Armies of Summer

Chapter Four

Winterfell - Year 300 - Seven Days Before The Arrival of The King

The previous three days were incredibly hectic. Elia spent the entire time either assisting Catelyn with organizing her wedding, and the King's arrival, and any spare moment she had she spent releasing her pent up tension by sparring in the woods outside Winterfell with her Uncle. They had been planning on sparring in the yard, but the first five minutes of their spar shocked the people watching so badly that they decided to spar in private after that. Elia and Robb had not spoken more than five words to each other since her arrival, and they only time they saw each other was at the required family dinner every night.

Robb was disappointed if he was honest with himself, he wanted to at least be able to say the words with no reservations, knowing that they could at least be civil when they were together. And, as the wedding was that night in the godswood, there was not really any time for them to talk. So he had resigned himself to not knowing anything about his wife besides what his mother had told him from the time she spent with her. From what Catelyn had been able to gather, Elia's mother had died giving birth to her brother, so Elia, as the elder sibling, was forced to basically raise her siblings.

Beyond that, her father treated her as simply a general, almost like one of his underlings, and never once treated her like a daughter. She did love her Uncle though, and his daughters, her cousins were her friends and they were part of the Dornish Army. The things he had heard about her were interesting, and none of them made her unattractive to Robb, so he thought that was a good thing.

Robb was almost prepared for the wedding, all he had left to do was fix his hair. He was impressed with Elia because she had insisted that, instead of a wedding in the religion of the Seven, that is practiced in Dorne, that their wedding would be in the faith of the Old Gods. Robb hadn't really cared all that much which they did, because he was raised to believe in both religions, as his father believed in the Old Gods, and his mother was raised in the light of the Seven. But Elia had requested it, in her words 'because we are in the North, and if I am going to be a Lady of the North I might as well start now'. Robb could clearly remember how impressed his parents were as they told him at their nightly 'Elia update'. Robb was abruptly pulled from his thoughts at a heavy knock on the door. Robb glanced over at the mirror he had been fixing his hair in, checked it for the final time, and the rose to answer the door. He found Jon standing on the other side with a bright smile on his face.

"It's time brother, everyone is already there, and father said that Oberyn would be bringing her in a few minutes so we need to get out there." Robb nodded before he looked back at the mirror again. Jon chuckled and grabbed his shoulder to get Robb's attention.

"Come on man, you look fine." Robb let out a laugh before following his brother to the godswood where his life as a married man would begin. When they arrived, all of the guests who had been invited were holding torches to light up the area leading up to the heart tree where the ceremony would be. Ned would officiating the ceremony, as the lord of the castle, and as Robb's father. Robb stood next to his father, and only had to wait a few moments before the crowd hushed as Elia walked down the semi-isle they had created with their bodies. She was wearing a beautiful gown, that had to be Dornish because Robb had never seen a dress like that. It had thin straps, and lace around her torso, and flowed down to the ground, with strips of lace through the skirt, and she was barefoot, the only thing that looked familiar to Robb was the orange cloak with the Martell sigil sewn onto it. Even her hair was different from anything Robb had seen at a wedding as it simply fell down around her face. Robb thought she was beautiful. When she was finally in front of them, Eddard began his speech.

"Who comes before the Old Gods this night?"

"Elia, of House Martell, comes here to be wed. A woman grown and flowered, true-born and noble. She comes to beg the blessings of the Gods. Who comes to claim her?" Oberyn shot Robb a wink as he finished speaking his part, and relaxed his face as Robb stepped forward to perform his line.

"Robb, of House Stark, heir to Winterfell. Who gives her?"

"Oberyn, of House Martell, who is her father's brother." Robb took Elia's hand from Oberyn and moved next to her as Oberyn stepped away. Eddard shot Robb and Elia quick smiles before continuing.

"Princess Elia, will you take this man?"

"I take this man." Elia and Robb then kneeled before the heart tree as all in attendance began to silently pray for the couple's happiness and success. Robb rose after a moment and assisted Elia before he removed the cloak he was wearing, and cloaked his bride to bring her under the protection of him, and his family. When the couple turned around to face the guests everyone was smiling at them, as they began to lead everyone to the great hall for the feast. No words were spoken, as it was custom for silence to occur in the godswood after a marriage. But as soon as the group moved past the arched entrance, everyone broke out into congratulations.

Elia was nervous, she knew Robb could tell as he would look over at her every few moments and scan his eyes over her face. She was just so nervous, her hands were shaking, and she honestly just wanted to run away. She had tried to use the busyness of the past few days to distract her from the fact that she was in essence, being sold to the man who was holding her hand. Her father had basically told her as much, several houses had contacted her father and asked for her hand, the most powerful being King Robert, for his son, Prince Trentan, who was the same age as her, and Lord Jaime Lannister, for his son Tywin, who was the same age as Robb. But for some reason, her father said that the Starks had offered more than the King, and the Lannisters were never an option for her since they had their man kill her aunt, her namesake. She wanted to know what they had offered, but had been too nervous to ask.

Besides the man standing next to her, she was nervous about the other two men who she could have married coming to Winterfell in seven days. She was sure their fathers would be cross with her and her family, and she didn't know why her father picked the Starks, so how was she supposed to defend herself against their complaints? Plus, she still had no clue how to act like a lady, but she was supposed to act like one tonight, and every night after this one.

"Calm down. I got you." Well alright then.