377 STARK TRUTH PART ONE

Unlike the previous day, Lady Catelyn had no chance whatsoever of removing my barnacle. Not that I gave her many opportunities to. Today was my day with Arya and I always made sure that she had the best time. We wet to the midday meal after our lessons and Ned was already there. He looked surprised when I greeted him and then he heard Arya's giggle without seeing her.

When I turned around and showed him that the burlap sack on my back was actually her hiding underneath it, he barked a laugh. He then looked shocked, coughed, and waved me towards my seat at the third table. When I tried to put Arya down, both he and Arya shook their heads, so I sat with her still holding on.

Thankfully, the bench seat was wide enough for her to sit and I discreetly added a thick pillow for her. I held in laugh at the thought of feeding my backpack, because someone was going to comment about me having a large sack on my back. I glanced back at Arya's extremely happy face and she had both hands covering her mouth to muffle her constant giggling.

The Karstarks arrived before the rest of the family and the old man looked the same as always, a bit stern and difficult to approach, if you didn't know what his personality was like. His sons and commanders had the same lightly friendly expressions on their faces and they greeted Ned and asked where the wife and youngins were.

Arya's giggle didn't reach them until they were near the second table and Rickard gave me a pointed look, then he laughed and sat. He appreciated a good harmless joke and he knew Catelyn needed a little humbling for how strict she was with the children.

“We need some interference.” The old man whispered to his sons.

They knew exactly how to do that and started having a hearty conversation about their training that afternoon with the Stark soldiers and how much they were looking forward to it. I had to smile at that and whispered that I would be there, as would my barnacle. That made Torrhen laugh and he started telling me a story about one of their fishermen putting a hole in his boat when a huge barnacle refused to be scraped off.

That set off a whole set of stories and only Arya and I were aware when a frantic Catelyn and Sansa entered the Great Hall to eat. They did not look their best and quite harried, as if they had searched all over, and Arya had to pick herself to stop laughing as they argued with Ned about sending everyone out immediately to look for the lost little girl.

Ned pretty much had to order her Catelyn to sit and eat, then he reassured her that Arya would be found at precisely when she was supposed to be. That made both her and Sansa relax and they absently ate the food and kept looking over at the doors in case Arya showed up.

“They both love you a lot, little wolf.” I whispered to Arya over my shoulder.

Arya nodded and her little hands reached around me to pilfer my plate. I let her eat as much as she wanted, because unlike what I was served for meals, she had to eat whatever her mother gave her and she had to eat like a lady. Plus, she would need a more hearty meal for the exercises this afternoon.

“Aye, calling all arms to search is more than some folk would do.” Rickard said and looked right at me.

I had to chuckle at that, because we both knew she would never call for any kind of search if I ever went missing for half an hour, let along for a few days or a even week. Or maybe ever. She really did not like me threatening her son's position as the future Lord of Winterfell.

“I will never allow Arya to come to harm, not for as long as I live, and for as many years as necessary after that.” I vowed, just in case my death to arrive here would invalidate the wording.

The Karstarks looked startled at the soft golden glow as the apparently magical pact enacted. Thankfully, it was brief and only they and Arya had seen it. I hadn't intended for there to be any kind of visual component to it, so I took the opportunity to cast a few spells and used some other powers to make Arya into her perfect self. She would grow tall, and strong, and would be immune to all poisons. Her skin was also a lot tougher and she would only bruise when hit with weapons, real or training. After what the men saw, I could easily pass it off as a blessing from the gods because of my pledge. In fact, I whispered that to the men and their eyes widened, then the old man gave me a huge smile.

“I think you need to join us in the training yard this afternoon.” Rickard said and reached over to his ytoungest son's shoulder and patted it. “A few sparing sessions are in order if such a young man can earn the favour of the gods before his tenth nameday.”

Torrhen and I nodded, then nodded at each other. The meal continued and came to an end, with Catelyn and Sansa ushering Ned out of the room to force him to order the men to look for their wayward daughter.

Instead of revealing the truth, I carried Arya on my back and followed the Karstarks across the keep to where the soldiers practised in the training yard. A few of the solders nodded to me and I waved to them, then I set my burlap sack on a barrel by the racks of wooden training weapons.

“What're you carrying around?” One of the pages asked as he handed me one of the wooden swords.

“A bundle so valuable that the entire keep would search relentlessly for if they knew I had it.” I said with a serious voice. He looked shocked and took a step back from it. I laughed and he gave me a pointed look, then he laughed, too.

Torrhen walked over and the page handed him a sword, too. “I've only done three stances.”

I waved him away. “Stances are only good to teach you how to hold a sword and not falter when you use it, not to fight with it.”

The page gave me another pointed look, then he nodded. It was one of the lessons the weapons master taught them all when they first started out.

“We're only sparring, so you don't have to go all out.” I told Torrhen and led him to the center of the yard. “Pace yourself, ease into the act, and don't worry too much about keeping your form to the standards that your master at arms taught you.”

Those words had a lot of the soldiers and other people there give me odd looks.

“You can worry about the little details when you know it's important, and this isn't.” I said with a welcoming smile. “Now prepare yourself to get your backside whacked every time you extend too far.”

A few of the soldiers let out chuckles, because they knew that training technique well.

Torrhen gave me a look, then he huffed and took the second stance.

I gave it a glance and shook my head. “Your foot is out of alignment with your shoulder.”

Torrhen looked down to check and a few of the men groaned at him falling for the trick. I walked by him and whacked his sword hand, knocking the wooden sword to the ground, then I poked him in the side with my wooden sword.

“I told you to not worry about the stances.” I reminded him as I walked back in front of him.

His face went red as he picked up the wooden sword.

“I'm not berating you, Torrhen. I'm showing you that learning about the proper way to hold things will only give you the basics of what you need.” I said and swirled the wooden sword around in my hand and his eyes widened. “It's not necessary to always do them perfectly when you use them enough to not have to think about them.”

Torrhen's eyes darted down when I switched to first stance, the thrusting one, and then I turned my entire body and changed to third stance and swung the wooden sword down into a perfect two-handed strike and knocked his sword out of his hand again without any effort.

One of the Karstarks whistled and handed several coppers to one of the soldiers.

“You can also ask some of the older men if they have any helpful advice.” I said and stepped back to let him pick up his sword. “Or, you can stay off to the side while they train and learn a few things they do naturally and don't realize are more useful than any formal training.”

I took a step to the right and swung at him, to make him defend, then I stepped in close and lightly punched his shoulder with my free hand, knocking his sword slightly out of the way, and I laid the wooden point of my sword against his throat using that small opening in his defense.

“I told you he was a natural.” One of the Winterfell commanders whispered to Rickard Karstark. “He spends a lot of time watching the men.”

“I can see that.” Rickard said with a smile as he watched me teach his youngest.

I sparred with Torrhen for the next ten minutes and he already showed a huge improvement. I had already told him to watch my body and not my sword, because how my body moved would give him an idea of what I was going to do. He didn't fall for another trick when I tried one, which was a huge advantage in any fight. I told him so as we locked blades one last time and he had a smile on his face.

A light applause came from some of the men and I turned and bowed.

“Thank you, good sers! I'll be here again next week.” I said and saluted them with my sword, bonking myself on the head with it on purpose. That made them laugh and I walked off the training field as I rubbed my forehead as if it hurt.

As I approached the weapon rack to return it, Arya pulled the burlap sack down and revealed herself as she jumped onto me to hug me. There were several gasps and nearly half of the pages ran off to report it.

“We have to run for it!” I told her and she giggled. I tossed the sword to the boy by the rack and ran with Arya in my arms. She laughed the entire way as I brought her to the only place Catelyn wouldn't be able to make a fuss about it. The godswood grove and the weirwood tree at the center of it known as the heart tree.

I could feel the magical power of the thing as I slowed my pace to a walking one and Arya cuddled into me. I wasn't sure if she could feel it or not, though. It was kind of a pressure, or presence, and I slowed my pace even more to almost a slow march as the giant white tree came into sight. The face carved into the bark had been there for thousands of years, as had the tree.

“And some fools say that the old gods are dead.” I whispered and the presence increased slightly. “I mean no insult or to intrude on your solitude, just stating your presence has faded with most of your trees in the world.”

The presence reduced back to normal and I came to a stop five feet away and knelt on one knee. It was best to respect powers beyond your comprehension, especially when there was no telling what could happen to you if you did disrespect them.

“Replanting them won't do anything, will it?” I asked and the presence didn't respond. It took me a few moments to realize why. “They were all connected, weren't they? When men invaded and cut them down, they were removing the fingers of your hands that secured your grasp on the world.”

That had the presence tremble and almost sigh in sadness.

“I would apologize if it meant anything beyond the words.” I said and there was no reaction.

Arya looked from my face to the tree. “Is it listening?”

I held her a little tighter. “It's always listening, Arya. They are just a little apathetic about being rejected by most of the world and sometimes choose not to hear, even when you pray with all your might.”

“That is the best explanation of faith I've heard in a long time.” Ned Stark said as he walked over to us.

Surprisingly, I hadn't felt him coming and I turned my head to look, only to see a fuming Catelyn with her arms wrapped around Sansa's shoulders about twenty feet away. I hadn't felt them either and I looked back at the heart tree. I needed to remember that their presence masks everyone else's presence if I'm also within that presence.

“Lord Stark.” I said and rose to my feed and stood to face him. I was suddenly hit with a revelation and barely managed to stop my smile, because it wasn't appropriate with how serious Ned and Catelyn were. I held out Arya to him and he accepted her without a word and Arya hadn't fussed or protested. “I wish to say something before you tell me why you're here.”

“You kidnapped my daughter! How dare you dictate...” Catelyn started to angrily say.

“Catelyn.” Ned interrupted her and she snapped her mouth closed. She glared at him and we both knew he would be hearing about it later that night when they were alone.

“Thank you, Lord Stark.” I said and he raised his eyebrows at me for again calling him Lord Stark and not father like I usually did. “Upon the unknown names of the old gods, I stand here before the heart tree and make my offering.” I said and pretended to pull a small daggar out of a pocket and sliced my palm open.

Arya, Catelyn, and Sansa all gasped and Ned's eyes widened. I flung my hand towards the tree behind me and I felt a jolt of magic when several drops of my blood landed on the bark and were absorbed like a sponge. The presence feeling increased to a thick feeling that was almost choking.

“I hereby declare my abdication of any and all rights to the Lordship of Winterfell, by family ties or any other means, and reject any and all claims to any holds or keeps upon its lands.” I said with satisfaction and saw the shock on all four of their faces. “This I do proclaim and swear, as is my right. Thus it shall be known, for now and forevermore.”

The tree glowed slightly behind me and the withering leaves on the entire tree unfolded and returned to life as their dull red returned to their blood red color. Catelyn stepped backwards at the sudden change, then her eyes moved from the enormous tree seemingly coming back to life and saw that I was glowing slightly as well.

I showed her that my hand was no longer cut and she caught her breath, scooped her daughter Sansa up into her arms, and fled. As soon as she was out of sight, the glows faded and the presence retreated to what it had been before. I also felt a small presence appear behind the tree and didn't comment on it or turned around. Either they were letting me know they were there on purpose or my blood inside the tree let me sense them.

“Jon.” Ned said and seemed at a loss for words.

“It had to be done, Lord Stark.” I said and didn't want to call him father in front of the weirwood tree, since the lessons from Maester Luwin had told me it was usually impossible for someone to lie while in front of it. Oh, that's why Ned doesn't want to talk. He doesn't want to be caught lying. I thought. “Your lady wife was never going to let it go.”

Ned sighed and nodded without saying anything.

“What was it you need to say to me?” I asked him.

Ned looked past me to the tree and opened his mouth, then changed his mind. “Meet me in my solar after supper.”

I nodded and he gave me a look I couldn't describe. Instead of concentrating on that, I looked at Arya and saw that her face was full of confusion and her mind had many questions about what happened. She just couldn't get her mouth to open to ask them.

“I'll see you tonight before bed.” I promised and she nodded.

Ned stayed quiet, even though he had similar questions, and he walked away without voicing them. I would expect a huge interrogation after supper, well away from the tree of truth. It was almost funny, because if he talked to me here, I couldn't lie about whatever he asked me about. He just didn't want to take the chance that he couldn't lie if I asked him anything in response.

“They're gone. You can come out.” I said as I cast a notice-me-not spell on the area, just in case anyone was watching. I turned around to face the little girl with brownish-green skin as she slid around the tree, as if it was a part of her.

It took my mind a moment to correct my assumption about her being a little girl and her skin color. She was short and small, yes. However, she was fully formed and had an adult-like form and her breasts were barely covered with interwoven leaves. Her hips were slender and she had a bit of a bubble butt, which really stood out with only leaves covering the important part in the front.

She had nut-brown skin with some lighter spots spread around her features like accents around her face, on the sides of her neck, and on her shoulders and hips. She only had three fingers and a thumb on each of her hands and had sharp black claws instead of nails. Her almost elf-like ears were barely covered by her surprisingly long straw-colored hair with tiny vines holding it in an elaborate braid.

However, her most striking features were her gold-colored eyes that were slitted like a cat's. She could probably see in complete darkness with them, too. She looked both harmless and deadly, which probably explained why she had survived for thousands of years, just like the trees had.

“How did you revive one of the gods?” She asked me in a stilted accent.

Since I knew she would probably attack me if I refused to answer, I showed her the dagger I still held. “Hold out your hands and cup them together.”

She didn't move until I sliced open my palm again and she was instantly in front of me and cupped her hands to catch the blood that poured out as I squeezed my hand into a fist. I made my hand glow and the cut sealed up, leaving her tiny hands full with a double-palmful of blood.

“Find another heart tree and splash half of that on it.” I said with a smile at her surprised expression. “I'm not sure what reaction it'll have if it's not mostly dead like this one was, though.”

She nodded at the obvious hint and very carefully stepped backwards, then almost moved in reverse as she slipped back around the tree and disappeared from both my sight and my feeling her presence.

“I'll return next week if I'm allowed.” I told the tree and it didn't react. I walked away from the heart tree and dropped the notice-me-not spell. As soon as I was outside the tree's presence, I felt several handfuls of people nearby. Some were civilians, a group of soldiers, and Maester Luwin himself.

All of their eyes were instantly on me as soon as they saw me and I held in my laugh until I reached my room to change for supper. I was sure the rumors of my declaration were going to be all over Winterfell before the night was over, as would be Catelyn's reaction to seeing my words be 'blessed' by the old gods.

No one would ever know it was practically the opposite of what they saw or that my blood was apparently a powerful restorative for the weirwood trees. Either that, or it had been so long since a sacrifice was made that any freely offered blood was like an adrenaline shot to the heart of a dying patient.