Just as Marco was about to set off, Old Bear, Jeor Mormont, rode out with some warriors.
"Lord Marco! If you're really going to Winterfell, let Benjen take you! He's from House Stark and can guide you. Also, I'm truly sorry about that!"
"Lord Commander! I am satisfied as long as you believe what someone says. The warriors of the Night's Watch are heroes. Someone doesn't want them to die beyond the Wall. The Wall is where they should be guarding!"
At this moment, Benjen also rode up on his warhorse. He gave Marco a complex look, feeling conflicted. In Benjen's eyes, Marco was just a charlatan from the Eastern Continent, not worth his attention.
However, considering Marco had helped the Night's Watch and House Umber, Benjen set aside his reservations and decided to follow Old Bear's instructions, escorting Marco and his companions to Winterfell.
Winterfell was the ancestral castle and power center of House Stark, also the long-recognized capital in the hearts of the people of the North. The history of House Stark was incredibly long, with the earliest records even dating back to The Dawn Age.
Winterfell was located in the geographical center of the North, the northernmost region of the Seven Kingdoms, with the endless Wolfswood behind it. The Kingsroad connected it to King's Landing and the Wall.
Little Jon had originally suggested that Marco go to Last Hearth to rest, but Marco said he would only go after this journey was over.
Marco initially thought Little Jon would leave after arriving, but the lad insisted he had orders from his father to bring Marco back to Last Hearth in one piece. So, Marco let him tag along with the group.
Erok also joined Marco's party on the way, accompanied by several knights from House Umber. His mother remained with House Umber, and now that they were relatively close, Erok could visit his grandfather whenever he pleased.
Even though they traveled along the Kingsroad, the journey still took Marco and his companions over two months. By the time they reached Winterfell, it was, according to the standards of Earth, almost summer.
Westeros was currently in the midst of a long summer, making the seasons in the North seem relatively normal—well, if you didn't count the recent snowfall!
As Marco's group left the area near Long Lake, they were met by a welcoming party from Winterfell. Marco was surprised to find that Robb Stark and Jon Snow were leading the welcoming party.
After introductions, Marco learned that the two cousins had been hunting nearby the previous day. After encountering the welcoming party, the cousins had taken it upon themselves to come and greet them.
Their main goal, however, was to see Benjen. Watching the three men chatting happily, Marco couldn't help but lament the unpredictability of fate. Who could have foreseen that, in two years, these three would be separated, one way or another!
Winterfell was a massive castle, covering an area of approximately 20,000 square meters. This included two extremely thick walls and a village located at the entrance.
Legend has it that "Brandon the Builder" built Winterfell with the help of the Children of the Forest and giants. Many Northerners believe it to be a magical castle.
Winterfell was built on a site that already had an ancient godswood and a hot spring. The huge weirwood tree, in particular, is estimated by the maesters to be over ten thousand years old.
The godswood is made up of dense trees. The giant weirwood is like a giant umbrella, and the entire castle seems to be built around it.
A hot spring flows beneath Winterfell. Some of the North's commoners believe this is because a sleeping dragon lies beneath the castle. Others believe that the legendary sword "Lightbringer" is buried under Winterfell.
House Stark makes the most of the hot spring. They designed pipes to circulate the hot water through the castle walls, warming the rooms. This makes Winterfell more comfortable than other castles during the harsh winters.
According to historical records, during the Dance of the Dragons, Jacaerys Velaryon rode the dragon Vermithor to Winterfell, where Vermithor laid a clutch of dragon eggs in the cellars surrounding the hot spring.
However, there have been no records of House Stark ever obtaining dragon eggs in the past hundred years. Therefore, Marco wanted to try his luck this time.
Marco and his companions entered Winterfell through the East Gate. Winterfell is enormous, many times larger than Marco's Griffin's Hold. However, Marco's castle is constantly changing. After leveling up, Marco believes it will be even bigger than Winterfell in the future!
Griffin's Hold was, at the end of the day, just a village meeting hall. It couldn't compare to this ancient castle, which was thousands of years old. Just the weirwood grove it possessed was something Griffin's Hold lacked, not to mention certain special structures.
The guest chambers of Winterfell were located directly in front of the weirwood grove. Before entering, Marco had already given the gifts he'd brought this time to Robb and Jon Snow, who were accompanying him.
House Stark was wealthier than House Umber, so Marco couldn't give the same gifts he had before. Fortunately, he had gained a lot of treasures during this journey, so this was a profitable endeavor for Marco.
And if, by chance, Marco actually found a dragon egg, he'd be the one to profit. According to the prices in this world, one dragon egg was worth over 3 million RMB.
Legend said a dragon could lay five eggs at a time. Although Marco already had system soldiers, who could resist the allure of a dragon?
After making arrangements for Sas Tin and the others, Marco entered the guest chambers with Henk and Erok. These two were also crucial to Marco's next steps.
Winterfell's guest chambers were vast, appearing to be very old. Behind them were three small ponds, fed by underground hot springs, where Eddard Stark washed his sword in the television series.
At this moment, the famous Duke of the North, Eddard Stark (sometimes called Ned), was sitting behind a long table, surrounded by his guards and retainers.
Eddard Stark looked to be around forty years old, appearing much younger than the actor in the television series. Marco guessed this might be due to the earlier marriages here. Although he was already the father of five children, he didn't look that old!
Before Marco could speak, Little Jon chimed in first.
"Lord Eddard! This is a friend of House Umber, Marco Belerris. He's a great merchant from the Free City of Lorath! He's been concealing his face for religious reasons, ever since he arrived at Last Hearth!"
Marco respectfully stepped forward and bowed to Eddard Stark, then said,
"Your Grace, Lord Stark! Greetings! I am Marco Belerris, from Lorath. It is a pleasure to meet you! May the Blind God bless you!"
Although feeling slightly displeased, Marco still followed the proper etiquette for self-introduction. After all, he would soon be seizing a family's land, so being respectful now could be considered as a return favor.
Eddard Stark also slightly bowed in return, and said with a calm expression,
"Welcome, Lord Marco, from Lorath! Winterfell welcomes your arrival. We will host a banquet for you later! If you are interested in a tour, I can have my master-at-arms, Rodrik Cassel, be your guide."
Marco's eyes lit up at the words, and he said to Eddard Stark:
"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Grace! It's an honor for this one to visit your castle. But before the tour, this one hopes to address some issues with these two chieftains from Skagos. The problems they've encountered this time are severe, and their tribes have suffered heavy losses, with countless casualties."
As Marco finished speaking, Erok stepped forward. He bowed to Eddard and then introduced himself:
"Esteemed Duke Stark! I am Erok, Chieftain of House Stane of Deepwood Motte. Along with Henk, Chieftain of House Crowl of Deep Den, we both hail from Skagos. Our ancestors made a pact with House Stark long ago, and we have honored that agreement for many years.
Therefore, we are also vassals of House Stark, a part of the North. However, the Stoneborn on Skagos have been unjustly oppressed and humiliated by House Bolton. They have wantonly slaughtered our people, sold our people, and seized our land. We hope Duke Stark will punish the culprits severely!
In the past, our ancestors made a pact with House Stark. We would cease raiding Seal Bay and cannibalism, and House Stark would allow us to govern ourselves. Now, we also hope that Duke Stark will formally inform us whether this pact is still valid!"
Eddard Stark frowned tightly upon hearing Erok's words, seemingly troubled by the matter.
The matter of House Bolton was causing a stir throughout the North. House Umber and House Karstark had both expressed their dissatisfaction and sent raven messages to House Stark.
The vassal families east of the North also expressed their concern about the matter, seemingly hoping to take advantage of House Bolton or, to put it bluntly, to get a piece of the pie.
However, after Eddard Stark understood the ins and outs of the situation, he decided to let it run its course. After all, in his opinion, House Bolton had already been taught a lesson. Therefore, Eddard Stark only sent a raven asking Roose Bolton to explain the matter.
In Eddard Stark's view, House Bolton had been suppressed enough. The three-pronged encirclement plan of Winterfell, Last Hearth, and Karhold was a strategy that had been formulated by House Stark's ancestors.
Eddard Stark felt that there was no need to change much, and in recent years, the Dreadfort had been relatively well-behaved, so he didn't punish Roose Bolton too harshly this time.
But now that the aggrieved party had come knocking, Eddard Stark couldn't ignore the matter. Moreover, in a certain sense, Skagos was indeed a vassal of House Stark.
As the Warden of the North, Eddard Stark also had the responsibility of mediating conflicts between his vassals. After much consideration, he summoned Maester Luwin.
They talked for about three minutes. Finally, after listening to Maester Luwin's suggestions, Eddard nodded in satisfaction and turned his gaze to Erok and Henk, saying:
"House Bolton has not adhered to the ancient contract and has attacked their fellow vassals. Their house is at fault. As punishment, I will increase their taxes this year and directly have them compensate the losses of your three clans. How does this arrangement sound? Or do you have any other requests?"
Erok and Henk exchanged a glance and nodded at each other. Then, Erok spoke to Eddard Stark:
"Your Grace! We agree with your judgment! But we also hope you will lift our ban on ships. Please don't misunderstand! We have changed. We won't plunder others as we used to. Instead, those wildlings beyond the Wall often come to plunder us in recent years. We also hope to contribute to our people and compatriots by eliminating those wildlings heading south."
Erok's words put Eddard Stark into deep thought. In recent years, due to the decline of the Night's Watch, the wildlings had become increasingly rampant. Some small raiding parties had even reached near Winterfell.
Hearing that the Stoneborn were willing to help defend against the wildlings coming south by sea, Eddard was somewhat moved. However, considering the Stoneborn's checkered past, he hesitated.
Seeing Eddard Stark's furrowed brow, Marco also spoke:
"Lord Eddard! This point can be proven by someone. If Erok and his people were still the same as before, someone might not be able to speak to you all here! Perhaps they would have gone to see someone's god long ago. Chief Erok and Chief Henk are different from those other Stoneborn. They are civilized people!"
At this moment, Little Jon, who was beside Marco, suddenly spoke up: "Lord Eddard! I forgot to tell you, this Chief Erok is actually the son of our family's missing clan daughter, Alys Umber. She was captured by the wildlings and encountered a storm at sea, getting lost on Skagos. She only returned to the family recently, so, in the end, we are all one family."
After considering various factors, Eddard Stark said, "Alright! Maester Luwin, please record this. I will issue a lord's decree. From today on, the ban on ships from Skagos is lifted. Their ships are allowed to sail freely within Seal Bay. House Umber and House Karstark no longer need to be hostile towards them!"
"Yes! Lord Eddard!"
Maester Luwin replied respectfully.
After giving his instructions, Eddard left the guest room with his guards and Maester Luwin, leaving Rodrik Cassel to entertain Marco and his companions.
Ser Rodrik Cassel was a vassal of House Stark. His family had always resided in Winterfell, and he was also the knight instructor of Winterfell, responsible for training the soldiers and the young noblemen in martial arts.
After a brief introduction, he led Marco and the others on a tour of Winterfell. Since it was closest, they went to the godswood first!
Meanwhile, in the main keep of Winterfell, Eddard Stark was observing Marco's group heading towards the godswood through a window. He couldn't help but ask the few people beside him:
"Do you think these people are telling the truth?"