The Guardian of the North (Robb Stark) Completed

Epilogue: The north remembers

~ One year later ~

Winter has come

Cries turned into soft whimpers and later into absent stares, tears turned into stains never to fade again, memories turned into dust. Wounds became scars and turned into pained memories. Memories turned into stories which in turn turned into legends.

Just as the Starks had always promised, winter had come. The frost was biting away not only at everyone's skins but also the flowers, trees and animals. It seemed the dreaded cold had finally arrived and that it wasn't going away any time soon, as everyone feared. To Robb though, the winter's wind was soothing. Somehow the freezing cold reminded him of times before but also of how quickly things could perish. The beauty reminded him of someone, the pale white that covered everything like a sheet would cover a bed. It looked soft and mesmerizing, yet really, on the inside, it was dangerous and threatening.

The last 12 months were the heaviest months Robb ever had to pull through. After the fall of the last guardian, or so they called her ever since, Robb was forced to stay in King's Landing for another few weeks. With Stannis gone he was the only one who had the position and the authority to rein the Seven Kingdoms.

Yet, after 13 dreadful days, they discovered Robb wasn't fit enough to rule the seven kingdoms. Not in this state anyhow. He didn't talk often, didn't eat, refused to see his children or anyone else for that matter. It was only after Elena's funeral that Robb finally decided something and that was that he couldn't bear to be in King's Landing any longer, not with the dreadful memories that came with the rubble and ruins.

So he returned to Winterfell, leaving Steven to rein over the now six kingdoms. Steven managed surprisingly well. Especially with several people believing that guardians were monstrosities sent up by the darkness himself. The people soon learned though that there wasn't anyone else better fit to rein over Westeros, except for Daenerys who was on her way to claim the Iron Throne for herself.

"Good morning, your grace." Mary smiled after opening the curtains before his window. She put the tray with food on the desk next to his bed just like she did every morning. Before Robb had servants who did that for him but he disbanded them all, claiming he had difficulty trusting people ever since the incident.

"Mary." Robb acknowledged her while trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. He had huge, black circles under his eyes and he had lost a considerable amount of weight. Yet there was still a slight rosy tint to his cheeks as a result of Jon's endless support.

"It's a big day!" Mary tried to sound enthusiastic, just as usual, trying to lift his spirits. "Steven sent a letter yesterday, he says they'll be arriving around sundown. We'll have enough time to ready everything."

"I trust you'll handle it perfectly." Robb sighed deeply as he lifted himself from the bed, his feet touching the biting cold floor. His muscles were aching. Almost every day he would ride into the forest, trying to escape from reality. The way the wind flew right past him, the way he heard and felt his horse run swiftly with the trees rushing past them made him feel like he was escaping.

"'No, no, no, don't you put this all on me." Mary pointed at him while opening the last curtain and letting the sunlight shine right in his eyes. "You're the king and you're going to help me get everything in place." She squinted her eyes shut when the winter breeze hit her right in the face.
"How many times do I have to tell you, that you shouldn't leave your window open at night! You'll catch a cold!"

"You know I can't sleep without the cold, Mary." Robb slowly dressed himself. He sat down on the edge of his bed, staring out of the window with a distant look on his face. Mary saw his expression and sat down next to him, laying her hand down on his shoulder.