Chapter 34: Departure and New Responsibilities

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay with this chapter, guys. It's longer than usual since I don't have to invent everything, but it's harder to write because I need to think about different plotlines and whatnot. Either way, here you have it! Robb has already started his plans and is finally starting to feel that things will get harder in the future

Winterfell 

Next Day

While reviewing every parchment containing information I had gained through the banquet and some pillow talk in certain cases, my insects noticed that Uncle Benjen was walking toward my solar. When Father leaves with the royal family to return to the capital, the lord's solar would be mine. But at least for a few weeks, I would have to stay here and prepare my things to move them later.

Without waiting for him to knock, I told him to enter.

"That feels so weird, nephew," Benjen smiled when he saw me.

"It's a gift, Uncle," I joked back.

"So, I'm here. What did you want to talk about before I depart?" he asked seriously.

I let out a sigh. "Of what is coming for us, Uncle. Have you heard of my gifts?" I asked him.

"That you are the champion of all the gods?" he asked.

"Ha!" I snorted. "It's not that simple. But that rumor has some truth in it."

"Oh?" Benjen looked at me skeptically.

I shook my head slightly, hoping to change his perspective. "I have dreams—glimpses of what is to come. That's why I have been working so hard to change the situation in the North," I admitted.

Benjen was startled for a moment, but soon he was able to calm down. Looking me directly in the eyes, he let out a deep sigh. "I knew something was happening. I love Ned, but I knew he wasn't capable of this many changes." He shook his head. "So it was you all along then, nephew?"

I nodded grimly. "Aye, it was me. War is coming, Uncle, and we haven't done enough to prepare."

"Two different fronts," I accepted shamefully. "I'm the only one who knows at the moment, and I haven't told my father because you know how he is… he would do the most honorable thing instead of what needs to be done."

Benjen opened his mouth to defend his brother, but I raised my hand to stop him.

"Uncle Benjen, I understand your concern about not telling Father. It might seem like I'm putting him in danger, but believe me, he shouldn't know. Please, hear me out first," I told him pleadingly.

Benjen watched me with firm eyes and slowly nodded his head. "Go on, Robb. I'm listening."

I took a deep breath before continuing, knowing the importance of this conversation. "Father is an honorable man, and his sense of duty is unwavering. If he knew about the impending wars, he would feel compelled to act immediately. That would place him directly in the path of danger; it would be even worse than the rebellion," I finished grimly.

Benjen accepted my point of view with a nod. "True, Ned would never shy away from his responsibilities. But isn't that more reason to tell him? To fix the problem before it happens?"

I shook my head, considering whether to rip off the bandage. "Promise me as your liege that you will keep this secret until I tell you otherwise, Uncle. I promise that the information I give you will show you how dire the situation is."

Uncle Benjen remained silent for a moment before giving me a firm nod. "I swear by the Old Gods that I won't say a word about what you tell me, Lord Stark."

I sighed, hoping I was making the best decision. "I'm trusting you a lot with this information, Uncle. Please, don't let me down."

Checking with my insects to ensure we were alone and that no one was close to my solar, I began the explanation.

"The children of the King are bastards… As you may have heard about how these dreams work, I don't get told everything I need to know, I only get glimpses. But yesterday, I was able to find out about this," I explained, defeated.

"What?!" Uncle Benjen stood up and started pacing around the room, considering the repercussions.

"Who knows about this?" he asked.

"For now, only us from this side of the Kingdom, aside from us, the perpetrators, the Queen, her brother Jaime Lannister, and the late Hand of the King, Jon Arryn," I answered.

Uncle Benjen stopped cold in his tracks. "Incest?" he murmured. "And now Ned is the Hand of the King; he will be in danger, Robb. We need to tell him!" He turned around to search for my father.

Raising my voice momentarily, I called out, "Uncle Benjen! Think about this rationally. What would Father do if he were to learn about this?"

Benjen froze for a second, letting out some curses in desperation.

"Now you understand, Uncle? Father would tell the Queen that he knows about this and he would die because of it," I said quietly.

"Damn it… you are right. What can we do?" he asked desperately.

"You won't do anything about this. Leave the problems of the Kingdom to me. I swear on my life that I won't let him die because of his stupidity," I assured him.

Benjen looked directly into my eyes, searching for deceit. After finding only conviction, he nodded. "You said it was a war on two fronts, nephew. What's the other one?" he asked with trepidation.

"The White Walkers are real," I told him simply. "We are in the middle of two wars capable of destroying all life in Westeros and beyond. We must remain united if we hope to win, and even then, millions will die to make it happen," I sighed, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.

"Damn!" Benjen bellowed, starting to punch the wall hysterically.

Letting him vent for a moment, I waited for him to calm down a little.

"What can we do, Robb? This is way more than I expected right now; it's too early, and I'm too sober for this," he admitted, feeling out of his depth.

"We are in a really bad spot, Uncle. I won't lie about that, but we can win. For that, I need you to trust me and follow my suggestions," I began.

Opening a drawer, I pulled out a box I had prepared for this conversation. Inside were six daggers made of dragonglass. I also took out a package of arrowheads made of the same material.

"I want you to take these. Keep the arrows with you and two daggers," I started explaining. "The White Walkers are vulnerable to this, Valyrian steel, and fire. You won't be able to damage them at all with normal steel. The rest of the daggers I want you to give one to Commander Mormont, and the rest are for some of the Wildlings."

"The Wildlings? Are you crazy, Robb?" asked Benjen.

"Do you remember the stories of the Long Night that old Nan tells us? What abilities do you remember the White Walkers having?" I asked him.

"They can raise the dead? What about it?" he asked, oblivious.

I rolled my eyes. "And how many Wildlings are there north of the Wall?" I asked him.

He was silent for a moment before his eyes widened when he realized what I was talking about. "Over a hundred thousand," he murmured.

I nodded grimly. "Can you imagine an army of undead numbering a hundred thousand? An army of that size that doesn't tire, doesn't feel pain, and can keep fighting without stopping?"

Benjen paled immediately, understanding the problem.

"Old Gods save us," he prayed. "What do you want me to do, Robb?"

With an encouraging smile, I began explaining all my plans to him.

Three Weeks Later

Going over every single scrap of information I had gathered over the weeks since the arrival of the royal family, I organized it by factions. It seemed Littlefinger had learned his lesson and hadn't sent anyone else with them. Aside from the Master of Coins, there were spies sent by the Reach, who were trying to gather information about us for the Queen of Thorns.

They were easy enough to identify thanks to my power, but the number of spies sent by different factions was overwhelming. I couldn't fathom why they would spend so much on something so trivial. It wasn't as if they hadn't tried in the past few years, and I had no idea why they thought using the royal visit as an excuse would make them successful this time.

At least Varys had learned his lesson after a couple of false starts. Before the Crown's arrival, we were very explicit with our orders: our subjects were to accept every single attempt to buy their allegiance and then report to us. The Starks would double what they were offered if they provided evidence of who tried to buy them. But thanks to the loyalty we had from them, none accepted the "double it" part we offered. They were allowed to keep what they were paid, but everyone insisted we keep our gold and continue helping the North as a whole.

Of course, there were a couple who tried to lie to me; humanity tends to get greedy no matter what they have already gained. But with a few examples of what happens when someone tries to cheat me, such cases were kept to a minimum.

Uncle Benjen left over three weeks ago to start with my plans at the Wall and with the Wildlings. He took a message for the Commander, and in it, I said I would send someone I trust to the Wall to help with everything. Jon would leave Winterfell a few days later after the royal family departed with my father. He would have orders to prepare the Wall for what is to come.

The royal family was already preparing for departure, and with this move, every single one of my plans would start to take effect. I would begin by sending messages to every keep on the shores of the North to ramp up the training of recruits and to be ready to close our borders when the war starts.

I knew it wouldn't be the same as in the canon timeline, as the small changes had altered everything. There would be no reason for my mother to detain Tyrion, so, Tywin wouldn't attack the Riverlands, at least for that reason, who knew what the Warhawk thought. The war would start when my father, in his honorable self, learned about the bastards of the royal family and gave Cersei time to prepare for her small rebellion. After that, it would be almost the same. If I remember correctly, it took several months for my father to find out the truth, but I wouldn't leave it to chance.

Thankfully, I had two wonderful advisors who could take care of things here in the North while I completed my plans: Mother and Sansa. They had become brilliant in politics and respected for their beauty and openness over the past couple of years. I could leave the North in their capable hands while I went incognito to stay alert for any important changes.

First, I would search for allies in the Riverlands, starting with our uncle, Brynden Tully. After that, I would go to King's Landing and live there for a while, focusing on obtaining useful information. When the war started, we would invade the South, destroy House Frey, and take control of the Twins to maximize the protection of the North going forward.

I knew plans could change on the fly, so I didn't bother with more than that until I knew what changes to the canon timeline were made thanks to my moves. I would try to adapt as necessary.

Stopping for a moment, I reflected on the events of the royal visit, from amusing moments to rage-inducing ones. In particular, the Crown Prince's attempts to woo Sansa were painful to watch. When my sister rejected him, he showed his true colors. He was harshly punished by the King, which earned the ire of the Queen. But it didn't matter; she didn't have the power to harm us at the moment, and she would try in the future even if nothing happened during her stay in Winterfell.

I had gathered so much information over these weeks that it would take a long time to go through it all, even with the help of Jon, the Maester, and Mother. But it would be worth it as it could help us with blackmail and other strategies.

I also had an enlightening conversation with Tyrion and learned about how Tywin made his life miserable in the Westerlands, leading him to live in the capital. Thanks to his familiarity with Lady Elyse, the former Hand of the King helped him secure a job with her.

Two Days Later

The whole family was sad to see Father leave for the South. We all had sentimental farewells in private. At the entrance of Winterfell, we projected an unflappable front, but even so, a couple of tears were shed by most of us.

Telling him to take care, I hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I'll take care of the North while you are gone, Father."

"I know, Robb. I trust you," he answered, hugging me harder.

"Be very careful in the capital, Father. I want you to know that aside from the guards who accompany you, you have no allies there. Trust me on this, Father. No one will help you, and if they offer to do so, you must know that they want something in return," I told him solemnly.

My father was taken aback, but after a moment, he nodded firmly, showing that he understood.

I would take care of him when I was done with my plans here, but before that, I had to trust Jory, who would go with him and the rest of the guards. They were some of the best we had to offer, and I trusted them completely.

Seeing them leave, I felt a moment of dread. Everything felt real now, and I knew that a simple mistake could make me lose a member of my family. But with the growing dread came a sense of determination. I would win, and no one could stop the rise of the North anymore.

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