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Ch 46 What to do with this Money... Part 1
🕑 Added 2023-11-16 17:43:48 +0000 UTC"...And because of that, not only has our supply finally been able to catch up with the demand but because of this stable period we have also been able to place the foundation for new factories so that we can always be ready for any sudden demands in the future." Jon overheard Robb say before opening the door to the Lord's solar.
"That's excellent news, Robb. It should prove beneficial for us in the—Jon!" Eddard interrupted mid-sentence, looking up with a warm expression as he caught sight of Jon entering the room. "You're finally here."
"Apologies for being late, Father," Jon said, smiling apologetically while closing the door behind him.
Eddard sat comfortably behind his desk which was heavily laden with neatly placed documents. There were three chairs placed in front of the said desk, of which two were already occupied by Robb and, of course, Catelyn, whose face barely even twitched at Jon calling Eddard, 'father'.
"Don't worry, Jon, we haven't started yet," Robb said, vacating his chair for Jon and taking the middle one as a buffer between Jon and Catelyn. "I was just updating Father on the status of the factories."
"...And as a result, not only has our supply finally met the demand, but this period of stability has also allowed us to lay the foundation for new factories. Now, we can be promptly prepared for any sudden demands in the future," Jon overheard Robb say before opening the door to the Lord's solar.
"That's excellent news, Robb. It should prove beneficial for us in the—Jon!" Eddard interrupted mid-sentence, looking up with a warm expression as he caught sight of Jon entering the room. "You're finally here."
"Apologies for being late, Father," Jon said, smiling apologetically while closing the door behind him.
Eddard sat comfortably behind his desk, neatly arranging documents. Three chairs were in front of the desk, with two already occupied by Robb and, of course, Catelyn. She didn't seem bothered by Jon calling Eddard 'father.'
"Don't worry, Jon, we haven't started yet," Robb said, vacating his chair for Jon and taking the middle one as a buffer between Jon and Catelyn. "I was just updating Father on the status of the factories."
"Thank you," Jon nodded towards Robb before taking a seat. Turning to his brother to ask something, he noticed Catelyn, who hadn't moved her head since he entered he decided to greet her, "Lady Stark, I didn't get to see you before... How are you doing?" he asked with an overly bright expression.
Catelyn's eyebrows twitched but instead of giving her usual replies she held it in and cooly replied, "I am fine,"
If it was just a few years before, it would be completely natural for Lady Stark to be short with Jon. After all, she was the Lady of the house, while he was the bastard of her husband, who lived with them and whom he refused to kick out no matter how many times she told him to.
But about two years ago something happened... something that made their relationship suddenly go from an extreme end to a neutral one very quickly, and even almost touching cordial for a while...
And, the simple reason for that was— Lord Stark's decision to leave Jon behind at Bear Island for an indefinite period.
Jon had heard it from very credible resources that Lady Stark had almost squealed like a little girl when she heard that her husband had finally decided to fulfil her most ardent wish.
She was on the clouds for a whole week after hearing that news... she smiled every time she greeted someone, and there was a subtle skip in her steps, and even when she caught Arya doing her usual naughtiness instead of scolding her, she just fondly rubbed her head... which scared the little girl more than anything.
It seemed as if a massive weight had been lifted up from her shoulders... all her fears about Jon one day usurping her children, all her resentment when she felt like an outsider every time her family took his side instead of hers, all her insecurities about Jon looking more and more like his father as he grew up ... all of them just went up in smoke instantly as if they were nothing more than illusions in the first place.
And she was so happy with the decision that she didn't even mind Jon's occasional visits, in fact, she even somewhat welcomed them after seeing how happy they made her children. She thought that it would be alright as long as he grew up to be someone like Benjen in the future... a very close family member but one who only visits them a few times a year.
So over the past few years, their relationship started improving at a slow but steady pace. Starting from occasional greetings to short but cordial conversations, neither of them snapped at each other anymore or constantly found things about each other to ridicule to get the upper hand and it got so good to the point that one time she actually... smiled at him. *Shudder*
Jon swore countless times that it was the truth, even though none of his siblings actually believed him.
It had happened during one of his previous visits. As usual, he had brought various gifts for his siblings and friends, but this time, on a sudden whim, he decided to get one for Catelyn too (which he had never done before, thinking that she would just chuck it back at his face).
So with trepidation in his heart, he gave it to her after making sure that she was all alone (since he didn't want an audience in case something embarrassing happened). After she got over her shock at suddenly receiving the gift, she sceptically looked at Jon and carefully opened it and... immediately gasped, as she was simply amazed by the sheer beauty of the soft dress that came out of the packet. Jon had bought her the very best that the markets of Reach could offer which left her so pleased that she involuntarily gave him a heartfelt smile and thanked him.
That incident left him stunned (and scarred,) for a whole week, his mind constantly wondering if it was just a delusion he had conjured.
Anyway, coming back to the situation at hand... The obvious question at the moment was that, if their relationship had gotten so good recently then what was the reason that she was being so cold to him? What had he done to make her angry at him once again?
And the answer to that was...
"It's good that you're fine..." Jon replied before curiously asking, "But what about Septa Mordane... I didn't get to see her too, is she—"
"Shut up!" Lady Stark abruptly snapped, as if he had touched a sore spot. Her eyes spat fire, and her indifference turned to anger in a millisecond. "As if you don't know—as if it wasn't because of you—"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Jon asked with a clueless expression, while his brother tried to calm his mother.
"You really don't know?" Robb asked sceptically as he too wasn't completely buying his brother's innocent act, but Jon still shook his head ignorantly, prompting Robb to explain, "Septa Mordane isn't here anymore... She had been banished from the North,"
"What? Why?"
"Umm..." Robb took a quick glance at his mother before speaking, "It seems that the Septa Mordane was scared that she would be kicked out of Winterfell before long, so... she stole a few pieces of jewellery from here and there probably hoping to have a cushion for her future..."
No one knew if this was something that had happened in the original timeline and just wasn't caught or if this had only happened because the Septa was under pressure in this one because of Jon, (instead of it being the other way around in the cannon).
"Oh!" Jon exclaimed, wide-eyed as if he genuinely didn't know, as if he had nothing to do with it. However, it would be hard for anyone who knew him to believe that something like this could happen in his own home without him knowing, "But how is that related to me? After all, I wasn't even here at that time, How could I—"
"How dare you say that! She did all that because of you! If you hadn't been so—" Catelyn almost screeched at Jon in her anger, it seemed that losing Septa who was almost like a friend to the woman was too much for her.
"Enough!" Eddard said sternly in a low voice, stalling the argument before it could go any further, "What is done is done, and talking about it wouldn't change anything."
"But—" Catelyn wasn't satisfied with not getting her way yet and wanted to get to the bottom of things and for Jon to admit that he was behind her getting caught, after all, it can't just be a coincidence that the maids just happen to gossip about the jewellery going missing (something that Catelyn had been trying to suppress) and Eddard happening to walk by.
"I said enough, Catelyn! The Septa confessed to it herself so it doesn't matter what her reasons were..." Eddard was honestly quite relieved when he found a reason to kick the Septa out of Winterfell as he wasn't too fond of her and didn't particularly like the way she taught his children, but he didn't want to antagonise his wife so he kept her employed, "I merely banished her on your plea for mercy so we should leave it at that and forget about it..."
"Humph" Catelyn knew better than to argue against her husband when he got like that, so she kept her mouth shut even though she was dissatisfied with it.
"Now we got sidetracked enough already so let's get back to the reason as to why I called you here," Eddard said with a serious expression and continued after making sure that they were paying him attention, "Which is this," he pointed towards the thick open book on the desk in front of him.
Jon and Robb took only a moment to recognise what it was, "Isn't that the..."
"Yes, this is the book that contains the finances and accounts over the past decade of not only Winterfell but also the whole North and this..." he turned the book around so that all three of them were able to see it and then his finger pointed towards the page end, "this is the pure profit that we've accumulated over the past year according to the last count by the Maester..."
"Oh! My!" "Sevens!" "Really! This much!!"
Comments
Gabe Sarti
The same septa was probably teaching his kids to hate and distrust bastards, slowly trying to poison them against their own brother. But I guess that was not enough of an excuse to get rid of her beforehand? Also not criticism, just wondering why he let that slide
