Lady of Winterfell

Chapter Thirty-Nine: I Swear to You

Taking a deep breath, Sanira stepped out of her bedroom feeling a little unsettled since Karlon had travelled back to Beckton with Catelyn; it had been hard letting him go a second time. 

However, Sanira understood that it was for the best that Karlon was away from the army and her dreams had started to become more frequent; each time she saw Roose Bolton standing over her son's crib preparing to stab him. 

It was late at night and Robb was busy discussing his next move with his uncles, Sanira was almost relieved that he had started to pull away from relying on Roose Bolton so much. 

Rounding the corner on the way down to the kitchen to get herself some food, she was a little hungry and she didn't have any maids right now that could do this for her. 

Just as she turned the corner, Sanira came to a complete stop at the sight of Rickard Karstark and a group of his men hurrying down the corridor without a sound. 

"What is going on here?" Sanira asked trying to sound confident, none of the men looked happy and she could only imagine what was going to happen if this didn't work. 

The group of men came to a stop at the sound of her voice and turned to face Sanira, none of them were happy that they had been discovered especially when they had planned to murder the two Lannister boys that they had taken hostage. 

Rickard Karstark glared at Sanira, he still thought that Robb would have been better off marrying a woman from a family that didn't have a Lannister connection and whose family would support them in this war. 

"I am your Queen and you will answer me," Sanira ordered not sure where this confidence was coming from, she knew that several of the lords had begun to complain to Robb about the fact that her father had not marched to meet them in battle.

The men were silent for a moment and Sanira doubted that they would willingly give up what they were about to do and she feared that she might have walked in on something that would damage the war effort. 

"You were going down to the dungeons," Sanira guessed walking towards the men, she doubted any of them would risk killing her when she was their Queen. 

It would lead to them being executed and Sanira didn't want any more trouble to plague their efforts, she just wished that there was some way that she could make the men see that she was on their side. 

"Slaughtering Martyn and Willem Lannister will not bring your sons back," Sanira said shaking her head, she didn't know how Rickard Karstark was feeling when she had never lost a child but she had to do something from stopping this. 

It really wasn't hard for Sanira to guess what the group had planned, she had noticed how angry Lord Karstark had seemed recently and he was bound to want to take it out on the family that had caused his pain. 

"Of course you'd defend your Lannister kin," Rickard Karstark spat, he wasn't even surprised considering who her mother was and it wouldn't be long he was sure that Robb would be bowing down to the Lannister army with some new treaty that meant that the Starks would keep the North. 

Sanira took a deep breath, it didn't surprise her that people assumed that she was loyal to that part of her family; none of them really knew her or understood that she had nothing to do with that side of her family. 

Even the words that Tyrion had said to her made Sanira feel uncomfortable, she didn't consider herself a Lannister let alone her mother's daughter. 

"They aren't my kin, any more than Tywin is my uncle," Sanira snapped, she had little to do with the Lannister part of her family and while she had spent time with Cersei and her children; there was no connection that she felt with any of them.

Silence greeted her words and Sanira hoped that they would understand where she was coming from, Tywin and his family were nothing to do with her and Sanira was almost glad that she didn't have to deal with her mother right now. 

Rickard Karstark was silent for a moment taking in the words that Sanira had said, he was a little surprised with how she had spoken about the Lannisters. 

"I know you have no reason to believe me... but I am not some Lannister spy, nor do I support what they are doing," Sanira said when no one said anything, she was hopeful that she would be able to make them see that this wasn't going to work. 

Whatever they had planned was going to come back and haunt them if they went through with it; there were bound to be better ways to get what they wanted than murdering children. 

Sanira couldn't imagine what would happen if Karlon was ever in that situation and she loved her son more than anything; she would do anything to make sure that he was safe during the war. 

"I am a Stark and before that I was a Tremaine... I am no Lannister," Sanira insisted, there was no link between her and the Lannisters apart from her mother and the woman barely acted like one towards her. 

Sanira was rather happy to pretend that Arlenna didn't exist right now, she was nothing to her and the time that she had spent away from her had allowed Sanira to feel even more confident. 

Taking a deep breath, Sanira stepped towards Lord Karstark knowing that she had to do something; she was going to have to make some move that would convince the Karstark men of her loyalty. 

"I swear to you Lord Karstark... the moment that Jaime Lannister is caught that you may have his head," Sanira vowed not even caring what Robb might have to say about that, the man was a lot of trouble and she was sure that this would please Lord Karstark and his men in some way.

***

"Are you sure about this?" Edmure asked looking over the map, it was a risky plan and he was surprised that he wished to make this happen; they would be putting themselves in a difficult position. 

Robb sat down across from the board and nodded his head, he stared at the plan that he had formed and he was almost glad that Lord Bolton wasn't around breathing down his neck about what would come next. 

"We will need more men for an assault like this," Edmure insisted knowing that capturing Casterly Rock would be a risky move, the Lannisters were bound to have the place protected and they would not react well to losing it. 

Robb didn't say anything, it was going to be difficult and he was worried what would come from this but they needed to swing this war in their favour soon before it was too late. 

Recently things had been falling apart and Robb felt lost on what he could do to pull his army together; it didn't help that he felt like he didn't know who to trust anymore. 

"And where do you plan on finding them?" Edmure questioned moving around the table, he had no idea how they were going to pull this off and he felt out of his depth when it came to advising Robb. 

His uncle would have been a lot better at this and Edmure was almost surprised that the Blackfish had gone to Beckton with Catelyn after the funeral. 

"From the House that marched home without my permission," Robb murmured looking towards the Twins on the map, he had no choice but to try and bring House Frey back into the fold.