"I hear you wanted to talk to me?"
At the sound of her voice, Robb is quick to lift his eyes from where he had been examining a map all morning and an instant smile breaks into his face at mere sight of her. In the morning light she looked so beautiful. Her dress was simple and she wasn't wearing a corset anymore with her growing belly, and Robb had thought she loved the way her corsets fitted her body just right, but, as Dahlia stood there, both hands folded in front of her body, her brown hair long and loose on her back, her crown placed perfectly on top of her head found and her light, long sleeved dress falling down to her feet so easily, he figured he liked her even more this way.
Robb stood up from his chair, walking across the chamber in quick strides so he stood in front of Dahlia as quickly as possible. He kept a distance between them - as much as he didn't want it - and didn't dare touch her or hold her or kiss her as he had been longing to do ever since the execution. Instead, he just stared into her eyes, his blue eyes diving into Dahlia's brown ones, diving into them, trying to figure out what she was thinking. They didn't speak at all and, truth be told, they didn't need to, because the same anguish and fear Robb felt in his chest, he saw reflected back at him in Dahlia's eyes.
For a moment, he frowned. She was scared, he knew, but of what? He hoped to the gods she wasn't scared of him because he didn't think he'd be able to deal with that if she was. Still, he was tentative when he lifted one of his hands to hover it over one of her cheeks. Robb kept his eyes on Dahlia's the whole time, gauging at her every reaction and breathing out in relief when Dahlia tilted her head a little so she could nuzzle her cheek against his palm. Robb breathed out a quiet chuckle then, some of the tension in his body dissipating as soon as Dahlia's skin touched his and even more of it when he leaned down to press his lips to Dahlia's in a kiss that she didn't fight against.
What started gentle and sweet soon turned into something needy and desperate. Robb felt his whole body ablaze when Dahlia stepped closer to him and threaded her fingers through his hair. Robb should be embarrassed to admit he let out a moan into her mouth as he pulled Dahlia by the waist and walked back with her until he was sitting back on his chair again, with his wife on his lap and pressing her as close as her growing belly would allow him to.
Robb wasn't sure how long they had spent diving into each other, but when Dahlia pulled his mouth from him, her lips were red and swollen and Robb would be lying if he said he didn't feel a weird sense of pride at the sight. His smile soon faded however, when Dahlia, still with her forehead pressed against Robb's and her eyes closed, sighed gently before pressing a quick kiss to her lips and speaking up.
"Are you angry at me?" She asked, her voice sounding small, almost as if afraid to be heard.
Robb felt his heart dropping to his stomach at the question. So she was scared of him? Was that... Was that why she had spent the night with Jeyne? The thought alone made him feel sick and he knew he'd have to fix it right now.
Pulling his head back a bit, he forced Dahlia's forehead away from his and Dahlia finally opened her eyes, her eyebrow furrowed and her still fearful. Robb shook his head then.
"Angry at you?" Robb repeated the question back at her, trying to be as gentle as he possibly could. "Why would I be angry at you?"
"I thought you would be, with the way you stormed out of the Main Room yesterday." Dahlia admitted quietly. "After I defied you in front of Lord Edmure and the Blackfish."
"You did not defy me, my love." Robb shook his head. "You gave me your opinion."
"I stood against you." Dahlia said. "And as your wife I..."
"As my wife, you have every right to voice your opinion." Robb interrupted her before she could start with any of those speeches about being compliant. Because, yes, Robb enjoyed the fact that she knew how to be a lady and he enjoyed the fact she had learned so much during her time at Highgarden, but the people there were a traditional bunch and as much as they raised strong, intelligent women, they also raised wives who knew how to mold themselves to the wishes of their husbands and it made Robb sick to the stomach the thought that Dahlia would think he'd want her compliant to his every wish. "I value your advice, my love. And I should probably learn to take it more often."
"You are the King." Dahlia said. "You have every right to dismiss my advice."
"I shouldn't, though. You are way smarter than I will ever be."
"That's not true."
"Yes, it is." Robb smiled a little when Dahlia giggled. Reaching a hand over, her placed a lock of her hair behind her ear before allowing his free hand to rub over Dahlia's stomach. She was reaching the fourth moon now and, even though he saw her everyday, Robb could see that her stomach was growing nicely to accommodate their child inside. "I thought you would be angry at me."
"Me?" Dahlia asked.
"What, with the way you did not speak to me at all after the execution." Robb shrugged, his voice sounding small as well, almost sounding as a child, waiting to be scolded by their Mother.
"I was not angry." Dahlia shook her head. "I was never angry at you, I was just... Frustrated."
"With me?" Robb asked, causing Dahlia to shrug.
"Also." She admitted. "I was frustrated you didn't heed to my advice again. I was frustrated when I saw Karstark's men's faces after their Lord's execution. I was frustrated with the world that put me in a situation like that, when I should be the happiest I could be, carrying my adoring husband's child but all I feel is fear in this troubling times. I was frustrated that, for a moment, I lost faith in our cause."
"Do you think we might lose the war?" Robb asked, as Dahlia bit her lip.
"I think killing Karstark was a precipitated move." She said. "Honorable and truthful, but not what we needed now."
Robb nodded then, his eyes moving to the map nearby as he sighed. He should have listened to his wife. He should have listened to his Mother. Hell, he should have listened to his Uncle. But he couldn't. His head was screaming at him. That was not what his Father would have done. He did what his Father would have done. But his Father was dead so that had to mean something, right?
From the Heavens above, Robb truly hoped his Father was proud of him because, taking off Karstark's head, he had just signed his death sentence, it seemed. And his Mother's. And Dahlia's too. And their child's. He just wished, someday, they could all forgive him.
He knew he would never.
"You are right." Robb admitted, as Dahlia turned her head around a little to look at the map Robb had been staring at as well. "The Karstarks are gone. And they took almost half our forces with him."
"Half?" Dahlia frowned. She knew the Karstarks had one of the biggest forces in the whole North by themselves, but half of the army? It couldn't be. Unless...
"You were not the only one who lost faith in our war after the execution, my love." Robb smiled sadly, gently putting Dahlia back on her feet as he stood up to walk around the table with the map and lean against it as his eyes darkened at the sight in front of him. "After the Karstarks, some of the other northern houses marched North again. Tywin Lannister knows what he needs to do to make us unravel. Nothing. Only wait."
Dahlia frowned as she took a look at her husband. Right now, perched over his map of Westeros and under the dim light of the first rays of sunshine in the morning, he looked like a man - every bit the King he was. But underneath... Underneath his stern, cold blue eyes and taut expression, Dahlia knew better. He was still but a boy. Sure, he had turned nineteen already, at some point along the way - Dahlia wasn't even sure when it was that his nameday had happened. Were they at the Crag? Or maybe it was after the battle of the Green Fork? Seven Hells, she realized she missed her own nameday at some point during their ride back to the Riverlands. Maybe it had been the same day of Catelyn's Father's funeral? She couldn't be certain.
Still, eighteen or nineteen, Robb was but a boy. A boy who had too much thrusted into him too fast. A boy who had to carry the weight of a crown in his head and a war on his shoulders for too long. A boy who had proved himself worthy again and again but that now, grew tired and unfocused. Dahlia knew there was too much being expected of him, but she also knew he couldn't waver now. They were in too deep to stop now.
Dahlia wished she could offer Robb a break, but she couldn't. Instead, she decided to do the next best thing and try and get some of that weight from his shoulders. After all, she was his wife - his Queen - and his burdens were her burdens also, were they not?"
"Don't let him break you, love." Dahlia said, slowly making her way toward Robb as he smiled, watching as she moved.
"What can I do?" Robb asked, allowing Dahlia to step closer to him and wrap her arms around of his that leaned against the table as the two of them kept their eyes on the map in front of them and the wooden pieces Robb had placed over it earlier. "Attack King's Landing? There's nothing he'd like better. He'd crush us in a day."
"We could ride North." Dahlia suggested, unsure if anything she was saying at the moment actually made sense, but willing to give it a try. "Take our land back from the Greyjoys. Wait out the winter."
"Winter could last five years." Robb argued. "Once my bannermen are home again, sitting by the fire, surrounded by their families, warm and safe, they'll never ride south again."
Dahlia nodded then, allowing Robb a moment to gather his thoughts and, after a long sigh from him, he spoke up again.
"When I gathered my lords together, we had a purpose, a mission." He said. "Free Father, rescue my sisters... Now my Father is dead and my sisters... Sometimes I think it'd be mercy if they are indeed already dead."
"Robb..."
"We had something to fight for." Robb continued. "Now we're like a band of bickering children."
"Give them a new purpose." Dahlia said, as Robb smiled a little and turned to look at her, almost amused by the notion.
"What?" He asked.
And, for a moment, Dahlia hesitated. Her eyes danced over the map and, once more, she wondered if anything she said would be of any use. She wanted to help, of course she did. But she wasn't well versed in the art of war so she didn't think she would ever be much help in that regard, but Robb was good at it. Seven hells, the boy was eighteen and he bested Twyin Lannister again and again. That was why they were good together, right? Robb knew how to win a battle field and Dahlia knew how to win with the people. If they worked together, maybe Dahlia's plan could work.
Still, she hesitated. And of course Robb took notice of it. So, with a frown, he placed his left hand over Dahlia's still gripping his right arm rather tight.
"Whatever it is that you have to say, say it." Robb encouraged, as Dahlia lifted her eyes to meet his for a moment before looking down at the map again. "I'll listen to you, love."
"You have been wanting to attack Casterly Rock, haven't you?" She asked, as Robb nodded.
"It's the symbol of the Lannister's strength. If I seize it..." Robb sighed, almost wistfully. "Casterly Rock can't run away. I can't force them to meet us in the field and I can't attack them where they're strongest, but I can attack them where they're not. Or, well, I could. If I still had the man."
"Well, if you do have more men, can you do it?" Dahlia asked. "With more men, could you take their home away from them?"
"Yes." Robb nodded. "But I need men to replace the Karstarks who marched home."
"Well, there's a way." Dahlia said, as Robb stopped for a moment and turned to look at her.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... There is only one person in this kingdom with that kind of army who isn't already here or sided with the Lannisters." She said, and just by the look on her face, Robb understood what she meant. "My Father."
"Dahlia..."
"No, listen..." Dahlia interrupted her husband who was quick to obey. He had promised he'd listen after all, hadn't he? "The Freys have the biggest army in the Riverlands. They're not particularly skilled fighters, is true, but they are numerous. When I was sent away with you for our betrothal, Father sent with me a little of his force, but he has much more with him."
"Would he offer us any more men?" Robb asked.
"Father suspects everyone all the time because he himself can betray anyone at any time." Dahlia said. "He offer you some few men of his own because he feared you would not keep your word. Maybe you wouldn't marry me as promised, or maybe I'd end up dead before you could. If this marriage didn't work, Father would have gained nothing. So he offered you as little as he could without making himself look bad. But you did marry me. You kept your word and you made me your Queen. This is the best marriage the Freys have had in years and if I ask him now, there is no way he could refuse. He would have to offer me as many men as he can and... And if we can strike a good deal with him, I could bring you some 3,000 men, I know it."
Robb stopped for a moment then, his eyes falling on his wife and his heart swelling in his chest. She looked so lively now, so passionate, so invested in a war that he had started and if, it hadn't been her the one he married, she'd most likely not even be taking part in. But there she was, his Queen, their people's Queen in the North, willing to fight for them and believing in their cause even when Robb didn't. He wasn't able to stop the smile that came to his lips and, as much as he didn't like the idea of making yet another agreement with Walder Frey of all people, but Dahlia was right. And they were family by law now, were they not? Lord Frey was sure to help him. His son by law, his King, his own daughter... He had no reason to refuse such a call.
"3,000 men, you say?" Robb asked, as Dahlia nodded.
"Maybe more." She said. "But 3,000 for certain. I know they won't replace all the forces we've lost but..."
"But it's better than nothing." Robb said. "And if we get 3,000 more men, I know we can take Casterly Rock then."
"You can?" Dahlia asked, as Robb turned to her with a smile, grabbing one of the wooden towers that he had been using to mark the Frey's army in his map to join the wooden wolf he had, looming around Casterly Rock on the map.
"We can." Robb corrected, finally letting go of the map nearby all together as he pulled Dahlia flush against him once again. "I will not have you riding to the Twins, however. Not pregnant as you are."
"I need to go." Dahlia frowned a little. "I need to talk to my Father."
"We'll send him a raven." Robb said. "He can send some of your brothers or cousins or whoever he wants to treat with us in his stead, but you are not going anywhere."
Dahlia sighed then, but smiled anyway.
"As you wish, your Grace." She smirked a little when Robb growled, before pressing a kiss to her lips. "I should be writing that letter now, though."
Robb hummed in response, not really wanting to let her go, but knowing he had no other option. Dahlia started to make her way toward their bed in their chamber where her parchment and quills were waiting for her and Robb smiled as he watched her go.
"I love you, did you know that?" He asked, chuckling under his breath when the girl blushed at his words.
"I love you too." She responded sweetly before wetting her quill in some ink and propping some paper in her lap. "Now let me concentrate on my letter to my Father because if I keep looking at you standing there like that, it might never actually come."
"Do not start something you don't mean to finish, my love." Robb warned her playfully as Dahlia smirked, her eyes on the parchment and a blush across her nose.
"Who said I don't mean to finish it?" She whispered, but it was loud enough for Robb to hear it and it was just what he needed.
Careless of the ink in their bed, Robb gathered Dahlia in his arms and laid her down underneath her as he covered her in kisses, his hands exploring every inch of her skin that they could find. Dahlia's giggles soon turned into quiet sighed and, gods, Robb was sure that was what the Heavens felt like. Looking up at Robb's eyes for a moment, Dahlia told him with no words all that Robb needed to know. I believe in you, her eyes seemed to tell him. I love you, I love you, I love you.
And when he covered her mouth with his again, trying to convey to her the same feeling she always offered him, Robb supposed Walder Frey's letter could wait a little longer to be written after all.