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Chapter 5 - For Starks of Winterfell
🕑 Added 2023-04-07 07:23:14 +0000 UTCDisclaimer:
I don’t own the characters or the world appearing in this story, they are creations and property of the fantastic George R. R. Martin. I’m not sure if I can claim my OCs as my own, so I’ll play it safe and dedicate them to GRRM.
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Author’s Note:
Hello guys! I come bearing the fifth chapter of the story.
I know, I said I felt sick, which is true by the way, I still am feeling a little sick. But I was bored and wanted to get this chapter out of the way. It’s a bit of a short chapter. A collection of events before Harry leaves. Be sure to review when you’re done!
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[Year - 293 AC]
Howland Reed would not consider himself charismatic or even silver tongued. Hence it was only a stroke of luck that had made him friends in such high places.
He’d never forget that day from more than a decade ago, when Lady Lyanna Stark had saved him from those squires. He’d have been more than happy enough to count his lucky stars and be on his merry way, but she’d been too kind. She’d taken him to her personal quarters and introduced him to her brothers.
At first, he’d been intimidated. They were the heirs to his Lord after all. But they’d proven to be honourable and he’d developed a friendship with the Starks. When Lady Lyanna had been abducted, he’d accompanied Ned in searching for her and he’d been the first to find him with her broken body.
As the two survivors of the battle, they’d become even closer in the years after, though he’d never had the opportunity to visit Ned at his home.
So, when Ned asked him to escort his nephew to the Citadel, he’d done all he could to make it possible. The Starks were the best liege lords that one could ask for after all.
Howland hadn’t interacted with Lord Brandon in the short time he’d known him. Although Ned and his brother had been undeniably Stark with their long faces, dark hair and grey eyes, they’d been nothing alike. Ned was silent and melancholy while Lord Brandon had been hot blooded. Lord Brandon had been more handsome too. The man had wolf blood in him, just like his sister.
Howland had had no interaction with Lady Ashara at all. He’d seen her of course, He remembered Ned and Brandon dancing with her at the feast during the tourney. Yet, after so many years he hardly remembered anything about her other than that she had been beautiful.
Nevertheless, the boy looked so unlike the two faces he so vaguely remembered. He had the features of a Stark, dark hair and one grey eye and Ned had told him that the mother had had purple eyes. So he had to be Lord Brandon’s son. But the boy looked unlike any stark he’d met. He lacked their long faces and his features were softer. Starks usually had harder features. The boy’s cousins too took after the Tullys more than Starks.
His personality too was too different. He was too courteous and was silver in speech as if the boy had grown up in the Reach or Westerlands. But he also had this look in his eye, as if he knew something that others didn’t. And Howland had seen that look before.
His son had contracted greywater fever two years ago and all hopes had been lost. But he’d made a miraculous recovery. For Howland, it had brought him to the land of the dead and back. But the thing was, Jojen had never been the same after. Jojen had dreams, but he wouldn’t share them. Howland had heard stories in his youth of course, of greenseers and dreams of past and the future. He wondered if that was what his son was going through. Still, the most important change had been the look in his eyes.
Howland saw the same look in Harold Stark.
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Finally, the day to leave had come.
The past few days had gone by at a good pace. Harry knew he wouldn’t be back for at least five years. And if things went as he expected them to, he’d be out of Winterfell soon after coming back.
So, Harry had taken the time to take in all of Winterfell, properly, one last time.
Harry hated it.
His time in Winterfell had been amazing in most aspects. The people loved the Starks and by extension him. He had lots of time for his other projects without people poking their noses into his affairs. And he genuinely loved his family. He’d been worried that Aunt Cat would treat him badly since his father had been engaged to her. But it seemed her annoyances with Jon had been limited to her husband humiliating her, and that alone.
The main problem he had with Winterfell was that he was wet all the time. His things were wet, he was wet and it was too uncomfortable. He had no problem with the cold. Unless it was literally freezing or burning, Gamer’s body took care of everything. His body was always at a comfortable temperature. It was all the water that got to him. Once all that gold is pumped out, he’d have to have the roads paved and levelled.
On the plus side, he had finally finished reading all the books in the library. Harry was extremely pleased with himself.
Harry had Alice and the system, and even if it wasn’t all that he’d expected, the system was still a pretty huge advantage. Harry really liked the ability to quantify and compare his advancement with others. He felt that one of the main problems that people had with working hard was that sometimes the results don’t show for a long time. But Alice made it easy for Harry to see and feel the changes. This made it easy for him to train without feeling negative.
Therefore, the fact that the system had nothing to do with him having read all the books, made him very happy. It was highly unlikely that anyone in the history of Starks had read even half of the books. This achievement was his and his alone.
He’d not gotten any more points though. Fucking system.
There were a few more hours before they were to set out and Harry was having a bit of fun with his cousins. They had broken their fast for the day and were sitting in a small hall with a nice furnace blazing at the side.
“-ut Jeyne tells me you really want to be Lady Stark” Harry said. Robb and Theon were laughing while Jon was exasperated. Arya was giggling, obviously not understanding anything. Bran was with his mother at the moment.
“I want to, but I won’t do that” complained Sansa.
“That’s the only way, unless you want to kill me, Uncle Ned, Uncle Benjen and all your brothers and name yourself the heir” Harry said in amusement.
Sansa gasped “How can you say that? I will never do that!”
“Well, that’s the only way, unless you really do want to marry me?” Harry said, raising an eye.
“I - HATE - YOU, Leave me alone!” Sansa ran away upset.
“You shouldn’t have said that Harry, she never gets this upset” Jon said, a little troubled.
“Oh she’ll get over it, don’t worry it” Robb said, still laughing a bit.
“Maybe I did push it a bit” Harry said, a little put off.
“Don’t worry, Harry” Robb repeated, having more or less composed himself.
Harry checked to see if there was anyone nearby. Arya was still too innocent to care about their talks.
“You three are ready for what I said, I hope” Harry said in a serious tone. That cleared the room of any leftover amusement and all three of them nodded.
“I’m going to talk to Uncle Ned about it now. I’ll be taking him to his office. I want you three to make sure we are not disturbed” Harry said while leaving his seat.
“Let’s leave”
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Ned had been talking to a few of the soldiers he’d assigned to this trip when he saw the little posse making their way toward him. For once Robb wasn’t boisterously running in to announce his existence. Harry was walking in front with his usual cheerful expression while Robb followed, with his head turning in many directions every second. Theon was looking at everything in suspicion while Jon looked nervous.
“May I talk with you for some time Uncle? I have some information of great import to share” Harry said.
“Alright, What is it?” Ned asked.
“I think It’ll be better to move this to someplace else. One where the walls aren’t listening in” Harry continued “Let’s go to your office, Uncle”
Intrigued, Ned followed Harry to his office. Harry opened the door to let him in and closed it behind him. Ned was a little surprised, He’d expected the others to join in.
“I have found something Uncle, something that could essentially push the North from the poorest of seven kingdoms to the richest” Harry said.
Ned was shocked, to say the least. He had no idea where this conversation was going to lead, but he’d definitely not expected this.
“What are you saying nephew, what did you find that can have such drastic effects” Ned asked.
“An enormous gold vein Uncle Ned. In my calculations, I’ve determined that the vein might be as enriched as the ones in Casterly Rock must’ve been, when they were first discovered” Harry said seriously.
“Are you sure?” Ned asked in a stern tone.
“I’m sure uncle, It took me some time to confirm. I waited until I was sure to inform you” Harry said as he pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket, while discreetly removing it from his inventory.
“I’ve marked the location Uncle, It's to the Northeast of Holdfast. It will take only a few hours to reach. It’s truly fortunate that the vein was so close to Winterfell. We can take ownership without opposition” Harry said.
Ned took the paper from Harry to take a closer look. The area truly was in a really good spot. The white knife provided clean water and he could build settlements nearby for the miners. The area was close enough to include it by extending Winterfell’s patrol area.
“It indeed is in our territory… This truly is good fortune, Harry! We must let the King know of this in haste” Ned said, his face brightening significantly.
“I must stop you there Uncle, I can’t let you do that” Harry said with an edge in his voice.
“What do you mean?” Ned asked, confused.
“This is an opportunity for the North to finally strengthen itself. I know you’ve been worried about not being able to send any knights with me, Uncle. Look at House Lannister or even Highgarden. They have so much money that they assign individual guards for all members of their house” Harry said.
“But I have to inform the King, Harry. I cannot in good faith keep something like this from him” Ned argued.
“And I’m not telling you to deceive Uncle, I’m merely telling you to hold off until we are in a position to defend. Here’s a list of things I’ve made for you to do in the upcoming years” Harry said while passing yet another paper to Ned.
Ned went through it carefully for a few minutes.
“This will indeed strengthen us, Harry, but are you sure about such a huge undertaking as rebuilding a castle? It seems unnecessary” Ned asked.
“I have more information uncle. My aim is not just to strengthen the North but to actively get ready for war” Harry said.
“War Harry? Surely you’re exaggerating” Ned was baffled.
“The crown is in debt, Uncle. At least a million dragons with the Iron Bank and Several hundred Thousand in debt to the Lannisters. Things might seem stable at the moment but the crown truly is in a precarious state” Harry said.
“More than a million! There’s no way it is that much!” Ned exclaimed.
“Have I ever produced false information Uncle?” Harry asked.
“It’s not that I don’t believe you Harry, but it’s just too much to take in at the moment” Ned said slumping down in his chair.
“I know Uncle, I know” Harry said “I want you to keep it under for just five years, I will return in that time. We can discuss more then”
“But still, why war? I don’t understand” Ned asked again.
“The Lannister mines are drying up Uncle, surely you don’t expect their mines to still be full after eight thousand years of mining” Harry said.
“By the old gods! I never did trust those Lannisters. If what you said is true then it really might lead to war” Ned sighed.
“Not just outside of North, Uncle, we might have enemies inside as well. I want you to raise soldiers and knights with allegiance to House Stark Uncle, not the North” Harry said.
“I think you might have some idea for who to keep an eye on” Ned said with a pensive expression.
“I do Uncle, but I’ll need to confirm. I’d rather not sow discord in the court with half knowledge” Harry replied.
“I’ll look forward to it then” Ned said with yet another sigh.
“No need to be sarcastic Uncle, not all news has been bad after all” Harry said while relaxing in his own chair.
“And yet all I can focus on is the negative” Ned replied with a smile.
“I’ll make your work a little easier then” Harry said before continuing “I’ve already made a list of all the spies in Winterfell at the moment”
Harry removed yet another paper from his ‘pocket’ and passed it to Ned.
“This is what you’ve been up to then? When you leave the castle?” Ned asked while taking a look at the paper.
“This and some other things as well” Harry said before pointing to the paper in Ned’s hand “As you can see, it’s mostly orphans and whores Uncle, I want you to pay them off to send false information in the future”
“That is the best course of action” Ned said with a distant look as he scratched his chin.
“Yes, Uncle. You must also keep an eye on any new orphans showing up in the streets. And any new whores brought in as well. Only use soldiers loyal to us to apprehend them. It’ll be better to keep this information from our vassals” Harry said.
“You’ve given me a lot to do in your absence, nephew” Ned replied, with a wry smile.
“All for the good of our home and family, Uncle. I’ll be making connections in the South as well. It’s time the seven kingdoms look at the Starks with respect” Harry said.
“That’s a lofty goal, Harry” Ned said.
“And I’ll see it happen, Uncle” Harry said, Conviction flooding his being.
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Howland and the soldiers had finished packing and loading up the horses. Currently, they were waiting for the Starks to finish their goodbyes.
Little Arya had started crying at some point and her mother was consoling her. Harry was giving his goodbyes to his cousins. Bran was walking around clumsily, wobbling from one person to another. Little Jon had tears in his eyes while Robb and Theon seemed to be handling it well. Howland didn’t have any strong feelings for bastards but he was happy to see that the boy had grown up well.
Harry had finished with his cousins and was bidding goodbye to his uncle and aunt.
Howland waited patiently for the family. To be truthful he was a bit jealous of their interactions. He’d never wanted a large family, but seeing the Starks made him want one.
Finally, Harry finished with his family and walked towards his party.
“Sansa is not going to see me off then?” Harry asked his family.
“That girl!” Robb grunted.
“She was too upset Harry, what did you tell her?” Lady Catelyn asked Harry.
“I might have gone a little overboard with the teasing Aunt Cat” Harry said sheepishly.
It was nice to see the boy act his age for once, Howland felt.
“Tell her I said sorry” The boy told his aunt.
With one more round of goodbyes, they were ready to set off. Just as Howland was about to ask Harry to fetch his horse, the boy whistled a peculiar tune.
Then he saw the monster. It was jogging at a good pace toward them, expertly avoiding anything on its path.
“Moony! Ready for the journey I hope?” The boy asked the monster.
The monster howled.
“Wh-What is t-that?” Howland asked with a very ignoble timbre.
The boy chuckled while his cousins were petting the monster.
“His name is Moon, Howland. But I call him Moony. He’s my direwolf” Harry said, with amusement clear in his voice.
‘A direwolf!’ Howland thought to himself. It was as tall as a full grown horse with white fur and red eyes. He’d never seen one before, but he doubted they were supposed to be that big.
“Are they supposed to be this big?” Howland asked, composing himself.
“No they are not, Moony is special that way. I normally ride him when I have somewhere to be” Harry continued.
Harry was just about to mount his ride when Ned interjected.
“A moment Harry” Ned said while motioning towards a servant. The servant brought a sheathed sword to Ned.
“A going away gift Harry, It’s castle forged. I made sure to ask Ser Rodrick of your preferences” Ned said, picking up the sword and passing it to Harry.
Harry unsheathed it and went through a few motions. Howland was surprised. He thought the sword too heavy for a child, but the way Harry handled the sword, he’d clearly underestimated his strength.
“It’s perfect Uncle” Harry said with a smile.
“Put it to good use” Ned replied.
Without any further interruptions, they set off. The boy was looking back and waving to his cousins, who were running after them. His cousins finally stopped when they left the castle gates. But Harry only turned back after they’d ridden quite a way from the castle.
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Author’s Note:
Nice! Harry’s finally leaving! I feel that I’ve done a pretty good job in the interactions and also with Harry’s relationship with his family. I hope you’ve liked it as well.
For some reason, I have more fun writing about Harry from other characters’ points of view. I especially had a lot of fun writing from Howland’s point of view in this chapter. It also allows me to give more information about characters other than Harry. I can’t exactly have Harry spout exposition about Howland. Howland’s past with Lyanna would have hit very different from Harry’s point of view.
I think the frequency of chapters will decrease from now on. I say that, but I might lose control and keep writing at the same speed. I hate myself.
