Chapter Text
A goblet came flying by his head, Ned’s years of experience as a soldier helped him duck out of its path. He turned towards the direction it had come from and saw his wife, Catelyn stood before him with her breathing ragged in anger.
Instead Ned turned to his eldest son, who had been accompanying him for the past few years at battle, “Robb, leave us.”
“Yes, Father.” With a swish of his cloak, Robb left the tent. Leaving only Ned and his wife, he knew this moment was coming the minute he called her down from Winterfell. Ned knew she would see this as a failure, as a weakness- but it was what must be done.
Finally she spoke, with a voice as cold as ice, “You bring me here- to this filthy war camp, only to tell me you have lost?”
“We have not lost, we must come to peace. Already too much northern blood has been spilled. You must recognize this at least, wife?” Ned tried reasoning with her, hoping to appeal to her sense of self preservation. The longer they stayed out here, the closer to winter they came- the more money would be spent, food would be needed, and most importantly- lives would be lost.
Catelyn did not see this- at least not in this moment, and neither had he for a long time. The desire to win, to be free- had blinded him to their weaknesses. Coming to that realization and then actually hearing what the cost of peace between these two great houses would entail, had been hard to hear. It still was difficult to even think of, but Ned's duty was to all his people- so all he could do was try for a match that would be a safe bet for his eldest daughter.
“How can you inform me of this , and then expect me to believe we have not lost?” She screamed at him, no doubt most of the camp outside hearing her.
This - being the betrothal of their eldest daughter, Sansa Stark- and a former Lannister dog, Sandor Clegane.
It was not ideal to say the least, “It is what must be done, Cat.”
She did not agree, and resented how nonchalantly he spoke of this, “It is an insult! We cannot allo-”
At this point Ned was becoming angry at his wife- did she not realize all that was going on here? Did she not think he knew this was insulting to their great name?
“An insult? To who… Yourself? Or us, your family- the North? Your selfishness astounds me, Cat. How can you expect me to ask these men to keep fighting? To keep dying? When there is a path forward to peace…”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times thinking of her response, until finally the truth of it came out- it wasn't that shocking to see her daughter's betrothal being used as a bargaining chip… It was the person she was to marry that was the issue.
He wasn't good enough for the likes of Catelyn Stark. She objected because he was beneath them in her mind, Ned could read it all over her face.
“He is a second son!” She seethed out through her teeth.
“CATELYN! I am cleaning up the mess you made! Did you think Tywin would let us call for peace, and take nothing in return? You can scream and cry about how slighted you feel, that our daughter must marry a man you feel is beneath her, beneath you… But it is you that set her on this path…” Ned watched his wifes face crumble with guilt, knowing she held a large portion of responsibility for putting this whole family in this position.
“Cat… I don't like it any more than you do, but you knew this was a possibility. This whole thing started over Sansa’s hand- it's not shocking that they want control over the very thing that started this war. Did you think they would forget? The secret I told you in confidence- only for you to throw it back in Cersei’s face- and then what? Let Sansa marry some man from the north that we approve of? They've given her to a southerner…” The anger that had been rushing through her, had been keeping her up- but now that the realization of what was happening was finally getting through to Catelyn- her knees wobbled.
Ned helped her to a chair, but kept his harsh tone- needing this to truly get through to his wife, “Sandor Clegane is a second son, but he is now the Lord of Clegane’s Keep- now that his cruel brother is officially part of the Kingsguard. He leads and army of Westerners- and I met him… When he came here to Winterfell,” He paused at that when Cately looked up at him. SHe hadn't even noticed the giant man, seeing only an invisible employee of the Lannisters- not worth her time.
“He was still the Hound, but he was nothing like his brother.” The implication of that being the rumors that swirled about the elder Clegane, and his propensity to losing wives- usually in the most awful ways too.
Ned had drilled all this in his own mind when weighing the pros and cons of the men Tywin had listed, “Rough, crude, and nothing like who we imagined for our girl- it's true… But he is not an evil man, nothing like his brother, the Mountain.”
Still she shook her head, hoping this wasn't true and that with enough faith- Catelyn could somehow change it, “Do you think the younger Clegane was the only name they offered? That was the insult… They offered soldiers, knights, even Tyrion Lannister. Would you rather her have to live as a Lannister, after all that's happened between our families? Did you think having to listen to that lowly list of names was not an insult to me? I am the Warden of the North, and I now have next to no control over the marriage of a much beloved daughter. It was an insult to me- but I had to swallow my pride and pick a man that I felt would at least not be a brute to our daughter.”
He refused to play any more games, this decision was final- and Catelyn would simply have to comply, “I don't care what you think, and I will not have you poison our daughters mind- you will go home and prepare our daughter for her upcoming nuptials. We have been at war for almost three years- Sansa is now eighteen summers old, she is ready to be a Lady of a great keep. She will be our salvation, and we will have peace in the North- you will get on board with this, is that understood, wife?”
Slowly Catelyn Stark shook her head in agreement, knowing fighting this was futile, “I understand, Ned i'm… I am sorry.”
A headache was brewing in the back of his skull, having to deal with all this, on top of the fact that he had barely seen his wife in all those three years- and this was how they reunited. Not what Ned was hoping for, “I don't know why you're apologizing to me- it should be to every wife who's lost a husband, every mother who's lost a son… to Sansa who will have to pay the price for your mistake- your pride…”
There was no response, only the swish of skirts and the opening of the tent flap, before hearing it close behind his wife- it felt harsh, what he said- but it also felt like she needed to hear it. Like he needed to say it, that there were consequences to rash actions, and it felt like his wife hadn't been the one paying that precious price for so long.
He could only pray that Sansa wouldn't pay too high a price, either.