The Crossed Rose - GoT - R.S.

Walder Frey

"I hear you wanted to talk to me?"

At the sound of her voice, Robb is quick to lift his eyes from where he had been examining a map all morning and an instant smile breaks into his face at mere sight of her. In the morning light she looked so beautiful. Her dress was simple and she wasn't wearing a corset anymore with her growing belly, and Robb had thought she loved the way her corsets fitted her body just right, but, as Dahlia stood there, both hands folded in front of her body, her brown hair long and loose on her back, her crown placed perfectly on top of her head found and her light, long sleeved dress falling down to her feet so easily, he figured he liked her even more this way.

Robb stood up from his chair, walking across the chamber in quick strides so he stood in front of Dahlia as quickly as possible. He kept a distance between them - as much as he didn't want it - and didn't dare touch her or hold her or kiss her as he had been longing to do ever since the execution. Instead, he just stared into her eyes, his blue eyes diving into Dahlia's brown ones, diving into them, trying to figure out what she was thinking. They didn't speak at all and, truth be told, they didn't need to, because the same anguish and fear Robb felt in his chest, he saw reflected back at him in Dahlia's eyes.

For a moment, he frowned. She was scared, he knew, but of what? He hoped to the gods she wasn't scared of him because he didn't think he'd be able to deal with that if she was. Still, he was tentative when he lifted one of his hands to hover it over one of her cheeks. Robb kept his eyes on Dahlia's the whole time, gauging at her every reaction and breathing out in relief when Dahlia tilted her head a little so she could nuzzle her cheek against his palm. Robb breathed out a quiet chuckle then, some of the tension in his body dissipating as soon as Dahlia's skin touched his and even more of it when he leaned down to press his lips to Dahlia's in a kiss that she didn't fight against.

What started gentle and sweet soon turned into something needy and desperate. Robb felt his whole body ablaze when Dahlia stepped closer to him and threaded her fingers through his hair. Robb should be embarrassed to admit he let out a moan into her mouth as he pulled Dahlia by the waist and walked back with her until he was sitting back on his chair again, with his wife on his lap and pressing her as close as her growing belly would allow him to.

Robb wasn't sure how long they had spent diving into each other, but when Dahlia pulled his mouth from him, her lips were red and swollen and Robb would be lying if he said he didn't feel a weird sense of pride at the sight. His smile soon faded however, when Dahlia, still with her forehead pressed against Robb's and her eyes closed, sighed gently before pressing a quick kiss to her lips and speaking up.

"Are you angry at me?" She asked, her voice sounding small, almost as if afraid to be heard.

Robb felt his heart dropping to his stomach at the question. So she was scared of him? Was that... Was that why she had spent the night with Jeyne? The thought alone made him feel sick and he knew he'd have to fix it right now.

Pulling his head back a bit, he forced Dahlia's forehead away from his and Dahlia finally opened her eyes, her eyebrow furrowed and her still fearful. Robb shook his head then.

"Angry at you?" Robb repeated the question back at her, trying to be as gentle as he possibly could. "Why would I be angry at you?"

"I thought you would be, with the way you stormed out of the Main Room yesterday." Dahlia admitted quietly. "After I defied you in front of Lord Edmure and the Blackfish."

"You did not defy me, my love." Robb shook his head. "You gave me your opinion."

"I stood against you." Dahlia said. "And as your wife I..."

"As my wife, you have every right to voice your opinion." Robb interrupted her before she could start with any of those speeches about being compliant. Because, yes, Robb enjoyed the fact that she knew how to be a lady and he enjoyed the fact she had learned so much during her time at Highgarden, but the people there were a traditional bunch and as much as they raised strong, intelligent women, they also raised wives who knew how to mold themselves to the wishes of their husbands and it made Robb sick to the stomach the thought that Dahlia would think he'd want her compliant to his every wish. "I value your advice, my love. And I should probably learn to take it more often."