"Ned," Catelyn's voice snapped his attention. "What madness is this?"
He was walking through the corridors of Winterfell towards his solar when Catelyn interjected him. Ned sighed. He knew what she was talking about. It was about allowing the mother direwolf into Winterfell castle.
"If bringing cubs into the castle was not enough," she continued, "now you have allowed a full-grown wolf in here? What madness is this?"
"I have," he sighed. "I could not refuse."
"That direwolf is the mother of the cubs of your children. And in merely a few hours, they have grown too attached to the wolves. I could not deny them," he said. "And even Jon was very insistent. He has assured me that there would be no mishap. And he will have his men keep an eye on the wolf."
"Jon assured you? And you agreed?" she responded in a hysterical voice. "This is your castle, Ned. This is Winterfell."
"It was never only about Jon," Ned replied with a frown. "You should have seen how Arya, Bran, and Rickon were pleading with me."
"Rickon hung onto my cloak and was not willing to let go unless I agreed for the direwolf to be given a space in our kennels," he continued. "Even the very calm Sansa was desperate to have the mother direwolf in the castle."
"And as for Jon," he added. "He is not only my bastard son now. He is Lord Aeos. He is Khal Aero. He is a very, very powerful sovereign ruler. His words now have a lot of weight. And I must consider them."
"Even then, Ned," she sighed. "The king will be coming to Winterfell in a month. What will he see here? These Dothraki savages?"
"And if this was not enough, you have brought these wild beasts into your castle," she added, her tone desperate.
"Those wild beasts are the sigil of our House," a voice responded.
It was not Ned. Catelyn turned around to see Robb standing a few paces away from them. He was holding his direwolf in his hands. Robb had named his direwolf Grey Wind, who was huddled snugly against Robb's chest.
"Robb," Catelyn said, her voice faltering.
"They are sacred to House Stark," Robb said. "They are something that has always been portrayed as our companions and friends since ancient times."
"And if the king would be embarrassed to see the direwolves in the castle, then he should have been embarrassed when the army flying the same banners won victory for him and won him the crown," he added.
The tone of his voice and the expression on his face made it obvious that he had not taken her remark about the direwolves well. He was angry and hurt about it. She remained silent.
"Robb," Ned said.
"I came to inform you that Winter has been accommodated in the kennels," he said.
"Winter?" Ned asked.
"Yes," Robb replied. "Jon decided to name the mother direwolf Winter."
"Oh!" Ned responded.
"Yes," Robb said. "He has also placed three men to be permanently stationed in the kennels who will keep a close eye on her."
"It is a good thing," Ned nodded. "It will keep the residents assured of their safety."
"I will take my leave," Robb said, and he walked away.
"I will also take my leave, Catelyn," Ned said, turning towards her. "I need to prepare a list of all the preparations we need to make for the arrival of the king."
"And I would ask you to do the same," he added. "Focus on the arrival of the king rather than these useless things."
He walked away, leaving an irritated and frustrated Catelyn behind. Even so, she took a deep breath, regained her composure, and walked away.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, in the Winterfell kennel, all the Stark children had gathered around Winter. They had built her a cozy and warm bed, and her condition looked much better than it had been a few hours ago.
"How long will she take to heal?" Arya questioned. "How long before she is able to walk?"
"It will take her a few days to walk," Jon replied. "But she will need a couple of weeks to heal properly. She has lost a lot of blood."
"Oh!" She responded, leaning closer towards Winter.
All the cubs, including Ghost, were huddled near their mother. They were quite happy and pleased to be with her. Robb arrived at that time. He bent down and placed Grey Wind on the ground. The direwolf rushed towards Winter, scrambling and pushing through his siblings.
"Did you know that King Robert Baratheon is coming to Winterfell?" Robb questioned no one in particular.
He had been busy with something and had not heard the news. And since his mood had grown worse after hearing his mother speak so disdainfully about the direwolves, he had not bothered to question them further.
"Yes," Sansa responded instantly. "Jon Arryn is dead. And the king is coming to Winterfell with his entire court."
"Prince Joffrey Baratheon is coming too," she continued almost dreamily. "They are saying that the king is going to ask Father to become his Hand."
"Oh!" Robb remarked.
It was a surprising bit of news for him.
"Jon," Arya said suddenly. "You too are a king, aren't you?"
"You can say so," he replied softly.
"Are you stronger than King Robert Baratheon?" She questioned.
"How can anyone be stronger than His Grace Robert?" Sansa questioned instinctively.
Realizing that what she had said might be offensive to Jon, she clamped her mouth shut.
"Hmph!" Arya snarled. "Jon is stronger than him."
"Maybe," Jon said with a shrug. "Maybe not. Maybe you will find out someday."
"But is it not true that you defeated more than a dozen Dothraki Khals all by yourself at the same time?" Arya questioned.
Jon nodded his head.
"I said so, that Jon would never lie," Arya exclaimed, standing up with her fist raised high in the air.
"Jon!" Robb interjected suddenly. "What do you say about a duel with me? I want to test myself against you. What do you think?"
"Why not?" Jon replied, his eyes fixed on Robb.
#
#
#
[Add the book to your collection. Send it some power stones. Leave a rating and a review.]
[Access advanced chapter on P@treon. Replace @ with a. One additional advanced chapter each week on P@treon. ]
[email protected]/imaginarywriter