Comment fic meme #2

[gotexchange_mod]

After the first round of got_exchange we had a surprisingly successful comment fic meme going for a while (here's a list of all the fics that were written last time), so I thought it might be fun to do this again. (Like last time, it's posted on the mod account journal because I don't want to enable anonymous comments on the exchange community.)

I changed the

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Long Live the Queen

[anonymous]

Roslin Stark, the Queen of the North, picks up her embroidery and smiles graciously to the women around her. She pretends not to notice the whispers when they think she isn't paying attention, how they glance at her flat stomach (with pity and unease, but mostly pity), that Lady Catelyn visits her less frequently and less warmly. Since the death of her infant daughter, she feels the North slipping away from her.

Her father gambled on her late mother's conspicuous fertility to permanently entwine his line with a king's, and he lost. One single child, claimed by the Stranger before her second month of life, and another that failed to quicken, Lord Frey's dream of being grandfather to a king was slipping away like smoke. If she cannot provide his majesty with an heir to hold the North, he writes, then he'll send one of her sisters or nieces to do it for her.

Her lord husband is . . . dutiful. Handsome, of course, and noble. He comes to her regularly, and has always wanted her to be happy, but his kisses taste of duty. To her, he is always your grace, or my lord Husband. He hasn't been Robb since little Cat died.

His bannermen think that, should she fail to give him a son, Robb should legitimize little Eddard Snow, his bastard by Jeyne Westerling. Some say he will set her aside and marry another once her father's swords are no longer needed. Some even whisper that he married the Westerling girl in secret before they arrived at the Twins, and she is the true queen.

Roslin wonders what life would be like if Robb had indeed married another girl. Would he still be fighting, or would smaller numbers have forced him to sue for peace by now? Would her lord father still be an ally of the Young Wolf, or would he remain neutral? Would she have married one of Robb's allies, or one of his enemies?

No. A Queen cannot waste time wondering about what could have been when she must focus on what is. She takes three deep breaths to clear her mind, as she sews another gray wolf on another white banner.

Re: Long Live the Queen

[midnightblack07]

ohh thank you so much for this lovely fill!!

I really feel for Roslin here, the weight of the crown and the loss of her daughter and the fact that--despite how kind and dutiful Robb may be--she can't quite shake that she's married to a stranger who doesn't truly love her; beautifully done (y)