The Crossed Rose - GoT - R.S.

King in the North

They had finally settled into Riverrun. After having taken it from the Kingslayer, they had built him a small cage to keep him close, but not inside the castle anymore. Dahlia had been offered a big chamber, close to Lady Stark's and just beside Robb's, but she hadn't slept there at all. Instead, she had been invited to Robb's chambers every night and, surprisingly, she had conceded to his wishes, slipping into his chambers and wrapping her arms around him as he cried, or mumbled to himself, or, even, sometimes, slept.

The occurrences where sleep did happen were few and far between and they were usually very short. Dahlia didn't remember the last time Robb had slept more than a few hours at a time, no matter how much she had tried to get him to rest.

"Robb, you need to at least try." She had pleaded, more than once as she sat on his bed with her back against the wall, watching him gently as he paced around. "Please, Robb. Just... Just lay down with me?"

"I can't." He shook his head. "I can't. I... I don't want to."

"Robb... You need to rest, please." She pleaded. "You can't keep going like that."

"Everytime I close my eyes, Dahlia... All I see... My Father in King's Landing, with his head cut off for a crime he didn't commit. My sisters in the claws of the Lannisters. My brothers, alone in Winterfell, so young... And, oh, by the gods... Sometimes... Sometimes I even see you and Mother. Dead because of a mistake I've made."

"You haven't made a mistake yet, Robb." Dahlia said.

"But I might." He argued, stopping with his pacing for a moment as he turned to look at Dahlia instead, his blue eyes filled with fear and pain and uncertainty. "I might someday make a wrong decision and have someone hurt my Mother. Or... Or you."

Dahlia softened instantly at those words, her smile gentle as she crawled across the bed and knelt down on the edge of it. She extended a hand out toward him, watching as Robb let out a breath before granting her wish as he wrapped his hand around her.

"You won't, Robb." Dahlia assured, her tone gentle yet sure, tugging at Robb's hand a bit to prompt him into taking a seat beside her. "You know... When... The first time I saw you, back at the Twins... I thought... I thought we would all be doomed. Such a young Lord... Inexperienced for all I knew... Going off to war... It didn't sound that promising, did it?"

"Probably didn't look like much either, huh?" Robb asked through a breathed chuckle.

"No. Not at all, actually." Dahlia giggled as well. "But then I saw you. With your men. Making sure to get to know my Father's men. I saw you... Planning and discussing strategy. I saw you ride off to war with your sword and your horse and your wolf. And I saw you come back, with your sword and your horse and your wolf and Jaime Lannister. I saw you go up against the Kingslayer and Twyin Lannister and I saw you win. It's true. I saw a boy the first time I saw you at the Twins. But now? Now I see a man. A man who's going through a lot more than he should. But a man who's going to overcome everything because I believe in him. And so do all of the Lords and Ladies that rode off into war with him."

For a moment, Robb grew silent. He turned his face a bit so he could look at Dahlia instead and, for the first time, he didn't see the young Lady Frey with whom he would have to, eventually, get married. Instead, he felt like, for the first time, Robb saw Dahlia Frey. He saw her light brown curls of hair. He saw her warm brown eyes. He saw her perfect ivory skin. But most of all, he saw her gentle smile - the one that usually looked rather fake and rehearsed, but that, in that moment, seemed to be nothing if not true.

"Do you really think so?" Robb asked eventually, when he found his voice again. "That... That we'll win?"

Dahlia smiled again, her cheeks warming up a bit at the way Robb had asked if they would win and not just him.