The sound of the horses walking into Winterfell as they were led into it alerted them that the Players had arrived, Rickard watched as the beasts walked in.
None of the carriages were decorated with emblems or whatever designs that the Players might use to inform onlookers that the carriages belonged to them.
This could easily be because the Players were still settling in and as such they needed to blend into whatever groups they found themselves.
That or the people of the wall didn't see the need for such things.
He could feel his body stiffen and his eyes harden when he saw two of the elder men of the mountains riding on two separate carriages.
Their presence was either an insult or the Players were keeping their cards close and were only using people that they knew wouldn't be missed.
A pair of brothers, not only one of them wore the clothes of a brother the other was wearing black armor but his face lacked the grim resignation that was usually present on the members of the night watch.
The young man has short black hair and a thin frame, his eyes are almost as back as his hair, but his light skin grants some much-needed color to him.
The man dismounts his horse without any help, "strang" Rickard thought to himself as help was needed to dismount because one could easily slip on the snow and fall.
The horse would easily get frightened and the man would meet his end, and yet the man was confident enough that he risked doing this.
"Arrogance, or perhaps confidence?" he asks himself silently.
The wooden door of the carriage opens revealing a well-decorated interior, that has bright red seats and a red-painted floor.
The first one to step out is a delicate thing, the girl is small and has eyes that seem to take in the world around her with no small amount of joy.
She has long black hair and light skin and is wearing a long white dress.
The man gives his hand and Rickard sees a woman that was perhaps younger than Lyanna.
He looked at the young girl and back towards the woman whose hand the man who was dressed in black was holding, he quickly understood that the young woman had done her duty.
"Greetings Lord and Lady of the Wall, I welcome you to my home," he says with a firm yet welcoming voice.
So much hanged in this meeting, that might last hours- weeks or minutes.
The wall might not be much of an issue now, but that could change if the other houses chose to attack it and try to claim the resources on the other side.
He looks to his right and sees his oldest and youngest sons keeping a close eye on the pair and their daughter he looks to his left and sees that Lyanna's eyes hold little interest in what is happening.
The young woman had light skin and long light brown hair that was probably a hasel color but he didn't care to figure out what color the woman's hair and eyes were.
No, what caught his attention was the woman's dress, it was completely different from the way that everyone who had come with her was dressed.
She wore a long white dress, that had a white breastplate covering the top part of her body, but her skirt wasn't simple either.
Rickard could see the way that it moved, it was almost as if there was something between it and the woman's legs, meaning that the woman must be wearing some form of armor.
Then there was the sword that hung from the woman's waist.
The man was no different from her while Rickard had expected to see a young inexperienced lord or a knight who had been forced to mature the man before him was just as odd as the woman that was his wife.
The man's clothes gave the illusion of something that one would wear when they made themselves presentable for guests.
There was nothing that the man wore that made anyone remember him, just a simple black shirt and pants.
The only interesting thing that the man wore was his black coat and that could easily be removed.
The coat itself was an interesting choice because while it did have pieces of armor sown into it, the pieces of armor didn't serve to protect anything vital.
Rickard would have dismissed the pair as nothing more than fools who wanted to have people respect them for looking like experienced fighters, but then he noticed how the pair walked.
Once again the skills that he had learned through experience allowed him to see the truth.
These were experienced fighters, both the man and woman had seen their fair share of combat and chose to look like fools so that he would underestimate them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Stark, I'm Kirito and this is my wife Asuna second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath." Kirito says to him.
Again another oddity, the young lord didn't mention his title despite being married to someone of high birth.
"Kirito." LadyAduna says to her husband.
'OPh, sorry, please allow me to start over."
'I am Kirito lord of the Blood Castle and protector of the wall."
'Forgive me Lord Stark but I prefer to meet everyone no matter who they are as myself instead of what I am." Lord Kirito says to him.
Rickard briefly considered that the man might be a fool, but he had read enough about him to know that he truly didn't care for the title that he now bears.
'I understand, I enjoy speaking freely with everyone." he says to the young man, and for the first time, Rickard truly sees how young the man in front of him is.
The man's appearance tells him that he can't be any older than Benjen the youngest of his sons, but Kiritos eyes.
Rickard has only seen eyes like his on the faces of lords and knights who were forced to fight one war after another, and the only reason that they lived was because of how skilled they were.
The man before him was a killer in every way, that was something that Rickard could respect and it gave him a reason to speak to the man as an equal.
"I appreciate that the three of you could accept my invitation, so are the other guests not going to leave their carriages?" he asks Kirito who immediately shakes his head.
'Sorry we thought that it would be rude to come empty handed, please accept this as a sighn of good faith.' Kirito says to him.
Rickard looks at the two carriages, as the elder men of the mountain open the doors and begin unloading several chests filled with gold.
Yet it was what was later brought down from the carriages that caught his attention.
Several barrels filled with what smelled like honey and fresh fruit.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Lyanna turn with interest.
Rickard didn't allow himself to frown, this was a power play and Lyanna had just made him and her brothers fail.
"I'm thankful for your generosity, please come inside, but first let me present to you, my sons."
"My eldest Brandon." he says to the young lord as Brandon nods.
"Next to him is my youngest Benjen." he presents his third-born son who smiles and nods as he greets the young lord.
"And this is my daughter Lyanna." he says to the young lord before he says something that he normally never would.
"Lyanna, why don't you shake Lord Kirito's hand and greet his wife."
He can see both Brandon and Benjin looking at him with confusion, and Lyanna's disinterested but friendly expression is filled with shock.
Lyanna does as he says and reaches to hold the young lord's hand, but before she can make contact with him, Lady Asuna grabs and shakes Lyanna's hand.
The two women exchange friendly greetings before Asuna presents her daughter Yui to them and as she says the girl's name she makes sure that everyone hears that the girl is her and Kirito's daughter.
Now both sides know the line that they shouldn't cross.
Unfortunately for his guests, that line will be stepped on and left behind if it means that he can secure the resources that the North needs and ensure that he has an ally if war ever does break between the wall and the North.