20 Fish and Milk

Contrary to the night before, the next morning was rather calm. Berena couldn't leave the bed because of the soreness all over her body so I had ordered servants to bring her meal to the bed while I broke my fast in the great hall with others.

I would have preferred staying in bed with Berena but I needed to be a good host for my guests. Besides, Berena was also going to come out in the afternoon as Maester Luwin was preparing some oils for her.

The night before must have hit hard to some of the lords because they were still sleeping. There were some jokes about the night before and complaints about not being able to sleep because of the moanings but I put them to an end after a stern look to the damn joker.

However, the main topic of the lords was not my wedding but the giants living inside the outer walls of Winterfell. Giants needed a place to live so I gave them resources and some tips. And they built themselves their own homes.

Their homes were bigger than the walls of Winterfell so many people went there out of curiosity but then escaped while shitting their pants. From what I heard, Greatjon even tried to wrestle with one of their children last night when he was drunk. That must have been one of wrestling because I learned this morning that he hurt his back when he tried to lift the giant.

By the time we had finished our meal, a few lords were approaching me to talk. Some were bearing gifts while others were asking favours. One of those who came with gifts was Galbart. The pommels he brought with him were already given to Mikken with my house's Valyrian steel swords and looks like they were ready because he came to me with three Stark guards who I put as a guard to the side of Mikken, in case something happens.

"My lord, the swords are ready," he said with quivering hands as he presented me the swords.

I took Narsil in my hand and slowly touched its pommel. It was made from a bone without a stain but was perfect for my hands. A wolf head was adorning the pommel and the details were amazing. I stood from my chair and pulled out the sword from its sheath.

I swung it a few times and nodded my head approvingly. I put it back into its sheath and repeated the same thing with Ice, both swords' pommels were made perfect. I turned to Galbart and patted his shoulder.

"These are perfect Galbart, your craftsman did a good job. What are you going to do with the rest of the bones?" I asked.

"Thanks, my lord. I was planning to make a few bows and use the rest for making a gateway." Galbart said.

Honestly, making a goddamn gateway from the legendary Nagga's bones was a waste but who was I to poke my nose into his business.

After Galbart went away, Lord Wull and Lord Burley came to me requesting a loan to open a mine in the mountain between their houses. Apparently, they tried finding ores in the mountains after I opened mine in the mountains and they found silver between the territories of their houses. I was happy to grant them a loan because as their income increased, they were going to pay more taxes.

Besides, this conciliation between them was a surprise to me because normally, when such a thing happened the houses would contest and even murder each other for that resource but these two lords were even marrying their child to ensure the longevity of this endeavour.

Their finding of silver was a sign of the abundance of resources in the mountains so I called each lord of the mountain clans and gave them some of my experienced men to help them search their mountains. I mean there must be other ores in the mountains as there couldn't be only silver and gold. Even finding coal was a good thing for the houses.

By the time I was finished with those who wanted to talk, the children also finished their meals. I sent Robb and Jon to the training ground and told them I was going to come to teach time after they had done running three times around the inner castle walls and they went albeit unwillingly as they were having headaches despite only drinking a cup of wine.

While I was raising from my seat, Howland came to me with Ashara beside her. I was surprised to see her as I hadn't seen her since the end of the rebellion. And man, her beauty became something out of nature but I was married now, for real, so I couldn't look at other women.

"Ned, it is good to see you remembering the customs, unlike others. I thought they were only practised in the Marshes." Howland said, smilingly.

"Honestly, I didn't know anything about it before Styr reminded me of them. He told me that they were done for children born from the marriage." I said.

Howland nodded his head, "Aye, we have an abundance of lizard-lions in Marshes so we sacrifice them in weddings… However, that is not what I came for…"

I raised an eyebrow and made a sign for him to continue. He cleared his throat and continued, "Ashara wanted to talk to you but…" He looked back at the lords who were bickering at the table, "it would be better if we talked at your solar."

I looked at Ashara but she didn't give any indication about her intentions so I nodded my head to them and led to my room. I poured myself wine and also offered it to them but they refused.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" I asked.

It was Ashara who spoke instead of Howland, "My brother tried to escape from the Neck nine times, already. He insists on coming to Winterfell to see Jon. The last time he tried to, escape he nearly died as he was bogged down and eaten if not for a Crannogman."

I sighed exasperatedly as this problem was something I avoided addressing, "And what do you want me to do? I already told you and Robert gave his order. You can't expect me to have him in Winterfell. And what is he going to do by coming here? Tell Jon his real identity and press his claim?" I spoke without even breathing and not giving them a chance to talk.

"I'm not telling you to grant a pardon to my brother, my lord. I'm asking you to have Jon visit Marshes to sate Arthur's hunger for seeing him." Ashara talked with a half begging tone.

Robb and Jon were nearing their seventh age and it was time for them to foster in someplace to establish good relations. I wasn't going to send my children to other regions as wards. Robb was my heir and I needed him to foster with a Northern house to secure his position but Jon was different as he was a bastard.

There were many people in the South who would want my favour and I could send Jon to one of them but his identity was a problem. The best choice I had was sending him to a Northern house and Neck was the perfect place to hide him but I was worried about something; Arthur.

He could tell Jon about his real identity and that was something I wished to personally in case something happened. Of course, ı wasn't going to hide him forever but he was still a six years old child. He shouldn't be dealing with these problems right now.

"I'm going to speak plainly with you Ashara," I readied myself to speak my mind, "If you can ensure that Arthur won't speak unwanted things with Jon, I can even have him foster in the Neck. However, I don't trust you or your brother."

While we were having a staring contest with Ashara, Howland cut in, "I vouch for him."

I turned to Howland in shock and asked, "You vouch for Arthur Dayne?"

"Yes," he sighed and said. "I will even put some guards whenever they are together."

I squinted my eyes and looked at both of them and snorted, "Stay here for a moon, then you can leave with Jon."

They both nodded their heads but I noticed a small smile of victory on Ashara's face. We left my solar as I went to the training yard to train the boys. They were already there waiting for me with their wooden swords at hand. Ser Rodrik was standing behind them and giving them instructions on how to handle their swords but the words fell short as the boys noticed my presence and ran before me.

I began instructing them as the lords began filling the yard to watch us. My boys were not some godly swordsman but they were already showing promise as they were being trained by the best swordsman in Westeros… Well, I have to brag sometimes.

I trained the boys for an hour and then visited Maester's room to see the little ones. They were having lessons about writing so I didn't disturb them and just watched for a few minutes.

Arya and Rickon were having trouble with their words but Sansa was going good. On the other hand, Bran wasn't with them because he was, currently, having lessons with Styr about caring for a heart tree. I didn't visit Godswood quite often because of Styr as each time I saw him I was feeling a rage building inside me.

Anyway, while I was returning to the great hall, I saw Berena chatting with a few ladies. Catelyn didn't have her own court but from the looks of it, Berena wasn't going to spare any time. Already, one of the Mormont girls was with her.

I think Winterfell was going to be more lively with Berena. I was even thinking about taking some children as wards. However, I quickly abandoned that idea as the little ones were enough for me.

I left Berena to her own devices and went to my solar after telling one of the servants that I wanted the head cook to bring me some fish and milk. Of course, I knew that if the fish is not fresh then I would get poisoned by drinking milk with it. However, ordering that was just a ruse because fish and milk was a code.

Head cook was, actually, the head of my spy network. I wanted to have him nearby but also wanted to prevent other servants from learning that I was seeing someone outside from the castle so I gave him a job as a head cook which he was doing great.

When I said fish and milk, he was to bring the reports about the discovered things. And it did not take long for him to arrive. His real name was Ulf but it didn't matter as only his mission was important. He gave me the documents and stood there waiting for me to finish the reading.

There were some movements in Night's Watch as the prisoners of Greyjoy's Rebellion who were sent to the Watch were gathering under Victarion. Looks like he was a possible candidate after Lord Commander Jeor's term.

On the other hand, the North was rather calm but there was disturbing news coming from Bolton lands. Apparently, one of our wargs caught Lord Bolton raping a young girl while coming here.

I had my eye on Bolton lands so I was waiting for Ramsay to kill his brother and then I was going to deal with them so the folks living in those lands needed to put up with it for a few years.

On the other hand, the North was nearly cleaned of all spies from the south. Varys's little birds were something I did not want to touch before the Greyjoy's Rebellion but he told my secrets to Robert. I expecting of him to try to blackmail me but what I didn't expect was him telling everything to Robert.

I needed to silence his source so every child without a tongue was picked and sent to the South, discreetly. Most of these children were not northern so I didn't pity them and sent them in their own way. I ordered my men to find the ones who were Northerner and search for their mother or father.

I had a rather strict code on the distribution of money for child benefit. Those who abandoned their child after taking the coins were punished severely so there weren't many people giving their children away.

Aside from that, the North was rather peaceful but that can't be said with Riverlands. Although Hoster was still standing strong for appearance, he was slowly succumbing to the illness. Hoster's brother, Brynden Tully, was at the Vale and Edmure was not a lord material.

My heir was half Riverlander and I didn't want Edmure to create problems for Robb in the future. Freys were increasing their influence by marriage and Tully's didn't have any allies aside from an old woman at Harrenhal and some loyal vassals. Their future looks bleak and if it continues like this, I might need to intervene. However, still, it wasn't time for that and I was offering them the chance to improve themselves.

The Vale was a total mess, I learned a secret that could create a civil war in the region and that was the paternity of Robert Arryn. The boy was conceived by Petyr Baelish but everyone knew him as Jon Arryn's child.

Honestly, I pitied the man because he was already nearing his death and didn't have any real child. However, I wasn't going to do anything about this secret for the time being because I could use it in the future as blackmail material or create unrest in the region.

There were also mountain clansmen of the Vale. They were hardy folk who wanted the lowlands back but their struggle was in vain as they were at disadvantage because of their technological situation. However, they were rather lucky because I was the Stark in Winterfell.

Even if I become the Warrior himself, the south wasn't going to accept the Northern influence so I needed to rekindle the Old Gods in the region but doing that with the blood of the first was a better option. Steel weapons were being sent to them in secret and mountain clansmen from the North were training them in Westerosi warfare. Their time was going to come with many other things when Jon Arryn died…

Compared to the other regions, Westerlands was the best one as it was stable like none other. Tywin Lannister was one of the best diplomats and statesmen Westeros has ever seen. None of his vassals was against his rule and many of them were following like loyal dogs. However, there was one thing my wargs discovered, the drying mines.

The mines of the Lannister lands were, indeed, drying but Tywin was already trying to empty the water in Castamere to mine those lands. Although the home of the late Reynes was filled with water, there was, indeed, gold deep into them. However, the process of emptying the water was not something that could be done quickly in these times. The waters run deep so at least two generations were needed to deal with the problem.

Contrary to Westerlands, Crownlands was a pisspot. There were only one or two vassals who were loyal to Robert. All of them were enduring with Robert thanks to his constant feasts and tourneys. However, the tourneys were countered by the high taxes they paid so all of them were trying to gain his favour despite not being loyal to him.

The Reach was having a strenuous peace. The fall of Targaryens would have meant the fall of House Tyrell, if not for Lady Olenna. She was holding the pieces together but there were already people working on gaining the seat of late Gardeners. However, there was something that disappointed me and that was the maester conspiracy. It wasn't real. I mean there were some maesters who were trying to control the kingdoms to their liking but it was limited with a political scene and that was it.

The Stormlands was peaceful except for some raids occasionally. Houses like Connington were still resentful of their liege lord but Renly's regent was doing a good job. After all, House Baratheon was respected in the region and most vassals were loyal to their liege lord.

Dorne was continuing its isolationist policy and all relations were cut with other regions but there was a strained relation between houses. House Yronwood was the most powerful vassal of Martells and their relations with their liege was only continued throughout the efforts of Martells. On the other hand, Martells were still resentful of Daynes because of their role during the events of Tower of Joy. That was why Gerold Dayne was having thoughts about High Hermitage but, still, wasn't arrested or lowered his head before his liege.

All in all, every region had its problems but my plans on spreading Northern influence in the regions were not limited only to creating problems or spreading religion because my project was finally giving its first fruits.

Northern traders were opening their own shops in big cities with monetary and political support from me. For example, thanks to Martyn Cassel who is Master of Laws, half of the shops in King's Landing were owned by northern traders. Martyn was providing them with the necessary political and physical protection as some gangs in the city demanded money for protection.

After a few minutes, I finally finished reading all the scrolls and lifted my head, "Increase the operations in King's Landing. I even want to hear whether the king drank wine or ale today. Also, begin spreading them to Essos. It's time for us to have eyes in Free Cities..."