Duty

III

Two weeks have passed and your wedding looms. Robb wishes to be wed as soon as possible so he may return to the frontline. No doubt you will be dragged along with him.

In three days you will be bound to a man that you have not even known for two moons. A man you've barely spoken two in the last two weeks. A man who no doubt can barely stand to look at you after the ultimatum with which you so kindly provided him.

The thought terrifies you beyond belief and you feel the bile rising in your throat as your stomach turns. But you choke it down, refusing to succumb to cowardice out of fear...even if you do have every reason to be afraid. After all, Joffrey had been a saint when you first met him. It wasn't until your parents left the Capital that things changed.

Gods!

You drop to your knees in the middle of your chambers and begin praying to the Gods, to the Mother. You pray that this torrid love affair between Robb and the servant girl is the worst of him. Because you know that you won't survive another Joffrey.

***

Robb's smile beams like the summer sun when he spots a familiar mess of dark hair dressed in black dismounting a horse by the gates. All his self-control goes to stopping himself from running to his brother like an over-excited child.

Jon turns once he has fully dismounted and cracks a smile when he sees Robb approaching.

"Robb Stark."

"Jon Snow."

The two embrace, fiercely hugging each other for longer than usual. This is the first time they've seen each other since the day Jon — along with their father and sisters — left Winterfell. Much has happened since then. And a lot has changed.

"I missed you, brother," Robb whispers as the two break away, hands still on each other's shoulders.

"And I you."

The two begin walking through the courtyard as they had done as children, conversing as they do so.

"You look well. For a man sitting at the edge of the world," Robb chuckles, "Tell me, is the Night's Watch all you expected it to be?"

Jon ponders the questions silently for a moment before solemnly answering, "Yes and no."

Robb simply nods, knowing not to press the subject any further. He notices that Jon is even quieter than he used to be.

They continue to reminisce about the past. Five year old memories that now seem like a lifetime ago. Neither of them have returned to Winterfell the same people who left, but they still provide each other with a more than welcome sense of familiarity and security.

Eventually the conversation turns to the topic of Robb's wedding when Jon asks, "So who is this bride of yours? What's she like?"

Robb sighs heavily and comes to a stop which immediately causes Jon's eyebrows to raise.

"She's...alright I suppose."

Jon waits patiently for his brother to elaborate, but when it becomes obvious that he's not going to, he asks, "What's wrong with her?"

Again, Robb sighs the same way he does every time she's brought up. There's only so much he can say about his issues with her without exposing his own relationship with Elyse.

"It's just...the way she is," he says, "She's haughty and patronising and— Perhaps it's because she's Southern, but she and I are very different people."

"So, you're not very fond of her?"

The two men laugh at the very obvious statement.

"To be honest, I don't believe she's very fond of me either," Robb chuckles as he looks around.