When Fire Meets Ice(slow updates)

Chapter 2: Royal Family in Winterfell

EXT. Godswood- Winterfell

POV-3rd Person

Lord Eddard Stark, also known as Ned Stark, sits before the weirwood tree, meticulously tending to his family sword crafted from Valyrian steel. The blade requires a thorough polish following the recent execution of a deserter from the Night's Watch. Sitting there Ned thinks back to what the lad had been mumbling on about before he chopped his head clean off his shoulders, white walkers is what he kept on saying. Ned initially thought it was impossible, but as he pondered more, his certainty began to waver. As Lady Catelyn Stark, wife of Ned and eldest daughter of Lord Hoster Tully, traverses the Godswood, she bears crucial tidings in her quest to locate her husband.

"All these years and I still feel like an outsider when I come here," she said breaking Ned from his trance.

"You have five northern children. You're not an outsider."

"I wonder if the Old Gods agree."

He smiled, "It's your gods with all the rules." Ned observed his wife closely and saw her transition from deep thought to a serious expression.

 "I am so sorry, my love," Catelyn discloses.

"Tell me," Ned pleaded almost desperately. Asking his wife to tell him what she was apologizing for. 

"There was a raven from King's Landing, Jon Arryn is dead. A fever took him, I know he was like a father to you."

Ned appeared to be catching his breath, almost like he had taken a hit to the gut, but he remained silent, unable to respond to his wife at the moment. Jon Arryn welcomed him and his friend Robert Baratheon into his home when they were young boys, treating them as his own sons and raising them in the Eyrie. Both men held Lord Arryn in high regard, dead how could that be? "Your sister, and the boy?"

"They both have their health. Gods be good," Catelyn provided a response and subsequently altered her tone once more. "The raven brought more news. The King rides for Winterfell. With the Queen and all the rest of them."

After processing the information he received, Ned arrived at the only possible conclusion. "If he's coming this far North, then that means there's only one thing he's after."

Catelyn placed her hand with assurance on Ned's,  "You can always say no, Ned."

After considering Catelyn's opinion, Ned feels that he should be with his family in Winterfell.

INT. Great hall- Winterfell-later

Catelyn Stark stands inside Winterfell's great hall, overseeing the preparations for the feast in honor of the royal family's arrival. She is meticulous in ensuring that everything is properly set and well-organized for her upcoming guests.

"We need plenty of candles for Lord Tyrion's chamber. I'm told he reads all night," she stressed.

"I'm told he drinks all night," answered Luwin, an experienced maester who has dutifully served the Starks for many years.

"How much could he possibly drink? A man of his...stature."

"We've brought up eight barrels of ale from the cellar. Perhaps we'll find out."

She nods. "In any case, candles."

As the Lady of House Stark was busy with preparations, her eldest son Draven, his younger brother Robb Stark, their younger half-brother Jon Snow, and their father's ward Theon Greyjoy took some time to clean themselves up.