The Coldest Winter Chapter 4. Old Home Old Memories Part 1.

Edit: I've had to re-post this chapter after realizing a few errors i made in it, most notably the lack of line breaks.

Chapter Start.

After many weeks of riding, the royal escort had finally made their way up the neck and were on the final trek to Winterfell. After stopping for the umpteenth time to fix the axel on the "queens" royal carriage Robert chose to ride to the edge of the hill where he could barely see Winterfell. By this time his two oldest sons had finished their own personal business and proceeded to ride up on either side of him. Marriston was wearing a full set of heavy black steel armour with the crowned stag sigil on his right shoulder, Drackon wearing most of the required royal clothing but he added his own particulates of armour to them; a large grey steel shoulder plate overtop the left corner of his cloak. Eventually the third of Robert's sons made his way out of the royal carriage and was already shivering.

"How can people stand the cold up here, this is horrible".

"Get used to it Joff, we're going to be here for a while".

"Easy for you two to say, you've both got ice running through your veins". Robert chuckled lightly to himself at his own remark, which quickly caused Drackon and Marriston to in avertedly laugh not at their fathers remark but at Joffrey's misfortune.

"You should consider yourself lucky to have such a large cloak then, I'm surprised it isn't weighing you down". Marriston wasn't wrong about it either; Joffrey did have two servants lifting his cloak as he attempted to mount his horse.

"So that's Winterfell huh? Grand maester Pycelle wasn't wrong about it. It's old, but strong to have lasted this long". Drackon looked over to his twin never thinking he'd pay attention to the old maester, but many years away could leave some interesting surprises upon return.

"I wonder what it looks like on the inside. They better get that carriage fixed soon, I'm getting really bored just waiting here".

"Then how about a race Drackon, first one to reach the edge of the woods near Winterfell wins".

"Wins what exactly"?

I honestly don't know, maybe each others bag of gold".

"You're on". Drackon and Marriston both readied their horses next to each other and stared down the old track.

"Last chance to reconsider Drackon, I highly doubt War Gallop's going to be faster then Blue Bolt".

"Only one way to find out. Ready"?

"Just go already"! Robert shouted as a means of encouragement, not needing another push both Drackon and Marriston took off down the track with most of the royal guards placing their own bets.

"Lancel"!

"Yes your grace"?

"Follow the boys, there are plenty here who want to know who wins. When their race is finished you come back here and tell us".

"Yes your grace". Lancel quickly found a horse of his own and rode after the two princes, which already proved to be a challenge as their horses were galloping at tremendous speeds.

"A real prince would not delve into such immature activities". Joffrey scoffed as he watched his half brothers descend the hill followed later by Lancel.

"So butchering small animals in various chambers of the Red Keep are activities worth the time of a mature prince then"? Both Robert and Joffrey glanced back to see Edeene standing behind them.

"I for one would like to know that very same situation boy, unlike you your brothers show a much more competitive nature. A trait most Baratheon men have". Robert chuckled to himself; Edeene could only snicker as her father's words only worked to berate Joffrey even further. He responded by making his departure back to the royal carriage for a time, Robert soon turned his attention away from the boy and to Edeene.

"Now as for you young lady, what are you doing out here"?

"It was getting boring in there, and my legs were going stiff. So I chose to go for a little walk". Edeene walked past her father and stopped at the edge of the hill to see her brothers racing.

The Kingsroad rumbled with the sounds of hooves as a pair of horses galloped towards the edge of the woods at amazing speeds, a slower horse trailed behind by a few seconds.

"Hey brother, look who's trying to keep up with us". Both twins looked behind for a second to see Lancel constantly lashing the reins with little effect.

"What do you expect from an inferior breed". Drackon quickly thought up a snide remark to answer his brother's sentence.

"Inferior breed of what? Horse or rider"? The remark was more then enough for Marriston to slow down a little, and causing Drackon to bolt past him and grind to a halt at the edge of the forest.

"And with that, I claim victory". Disgruntled at his brother's joke trick, Marriston shot back.

"You cheated to get ahead, that was no victory". This merely caused Drackon to lightly chuckle before responding.

"Technically I didn't cheat, my sense of humour simply caught you off guard long enough for me to win. All I did was take advantage of the flaws I still remember you having". By this time Lancel had caught up to the twins.

"Now which one of you won"?

"You really didn't see us? You weren't even that far behind us". Drackon jokingly roared, but after learning about Lancel he figured the boy wouldn't know the difference.

"I'm sorry my lords, my hair must've got in the way for a time".

"We're princes you hopeless twit. Now go and tell our father that Drackon won the race". Lancel quickly took off back up the hill leaving the two brothers to their own conversation.

"Our father isn't wrong when he says Lancel only has one ball and no brains". Marriston was reminded again of their father's old quotes from when Drackon was away.

"Maybe he's like most Lannister's, their heads filled with gold hair and giant ego's". This again caused Marriston to let out a small chuckle.

"C'mon let's get back before they decide to leave without us". Drackon merely eyed his brother quizzically.

"Do you really think they would leave us behind"?

"The majority of this royal party are Lannister followers, so I wouldn't put it past them".

"Maybe, but I don't think mother would take too kindly to that idea". Marriston chuckled slightly at his brother's comment before responding.

"That would have to depend of the mindset our mother is in at the time, either she would abandon us to fend for ourselves or there'd be a long line of frozen bodies from here to Winterfell". Both brothers quickly laughed off the seriousness of the options and rode back to the royal party. By the time they had arrived they saw various people handing money to each other including their father being given two small bags of gold from some of the minor knights. Robert turned to face his two sons who in turn rode up to him.

"Father, should we ask what is going on here"?

"Just a bit of entertainment to pass the time, everyone here was just placing their gold on who would win". After a few seconds of thought Drackon spoke up.

"Huh, not too bad an idea. So how much did you win father"?

"600 gold dragons give or take".

"That does remind me. Marriston, I think you owe me a bag of gold".

"Damn it, I was hoping you would forget. Here you go". Pulling a rather large bag of gold dragons out of a pouch strapped to his horse, he handed over the bag to his twin and quickly wondered what he was planning to do with his new wealth but quickly decided it was better not finding out.

"So have they finished the repairs yet or are we going to be waiting here for another hour".

"No, it had been finished not too long after I returned to the king. The servants should nearly be finished setting everything away your grace".

"It's about bloody time. If this happens again I'll make my way to Winterfell myself". Robert flicked the reins of his horse making it trot down the Kingsroad toward Winterfell, both his oldest sons followed suit as the royal trio led the rest of the party by a fare while.

Eventually two carriages trailed a largely guarded escort. The first was of average size for a royal carriage; it was gold and red with significant gold decorations all over it. The second was much larger with six wheels made of reinforced iron rather then wood, it had a blue and black colour scheme and had significant studded black steel detailing as to be more of an armoured carriage. On the carriage was the sigil of house Baratheon with the modification of the black stag having ice blue antlers with frozen spikes hanging from various places of its antlers.

"Mother, you always told us the north was your home. Is it as cold as you remember"? Icarus looked out the gap in the carriage and seeing natural made snow for the first time, as she and her sisters were born just a few months after winter had ended.

"No not really, but summer is almost at an end. Unfortunately we'll be heading back south before then so we may never get to experience a northern winter anytime soon". Her answer was met with groans of disappointment from two of her daughters while Reigne turned her head from the window to face her sisters.

"I don't really care about the seasons effects on the north, I just want to see the Dreadfort with my own eyes". Edeene only rolled her eyes as she had decided not to make any verbal response to her sister obsession with all things horrid in the world.

"Is it really a place you want to see, or a certain person inside it"? Unfortunately nothing could stop Icarus from responding to their demonic sister. Quickly catching on to what they were hinting at, their mother chose to voice her interest in the topic.

"I'm assuming your referring to that bastard, Ramsey snow. For his stature that creature has made quite a reputation for himself". It was at this point that a guard made his way over to the carriage window.

"My ladies, we're heading over the final hill now. Winterfell will soon be in sight". Esdeath sighed and waved off the guard, she soon opened the window and spoke under her breath.

"Back home at last, after all these years".

Winterfell was sprawling with servants and commoners working as hard as possible to finish the final details in preparation for the king. The kitchens were hard at work preparing a feast and the halls were cleaned from top to bottom with the chandeliers candles being replaced.

"We need plenty of candles for lord Tyrion's chamber, I'm told he reads all night". The voice of Catelyn stark, the lady of Winterfell could be heard from down the hall as she made a note of all the requirements for the maester to write down.

"I'm told he drinks all night". The response from maester Luwin came quickly as he too had heard of all the rumours surrounding the imp.

"How much could he possibly drink, a man of his… stature".

"We brought out 8 barrels of ale from the cellar, perhaps we'll find out". Deciding not to dwell any further on the subject lady Catelyn repeated her request.

"In any case, candles".

Elsewhere in the castle of Winterfell.

"Why's your mother so deadest on getting us pretty for the king"? A voice spoke with an unimpressed tone to it.

"It's for the queen I bet, I hear she's a sleek bit of mink". Another responded with a bit more of a cocky attitude. All the while sounds of shaving could be heard before another voice spoke up.

"I hear the prince is a right royal prick". The third voice held a more imposing but clam attitude but with the same unimpressed tone as the first.

"Think of all the southern girls he gets to stab with his right royal prick". One of the boys stood up after being shaved and shoved one of the others over to the barber.

"Go on tommy sheer 'em good, he's never met a girl he likes better then his own hair". The sentence was soon followed by a quiet laughter from others in the room. By this time the now named Tommy chose to speak.

"Have you heard 'bout one of the guests following the king here, she used to be friends with your father".

"I've only heard the stories about her that father told us, stories about the winter witch. Few people believed them to be true".

"Oh they're true Robb, even though I was a kid back when my father rebelled against the king. I remember seeing an entire portion of the iron fleet splinter apart by the very waves they rode as the sea under them froze solid".

"We know Theon, you keep reminding us of what you saw. I didn't say we don't believe them, I simply remarked that few commoners believe them". Both boys continued to go back and forth until Tommy spoke up.

"All done, now off you get. I've still got others to tend to".

"I'm not certain Jon looks right, all clean shaven and what not".

"Oh, and what do you believe I should look like Greyjoy"?

"The scruffy look is normally more suited to a bastard". Jon and Robb quickly glared at Theon who knew that look all too well and took off down the halls of Winterfell while shoving people aside.

"You! Get back here". Most of the servants didn't have much time to recover before scurrying out of the way as both half brothers gave chase after the Greyjoy.

Outside the castle a small wolf looked up at the outer walls. At the very edge of the wall a young boy watched as he saw the royal escort in the distance. Acting quickly he took off, climbing various obstacles before leaping down to an overhang on the tower of the main entrance and climbing down.

Lady Stark and maester Luwin walked through the main gates and heard the distinct yipping of a Dire wolf.

"God's but they grow fast". Catelyn noticed the young pup staring up at the wall, and upon turning her attention to the same direction she saw the young boy scaling down the wall.

"Brandon"!

"I saw the king, he's got hundreds of people".

"How many times have I told you, no climbing"?

"But he's coming right now, down our road". As Brandon made his way down a straw roof Catelyn approached him with a concerned look on her.

"I want you to promise me. No more climbing". Brandon slowly looked down before answering.

"I promise".

"Do you know what"?

"What?

"You always look at your feet before you lie". Brandon smirked after realising his mother caught him.

"Run and find your father. Tell him the king is close". With that Brandon ran past his mother with the young pup following close behind him.

Outside the walls of Winterfell the first guards arrived down the final road to the castle, among the crowd a young girl wearing an old battered helmet made her way to and climbed on an abandon cart to see the royal march starting with guards carrying both Baratheon and Lannister banners. The three oldest princes closely followed them, Joffrey thought himself right to be the leading prince and the twins couldn't be bothered getting their idiot half brother to listen so they played along. Joffrey was guarded by a kingsguard in front of him and the hound behind him whose face was covered by a helmet in the shape of a snarling dog. Marriston was the next prince past with 4 of his frost guard in front of him and 6 behind him. Drackon was the final prince to pass with all 10 of his frost guard behind him. The girl and some of the crowd noted the strange guards shoulder plates all had a frozen heart painted on them, however they saw in white painting that 10 of them an I shape in the heart while the other 10 had II painted in the heart.

Inside the main courtyard people were lined up in preparation for the kings arrival, with the noble family in the front. It was at this point Catelyn noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Arya? Sansa, where's your sister"? Sansa merely looked at her mother and shrugged in response to the question.

"Just then Eddard stopped the child in suspect and immediately took notice of the helmet she was wearing.

"Hey ey ey. What're you doing with that on"? Taking the helmet off he motioned for her to get in her spot with the rest of the family.

"Move". Arya shoved Brandon out of the way as to take her place.

Soon a member of the kingsguard made his way into the courtyard followed by Joffrey who quickly took Sansa's attention, their silent exchanges caught Robb's attention and he didn't look the slightest bit pleased. Soon the frozen hearts entered the courtyard followed by both the oldest princes. The sight of the black armoured soldiers surprised some of the crowd, as they couldn't see anything under all the plating. Both the oldest princes were a sight to behold, Marriston with his armour polished and shining despite the odd scratches and slashes here and there, and Drackon with a very short but thick beard matching the colour of his bear pelt cloak. One of the 2 royal carriages had entered the courtyard with the rest of the kingsguard, eventually the king entered followed by the much larger carriage. As the king made a small lap around the courtyard the entire crowd of northerners knelt in respect. Stopping just shy from the two carriages Robert had to make a little effort in getting off his horse, after doing so he made his way over to stop just in front of his old friend. Motioning for his friend to get up, the whole crowd proceeded to follow their lord.

"Your grace". Robert and Ned stood in silence for a few seconds.

"You've gotten old, I can see it". Robert motioned to the grey hairs Ned's beard, Eddard only replied by nodding toward Roberts own beard which was more grey than black. Robert soon wheezed and began laughing, soon Ned was laughing with him.

"Cat". Robert moved over to give Catelyn a hug; by this time the twin princes had already unsaddled and were making their way over to their fathers side.

"Your grace". Catelyn's response was quick and soon Robert let go of her and ruffled the hair of her youngest son before turning back to Ned. At this point the door to the larger carriage opened and two young blue haired beauties stepped out of it, Edeene and Icarus chose not to waste any time in making their way over to the rest of their family. Reigne was out later but not after being silently scolded by her mother to be on her best behaviour. Lastly Esdeath climbed out of the carriage and was greeted by the familiar cold air of Winterfell. By this time both Robert and Ned took notice of her and Robert waved his arm over and returned to face Ned.

"Nine years. Why haven't I seen you, where the hell have you been"?

"Guarding the north for you your grace, Winterfell is yours". Eddard turned to face Esdeath who had made her greeting with Catelyn.

"Ned, it's been too long. I see the cold has only hardened your look". Esdeath placed the palm of her right hand on Ned's face to prove her point.

"And I see the south hasn't melted the ice in your blood".

"What can I say, you can't separate to northerner in me no matter how far away I am". The youngest of Esdeath's daughters caught the voices of Eddard's two daughters quarrelling as Arya tugged on Sansa's dress.

"Where's the imp"?

"Would you shut up"?

Robert took this opportunity to see the rest of the stark family.

"Who have we here, you must be Robb". Robert and Robb shared a firm handshake before the king continued down the line to Sansa.

"My you're a pretty one". Robert moved further down to stop at Arya.

"Your name is"?

"Arya, your grace". Robert then stopped in front of Brandon.

"Show us you're muscles boy". To which Bran flexed his right arm, this made the king wheeze in humour before responding.

"You'll be a soldier". Robert than made his way back to Ned who was being approached by 'queen' Cersei. One of the kingsguard removed his helmet to reveal the smug face of Jamie Lannister.

"That's Jaime Lannister, the queens twin brother". Arya responded much to Sansa's annoyance.

"Would you please shut up"! As Sansa spoke down to her sister again, Cersei held her hand out to Eddard. He acting in honour kissed her hand while Catelyn curtsied to her. Robert soon spoke up from a little further away.

"Take me to your crypt, I want to pay my respects". Cersei took notice of what he meant and tried to dissuade him.

"We've been riding for a month my love, surely the dead can wait". However Esdeath chose to overrule Cersei's voice.

"I shall also pay my respects, if only to see her one last time". Esdeath looked to the side to Cersei and ice clashed with emerald as their eyes met.

"Ned". Robert nodded his head and left for the Winterfell crypts, Eddard and Esdeath followed closely behind him. In order to dispel the silence in the air Drackon moved to greet Robb.

"So you must be Robb Stark, heir to Winterfell. It's good to finally meet you". Extending his right hand the tow shook hands.

"I'm guessing you're Drackon Baratheon, crown prince of kings landing". Upon the mention of the title crown prince, Sansa's world had shattered. She had been told she would be betrothed to the prince and one day become queen, what she did not expect was for Joffrey not to be the crown prince. She soon silently walked back into the halls of Winterfell much to Arya's surprise, she shook off the surprise and turned back around only to step back when coming face to face with Icarus.

"Hello there, you're a bit small. How old are you"? Arya had to regain her composure after Icarus finally stopped speaking.

"I'm 13. They say your mother could magically wield ice, can you do the same"? Icarus only took a step back from Arya, held out her left hand, and snapped her fingers. To Arya's amazement and soon the rest of the stark children's interest a ball of ice started forming in the palm of her hand. Once it finished Icarus placed the frozen ball in Arya's hand, which she quickly dropped when it started to sting and stepped past the young girl wearing a playful smirk as she entered the castle.

"Forgive my youngest sister, she has a rather strange childish personality. So, does anyone wish to show us around the castle or are we just going to stand here for the rest of the visit". Edeene spoke up as she stood by Drackon's side, her appearance quickly caught Theon's attention.

"I'll be willing to escort my lady around, for a certain reward of course". Robb was about to hit Theon for his comment but was waved off by Edeene as she decided on having a little fun once in a while.

"I'll pass on that offer Greyjoy, however I think my sister Reigne would be willing to take the escort". Drackon was rather off put about the suggestion until he noticed Edeene's own smile as she offered her hand to Robb Stark. Robb took her hand finding it surprisingly cold, and proceeded to show her around Winterfell. Theon looked over his shoulder to Jon.

"Reigne can't really be as bad as the stories say". Drackon clear his throat and was about to speak when Theon shivered as if a chill went down his back. Turning back around to see Reigne staring at him, dark rings prevalent under her eyes. She tilted her head slightly to the left and revealed a large, ominous smile.

"Mother told us a lot of stories about the Greyjoy's and the Iron born". Theon decided to try his luck on the second sister of the oldest prince.

"I remember some old tales, of how we rule the seas and the drowned gods will take our fallen to a sort of paradise". Reigne's smile slowly dropped and Jon thought he saw her eyes grow darker.

"My personal favourites were the stories about how mother was able to destroy the iron fleet, skewering the crews of multiple ships. She always enjoyed telling us about how she would hear their yells and screams for help as they flailed in the water, only for her to snap her fingers and send them all to your beloved drowned gods". By this point she struggled to contain herself as she closed the gap between her and the Greyjoy. "I could only dream of their screams, to see and hear it all in person would've been pure bliss". Nearly everyone remaining in the courtyard could feel the dark persona emanating from Reigne, it was more then enough to cause Tommen to cower behind his mother and Myrcella to wrap both arms around Drackon's right arm and keep him between her and Reigne. Theon was completely frozen in place as he stared into dark pits that surrounded her eyes. The tension was broken once Marriston slammed his armoured hand down on top of her head.

"Quit tormenting our hosts little sister. But if you want to be of any help, than a horse will be prepared for you to head for the Dreadfort tomorrow afternoon". Instantly the dark presence disappeared and Reigne looked back to Marriston with a shine in her eyes.

"Do you really mean it brother, I'm really allowed to enjoy the company of the Bolton's"? Marriston nodded but held two of his fingers in front of her face as a condition was in place.

"You must not let that sadistic nature rear it's ugly head until you leave Winterfell. Understood". Reigne pouted and dropped her head in disappointment but nodded in defeat before dragging herself into the castle halls. Arya was the first to shake off the feeling Reigne left behind.

"What in seven hells was that"?

"ARYA"!

"It's okay, I'm sorry about that lady Stark. I've only recently been introduced to my sisters new personality myself". Drackon was about to continue into the Winterfell only to realise Myrcella wasn't moving an inch. "Myrcella it's ok, as long as I'm here she won't go too far off". Drackon untangled himself from Myrcella but still held her left hand and escorted her into Winterfell.

Chapter end.

A/N: Okay so I'm going to end this chapter here or else it will become absurdly long, which is why I'm splitting it into two parts. I've already spent enough time as it is on this half so the second should be more interesting. Yes I realise this looks horrible at the moment but the second half hopefully should be more interesting.

P.S. I had a horrifying thought as I was writing the last of this chapter, a crossover between G.O.T and Monster Musume. Sounds strange but I'd go as far to say it's really not.