"What does that prove?" Catelyn sounded agitated. "A Targaryen is still a Targaryen. Your grandfather and your uncle both died at their hands. Your father... he may have died at the hands of the Lannisters, but if you trace it all back, wasn't it the Mad King and Rhaegar who set all of this in motion?"
Robb said nothing, only watched his mother quietly. He knew his father's death had simply frightened her.
Seeing the look on Robb's face, Catelyn knew she had gone a little too far.
She lowered her head and faltered for a long while before speaking again. "Is Sansa really in King's Landing?"
"She is. Viserys said so himself in his letter, and Arya is there too," Robb told his mother earnestly.
"Arya..." Catelyn's voice caught.
She thought of her mischievous younger daughter, of her perpetually dirty face and her defiant eyes. "Is she really still alive?" Earlier rumors from King's Landing had claimed that Arya was dead.
"Yes, she's alive. Viserys said in his letter that she misses you very much."
Catelyn's tears finally fell. She covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking, but fought to keep herself from sobbing aloud. Robb stepped forward and gathered her into his arms, just as she had comforted him when he was little.
"I'll bring them back, Mother," he said. "I promise you."
"How many men do you intend to take to King's Landing this time?" Catelyn asked the same question as the Blackfish. They truly were family.
"A few guards will be enough." Though Robb feared worrying his mother, he still answered honestly.
"Take Brynden with you," Catelyn said, looking at Robb. "He's seen the world. He knows how to deal with those southern nobles."
Robb shook his head, his voice firm. "No. Great-Uncle must stay here. Once