Chapter 6
Rebekah POV Bran's minds scape
Every ones minds scape is unique, different. When you enter someone's mind it's usually an area, and different parts of that area reveal your different memories and thoughts. Her minds scape was Mystic Falls when she was human, Kol's was a cemetery, Klaus was a mansion and Elijah's was a castle. She didn't know what Finn's had been; she and her siblings didn't begin discovering the extent of their mental abilities until after he had been daggered. Her Brother Bran's minds scape was the godswood. Ones minds scape got larger as one got older and considering the fact that Bran was only ten his minds scape wasn't very large and therefore only took a minute for her to find Bran. He was using a bow and arrow and trying, and failing to shoot a raven on a tree branch. The fact that a raven was in Bran's minds scape worried her greatly. While objects could exist in one's mind, people and animals couldn't so whatever that raven was it was in her brothers mind and most likely the reason her was still in a coma.
Suddenly the raven looked at her and she was surprised to see that it had three eyes instead of two. Well, she thought this would certainly be interesting.
"Follow me Vampire." A mystical voice said and suddenly the raven flew off while her brother looked at where it had once been in shock. Before Bran noticed her presence she took off after the strange raven. After reaching the weirwood tree she found an elderly man standing there wearing strangely enough a night's watch cloak.
"You told me to follow and I have, now told me what you want and why you are in my brother's mind?" She demanded.
"I am in your brothers mind because yours was too powerful to enter and because and your brother has abilities you don't realize. As for what I want with you, I wish to warn you and to tell you how you alive here in Westeros?" The old man said catching her attention.
"Why? Why am I alive?" She demanded. For years she had searched for an answer to why she was alive and this man apparently had it.
"Because the Old Gods willed it" she was about to snort at the answer when the man spoke again "You didn't believe in Gods in your last life and you don't believe in the seven who are one but you do believe in the Old Gods, have you wondered that you believed in them because perhaps subconsciously you knew they were the reason you are alive." She bit her lip at that, wondering if perhaps what he was saying was true.
"That still doesn't explain what you want with me" She stated in a purposely bitchy voice.
"To prepare the North" He stated mysteriously.
"For what?" She yelled, finally losing her patience.
"The White Walkers"
"What proof do you have?" she asked, not believing him.
"Wildling raids are worse than ever before, the Others are forcing them to move south." He explained.
"Then what should I do, since you seem to know everything." She asked sarcastically.
The old man just smiled.
-TVQ-
She fell on to the floor, furious. That old bastard had pushed her out of her brother's mind. As angry as she was she couldn't help but be impressed. Pushing someone out of your own mind was easy; pushing someone out of someone else's mind however was very difficult.
"Rebekah" looking up she saw Bran staring at her.
"Bran" she said hugging her brother.
"You're not supposed to be here" An ugly looking man said startling her. "It's a mercy, he's dead already." And with that the man drew a knife and rushed forward.
"No" She yelled as she rushed forward to attack the assassin. Jumping backwards to dodge a slash at her stomach, she then grabbed his wrist holding the knife and twisted it, breaking the bone and causing him to drop the blade. After that she punched him in the face knocking him out, as well as a few of his teeth.
A minute later two Stark guards burst into the room. "Lady Stark" they said bowing.
"Take that piece of filth to the cells" she ordered the guards, while she went over to Bran who had tears in his eyes and looked terrified.
"He wanted to kill me, why?" He asked, with his voice breaking a little.
She hugged her brother and whispered into his ear "I don't know Bran, but I promise you I will find out why, and I will keep you safe."
-TVQ-
She glared at the piece of filth in front of her. They weren't in the Winterfell cells. She had moved him into one of the many hidden chambers underneath Winterfell. There were countless hidden passageways and chambers hidden beneath Winterfell, chambers that only she and her father were aware of. Considering the last time her father had been into any of the hidden chambers was when he showed them to her when she had turned nine, she really wasn't worried about anybody discovering what she used them for, but all in all she had over three hundred men and women trapped in various chambers around Winterfell all for a particular project of hers.
The assassin was strapped to a cross, similar to the one on house Bolton's banners. The man wasn't very bright and she was certain that her compulsion would without a doubt work on him, but the man had tried to kill her brother and she was going to make suffer, by finding out why he had tried to kill Bran the good old fashioned way.
"This is how it's going to work. I'm going to torture you regardless but if you answer my questions honestly then the amount of pain you will suffer will be significantly less than if you try to lie to me. And before you get any ideas about calling for help, just know that there is no one around for miles." Not necessarily true but none of those people were in any position to help him.
Taking out her dagger she stalked towards the man and held the knife to his little finger and began to push the knife forward, breaking through the skin, causing him to break out into screams. "Why did you try to kill Bran?" She asked.
"I was payed to do so," He said screaming as she forced the knife upwards to his nail, causing blood to gush.
"Who payed you to kill my brother?" She asked.
"I don't know he didn't show his face." Not happy with his answer she stabbed the knife at the base of his little finger cutting it off, and then moved her knife on to the next finger.
"Did you arrive as part of the king's party?" She asked.
"Yes" He said moaning in pain.
"Were you ordered to kill my brother before coming to Winterfell?"
"Yes" So however had hired him had clearly been planning it for some time.
"Was the valyrian steel blade payment for killing my brother?" After all you'd have to pay someone very well to kill the son of a Lord Paramount.
"No, I was to leave the blade behind after killing your brother." His job was to frame someone she realized, it didn't matter if he succeeded or not he just had to frame someone. But whoever it was clearly had a lot of wealth and influence to be able to waste a valyrian blade. Valyrian blades were roughly worth hundreds of thousands of gold dragons so whoever was responsible was clearly trying to frame someone wealthy. Then she remembered her aunt Lysa's message about the Lannisters killing Jon Arryn. Her aunt may not be the smartest fish in the sea but she surely must have known that sending a message to Winterfell saying that the Lannisters were responsible for Jon Arryn's death while the Lannisters were in Winterfell was a huge risk and with the attempt on Bran's life it only made the Lannisters look all the more guilty.
"Fucking shit" She screamed in anger. If she was right then someone was trying to start a war between the North and the Westerlands. But who? One of the Northern lords perhaps. She could only think of two people in the North who might wish her family harm. Roose Bolton and Barbrey Dustin, neither of which had any love for her family. No, not Roose Bolton, her betrothal to Domeric gave the Boltons a level of power they haven't had since they ruled as the Red Kings, and he was also too cautious to try killing Bran. But that Dustin bitch might, not only did she hate her father, blaming him for her late husband's death but she also hated her mother as she viewed herself as the rightful Lady of Winterfell just because her uncle Brandon had fucked her once, talk about obsessed. She doubted anyone from the Westerlands was involved after all Tywin ruled his bannermen with an iron fist and she doubted any would challenge him after all the Rains of Castamere was proof of what happened to those who did, and she doubted he would start a war with the North especially as they had family ties to the Riverlands and Vale and it was well known that the king would always favour the Starks over the Lannisters. Hell for all she knew no one from the North or the Westerlands could be responsible, after all war caused chaos and chaos created opportunities.
Unstrapping the man from the cross she watched as he fell to the floor as she unsheathed Ice. "In the name of Robert of the house Baratheon, first of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, I Rebekah Stark sentence you to die" she said smiling as she then swung Ice, taking the assassins head clean off.
-TVQ-
Looking at the Heart Tree she couldn't help but wonder if what the old man had said about the Old Gods being the reason she was alive was true. She had never been able to understand her faith in the old gods. She didn't believe in gods in her last life but she did believe in the Old Gods, there was just something about them that made her believe in them. There was also the matter of the White Walkers. She had sent a raven to Lord Commander Mormont of the Night's Watch requesting to know the full strength of the Nights, how many men were each castle and any information concerning the wildlings.
"What I am about to tell you, you must not tell anyone." Her mother began "I don't believe Bran fell from that tower, I believe he was thrown."
"The boy was always sure footed before" Maester Luwin pointed out.
"Not to mention that this blade is valyrian steal with a dragon bone hilt, this is no ordinary assassin." Rodrik Cassel stated.
"I'd stake my life the Lannisters are responsible, we already have reason to suspect their loyalty to the crown." Her mother said.
"Yes on the word of mad aunt Lysa" She stated sarcastically. "Mother the assassin told me his job was to leave the blade, regardless of whether or not he killed Bran. However hired him wanted to frame someone and with aunt Lysa message, the obvious suspects are the Lannisters."
"You make it sound as if Lysa was responsible" Her mother said, clearly angry.
"How stupid is aunt Lysa to send a message accusing the Lannisters of murder, while the Lannister are visiting Winterfell. If the wrong person had found that message then we would all be viewed as traitors." She said, all but shouting at her mother. After calming herself down she began speaking again, desperate to change the topic away from her aunt who she was recently growing very suspicious of. "We need to get a message to Father, to inform him of what has happened."
"I will go to Kings Landing to tell Ned" Her mother stated. She was about to object but by the look on her mother's face she wouldn't be able to.
"Fine, but don't take the dagger, it is the only proof we have and we can't risk someone steeling it." She said.
-TVQ-
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. That was the sound of Ice clashing with Theon's sword. She wasn't used to fighting with Ice, or any great sword for that matter and as a result she was largely stuck playing defensive, and blocking fewer blows then she liked to admit. Theon may not be Jon's equal with a blade, few were, but he was certainly skilled enough to provide a good challenge. After a few more blows Theon knocked Ice out of her hands and held his blade to her throat.
"Tough luck, huh Rebekah" Theon mocked.
"Ha, Ha, laugh it up Theon a week from now I'll be kicking your ass again." She said confidently. "Now go enjoy your whore I'm sure Ros will want her gold." Theon scowled but left anyway while she headed to Bran's chambers. Ever since that assassin had tried to kill him, Bran had refused to leave his chambers, traumatized by what someone had tried to do him.
As she got closer she could her old Nan telling Bran a story, which was also one of her favourites. "Thousands of years ago there was a winter that lasted a generation. Kings froze to death in there castles, same as the shepherds in there huts. Women smothered their babies, rather than see them starve. Wept and felt their tears freeze on their cheeks. And the White Walkers came in force, riding their dead horses..." It was at that moment that she slammed the door open causing Bran to jump a mile in shock whiles she and old Nan just laughed.
"Rebekah" Bran moaned.
"Oh come on Bran it was funny" She said smiling. "You can go have your supper I'll stay with him" She told Old Nan and then she jumped onto Bran's bed lying next to him as Old Nan bowed to them and then left.
"Mother said good bye" Bran said sadly. She felt like cursing her mother, Bran was traumatized by what happened and now more than ever needed his mother, yet instead of staying she decides to travel to Kings Landing, a trip that would take weeks, possibly even months. Yes Father needed to be informed about what happened yet they could easily send someone trustworthy to inform him, who would also be much less noticeable then her mother leaving Winterfell. "Why did she have to leave?"
"To tell father about what happened." She answered.
"Couldn't we just send a raven?" He asked.
"Mother doesn't trust a raven" Trying to change the subject she suggested "Why don't you go to the courtyard and practice some archery. It would do you some good to get out of this stuffy old room."
"I'm terrible at archery" Bran said miserably.
"True" She admitted and then grinned "But practice makes perfect."
"I don't want to practice archery" and then turning his head to glare at her Bran snapped at her "And I want to be left alone, so leave." Deciding to give her brother his space she left.
-TVQ-
She was in her father's or her now guessed her study reading a rather old book about her family's history. The Starks were the oldest family in all of Westeros; in fact her bloodline was believed to go back over eight thousand years to the age of heroes and the time of the White Walkers. As a result her family had records going back to even the pact between the Children of the Forest and the First Men. The book she was currently reading as well as several books littered across her desk weren't from the Winterfell library and as a result only she and her father were aware of them, in fact neither her mother nor maester Luwin had any idea that these texts even existed. Though her Father loved her Mother greatly and trusted maester Luwin these books contained much darker and shadier version of her family's history that her father, as well as many of her ancestors, thought it best to keep hidden.
After Torhen Stark bent the knee to Aegon Targaryen and gave up his title King in the North the Stark family had changed. They had developed a reputation of honour that was greater than both house Tully and Arryn despite both those houses words being Family Duty Honour and as high as honour. However before he bent the knee the Stark family while honourable to a point weren't able to rule a land as harsh as the North especially for over eight thousand years on honour alone, causing them to be absolutely ruthless to any threat whether it was southern kings attacking Moat Cailin, pirates and iron born raiding the lands, wildlings north of the Wall, or rebellious bannermen. The methods her family had used possessed a level of cruelty and mercilessness that even Klaus and Kol would hesitate to use, a prime example being the extermination of house Greystark, from the youngest babe to the oldest man, and they had been kin. It was also looking through these books that she discovered why house Bolton despite rebelling against the Starks TWICE, had not only been spared but remained as one of the most powerful houses in the North. It was because no family in existence carried the same level of fear and intimidation as the flaying Boltons, intimidation that was perfect for dealing with their enemies and their existence also prevented the Starks from ever becoming complacent. So overall the Boltons were more useful as tamed allies then dead.
However she wasn't having much luck with finding information about White Walkers. After so many years since the Others had been sighted she had no idea what was true and what was myth. She had no idea how they were created, she had no idea of their abilities and she had no idea if they could be even killed. Hell she even had no idea if they were even real, only the word of an old man.
Looking out the window she noticed night had fallen. Gods she thought she'd been reading these dusty old books for hours. Coming to the realization that the only way she would know for true if the White Walkers existed was to send someone north of the Wall to find them. Leaving her study she began walking through the corridors of Winterfell she entered one of the hidden passageways and carried on walking until she came upon a door with three different locks on it, after all the person inside was very dangerous. Unlocking the door she entered and saw a man chained to the far wall.
"Hello Ramsey."
End of chapter 6