Scatter the leaves to the wind
The mother wolf was an enormous beast. Ned’s men had torn down the walls between three of the pens in the kennels so she could rest comfortably, and still she looked enormous against the flimsy wooden barricades remaining.
“Are you sure you want to keep her here, my lord?” asked Farlen.
“There have been no direwolves south of the Wall in two hundred years. This is a sign.”
His children had shared the pups out amongst themselves with Robb’s guidance even before Ned had made it back to Winterfell. One remained left over; the white runt that had been the last to be found.
“He should have been Jon’s,” Robb said sadly. He’d taken to caring for the white pup all the same, and it trailed around after him like a silent shadow.
“Did you and your siblings have wolves?” Ned asked Jonelle a few days after the arrival of the pups.
Jonelle shook her head. “Father would never have allowed it.” She peered into his face. “Would you?”
“I have,” Ned replied, feeling a little guilty.
Jonelle’s face fell. “Oh.” She looked at him through her dark lashes. “May I leave this tower some time soon? I feel better now, and the Maester days my arm is as healed as it ever will be.”
“I shall speak to Maester Luwin.”
He would have to think of an explanation for her presence. She bore the Stark look strongly and had already been raised as a bastard. He could claim her as a bastard of himself or one of his brothers. Even his father mayhaps, though he'd not like to cast shame on his good name.
His children were in the courtyard with their direwolves in their arms. They were yet too small to train too much, but the children were working to ensure they were behaving well.
“We want to socialize them now. So they get used to people,” Robb explained.
“Have you seen the mother?” asked Bran.
“I've had other concerns.”
Bran bowed his head over his pup. “She's meant for you.”
Ned did visit the mother wolf that morning. She was recovering, her wounds now scabbed over, but she still peeled her lip back when she saw him.
“What do you intend on doing with her when she's well, my lord?” asked Farlen.
“I cannot say.”
Ned didn't know. She was a wild beast, but they were accusing her to humans now. She wouldn't fear them. That only ever led to danger. They'd not be able to release her. A fully grown wolf would be harder to train and socialize like his children’s pups though.
“Monitor her for now.”
Later, Ned sat in the godswood to clean Ice’s blade and clean the blade, just as he’d watched his father do when he was little.
Cat appeared through the trees, her pale face drawn into an expression of concern. “Ned?”
He looked up at her. “What is it?”
Cat only offered him a piece of parchment and sat bedside him, resting her hand on his leg. The words swam before his eyes. Jon Arryn was dead. Jonelle hadn’t told him that. She’d never mentioned him. Still, the story she’d told him about what happened in her Winterfell and Robert’s capture of it. There were no dragons here in his Winterfell as she claimed she had had, unless Jon had been more secretive than her. But there was still a secret, and not one Robert would be happy to discover.
“The children cannot all be here when Robert arrives,” he said.
“What are you saying?” whispered Cat.
“That it is our duty to protect our children. We cannot risk them staying here when Robert arrives.”
He’d not lose them the way Jonelle’s siblings had been lost.
Ned had replies from only two of his ravens sent by three sennights later, when Howland arrived, along with his daughter and a small group of guards. Ned smiled and welcomed them to the castle. Much of the food was going to stores for winter, or to begin building a stock for when Robert arrived.
He met with Howland that night and told him of Jonelle and her story. Howland steepled his fingers and frowned. “I have never heard of such a thing.”
“Robb swears by what happened, and Theon has verified his version of events.”
“Can I meet the girl?”
“In the morning, perhaps.”
Howland nodded. “The boy? He grew well?”
“He did. He never… He was always well and happy. Intelligent. He and Robb are close.” Ned shook his head. “Robb… is angered by the situation.”
“Losing a brother is a painful thing.”
Ned sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Indeed.”
He took Howland to meet Jonelle in the morning. She was out of bed and pacing the room, her dark hair pulled back into a sloppy braid.
“Who are you?” she asked when Howland entered. She’d not met him in her Winterfell then.
“This is Howland Reed, a friend of mine,” Ned explained.
He had Jonelle tell Howland her story, including her explanation of the mirror.
“It was always but a mirror. I never knew it would… pull me through,” she said, turning a soft pink. “I’ve never known it…”
Ned patted her good shoulder. She still flinched. “Might I visit the godswood? I’d like to pray.”
“I'll make arrangements with Rodrik to accompany you.”
“Do you believe her?” Ned asked after they left the tower.
“She seemed earnest. I should like to see this mirror, if I can.”
Ned took him to investigate the mirror, and then left him to consider it while he gathered his children in his offer. “I never wanted to do this. Winterfell is your home, and I want it to always be that way.”
Robb narrowed his eyes. He held Jon’s white runt pup in his arms while his own grey one sat by his feet. “Father, what is happening?”
“Jonelle, who came through the mirror, claims to have come from another Winterfell.”
“What?” asked Arya.
“Is that possible?” asked Sansa.
“It does appear so. And in her Winterfell, King Robert turned on her family. He captured her parents and she believes her siblings.”
His children were quiet.
“I have been making inquiries with my bannermen. Bran, you will be beginning fostering with House Umber as soon as possible. Arya, you are to go to House Karstark. Sansa, I have written to Lord Manderly, but have yet to receive a reply.”
“But this isn't fair!” Arya protested.
“Why do we have to leave?” asked Bran.
“To keep you safe,” Ned replied.
“They're safe here at Winterfell,” Robb said, anger in his blue eyes.
“Not if Jonelle’s sorry is true. I'm sorry, but the decision has been made. Bran and Arya will be leaving next week.”
Ned only hoped he was making the right decision.