the golden wolf || game of thrones

iii.

in winterfell

"you asked to speak with me father?" robb asked entering his father's office. "yes i did" ned replied as robb sat in front of him.

"the king has asked me to be his hand. if i am to accept you will be lord of winterfell in my stead. it will be you who is in charge of running things here. to take care of your mother, your siblings, the people. are you prepared for that?" ned explained to his son. "father, this is what i was raised to do. i've trained my whole life to be prepared for this. i just thought it would happen farther into the future than this." robb laughed.

he knew that one day he would become lord of winterfell after his father, but he always thought he'd have plenty more time. he never expected it to happen this quickly or for his father to become the hand of the king.

"there's one more thing i want to tell you." ned told him. "yes?" robb raised a brow. "the king has proposed a union between our houses."

"between whom? sansa and the prince?" he questioned. he's heard rumors of how awful the prince was and he didn't want his sister subjected to that kind of person. "no, between you and the princess." his father corrected. robb leaned back in his chair shocked. "me and the princess?"

"yes and i will accept. i know you may have wanted to choose a bride, but she seems kind and she's quite beautiful." ned told his son. "i always knew i'd have to marry. i just never thought it would be to a princess. when will the wedding take place?"

"at the end of their stay here. the king and his royal court will return to king's landing and she will stay here in winterfell. i know it's soon, but perhaps seek her out and get to know her." his father explained. "yes sir." he replied standing up and walking to the door. "robb?" he turned and looked "thank you for not fighting this." he smiled and nodded back at his father.

josephine was walking down the hall when a shoulder bumped into hers. she looked up and met a pair of brown eyes. "oh princess josephine, i'm so sorry." robb apologized and bowed to her.

"no need to apologize, lord stark. i wasn't paying attention to where i was going." she gave robb a soft smile. "please just call me robb. lord stark makes me feel like my father." robb laughed. "well, if that's the case just call me josephine. unless my father is around then you might want to stick with princess josephine." the two of them laughed. the both of them were nervous, but neither of them would admit it even to themselves.

"mind if i escort you?" robb asked extending his arm to her. "i wouldn't mind at all." she smiled up at him accepting his arm. "so, where are you headed?" robb asked the princess.

"i haven't seen my chambers yet. maybe you could escort me there." josephine suggested. "of course. winterfell can be a bit confusing." he responded. the two began their walk to josephine's chambers.

"so, how was life growing up in king's landing?" robb asked her. "well, growing up as a princess in a castle has its perks, but it's not always what others may think it is. everyone always assumes it's easy being royalty, but it has its downsides." josephine chooses not to go into detail because she doesn't want to seem as though she's complaining. "i understand. maybe not completely, but growing up as the heir of winterfell i can relate in some ways." robb told her.

"do you get along well with your siblings?" josephine asked as they continued to walk through the halls. "i do. we all have a close bond with each other. us starks stick together. what about you?"

"oh yes. my younger siblings are like my own children at this point and joffrey, well he's my twin so there's a special connection there. tommen and myrcella are the absolute sweetest. joffrey can be a bit much, but he's sweet with me." she replied with a smile. "there's always at least one sibling who is a bit much." robb replied and they both laughed.

"well, here we are." robb said as they stopped in front of a door. "thank you for showing me to my chambers and for the small talk." josephine said as she smiled at him. "oh, the pleasure is all mine princess." robb couldn't help but to smile back at her.

"i guess i should unpack and ready for the meal tonight." she replied opening her door. "of course, i shall leave you to it. if you would like i could escort you to the great hall tonight to prevent you from getting lost." robb suggested because he wanted to spend more time with the princess. "oh, that would be lovely." josephine smiled up at him. he reached for her hand and brought it to his face placing a light kiss on her knuckles. her cheeks turned a light pink and she felt little butterflies flying around in her stomach. "see you then, josephine."

she entered her chambers and closed the door. josephine walked over to her bed and plopped down her smile never leaving her face. perhaps marriage could work between the two of them she thought to herself.

as robb walked down the hall he couldn't help the smile on his face. he would love to learn more about the princess. maybe a marriage between the two of them would work out he thought as he walked outside.

josephine laid back thinking of beautiful little dark haired children waddling in the snow when her mother came bursting through her door. "i cannot believe the audacity of your father!" she exclaimed sitting next to josephine. "what has he done now?" she questioned sitting up.

"not only has he dragged us all the way here to beg ned stark to be his hand, but he thinks he can just marry you off without telling me! i will not have it. you will not marry that boy and you will not stay here in the dreadful north." josephine knew that her mother would not take kindly to the news of the betrothal, but she was now somewhat looking forward to it. "father spoke to me about it before we left king's landing and i agreed." she told her mother while laying back down and placing her head in cersei's lap.

"and you didn't think to say something to me?" cersei questioned her daughter. "i knew if i said anything you would react like this." josephine replied with a small laugh. "this is not a laughing matter, josephine. how could you agree to something like this? leaving your brothers, your sister, me?" she asked running her hand through josephine's blonde hair.

"i'm a princess, mother. this is what i was raised to do. i knew one day i would have to marry and leave king's landing." josephine said closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of her mother's nails scratching her scalp. "yes, but not to someone so far and not someone who wasn't my choice." cersei replied.

"i know you didn't choose him, but i'm okay with it i think. i mean he's quite handsome and seems very kind." cersei let out a small laugh. "is that all that matters to you? he's kind and is handsome?"

"i mean it's a start. plus, he's close with his siblings like i am with mine. father said if i didn't want marry him he wouldn't force me to. i can change my mind ay any point." cersei knew there was nothing she could do to change robert's mind, but this was going to be hard. letting go of her precious josephine was going to break her. she continued to run her fingers through her daughter's hair thinking of how she was going to tell jaimie their eldest daughter would not be leaving with the at them end of this trip.