I do think that they are prepared to resume fighting now that the issue of the West has been resolved. They are threatened by the Reach and the Stormlands as well as the crownland forces, and I think the desire amongst them is strong."

Curious, Robb asks. "What of those who have fled from the West seeking shelter here. Will you continue housing them on your land, or not?"

His brother hesitates for a moment, and then answers. "I would think that there are some who can remain here, the young men and women are contributing a lot to the rebuilding of the riverlands, but there are some who are merely a nuisance."

The King speaks then. "I would say those that you do not think are going to be useful, should be sent either to the Wall or toward the front for the fighting."

"They cannot go northwards; we do not have Winterfell Your Grace." Robb points out, fighting hard to hide the bitterness he feels.

His cousin looks at him and says. "I am aware of that my lord. But Winterfell is not directly in the path of these people getting to the wall. And there are still men within the north who would fight against this pretender to the winter seat."

Robb knows his cousin speaks the truth, but he is finding it increasingly harder to see the good in things. "Indeed, you are correct of course Your Grace. I do think though that more resources should be put on retaking Winterfell than we are thinking of doing at present."

The King looks at him then in such a way that makes Robb very grateful that it is just him, the King, Bran and Lord Tyrion present within this meeting, though why the imp is here he does not know. Still the King's voice is remarkably calm when he replies. "And whilst I can see where you are coming from my lord, I do not think I need to state the importance of keeping all of our resources here for now."

Robb grits his teeth, takes a deep breath and then says. "Very well Your Grace, though I would think that having gotten the additional bonus of the westerlords you would be willing to send at least some northmen back north to fight against this pretender."

His cousin looks somewhat tired then. "My lord, it is not that I do not wish to send men north to help reclaim Winterfell, it is that I cannot afford to."

"And why is that?" Robb asks, his anger beginning to flare slightly. "You have the men of the Riverlands ready to fight for you, you have the men of the West ready to fight for you. You do not need to send all of the northern host back north, only a small portion would be required. That is all that would need to be done."

Robb sees his cousin take a deep breath, and that only serves to further enflame his anger. "Lord Tyrion, would you mind leaving the room? I need to speak with Lord Stark alone." Robb watches as the imp stands and bows before waddling off, he also watches as his brother stands and walks out, Summer accompanying him. As he watches the door close behind his brother, he hears the King clear his throat, forcing him to turn around. "What is wrong Robb?" his cousin asks.

Robb looks at his cousin and asks. "Are you being serious Your Grace? Do you truly need to ask that question?"

His cousin sighs. "No, sorry, that was silly of me. I understand your anger and your grief Robb, I lost a mother when Lady Catelyn died, and Benjen was my uncle as well. But we cannot get distracted now, we are so close to taking King's Landing, to send men north now, any men would be taken as a sign of weakness, and would send a message to your lords, that you do not trust the men within the north to retake their lord's castle. What sort of message would that send?"

"I don't care what sort of message it would send Your Grace. Just think about the message it sends that I am not heading back north with a host to retake my home. I am sure our enemies are laughing at that now. What do you think Domeric is thinking now?" Robb asks.

His cousin looks at him and responds. "Our enemies are either dead or in King's Landing Robb. They are under pressure to find some way to defeat us. And yes, Domeric might be thinking anything, but he is remaining here in the south, and so long as he does, his men can do nothing but follow your commands. You are the Lord of Winterfell, if you act as if nothing is wrong, then nothing is wrong."

Robb looks at his cousin and asks. "How can you remain so calm and unruffled through all of this? How can you not want to scream and rage?"

The King sighs, and looks very tired when he responds. "Because I am the King Robb, I cannot do that. For doing that would make me look weak, and a King can never afford to look weak in front of his people."

A silence falls between them then, and during the course of that silence, Robb finds himself wondering what his mother thought and felt during her last moments, was she worried? Was she free? Knowing what they do about the man sitting within Winterfell now, Robb knows he would be terrified, the man cannot be human, he cannot be a man to have survived through so much. The image of the girl, screaming still haunts his mind at night, it is something he does not think he will ever get over. And now Wynafryd knows, his wife, his love knows, and he does not know what she will think of him. Gods, he wonders why they ever allowed it to get this far, are they suffering for some wrong committed years ago? Or are they suffering for their own sins. It has become very hard to tell anymore, and the thought gnaws at him constantly. Fighting to keep the dark thoughts at bay, he asks. "Will Bran be accompanying us on the battle field Your Grace?"

His cousin looks somewhat surprised at this, and then says. "I do not know; do you think he should? He is Lord of Riverrun after all and I do not think it would look right if Ser Desmond walked out to command for him."

Robb thinks on this for a moment, he knows that Bran had always wanted to be a knight before events conspired to change everything, still Bran is not married, he is barely a man grown, and his heir would be Rickon who is not even within the Riverlands. But then, the King is right, keeping him back at Riverrun would not send the right message, and no doubt, Bran would find some other way to get involved in the fighting. Sighing he says. "I think that perhaps it would be best to bring him along the next time we ride for war."

The King nods, and then stands, Robb stands alongside him and together they walk out of the room, their direwolves following them, Robb does not want to think about where the dragons might be. As they are about to part, the King looks at him and says. "Before we leave, I want you to execute Lord Tywin."

Robb looks at the King for a moment, and sees for a brief moment, his cousin Jon, lurking behind the eyes, and he sees the same anger and rage that he feels. It is that, that makes him nod his head and says. "I will."