I love your research on medieval noble households. Yes, they do have a crazy number of servants even for babies. I have not seen many fictions focus on the dynamics of a noble household so well, especially in Westeros. Haha, it probably would have destroyed the plot to have Arya and Sansa adequately chaperoned, so they have zero chance of causing trouble. If Cersei had a real household (filled with dozens of ladies watching her 24/7 and even sleeping in her room), the Jaime/Cersei plot would have derailed quickly.

You probably already know this and it might be a plot point but….Medieval marriages could be done with a promise to marry in the future and then consummation. If Ned promised to marry Ashara and then got her with child, there would be a good argument that they are married in the medieval sense and the Catelyn/Ned marriage is false with Robb a bastard. There were reforms and that changed later in the medieval period…I do not know where Westeros would fall on that issue. Maybe that doesn’t work in the South but the North still follows old laws like that? No priest needed, just promise to marry in future, and if you have sex…marriage is official but hard to prove (so best to have an official ceremony). Avya and Lyonor appear to have witnessed the promise, but they would keep quiet on the order of Ashara. Still…Avya and Lyonor complaining to others about the honor of Ashara, little birds of Varys overhearing it, and then….a big disaster potentially.

You would have Lyarra as the only trueborn child of Ned/Ashara. If a scheming lord married Lyarra with that secret knowledge and pulled the right strings to become Lord of Winterfell through Lyarra…or Bolton wanted to hurt Robb’s authority and rule in the North with this knowledge….Lol, I would be very worried about this if I was Catelyn with Lyarra being treated so well and of noble blood. A secret pre-contract was what Richard III used to say the Princes in the Tower were bastards and declare himself King.

I love Catelyn’s increasing horror over her situation, especially considering how she worried about Jon Snow in the books. Lol, you are not the supreme ruler of the household at Winterfell now, Catelyn. Considering all the older Stark female relatives, she might have some real power in a couple of decades when the older ladies die out but …. I love your world building with the Stark women and the fully staffed household. The books had such a tiny household for House Stark considering Ned ruled half a continent.

Will everyone suspect that Yadira is Jon Snow’s mother? Ned might even need to encourage it to keep people away from the idea of Lyanna being his mother. Why keep the parentage of Jon Snow secret if it is Yadira? Well, it would be bad form to openly keep a mistress at his court, perhaps? Ned did not sleep with Catelyn for a long time in this story, but if he had a Stark wolfsblood libido based on two bastards…then who is sharing his bed? :-) Ned would have the opportunity to sleep with Yadira when she visits him with his bastard kids to discuss their progress (if he wanted). Ned is paying Stark related ladies twelve dragons a quarter to care for his heir, but he is paying Yadira ( a Dornish lady with some connections to the Daynes) 40 dragons a quarter for caring for his bastard. He is letting Yadira keep her ladies and servants from Dorne but he is sending Catelyn’s home. Yadira’s household seems quite large for a humble governess. Why? Well, Yadira is teaching his daughter magic, is keeping the secret of Lyanna for him, etc., but if you do not know that….I’m seeing a very Marquise de Maintenon in the court of Louis XIV scenario (governess of bastard royal children that became mistress and then morganatic queen) in the minds of everyone. Ned is not a womanizer/playboy like his elder brother or Robert, but he was rather overlooked when he was the second in line plus spent most of his time in the Vale. Ned was best friends with Robert Baratheon and his brother was Brandon Stark, so I can see people thinking Ned is like Robert and Brandon in behavior now…..just a late bloomer.

I suppose the big question for Jon Snow is how was Wylla Fenn and her bastard son Lonnel Snow treated by House Stark? We have an older generation of Stark ladies here, so there is a chance they would know how the situation was handled in the past with a noble mother. The Fenns are a relatively minor noble house and Yadira is a minor noble so…..Jon Snow as her child would not be treated as a Stark from a scullery maid, but he wouldn’t be treated as a child from House Dayne.

Lyarra not wanting to join the Kindred is perhaps due to thinking Kindred are like Septas in the North. Berena Stark does not seem to be meek or hiding in the background sewing all day. The North appears to semi-accept Kindred magic and would treat Lyarra well as a holy woman/daughter of Lord Stark. She would probably be the one teaching religion and doing the rituals in a few decades for House Stark and that would be a powerful position for a woman in the North. Would she be stuck if she joined the Kindred? Yes, but she is in a medieval world and a noble lady so….this is her best chance at semi-freedom. She could probably travel around the North to do religious things (plant new weirwoods?) or join the Northern army for religious rituals for the warriors (do the Kindred handle burial for the Northerners instead of the Silent Sisters?)….I suspect it would be a much freer and independent life than the average Northern woman. Lyarra wants to travel to Dorne or Braavos or Old Town for fun? Well, she could make up some religious pretext (praying for the souls of the dead at the Tower of Joy? Working on an Old Gods shrine in Braavos for Northern sailors/merchants? Searching the archives at the Citadel for Northern religious history?) and have a reason for her trip funded by Ned. Also, Ned seems insanely pious, so giving a holy daughter to religion would be a medieval ruler thing for him to do. I am thinking of a recent book I read, Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Princesses of King Edward Longshanks by Kelcey Wilson-Lee. Ned did marry a Southern Lady and has a Southern looking heir with large numbers of Dornish in his court….he should try to appease the North with giving a daughter to the Kindred to show he is not too Southern now. The Targaryens did give daughters to the Faith to appease the Faith of the Seven in the past, so that is a thing in Westeros. Or, Ned does seem honestly, sincerely religious and his daughter is displaying clear signs of holiness…best to send her to the Kindred as the Old Gods clearly want.

It does solve for Ned the issue of her being a bastard but of two high noble lines in looking for a suitable marriage. Eh, Baelish got the heir of the Vale to consider marriage to his wealthy, beautiful “bastard” daughter, so Ned certainly could get her married to a half-decent major house (at least a third or fourth son) if he threw out tons of cash and political influence. Catelyn would freak out over him wasting resources on a bastard, but she does not seem to have that much power in this story. The issue would be if Lyarra wants to marry at all, especially at the young ages for Westeros. Ned was focusing on Arya Stark marrying without considering other options, but it seems like here there is a Northern religious institution his daughters can join. Lyarra is showing clear holy woman signs, so this is probably the best path for her?

Did Ned suspect the Riverlanders of trying to kill Lyarra? Ouch if so because he is super protective of his kids. Does he think Catelyn might be in on the death plot, as that would explain his coldness to her? Lol, I suspect it was a pure accident but maybe someone like Varys/Baelish, etc. sent a letter saying it was not an accident/the Tullys were behind it to cause chaos in the realm with a Tully/Stark war or make Catelyn so miserable she leaves Ned for Baelish. I could see Baelish slithering into Winterfell to try to win Catelyn away from the cold, icy North if he hears stories of her plight in King’s Landing.

So the kindred are basically a feminine solution for the Watch for female Northern bastards? Damn.

Interesting she really doesn't want to stay in the North, I'm assuming she wants to head back to Dorne.

Pls update

very confusing writing style.

i can't waitttttt

Thanks for the update

okay story, but the pace is to slow

great story, thanks ;)
can't wait for more ;)
will jon have a happy childhood?
will edd, robb and roderik live?
more please

How can Ned not see what is happening right in front of him. Catelyn is trying to make poor Camille miserable

You know, if I was in Camille’s position I would kill Catelyn with kindness. Do all sorts of nice thing and make people think I was an absolute angel and then when she is cruel everyone is like “oh poor poor Lyarra”.

Thanks for the new chapter

Will Camille ever get a break and when is Ned going to stick up for her

Your world building is superb! This North is a strange new world indeed to the southerners.

The Old Gods are very active & present here, Camille is still learning their strangeness.

And Catelyn must be really feeling it, she was such a strong follower of the Seven.

If you don't mind me asking do you plan a time skip shortly?

Again, fantastic work.

Ugh, Ned had better hold fast to Ashara’s memory. As for Catelyn, she should do well to remember that Camille is only a bastard because of her and her greedy, grasping father. She knew well the score when her father forced Ned to marry her and knew he was betrothed. And as for bastards having no dignity despite Camille’s ancestry of millenia of kings, Cat should take a good hard look at her own family. The Tully’s don’t exactly have a long and illustrious past as kings. They were small-time and only got their position as Lord Paramounts less than three hundred years ago on the backs of others. Hope Ned brings sons and daughters of other Northern lord’s to foster at Winterfell. It’s the logical thing to do to keep alliances going.