Duty

V

When you wake the morning after the wedding, it's with a start. For a brief moment, you forget where you are, and the unfamiliar surroundings send you into a panic. You only relax when you see Amiria standing at the end of the bed, giving your foot a soft tap.

"Good morning!"

You sit up a little as the haze of confusion begins to fade. You turn your head expecting to see Robb lying beside you, but his side of the bed is empty.

You're unsure how to feel about it.

Amiria must have noticed the look on your face because she quickly explains, "His Grace is in the Great Hall breaking his fast."

You find it strange that he would just wake and leave so early in the morning without a word, but you suppose he doesn't owe you much explanation.

"Have I been sleeping long?" your voice is still groggy as you rub the sleep out of your eyes.

"Not at all."

He was in that much of a hurry to leave?

You push the thought to the back of your mind as you climb out of the bed. Amiria helps you to dress and brushes your hair. In the corner of the room there's a basin of water to wash your face with and rinse out your mouth.

"I'll draw your bath when you've had something to eat," she says as she starts making the bed, "Your breakfast is being served in the Great Hall."

Oh.

Robb is there.

You chew on the inside of your lip, "Why don't I wait until he's finished?"

"His Grace is a busy man," Amiria says through a grunt as she tugs at the sheets, "If you want to spend time with him, you have to take advantage of when he's free."

Silence.

She stands up straight and looks at you, "Do you not want to spend time with him?"

More silence.

Amiria cocks her head to the side, waiting for you to speak.

"It's not that," you say as you think back to the night before, the secrets you divulged to Robb.

"I told him."

Amiria shakes her head, still not understanding.

"I told him...that I love – loved – another."

Her eyes widen as she finally joins you in panic. She crosses the room quickly and begins to speak in a hushed tone as if someone might be outside the room with their ear pressed against the door.

"Were you drunk?!"

"No."

"Then what would possess you to say such a thing?" she throws her hands in the air though her tone remains low, "You don't know this man!"

She's scaring you now. You didn't think there would be any consequences to your confessions outside of some mild embarrassment. "Amiria, you encouraged me to trust Robb! You said he was kind and understanding."

"I know what I said," she sighs, "But it does not mean you should lack caution."

You suck in a deep breath and sit down on the bed, thinking about the conversation. Robb didn't seem fazed by what you said. If he was, he certainly didn't show it. He barely cares for you as a person much less as his wife. Outside of his ego being bruised due to being the second person who might eventually have his wife's heart, he has no reason to be upset. And even that seems like reading too much into Robb's potential state of mind.