Catelyn's Dislike

"Mother?"

When Catelyn didn't respond, Robb looked puzzled and softly called out to her again.

His voice broke the strange stillness in the room.

Garon took the opportunity to rise, calmly meeting Lady Catelyn's gaze.

At a glance, he noticed the coldness—and even disgust—in her eyes as she looked at him.

It was as if he'd done something that crossed a line for her.

"Is it because of Sansa?"

Garon was baffled. Unable to stop himself, he silently tried to guess.

"Could it be because Ned ignored her objections and forced Sansa and me into an engagement?"

"Is that why she's so cold toward me?"

Garon thought back over the story, and the more he considered it, the more likely it seemed.

After all, in the original story, Catelyn had always wanted Sansa to marry into a southern family, far from the bitter cold of the North.

Even without the king traveling north,

Catelyn's nature meant she would certainly choose a well-matched southern noble for Sansa Stark.

"But since Ned has made me a promise, surely he'll ask for her opinion too?"

"Even if she objects, given her nature, she shouldn't be so cold toward me, let alone disgusted."

"Could something else have happened in the meantime that I don't know about?"

Garon's gaze grew distant, and a faint unease stirred in his heart.

Ever since arriving at Winterfell, things had gone his way. Almost everything had unfolded as he'd expected.

But now, Catelyn's unexpected attitude roused him from his complacency.

"Stay calm. I have to stay calm!"

"Until the engagement is official, nothing can be allowed to go wrong!"

"I need to find out why Catelyn feels this way."

Garon discreetly glanced at Robb standing in front of him and thought, "Looks like I'll have to get Robb to sound her out."

Catelyn didn't miss Garon's little gesture.

"Hmph. He's set his sights on my daughter, and now he wants to use Robb too?"

"Theon was right. This Garon has ulterior motives..."

The more Catelyn thought about it, the angrier she became. She couldn't help snorting inwardly.

If Robb and Maester Luwin hadn't been there, she would have thrown Garon out already.

"Robb, what are you doing here?"

Catelyn forced down her disgust toward Garon and turned to question Robb.

But her deliberate treatment of Garon still left Robb in a difficult position.

"Father clearly told Mother not to make things hard for Garon, but she's treating him like this anyway."

"Ugh..."

Robb felt helpless. On one side was his mother, and on the other was his friend.

Caught between them, he couldn't take either side.

After a moment's thought, Robb decided to separate them first, then tell Ned what had happened and let him decide.

So he explained to Catelyn,

"Father asked me to show Garon around Winterfell. I was just taking him to the bedrooms to see if anything was missing."

"Mother, if there's nothing else, Garon and I will head over now."

Catelyn didn't answer Robb. Instead, she deliberately ignored Garon, turned to Maester Luwin, and instructed him,

"Maester Luwin, arrange Lord Tyrion's room as we discussed."

"Let's go look at the kitchens."

"Robb, you come with me too. You need to have Tom trim your beard."

"Mother..." Robb glanced at Garon, hesitating. "I still have to carry out Father's instructions. Could I come later?"

"I could get Jon and Theon to join us too."

Robb might as well not have mentioned Jon. The moment he did, Catelyn bristled.

"No!" she said flatly. "You can ask any servant to show him around Winterfell."

Catelyn shot Garon a scornful glance, then continued, "I'm taking you along to teach you the etiquette required when meeting the king."

"The Starks are Wardens of the North. Etiquette is part of our family's honor."

"Robb, we can't behave like certain people who don't know their place and bring shame upon the family!"

At her words, a flash of anger crossed Garon's eyes.

He was clever enough to understand that Catelyn was indirectly accusing him of trying to latch on to the power of the Wardens of the North.

Which, in truth, he was.

But by exposing him in such a roundabout way, Catelyn was effectively declaring open hostility.

A sharp glint flashed in Garon's eyes. He was about to retort, but Maester Luwin gave a light cough and cut in before he could speak.

"My lady, we should be going!"

Afraid Catelyn might say something else thoughtless and provoke Garon, Maester Luwin turned to Robb.

"Robb, go with Lady Catelyn."

"As for Theon and the others, I'll send someone to notify them."

"But..."

Seeing the tension rise, Robb wanted to smooth things over and was about to say more.

By then, Garon had also calmed down.

"Now isn't the time to fall out with Catelyn..."

With that, Garon forced a smile and interrupted, "Robb, go with Lady Catelyn for now."

"I'd like some time alone to rest."

"You can come find me once you're done."

Garon understood Catelyn's intentions perfectly.

He was now certain that she didn't want Sansa to marry him, nor did she want Robb to keep associating with him.

Rather than insist that Robb stay and put him in a difficult position,

he might as well go along with it and earn some goodwill.

Unfortunately, despite Garon's considerate gesture, Catelyn remained unmoved.

Seeing this, Robb realized he couldn't mend their relationship himself.

So he could only follow Catelyn's instructions and look for a chance to tell Ned what had happened.

Robb looked apologetically at Garon. "Get some rest. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done."

Garon gave a small nod in agreement.

He stepped out of the room, clearing the way for the three of them.

Catelyn walked past Garon with light steps, her face expressionless. She didn't even greet him.

Maester Luwin, lagging behind her, gave Garon an apologetic smile and nod before following her.

Robb sighed inwardly but said nothing.

As he passed Garon, he patted him on the shoulder to show him he shouldn't take it to heart.

Then he hurried after the others.

Garon stood tall in the doorway, watching Catelyn's retreating figure and committing it to memory.

A hard look flashed through his eyes and vanished.

"Catelyn doesn't like me at all. Trying to win her over would be a fool's errand."

"And she's trying to find a way to sabotage the engagement."

"I can't let her keep this up!"

Garon's gaze turned dark, his expression solemn. "Ned said the king will arrive in three days."

"Should I do something to distract her?"

In an instant, an image of Bran's broken leg flashed through Garon's mind.

"No. No!"

"It hasn't come to that. I need to think of another way."

Garon forced the image of Bran's broken leg from his mind.

He didn't consider himself a good person, but he still had his limits.

Garon wouldn't stoop to taking revenge by endangering a child's life.

As Garon thought about how to solve the problem, a raven had perched atop the castle wall without him noticing.

It slowly turned its head, its eyes moving with it, as if surveying all of Winterfell.

Suddenly,

the raven spotted Garon deep in thought. It tilted its head slightly, as though observing something.

A moment later, the raven flapped its wings and took off.

In the blink of an eye, it landed on a wooden stand not far in front of Garon.

"Caw, caw..."

At the sound of the calls, Garon snapped out of his thoughts and instinctively looked up.

In an instant, his eyes met the raven's.

A cold awareness flowed through his gaze and into his body.

A sudden transformation began.