A feast for the crown.

Guess who’s back?  Not sure if anyone remembers me... But I’m not dead ! Yay!

Robb raised an eyebrow at Margaery reaction. He has never seen anyone so eager to see a tree. A sacred tree sure, but a tree nonetheless. Yet he was not offended by it, therefore, her apologise was useless and he would have told her so, if he wasn’t so surprised by something else she said.                               ❝  Never ?  ❞ Of course, the young Lord wasn’t stupid, he knew the heart trees were a religious place and the South was not worshipping the new gods. Still he assumed they kept their trees even though no one was using them anymore. Moreover, if one thing was certain it was that there remained people in the South faithful to the old Gods, not much but still... And they needed a place to pray, doesn’t they?                                ❝  Then we must fix this immediately.  ❞ Robb himself hadn’t visited the place in quite some times, so he figured it would be both of some use. Plus he finally get to talk with Margaery. He encouraged her to get moving with his arm and even though he step closer to her for their “journey” he stand still was at polite distance from the Lady.

Robb has just met Stannis, yet he was already convinced that he was the one who should have sit on Iron Throne and not his brother. Of course, he did not know Robert Baratheon intimately but he knew enough. He knew that he was perceived as a joke. A drunken joke. The hero he was during the rebellion completely disappear when he was crowned. Stannis on the other hand seemed serious. So serious in fact that Robb was intimidated by him, but no sign of this was visible on his face. If he wanted an alliance with Stannis he needed him to see him as a King and not as a boy.                             ❝   Murder. My father was murdered.  ❞ « Passing » sounded too much like his father was dead of some disease or accident and this was far from being the case. His Father was murder by Cersei and Jaimie’s bastard and Robb was going to make sure they’ll pay. Everyone of them.

Of course, he knew that correcting Stannis was not what he was supposed to answer. He was supposed to reply to his courtesies but despite his best intention Robb could not hide the angry boy he truly was.

True. Not only Victoria was going to married a complete stranger but she also going to lose her home and her title. Now, if Robb could live without titles, he could never live without an home and he imagined that Victoria must feel the same way that he did and he was going to help her. Well... He was going to try to anyway. After all she was to be his wife and the last thing Robb wanted was his wife unhappy. He may not love her, he may not know her yet but it was his duty to take care of her. Of course, he couldn’t do something about the titles or the lands she was about to loose but he could very well help her finding a new home in Winterfell.                             ❝   I know this situation must be particularly hard                                   on  you  but  you  should  know everyone here                                 wants you to be comfortable. If you ever need                                   something all you have to is ask.  ❞      Sadly that was all he could said to make her feel better. Robb knew it wasn’t much but he was hoping that the place he was about to take her would help her forgetting all she was losing and falling in love with Winterfell. What did she like? What was he supposed to talked about? He had no idea. As a result the future couple remained in an awkward silence until they finally arrived in Winterfell’s garden. Robb stopped after entered the greenhouses to stare at Victoria hoping he would see on her face if it was indeed a good idea to bring her, here. Of course it was not the only place in Winterfell that was worth being see, but he assumed it would be a great place to start Victoria's tour of the Castle. This was after all Sansa's and Jeyne favourite place. Clearly there was something here appealing to young women.                            ❝   Have you ever heard of Winterfell’s garden?  ❞                                 He asked truly curious to know the answer .   

                           ❝   I don’t think she will   ❞  he replied with a friendly smile. Liar. Of course she will cause trouble. She didn’t want to come and she was going to do everything she can to be send back to Winterfell. Yet Robb have no other choice but to lie if he wanted the two Ladies to at least try to get along. Robb felt slightly uncomfortable and guilty at his sister question. Of course Arya was supposed to be with him but one second of inattention was more than enough to lose her and sadly Robb has been concentrated on Sansa for more than a second.                             ❝   She is supposed to... But she probably                                    left to explore King’s Landing by herself. ❞ That did sound like Arya, nonetheless if something were to happen to her, Robb will be guilty as he was supposed to watch over her.

                            ❝   I’m not sulking ❞  he replied crossing his arms                                  against his chest. Of course he was, he simply didn’t want to admit it. In his defence Robb had every reasons to pout. Not only Jon was older and taller than he was but he also played swords better than him. And he has humiliated Robb in front of everybody!!! Just because he was older than he!! This was not fair!

If some people enjoyed Christmas, Robb was definitely not one of those people... Well... The holiday itself was not really an issue for him. Quite contrary, he loved being with his family, speaking, laughing, eating... The problem was and always has been the presents. He wanted to please his family so much that he never knew what to buy them, it always seemed to be “not enough”. And that was precisely why he was so happy that Sansa gave him his present early. At least he will give him an idea of present.                                ❝  Nope, I already found Arya’s present. ❞ From the three girls Arya was definitely the easiest to shop for, the less “girly”, therefore more in Robb’s universe. Au contraire, make up and everything else was faaar beyond his abilities.                               ❝  Should I open it now? ❞  he asked whilst                                    shaking sightly his present. Sure, it would give him an idea for Sansa’s present but it felt wrong to open it and give her nothing in return.

Les demandes de la jeune femme ne surprirent pas le moins du monde Robb. Riches, pauvres, nobles, bâtard, tous autant qu’ils étaient ne rêvaient que d’une chose : “liberté”. Pour certains cette liberté devait être accompagnée d’argent, pour d’autres de pouvoir... Mais le noyau était le même: être libre de faire ce qu’ils leur plaisaient. Et Robb ne faisait pas exception à cette règle. Lui aussi aurait voulu être libre, libre de retourner chez lui, libre d’épouser qui il voulait sans conséquences... Libre tout simplement. Hélas que l’on soit paysan ou Roi, on ne pourrait jamais accéder à cette liberté, le poids de la vie se ferait toujours ressentir. Ce qui pour autant ne voulait pas dire qu’il ne pourrait pas accéder à la requête de Myranda. Certes, le Roi ne pourrait jamais la débarrasser des obligations que la vie mettrait en travers de son chemin, mais il pouvait très bien la pardonner de sa traîtrise et aussi incroyable que cela puisse paraître, cela semblait être tout ce que la brunette désirait.                                 ❝  Soit, si c’est ta liberté que tu désires, ta liberté                                     tu auras. ❞ Il n'avait après tout aucune utilité pour Myranda, ainsi la liberté ne lui permettrait que de libérer une cellule et des hommes. Qui plus est, il supposait que les hommes qui étaient encore à ses côtés étaient ceux qui lui seraient fidèles qu'importe les coups durs. Aussi, il jugeait qu'il ne risquait pas grand-chose en laissant la traîtresse partir. Ou en tout cas, il ne risqua pas une énième trahison de la part de ses hommes, et c'était là l'essentiel. Il pouvait gérer les remarques et les murmures mais une trahison de plus lui serait fatale. Il peinait déjà à joindre les deux bouts...                                ❝  Très bien tu nous y accompagnera et si tes                                    informations sont valables, tu seras libre.                                    Autrement, je peux t’assurer que tu ne                                     reverras plus jamais la lumière du jour.  ❞

His Lord Father had gone to King’s Landing with some of his men and some others were sent to the forest to look for wildlings. Could the Stark afford to send others to protect the Romanov’s lands? Probably. Although, if Robb was being completely honest about the situation, he had no idea if it was true or not. The young young wolf has still a lot to learn and sadly he couldn’t count on his Father to teach him anything anymore. One thing he did know thought: he had to do every he could to protect those who were loyal to his family and the Romanov were among those people.                            ❝  We know and we appreciate your loyalty. That                                is why you shall have anything you ask for.  As                                 long as your lands are under attack, you are                                more than welcome to stay in Winterfell. ❞ Robb frowned whilst hearing Anastasia words. His mother never said anything about corresponding with Alexandra Romanov, not even when her daughter showed up in Winterfell. Although, Lady Stark had probably a lot in her mind with Bran’s health. She was probably too focused on his recovery to remember about some correspondence.                                 ❝  A wedding I shall guess.  ❞ As the young Lady has just stated, the answer was obvious. Noble family has forged their alliance through wedding for centuries and this was certainly not about to change. So no, the wedding itself was no surprise for him. On the other hand, the fact he never heard of it... That was a surprise. And even tough he guessed what the Lady was talking about he has no idea who was concerned by this wedding talk. The only thing he knew for sure was that Jon was definitively out of it. Never his mother would arrange a wedding for her husband’s bastard, let alone a wedding with a noble family.

He shouldn’t have? Probably, but there was something his sister didn’t seem to realise... Robb didn’t have any choice. He could not let Arya go anywhere with those men, he couldn’t lose her, not again. Furthermore, he wasn’t sure their mother would has been able to forgive him if he did.                             ❝  You know I could not let them take you                                 away. ❞  He came closer to her and looked at her like it was the first time he saw her. They spend years apart and Arya looked so different right that he felt like she was an whole other person right now. So much so that he didn’t even know how he should behave with her. After all, he had no idea what she’s been trough. One thing was certain thought, his little sister, the one he knew was long gone.                              ❝  Not again. ❞  he murmured after a few                                 seconds of silence. Thereupon he took a steps forward and hugged the young girl. The young King couldn’t care less about his nobleman right now, or how different Arya was. He was simply delighted to have her back to his side. Delighted and relieved. Indeed, he has been so very worried for her... Of course he has been worried for Sansa too and he still was but that was nothing compared to his concern for the brunette. Au contraire of Sansa they haven’t heard a word about Arya. Not even once, the Brotherhood were the very first to contact them about the young Stark.  To be honest, after a few months without any news of Arya, Robb started to worried something very bad had happened to her. Obviously he didn’t share this particular concern with Catelyn, since he did not wish her to be more worry than she already was. But he did lose any hope to ever see Arya again. Well... Almost any hope. Life hasn’t been kind to the Starks lately but he did have faith in some divine justice and clearly he was right to believe so.                             ❝  Someone else will be happy to see you. ❞                                  he added whilst he was letting go of her. Robb ignored if Arya knew their mother was there too but he did hope she didn’t. His sister clearly deserved a surprise right now and it was the very least he could do after failing her. After failing their entire family actually...