From the moment the words left his mouth, Robb watched Viserys's reaction.
"Rhaenys knows what happened here too?" Viserys asked. His tone still sounded calm, but his gaze seemed to linger on Robb for a moment.
"I didn't give the man I sent too many details."
Robb spoke with some unease. The cold wind of the North lifted the lock of auburn hair over his forehead, a mark of his Tully blood. "I only told him to inform Princess Rhaenys that there had been a small mishap in the Crypt, and that there might be danger."
Robb raised his eyes to Viserys and continued with a frankness tinged with helplessness. "After all, if... if that thing really breaks out, Princess Rhaenys and her Dragon are the only ones in Winterfell right now who could stand against her. Everyone else would be utterly powerless."
It was a cruel truth for Robb. House Targaryen's Dragons were among the few forces he knew of that could fight the Others.
Yet as he said those words to Viserys, a trace of bitterness rose within him. In the end, the castle of House Stark had to rely on outsiders-House Targaryen and their Dragons-to protect it.
When he finished, Robb lowered his head at once, fixing his eyes on the trampled earth before his boots, no longer daring to meet Viserys's gaze.
It was not only shame at his own weakness, at being unable to shoulder the responsibility of protecting his family's lands and people alone, but also guilt over the arrangements he had made concerning Rhaenys.
After all, whatever his reasons, he had drawn Princess Rhaenys into this strange and dangerous calamity at Winterfell without first obtaining Viserys's explicit approval.
The act itself overstepped his bounds, carrying an offense he could scarcely put into words.