Magic, Power and Glory (Game of Thrones)

Running Winterfell

Running Winterfell was more difficult than I had thought. Although it was not hard, it was not as easy as I had expected either. Many men were uneasy with the thought of a woman running the North, and the serving girls were not happy with it either.

I had sent two of the fastest riders I could find to go and stop the Frey and Manderly attack. They were not to stop unless they needed to because either their horses were weakening or the sun went down in the sky. There was a false letter there, saying that it was Roose who was giving the orders, but it was really me.

Another few men, Umber men, were sent to speak with Stannis and his war council. They too had were carrying a letter, and Hother Umber assured me that it would be given to Stannis, as they were his most loyal men. This letter was addressed from me.

Today was only my third day in control. I had sent all Dreadfort men who refused to bend the knee to me to the dungeons, including the Bastard's Boys. Ramsay's dogs were of use to me, and the man who was in charge of them was very surprised when they did not attack me on their word.

Now I was holding a meeting in my father's old solar. Wyman Manderly, Hother Umber, Harwood Stout, Ondrew Locke, Rodrik Ryswell, and Lady Barbrey Dustin were all sitting around, keeping quiet. As I looked around, I saw that they were all nervous and I knew why.

Hother Umber, Wyman Manderly, and Harwood Stout all agreed that although Big Walder Frey was just a child, that he could be of danger to us. I refused to put him in the dungeons or even confine him to his chambers, so he had an Umber man and a Stout man guarding him at all times.

Then there was Mance Rayder. He had been given his clothes back, and I had no choice but to lock him in the dungeons. His spearwives were all dead and Ramsay had flayed them from head to toe, so it was just him. He was apart of the murders that have occurred, whether he killed the people himself or not, as it was his idea.

That left all the men that died. The injured were taken to Winterfell's ward to treat the sick and injured that are staying here, and the maesters and those who knew how to heal the sick were helping them. As for the dead bodies, I asked the family members of the dead that were here whether or not they had a place to bury their family. None of them did and agreed to let me burn the bodies.

Today was the day we burned them, and you could still slightly smell charred flesh. The maesters said the funeral rites, and if any of the dead had family or very close friends here, they were allowed to say something. I then said a few reassuring words about how these men died honorably and all of the lies I was expected to tell were told.

"My lady, you may want to ease yourself into this," Wyman suggested. "Already you have done a weeks worth of work in normal circumstances."

"This is not a normal circumstance, my lord," I reminded him. "Roose Bolton has held my titles for what is almost a year now. No one entirely trusts me, and I have heard what they all say about me. I was not even meant to have this kind of power, so we would all be dead if it were not for me insisting to learn how to be a lord when I was young."

This silenced everyone and I sat down, sighing and running my hands through my hair. There was a knock on the door before Maester Henly came in. He was sort of attractive with light brown hair, blue-grey eyes, a nicely-shaped face and a nose that has been broken once before. He was only young, but he was rather wise.

There was a letter in his hand and he said nothing as he handed it to me. Of course the seal was broken, as one of the maesters would have read it before bringing it to me. I was not pleased with them reading letters that may be personal, but I did not say anything.

Lord Commander Jon Snow has been injured and is dying. Several unloyal men led by Bowen Marsh stabbed the Lord Commander and we were lucky enough to be able to save him. He has too many stab wounds and he may die soon.