Chapter 12

After the branch slapped me, and I believed it was real, I began to think about what I should do now. As far as I know, there's a deeper part of the crypts that has collapsed, so it will be difficult to reach there.

"To hell with it, let's go," I thought, deciding to proceed and figure out what to do if I couldn't reach the throne. After making my decision, I started walking towards the exit of the godswood while looking around, observing the trees and hearing the birds singing. Whenever I passed someone, I greeted them by their names, something that endeared me to most of Winterfell's servants.

After a while of walking, I arrived at the crypts. I opened the iron doors and entered. I began to descend the stairs and, after a while, reached the crypt itself. I took a lit torch from the wall and started walking towards the end of the crypts. Along the way, I saw the tombs and statues of several of my ancestors. But after some time, I began to encounter the statues of direwolves alongside the Starks.

Eventually, I reached a staircase and descended it, arriving at another level of the crypts. This repeated for a while. Then, in the middle of my journey, I encountered the collapsed part of the crypts, blocked by debris and rubble, with no way to pass.

"I should talk to Ned to try to clear and rebuild this part. While I might be able to do it alone, it would take me a long time. It's better to ask for help," I said to myself. So, I turned around and retraced my steps to the exit. But as I was about to pass by my father's tomb, I stopped and approached it, observing for a few seconds. I noticed flowers and candles beneath the statue's feet.

"Maybe I should have wished for you not to die; it would have made my mother and my uncles happier... well, despite that, it would bring several problems, especially due to your engagement to Catelyn," I said, shaking my head, and then continued to leave.

After leaving the crypts, I saw Sansa running along with Robb and Jon to somewhere. I noticed that Jon and Robb must have skipped their lessons with Maester Luwin, which happened around this time, and they must have gone to get Sansa out of her lesson with the septa. I need to find someone suitable to teach her and Arya in the future and convince Ned of it. "Ugh," I sighed.

Ignoring them, I went towards Ned's solar and knocked on the door before entering. Inside, I saw Catelyn complaining about something to Ned. But when she saw me, she looked at me with anger, and as she was about to shout at me, Ned told her, "Enough, Cat, we'll talk about this later."

When Catelyn heard that, she gave Ned an irritated look but lowered her head and said, "Of course, my lord husband," and left the solar, clearly annoyed.

Ned then looked at me and asked, "What's the matter, Alaric? Did something happen?"

To which I replied, "Nothing much has happened. I just wanted to talk to you about a few things."

Ned nodded and said, sounding visibly exhausted, "About what, Alaric? I hope it's not another one of your crazy ideas."

I chuckled a bit, feeling somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Ned, at least for now, it's not one of my ideas, and they're not crazy!"

Ned gave a faint smile but asked, "For now?"

I rolled my eyes at that and said, "Firstly, I'd like you to gather some men to clear the debris from the collapsed part of the crypts and rebuild that section."

Ned looked surprised, which wasn't unexpected, and then he asked, "Why do you want to rebuild the crypts, Alaric?"

I looked at him with a questioning gaze, wondering if he was being silly, "Besides the fact that rebuilding the crypts of our family, which should have been done a long time ago, is a sign of respect for our ancestors, I wanted to be able to see what's beyond the collapsed part. It would also help us a bit with the history of House Stark."

Ned nodded in agreement and sighed, "You're right, Alaric... but you always manage to give me more work. Can't you give me a break?"

I laughed and said, "No, I can't, Uncle Ned. But moving on to the second thing I wanted to talk to you about, I want you to find someone suitable from the North to start teaching Sansa and eventually Arya. The septas are not suitable for this. Not only do they not teach anything useful to Sansa, but they also don't teach her anything about the North. They only teach her how to be a proper Southern lady. I don't want my cousin to become a Southerner, Uncle Ned."

Ned remained silent for a while and then said, "I'll look into it, Alaric. I'll look into it."

I nodded and asked, "Do you have anything else to say, or have I finished everything?"

He shook his head, and I said, "No, I'm done talking for now. But if you don't believe me about the septas, take a look for yourself. I'd even like it if you sent them back to Riverrun."

Ned nodded at my words, and I left his solar.