Desert Wolf

Chapter 20 Resentment Resolved

After a lengthy discussion, Ned and the others decided to give Jon time to mull over this new information and go from there. It would still take several years for the North to prepare to aid Jon in claiming his birthright. So, they would hold off hatching the dragons until a more appropriate time. Ned knew he needed to make the North more self-sufficient from the South. He knew he could depend on crops from the Riverlands for now, but that could change unexpectedly. For now, Ned would hold off on that discussion; the Northern Lords would be arriving soon to celebrate the return of Ned's firstborn.

As he walked towards the Godswoods, Torrhen saw Robb and Theon practicing with Rodrick Cassel. Torrhen stopped to watch and smiled as he watched his little brother spar against the Kraken. Robb was good, but there was room for improvement. He's good, Arthur commented.

Torrhen merely nodded; he couldn't argue with his uncle. But Torrhen knew that there were some things that he could show Robb that would improve his fighting skill. While living in Dorne and traveling with Prince Oberyn, Torrhen had learned a few things, honor was all well and good, as long as it didn't blind you to the realities of life; most people, if not all, did not value honor as highly as the people of the North, and if you were going to survive in this world, you had to be able to adapt to any situation. Torrhen also learned that life was not black and white; there were shades of grey, and that brought to mind what Voldemort had told him once in his previous life. There is no light or dark; there is only power. And now that Torrhen had seen more of the world, he had to admit that Voldemort was proper.

There was no such thing as fighting fairly; there was only fighting to survive. Arthur and Oberyn had taught Torrhen that. Torrhen watched a while longer, and when Robb had beaten Theon, he decided that he would challenge his little brother. Torrhen smiled as he entered the sparring ring, “You're very talented, Robb. I don't suppose you'd like to try your skill against me?” Torrhen asked.

Robb scowled at his older brother and threw his practice sword down, “I'd rather not,” He said and walked off with Theon.

Torrhen watched Robb walk away, confused as to why Robb was acting that way towards him. At that moment, Jon came up behind Torrhen and placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. Torrhen turned and looked at his younger brother.

“Have I done something to offend Robb, Jon?”

Jon sighed, “Robb resents you for being the heir to Winterfell and for never writing him,” Jon explained.

Torrhen looked at Jon, surprised, “What do you mean I never wrote Robb?! I wrote a letter to each of you; I would never exclude Robb.”

Jon furrowed his brow, “Well, Torrhen, in all these years, Robb never received a scrap of paper from you.”

Torrhen turned red with anger, “I knew it. I knew that bloody Fish Bitch would do something like this.”

Jon looked at Torrhen, confused, “Do something like what?”

“I knew she would either destroy the letters and gifts I sent Robb or hide them to turn him against me.”

“Do you honestly think she would do that?” Jon asked.

Torrhen nodded, “I wouldn't put it passed her. I'm sure she's been grooming Robb to take my place as the heir of Winterfell, hasn't she?”

Jon hesitated, “Aye, she has, and Theon has been encouraging him to usurp your position, saying that the Northern Lords would never trust you.”

Torrhen smirked, “Well, that's where they are wrong. Do you think I've been idle these past years? I have kept up a correspondence with all the Lords of the North, with Father's permission, of course. They know me just as well, if not better than Robb, and I can rule them better than he ever could. But that isn't important to me right now; what is important is Robb's hatred towards me. I must prove to him I never forgot him.”

“But how?” Jon asked.

“I made copies of every letter I sent him, just in case something like this happened. I'm going to show him those letters.”

Jon nodded, “Good idea.”

What Torrhen and Jon didn't know was that Arya and Bran had been eavesdropping on their conversation. It made Arya angry, thinking that her mother would do such a despicable thing. So, she and Brandon decided to snoop around their mother's chambers and saw what they could find. They waited until their mother was busy with her household chores to sneak into her room and search for the letters. The children searched high and low for the letters but weren't having any luck. Arya decided to look once more in her mother's wardrobe. She felt around and knocked on the walls to see if she could hear a hollow space. Finally, her patience paid off. On the bottom of the wardrobe, Arya heard a hollow sound; she grabbed a knife and pried the loose board. She Reached inside and began pulling out letter after letter that Torrhen had addressed to Robb along with the gifts he had sent his brother. Arya showed Bran what she had found. The two siblings could feel their anger towards their mother rising. How dare she try to turn Robb against their oldest brother?!

Quickly, Bran took off his cloak, and they piled every single letter and gift into it and snuck back out of their mother's room. They made sure to put everything back the way they found it. Now they only had to find Torrhen and Robb.

While this was going on, Torrhen finally cornered Robb and asked him what the matter was; why did he hate him so much?

Robb scoffed, “What do you care if I hate you? You didn't get in the past; you said that you, Jon, and I were always going to be close, and yet you only ever wrote to Jon and the others. I never got anything from you, not a gift for my name-day or a scrap of news about you. If you didn't care enough about me to write, why should I care about you now?”

“Robb, listen to me, that isn't true; I sent you letters and gifts. Do you honestly think I would write the others and leave you out?”

Robb glared at Torrhen, “Yes. My mother told me I threatened you. She said you feared I would take your place as Lord of Winterfell. I should be Lord! You know nothing of the North; you're an outsider from Dorne!” Robb yelled.

Torrhen grabbed Robb's shoulders, “That is not true. Your mother is trying to poison you against me. If you don't believe I wrote you, I have copies of the letter; you can read them yourself.”

Torrhen handed a bundle of letters to Robb. Robb looked at them and threw them to the ground, “You could have written them at any time to make me believe you cared. Well, I don't believe you!”

“Then maybe you'll believe us, Robb,” Arya said as she and Bran brought a bundle towards Torrhen and Robb.

“What's that?”

“We heard what Jon and Torrhen were talking about and decided to investigate. We went to Mother's room and found in her closet a false bottom where she hid every letter and gift that Torrhen has ever sent you over the years. Torrhen is right, Robb; mother was trying to poison you against him,” Bran told his older brother. And with that, they dumped the contents onto the ground in front of Robb.

Robb kneeled and looked at the bundles of letters; he flipped through them and noticed the date on each one. He picked up every gift and saw that they were for his name-day. Robb looked at Torrhen with tears in his eyes.

“Torrhen, I had no idea. I thought you didn't love me. I never thought my mother would go to such lengths to turn me against you. I am so sorry; please forgive me.”

Torrhen kneeled in front of Robb and embraced him, “There is nothing to forgive, Little Brother. Only know I love you with all my heart, and I will never stop loving you.”

Robb clung to his brother and wept, it had always hurt Robb to think that he meant nothing to Torrhen, but these letters and gifts proved otherwise. As he hugged his brother, Robb vowed to the Old Gods that he would never mistrust his brother ever again and that Robb would follow his brother to the end of the world if need be.