Chapter 13

It's been a few days since I asked Ned to renovate the crypts, and now I'm at the entrance of Winterfell with ten guards, Ned, Ashara, Jon, Robb, and Sansa in front of me.

Ned speaks with a worried voice, "Are you sure you want to do this, Alaric? You can still do it when you're older."

Robb chimes in, sounding almost pleading, "Exactly, Alaric. You don't need to go now; it's dangerous."

Jon remains silent since I've already talked to him, and he agreed, unlike the others.

Ashara, with a proud smile, albeit mixed with concern, took some convincing, but she eventually supported me.

I look at Ned and reply, "I know that, Uncle Ned, but I prefer to do it now to get to know the place I'll rule in the future from an early age."

Turning to Robb, I say, "You know that I'm going with ten of Winterfell's best guards, and while it doesn't guarantee 100% safety, I'm already safe enough for this."

Both of them nod in defeat, and Ned sighs, saying, "When you reach White Harbor, give Lord Manderly my regards."

I reply, "I will, Uncle Ned, don't worry."

I then look at them and say, "Goodbye, everyone, take care."

I open my arms, and Jon, Robb, and Sansa come and hug me, followed by Ned and Ashara, and they bid me farewell. After that, the ten guards and I set off for White Harbor on horseback.

On the way, we encounter some bandits who are easily dispatched by the guards, but aside from that, the journey proceeds without any issues.

Soon, we catch sight of White Harbor in the distance, a prosperous and beautiful city owned by House Manderly.

We start entering the city and head towards New Castle for a brief stop before taking a boat to Bear Island.

As we enter White Harbor, we see that the city is quite lively, with various people in the streets and merchants selling their goods.

However, we don't stop and continue towards New Castle to meet with Wyman Manderly.

As we approach the gate of New Castle, we notice one of the guards recognizing us, probably ordered by Wyman to inform him of my arrival when we appeared, as we had sent a letter to him informing him of our visit.

We advance slowly, observing our surroundings, and when we arrive, we see Lord Manderly standing in front of the great door with Wylis Manderly, his eldest son and heir. However, Wylis's wife and daughters are nowhere to be seen, probably not in the castle at the moment.

I hear Wyman say, "Welcome to New Castle, Alaric. Do you accept the bread and salt?"

I reply, "I accept," and we go through the ritual. After that, he says, "You've grown a lot since the last time we saw each other. You were, what, 3 years old back then?"

I nod and say, "Around that age, and it's a pleasure to see both of you again."

They agree, and then we enter, where they arrange a banquet to honor my presence, even though I think banquets are quite common here.

We talk a lot, and Wyman informs me that the construction of the fleet is going well, and since it's being made of ironwood, it will be much more powerful than one of the same size made of regular wood, even though it's more difficult to build and will take longer. It should be a good size in two years and ready to defend the North from the Ironborn during their rebellion. I also asked him to send men outside of Westeros to find things suitable for production in the North.

After bidding farewell to the Manderlys, we head to the port where our ship to Bear Island is waiting for us. Did I exaggerate too much?