Chapter 15

Robb's POV (Age 10), 291 AC Moon 01

As he finished breaking his fast, he made his way towards his father's solar. As he entered, he gave the instructions not to disturb him. Marwyn wouldn't be able to join him until after lunch as he had to attend to business of Knowledge Hall. So here he was searching in the only place left.

And so he started to search. Walls were tapped on, bookcases moved, and rugs rolled up and stacked in a corner until finally, they faced the tapestries that were hung on two of the walls. One shows a Godswood with Children of the Forest peering out shyly from behind the trunks and branches, revealing nothing more than a wall.

The second was different. It showed Bran the Builder at the Wall. And behind it a patch of stone that looked strange. He walked over to the bare wall, from the distance it resembled the rest of the chamber. The stonework was uniform from the floor to the ceiling.

He saw that the stones were of different colors. As he rapped his knuckles on the same spot, he was startled when the stones thudded dully, but with a distinct hollowness. He ran his hand along the wall. 'It's wood' he thought. He found a spot at his chest height, when he twisted one of the "stones" and lifted it out of the wall, revealing a small keyhole.

As he thought hard about it, his thoughts drifted to the only two keys whose locks he still had to find. He walked over to his father's desk and searched through one of the lower drawers. He pulled out a set of keys. 'Some keys look as old as Winterfell' he thought.

He pulled out the only two bronze rings in the set. While he wanted to uncover these secrets as fast as possible he knew he might Marwyn for what he might find. So while waiting for Marwyn, he rearranged the Solar to have easier access to the 'stone' patch, after spending the morning moving around things to find hidden treasures and then rearranging them. He was mighty hungry.

He called for the guard standing outside and ordered some food. The guard nodded and left. As he was finishing his lunch, a soft knock came from the door. "Come in" he commanded in his Lord's voice. As Marwyn came in he looked around, nodded once, and said smilingly "Liking the new arrangement, My Lord."

"Don't" he answered still fatigued. "This is due to that. Remove it" He said while pointing at the tapestry of Bran the Builder.

As Marwyn did so, he picked up the two bronze keys and moved toward the wall. After revealing the hidden keyhole and telling how he found it. He tried the first key, but it refused to turn. Then he tried the second key, it snugly fit into the keyhole. He heard a click and had to stop the wall from falling out. He came away with the wooden board, the front of which was carved and painted to resemble stone.

Behind it were four shelves, each filled with canvas bags. He and Marwyn gave a tug and proceeded to pull it out of the wall. It was less of a shelf and more of a rack. There were two more hidden rows in the compartment. As he ran his hand across the 'treasure' he'd found, he noticed the books were surprisingly cold, sticking his arm into the space behind, and found it was cool enough to give him goosebumps.

As they pulled out and put the shelves back again, on the last shelf, he found a chest with a bronze lock and runes of First Man carved on it. He knew he had found the last secret of Winterfell. He pulled out the first key again and slotted it into the keyhole. It unlocked with a squeal, as he peered at the clasp. The hinges of it also let out a squeal that made them wince.

As he reached in and with a groan of effort picked up a huge mace, if such a thing could describe the thing that he held. It was made of a dull metal of some sort that had not a touch of corrosion or rust. Old leather wrappings were wound around its handle and its head... well it was designed to crush and kill. This was not a weapon of chivalry. This was a weapon of death.

He had to put all his strength to keep the mace up but after a few minutes, he started getting tired. As he put the mace in the grey velvet cloth of the chest again. He didn't know why such a weapon was kept away but he could guess it was after House Stark obtained the Valyrian Steel sword, Ice. He decided that from the next day, he would focus on training with Mace and Swords.

While he moved the weapon chest towards the door, Marwyn had already started to look through the books. Marwyn carefully undid the thin leather straps and unwrapped the heavy canvas. It revealed a tome bound in cracked brown leather. He peered at the cover, which was unadorned, not even a title. The spine cracked as turned it open, the pages were in good condition and the ink was relatively clear. 

"Here. Look at this, My Lord." Marwyn pointed to the text. "By this book, we can infer that most books here are like journals of previous Stark Kings and Lords"

Marwyn had picked out the canvas which looked to be the newest. After a few minutes of reading, Marwyn said "This journal is of Lord Willam Stark, grandfather to Lord Rickard. His last entry is a fortnight before his death in 226AC. In his last entry, Lord Willam mentions that he hadn't couldn't share the ancestral books with Lord Edwyle, a babe of two namedays."

After a few minutes of thinking Robb added. "Marwyn, Let's start arranging them. The books which are not part of the journals are to be kept separate for now."

And so they started arranging all the journals chronologically. A couple of hours before dawn, they had finished arranging journals. The earliest is by King Demetrius 'The Reader' Stark. From a brief reading about him, they found that he was the one who commissioned the library tower. The last entry was by Lord Willam Stark, who died at the hands of King-Beyond-the-Wall, Raymun Redbeard.

The only journals not written by Head of House Stark, were by Lord Edwyle and Lord Rickard Stark. His father was still alive, he could start writing his journal.

As they sat down to rest, "Marwyn, These journals are precious heirlooms of House Stark. I want a printed copy made and put here. Send the originals to my room. Oversee this by yourself, I don't want copies of these spreading throughout North, for now." he commanded.

Marwyn only nodded and wrote down his task on a piece of paper and tucked it away in his robe. After some rest, they looked at the small pile of half a dozen remaining books. They had interesting titles, to say the least.

'Rites' was a book that dealt with rituals that were to be performed during an important event or when a Stark of Winterfell was born, married, or died.

'Runes of the First Men' was a book that explained different runes and their uses. 'The Art of Crafting' deals with how to craft these runes on different materials.

'Of Wargs & Greenseer' describes how to train yourself if you were a warg or Greenseer. Meditation to increase mental capacity, to read the signs shown in greendreams, etc. It also describes how to subdue or kill them if needed.

'Winter's Breath' explains a set of breathing exercises that could be to ward off cold.

'Ye Blood of Wolf' was a book that details and explains the three bloodline abilities of House Stark.

He collected these books and put them in a satchel, called in the guard standing outside, and bid to move the chest to him. "I shall transcribe these books myself. After which originals shall be made available to you. For now, these books will not be spread until more Weirwoods Trees are planted." He said while going with the satchel outside.

Marwyn moved towards the Printing Press, he had journals to print.