Game of Thrones: Frozen Fire

Brothers Beyond Blood

There was little territory separating his forces with the ones attacking from South. Randyll Tarly had successfully led his men north, to join Robb's army, even if there were still lingering forces who supported the Tyrells from Highgarden. Once they achieved that goal, they would have the Crownlands surrounded, since Roose Bolton was waiting to attack from the north of said lands. From there, they would move south to attack Stannis if he happened to refuse a truce.

Robb knew that once he had control of what he hoped so, defeating the Lannisters would take no time. And even if he wanted to avoid the killing of innocent people in King's Landing, it would prove to be impossible. As a king, he could not exchange the lives of one city for the rest of Westeros, for his people and the men who had loyally followed him from day one.

In this moment of musing, while he was alone in his quarters, staring at the map with corners already torn, Arya found him.

It was quite painful to think that even if he wanted to spend more time with her, to give her back the sense of united family, he had not had time to sit with her and talk, not even to eat together. Honestly, not even for Dany had he had time which was a pity, considering she still felt hurt by his omission about Talisa.

"Are you busy?" his sister asked.

He certainly couldn't help but smile with relief at having an excuse to breathe and rest his mind.

"When am I not lately?"

She smiled and took this as a cue to join him, sitting in the chair next to his right. With great interest she observed the small wooden figurines on the map, indicating where each army was at the moment, according to the scouts.

"Tywin Lannister did not do this." She gazed at him and for a moment Robb was reminded that his sister had actually been serving their enemy. "He usually spoke about plans and reasoning, about… how you would act."

"What did he say about me?"

"That you have no fear because you haven't lived enough to know it, because you have won every battle."

"To trick him once, I lost thousands of men. You call that a victory?" He heaved a sigh and leaned back on his chair, waiting for her reply.

He was glad to see her shaking her head. "Father would not consider it that. I would hope you wouldn't do it either."

"Glory does not pay for lives." He watched Arya toying with the carved wolf on the map. "They might sing songs about me, but the dead remain unknown. We build kingdoms on top of bodies. We shall not forget that is the highest price to pay."

Silently nodding, Arya just kept him company for a few moments more. Grey Wind soon approached her and laid his heavy head on her lap, waiting to be petted, which Arya happily did. She was one of them, wild and fearless; she was probably the truest of the Starks.

It was his little sister the one who broke the silence with a question that had been nagging at him for a very long time. "How do you think Jon is? Do you think about him?"

There were times when he thought about what Jon was doing, where he was and how the life as a man of the Night's Watch was. Robb sometimes wished that Jon hadn't left before he had declared war so he could be his second in command. Despite everything, they were brothers and there was no man in the Seven Kingdoms in who he could trust more.

He smiled at their sister. "He must be fine."

"Have you heard from him?" she asked in a little voice, as if she had no right to wonder about their brother. It was their mother the one who could not see him, but Arya and he were the ones who had always been close to Jon.