The Crippled Wolf: Stark SI (GOT)

Chapter 25

CREGAN STARK

The rest of the week passed without much fanfare. Sansa and Arya were particularly unhappy about their father's decision and protested vehemently against being left behind in the North, though for very different reasons.

Sansa, despite her dislike for Joffrey, was still rather enamored with the idea of knights, tourneys, balls, feasts, and so forth. She had grown up hearing tales of these things, and did not wish to be left behind in the frigid cold North. Only the false promise of calling her to the capital after a year had soothed her cries, though Cregan did wonder whether such a promise would come through.

Arya, on the other hand, simply did not wish to be left alone with their mother and wanted to join him and their father in the capital, and it had taken a promise from their mother to soothe the younger daughter that she would not end her horse riding and swordsmanship lessons.

And now it was time for them to leave. His wounds had yet to heal, yet he had no choice but to bear the pain as he leaned against the fence in the yard, watching the whole retinue gather up, until a soft voice interrupted his thoughts from behind.

"You truly are quite stubborn," and he was startled and as his head snapped back, he found himself staring at a familiar small and slim framed boy, clad entirely in green colors.

"Lord Jojen," he greeted the boy who was looking at him with those green eyes of his.

"Going to the capital all by yourself, knowing of the danger that awaits you there, I must say I am impressed," he said, as Cregan's body tensed up.

"I told you before, didn't I? I will not let my family be swept away by his plans," Cregan whispered back as the young boy looked into his eyes.

"And would you risk your life for this, carry the great burden of the future on your shoulders all by yourself?" the boy asked as he stepped forward, and Cregan's lips thinned.

And that was the biggest question. Cregan knew of the true enemy, of the true dangers that lingered beyond the Wall.

"You have changed much already, yet I ask you this young Lord Stark..." and the boy again looked into his eyes.

"Are you willing to carry the burden of the entire realm on your shoulders?" and Cregan gulped nervously at that, for which man would dare to nominate himself for such a thing.

And yet going against the Three-eyed Raven was just doing that.

"I thought that the man beyond the wall did not wish for me to change the flow of the river," Cregan posed a question of his own, remembering the dream that had come to him when he had laid nearly half dead in that cave, with Mance.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" he asked, and the boy smiled.

"As I said, you are quite stubborn," he said with a chuckle as he turned to face the Royal retinue, and Cregan saw the Queen walked towards her massive carriage with her two children, still clad in a gown of black and gold as she mourned for her son.

Tommen and Myrcella walked besides her, clad in dark clothes as well, with his direwolf Aurora sauntering beside them.

"You must have noticed by now, how his reach and influence are rather limited in the South," and Cregan had indeed noticed this.

Even in the South, he would sometimes feel the raven's influence and power, but often times it would only be limited to certain days and locations, like around heart trees and so forth.

Unlike here in the North, where the three eyed raven's power was truly beyond anything he had expected. Dreams, animals, and even interfering with his ability to warg and skinchange.

That was what had happened in the forest when they had gone on the hunt. Cregan had often wondered why he was not able to warg and skinchange during that certain time, and could think of no other reason, except that it was because of him.

And so, that gave another explanation to Joffrey's actions. One that was even far more sinister than, the first one.

That the Bloodraven had tried to kill him.

"I have," Cregan answered as Jojen Reed shrugged.

"And now, you once more go beyond his reach, having already thwarted one of his major plans to redirect the flow of the river," and Cregan gulped nervously wetting his mouth as he questioned.

"Was this all his doing?" he finally asked and Jojen Reed's eyes focused on the Queen, again who coincidentally glanced in their direction, and Cregan felt their eyes meet before the Queen finally entered her carriage as Jojen gave him a cryptic answer.

"One often underestimates the influence and power of our dreams," and his hand over his cane tightened.

"So, this was his doing?" he questioned again and Jojen Reed.

"If a King commands a knight to cut a man's head, who is the real killer here?" the boy suddenly went off in a tangent.

"The King who gave the order, or the Knight who cut off the head?" and Cregan frowned.

"The King of course," he answered, but Jojen raised a brow.

"Is that really so?" he questioned.

"The knight could have ignored the order, perhaps he could have even fought for the man in a trial to save his life," and there was a question there.

"There is a much simpler answer then," Cregan cut in as he turned to look at the boy.

"Both of them are killers," he answered and Jojen Reed shrugged.

"Well, that is for you to ponder on. But do know this, that you have made the man beyond the wall rather frustrated, he underestimated you and now you have taken many a pawns from his hands," and at his surprise the boy smirked.

"I believe you must have missed the news then. Roose Bolton's bastard was just found dead a day ago, killed by one of his, so called prisoners," and Cregan stilled at that, for he knew the real killer.

"Quite a blow for the Lord of Dreadfort, for his son died but a few years ago as well, and now the man has found himself without an heir," and Cregan wanted to have a sigh of relief.

"As I said, you are far more stubborn and effective than the raven estimated, and now you once again go beyond his reach, so I ask you this Cregan Stark do you think yourself capable of shouldering the burden of the entire world, the burden of defying destiny, fate and prophecy itself," and Cregan gulped before he answered soundly.

"I do not know, but I do know that I will do whatever I can to protect my family," he answered and Jojen Reed lips thinned.

"That is not the answer to my question...." and with that the young boy turned around leaving behind the ominous words.

"Then know this, young master," and with that he began to walk away.

"You may have stopped this war for now, but the dams shall not hold for long. War will come. It must, and you must have made your choice by then...."

0000

CERSEI LANNISTER

The mood of the part leaving Winterfell was far more somber than it had been, in compared to the retinue that had arrived there nearly a month ago.

Cersei could still hardly come to term with the death of her son and was, and yet with each passing day she oft wondered about the part she had played in her son's own demise.

When she had first stepped into this very yard, she had feared that she might not make it out of here alive, she had feared that her own secret was somehow known by that crippled Stark boy.

And yet, as she stood infront of the carriage once more, wearing a gown of black and gold she wondered just where had that fear come from. And the answer came quickly.

Dreams, she had dreamt it. Those cold grey eyes of his looking down at her and Jamie, at her children, and so forth.

Initially, she had ignore them, had tried to forget abrupt them, but as soon as they had crossed the threshold of the Trident, her fear had grown, and so had the intensity of those nightmares.

And then there was his gaze—that cold, steely gaze. As she helped her precious Tommen and Myrcella, she watched as that wolf of his walked besides her daughter, and the little animal had grown from a pup to the size of a rather large dog in front of her eyes.

To this day, she found it rather ominous, with how strange the wild animal behaved around the Stark children, and even amongst them the grey wolf of that boy was eerily strange, chasing after her daughter, following her commands without any training as if she could understand her almost.

And then she looked towards the yard, casting one last glance at the castle that had taken a son from her, and again she saw him standing there, his eyes as cold and steeled as always as he stood there conversing with a young boy clad in green.

Their eyes met, and again she felt a shiver run down her spine before she finally evaded his gaze and walked up to the stairs of the carriage, and her brother stood there, and offered his hand to help her into the carriage.

"It seems like your fears were unfounded," Jamie whispered as he held her hand, and Cersei's lips thinned.

"Not entirely. My son is still dead," she answered as Jamie's eyes dulled as well.

"Yet you and I still live," and then he glanced in the boy's direction.

"I think you were wrong. The boy knew nothing," he whispered, and she shook her head.

"No. I was not wrong," she answered as she began to climb into the carriage.

"The boy knows something, something grave and egregious enough that they are trying to murder him for it," and she still had no clue who it may be or what secret they were even trying to hide.

"Where is Robert?" she asked, as suddenly she saw him walk out of the castle, and Joffrey's death had changed him as well.

It mad mellowed him, and though she had no hope that the change was permanent, or lasting he had seemed rather remorseful at the death of his heir. And a for a few nights he had even made it to their bed without being absolutely drunk, though their was nothing left to salvage here.

Not anymore.

His new hand was with him, along with the rest of the Starks, and she frowned as she saw the lack of carriages and tunks, as horses were brought for them.

And after some words with his new hand, she saw him come towards her as he asked Jamie.

"Are the preparations complete?" he asked, and Jamie nodded.

"Yes, your grace. We are ready to leave," and Robert nodded as she saw the Stark's wife and daughter hug her second son.

"Will they not be joining us?" she asked, looking towards the Tully woman, and to her surprise, Robert shook his head.

"Noy yet. Ned wants her to stay in the capital to advise his eldest son," and that was a surprise.

"And what of his daughters?" she asked.

"They will come along with their mother. His bastard and the Greyjoy ward of his will be coming with us, though," and that was rather cunning of Eddard Stark to keep his family away from the court.

Did the man have a suspicion about this enemy who had tried to kill his son? And if so who was it? Or was this deliberate?

There were so many questions, and yet she cared not for them.

"Then why is the man, bringing such a large retinue with him?" she asked, and she saw her husband's frustrations.

"A Prince has just been killed, and someone tried to kill his son in his own lands. I won't begrudge the man, the want to keep himself and his family safe, and it is no larger than the retinue you have for yourself," he said dismissively, as her lips thinned.

"I am the Queen," she cut in and Robert shook his head.

"And he is to be the hand," and then she saw Robert look around, before his eyes landed on the boy.

"BOY!" he shouted as his words reverberated across the clearing, and it was obvious who he was calling, as Stark's second son perked up at the King's call.

"Come here," the King ordered, and the boy walked upto Robert, his cane still in hand, and as he came up there, he gave Robert a small bow

"You called for me, your grace," the boy asked and Robert nodded.

"Yes, I did. I wanted to tell you that you will be riding in the carriage with the Queen," and they were both surprised by it.

"Why, Your grace. I will be fine on the horse..." but Robert cut in.

"The master has told me of your wounds, and I wish to make good time on the journey back. So, you will ride in the carriage with the Queen," and the boy glanced at her and seemed a bit nervous.

"I appreciate your generosity your grace, but I will be fine on the horse..."

"I have made my decision, boy, and you will accept it as such. I will not have you put your life in danger again," and with that he turned around towards Jamie.

"See to it that the boy rides in the carriage, he is still recovering, I will not have him reopen his wounds because of some idiocy," and Jamie nodded after a glance at her.

"As you wish your glance," and then he walked away, leaving the boy standing there, and she stared into his eyes.

Perhaps it would be her first time sitting down with the boy, who oft tended to vanish into the shadows, and her eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down, and she decided that this would perhaps be a good opportunity to find out just why was someone so eager to kill the boy.

And, more importantly, whether he truly knew about her secret or not?

"I...." the boy opened his mouth, but she cut in before that.

"I will be waiting for you Stark," and then she gave her brother a nod.

"Don't let the boy wonder around, we are to leave soon...."

0000

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