Winterfell Castle
POV of Eddard Stark
Ned was standing in the courtyard along with his lady wife and their three children Robb, Sansa, and baby Arya.
Just a few minutes ago, the giant eagle that he had come to associate with Domeric Bolton entered the Maester's rookery with a message on his leg, claiming that Lord Bolton and his entourage would arrive in Winterfell within half an hour.
He knew that it was not necessary for him to wait for one of his own bannerman like this. But House Bolton was one of the greatest houses in the North, second only to the Starks and he knew that he needed to show his respects to Lord Bolton even if the lord in question was just a 7-year-old boy.
The guards had already announced that Lord Bolton's party of 20 men was already within sight.
Arya squirmed uncomfortably under her mother's grip, and he let out a sigh before giving Cat a sympathetic look.
Of all the children that were born to them so far, Arya was the one that gave them the most trouble. He just hoped that she would grow up fast or all the hairs on his head would become gray before long.
It was then that he heard the beat of hoofs coming closer to them and looked up to see their guests and froze.
A silence descended upon the courtyard as a large black direwolf entered the Winterfell gates with a snarl on its face and Ned felt intimidated by the sight.
He was the veteran of a war, was the Lord Paramount and Warden of the North, and had killed numerous men in life and he still felt intimidated.
And not only at the sight of the direwolf but also at the boy who was riding the direwolf with such ease and grace as if he had been riding one since his birth.
There was just... something about that boy that screamed 'danger' to his senses and when their eyes met, time stopped.
Ned Stark felt naked as the boy gazed into his eyes. As if each and every single one of his secrets were laid bare in front of the boy and as if hearing his thoughts, the boy's lips quirked in a slight smile and then averted his gaze from him and Ned let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
But despite the fact that the boy was now observing the rest of his household, there was a slight pressure on him. As if he was standing in the presence of a king and not a 7-year-old boy.
And then the boy smiled, and the pressure was gone. The time that seemed to have stilled until this point started to flow as the boy descended from the black Direwolf.
A direwolf that could easily kill him and the rest of his family before his household guards even had the chance to take out their blades.
A direwolf that was the sigil and symbol of House Stark.
And a direwolf that now belonged to Lord Bolton.
He wondered if this was a show of power on the young Bolton's part. If he wanted to show off his direwolf and tell him that he was better than them.
There was also the question of how on earth the boy did find a direwolf south of the wall. And how was he able to tame it?
Then his eyes went to the banner that his men were flying, and he was surprised to see that instead of the Flayed man like he had been expecting, there was now a Weirwood tree in the banner with a black background. He had not known that the Boltons had changed their banner. And the fact that the boy had done so on his own violation clearly spoke of him having enough conviction to change his house and create a whole new reputation. A reputation that he would have never gained if he had continued to fly the 'Flayed man' banner.
There were so many questions running through his mind but as the boy climbed down from the Direwolf and moved toward him along with his retainers, Ned forced those thoughts to the back of his mind for later.
Then the boy looked into his eyes and held eye contact for a second before he went down on his knees, an action that was then followed by the rest of his men except for the woman whom he remembered as Lady Barbrey Dustin.
Then Lord Bolton spoke his oath of allegiance, a short ceremony. And once it was done, Lord Bolton and Lady Barbrey along with the rest of his guards were taken to the great hall for a feast.
Later that evening, Lord Bolton and Lady Barbrey arrived in his Solar and they talked about various things. He was often forgetting that Domeric was only a 7-year-old child and not an adult because of how mature and intelligent he was.
By the end of their discussion, Lady Barbrey Dustin had become the official regent of Lord Bolton, and he had signed the charter for the expansion of Dreadfort into a town as well as the charter for creating a port town at the mouth of the Weeping Water River.
He was not sure exactly why he did that. Signing a charter like this to a house that was once the enemy of the Starks was not a wise thing to do. He just knew that the young lord Bolton could really be persuading when he wanted to be.
The next day, Lord Bolton and his entourage left Winterfell, and he was left with the feeling that instead of dooming his house 'as most boy lords did', Domeric Bolton was going to change his house for the better.
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