𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 | Peace Terms

{ Eliza }

✧✦✧

𝕿he path to Jaime Lannister's cage was well trodden, from the guards and soldiers that came to jeer and look upon the man. For the first time, the king and queen of the North would be treading along the path, having finally decided to interrogate him.

"You don't have to be there if you do not wish." Robb spoke softly, looking down at his wife, who shook her head.

"It would bring me no greater pleasure to see this."

Turing a corner, the pair entered Jaime's cage, where the once proud Lannister man was chained to a wooden pole, held far away from the lattice walls.

"The King and Queen in the North." Jaime pronounced, looking up at the pair. Both of them watched him with cold eyes, causing him to pause. Their eyes seemed to looks straight through him. "I keep expecting you to leave me in one castle or another for safekeeping, but you drag me along from camp to camp. Have you grown fond of me, Stark? Is that it?"

Eliza laughed at the notion, causing Jaime to shift even more, not liking how relaxed the girl seemed. He was one of the most feared warriors in the kingdom, yet she was laughing like he had just told her a funny joke. It did not agree with him.

Robb held back a smirk, having noticed the distaste that Jaime had for his wife.

"If I left you with one of my bannermen, your father would know within a fortnight, and my bannerman would receive a raven with a message." Robb commented, tilting his head as Eliza nodded along. "'Release my son and you'll be rich beyond your dreams. Refuse and your house will be destroyed, root and stem'."

"You don't trust the loyalty of the men following you into battle?" Jaime asked, trying to rile the pair up.

"Oh, we trust them with our lives." Eliza replied, her voice light. It was one of the first times that Jaime had truly heard her speak. Normally, she would whisper in hushed tones to her husband or brother, or just watch as things occurred. "Just not with yours."

"Smart. You're a smart boy." Robb bristled slightly, but Eliza merely smiled it off. She could see a pair of glinting eyes in the distance, knowing who it would belong to. "What's wrong? Don't like being called 'boy'?"

Robb only smiled, as the pair continued to look behind the cage at the large direwolf that was approaching. Greywind, who was being as dramatic as he normally was, began to accentuate his steps, letting his paws thud into the grass as he emerged from the darkness.

"You do not fool me, Kingslayer." Robb and Eliza both smiled, in unison, at the man. "You're just as scared as the others. You've been defeated by a boy."

Greywind appeared, standing at Eliza's waist height, and watching the man in front of him with raised hackles. Jaime Lannister lost the brave façade that he had put on, quicker than one could snap their fingers.

"You're held captive by a boy. Perhaps you'll be killed by a boy as well." Eliza grinned at that sentiment, watching as Greywind began to drool in front of Jaime. The elder man paled considerably. "Stannis Baratheon sent ravens to all the high lords of Westeros."

"According to him, Joffrey Baratheon is neither a true king nor a true Baratheon." Jaime looked up at Eliza, and she thought she glimpsed a hint of understanding in his eyes, but it was gone too quickly for her to decipher. "Which would make him your bastard son, would it not or am I mistaken?"

They hadn't recieved another message from Lyra in a while, so in the mean time they were going to try and play it dumb and see what information they could weasel out of the Lannister man, before Lyra told them anything they needed to know.

Robb still disliked the idea of Lyra marrying Joffrey, furious about his father's execution, which was understandable, but Eliza had been playing devil's advocate. She knew that it might be good to have the King in the South on their side if something ever arose where they needed to band together. 

Robb had not liked that point of view.

"My father learned the truth. That's why you had him executed." Robb spat out, as Eliza pulled herself out of her thoughts and gave Robb's arm a warning squeeze. They did not need to lose their temper, not when Jaime Lannister was practically in the palm of their hand.

"I was your prisoner when Ned Stark lost his head." Jaime tried to defend himself as Robb rested a hand on Greywind's shoulders.

"Your son killed him so the world wouldn't learn who fathered him. And you..." Robb trailed off, and Eliza cut in, her tone harsh.

"You pushed my younger brother-in-law from a window because he saw you with your twin sister."

"You have any proof to you accusations?" Jaime asked, Greywind's growls getting louder. "Or do you want to trade gossip like a couple of fishwives?"

"I quite like the gossiping." Eliza murmured, smirking before Robb informed the man that they were sending peace terms down to King's Landing.

"You think my father's going to negotiate with you?" Jaime laughed nervously. "You don't know him very well."

"No, but he's starting to know us." Robb replied, a smirk forming on his face.

"Three victories don't make you a conqueror." Jaime called out to them. Eliza laughed, in the tone that she used to annoy all her brothers.

"But it's better than three defeats." She waved over her shoulder, as Robb and her left the cage and Greywind continued to snap his jaw at the man, before sprinting out after them.

✧✦✧

They were back in the war council tent after their talk with Jaime Lannister, and Eliza had just finished recounting what had happened to Anceron, as the others finalized the peace terms. Anceron stifled his laughter at the thought, before one of the prisoners was brought in and everyone turned to look at him.

"You're Ser Alton Lannister?" Robb asked, looking the man up and down.

"I am, Your Grace." He was glancing nervously around the tent, trying to not make eyes with any of the other Northern Lords.

"I offer your cousin's peace if they meet my terms." Robb began, as Eliza read through the piece of paper with the terms on it, to make sure that everything was in accordance. "First, your family must release my sisters. Second, my father's bones must be returned to us so he may rest beside his brother and sister in the crypts beneath Winterfell.. And the remains of all those who died in his service must also be returned so their families can honour them with proper funerals."

Eliza nodded, as that was all on the paper, before moving onto the last point as Robb did the same.

"Third...Joffrey and the Queen Regent must renounce all claim to dominion of the North. From this time, till the end of time, we are a free and independent kingdom."

Alton was looking at him with wide-eyes, shocked that he would even dare suggest that. But, whilst that was one of the end goals, this request made the others pale in comparison and they were more likely to give them back the girls and the bones of their father to prevent the North from separating.

Murmurs of the 'King in the North' ran around the room, as Alton stuttered at the thought of telling the Queen Mother that news.

"Neither Joffrey nor any of his men shall set foot in our lands again. If he disregards this command, he shall suffer the same fate as my father, only I don't need a servant to do my beheading for me." Eliza nodded, before rolling the letter up and sealing it closed with the Stark sigil that lay in front of her. 

Alton began to stammer and stutter about the terms, but Robb ignored him and continued on anyway.

"These are my terms." Eliza placed the letter in front of Alton, as he looked between her and Robb, eyes wide in fright. In some ways, Eliza pitied the other teen, knowing that this was most likely a terrible position to be in. "If the Queen Regent and her son meet them, I'll give them peace. If not, I will litter the South with Lannister dead."

"King Joffrey is a Baratheon, Your Grace." Alton regained his voice, smiling nervously at the man.

"Oh, is he?" Eliza asked, raising an eyebrow at the thought, before letting Robb continue with what he was saying.

"You'll ride at daybreak, Ser Alton. That will be all for tonight." Everyone began to leave the tent, as Eliza sat back down in her seat and waited to talk to Robb about her suspicions of Lord Frey.

"A word, Your Grace?" She looked up at the sound of Theon's voice, wondering what he needed.

"You don't have to call me, 'Your Grace' when no one's around." Robb replied, as Greywind came padding into the tent, tucking himself into Eliza's side.

"It's not so bad once you get used to it." Theon replied, a smile on his face but it did little to convince Eliza's suspicion about him. She still did not like the man.

"I'm glad someone's gotten used to it."

"The Lannisters are going to reject your terms, you know?" Theon said, as Eliza nodded and began to scratch Greywind behind the ear. His leg thumped on the ground as Eliza found the spot that made him tick.

"Of course they'll reject the last two. But the others, I have hope for," Robb replied, watching Greywind and Eliza with soft eyes. He was slowly beginning to warm up to the idea that he was married and had a wife now.

"We can fight them in the fields as long as you like, but we won't beat them until you take King's Landing." Theon began, before pointing to the Iron Islands on the map. "And we can't take King's Landing without ships. My father has ships and men who know how to sail them."

Eliza caught eyes with Robb and began to shake her head in protest. That was not a good idea in the slightest.

"Men who fought my father." Robb turned away from both Theon and Eliza, as she watched the Greyjoy male.

"Men who fought King Robert to free themselves from the yoke of the South, just like you're doing now. I'm his only living son." Eliza was not impressed. This was not a good idea at all. She could feel it in her bones that this would end badly. "He'll listen to me. I know he will. I'm not a Stark. I know that. But your father raised me to be an honourable man. We can avenge him together."

With that, Theon left the tent as Robb turned to face Eliza.

"I know what you're going to say." He replied, looking at the map. "But we need his ships."

"Get ships from anywhere else, but do not trust Theon to go to his father and get the ships." Eliza said, standing up so that she could look Robb dead in the eyes. "I'm telling you now, it's a terrible idea and something is going to go terribly wrong."

"He's my brother. He won't betray me." Robb left the tent as Eliza began to curse her husband, Theon and men in general as she stormed out after him, more than ready to have an argument about it.

Hiya,

So, Eliza's a whole ass mood sometimes and I love her. Her and Greywind are lovely and adorable together. Jaime Lannister being slightly scared by her is also brilliant and I love that so you know, it's all fun and game in this place!

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx