Custom Graveyard Celinox
Nostalgia_507
I remember Lady Catelyn Stark. Though she grew up with a brother and sister, I was always her closest friend and ally. Her confidant. When the mad Targaryen King murdered her betrothed, it was I who gave her the strength to move on, marry the younger brother, Eddard and become the great Lady of Winterfell. I held her hand, caressed her skin and soothed her pains as she gave birth to five children--children who would become her lifeblood, the reason for her existence.
I was with her when she received the news of her son, Bran's fall. The Maester declared he would never walk again, if he ever awoke from the deep sleep that overtook his body. Though Catelyn was heartbroken, I held her hand and pushed her through this tragedy. When the assassin came to cut Bran's throat, we fought him off together, bloodying our hands as the dagger cut through our palms. Bran's direwolf saved our lives, but the identity of the assassin was lost as the blood rushed from his throat onto the furs covering the floor.
As we held strong through the long rebellion, we prevailed through Lord Eddard's term as Hand of The King to his friend, King Robert Baratheon and her son's namesake. Though it was a dangerous clash of Lions, Wolves, and Stags, it was necessary to further the Stark name and put Sansa, her eldest daughter, on the Iron Throne of melted swords.
However, fate is not kind to creatures of the winter when they stray too far South. After our capture of Tyrion Lannister, the man who we believed was responsible for the ill-fated attack on Bran's life, Catelyn's husband was attacked in the streets by Jaime Lannister, the captive's brother. He put a spear through Eddard's leg. King Robert's untimely death found his son Joffrey on the throne, and Eddard in the dungeon, accused of treason.
Seeking to aid his disgraced father, Robb gathered the Stark bannermen, the full force of the North, and marched to Kings Landing to hold Joffrey responsible for this act against Winterfell.
Joffrey had Lord Eddard Stark executed.
Catelyn was devastated. Her children were scattered and divided. Bran was bedridden. Sansa and Arya were held captive by the Lannisters, and Robb, a boy of 16, was declaring war against the Seven Kingdoms. Her family was broken.
As the struggle for the throne mounted, I helped Catelyn when I could: helping her to drive a hard bargain with Walder Frey, negotiate with King Renly, deal with the captive Jaime Lannister. Though her soft heart lent sympathy for others, I strove for her to be severe. Strong. We gained access across the Twins with a promise of marriage to Catelyn's son, Robb. Instead, he married Jeyne Westerling to save the girl from humiliation and disgrace and shattered the treaty. Edmure, Catelyn's brother, agreed to marry one of the Frey girls in Robb's place.
The Day of the Wedding came. We ate the Frey's food, broke bread under their roof, drank their wine and danced to their music. Something inside me was unsettled; Walder Frey did not forgive nor forget easily. We had promised him a King, instead, he received Edmure. I did not think the slight was to be forgotten.
In the corner of my eye I saw Roose Bolton, one of Eddard's bannermen, sleeve glint silver. He was wearing chainmail. And then the song began to play: the Rains of Castamere.
There was a flurry of swords and arrows, feathers and steel. Tables were overturned and the men of the North were slaughtered like sheep. Robb was struck. Catelyn and I ducked behind a table but I convinced her to take action.
She grabbed the Frey's fool by his hair and hauled him to his feet, holding an iron dagger to his throat, attempting to bargain for her son's life. Roose Bolton smiled and stuck a sword through Robb's heart. I screamed. Catelyn wept with fury and grief, slitting the fool's throat with a one smooth motion. We stood in sorrow and pain, unable to move.
A man approached from behind and the steel was cold against our throat. It bit into our flesh and then there was nothing.
But I awoke. Family. Duty. Honor. Those were my house words. My family is gone, my duty had left me. But I shall restore the honor that was wrought from my body and take revenge upon those that have wronged me. Winter is coming and the North will not forget this betrayal.
