Chapter 5

"A new companion, are you serious?"

"Yes, that was what I said, is my offer truly so unfathomable?"

"Even I can recognise that something doesn't add up here, I mean, I don't even know your name and yet here you are offering me a companion as if you spoke about a cup of milk with honey."

"I take it you don't like milk with honey, then?"

"That wasn't my point, hmm, it's actually quite hard to tell when you are and when you aren't joking, you nameless Friend of mine."

"But in case you really need it spelled out for you, I suppose I would be interested in your offer if you properly introduced yourself."

"I don't see why my name matters since your knowledge of us is far too limited to do anything with it, but if it's required for your agreement, you may know that my people call me, Fenolis."

"That's a pretty great name."

"Thanks?"

"Sigh, don't sound so surprised, Fenolis, my mother would have skinned me long ago if I hadn't learned some manners and how to make compliments, do your people make use of surnames?"

"We have no need for things like that, Osric, we're all pretty close and most of our strongholds are formed by only a few hundred of us, there are more than enough names to go around."

"And neither do we choose our leaders by blood, so things like family status doesn't really exist, especially since we're all united in death like one big family."

"That sounds rather, hmm, wholesome?"

"Hmm, yes, I suppose wholesome fits quite nicely for the most part."

"The most part?"

"Well, being chosen to lead based on your abilities combined with our longer lifespans honestly creates more pride than any leader no matter how good should possess."

"But let's return to what's important for now before you fall asleep from one of those lessons of mine, the kind of companion I had in mind for you would be a bound dryad, a lesser kin to my people."

"So, why do you think I could need one of those dryads, I always thought your kind only summon them to protect the weirwoods."

"That's indeed what we use them for south of the Wall, but not all dryads are equal, bounded ones are far more useful than their summoned counterparts."

"All of that sounds great, Fenolis, but no matter how much I try I still don't understand why you want me to have one, mayhaps I'm just a bit too tired, but I genuinely can't see the need for any of this."

"Your father and his men are going to be called into another war this year, Osric, did you by any chance see that coming?"

"What, against whom, are the Targaryens actually coming back?!"

"I believe your people call them Ironborn, or at least they did so in the past going by our elders, visions can be a bit skimpy when it comes to details."

"But the coming war isn't really important, I just wished to show you that there are still plenty of troubles the world can throw at you even if you see nothing out of the ordinary."

"You can't just throw that at people, Fenolis, you could have just said your people had a vision if you can't tell me any details."

"Why would I do that, Osric, you're now wide awake again, right?"

"You really have a talent for pushing people into insanity, has anyone ever told you that?"

"Now and again I was told that, yes."

"But we should probably push onward considering all the little things that we still have ahead of us, I would presume you want to know the price for your new companion before we proceed, am I correct in that assumption?"

"There's a price?"

"Of course there is a price for more power, though I think this one is quite affordable."

"So what do you want from me, Fenolis?"

"Now that's just rude, I don't want anything from you, Osric, some things just have a price attached to them."

"I guess we will see, what's the price?"

"Well, you will need to become a tree."

"Huh?!"

"How can you call that affordable?!"

"You worry too much, Osric, flesh can't be turned into wood, what I meant was that you would become the tree that binds your dryad to our world, you didn't forget that dryads are bound to trees, yes?"

"Fenolis, I'm serious, you can't spring that stuff on people, your humour or whatever that was supposed to be really doesn't work with humans."

"So if I'm not actually going to turn into a tree, why is being a tree for a dryad something bad, out with it, what will it cost me?"

"Well, her mind will be quite, let's call it simple, so you will be feathered with question after question for at least a few months."

"That doesn't sound all that bad so far."

"You say that now, but you were already a little strained by your lessons, right?"

"You can't take your frustrations out on her, dryads are very sensitive when it comes to their trees, you will have to show some self-control."

"I don't think that will be a problem, I have been working on my self-control for quite some time, you know?"

"Osric, I can see more than most, and your self-control was always abysmal no matter how much I looked at you, a fact that hasn't changed much if I'm honest with you."

"What are you talking about, Fenolis, excluding the problems I have with my blood, I always make sure to be the best heir House Stark and the North can wish for."

"By the gods, I'm sure my brothers haven't even learned half as much as I did last year, and no one but my mother had ever any complaints with my behaviour."

"..."

"Osric, that has very little to do with self-control, you're learning as much as you can because you have to, even if it's just to not disappoint your parents, and treating others well is only testing your self-control when you despise someone."

"Do you despise your future vassals, Osric?"

"No?"

"Was learning as much as you can instead of playing with your siblings ever truly a challenge for you if it means your family will be proud and save for it?"

"No."

"And there you have it, self-control isn't about being the best person, or the best Stark you can be, it's all about willpower, and while enduring lessons and the like often requires a good bit of that, the fact remains that you're far more strained than you should be."

"Ah yes, how dare I, getting exhausted as if I'm a living being, silly me."

"You're a Stark, Osric, and not just that, you're the rightful heir of this generation, comparing yourself to others is nonsense."

"The Starks were known as the Wardens of the North long before they were the kings of it, and literal millennia before any Targaryens came to Westeros."

"The rightful heirs to bloodlines that powerful normally don't know any exhaustion as long as they have the willpower required."

"Willpower you should really find within yourself before we're done here, especially since I very much so doubt that you want to see what happens when something actually upsets the tree, namely you, of a truly powerful dryad."