Work Text:
CATELYN
This cannot be happening, Catelyn thought as the chorus of voices died down around her. Robb was just a boy. Her boy. Her son. Ned had already been taken from her, she would not allow the Northern lords to take her son as well.
“My lords! My lords, please, let us discuss this further!” Catelyn pleaded as the last of the men fell silent.
Greatjon Umber snorted and replied, “There’s nothing left for discussion! He is our king, and the one true King in the North.”
The other lords bannermen all voiced agreement, all except her uncle Brynden. Catelyn took notice, and more relief than she could have thought washed over her. They may not listen to me, but they will at least hear one of their own.
Catelyn leveled her gaze on his and asked, “Ser Brynden, have you anything to say?”
He rose at her behest, and in that moment Catelyn wished that her lord father was well enough to be another voice of reason to this hall of lords that were so ready to commit treason using her son.
“My lady, my lords, I believe there is something being greatly overlooked in all of this. Lord Stark, I would proclaim you King in the North, and indeed all Seven Kingdoms, but for one thing; a boy-king is the cause of this war we are fighting,” he said, which caused the hall to break into chaos.
“You would compare Robb to that golden piece of Lannister shite that sits the Iron Throne!” Theon Greyjoy shouted, and would have vaulted over the table at the Blackfish if Catelyn’s brother Ser Edmure and Marq Piper hadn’t held him back. Theon continued to spout curses and qualities of Robb at which King Joffrey couldn’t begin to compare. This sparked the ever-dry relations between Lord Bracken and Lord Blackwood, who now stood nose-to-nose in a heated argument. The Greatjon and Rickard Karstark were listening in and taking sides, while Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover took defensive positions near Robb. Throughout it all, Stevron Frey was slowly inching towards the door, but before he could flee Edmure released Theon and ordered the guards to block the exits.
“None will leave this hall until our course is decided! A king must be chosen, whether it is a Northern lord or the second son of a Southron house,” Edmure ultimated, and the bannermen returned to their seats without another word.
Tytos Blackwood was the first to voice an opinion. “Tommen is Robert Baratheon’s son. The throne is rightfully his,” he said, and so by nature, Jonos Bracken had to disagree.
“And have another inexperienced child ruling over us? The only ones that have any merit are Stannis and Robb. There is something to be said about a serious ruler, but Stannis is overmuch. I side with the King in the North,” he said, and the Greatjon clapped him on the back in agreement.
Lady Mormont looked apologetically at Robb and Catelyn before saying, “Stannis Baratheon has the best claim. I believe we should join our forces with Dragonstone.”
“I will take my revenge wherever it comes, be it on a battlefield in the Riverlands or on the front steps of Casterly Rock. The only one of any of these kings that has dared go against the Lannisters is Robb Stark, and I’ll see it through with him to the end,” Lord Karstark said.
Marq Piper again spoke for Lord Renly, and the sense could be seen in his reasoning, but the youngest Baratheon brother was no longer a consideration for the others.
Edmure simply said, “I’ll stand by my sister’s son,” and that was the last that was said.
Catelyn Tully Stark’s son was once again proclaimed King in the North. Those that had sided against Robb were bound by their loyalty to their liege lords to stay and follow him, but it was known that the tensions that had been set would not fade overnight. Her son, her firstborn who had been given life right inside these very walls, had now been crowned inside them. She had been defeated.
Ned, watch over our son. Beseech the Old Gods to protect him on this path that he is forced to take, and let not the same fate come to him as has the last two Lord Starks that have gone south, Catelyn prayed, with her eyes upturned to the timbered ceiling and the blue sky beyond. To the Old Gods, to the New, to the Lord of Light, to anyone that is listening; you took my husband, leave me my children. Leave me my son.