Lady of Winterfell

Chapter Thirty-Two: Catelyn's Betrayal

"You've been quiet recently," Talisa murmured walking alongside Robb, she had travelled along with him to the Crag to collect supplies to relax those that she had already used. 

It had been hard keeping away from Robb while he grieved for his wife but Talisa knew that it was for the best, he wasn't in a good place and she didn't blame him for being so upset about all of this. 

Things had not been easy since Sanira had been killed by Theon and it had gotten worse with Walder Frey attempting to convince Robb to marry one of his daughters in exchange for his continued help in the war. 

The Lord of the Crossing wanted to see one of his daughters become Queen in the North and that could only happen if Robb agreed to marry one of them. 

"There is a lot on my mind," Robb replied not saying much, he had so much going on and he wished that there was some way that he could speak with Sanira. 

He had never thought that this was how their marriage would work out and it hurt Robb that he hadn't been there to protect her from Theon but he hadn't been and now he had to deal with that. 

Talisa nodded her head, she could see that Robb had loved his wife very much and she was a little jealous that she'd never felt like that in her life.

"Your wife must have been a great woman," Talisa mused not knowing much about the late Queen, she was an outsider in camp and she only continued to travel with the Northern army because of Robb. 

He had been so kind to her since they had first met and Talisa had become fond of him; she would have even considered seeking more from him but she did not wish to insult the memory of his late wife. 

There was no denying that Robb still grieved for her and Talisa wanted nothing more than to respect that, she was happy watching from afar and that would do her since her feelings couldn't last forever.

"She was... she was very kind, very loving... just the Queen that the North needed in this war," Robb said smiling, thinking about Sanira and he could think of nothing bad about her and she was everything that he had ever wanted in a wife. 

It was the reason that he refused to even consider marrying one of Frey's many daughters, he would not dishonour Sanira in such away when she had barely been dead a month. 

His focus was on making the people responsible for everything that had happened to his family pay for it; he would make sure that Theon suffered for ending the lives of his wife and unborn child. 

Talisa swallowed thickly, it was hard for her to listen to him talk about Sanira in such a way but it did make her decision not to act on her feelings even stronger; she had found herself growing fond of Robb in the months since they had first spoken to one another. 

Before Talisa could say anything a rider approached the two while they were walking, she blinked trying to hide her disappointment that they had been interrupted; she ducked her head knowing that it was wrong for her to think such thoughts. 

"What is it?" Robb asked staring at the rider, he was surprised that they had been interrupted; they weren't along with guards around them but he liked the peace and quiet. 

The rider shifted nervously, his news would not be greeted well and he could only imagine how the King would react to more bad news that was about to come his way. 

"Jaime Lannister has escaped," the rider revealed making Robb stare at him, this could not have come at a worse time and he knew that his men would not react well to the news that their hostage had escaped and lost them their advantage.

***

"How are you feeling?" Aiana asked making sure that Sanira was okay, the baby could arrive very soon and they were still no closer to reaching the camp; it was starting to dawn on them that the baby could be born on the trip.