Chapter 4

As far as Osric was concerned his life would have been perfect if things had simply remained the same, but despite how many hours his lessons already claimed each week, it slowly seemed like he would never be quite done with them. For whenever one of his parents was satisfied the other one found something new for him to learn in a matter of hours, and on the off chance that they didn't have anything prepared they simply got themselves some ideas from his future vassals.

Yet while the constant strain on his mind was enough that Osric was decently sure his endurance had actually improved from it, the thing he never stopped to struggle with was that he saw his siblings less and less with each month that passed. And while he knew that it was his duty to soak up as much knowledge as he possibly could to one day protect House Stark and the North against whatever the world might throw at them, no reasoning he tried actually managed to make it easier.

There were of course still many subjects Osric took an interest in despite his annoyance at being buried in books and scrolls as the North and with it his future Vassals were far from what people considered normal or uniform. But while things like the merchant fleets of Lord Wyman that never ceased to sail even in the harshest of winters and the ancient enchantments protecting the Reeds from their own lands kept him invested, there was no denying that Osric had the soul of a beast.

Or the soul of a Stark as his father would put it, and while few saw the honourable Eddard Stark as a person of passion, so much so that most lords actually saw the exact opposite. The fact remained that there were still plenty of things that could rouse some passion in the quiet Lord Eddard, even if said passion seldom manifested in joy or happiness, as the world wasn't too kind to House Stark in the last few years. Though the pain that actually allowed him to do so naturally wasn't what Osric saw when he thought about how his father had conquered their shared bloodline with predictable results.

It was like this, practically isolated from his siblings, and strained by his lessons as well as pressured by his failures to control his nature, that Osric decided to forego sleep and instead visited the godswood while no one was around that could have bothered him. Though to Osric's surprise the ancient trees that welcomed him actually seemed more primal than they should have been, as if they had grown a meter or two taller in the months that had passed.

Yet even with the changed and much darker atmosphere that reminded him a little of burning ironwood, there was still nothing but curiosity and tiredness in Osric's steps as he silently advanced on the weirwood. Though despite his best efforts to take in the world around him in as much detail as possible, he couldn't help but wonder a few seconds later what had brought about this change and why it had happened now of all times. For while the children and the gods were always welcome in Winterfell, there were clearly better times to make an appearance, especially since Osric's strengthened endurance and curiosity were essentially the only things that kept him from planting into the snow.

But he supposed after another moment of thought that it mattered little how much he liked or disliked their timing, as there was no point in complaining about things that were simply beyond his ability to change. And since Osric despite his state still remembered that he was the one that came to the godswood to clear his mind and not the other way around, he reckoned it would sound more than a little entitled if he complained about being dead tired despite it being the truth.

"Welcome back, little Stark."

"I like what you did with the place, it feels a little more like you're actually here, what's the occasion?"

"Your presence, of course."

"Hmm, it's not the first time I'm here, did you just ignore me in the past?"

"Of course not, my little Friend, it's just that speaking without purpose is quite difficult these days."

"These days?"

"Hmm, I suppose it has become harder to grasp for you humans, since you usually don't talk much with the spirits of your ancestors once they're gone."

"When we built that great Wall with your ancestor Brandon we knew that time would sooner or later wear away at the enchantments we had placed upon it, which wouldn't do as we had sacrificed many of our number to create them."

"The solution that was devised was for the lack of a better term very Starklike as the enchantment were altered to fulfill their purpose to the end."

"That's great and all, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Shush, little one, the solution we used to guarantee that the Wall's enchantments would resist whatever the Great Other threw at it is what makes it so difficult to reach so far south."

"It wouldn't be wrong to say that the enchantments on the Wall are these days no longer actual enchantments as they just as we had planned, deformed with each century that has passed."

"Now any and all magic that wants to get past the Wall has to deal with primal magic that strikes at anyone, as it no longer knows the difference between friend or foe."

"My thanks for the thorough explanation, but I didn't really come here to get another history lesson, I had more than enough of those for a lifetime."

"Then do tell me what you're here for, my little Friend."

"I simply wished to clear my mind a little, and I bet you're not that big yourself."

"Hmm, it truly is quite astonishing what some lack of sleep can do to you humans, but just so you know I'm rather tall for someone of my race, not that a smaller stature should be seen as something bad."

"Sigh, I understand that your way of thinking is a bit different by nature, but that wasn't even close to my point, can you please just stop calling me little?"

"Very well, are you ready to proceed, my tiny Friend?"

"..."

"Fine I give up, please spare me that rotten humour of yours, what do you need from me, you Friend of mine?"

"You Starks are truly the best, so what would you think about receiving a new companion for a start?"