Author's Note
I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire.
Howland had been prepared to make sure Ned's monsters of magic did not cause any political uproar in the North, or terrorise any innocents they happened to come upon. Lady Catelyn fears them, and does little to handle their wilder impulses.
He is not prepared to handle Winterfell in the event of the King dying while Lord Stark is serving him in the South.
No raven comes to Winterfell for four days, but Robb remains steadfast in his claims that the King is dead, which gives them four days to prepare. Howland asks him if his siblings have said what became of them and their father, but it's not until they receive the raven that an answer comes.
Robert Baratheon, King of the Seven Kingdoms, is dead.
Lord Eddard Stark has been imprisoned on charges of witchcraft and treason.
Robb Stark is to journey to King's Landing to swear his loyalty to the King.
Nothing is said of the children, and Howland cannot say whether that is a good thing or bad.
Luwin advises him to write and demand Lord Eddard's release, and Robb does so, though there is reluctance in his eyes. It is as though the boy knows something no one else has been told, and by following this advice he is breaking from the path.
King Joffrey responds with another demand that Robb go to King's Landing in person and swear loyalty.
"The boy cannot go," Luwin says when they speak of it.
"On that we agree."
"Sansa and Bran may have been capable of disguising themselves, but Robb is too reckless still, and has too much wildness in his. He won't be able to hide it long enough."
Robb can handle the Northern lords, but the Northern lords respect him for what he is. Ned's imprisonment proves that the Southern lords will be less welcoming.
None of their discussion matters, because Robb too agrees that he will not go south. "My place is in Winterfell and the fight is further North. My pack will come home."
"Your siblings, or your father too?" Howland asks.
Robb never answers.
Howland thinks mayhaps he does not know.
#
They receive nothing from Jon and Jojen once they are gone Beyond the Wall. A raven came from Maester Aemon of Castle Black to confirm that they were allowed to pass by Lord Commander Mormont, but nothing more is heard after that. Most likely nothing more will come until the pair return. Or don't. Benjen Stark never returned, and he is a man grown and a fine swordsman. But Jojen had reassured him the night before he left that they would see each other again, and Howland has faith in his son's words.
#
It has been a little less than a moon since the raven from King's Landing and a sennight longer than one since Jon and Jojen left when Winterfell comes alive with screams.
Howland has heard Jojen scream like that, when he is deep in his deliriums and suffering the worst of his pains and seizures.
He has heard his people scream like that, when they have been bitten by a lizard-lion or drunk of poison from the wrong berry.
He has heard men scream like that as they are cut down in battle.
But he has never heard the monsters of Winterfell scream that way, and neither has Lady Catelyn as she flies from her room, white-faced and wide-eyed, looking between each of her children's rooms. "What is happening?"
"I can't say," Howland replies, opening the door to Robb's room. The boy is abed, his back arched, his blue eyes open and glowing.
By his bed, his wolf begins to howl.