The Crossed Rose - GoT - R.S.

Namesake

With the storm raging outside, there was not much they could do but wait it out.

A raven had been sent to Walder Frey, telling him that his terms would be met, but that any and every preparation should not be done until the Freys and the Starks met face-to-face again. The letter had lacked any type of detailment considering at any point any raven could be intercepted, but Walder Frey was nothing if not smart. He would know what his daughter had meant. The wedding would take place and, as much as she would try with all her might to push it back, Walder Frey was content enough with the agreement they had reached to care much for his daughter's antics.

Still, Catelyn worried. Not for the marriage itself, but she knew how the storms were in the Riverlands. Only more forgiving than the ones that overtook the Stormlands, but they were powerful and strong all the same, overflowing the rivers and making it almost impossible to leave the castle at all. She knew all of that of course, but she also knew that if the Starks feared the winter, the Tullys had always been aware of storms. Some could last weeks. And that one seemed to be one of them.

So, as much as she knew there wasn't much to be done, she still worried. And she had voiced those worries to her son that had decided on waiting out the worst of the storm before starting their ride back to the Twins.

"It will be a few days at most, Mother." Robb had said at some point. "Besides, the ride to the Crossing is a fast one. Less than a fortnight. We should be fine."

However days had turned to weeks and now, they had been stuck in Riverrun for almost a full moon and Catelyn worried. Robb did too, of course. There wasn't much to be done, but if Walder Frey took it the wrong way, he could start to think Robb wasn't putting up with his part of the bargain and that was something Robb could not afford. But he couldn't talk of that with his Mother or she would worry even more. He certainly couldn't discuss it with his men either, so, his only option had been Dahlia.

So, there they were, in their chambers, with Robb sat in a chair near his desk as Dahlia watched him carefully, sitting at the edge of their bed, in front of him. She had a small pout in her lips as she usually did whenever her Father was mentioned in conversation over the past few days. She used one of her hands to caress her belly and Robb had half the mind to worry for her. She had reached her sixth moon already and the more they stayed in Riverrun, the more the ride to the Twins would be dangerous and uncomfortable for her. Still, Dahlia had seemed to least worried for their delay out of everyone Robb had talked to.

Or, really, she was worried, but, part of her - a bigger part of her - was almost relief, finding an excuse to push back her sister's marriage without even doing much.

"Catelyn is worried my Father will be offended by our delay?" Dahlia asked, her eyes falling on Robb as the man nodded at her.

"I am too." He admitted. "What if he thinks I'm trying to avoid fulfilling our part of the deal?"

"Robb..." Dahlia shook her head then, her head turning toward the window as she nodded at it just when lightning stroke once more from outside, its flash illuminating the chambers for a moment before a loud rumble sounded, almost making the stone walls tremble as Grey Wind whine quietly from his place at Dahlia's feet. "Look outside, love. There's no way we could've ridden in such weather. And the Twins aren't so far from here. If it's storming so much here, it is at least raining at the Crossing. So he'll understand."

"You don't think he'll be offended?" Robb asked. "By the delay on the wedding, that is?"

"Oh, he will." Dahlia sighed. "What I'm saying is that he has no reason to be. We can't ride in this weather and he's getting far more from this agreement than he ever deserved, so if he wants to pout and whine about Roslin not being married by now, so be it."