Coming of the Red Anchor

Plots Begin

298 AC

Winterfell

The following day was spent recovering from the feast and many took to sleeping it off or going about easy tasks that required little effort. The boys sparred and joked while the girls went to the room that Septa Mordane maintained. As they did so Ned and Cateyn were in their room discussing the offer of the Hand and the marriage. "I'm a Northman. I belong here with you, not down south in that rat's nest they call a capital" Ned complained, still feeling some of the effects from the wine last night.

"I won't let him take you" Catelyn said in support of him. He smiled appreciatively at her.

"The king takes what he wants. That's why he's king."

"I'll say, 'Listen, fat man, you are not taking my husband anywhere. He belongs to me now'" she whispered to him and he chuckled at her words.

"How did he get so fat? I know Warrington warned me he had but to see it in person" he sighed, disappointed in his all but brother.

"He only stops eating when it's time for a drink" she explained in distaste. There's a knock at the door and a voice from the guard is heard. "It's Maester Luwin, my lord."

"Send him in" Ned says, loud enough to be heard through the door.

"Pardon, my lord, my lady. A rider arrived this morning with a note from your sister" he explains softly, handing over a sealed letter.

"Stay" Ned asks, in case his advise is needed.

"This was sent from the Eyrie" Catelyn says in surprise while tearing open the seal. "What's she doing at the Eyrie? She hasn't been back there since her wedding" she mutters as she reads the note, she suddenly looks up in alarm and then throws the note into the nearby fire.

"What news?"

"She's fled the capital. She says Jon Arryn was murdered. By the Lannisters. She says the king is in danger" Catelyn answers worriedly.

Ned swears and tries to comfort his wife. "She's freshly widowed, Cat. She doesn't know what she's saying."

"Lysa's head would be on a spike right now if the wrong people had found that letter. Do you think she would risk her life, her son's life, if she wasn't certain her husband was murdered?"

"If this news is true, and the Lannisters conspire against the throne, who but you can protect the king?" Luwin suggests to Ned.

"They didn't do it, I have had reliable word that they were not involved" Ned intervened quickly, preventing their talk from growing too dangerous.

"What?! You knew about Jon before this letter? Why didn't you say anything?" Catelyn asked angrily.

"Because what I knew was not enough to prove anything. Only suspicions and some information from the capital."

"What suspicions my lord?" Luwin asks curiously.

"The illness struck relatively quickly and only Jon caught it. According to reports everyone was surprised by what happened, the Lannisters included. Given those circumstances, my...spies, or rather the person I trust's spies, believe that Jon was poisoned, as Lysa suggests, somehow but they know not of who did it. The spy said that he had proof the Lannisters did not do the deed but added that they might be blamed by…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"By?" Catelyn asked worried

"The...the ones who did it" Ned answered sadly. "The spy said it was likely whoever did it would blame the Lannisters since their reputation would ensure that we would believe the claim."

"Noo, Lysa would never kill her husband Ned, she wouldn't. She's a kind soul" Catelyn defended, aghast at the suggestion.

"If I may my lady the argument is not invalid, you would believe your sister and the reputation of the Lannisters is such that we seriously thought they might have done it prior to Lord Stark informing us they had not. The capital is known for its many plots and schemes. Lord Stark may need to go to find out just who did kill Lord Arryn."

"Who is the spy who would claim my sister did it?" She asked, turning to Ned angrily.

"He did not claim your sister did it, he merely said that those who could have killed Jon would likely blame the Lannisters, when we have proof they did not. She could just as easily be mad with grief and blaming anyone Cat."

"Who?" she asked again sternly. Ned sighed.

"Lord Warrington. He has people in the capital and across Westeros keeping him informed of things, in turn he lets me know things of import. Now I must be going, the Kings has insisted on a hunt in a few hours which will likely last a day or so" Ned said tiredly as he left his solar.

"The King rode north to ask him to be hand my lady, he can do much down there for us all and find out the truth" Luwin said gently to Lady Stark.

"He spent half his life fighting Robert's war, he owes him nothing" Catelyn spat while pondering if her sister was capable of murder.

The hunt went off without a hitch, most of the men had taken off with the King and Lord Stark, only the younger children like Bran and Tommen remained behind along with Lady Catelyn and Queen Cersei. Warrington also remained in the castle to read in the library; Winterfell had such a collection, far older and wider ranging than most so Maester Barneby had suggested to him reading there while he could. The histories held in the parchments, books and tomes were interesting for James as he had always enjoyed it at school and learning the histories of Westros was a way to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

It was the morning after the men had left, they'd decided to carry on during the night, and James was just reading a page that discussed the last Bolton rebellion and the last gasps from the line of Red Kings when he heard the howl of a dog or wolf. He looked up towards the window and walked over to it. Looking out he heard the howl again, this time sounding sad, and realised it must be from one of the Stark kids' wolves. He had admired the wolves from afar, they were quite cute, he thought, in their nice furs and yipping at the heels of which ever child cared for them. The mournful howl called again. Growing slightly disturbed by the howling, he left the library and went wondering about the castle in the vague direction of where the howling was coming from. He passed the Queen and Ser Jaime walking towards the Sept in a calm but slightly rushed manner. Curious he thought but pushed it aside on hearing another howl, this time closer and louder. He nodded politely towards the pair as he passed and hurried on. The howl came again and then he heard shouts. Barely a minute later he came to the base of a partially repaired, but currently abandoned, tower where two Stark guardsmen and a scullery maid had gathered around. "Lord Stark? Mi'lord Brandon? By the gods, get the Maester! Get help!" one man said urgently. The woman and the other guard rushed off in a panic.

"What happened?" Warrington said bringing the man out of his stupor as he too gazed down at the body on the ground.

"Mi'lord Warrington? Thank the gods, Lord Brandon has fallen from the tower, we need help! I don't know what else to do, if I should move him?" the man babbled in shock. James approached the body on the ground and saw it was indeed young Brandon. He lay sprawled on the ground in a slight hole formed from the force of his fall. His wolf sat beside him whining and nuzzling the boys face. He looked up the tower and saw numerous climbing holes and the like, it was reasonably scaleable. He looked at the poor boy sadly and shook his head. He knelt down and examined the boy and while nothing immediately stood out, it was clear the boy still drew breath.

"The best we can do is wait for the Maester to check he is safe to move though from a cursory inspection I would say we could move him now. Go find a cart or something we can use as a stretcher to carry him" James ordered. The guard nodded gratefully and hurried off, glad to have something to do. The wolf pup whined again. "We'll heal him boy. He'll be fine, you'll see" he said to the wolf comfortingly.

An hour later James was stood next to Maester Luwin helping to examine the boy. While he lacked the medical knowledge of the Maester or the doctors back home he did have some first aid training from a youth group he had helped out with when he was in his twenties. In the room, looking on worriedly, Lady Stark stood nearby and the three remaining Stark children looked on in concern. Deciding that he would be better off calling for aid he stood up and walked towards the door. "Lady Stark, there is little I can do here, the most I can deal with are cuts and burns. I can though send a message to my own people, we can hopefully try to heal the boy more thoroughly than here but I do not promise much can be done."

"Will Bran die?" asked Arya worriedly, tears at the edge of her eyes.

"Arya don't say such things, Maester Luwin and Lord Warrington will save him" Sansa admonished though even she looked shaken and teary.

"We will certainly try Lady Sansa. Now I must send word, it will probably be best for them to arrive and leave once the King has left."

"Maester Luwin, is there anything you can do?" Catelyn asked in concern.

"I have set his bones which were broken so they should repair in time. His head was bruised though it seems not cracked. It's his spine I worry about. If he lives, and it looks good so far, I fear he may not walk at all" Luwin answered sadly.

"I see. Lord Warrington, if your people can do as you say, send for them. My little boy had dreams of being a knight, if you can help them come true I would be in your debt."

"I'll send word" Warrington said before giving a quick nod and left to meet his communication personnel.

By the following day and the castle had fallen into quiet despondency. Though Bran was now expected to live it was known he would be crippled for life. The King's retainers and court had already packed and Ned and his two daughters had reluctantly done so as well. Jon had decided that he wouldn't go to The Wall, not yet at least, and would leave with Lord Warrington when he returned to Stoneyshore to join the fleet or at least its marine corps. What surprised Jon was that Warrington had made no move to pack and only told Jon about packing the morning the King and his father were to leave.

Ned met with Warrington a final time in his solar before leaving South. "You're sure your people can heal Bran?"

"I am reasonably confident they should be able to return some ability to walk. Whether he can run or fight properly will be another matter. My doctors and surgeons, healers, will do their best my lord."

"Very well, now for the capital. You know who is there, who can I trust? Who is reliable and that I can work with?" James mentally facepalmed at the naivety shown and lack of political acumen. Ned would not last long there. He sighed.

"Ned, in all honesty you should not trust anyone there. Ser Barristan is probably the only one you can. Renly ignores his duties and just feasts and makes himself look good. Stannis you could have worked with but he has gone to Dragonstone with the royal fleet and Pycelle you can sort of trust but from our understanding he is somehow involved with the Lannisters so it's best send important or private messages yourself. Baelish you should almost entirely not trust at all as he has many schemes at play and we believe he is possibly stealing from the crown but we can't confirm it since we haven't seen the books but the circumstances are there, given the massive debt. He also started a rumour about your wife and her sister that while not really believed is known in the capital" James added awkwardly.

"What rumour?" Ned asked sternly, his grey eyes staring intently at him.

"Well er, it's er, to do with, erm, well your wife's *cough* maidenhead *cough*" James nervously stuttered and choked out.

"WHAAT?!" Ned yelled, eyes blazing in rage and the wolf within howled in anger.

"Like I said it is not really believe but we have caught him mentioning it to other courtiers" he placated but Ned was fuming with rage, 'hardly the Quiet Wolf' James thought with a snort.

"I will be having harsh words with Baelish it seems, what is it he claims exactly?"

"He took er, both sisters...maidenhoods" James answered awkwardly.

"What foul dishonourable lies! I will gut him like Brandon should have done!" Ned growled out.

"My lord be careful, he is the Master of Coin and quite powerful, he has schemes within schemes and is close with Lysa Arryn. Plus, no one truly believes it since both you and Jon were known to be honourable men and so would have likely mentioned something before now. That you haven't lends credence to it being a lie, thus no one believes it" James placated, trying to ease the understandable anger Ned felt. "Now for the remaining councillors; Varys is trickier, he gives good advise but his angle is hard to tell. In short verify whatever they tell you, for example go to two or three of them and see what they say. They will likely give you half-truths so only the common thing they say is actually the truth. Be careful and also have a back-up plan. Also if you do intend to investigate Lord Arryn's death, be discrete, send members of your entourage to question anyone." Ned nodded in understanding before rubbing his eyes tiredly and sighing.

"Gods I hate the capital already" he said. James just smirked at him.

"In another bit of news; my sources in Essos, admittedly few and far between due to lack of trade and contact, informed me this morning that there has been an incident at Daenerys Targaryen's wedding."

"Don't tell me Robert stooped so low as to kill her? She's an innocent girl!" Ned exclaimed, thinking back to the horrors of the Sack.

"It appears not, my spy said that the girl disappeared so the 'wedding' resulted in the Dothraki Khal killing Viserys for lying and breaking the deal. The Magister looking after the pair was barely able to talk his way out of being beheaded" James informed his liege with a straight face.

"Where is the girl now?"

"I do not know her current location my lord, I suspect I'll know soon enough. She likely ran away in the night or something. Can't blame her, being sold to the Dothraki is not a pleasant experience, especially for a 17 name day girl."

"She's seven and ten? By the old gods, has that amount of time really gone by?" Ned said with mild surprise.

"Your two eldest sons are the same age my lord" James pointed out.

"Aye but one does not always think how old they are. Still I agree, being sold to the Dothraki is not nice" Ned replied.

A short while later, out in the main courtyard of the castle, the Stark family was saying their farewells with Robb, Lady Stark, Rickon and Jon milling about to see Lord Stark and the two girls off. When Ned finished he approached Lord Warrington who was standing nearby.

"Lord Warrington, I thank you for your service and information, as well as your future care of Bran."

"You're welcome my lord, be calm and cunning, have plans and verify everything told to you. With that you should not go wrong when in the capital. I do have one other thing to say to you and your daughters if I may?" Ned nodded slowly, wondering what Warrington could want.

"Aye, very well. Girls! Come over here please" he called out and the two slowly came over. Sansa acting the little lady and Arya almost grumpily. Both had looks of worry though. "Lord Warrington wishes to speak with us about the capital before we go."

"My ladies, firstly you have my sympathies on your brother and my word that we shall try to heal him to the best of our ability. Now the main reason I wish to speak with you is that you are going to a dangerous place. Stick with your father or guards at all times, sometimes even in the Red Keep too. Lastly, a piece of advise for all of you. If you need anything, be it northern food or items to buy or perhaps you need help for whatever reason like you have gotten lost, go to the docks you will find a warehouse with a large red anchor on a blue background hung up outside it. My people have guards and workers there who can aid you in a time of need. They can also get word north rapidly thus bypassing the ravens the Grand Maester keeps. I hope this and my words of caution serve you well. In the capital trust no one but those northerners going with you. Verify everything told to you. Good luck and safe trip." James finished with words of caution. The two girls stared at him worriedly before nodding in thanks and returning to their carriage, thoughtful and concerned looks on their faces.

"Thank you for your words, I fear they may not have taken mine as seriously."

"No worries my lord, just be careful and you'll be fine. If you need my advise I am a call away with aid from the warehouse." With that James took a step back and allowed Ned to say farewell to his wife and then mounted his black horse. Once done, he led the Stark contingent out of Winterfell behind the long column that was the King's caravan. James watched them from the high walls as they snaked through the recently expanded Winter Town that sat outside the walls of Winterfell as they rode towards the Kingsroad. "Send word to the Bush, they can send the helicopter now, preferably one large enough to take a fair few passengers" he spoke to his guard who stood just behind him.

"Yes sir" came the reply and he walked off.

Four hours later a deep roaring and chuffing sound could be heard faintly and was gradually getting louder. Many in the town looked up and around at hearing the strange noise, a few babies began to cry, some dogs barked and the birds scattered as the relative quite of northern life was shattered by the approaching roar. Soon enough, from the west, a silver grey blob could be seen in the sky and a few minutes after that a distinctive rectangular shape took shape before approaching the ancient fortress of Winterfell. The aircraft had two spinning tri-blades, one at the fore and one to the rear. It had a slanted back and a nose-like front. The flying thing circled the castle twice before descending down into the main square of Winter Town which sat in front of the main gatehouse of the castle. Slowly its rotors began to decelerate and the back lowered to allow access, forming a ramp.

The main gate opened, the thick Ironwood doors moving slowly and the crowd, which had by now gathered to look on curiously, watched as two Stark guards, under supervision from Maester Luwin, carried out a stretcher which held the body of a young boy. Many started muttering and chatting on what could be occurring and where young Brandon could be going. Following after the guards, Lady Stark, accompanied by Jon Snow, Lord Warrington and his Britanican guards, walked up to the strange grey machine and went up the ramp at the rear and inside the thing. The crowd watched as the stretcher was carried on board and Luwin stayed back watching the inside of the thing from the ground before retreating back to the castle gates.

A few minutes later the blades began to spin and turn quickly, whizzing loudly and its engines soon began to roar as well. Much of the crowd dispersed remembering the wind that had picked up as it landed and soon enough the wind whipped about again, knocking over tables and stands as the thing roared and began to lift up off the ground. As the grey vehicle rose higher and higher, the wind died down somewhat and then it turned away, heading west, speeding off quicker than a horse could gallop. The chuffing sound and deep roar soon quietened down until barely a whisper ad then it was gone. After clearing up and much muttering and gossiping the town and castle went back to normal, or near enough.

The loud roar never died down for Catelyn. The guards and Warrington seemed unperturbed by the sounds or vibrations as she sat near her son and the two Stark guards. To pass the time she watched through the glass window near her as the North and Winterfell fell away from them. They rushed over woods and hills and after a few hours they came to the coast. She looked down, taking her mind off her injured son, and spotted the port of Stoneyport. She could see the shapes of ships coming and going and possibly a steady stream of people going to and from the town via the roads. She also saw a large harbour with many ships anchored there a short distance from Stoneyport. What puzzled her was that the flying thing they were on made no indication of going towards the town. In fact it kept on going towards the coast.

Minutes later she soon spotted another natural bay that was a tad north of the bay Stoneyport and its fleet was in. In this bay she could see a third sea wall and harbour with a set of building on land. It was that within the sea wall and bay which flummoxed her. Large sea going ships, mostly grey or silver in colour, sat on the water patiently waiting for the day they were called to service. It was then that the true capability and fleet of what House Britanican was came to her. Ned had told her of the strange ships House Britanican possessed when they arrived but seeing them in person was a whole other thing. This was a sleeping giant of naval capability which had barely flexed its muscles when the Ironborn rebelled. She pitied whoever challenged them at sea.

The thing she was in began descending towards the largest of the giant vessels. It easily dwarfed the rest of the fleet who too dwarfed any other ship the rest of Westeros had. It had a long flat deck with a single tower rising from it half way along. A similarly built ship but smaller sat nearby although that one had two towers instead. The Britanican men started getting ready, buckling themselves in and holding on tight so she turned around to face her son and made sure she was strapped in as well like she'd been shown before they had taken off. Then almost as gently as it had taken off it landed, a slight thud and shake from the impact but otherwise smooth. She relaxed and let out a breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding and she noticed that the two guardsmen had been similarly unsettled, uncomfortable with this flying.

The ramp lowered and two men in white clothing with some wheeled cart thing that was flat and waste height came aboard. A third man, middle aged, with pale skin and brown hair, in a white overcoat followed them. "Ah Minister, sorry Lord now, keep forgetting. Where's the patient?"

"Here he is doctor" Warrington answered. The two men with the wheeled thing came across and then collapsed it to the floor though it was still movable. They then grabbed Bran by the covers he was lying on and shifted him swiftly and smoothly on the trolley. They then lifted it up so its legs extended again and they hurried off the flying thing with Bran.

"What are you doing with him? You are the healer yes?"

"Ah right hello, I'm Doctor Brightwarm, and you are the mother I presume?"

"Yes I am Lady Catelyn Stark, wife of Lord Eddard Stark who is Warden of the North."

"Yes yes, you are the mother, fine that's good. Right, well, we'll conduct a physical exam of the boy, then take a few x-rays and then put him in the MRI and take a look inside him. After that we'll see what the damage is and what your primitive medicine has done to him" the doctor spoke grumpily. Warrington coughed pointedly.

"Hmm oh yeas well he should be fine, you Warrington can show you where to wait. Right I have a patient to save. Excuse me." The man in the overcoat walked doff the flying thing leaving a stunned silence behind.

"Well he wasn't very polite" Catelyn complained. The two guards stood silent but nodded in agreement.

"Yeah sorry about that. He does take some getting used to I'm afraid. Military rules on modern naval ships generally have it that they are the boss of all thing medical regardless of what rank the patient or relative is. They can even order the admiral to take leave or rest or whatever if they feel it's necessary for his health. Thus he and most shipboard doctors can be a bit...arrogant at first? They're fine after a while, no doubt he was keen to get an initial idea of what condition Bran was in so he could work out what he was gonna do. Now why don't you follow me and I'll show you the medical bay my lady."

Warrington dismissed his guards and led Catelyn and her two men through the ship, its grey and white corridors being pristine and its lighting coming from white strips in the ceiling with no sign of candles at all. Eventually they came to a hall where there was a glass window pane which filed most of the wall. A metal door was to the right of it. Looking inside she could see Bran lying on a table while the doctor she'd seen before and three others examined him closely. After what seemed hours they then moved some object on an arm above him and positioned it above his left leg. They stepped away for a moment then then moved back and repeated for his other leg. They then turned him over so he was lying on his front and then moved it over his back. Again they stepped away before then placing him on his back again. "What are they doing? Surely they would hurt him like that?" she asked worriedly.

"That's why they examined him first, to check for what is broken. What they are doing currently is taking x-rays of him so they can see his bones to examine them later and see how broken or fractured they are" James explained. She looked on shocked at the level of technology these people had. She then watched as they stepped away from him and moved his table backwards towards a hole in the wall or alcove that was shaped to surround the bed Bran lay on. Bran lay there for ten minutes while he was lit up in various lights as the machine hummed before he was then removed and taken away.

"Where are they taking him? Have they fixed him already?" she asked, part hopeful part worried.

"Not yet my lady, that was an MRI machine. It allows doctors to view inside the body to see muscles, blood vessels, nerves and it can also see if there is damage to any internal organs. With that they will be able to tell if anything else is problematic." Soon enough the main doctor came out again.

"Ah my lady, my lord. Sorry about earlier, I was eager to get started and time is usually a factor in these cases. In all, young Brandon is in surprising good shape, no organ damage that we can see so far and other than his legs he has no other broken bones. His rib cage is bruised, as are his arms, but his skull seems fine. It's a miracle he survived the fall as well as he did" Doctor Brightwarm explained.

"Will he walk? He always dreamed of being a knight, can he walk or ride?" Catelyn questioned worriedly. The man hesitated before looking down at this thin tablet that he touched with a quill or stylus of some sort.

"Well according to this his nerves and spine were damaged when he fell resulting, we believe, in loss of feeling below the waist including his ability to walk. Now what we really need is for him to wake in order to confirm this but he is in a coma, a deep sleep. Now we could just operate as he is and try to repair the damage."

"What do you mean?" Catelyn asked

"We could try to re-link the severed or damaged nerves. It would take time to prepare for as we'd need to do further scans and tests but this could give Brandon the best chance at walking again."

"Best case scenario doc?" Warrington asked. The man sighed.

"He'll probably be able to walk but will likely require a cane or crutches. I doubt he would get full ability back. No knighthood I'm afraid Lady Stark" the healer replied sadly.

"Do what you can for my boy" she said tearfully. The man nodded and left.

Over the course of the next few days Bran went under a number of scans of various kinds from MRI to ultra sound. Once they had checked everything and got all they needed they requested permission from Lady Stark to try the surgery. She granted it. After hours in theatre they eventually called it and sowed him back up before cleaning him and returning him to the small room they had laced him in. All they could do was wait.

And wait.

And wait.

It was when it came to almost four weeks after Bran fell that something happened. In Stoneyport a shadow moved through the manor. He was annoyed, his simple task had proven far more difficult than he thought. And more tiring. He walked to where he thought he needed to be, the Maester's room just down the hall and the room next to it was marked aside as room for guests. The problem was he had heard nothing of a guest being here since he arrived in the port but it was the only place the target could be. Entering the room he saw it was empty and not in use at all. He cursed. Where in seven hells can a bloody cripple be? It was then that he heard movement. Muttering and talking in the hallway. He cursed again, he needed to get out before he was found. Deciding to risk it he left the room but was spotted immediately by two guards approaching from the right. "Halt! Who goes there?" He ran. He ran left down the hallway towards where a staircase was. Shouts behind him called for him to stop but he needed to get out fast. Running down the steps, two at a time, he ran straight into another guard who was coming up the stairs. He pushed him out the way as they tumbled town and scrambled back to his feet, running all the while.

There was shouting throughout the manor now, how they had alerted everyone so quickly he knew not but he ran. Passed doors and through hallways down to another staircase to the ground floor. He could hear more shouts behind him as guards scrambled to catch him. He soon came to the main hall and met a single guard who was walking cautiously about. He took his dagger and slashed at the man who fell back, crying out loudly. With the guard down he rushed to the main doors and came face to face with four men pointing black things at him like one would a crossbow. The jig was up, if those were like crossbows he wasn't gonna get far before being filled with bolts.

"Surrender now or we'll open fire!" yelled a man from behind the four crossbowmen. He looked about and saw a grim looking young man with long curly black hair approaching from his right, holding a bastard sword, and a glance behind showed another two, also with swords. He pulled his knife out, one he had grown to like given the Valyrian steel, and dropped it on the ground. The two behind him then grabbed an arm each and hauled him off though not before giving him a solid blow to the back of his head and the next he saw was nothing.

"What do we have?"

"The man was caught tying to escape the manor. He was found near the Maester's office first though. He seemed to be looking for something. He was armed, only with this."

"A Valyrian steel dagger? And the hilt?"

"Dragon bone according to the Maester."

"Question him, by any means. Find out everything."

"As you command my lord. Word has also come of an incident involving the Starks and Lannisters. A wolf bit the prince and disappeared. The remaining one was killed by order of the King. The children were quite upset."

"Understandable, horrible business by the sounds of it though. Send a squad with darts, find the wolf and return it to Winterfell. Perhaps send young Snow, it'll be a good test for him and the wolf will know him. The Riverlands are no place for a direwolf."

"Yes my lord."

"Any news from the Essos?"

"The plan was carried out, she is en route."

"Excellent, life as an almost slave is no life for anyone, especially a girl that young."

SPLASH! "I'll ask you again, who sent you and what was your task?" The prisoner blew spray and gasped as he was withdrawn from the ice cold water.

"Mercy please! Yo-you're northmen, you d-don't d-do this, this is not hon-honourable" the man pleaded.

"You forget, we are not from the North or anywhere else. Now I personally hate all this but my friends from across the pond have used it to get information from terrorists and others for years. So I say again, who hired you and what was the mission?" Silence answered him as the prisoner whimpered slightly. "Dunk him." SPLASH! Bubbles and muffled screams are heard from the man whose head was shoved into the ice cold water tank. After a minute or two they pulled him back and the prisoner gasped loudly for breath.

"Mercy please, I'll tell you anything, please mercy!"

"Who hired you?"

"It...It was the pr-prince" the man stuttered out.

"And your mission?"

"K-k-kill the boy, Brandon Stark. It would have been a m-mercy, no one deserves to be a cripple like he was to be" the man explained.

"And the knife?"

"From Prince Joffery, as payment" the catspaw whimpered.

"Good. You see, that wasn't so bad, was it?" The prisoner looked up to see the man looking down at him. He was clothed mostly in black but did not wear anything like mail or a gambeson, just fine clothes like a minor lord. The man looked at one of the guards beside the prisoner and nodded. The last thing the prisoner knew was the man drawing something from his side and a loud bang. Then...darkness.

"Lady Stark?" she looked up from where she sat next to the body of Brandon who lay on the bed peacefully. She was sewing and making a healing talisman. "It seems we got lucky, a man broke into my mansion last night with a dagger. He was looking for Brandon. According to his interrogation he was here to kill him."

"What?! Who would dare? Why kill an innocent boy?"

"Well I don't have a motive but I have a suspect. The man claimed to have been paid and ordered by Prince Joffery to do it."

"The Prince? But Sansa is to marry him? Why would he want harm to our family?" Catelyn asked in confusion.

"Robb did show him up a bit when they sparred, he could have held a grudge and Bran was the weak link. Otherwise I have no idea. Perhaps he wants to prove himself to his father" Warrington shrugged.

"We must warn Ned" Catelyn said worriedly.

"Of what? Joffery is the Prince and although Ned is Hand no one is gonna touch Joffery and we have no proof, the word of a now dead assassin is not one which would be believed easily."

"He's dead?" she asked in surprise.

"He did not survive the interrogation" James replied in a cold voice that made Catelyn frown.

"We needed him alive. Plus it was not right to kill him" rebuked Lady Stark.

"The word of an assassin would do us no good. He would just be dismissed and likely killed quietly if it came to trial. This way we have no loose ends and no one knows that we know. It would only cause problems and destabilise the realm if a trial took place. Peace is better, peace is good for business."

"And what about honour and justice? My son could have been killed if he'd stayed at Winterfell or your manor" Catelyn argued.

"But he did not die and in politics, and in the southern 'game' in particular, honour just constrains you and gets you killed. It can be useful and some can play the game well with their honour intact but ultimately you have to leave it behind a bit to succeed. Why do you think nearly every Stark has died when going south? Or any other northman? No, we have to play the game and get justice in another way. For now, patience. The surgery is complete and it has been three weeks since Bran was brought here. We can move him back to Winterfell in a day or so. Robb has also been writing to you so you should answer his messages while you have time."

"The Lannisters will pay for this" Catelyn swore.

"Only Joffery need do so, and that can be arranged."

"How?" Catelyn asked curiously. James merely replied with a malicious grin which sent a shiver down her back. Then there was a gasp from the bed and they saw Bran with his eyes open. He had awaken.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the beginnings of real change given the presence of a politically savvy and technologically advanced northern house. Bran's full state will be revealed next but I can't bring myself to give him full use of his legs. An aircraft carrier doesn't have access to all the latest medical technology to cure him out right.