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Tyrion Lannister I
Winterfell, North, Year 298 AC
Tyrion was now convinced of one thing. Whoever said the North was cold was an idiot. Winterfell was anything but cold and therefore it invalidated said common declaration. Whoever built the gargantuan-sized castle was a genius, everything inside was perfect: the pipe system carrying hot water from the offspring, what could only be some sort of thermal isolator to make sure the water remained warm and using hot water to warm the castle. Fascinating. If Brandon the Builder built all of this eight millenniums ago, he was either a genius ahead of his time or some god. Or both...
He had been at Winterfell for a little bit more than a fortnight but the cold was not something he felt. In fact, it was almost painful to leave the castle to go to Winter Town and fuck some whores...the keyword was almost. A cunt to shove his cock in was not something Tyrion liked to abdicate and those rough sounding but refined whores were good fucks.
After getting dressed, alone as always, Tyrion decided to go eat breakfast with his family. A cold, cheerless meal because Cersei's domineering nature over such small things created a stupid and inadequate etiquette in the most stupid of things such as breakfasts. But then again his sister was mostly stupid.
In the Guest Room sat his siblings and his nephews and niece. The conversations, if existing, hushed. "Is Robert still abed?" Tyrion asked as he sat to his nephew Tommen's left, messing with his golden locks much to the young one's amusement and annoyance. "Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning, uncle Tyrion." Tommen and Myrcella said in unison and with smiles but from Joffrey, Tyrion got nothing as always but honestly, he couldn't care less.
"Robert left already," Cersei replied as she peered at him with the same expression of faint distaste she always wore. "He was so excited about finally leaving this cold wasteland that he felt he had to go talk with Lord Eddard, again."
"You should be happy that your husband is so energetic lately, sister," Tyrion said. "It's not every day we see King Robert so spirited and without a bottle of wine at hand."
Jaime chuckled but Cersei was not amused. "I'm so pleased to leave this snow-filled land that I will concede you this gibberish jape. But do not make a habit of it."
"If you say so..." Tyrion smirked at his sister's annoyance. He noticed one of the servants approaching. "Bread," The smallest of the Lannisters said. "And two of those little fish that my nephews are eating, a mug of that good dark beer to wash it down...oh and some bacon. Burn it until it turns black, please." The servant bowed and moved off to bring Tyrion what he demanded.
"So brother," Jaime began, addressing him. "Are you ready to leave Winterfell or would you rather stay for longer like Tommen and Myrcella?"
Tyrion glanced at his youngest nephew and his beautiful niece and smiled. "I do not know...I confess snow is not for me but I quite like the North. The peace and quiet...people here are nicer too, when they are happy of course. An angered Northerner is a terrifying sight."
"And the cold?" Jaime pressed forward.
"Ah, the cold...well...you know me...I have some ways to fight against that..." he finished with a smirk and his brother smiled brightly.
"I sure do..."
Tyrion's dish arrived and he immediately took a bite at the bacon. "But to give you a better answer brother. Benjen Stark is returning to the Night's Watch today or maybe tomorrow and I have a mind to go with him and see this Wall we have all heard so much of when we were children."
"I hope you're not thinking of taking the black on us, sweet brother." Jaime japed with his smirk on.
Tyrion laughed. "What? Me, celibate? The whores would go begging from Dorne to the Wall and everywhere in between. No, I just want to stand on top of the Wall and piss off at the edge of the world."
Cersei stood abruptly and angrily. "It is always the same with you." she proclaimed, pointing her finger at him. "The children do not need to hear this filth! Come, everyone." The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms left the room followed by her train and her cubs.
"Get used to the Wall, uncle, because once I'm the King it's there you will go." Joffrey proclaimed before Cersei took him away.
"Joffrey looked a bit..."
"Sleepy?" Jaime completed for him and Tyrion nodded, accepting the suggestion. "Kid never woke up so early in his life before and in so many consecutive days..."
"Ah, it will do him well," Tyrion said. "That way, not much rubbish comes out of his mouth."
Jaime looked a bit down. "Perhaps."
"You look a bit down lately, Jaime..." Tyrion pressed forward. "Something troubling you?"
His brother immediately went on the defensive. "No, why would it?"
"Because something is troubling you and I can see it."
Jaime sighed and stood silently for a little bit before he ended up speaking. "That Targaryen girl...she looks so much like her mother..."
"And you feel remorse and guilt for what you did?"
"If you speak of me killing the Mad King, no I do not feel guilty of it, even if everyone condemned me and cursed me with the moniker of Kingslayer," Jaime said with such confidence that even Tyrion was surprised with it. "No, it's the Queen herself and Elia of Dorne that haunt me and this scared girl just brings too many memories I wished to forget."
"Then I think its best that you return to the capital..."
"The capital..." Jaime scoffed with a smirk as he interrupted him. "The Red Keep was where it all happened...where Mad Aerys raped his sister-wife, where all that cursed stuff happened only to consume my thoughts..."
"Then take a vacation." Tyrion proposed. "Come with me to see the Wall and perhaps more. It would do you good to not hear Robert fuck the whores while you stand there playing with your member."
"First, I do not play with my member while hearing Robert fuck whores. Do you even realize how disgusting that sounds?" he asked indigently and Tyrion started chuckling. "Secondly, you would also fuck whores so I would need to hear you fuck them, and third, I'm not going anywhere near the Wall because Lord Stark might just have them arrest me and make me take the vows as he wanted."
"Maybe you could fuck some whores too. You would not be the first Kingsguard knight to break his vows..." Tyrion proposed. "And I'm sure the two of us would be enough to defeat the Night's Watch and escape Lord Stark's terrible masterplan to have you take the black as he wanted."
Jaime standing up smiling was better than seeing him worried. "I'd rather not have my sworn brothers geld me. Not that any of them would not find pleasure in it...Anyway, enjoy your trip brother, and then tell me if your piss froze so I'd know what not to do in the Wall."
"I will be sure to tell you," Tyrion smirked as his brother left. "Well better finish my breakfast before it gets cold..."
Jon Stark II
Winterfell, North, Year 298 AC
"And remember to check the granary storages regularly, love." His mother insisted. "We cannot face winter without them full!"
"Don't worry mother," he assured with a shy smile as he watched Ghost laying on mother's bed. "Dany and I will keep them full and under the constant surveillance of Brandon."
"Then I shall be extra worried about our storages..." His mother smiled with a proud look on her beautiful face. "I know I'm being extra pesky today but it's just the mother in me telling me I need to be extra insistent with everything including teasing my son."
"You do love to tease me…" Jon murmured slightly amused.
"Oh you have no idea, sweetling." she acknowledged. "I love teasing you and your father so much…You simply have no idea…" And with that, she pinched his cheek with a devilish smile. "Now give a big hug to your mother."
He promptly did as he was told, he hugged his mother. Jon would surely miss her, his father, and his siblings but this was his big chance to prove what he was capable to do. To prove he would be a good Lord of Winterfell once the cup fell on him, hopefully in many years from then. "Be careful in the capital mother."
"I will, Jon," she assured. "I will protect our pack down at the capital. Everything will be fine, I can assure you." he hoped she was right. If half the things she told him were true then he feared for them but he knew his mother was tough just like the rest of his family.
Jon thought of something that he hoped his mother could understand. "Father always said, when the snow falls and the white wind blows…"
"The lone wolf dies but the pack survives." His mother completed laughing. "I love that one," she said while eyeing him some more. "You are so similar to your father…I knew it from the day I first saw you, the day you came from my womb to the world…Everyone told me so too and when your father held you in his arms after returning from the war that took so much from him…he cried while doing so…tears of joy…it was one of the best moments of my life."
He smiled but quickly returned to his usual serious expression. "Honestly I cannot imagine father crying but I'm sure war was an experience that no one should witness."
"And I hope you never do my dear son. All that suffering...I do not wish anything of that sort but...sometimes I think it's inevitable and we are just getting ready for the next one. Living, fighting every day just to await our deaths..." His mother looked absent-minded but her thoughts demanded that for they were grim and harsh. "Anyway...I think you were trying to use some riddle as a piece of advice when you brought that traditional Stark saying to the conversation, am I correct?"
Jon shrugged. "What can I say?"
"If you want to give me tips then I shall give you some too." His mother said as she closed her last chest. "Keep an eye out for the Boltons. They are not stupid to the point of attacking us while we are away if at all but I do not trust them…especially if the rumors about that bastard of Lord Bolton killing his trueborn brother are true. And all the others I heard..." she looked disgusted as she said this last bit. "Your father will have to investigate it once he arrives back. An independent investigation without the Boltons messing with it...which they will surely do if you are the one conducting it. This cannot keep going unanswered."
The Boltons were ancient rivals of House Stark, their family feud went on into immemorial times. Some said they still practiced forbidden customs such as flaying people or the first night right…Jon never liked them and neither did any Stark for the matter and the feeling was reciprocated… "I will keep them in mind," he assured as he bitterly thought that he still had to earn the respect of the bannermen. "And everyone else for the matter."
"And keep a watch on Brandon and Theon. The Wolf Blood is still out of control in your brother and I'm worried about him." she picked one of the chests with her belongings and Jon picked another as they prepared to leave his mother's room, which was barely used. "Ros told me what happened with the Crown Prince…Although the fault is not his, he has to be kept in line or he might end like his uncle Brandon did."
Neither father nor mother talked much about uncle Brandon and aunt Lyanna…From uncle Brandon, Jon knew he rode hard to the capital where he demanded justice for his sister who had been abducted by Rhaegar Targaryen, and in the process, due to a bad choice of words, he was arrested and later died choking as he attempted to save grandfather Rickard from burning once he came to the capital as well…That was a fate Jon did not want his brother to suffer or anyone really. "Bran is still young, mother. He will learn with time mother." Jon assured as they exited the room. "Come Ghost" he called and the direwolf pup came running after them.
"Keep him close, hear his counsel when he gives it, and reprimand him when he gets too wild or disinterested." His mother said as they paced to the hallways. "Also…there is another matter we ought to begin discussing soon…"
"What is it?"
"Your marriage." The words of his mother hit him hard in the gut and made him stop…It wasn't as if he did not wish to marry because he did…but he wanted a woman like his mother so he could have a marriage like his parents, a happy one. His mother stopped and turned to him as if she knew he would stop.
"Marriage?" he asked just to be sure when their eyes met.
"Indeed. You are close to your fifteenth namesdays and you are the heir to the North. Your father and I have been brooding for years that you should marry when you are sixteen but we do not want you to marry by force because it would be hypocritical on our part since we married for love. That is why we are so concerned with the King's proposal of marrying his son with Elianna."
That made some bile come to his mouth. "I don't like Joffrey Baratheon, mother, and I don't want my sister by his side even if she ends up the Queen of Westeros," Jon confessed. "I hope none of you are actually considering it."
"None of us want it." His mother admitted as they started walking again. "But dismissing such proposal requires good reasons and it's not that simple to dismiss in the first place." she turned around to face him without stopping. "Anyway, your father and I were thinking of organizing a big harvest feast this next year be it summer or autumn…invite some young ladies and perhaps you will be able to find one good one amongst them. Parties seem like a good place for shy Starks to find the loves of their lives..."
That would be difficult…All of them saw the heir to Winterfell in him, not Jon Stark the person. They all wanted him because it was convenient for their families to get closer to Winterfell or they sought power. But...if his father found a woman like mother at a feast, then perhaps, if he was so much like his father…he would find one too… "I guess I can only hope."
"But that is something for us to worry about when the New Year comes next year and we are back safely at Winterfell." His mother said as she put down her chest at the entrance of the Great Keep. "Now I shall not hold you for longer. Put down the chest and go give a...certain sword to someone...I will have the servants help me."
"How did..." Jon was going to ask the question anyone would in this circumstance but his mother anticipated it and simply moved her pinkie finger below the chest while grinning mischievously. "Forget it..." he said laughing.
"Go on love." she encouraged as she pushed him towards the armory. "I'm sure she will love it. Meanwhile, I'm going to have a conversation with Bran and then another with Dany."
The heir to Winterfell went to the armory with Ghost ever on his tail. It was a very short walk so he was somewhat worried that his brother would take longer than anticipated because he was having a conversation with their mother. He picked up his package and took the covered bridge to re-enter the Keep. Passing through the hallways, he stopped very close to his objective as he awaited Brandon.
His brother showed up panting half a dozen minutes later. "Sorry…I took so long…brother." Brandon murmured as he regained his breath and composed himself. Ghost and Breeze were greeting each other in the meantime. "Mother kept insisting about me behaving well and all…"
"She wanted to emphasize her point." Jon pressed forward. "But I'm sure you will do just fine."
"Well...your words are resembling hers..." His brother said with a grin forming on his lips. "Are you perhaps turning into mother?" Then he started laughing his booming laugh as Jon pushed him away.
"I may become a father in a nearby future but a mother? That is unlikely…" Jon commented. "We have something to do brother. They want to be gone before midday."
"Indeed brother." His brother nodded. "Let us go and annoy our dear sister."
Both Starks walked into Arya's room given that the door was open and the skinny Stark was bitterly packing a polished ironwood chest that was bigger than her. Nymeria was laying down on her bed watching her owner before she turned to them and yelped, immediately running to her siblings. Their little sister glanced behind and saw them, immediately throwing her skinny arms around his neck and then at Bran's. "I don't want to leave you guys..." she confessed with a sad expression.
"It will be just a year," Jon assured her. "Then you will be back."
"Aye. It will be a pleasant expedition and you will learn and see lots of things." Brandon added.
"Maybe you should go instead of me." Arya pressed forward.
"I would if I could," Brandon said. "But alas, I have something to do."
Jon did not know about that. He imagined Brandon was too old to go and that was the reason he was staying but it seemed there was more to it. "Which is?" Arya questioned with a raised eyebrow and Jon's ears opened up a little bit more.
"It's a secret," Brandon smirked. "None of you will know what it is yet but before you panic, it's something that mother wants me to do."
That did leave Jon slightly more relieved but still curious. "Meanie..." His sister said. "All of you are mean! Ros is the meanest of all, she told me I had to pack everything properly folded and not messy, and then she came looking, got angry, and told me to remake the chest again!"
"Ros was right, little sister." Brandon agreed with the older woman that no doubt was very occupied with the upcoming departure to the capital. "You do have to have your belongings properly folded."
"Bran...you hardly fold your own clothes at all so do not give her a lecture," Jon told his brother. "But I do fold my clothes and I too believe Ros is right."
Arya lolled her tongue at both of them. "They are all going to get messed up anyway so why should I bother?"
"Because it's expected of you," Jon explained to his little sister that did not like to follow the rules that were placed on her gender. "I know you do not like lady-like things but folding clothes is for both genders."
"Fine!" Arya sighed. "I will do it!"
Jon smiled. "But Brandon and I did not come here to talk about folded clothes, dear sister."
"Aye, we came here to give you a little present of goodbye," Brandon added. "For our favorite troublemaker."
"A present?" she said beaming. "For me?"
"Well, Elianna and Lyra are not troublemakers so..." Jon chuckled as he pulled the package from behind his back while Brandon untied the rags wrapped around it and lifted high to the ceiling where it shone bright with the light.
"A sword?" Their sister remarked surprised. "A sword!"
The scabbard was soft grey leather, supple as tin. Jon drew out the blade slowly, so she could see the deep blue sheen of the steel. "This is no toy!" he warned her.
"Be careful not to cut yourself in it, sister," Bran added. "The edges are very sharp. This is not a wooden sword!"
"It's such a skinny blade..." she remarked while she glanced at the blade from up and down.
"So are you, little troublemaker," Jon said amused. "We had Mikken make it like the swords of the Free Cities."
"These are not made to cut heads off but to pierce holes in the opponent," Brandon explained as he placed it in Arya's hands. "Perfect for someone as skinny as you. But do not use it on us!"
"But you will have to work at it every day." Jon pointed but Arya was already waving it to test it. She had some practice with swords but did not have a sword of her own yet. "How does it feel? Do you like the balance?"
"Yes!" she said much happier than before. "I love it!"
"We should have given it more thought Jon," Brandon said, his arms crossed but his smirk indicated that some sort of joke was coming. "Poor Artie will be dragged into never-ending fights now."
"Gods…that is true..." Jon whispered as followed his brother's joke and messed up Arya's hair a little bit. "Go easy on him will you?"
"I will," Arya assured. "When I see it fit…" she smiled devilishly.
"And hide it from the royals," Brandon added. "They will be with their pride shattered when a girl waves her sword better than the Crown Prince. So better not bring problems to the pack, heh, skinny one?"
"Don't worry." Arya nodded her head. "I won't wound Joffrey's pride." Then she got grimmer. "But I wished you both could come as well...it would be so much better..."
"We will be waiting patiently for your return as the next champion of Winterfell and you kicking our arses to the dirt," Brandon said as he clapped her shoulder. "Warm-up, will you?"
"We will miss you, little sister." Jon avowed. "But it's just a year. It will go by in no time."
"Especially when the trip by land ought to take three moons or so," Brandon said and Arya's mouth gaped with the discovery. "Now put the sword down and give us a big bear hug." Just as she was commanded, Arya hugged them tightly and showered them with kisses. "I almost forgot!" His brother interjected. "We need to tell her the sword's name."
"Name?" she asked confused.
"All the best swords have names," Jon said smiling. "This one is named after your favorite thing…"
She seemed puzzled at first but then it came to her quickly. "Needle!"
"Indeed." Both brothers laughed.
"Thank you both." she said as she made way to her chest to store it there. Happy with the present which was what both brothers had hoped.
Eddard Stark V
Winterfell, North, Year 298 AC
The courtyard was busy. The servants were packing the many chests with his family's belongings in the many wagons they would take them down south. His eldest daughter Elianna was enjoying a conversation with Daenerys and their friends Jeyne and Beth, next to them, slept Star, his daughter's gentle pup. In a different wagon, little Lyra was happily playing with her pup which she called Blacky for its black fur.
Ned remembered that Jon had called his Ghost because he made no sound and was white as the ghosts were meant to be and Brandon's was called Breeze. His youngest son, Arthur, came next with a smaller ironwood chest likely filled with the books he loved, and to his side was his pup Rune. Arya and her older brothers came from inside the Great Keep with their respective pups, playing with each other.
He was coordinating everything to make sure his son's job would be easier once he was gone. He had left orders for the Winter Guard and of conduct in all of his holdings though he wished he did not have to go and leave his home. Ned noticed that Robert was coming in his way because Daenerys immediately disappeared. "Ned!" he shouted loudly with an easy smile, behind him came the Kingslayer. "My retinue is ready to go."
"Ours is nearly ready," Ned assured. "I apologize in advance for making you wait."
"Not a problem, my friend. Take as much time as you wish, I..." Then Robert's smile died very quickly for some reason which was not normal. "What in Seven Hells is that?"
Ned took a look at the direction that Robert had been looking and saw Winter walking towards him, not caring for the gulps and frightening sounds in the yard. "Oh no..."
"Is that a direwolf? A bloody adult one?" Robert inquired, a hint of worry on his tone.
"Yes..." Ned replied as he extended his hand to hopefully stop Winter from coming closer. "She is the mother of the pups."
"Seven Hells that thing is almost as big as me!" Robert proclaimed in exaggeration. "That beast can kill a man!" As soon as the King said this, Ned watched the Kingslayer unsheath his sword.
"She is not dangerous!" Ned tried to assure but... "At least at first glance...she has been here for a couple of months and has not harmed anyone." Winter did not stop walking and the soldiers, his, of course, looked at each other and then at him wondering what to do. "Winter stay there! Stay!" Ned begged more than commanded but to no avail...
"Lord Stark if the beast comes near the King I will kill it!" The Kingslayer proclaimed.
"Look at that muzzle..." Robert murmured as he began walking towards it and the Kingslayer looked at the whole thing in disbelief. "What a beast!"
"Robert don't go near her!" Ned said exasperated. "She doesn't know you!"
"You said she was no dangerous Ned!" Robert barked back.
"I did but she doesn't know you!"
"Your Grace please get away from her!" Ashara shouted worriedly as she instinctively rushed towards them but there was little she could do.
Robert stood still, no doubt worried but Winter just walked a few more steps and stopped in front of him. Robert then extended his hand to Winter and everyone led their hands to their face in anticipation. The direwolf started sniffling his hand and then rubbed it a couple of times easing the tension in the area, sighs of relief echoed together to create a larger sigh. "Looks like you weren't wrong Ned. The bitch is not dangerous..."
Before Robert could conclude his statement, Winter stood up in her back legs and stomped the King down. A huge six feet tall man, fat, fell with such ease to the ground...Everyone hissed in worry as Winter sat down in front of the fallen Robert looking at him innocently. Ned immediately ran to Robert to see if he was alright and so did the Kingslayer. "Robert? Are you ok?"
Robert to his surprise, though it really shouldn't, started laughing loudly. "Fucking hell! She is seating there as if she is saying: look who the bitch is now!" Then he laughed and laughed and the tension in the field started to change to people trying to contain their laughter. "Ah!" Robert said when he contained himself. "I have missed being sent to the floor! It reminds me of the good old days!"
"I assure you this will not happen again..."
"Why? I just said I like it!"
"You might but not us who have to pull upwards..." Ned murmured half shyly.
Robert started laughing more. "Ah, you bastard! You are right...I have grown a bit fat have I not?"
"No comment." Ned whispered silently but Robert heard it of course.
"No comment, you say? Alright, alright, I'm fat, now help me stand. You too Lannister!" Robert ordered and both men started doing so with Ned calling for a few more men to help them. "Ah Ned, why can't we remain in our prime with a little of booze in our stomachs? Seven Hells..."
"Maybe a few practice spars can help?" Ned suggested as they pulled the huge man upwards.
"You would beat me..." Robert said sadly. "Unless I lose a couple of pounds..."
"You can do that with some effort." Ned avowed but the Kingslayer looked at him as if he was proclaiming some sort of impossible blasphemy.
"I prefer..." he looked around to see the young children looking at the scene with anticipation. "The working ladies...if...you get my meaning..." he murmured panting with the effort of being pulled up, not as much as the rest of them, though. Then he walked towards Winter once more who remained seated, watching her deed. "You rammed me down because I called you a bitch, heh?" The direwolf rubbed his hand gently as if to answer yes and Robert chuckled. "I'm sorry then." Then he rubbed the dark grey fur with a big smile on his lips. "Majestic beast...can I call you that?"
"Seems like it." Ashara said, joining the conversation, a smile on her lips but Ned wondered what she was really thinking.
"What's her name again?"
"Winter."
Robert chuckled more. "You named her did you not, you old fool?"
"No comment."
"And the pups will grow this large?" The King inquired.
"I think so." Ned nodded.
"Didn't the old Starks go to war with them?"
"In ancient times yes. Not just Starks." Ned remembered. "My middle son will know it better than I."
"I would have loved to see half a dozen of these at the Trident tearing some fools apart," Robert said. "If Viserys Targaryen ever crosses the Narrow Sea, I would like to see them there by my side. What do you say Lannister?"
"As long as it's not me at the receiving end, I'm fine, Your Grace." Then he looked at Ned. "But I imagine a what of people would disagree with me." He wasn't wrong in that assessment...
Ned ignored the provocation and remembered that he had forgotten about Daenerys' brother. These past days have been stressful beyond reasoning to the point that he even forgot the now grown man who kept sending letters to his sister, promising to save her from the usurper's dogs and urging her to incite revolts in his name...The only thing that those incited on Daenerys was pity. She did write to him a couple of times, begging him to stop his plans but that only seemed to incite him further. "Let us not speak of Viserys Targaryen now." That was a promise he failed to honor when he watched Queen Rhaella die in front of him after entrusting him to take care of her newborn daughter. "I still have to finish packing things."
"Aye, aye." Robert scoffed. "There is plenty of time for that conversation on another day. Anyway, I will be waiting for you. Once you are done, warn me."
"Will do." Ned assured as Robert and the Kingslayer walked away.
"I was so worried!" Ashara barked at Winter. "What are you bloody thinking on throwing the King to the ground like, miss?" Winter looked the other way as if the Lady of Winterfell was not speaking at her. "I'm talking to you!"
"Did Winter throw the King to the ground?" Arya asked as all the children encircle them worried and surprised with everything that transpired.
"She is stronger than I ever believed..." Brandon admitted. "The King should be as heavy as Jon, father and I combined if not more..."
"Be polite, Bran!" Elianna barked. "We do not know who is listening!"
"I'm going to tell this to Dany!" Arya avowed as she started sprinting to the Great Keep, the place in which Daenerys had taken refuge as soon as she noticed the King coming their way.
"Arya Stark come here!" Ros barked as she had a little fit. "Gods be damned that girl does not learn! She has to pack her things!"
"I will go get her for you, Ros." Elianna avowed. "Jeyne, Beth come with me, please." And in a minute's turn, they were all gone.
"That is just an excuse on her part to join the laughter," Brandon said, his arms crossed. "That was awesome, though."
"Well, you cannot be the only one laughing, young man," Ashara said. "Come on Winter, let us take you back to your lair before you arrange us more trouble." But the direwolf remained seated. "Come on Winter..." But she remained idle... "Winter..."
"Seems like she does not wish to go." Jon pointed out.
"Yes...maybe she does not want you all to go?" Ros proposed and Winter turned to her and lifted her right leg upwards as a dog would which shock them all.
"Does she understand us?" Brandon questioned amazed.
"That cannot be..." Arthur immediately said. "It's not logical..."
"She might." Ashara laid forwards her own opinion, disregarding their youngest son's. "I'm more concerned as to why she does not wish for us to go..."
Ned knelt in front of Winter and looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sure you think it's dangerous but I promised him I would go and I wish to try and help the realm a little, make it better." Winter stood up and rubbed herself at him. "You understand don't you?"
It seemed she did because she stood up and started walking very slowly and grimly towards her room in the Great Keep. She started sleeping there after giving birth and no one kicked her away and no one could if she did not want it anyway. "I feel pity for her..." Ashara confessed.
"Me too." Jon admitted.
"I think we all do," Ned concluded. "But it is what we must do."
They finished packing, the girls returned with Daenerys to say goodbye to everyone who was leaving while Ashara showered everyone that was staying with kisses and hugs. Once everything was done, Ned called his oldest sons and adoptive daughter for a final couple of words. "Winterfell will be yours for this next year," he told them with a shy smile, anticipating that they would make him prouder than what he was of them. "It's not an easy task but I'm sure you three and Theon can pull it up."
"We won't let you down father," Brandon assured. "We will make you proud, rest assured of that."
"You already do. All of you." Ned confessed, a tear or two trying to appear on the corner of his eyes though he would not allow it. "Remember everything me and your mother thought you. It will come in handy now."
"We will." Jon nodded as he hugged his father. "Winter is Coming."
"Winter is Coming." His father smiled. "Take care pups."
"Take care of yourself, mother, and our siblings, father," Brandon said while hugging him tightly. "Winter is Coming."
Then it was Daenerys' turn. "We will be waiting for you, father. Make the realm a better place."
"I will try," Ned assured as they hugged. "Take care."
And with that, the Stark retinue was finally ready to leave Winterfell and join the Royal retinue and the Lord of Winterfell was as nervous as he had been when he rode to war because, with his wife, he was sure everything would be ok.
Thank you for all the reviews.
George Christian810: It's your opinion and you are free to stop reading like you stopped reading A Troubled Regency. Jaehon is staying and so are those elements that remind you of Naruto. I want to explore something of Yi-Ti, especially the lore, and since there is little incentive to write chapters in Yi-Ti this was a way I found. The Naruto elements you speak of are me trying to add magic to some Buddhist elements like auras, nirvana, etc. Granted I probably made some things over the top and will try to fix them. But I stand by my decision.
I said I would publish this sooner but I failed...things just came up and I had to deal with them but here it is at last. I struggled a little bit with the whole Robert being rammed by Winter because I wanted to make it slightly funny but I could not forget that we are speaking of a huge animal that can kill a man. I think it came out well with some hint of mystery around it because some things lift more questions than answer them.
Anyway, that's all for now, thank you for sparing time reading and I hope everyone has a nice day and stays safe.