34 The Messenger
Winterfell 286 AC Lord Eddard Stark the Lord of Winterfell was sitting in his Office thinking about the events at the Wall.
Even though it happened Months ago the entire situation at the wall was still a mystery to him especially since it happened so close to the Northern Houses.
Ever since it happened he has had a hard time sleeping and has been wondering what happened and if he should be worried about it or not.
He wanted answers to the questions that he had and from the rumors he could ask the rumored King Beyond the Wall since he was rumored to have been the one to do it.
So he sent a messenger to the Night's Watch to allow him to pass the wall and get into contact with the Wildlings at Hardhome.
Once the messenger arrived at the New Castle Black the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch met with him.
Lord Commander Qorgyle who was the 996th Lord commander just wanted to inform the messenger that all scouts who are sent too far beyond the wall never return.
But the Messenger had no choice since he was ordered by the Lord of Winterfell to contact the King Beyond the Wall.
So taking what the Lord Commander told him the messenger proceeded past the wall with caution. Not even 30 minutes after he entered the Haunted forests he was surrounded by 5 people who had their weapons drawn ready to kill him, but he didn't panic.
The Free Folk Warriors didn't kill him since he wasn't dressed in Black but just regular fur clothes that were different from what the Night's Watch men wear.
"What are you doing here Northmen" asked the Captain Free Folk warriors
The Messenger brought out a piece of paper that was rolled up and showed it to the Free Folk warriors.
"I am here on orders of the Lord of Winterfell to hand this letter to the King beyond the wall" Stated the messenger
The captain of the Free Folk warriors grabbed the paper and looked at it to confirm whether there was a seal on it. And indeed there was the seal of the Lord of Winterfell, so he handed the letter back and put his weapon away causing the other's to do the same.
"It's real so take him to the Castle to meet with the King while the rest of us will stay here and continue our patrol" Stated Free Folk warrior Captain
The warriors nodded as three of them escorted the messenger to the Castle gates where he was then handed off to the Elite castle guards who took him inside to meet with the King.
But the entire time the Messenger was in awe as this Castle that he was in looked like it has been here forever and showed no signs of it being centuries old or destroyed. Much like everybody beyond the wall they believed that Hardhome was a bunch of rubble.
But in front of him was an entire castle. He didn't get a chance to see the city so all he knew about was the castle that he was walking through.
While walking through the castle he noticed a lot of guards and even some maids performing basic duties much similar to the Maids in the Seven Kingdoms. He couldn't help but look around him as the structure of the Castle looked nice and neat.
After a few minutes of walking they had arrived in a spacious room with a table in it. The castle Guards instructed the messenger to sit down, and the King will be here shortly.
The messenger didn't want to cause any trouble, so he just listened to them and sat down waiting for the King to come in.
While waiting the Maids had served him some food and drinks which he didn't hesitate to eat since it was a long journey from Winterfell. And what he found was that the food was amazing.
Unlike what he had heard about things beyond the wall so far, what he has seen is nothing but surprises making him believe that the people beyond the wall weren't all but savages.
While he was eating his food the door to the room was opened as three people walked in. One of the people sat down in front of him while the other two just stood guard by the door.
The messenger stopped eating and presented the letter to the King beyond the wall.
"I present to you this letter from the Lord of Winterfell" said The messenger as he handed the letter over.
Thornir grabbed the letter and read it
'To the King beyond the wall I would like to invite you to Winterfell to talk about the event where Castle Black and its people disappeared, I am not inviting you to stand trial or anything, but I would like to know the truth of what happened if you happen to know it and while you are at Winterfell I can assure your safety as a guest'
After reading, Thornir handed the letter back to the messenger. "Tell Lord Stark that I accept his invitation and will arrive two weeks from today"
The messenger sighed since everything went well "Thank you, your Majesty or your highness...." Said The messenger as he didn't know what to call him
"Oh my name is King Thornir" Answered Thornir
"Well then thank you, King Thornir for your time and hospitality so if you will excuse me I will return this letter to my Lord" Said The messenger
Thornir nodded and had the Guards to escort him out of the Castle.
Once The messenger was gone Stygard had walked into the room since he was listening from outside to make sure nothing happened.
"So you are going to Winterfell" asked Stygard
"yep I guess so but only because it's better than inviting Lord Stark here to our city where they would be able to get a layout of the city and our army plus I want to see how Winterfell looks without needing to sneak into it" Answered Thornir
"I don't know it could be a trap or something who knows" said Stygard
"Don't worry I will take 10 Warriors with me and 1 of the people I have been training in Magic, and we will be fine" Said Thornir
"That's all I want is for you to be safe since if you die this early everybody will be devastated and won't know what to do anymore with you dead" Said Stygard since that was the truth
"Relax Stygard I won't be killed that easily, in fact I could use this chance to get a good look at Winterfell since I might want to conquer it in the future" Said Thornir as he jokingly laughed.
Stygard sighed since Thornir was laughing at a serious matter. Even if Thornir says he will be safe there are just too many things that have been happening lately.
