The Wolf and The Doe || Robb Stark || Game of Thrones

~ ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔖𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 ~

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Sofya entered the room where Benygne was waiting for her. The Winterfell-born servant seemed to be scared of her new lady.
"Good morning, how are you?", Sofya asked with a gentle smile.
"I-I'm fine, my lady, how are you?"
"Better than yesterday for sure", Sofya sighed.
It was her first morning in Winterfell without her family around.
"Do my hair, please", Sofya sat on the chair in front of the mirror.
"My lady, I want to inform you, I can't do hair like Myrtle. I don't know much about southern fashion"
"It's alright. Do my hair northern style. Simple and boring", Sofya shrugged her arms.
Benygne nodded her head and started doing her job. She was already surprised to see her lady wearing a plain grey dress, so unusual comparing to the ones she used to be wearing. All servants were gossiping about the beautiful gowns Lady Sofya took from the capitol with herself. But today she was finally wearing one of the dresses that were waiting for her in Winterfell.
"Pretty, thank you", Sofya smiled when her hair was done. She didn't sound honest but she was trying to be nice to Benygne. She hoped that she could have the same relationship with her as she had with Myrtle.
New Lady Stark went downstairs for breakfast. Robb wasn't there, just Rickon and his septa.
"Lord Stark ate already", septa informed Sofya, "He went out with Grey Wind"
Sofya nodded her head and sat next to Rickon. It all seemed to be so empty without half of the Starks.
"Sofya, I missed you", Rickon hugged his sister-in-law, "Where were you yesterday? Robb told me you were sad"
"I was indeed. My family went away", Sofya smiled a little.
"But I'm here!", Rickon exclaimed which made her chuckle and she caressed his head.
"Yes, that makes me very happy", she admitted.
"I'm here... No one else, though. Everyone went away and left me here alone"
"No, it's not like that. Everybody loves you, Rickon", Sofya tried to cheer him up.
"My Lady", Maester Luwin entered the room, "We need to have a talk"
"What is it?"
"Lady Catelyn is spending all her days with Lord Bran... I tried to speak to her but she doesn't seem to care about other things. And Winterfell needs someone to take care of it. Your brother's visit costed us a lot"
"Talk to my husband about it", Sofya shrugged her arms.
"Where is he?"
"I wish I knew", she sighed.
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Lady Catelyn smiled a little when she saw Sofya entering the chamber. She sat next to her and started to sew. She was almost finished two days ago but yesterday she couldn't force herself to leave her room.
"Glad to see you're feeling better", Lady Catelyn mumbled while sewing as well.
"Thank you, My Lady", Sofya nodded.
They were both sitting by Bran's side and working quietly when Sofya decided to start a rather risky conversation.
"Um... Lady Catelyn?"
"Yes?"
"Rickon misses you"
Catelyn gave her a deadly look. She didn't like being reminded that she was neglecting her other children. She knew that already.
"I mean... I don't mind taking care of him, I really don't. But I'm not his mother", Sofya tried to explain, "And... And Winterfell needs someone to run it"
"You and Robb should run Winterfell, not me"
"Alright, maybe you are right, My Lady. But we are not the ones who should take care of Rickon all the time"
"He's not a little boy. He's still a child but he doesn't need me or you around all of the time. Bran needs me much more"
Sofya didn't want to argue. She just nodded her head. Lady Catelyn was stubborn and nothing was going to change her mind.
The door opened and Robb entered the room. He wanted to check on his brother as every day and as every day he was meeting his wife there. He was starting to think that maybe she really liked Bran, maybe it wasn't just another way of avoiding her husband.
"Mother...", he started, "We need to talk"
"Yes, I know. Someone needs to run Winterfell and Rickon misses me. As I said, Bran needs me more", she mumbled not even looking up.
Robb looked at his wife furrowing his brows as she rolled her eyes.
"Look", she showed him her sewing, "It's done"
"What's that?", he asked.
"A blanket with a direwolf. I know it's not perfect but I'm working on it", Sofya tried to explain, "I wanted it to look like Summer. It doesn't, I know. I'll give it to Bran when he wakes up anyway", she tried to smile a little.
"Oh", Robb gasped suddenly, "Look at you! Your dress, your hair! I knew that you looked somehow different today. You finally look like a real lady", he commented sharply.
Sofya's smile disappeared. She put the blanket down, stood up and left the chamber without a word.
"Robb", Lady Catelyn scolded her son, "That was..."
But Sofya didn't hear the rest, she tried not to burst into tears as she was walking towards her chambers.
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Robb was trying to run Winterfell on his own. His wife didn't seem to be helpful but he couldn't blame her - that's exactly what he expected from a spoiled princess. He was grateful, though, because she was spending whole days with his youngest brother and she was keeping his mother company. Maybe it was actually being helpful? He didn't want to admit that.
"My Lady", Benygne entered the room where they were eating breakfast the other day.
"Yes?"
"I have a letter for you", servant bowed down a little.
"A letter?", Sofya asked, "Rickon, stop playing with your food", she gave him a stern look and he sighed.
"Listen to Sofya", Robb mumbled squinting his eyes at his brother.
"Yes, My Lady", Benygne handed her the letter and left the chamber.
Sofya opened it with shaky hands. She was curious who would write to her. Was it one of her beloved nephews? Maybe one of her brothers?
"Who's that from?", Robb asked.
"Queen Cersei...", Sofya gasped.
"What does The Queen want?", her husband asked.
"I'll read the letter after breakfast", Sofa hid it in her dress, "I'll tell you if it's important"
"Sure", Robb nodded. He didn't want to fight with her in front of Rickon. He thought she should have told him right away. He was telling her everything that was happening in Winterfell. Even when she didn't seem to care while brushing her hair and yawning.
"I got the letter from Renly two days ago. He'd like to visit us", Sofya informed.
"As I said I don't mind your family visiting us but I don't know if that's the best time. Winterfell cannot afford to host your brothers all of the time"
"Renly is not a king", Sofya rolled her eyes, "If his visit would be the problem then I can visit him in Storm's End"
"What would it look like? Like you running away from Winterfell before even giving it an heir"
"You think I wouldn't come back?", she teased.
Rickon covered his ears and started singing. That made them stop.
"Come on, darling, we were just... Joking", Sofya tried to explain to the little one, "Please eat your breakfast, it's going to be cold"
"I don't like your... jokes", Rickon admitted and came back to eating.
Sofya gave her husband a deadly look and stood up.
"I'm going to read The Queen's letter. See you around, Lord Stark"
"M'Lady", Robb mumbled as she left.
When she was finally in her chamber, she opened the letter and read:

"Dear Lady Sofya Stark (oh, how weird it does feel to call you that or to send you a letter instead of just talking to you during breakfasts),
I hope you are alright in Winterfell. I'm wondering if young Lord Bran is feeling well already? Lord Eddard hasn't received any letters about his son's state and I'm getting really worried about his  health.
Sending lots of love from The Red Keep,
Queen Cersei Lannister
(and Prince Joffrey, Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen)
PS - King Robert sends love as well"

Sofya was shocked to see such letter from her sister-in-law. It was unusual for Cersei to be so nice to her. But maybe they were right saying that love and hate are not so far away from each other. Sofya thought that maybe Cersei started to miss her. And she was crying while reading the letter. She missed her family terribly. Even Cersei. A little, little bit.

"Dear Queen Cersei Lannister,
I am more than happy to inform you that I am feeling well in Winterfell. I'm slowly getting used to the castle and since Lord Eddard is gone I have lots of work so I can't focus on being sad. I'm also happy to let you know that young Lord Bran is fine and well - he's still in a coma but he's alive and Maester Luwin says he is not going to die. Who knows, maybe he is going to wake up soon? We're hoping so. Please, inform Lord Stark about the news as well. I'm sure Lady Catelyn would inform him sooner but she's too busy taking care of her son.
Sending lots of love from Winterfell to all of my beloved family,
Lady Sofya Stark
PS - send greetings to Lady Sansa and Lady Arya, please"

Sofya felt like a real Lady of Winterfell when she finished the letter. She smiled proudly to herself when she handed it to Benygne.
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Few nights later, Sofya was sleeping peacefully next to Robb, when a terrific howling from the outside woke them up. It sounded like all the direwolves and dogs went crazy at the same time.
"Ugh, what's going on?", Sofya asked while rubbing her eyes lazily.
"Something's not alright", Robb mumbled.
"Well, that is obvious", Sofya rolled her eyes and tried to keep Robb in bed by putting her leg on his hip.
She didn't want him to leave the bed because it would be cold without him there. They both knew it didn't mean anything more.
"Help! Help!", the voices from outside made Robb jump out of the bed and Sofya's heart stopped in her chest.
"What's happening?", she asked faintly as her husband approached the window.
"Fire in the stables!", he made wide eyes and ran out of their bedroom while putting a coat on.
Sofya stood up as well and looked out of the window. Seeing a fire outside made her knees weak. Sometimes there was some fire in The Red Keep as well but it didn't look as dangerous and terrifying as in Winterfell. For a moment she thought that maybe Robb wouldn't come back and it made her feel sick. She didn't want to think about it.
Sofya put her furry coat on and was watching closely the scene below, praying quietly for fire to stop spreading. Then, she heard a lot of squealing and fighting noises from the chamber above her.
Bran's chamber.
Sofya didn't think twice. She grabbed her dagger and ran to Rickon's room. As she expected, he was sitting on his bed, all alone, terrified and crying.
"Shhh, it's alright", she approached him and hugged him tightly, "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine"
"I don't like the sounds... And I've seen fire..."
"It's alright... Robb's taking care of it, don't worry. Look, Shaggydog is here, he'll protect us. Your brother and Grey Wind will take care of us as well, don't be scared", she was trying to convince her brother-in-law but herself as well.
"What if something terrible happens?"
"Please, don't think of that. Everything's going to be alright. Robb's there, right?", she tried to smile.
"Y-yeah"
After a while of rocking in each other's arms, scared Benygne entered the room.
"My Lady... You might want to see this... Please, go to Lord Bran's chamber. I'll put Lord Rickon back to sleep"
"But is everything alright?", Rickon whined with teary eyes.
"Yes, My Lord, your family's fine and well", Benygne assured.
Sofya kissed his forehead and went to Bran's room. She frowned at the sight of her mother-in-law covered in blood and a dead man laying on the floor. He was holding a dagger and his throat was ripped apart. One look at Summer made it all clear - Bran's direwolf had bloody fur around its mouth. Robb was trying to calm his mother down while Maester was checking on Bran.
"What happened here?", Sofya asked making wide eyes.
"Where were you?", Robb suddenly approached her and started to shake her arms, "You weren't in our chambers, you got me scared, where were you?!"
"With Rickon", she admitted biting her lip and looking down, "He was crying and no one went to check on him. I went to him when I've heard the noises"
"You scared me", Robb explained taking a step back, "He tried to kill Bran", Robb pointed at the dead man as Sofya gasped.
"Why would anyone want to kill an innocent boy?", Sofya asked furrowing her brows.
"Maybe he wasn't that innocent", Maester interrupted them as he picked the man's dagger up, "It doesn't look familiar. The blade is Valyrian steel"
Sofya's heart stopped. She took few steps back and she made sure her own dagger with lion's head on it was hidden well in her sleeping gown under the coat. It would be very unlucky for her to be seen with a very similiar weapon around at the moment.
"Interesting...", Lady Catelyn whispered as she gazed at her daughter-in-law. She didn't know if she was trustworthy, "We're going to talk about it tomorrow. Thank you for taking care of Rickon, Lady Sofya"
"No problem, Lady Stark", Sofya nodded.
"We should all rest, it's been a long and exhausting night", Lady Catelyn added and gave her son a look. He knew what it meant.
"Sofya, let's go...", Robb opened the door in front of his wife.
"B-but wait, is Bran alright?"
"Yes, he is", Maester assured before she left the chamber.
"I can't believe...", Sofya mumbled but Robb didn't say anything.
When they were laying in the bed again, she couldn't fall asleep. She had a bad feeling about the assassin. His weapon and the fact that he came to Winterfell few days after she had sent the letter to Cersei. Sofya didn't tell Robb what was in the letter from The Queen, she didn't think it was important. But that night she started to feel anxious that the letter from the King's Landing and an attempt to murder Bran were somehow connected.
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