Winter's Promise

2nd Month of 298 A.C. Winterfell

Robb Stark

The royal party's arrival within Winterfell had been something of an excitement for Robb as well as most of the north. It had been some two hundred years since the last king and court had come to visit the north and its people, and a great deal had been made of it, especially as King Robert was his father's friend. And yet, when the royal party had come to court, Robb had been somewhat disappointed. King Robert, his namesake was a fat old man who looked as if he were giving up on life, he looked nothing like what a king should look like, indeed he looked very much like a black haired version of Aegon the Unworthy. The Queen seemed cold, as if she were assessing them all and had found them lacking, that was something that irked Robb, the north was a great place, far greater than anything he'd ever seen in the south, and yet the queen thought it beneath her. The crown prince, with his black hair and charm, well he was something else, Robb was not sure what to make of him, he knew that there were some things about him that seemed strange, but overall it seemed as though he was decent. Princess Myrcella was relatively nice, quiet though, and Prince Tommen was just there. Overall the royal party seemed to be there, but not there as a whole, and Robb was not sure what to make of that.

The feast held on the first night of the royal party's stay within Winterfell, had seen the king announce that father was to be his new hand. This had not come as a surprise to anyone, for they had all known where King Robert would turn when word had come of Jon Arryn's death. No, Robb remembered the feast for the way the king had gotten outrageously drunk and had flaunted his mistress before the whole of Winterfell, the north and the court, and it seemed that Robb's father had not been sure what to make of that. The Queen had held herself with an icy composure, though Robb had seen her drinking her sorrows away regardless of her cold composure. Jon had left the hall soon after the appearance of the king's mistress, and Robb knew the reason why. Sansa had been acting far too friendly with Prince Joffrey, and the prince had charmed her, there was something there Robb knew, but whether or not it went past what his sister felt for Jon, Robb did not know, and that was one thing he did not want to think about. It was far too complicated for him.

The feast had also been memorable, due to the fact that Wynafryd had told him her suspicions just before it had begun. They had been married for just under a moon, but she had missed her moon blood at the end of last month, and now, well now Robb had a silent hope. He hoped that they were not wrong about this, for he dearly wanted a child, and he wanted one with Wynafryd. He truly cared for his wife, and he knew that slowly they were forming a strong attachment to one another. Wynafryd had seemed so happy about the news and then the feast had happened, Robb had been unable to take his eyes off of his wife during the feast, and afterwards, he showed her just how much he cared about her. Gods, just thinking about it now, was enough to get his blood going.

He shook his head then, knowing that thinking such thoughts whilst walking with the crown prince would do nothing for him. Truth be told, he was rather surprised that the crown prince had asked for this tour. From what he had gathered the prince did not seem to have much interest in anything major, but then the request had been made, and Robb was too good at the game to not want to take advantage of this opportunity and so he had agreed. And right now they were walking through Wintertown seeing the sights and the places where food, and wool and other goods came to be traded. Robb kept an eye on the prince, and saw the wonder on his face. "All of these goods are made here?" the prince asks.

"Most of them are my prince." Robb responds feeling a sense of pride filling him. "My father passed an order that allowed many craftsmen to freely make their goods within Wintertown's walls. As a consequence of that, the craftsmen of the north come here and work and work."

"And what of the rest of the north?" the crown prince asks sounding deeply interested. "Are there such things within the rest of the north?"

Robb thinks for a moment and then nods. "In Barrowton there is. As well as the Stony Shore, which developed into a port town following the Greyjoy Rebellion. Why do you ask Sire?"

"I find it quite fascinating you see. So often in lessons the north was talked about as nothing more than a place where warriors came from. I find it strange that this was not mentioned within my lessons." the crown prince says.

Robb hides a smile then. "That might be because my father decided to keep the work within the north silent for a time. Knowing as he did that in time the rewards would come."

The crown prince nods. "A sensible decision. Do you know why your father decided to make the changes when he did?"

"The changes were already being made when my grandsire Lord Rickard was Lord of Winterfell, and were continued by my father following the rebellion. I know there were some minor issues when he continued them, but overtime they have succeeded." Robb responds.

"What obstacles might those be?" the crown prince asks.

Robb hesitates a moment unsure of how to respond and then he says neutrally. "There were some who did not see the benefit in what my father was doing. They were offered something they could not refuse."

There is a long silence after that, in which they walk toward various stalls, and Robb looks at the various tools and toys being sold, and he stops to have a conversation or two with some of the craftsmen. He also keeps an eye on the crown prince, seeing the wide eyes on the prince which suggest surprise and shock at seeing such a thing within the north. He feels at once both amused and annoyed at this, and also surprisingly feels something akin to sympathy for the crown prince as well. Eventually the silence is broken when the prince asks. "What of the others within Wintertown? What are the other people here doing?"

Briefly, Robb wonders if there is more to this conversation than meets the eye but seeing the look on the crown prince's face, he decides against pursuing that line of thought. Instead he replies. "I do believe that others here are from other places within the north. They have come to sell, wool, meat, timber, silver and many other things. There is some reserves of silver close to Winterfell that were found a few years ago as well, they are being used here."

The crown prince nods. "That is quite something. I do have to wonder what made Lord Rickard and then Lord Eddard decide to exploit the materials within the north, whilst other lords had not done this before."

Robb is ready with an answer for this question having been asked it many times before. "Well, my prince, my grandfather and father both have had enough time to get to know their lords and the lands around them. They have had peace a plenty, previous lords either did not have the ambition or the will to do something like this."

"Woe upon those lords then." the crown prince says, and Robb finds himself liking the prince more and more. "For their lack of foresight might have prevented the north becoming the full power it could be."

"My prince?" Robb asks curiously.

"The north is developing rapidly and is becoming a power, as it rightly should be." the crown prince says. "I have seen it with my own eyes, and now what I am wondering is how we can continue that." Robb looks at the crown prince intrigued, and then when the man speaks, Robb listens intently. "What would you make of a pact of mutual financial aid between the throne and the north? Or even the Westerlands and the north? There is much that can be gained through the pact, and something that might well benefit us both individually."

Robb hesitates for a moment then and looks at the crown prince. "I am not sure I understand my prince. What are you suggesting?

Robb looks at the crown prince, wondering if the boy will move into his web, and he hides a smile when the boy does. "What I am suggesting is that we begin planning and preparing for when we both sit within our own spheres of power. We begin talking with the heirs of the north and the Westerlands, and we ensure that terms of treaty are discussed. The north and the west have much to gain from this, more so than they do under any of the current treaties. Furthermore, think of what your lords will say when they learn that it was you who had the foresight to come up with this."

Robb thinks on this, and he can see the appeal of doing such a thing. He knows what the terms of the recent treaties between the throne as well as the Westerlands have stipulated, it seems that there is not enough being done to exploit the resources and wealth now within the north's disposal, though Robb suspects that that is more than deliberately done on his father's part. Still there is something enticing about being the one to bring the north to its full potential. He looks at the crown prince and responds. "I shall think on it my prince, but I am most definitely interested."

"Excellent!" the crown prince says beaming. "I know that you would just thoroughly enjoy King's Landing if you were in a mood to venture southward Robb."

The turn of the conversation startles him somewhat, but then he gathers his footing once more and asks. "And what does make you think that my prince?"

The crown prince stops walking then and looks at Robb. "I sense a fire within you, a hunger to do more than your father. A desire to become great and truly known. Something like that could only happen in King's Landing. Do not take my meaning the wrong way. Of course you could become great within the north, but all the Starks have been great within the north. Would you rather become great within the realm as a whole?"

Robb thinks long and hard on this, he knows that the next few words he says now, might well influence the next few weeks of the royal party's stay here, and so he says with utmost caution. "It is most certainly an intriguing idea my prince. Truly it is."

The crown prince laughs then. "And of course you harbour doubts, that is only natural Robb. Now let us walk back to the castle, I am sure the time is coming toward a meal of some sort."

With that they turn from Wintertown, and mount their horses and set off for Winterfell, as they do that, Robb feels a shiver run through him again, Greywind is at his side, but the vision is not coming from Greywind, this time it is of a sword, and a man pulling it from stone, of something, of fire and a bloody hand. He does not know what it means, but it ends almost as soon as it begins. They dismount from their horses and give them to the stable hands, Robb looks at the crown prince and bows. "I hope you enjoyed the tour of Wintertown my prince." Robb says.

"Most thoroughly Robb, you were a gracious host to answer all of my questions. Now let us depart from one another and meet again at the feast tonight." the prince responds before turning and walking off back to his room.

Robb is left standing there for a long moment, a fair few confusing emotions running through him, something in him is telling him not to trust the prince, but something else is telling him that the prince is harmless. Of course he is not naïve enough to believe the prince completely harmless, no prince is ever completely harmless, and so he walks back to his own rooms, the one he shares with his wife, his mind a whir with activity. When he opens the door, Greywind bounds in, and ends up sitting right at Wynafryd's feet. His wife is sat there reading a book which she puts down when he enters. He feels his heart speed up at the smile she gives him. "You look tired Robb, was the tour of Wintertown truly that tiring?" she asks teasingly.

Robb kisses his wife before replying. "It was more tiring than I thought it would be." he sits down in a chair, and his wife ends up sitting in his lap then. "I did not know the prince would be that interested in the goings on of Wintertown and the north."

His wife looks at him surprised. "He truly shared an interest in Wintertown? Now that is unusual, his sister did ask, but then she got bored halfway through the explanation I gave her."

"Princess Myrcella asked about Wintertown?" Robb asks surprised.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" his wife asks teasingly.

He looks at her then, his beautiful and smart wife and responds. "Because she did not seem the smartest of people when I spoke to her during the feast."

His wife laughs softly then. "That is true, though it seemed she took an interest when her brother spoke to you about it. She seemed to want to know more about it to interest you."

Robb looks at his wife surprised. "Why would she do that?"

"Because she has the eyes for you Robb." his wife replies, mock distress on her face.

Robb looks at Wynafryd completely surprised then. "No, she can't we've only just met!"

"Ah but you do not see it. You are dashingly handsome husband, and well Myrcella is a young girl, no wonder she finds you so handsome, for I most certainly do." Wynafryd responds.

"Well, why don't you show me, how handsome you think I am." Robb responds huskily.

His wife grins then and leans down and begins kissing him. Gods he feels so alive now, Wynafryd shifts slightly in his lap to make herself more comfortable, but she does not break the kiss. In fact, Robb is convinced that neither of them would break the kiss that is until a knock on his door forces them to part. Wynafryd gets up off his lap, and Robb rather begrudgingly says. "Who is it?"

"It's me." his brother responds.

"Bran?" Robb calls out. "What do you want?

His brother sounds apologetic when he replies. "I need to speak to you Robb, it's urgent."

Robb sighs and then gets up and opens the door. His brother, twelve years old walks in with a sense of urgency he has not had for a long time, his direwolf Summer trailing behind him. Robb turns round and sees his brother pacing. "What is the matter Bran?" Robb asks.

Bran looks at him, and then at Wynafryd, and then back at him before whispering. "I saw them. I saw them talking."

"Saw who talking?" Robb asks.

"Domeric and Jojen, they were talking in rather hushed voices, but I managed to catch a bit of their conversation and it did not seem nice." Bran responds.

"Why should it be worrying if Domeric and Jojen were talking Robb?" Wynafryd asks. "They are friends after all."

Robb looks at his wife then and says. "Bad things happen when those two are talking together alone." he thinks with a shiver of the events of the fire of the rills and what happened before that at Winterfell itself, that is not something he wants to happen again, and so he turns to look at his brother and asks. "Well, what did you hear? What was so bad that it made you come to me?"

Bran swallows nervously and then says. "They were talking about Jon. Well not Jon directly, but they were talking about a white wolf and how the wolf was going to be learning the truth soon enough, and how that would be bad for them all."

"What did they mean by truth? Do you know Bran?" Robb asks sharply, he does not like how this is making him feel.

"No, but I think I might know what they were referring to." his brother responds, there is a moment's pause and then his brother continues. "I think they were talking about Jon's parents, I mean it would make sense would it not. For so long Jon has suspected that perhaps there was more to him than we were all told. And now with the royal party here, and all that that has entailed, well perhaps there is more to it."

Robb feels nervous now, there is something about this that he does not quite like. "Did they know that you heard them?"

"No, I do not think so, not like last time." Bran says.

"What is going on Robb? What is the matter?" Wynafryd asks.

Robb looks at his brother and then at his wife. "I think there is something going on here, nothing is as it seems, and it all started with the royal family coming to Winterfell. I will need to speak to father, but first I must speak to Jon."

"Why Jon?" Wynafryd asks.

"To find out if he has spoken with father, and found the thing he has dreamt about since we were children." Robb responds.