[Chapter Size: 3400 Words.]
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Third Person POV
Winterfell, 298 AC.
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It had been a few days since the Arcticans had finally returned to the north, and Winterfell was still dealing with its own problems.
Lord Stark was entering the main hall when he was met by the king's gaze, which seemed full of disdain. Robert no longer seemed to care that just a few days ago they had been drinking together like the companions they once were when they lived in the Vale.
"Your Majesty." Ned simply sat in his place with his family, while Robert gave him no reply, nor did he even seem to hear him.
No prince, Lannister, or their allies were present at the banquet. They had completely cut off contact with the Starks after everything that had happened, and Lord Stark simply had to be cautious, hearing some whispers in the castle about some seeking vengeance.
He had increased the guard to make up for the absence of the Arcticans and Arya's Unsullied. Security was never too much. In any case, Lord Stark had received letters from some lords coming to Winterfell.
Lady Mormont was coming with her daughters; she had also expressed interest in seeing Arya again, who had been very pleasant when they visited Bear Island during their journey through the north many moons ago. Unfortunately, she would be disappointed with Arya already leaving.
Greatjon would also be arriving in the next few days; he had not been able to come earlier due to the king's sudden appearance in the north, when they had only been aware of his journey to Winterfell.
The children of Lord Reed were also on their way. Lord Stark could not say he wasn't a little worried about his children using those abilities Jon and Arya had mastered. Seeing Bran in a coma for two days had not been pleasant, and he remained concerned at the idea of his children entering the minds of their wolves while their eyes turned white.
Catelyn had panicked when she found Rickon with white eyes upon entering his room to give him attention.
Robb said he was trying to control it, but he was limited to dreams, while Bran had visions and the same dreams. Rickon was the only one who managed to do it more consciously, but Bran's visions were troubling.
He had asked more about it today, and Bran described some rather frightening things. Lord Stark only hoped his family would be safe.
He only hoped that Holland's children could help his sons, with Lord Reed himself describing how to proceed with his children in the absence of Jojen, the one who would teach his children to control the Warg, the powers described in the blood of the First Men.
Lady Cerwyn had sent a letter saying that Arya had not accepted the request to spend the night at the family seat, asking if she had somehow offended Arya. Lord Stark had to reply, saying it was something common, since Arya was in a hurry and could not stop her journey to the south. There was no way she could visit Lady Cerwyn and her young son, the heir.
Lord Cerwyn was on a trip in Essos and had not yet returned, which was why he had not come with his family to Winterfell while the king was here.
The last letter came from White Harbor, with Lord Manderly speaking about Arya's departure, the gifts, and an interest in meeting his nephew, as most wanted, to strengthen a strong bond between the two houses. Lord Stark knew Jon would not be so easily influenced by a few gifts.
In fact, if what Arya said was true, Jon was as wealthy as all the greatest houses of Westeros combined. Lord Stark thought it was an exaggeration that Jon had given him 400,000 gold coins, but knowing that he had tens of millions of gold coins—due to finding the largest gold veins near Arctic and his efficiency in collecting the gold from the soil and forging it into coins in Arctic's forges, both Westerosi coins such as gold dragons, something Jon had already known how to produce even before returning to Winterfell for the first time more than 7 years ago, or Essosi coins, which were more diverse, yet Jon managed to acquire all the molds of gold coins used in various Free Cities.
There were also other rare metals in Arctic—silver and especially bronze. Ned didn't need to try to discover it through Arya, as there were countless bronze veins north of the Wall, after all, it was the most common metal, used by the tribes as their main weapon when there was no bone.
Ned had also discovered the unique Arctican coin—platinum. According to Arya, the kingdom was still in the early stages of adapting to an economy among the free folk, with the new generations grasping the concept easily, while the older ones had some difficulty with the idea of trade. Still, the kingdom was doing well.
This gave Ned the impression that the kingdom still had much to evolve, and knowing they had already achieved all that in 10 years despite some shortcomings in certain areas, there was no doubt that Arctican would practically dominate the world in the future. Even though Jon had already expressed that such an idea was madness, that he should not do such a thing nor his descendants, for ruling the world under one banner was too difficult and would only cause Arctican to collapse. After all, there was no way to keep control from a single place, especially when those places were continents—corruption and other management problems would arise and only worsen from there.
But Jon had never said he couldn't rule an entire continent. This made Lord Stark glance at his old friend. Robert was drinking and eating in silence, when usually he would be making a scandal; he was not in the mood.
It was no wonder—after all, his authority had been questioned in front of all Winterfell when the Arcticans arrived. He hated the throne, Ned knew that, but he hated even more being underestimated, and he seemed to be dealing with it through drink and prostitutes.
"Ned, any word from the maester?" Robert said suddenly in front of Lord Stark, pulling him out of his thoughts as he blinked a few times.
Even while continuing to call him Ned, there was no longer any tone of friendship in it. He was only waiting for a maester requested from the south to arrive quickly, since the queen and her brother needed to be treated on their way back south.
"We don't have an exact date, Your Majesty. Your letter should be on its way to Winterfell now," Ned said.
"I hope he comes soon. I feel that every day in your house suffocates me more and more. Even though those men from beyond the Wall have gone, it hasn't helped much..." he said with disdain, clearly irritated with Lord Stark.
"I believe soon you will be able to depart, Your Majesty," Ned replied still in a polite tone.
He could see his son Bran shrinking; he was afraid of how the king was acting, so different from the joy of the first day he had arrived.
"I hope so. I don't want to be here when Tywin's letter arrives... You must have angered the old lion to the point he must have torn his own gray hair out, and I would not be willing to see how he reacted when he received the letter that his daughter had her face cut and his son crippled by the hand of the sword..." Robert spoke openly, as everyone in the hall shrank at that.
"We will deal with him," Ned said at last, having nothing better to answer.
"I hope so. You know how that man seeks vengeance against your name," Robert said with the same disdain.
"Jon can deal with him." Everyone turned to Bran, who had whispered too loudly.
"Tsk. Do you think he can deal with the Seven Kingdoms?" That seemed to stir Robert's pride once again. "They may be powerful on the water, but all the Seven Kingdoms united can deal with them," he said, as if convinced it would be so.
"Bran, keep those thoughts to yourself," Lord Stark said at last. He did not believe Robert's words... Jon had proven himself so powerful that he dealt with the Dothraki in their own land with a very small number. They might not be an organized army like those of the Seven Kingdoms, but they were experienced riders who had lived their whole lives mounting and fighting, in terrain they knew.
If that was not proof of the effectiveness of the Arctican army, with nothing more than 5,000 giants, he did not know what else would be. Ned saw his son Bran shrink at his own comment, while Robb touched his head to calm his brother and gave a sidelong glance at his father.
Ned said nothing more, and all ate in silence after that. The king did not wish to comment further, but he seemed thoughtful as he ate his meat with his hand and drank his wine.
Ned did not look at him again either. There was something he had heard Robert say—the king wanted to involve the Seven Kingdoms, but Ned had already made his stance clear: entering this war against Jon would not be viable for the North.
Dissatisfaction with the Iron Throne had only grown stronger over the past year, with the ban on indirectly purchasing food from Arctic—it had been a way to finally escape the high prices of the south.
Ned knew how his lords were discontent. Letters such as, 'Where is the benefit of having a king who calls you brother on the throne?' or 'Where was the benefit of binding ourselves to the Tully family?'
It was true that there had never been a reduction in price, privilege, or even gratitude for fighting in Robert's wars... Whenever a war broke out, everyone needed the north, but in times of peace, the north was forgotten, the Night's Watch was forgotten. There had never been a benefit, never northern representatives as king's counselors, not even in the court.
How could the north be content with this? Everyone was beginning to lean toward Arctic. Even with all the confusion that had arisen over the years, misunderstandings involving Jon, still the people of the north saw him as a hero since childhood, blessed by the Old Gods, and into adulthood with more achievements than any other living man in the world. And he was only 18.
The north would side with Arctic and would not unite with the Seven Kingdoms when war broke out. They would either remain neutral or fight with Jon. That was what Lord Stark wanted.
Lord Stark felt someone piercing him with a gaze and saw Winter at his feet, while the wolf pup wagged her tail, clearly wanting food. The other wolves were silent at their masters' feet, since his children had already fed them, and they were growing quickly, already reaching the size of a medium dog in just a few moons.
Winter, however, needed to eat a lot, wanting to catch up with the other wolves. Ned somehow understood she didn't want to be the weakest of the pack. He wondered if he too might use those Warg abilities, but the thought made him shudder—he did not wish for it. Yet he felt that future dreams might be inevitable.
In any case, he quickly fed her some sausages taken from his plate and let the wolf eat in peace. He looked across the hall and saw Catelyn staring at him from the tables, with Sansa at her side and the Blackfish eating in silence.
After Arya left, Sansa had begun to leave her room and eat with her mother, clearly still upset over the broken betrothal with the prince. Perhaps she would never forgive him—or until she discovered her prince was the bastard of an incest.
To tell Robert that could easily fix some of his problems, but it would also create many more. First, the king could never believe him, making their already fragile relationship even weaker—or if by some miracle Robert did believe, he would go mad, and the results would be incalculable, from the death of innocent children to the king himself dying here in Winterfell in a crossfire between Lannister and Baratheon men, since the latter had fewer men. Lord Stark would help Robert, but his protection would be limited only to Winterfell and the North.
Ned was a little divided. And what Arya had suggested was that it was no use speaking here without concrete proof. There were no other children of Robert to confirm it, and it was possible that Stannis already had knowledge of it and was acting, since he had fled King's Landing after Jon Arryn's death.
There were so many confusing things, and Arya wanted her father to remain in the north, because a war would soon break out in Westeros. The Tyrells were acting strangely; they wanted the friendship of the Arcticans, as if they were expecting to be enemies in the future, yet at the same time trying not to be an enemy while leaving room for negotiation. Whatever happened in the south in the future, the north must remain neutral, and no Stark should be in the south.
Ned turned back to Catelyn, who was still staring at him the entire time. She seemed to want to speak with him. He hoped it was not more trouble.
His attention shifted to Cassandra, who was in a corner of the hall asking the servants to serve some nobles who needed to be attended to that night. Their eyes met, and Lord Stark knew she would come to his chambers, just as she had been doing every night. He was certain Catelyn knew of it, and Sansa too, judging by the looks she gave him and Cassandra.
In the end, they ate in silence, exchanging only glances. His children were still saddened by Arya's departure, and he could see it in the eyes of the three boys at his side.
Arya would be missed far too much in the family, but at the same time, she had her own battles to fight, and Ned told himself he should accept it, even if his father's heart disagreed.
In the end, everyone began to leave the hall while Ned returned to his solar. He still had to respond to Lord Manderly about the Tyrell shipment, something he had not done throughout the day.
He entered his solar with Winter nearly asleep from the lateness, but still following him all the time, while only the light of the lamp with a white crystal illuminated the room—something Jon had secretly given him besides the wolf. To see the crystal shine within the glass when the lamp was turned was magical.
Ned could hardly believe that this was Jon's creation, according to the letter he had sent him. It said that the phenomenon happening every night in the north beyond the Wall—something Ned had heard much about the Wall since it began a year ago—was due to tens of thousands of crystals Jon had created using trees.
To recharge, one only had to place it under sunlight, even on cloudy days, and it would gain energy to produce the same light during the night when activated. The light was very powerful, better than any oil lamp they could use in the south. Furthermore, all maintenance came down to removing the crystal and cleaning it if dirt appeared, though it was difficult to soil due to the protective glass around it.
In any case, he opened a scroll and began writing to Lord Manderly, that the Tyrells had already left the north and were returning to the Reach after briefly discussing the shipments Lord Stark had purchased. He would draw as much as possible with the prices being a courtesy from the Tyrell family, and the north might well need it now that winter was near.
He wrote a few more instructions and also prepared a scroll for Hightower, with a raven from Willas Tyrell that had been left for them as a courtesy upon his arrival.
When he left the solar, Jory was waiting for him, and there was someone else.
"May I help you, Lady Catelyn?" Ned said with a raised eyebrow. She had followed him there and waited for him to come out, and it seemed to be something important.
"Lord Stark, we need to talk..." she said with tightened lips.
"Come with me." He said as he returned to the solar again, going to the lamp and turning the crystal with its tip to make it shine once more.
Catelyn could not help but look curiously at the crystal, not knowing what it was, but decided not to speak about it and turned back to Ned with a serious look.
"I received a letter..." she began.
"What letter?" Ned could not imagine—only Tywin Lannister could leave her so cautious, but it was far too soon for his letters to arrive.
"From a very dear friend in King's Landing... You should see it," she said, pulling the letter hidden in her garments.
Ned only saw the letter being placed in front of him and took it after hesitating a little. A very dear friend in King's Landing—Arya had mentioned this, and he opened the letter.
And he was not wrong—it was from Littlefinger. Or rather, Lord Petyr Baelish, master of coin. And someone, according to Arya, very, very dangerous. Someone Jon should have finished the job of killing after he escaped with only a few cuts to the face.
He began to read the letter and could not help but furrow his brow. In summary, the letter said that Lord Petyr Baelish knew who killed Jon Arryn—it had not been a natural death as everyone claimed, but poisoning. That Jon Arryn had discovered a secret, and the Lannisters immediately dealt with him so that the secret would not be shared with anyone else.
"This..." Lord Stark had to swallow hard. It all really made sense. Jon and Stannis had been investigating the bastardy of the princes and heirs. If Cersei knew of it, she had already proven she would act as a cruel and reckless woman—she would do anything to protect her children.
"You see... Ned." She did not refrain from saying his name informally, while Lord Stark hid his grimace. "Petyr is someone I would trust with my life. If he says this, then your foster father was murdered by that woman and her family! She already tried to kill Arya!" Catelyn accused.
"I know..." Ned said, thoughtful about it. Lord Petyr Baelish should not be trusted—Arya had made that very clear.
"You should never have let her go..." Catelyn spoke again, and Ned looked at her confused.
"Who?" He did not know who she was talking about.
"Arya, of course!" she said, with a hint of anger. It seemed that speaking of Arya made Catelyn want to argue about letting their daughter go again, even though Arya seemed to hate her all the time, while Catelyn did not help each time she opened her mouth.
"Arya is safe, safer than us," Ned said.
"Safe with your son?" she murmured with some disgust, seeming to make an effort not to call Jon a bastard. "I hear rumors that they will wage a war. How could you have let this happen, Ned?"
"She is with Jon." He emphasized this, to Catelyn's displeasure. "But my brother Benjen will also be there, if that makes you feel safer. I would be there if I could, but I must keep House Stark while the peace of the Seven Kingdoms is about to shatter like glass," Ned said with anger.
Catelyn was silent for a moment before continuing, turning her attention back to the letter. "What do you plan to do then with this? Petyr says it would be good for you to accept the king's office and seek justice for Jon Arryn."
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Raccoon Here:
Now let's focus on Arctic, enough of Winterfell.
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