" How dare you slander House Stark? Where are the basis for your words? If you aren't under guest rights and I would have thrown you in dungeons? " Lord Stark growled out to Berek .
" Apologies Lord Stark if offense was given, I spoke the words with pure admiration" , he appeared sincere too, Berek continued in an even tone," I myself have to three children, one son, two daughters, none of the three inherited my power, why, I have researched in to this subject and ninety nine out of hundred Wargs or Seers don't pass on their power to their progeny, even beyond the Wall this remains true, yet here you are, you yourself a powerful Warg and all your children posses more potential than you. If my theory is correct and I will wager my life upon it being correct, the Starks have consistently produced Wargs every generation since millennia"
" How did you come about this conclusion, Berek?" , Lord Father asked still in a frigid tone.
" I came upon this theory when some of the old stories peaked my curiosity, Lord Stark. Do you know all of Westeros tells stories that Starks of Old used to ride into battle on their direwolf pets, or that Starks are skinchangers and Wargs. Not just the North, Lord Stark, these stories either spoken in praise or curse can be found in every part of Westeros. Every child on this continent has been told tales of Direwolves that can rip a throat out in seconds and rip a mans arm out of his shoulders and Starks of old who rode them at least once as bedtime tales . Where are the stories about ferocious Lions and Lannisters who rode them, or Stags and Durradons? This interested me, why does only one family gets consistently associated with magic? Everyone heard about Boltons cruelty and practice of skinning, but even they aren't accused of Magic? So Why House Stark? So I dug into history of Northern Unification, did you know, even when you had the greater momentum House Stark only ever waged war against a single House in a each generation. Wage war on a House eliminate all main House members, except for females, marry them into House Stark, preferably to the Heir, let the branch family bend the knee, cultivate loyalty towards Starks, then wait until the Heir turns into Lord and has his own Heir of marriageable age and wage war on another House, repeat the process. Only petty King House Stark destroyed root and stem were Warg Kings and even all of Warg Kings daughters were married into House Stark, all the bloodlines were assimilated , only House, Starks didn't try to assimilate were Boltons and maybe that was a good thing, as Boltons have a penchant to producing some twisted monsters every other generation. Once Unification Wars were done your family always tried to keep bloodline as near to Main branch as possible through some careful marriages. Never risking madness due to Incest but always, always keeping bloodline pure. Why, I wager if you open up tombs in crypts from around five to six hundred years ago and go back from there, we would find all Kings of Winter had been buried alongside direwolves. This I am sure of. Magic is a trait Starks have cultivated into your bloodline, and I am sure your children's children too will posses it. About five hundred years ago, something disastrous happened to House Stark, maybe no one could pass on knowledge required about warging and it was lost to time. As for how I came to be here now, as I told you, I am a moderately powerful Warg, the day your son Eddard stepped a foot beyond the Wall, I had a prophetic dream while meditating in a Godswood, there is a crack in the Wall, in that crack a winged wolf stands against icy winds. After that ominous vision, I consulted other Seers in the Neck if the had any such visions, most didn't, but a few had the same vision of female direwolf giving birth to four pups in front of a Heart Tree. When I took these visions and described them to Lord Reed ,he identified the Heart tree as Winterfells. So I have dropped everything else and arrived post haste to Winterfell," Berek concluded.
" You have given me much to think upon, Berek. While all you have said seems logical enough, I am still a bit sceptical of magic."
" I have anticipated as such, if you would join me tomorrow morning before breaking fast in the Godswood for a quick demonstration, I have given an adequate summary of Warging, but I would like to go into its nuances and potential adverse effects of it if not trained properly in the art", Berek replied with a bow .
" We will, for now you are dismissed" , Lord Father said.
" Thank you ,my Lord"
" That was not how I imagined that conversation going" , Lord Father said sighing, " Brandon, Eddard, do not engage Berek in any conversation with me not around, do not engage him at all, while Lord Reed assured me in his letter that, Berek is a good man and a good teacher, even if he was a bit in love with his own voice, keep your distance from him when I am not around ".
As Eddard was about to open the door, Brandon still in his seat asked Father, " Father, how do you know that letter from Lord Reed is authentic?"
At that question Ned remained inside the solar interested in his Father's answer.
" The seals a Lord uses are very carefully crafted and some minor details are hard to fake, after all it wouldn't do if some upstart started a War with some fake seals and letters. And Lords who are personal acquintances and friends use some phrases that wouldn't seem out of norm for others, but hold some personal significance between themselves as a way to confirm their identities. There are other methods, but we will discuss them at later time ."
His curiosity satisfied Ned went in search of his younger siblings .