The King of Winters

Chapter - 119

Argella

She awoke all at once, every nerve atingle. For a moment she did not remember where she was. She had dreamt that she was unwed, still staying in her chambers back in Storm's End. But it was her maid in Winterfell who had come to change the carpets and light up the chambers, and this was not Storm's End, but Winterfell. And I am Argella Baratheon, the Lady of Winterfell, the Queen in the North. The room was cold and black, though she was warm beneath the blankets. Dawn had not yet come. Sometimes she dreamed of her husband as if that might help her feel Winterfell was home, but this dream had not been like that. It was a dream of Storm's End. It was a dream of her real home.

Winterfell was no home. But it was close to one. And in time it might. It was not as big as Storm's End, and outside its sheer granite walls was only the Wolfswood and the long stretch of snow capped mountains far away from her. The castle was huge and she had little to do. The older servants said these halls rang with laughter when her husband had been a child living with his parents, but those days were many years gone. Jaehaerys Targaryen had reduced Winterfell to a small household, relieving most of the household from service especially those he considered too loyal to the Starks. He seldom permitted any guests to get past the walls of Wintertown. Aside from her maids and Ser Trent, Argella's only companion was the old lord Rodrik. The Wandering wolf as men called him was nearing ninety but proved to be a wonderful companion with all the stories he had to say.

And then there was Maester Walys who was there to counsel her at every turn. She wondered how he managed to stay in Winterfell for so long after the fall of the Starks and during the reign of Targaryen. His loyalty to her husband's family was palpable. And he seemed to have a fondness for Andrew that bordered on something akin to a grandfather's love. It had not come as a surprise to her. The maester had served the Starks for so long now, first Andrew's grandfather Lord Rickard, then his father King Eddard and now he served Andrew. Now that fondness the maester had for her husband is extended to her. Maester Walys was always there, to give her counsel, help her look at the accounts and even assist her with the ruling. When King Eddard had to leave Winterfell to defend his realm, the old maester often helped Queen Ashara with the administration, something he was very proud of doing. Argella however was welcome for his help. She found herself leaning on Maester Walys and Rodrik Stark so much that they ruled the realm and the castle more so than she did.

She was a queen in name alone, despite the crown that adorned her long black mane. She had little patience for ruling and a wild spirit for being a queen. Instead she preferred to watch Morgan Liddle train the new recruits in the yard or decimate the men of the North in the archery yard or riding spurs much to the amusement of her new subjects. Her husband seemed to have left several thousand men back in the North before he marched off to war. The mountain clans of the North, the maester had told her. They spent more time at the top of the mountain than at the foot of it even during harsh winters. But they had encamped in the foot now and around the Wolfswood as Andrew had left them there. He was gone now to the south, had been gone for months, fighting his glorious battles with the Targaryens. But these men stayed where he had left them with much patience than she originally had when Andrew told her he was sending her back to Winterfell. From bits and pieces of conversations with them Argella knew that they shall stay there until they are asked by the King to do otherwise. They had no resentments towards being left behind, instead taking complete pleasure in what was asked of them something which impressed Argella.

To honour her arrival in Winterfell Maester Walys had arranged for a feast in Winterfell. Most of those who had stayed home had already arrived and the others were arriving. There were a couple of Karstarks, the cousins of Lord Rickard, Lady Hornwood and her castellan, the Tallhart heir who was ruling his father's lands in his absence, Lockes, Woods, Ironsmith and the Mountain clansmen who made up the largest rank. Even Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbour had sent word of his coming.