Winter Is Coming

The men and Lady Stark seemed to be shocked at Robb’s decision. Lady Stark called her son out, but was quickly silenced when Robb gave her a stern looked.

Robb turned back to the man and stood directly in front of him, “Tell Lord Tywin winter is coming for him. Twenty thousand northerners marching south to find out if he really does shit gold.”

If I was human, I probably would have snorted or scoffed a laugh, but I just sat there and watched as the man thanked Robb for showing him mercy and was then taken away. Lord Umber definitely didn’t like that decision and started to yell at Robb, getting in his face.

“Are you touched, boy?!” he yelled and I growled and took a step forward, feeling Theon grip my fur, telling me it wasn’t a good idea, but like he could stop me just by grabbing my fur, “Letting him go?”

“You call me boy again,” Robb threatened and I shifted back and forth on my front paws and glared, “Go on,” he dared and I bared my fangs, wanting the man to do something because I was itching for a fight.

I was a little disappointed when he growled and then stormed out of the tent. Robb then walked over towards me and placed his hand on my head and rubbed over my ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s been silent for a few days know, it’s been over a weeks since Lord Stark and I were locked in the dungeons. We were surviving on little water and barely any food; we were both tired and weak, wondering how long they were going to keep us locked in here, I was wondering when Jessica was going to come and get me out. I was starting to worry at she didn’t know where I was, maybe she didn’t know that I was in danger, I stared to think that maybe I was really going to die.

“You’ve seen better days, my lord,” I heard and Lord Stark and I weakly turned our heads to see Varys coming towards us.

“Another visit?” Lord Stark asked, “It seems you’re my last friend.”

“No, no, many still love you,” Varys said as he handed Lord Stark a small jug of water and then walked over towards me and handed me one of my own, “Sansa came to court this morning and plead for your lives.”

“Both of us?” I asked confused and Varys nodded his head.

“On her knees begging for us, hm!”

“I don’t need anyone begging for my life,” I growled and Varys sighed.

“Did you laugh with the others?” Lord Stark asked.

“You do my wrong, my lord. Your blood is the last thing I want-“

“I don’t know what you want,” Lord Stark said and I took a sip of the water and tried to control myself from chugging the whole jug right then and there, “I’ve given up trying to guess.”

“When I was still a boy- Before they cut my balls off with a hot knife-“

“Ouch,” I muttered as I took a swig of the water and Varys nodded his head.

“I traveled with a group of actors through the free cities. They taught me that each man has a role to play; the same is true at court. I am the master of whisperers. My role is to be sly, obsequious and without scruples, I am a good actor, my lord.”

“Huh, can you free me from this pit? Can you free us?” Lord Stark asked.

“I could,” Varys said and I stared at him intently, “But will I?”

‘…Quit playing with us!...’ I growled and he looked at me, “Will you?”

“No,” he said plainly and I sighed and heard Lord Stark chuckle, “As I said, I’m no hero.”

“What do you want then?” I asked.

“No riddles, no stories- What do you want?” Lord Stark asked.

Varys bent down and looked at Lord Stark and then I, “Peace.”

‘…Ok, we have a wannabe pageant queen here. He wants world fuckin’ peace!...’

“Did you know that your son is marching south with an army of northmen? Loyal lad,” Varys said and my head snapped up, “Fighting for his father’s freedom.”

“Robb?” Lord Stark asked and my eyes widened, “He’s just a boy.”

“Boys have been conquerors before,” Varys said and I wondered if Jessica was with Robb, “But the man giving Cersei sleepless nights is the king’s- the late king’s brother. Lord Stannis has the best claim to the throne. He is a proven battle commander and he is utterly without mercy.”

“Stannis Baratheon is Robert’s true heir! The throne is his by rights!” Lord Stark growled and Varys stood up and sighed.

“Sansa pleaded so sweetly for your life, it would be a shame to throw it away,” Varys said, “Cersei is no fool, she knows a tame wolf is more use to her than a dead one.”

I growled, not liking that metaphor. I shifted in my chains and Varys snapped his head towards me and then saw my glare.

“You want me to serve the woman who murdered my king, who butchered my men, who crippled my son?” Lord Stark yelled.

“I want you to serve the realm!” Varys yelled back and then bent down again, “Tell the Queen you will confess your vile treason, tell your son to lay down his sword and proclaim Joffrey as the true heir! Cersei knows you as a man of honor, if you give her the peace she needs, and promise to carry her secret to your gave, I believe she will allow you to take the black and live out your days on the Wall with your brother and your bastard son.”

‘…Jon…’ I thought and then sighed.

Lord Stark chuckled and I looked at him, “You think my life is some precious thing to me? That I would trade my honor for a few more years of- Of what?” I shook my head and looked at the ground, moving my hands around my legs and pulling my knees up to my chest, “You grew up with actors, you learned their crafts and you learnt it well. But I grew up with soldier; I learned how to die a long time ago.”

‘…Wow, depressing much?...’

“Pity, such a pity,” Varys said and then stood up and started to leave, but then turned around and looked at Lord Stark, “What of your daughter’s life, my lord? Is that a precious thing to you?”

Lord Stark was quiet, he was looking at the ground and I saw that Varys was at the door, I called him back and he looked at me, “You said that Robb is coming, is Jess with him?”

“The girl with the same abilities?” he asked and I nodded my head, “My little birds did say that there was a woman by lord Robb’s side.”

‘…Jess…’ I breathed a sigh of relief, ‘…She’s coming…’

“Does that give you hope, my lady?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will see that hope drain from your eyes when they stage your execution tomorrow at midday,” Varys said and then left the dungeons and my eyes were wide.

‘…She’s not going to make it…’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Keep shooting them down,” Lady Stark said, “We can’t risk Lord Walder sending word of your movements to the Lannisters.”

“He’s Grandfather’s bannerman! We can’t expect his support?” Robb said and I just stood in-between Robb and Theon and listened to the conversation on how Theon needed to keep shooting down the ravens that some old man that lived in the castle that we stood in front of, among other things that had to deal with the war.

I heard horses and looked to my side to see two guards riding on horses coming towards us. I glared and then slapped Robb’s arm, earning his attention, he sighed and I looked back towards him and then back towards the big bridge that we needed to cross to get to the other side, but everyone didn’t think that the person who owned it, would allow us to.

“Father and Cyn rot in a dungeon, how long before they take their heads?” Robb asked and I bit my life, not wanting to think about it, only wanting to get to King’s Landing, “We need to cross the Trident and we need to do it now.”

“Just march up to his gates and tell him you’re crossing,” Theon said and I sighed, looking at Theon and nodding my head, “We’ve got five times his numbers, you can take the Twins if you have to.”

“Not in time, Tywin Lannister marches north as we speak,” Lord Umber said and I growled as I saw the horses getting closer.

“The Freys have held the crossing for six hundred years,” Lady Stark stated, “and for six hundred years they have never failed to exact their toll.”

“Have my horse saddled and ready,” Robb said and I snapped my head back towards him, knowing that him going down there alone was a bad idea, Lord Umber and Theon voiced their disapproval of this idea, while I stood there and shook my head, “My father would do whatever it took to secure our crossing, whatever it took. If I’m going to lead this army, I can’t have other men doing my bargaining for me.”

“I agree,” Lady Stark said and I sighed, “I’ll go.”

“You can’t!” the men yelled and I growled, not liking this idea either, “I have known Lord Walder since I was a girl, he would never harm me!”

“Unless he would get something out of it,” I muttered and Lady Stark looked at me, but said nothing.

The guards came and Robb had a horse ready for Lady Stark, sending her down to the bridge to speak with this lord while we waited for her to come back. We all sat on the hill and I stayed by Robb’s side, his arm leaning against my bent leg. I sighed and stared at the sky, ‘…Something’s not right about this, I have a bad feeling…’