Among Lions and Wolves • |Book 1|

.chapter thirty-five.

"You will train me. There will be no questions on if I am capable of handling myself. You will push me even when I am on my knees and in pain. Do you understand?

Rhaella stared directly into the ocean blue eyes of Ser Alwin Gregof, her newest member of her guard. She did not like the idea of having her own guards, not after what had happened to her recently. But she would have to ignore the discomfort she felt whilst in the presence of men. Alwin had been the first and only one with balls big enough to offer up and train her, even against Robb Stark's wishes.

It was treason to defy your king, but Robb was not Rhaella's king. She was no subject of the north, she had always been a child of King's Landing. Her home, a home that had rightfully belonged to her ancestors for many years before the downfall of her uncle. Even still, King's Landing is where she lived. She would take it back.

Alwin picked something from his teeth as he debated his answer, and then lofted a dark brow and replied, "Didn't plan on goin' easy on ya, your grace."

"Good," her own brows furrowed, she realized exactly what he had said. "Your Grace? Ser Alwin, I am no queen, why do you address me as so?"

He winked and smiled knowingly while he rose up, towering over her as he did so. "You'll know in good time."

Alwin walked past her, glancing sideways at the growling white dire wolf that had just stood up as well. Winter disliked Alwin as much as he disliked her, but the two had yet to go beyond a mere growling match.

"I want to know now," Rhaella demanded, "Why are you calling me that? Is there a rumor that I'm to take the Iron Throne? I have no doubt Cersei would say anything to have my head. It would be a reasonable rumor considering I am now in the company of the King in the North..."

He turned to look over his shoulder at her, "All in good time." And with that he continued on walking toward the outskirts of camp where he and the few men he brought with them set up their tents.

A frustrated sigh passed through her lips, still she was treated like a child by everyone around her. By the men especially. As much as she wanted to despise Alwin, she could not. He gave her the hope she needed, the hope that perhaps one day soon she would no longer have to depend on a man for protection.

She turned around, that particular man she had been thinking about stood in front of her. His lips were pressed into a hard thin line while his brilliant blue eyes had been focused on where Alwin had gone.

"You don't like him."

"I do not," he replied, looking back at her. "But I can trust him. That's more than what I can say about the men that surround me now."

She dropped her gaze to the muddy ground beneath their feet. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. So much linked to Jaime Lannister.

"That is behind me now," he sighed heavily and turned around. "Come with me, we have matters to discuss."

She had followed Robb back to his tent where a table had been set for him to go over battle plans. Parchment scattered the table, along with spilled ink that had long since dried up.

Robb stood at this very same table. His hands gripping the wooden edges while he bit his bottom lip nervously. Here he let his guard down, no longer the same man she saw outside the canvas walls.

"We are to travel to Riverrun, I hope you do not mind," he said after a long moment of silence. "I know you want to return home. And I know Riverrun is not in the direction toward Shadow's End... but..."

Rhaella lowered her gaze to the sleeping gray dire wolf and kept her silence. He didn't need to finish what he was about to say, she already knew.

For as long as he was alive, Robb would never let her go within a foot radius of him. For as long as he lived, he would never forgive himself for what happened to her.

Perhaps it was his fault, she began to think. Had it not been for her betrothal to Robb Stark in the first place, she would be at home safe in King's Landing, loved by Cersei and all those there. She would have her sweet Myrcella with her and they would have never had those awful lion cubs.

She would have went to Winterfell and left it despising it for being so cold and unlike King's Landing. She would have never fallen ill, nor would she have met that man or Jon Snow.

Rhaella walked away from the table to sit down on Robb's bed. He had been speaking to her, and she had heard nothing. Jon now plagued her mind. What would he think of her now? How would he have handle the situation if he was here?

She missed him, she realized. She missed him more than she ever knew.

Fresh tears began to fall. Rhaella placed her head in her hands and she cried harder than she could ever remember. They should have never left Winterfell. She should have begged him to go away with her. She was the last daughter anyway, the unimportant one. She could have married him. They could have fled somewhere North, perhaps even across the narrow sea where her cousin had gone.

"What is it now?" Frustration mingled with concern. Robb stood in front of her, his hands at his sides. A deep breath passed through his lips as he closed his eyes briefly. He knelt down in front of her, his hands now resting on her knees. "You can tell me."

"I miss him," she lifted her tear stained face from her hands to look up at him. His look of frustration faded instantly. She could never mistake that look on his face, she'd seen it over and over again. Robb Stark could never disguise that absolutely heartbreaking look he wore anytime the she mentioned Jon.

"I can never be him," he spoke carefully, "and you could never love me like you love him... if at all."

Robb placed his hand to the side of her face. With his thumb he began to wipe away her tears. She said nothing in response, she really didn't know what to say. How could she ever love Robb? She had tried, time and time again. She had convinced herself that she did but it had been one big lie. She did not love him. She never could.

"Perhaps that is the one thing that is good about political marriages, they are never for love."

"Nothing good will come from marrying me, marry for love."

Robb lowered his head to hide the smile that appeared on his face. He pulled back his hand and slowly stood up. Turning his back to her, he began to walk away.

"I am marrying for love," he said as he approached the table. "We will be wed in Riverrun, that will be a fortnight from now."

"And I have no say in this?"

Robb turned to face her, "No," he turned back around. "I should have fought for you when I had the chance."

• a.n •

This is late mainly because I didn't finish it on time Saturday or Sunday and I was busy working since then.

Whether it's good or not, it's undecided. But I kinda don't care because I'm ready to be over with this book and onto the book two because season seven has me so ready for Rhaella's future 🙌