Chapter 23

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Chapter 23

Catelyn Stark

"My Lords!" Her brother stood at the high table, toasting the feasting men and women. "It brings honor to me that you'd feast at my hall in unison! Our start was rough, and we may have suffered some defeats, but with the help of our Northern friends, we hit back ten times harder!"

"HOO!" "HOO!" "HOO!" Cheers followed his words.

"We made the Lannisters bleed, we crippled their army and liberated our lands from their terrible yoke! Now they're fleeing with their tail between their legs! We gutted them in the battle of the Crossings! Their mad dog dead at the Mountain Slayer's hand!"

"GREATJON!" "MOUNTAIN SLAYER!" "STARK!"

"My nephew crushed a great host in the Battle of Oxcross, and after taking a stroll through the Westerlands, he marches here with a conquered Golden Tooth at his back! Proving once again, that the Lannisters are nothing but toothless cats scrambling for strength!"

"STARK!" "STARK!" "STARK!"

"So feast! Raise your cups and sup cheer to the gods, old and new, for this is but the beginning, and before long, we shall have Tywin Lannister and his brood scraping before us! FEAST NOW! FOR VICTORY!"

""VICTORY!""

She raised her own cup in solidarity, giving a forced smile as the men cheered to her brother's speech.

She could sight the Greatjon at the center of the northern party, his left arm missing a hand and his laugh echoing through the room as he regaled a couple of men about what became to be known as the Battle of the Stone Mill, whereupon he killed the Mountain in single combat.

"The Late Quiet Wolf gave the order to punish that beast." He finishes his retelling. "That brat Dondarrion and his so called brotherhood may not have been able to bring that dog to heel, but we northerners, we finish the fucking job! To the honorable Eddard Stark!"

"Aye!" His companions toast her late husband with great cheer, yet all she could feel is grief.

'I counseled him.' She thought. 'I told him that he must go to Kingslanding, to accept Robert's offer.'

Tears begin to pool in her eyes. 'He wanted to stay home, in Winterfell.' She stares at her reflection, the red color of the wine seemed like blood, blood she indirectly spilled with her decisions. 'I killed my husband, it was me.'

A calloused hand finds itself on her shoulder.

"Why don't you move somewhere else." Her uncle says. "Your brooding is bringing down the mood."

She startles for a second, before she roams her gaze across the hall, most were too deep into festivities, but she noticed some stray gazes toward her from some people.

"Let's go, Cat." Brynden leads her to a balcony, it shadowed the Tumblestone, one of the rivers that intersected around the castle, and was a beautiful crystal blue that made one want to take a dip.

Her mind wandered at its sight, she remembered fonder days, when she used to play with Lysa and Petyr at its shores, pushing each other into its waters until her mother would come rushing to bring them to their lessons.

"I saw Hoster." Brynden breaks her out of her reverie. "He seemed… frail, but he was proud, of Edmure, and Robb too."

"Then you must have seen him at a good time." Catelyn smiles bitterly. "He can only be lucid for so long before his mind drifts away, and those moments have grown to be increasingly scarce as time goes on. Maester Vyman says… he- he says that he doesn't have much time left."

Brynden comes closer, giving her a sideways hug.

"Death comes for all of us, Cat." He says. "Hoster already has the privilege of living longer than most, in fact, I distinctly recall you being a foot shorter and ten times more mischievous." He laughs. "Remember when you convinced Edmure to climb a tree? The boy was so terrified I had to go up to bring him down myself."

The comment forces a genuine laugh out of her.

"Petyr had convinced Lysa to do the same, you just had to come and ruin the fun."

Brynden laughs. "I'm an adult, our job description is to ruin our children's fun."

Catelyn's smile thins at the mention of children. "Indeed." She says. "Sometimes less successfully than others."

The Blackfish stares at Catelyn's back, his expression painted with pity.

"They'll be safe, Cat." He reassures. "With Jaime Lannister captive, they won't dare touch a hair on your daughters' hair. Plus, I'm hearing rumors that the Lannisters don't even hold Arya."

She suspected as much, back at the Twins a letter was sent with Sansa's handwriting, yet none from Arya.

Her mind wandered, her sweet, innocent Sansa, betrothed to a monster in a man's guise, with no friends nor allies to look to. And Arya, her rebellious, opinionated daughter, where could she be, even? The lands from here to Kingslanding are shock full with bandits and murderers, who knows what fate might have befallen her?

Tears start streaming out again, the pain of a child's loss hitting deeper than the most grievous of wounds.

"My children, I want my children back!" She looks to Brynden with a wet face. "Can't we trade them back? We have the Kingslayer, Tywin Lannister's flesh and blood, do we not?! Can't I get my children back?!"

Her uncle gives her an apologetic expression. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, Cat." He says. "It's complicated."

"Then make it less so!" She exclaims. "Explain to me why exactly can we not simply end this matter with a single trade, why I have to go longer without my children home safe!"

Brynden sighs. "A trade goes in our favor, and we would be amenable to one, but the Lannisters will refuse." He says. "The Riverlands and the North are in full blown rebellion against the Iron Throne, Cat, the Lannisters have no intention to stop the war. They won't stop until Robb and Edmure and all of our families are dead or at the Wall, even bowing down to them won't be sufficient for them to stop."

"They want to punish us, not only that, but they want control over our respective Kingdoms." He explains. "It's a question of considering the aftermath of the war, were they to win, they'll be able to pacify the Riverlands fairly quickly by elevating another house as Lord Paramounts, but the North is a different matter." He puts his hand over her shoulders, staring her in the eyes to put more weight on his statement. "Only a Stark can rule the North, Cat. They did so for thousands of years, and the Northern Lords will only accept someone with their blood to rule over them, the only way to control the north is to have a Stark."

"Sansa?" Catelyn questions.

Brynden nods. "Indeed, not only that, but Jaime Lannister is Tywin's firstborn, and the Old Lion is known for his disdain for his other son, the Imp. It is common knowledge that he considers him to be his heir, and it would be easy, with his grandson on the throne, to revoke his position in the Kingsguard and make him his heir once again." He says. "Your daughters –or daughter- are not. After Robb there is Bran and then Rickon, who are both alive and well."

"From their perspective, they need to hold at least one Stark at all costs, and they can use the excuse of their gender to justify their refusal to trade." He says. "The Old Lion will want his son back, but he won't pay with a Stark."

Catelyn understands, yet she doesn't want to believe.

Before they could continue, Edmure barges in.

"Uncle!" He looks at Cat and nods jovially, before turning back toward Brynden. "I have men asking about the Ninepenny Wars and no stories to entertain them with! Come, come!"

Edmure swiftly pulls his uncle away, who reluctantly lets himself go as he gives an apologetic nod toward Cat.

She then is left alone to her thoughts. 'A dangerous time to do so.' She thought.

Her uncle's words were reasonable, and she completely understood the logic behind it. If they wished to switch hostages, and the Lannisters refuse, then there is nothing they could do.

She lets the sound of the flowing river wash over her thoughts, thinking right now would only bring sadness to her heart.

"Excuse me, my Lady?" She hears from behind her.

She turns to attach a face to the voice.

It was a relatively short man, his frame was large, yet didn't seem fat. He had a large mane of dirty brown hair and blue eyes, his face was comely yet only barely so.

She recognized the man; he was one Lyonel Frey, second son of Emmon Frey and Genna Lannister. He was known to be charismatic and quick to smile, unlike his disliked brothers, his reputation was somewhat clean, at least as clean as a Frey's might be.

Both he, his brothers, and father, fought with the Lannisters against them on the Battle of the Camps, their father was kept prisoner, as he had a position of command in the battle, yet his sons were allowed relatively free reign, claiming that they were forced to fight under duress.

Her face turns sour and cautious, she didn't like him nor his brothers, any who would call the Lannisters family deserve to be buried six feet deep for all she cared.

He clearly notices her temperament, letting out awkward chuckles.

"I understand why you would come to hate me, my lady." He says. "And I know that you'd sooner slit my throat than hear my words, but I shall deign to speak nonetheless."

"A Lady does not bloody her hand." Catelyn rebukes. "I'd have my uncle or my brother do it, instead. Or maybe I'd call the Greatjon to do it for me? I hear he has developed a fearsome reputation as of late, I can't imagine his methods being anything less than gruesome." Her voice is clipped and filled with hate.

She feels vindication once his smile freezes and brows twitch from fear. She might be polite enough to hear his words, but that doesn't mean she can't have words of her own.

Lyonel takes a deep calming breath, forcing himself to smile self-pityingly. "I believe I do deserve that. I heard as much, after all." He says. ""Bollocks" they said, when I claimed to be forced to fight against your son. When I surrendered my sword at his feet, the Greatjon himself made to crush my head before Lord Stark stayed his hand."

"But I must tell you, my Lady. That I hold no love for the Lannisters either."

Catelyn scoffs. "Yes, you simply spend their gold, use their name, and grow fat on their well wishes." She ridicules.

"Aye, I do. But I do so out of vindication, I take advantage of the privilege brought to me because it is the only way I know to fight back." He explains. "Some forty years whence, when my grandsire announced my mother's betrothal to my father to Tytos Lannister's face, t'was the Old Lion who objected to the act. Many years later, when he became Lord and I was born, how do you think I was treated? How do you think the Lannisters treated the target of Tywin Lannister's ire? I assure you, my Lady, it was not pretty."

He shakes his head. "But that is another matter entirely." He says. "I came to speak, because I couldn't help but hear your conversation with the Blackfish."

She crosses her arms.

"What of it."

"He is right." Lyonel says. "The Lannisters would be entirely unwilling to trade any of your children for Jaime, not only for the reasons cited, but also because I know enough of Tywin Lannister's pride, and a Stark for a Lannister would be something it would chafe at."

"But there may be a way."

Catelyn stills, she knows this can be a trap, this man is half Lannister, someone who would benefit entirely from freeing the Kingslayer, but the prospect of freeing her daughters was too enticing.

"Jaime Lannister must confess." Lyonel says. "He needs to write a letter confessing to his misdeeds, that Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella are his progeny, and that they are bastards born out of incest, and not the heirs to the Iron Throne." He explains. "If that happens, then the Lannisters must unequivocally deny those claims, and the only way they could do that is by asserting that the confession was forcibly extracted, that those claims are false. However, their words alone won't suffice; they'll need the Kingslayer to confirm that."

"Which would make them more amenable to a trade."

She didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. If Jaime confesses, then the Lannisters will have greater issues than holding on to their hostages. The Lords of the realm would be appalled at the news, and many would join Stannis or their side simply out of spite.

She suddenly walks away from the Balcony, mentioning to her guards to escort her outside the feast.

"Take me to the Kingslayer." Her guards share a look, before simply shrugging and escorting her out.

'He has to confess.' That, is all she thinks on the way to the prisoner's quarters.

When she finally reaches the room where Jaime is held, she ignores the vigilant guards and roughly opens the door.

She ignores her complaints, surprising the prisoner as he was laying on his bed.

"Why did you push my son out of the tower?!" She asks.

This wasn't the first time she talked with the Kingslayer, when he first became a prisoner, she had a conversation with him, upon which he confessed to pushing Bran and crippling him, but not the reason behind it.

She knew it was because he caught him while he was fornicating with his own sister, but if there was no proof.

She walks roughly up to him, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and pushing her weight on him such that he fell back to his bed.

The guards behind her scramble to separate them, but she holds on tight. "You will confess, and you will confess now!" She screams, her face filled with hate, anger and determination.

"Confess to what?" The Kingslayer replies, as if he didn't know what she was talking about.

"That my son caught you fucking your own sister! That Joffrey and his siblings are products of incest!" She says. "You will come clean, or I swear to the gods that I will slit off your throat!"

Jaime Lannister simply laughs sardonically. "I have no idea what you speak of." He says. "Those accusations are false, and my nephews and niece are the sons of Robert Baratheon, first of his name."

His smirk brings nothing but anger to her, she growls at his face before standing back, her face quickly turning worryingly calm.

"The way I see it." She says. "The only obstacle between me and my daughters, is you."

She swiftly turns toward one of the guards holding her back, she quickly grabs the hilt of a dagger sheathed on his chest and pulls it off. Before anyone could react –the Kingslayer being shackled by a couple of other men in case he may try anything- she had already stabbed the Lannister on the shoulder.

The man screams, his voice echoing beyond the chamber, but Catelyn simply twists the knife in.

"CONFESS! JOFFREY IS A BASTARD BORN OF INCEST! SAY IT!" She screams.

The guards hesitate, they were told to keep the prisoner alive and not letting him escape, nothing was said about stopping the Lady Stark from making him suffer.

"YOU PUSHED MY SON OFF THAT TOWER BECAUSE HE SAW YOU DO IT! SAY IT!" She puts another hand over the dagger, pushing even more weight on it.

Jaime screams even further. "I have no idea what you're speaking off, woman!"

She growls once again, and violently pulls the knife off, eliciting another scream.

"Then you are of no use to me."

She moves her hand to stab him in the face, hopefully in the eye, but her hand is grabbed suddenly by one of the guards, who finally made a choice to put a stop to her actions.

"Milady! You cannot kill the prisoner!" The others grab her and pull her off, while one of them runs off to call a maester for the Kingslayer's wound.

"You will confess! You hear me!" She screams even while dragged off. "I will make you acknowledge your crimes even if it is the last thing I do! You hear me!"

Even while they closed the door before her, she slammed her fists on it and screamed at Jaime to come clean. It took her uncle being called to calm her down for her to stop.

Even so, she vowed to come back whenever she can to try, for her family, for her daughters, Catelyn Stark would do the unthinkable.

[A.N: So, Lady Stoneheart makes a slight appearance, heh.

I'm writing this note because I wanted to talk about this chapter, specifically, some differences between canon and this fiction that may explain somethings.

In canon, the situation about the hostages are different from the Robb's position, the Lannisters are still unwilling to make a trade due to the same reasons, but Robb couldn't propose one either because Jaime killed the Karstark heirs and a lot of his vassals were demanding his head.

Robb was in a precarious position, he didn't know that the Lannisters lost Arya, his lords wanted to kill his prisoner, Catelyn wanted to trade, and he'd already lost a shit ton of clout because he let Theon go and broke his marriage contract with the Freys.

This time, it's different. Robb put Jaime out before he could kill anyone of importance, he wasn't betrothed to anyone and didn't marry anyone, and not only did he prepare for the Ironborn but Theon convinced his father to not attack the north.

It creates a situation where trading Jaime IS the best decision, you get your single weak point, you continue the war without fearing for your family's life, and your vassals don't care. But again, the Lannisters don't want to.

This shifts Catelyn's perspective, and it's the reason for this note specifically. In the books/show Catelyn starts to resent Robb because he was unwilling to trade, and when news of Bran and Rickon's supposed death reaches her, she finally accepts Baelish's offer to make a trade and secretly let's Jaime go. But now, she's smart enough to understand that Robb WANTS to trade, but the Lannisters refuse, so she can't be tricked if someone secretly comes to her and says "Hey, let Jaime go and we'll make a trade", because she'll know it's bullshit.

In the books, when Robb sends Cleos Frey (Genna's first son) as an envoy to declare his terms, Tyrion hatches a plan(that fails) to send some men to try and free his brother back with Cleos, but the men are caught and Jaime is moved from noble prisoner quarters to a cage.

In here, Robb only writes a letter to the Lannisters letting them know that he knows Arya's free, and warning them not to touch Sansa, so Tyrion's plan is going to be different.

That means that I get to come up with a clever scheme myself, that may or may not work better than the books, and has some exciting consequences.

That's it. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.]