A Song of Ice and Fire © George R. R. Martin / Game of Thrones © HBO

summary: —AU, Beric Dondarrion revives Robb instead of Catelyn.

note: i have a lot of feels over robb stark. catelyn's personality changed when she was revived so when i wrote this i was thinking about how robb would change (if he changed). probably this is just word vomit idk but it made me feel better so there it is. also, i re-wrote thoros' explanation of how catelyn is alive to apply to robb. i also went off the theory that jeyne was in on her mother's plan...

"When we found him by the river he was three days dead. Harwin begged me to give him the kiss of life, but it had been too long. I would not do it, so Lord Beric put his lips to the boy instead, and the flame of life passed from him to the boy. And...he rose. May the Lord of Light protect us. He rose."

The wounds the Freys had left had long ago ceased to bleed and hurt, at least most of them had. The wound from Roose Bolton, from his knife into Robb's heart, still throbbed with pain on occasion. Mostly though, Robb just felt numb. They'd thrown him into the river along with his mother. Grey Wind had pulled him out, that's what they told him. The Brotherhood Without Banners. Robb is sure that, had it not been for his mother's insistence to let Grey Wind run loose while they attended Edmure's wedding, Grey Wind would have suffered the same fate as Robb and his mother. Death.

Robb was dead and then he was not. If he was being honest he still didn't know if he was he alive or dead. Was he both?

The Red Priest Thoros had tried to explain it.

Lord Beric Dondarrion had passed onto Robb the flame of life. A man that Robb had heard to be more than thrice dead.

Robb was once dead.

Once was enough. He would not waste this second life. He would destroy the Lannisters. Destroy the Freys. Destroys the Boltons. Destroy all of those who betrayed him.

They tore him, his men, and his mother apart.

Robb Stark would tear them apart in kind.

There was nothing else.

Robb could not return to Riverrun. He could not return to Jeyne. He could not return to his mother's uncle. As much as Robb wanted to, he could not find it in himself to return. It was better if they thought him dead. It would not be long before word got out that he was alive but for now, he was dead.

He didn't even know if he could return.

Thoros had also explained how Lord Beric had felt different every time that he was brought back. Maybe this was it, a few remembered moments. Memories that felt faded, like they weren't really his except they were because he lived them. He could not clearly remember. Everything was different.

Even Grey Wind was different.

The direwolf could not recognize him on occasion, and the tie Robb had felt to the wolf was barely there, lingering only because Robb forced himself to remember it. Sometimes when he slips into Grey Winds skin, the direwolf pushes him away, it takes all of Robb's strength to keep the connection. It had been easier before. Grey Wind was a part of Robb. Maybe that was why Robb tried so very hard to keep the wolf close, he did not want to forget himself.

"Lord Stark," Thoros voice brings Robb out of his reverie.

Robb had stopped being King in The North. That boy was dead.

"What is it?"

"There's been word of the situation in Riverrun. Lord Edmure has bent the knee. The Blackfish escaped. The Westerlings...they have been pardoned by The Lannisters."

His uncle Edmure, bending the knee was expected, his wife was with child, and what could Lord Tully do but bend the knee to spare them. The Blackfish escaping capture was the least surprising news of all. But Jeyne, sweet and shy Jeyne...

"Pardoned?"

"Yes...they are saying your lady wife's mother played a part in your demise."

Robb felt his wound thrum in pain, his hand clutching at his chest. He stumbled forward. The only reason he did not hit the ground was because Thoros caught him.

"Lord Stark, does that wound still ail you?"

Robb pushed Thoros away, hissing, "No. What ails me is that my sweet lady wife is a traitor."

"Mayhap she did not know of her mother's ploys."

"If she knew or she did not, I will cut off her head just the same."

It made sense. Everything made sense now, how they caught Robb off-guard. The Lannisters had slid Jeyne into his bed. It was his own fault for not seeing. She had nursed him, given him potions to cure his ailments. Robb should have known better. Her grandmother was a witch, her mother was a witch, why should Jeyne be any different. That shy smile of hers she wore whenever she tended to his wounds. The look of concern she had when Robb heard the news of his brothers' death. It was all a lie. Traitor.

Robb lets out a short bark of laughter. Thoros looks wary.

"Do you remember what I said as we buried Lord Beric's body?"

"How could I forget. You said you would destroy those who betrayed you."

"Aye. That I would tear them apart. I never thought I'd have to tear apart my wife."

Thoros looks weary, just a tired man who's seen too much.

It is then that Robb feels Grey Wind close, and the wolf is at his side. Robb feels him at the edge of mind and he remembers the first time Grey Wind had howled as a pup and the way the noise seemed to echo in his veins. The connection does not linger. He slips into the direwolf's skin with ease. It is the way water eases into the sea back to where it belongs. It is home.

Robb feels far from complete but this is something.

He is alive and he is dead, and maybe he is both. He cannot know. He does not know.

"We ride," Robb says softly, his hand on Grey Wind's head.

Thoros leaves to inform the men of The Brotherhood.

Lord Beric saw Robb fit enough to pass unto him the flame of life. Robb would use it.

Let it burn.

listening to: Youth —Daughter (which is where i got the title from)