Chapter 3

298AC, Winterfell
Laleth

The next morning after braking our fast, we retired to Lord Stark's solar. Jon had told his father that we had news to share with the family, and if we could all meet in his solar in the morning. We waited to begin after everyone was seated, before Jon stood to address the room.

" Father, we received news that Moat Cailin is finally completed and habitable, last night before the feast, and we have decided to leave in three days." Jon started.

" And since most of you will be going south soon we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to stop in our new home on your way." I said.

During the feast it was announced that Ned was made Hand of the King and Sansa was betroth to Price Joffrey. They will be going to King's Landing and will be taking Bran with them, next week.

We went over the details of the move. As we had been sending our personal things for many moons, we didn't have many things to take with us. Our personal apartments will stay as they are for when we visited.

Arya was instructed to pack only what she could not live without, as we would give her other necessities like clothing. She will be staying with us until she was ready to be married. She already had a betrothal contract with Lord Reed's son, Jojen Reed of Greywater Watch. I had suggested to have him visit Moat Cailin, so they could get to know each other, and in a few moons he will.

I could tell Lady Catelyn was exited about us leaving even if the rest were sad to see us go, even Sansa. While I could understand her fears, I did not understand her. Sometimes I think her motivation is more selfish than what it appears. She was set to marry the heir to Winterfell, who she apparently loved, and knew was going to marry for a couple of years. She knew Ned loved another, as the news of his upcoming betrothal was not secret, as Ned and Ashara were seen together often. Then when Brandon was killed, Ned was made to marry her, her knowing she was not his choice, and then expect him to be faithful. Even after Ashara's death, she still held it over him, after he had been trying to make the best of things, she held a grudge. Because the betrothal was not signed he could not make Jon his heir, but he planned on giving Moat Cailin regardless, and she knew this.

Well, the north is the biggest kingdom of Westeros, so perhaps she was selfish. I was just glad to be away from her smothering presence.

That day and the next two were mostly spent packing the rest of our things, and staying away from the royals. There was something about the Lannisters that I did not like, and the King was too handsy for my tastes. I knew they called him a whoremonger, but seeing it is a different experience, especially as he did it in front of his own wife. I thank the gods we did not have to seat at the head table during meals.

Benjen, who had asked I called him uncle Benjen like the rest, also came from the Wall, informing us of the strange happenings beyond the Wall. Also about how they were in need of more men. There was a recruiter going south soon, and I had an idea.

" Why not take the prisoners from King's Landing, and then find the homeless and offer them to join. It will give them shelter, food and a purpose, you can say their service is the payment, as to not injure their pride.

Send the recruiter to Moat Cailin, and he can take one of my ships, as one of them will be dropping cargo there soon, and then transport whoever he recruits to White Harbor. Recruit in each port going down, and have whoever wants to join, wait for his return." I explain my idea.

Thinking it a great idea they agree. Eddard will speak with the King, and go from there.

The night before their leaving, I called the family to the first keep to give them a gift I had made for each of them. For Eddard, I gave him a silver ring with a direwolf with diamond eyes. For Sansa and Catelyn, a direwolf pendant with sapphire eyes in a silver chain, and a silver ring in the shape of a trout circling around her finger respectively. For Robb, Bran and Rickon, I gave them a leather cuff with a direwolf design painted the color of their direwolf and to Arya, a leather chocker with a direwolf pendant with diamond eyes. Jon also had a ring with diamond eyes, and I had made myself a locket with a design of an white owl with amber eyes riding on the back of a white direwolf with ruby eyes. They all accepted the gifts happily.

What they didn't know was all the magic that was imbedded into each piece. I had taken the idea of Mrs. Weasley's clock, and made something similar. They were all connected to my locket, it will tell me if the were in mortal peril, ill of health , lost, traveling, general direction, and home. They were also charmed so the will not want to take the off unless to adjust them, and others cannot take it from them, if someone has ill intent directed at them, they will feel them untrustworthy, if there was something in their food or drink the will feel the compulsion to not consume it and an emergency portkey for if they are in mortal peril, or I activated it directly.

I would be explaining all of this to Jon after we arrived to Moat Cailin, as I knew it would be warded against eavesdropping. It was something I was really nervous about.

The journey took us about a week, but we were finally be arriving home. As we reached the top of the hill I could finally see our home. We had been passing farms and small villages for the last two days, and we were here.

The keep was a top a center hill in the valley below, and there were three tiers; Marsh Town at the base, the second tier was where the military Hall, barracks and armory, main stables, guess quarters, training ground, crypt, main forge, and the Weirwood tree was planted in the middle, with gardens surrounding it, and a little Moat with bridges going into the garden. ( Imagine Whiterun from Skyrim, with a few changes.) Everything was surrounded by high stone walls with wooden Pike's at the top, and lookout towers looking every direction.

There were also three deep moats before reaching Marsh Town, with stone bridges to reach the couple of farmland surrounding it, and on the King's Road, but with a drawbridge to enter the town. The roads were paved and had a drainage system that all the water would go to the moats.

I could see our guards in the towers all in our green surcoats lining the streets to receive us as we passed the gate. We road up to the second tier and to the stairs for the third, where Daniel and Wendy were waiting for us.

After greetings, we passed under the wooded arches and we entered the keep, up the staircase and into the Great Hall. There were banners hanging of the balconies of the second floor, a fire pit in the middle of Hall with tables on both sides and on a raised dais. To the left were the kitchens and storage rooms and the right the servant quarters, bathing room and latrine. Behind the dais was a side door to a small Hall, in the middle a staircase going up, and to the side a set of stairs going to the dungeon. The second floor had a war room, workroom, study, library, upper servants quarters, another bath room and latrine, and four guess chambers and a great porch overlooking the valley bellow.

The next floor were the family quarters, the Lord and Lady's chambers, the solar, children's quarters, their personal bathing room and latrine.

We receiving a report on everything going on and had a welcoming feast and put the children to sleep, we retired to our solar, were I prepared to tell him my secret.

" My love, you know that I've been wanting to tell you something important, but wanted to wait for us to be here. It's more of a family secret, and because we are married, I'm allowed to tell you?" I started.

" Yes you said it was important, so I tried to keep my curiosity in check. Are you ready now?" He asked before sitting next to me and drawing me close.

" You know old Nan's stories about the children of the forest? Well, they are all true. When the Andals invaded and kept burning the weirwoods the children kept going north. While some stayed and fought, along the first men, using their magiks, some open portals to escape. Some escaped to a world similar to this, and like with the first men they warred. Only here there were other magics and it was not long after that the were enslaved. For thousands of years, they evolved, and were in this degrading servitude, most still are.

My friends Dobby and Winky, whom you know as Daniel and Wendy, are one of them. When they started working for me, I gave them their freedom, and knowing how miserable my life used to be, and wanted to escape it, they told me of their origins and how they could help me escape." Here I pause to take a drink of water.

" Is anything you told us of your background true?" He asked.

He was still holding me, so I knew we would be fine, and continued with my story.

" Oh yes! My family is an ancient magical one, dating thousands of years. They were mostly explorers, warriors, inventors and trade people. Even the recent ones, with having all the family money they liked to earn their own.

My father would have been considered a knight with trade connections because of his investments. My mother on the other hand was an inventor. She liked to experiment with magic and make new thing to help others. There was a war that started ten years or more before I was born, my parents were in the middle of it all. They were murdered just after my first name day. I was sent to live with my mother's sister and her family and was treated horribly because of my magic, at thirteen, my father's cousin who was like a brother to him, found me and took care of me like a father would, but was killed a year later. That is what made me accept Daniel and Wendy's help.

I gathered all my wealth, bought everything I would need to start somewhere different, like base materials, plants and animals normal and magical, food stuff, as we didn't know where or when we would end. This world was still very primitive when they had left. So when we arrived, we investigated; we made our clothing to blend in, we discovered that my rights were limited for being a woman, and since we wanted to go to Westeros, we investigated that. Found that the north still followed the old gods, which were the same followed in my world by magical people, and found the honorable Stark family. You know the rest, I sent your father the letter, and prayed for an opportunity to start a new life, with someone who would be good, and appreciate me, and finally have the family I always wanted." I finished

After a long moment of silence, he asked to demonstrate and explain how magic works. I first told him about what magic could do and couldn't do. How my expertise came in the form of charms, potions and runes, I could do other things but not that well. And how I had used what I knew to protect his family with the jewelry I gave them, and explained the protections, and showed him the clock in my locket, which showed Robb, Rickon and Catelyn at home, and Eddard, Sansa and Bran traveling, and Arya at MC, for Moat Cailin, him, the children and myself at home. We also used it to fortify and protect our land and hurry the building process.

When asked why he was so calm he said, " I always suspected something was different about you, but to me it made you special. And I love you too much and know you love me too, to expect something bad.

Besides, I always took old Nan's stories more seriously than the others. The Wall could not have been built to stop the free folk. It was build to stop something, it's to big otherwise. I always thought that the wildlings were just people who were trapped on the other side, when it was finished." And that was that.

After hours of talking, I decided to show him some minor things like levitation, transfiguring different objects from the solar, breaking a glass then fixing it, and being happy that he took everything so well I decided to demonstrate with the patronus charm. I was just as surprised as he was when a direwolf came out of my hand instead of the normal stag it used to be.

Notes:

Someone asked about Bran's fall. This does not happen because the tower was fixed and was being used, so Jaime and Cersei couldn't have their encounter so they were not discovered. And he will go to King's Landing like he would have if he wouldn't have fallen. Only Arya is staying with Jon and Laleth, and will be training there. Hope that answers that question.

Sorry for the long waits, my muse is behaving like a mischievous pixie and escaping me and then coming back with something new, so I've been writing everything that comes to my mind and between research and actually writing is taking too long for my liking. But I won't be abandoning the stories, it will just take longer than I thought. I started working too so I have limited hours to work with. Wish me luck!
Let me know what you think.