Queen of Ashes [ASOIAF]

―amina.

          𝓡obb was in the woods, crumbled against a tree that bore at least a dozen slashes. His head buried in the crook of his elbow, and he looked up as Amina approached. She stepped over his ruined sword and sat beside him. "Are you all right?"

          "No," Robb said, his voice barely a whisper. They received word from King's Landing just hours ago: Ned had been executed by order of Joffrey Baratheon. No one in camp knew how to take the news, some were angry, while others were distraught. When Robb had disappeared into the woods, Amina had felt somewhere in between.

          "Neither am I." Amina pulled him toward her, resting his head on her shoulder. Ned had been the closest thing to a father she'd ever had. He'd protected her, when a lesser man might have slit her throat. He'd raised her and taught her everything she knew. Now he was gone. "I wish we could go back to the way things were before. I want our family together, I want to go home."

          "It's my fault," Robb said quietly. "If I hadn't marched us south, the Lannisters might have let him go. We might be home, safe, not worried about what dark news will come tomorrow. What if Sansa is next?"

          Her anger flared, making her cheeks flush. It wasn't fair that Robb had lost his father, that Catelyn lost her husband. Whatever lies the Queen and her Lannister family spread, they all knew: Eddard Stark had done nothing wrong. The only person to blame for Ned's death had golden hair and a fierce grasp on the throne. "You can't blame yourself, you had no choice. War was coming whether we fought or not. If we'd stayed in Winterfell, Tywin Lannister would have destroyed the Riverlands, and when he was done they may have still killed your father."

          "And Sansa will not be next," Amina promised. "We will end this, you will end this." She wished there were more words she could say, but nothing could ease this pain. So instead she just held him, and hoped it would help them both.

          After a long while, Robb pulled away and looked at her. They both had red-rimmed eyes, and puffy cheeks. "There are times I wish you were in Winterfell, safe. But there are others when I know that I wouldn't survive this if you weren't with me."

          Amina put her hands on his cheeks, and ensured he was looking into her eyes. "I will always be with you. Always." She believed it, and not only that, she wanted it. She wanted to end this war and return to Winterfell with him, to find some other way to appease the Freys and keep Robb to herself. Though a part of her would always mourn the life she could have had with Jon, she knew it was gone. Robb was more than a second choice, and with time Amina would grow to love him the way Catelyn had Ned.

          She kissed him, softly, and then pulled away. "The men are ready to ride for Riverrun. I'll tell them you need a bit more time."

♔ ♔ ♔ ♔

          The great hall of Riverrun felt overbearing. The lords and ladies of the North and the Riverlands argued and debated, but their voices had grown muffled. Amina wanted nothing more than to return to her chambers and cry herself to sleep. Ned was gone, and Hoster Tully would be the next to die, and the only thing this bloody room cared about was which King they should support.

          She was sure Catelyn felt the same, but they'd been seated at opposite ends of the table. For appearances sake, Amina couldn't even hold Robb's hand. She tried to listen, to learn the names and faces of the Riverlords, to be useful. Renly Baratheon had crowned himself king, much to the surprise of the realm. There'd been no word from Stannis yet.

          Not that Amina wanted to support either Baratheon. Renly had no right to the throne and Stannis was nothing special if the talk was to be believed. But on the other hand, there was Joffrey, Robert's son, the true King. At Winterfell, the boy had been entitled and rude, and in the months since had proved to be more like the Mad King come again than his father's son. There was no good choice.

          "Why not peace?" Catelyn asked.

          The lords looked toward her, and Robb shook his head as he unsheathed his sword and laid it on the table. "My lady, they murdered my lord father, your husband. This is the only peace I have for Lannisters."

          Amina had to agree. This war would not end just because they willed it so. There was too much pain now; the realm could never be as it had been. "Could Ned have made peace with Aerys after Brandon and Rickard's deaths?" Amina asked, speaking for the first time. "Even if we bent the knee, this distrust and anger and bitterness will not go away. Why make peace today if we have to pick up our swords again tomorrow?" Brynden voiced his agreement and many other lords followed.

          "Then what would you do?" Catelyn asked her. The look in her eyes made Amina sit quietly for a moment, to think about her answer. If she were more than just a Corrigan, if she was the Princess she'd been born to be, what would she do?

          "I would not bow to a Lannister," Amina stated. "Baratheon or not, Joffrey is his mother's son, and the Lannisters cannot be trusted or forgiven. They must face justice."

          "I agree," Lyman Darry spoke up. He was Lord Darry now that his father had died fighting the Lannisters. He had a newborn son and a humble castle, a life he wanted to protect, things worth fighting for. "Whether we win or lose, we have no choice but to fight. To bow to the Lannisters is to spit on the graves of those they have killed."

          "Would you bow to Renly?" Robb asked, looking at Amina. He waited for her answer like his own decision would hinge on hers, like they were the only people in the room. She thought again of Beldain, of running away and taking Robb with her. But nowhere was safe, nowhere was far enough to escape the Lannister threat. Like Lord Darry, Amina had things she wished to fight for as well.

          "No, I would not. Nor Stannis, neither." Amina drew one of her knives and looked at herself in the reflection on the blade. "We are Northerners. We are made of ice. When has winter ever stopped for anyone?"

          Greatjon Umber banged his fist on the table so loudly every head snapped in his direction. "Lady Corrigan is right. What do Southorn kings know of the Wall or the wolfswood or the barrows of the First Men? Even their gods are wrong." The man unsheathed his greatsword. "Why shouldn't we rule ourselves again? It was the dragons we married, and the dragons are all dead!" Lord Umber pointed the sword at Robb. "There sits the only king I mean to bow my knee to, m'lords. The King in the North!"

          Lord Umber knelt and placed his sword at Robb's feet, Lord Karstark followed, then Maege Mormont. Even the Riverlords joined in. Lyman Darry and Jason Mallister, the ever-feuding Blackwoods and Brackens.

          Amina looked at Robb and she was sure there was dragonfire in her eyes, the kind that could burn down kingdoms and forge new ones in their place. Amina turned her knife toward the table and thrust it down so it stuck up out of the wood. She smiled and added her voice to all the others, "The King in the North!"