Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Caitlin

Catelyn had never liked the godswood. She was born in the Tully family in the south, and grew up in Riverrun by the Red Fork River.The Red Fork was a tributary of the Trident, and there the godswood was a bright, clear garden, where the shadows of the tall redwoods fell into the stream, the birds sang in their hidden woodland nests, and the air was filled with the scent of flowers. What Winterfell believes in is different.This is a dark and primitive place, the dark castle stands alone in it, and the ancient trees of ten thousand years stretch around it, exuding the smell of damp and decay.There were no redwoods here, but a wood of sentinels with gray and green pine needles, stout oaks, and iron trees as old as the kingdom.Here, thick, black trunks jostle one another, twisted branches weave a dense canopy overhead, and misshapen roots wrestle beneath the ground.This is a place of deep silence and suffocating shadows, and the name of the god who dwells in it is also absent.

But she knew she could find her husband here tonight.Whenever he took a life, he always came here to find the peace of the godswood. Caitlin was blessed and blessed with seven holy oils, and the naming ceremony was held in the cathedral of Riverrun, which was bathed in rainbow light.She believes in the Seven Gods like her predecessors for generations.The god she believes in has a name and surname, and her face is as familiar as her own parents.She prayed in the sanctuary where the censer was burning, and the smell of burning incense filled the air. The guiding monk hung a seven-faced crystal with symbiotic rays of light, and chanted in a low voice.Although the Tully family had their own godswood like other great nobles, it was only a place for walking and reading or resting in the warm sun. Worshiping the gods had always been a thing in the sanctuary.

Ned had built her a chapel, so she would have a place to sing to the Seven Faces.However, the blood of the "ancestors" still flows in the Stark family. He believes in those ancient gods who have neither name nor appearance. In the middle of the grove stood an old weirwood, which Ned called "the heart tree," over a pool of cold black water.The weirwood's bark was gray as bone, and its leaves were crimson like a thousand bloodstained hands.A human face had been carved in the trunk of the tree, its features long and melancholy, and the sunken eyes filled with dried red sap were eerie and watchful.They were old eyes, older than Winterfell itself, and they had seen Brandon the Builder lay the first foundation stone, and if the legends were true, they had seen the marble walls of the castle grow higher all around .They are said to have been carved by the Children of the Forest in the Dawn Era, before the First Men came across the Narrow Sea.

The weirwood in the south was felled and burned thousands of years ago, and there are only "green men" quietly guarding Qianmian Islet.But in the North everything is different, where every castle has its own godswood, and every godswood has a heart tree, and every heart tree has a human face. Catelyn found her husband under the weirwood, sitting quietly on a moss-covered rock.The sword "Ice" was lying on his knees, and he was cleaning the blood on the sword with the pool water as dark as the eternal night.Thousands of years of humus thickened the godswood soil, sucking the sound of her footsteps, but the weirwood's red eyes seemed to follow. "Ned," she called softly.

He looked up at her. "Catelyn," he said solemnly and distantly. "Where are the children?" He always asks this first. "It's all in the kitchen, arguing over names for the pups." She spread her cloak on the woodland floor, and sat down by the pool, her back against the weirwood.She could feel those eyes staring at her, but she did her best to ignore it. "Arya is madly in love, Sansa is, and Rickon isn't so sure." "Is he afraid?" Ned asked. "For a bit," she admitted, "he's only three after all." Ned frowned: "He has to learn to face his fear. He can't be three years old forever, let alone winter is coming."

"Yeah," Catelyn agreed, and that last sentence gave her the shudder as always.This is the motto of the Stark family. Every noble family has its own motto: or the motto passed down from generation to generation, or the measure of how people deal with things, or prayers for difficulties; Pay attention to loyalty and integrity, and some swear for faith and courage, except for the Stark family.Winter is coming, so says the Stark motto.She had wondered to herself more than once: what kind of weirdos these northerners really are. "That man died very simply today, I admit that." Ned said, holding a piece of oiled leather in his hand, and rubbing the blade lightly as he spoke, the metal was gradually polished to a dull luster. "I'm happy for Bran, and you'd be proud of him if you were there."

"I've always been very proud of him," Catelyn replied as she watched him wipe his sword. She could see the ripples deep in the steel, the marks of the forging.Caitlin has never liked swords, but she can't deny that "ice" does have its own unique beauty.It hadbeen forged in Valyria, before the Doom had come to the old Freehold, when the blacksmiths hadworked their metal with spells as well as hammers.The sword is four hundred years old, but it is still as sharp as when it was first forged.Its name was even more ancient, and it was the name of the Clan Sword from the ancient Heroic Age, when the Starks were Kings in the North.

"This is the fourth deserter this year," Ned said grimly. "The poor fellow is half mad, and something scares him into such a virtue that I can't even speak." He sighed In a calm tone, "Squad wrote to say that the Night Watchman's strength is less than a thousand, not only because of deserters, but also because of the heavy losses of the patrols they sent out." "Is it something to do with the wildlings?" she asked. "Who else?" Ned held up the "Ice" and looked down at the cold steel in his hand. "I'm afraid the situation will only get worse. Maybe I really have no choice but to gather my vassals and lead an army northward to fight the king beyond the Great Wall."

"Beyond the Great Wall?" Caitlin couldn't help but tremble at the thought. Ned saw the fear in her face. "We need not fear Mance Rayder." "There are more terrifying things beyond the Great Wall." She turned her head, looked at the pale bark and ocher eyes of the heart tree, stared, listened, and considered the deep and distant thoughts. His smile is so gentle. "You've heard too many stories of Old Nan. The White Walkers, like the Children of the Forest, have been gone for eight thousand years. Maester Luwin will tell you that they never existed. No living man has seen them."

"No one had seen a direwolf before this morning?" Catelyn reminded him. "I can't say no to the Tully family," he said with a regretful smile, and put "Ice" back into the scabbard. "I suppose you didn't come to tell me bedtime stories, and I know you don't like this place at all. What's the matter, my good lady?" Caitlin took her husband's hand. "We have sad news today, my lord. I don't want to disturb you before you clean the sword." Since the damage could not be lessened, she decided to tell the truth. "My dear, I am very sorry that Jon Arryn has passed away."

Their eyes met, and she could see exactly how much he was hurt, just as she had expected.Ned had been an adopted son at the Eyrie when he was young, and the childless Lord Arryn treated him and his other adopted son, Robert Baratheon, as if they were fathers reborn.When the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen demanded that he hand over their heads, the Duke of the Eyrie unfurled his Crescent and Falcon banner, preferring to raise an army rather than betray what he had sworn to protect. people. And on that day fifteen years ago, the reincarnated father became Ned's brother-in-law again.They stood side by side in the sept at Riverrun, married to sisters, the daughters of Lord Hoster Tully. "Jon..." he said, "is that true?" "The letter had the king's seal on it, and it was Robert's own handwriting. He said Lord Arryn left in such a hurry that even the Grand Master Pycelle couldn't help it. But the Grand Master gave him milk of the poppy, so Jon didn't Didn't suffer much." "I think this is the last bit of mercy." He said, she saw the sadness on his face, but he thought of her first. "Your sister," he asked, "and Jon's son, any news of them?" "All it said was that they were safe and returned to the Eyrie," Catelyn said. "I wish they had returned to Riverrun. The Eyrie was high and lonely, and it was always her husband's place, not hers." A home. The memory of Lord Jon will surely haunt every brick and stone in the Eyrie. I know my sister very well, and what she needs is the support and company of family and friends." "Isn't your uncle waiting for her in the Vale of Arryn? I heard that Jon made him a Knight of the Blood Gate." Caitlin nodded, "Of course Brynden will do his best to take care of her and her son, but..." "Then you go with her," Ned urged. "Take the child with you, and fill her dwellings with laughter and noise. The child needs company, and your sister should not mourn alone." "It would be great if I could go." Caitlin said, "The letter also said something else. The king is on his way to Winterfell, and he wants to discuss state affairs with you." It took Ned a moment to understand what she meant, but the haze disappeared from his eyes when he realized it. "Robert coming?" She nodded, and a smile broke across his face. Catelyn wished she could share in his joy, but she heard rumors in the yard that a direwolf had died in the snow with a broken antler in its throat.Fear curled up inside her like a poisonous snake, but she forced herself to smile in front of the man she loved so much, the man who didn't believe in omens. "I knew you would be pleased," she said. "We should inform your brother at the Great Wall." "Yes, yes, of course," he agreed. "Ben must want to come. I'll ask Maester Luwin to send his fastest bird." Ned straightened up, pulling her up too. "Damn it, how many years have we not seen each other? He didn't specifically notify me. Does the letter indicate how many people will come?" "A hundred knights at least, I think, and their entourage, and half that number of freeriders. And Cersei and her children." "For their sake, then, Robert won't go too fast," he said. "That's all right, so we'll have more time to prepare." "The queen's brother is also in the procession," she told him. Ned's face darkened immediately after hearing this.Caitlin knew very well that he had no affection for the queen's family. The Lannister family of Casterly Rock was the last of the great nobles to join Robert's forces. They did not express their position until the victory or defeat became clear, and Ned never forgave them . "Well, if the Lannister nuisances are the price of Robert's visit, so be it. But it sounds like Robert brought half his court with him." "Where the king goes, the kingdom follows," she answered. "It's good to see the children. Last time I saw that Lannister woman, Robert's youngest son was still drinking from her milk. How long ago? He should be...some...five years old by now. Bar?" "Prince Tommen is seven years old," she told him. "The same age as Bran. Please be careful with your words, Ned. The Lannister woman is our queen after all, and they say she grows more haughty every year." Ned squeezed her hand. "We've got to have a dinner party, and musicians and singers, of course. Well, Robert's going to be out hunting. I'll send Jory down the Kingsroad with an honor guard, Escort them back. Gods, how are we going to feed these people? You say he's on his way? Damn the fellow, damn him the King." ※※※※※※※ ① Ned is Ed's nickname.