The Children of Winter // House Stark

II. Spirit & Fighters

II. Spirit & Fighters.
Catelyn.

Catelyn lets out a piercing cry.

A panic shoots through her. It was too soon, the babe wasn't due for nearly another moon. And there shouldn't be so much blood.

This is how she died.

In that instant, all she can picture is the motherless boy with her husband's solemn face.

Robb and Sansa's faces flash through her mind. They would grow up without her, and if the babe survived then they would too.

No.

Catelyn refused to be Lyanna. She wouldn't let that happen to Ned, not again. Her children would not grow up without a mother. Her babe would not die. Not today.

"Ned!" she calls out, as loud as she can through the pain, though it sounds more like a whimper. "Ned!"

The heavy thud of boots pounding against the stone floors ring through the hall. Ned bursts into the chamber to see her lying there, blood staining her nightgown and the sheets. The blood drains from her face.

And for a moment it's still. Then Catelyn screams. It feels as though a knife is being thrust through her, over and over again. It never hurt like this before, her panicked mind thinks.

"Guards! Get Maester Luwin now! Tell him the baby is coming."

A small head of dark curls peaks out from behind Ned's leg but before she can truly register his presence, another cry is wrenched from her throat and her vision blurs.

Maester Luwin rushes into the room, his chain crooked from being thrown on haphazardly. The nursemaids and servants behind him.

"Jon..."

If the boy hadn't looked terrified before he certainly does now. Something about the look in his wintery grey eyes when they fall upon her makes her heart hurt.

She hears her husband ordering one of the servant girls to take Jon back to his chambers, his scared little face blurring in her mind.

Her husband kneels beside her, someone tells him it would be best for him to leave but he ignores them, instead he wipes her brow with a cool cloth and gripes her hand.

He had been off fighting a war when Robb had been born, and he had waited outside the birthing chambers when Sansa had come into the world, but this time he was determined to stay.

This time it would be different.

He kisses her forehead and then places his own against it. "I'm here, Cat. Just breathe, my love. You'll be alright."

It's too early, she wants to shout. It's too early, please, I can't do this. I can't. I'm not ready.

When she feels the babe and Maester Luwin tells her to push, she whimpers and bites her lip. The handmaidens and Maester Luwin encourage her with calm words, assuring her that she's nearly done.

Catelyn sees red.

The babe cries are piercing throughout their chambers and slowly she becomes aware of Ned stroking her auburn hair, the handmaidens wiping the child clean of the blood they both share, and the stinging ache between her thighs.

The sounds of her newborn babe ring her ears, and she can feel Ned's touch slipping farther and farther away.

"My baby..."

Ned's words drift by her.

...fighting spirit.

The last thing Catelyn hears is Maester Luwin's voice as it all begins to fade away.

...If she makes it through the night.

Catelyn sees black.