Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The waves and rain were strong that night.

It was the kind of night that made those who hadn't grown up there understand why Storm's End had been destroyed and rebuilt so many times, as was Catelyn's case.

She went there at the start of the war, a few days after she learned of her fiancé's death, a few days after marrying Robert Baratheon's younger brother, to forge the alliance that for better or worse would determine the future of House Tully in Westeros.

That had been months ago. She was sad during her marriage, but she was beautiful. Now after months of the siege of Storm's End she wasn't beautiful, the months of rationed food had caused her to lose her curves, her auburn hair once so praised for its lustrousness now didn't shine anymore. Things were getting worse. Last week Stannis had ordered the dogs to be killed to supply the people in the castle with nourishment. And even that sacrifice would only give them one more week of food. If nothing changed soon, she and everyone in the castle would just be skin and bones.

If Brandon saw me today he wouldn't think I’m beautiful, she thought, and felt foolish for caring about such a thing even now.

Because of the sound of the water, she only heard the footsteps when Stannis was close to her.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

“Just the rain.” Catelyn said.

She waited for him to keep walking, but instead Stannis stopped beside her in front of the window in the hallway that led to their rooms.

Catelyn and Stannis had only shared a bed one night, and this was their wedding night when they'd done their duty and consummated their union. And Stannis hadn't made any such advances in her direction since. A part of her was relieved by that, her love and her grief for Brandon was still too fresh in her heart. Another part of her for a while suspected that he was like Uncle Brynden and didn't like women. Now however she thought the reason was perhaps something more practical, a pregnancy in their setting would only make things more difficult, and if by some miracle she managed to deliver a child it would only mean one more mouth to feed.

When Catelyn met Stannis at the tourney at Harrenhal, she was under the impression that she had never seen such a serious young man. Even Brandon's younger brother smiled more than Stannis Baratheon. And the months since the start of the war had only confirmed that impression. But now, he didn't just look serious, he looked worried. He looked sad.

“Did something happen, my husband?” she asked.

She expected him to deny it, as men usually did when it came to emotions, but Stannis just said:

“Renly told me he hates me earlier today.”

"He's a child, Stannis."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't hate me."

"True, but it means that you as an adult should understand that what he says comes from his personal grief for the dogs he liked to play with, and not from wanting to hurt you."

“I think both of those things could be true. He's a lot like Robert was at that age... They're wrong you know? The Tyrells I mean. Robert wouldn't give up his war if they managed to capture the castle. He never cared much for this place.”

“They would probably take you hostage.”

“Robert cares for me even less.”

“Then why stay here and starve to death?”

“Because he is family, because it is my duty.”

“You sound more like a Tully than a Baratheon.”

“I'll take that as a compliment. I always thought that the words of your house denoted more nobility of nature than the ones chosen by the other houses.”

"Thank you."

“Thanks are unnecessary, I just said what I think.”

Then he did something she wasn't expecting. Slowly he touched his fingers to hers. For a moment she thought this was an attempt to bring her some comfort, but seeing the hesitant expression on his face she realized it was actually him asking for comfort from her. This was a man, a boy really, who was sure he wasn't loved even by the people who by all rights should love him. Maybe someone alone and desperate enough to ask of her something that went beyond duty. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was as young as she was and that like her Stannis had never been through anything like this before. But at times like this it became clear as water.

She took his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

Stannis didn't take her to bed that night, but their hands stayed together until the storm passed.

Chapter Text

Even on the sunniest days the interior of Dragonstone was dark, even in those spots where there were windows. As if the dragons carved on those black walls were sucking up all the light that managed to enter there, leaving almost nothing left for those who walked through those corridors.

Stannis still hadn't gotten used to the place, and he very much doubted that even if he ever did that familiarity would one day be followed by love for his new home.

His wife had pointed out that Robert's intention in giving the dominion of Dragonstone to him and leaving Storm's End to Renly was not one of snobbery, but rather one of following the tradition of appointing the next in the crown line as Lord of The Dragonstone as the Targaryens had done for the last three hundred years since the conquest.

There was a logic to that, and that thought comforted him a little though he wasn't entirely sure if that was really his older brother's intention.

There was only one spot in the place that Stannis could really call beautiful, and that was Aegon's Garden, and it was there that Catelyn asked him to meet her that afternoon.

Upon arriving there for a moment Stannis just watched her from afar, sitting on one of the benches surrounded by flowers from across the sea.

She fit in there in a way she didn't in the rest of the castle, she deserved light and beauty, she deserved better than that dark cold castle.

She smiles when she sees him. And he walks to her.

“Thank you for coming, my Lord.”

“You’re welcome, what is this about?”

"I have a gift for you."

“My name day is only t in a few months.”

“I am well aware of that, come with me.” she says, takes his hand and leads him further into the garden.

When they arrive at a certain point Catelyn says:

“Close your eyes.”

“That's silly.”

“We are in private, you can be silly for a moment to please your wife.”

"Right." he says closing his eyes.

A few seconds pass and then she says:

"Open your eyes."

He opens it and finds her in front of her holding a baby bird in her hands.

It takes a second for him to realize that it's not just any bird, it's a hawk.

Stannis was expecting some clothing or piece of armor as a gift, not that, not something personal. Something that would remind him of his youth and happier days at Storm's End.

One day during the siege he had told her about Proudwing, and how grateful he was that his hawk had died in the year before the rebellion, because if it had not been his duty to kill it to feed the people from the castle.

“I think it's time you got a new pet, don't you?”

“Where did you find this?”

“One of the knights was talking the other day that his hawk had laid eggs, and I asked that one of the young be reserved for you.”

Carefully he brings his fingers to the hawk's head, half expecting to be pecked in response. But instead the animal accepts your touch and closes his eyes in pleasure.

“Thank you, my Lady. It was a good gift.”

“You are welcome, My Lord.”

A few months later, on his name day they watch the hawk fly in the sky around Dragonstone, and he looks beautiful, and seeing the bird and his wife's gaze as she looks above, Stannis feels happiness and pride, even in that place.