Chapter 37

Riverrun, The Riverlands
Noon the next day

“So, you’re the Red Woman, Melisandre of Asshai, the Red Priestess who once served Stannis Baratheon,” Lord Edmure Tully remarked as he sat back in his seat in Riverrun, with his wife, Lady Roslin Tully, nee Frey, at his side, and his chief mistress, Lady Marleigh Rivers, Lady of the Twins, at his feet.

“And you are Lord Edmure Tully, recently liberated from a dungeon where he spent several years thanks to his own father-in-law, the late Lord Walder Frey, and the infamous Red Wedding. Brother to Lady Catelyn Stark. Brother-in-law to Lord Eddard Stark. Son of Lord Hoster Tully. Father of young Hoster Tully. Nephew of Brynden Tully, the Blackfish. Uncle to Robb Stark, the King in the North. Husband of Roslin Frey. Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Riverlands,” Melisandre cited enough knowledge and facts to make her intelligence obvious to all.

Edmure smirked as one of his several Frey bastard girls winked playfully at him. He now kept probably ten of these girls as his own, despite earlier plans, due to the simple logistics of trying to satisfy and breed that many ladies. While on principle, Roslin had favored the previous, larger harem, she soon agreed with him that it would be better if he could find husbands for them. That was especially true with Edmure’s constitution still lacking compared to what it was prior to his imprisonment in her father’s dungeon for so many years. He was still busy exercising to rebuild his upper body strength and stamina as it was. Not even her father could satisfy that many girls by himself.

“I sense that your fires still burn low, my lord, but that can be improved with the right spells and enchantments. The Lord of Light has much more power than any can believe, even to the point that he resurrected Jon Snow, our present King, after his murder by the mutineers of the Night’s Watch. It was not my doing, but that of the Lord of Light. I have seen in the flames your destiny, and it is to breed these ten ladies and found several houses of the Riverlands at once.

“You will also sire six children on milady here, six born in wedlock to her, Lady Roslin Tully, who is a sweet and gentle soul, I can see. Twenty-five children in all shall you sire, most of them girls, but more than a few boys as well. Through your loins, the Frey line shall be joined to House Tully forever, the stain and disgrace of the Red Wedding wiped away for generations to come. Your present policy of wedding other Frey bastard girls to various knights in your land shall succeed as well.

“I am about to bear a child myself as well, a shadow demon that must be born here. This demon must be born to succor our common cause in the Great War against the Night King and the Army of the Dead. I seek your approval to deliver this here, knowing that it shall then depart for the north, to fight the enemies of Westeros and of Man himself. I shall also undertake the effort to assist you in the matter of your potency, I assure you, my lord,” Melisandre declared, at which point she leaned over to whisper in the left ear of Roslin Frey.