CHAPTER 87
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CHAPTER 87
286 ac
one of the guards informed Lord what was happening, and he was looking at Lady Stark and me furiously.
"I understand what's going on here, and I'll give the necessary punishments later."
when he said that, Lady Stark intervened and said
"Ned, he already confessed his crime and accepted his punishment."
he turned and looked at me in a questioning manner.
"Yes, my Lord. I accepted the said crime on the condition of saying what I have to say."
At this time, other stark children had come too. I turned to Sansa and said.
"Sansa, Do you remember what Septa Mordane said to you about the old gods and northern ladies two years ago? I had told you to relay her words to Lord Stark, but it looks like you forgot to do it."
At first, she looked at my face, confused, as if she didn't understand what I was saying, but after a few seconds, she must have remembered what had happened because her facial expression suddenly changed.
"Yes, I remember now, and I had forgotten to tell father about that."
"that figures why I saw her in the keep today if lord Stark knew the opinion of Septa Mordane. He would never allow such a vile creature to come close to his children ever again."
Lady Stark cried out in anger.
"How dare you insult the servants of The Seven!"
this time I infused my voice with more mana and said.
"MY LADY, I AND EVERYONE HERE DON'T CARE WHAT THE SEVEN AND THEIR SERVANT THINK!"
Everyone around me trembled a bit, and Lord Stark looked a bit shaken too.
"My good lady Stark, I keep telling you we don't care about the seven, but you keep insisting we have to. We, as the north, would rather die than allow the wretched seven and their greedy, silk-clothed, and zealot servants to enter our north. The only reason nobody said anything to you is because of our Lord Stark and not because we opened our hearts to the seven."
Everyone in the crowd, including the knight and the nobles, started to nod their head in approval or started cheering for old gods.
"My Lord, do you know what our good Septa Mordane teaches your daughters? She tells them that any woman picking up a weapon or standing around a training ground are tree-hugging barbarians. What does this make Lady Maege Mormont and every other warrior woman of the North?"
Angry voices began to rise from the crowd, and I continued.
"The greedy and zealot believers of the seven can say whatever they want about the Old Gods right under our nose... under our Lord's roof! But we, the people of this proud land, must hold our tongue about those wretches."
"My Lady, while your greedy silk-clothed septa and septons collect donations for doing a whole lot of nothing. Do you know someone calling himself the priest of the Old Gods who cures the sick and saves their lives while getting nothing in return? What did the seven do for their followers ever? Did they cure the sick, or did they protect the weak? If Druid Emrys acted as the priest of the Old Gods. I, Aermir Drasil, acted as the Old Gods' sword and protected the weak in my journeys in the name of the Old Gods and Lord Stark. Did I ask anything in return? Never! Because it is our duty to smite the vile creatures to protect the good people of the North!"
All the knights and soldiers started to cheer in a deafening sound.
POV LORD STARK
I wonder if I'm making a mistake by raising this child. Although he was now speaking aggressively toward the Lady of Winterfell, let alone the knights and soldiers, even the nobles cheered at his side with infectious enthusiasm. He made all of Winterfell the enemy of The Seven in a few minutes of conversation over here.
If Catelyn pressures more to punish him, she will garner backlash rather than support from everyone, and she doesn't even realize that. If what he said is true, even I want to punish the septa, and I fully know what he is trying to do.
By stirring everyone up, he is waiting for Catelyn to step back and withdraw her sentence. If he pushes a little more, he'll get it. But also, everything he says makes sense, and if what he says is what he really feels, as long as we are the defender of the Old Gods, he is entirely loyal to the North and House Stark. I looked at Sansa and said.
"Is what he said true?"
"Yes, Father. That is what she said."
After that, she told me what other things the septa said about the Northern people and the Old Gods. I was baffled. It looks like this old spinster bitch thought herself untouchable because she is a septa and endlessly yapped about the North and how we sucked compared to the South.
"Guards! Find Septa Mordane and give her ten hard lashings for disrespecting the nobles and the Old Gods. After that, put her ass in a cart, and I meant a cart, not a carriage. Sent her back to her beloved South to never return to the North. She is banished! Actually, every septon and septa in Winterfell is banished. From now on, Lady Allara Cassel and Maester Luwin will be responsible for girls' education."
I turned to Arya and said.
"As promised, when we are out of winter, I'm going to find you a proper sword instructor. Until then, Rodrik will look after your training."
At that moment, Sansa jumped in and said.
"Father, if you are going to let Arya learn the sword, then I want to learn archery."
It was a surprising turn of events, but I allowed it too. I thought she wasn't interested in anything physical, and it looked like I was wrong. Catelyn came close to me and said in a whispering voice.
"Ned, how could you do that? How could you banish the septas and septons and then allow our daughters to act in such unladylike manners!"
"Cat, you need to learn and get used to it; this is the North. It is not the Riverlands, you are the Lady of Winterfell, and we are the believers of Old Gods. Every one of my children will be one too. All this time, I thought they were only educating our children on the ethics of nobles. I would have kicked them long before if I knew they were trying to poison them against the Old Gods."
I paused a bit and said.
"And stop trying to push for a lashing. I'm not going to lash him, and I will give him a more proper punishment later."