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Chapter 46: hiding Winterfell
EDRIC

POP!

Bran and I returned to Winterfell and found ourselves in a scene of chaos! The courtyard was filled with wights! A few people were in here with us desperately fighting with their backs against the wall. I saw one go down and the wights swarm over him. I didn’t need to see the bottom of the pile to know he was dead as his screams ended pretty quickly. One section of the castle walls was covered in wights and on each end of that section a line of men were trying to hold them back from spreading to other parts of the castle walls. On the stairs leading up to the walls were more men trying to prevent the wights in the courtyard from going up to their section of the walls.

Bran and I started casting Fiendfyre repeatedly, immolating everyone in the courtyard, living or not. The fire quenching powers of the Wight Walkers had made this a much less deadly curse that normal and I had long since judged it safe for Bran to use against the wights. It took longer than it should have to clear the courtyard and once we had, we started on the wights where they were coming over the wall. There were flashes behind us from where Jon was fighting them elsewhere and from the light of the Fiendfyre, I could see that at the front of the line of men trying to keep the wights spreading to other parts of the wall, was Lord Robb Stark, cutting them down with his family sword, Ice.

When we finally threw back the wight incursion, it was only another hour or so before the Dead stopped coming. The battle was over! By then, Bran and I were so weak we could barely stand. We leaned on each other for support so we could stagger into the Great Hall and get some food and wine in us.

Once we recovered a bit, I stood up and Bran followed me out of the room. We had just left the Great Hall when Bran announced:

“I don’t want to go back to the room,” he told me. “Arya’s there and Margaery’s not.”

I nodded and told him: “Maybe we could find a closet?”

The one we found in the kitchen, was just being exited by that Wilding Tormund and his wife, Ser Brienne. She and Bran gave each other embarrassed looks as we passed each other. Once we were in the pantry, Bran and I fell on each other with passion. We both needed someone and each other would do in the moment.


TRYSTANE

Just before the noon meal, Lord Robb Stark called the Leading Lords together for an after battle meeting. Being his sister, Arya had a seat at the table and so did I. Lords Edric and Bran reported that the women and children at Harrenhal were safe and that the spell they had used to hide Harrenhal from other men, also worked against the Army of the Dead too. This meant that Winterfell and other castles could be totally protected from attack by anyone. Lord Edric pointed out that although his spell was a good protection, it was not perfect and the castles would still need men to protect the people inside in case the spell failed. But Lord Robb decided to bring the women and children back to Winterfell and then have Lord Edric cast the Charm over the castle.

The Riverland lords wanted to return home and cast the same protection over their own keeps. But Lord Bran pointed out that they could not use their magic to travel to places they had never been before. Lord Robb ordered Lord Edric to go to all the keeps he had already been to and cast the charm and to start this process with the Riverlands before doing the same in the North.

Ser Cassel reported that some woman’s clothes had been found in the Gods’ Wood. But no one could imagine why they would be found there and not the Great Hall.

Lord Robb also told us of how when his dragon glass spear broke during the battle and he had used his family sword, Ice, it had worked just as well. This led him to believe that valerian steel was a viable weapon against the Dead.

“It’s unfortunate that we don’t have more valerian steel weapons,” groused Lord Robb.

“We have some,” pointed out Arya. “I gave all of my men one. I guess we could give the ones from those of us that died to people that need them. But I have half a shipload of them back on the Silence!”

“And where is that?” asked Lord Robb.

“Out at sea, frozen in the ice near Sea Dragon Point,” replied Arya. “But there is so much of it, we’d need multiple wagon loads to get it back here.”

“And the snow drifts are so high they reach as high as the castle walls now,” observed Lord Robb. “The horses wouldn’t be able to make it through that, even without wagons.”

“What about the dire wolves?” asked Lord Bran. “They seem to have an easier time making it through the snow. We’ve got Summer, Greywind and Nymeria here. If a few of us rode them we could make it to the ship.”

“I’d need to make you a portkey to somewhere beyond the Army of the dead,” added Lord Edric. “Once your were at the ship, you could apparate back. Then side along apparate me there so I can portkey it all back here.”

“I need to go because I know where my ship is,” offered Arya. “I can ride Nymeria.

“I will go with you,” I said. “I can make it through without a direwolf.

“And we’ll need me to perform the magic,” said Lord Bran.

I know of a crofter’s house about halfway there,” said Lord Edric. “I can make a portkey to take you there.”

“In the meantime, you can be going to keeps in the Riverlands and the North to do your fidelitus charm,” said Lord Robb. “After lunch, start with bringing back the people from Harrenhal and casting it here.”

And so, as Lord Robb ordered, after the ‘noon’ meal, Lord Edric teleported away to Harrenhal and starting sending them women and children back via magical whirlwinds. Once they were all back and Lord Edric had returned, Lord Robb called everyone in Winterfell together so that Lord Edric could cast his spell. When the magic was accomplished, we all became confused about where we were until Lord Robb announced:

“Winterfell is located on the King’s Road in the heart of the North!”

And then, we all knew where it was.

Once that was done, Arya and Bran climbed on the backs of their dire wolves: Summer and Nymeria. The siblings and I all held onto the rope which was wrapped around the bodies of the dire wolves.

“Are you sure you don’t want to ride with me on Nymeria?” asked Arya.

“In the wereworld the Snowdrifts are just sand dunes to me,” I replied.

“The portkey is departing,” announced Lord Edric, “in three, two, one.”


EDRIC

After I send Arya, Bran and Trystane away with a portkey, I apparated back to Riverrun. I wanted to perform the Fidelitis there first, so Sansa would be safe.

POP!

I appeared in the Gods’ Wood in snow up to my eyes!

POP!

I apparated into the hall, then walked back to the room where Sansa and I were guests. Last time, I had caught her in bed with her Ladies. But I didn’t expect there to be a man in bed with her too!

“Edric!” screamed Sansa when I stepped into the room with my wand lit up.

“It’s not! . . . I mean I did! . . but I didn’t! . . .” stammered Sansa, as she held the blankets to her chest trying to cover herself.

“They just kissed!” said Mycella. “I’m the one who fucked him!”

I cast a switching spell that removed Sansa’s clothes from the floor and dressed her, while the blanket was put on the floor in it’s place on the floor, revealing that the other three: Mycella, Rosalyn and the unknown man weren’t wearing anything.

“The rest of you, leave!” I commanded. “I need to speak with my wife!”

“My Lord, I’m very sorry,” said the man. “I don’t know what came over me!”

“Just leave!” I said, as the three of them grabbed their clothes and fled the room.

“Edric! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! It’s just the ice spiders came and almost killed us all! I almost died several times and Ser Dickon saved me and after, I just don’t know what came over me!” cried Sansa.

“It’s all right, its all right! I forgive you!” I soothed her, as I hugged her and stroked her head. “These things happen after a battle with the Dead. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“So after all those battles at Winterfell, you were doing this too?” asked Sansa as she started to stop crying. “How many women were you with up there?”

“Just two,” I replied.

“Margaery and . . . who?” asked Sansa.

“Arya,” I told her, “and her husband.”

“YOU FUCKED MY SISTER!?!” shouted Sansa.

“It was after a battle, we were all drunk,” I excused. “I forgave you for what you just did. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I suppose,” admitted Sansa. “After all I did the- . . . Oh!”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Think I just had a contraction!” replied Sansa.


There was enough time before the baby came for me to gather everyone together and cast the Fidelitus charm. I made Margaery the secret keeper. There were a lot more people in the castle than I expected. Lord Tarly apologized some more, until I told him that I held no grudge against him.
When the baby finally came, Blossom let me back into the room.

“Edric, this is our daughter,” said Sansa, as she nodded towards the tiny baby in her arms.

“She’s so beautiful! I exclaimed, as I looked at our blue eyed-baby. “What shall we name her?”

“I was thinking Minisa, after my grandmother,” offered Sansa.

“Minisa Peverel! What a beautiful girl!” I cooed.

Later, when every one else had left the room, and I was holding our daughter Sansa told me:

“Thank you for forgiving me about, you know,” said Sansa.

“I told you I understood,” I said as I continued to stare into our daughter’s eyes.

“Edric look at me,” demanded Sansa, causing me to turn to her and pay attention. “Mycella lied for me. She did do it with Ser Dickon . . . but so did I . . . can you forgive me?”

“I already have,” I told her. “This changes nothing between us. I will always love you . . . and now we have a daughter we can love together.

“Oh, Edric! I love you so much!” cried Sansa, which set off our baby to crying too.

I handed her back and she put her to her breast. I watched her feed as I stroked Sansa’s hair.

“Lady Margaery told me that it was all right to have other men if I was already with child,” said Sansa.

“That sounds like something Margaery would say,” I laughed.

She laughed with me. It was good to have a loving family.



SAM

When it was announced that Princess Shireen had ascended to the Throne to become Queen, there was great acclamation from the populace! It was a source of great pride amongst the people that their Queen had fought on the front line on the city walls to defend them at great risk to her own life. It was received with even greater joy when my paper published the news that there would be a royal wedding. My Friend Jon Stark even gave me an interview for the paper in which he reiterated that although he was taking on emergency powers, as both Hand of the Queen and as her Regent, to manage the War agains the Army of the Dead. These were just a temporary measures and that she would be the Queen, he would only be her husband, not the King.

In the aftermath of the battle agains the Army of the Dead, a system of rationing was implemented with all people receiving the same ration per person, even the Queen. In order to allow more people to attend, the Royal Wedding was set in the Fleabottom Gods’ Wood. It was performed in the style of the Old Gods religion in which Lord Jon had been raised in the North. For the reception after the wedding, Everyone in the city was served a double ration of food and a triple ration of wine. To make up for the meagerness of the feast, a variety of musicians were set up on stages around the park to take turns playing in various styles. There was the Queen’s Big Jass Band, a Riverlands Jazz band, a Northern Rockenrole band, and a more traditional band that played them music that former Prince Joffrey had played for the High Lords when he had lived here.

When someone called for the “The Bedding”, Lord Jon shot a blue bolt of lightning from his hand, into the air.

“THERE WILL BE NO BEDDING!” he declared, before escorting the Queen back to the Red Keep.

In his interview, Jon had mentioned that the ‘Bedding’ was a Southern custom and that the Northern one was for the New Husband to threaten or sometimes actually injure anyone who dared attempt to enact the Bedding. He warned that this would be the case it anyone attempted to do so with the Queen.

The royal couple were not in their marriage bed long before there was another attack on the city. And our new Queen and her husband were right there on the city walls to repel the Dead when they swarmed at the walls and tried to breach the city.


JON

When we returned to the Red Keep, we went straight to the Queen’s bedroom. After I shut the door and barred it, I turned to see Shireen looking at the floor, twisting back and forth with her hands behind her back.

“Well, here we are . ..” said Shireen. “In our bedroom on our wedding night.”

“I already told you we weren’t going to consummate tonight,” I reminded her.

“I know. . . . but we could, If you wanted,” she told me. “Now that I’m you’re wife, you can do anything you want to me. . . .I know you’d never hurt me. . . ”

“You’re right,” I told her. “I would never do anything to hurt you. And if we did that while you are so young it would hurt you. Here. Sit on the floor. I’m going to teach you the meditation technique I use to suppress my urges for a woman.”

I taught her the technique, and we got a couple of hours of it in before the Queen’s guards banged on the door and told us the city was under attack. The pair of us quickly changed into less fancy clothes suitable for fighting and then rushed to the city walls to join the battle.


MARGAERY

“Lady Margaery! Come quickly!” said Blossom when she stuck her head in the nursery, where I was helping to care for my own children and the other women's’.

I followed the Child of the Forrest to the hallway leading to the Gods’ Wood where a group were carrying an unconscious one of their own.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We found her inside one of your flowers in the Gods’ Wood,” answered leaf.

Now that I could take a closer look, I realised that this one looked like a ten-year-old version of myself and was definitely female. I had made this one for Cat as a sort of prototype for the neo-Children of the Forest I had converted in King’s Landing. This one was not a true hermaphrodite, like the true Children of the Forrest. She was more like a clone of me as I was at that age. I was an early bloomer, already starting to grow body hair and breasts that were not as large as my own adult ones. But she did look more female than the true Children of the Forest, who were more androgynous looking than any of the ones I had made. I had left it in the Birth Blossom as a sort of failsafe. Because Cat’s mind was in a plant body never designed for her, I had no idea whether or not she would survive the transition to a new body. So I had told her not to do this unless the alternative was death. Looks like things had gotten bad at Winterfell. I would need to talk to Edric about it.

We took her into my room so I could examine her. She was still alive! It took a few hours of of care before her eyes fluttered awake.

“Welcome back,” I told her. “You’re at Riverrun.”

“Then, it worked? Wait! Why is my voice so different?” asked Cat.

“I made this body to be different,” I explained. “Instead of looking like me, you look more like I did when I was younger. You are now more of the size of the true Children of the Forrest. I wasn’t certain this would work at all. I’m glad did.”

“I am too,” said Cat. “If I’m at Riverrun, is Bran here? Can I see him?”

“Bran went with Arya and Trystaine to go get weapons;” I explained. “But Sansa is here. You have a new granddaughter! And there’s my two sons too.”