WILOW-Ch.310: Very Important Envoy
Winterfell, Stark Lands
POV of Robb Stark
A week later.
"Riders from Dreadfort." The guard shouted, and the gates of Winterfell swung open. Robb and Jon stood at the center of the courtyard along with their four direwolves to welcome their newest guests from Dreadfort.
At this point, the Boltons had definitely become the most powerful house in the North, so they needed to be shown the appropriate respect. However, the Starks were still the Wardens of the North, so it would be inappropriate if his father came himself to welcome them to the castle.
Which was why he and Jon had been sent as the welcoming party. Rickon was still too young to understand these things, and Bran… he was still in his bed, too depressed about losing his legs.
The exclamations and shock-filled voices were the first to inform him that something was not right. The fact that his direwolves suddenly became tense and started to growl in a low voice made it clear that something was definitely not right.
That was when Briar entered the courtyard with her trusty shadowcat walking beside her. Except that Briar was not sitting on a horse.
"By the Old Gods." He heard Jon murmur beside him as they both stared at the monstrosity that Briar was sitting upon.
"That's… a Basilisk." He said to himself as he remembered all the illustrations that he had seen in books from the Bolton library.
"The what?" Jon whispered to him.
"Basilisk… They're from Sothoryos." He replied.
He had read that the Basilisks were twice as large as an adult lion and ten times as vicious, but merely reading about them in a book and seeing them face to face were two different things.
And more importantly, how had a Basilisk gotten to Westeros? Robb knew it was Lord Bolton's doing, but he had no idea how he'd managed it.
Lord Bolton couldn't possibly send a man to Sothoryos to capture a Basilisk for himself, could he? Sothoryos was a place where many outsiders who set foot there never returned.
Then Robb remembered that the books he'd read mentioned Basilisks also living in the forests of Yi Ti. Had Lord Bolton brought it from Yi Ti?
But when was the last time someone from Westeros traveled to and from Yi Ti? It was far from even Sothoryos, and the journey was fraught with danger.
Still lost in thought, Briar approached them, still riding his Basilisk.
"Robb. Jon." Briar said with the same smirk that they remembered her giving them when they had last visited Dreadfort, "How do you like my new Basilisk?"
Midnight growled at Briar, whose eyes instantly went to his direwolf, and her smirk widened.
"So, the little pup has grown his fangs." She smiled and jumped down from the Basilisk, which had a saddle on its back.
Briar then walked up to him and Jon and gave them both a hug.
In hindsight, he should have expected something like this from Briar. But that didn't make it any less comfortable for them.
He and Jon squirmed under the hug before she released them and went to their direwolves and pulled Midnight and Snowric into a hug before she turned her attention to Snowstorm and Greywind, who whined as she pulled them in a hug as well and ruffled their fur.
Briar's shadowcat came and sniffed both their adult direwolves as well before rubbing its fur against theirs.
Well, she had definitely not changed from the last time.
Then Briar looked at them again, and this time her expression was serious.
"Sansa's direwolf, Lady, misses her. How is she? I promised Lady I'd bring news of her. I hear the prince isn't treating her very well. Besides, I heard Prince said that the next time he comes to the North, he will have Lady and all the other direwolves killed. Is that true?" she asked.
He felt the urge to lower his head in shame for some reason, but he couldn't do that due to his position as the heir of Winterfell, so he just gave a stoic nod.
"It is true."
Briar gritted her teeth in anger, and then she shook her head.
"Well… If he has the guts, he might try to lay hands on my comrades." She said and pointed at the 50 riders and the carriage that entered the courtyard behind her.
He had a flashback to the time when the King similarly entered Winterfell and wondered who was inside the carriage.
"Brought an envoy from Lord Bolton." She said before she turned to Jon, "Bring your father. This is important."
Jon nodded and left.
"Heard that someone tried to kill Bran. Is that true?" she asked.
He nodded, "Snowric and Midnight found the culprit who burned the library and ripped the man from limb to limb before he could kill Bran. We are lucky that Bran is still alive."
Briar nodded in silent contemplation. "Well… Lord Bolton heard about what happened. He has sent books to replace the ones that you lost in the fire. And something called a wheelchair. It's supposed to help your brother move from place to place."
"Lord Bolton has my thanks." He said. He had no idea what a wheelchair was, but if it helped his brother, then he was indeed grateful for it. "How's Arya doing in Dreadfort?"
Briar smiled at that. "She has taken to Dreadfort like a fish to water. I don't think she'll want to return to Winterfell after living there. She does miss you from time to time, though."
He nodded and was about to ask something more when he noticed the door of the carriage open and a small figure wearing a hood climbed out of the carriage.
The child looked at Winterfell and its inhabitants before she removed her hood and…
The people who had stopped to watch the Basilisk and the Bolton entourage gasped as they gazed at one of the Children of the Forest for the first time in their lives.
"Leaf." He said while his mind was still in shock as he wondered why Lord Bolton would send someone so important to Winterfell.
The 50 guards and Briar's presence were starting to make sense now.
Lord Bolton was always very protective of the Children of the Forest and only allowed a fair few to even interact with them.
The fact that Lord Bolton sent Leaf here must mean that this was even more important than he had previously thought.
"Hello, Robb Stark," Leaf said in her melancholic tone, even as she gave him a small smile.
"Welcome to Winterfell, Leaf." He said the first words that came to him, and Leaf gave him a nod.
That was when his father came into the courtyard.
---------------
Author's Note: You folks can also read up to +65 chapters on my P@treon Page as an early access privilege.
You can also read "+3 Free Chapter" and see some pictures as aFree Member.
www.patreon.com/vanguard_v
P@treon Page Name: V For Vanguard
Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.311: To Go or Not to Go
Ch.312: Travel Companions
Ch.313: Sibling Reunion