Chapter 56

"Lord Stark has send us both an invitation." Aunt Barbrey said as he chewed on the Vinson for a moment before he drank some water to wash it down.

"Invitation for what?" he asked as Maester Wolkan bowed and left the room.

"For Robb Stark's 10th name day." She said with a frown and he instantly realized that there was something wrong with this invitation.

He was not very good at politics but he was good at reading people. And his aunt's current expression and the emotions churning inside her mind clearly told him that she was suspicious of the Invitation letter for some reason.

"Is there something wrong with that?" he asked and her frown deepened as she read the letter once again.

"Lord Stark is not someone who throws such extravagant feasts. Even if it's the 10th name day of his heir." She said as she put down the paper on the table and thought about it for a moment "And the timing is too convenient."

"Convenient for what?" he asked.

"You conscripted some 1000 men in your army a few weeks ago." She explained to him "He must have heard about it by now. But coming here to check on his own would be too risky for him and calling you to personally meet him could be seen as rude. Calling you like this on the other hand would serve the purpose of interrogating you and deal with the situation properly as the other lords would be there to support him in any decision he makes against you."

"This all seems a bit too much to me." He said and picked up the letter on his own before reading it's content quickly "I didn't thought that Lord Stark was the kind of person to make such cunning decisions."

"It was probably done by his wife, Lady Catelyn Stark." She said with some venom in her voice. Her hate for Maesters, Starks and Tullys was an open secret to everyone "And I doubt that this is something as simple as an interrogation."

He raised an eyebrow at that, wondering where this all was leading to.

"Do you know that Lord Stark has a daughter named Sansa who's only a few years older than you?" she asked and he instantly understood what all this was about.

"They plan to betrothed her to me." He said with a frown, not liking the idea of someone deciding the future of such a young girl. Not that he would let anyone decide his own life for that matter.

"It's a smart decision." She said with a shrug though there was a bitter smile on her face "Your power and wealth is increasing day by day and the Starks are feeling threatened, as they should. But they cannot attack you without any provocation. Lord Stark's honor wouldn't allow it. So marrying you to their daughter and cementing the alliance between the two houses is a rather smart decision. One that I would have made as well had I been in their shoes."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she simply smiled at him.

"You should be happy with this. A marriage with a Stark would be a great boon to your house."

He grimaced at the idea of being betrothed to a child and shook his head "I'll not be betrothed to someone so young." He said and before she could open her mouth to protest, his raised his hand to stop her.

"And I won't marry her if she's not deserving of being my wife." He said and that was his final decision.