Blood of the North chapter 1
I do not own ASOIF or Warhammer
It was one of those rare occasions where Eddard took to personally training his sons, both of them. Rodrik Cassel was a good man and a good warrior, but the lord of Winterfell always wanted to spend more time with his children and standing on a balcony, watching, he sometimes felt like an outsider.
Attack, block, attack, block. Most of the time, the old master at arms in Winterfell pitted the two boys against one another, but now Ned was fighting his trueborn and was taking it slower. At fourteen, both boys were at a level that was to be expected for their age, although Jon was already definitely better than Robb.
As Robb dodged another swing and the two more or less switched positions duo to Ned's momentum, the lord's eyes fell on his wife, his eyes widening. She was constantly fussing over the newest member of their family and it was a surprise for her to be away from Rickon, in a training yard no less. Her expression, however was mixed and one cannot read what exactly was going through her mind, but troubled would be one way to describe her. Her eyes were fearful, yet hateful while her overall expression remained stern and expecting.
"That would be enough for now." Ned simply stated, what can only be described as a whine escaping the future lord of Winterfell's mouth. It was rare for their father to spar with them and Robb and even Jon were unwilling for it to end so soon, even if the latter remained composed and did not voice his displeasure.
Without leaving the dull training sword behind, he came to stand before his wife. Without a word, she handed him a letter, the broken grey wax depicting a wolf and a bat adoring the seal.
'Well, that explains a lot' he simply though. With his wife's stance on bastards, it was not surprising that she did not like the lady of Harrenhal. That, along with the fact that the ruler of the largest castle in the land was also immortal. Quickly reading through the message, he was surprised from it, but was not prepared for the nearly instant outburst from his wife.
"You cannot agree to that!" Caitlyn stated with determination, yet her eyes were wide and fearful.
"It is rare for girls to be fostered, but she is kin. Besides, the south may do them some good." He simply returned. In truth, he would have to think a lot about this, but the training yard was not the place for that.
"You are not seriously considering that, are you?! That woman, that bastard is unnatural! And you want to send your two daughters to her cursed castle?!"
"She is kin." Ned firmly stated. "And she saved Robert's lives and mine more times than I care to admit."
"Kin?" scandalized asked Caitlyn. "The child of some Stark and Whent we know nothing about! And all she had for proof was her appearance and a sword!"
"And what of her herself? She claims sickness but I don't believe it. What kind of sickness makes one immortal?"
"The same one that turns a man's skin into stone." Simply, yet firmly returned the lord, the air of finality to his words. "I have not come to a decision yet so leave the matter be."
That was over a month ago, now.
Eddard rode at the head of the column as they headed south, a small party of forty men, half of whom would remain at Harrenhal to guard his daughters. Somehow, yet unsurprisingly, word has spread of Lady Schnee's offer and both his daughters were eager to go south, much to their mother's dismay.
The younger had a childish sense of wonder and he had to restrain the smile from his face as he saw her more or less jumping up and down, beginning him to allow for her to go south. While the elder one was more reserved in expressing her desires, she had the tales of knights and southern lords sadly imbedded far too deep already. Harrenhal was but a week from the capital. It would not be surprising if lady Schnee took them there during their fostering.
He still cannot quite wrap his head around it, fostering girls. Maester Lywin confirmed that it can and has happened and was not completely unheard of, yet there was hardly any example in the past hundred years or so. They had passed the Trident but a few days ago, his memories turning grim, yet he still can remember her clearly as if it had happened but a minute ago. Clad in a deep red dress, yet moving effortlessly even in the deep waters of the faithful river, a sword as big as Ice cutting Martel and Targaryan soldiers with little effort. Until then, she was just Karla Schnee, but it was shortly before the battle that he noticed the tassels on her sword, a wolf and a bat, and asked her about them, that girl with red hair and blue eyes.
She simply returned it was memories from the families she had never met. She called the woman old nan, the one that had raised her. She had said that she was an unwanted child of two great Westerosi families. Ned needed little to know the rest. She was a bastard, yet there were but a handful of houses that had wolves and bats in their sigils. Infact, he can think of two houses for the bats and a single one for the wolves… his house. If she was indeed a child of a Whent and Stark, that notion was fueled further more by his own daughter that rode beside him. He would dare say, the two of them looked almost like sisters. Having gotten off the Kingsroad a day and a half ago, Harrenhal was in view for quite a while, the massive towers appearing as if mountains in their own right.
He remembered the old fortress, the one where the tourney that started all was held. While for the most part the walls themselves were intact, nearly all towers, be it the defensive ones or the five massive inner towers were in some shape or form damaged, stone altering between the natural white and scourged black, the picture before him was slightly different.
In an hour they would be inside thus the greatest 'ruin' in the lands was revealed to him. The wall and towers on it was fully repaired and cleaned, the battlements replaced with spikes that from a distance looked like teeth while the towers now instead of flat tops were capped with sharp dark-red roofs.
The highest tower was also fully repaired and cleaned, a similar dark-red roof capping it as well. The kingspyre tower, if memory served. The second highest looked to be under repair and even as they approached, he saw workers chip away a massive piece of melted stone and even from his distance, he heard the sound it made as it hit the ground.
Ned had to wonder from where did Lady Schnee get the money for such a massive undertaking. He doubted if the whole North can finance something of this scale. Something else then clicked in his minds. Before the Targaryans, this was the most powerful fortress in the land with perhaps Storm's end and Casterly Rock been able to rival it. But now, not only was the lady of Harrenhal restoring it, it seemed she was also improving it.
So deep in thoughts and memories was the lord of Winterfell that he barely noticed that they were just outside the main gates. Two square stone towers flanked the surprisingly simple gate, it been a combination of both a wooden double doors and a portcullis, two massive banners hanging on either side, one white with a black bat and another black with a white wolf. However, above the gate stood a new construction, one of wood. An overhang, topped with a roof and thin slits for archers.
Entering the massive courtyard, Eddard was surprised to find that his horse was not in mud, but rather pavement. It was still dirty, but it was white dust, probably from all the reconstruction going on around. Once inside the walls, he could clearly see that the lower structures have all been repaired or at least it seemed so from the outside. He idly noted, however, circular large breaks in the cobblestone, septs he assumed since the circles themselves had breaks at seven points.
For all its grandness if one could use that word, the courtyard felt empty, even with all the people running around although most were construction workers by the looks of them. Nevertheless, the northern party was expected. It was a small reception, but a reception nonetheless.
At the foot of the tallest tower stood lady Karla Schnee herself, flanked by several men in full plate armor and a maester but a step behind her. For a moment, he was thankful that he had brought his girls's septa down with him seeing as there was not one waiting and there was not a sept at all. But then he remembered just what fostering was. Boys learning from a lord, although in this case, he supposed, it would be girls learning from a lady.
Casting another look at Karla, he found her just the same as he remembered her, all those years ago. Infact, despite his best attempts, his memories were blurred and as such when he laid eyes on her, for a second he thought he was looking at an older Sansa. Dismounting a good distance away, stable boys running to take the reins he briefly wondered over the sickness that she bore.
After the trident and the unfortunate destruction of house Whent, Robert having learned of her supposed parentage was quick to offer her Harrenhal and it was then that she revealed her condition. Ned still remembered the spark in his friend's eyes when he asked if he can contract the sickness, the prospects of immortality appearing too much to the then young Baratheon. She smiled sadly and simply said that one cannot contract it just like that and besides, she would never let anyone else bear such sickness.
As he walked towards Karla, he can still hear Robert's booming voice, shouting and demanding an answer of why while the girl simply bent her head down and in a sullen voice simply responded that the price was too much without giving any explanation as for the meaning of her words.
"Welcome to Harrenhal, lord Stark." Said the lady of the fort, the voice just like the one of his daughter, but sounding strained, almost breaking even, as if it pained her to even speak to him. He had noticed that she conversed more normally with other people and that it was only him that she treated differently. 'Maybe because we are family'
"Thank you, lady Schnee." He stated, offering a slight bow as befitting to the lady of the house, the ruler of the home that they were in.
"My daughters, Sansa and Arya." He gestured. His two daughters offered greetings on their own and Ned cracked a barely-visible smile at the ginger bow that his younger child offered, noting the scowl that fell on the septa's face. He, however, also noted the look in his hostess's eyes.
While she was intently studying Sansa and to some degree he expected that, the two of them are just that much alike, there was a certain look of longing when she looked at Arya, almost as if she was barely restraining herself from rushing at the girl and embracing her.
"The servants would take your belonging up to your chambers. Would you join me for dinner?" she simply questioned.
"It would be our honor, my lady." Stated the northern lord.
"We are kin, lord Stark and you are a high lord while your brother in law is my overlord. Just Karla will do."
"My apologies, my L–Karla." He simply returned, eliciting a small laugh from the woman, somehow it all matching to the place they were in. Grim and empty on the outside, yet sparks of warmth and home on the inside.
Schnee – basically meaning snow in German and with the Empire in Warhammer fantasy been based on Germany and original Sansa spending some time there, she would well realize the irony of that name. There will be several interlude chapters that depict Original Sansa's adventures in the Warhammer world and how she came to be what she is… damn, this whole original and current Sansa is starting to get confusing.
Yes, Sansa is a Warhammer fantasy vampire. The current events happen two years before the start of the books/show and as for from what point original Sansa comes from, well that remains to be seen.
Thank you for reading.