The Queen in the North

Chapter Two: Leaving Winterfell

"No," Karlon shouted stamping his foot, he wasn't going to put on the tunic that he had to wear; everyone was busy preparing for the trip to Riverrun and Karlon was no exception since he was expected to be there as heir to the North. 

This was the first big occasion that his parents had permitted him to attend and they both agreed that it was time; they wanted to show off their son at an event that many lords would be attending. 

Karlon was the future King in the North and it was important for his people to see him, they would want to see how much of a healthy little boy he was and that the Stark line was strong. 

"You must," Kari Frey insisted trying to get the little prince into his clothes, they didn't have much time and she had to get him dressed for the trip. 

Kari had spent the better half of an hour attempting to get Karlon ready to leave and they didn't have much time left; she was sure that Osric would have been the easier choice to get ready for this trip despite being one years old.

Kari sighed attempting to get Karlon dressed, she thanked the gods every day that she hadn't ended up being slaughtered after what had happened; she had kept her head down for a while not wanting to anger anyone after what had been done. 

It hadn't been easy, she had been loyal to her Queen since the day that she had entered her service but there was no ignoring the whispers that were said about her. 

She and Fat Walda had feared that they would both end up on the wrong side of a war that their father's actions had caused; no one trusted Freys any longer even if they had been allowed to keep the Twins. 

Walda was now Lady Bolton, serving as regent to her four year old son who was the new Lord Bolton after Roose had been executed for his actions against House Stark. 

"Karlon... we must get ready," Kari insisted again trying to get the little boy to let her dress him, this wasn't she was meant to be doing but everyone else was busy making sure that everything was ready for the trip. 

It was rather strange to think that they were heading back to Riverrun, they would pass by the Twins and it made her think about what had happened five years ago. 

Karlon pouted taking a step back, he didn't want to get dressed and he wanted to get back into bed; it was cold, and it was far too early for him to be awake right now.

Osric was being taken care of by one of Sanira's other ladies and Karlon was a little jealous of his baby brother who didn't have to get dressed up; he was still sleeping, and everyone was letting him. 

"I don't want to," Karlon replied shaking his head, he made sure that there was space between them since he didn't want to get dressed; he didn't want to go to the stubborn tourney that his great uncle was hosting. 

He didn't want to leave the place that he called home, he didn't want to leave behind his grandmother who would not be travelling with them as they headed to the place that she had once called home. 

It was hard not to notice a slight cooling in Catelyn's treatment, the looks that she offered to his Uncle Jon when she thought that no one was looking; it made Karlon uncomfortable because he liked his Uncle Jon. 

It was his Uncle Jon that was teaching him to shoot arrows, even practice with a sword along with Tobin, who had served as Karlon's decoy when the Lannisters had come to Beckton. 

Tobin had spent most of the war trapped in King's Landing, serving as a hostage to the Lannisters who thought he was the real Karlon Stark. 

Kari groaned looking at the little boy, she had no idea what to do with him and she knew that they weren't going to have much longer left before they needed to get moving.