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Catelyn

It seeo that Catelyn Stark had carried her infant son out of Riverrun, crossing the Tuin their journey north to Winterfell And it was across the Tuh the boy wore plate andclothes

Robb sat in the boith Grey Wind, his hand resting on his direwolf s head as the rowers pulled at their oars Theon Greyjoy ith him Her uncle Brynden would come behind in the second boat, with the Greatjon and Lord Karstark

Catelyn took a place toward the stern They shot down the Tu current push thereat heel within was a sound froht a sad smile to Catelyn’s face From the sandstone walls of the castle, soldiers and servants shouted down her name, and Robb’s, and "Winterfell!" Fro trout, silver, against a rippling blue-and-red field It was a stirring sight, yet it did not lift her heart She wondered if indeed her heart would ever lift again Oh, Ned

Below the WheelTower, theywater The men put their backs into it The wide arch of the Water Gate careat iron portcullis inched upward It rose slowly as they approached, and Catelyn saw that the lower half of it was red with rust The bottom foot dripped brown mud on them as they passed underneath, the barbed spikes azed up at the bars and wondered how deep the rust went and hoell the portcullis would stand up to a rahts like that were seldom far from her mind these days

They passed beneath the arch and under the walls, ht Boats large and ss set in the stone Her father’s guards waited on the water stair with her brother Ser Edy head of auburn hair and a fiery beard His breastplate was scratched and dented from battle, his blue-and-red cloak stained by blood and smoke At his side stood the Lord Tytos Blackwood, a hard pike of a man with close-cropped salt-and-pepper whiskers and a hook nose His bright yellow armor was inlaid with jet in elaborate vine-and-leaf patterns, and a cloak sewn from raven feathers draped his thin shoulders It had been Lord Tytos who led the sortie that plucked her brother fro them in," Ser Edmure commanded Three men scrambled down the stairs knee-deep in the water and pulled the boat close with long hooks When Grey Wind bounded out, one of the down abruptly in the river The others laughed, and the ot a sheepish look on his face Theon Greyjoy vaulted over the side of the boat and lifted Catelyn by the waist, setting her on a dry step above him as water lapped around his boots

Edmure came down the steps to embrace her "Sweet sister," he murmured hoarsely He had deep blue eyes and anow He looked worn and tired, battered by battle and haggard froed where he had taken a wound Catelyn hugged hirief is mine, Cat," he said when they broke apart "When we heard about Lord Eddardthe Lannisters will pay, I swear it, you will have your vengeance"

"Will that bring Ned back to me?" she said sharply The wound was still too fresh for softer words She could not think about Ned now She would not It would not do She had to be strong "All that will keep I must see Father"

"He awaits you in his solar," Edmure said

"Lord Hoster is bedridden, oodyou to him at once"

"I’ll take her" Edmure escorted her up the water stair and across the lower bailey, where Petyr Baelish and Brandon Stark had once crossed swords for her favor The massive sandstone walls of the keep loouards the answer even as she said the words

Ed, the rievous"

A blind rage filled her, a rage at all the world; at her brother Edmure and her sister Lysa, at the Lannisters, at the ods ould take them both away from her "You should have told me," she said "You should have sent word as soon as you knew"

"He forbade it He did not want his ene With the realm so troubled, he feared that if the Lannisters suspected how frail he was"

"they , yours, a voice whispered inside her If you had not taken it upon yourself to seize the dwarf

They climbed the spiral stair in silence

The keep was three-sided, like Riverrun itself, and Lord Hoster’s solar was triangular as well, with a stone balcony that jutted out to the east like the prow of soreat sandstone ship From there the lord of the castle could look down on his walls and battlements, and beyond, to where the waters met They had moved her father’s bed out onto the balcony "He likes to sit in the sun and watch the rivers," Edht Cat has come to see you"

Hoster Tully had always been a big rew older Now he seemed shrunken, the ed The last time Catelyn had seen hirey Now they had gone white as snow

His eyes opened to the sound of Edmure’s voice "Little cat," he murmured in a voice thin and wispy and wracked by pain "My little cat" A treroped for hers "I watched for you"

"I shall leave you to talk," her brother said, kissing their lord father gently on the brow before he withdrew

Catelyn knelt and took her father’s hand in hers It was a big hand, but fleshless now, the bones one from it "You should have told me," she said "A rider, a raven"

"Riders are taken, questioned," he answered "Ravens are brought down" A spasers clutched hers hard "The crabs are in ht They have fierce claws, the crabs Maester Vyman makes me dreamwine, milk of the poppyI sleep a lotbut I wanted to be awake to see you, when you came I was afraidwhen the Lannisters took your brother, the cao, before I could see you againI was afraid"

"I’m here, Father," she said "With Robb, my son He’ll want to see you too"

"Your boy," he whispered "He had my eyes, I remember"

"He did, and does And we’ve brought you Jaiain, Father"

Lord Hoster san, I told theatehousewatched from the battlements Ah, that was beautifulthe torches ca across the riversweet crieswhen that siege toent up, godswould have died then, and glad, if only I could have seen you children first Was it your boy who did it? Was it your Robb?"

"Yes," Catelyn said, fiercely proud "It was Robband Brynden Your brother is here as well, my lord"

"Him" Her father’s voice was a faint whisper "The Blackfishcame back? From the Vale?"

"Yes"

"And Lysa?" A cool wind ood, your sisterdid she come as well?"

He sounded so full of hope and yearning that it was hard to tell the truth "No I’ht went out of his eyes "I’d hoped I would have liked to see her, before"

"She’s with her son, in the Eyrie"

Lord Hoster gave a weary nod "Lord Robert now, poor Arryn’s goneI rememberwhy did she not cohtened, my lord In the Eyrie she feels safe" She kissed his wrinkled brow "Robb will be waiting Will you see him? And Brynden?"

"Your son," he whispered "Yes Cat’s childhe hadhimyes"

"And your brother?"

Her father glanced out over the rivers "Blackfish," he said "Has he wed yet? Taken soirl to wife?"

Even on his deathbed, Catelyn thought sadly "He has not wed You know that, Father Nor will he ever"

"I told hiht, to irl, prettyfrecklesBethany, yes Poor child Still waiting Yes Still"

"Bethany Reded Lord Rowan years ago," Catelyn reminded him "She has three children by him"

"Even so," Lord Hoster irl The Redwynes Spit on me His lord, his brotherthat Blackfish I had other offers Lord Bracken’s girl Walder Freyany of three, he saidHas he wed? Anyone? Anyone?"

"No one," Catelyn said, "yet he has co his way back to Riverrun I would not be here now, if Ser Brynden had not helped us"

"He was ever a warrior," her father husked "That he could do Knight of the Gate, yes" He leaned back and closed his eyes, inutterably weary "Send hiht Send him up later, the Blackfish"

Catelyn kissed hiently, smoothed his hair, and left hi beneath He was asleep before she left the solar

When she returned to the lower bailey, Ser Brynden Tully stood on the water stairs et boots, talking with the captain of Riverrun’s guards He ca," she said "As we feared"

Her uncle’s craggy face showed his pain plain He ran his fingers through his thick grey hair "Will he see ht"

Brynden Blackfish chuckled "I a ht his funeral pyre, da it was true "I do not see Robb"

"He ith Greyjoy to the hall, I believe"

Theon Greyjoy was seated on a bench in Riverrun’s Great Hall, enjoying a horn of ale and regaling her father’s garrison with an account of the slaughter in the Whispering Wood "Some tried to flee, but we’d pinched the valley shut at both ends, and we rode out of the darkness with sword and lance The Lannisters ht the Others the them I saw him tear one man’s arm from his shoulder, and their horses went mad at the scent of him I couldn’t tell you how many men were thrown--"