Lady of Winterfell

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Hoster Tully's Funeral

Sanira stood on the dock as she watched Robb and Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully push Hoster Tully's funeral boat away from the land and out into the river; she was stood beside Catelyn while the rest of the Tully family watched on. 

It had been nice to see her good-mother again, Sanira knew that it wasn't exactly an occasion to be happy for but she was sure that it would be the last time in a long time that they were able to see one another. 

Robb watched the boat sail away before he headed back towards his mother and wife, he wasn't sure how he should feel about the death of his grandfather; he didn't really know the man and had never truly met him before. 

Catelyn offered Robb a weak smile as he stood between her and Sanira, she was still in shock that her father had truly passed on after all these years. 

She had come from Beckton as fast as she could when she had heard that he didn't have a lot of time left and Catelyn had been devastated when she had arrived to learn that he had passed away. 

Edmure Tully took a deep breath as he prepared his bow and arrow, he walked towards the edge of the dock and watched as his father's funeral boat sailed away. 

He dipped the end of the arrow into a fire and slowly lifted it out before preparing to shoot it at the funeral boat; Edmure felt a little nervous about the fact that everyone was watching him. 

Firing the arrow, Edmure watched as it sailed through the air towards the funeral boat and he was sure that it would hit it; he was almost surprised when the arrow missed. 

Catelyn looked down disappointed that her younger brother had missed, she took a deep breath before watching him prepare a second arrow to fire at the funeral boat. 

The second arrow missed the boat by a couple of metres and the gathered members of House Tully all murmured in discontent that their new Lord had missed a second time.

Robb couldn't help the snort of amusement that Edmure had missed again and he quickly straightened his face at the look that his mother offered him; she pursed her lips before looking towards her brother again. 

Edmure prepared a third arrow and let out a deep breath, the boat was sailing further and further away, each inch that it moved made it harder and harder for him to hit it. 

Watching the third arrow miss it's mark, the Blackfish shook his head before moving forward to do the deed himself; he snatched the bow from Edmure and pushed him out of the way. 

Edmure was shoved out of the way and he stumbled to right himself, he moved away offering Blackfish a look before moving to stand next to his older sister. 

Blackfish made sure that he set the arrow on fire before he fired it towards the funeral boat just as it was turning the corner of the river; he threw the bow towards Edmure before he walked away. 

The arrow hit the boat and set it alight giving Hoster Tully the proper send-off that he deserved just as the boat sailed out of sight completely. 

Catelyn closed her eyes and thought about her father, she was going to miss him and she wished that she could have been with him before he had passed away and see him once more. 

It also hurt that Lysa hadn't come from the Eyrie to pay her respects to their father, things might have been trained between Lysa and Hoster because he had married her off to Jon Arryn when that hadn't been what she had wanted. 

Sanira and Robb were silent both knowing that this probably wouldn't be the last funeral that they would have to attend before this war was over; they had no idea what the future would hold for them.

***

"He's gotten so big," Sanira gushed holding Karlon in her arms, it had been a couple of months since she had last seen her son and she almost couldn't believe that he was here right now. 

Sanira was thankful that Catelyn had brought Karlon with her to Riverrun while Rickon had stayed back in Beckton where it was safe for him; she had worried that she wouldn't see her son for months. 

Robb was currently in a meeting with Edmure about the fact that he had disobeyed orders not to engage Ser Gregor Clegane; he might have gained some mill but it had lost them quite a few men. 

"How has he been?" Sanira asked looking up from her son, she had missed him while he had been gone; she admired the tuffs of red hair that sat on his head. 

It made Sanira even more confident that he would look like Robb one day, his eyes were still blue but she could tell that they were getting darker by the day. 

Catelyn looked up from her sewing and smiled, she was glad that she had brought Karlon with her; she was sure the little boy was missing both his parents when they were gone. 

"He's been perfect... a very quiet baby," Catelyn replied softly, it was true that Karlon didn't cause her much of a problem since they had left the army behind and gone to Beckton. 

Sylvina Tremaine had been rather welcoming and Catelyn was glad that she was being supportive of what was going on; she had found herself spending a lot of time with Sylvina and enjoying speaking with her. 

A knock at the door interrupted the two women speaking and Sanira looked up surprised when Blackfish walked into the room where they were sitting. 

He offered a bow to the two and knew that he was doing the right thing, he had just left the meeting between Robb and Edmure and he was annoyed with his nephew.

Edmure seemed to think that he had the right to do as he wished now and it was going to cost Robb sooner or later; the man had screwed up when he had allowed Ser Gregor Clegane to escape like he had. 

"I wish to offer my services, My Queen," Blackfish said focusing on Sanira, he had come to speak with her after speaking with Robb; he knew what he wanted to do and he hoped that Sanira would agree. 

Robb had been surprised by his request and Blackfish could understand why, he didn't wish to travel with the army as planned but planned to do something just as important. 

"Your services Ser?" Sanira asked curious about what he wanted to do, she couldn't imagine why a warrior would want to offer his services to her.

Catelyn watched her uncle, she had no idea what was on his mind but she had assumed that he would travel wherever Robb took his army next; she stopped her sewing and set her things down. 

"To protect the little prince..." Blackfish said knowing that while Ser Rodrick Cassel had been sent to protect the little prince but that wouldn't be enough if Beckton was attacked. 

He was sure that it wouldn't take much for news of Prince Karlon to travel and he was hearing some horrible whispers from Aeredale about what was going on. 

Robb had been informed during their meeting about what Arlenna was doing, it had been far from pleasing and it had made them all nervous about what she was doing. 

Whispers were sneaking out from Sanira's homeland that her father was very ill and that Arlenna was doing everything in her power to make sure that the army wasn't helping the Stark army. 

No one wanted to take a risk that she would inform her darling brother about Karlon leading to something happening to the little boy. 

He was the future King in the North and the Blackfish wanted nothing more than to ensure that he was kept safe and sound.