The Crossed Rose - GoT - R.S.

Terms of surrender

He had done it again. Robb had won another battle and now, he had a new castle and new prisoners. Dahlia had been kept in her tent with Catelyn, Willaman and Dahlia's Queen's Guard keeping watch there for the women. They needn't worry this time around, however, because this battle - the Battle of the Yellow Fork as the men have been calling it - had been a rather easy one to win.

Still, men had been killed and men had been wounded and, as soon as the soldiers returned, Dahlia took it upon herself to help out with the army as much as she possibly could after making sure Robb was alright. In spite of his Mother's and wife's protests, the King in the North had marched into battle with the rest of his men. Thankfully, this time around, he didn't suffer any bad wounds. Sure, he had reopened the arrow wound on his chest a little, but Catelyn had taken quite good care of it. Therefore, Dahlia was allowed to walk around the camp, aiding men when she could and offering them food and water when they needed it.

She had done a fine job of it, talking to as many men as she could and comforting them when needed. Dahlia was starting to notice that Robb's men were starting to warm up to her now. They no longer saw her as a Frey. They no longer saw her as a southern. And after she had returned from Renly's camp with her loyalty to their King still intact, they no longer saw her as a threat. Now, she was Dahlia Stark, the Queen in the North. The Gentle Wolf, they called her.

"Is what you are, your Grace." One of Lord Flint's sons had told her when she asked why it was that she had been given the name while she wrapped up a bandage around his torso to help him heal from a big gash some sword or another had opened there. "Gentle and kind. It seems only fitting, don't you think?"

Dahlia wasn't sure. She had always praised herself on being a good lady. She was delicate when she needed to be and she knew how to behave. She liked to think she was kind. She loved her brothers and her sister. She loved Robb. She loved Catelyn. She loved Margaery. She liked to think that meant she had a good heart, but she couldn't be sure. She was grateful, however, that Robb's people - her people - thought so too. Gentle and kind, they said. She liked that. She would be that for them - gentle and kind while her husband was strong and fearless. At least, when people were watching him.

"Well, that pleases me greatly." Dahlia admitted and when the young Lord Flint smiled, she realized she meant it.

She was still the Crossed Rose. She would always be the Crossed Rose. It was who she grew up being. And she was proud of it. Weirdly enough, she was proud of it. The girl no one could say belonged to either the Freys or the Tyrells. She had been a mystery for most of her life, but now, she was a mystery no longer. Now, she wasn't Frey or Tyrell at all. Now, she was Stark. No longer the Crossed Rose to her people. No longer an outsider. Now, she was their Queen, their Gentle Wolf. And nothing made her prouder than that.

"Ah, there you are, love."

A smile made its way to Dahlia's lips when she recognized the voice. It was Robb, she knew, and she didn't even have to look back at him to know it. Not with how much she had heard that voice before and, especially, not considering the way Lord Flint stiffened a little from the place he had been sitting against a tree so Dahlia could work on his wound.

"Your Grace." The young man greeted, seemingly ready to stand up while Dahlia placed a hand on his shoulder to push him back down.

"Don't." She said simply, and she could tell Lord Flint was unsure on what to do. After all, that had been an order from his Queen, but his King was standing in front of him and he was expected to courtesy him, right? "I'm sure King Robb understands you are in a much too delicate position to greet him properly right now, my Lord, don't you, my love?"

"Of course." Robb nodded, standing just behind Dahlia as the girl kept on working on Flint's bandages. "No need for such formalities, Lord Flint. You should take some rest, after the last battle. You fought brilliantly from what I've seen."