A/N: Alright! I finished the chapter! If you notice any errors, please tell me, I try to go through and find all of them but sometimes I do miss a few, and I always appreciate it. Let's begin!
Grey eyes shot open as Edwyle suddenly realised he had slept far too late again. He sat up from his bed in the Great Keep, pulled back the curtains and tossed open the shutters of the one window his room had. Many men with Lion and Stag banners were shuffling around and running under the bridge to the armory. He stretched before donning some britches, a tunic, and threw a grey doublet with a white trim on top of the tunic.
Once he put his clothes, Edwyle took his foot wrappings off of where he had hung them, and put them on each foot, before putting on his boots and leaving his room. He walked out of his room and walked down toward the main hall. He took off at a run, no one was ever going by this area anyway. His footsteps echoed off the ground as he ran down the stairs and went down level by level. He needed to find his Lord Uncle. Also, he wished to find out why no one had come to wake him up.
Running down, he encountered a Stark guardsman standing a watch near a corner. The guard gave his respects before giving him some specific instructions. "If you see a young man with black hair and green eyes, inform him that your uncle has requested his presence in his solar." Of course, Edwyle knew that meant that he was summoning the man.
Sometimes Edwyle was glad he would be unlikely to rule anything. His uncle might give him some land in the North somewhere, the Old Gods only knew how many holdfasts were abandoned after the Great Spring Sickness, but Edwyle had no real desire to rule anything. His father had once told him that ruling his own holdfast would leave him unable to take up control of Winterfell should anything happen to the main line, and that it was the duty of the younger cadets of House Stark to stay and help the main line.
Edwyle slowed at the memory. His father had gone to the Night's Watch, a 'lay brother' as they had called him, only being taken on for a short length of time, about 5 years. His father was the first of them, and had joined after his mother had died birthing his sister, Lyarra. That had been 3 years previous. His sister asked him where their father was often, she was too young to understand why they had no parents.
He never could bring himself to tell her the truth. He always said that their father was on an adventure, that he'd be home soon. He hadn't seen his father since the day he left, his blue grey eyes tearing up as he promised he would come home one day. Edwyle's eyes teared up remembering that day, he quickly wiped his eyes to avoid crying. As he swung around a corner he crashed into a wad of blonde, tumbling to the ground.
Edwyle managed to sit up. "Aiou, ma fenn."he muttered, rubbing his head. He blinked and saw he had crashed into a blonde girl in a loose yellow dress with black stitching. The girl gave him a sharp glare.
"Watch where ye're gang." she said.
"What?" Edwyle asked, confused. The girl shook her head for a second, then said slowly.
"Watch. Where. You. Are. Going." she then stood up. "I'll let you off this time, but if you do it again you may find trouble." she said brushing off as she walked away.
Edwyle sat on the ground for about a minute, thinking about what that girl had said, before standing and continuing his trek about the castle. As it was late afternoon, he thought to go pray in the godswood, before deciding against it. He didn't exactly want to bump into the Prince while there, the cold glare his eyes would give, mesmerising but terrifying in the way that they didn't match.
He had tried to make friends with the boy, as he was only a few months younger than him. However little had happened in way of that. Few that he could call friends were within reach of him. Once he reached four and ten namedays he could ask his uncle to foster him at Ironoaks. He could see his relatives there, his cousin Anya, his cousin Harry, mayhaps he could get his aunt to consent Aloysius coming down from that little keep that he was heir to. His other cousins were all over the south, many of which he had never gotten a chance to meet.
He remembered meeting many of them at the funeral of his grandfather, Ser Elys Waynwood. His aunts Irya, Meredyth, Tarysa, and Cathryn, his cousins Aloysius, Harry, Jon the Younger, as well as Anya's grandchildren, mainly Roland, who was a squire then, who taught him foot wrapping. It would let him wear his boots without blistering, his feet and boots wouldn't smell as bad, and it would be more comfortable once he was used to it.
According to Roland, Septons, Septas, and some Maesters did it as a symbol of purity, so as to make it seem that the Seven blessed them with cleaner feet, where in reality they just used a form of foot wrapping. It was always hearing about these things that made Edwyle ask why his uncle had allowed a Sept to be built in Winterfell. The Septa had come from the Riverlands, and seemed to use foot wrappings. Maester Luwin didn't use foot wrappings, Edwyle knew that. It didn't seem the Septon didn't either, being a native of White Harbour.
Deep in thought, Edwyle almost walked right into another person. However, he noticed this time and stepped aside. He watched the young man walk by before remembering something. "Demat!" Edwyle called. The young man turned around.
"Finally." the young man said. "Someone who actually speaks the Northern language in the North."
Edwyle looked at him. "Lord Stark has requested to speak with you in his solar." he said.
The young man gave a curious look. "Well, unfortunately, I have business to attend to, maybe later we can-"
"My apologies." Edwyle interrupted. "I should have said Lord Stark summons you. Bremañ."
The young man stood up straight, and stared at Edwyle for what seemed like forever. Then he laughed. It was a hearty laugh, one that a person released when they realise something in good humour.
"Well then, lead on, young one." the man said. Edwyle turned around and began walking toward his Uncle's solar. He made sure to keep watch behind him, to make sure he didn't try to run off. Soon enough, they had reached the Lord's' Solar. Edwyle tapped three times on the door.
"Who is it?" his uncle's voice called from inside.
"Uncle. I've brought the one you summoned." Edwyle replied. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal his uncle, dressed in his grey and white doublet, complimenting his smokey grey eyes.
"I give you my thanks for bringing him. If you would like to accompany us into the room, you would be most welcome, nephew." his uncle said. Edwyle knew how his uncle had his way with words when it came to courtesy. It was polite to put it in that way, but Edwyle knew it was expected of him to enter as well. He had mistaken it for just a simple offer when he was younger, and was swiftly corrected in this the next time he heard it.
"Yes, Lord Uncle. I thank you for the offer." Edwyle responded in turn. He entered the room after the young man and his uncle shut the door behind them. His uncle sat in a chair on the opposite side of the table from the young man, whereas Edwyle sat at the end of the table.
"So, you are Addam Greyjoy, Robert's ward." his uncle began.
"Indeed." the young man, Addam, said, brushing his bangs behind his left ear. "And you are the famous Lord Eddard Stark, the Quiet Wolf. The one who guards the North. The one the King talks about fel pe y bydd yfory byth yn dod."
His uncle coughed. "When you are in a Lord's presence, boy, you would do well to speak in a way that the Lord can understand. Clearly. Now. Explain what you just said."
"How blunt. It means 'as if tomorrow will never come.' I suppose you would typically say 'like there is no tomorrow.' It really means the same thing. I mean, one of Little Ned's favourite things to say to Robert is 'dhéanann Amárach ann,' which means-" Addam started.
"Enough." his uncle said in his lordly commanding voice. "We are not here for a discussion. My daughter Sansa has informed me of some happenings."
"Ah. Should have known she would come running to report on me, like any little bird." Addam said.
"What you have said is slander of the royal court, which is a serious offence." his uncle admonished.
"Is it? I didn't know." Addam replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Oh, young Stark, you never told me your name."
"I'm Edwyle Stark, son of Benjen and Rowena Stark." Edwyle said simply.
"Thank you, Edwyle." his uncle said. "Now, boy, you have not only slandered the royal court, most specifically the Crown Prince, but you also disrespected my house upon your arrival-"
"I don't have time for this. I demand that my judgement be passed by the King and the King alone. You cannot refuse me this, as I have done nothing that directly harms you or your family."
Eddard bristled at that. "Very well," he nearly spat out. "You have that right... You're dismissed back to your rooms until the feast. I will inform the King of the offences and the need to try you. Anything else, and you will be shown to the dungeons." Addam smiled, stood up, and walked to the door, opening it before turning around.
"Oh, and Lord Stark." Addam said. Eddard looked up. "You needn't worry about formulating any punishments." His smile got wider. "Many would peidiwch byth yn dod i basio."[never come to pass.] He looked away from them, the smile falling from his face. "Or not even work in the first place." he added quietly as he closed the door.
Edwyle thought about what the man had done, and the subtleties of his actions, and what he had said. "That man." Edwyle said, looking carefully at his uncle. His uncle looked back at him. "He scares me."
A/N: So, chapter end. Edwyle really is an enigma of a character, even for me. I'm kinda making him up as I go along. He is one of the first OC's I thought up yet I don't entirely have a grasp on his personality. All I really have written down for him is: 'Loves his sister' and 'Abandonment issues'. Benjen ran off to the wall in grief after his wife died giving birth to their daughter, and Edwyle feels abandoned. I also apolgise for the way the chapter kinda jumps around with Edwyle's thoughts. He segues a lot into things this chapter, which, again, I apologise for.
That last thing Addam said means "never come to pass."
If you don't know the language Edwyle is speaking in throughout the chapter that is marked with an asterisk, it is Breton, a Celtic language spoken in Northwestern France. If I butchered the word order, I am sorry, but I cannot find any reliable information on the language that would allow me to be confident in writing it. In addition, I cannot translate it effectively, I can only translate one word at a time, which is very frustrating. The translations for what he said are as follows:
"Aiou, ma fenn." = "Ow, my head."
"Demat!" = roughly means "Hey!"
"Bremañ." = "now/immediately."
Finally, Myrcella in her brief cameo speaks in Scots (not Scots Gaelic, that is Celtic. Scots is a Germanic language.), which is honestly so close to English that you could probably guess what she is saying without a translation of it.
Reviews are appreciated!