LIONS AND WOLVES | Robb Stark

23. Respite 𓃬

THEY RODE OUT FOR THE TWINS a few days later, and when the rain started coming down, they were forced to make camp to ride out the storm. Joanna stayed tucked away in their tent, listening to the rain beating against the canvas above her head. Robb had been out in the downpour seeing to his men, and when he returned his hair was plastered to his forehead, soaked to the bone.

Joanna rolled her eyes and picked up a towel. "Come here. We can't have the King in the North looking like a drowned rat, now, can we?"

Robb chuckled, sitting down on a chair that faced his wife. "You're always so kind to me."

"You wouldn't have it any other way," Joanna replied, smacking Robb with the towel before tossing it over his head.

"I can't see."

"Quit your whining."

Joanna started towelling Robb's hair, trying her best to dry it. Every time he was able to see past the towel, he flashed her a smile, his hands resting on the bump of her stomach, where the baby tended to kick the most. Feeling the little life of his child made his heart soar, and Robb couldn't wait to be a father to his son or daughter.

The Blackfish ducked into the tent, soaked to the skin. "That rain will cost us another day."

"Frey will wait," Edmure said. "He knows we're coming."

"Lord Walder is prickly by nature," Catelyn said.

"Prickly?" the Blackfish asked. "Is that what you'd call it? Might be the least pleasant man I've ever met."

"Yes, and that is why-"

"I've seen wet shits I liked better than Walder Frey," the Blackfish said, and when he glanced at Joanna, his eyes widened. "Apologies, Your Grace. Spent too many years around lancers and pikemen."

"I've spent the last two years fighting a war, watching men bleed and die," Joanna replied. "I'm not afraid of wet shits."

The Blackfish laughed.

"Lord Frey will take this delay as a sleight," Catelyn said.

"He can take it as he likes," Edmure replied. "He's getting the wedding he wanted."

"He's getting a wedding," Catelyn agreed. "It was a king he wanted."

"Edmure is the best match that a Frey has had in the history of their house," Robb said. "We should all get some sleep."

Edmure, the Blackfish and Catelyn made their exit, and when they were gone Robb turned back to Joanna. He took the towel from her and wrapped it around her waist, using it to tug her closer to him. Her baby bump restricted their proximity and she laughed at the sight of her belly resting against Robb's stomach.

"Soon this one will be screaming his little lungs out if we so much as leave him alone," Joanna said. "Babies truly are terrible."

Robb laughed. "I know, I have four younger siblings."

"Were they bad?" Joanna asked, as Robb backed towards the bed, pulling her with him. "I was too young to really remember Joffrey's birth, or Myrcella's, but Tommen was such an angel as a baby."

"Sansa was quiet," Robb said. "Arya was a pain; she cried a lot, as did Bran, but Rickon was calmer."

"I'm scared to give birth," Joanna admitted, as Robb tugged on the strings of her dress. "What if something happens to me?"

"Nothing's going to happen to you," Robb promised. "I'll be there the entire time. We've only got a few more weeks to go."

"My mother says that childbirth is more painful than anything she had ever experienced," Joanna said. "And that when I was born, my father went out hunting to celebrate my birth and that uncle Jaime was the one who stayed with her throughout the process. You won't leave me, will you?"

"They'd have to drag me away before I left you to endure that alone," Robb replied, leaning down to kiss Joanna. "I won't go out to hunt while my child is born. Now, let's get some sleep."

"Oh, it seems like you have other things in mind," Joanna said teasingly, letting her dress fall to the floor at her feet. "Or am I misreading the situation."

"I don't know," Robb replied. "Why don't we find out."

𓃬

The heat where they lay was stifling, but Joanna had never felt more at peace. Robb's arm was wrapped around her body, one hand clutching hers as the other pressed against her stomach. Every time she kissed him, she was reminded that this was the man she would get to wake up next to for the rest of her life, and there was nothing more than this that would make her feel content with her life.

Eventually, Robb pulled away and got out of the bed, after placing a gentle kiss just above Joanna's belly button. She laughed and managed to run her hands through his hair before he got his feet and shrugged on a robe.

When he turned around, he grinned. "If you don't put some clothes on, I can't promise that I won't attack you again."

"I can't see why you would want to," Joanna said, smiling. "I'm all fat and look like a whale."

"Yes, but," Robb said, leaning down to kiss Joanna, "that's our baby in there, and you've never looked more beautiful."

"You flatter me, my love," Joanna said, watching as Robb sat down at the table and reached for his cup of wine. "Truly."

"Well, you are my wife," Robb replied. "And if I don't treat you well enough, what's to stop you from running away?"

"Definitely not you," Joanna answered. "I fled King's Landing without alerting a single guard; I could flee here just the same and you would never catch me."

"Now who's the one flattering you?" Robb asked. "I swear I just saw your head get a little bigger."

"Are you calling me arrogant?" Joanna asked. "Because you know it is considered rude to address you queen so impolitely."

"Well, I hope My Queen can forgive me," Robb replied, glancing over at Joanna, who was running her fingers across her belly to try and get the child to kick. "How am I supposed to sit here planning a war when you're over there looking like that?"

"Can you leave the war for one night?" Joanna asked. "I know that's selfish, but every so often one has to become a little selfish or-"

"I love you," Robb said, getting to his feet and approaching Joanna. "And I'm so glad I married you."

"You're such a sap, Robb Stark," Joanna laughed. "Who would have thought that the boy that used to pull my hair would end up being the one I fell in love with."

"I feel like I always knew we were going to end up together," Robb said. "After all, it was almost like it was destined."

"Perhaps it would have gone very differently," Joanna said. "We would have gotten married in the Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, and both of our families would have been there. My father would have given me away and we would have returned to the North afterwards."

Robb smiled. "As much as I love that idea, I am very happy with the way things turned out for us anyway."

Joanna let out a quiet laugh. "As am I. For everything that has gone wrong in our lives, it has lead us to each other, and for that I thank the Gods for giving me you."

"And I thank the Gods every day that I was given the chance to become a father," Robb said. "I would not have been able to fight this war without you by my side, Jo."

"Well, we've still got a long way to go," Joanna said, kissing Robb's nose. "So why don't we get some sleep?"

Robb smiled. "Goodnight, Jo."

"Goodnight, Robb."