Artos Stark

Dragonstone

(Alastor)

Artos had turned the meeting over to Jon who knew a lot more about the white walker situation than he did. He was currently only half listening as he watched Alastor lay the top half of his body over Beasts and run his little fingers through the wolf's thick fur.
"I want every northern maester to scour their records for any mention of dragonglass. Dragonglass kills white walkers. It's more valuable to us now than gold. We need to find it, we need to mine it, we need to make weapons from it. Everyone ages 10 to 60 will drill daily with spears, pikes, bow and arrow." Jon was interrupted.
"It's about time we taught these boys of summer how to fight." Lord Glover joked.
"Not just the boys. We can't defend the North if only half the population is fighting." Jon said a little hesitantly.
"You expect me to put a spear in my granddaughter's hand?" Glover stood to protest and look at Artos.
"I don't plan on knitting by the fire while men fight for me. I might be small, Lord Glover, and I might be a girl, but I am every bit as much a Northerner as you." Lyanna stood to face him.
"Indeed you are, my lady. No one has questioned-" Glover started but she cut him off.
"And I don't need your permission to defend the North. We'll begin training every man, woman, boy, and girl on Bear Island." She said strongly making Artos smile at her.
"Aye!" The men around her shouted pounding the table.
"While we're preparing for attack, we need to shore up our defenses. The only thing standing between us and the Army of the Dead is the Wall, and the Wall hasn't been properly manned in centuries. Artos is not the king of the Free Folk. But if we're going to survive this winter together..." Jon trailed off. The ginger man that spoke before grunted and stood from his seat.
"You want us to man the castles for you?" He asked walking to the middle of the room. Jon turned to look at Artos as if asking for permission. Artos raised his hands in defense.
"When it comes to the white walkers you're in charge." He told him. Jon nodded and turned back to the man.
"Aye. Last time we saw the Night King was at Hardhome. The closest castle to Hardhome is Eastwatch-by-the-Sea." Jon told him.
"Then that's where I'll go. Looks like we're the Night's Watch now." He said looking over at the lords.
"If they breach the Wall, the first two castles in their path are Last Hearth ad Karhold." Jon was once again interrupted.
"The Umbers and the Karstarks betrayed the North. Their castles should be torn down with not a stone left standing." One of the lords called out.
"The castles committed no crimes. And we need every fortress we have for the war to come. We should give the Last Hearth and Karhold to new families, loyal families who supported us against Ramsay." Sansa said looking over at Artos.
"Aye!" The others agreed.
"The Umbers and the Karstarks have fought beside the Starks for centuries. They've kept faith for generation after generation." Jon tried to defend them.
"And the. They broke faith." Sansa shot back smugly.
"I'm not going to strip these families of their ancestral homes because of the crimes of a few reckless sons. We fought for ours back after it was taken. We don't need another battle happening in Northern lands because of Northern men." Artos told her.
"So there's no punishment for treason and no reward for loyalty?" Sansa asked him. Artos shot her a flat look before sighing.
"The punishment for treason is death. Smalljon Umber died on the field of battle. Herald Karstark died on the field of battle." Jon told her.
"They died fighting for Ramsay. Give the castles to the families of the men who died fighting for you." Sansa said directing the last part to Artos. The men in the room began speaking and ponding on the tables at her words. Artos pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't cut out to be king, he needed his wife.
"When I was in the Free Cities... I executed men who betrayed me and my wife. I executed men who refused to follow orders. My father always said, 'The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.' And I have tried to live by those words. But I will not punish a son for his father's sins, and I will not take a family home away from a family it has belonged to for centuries." Artos told them after a moment of silence. He then turned to Sansa.
"That is my decision, and it's final." He told her firmly.
"We are not our parents or our ancestors. We will not pay for crimes or wrongdoings they have committed." Artos said once again looking out over the crowd.
"Ned Umber." He called holding out his hand. A small boy stepped out into the middle of the room.
"Alys Karstark." He said after prompting a girl not much older than Sansa to stand. Artos motioned them forward further.
"For centuries our families fought side by side on the battlefield. Your older brother was one of my most trusted men Alys. I never got to tell you how sorry I am for what happened to him in King's Landing. I ask you both to pledge your loyalty once again to House Stark, to serve as our bannermen and come to our aid whenever called upon." Artos addressed them softly yet clearly. Alys was the first to draw her sword with tears in her eyes and fall to one knee. Ned nodded to the king and followed right behind her.
"Please, stand." They followed his order soon after.
"Yesterday's wars don't matter anymore. The North needs to band together, all the living north. Will you stand beside me, Ned and Alys, now and always?" Artos said loud and clear.
"Now and always!" They recited together. Everyone in the room cheered and once again pounded on the tables and Artos smiled down at them.

They had barely left the meeting when Sansa started to give Artos a hard time for not listening to her.
"You are my sister but I am king now. I have been for a while and it's time I expect that." Artos told her.
"Will you start wearing a crown?" She asked raising her brow. Artos paused and narrowed his eyes at her before turning back forward and walking again.
"You're good at this, you know. You fought it your whole life and now you're more than the Lord of Winterfell. You're the king of the North and if things go the right way, you'll be king of the Seven Kingdoms. You should wear a crown." She told him with a teasing smile.
"A raven from King's Landing, Your Grace." A man told him before bowing and waking off. Artos unrolled the paper before reading it out loud for Sansa and Jon to hear.
"Cersei of House Lannister, First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms-" Artos sighed and crumbled the paper in his hand.
"What does she want?" Sansa asked him reaching down and threading her fingers through Alastor's hair. Artos sighed handing the paper to Jon.
"Come to King's Landing. Bend the knee or suffer the fate of all traitors." He said as Artos look out over the snow-covered grounds.
"You've been so consumed with the enemies across the Narrow Sea and the enemy to the north, you've forgotten about the one in the south." She said to both Jon and Artos.
"I left half my family in a dangerous time to save the other half. I'll be consumed with enemies you all make till the day I die." Artos told them.
"I'm consumed with the Night King because I've seen him. And believe me, you'd think of little else if you had, too." Jon added in.
"We still have a wall between us and the Night King. There's nothing between us and Cersei. Now that she knows Artos is here she knows Alastor is here. She wants them both." Sansa argued.
"There's a thousand miles between us and Cersei. Winter is here. The Lannisters are a southern army. They've never ranged this far north." Jon argued back.
"You're the military man, but we know her. If you're her enemy, she'll never stop until she's destroyed you. Everyone who's ever crossed her, she's found a way to murder. Artos tell him." She said turning to her oldest brother.
"She won't stop until she has what she wants. Daenerys told when they make sail to Westeros they are aiming to land in Dragonstone. It's close enough to King's Landing for me to worry." Artos told them.
"You almost sound like you admire her." Jon said looking between the two.
"I learned a great deal from her." Sansa said then they both turned to Artos.
"I loved her once. She's the mother of one of my children. She gave me him and that is what I admire." Artos told them picking Alastor up and walking him inside. The boy's nose and cheeks had gone red from the cold and he had been hugging close to his father's leg for warmth.

[Thank you so much for reading!]