Beasts of Lore ♕ GOT

Nomination

Since reading Banneth Bryne's words Robb Stark has been looking at Andriella in a new light. 

It is true that sometimes Robb forgets Andriella is human as well. 

She was always so strong, without an ounce of flaw, but now Robb is starting to see through it. When he returns to camp he keeps a careful eye on the way Andriella is talking to others. Like Banneth has said, Andriella does indeed wear a mask. 

She switches it as easily as breathing as she floats through camp. Wearing beautifully decorated concoctions of emotion suited to fit each person she talks to. 

As her soon to be husband, Robb swears to himself that he will see to it that Andriella never feels she needs to wear one in his presence. He isn't naive. He knows he can't force her to stop wearing her masks altogether. As a woman, she needs them in this world. But he wants her to feel comfortable and safe when it is just them. 

He wants to see the true Andriella. The girl he is sure he has not seen fully yet. 

As darkness begins to blanket the world, Robb calls upon the Lords of his army. It is time to plan the next course of action. 

They gather in the rubble of an old hall. A feast lay before them as a small celebration of Eddard Stark's life. 

While they have no bones to bury they will still honor his memory. 

Andriella sits next to Robb, her hands folded in her lap. Nesaeh snoozes next to her, a pile of chicken bones to her side. Robb's shoulder leans against Andriella's, the contact soothing him as he listens to the Lord's shouting. 

"The proper course is clear: pledge fealty to King Renly and move South to join our forces with his."

"Renly is not the King." Robb shakes his head.

"You cannot mean to hold to Joffrey, my lord. He put your father to death."

"That doesn't make Renly King. He's Robert's youngest brother. If Bran can't be Lord of Winterfell before me Renly can't be King before Stannis."

"Do you mean to declare us for Stannis?" The same man shoots back. 

Andriella tilts her head, debating whether it would be wise to speak up or not. In Agaliga the line of succession is null if the heir is unfit to rule. If the current Lord deems the heir unfit he can choose any of his children to be his new heir regardless of gender or age. And in the off chance that none of his children are fit to rule, he can then choose a relative to pass the lordship to. 

This new way of thinking wasn't adopted overnight. It took many years of poor rulers and evil men before a new solution was thought of. 

Knowing this, Andriella decides to stay quiet for now. Change is never easy. 

"Renly is not right!" A nameless Lord shouts from the crowd. 

"My Lords." Greatjon Umber bellows in his deep baritone. "Here's what I say to these two Kings." He spits on the ground earning a round of cheers and laughter from the Northerners. "Renly Baratheon is nothing to me nor Stannis either. Why should they rule over me and mine from some flowery seat in the South? What do they know of the Wall or the Wolfswood? Even their gods are wrong! Why shouldn't we rule ourselves again? It was the Bryne's we bowed to. Them and their summer beasts who understood us like no other. It was the dragons we bowed to after that and now the dragons are dead. We got the Brynes back on our side, marrying one of our own!"

Greatjon draws his sword, pointing it towards Robb and Andriella. "There sits the only rulers I mean to bend my knee to-- the King in the North!" Greatjon bends his knee, looking to Robb with unwavering eyes. 

A satisfied grin spreads across Andriella's face as Robb takes her hand in his. Andriella grips his hand tightly to stop his shaking. "What do you say." She whispers under her breath, leaning into his side. 

Robb's gaze doesn't leave the Greatjon's. His Tully blue eyes stilling like the open ocean. 

Ever so slowly Robb begins to rise, Andriella being pulled along the ascent. Now standing, hand in hand, Andriella and Robb Stark face the Northern lords. 

"I'll have peace of those terms. They can keep their Red Castle and their Iron Chair too." The lord draws his sword, dropping to one knee before the two young adults. "The King in the North."

"Am I your brother, now and always?" Theon asks, standing now as well. 

"Now and always." Robb agrees. 

At his confirmation, Theon draws his sword, dropping before them. "My sword is yours, in victory and defeat. From this day until my last day."

"The King in the North!" Greatjon cheers finally. 

And like a tsunami the words "King in the North" spread through the Riverlands all the way to Winterfell, the Red Keep, and Agaliga. 

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edited 5.31.2019

short and sweet?

end of season 1