[Outside Harrenhal]

Horses trotted as Robb Stark's army was on the move.

"We should set the siege lines a thousand yards from Harrenhal." Roose Bolton told his King.

"There won't be a siege. The Mountain can't defend a ruin."

"I imagine the Mountain will defend whatever Tywin Lannister tells him to defend."

"The Lannisters have been running from us since Oxcross. I'd love a fight. The men would love a fight. I don't think we're going to get one."

Shortly after, Robb's forces arrived at Harrenhall. Robb surveyed the courtyard which littered with bodies. Flies buzzed noisily among the corpses. Rickard Karstark and Roose Bolton enter.

"Two hundred Northmen slaughtered like sheep." Rickard Karstark said.

"The debt will be repaid, my friend. For them and for your sons." Roose Bolton told him.

"Will it? They rot in the ground while their killer runs free."

"The Kingslayer won't remain free for long. My best hunters are after him."

Robb and Catelyn walked somberly through the courtyard. Catelyn stopped at a body propped against a section of wooden spikes, a blade through his heart.

Robb walked up behind her and looked at the sigil on the man's chest. "A Mallister?"

"Ser Jeremy. My father's bannerman."

Robb looked over at Rickard Karstark and Roose Bolton and the two men exited. He glanced around at his soldiers atop the walls and throughout the courtyard and stepped back from his mother.

"Find her a chamber that will serve as a cell." He told his men.

A Stark soldier nodded and left. Catelyn looked down as she was escorted away from her son by a group of soldiers.

Morgana approached Robb, followed by Sirena and Talisa, watching as Catelyn was lead away. "She's your mother."

"She freed Jaime Lannister. The Lannisters robbed them of their sons and she robbed them of their justice."

A cough was heard nearby.

They looked over to see one of the men they had thought to be dead was moving.

Talisa rushed to tend to him.

"Water. Water."

His voice was barely audible.

"This needs to be cleaned and closed." Talisa told them.

Robb held a waterskin to the man's mouth and he took a few gulps.

"What's your name, friend?"

"Qyburn."

"You're lucky to be alive." Talisa told him.

"Lucky?"

A bird cawed as Talisa set to treating Qyburn's injuries.

[Harrenhal Chamber]

Robb looked pensievely into a fire while Morgana stood nearby.

"My mother alwys told me you Northerners were a grim lot. Grim, bearded, stinking barbarians." She walked over to Robb and half-embraced him.

"Did you ever think you'd marry one?"

"No, nevr. If my mother had it her way, I would have been wed to a Southern lord, preferably one loyal to House Lannister."

"Nevr?"

"Not until I married the king of the grim, bearded, stinking barbarians. Only, when I met him, he was a lord in training."

They kissed when the chamber door opened and Roose Bolton entered.

"Pardon me, Your Grace. My queen." He greeted.

"Lord Bolton." Morgana returned.

Bolton held two raven messages, one in each hand.

"Let me guess which one is the good news." Robb said.

"Word from Riverrun and Winterfell."

[Harrenhal Courtyard]

Robb stood and his mother sat in an archway, noticeably dejected.

They had just received word of her father's passing; only one more piece of bad news atop another.

"I hadn't seen him in years. I don't even know how many." Catelyn remarked to her son.

"We'll travel to the funeral together. Lord Bolton will garrison here until we return."

"Will I be wearing manacles when I lay my father to rest?"

Robb did not answer.

"Something else?"

"By the time Bolton's bastard Ramsay got to Winterfell, the Ironborn were gone. They massacred everyone and put the castle to the torch. And Bran and Rickon have not been found. They may have escaped. Or Theon may have taken them back to the Iron Islands as hostages."

"Have you received any demands?

"No."

"Have you heard anything from Theon at all?"

[Riverlands Woods]

Robb's forces travelled along a path through the woods. His direwolf, Grey Wind, watched as he and Rickard Karstark observed their men mqrch past.

"We're at war. This mqrch is a distraction." Karstark said.

"My grandfather's funeral is not a distraction." Robb replied.

"Are we riding to battle at Riverrun?

"No."

"Then it's a distraction."

"My Uncle Edmure has his forces garrisoned there. We need his men.

"Unless he's been breeding them, he don't have enough to make a difference."

"Have you lost faith in our cause?"

"If it's revenge, I still got faith in it."

"If you no longer believe-"

"I can believe till it snows in Dorne. Don't change the fact that we've got half the men.

"You don't think we can win?"

"May I speak my mind, Your Grace?"

"Have you not been speaking your mind, Lord Karstark?"

"I think you lost this war the day you married her."

Morgana rode past, entirely unaware of their conversation.

Further up the path, Catelyn sat, weaving a wooden circle bound with twine. Morgana rode up and dismounts with the help of a soldier, her mount whinnying.

"Whoa, whoa."

"Your Grace." The soldier called.

"You're afraid of her. And she knows it." Catelyn told her.

"I'm not afraid of her. May I help you, Lady Stark?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"You can't help because a mother makes one for her children to protect them. Only a mother can make them."

"I remember the first time I saw you making one of these."

It was on her visit to Winterfell when her father travelled to ask his loyal friend, Lord Eddard Stark, to be his new Hand.

Sadly, neither man walked this earthly plane. Nor did many others.

"How many have you made?" Morgana asked, sitting.

"Twice."

"Did they work?"

"In a fashion. I prayed for my son Bran to survive his fall." Morgana nodded. "Many years before that, one of the boys came down with the pox. Maester Luwin said if he made it through the night, he'd live. But it would be a very long night. So I sat with him all through the darkness. Listened to his ragged little breaths, his coughing, his whimpering."

"Which boy?"

"Jon Snow. When my husband brought that baby home from the war, I couldn't bear to look at him. I didn't want to see those brown stranger's eyes staring up at me. So I prayed to the gods, take him away. Make him die. He got the pox. And I knew I was the worst woman who ever lived. A murderer. I'd condemned this poor, innocent child to a horrible death all because I was jealous of his mother. A woman he didn't even know. So I prayed to all seven gods, let the boy live. Let him live and I'll love him. I'll be a mother to him. I'll beg my husband to give him a true name, to call him Stark and be done with it, to make him one of us."

"And he lived."

"And he lived." Catelyn confirmed. "And I couldn't keep my promise. And everything that's happened since then all this horror that's come to my family it's all because I couldn't love a motherless child."

After a few more miles, they had arrived in Riverrun, where they met Catelyn's brother and uncle.

Robb Stark and Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully, brother of Hoster, waist deep in the Red Fork of the Trident river, released the funeral boat of Hoster Tully. They returned to the dock to rejoin the somber and silent Catelyn and Morgana. Edmure Tully, Catelyn's brother and new Lord of Riverrun, stepped forward, holding a bow while the others look on. He lights the arrow and fired an arcing shot at the distant boat. The arrow splashed wide of its mark. Perturbed and embarrassed, Edmure looked back, then drew another arrow to ignite. He shot, and this arrow also splashed errantly, while the boat drifted further downstream. The large crowd near the dock murmured. Robb laughed under his breath and Brynden looked impatient. Edmure took a breath and unleashed a nervous shot that also splashed uselessly. Fed up, Brynden pushed Edmure aside and took his bow. Catelyn, Robb, and Morgana tried to maintain their composure. Brynden lit an arrow, aimed carefully, and unleashed an arcing shot. As the arrow flew, not staying to watch his shot, he turned and tossed the bow back to Edmure, walking off. Moments later, the arrow landed in the boat, setting it aflame. Catelyn closed her eyes in relief. Brynden continued to walk away and Edmure watched as the flaming boat disappeared at the river's bend.

[Riverrun War Room, Later]

"If I may, nephew, I encountered a situation with one of my lieutenants at the Stone Mill which may have some bearing-" Edmure began.

"Why don't you shut your mouth about that damned mill? And don't call him "nephew." He is your king." Brynden interjected.

"Robb knows I meant him no disr-"

"You're lucky I'm not your king. I wouldn't let you wave your blunders around like a victory flag."

"My blunder sent Tywin's mad dog scurrying back to Casterly Rock with his tail between his legs. I think King Robb understands we're not gonna win this war if he's the only one winning any battles. No, there's glory enough to go around."

"It's not about glory. Your instructions were to wait for him to come to you."

"I seized an opportunity."

"What value was the mill?" Robb asked.

"The Mountain was garrisoned across the river from it."

"Is he there now? Of course not."

"We took the fight to him. He could not withstand us."

"I wanted to draw the Mountain into the west, into our country where we could surround him and kill him. I wanted him to chase us, which he would have done because he is a mad man without a strategic thought in his head. I could have that head on a spike by now. Instead, I have a mill."

"We took hostages. Willem Lannister. Martyn Lannister."

"Willem and Martyn Lannister are fourteen years old."

"Martyn is fifteen, I believe." Brynden corrected.

"Tywin Lannister has my sisters. Have I sued for peace?" Robb asked.

"No." Edmure said, head lowered.

"Do you think he'll sue for peace because we have his father's brother's great grandsons?"

"No."

"How many men did you lose?"

"But for every man we lost, the Lannisters-"

"We need our men more than Tywin needs his!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"You would have. Right here today at this gathering if you had been patient."

"We seem to be running short of patience here." Brynden said.

"You know who isn't? Tywin Lannister." Robb replied.

[Riverrun Great Hall]

Catelyn and Brynden gazed out a grand window from within the castle, appreciating the beauty of the Riverlands.

"A person could almost be forgiven for forgetting we're at war." Catelyn told her uncle.

"It often comforts me to think that even in war's darkest days, in most places in the world absolutely nothing is happening."

"I've missed you, Uncle. Father missed you, too, from the day you left. Maybe he nevr said it in so many words-"

"Maybe? Your father was a stubborn old ox. I was surprised when he died. Didn't think death had the patience."

"I'm glad you were with him. I wish to the gods I had been. Did you make peace in the end?"

"After thirty years of fighting, I don't think he remembered what started it. He asked me to stop calling myself Blackfish. He said it was an old joke and it was nevr funny to begin with. I told him people had been calling me Blackfish for so long, they don't remember my real name."

"Every time he would leave for the capital or fight in a campaign, I'd see him off. 'Wait for me, little Cat,' he'd say. 'Wait for me and I'll come back to you.' And I would sit at this window evey day when the sun came up, waiting. I wonder how many times did Bran or Rickon stare across the moors of Winterfell waiting for me to return. I will nevr see them again."

Catelyn began to weep and Brynden sat down to comfort her.

"You mustn't think it. We don't know the truth. They could be in hiding. Robb believes they're alive. And he must go on believing. He's got to remain strong if he's to prevail. And you must remain strong for him."

Catelyn could only sigh.

[Riverrun Dungeon]

Talisa tended to Martyn Lannister's arm while Willem Lannister looked on.

"You're Robb Stark's wife." Martyn said.

"Hold still." She told him.

"Is it true what they say about him?" He asked.

"I don't know. What do they say about him?"

"That he can turn into a wolf at night."

"True."

"And he eats the flesh of his enemies."

"True. You're a Lannister, aren't you?"

"Martyn Lannister."

"Martyn Lannister. You've nothing to fear. My husband doesn't eat children. Unless it's a full moon. It's not a full moon tonight, is it? See? Nothing to fear."

If only she knew how wrong she was.