The Wolf Priestess and the Lion Knight

Chapter 5 Secrets Revealed

Once Catelyn had bathed and changed her clothes, she checked on the children in the nursery. When she walked in, Catelyn found the three babies in the same crib. When Catelyn's maid from the Riverlands saw Catelyn enter the nursery, she curtsied.

“Lady Stark, it appears that the servants of Winterfell only had one crib prepared for your arrival. They did not know of Lord Stark's bastard,” Catelyn's maid said with disdain.

Catelyn's eyes narrowed, “Do not call my Lord Husband's son that! If I hear you or any of the servants refer to Jon Snow as a bastard, you will find your head on a spike. This child is to be treated as a trueborn child. Do you understand?”

The maid stared at Catelyn in shock, but she quickly nodded and curtsied, “Yes, my lady, whatever you want.”

“Good, I want you to let the rest of the servants know you are dismissed.”

“Yes, my lady,” The servant said and quickly left the nursery.

Once the maid was gone, Catelyn walked towards the crib to check on her children. She found her twins asleep, but Jon was awake, looking around. Catelyn smiled at her nephew; she felt her heart go out to the orphan. It wasn't fair that he would never know his mother; she didn't feel bad that Jon would never know Rhaegar; Catelyn thought Rhaegar was scum for leaving his wife and children unprotected and causing their brutal deaths.

Catelyn picked Jon up and sat down in the rocking chair, and began to rock the baby to sleep. The grey-eyed baby stared at her for a moment then his eyes began to droop closed. After a while, Catelyn could hear the sweet snores of the baby she would claim as her son. She vowed that Jon would not be treated differently from her trueborn children. When Catelyn was sure the baby was asleep, she kissed his forehead and put him in the crib with her twins. She said a quick prayer to the Mother to watch over the three children and then left the nursery.

What Catelyn didn't know was that Eddard had been standing outside the nursery and had seen the entire scene. He was surprised and relieved at how his new wife was treating his nephew, which only strengthened his resolve to tell Catelyn the truth about Jon. Ned left before his wife caught him and went to his Solar to wait for her. A few moments later, there was a knock at his door.

Ned told the person to enter and saw that it was his new wife, “My Lady, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yes, My Lord, I wanted to inform you that the feast is ready.”

Ned nodded and walked towards Catelyn, offering his arm. Catelyn gladly took it, and the couple quickly left for the great hall where the other lords and soldiers were waiting for them. As they walked down the corridor, Ned pulled Catelyn to a halt, “Lady Catelyn, there are urgent things I would like to talk to you about; if we can meet in my solar in the morning, we will have breakfast in private.”

Catelyn agreed. She had a feeling that Ned would tell her the truth about Jon. Catelyn was reasonably sure that she guessed Jon was Lyanna's son and was born from rape, but she wanted to hear it from her husband to be positive.

After their brief discussion, they continued into the Great Hall, where the Northern Lords were waiting for the couple to begin the feast. As the celebrations continued through the night, Catelyn observed that the North Men were happier and more relaxed now that they had returned to the North. Catelyn never thought she would enjoy watching the men of the North celebrate, but she found that they were less reserved than they were at Riverrun.

After a while, Catelyn excused herself and decided to go to bed, but before she retired, Catelyn stopped by the nursery to check on the babes. When she arrived, Catelyn smiled at finding Lyarra awake. The baby girl had a special place in her mother's heart. To get her wrong, she loved her twins equally, but there was something about Lyarra that always brought her peace when she held and nursed the little girl. When Lyarra saw her mother, she giggled and asked to be had. Catelyn smiled and took Lyarra into her arms; she sat in the rocking chair and untied her top to feed her daughter. As her daughter latched onto Catelyn's breast, she couldn't help but feel sadden that soon, her twins would be eating solid food, and her bonding experience with them would end. So, Catelyn cherished every moment she spent with her babes.