Armies of Summer

Chapter Six

Winterfell - Year 300 - Two Days Before the Arrival of the King

It had been five hours since Robb had seen Elia. She wasn't at dinner, and neither was his mother or Maester Luwin, all three apparently too busy to sit down for dinner. After dinner Robb had wandered around WInterfell hoping to find her, and when he didn't he retired to their chambers in the hope that she was there. When she was not, he decided to bathe himself, and then as the moon rose high into the sky, he settled himself down in one of the chairs at the table next to the large window to wait.

As midnight came and went, Robb found himself becoming more and more anxious as he began to pace the carpet in front of the fireplace. It was freezing in their room, since he wasn't wearing anything more than his nightclothes, which consisted of a thin pair of breeches, and he had neglected to light a fire as he was too worried about his wife to do so. What if she was being seduced by Theon right now? What if she was having an affair with one of the commanders she brought with her? What ifs continuously ran through his mind as he continued to pace.

Winterfell - One Day Before the Arrival of the King

She was gone the entire night.

Robb had gone out searching for her a few hours after midnight, but Winterfell was still, nothing was moving, and she was nowhere to be found. What if she were hurt? What if she were asleep in another man's bed? What if she had run off to go back to Dorne because he hadn't been talking to her? When the sun was finally at an appropriate height in the sky, Robb clumsily managed to dress himself, the sleepless night weighing heavily on him. He trudged down to the hall to eat breakfast with his family, like normal, preparing himself to tell them that Elia, his wife, was missing. But when he arrived, she was there. In the same dress that she had worn the night before, with her hair a wreck and tangled around her face, and she was sitting next to Theon.

Robb couldn't help himself, he was by her side before anyone could blink, and then he was grabbing her hand and towing her out of her chair and out the door, into the the hallway, up the stairs, and back into their room. Elia was silent the duration of their trip, and simply stood in front of her raging husband after he slammed the door behind them and turned to face her.

"Where the fuck were you last night? I was up all night, waiting on you, and then I spent this morning searching the whole damn castle for you! I though you had gone back to Dorne, I thought you could be getting raped, I even thought Theon could have taken his threat seriously to try to seduce you! But I dismissed it, I thought oh, no. My wife would not sleep with that bastard of a Greyjoy, she's too smart, too loyal. Well imagine by fucking surprise when I come down to breakfast to tell my family you are missing, and there you are! In the same damn clothes you wore yesterday, with 'I just got fucked' hair on, and sitting next to that blasted man! I ought to kill him! How could you do that?! I know we don't have a perfect fucking marriage. Believe me! I know! But I never thought you would be a fucking Dornish whore!" Robb was raging, and later, when he was calm, he would probably regret the things he yelled at his wife. But in the moment, all he could see was his wife fucking the man he used to think of as a brother, and all he saw was red. And then, he didn't see anything as his eyes shut in reflex to the slap that emitted a sound that echoed around the room.

Elia was breathing almost as hard as her husband. How dare he call her a whore? He was supposed to be her husband, to support her, to believe in her. Not jump to conclusions and call her the worst thing a Lady of high stature could be called. And besides, she didn't sleep with Theon-fucking-Greyjoy! Why would she do that? She was married! And maybe some people aren't loyal to their spouses, but she gave up her life to be with him, why would she screw that up by screwing someone else?

Elia looked down at her hand that was glowing red before she looked up at Robb who had gotten over the shock of the slap, and had now turned his eyes back to her, shocked that she would hit him, and more shocked at the hateful glare he was receiving.

"I was not sleeping with Theon! I slept on a couch in the library! So obviously you didn't look everywhere or you would have found me there! Your mother said that Lady Arya and Lord Tyrion love to read, so I was cleaning up the library, and it became very late, and I didn't want to cross the yard in the dark, so I slept in the library! And don't ever... call me a whore. I am not a woman who gives up her entire life, to marry a man, and then screw other people. Why the fuck would I do that? I was trying to be a good Lady, like you and your family want. So pardon fucking me if I didn't want to be late to break my fast with your family so that I could come and change and brush my hair when I didn't wake up early enough. But besides that, just because you aren't screwing me, doesn't mean that I am so fucking depraved that I have to go a fuck a man whore who needs a woman spreading her legs in his bed every night, no matter how many men she's had. I am better than that. I am a fucking Princess of Dorne, and if you ever call me whore again I will show you what that means. Now excuse me. I am hungry and I am done with this conversation."

Before Robb could stop her, she had slammed the door shut as she blew out of the room. He felt his eyes well with tears as he sat down on their bed, or what is supposed to be their bed, and let his face drop into his hands. Last night they were supposed to take steps forward as husband and wife. He wanted to know her better. And in a way, he guessed that now he did, but they definitely did not take steps forward. Fuck no. They took a fucking million steps back.

Winterfell - The Day of the Arrival of the King - The Yard

Lady Catelyn was leading her sullen daughter-by-marriage and Maester Luwin through the yard as they were looking for anything that could be wrong. It was the day of the King's arrival, and everything had to be perfect. Elia glanced up from her feet as she saw Bran's direwolf circling in front of them.

"Gods, but they grow fast." Catelyn murmured as she began to look around for the wolf's owner. And found him, at the top of a wall.

"Brandon!" Catelyn screeched as she moved closer to him, like she would be able to catch him if he fell. Elia felt worry swell within her as she looked up at the little boy.

"I saw the King! He's got hundreds of people!" Bran said as he looked over the wall, and then back down at his mother.

"How many times have I told you? No climbing!" Elia chuckled to herself as she saw Bran take one more look over the wall before he began his descent.

"But he's coming right now! Down our road!" He was almost to the ground now, and Elia had never seen anyone climb like that. She didn't think he would ever be able to fall. When he finally arrived in front of his mother, Catelyn looked at him sternly.

"I want you to promise me. No more climbing." Elia watched as Bran looked down at the ground as he wrung his hands.

"I promise." Catelyn allowed a small smile to grow on her face as she apparently recognized her little boy's lie. She pulled his head up with her hands until he was looking in her eyes.

"D'you know what?" She said softly. He smiled up at his mother, in a way that Elia found she wanted.

"What?"

"You always look at your feet before you lie. Run and find your father. Tell him the King is close." Bran nodded quickly and ran off, followed closely by his little wolf, and the small group began walking once again.

"My lady?" Elia said quietly, not wanting to overstep her bounds with what she was about to say.

"Yes Princess?"

"I don't think you need to worry about his climbing... I don't think he could ever fall."