3 - Fics I Read 2.0

FanFiction.Net

Just In

Community

Forum

Northern Wind by Sage1988

Harry Potter & Game of Thrones Xover Rated: M, English, Family & Adventure, Harry P., Eddard S., Catelyn S., Words: 564k+, Favs: 7k+, Follows: 8k+, Published: Feb 5, 2021 Updated: Feb 24, 2024

2,887Chapter 3 Ancient Discoveries

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Game of Thrones.

Hello again, a bit later than planned but here we are with the next chapter, thank you to everyone for your support and I hope to make a story worthy of it.

Now one thing I have to state before hand is I couldn't find an exact time scale for the Greyjoy Rebellion so I have decided to make it the whole 289 AC. Also most of the events are vague on when they were so I have done my best.

This chapter will also see the introduction of Theon Greyjoy, since I am following the TV series on timeline more than the books he is the same age as the older Stark Children. I did look up when he was born and it was roughly the same time as Robb and Jon.

On with the chapter...

Chapter 3 – Ancient Discoveries

Winterfell, the North…289 AC...

It had only been a handful of days since the patriarch of the Stark Family had left and they already missed him deeply. The calm and steady presence that Eddard Stark radiated was a gaping absence that was hard to cope without, Sansa and Arya in particular were missing their father and worried he wasn't coming back. Bran himself was too young to really notice at present sadly and while their mother prayed in the Sept for Ned's safe return Jon, Robb and Meera had to lift their own spirits and that of their younger sisters.

But at least the burden of managing Winterfell was eased by the presence of Lord Wyman Manderly. The Lord of White Harbour was the fattest man any of them had ever seen but he had a good heart, along with one of the sharpest minds of the age and had much teach them.

And according to him it all started with Cyvasse.

Robb sat opposite Lord Manderly and carefully moved his piece while Meera and Jon watched having already been beaten and now hung their hopes on Robb to win for House Stark. Robb was tensing as he took his elephant and moved it into what he hoped was a good defensive move, however his eyes widened as Wyman's trebuchet which he had not even noticed launched a strike on his king and won the match. He sat back defeated while Jon and Meera came over and put a hand on each of his to reassure him. Robb looked up at the patient and wise face of Wyman Manderly and asked.

"How? How did I not see that coming?" Robb had not even noticed the trebuchet until too late and Wyman told the young man that would be his liege lord one day.

"Regardless of the forum in which you fight; negotiations, war, battles, politics or even assassination it is all about making sure that you only let your opponent see what you want them to see. You were so distracted by my other pieces you failed to notice me making my real attack until it was too late. Control what your opponent sees and knows and you can move them in any direction you please." Wyman told them carefully and Jon who was perhaps the most strait-laced of all of them said.

"But that's dishonourable, it couldn't be a fair fight that way." Robb nodded in agreement and Wyman sighed slightly.

"Life is not fair my lord, your father is a good and noble man and he has taught you well but you have to temper your honour with the real world. What if you were facing an army with over twice the numbers of your own? What if you need desperately to form an alliance with another kingdom but they had no reason to join with you? The real world is not black and white, good and evil but shades of grey that have a mixture of motives so complicated that it takes a great deal of thought to untangle them all. Not everyone is as noble as you or as likely to stay true to their word if they have a better option available, you must be aware of such things if you are to rule." Wyman said carefully.

Robb and Jon looked unsettled at his words but Meera nodded, knowing they were true from the history of the other world she had come from. Backstabbing ambition had caused a lot of war on Earth and that was one thing that about humans that never changed...they were greedy and proud. That greed can present itself in many ways; for love, for wealth, for honour but usually came back to meeting their own personal needs whatever they might be. As Harry she had experienced that greed in a different way, the Dursleys for reasons she did not understand enjoyed putting him down and while others could have done something about it or even been kind to him they had decided to avoid the effort and stay to their own lives.

They had let him suffer to live their own lives in peace.

That honestly upset her as despite all the knowledge and wisdom she had inherited from her past life she was still a young girl that wanted to believe the world was safe and trustworthy. As a human herself she too realised much to her distress that she too was greedy in some ways, always wanting more knowledge even if it was in a good cause.

"How can you tell who is noble and who isn't?" Meera said, not sure how to trust anyone given what she knew and had experienced as Harry. Wyman saw maybe he had been to hard with the truth and smiled warmly at them, reminded of his own granddaughters when he had told them the same thing.

"For a start, not assume everyone is going to betray you. Building good relationships with people is the best way to make sure people trust you and you can trust them too. Trust your own judgement." Wyman told them, hoping to give them some sense of security back. It was a harsh lesson but one he hoped would help them survive.

-x-

Later Meera returned to her room and smiled as her two direwolf pups came charging at her and jumping up excited like ordinary hounds. She rubbed their heads and they both preened under the attention which made her laugh, the size of them though shocked her as they seemed to grow faster than weeds. In the last moon or so they had doubled in size and were now up to her knees on all fours and ate a lot to fuel their growth but despite the fear they seemed to inspire in others especially in Catelyn they were sweet and good natured. She now knew one was a boy and the other a girl so she had named them Rema and Romulus after the two men that had founded Rome after being raised by a wolf albeit with a twist of her own.

Meera played with them for almost an hour before feeding them and letting them have a nap while she worked on translating some the tablets that they had found on the island. The runic language now was as easy for her to read as Valyrian or the Common Tongue which still unnerved her a little but was getting less strange with each day that passed.

The first few tablets she had translated referred to as the GreatJon had said the spear falling from the sky like shooting star onto the island where it had been found by Brandon the Builder. There was no indication of just where the spear had come from but Brandon had noted that it appeared to have blood on it. Through experimentation he had mastered the spear and the knowledge of runes and such that it had granted him allowed him to build the incredible structures he had.

Some described the other abilities of the spear, like apparently it sharpened the eye and increased your strength and speed to a level beyond that of a normal person not to mention you could pull it to your hand at a distance as she had already discovered. Meera looked over the golden coloured metal spear which now hung on her wall and felt even from here the energy running through it like water rushing down a river bed.

She looked to one of the tablets she had yet to translate yet when a sound of arguing from down the corridor disturbed her from her work and she looked out of her door to see what was going on. Lord Manderly was there and seemed to be arguing with her mother fiercely about something while another man looked on. Wyman then noticed her and looked over with a smile.

"Lady Meera, I found you a teacher. This is Harkoon, he is a formidable spear fighter from Dorne." Wyman told Meera indicating the slender looking man at his side, he was olive skinned with black hair and dark eyes. He smiled and bowed at the sight of her.

"My Lady Stark it is an honour." Harkoon said pleasantly but something about him made her hesitant to trust him, the smile was so perfect it could only have been rehearsed and the fact he was so deferential given that she was Northern and he was Dornish. It would be foolish and very judgemental to label a whole country of people of course but Dorne hated the Baratheons and the Lannisters for what they had done to Elia Martell and her children at the end of the Rebellion which of course met they often painted the North who fought for the former with the same brush. If he was paid a Dornish man might work for House Stark but would not try to be so obviously charming, if it got back to Dorne he would find work there difficult...unless he was supposed to ingratiate himself she thought with suspicion but wondered if Lord Manderly's earlier words were since affecting her so decided to watch him carefully.

However the stern and angry voice of her mother broke her from these thoughts of spies or the like.

"Absolutely not!" She said with her face becoming red with anger. "It is bad enough that she brought those beasts here and accused the septa of falsehood but she will not be learning to fight! No man will want a woman who does not know her place in the household."

Meera, Lord Manderly and even Harkoon stared at Catelyn with astonishment for a moment that she had said that, Meera's eyes narrowed before answering in a far calmer voice than her mother.

"I don't know what grandfather was thinking raising you with such unrealistic ideas but either way I will not be caught short if any of the bandits or occasional wildlings that roam this land find me. Women warriors have existed long before any silly ideas of them only being good for running the household or having babies started, in case you have forgotten mother Lord Manderly's son has only girls for heirs himself. I am sure that when the time comes Wynafryd Manderly will rule White Harbour with the same integrity and intelligence as her grandfather...she will not need a man to tell her what to do and run it all for her. She will probably marry but she will rule and while Robb will of course take our father's place in due time, I will support him in any way I can. As an advisor, as a sister and as a warrior. And as for the Septa, that you believe that a figure of a holy order can do no wrong or never lie is a bad sign of how well you judge people and how gullible you are."

Her words brought complete silence and Catelyn's mouth just hung open while her words were taken in. Wyman smiled, seeing a kindred spirit to his own granddaughters in Lady Meera, thinking very much that she was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Harkoon meanwhile was intrigued at the infighting between the house and knew that this inner conflict who interest his true employer Prince Doran Martell very much.

The following morning Meera stood in the yard with the other men and boys left behind to guard the North and Winterfell, dressed in her leather training clothes and waiting for her instructor. Harkoon arrived after a short wait and was taken aback by the strange golden spear Meera was holding.

"I must admit my lady I have never seen the likes of your spear before, may I?" He asked, reaching for it and instantly given her suspicions about him she was reluctant to let him touch the spear. There however was another reason for her reluctance, one of the tablets she had translated had spoken of a defence in the spear that would not allow anyone other than its chosen wielder (namely her) to touch it. So far she had not managed to discover just what this was and didn't want to risk someone else being hurt or perhaps even dying as it could well be.

"Maybe another day Ser Harkoon, I am eager to start." She told him with a bright smile, he did seem put off by her words but took his own ash-wood spear out and began the lesson.

"A spear is always a two handed weapon, at close quarters it is a bad option for many but its reach is its true blessing. It allows you to put your full strength behind each jab like so." He said and with a well honed thrust, jabbed his spear clean through the gaps in an armoured dummy that he had set up. "Each jab can kill if one is of good eye and movement, first though you must develop your base." He told her and she looked at him confused.

He laughed at her confusion which she did not allow to annoy her before her explained.

"For a thrust to have the power required you must create a solid base with your feet, so that you can put all your energy into the strike." He told her, showing her how his thrust was weaker with a bad placement of his feet being too close together.

Meera nodded and stood with her feet a little wider like he had shown her and then launched a thrust of her own. What surprised both of them was the jab not only hit the right spot on the dummy but actually penetrated right through it. They both blinked in shock for a moment at the amount of force she could put behind her strikes before Harkoon said with a look of uncertainty.

"Well done my lady, you grasp the lesson well. So do as I do." He told her and with his own spear started showing her some more techniques, watching her closely wondering why a girl so young could stab with such force.

-x-

Later that afternoon Meera sat alone in the Godswood, she had her hand firmly on the Weirwood desperately trying to contact the Three Eyed Raven who she hoped would be able to shed some light on the spear but while she could sense his presence he seemed to be ignoring her. She frowned with annoyance as she desperately needed help with this and the old man seemed to not be bothered.

Sighing with irritation she instead practised her warging and greensight, which had improved a lot over the years she had been practising. While her dreams of the future were extremely hard to read in any case her ability to put herself in and control animals had progressed immensely, she could already see through the eyes of the rats, mice, owls, ravens and other animals that scurried or flew around her and smile at the sensations she felt from them.

Outstretching her hands she got two small ravens to come and eat the food she had brought for them. They had hatched here she thought with a smile and she had been seeing through their eyes all their lives. She could like her two direwolves see through their eyes in her dreams when she slept, knowing she had a lasting bond with them.

She had named them Freyr and Freyja although the origin of the names or what had made her call them that escaped her. It had nothing to do with House Frey she thought with a shudder, that house was best stayed away from if possible. Winterfell received a letter almost every moon with Old disgusting Walder Frey asking father to take a half dozen of his get for fostering and even worst to betroth her and her siblings to his many sons and daughters. While she had never seen the Old Lord of the Crossing a few of his children had come to Winterfell in person to deliver their father's messages and their weasel like faces sent a shiver of revulsion through her. She had never been one to judge people by their looks but the greedy and lecherous looks in their eyes when they had cast eyes on her, Sansa and even Arya was enough to repulse her straight away.

It made her decide there and then to avoid dealing with House Frey at all costs.

Seeing the sun dipping below the horizon made her rise, letting her two ravens return to their nest while she likewise returned to her room. Changing into her nightdress she looked over at the tablets that still had to be translated and vowed as she climbed into bed to make a concentrated effort on them tomorrow morning.

So before the sun had even risen Meera got up and while she waited for the kitchen to get ready for the morning meal she decided to translate some of the tablets. The first one she picked was about the lands north of the Wall. It detailed some of the tribes that had existed around that time and she was about to discard it for another when she caught a reference to some caves in the mountains north of where the Wall was being built.

They had apparently many large veins of gold that Brandon had hoped to one day exploit but other matters had apparently taken his attention especially as they were on the other side of the Wall. Meera suddenly grew excited as despite their apparent location if this information was accurate then there was a potential fortune laying just outside their borders. She concentrated intently on the details it gave as to where these caves where and found that it mentioned many of them lay between the chasm known as the Gorge and a great pass through the mountains from one side to another. Using the measures Brandon had used was awkward given how imprecise they were and she did not know how they translated to modern ones but by her reckoning they lay after The Gorge crossed by the Bridge of Skulls and continued on to the Skirling Pass.

She was almost ready to go rushing to Luwin and her brothers with this news but then stopped when the implications of where the gold if it existed was hit her, Beyond the Wall a wild and dangerous land that was full of dangerous tribes. She deflated as she realised that this new discovery was potentially something that could really help her homeland but they had no real way of exploiting it.

Perhaps she reasoned they could if they find the veins they could construct a fortress around it and transport it back through the Wall by the bridge. However the costs of such a thing not to mention finding people to mine the gold would be incredibly difficult to overcome, after a time the gold would help pay for the expense but at first they would be paying for it all and it would be far from cheap. The Winterfell and other Northern coffers were doing far better these days with some of the ideas she had brought it wouldn't be enough for the long term.

Then she suddenly had an idea.

The Valyrian Steel Armour in the Crypts...it was incredibly valuable so if they could sell it...it could maybe cover the cost of starting to mine the gold.

She pondered for a moment, wondering how they were going to manage such a feat or get that kind of money from the sale not to mention it didn't answer just how they were going to find people to mine the gold. Her father wouldn't she knew touch it without a plan of how it could be achieved within their means, so she decided to keep this to herself for now until she had thought it out more.

-x-

Later, after eating her morning meal with her family she returned to the yard to practice with her siblings, Harkoon watched as she used a wooden staff to do the defensive twirl he had taught her again and again till it became faster and less uncertain with each repetition. Jon stood nearby with a wooden training sword waiting for the signal from Harkoon to attack and see how well she was able to use it.

Just as she was mid way through the twirl Harkoon nodded and Jon attacked, rushing forward and stabbed his wooden sword in her direction, which Meera blocked and diverted with the staff. She smiled a little at his move, bless him she thought he was so afraid of accidentally hurting her that he went for a move that if she failed to stop it wouldn't hurt her.

This was why her mother's attitude towards Jon upset her, Jon was the sweetest, most honourable boy you could ever hope to meet. He was polite and kind to the point of it being a flaw and would never betray their family, he would be happy to spend his entire life in service to their family and had even dreamed of going to the Night's Watch to serve the North and the Starks rather than try to build a life of his own elsewhere.

While she was against this of course because she thought it was a waste of his obvious talents she would not force him to do anything against his will. She just hoped that he could find something else to do with his life before he gave it all away to the Wall.

"Jon, I'm no simpering little lady. Actually try to hit me." Meera said with a daring smile that many would say was almost devilish. Jon gulped, not sure if being here was such a good idea any more but swallowed his nervousness and began to try and strike at his sister.

Meera smiled and began to use the staff which was doubling for her spear to deflect his attacks or try for occasional jabs. All the people that came by the yard eventually stopped whatever they were doing and watched the young ones train, seeing the young Lady Stark and Snow was rare and the promise that they both showed as fighters made many wonder which would be better. Several people exchanged private bets, wagering their money on the winner.

Meera smiled as she managed to get a jab to Jon's leg, a 'wound' that would be disabling if it happened in a real fight when she was startled by a similar jab to her back. Turning around she saw a sheepish but proud looking Robb standing there with a training sword.

"That's cheating!" Meera said with indignation as she saw the smirk on Harkoon's face, knowing he had used Jon as a distraction for her while having Robb in the wings. Harkoon merely kept smirking as he told her.

"Life is not fair my lady, neither is battle. An unforeseen attack will kill you just as well as one you can see coming and is much harder to defend against. Keep moving when you fight and be mindful of the land around you, being aware of your surroundings will give you an edge in a fight." He said smugly, a thing that annoyed her but she knew in her heart he was right. She gritted her teeth and readied herself to continue, giving both Jon and Robb an impatient look before saying.

"Well come on then."

Robb and Jon shared a look of uncertainty, knowing they were both likely to have bruises after this from the look in her eye but readied their swords and charged her. Meera began again to twirl her staff again now with far more intensity as she was determined to master this, she might have lost the first round but she would not she swore to herself forget the lesson.

-x-

A few weeks later Meera was working on mastering her spear's strange powers in the Godswood. It was clear from the tablets that Brandon had been able to do far more with it that call it to his hand, understand runes, strengthen the body/reflexes and make his warging stronger. It made references to being able to command storms, Brandon used this power or so he claimed in the tablets to make most of the North bend the knee in his lifetime. What exactly he meant by 'command storms' wasn't clear and hopefully would be explained in more detail in other tablets, however one thing she had learnt that it would require an offer of blood every time she used its greater powers. Animal or human it didn't matter but it would need feeding and the greater the usage the bigger the fuel required.

Meera was a little uncomfortable about that, killing just to empower the spear was something seemed selfish and cruel. Father taught that killing was something that they only did when absolutely necessary, like the men that broke their oath to the Wall and fled or those that had killed others. Animals likewise in her opinion should only be killed for food or occasionally for clothes if needed.

She just hoped to never need to do it.

Still today she had decided to share her secret, some of them anyway with her siblings. Robb and Jon certainly as she thought with worry that Sansa at present won't be able to handle it. Besides she had begun to suspect Jon and Robb had the same powers as she did, it was more feeling she got when she was around them or their father and sisters. A warm almost primal feeling that she felt every time she was near them, one that was absent around everyone else.

So when the two of them finally got there she smiled and asked them.

"Put your hands on the tree and tell me what you feel."

They looked confused but did as she said seeing no harm in it, putting their palms on the white bark and frowning when they felt something they hadn't really noticed before.

"You feel that? That warm feeling you get? That's magic." She said with a smile. "And it is in every member of the Stark bloodline."

They both pulled their hands away from the bark in shock at what she had just said, Jon especially looking surprised and worried before she told them to hopefully alleviate whatever fears of magic their mother had instilled in them.

"Magic is the life-force of the world and for those that can feel it like us, the gateway to see in ways others cannot. Like through the eyes of animal, to run like the wolf or fly like a bird. To get glimpses of the past, present and future." She told them and the idea of doing those things obviously appealed to them by the interested look in their eye but Jon suddenly looked uncertain.

"But the Seven what they say about magic..." He said sounding afraid again and Meera felt anger again for their mother putting these stupid ideas in their heads before telling him.

"The Seven don't have magic, never have. Magic is beyond them and they can't understand it...and what people are scared of they try to destroy. They want to destroy everything that is out of their view of the world like how Lady Stark doesn't trust you Jon because how they think children born out of marriage are evil or that me, Sansa and Arya are only supposed to get married, have children and sew." Meera said bluntly her own anger at the Seven and their foolish ideas.

Robb bless him she thought realised that Jon was looking unsettled and put an arm around him which Jon definitely needed. He did his best to look confident and said.

"We are of the North, of the Old Gods and in the North you are our brother and nothing anyone says will take that away." Rob said trying to look like their father and it was strange but adorable to see him trying. Meera likewise came over and gave Jon a hug to help reassure him, he hesitated at first but quickly returned it.

They stayed like that for awhile, not learning anything that day but it was a beginning all the same.

Old Wyk, The Iron Islands...

Ned swung his sword hard into the body of an Ironborn as they stormed the shores of Old Wyk, he was once again caught up in the chaos of battle and he hated every moment of it. He had used what ships he had to mount an attack on Old Wyk in the hopes it would force the Ironborn to retreat from the south and allow the rest of the kingdoms a chance to breathe. An unusually daring tactic from him many thought and his lords had been surprised when he suggested it...he had been surprised but when he had looked at the maps the idea had just appeared in his mind as if from nowhere and while he was not a man prone to fancies or daring plans but it had seemed in the back of his mind that it was important. Perhaps his daughter's boldness was rubbing off on him he thought with slight mirth.

And easier he realised as they landed to little opposition as most of their men were south with the rest of their people.

He was he thought with anger, not a man of war but of peace and more than that a father, he was separated from his children because of these fucking thieving, rapists Ned thought with fury that they had to be such a pathetic group of human beings. He saw a man baring the seal of House Drumm charging at his men, he was a much taller than Ned and had arms that were almost as thick as the Mountain's. Taking the head of one of his own men with an axe, a man that Ned knew had three sons at home the same age as his own made Ned mad and he charged the large man.

Ned met the man as he was about to slam his axe straight into another of his men, he was so focused on that he failed to notice Ned coming which cost him his life. Ned swung Ice with all the force he could muster and buried the enormous blade straight into the man's chest. He gasped as his lungs filled with blood but was thrown sideways as Ned wrenched the sword free.

Suddenly the men of the House Drumm started fleeing the battle which surprised him a little even though they had hardly been decent warriors to begin with. Turning he saw the GreatJon standing proudly with the head of Lord Dunstan Drumm in one hand and the ancestral sword of House Drumm Red Rain in the other.

Ned smiled slightly, hoping this gambit was worth it and hoped that holding Old Wyk would bring about a faster end of this uprising.

Still while he was seeing to the bodies of the men that died, including the Guardsman who had three sons at home Ned was struck by an idea. A way he could tie the North closer together and ease the concerns about his southern wife as despite being in the role of Lady Stark for years many Northern lords did not like Cat.

He would invite the children of other lords to visit several times a year, maybe even foster some of them to build stronger ties of friendship. Ned just hoped it worked as for some reason he felt in his bones that trouble was coming and the North would need to stand united.

Winterfell, the North…A Moon Later...

With her two growing direwolves nearby Meera was in Godswood practising with Gungnir which was the only place in Winterfell where she could practice with her spear in peace. Namely exploring the powers that lay within it.

She threw the spear into a target she had set up and it landed dead centre, she smiled as she called it back to her hand the spear pulling itself free of the target and flying straight back to her. She was growing more confident at using it and more at ease with its powers, she had even learned just what it had meant by 'command the storms'.

Brandon despite years had not managed to learn much about Gungnir beyond what it could do however he had discerned that it had been reforged with another weapon of the gods as he put it to give it greater power perhaps by the gods themselves. That weapon had the ability to control the winds, rain, summon thunder and lightning and other elements of the weather. For those powers however it needed blood to give it the strength, animal or human but that was only because humans lacked the kind of magical strength to fuel those powers on their own.

Only gods had that kind of power.

Meera was surprised at the idea that someone had been so desperate to make such a weapon that they had mixed it with something else, what kind of enemy had they been facing that would require something like that? She thought with worry, they had been gods what enemy had they to fear?

She put those thoughts aside though and continued to practice her fighting stance, unaware she had an audience.

Not far away Catelyn watched with horror as her daughter...a child of her blood used magic!

Horrible ungodly magic! She nearly screamed with disgust and fear.

She had always regardless of their differences just thought of Meera as being a difficult and wild child! One that needed an extremely firm hand to be made into a lady worthy of running her future husband's home and baring his children before teaching them to be proper lords and ladies too. Now she was seeing her worst nightmare, one of her children...her eldest daughter...cursed with such unholy power.

It was like her dreams were coming true she thought with a shudder.

What she meant by that was her most recent dreams, before she had always feared seeing the bastard usurping her sons and taking Winterfell away from them. Now however in the year or so since that terrible spear had come into her home other dreams had taken their place.

She was sitting in the hall of Winterfell eating a peaceful meal with her husband and the rest of her children before Meera had stormed into the hall with her spear in hand, she had watched powerless as Meera with demonic looking eyes had impaled her own father through the heart and then turned on her scared siblings.

Robb cut down before her poor boy had a chance to rule.

Sansa, so pretty before she could become a woman.

Arya, so full of life and energy.

Bran, so little he could still be carried in her arms.

All had cowered and begged her for mercy but she had laughed a laugh so cold and terrible even Tywin Lannister could not have done any better or his beast the Mountain. Catelyn with tears in her eyes had watched it happen before the bastard had appeared and kissed Meera like a lover rather than a brother which she eagerly returned. The two had committed incest in the blood of their own family right before her eyes.

Then there was that terrible inhuman voice that she always heard in these dreams, wondering it was one of her gods trying to warn her that this was an event to come.

"You know what you must do. To save your children...the girl must die."

Whenever she heard that voice an image in her mind came of a giant of a creature that looked only vaguely like a man. One with fire for hair, red skin and a horns sprouting from his head. However that lasted only a moment before being replaced by a tall kindly looking man with a large smile and surrounded her with a pleasant and welcoming feeling, feeling much like the Father to her. She had tried to ignore them but slowly they had started to gain a foothold in her mind and fears.

She had merely thought them dreams of her worst fears being brought to life but after seeing the damned girl with her horrible spear she knew that they were real, to save her children she had to do something Catelyn thought with terror.

But the thought of killing her eldest daughter, of raising a knife or poison to her second born child, one that she had fed at her own breast...she felt her will dissolve.

Whatever she was Catelyn thought with depression at her own lack of will, Meera was still her daughter and it was a fight against her own nature as a mother to hurt her...to kill her.

But all the same she rallied, she had to do something she thought desperately.

She had to get her away from the rest of her family.

But that she realised with dismay was going to be difficult, Ned would never agree to sending her south to become a septa. That option however much she hoped might lead to her daughter's salvation would never work so she would need to think of something else.

Fostering might work she thought with hope, finding a southern family who could tame her daughter would be hard but it was perhaps the safest option after the first.

However there was she then realised a much more likely option...betrothal. To which family she wasn't sure but it would get her away from Winterfell and limit her power. She vowed to broach the subject with Ned when he returned from the war, he could hardly object she reasoned to merely 'considering options'.

-x-

A few days later Meera sat with Jon and Robb as they learned strategy from Lord Wyman who showed them once again that controlling an enemies' focus was key to manipulating them, letting them know and see what you want them to see and nothing else. Robb and Jon she thought with worry seemed to have a problem with deception, they weren't able to keep a secret for very long being far too much like their father...to honourable for their own good.

Meera worried that if they had to fight in war or play 'the game' as Lord Wyman put it they would be crushed by its nature...deception and manipulation were key to it and they just couldn't do it. She was realise though from his lessons that honour while it had its place had to sometimes take a lesser role in the case of survival. She was a novice at this despite what knowledge she had in her head...like someone who had been been shown how to wield a sword but never allowed to actually hold one.

All the theory with no experience.

Watching as Maester Luwin lost another game of Cyvasse to Lord Wyman she then decided to change the subject away from this.

"I just translated another of the tablets, Brandon the Builder apparently discovered deep gold veins in the mountains north of the Wall." She told them slowly, making sure she had their attention. They all looked at her with surprise.

"Are you sure my lady?" Lord Wyman asked, wondering if they was some kind of jape like his own granddaughters often played on each other. Her brothers and the maester seemed surprised so it was not planned with them he realised if it was a farce.

"Very sure Lord Manderly, it gives clues about where to find them and according to him they run deep." Meera reassured him and let the information sink in for a moment, hoping that maybe they might have ideas to help exploit this new resource. They all frowned as gold they all knew was extremely valuable and could make the North as rich as the Westerlands but it was problematic to mine beyond the Wall.

"But the Wildlings will make finding people to work the mines difficult Lady Meera, not to mention defending such places from Wildlings attacking." Lord Wyman said sadly, not wanting to break the girl's idea but thinking it was hopeless to even try. Jon and Luwin likewise nodded in agreement but Robb with his brow furrowed with thought then made a suggestion that shocked all of them.

"What about recruiting Wildlings to mine the gold and defend the mines?"

Meera blinked in surprise at his idea and he then feeling rather nervous expanded on it.

"Well they can't all be terrible can they? Some of them would jump at the chance to work for a chance to come south of the Wall surely?" He said wondering if it was even remotely a good idea to suggest such a radical idea but Meera smiled and told him.

"Robb that's perfect, a chance to find easy and cheap labour not to mention control the flow of Wildlings into the North. The Night's Watch could aid us and if the gold is as plentiful as the tablet says we could even hire some sellswords from Essos to help with the mines defence at least at first." Meera said not believing she hadn't thought of that before. Granted it still had a lot of problems but it was a start, Robb was right not all the Wildlings could be cannibals or monsters surely? There must be some who would be willing to work the mines for a couple of years to get a free pass into the North, it was worth considering at least.

Lord Wyman meanwhile looked extremely worried about how that idea might be received by the other Northern lords, wildlings were hated for a reason and it had endured for thousands of years. They would surely not want a route being opened for the wildlings to come south but then Wyman reasoned if they allowed it they could all become very rich not to mention control the flow of wildlings coming in.

There was another problem though that he realised would need to be addressed.

"While if these mines exist Lady Meera they could bring great fortune to the North it would take a great deal of gold to start such a project in the first place. Even if all the Northern houses joined together it would still be I fear too great to manage." Wyman told them but instead of being angry or annoyed like he expected Lady Meera just smiled at him.

"I think we have already got that covered Lord Manderly, has your son Wendel mentioned what we discovered on the island?" She asked not sure if Ser Wendel had informed his father or not of the armour. However Wyman nodded and said.

"He told me of the dragon and his rider...and the armour." He added and Meera nodded with excitement.

"While having it would a grand symbol of status for any house if we sold the armour that would more than pay for starting the mine and more besides." She said seeing a more viable plan take hold. Wyman looked at her, once again amazed by her intelligence given her age but since it had only helped the North and his own house he was glad to have someone like Lady Meera here than rotting away in the South.

"If we approached the Iron Bank to aid with the sale it could net us a greater price by finding more potential buyers, it might cost us something in commission but for the money this suit could bring in they would surely want to assist us." Wyman said now seeing that even without the mines which he would write to Lord Commander Mormont to check for this plan could bring a great deal of wealth to the North.

Pyke, the Iron Islands...Ten Moons since the start of the Greyjoy Rebellion…

King Robert Baratheon had been glad when the Greyjoys rebelled, an odd thing given they were rebelling against him but he had been extremely bored since the end of the last war. He was a warrior, pure and simple who liked nothing more than smashing his war hammer into some man's chest. The day he had done that to Rhaegar Targaryen was still the happiest moment of his life and he relived it every night.

After that war had ended however he had been a broken man; his dearest Lyanna was dead, Ned was stuck in the North and he was trapped as a king with the most horrible cold bitch you could imagine as a queen. This was never what he had ever wanted for his life, politics, running all of Westeros.

It was his worst nightmare.

The Greyjoy Rebellion however had granted him a brief moment of respite, he had been able to fight again. Swinging his war hammer was no longer as easy as it had been years ago he knew with shame, given the weight he had gained but he could still do it and the thrill of battle was all the excitement he needed to get going.

He had been thinking he would have to fight all along the coast of Westeros to get rid of the Ironborn but then Ned had shocked him by attacking the Ironborn at home while the fuckers were all south, taking and holding Old Wyk in a surprise attack while launching a few small raids on the other islands. It was so out of character for Ned that Robert had not believed it at first but when all the other Ironborn houses had turned tail and fled back home to protect their lands it had left the Greyjoys and the few men that stayed with them depleted.

So when he had fought them along the coast it had been easy to beat them, he would have been annoyed if it was anyone other than Ned but the satisfaction he got swinging his hammer into Rodrik Greyjoy's chest at Seagard more than made up for it. With Stannis defeating the remaining Greyjoys at the Fair Isle they had just had to sail to the Islands and press their invasion.

All of the islands even most of Pyke itself had already fallen, only one last bit of Balon Greyjoy's pathetic kingdom still held out...the man's own castle.

To that end all his forces had assembled at the siege and were now ready to storm the castle and end this war. It was almost depressing as he himself could not lead the vanguard, he dearly wanted to but everyone had refused to let him...he dearly wanted to remind them that he was king and could do as he pleased but Jon Arryn had given him the same look he had when growing up at the Eyrie and he had fallen silent.

However the benefit of which he thought with a smile was that he could spend a little time with his best friend in the whole world.

"Its been too long Ned, gods know I am up to my fucking neck in blondes at Kings Landing. Tywin Lannister keeps forcing them on me, hells even my own children are bloody blond." Robert said as he shared a drink with Ned who just smiled that little grin of his and said calmly as ever.

"You can always visit Winterfell any time you wish Robert." Ned said knowing Robert would probably be up there every other moon if he could. "And I could visit you in Kings Landing more often."

"Bloody hell I hope so, but I have to ask what made you risk an attack on Old Wyk? I thought you would come south and join up with us to force the fuckers out." Robert asked a little too into his cups now but Ned with much practice ignored his concerns for how much his friend drank.

"I guess my own daughter is giving away some of her boldness." He said with a chuckle, seeing Robert look at him confused he explained. "My eldest daughter Meera, honestly that girl I think has too much will, to strong a mind and not enough common sense. She is easily smarter than most maesters but has so much focus. Half the time its a struggle to keep up with her." Ned told his best friend who laughed.

"At least she has a mind and will, my little shit still cowers behind his mother's skirts. Maybe your girl will make Joffrey a good queen?" Robert said with a glint in his eyes, eager to have their families joined as they should have been before the fucking dragons ruined it all. Ned looked a little uncomfortable at the thought and decided to say.

"Maybe when you've met her you'll understand. She is so wilful I doubt any man could handle her." Ned said not liking the day he would have to tell her that she was to marry, knowing it would be to say the least an uphill struggle. He shivered at that before saying. "And Robert if you miss fighting there are always fights to be had, why not go to the Vale and fight the Mountain Clans or fight all the bandits that roam around? Jon can manage Kings Landing in your absence."

Robert seemed to have not considered that idea and laughed loudly as he clapped Ned so hard on the man the man stumbled.

"You give me the best advice Ned, seeing you again has helped me clear my head now let's finish this fucking war!" He said with excitement and walked off to join the men that would follow the vanguard in and Ned with a long suffering sigh followed him.

Winterfell, the North…One Moon Later...

"Now hold pull back on the string, use the pads on the gloves to protect your fingers." Meera said as she stood on the range with Sansa who petted Rema and Romulus. Meera with a bow in hand and was wearing her latest invention...special leather gloves with a thicker leather part around the fingers to protect them from being cut by the bow string. Sansa nervously watched as she held the bow in her hand, she notched an arrow and with her right eye looked at the target in front of her, her arm tensing as she readied herself.

"And let go!" Meera said quickly enough to startle Sansa before letting the arrow fly, impaling itself in the target dead centre. Sansa looked on in awe at her sister's skill before saying.

"Can I have a go now?" Sansa asked smiling with her dimples at force full. Meera wanted to let her but knew that at four namedays Sansa was not ready yet, she needed to grow some more.

"When you turn six I will let you, till then." She said secretly taking a handful of the freshly fallen summer snow. "You practice with snowballs!" She said quickly and threw the snowball at Sansa who was surprised and yelped before laughing and then throwing a snowball at Meera who let it hit her with good grace. They picked up fresh ones and started a snowball fight in the yard, those passing watched with smiles on their faces as the two sisters playing together, Neither girl noticed Robb and Jon enter but they realised they were there when Robb and Jon joined in the fight, hitting them with snowballs from the side.

Meera and Sansa just kept laughing, joined now by their brothers as they immediately allied with each other against their brothers. Rema and Romulus eager to join in the fun started tackling the Starks gently and licking their faces as they danced around them.

The joy of the moment was so simple that other thoughts drifted from their minds, only wishing that Arya and Bran were old enough to join in the fun but contented themselves there would be plenty of time for that later.

After awhile when they were starting to get tied and were about to head in the warm halls a horn sounded. Everyone looked up to see one of the men on the walls call out.

"Lord Stark approaches!"

That instantly made all the servants and guards start to rush about at their lord's return, the children of House Stark meanwhile all smiled and laughed again as at last father was coming home! They all had so much to tell him and were desperate to see him after nearly a year apart. Rema and Romulus stood at Meera's side, very well behaved and calm despite the chaos which made her smile and she petted them gently. Her mother who had come as fast as lightning at the news of her husband coming home glared at the two direwolves which got her one in return from Meera.

They all lined up in the yard with the different servants behind them, Jon had been so glad to see father again that he had almost lined up with them but their mother grabbed his shoulder and moved him behind them. The crowd looked at her with shock at first but before any of them could say anything to heal the hurt and scared look on Jon's face, a column of men led by their father rode into the yard.

Their hearts lifted when they saw him, whole and healthy riding his horse even if he looked like he had aged a few years since being away. It didn't matter to them though as they stood there waiting for him, he dismounted his horse and walked over to them his own face softening when they all stood there smiling, even Jon from the back.

"Welcome home." Catelyn told him warmly as he came forward and embraced him. Meera and her siblings likewise rushed forward and hugged him, not able to hold it any longer. He smiled widely as he saw his children around him and when seeing Jon hanging back gave him a smile too which seemed to make Jon feel better.

They all started talking at once but Ned just held up a hand to stop them so he could speak first.

"I know there is a lot you want to tell me but first there is someone I need for you to meet…Theon." He called out sternly and young boy around the same age as Meera, Robb and Jon appeared from one of the horses. He was looking rather smug and far to self-confident though and immediately made Meera distrust him. There was she noticed a little fear in his eyes but he did seem to be trying his best to hide it.

"This is Theon Greyjoy, his grace has commanded that he be fostered here till he is a man grown. So he is to be treated a member of our house till that time is that clear?" Their father told them sternly. Robb being eager to please their father answered first.

"Of course father, I can show him around." Robb being keen to make a new friend as it was rare for him to interact with other children outside his siblings or the children of the servants who could not truly befriend him since he was their lord's son.

Theon meanwhile just smirked as he shook Robb's hand and was introduced to them all, he cast his eyes over them all and instantly smirked and looked down his nose at her, Sansa and Jon. Meera instantly felt annoyed at his casual dismissal of them guessing this must be the attitude must be common where he came from.

Robb soon went off to show Winterfell off to his new friend and foster brother while Meera, Jon and Sansa all stood there with their father.

-x-

Later that day Ned sat back in his own rooms, the sights that he had missed greatly during his many moons away were a balm and to his relief it seemed like things had not gotten worse in his home while he had been away.

However as he talked to Wyman Manderly to get the full story on what had happened in his home he learned that his daughter's claimed to have found a gold mine north of the Wall which he himself doubted. He would like Wyman had suggested send messages to Benjen and Lord Commander Mormont up at the Wall to investigate this but he thought the idea of selling the armour was something he felt far more secure about.

"The Iron Bank would take a commission for aiding in the sale but it would allow us to find far more buyers for the armour and earn a lot more coin." Wyman told him knowing as he did that this could be a truly great boon to the North if it was handled correctly. How much they could not say but given the rarity of Valyrian steel it should be considerable not to mention it was a full suit of armour with a sword as well.

What they could do with that much coin covered many things but he would not get his hopes up just yet and send letters to the Iron Bank to see if they were willing to arrange it and if so what would it cost them.

-x-

Meera's initial thoughts about Theon were sadly confirmed the moment he joined them for dinner.

While he and Robb seemed to get on famously the way he looked down his nose at her and Jon instantly angered her, his snide little comments about Jon's illegitimate birth and her being a girl and therefore fit to do do nothing more than sew or make babes. He was trying to get a rise out of them, she recognised the behaviour from what Dudley had done to her as Harry, pushing at them to try and get a reaction so they would be punished while he was seemingly innocent.

However he had picked the wrong victims. Jon was a quiet sort and would not cause trouble under any circumstances while she would have reacted that way, she was wise to his tricks. So as they ate together while Robb was enthralled with his friend telling him surely exaggerated tales of his homeland and its 'glorious' past, she turned to Jon.

"I think that we should teach this spoiled boy a lesson Jon." She said quietly to him so only they could hear, he looked at her startled that she would suggest such a thing.

"He is a ward, Lord Stark will not like it if he is hurt." He said seriously and Meera just smiled that devilish grin of hers.

"Of we're not hurting him Jon, but I think a little humiliation would do well to remind him that he is a guest here and should act with a little more decency don't you?" She asked him and Jon again wondered what gave his sister so much confidence and drive. Of all the Starks she had the greatest will and once set on a course would not move from it, Jon himself struggled to have even the smallest part of the confidence she did and wondered sometimes if Lady Stark's dominance of Winterfell was going to end sooner rather than later as Meera took more and more of her influence away.

Still coming back to the arrogant little Iron Islander Jon couldn't help but agree with her that he should be brought down to size, giving her a small grin to show his acceptance of her plan. Her smirk once again reminding him of a predator and sending a shiver down his spine.

Sunspear, Dorne…A Few Weeks Later…

Prince Doran Martell sat in his usual space in the Water Gardens, enjoying the warm day and calm of the area. It was one of the few places that he could now get to with his legs crippled by gout that eased his mind as he did his best to make the downfall of the Baratheons and the Lannisters a certainty.

Despite what many thought he hated the Lannisters especially for what they had done to his beloved sister and her children as greatly as his younger brother Oberyn but rather than announce it he waited and planned, aiming to bring down not just Tywin Lannister but his entire legacy. Restoring the Targaryen Dynasty did fit somewhat into his plans as it would find him allies around the rest of Westeros but the reports he had received about Viserys Targaryen and his growing madness made him wonder if he should seek a better option if one existed.

However dividing the Usurper's power-base was going to be a necessary step in any case, at the moment he had the Stormlands, the Westerlands, the Vale, the Riverlands and the North ready to rise to his banner. Doran had hoped that given his poor rule not so many would rally to him during the recent Greyjoy Rebellion but he still seemed to hold too much loyalty to challenge yet. The Reach rallying to him did not worry Doran though, the Tyrells were a fickle lot and would side with whichever that looked certain to win.

So his logical first step was the break up this alliance that kept the waster Robert Baratheon in power.

That was unfortunately harder than he had foreseen, the Riverlands would follow wherever the North and Vale led while the Stormlands was ruled by Baratheon's younger brother. The Westerlands with the vicious old lion would do whatever it took to keep its legacy alive so there was little hope there either.

So it was to the North that he turned his attention, they held the Riverlands with them and without them the Usurper would find it far harder to rule especially with Jon Arryn now being so old. Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark's friendship was strong and unbreakable so Doran felt while they were both alive the alliance would endure but Prince Joffrey was unlikely to create such a friendship with Robb Stark if the reports his spies in both Winterfell and Kings Landing were accurate. The two young men would be likely be repulsed by each other.

That he thought with a cold cunning gave rise to thoughts of killing the elders to set the younger men against each other but he was not so rash to try such a risky plan. The Usurper would be dead soon enough if his body did not fail him before too long, the Old Lion or his vicious daughter would no doubt get tired of waiting. Eddard Stark was a dutiful man and likely to side with Joffrey being Robert's son but if it did reach his ears that Joffrey was not Robert's son, a fact Doran knew for a fact...well that would be the end of the Lannisters getting any help from the North.

To that end he had sent one of his agents to Winterfell to see if any opportunities could be found, Harkoon had so far told him of great tension within the Stark household especially between Lady Catelyn Stark and her eldest daughter Meera. Meera he thought looking at the report he had been sent would have been right at home here in Dorne and amongst the Sand Snakes he thought with amusement. She would have given his brother a run for his money in terms of confidence and now seemed to be a natural with the spear, Dorne's weapon of choice.

Had his own heir been closer to her in age he might have thought of trying to wed Trystane to her but he was a fair few years younger than her and timid in nature. However the Starks did have a second daughter he considered with his head resting on his hands, Sansa. She would not be too much older than Meera and give him a potentially useful tie to the Starks in the future.

The only other thing of note at present was that Meera Stark had some strange metal spear that seemed unique to any other, lighter than Valyrian steel and just as strong. Doran was glad for a moment that Oberyn was currently travelling in Essos as he would not put it past his brother to try and go up there to claim such a spear for himself and try to humiliate House Stark in the process which would no doubt end any chance of him creating an alliance.

His brother was too hot blooded for his own good Doran thought, knowing his brother's faults all too well and for his plans it would be better Doran thought if he was kept in ignorance of this strange spear.

There we go, hope you all enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought.

Next Chapter – Meera and her father travel to Braavos for a special event and she makes a new friend.

Chapter 927 - 3