Desert Wolf

Chapter 22 New Companions

It took three weeks for Catelyn and her Riverland household to prepare for their trip back to Riverrun. At that time, Robb, Arya, and Bran had informed Sansa and Jon what had happened. Sansa was appalled by what her mother had done and decided that she wanted nothing to do with her mother.

Sansa realized what a conniving woman her mother was and that she wanted her to hate her oldest brother. But Sansa could never do that, no matter what.

So, when it came time for Lady Tully to leave, none of her children could see her off. She cried bitter tears and blamed Torrhen for her misfortune. Some day she would get her revenge on Torrhen Stark, and Robb would be Warden of the North. Lady Catelyn was placed in a wagon along with Septa Mordane and the rest of the Riverland servant's road horses. Ned refused to have her use the Wheel House he had, it was reserved for the Stark household, and she was no longer a Stark.

Once Catelyn had left, Ned retired to his solar to write Robert and have him annul his marriage to Catelyn. Ned wanted to be free of Catelyn in every possible way. He wanted to ensure she had no claim to the North or him. When Robert received the letter, he was shocked when he began to read it. His shock turned to anger when Robert discovered what Catelyn had been trying to do. Robert called the High Septon and told him to annul the marriage. The High Septon resisted at first until Robert threatened him. So, the High Septon agreed and annulled the marriage between Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell to Lady Catelyn Tully of Riverrun.

Robert had the letters sent to Ned and Catelyn as quickly as possible. When Catelyn arrived at her childhood home, her father and uncle had learned the truth. Hoster was livid; he criticized his daughter and told her that if she didn't behave, he would send her to join the Silent Sisters. Catelyn was mortified, but she had a plan. She decided to give Petyr Balish a chance and win his affection. With his help, they could bring down Torrhen Stark, and Petyr could kill Ned. Catelyn decided to travel to King's Landing to "visit her sister," but her goal was to talk to Petyr and get him to fall in love with her. She didn't know that would be easier than she thought.

Meanwhile, in the North, everything was finally at peace. Ned received Robert's message informing him that his marriage to Catelyn was annulled. Ned breathed a sigh of relief; it was finally over; that was one less headache he needed to worry about. Ned laid the letter aside and decided to watch his son's train.

Grabbing his cloak, Ned headed outside; when he got there, Ned saw that Robb and Jon were trying to teach Bran how to shoot his bow. Ned watched as Bran aimed at the target and loosed his arrow. The boy missed the mark, and his brothers laughed at him. Ned was about to say something when he heard his eldest son.

“And which one of you was a marksman at ten?” Torrhen asked.

Ned nearly laughed at his son's words. He knew from the letters from Allyria that by Bran's age, Torrhen hit the bull's eye more often than he missed, though he had no intention of mentioning that.

Torrhen strode toward his brothers and Theon were at and stood next to Bran, “Do not let these oafs distract you, Bran. You need to relax and breathe, keep both eyes open, pull the bowstring toward your cheek, and exhale when you shoot.”

Bran did precisely what his eldest brother instructed and loosed the arrow. The arrow whizzed through the air and almost hit the bull's eye. Suddenly another hand came out of nowhere and struck the target dead center. They all turned and saw Arya with her bow, she bowed, and Brandon took off after his sister. The boys started laughing, and Torrhen smiled. He called for the two youngsters to come back. Arya and Bran jogged back toward their brother. Arya was nervous that Torrhen would scold her.

Torrhen smiled at Arya and ruffled her hair, “That was very good, Arya; I'm proud of you as I am proud of Bran. How long have you been practicing?”