Erek Hogg stared at his god, unable to form words. Instead, his mouth just opened and closed witlessly. His heart thumped in his chest.
"I take it you weren't expecting the title?" Her Holiness had a fond expression as she looked at him with far too much faith.
He dropped to his knees. "It's too much."
"It's exactly what you've earned. And I wouldn't leave the Order under anyone else while I'm gone. Of course, you'll answer to the Queen and her council, and it's not like I'm giving you total control or anything. Duncan will be in charge of the learning and accounting for the Order, and Thatcher and when possible Ser Brienne will be running the physical training." Her Holiness laid a hand on his shoulder. "Seriously, breathe. You're going to do great, I believe in you."
Hogg couldn't do anything but nod dumbly. "It's an honor...but surely Joran or...someone else would be better? I'm just the son of a farmer!"
"Joran is great, also kinda running around as a representative for the Order diplomatically." Daisy patted his shoulder. "You're going to be fine."
It was...he just...it was the most terrifying and wonderful moment of his life. Such terrible faith and approval. He straightened his spine, a tremble to his voice. "I'll do my best to make you proud in all things, your Holiness."
"I know." She smiled, squeezing his shoulder. "Come on, you and Duncan are going to need to learn what information is important to pass on to Sansa, and what isn't."
He nodded, his half bobbling as he tripped over himself to follow her. His cheeks were a bright red at the stumble. Out of kindness, his god didn't comment.
Hogg stared at the large and neatly divided chests of information. All the various bits of information the Order recorded on the paper Fitz made. Admittedly all but the most official of letters and forms were written out on the paper made by the Smith touched mad man. "How'd ya reckon we do this?"
"It's...well I suppose by House or region?" Duncan replied from where he was leaning against his crutches. The long list of various methods of organizing information that their god had given them in his hand.
Hogg nodded, that was something. He was barely literate now, let alone capable enough of doing much to aid in this. But it was his duty now. "Region, and then House might be safer?"
"Dedicate a chest to each region of the North, one to each southern kingdom, and..well, one for Winterfell specifically?" Duncan offered, his brow furrowed in thought. "The problem is we'll expand past what can fit in a single chest quite fast the larger our order gets and the better at writing everyone becomes…" He made a rumbling sound under his breath.
Hogg opened one of the chests. "Do you think this might be a test?"
"What, like how Fitz did with Prince Rickon?" Ducan looked up, sudden hope on his face.
He nodded, warming to the idea. "So we just 'ave to prove we're not terrible. Think about it."
"Still need to prove ourselves though, don't we?" Duncan ran a hand through his hair.
Hogg's shoulders slumped…breathing in he squared himself. "Right, so what'd ya need me to do to help? I'm not that great at my letters yet."
"You're better than at least half the others." Duncan gave him a tight smile.
The two of them looked at the work before them. Well, they best get to it and hope they didn't disappoint their patron god. They had information to categorize by topic and date.
/
Ser Jasper Redfort of the Vale frowned as the scout they'd sent ahead came skidding into the command tent, gasping for breath, eyes wide, inaudible words trying to come out of his mouth. He frowned. "By the gods, take a breath before you pass out man."
"News from the Twins then?" Lord Redfort, his father's eyes narrowed as he looked at the scout. "If those weasels intend to marshal an army against our attempt to ford the river we'll give them battle. Fucking cowards the lot of them."
The scout shook his head, half bent over, gasping for air still.
Ser Jasper grabbed a waterskin and offered it to the man. "Let the man get some air in so he can answer." He turned his attention to Ser Edmund Waxley, his father Lord of his House already at Winterfell, surely this could not be typical?
The respected Lord was focused on the scout. "Just nod, are the Frey's marching for us?"
Shaking his head, the scout looked up, his hands still resting on his knees. "The Freys….. are dead."
"What?!"
Ser Jasper had felt like his skin was crawling as he rode at the head of the great Vale force through the gates of the Twins. The banners had been lowered. In the courtyard, some twenty Lannister soldiers had stood, their weapons on the ground. A smattering of servants and women standing around. They all had haunted terrified eyes. The sense of wrongness had prickled at the back of his neck.
The process of the Lannister men surrendering was quick and to the point. They were no one of consequence, but Queen Sansa might want them. So to the North, they would be brought. From there it had been a matter of course to pull aside the former Lady Frey for questioning on what cursed thing had happened here.
He'd drawn the short straw as his father's son. Thus he stood before the girl. And she was a girl, newly widowed or not. Sitting in the dingy and damp room were also some female servants and a few girls who were likely Frey bastards. Not that he particularly cared. The House's Septon and Master were in attendance also, as well as several Lords of the Vale there to hear what report would be given.
"Where is the Lord and sons of this House?" He looked at the frightened features of the girl who'd been wed to Lord Walder.
She shook, her skin pale. "Dead. The Faceless man killed them all."
The sense of dread rose. The short hairs against his neck rose. "Surely not, that order is a legend."
"I speak true m'Lord!" The girl looked up with faint terror. "I saw it with mine own two eyes! One moment all the men were toasting to their victories, and then the next the poison took them as they died, foaming at the mouths. Lord Walder just stood there, smiling. And then he reached below his chin and peeled his face off."
Ser Jasper didn't want to ask. "Who was under his face?"
"A girl, young and cold and small. The face wasn't all that changed, she was dwarfed by his clothes then, and she spoke to me. Her voice was death." The girl shook. No matter what had occurred this girl believed what she said.
The servants and men of learning here present, not disagreeing, sent another cold shiver down his spine. "What did she say?"
"As Lord Walder she listed their crimes. The men were dying, clutching their throats as they died, and Lord Walder said they hadn't killed all the Starks. That the sheep aren't safe if a wolf still lives."
The girl swallowed, her eyes widening as she then continued. The tremor in her hands near stilling. "When they were dead, and she no longer wore Lord Walder's face she looked at me. She was peaceful and she said 'When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them that Winter came for House Frey.' Then she left. Stole a horse on her way out."
"If I may, good Ser?" The Maester spoke softly from his seat, waiting for a nod to continue. "We found a body we believe to have been Lord Walder stuffed into a chest. And the meat pie on the tables was…"
"You believe? Surely you could recognize your Lord?" Ser Jasper wouldn't grieve for the Freys. He'd have been honored to slay them for their crimes. But this...this sent chills to his bones.
The Maester swallowed. "The face had been removed." He looked positively nauseous then. "The meat pies at the feast, we were able to discover the meat was the meat of Lord Frey's two eldest sons."
"The heirs of House Frey were fed to their kinsman?" Jasper...what madness…
The older Lord of the Vale spoke then. "The Rat Cook, the Northern tale of the man who broke guest rite and was punished by being fed his own sons after being turned to a rat."
"The poison used was the same as was used on King Joffrey." The Maester replied.
Ser Jasper opened and then shut his mouth. "Are you saying her grace, Sansa Stark, is indeed guilty of poisoning the mad butcher of a King? Then hired a faceless man to do the same to House Frey after forcing them to enact the dark warnings of the old gods?"
"Well….yes." The Maester replied.
/
Daisy ruffled Lyanna Mormont and Rickon's hair as she found them arguing in quiet hisses in a corner of the stable. "So what are you two little monsters up to?"
"Nothing!" Rickon straightened, the shifty avoiding of eye contact and fidgeting didn't suit him.
Lyanna elbowed him in the gut. "Did you require something, your Holiness?"
"Smooth kid, now fess up." She crossed her arms and stared them down. If she didn't intervene they were likely to end up with a burnt down stable or something equally terrible.
Rickon cracked first. "It's just-"
He wheezed as Lyanna whacked him in the gut again. Her face was set in stone. "We're just fine."
"Huh, huh." Daisy glanced at the large bucket of horse shit, and then back to the kids. "So not planning on doing anything with the poop?" She ignored Rickon, he was more scared of Lyanna than her. Which was probably smart. Instead, she just held the gaze of the tiny little Lady filled with sheer spite.
Lyanna's eye twitched. "Political action."
"Against whom?" Daisy raised an eyebrow.
Rickon side-stepped away from Lyanna. "Lord Waxley of the Vale."
"Very punchable face, I get it." Daisy tilted her head faintly. "Why are you…what are you doing to him with the poop?"
Lyanna's chin tipped up. "I suggest we leave it in front of his door."
"Which is dumb. We should cut open his mattress, stuff it in, and then sew it back up." Rickon huffed while rolling his eyes.
Daisy barely kept from snorting outright. "And what did Lord Waxley do that has brought this upon himself? Cause he's got a froggy face, but that's not normally enough for declaration of war."
"He implied my opinion is not needed as I lack the experience of the older Lords. As if I'm not as good a Lady of my lands as any man." She was practically spitting with fury.
Which…well that'd do it. "And Sansa let that happen?" Cause the idea of Sansa permitting one of her northern Lords to be demeaned by any of their new allies was actually confounding.
"He wouldn't dare." Lyanna's eyes narrowed further. "He was very polite in the hallways, but his meaning was clear."
"Ah, makes sense." Daisy nodded, honestly the way grown-ass men underestimated kids was staggering. "So, have you considered doing both?"
"Both?" Both kids replied looking confused.
She nodded. "It gives you cover for if you get caught. And means he's more likely to sleep on the mattress with the shit in it if he thinks the lingering smell is from the bucket in front of his door." Daisy smiled faintly at the mischievous glee on their faces. "However, you'd be proving him right if you do that."
"That is…" Lyanna's jaw twitched. "Correct, that is correct."
Daisy rolled her eyes at the sudden angst. "Or you could get him back where it hurts."
"You mean stab him?" Rickon asked, his face confused.
She shook her head. "I mean none of the Vale guys know how the heck to deal with the cold. Have you considered sending him gloves, or a cloak or something with a snide note? It's polite, and makes our point."
Both of the kids' eyes were bright and sharp as they looked at her curiously.
An hour later a fur cloak had been acquired from the new stores being made for the men. Neatly pinned to it was a note that Lyanna had written out with painstakingly careful strokes of her quill.
-"Lord Wexly,
Since you are so newly arrived in the North I thought it best to correct your lack of preparation for the climate. Assuredly it was the simple forgetfulness of age, as no doubt you possess the needed wisdom required to know that winter is cold.
Lady Mormont"-
Daisy wrapped an arm around Rickon's shoulders as she read the note. "Now, who wants to see how we can coordinate Shaggydog into your sparring?" Cause giant ass wolf the size of a small horse was going to turn the two kids from dangerous together to deadly as fuck. This world wasn't kind, not that any world was really. But she could give them tools that might help them.
Daisy kept her muted horror hidden as she stared at dinner. Medieval food was…well she'd mostly adjusted to it. Actually, it was the best food she'd consistently had access to…probably ever. However, she realized then that she hadn't been prepared. That was a whole ass pig…its head was still there. Dinner shouldn't stare at you! It was just…oh god she was going to have to eat that to be polite. They wouldn't give her a piece of its face right? Please?
She wanted to die. Her smile felt plastic as a slice of, not the face! was set on her plate. Daisy glanced at Sansa who was beside her. "Is this a normal way of preparing food? I don't' think I've seen it before."
"Certainly for a feast, though why the cooks chose this presentation tonight you'd need to ask the new Lady Flint." Sansa had the faintest flicker of curiosity peaking out.
Daisy knew her smile wasn't fooling Sansa. Shit. "Just new." She grabbed the weird fork and knife and began to cut her meat….cause she was going to have to eat it now.
The fact the meat was delicious, only slightly helped the faint nausea she felt being able to see the face of the animal she was eating. At least no one tried to give her the apple in the poor pig's mouth?
"The way you describe food from your home is always curious to me." Sansa shook her head as she cut her own meal.
Daisy could have cried at the thought of take out…god Chinese… curry or sushi…pizza! She'd do terrible things for a fucking pizza. Glorious preservatives. "You know, I think if you ate any of it you'd get like…really sick."
"But you ate human food?" Sansa asked.
She laughed. "Yes, it was human food. But if you're not used to the ingredients it'd make you sick" Daisy frowned… "Kind of like how if you're not used to spices eating something with a lot of spices is kinda terrible? Although there were these puffy things we ate that weren't poisonous but Jemma, Davis, and I were so high from that."
Lord Royce asked, his tone specifically respectful. "What is high, your Holiness?"
"Have you ever seen someone whose had far too much of your milk of the poppy? Or I guess so much sugar they can't sit down? Kind of drunk, only a bit different?" Daisy wasn't sure how to explain LSD to these people.
Several men laughed at that. Lord Baelish, the asshole prodded for more. "This sounds like quite the tale, your Holiness?"
"Uh yeah, it was like the day before I ended up here actually." Daisy blinked, it was funny, it felt like it'd happened so much longer ago than that. "Fitz's wife Jemma and I were trying to find him, and we ended up on a system called Kitson. Which, you'd have felt right at home there Lord Baelish; Kitson was basically one big slave, gambling, and brothel collective on the edges of the stars where the various godly courts mostly could ignore it. Or I suppose quietly profit off it."
Lord Baelish's eyes were sharp, he knew she was a threat to him. Good. Paying attention to her meant he wasn't paying as close of attention to Sansa. "Ah, interesting the gods would have the same flaws as mortals."
"People are just people, god or human or something in between." Daisy had always known that. "But well, we found a freighter Fitz had been on, so we knew he'd ended up there. Best hope was he'd gotten sent to the gambling house and not the brothels. But while we were on the freighter there were these edible puffy snacks. And Davis, our pilot, started eating them. He ate like five or more of the things, Jemma and I only had one a piece. Tasted fine. Then well, just walking down the stairs to the gambling house was almost impossible."
Daisy snickered. "It was like the colors were alive, ground swaying, everything felt hilarious. Completely forgot why we were there by the time we managed to get into the bar. Very bright and colorful drinks. Very blue. I think at one point Jemma and I were under a table crying at each other? Course before we sobered up shit happened and Jemma wandered off, actually found Fitz, and I ended up in a bar brawl…not sure why. But I won, so yay?" She shrugged. "Then it was just a mess of chasing people around before Chromicoms for some reason started attacking us? A portal weapon got chucked at Fitz, I threw Jemma out of the way, grabbed Fitz to block the explosion from hitting him, and then I was breaking out of a tree."
"You put your own body between danger and a human, even one blessed by a different god that is…fascinating." Lord Baelish's smarmy face was looking at her like he'd been handed a piece of valuable information.
Daisy knew her smile was mean. "The Kree tried to use the humans I care about to keep me from killing them. It worked for a matter of days. They were the gods who created my kind and they didn't die well."
"Most admirable of you." Lord Baelish gave her a tilt of the head. He'd gotten the threat. Good, she meant it.
Daisy touched Sansa's hand under the table, she could half feel the discomfort she felt every time Baelish opened his mouth. "Tell me Lord Baelish, why isn't a man of your standing married already? I mean if Umber managed to get a woman to marry him..."
Umber snorted hard from his seat. "That's cold, your Holiness."
She lifted her cup to her mouth, though her eyes didn't leave Baelish.
"I am afraid I have been married to my duty to the realm for these long years." He tipped his head towards her. "Once the Dead are gone perhaps I will be able to find a wife."
Daisy knew she could make him squirm more, but pushing him too hard was counterproductive, he had to think he might actually get somewhere with her. So after a slight pause, she switched her attention to where Tormund was gnawing on a chicken leg. "What about you Tormund? Are you married? I've heard all about your daughters but not a wife."
The air rushed out of Daisy's lungs as Sansa kissed her the second the door closed behind them. She barely faltered, just melting into it. Humming, she pulled back. "Are you planning on just ambushing me every time? Cause I have to say I'm not complaining."
Sansa's cheeks were faintly pink, but she didn't pull away. "You're ridiculous."
"Well, yeah." Daisy's lips quirked up as she smiled up at her. "But I'm getting the idea you like that."