Settling In

Settling in 

“sentence you to die.” A greatsword swung through the air and cleaved through the struggling Septon's neck. His head rolled on the grass and blood spurted onto the Hearttree. 

The Greatjon effortlessly lifted the stained blade into the air with a laugh. “Hah! Hah! Thats another one of you cunts feeding the Old Gods! Who's next?” 

“Heathen! You won't get away with this! Our brothers in the South will have their revenge! Your souls will burn in the Seven Hells for all eternity! They will burn down your savage trees and bring light into this godless land. You will-” 

“Him.” Harry interrupted the man's incessant rambling. This was the fourth Septon they had executed thus far and Harry was getting tired of listening to their voices. 

As the struggling Septon was dragged forward Lord Umber let out another laugh. “Aye. His voice is starting to give me a headache.” 

When he was before the block Harry spoke. “Do you have any last words?” 

“Your house will be cleansed in the fires of justice. My brothers-” 

“I shouldn't have asked.” Harry interrupted with a gesture to the men holding him. Harry was just grateful his uncle Ned wasn't here to see this. No doubt he would disapprove of how little respect he is showing these men. It was only himself, Lord Umber, Lord Karstark as well as a few of his Winterguard who were witnessing the executions. All the other Lords made their way straight back to their keeps instead of coming to Winterfell and his uncle was busy catching up with his family and taking some time off on his duties at Hadrian's urging. 

The Septon was slammed down on the block falling mercifully silent as the wind was knocked out of him. “For your crimes against the North, I, Hadrian Stark, Lord of Winterfell, sentence you to die.” There was no need to involve the Kings name in such a death. Nor was there a need to keep repeating his titles. This man's crimes were against his House, so the justice will be done in his name. 

Another head rolled, adding to the pile already on the floor. For a moment, Hadrian started to wonder about his mental state. He never expected that he would ever get used to ordering deaths this easily. Then he remembers what these bastards would do to his family if given the chance and the moment passes. He will do what he has to. 

The last two Septon's are mercifully silent compared to the previous ones. The next Septon dragged forward has tears streaming down his face and seems almost catatonic with fear.  

“Any last words?” He asks, offering them at least this basic right.  

After a few moments the shivering man replies. “C-can I please take the Black My Lord?” 

Harry scrunches his nose up in disgust. The man was more than happy to deal out death on ‘Heathens’ when given the chance. Now that it was time to die for his own Gods, he was nothing more than a coward. He didn't even bother offering a reply. 

A vague gesture to the men holding him had the Septon had him slammed into the block and the process repeated itself with another head joining the growing pile. 

The last Septon was probably the one that Hadrian respected the most. Well, as much as he could respect any religious fanatics at least. He kept his silence throughout all the executions and kept a mostly blank facade in the wake of his looming death. At least this one wasn't a coward.  

Once again Harry asked the question. “Do you have any last words?” 

The Septon, a bald man in his late thirties looked at him steadily. “You know the Faith isn't going to let this go? Not when you executed us in front of a Heartree instead of a Sept. This will just make my brothers angrier.” 

Harry felt a vicious smile come onto his face. “Thats the point. I want the Septon's to make a nuisance of themselves. I want the Lords in the South to get sick of them. I want them to cause chaos and weaken their realms. When the most devout and fanatic among you eventually decide to march on the North in strength, I will have an army waiting to destroy them at Moat Cailin. That will make it much easier to break the Faith and spread Weirwood  trees and the faith of the Old Gods in the South afterwards. I have a feeling a lot of smallfolk will be happy to worship gods that don't demand any of their coin.” 

The man looked horrified. “You monster.” He whispered. 

Now Harry was annoyed. “You lot will keep coming after us either way. Nothing I can do will change that. At least this way, hopefully you will damage your reputations in the eyes of the smallfolk in the South. Besides, you burned down our Weirwood trees for thousands of years. You hunted the Giants and the Children almost to the point of extinction. You planned to keep doing it.  Now that it's going to happen to you, you feel angry. The hypocrisy is baffling. The Faith of the Seven is an institution that is ripe for corruption. It was made by men to control other men. At least we have proof of our gods. I won't have my descendants fighting the Faith if I can end the problem here. Or at least reduce its influence.” 

He paused for a moment to let what he was saying truly sink in. Harry can't help but feel disgusted with himself for all the death that he knows will happen. “ I admit that I am unhappy about the loss of life it will cause and I will do my best to minimize it, such as having the most fanatic come to us instead of having to hunt them, but the Faith has proven time and time again it won't tolerate Old God worshippers. Trying to invade the North over and over again.  Hopefully this will be our last war against you.”  

Not to mention Harry planned to strengthen magic in this world. Magic is life and it angers him that the Faith has done all they can to stamp it out. If he doesn't change something drastic, then there are good odds it might become even weaker than it is in a few centuries.  Regardless of the fact Hadrian strengthens it just by existing. If the Faith ever gets the opportunity to cut down the Weirwoods in the North, it will cause terrible damage. Even if it doesn't, the Faith will always hate those who use magic. He won't have his grandchildren going through witch hunts and hiding from the muggles. He won't have another Wizard Vs Muggle war in a few centuries. Not if he can help it. He wants magic to be revered and respected for the gift that it is. Not destroyed out of greed, fear or jealousy. 

“You monster! Your gods will never win! The Seven will see you-” Harry sighed. Great, now this one also started raving at him. He gestured for the guards and he was swiftly placed on the block. A few moments later he quickly lost his head. 

Harry shrugged.  His speach was meant for Umber and Karstark anyway. They are both some of the most devout Old God worshippers in the North. Both of them hate the Faith. With them knowing one of Hadrians ultimate goals, they were more likely to go along with a lot of his plans.  

Still...”Not a word of this to anyone my Lords.“ He commanded. It wouldn't do for this to get out. 

“Aye My Lord.” “Aye lad.” 

Before Hadrian turned around to leave the Godswood he saw the dark smiles that appeared on both men's faces. 

Yes, Harry feels those two will be with him all the way. 

Line break......... 

A few days later Harry was sitting in his solar desperately trying to keep from banging his head against his desk in frustration as he was going through all of his paperwork. 

After the last few moons of stress, Harry wanted nothing more than to take some time away from work and rest. He felt that he had more than earned it. Unfortunately, things didn't just stop happening because he was away from Winterfell.  

A lot of changes had been happening throughout the North over the last year due to all of the projects that Harry started. He hoped that by putting some capable people in charge of these projects, he would minimize the amount he would have to oversee them. 

 Unfortunately, Harry forgot one very crucial fact.  Even the Lords of this world were not nearly as well educated as the most common person back on Earth. So many of the decisions a project would need required his specific touch to make sure they weren't disasters. 

Thats what lead to his current issue. Being gone from Winterfell for so many moons means that the work kept piling up and projects began to stall. His uncle was able to solve many of the problems, such as ensuring that there were constant supplies going to the builders at Sea Dragon Point and that banditry was kept down. But other problems required Hadrian's touch to make sure a wrong decision wasn't made that would lead to disaster in the future. Such as some of the ideas coming from Bear Island for the ports they were supposed to be building.  

One such example was Jorah Mormants idea to hire workers from the South to help build the rest of the port and naval academy instead of using people from the North, because it was taking longer than expected. 

Hadrian honestly had no idea what the Bear Lord was thinking when he proposed such an idea. He knew the man married a woman from the Reach recently, but he still expected him to be more like most Northern Lords and be happy to be less involved with the South and their politics. It seems his wife had more of an influence on him than Hadrian would expect. 

Yes, it would undoubtably be easier to build a port with proper experts from the Reach. But he was trying to build the North up. He didn't want to rely on Southerners for anything. If anything, Mormont should have asked for experts from House Manderly. At least then the gold spent on the workers would stay in the North. 

He wanted Bear Island to become home of the Northern Navy. In a few decades it would hopefully house one of the strongest navies in the world. He wanted the Southerners to see it and weep at the Norths power at sea. He didn't want the Lords of the Reach to brag about how they built it. Let alone give them such an invitation to plant spies in the Navy or to spread their religion. 

Honestly that particular question took Harry maybe five seconds to decide was a bad idea. Better that the port takes longer to build and be more expensive if it keeps the Southerners out of their business. 

Harry couldn't even blame his uncle for not handling that for him. His uncle knows he would want to have a say in such a decision. 

Then there were other projects that Hadrian had fallen behind on. Such as requests from Lord Karstark to build a larger keep for the Northern Military, which Hadrian approved after going through their budget. Or requests from the school he is trying to create in Winterfell for a larger library, that he unfortunately had to reject for now due to how hideously expensive book are. 

Then there were the new recruits for his Order of Huntsmen he had to go through to ensure their loyalties and new recruits for the Winter Guard.  

On top of that he had to catch up with all the other decisions his uncle made in the past few moons that dealt with the rest of the Lords. Such as land feuds happening between various minor Lords as well as making sure all the major Lords were happy. 

So, Hadrian was kept very busy over the last few days. 

As he watched Luwin walk into his solar with the newest pile of paperwork that needed his attention, he felt like he was going to cry. 

Hadrian knew that many Lords, most if he was honest with himself, never bothered to do such work. Generally leaving it to their Maesters. He was different though. He knew the importance of information. How could he truly rule his people if he didn't know what they were doing? 

When Luwin placed the pile of papers on his desk, Harry grunted and slid his chair back. Physically pushing himself away from it.  

Luwin chuckled in amusement. “Youve covered much of what you have missed my Lord. You should be caught up by tomorrow if you continue at this pace.” 

He let out a sigh and massaged his eyes. “I'm going to take a break from the paperwork for a bit. Tell me about how things have been in Winterfell during my absence. “ 

The Maester straightened, recognizing the order. “Of course, my Lord. What would you like to discuss first?” 

He reached for his goblet on the corner of his desk before taking a healthy gulp of the water. Then Hadrian slouched back into his chair and spoke. “Tell me about our ward. Has Asha improved at all since I've been gone?” 

He saw Luwin hesitate for a few moments before answering. “Slightly My Lord. She no longer takes every opportunity to cause issues like she did at the beginning, but she still doesn't always show the proper respect when she should. She seems to listen to Lord Eddard most of the time but despises lady Catelyn something fierce and still takes no small amount of joy needling her when she can get away with it.” 

Harry sighed. “So not much has changed in her attitude then?” 

After a few moments Luwin continued. “She seems to get on well with Robb and Jon. She likes to encourage them to make trouble. I don't believe she means any ill will towards them.” 

Harry frowned in thought. “She has a younger brother. From what I can gather she was fairly close to him. My cousins are only a few years younger than he is.” After a few moments of silence, he continued. “Let's subtly encourage that relationship she is developing with the boys. Hopefully it will make her feel better about her situation.” 

Luwin scrunched his eyebrows together. “How would we do that?” 

Harry already had a few ideas. “In a few weeks we will go on a small hunt. My cousins are probably old enough to do that now, with the right supervision. They can ride next to her for majority of the travel.  With some luck she will also develop a taste for hunting, it will stimulate her and show some of the advantages living on the mainland has.” 

He saw the Maester hesitate. 

Harry sighed. “Out with it Luwin.” 

After hesitating for a few more moments the man spoke slowly. “Are you sure it is wise to have her become close to the boys My Lord? What if she eventually tries to take advantage of them?” 

Hadrian's expression become stormy. “Then I will kill her.” 

When the silence started to stretch, he let his face relax. “Anything else to report about her? How are her lessons?” 

Luwin seemed to breathe easier now that they were on a safer topic. “She still complains about them but she is taking them much more seriously than she was before. I believe seeing what you have done with the North has encouraged her. She might want to try and repeat some of your successes with the islands. Her lessons with Catelyn however...” 

Harry groaned. “Yes, I knew those would be a disaster. The only reason I agreed to them was to placate my uncle. The only reason he pushed for them was to placate his wife. I have caused enough issues in his marriage as it is. I hoped giving her this would make Catelyn feel a bit better.” 

Luwin winced. “I believe that might have backfired my Lord. Catelyn can hardly stand her.” 

He massaged his temples. “Has she at least been taking the lessons somewhat seriously?” 

After a few moment Luwin nodded. “Yes. Allowing her to continue her sparring practice as long as she learns those lessons is forcing her to take it seriously. But as I said, she tries to irritate Lady Catelyn every chance she gets. So far, she has still managed to be somewhat respectable towards the Lady though. There hasn't been any blatant disrespect shown.” 

Harry smiled weakly. “At least there's that. I will speak to Catelyn and find out if she wants to continue the lessons or not.” 

Luwin nodded. “As you say my Lord.” 

Harry moved onto the next subject. “My cousins? How goes their lessons?” 

The Maester smiled slightly. “They are both bright young boys. Both of them have taken to reading at a decent level for their age and they have learned of many of the houses in the North. “ 

Harry nodded with a small smile on his lips. “And the other languages I want them to learn?” 

Luwins smile fell slightly. “Their Old Tongue is coming along. The issue is, I don't know that language myself. A smallfolk man from Wintertown who speaks the language was hired to teach them what he knows. I don't know how well he speaks the language though. He might be teaching them wrong things. As for High Valyrian, I decided it would be best for them to become at least somewhat capable in the Old Tongue before I started teaching it to them. “ 

Harry tapped his finger on the desk while he thought. After a few moments he had an idea. “I believe I will speak to some of the Children of the Forest. There is probably nobody more fluent in the Old Tongue than them. They would make good teachers if I could get them to agree. You are right that Valyrian can wait though.” 

He noticed the Maeser was basically shivering with excitement. Harry rolled his eyes. “Yes Luwin, feel free to question them about whatever you want. Just make sure to write it down. I would like to read about it later.” 

The man practically beamed. “Thank you, My Lord! It's just so exciting! Think about all we will learn about our history. From those that have actually been there!” 

Harry laughed slightly at the man's enthusiasm. “Just remember not to push them too much if they avoid certain subjects. The Children are still new to the North and I want them to feel comfortable in Winterfell. “ 

The man's smile didn't slip. “I will be polite my Lord.” 

Harry nodded and become serious once more. “Good. That leads us into our next topic. I haven't had much time for the Children or the Giants in the last few days. How are they settling in?” 

Luwin clasped his hands together. “Both have been doing well I believe. Vayon would be a better person to ask but I don't think either of their groups have had any complaints. The Children are spending most of their time in the Godswood as far as I can tell. While the Giants mostly stay in their camp just outside of Wintertown.” 

Harry nodded, pleased. “Any issues with the smallfolk?” 

Luwin shook his head. “Not many My Lord. The smallfolk were wary of them at first, but now it just seems most are curious. There have been a few children who have tried to sneak into the Giant camp, but the guards you have set up for them have been discouraging it quite well.” 

Harry shook his head. “Children will be children I guess.” 

Luwin nodded. “Indeed, my lord. Still, if you don't mind me asking, what will you do with them?” 

Harry leant back into his chair with a hum. “The Children will be receiving a lot of the Wolfswood to live in. They can create a community there for their people quite easily. The Giants are more difficult but after thinking about it for some time I decided to give them a majority of Boltons land. What isn't taken by Winterfell or given to some of the other Lords at least. The people who are already living there will be allowed to stay or move to another holdfast. I am giving each a few gold pieces to compensate them for their troubles.” 

Luwin frowned before smiling in realization. “Ah, I see. Keeping each of them relatively close to Winterfell to make sure they keep good relations with House Stark.” 

Harry nodded with a smile. “Exactly. In a few generations, they will probably spread all over the North. But these places will probably always be where most of them are found. The trees in the Wolfwood are perfect for the Children and Boltons lands have a lot of plains and a large river plus a few smaller ones, that would work well for the mammoths. The Gift would probably work better for the Giants, but the Nights Watch might be a problem and I don't want them so far away from Winterfell in case we ever need them.” 

Luwin looked suitably impressed. “Very smart My Lord. They will boost House Starks power significantly as long as they are kept loyal.” 

Harry waved away the Maesters worries. “Both of them are sworn directly to the Stark of Winterfell. Both of them are also very serious about oaths. Both the Children and the Giants have very long memories. I doubt there will be any issues for centuries if I just kept it as that. Still, I plan to have a Lord or Lady for each of them to represent their races. A Child of the Forest will be used in helping with the education of my future children as well as their children. As well as inviting a few members of each race to join the Winter Guard so as to always have representation in Winterfell. Both races will know that it was the Starks that saved them from extinction. The Starks that gave them respect. The Starks that gave them a place to belong. They will both also know that they will never be able to win another war against men. Not after they lost so badly the first time. If they ever betray their oaths against House Stark, then they will lose a lot of the trust of men. I doubt either would ever want to risk that. As long as House Stark treats them well, I doubt there will ever be a problem. It is in their best interest we stay in power to avoid a war like the one that nearly wiped them out.” 

The Maesters eyes widened. “If they get properly established, they could secure the Starks power for generations. Thats...that's genius my lord. Most Northern Lords would never even think to go against the Starks after so long of your family ruling the North, with this they couldn't even if they wanted to.” 

Harry smirked slightly. “I know.” 

Criticism is welcome as long as its constructive.