To Catelyn, yesterday's events were akin to a nightmare that just would not end. Whenever she closed her eyes, she half expected that when she opened them again, everything around her would be consumed by fire, and yet, it never was.
She tried praying for guidance, but her gods were silent as always. Leaving her to parse through this situation on her own. Ned wasn't helping much. Oh, he tried, but he was for it. The maddening prospect of housing these beings, and so close to her children, no less.
Once again, she found herself in the sept, hoping that maybe this time the gods would speak, give her a sign, or at least something. But when she came here, it was not Septa Mordrane that stood there before the statues of the gods, it was that woman's companion, and she was seemingly studying the statues with an intense gaze.
"L-Lady Pyra… what brings you here so early in the morning?" She knew she had to act as a good host, for Eddard and Benjen both stressed the fact that nobody should, under any circumstances, make these women angry.
"Ah… Lady Stark, Emily went with your husband to pick a spot for our home, and I decided to stay here. I saw the Sept, and my curiosity got the best of me." She said apologetically.
"Curiosity?" Catelyn couldn't help but ask. Not many people cared about the Seven in the North. Sure, there were the Manderlys, but they were an outlier.
"Hmm~ Yes. I just wanted to see if the Seven had any power in the domain of the Old Gods, that's all." She said like she was talking about the weather, and Catelyn's mind ground to a halt.
"W–What do you mean?" She managed to stutter out.
"Well, the Old Gods threw a hissy fit when we arrived, then you have the Soul of Ice… but let's not talk about it. I'm just curious about why the Seven hadn't acted yet."
"Lady Pyra… they are Gods, s–surely then can do what they please, no?"
"They can, and that's what makes their silence interesting. We've been here for two weeks, enough time for a raven to arrive from the Church, if they had received a warning, but there is nothing. Not a whisper or anything like that. Thus, the only conclusion I can draw is that the Seven do not care about Emily and me."
When she heard it put like that, it made sense. If she believed that Benjen had truly received a warning from his gods, but she or any other believer in the Seven didn't, because Lady Pyra was right, enough time had passed for at least a single raven to arrive, they truly must not care.
"If that is the case, and you face opposition here, why choose the North? Surely, the South would have been a much better choice."
"Hah~ Lady Stark, you see, Emily is a simple woman. She likes the cold because she can keep us warm with her fire. That is the main reason she chose the North." Lady Pyra said with mirth dancing in her eyes.
"My apologies… but I need to sit down." Catelyn swayed a bit and sat down at the stony bench behind her.
"Shocking, right?" She chuckled and sat down next to her.
"That is one way to put it, but I find it hard to believe. Surely, she must want something from us, from the North."
"Your husband is already giving it to us. There is nothing else we want from you."
"All you want is a piece of land?"
"Yes, but you don't have to take it from me, speak with Emily once she returns. Just be honest when you do."
"*sigh*... I might just do that, if only for peace of mind."
—
"Lady Emily, are you sure you want this? Some people already know of the three E's and where to find them."
"Oh, yeah. It's close to the town, and I do want to occasionally sell something. I rather enjoyed being a merchant, you know?" I said enthusiastically. The spot I had in mind was about half a mile from the shopping tree, as I called it. It was ideal for our purposes.
"You might want to use my services yourself when your wife's nameday comes around. You saw the things your son bought, right?"
"Aye, I did. The bracelet he got for Sansa…It's so delicate. I've never seen such fine craftsmanship. But that earring he got for Arya? Is it truly magical?" He asked with unmasked curiosity.
"It is. If she ever faces mortal danger, it will save her life and heal any life-threatening injury. It can be used only three times, though."
"And you parted with such an artefact for two gold dragons?"
"I have a treasury full of stuff like that, and other than them being pretty to look at, they are utterly useless for Pyra and me." I shrugged.
"Y-you have a treasury?"
"Oh! Right! I forgot you haven't seen my home yet. Here, this is it." I slapped my forehead and showed Eddard the shrunken-down island.
"This is your home? It's… tiny." He said with all the caution he could muster, but I saw the confusion on his face.
"Of course it's tiny, I shrunk it down, so we can take it with us wherever we go. See that tower? It's about a hundred feet tall when it's in its original size."
"Wait. How about I just show you? I mean, it's done right? The land business?"
"Huh? Aye… this land is yours once I sign the documents."
"Alrighty then! You mind then?" I was getting excited. Finally!
"No, please, go ahead."
"Yay!" I cheered and took out my wand. Got to get rid of these trees first.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" I pointed in the general direction in front of me, and the trees were ripped out of the ground, roots and all. All in all, I was levitating about three hundred trees at the moment. The island was pretty big, but clearing this much space should be enough.
"Do you want these trees? If so, I can place them at the edge of the woods, and your people can pick them up." I turned only to find Eddard looking at the floating trees with a look of disbelief.
"Eddard?" I called out to him again, and that snapped him out.
"*ehm!* Y–yes… I'll take them." I then floated them to the empty patch right at the edge of the woods, and stacked them as much as I could. Which was not much, because the roots were in the way, but hey, I tried.
"That's done. Now then… Engorgio!" I levitated the mini island in the middle of the clearing I just made and enlarged it to its proper size. It grew, and grew, until it filled nearly all of it. Then I let it fall with a dull thud, and it sank into the dirt a bit, but nothing major, just about five feet.
"So? What do you think? Neat, huh?"
"... It's almost as tall as the trees… so this tower is your home? It's…" Eddard was searching for the right words so as not to offend me, and I could see it.
"Creepy? Imposing? Frightening? Ugly as sin? It's perfect! You know, this tower used to be a prison before I stole— I mean! Before I acquired it! Legally, of course!"
"A prison? Aye… I can see that." He said after eyeing the tower.
"But a tower like this suddenly appearing at the edge of the town overnight will terrify the smallfolk."
"Ah! Don't worry about that. My whole island is hidden by magic. Unless somebody stumbles directly to the edge of my property, they won't see it. You'll see that yourself once we leave."
"You can hide this whole thing? By the gods… " He said exasperatedly.
"Yep! If I had enough time for preparation, I think I would be able to hide everything in a thirty-mile radius around Winterfell, maybe a bit more. So do not worry."
"Then that is good, great even. Let us go back to my solar and sign those documents. I'm sure you're eager to settle down."
—
There she was, Lady Emily, walking out of Neds solar, clutching the documents. She looked very pleased by the look on her face.
"So what place did you pick in the end, Emmy?" Lady Pyra stood up from where they were sitting together and walked up to her.
"Hehe~ The one where we were trading." Trading? What in the world was the woman talking about? Ned didn't mention that.
"Oh?" Then she leaned closer to her ear and whispered something Catelyn wasn't able to catch.
"... I can be smart, Pyra." The woman, who scared her to the bone, glared at her companion, puffed up her cheeks, and then, much to the surprise of everybody present, stuck out her tongue, like a petulant child.
"Heh~ I know." Lady Pyra laughed and then secretly cast a glance at her, and she immediately understood what she meant. This was probably the best time to ask her to talk.
"Lady Emily? I was wondering if you would like to join me for tea?"
"Of course, Lady Stark." She accepted, just like that.
"One moment, please. Love, take this, and hide them, kay?" Love…?
"Sure, once you're done, come straight home, though." Lady Pyra took the documents and simply strode out of the hall. In the meantime, Catelyn had the servants prepare a pot full of fresh mint tea with lemons, her favorite, and bring it to the small sitting room, adjacent to her quarters.
"Please, sit, Lady Emily."
"Thank you, Lady Stark, but please, at least while we are alone, just call me Emily. This lady stuff is not for me." It was just then that Catelyn noticed something very familiar on her face. This woman had the same annoyed expression as Arya when she had to attend to her duties and act as a lady.
"Then call me Catelyn, Emily. It's only proper." She couldn't help but smile when Emily seemingly slumped in relief.
"Nice! So why the sudden invitation? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, just curious." It seemed like Lady Pyra was right.
"I spoke with Lady Pyra this morning. It was… fruitful, but she suggested I speak to you as well." Emily just scrunched her face a bit.
"Hmm? What do you want to know?" She was effectively inviting her to ask anything she wanted. This… this was not like the meetings she had with other ladies, because those were always at least partially shrouded by politics.
"I guess I simply want to know why you are here."
"Here? You mean the North or Westeros as a whole?"
"Both?"
"North, simply because I like it here. As for Westeros… for fun, mostly."
"Fun?" She asked stiffly.
"Yeah, I want to explore it, meet new people, have adventures, things like that."
"That– I didn't expect that… "
"Just what did you think I was planning to do here? World domination?" She said with a sarcastic scoff, and Catelyn would be lying if such a thought didn't cross her mind.
"Frankly, yes, or at least something similar. I've met powerful people, Emily, truly powerful people, and they all want one thing: more power." She said with a bated breath, hoping that Lady Pyra's advice about being honest wasn't a trap of some sort.
"Catelyn, I could conquer the world, but then I would have to rule it, and to be honest, that sounds super boring. I'd rather go and start digging a hole just to see how far I could go." There it was again, the look. This woman was wild, just like her daughter.
"Pft! Hahaha~ You remind me so much of my daughter. I even think she once said the same thing."
"Then your daughter is a smart girl, or do you think she would ever want to rule anything?" She asked with a grin.
"No, not Arya. Honestly, that girl would be content with life as long as she could have a bow in her hands and a horse underneath her." She said whistfully.
"Hmm~ See? I'm not so different then. I am powerful, sure, but at the end of the day, I'm just a girl who's dreaming about adventure." Emily said with a small smile, one that fit well on her face. But before their conversation could continue, they were interrupted by a series of loud knocks on the door.
"Ned?" Catelyn called out when she saw the pale face of her husband.
"Cat… A raven from King's Landing had just arrived… Jon passed away."
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Aaaand the setup is done. Catelyn comparing Emily to Arya was something that just hit me when I was writing, and I think I'll do something with that.
Plus, Robert will be arriving in Winterfell soon, and I think that the himbo king has a bigger role to play in my story.