The Crossed Rose - GoT - R.S.

Harrenhal and a marriage

It had been a fortnight since they sent the raven and ten days since they received their answer. Lord Walder Frey had agreed to a meeting with the King and Queen in the North at Riverrun.

"Will he be coming, your Grace?" Lord Edmure had asked when the letter from her Father was given to her the day it arrived.

"No." Dahlia shook her head from her seat beside Robb's after reading over the letter. "He apologizes for it, but reckons taking such a trip wouldn't be wise with his old age. All the better, I suppose... It's not like I was excited with the prospect of seeing my dear Father again."

"Does he say who he will send in his stead, your Grace?" The Blackfish asked, as Dahlia nodded, passing the letter off to Robb if he wanted to read it over as well.

"Yes." She nodded. "He says he'll send Black Walder and Lothar. Two of my half-brothers."

"Will they be easy to convince?" Robb asked, as Dahlia shook her head.

"Not quite, I don't think." She said. "Black Walder is a bastard and all he wants is to be legitimized by our Father. Lothar is not the oldest by a long shot so he has little chance of inheriting anything. They'll gladly follow our Father's every command to make sure they please him."

"Well, that is just fantastic..." The Blackfish mumbled. "How do we negotiate with two men who will refuse to bend to please their Papa?"

"We convince them to please me, instead." Dahlia said. "I am their sister, after all, and I am their Queen, am I not? Meeting my terms could come with a few advantages, I suppose, if one is smart enough to seize the opportunity."

And that was exactly what Dahlia meant to do that day. Robb and Lord Edmure had gone all the way to the entrance of the castle to receive Black Walder and Lothar Frey. Dahlia had wanted to go with them as well, but with her pregnancy and more protruding stomach, Robb had insisted on her doing less than the minimum. So, there was was, sitting in the Main Room with Catelyn on the chair beside hers, two empty chairs on her other side for Robb and Lord Edmure and, finally, the Blackfish on the third chair to her left.

When Robb and Lord Edmure walked back into the room, Dahlia, Catelyn and the Blackfish stood up. Black Walder and Lothar nodded at them, before walking toward the opposite side of the table from Dahlia was and standing just before their sister and the chair Robb was going to take soon, beside his wife.

"Your Grace." Black Walder smiled as he curtsied Dahlia a little. "You look well."

"Thank you, my Lord." She sais, smiling back at him as kindly as she could. "It is good to see you again. And you, Lothar."

"It's great to see you, your Grace." Lothar nodded, his eyes falling down to her stomach for a second before meeting Dahlia's again. "And how far along are you, little sister?"

"Five moons."

"Five moons, already?" Black Walder said. "Father will be delighted to hear."

"I would sure hope so." Dahlia nodded.

Around her, everyone could tell Dahlia was tense. So much so that Robb moved his hand to rest gently over the small of his wife's back as Grey Wind padded over to stand in between the two of them silently, glaring at the two men across from him on the table just as much as Dahlia was. Now, it wasn't as if Black Walder and Lothar ever did anything to Dahlia personally, but she had never felt comfortable around them anyway. There were very few of her brothers with whom she could say she felt safe with. Thankfully, her full-brothers were some of them and a few of the older ones were nice enough as well but some... Some weren't as kind to her. Actually, some of her so-called brothers were far too kind to her when she returned from Highgarden, constantly trying to get her favor. She could feel their hungry eyes on her and in more than one occasion, Dahlia had heard some of them whisper about her and what they'd like to do to her if she wasn't their little sister. So it was no surprise she didn't feel her best right then. Especially considering the two of them were still looking at her with somewhat suspicious looks in their eyes despite the fact that, not only was she pregnant, her husband was standing right beside her, clearly having noticing the undertones of those looks judging by the way his hand gripped on the back of Dahlia's dress.