Cassana

He and I sit together by the cliffside, as we so often sat together on the hills of Winterfell. The weight of this past year on our shoulders.

"The last thing I expected was to find you here," he says, his voice deeper than I remember. "You escaped."

"I did," I say, pushing the awful memory from my mind. "I wanted to go North but there were guards and-"

I trail off as he reaches over to the space between us to squeeze my hand. "You're here now," he clutches my hand in his. "We're here now."

There are a thousand things I want to say to him, but in the end there is only one "Your father, he was not guilty of any treason, the only thing he was guilty of was knowing who Joffrey's father is."

A heaviness settles over us. "I know, I've heard reports of what happened but - but I want to hear it from you."

I know understandingly and force myself to recall how it all went wrong. "For a while everything was alright, Ned did his job and I did mine while trying to figure out a way to remove Joffrey as heir. Then Ned stumbled too deep into Jon Arryns research, and found out the truth."

"How long had you known for," he asks and I struggle for an answer. "Long enough you warned me before you left that it could end in war."

"I had my suspicions, I had figured out they had some part in Bran's fall, and that is when I pulled away from you," I explain to him. "But the incest... that was harder to prove to myself but eventually they'd each said enough I could put it together. When- when everything happened with Jon Tyrion was furious, it was Jaime who told me we don't choose who we love."

He goes stiff beside me. "Tell me honestly what changed between us that you fell for my brother."

If there was anger in his voice it would be easier, but there's only a desperation for the truth, for an answer.

"I'd enjoyed Jon's company, found him different to anyone I'd met and perhaps the situation between the two of you reminded me of Joffrey and myself. The heir and the outcast. Especially with how he was treated by everyone, it reminded me of myself and I became protective of him," I try to explain, for the first time really picking it apart myself as to why it happened. "Then Bran fell and everything changed. The moment I had my suspicions I couldn't look you in the eye, somehow for some reason that wasn't the case with Jon, I don't know why. I realised quite quickly that my mother would do anything in her power to prevent the truth from coming to light, would do anything to keep me from you and that Tywin would use me as a pawn in whatever would be to come and I sought to protect myself from my own heart without considering yours. I was self destructive, looking for solace in the furthest place I could find from the mess I'd begun to unravel." Looking back, I just want to hit myself. "I was a shit person, I truly shit person. My pride and ego far larger than my dignity. I reverted back into the person I was in Kings Landing, who plotted and schemed and didn't care about herself or anyone else. You had brought out the best in me Robb, but with Jon I let him see the worst of me, the liar and the hypocrite who hated everything, and he didn't hate me for it."

He looks at me carefully. "You thought I'd hate you for it?"

"It turns out what I thought was the worst of me was only the surface," I find myself admitting. "I found the worst of myself in what I'd done to you and now I realise it wasn't Jon who saw the worst of me, not even close, it was you."

I know we're both remembering the fight we had the day I left Winterfell, after I'd slept with Jon.

"You're right," he sighs and looks out to the ocean. "I did, and for a while I did hate you for it." The words sting but they're only the truth. "I never wanted to see you again."

"And what changed?"

"I don't know," he says, trying to come up with the words. "Somehow after months had passed I began to understand what was going on in your head, realised the girl I fell in love with never really existed, and that it was Jon who saw past the lies, not me." I'm silent as he continues. "I realised we were still strangers, not really lovers. That it was different with you and jon, that you two shared something I couldn't understand. That you never meant to break my heart."

"But I still did," I say, understanding know better than ever. "I'd never had a lover betray me before, now I know what it feels like. Even if it's only a fraction of the pain I caused you."

He stares at me utterly confused "What did Jon do?"

"Not Jon," I answer and confess "Margaery." He's speechless and still confused. "She tried to start an affair with me before I went to Winterfell, when I came back to Kings Landing I accepted her advances. She slept in my bed for months until her and Renly left me to die and got married."

Somehow it isn't the affair that scandalises him. "They left you to die?"

"After your mother kidnapped Tyrion everything went to shit and my father left the city. We had decided to tell him the truth about Joffrey and Jaime once he returned. But Ned being the man he was warned my mother, told her to leave the city, that was the moment she decided he had to be dealt with. So, he had my cousin drug my father so he'd get into a hunting accident, he was on his deathbed by the time he returned to the city. Renly and Margaery had both sworn to support me, we were going to seize Joffrey and take the throne. We were going to end it there and then until Renly left the city like a coward while the guards were looking to arrest me, Margaery left with him and with all their men." I breathe in deeply, trying to stiffle the rage at the memory. "Ned and I enteredthe throneroom with the gold cloaks at our back to support us, Joffrey was already there. My father had named Ned regent until the heir came of age. They didn't like that and I spoke the truth and we were arrested for it."

He's pale, and his voice hoarse as he asks "The execution?"

"It was meant to just be me. We were brought out and saw Arya hiding in the crowd, she must have escaped the guards when your fathers household was slaughtered, Sansa was there with my mother. I confessed to everything to take the fall and again spoke the truth about Joffrey's parentage. Ned was meant to be sent to the wall. The blade was at my neck when the crowd began to riot and Joffrey changed his mind, but insisted someone had to die for it." My voice trembles as I tell him "He held his hand around my throat as I fought and said you can tell Robb Stark why his father died. Sansa was screaming, I lost sight of Arya and it was over so fast."

"Sansa, Arya, are they safe?" Robb asks me and I shake my head, tears only then coming to my eyes.

"Joffrey is tormenting Sansa and Arya is still missing," I tell him thickly, knowing I cannot sugarcoat the abuse. "He took Sansa onto the walls to look at your fathers head, I could see the bruises on her. I tried to talk your father into marrying her to Loras just to escape Joffrey but then everything happened and there was no time. She is a prisoner there now and Arya- no one knows where Arya is."

"I'm going to kill him," he grinds out. "First Bran and now the girls-"

"He's evil Robb," I say, my escape playing in my mind. "I just pray he hasn't touched Sansa, but I wouldn't put it past him."

"You think he's raped her?" he asks, the anger in his voice barely contained.

"I can't say, but I know she is the object of his torment," I answer and swallow. "He might have had his guards-" I can't finish the sentence and I don't need to as his hand balls into a fist and I feel his fury.

"How do you know that?" he asks. "The guards-"

"Because he ordered his guards to do it to me," I confess to him, solely for fear of the same befalling Sansa. "He gave his guards orders to rape me before they killed me."

His voice shakes "Cass-"

"Bree and I killed them before they could succeed, it's how I got the cut on my neck," I explain, feeling his eyes on it. "But she was killed during the fight. Tyrion dragged me out of the castle as dozens of guards were sent to hunt me down and I managed to get on a horse and ride south to here. When I arrived I clawed Renly for leaving me to die, and nearly did the same to Margaery and ended up under guard. They're both dead to me now, but I stay civil for the sake of winnig this war."

"And tell me, what are you fighting for?" he asks me, a wise question.

I could say justice but there is only one truth.

"Revenge."

He doesn't say anything, only observes me as I bare myself to him. Show him the true darkness in me.

"I betrayed your hospitality by sleeping with your brother, lying about the accident of another, broke your heart and lied constantly to you and your entire family, plotting, schemed and murdered, I've either betrayed or been betrayed by everyone I love, and let my ambition and pride destroy me." I look at him and ask. "Tell me, could you know every terrible thing I've done and love me anyways?"

The awe has faded, no longer to him am I the princess of his romantic dreams and heartache, I am a honourless woman asking an honourable man to love me again.

And he answers "I can try."

I nod, that answer being more than I could ever hoped for. "Thank you."

"And you?" he asks. "Could you love me?"

I look at him in true bewilderment at the fact that is even a question. "Yes, and I intend to."

He relaxes and reaches for my hand. "And as for the politics and scheming and the rest, I need someone by my side who I can trust that knows Kings Landing and how it works, who knows Tywin Lannister and Joffrey. I need an advisor more than a wife." I smile a little. "I need someone who knows what this is like, leading, the responsibility of everything on your shoulders."

I kiss the back of his hand. "You don't have to carry it alone. I've seen what it can do to a man, to a king."

"I want to be a good king," he tells me, vulnerable. "I'm still trying to figure out what that is."

I smile and answer him "I don't think I've ever seen a good king until now, one who fights on the battlefield with his men, who takes responsibility and surrounds himself with people to advise him. My father did all that but he never wanted to rule, and so he didn't. I know you don't necessarily want to either but the difference is that you are doing it anyways, trying to learn how to be a king."

"I just hope I'm doing a good job of it," he admits and I smile, the most genuinely smile I've had sonce I was with him in Winterfell.

"You are," I promise him. "As someone who is an expert in that area you're ticking all the boxes. You know your men, you're out there with them, you are bold and the demands you made- you left no room for negotiation. You have the respect of every powerful person in this realm, even if people like Loras have a smart mouth on them, I remember the way people spoke about you before I escaped the capital, like you are a living legend. First will come the war Robb, which is something you have already mastered with that brilliant mind of yours, and as for ruling, I will help you."

He wraps an arm around me and holds me close, his forehead touching mine. "Thank you, Cass."

Greywind comes between us, resting his head on my skirts and I laugh as I run my hand through his fur. "Gods I thought you'd grown Robb, but Greywind-"

"And he'll get bigger yet."

"Come on boy, let's get you something to eat, both of you," I say and Robb helps me to my feet, catching me as i stumble a little bit. "Shit, maybe me too."

"You need it," he says, frowning as he looks at me, touches me. "Gods Cass, what the hell did they do to you."

"Left me to die," I grind out, as he offers me his arm to take as we walk back to camp. "Killed some guards, and then they left me to rot. When Tyrion got me out of there, they said I only had a day or two left at most."

He shakes his head and holds me closer. "That won't happen when you're with me, I'll never let you be put in irons again."

"I'll hold you to that," I joke. "Trust me, whoever puts me in irons again has it coming for them."

"I don't doubt that," he says. "I've heard you've become deadly since you left Winterfell."

"Ser Barristan taught me to weild a sword," I say fondly. "Believe it or not I became quite good."

"Well, when you're strong enough to hold one we'll have to test that."

"I'll hold you to that as well," I say, finding myself finally at ease with him by my side. "Come, it's getting late."

~

We sit in my tent, war inventory's strewn on the table where we eat.

"So you're doing the roles of the small council?"

"Every last one," I sigh and explain. "To take Kings Landing we need ships, the only problem is that Stannis, our rogue master of ships, commands the entirety of the Baratheon fleet which is at Dragonstone, and Stannis is even more stubborn then Renly when it comes to everything."

"I've sent Theon to negotiate with his father for the Iron Fleet," Robb tells me. "Would you be able to secure their independance as well as the Norths if they helped take the capital?"

I debate it heavily. "I want to say yes but the truth is it will be difficult. Even though I support the North's independence it will be a heavy and bloody political fight to have it made law once the war is done, which I assure you will be done, it will be the same for the Iron Islands but for now I an pledge the Stormlands to the cause."

"And where does Renly stand?"

"He'll reject both," I answer. "And Stannis would kill all of you if you didn't bend the knee."

"So what then?" Robb asks. "Once the war is done and Joffrey is deposed?"

"I suppose that will be in the hands of whoever takes the city," I say, the tip of my knife poised on the table. "It will be a race if we cannot unite. A race for whoever can defeat the Lannisters first. You're winning on the battlefield but my money is on Stannis using his ships to launch a single attack while the majority of the Lannister forces are concentrated in the Riverlands. If we could just come together, the Northern forces keeping Tywin busy and defeat them in the field, and for the combined Baratheon and Tyrell forces to take the city. But I'm afraid the pride of men will make that impossible."

"If our troops combined with those from the Riverlands and the Iron Islands were all one force, what would our chances be?" he asks me and I tense as I hold the knife I held to Margaery's throat.

"The Reach is the greatest army, they have the money and the men, and the Tyrells are a breed of treasonous cunts with an ambition that surpasses the Lannisters," I say and dare to confront the possibility. "They'll betray us for the sake of power, for the sake of being on the winning side."

"I don't understand, why would they betray you if you're the winning side?"

"Margaery has clearly been taught to fuck whichever Baratheon has the greatest chance of giving her family power," I answer bitterly. "You see, she wants to be Queen. Not a queen, the queen. I know her well enough after being betrayed by her what she will do and best believe that the moment Renly's weaknesses are exploited by Stannis she will turn to the next Baratheon she can marry."

"Well that would be Joffrey," he says and I nod. "Would she really leave Renly for Joffrey?"

"Yes," I answer, once i never would have considered it, but now I see her clearly . "Because she knows she's dug her grave with me, trust me, if it wasn't for me she'd be trying to fuck you since you are currently winning this war." He coughs, choking at my words. "Except, if the Tyrells sided with the Lannisters they would be the winning side, and she knows this. So, if Renly and Stannis continue their civil war she will put her money and her body somewhere else."

It's all too much for him. "I don't understand why we can't all just fight together to end this within the month."

"I know," I say quietly. "The only problem is, everybody wants the throne."

"And you?" he asks me. "Where do you stand?"

"It is mine by right, but after what I've endured I would settle for seeing Joffrey bleed," I tell him in full honestly and confess "When I thought I wouldn't make it out of the capital alive I made a will, naming Daenerys Targaryen as my heir."

He blinks at me, obviously not having been made aware. "Daenerys Targaryen?"

"The mad kings daughter, his only surviving child," I elaborate. "She is a girl my age, married to a Dothraki warlord, a Khaleesi."

"Why would you name someone you've never met as your heir?"

"Because I refuse to name either Stannis or Renly, I made that will in anger, a way of enacting revenge upon them in my death," I say, knowing I was delirious at the time. "They know this, they don't trust me, and they shouldn't either. Every single damn so called king or queen is at each others throats. And this Targaryen girl, somehow I trust her more than any of them."

Finally it dawns on us, there will be no victorious ending. "This will end bloody won't it?" 

I nod. "I've learned the hard way what happens to those who venture near the throne, and I'm afraid Margaery, Stannis, Renly and all the rest will need to learn before this war will ever end."

He breathes in heavily "But surely we can still try, try to get Stannis onside with Renly."

"We can try," I say, my faith being close to none in my own blood. "And if they refuse we will have no choice but to watch them destroy each other."

"And us?" he asks. "What will we do?"

"Take my men and go North," I answer and question "How will your men take you bringing me home as a wife? The kings number one target."

"Well," he says somewhat awkwardly. "There's definitely some who won't be happy."

"Likewise," I answer. "Renly doesn't want me to marry you, he wants me to marry Loras so I won't interfere in his plans."

"And my mother wants me to marry one of Walder Freys daughters."

"Walder Frey?" I ask in amusement. "What are you doing with that old bastard?"

"There was a bridge," he sighs and I laugh.

"A bridge?"

"A very important bridge."

We're both laughing at how ridiculous this all is, how against us the world is.

"Well, it sure is a good thing as the Lady of Storms End I don't need his blessing to marry," I say, my eyes on his, and he leans forward.

"And well being a king, what would they do?"

"No one who values their head would ever disobey a king," I answer, my hand touching his. "Especially not a king with such a fierce reputation."

"Aye, and what of yours?" he asks me. "I've heard some call you the Storm Queen with how you've commanded the Red Keep."

The Storm Queen.

The first I've ever heard myself called such a name.

And it is a name I will certainly embrace.

"Do you have any idea how incredible you have become Robb?" I ask him, seeing him in a new light without the innocence I wore when we first met. "A commander, a true man."

"And what about you?" he asks me, looking at me in a way that makes me flustered. "As clever as ever and-"

"A skeleton," I finish and he tilts his head at me. "You don't need to deny it."

"Prettiest skeleton I've ever seen," he comments and I can't help but laugh.

"Aye, while that may be true I still look like a corpse," I retort. "And while you look more than dashing in your armour, this dress is hanging off me like a clothes hanger."

"Then let me take it off you," he says with a boldness that catches me off guard, with a boldness that lights something in me. "But first, does this camp have a septon?"

"No," I answer in confusion. "But Storms End does."

"How far is it?"

"An hour or so?"

"Then come on," he says taking my hand and pulling me to my feet. "Let's get married."

It's madness, true madness, and yet it is the best I've ever felt.

"Robb-"

He pulls me in, my face between his hands. "I loved you, and I know this is mad, but I need you now more than ever. I know who you are now, and I know who I am marrying. And I am ready to love you again, as long as this time you can try to love me too."

Tears fill my eyes as I smile "I don't need to try. I can, I will."

"Then marry me tonight," he says and I'm breathless as our lips meet after so long apart, at how right it feels, moreso than it ever did before, and look upon him in awe as I utter my answer.

"Yes."

It is all a blur of madness as he whisks me away from the camp, hand in hand to the horses where he hoists me upon his, and holds my waist as we ride for Storms End. It all feels like some wishful dream, something the gods would never bless upon me, until we arrive at the gates.

In the moonlight a guard halts us. "Who's there?"

"The Lady of Storms End and the King in the North," I answer, and am struck by the life that has returned to my voice, something that disappeared months ago. 

"Your graces," the guard greets in surprise and allows us to enter the castle walls where he helps me dismount and I take his hand, bringing him to the Sept, where we find the old Septon reading over some texts. 

"Princess," he exclaims in surprise. "Oh how wonderful it is to see you here and alive, it has been so very long since I've laid eyes on you."

"It is wonderful to be home," I smile as Robb comes to stand behind me. "Now I have a favour to ask of you."

He looks to Robb in surprise. "Oh my, what favour is this?"

"To marry us," Robb answers and the septon, while shocked, finds a cloth to bind our hands.

"In the godswood," I request, knowing it's significance to Robb, who looks at me and nods. 

And so mere minutes later he and I stand there by one of the last weirwood trees left in the south, myself looking like a starved pauper and he a king, his love is unconditional, to marry the woman who betrayed him, to marry a woman like me. 

And I will never throw his love away again.

"Let it be known that Princess Cassana of House Baratheon, Lady of Storms End, and King Robb of House Stark, Lord of Winterfell, are one heart, one flesh, one soul. Cursed be he who would seek to tear them asunder."

He lifts Robb and I's joined hands up, wrapping the cloth around them. Binding us.

"In the sight of the Seven, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity. Look upon one another and say the words."

We turn to one another, it's all I can do to keep myself from trembling as we recite the words.

"Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger..." I smile upon him as we finish "I am his and he is mine. From this day, until the end of my days."

With those words he wraps his cloak around my shoulders, and kisses me.

"My wife," he murmurs, and with those simple words he and I are bound to one another, forever. The septon leaves us and it is then the depth of this union hits us both, and he takes me in his arms, takes me as his. "My love."

"Robb," I breathe as he lifts me up, kissing me and carries me bridal style laughing up the stairwell in the tower to my room, where he finally sets me down. 

"My lady," he teases, kissing my hand.

"My lord," I return, kissing him with my arms around his neck, and only then as we stand by my bed, nervousness truly overcomes us.

We both at it and then back to each other, and my mind goes back to the last main I laid with.

"I haven't-" he begins, as if I'd expect any different, and I take his face between my hands, smiling up at him despite the pit in my stomach at how it should have been him.

"It's alright, let me-" I kiss him, my hands reaching for his armour, carefully undoing the straps of it and removing it until I can feel the boy beneath it I once loved, who I once left, and I look up at him and swear "I will be a good and loyal wife to you Robb, and that is a promise I intend to take to our graves."

He kisses me with a newfound passion, hands on my waist and in my hair, clutching my frail body to his, and the next thing I know my body is drapped atop his on the bed. Feeling the rush through my veins, throughout my entire body, I position myself above him, my skirt hiked up to my thighs which he squeezes, and bring his hands to the laces holding the front of my dress together. I grind down on him and feel him harden as his nervous hands undo the laces down to my navel and he exhales sharply as I bare my breasts to him, yet I do not know how he could find the sight of my starved body attractive.

Somehow he must feel how I tense as he sits up and holds my face. "You're still as beautiful as you always were," he promises me, kissing me. "That will never change."

And my heart believes him.

Our lips only part for him to lift my dress above my head, leaving me completely naked in his arms as I pull his shirt open, letting my hands explore the flesh beneath it, and he gasps as they drag down his chest to the laces of his breeches. I put a hand on his chest to gently lay him back down as I kiss down his chest, placing slow kisses along the leather of his trousers, along the hard outline of him as I untie them and slide them down off of him and look at the length of him, swallowing hard at the unexpected size of him. He brings my lips back up to his, hands on my body and rolls us over so he hovers above me, in between my legs and for a moment we just look at one another, in pure awe of this moment, and I surrender myself to him.

~

Robb

She lays peacefully in my arms with her hand on my chest. Her eyes are closed and she wears a sweet, satisfied smile. I still can't believe that she's truly here. Only hours ago I thought she was still in the Black Cells, but she's here. She's alive. She's my wife.

I wish I could say she's unharmed but I can't. The cut on her neck certainly isn't a scratch, not deep enough to kill her but certainly deep. She said that she was on the brink of death from starvation, I didn't know what that looked like until now. It's been weeks since she escaped but she's so thin. She was never a frail little thing, she always had a natural strength to her, curves in her hips and breasts, which I gather comes from that Baratheon blood, but now she is so dangerously frail. I don't want to imagine what she looked like when she was dragged from those cells. 

Her body will heal but it's her mind I'm worried about. Her cousin said she had gone mad down there, I certainly don't believe that she's mad, but she is hurting, grieving.

Yet when I look at her, she's the most peaceful I've ever seen her, even in her brokeness she is beautiful. I kiss her forehead just so grateful that she is here, I knew she was in those cells but I never thought that she could have been so close to death. Even now she feels as if she may be.

"You're cold," I say, feeling the goosebumps on her skin, underneath her skin is little more than bone.

"I'm always cold," she replies dismissively, simply burying herself deeper in my arms, something I definitely don't resist.

"As much as I love having you naked in bed we need to get dressed, the suns coming up," I say, light peaking in. "I'm sure someone will be interrupting us soon enough."

Her eyes open with a loving but cranky look, it's then I truly know we're married and she murmurs "I have a dress with sleeves somewhere, find me something." I climb out of bed to find my pants and feel her eyes on me, suddenly much more awake. 

"What?"

"You are the most handsome man I've ever seen."

I can't help feeling bashful "You might be a bit biased."

"I remember the first time I saw you in Winterfell I thought you were the most handsome man I'd ever seen, I wasn't biased then," she teases, rolling over onto her stomach and looking up at me as I pull my pants on. "I knew that day I'd be a very happy bride."

"And yet here we are only now," I reply, pushing away the thoughts that try to enter my mind, thoughts of her and Jon just like this.

"Because I was a foolish woman," she admits to me, and I see the guilt in her eyes. "And now I have come to my senses."

"Took you long enough," I tease, trying to stay lighthearted considering it's my wedding day. She confessed to me what happened between them before I brought her here, that should be the end of it.

She smiles and reaches out, taking my hand in hers. "Now you'll have me for the rest of our days."

I bend over and kiss her. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare to the love of a woman. Her eyes meet mine and I know that no woman could ever compare to her. It's always been her, and it always will be.

"I love you," I breathe putting all the pain and longing of this past year into three words. "I love you."

She looks at me in awe, tears coming to her wide eyes, and I wonder just how loveless her life has been. I don't expect her to say anything back, but she kisses the back of my head and whispers "I love you too." She rests her forehead against mine, and I can feel how she trembles. "I wish I'd known it sooner. I never thought I'd see you again and here you are, where I never expected you to be."

"Perhaps the gods are on our side," I say and she laughs lightly.

"Perhaps."

I kiss her and pull away to find her a dress, a yellow one like she always used to wear, and help her into it, or at least try to.

"You know the one thing I've always wondered about women is why you wear the most bloody complicated dresses."

She simply laughs "When we get to the Riverlands you can find me a dress without laces, quick to put on and ever quicker to take off, deal?"

"Deal."

I kiss her neck and she picks up my jacket. "Meanwhile you have a jacket with about fifty bloody laces in the front, you aren't one to talk."

I laugh under my breath as I shake my head at her and pull it on but not bothering to do it up, winter may be coming but it's still somewhat warm in the south.

"One last thing," I say, and wrap my cloak around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head. "There we go."

She turns her head back to kiss me, and I feel as if I've entered the heavens with her.

"Now my love, shall we return to the camp to our troops?"

"We will, but first-" I pull her into my arms, kissing her deeply, unable to get enough of her, never wanting to let her go. "I want to have a few moments longer with my wife."

~

Cassana

By the time we arrive back at the camp Renly's tournament is well underway.

The men look at us and walk as we walk past together, and for the first time since I've arrived here I feel strong, strong with him by my side.

 "Shall we inform my uncle?" I ask him, my hand wrapped around his arm and he smirks as he answers

"Well, it would be a shame if no one knew that I've married the one true princess," he teases and I smile almost wickedly at him.

And so we arrive to the tournament where we are properly announced as husband and wife for the first time.

"Announcing the King and Queen in the North, the Lord and Lady of Winterfell and Storms End. Robb and Cassana Stark."

Cassana Stark. It has a nice sound to it.

We enter the field where Renly and Margaery gape at us, gape at me with his cloak around my shoulders, and know just how deeply I have disturbed their little plot to marry me off to Loras where I won't cause any trouble. Unlike Margaery, I am married to a true king.

"Men!" I call out to gather their attention. "I would like to announce my marriage to Robb Stark, the King in the North." I'm grinning as I look at him. "And to announce that the Stormlands are now allied with the North in our war against the Lannisters!"

The men cheer and celebrate and Robb raises our joined hands up and I look to Renly as I announce "Today's tournament will be in honour of our marriage, and our alliance with the North, the houses Stark and Baratheon finally joined as my father always intended!"

Drinks are raised and I'm smiling as Robb wraps his arm around my shoulder, the other holding a drink which someone must have handed to him as the men celebrate and accept one myself, raising it high in our honour.

For the first time in forever, I feel truly alive.