Chapter 5

More than a month passed after Arya came crying all over, during which time, in addition to my routine, I was busy playing with Arya. No matter what anyone says, she somehow managed to take a special place in my heart. She and I were often together and did a lot of things in a duet, starting from hiding in the crypt and ending with jokes about others.

The main words of our rule were "Don't tell Sansa anything!" In large part because Septa Mordane and Lady Stark already had a huge influence on Sansa. There were cases when, under the influence of the authority of these two personalities, Arya could not do what she loves.

Under such thoughts, I came to the training ground, recently I have often been pitted against the guards and people of Lord Stark. For the most part, I did not win these fights, because although I had skill, unfortunately this property did not compensate for the huge gap in physical capabilities between an adult man and a young boy.

And here I am losing again from the fact that I do not have time to dodge, there is no point in blocking because the blow of his power will blow me away like a piece of fluff. I can only substitute the part of the body that will endure this process most easily, and I decide to take the blow on the left side.

Bam

The blow with all its force hit the wooden shield that I was holding in my left hand, but the hum from the blow was felt all over my arm and body. I wanted to counterattack, but as expected, the training blade was pointed at my throat.

"Eh...I give up." I said in a dejected tone.

To which the guard named Varley just smiled and shook his head at my childishness.

At that moment, Ser Rodrik, habitually stroking his sideburns, said:

"hm...Not bad, all you need is strength. But it will pass with age, that's all for today!"

I was about to go to the library, but Ser Rodrik shouted from behind me:

"And yes, Jon, Lord Stark called you to his place, told you to come over after you finish your business, he's at the Great Castle at that time."

"OK." I said with a nod, wondering why the Quiet Wolf had called me to him.

There's no point in thinking, I figured, and went straight to Lord Stark, I don't think my uncle would wish me a bad one. Given his honor and nobility, I would rather believe that Tywin Lannister wants to become a member of the LGBT community than my uncle would want to kill or maim me.

"Heh." I smiled, imagining how the whole Guardian of the West walks under the rainbow flag.

Under such interesting thoughts, passing by the subjects of the House of Stark, I went to Lord Stark's office.

After knocking on the door a couple of times and hearing a thud:

"Come in!"

At the entrance, I was met by Lord Stark along with Robb, who was busy looking at the shelves in the room. When the young Stark saw me, he smiled and nodded in greeting, in response, I also nodded and looked around the space around me. In general, the office was very minimalistic without luxury items, with only the necessary things.

"Sit down, Jon." he said, pointing with his gaze at one of the chairs that was opposite him.

I sat down in front of one of the most important people in Westeros and waited for what would be discussed.

"I called you on an important matter, I got the consent from Wyman Manderly, I still decided to give you a chance to learn more about the North. Robb will go with you for him and it will be a good opportunity for you to gain experience from Lord Manderly."

Lord Stark's words surprised me a lot, because I did not think that my words that were uttered 6 months ago would have an impact.

6 months ago

Today was a very ordinary day, lessons from Maester Luwin this time taught the history of religions in the North.

"Jon, which houses profess faith in the Seven in the North?" Maester asked when he saw that I was distracted.

"hm... Manderly and Whitehills are two houses that profess faith in Seven." I replied after a few moments.

The Maester nodded and continued to explain in more detail about the Manderly house, the house that was banished from the Reach due to the loss to the House of Peake. After the exile, the lands and castles were given to the House of Peake, and the Manderlys themselves arrived in the North, while King Stark gave them the lands about the mouth of the White Knife and the water gate in the heart of the North, subsequently the port city of White Harbor was improved by this house. At the moment, this house is one of the most influential houses in the North, many say that the Manderlys have as much silver as the Lannisters have gold.

After the lessons from the maester, Ser Rodrik had classes, this time I was put up against Robb and Theon, they lost, as expected, but not as fast as the first time. Then, in order to bring me down from heaven to earth, they put me up against a guard whose name I don't remember, but I lost to this guard.

I wanted to do my magic business, but alas, today I had other things to do, dinner with my family. It was at this dinner that I began to have thoughts about the houses of the North and their loyalty, at the same time, the upbringing of the younger generation of Starks scared me a little. No matter how you look at it, but the southern influence on the younger generation is very, very strong, which could go sideways in the future.

I obviously don't like this situation because I wanted to help the Stark family to the best of my ability. And when Lord Stark and I went out to inspect the surroundings, I decided to tell him about my thoughts on the current situation.

Already when we were returning, I told my thoughts about the North and the vassals in general.

"I heard you, Jon." Lord Stark told me very thoughtfully.

Current time

"After your words and a few more suggestions from the lords, I decided to send you and Robb to be raised by the Northern Houses. Today, we discussed which houses will host you, from which houses the Umbers, Mormonts, Karstarks and Manderlys were chosen first. You will spend at least 2 years in each house."

Robb and I exchanged glances and nodded excitedly.

"In that case, go pack up, Lord Manderly will arrive here in a week, and you will go to White Harbor with Lord Wyman Manderly's retinue." Lord Stark said with a smile.

"Clear/Good." Robb and I said excitedly, and quickly ran each to his room.

When I went to my room, I decided what I actually needed to take with me. To a large extent, the most important things were in my Arsenal, on the other hand, there were no clothes in the Arsenal. So apart from the clothes, I didn't pack anything.

*A week later*

Today was an ordinary day in everything except that Lord Manderly was due to arrive today. Consequently, the preparations for the arrival of such an important family of the North were already completed.

In the late afternoon, Lord Manderly arrived, Wyman Manderly is about sixty, and by this age he has grown so fat that he is unable to mount a horse and moves on a litter. For this reason, he is the owner of numerous nicknames. Two young girls arrived with him, most likely the granddaughters of Lord Manderly himself. After the greetings, we went into the Great Hall, where the tables were already set. Representatives of the Stark family and the Manderly house sat at the main table.

The feast as a whole was ordinary, of the dishes I was most pleased with the pies with mushrooms and meat. I preferred not to touch the wine, even though I had the opportunity. After the feast, the guests went to the guest quarters, and I went to my room to continue my magical practices.

The next day, our acquaintance with the Manderly house was more dense, two young girls turned out to be Wylla and Wynafryd Manderly, the daughters of the eldest son of Wyman Manderly, Wylla wears long hair, which she dyes green and braids, but her eyebrows are light. Wylla has a high, thin voice, Wynafryd also has a thin voice, but her hair is brown.

At first glance, the most ordinary ladies, they quickly found a common language with Sansa. But Arya didn't like them for some reason, I didn't really communicate with them very well, but I often saw Wynafryd watching me when she thought I hadn't seen it. Wylla was interested in Theon, no wonder the guy was older than us and attracted attention with his chatty tongue.

However, after Wynafryd found out about my status as a bastard, her interest shifted to Robb, the young lord did not notice this attention in every possible way.

Afterward, Lord Stark and Lord Manderly arrived for our sword training. They were clearly discussing something interesting from the excited expression on Wyman Manderly's face, to which Lord Stark responded with a very calm expression.

Today my training started immediately with adult men and young guys, the second I managed to put pressure on with skill. And the first ones were still beyond my capabilities.

After the end of the training matches and a series of lessons from the master of arms, we were released on all four sides. I decided to go to the library, but the kids decided to make their own adjustments and I had to go play with them.

On behalf of Eddard Stark

I still remember the day I found Lyanna dying in the Tower of Joy, and the promise I made to her... So many years have passed since then, but the moment when it all started and ended has been imprinted in my memory forever. Then I went South as the second son of Lord Stark, and returned as the Lord of Winterfell with a bastard who lost his brother, father, and sister.

Thank the Gods that Lyanna's son inherited her hair, but Targaryen's features are getting stronger every day. If only people who knew the Last Dragon had seen him... This cannot be allowed to happen, I promised to protect him.

Seeing the younger generation grow up makes me feel not only proud but also fills my heart with sadness seeing the shadows of the past in these children. The way Jon and Arya got along, how Jon and Robb create a strong brotherly bond, and how despite being raised by her mother, Sansa takes care of everyone.

Such moments are an outlet for me, but Jon's words uttered then made me think about the future. His words made me remember the difficulties I had in becoming Lord of Winterfell, and I decided to make it easier for my heir and send Jon along with him to quench his thirst for adventure. The latter became known to me when the librarian told me about the books that Jon studies. If he wants to go to Essos in the future, then he has to be prepared for a lot. His talent in the martial craft is just one of the tools that will help him, and the lords of the North will also give him the wisdom he needs so much.

And for Robb, it will be a chance to build strong ties with his vassals, which will be an undeniable plus for him in the future as the Guardian of the North.

After I decided to do this, the very next day I had to send letters to my vassals. And as a result, my vassals and I came to a decision on how the two fools would be raised.

The first departure point was White Harbor, to Manderly's house, where Robb and Jon can learn how to build a trade. After that, they had to go to the Karstarks in Karhold to explore our northern path, followed by the Ambers, where the boys should understand the importance of the Wall and the Night Watch. Then, if everything goes well, they can walk all over the North.

The day Wyman Manderly arrived was one of the most stressful, as I had to tell my wife about the choice I had made.

"Eh.....Sometimes it seems to me that war is much easier than women...."

Three or four days after Lord Manderly arrived, I decided to announce the education of boys at the northern houses. At night, when my wife and I were alone, I had to start:

"Kat, I've come to a very important decision. In order to create a more favorable relationship with the vassals, I decided to send Robb and Jon to be raised by the northern lords."

Catelyn's eyes widened at these words, and after a couple of moments, she came to her senses and said in a trembling voice:

"Ned, why did you decide to do this?"

"It will be much easier for Robb to rule the North in the future, Jon... You've shown how his presence here weighs on you, and in this way Robb and Jon will create a strong bond."

Catelyn wanted to say something, but after thinking for a couple of moments, she only nodded dejectedly.

"That's why I love you," I said, kissing her, to which Cate responded very vehemently... And ahead of us was a passionate night.