Location - North | Winterstrom.
The north, better known as the habitat of wolves. Where the seasons of the year stopped indefinitely because it is always snowing no matter what day or how many winters come to the north it is always the same, I like the cold climate of the place, it is a comfortable environment away from the scorching heat.
After a few days of travel, the castle where the Starks have lived for generations was finally arriving in Winterstrom, I am heading to the place due to work discussions. Normally it would be Eddard who will travel to the valley but this time he wanted to leave. My son is studying the books I know he does not need my help but still when I return I will ask him.
"My Sir."
The voice of the master cranel returns my mind from the wanderings, I look directly at him hoping that he will speak.
He on the other hand stares straight ahead "Winterstrom."
Right in front of us on the road that ends the path, the imposing castle lets you see your sight in all its splendor. Despite old and worn green, it is quite impressive.
At the entrance to the castle, a line of guards arranged at each end, and right in front of Eddard and his family welcomed us, a smile was drawn on my lips this guy, does he think we are royalty? I'm sure he's only doing it to annoy him, he knows I am bothered by all those senseless formalities that the real ones occupy.
The carriage stopped before reaching the entrance, I walked the singing path straight to the Stark family, it must have been a while since I saw them. Six children grouped from youngest to oldest the oldest Rob was a few years older than my son brown hair, hazel eyes his facial features were the same as Eddard's when he was a child, he wore the noble clothing of the north consisting of pants and sterilized wool shirt with accessories, on his shoulders a long cloak of wolf skin that covered his entire body.
Next to him was a black-haired boy, a small body a few years younger than the older one, he wore the same type of clothes if I remember correctly this boy is called Jon and he is not Eddard's legitimate son, rather he is his nephew due to various events he ended up accepting the child as hers was still carrying Stark blood after all.
Followed by him the first woman and the oldest girl of Eddard, her name was Sansa unlike what the royals may believe of the Starks the girl was beautiful long reddish hair cascading down to her hip-deep gray eyes, fine features and delicate with a touch of rebellion, it was not necessary to be very intelligent to know that she would be a beauty when she grew up, because I have personally seen the daughters of the other nobles, even the real ones, and even then they could not compare to the girl.
Next to her is the last woman of the Stark house, smaller than my son, as I remember her name is Arya, unlike the oldest, she has brown hair and eyes of the same color, more like her father. She will also be a beauty not on the same level as her sister but not that far away either.
And finally, Eddard's last two sons both resembling Bran and Rickon.
I kept walking until I was in front of him with a slight smile, we both looked at each other for a few seconds.
"Man ... you're old," Eddard said and the whole place fell silent.
I had to put up with laughing in front of everyone I looked at him from head to toe, sure that he was getting old, he looked much more finished than me.
"Am I the old man?" Replica
This caused Eddard to burst into laughter followed by a slight smile from me, we greeted each other with a hug.
"It's good to see you again brother."
"Anyway, it seems like an eternity doesn't it?" He answered and then looked to his right.
An older woman elegantly dressed reddish hair a shade duller than pretty Sansa despite the age not on the level of my wife but I would not say it openly. She was Catherine Stark Mrs. Winterstrom.
"Catherine."
"Mr. Burkhradt."
After a greeting and a quick hug, I looked at the whole family.
"It seems that the family prosperous well."
Eddard smiled "Yes it is, thank the gods I have a large family but sometimes it is very difficult to keep everyone quiet."
This was said in a tired tone causing laughter from his wife and children.
"Well, I can't say I understand you."
Eddard seemed to remember something so he asked "By the way Nick heard that your son had had an accident and was unconscious for a few days, how is the boy?"
His words brought the attention of the entire family.
"Okay, according to the master the fall was not bad and the reason why he was unconscious for a few days was something else."
At this point, I think I was smiling brightly at the look of surprise Eddard was giving me. It seems I still fail to hide how proud I am to tell you about this.
"Does that resay that ... the ?. "
"Yes."
Eddard seemed surprised for several minutes, on the other hand, his children had confused looks on their faces. Catherine seemed to know a little about the subject but did not comment on anything.
With a laugh, Eddard said, "It is not surprising that pride comes out of your person, but enough talking out here let's go to the castle to accommodate ourselves better."
I limit myself to feeling and we all move towards the castle.
The interior is quite cozy, the intense cold outside is softer inside. Wherever we will pass, all the servants bowed, there is likely a spy from another house among them, they are very difficult to detect, sometimes giving a massive headache.
We entered the room where they meet to eat, everyone took an accent after the cooks served the food, I felt someone pulling the side of my clothes when I turned I could see the youngest girl in the place staring at me, her eyes showed extreme curiosity.
"Sir, what were you and my father talking about?" His tender voice caught everyone's attention.
"Arya! ... Don't be bothering Mr. Burkhradt."
Shaking his head slightly, he replied "Okay Catherine, your name is Arya right?"
A movement of her head answered my question.
"You look a lot like Nicolay, eyes full of curiosity about life but depending on the question you have asked, that depends on your father's decision since the subject is not something that children should listen to."
I could see how her face changed to a sad one.
"What do you mean by that father?"
This time it was Sansa who spoke it seems that she could not contain her curiosity, Catherine was about to speak but it was Eddard who took the floor.
"Listen, I don't normally do this but I know the feeling and even though I don't want to know that you will eventually come across this whether you want to or not, it's better to be aware of the truth than to be surprised when you least expect it and die accordingly." Eddard looked at his wife who seemed to want to protest.
Then he looked at his children "Everything you will hear in this room is true, therefore it is forbidden to speak with people outside of our family, do you understand?"
A heavy atmosphere was felt in the place all the children attended with curiosity. Although normally this is not part of what Eddard mentioned, it is true most of the time people die when they meet Wesen for fear when seeing one for the first time, for someone who does not know anything to discover it when he wants to kill you is very bad Luck I still remember the first time Eddard saw one.
Without a doubt, an event that he would rather forget more, however, for my part, I still find it funny now.
"What do you mean father?" Rob spoke.
With this, I gave a slight sigh and proceeded to tell the Stark family the summary truth.
Suffice it to say that their gazes went from curiosity to shock, fear, and doubts, only Arya had a strange glint in her eyes, the girl was excited to the extreme, her small body was jumping on the villa.
"Wow! ... are you serious!? .... what are they like!? Where are they from!? Can I see one!?."
I was so excited that Catherine had to pat her head to try to calm her down.
"Does that exist?"
"Yes ... the truth does not seem to me that they are something real."
"That would be terrifying."
"It is so cool!."
"It's not great, if those things are real it's not great at all."
"I don't want to go out alone anymore ..."
As expected, the reactions of the six children were different, on the one hand, Sansa and Rob showed exectism, Arya was all emotional Jon and Bran were more shocked thinking about what it would be like to see one head-on and Rickon just kept quiet.
Eddard laughed "I understand how they feel when you find out for the first time without seeing them, in person it seems like a lie taken from the bedtime stories they told us. But I can tell you that it is as true as the snow outside the castle, the stories that the matrons relate are real evil creatures are living in this world with us the reason why I asked Nicholas to reveal this to them is that I want them to be prepared, most of the people who see them without knowing end up crazy interned in the tower of the Maesters with their brains shattered. "
Sansa was the one who spoke.
"So it's true ... have you seen them in person father?"
Nodding Eddard's gaze turned solemn "Unfortunately if, when I was young I was about to die at the hands of one, it was the first time in my life that I was afraid."
This seemed to surprise the children, especially Rob and Jon seemed to both idolize their father as the greatest warrior there is.
"Are they that strong?"
"Yes, they are, Wesen is creatures with faster supernatural abilities, greater strength, enhanced senses, large claws that can cut through steel with ease, and all kinds of quirks that make them impossible to fight normal people."
This time it was I who spoke attracting theeveryone's look.
"Great!."
"No Arya, that's not cool at all ..."
"Spooky..."
"How you know so much about them," Sansa asked.
Eddard took the floor "It's because Nick is special, he's not normal like us."
"Grimm," Catherine said.
I looked at her surprised "Do you know what it is?"
She shook her head "Very little did I briefly hear my grandfather talk about this with my father, I was still a child when I married Eddard I half-finished understanding the truth but I do not know everything for sure."
"What is a Grimm?" Jon asked.
I looked at the children who were staring at me with a hunger for information in their eyes. "A Grimm is what the descendants of my family are called. After the Wesen appeared, the Grimm's were born in this world in a nutshell Demon Hunters we dedicate ourselves to hunt down evil creatures to save the innocent."
They all had their mouths shaped like an 'o' due to surprise.
"I want to be a Grimm!?."
As expected the little wolf yelled excitedly as she slapped both hands on the table.
Eddard laughed "You can't."
And before the girl claimed she spoke again "And it's not because I don't want you to be, you can't say you want to be a Grimm and you know it. Only those born with the required bloodline awaken the spark of power. To be a Grimm, in short, you have to be a direct descendant of one of them, it is something that is inherited from father to son. "
With Arya Rob's downcast gaze he asked "And how can Grimms hunt creatures like this?"
"That is because upon awakening the bloodline grants us supernatural abilities like the Wesen to be on an equal footing with them."
"It's true, this guy is very abnormal when fighting is something that a normal human could not achieve with the training." Eddard retorted.
Now the children, especially the older men, looked at me with respect and a little flattery. It seemed that for these little ones, anyone who knew how to fight would be great for them.
"Mr. Burkhradt, does that mean that the reason your son was left unconscious is due to something to do with his legacy?"
With a smile, he nodded at everyone's expectant gaze.
"So the boy woke up huh?" Eddard asked.
"Yes ... officially a few days ago another Grimm was born in the Burkhardt house."
Eddard laughed "Just look at you I can almost see the pride coming out of your body."
I smiled.
"You heard Rob, Jon would be nice if you become sworn brothers with Nicolay like me and Nicholas are," Eddard commented.
"Yes, father!." They both said.
After this we continued the meal, speaking of everyday things the revelation did not seem to affect the children much. That's good so they should be half prepared in case they ever see a Wesen.
Almost at the end of the meal, a messenger rushed into the room with a letter in his hand, it seems that the content was not to Eddard's liking as he cursed out loud, crumpled the letter before throwing it away.
Look with a raised eyebrow "What's the problem?"
"The real ones."
This phrase cooled the atmosphere, my gaze turned sharp, inadvertently letting out a bit of the killer instinct in my body.
I stopped when I saw the pale faces of the children and Catherine.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away hearing the names of those bastards."
Catherine nodded with a sigh and calmed the children with a smile and a light pat on the back.
"Do you have a problem with them, Ned?"
"Not so much a problem, but they do not stop bothering since one of the inheriting children saw Sansa since then he sends letters every week asking for the Union of our families," I reply with annoyance.
"Despite refusing, the Starks cannot afford to offend a royal household. He is so approving of this to insist he even comes to visit." Catherine said.
Look for a few seconds at the Stark family, it is not surprising the truth with the ethereal beauty of Sansa that those channeled of the real ones want to have the girl in their claws. Despite the way they think the North is savage, Sansa is more beautiful than all the girls in royalty.
Look at the girl in question, she kept her frown slightly frowning, it seems she knows how to hide her disgust.
"No wonder, the girl has a beauty that surpasses even the daughters of the royal lords, attracting the attention of those bastards would be very easy, how many are trying to ask for it?"
Eddard thought about it for a second until he finally answered.
"Lancelles, Dhreyner, Fullher, Liechtenstein, Stratorsa, and two of the Von Creed nobles, D, orne."
Now this if I was surprised, five royal houses and two nobles surely there was a battle in this place. You could say that Sansa was the beauty to get enough work this century for Eddard to have to endure so much.
"It sure is a problem, getting the attention of so many snakes."
"You have no idea, damn the noble houses I can send To hell with them but the real ones I can't just offend them. Eddard replied wearily.
"Well, I don't have an answer to that but my house will be there if the problems escalate too high."
A smile appeared on the family's lips, it was then that Eddard fell silent staring at me. I knew from the way he was smiling that he had had an idea that would give me a severe headache.
"I have an idea, Nick."
....
....
....
"Which?."
"Who better to promise my daughter in marriage, than the son of my sworn brother who turns out to be the heir to his house and the next Grimm of the Burkhardt family."
Shit this bastard, he already knew that this invitation was because he had something planned. I had never really thought about promising Nicolay to someone, but the more I thought about it, the better the girl seemed to me. He seems to be intelligent as well as very beautiful.
"You already had this planned, didn't you," I said with amusement in my voice causing a shrill laugh from Eddard.
"Naturally, since we were young we had said that we would marry our children off what better opportunity than now."
"Well, I have no problem with that, that's fine with me.
Eddard looked at her daughter who was also looking all surprised.
"Well, well, she declared that from now on Sansa Stark will be betrothed to the Heir of the Vale Nicolay Burkhardt!" She exclaimed in a joyous cry.