Game of Thrones: Frozen Fire

Mended Oaths

It was strange but, until she had spent the night in their bed, Daenerys had not realized how different it was to be living in a tent. She certainly still missed Robb's warmth next to her and feeling his soft snores close to her ear.

Jhiqui still placed Blue Winter roses in her room and the hearth kept the chambers at a very nice temperature. Inside her, she started to harbor a desire for the end of war as soon as possible. She wanted her husband by her side, whether he was king of the Seven Kingdoms or King in the North or anything. She didn't have a notion of when she had wanted to be with Robb more than she wanted the Iron Throne but it certainly felt more natural.

If her family hadn't been exterminated, if her father hadn't lost his mind in the first place, she couldn't help but to think her life would have been much different. She would've been married to Viserys in the worst case or, in case of political needs, married off to some lord she would have never met before. She often liked to daydream that said lord would have been Robb, and the reason of the marriage was clear: the North was always a threat for the rest of the realm. But they would have been extremely happy, maybe just as his parents had been despite everything. Their wedding would have been an event, nothing like their real one celebrated in a dilapidated inn in King's Landing. They wouldn't have spent their days worrying about battles and conspirators.

The door of her chambers cracked open, and before Dany could open her mouth, Shaggy poked his snout in. A smile touched her lips and soon Rickon was tiptoeing his way in.

"Dany?" he whispered in a small, conspiratorial voice that made her giggle but she quickly covered her mouth with her fists and sank deeper under the furs.

The bed shifted under Rickon's weight when the boy climbed on it.

"Hi," she breathed out and he grinned at her in that boyish way that reminded her a bit of Robb but also as if she could have imagined the smile of her own child growing inside her.

Lately Iagan had been kicking more often, making his presence noticeable. Like his father, he was not exactly fond of early hours, so when she woke up in the middle of the night, he complained by swimming inside her with fury.

"May I?" Rickon asked, lifting the covers to lie next to her. She nodded because out of all the Starks, Rickon had been ignored more than anyone, and he missed his mother terribly. They both missed Robb. It seemed natural to look for console in each other.

That wild hair of his called for her hand, she felt the need to smooth it and comfort him.

He sighed happily before telling Shaggy to rest on the floor, at his side of the bed, which in reality was Robb's side, but sadly the pillows and furs didn't smell like him, no matter how hard Dany tried to bury her nose in search for it.

"When is Mother coming back?"

The same question came from his mouth every day but since his father's death, Bran claimed it got increasingly hostile. It was no longer a question but a demand.

"Hopefully soon, but sadly I don't know."

"And Robb?"

With a hand on her belly, Daenerys's face twisted with sorrow. She wished she didn't miss him so much, that her heart didn't feel as raw as it did then. It was as if her pregnancy had enhaced her need for Robb's touch, for his grave voice and the look of those shiny blue eyes. "Don't know."

"Will he come for the baby?" Rickon asked enthusiastically.

She chuckled. "Certainly expecting so. He wants to meet him."

"Are you sure it is a boy?"

"Yes."

Rickon fell silent for a few moments but soon moved closer to her side, little hands placed on the swollen belly. "Will he be strong like Robb? Robb's the best."