Chapter Twenty
Winterfell. The North.
While some of the events going on in other parts of the world remained mostly unknown about to the King of Westeros, he knew enough to know that something major was happening. The Wall had been shaken and reports from sailors returning from Essos had spoken of men with unknown weapons and flying machines. Normally such stories could easily be ignored as sailors spoke about a lot of silly things, but Robert just knew his big gut that it would be best not to ignore these stories.
"There is a war coming Ned, I know you feel it too" said Robert as she sat down with his old friend in his solar "I just know it".
Eddard could not find it in himself to disagree with this king. A Ser Davos who had served Lord Stannis was rumoured to have sailed off to Essos with the intent of finding out who had killed the family he swore to protect. Also news had reached Westeros that the city of Astaphor had been destroyed. That was more rumour than fact, but it worried the Warden of the North.
"I know" he replied "I've already sent letters to my bannermen telling them to report anything strange to me and to be prepared to fight. If war comes we'll be ready".
King Robert was pleased to hear that the North would stand with him, but he wasn't so sure about the other kingdoms giving him such support.
"I'm worried, Ned" he admitted "There are still those who call me Usurper. I can't be sure that they'll for me if I call the banners, not when we don't even know what we're fighting".
Eddard wasn't as worried.
"They flocked to you when the Greyjoys rebelled" he reminded Robert "If another threat appears they will fight with you if only to protect themselves".
True the lords would fight to keep their positions of power it was just that the king had no idea if it would be enough since he didn't even know what it was they were fighting or if it had any connection to what happened beyond The Wall, which he was sure it would do. How did you fight something like that? Would he face men or were the gods themselves taking action?
"We'll know more when we reach King's Landing" said the monarch "I hope you'll be ready to go in a few days".
So far the kings visit had been a much more sullen affair than expected with only the welcoming feast having been any sort of celebration. At least that meant there had been no trouble to deal with and Sansa at least was happy to be going south. Ned had promised to find Bran a knight to squire under and he'd considered taking Arya before deciding against it. His main concern was Jon who seemed more convinced than ever that it was worth going to The Wall as if he might somehow make a difference it whatever was going on beyond The Wall.
The Night's Watch had reported more on the matter. Some Wildlings who had been closer to this New Doom had actually request to be allowed down south in case another Doom happened. The Lord-Commander had allowed a few Wildling families to pass since they had many women with children and they'd agreed to hand over their weapons. Eddard didn't think this had ever happened before, but he would not stop women and children from finding some sort of safety even it made the lords grumble. He would soothe them and ensure that they understood that the Watch was no letting raiders past The Wall only scared families.
At least there was no more King-Beyond-The-Wall to worry about. According the Lord-Commander's reports many Wildlings had been killed by the New Doom, and those closer to than The Wall, those who had livied in villages that offered some shelter from the elements, confirmed about the sudden strong wind and that the sky had lit up for a moment. Nothing had been heard from anyone who'd lived further to the north than the villages that were not that far from The Wall.
The Night's Watch was unlikely to find out more as there were doing their best to prepare for some kind of attack so perhaps it was good that Jon would be there as he might make a difference. Or maybe he was just sending his boy to die?