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Robb watched Jimmy's careless expression and felt a flicker of resentment.
He was grateful truly but it was only a suit of armor. Was that really worth making such a spectacle over?
Jimmy caught the look instantly.
He smiled.
"Speaking of which, Old Wolf," he said, glancing at Ned, "when I saved Gendry, you paid me in kind, I rescued your entire family, and I haven't seen compensation yet."
He leaned back casually.
"And what about Rickon? You planning to leave him to fend for himself? Once Roose Bolton returns north, he'll hunt for Rickon and Bran without mercy."
"Bran doesn't worry me. He has the greenseer watching over him. Rickon doesn't. He'll be relying on Northern lords for protection."
Jimmy's tone sharpened slightly.
"In the current climate, how many of them do you think will risk Bolton's wrath to shelter a boy?"
Silence fell over the table.
The food suddenly lost its flavor.
Jimmy, on the other hand, seemed delighted by the discomfort. He continued eating with a cheerful appetite.
Gendry reached for the wine jug, but Jimmy blocked him.
"You're too young to be drinking. Want to pickle your brain before it's fully grown?"
He jerked his chin toward Robb.
"Look at that stubborn young wolf. If not for his pride, he wouldn't be in this mess. Still trying to preserve dignity while the ground crumbles beneath him."
He turned to Gendry.
"Tell him what Old Wolf just asked me for."
Gendry hesitated, glanced at Ned, then spoke plainly.
"He requested a full set of Valyrian steel armor and weapons for you."
Robb blinked.
"A full set? Valyrian steel? For me?"
Daisy shot to her feet.
"Mine too?" she asked, pointing at herself in disbelief.
Gendry nodded.
"That's all we have here. Jimmy took it from the ruins of Valyria himself."
The table fell silent again.
Catelyn watched Robb's flushed face and finally spoke, maternal instinct rising.
"Jimmy," she said coolly, "demanding repayment for kindness is not an admirable trait."
Jimmy let out a short laugh.
"Spare me," he replied. "You, who pride yourself on wisdom."
He set down his fork.
"The Stark family stands together on this island largely because of your decisions."
He counted on his fingers.
"You convinced Ned to accept the position of Hand. Do you have any idea how ill-suited he was for that nest of vipers?"
He looked at Ned directly.
"Be honest. Were you ever built for court intrigue? You're a man of honor thrown among schemers. It was always going to end badly."
His gaze shifted back to Catelyn.
"You trusted Petyr Baelish. Did you truly not see what he was? A man who never stopped coveting you since your youth in the Vale. Smiling to your face, plotting behind your back. If he could've sent the entire Stark line to the seventh hell to gain power, he would have."
"Don't deny it. Baelish has always craved land and title. Ambition leaks from him like rot."
"And then there's Tyrion."
Jimmy exhaled sharply.
"You'd have to be spectacularly naive to believe he pushed Bran."
Catelyn stiffened.
"The Lannisters were behind it," she insisted. "If not him, then his kin."
Jimmy shook his head.
"Yes, the lions are guilty of much. But the only decent soul among them is Tyrion. Kind, sharp-minded, capable of loyalty."
Ned studied him.
"You speak highly of him."
"I judge people as they are," Jimmy replied evenly. "I hold affection for House Stark as a whole. But I won't pretend I admire every one of you."
His eyes moved from Catelyn to Robb.
"Your lady wife, for example. And this half-grown wolf beside her."
He shrugged.
"And Sansa. Sweet girl, but she thinks life is a ballad and every prince a hero."
He paused.
"The rest? I like them well enough."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Arya, especially. That one's steel under silk. I rate her just beneath you, Old Wolf."
He leaned back in his chair.
"And that's saying something."
"Now, where was I? Right, Tyrion."
Jimmy folded his arms.
"He had no reason to harm Bran, None, and yet you seized him."
He looked straight at Catelyn.
"Did you consider that your husband was in King's Landing at the time? Alone. Surrounded by lions."
"The City Watch answered them. The Gold Cloaks were theirs. The Kingsguard was theirs. Ned stood with barely fifty men against thousands."
"You taking Tyrion didn't just make a point. It put a target on your husband's back."
He let that settle.
"And then, after all that, you released him, Trial by combat, If you truly believed him guilty, why allow him the chance? And if you wanted him dead, why not ensure it? You can't start a war without the resolve to see it through."
Catelyn's jaw tightened, but she remained silent.
"And Jaime," Jimmy continued. "You thought to trade him for Sansa."
He shook his head slowly.
"When your enemy holds the gold, do you think he'll hand you grain in exchange?"
"With Jaime as your prisoner, at least the Northern army could cling to the illusion that Tywin might hesitate. Might bargain. Might spare lives."
He gave a humorless smile.
"An illusion, of course. Tywin Lannister would cut off his own hand before bowing to blackmail."
Jimmy leaned forward slightly.
"When he was about Robb's age, a man named Walderan Tarbeck was taken by House Lannister, Lady Ellyn Tarbeck captured three Lannisters in response and demanded an exchange."
"Do you know what Tywin suggested?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"That Walderan be returned in three pieces."
"Do you truly believe such a man would bend for Jaime?"
"And as for asking Jaime to persuade him?" Jimmy snorted. "Jaime scarcely draws breath without measuring his father's mood, Tywin is a lion carved from granite. Pride before sentiment. Legacy before love. He would sacrifice even himself for his house."
He let the silence stretch.
"And then there was the wedding."
His gaze hardened.
"You trusted Walder Frey, you trusted Roose Bolton, you trusted 'guest right' as though ancient customs outweigh power."
"Two men of high station and lower character, and you accepted their assurances."
He spread his hands.
"Finding two lords that powerful and that faithless in all of Westeros is rare. And yet you managed to put your faith in both."
"You would've done better to believe it might snow on this island."
Catelyn said nothing.
Every charge had weight. In every example, a wound reopened.
Jimmy's eyes shifted to Robb.
"As for you."
He sighed, though not unkindly.
"I don't despise you. I just think you lacked something a King in the North cannot afford to lack."
"Cunning."
"You marched south when you should never have left the North. That war should not have been yours to fight."
"The moment you crossed your borders, you were already losing. Had you been more ruthless, more calculating, perhaps you could've turned it."
"I've already given Old Wolf the strategies you might have used. You'll have time to discuss them."
He raised a finger.
"First mistake: trust given too freely. Roose. Theon."
"Theon grew up beside you, yes. Like a brother. But he was still a hostage. What you called brotherhood, he may have called captivity."
He lifted a second finger.
"Second: your marriage."
"If you give your word to Walder Frey, you keep it. Break that vow, and you cut away your own support."
He leaned back again.
"You can't afford childish impulses when crowns are at stake."
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