Hello! The first thing you should know is that this story is a sequel, the second "book" of sorts in a planned trilogy featuring sketchywolf's OC Edward Stark. If you're new to Edward's adventures, you should check out my previously published work: The Good Squire. For those already fans of Edward, I know you've been waiting a while for this (thankfully not so long as we've all been waiting for The Winds of Winter). Life has been very busy for me lately, but things are finally calming down. And so I can finally welcome you into the next chapter of this journey:


RECAP

Edward Stark is the second-born son of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, twin brother to Arya Stark. He is by nature a quiet boy, fond of learning and art, though often pressured into reckless adventures by his twin. When King Robert Baratheon visited Winterfell to make Lord Eddard Hand to the king, young Ed goes south with his father and sisters, having been made squire to Ser Jaime Lannister. Along the way, his face is violently scarred in a fight with Prince Joffrey, but he becomes friends with an older boy, Lyman Darry, who comes with them to King's Landing as a squire as well.

In the city, Edward struggles to improve his swordsmanship despite Jaime's training, but begins to grow as a talented archer under the watchful eye of Prince Jalabar Xo. He also develops a crush on the Princess Myrcella, though the king has made plans to betroth him to Heleana Hightower instead. Most shockingly, Edward discovers that he is a warg, able to skinchange into his direwolf, Tessarion, and begins learning how to master these powers under the tutelage of the mysterious Maester Gaheris. Sansa, meanwhile, struggles to win over Joffrey's affections. After a hunting accident, she discovers that she, too, is a warg. But while her brother is excited by these new powers, Sansa fears be discovered and accused of witchcraft.

The city is thrown into upheaval when word breaks that Ed's mother, Lady Catelyn, has taken Tyrion Lannister prisoner. Ed betrays Ser Jaime to warn his father, and Jaime is thrown into the Black Cells for treason. Dismissive of the crisis at hand, King Robert goes hunting, and is saved from a wild boar by Lyman's timely intervention. Ned, worried for his family's safety, prepares to send the children home, but first is called away to arrest The Mountain, who is terrorizing the Riverlands. Ed and his siblings' world begins to fall apart when Lord Renly accuses Queen Cersei Lannister of plotting to kill the king and of siring bastards. The queen and her children are locked away, awaiting trial.

Lord Stark's pursuit of The Mountain ends in tragedy outside the walls of Stone Hedge - betrayed by one of his own knights, the duplicitous Ser Gladden Wylde, he is slain - but after the battle, his body is nowhere to be found. When word of his death breaks in the city, all madness breaks loose. Ser Kevan Lannister launches a daring scheme to free Jaime and the royal family. Renly successfully defeats the Lannister men, but in the confusion, King Robert is murdered by Maester Gaheris, who reveals himself to the dying king as a secret Targaryen bastard. Joffrey, meanwhile, refuses to accept the truth about his paternity and, in a fit of rage, accidentally kills his mother as she tries to force him to leave the Keep. Kevan and Jaime flee with Prince Tommen while Joffrey seals himself in Maegor's Holdfast with his sister, Ser Barristan Selmy, Arys Oakheart, Lyman and Maester Gaheris.

The Stark children escape the Keep but are separated in the chaos. Sansa and Arya are extracted by Lord Petyr Baelish on a boat bound North, while Edward and his direwolf Tessarion find themselves headed in the opposite direction - rescued by Prince Jalabar, they sail out across the Narrow Sea, to an uncertain future. And that is where our new story begins...