Chapter 41: The mysteries of Astronomy tower

"Have you taken leave of your senses uncle?" Mace asked incredulously.

"Oh, I'm quite sure my mind is as sharp as ever nephew." Maester Gormon replied.

For once, Oleanna was on her son's side. It was ridiculous to take Maester Gormon seriously when he comes with tales of flying ships and far-eyes that can see worlds far away in the sky. Surely, the ageing uncle of her son has gone senile for believing the fanciful tales spun by Winterfell's maester. There was no other reasonable explanation that could make sense to her ears.

"It's not as if I'm the only one taking these tales seriously. The Archmaesters of the Citadel have verified the veracity of Maester Luwin's claims through Maester Rhodry of castle Cerwin. As we speak, the Citadel is gathering a delegation to go North and study more on these claims." said Maester Gormon.

"This is preposterous! Are the Archmaesters claiming magic is real?" Mace asked incredulously.

Oleanna watched silently as Maester Gormon sputtered indignantly, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. The fact that Gormon Tyrell didn't deny the existence of magic made all she wanted to know on the matter.

'So, even the wise Archmaesters are taking these claims seriously. And they have been saying magic is dead to all who would hear them for centuries.' Oleanna thought.

She was still sceptical of these outlandish claims that the Starks managed to build a flying boat. Even the Valyrians at the height of their power never claimed such a feat. And those incest-ridden fools were the foremost experts when it comes to weaponizing magic. Then again, those silver-haired idiots may not have thought to use their magic for making boats fly. They had dragons for that.

"Are you planning to visit Winterfell Gormon?" Oleanna asked, leaning forward in her seat and cutting through her son's vehement denials about the existence of magic.

"Well, I'm not a young man as you well know. A journey to Winterfell is not exactly conducive to my health. Besides, I'm sure there are far younger Archmaesters, experts in their disciplines, better suited for the task." said Gormon, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

"A simple no would have sufficed. It's a shame you are not part of this delegation. It'd have served House Tyrell better if we had a pair of eyes that we can implicitly trust at Winterfell." said Oleanna, making her son and Gormon frown.

"Mother, surely you can't be trusting these tales of flying boats and magic far-eyes. Surely, there must be a reason why the High Septon has declared Harrion Stark as a dangerous heretic."

Oleanna couldn't help herself but roll her eyes at how naive her son was when it comes to looking beyond his nose. Sometimes, she wondered how someone like Mace could have been born from her womb. Oh, she knew her son has his strengths in pampering their enemies with honeyed words and gifts. But, she wished he could think for himself and not take everything at face value.

Granted, even she was quite surprised when the High Septon's proclamation about the heretic nature of Harrion Stark and warning the faithful to exercise caution to the 'gifts' of the Stark boy. It was so unlike the Faith to get involved in the business of the Great Houses of Westeros. The Faith has always understood to work alongside the Great Houses was to its advantage. The same was true for the Great Houses as well. The two were not to battle it out in the open. Any disputes or differences in opinion were to be resolved peacefully in the shadows with none the wiser.

So, she was quite stumped why the High Septon would openly declare against a son of a Lords Paramount so brazenly. When her spies came back with the reason behind this unexpected move from the High Septon she only got more confused. Even now, she could not fathom why in the seven hells Cersei Lannister wishes to discredit one of her husband's staunchest allies.

"I don't know why the High Septon would have a change of heart when all this time many Septons throughout the Seven kingdoms were content to credit the gifts of Harrion Stark as a blessing from the Seven." Oleanna said, eyeing her son. "Are you willing to abandon your hopes of fetching a Valyrian steel sword for House Tyrell?"

"Of course not, mother. Next time I'll surely outbid everyone." Mace said indignantly, still smarting over his defeat from Kevan Lannister.

"Good. The High Septon has nothing to lose by alienating the Starks. House Tyrell on the other hand only stands to gain should we make our moves carefully." said Oleanna, thinking of the many advantages the current developments would undoubtedly present themselves.

If Cersei Lannister was intent on weakening her husband's hold on the Iron Throne, Oleanna was only too happy to take advantage of the woman's mistakes.

"Mace, you mentioned finding a good knight for Garlan to squire. I think Winterfell might just be a good place for Garlan to grow into a fine knight."

"Surely you jest mother." Mace waved off Oleanna's proposal.

"I think your mother has a point nephew." said Gormon, exchanging a nod of understanding with Oleanna.

Mace looked struck by how easily his uncle also agreed with his mother's suggestion.

"Mother! You can't expect me to send Garlan to that frozen wasteland amongst those tree worshippers." Mace protested but folded up with one sharp look from her.

Internally, Oleanna lamented that her son was still afraid of her at the slightest perceived hostility from her. She wondered when her son would grow a spine and properly stand up to her on issues like these. The only saving grace was that Willas was shaping up to have a strong character despite his unfortunate accident.

"Lady Oleanna's suggestion is not without merit nephew. There are knights in Winterfell anointed in the name of the Seven and by the King no less." Maester Gormon explained. "Besides, think of how Garlan could be friends with the heir of Winterfell and the heir of Pyke. That's two future Lords Paramount. The Starks are also related to Arryns and Tullys. If Garlan inherited your charms then I'm sure he'd be in a good position to build bridges to four Great Houses in little to no time."

Oleanna covertly shook her head at the spark of pride mixed with acceptance shining in Mace's eyes. She lamented the fact that her son was so easily taken by even a small bit of praise. Thankfully, her son's weakness mostly surfaces when it comes to family.

Now that her son was in agreement, it required the Starks to accept Garlan as a ward.

XXXXXXXX

No force in the world could have stopped Harry from witnessing this monumental task. He eagerly looked on with Sansa by his side silently urging the third occupant. When Arya finally managed to crawl all the way across the room into his arms Harry picked up his younger sister and made a spin on his heels. Excited giggling escaped little Arya's baby mouth while Sansa clapped along happily.

"My turn." Sansa insisted, tugging at his hands while looking eagerly at Arya.

"Alright. Be careful." he cautioned before handing over little Arya to Sansa's hands.

Arya pouted at being denied access to continue pinching his cheeks. But, her disappointment was quickly drained away when she found herself getting access to Sansa's fiery red mane.

Harry watched amusedly as Sansa carried away Arya on her shoulders with Jeyne Poole trailing behind.

"Keep an eye on them. Sansa and Jeyne can get overzealous when it comes to their tea parties." said Harry, charging Adela to look after his sisters before taking his leave.

Coming out of their impromptu playroom of sorts, Harry stretched his limbs. His 'advanced' capabilities in picking up his letters and numbers excused him from further daily lessons by Maester Luwin. Harry was quite thrilled when the Maester suggested this to his father and mother. What he didn't expect was to assume the responsibility of looking after Arya. He had hoped to utilize the free time to do more magical research. But, his mother was under the impression that he was already spending too much time in his lab and he could use some 'normal' time.

That's how he wound up in charge of looking after Arya while Jon, Robb and Theon attended lessons with Maester Luwin.

He would have vehemently complained if it was not for the results of this 'normal' time that ended up increasing his productivity. Harry trained his eyes on the former Burned tower often referred to as the Broken tower. But, no longer did the people of Winterfell call it the Broken tower because it was no longer broken. In the place of a large pile of loose stones, fallen levels and damaged beams, there stood a tall aesthetic structure made of gleaming white marble towering over everything Winterfell had to offer. The sunlight gleamed reflecting out of the smooth surface of the tower which Harry dubbed the Astronomy tower.

The name was yet to get popular but he was sure once his astronomical discoveries get more recognition the name will get more traction. Right now, only Maester Luwin and Maester Rhodry were interested in the particulars behind the tower and the study of stars. Not even his father was all that interested in the findings when it comes to Astronomy which was quite understandable. The Lord of Winterfell has other duties rather than focusing on the discoveries related to the sky.

Now, Harry on the other hand was very much invested in tracing out the nearby planets and stars. The work was not complete but he managed to discover ten planets orbiting the Sun which has thrown a wrench into some of his plans. Most of his rituals would have to be recalibrated as was the case for some of the spells and runes.

While this latest bit of discovery was troublesome news there were also ample reasons to celebrate as well. Harry managed to successfully combine a little bit of alchemy and dwarvish construction methods to build the Astronomy tower. Harry was quite satisfied with the overall architecture of the tower. There was more room for improvement for sure bit it was a masterpiece. The tower ended up far more narrow than he intended and the stairs were not up to his expected aesthetic standards. Other than those two issues, his work with the tower was quite exemplary for a first attempt.

Once the surveyors find a suitable hilltop, Harry was ready to construct his new castle at Sea Dragon Point by using magic and that was why he was in the process of scanning the structure of Winterfell. The innate magic of the castle and some of the age-old partially functioning runes were proving to be a hurdle. Despite centuries of magical neglect the ancient runes carved into the foundation stones of Winterfell seem to work somewhat. Harry was quite surprised when he discerned the intent behind those runes. The First Men runes inside Winterfell did not prevent anyone hostile from attacking Winterfell or its inhabitants. But, the runes would recognize the identity of the enemies and impart a curse of misfortune.

When Harry found the intent of these old runes, he was careful to not trigger its wrath on him or his trusted Valkyrie who was charged with positioning his wardstones.

In the end, Harry came up with a simple solution. He recalibrated his wardstones and created a blanket ward encompassing the entirety of the castle. The new ward scheme was not unduly complicated. It was an intent-based ward that was set to deliver a wave of nausea to anyone holding ill intent towards House Stark. This way he could translate the intent behind the ward to the pre-existing rune-based curse as the first strike of sorts against a hostile enemy. It was only by enshrining his new ward as a defence mechanism could he gain access to the age-old protections of Winterfell.

It was no easy task. It had taken him many sleepless nights and sacrificing hours of leisure time to properly divine the intent of the old protections.

"I still don't understand why you didn't just remove the old runes, my lord. It'd have been far safer to exert your will on the protections of Winterfell." Anya commented, climbing their way towards the top level of the Astronomy tower under the cover of the night.

"I could do that but magic is not a tool that can be easily discarded. There is intent imbued in every spell whether it is cast through a wand or impressed on stone in the form of runes. These intents and emotions behind the spell cannot be dismissed especially when the magic behind it has endured for thousands of years. The safe way forward is to incorporate the magic that has worked so far into the new ward schemes." said Harry, tapping a patch of wall with his wand after finally reaching the topmost level.

A small fire burned nearby giving them the necessary light to see in the dark. Before their eyes, the white marble collapsed backwards granting them entry to a set of secret stairs. The stairs led to a secret chamber where the wardstone monitored the protections around Winterfell as well as gathered the structural design of the castle. Harry placed his power ring on an altar inside the chamber.

A section of the floor folded up showing the wardstone with glowing red runes. Harry and Anya knelt on the floor near the wardstone. Harry reached out and plucked the wardstone out of the floor and he could feel the wards collapse around Winterfell.

"Did it capture the structure?" Anya asked.

Harry sharpened his mind and allowed his magic to coalesce over the wardstone. His mind was easily pulled into the magic gathered inside the pulsating runes and he could see the superstructure of Winterfell within his mind. The foundations of the First Keep remained ever elusive even from the scanning of the wardstone. He was now totally convinced there was a structure or a chamber beneath the First Keep submerged under the hot spring. For some reason, it refused to interact and refuse to be found in any manner. His magical scans have all failed to garner any sort of reaction or information from the structure. It was as if the structure was sealed off by an obscure ward. Even after gaining access to the old runes of the castle, he was not allowed entry or knowledge about the secret chamber which was a shame.

Harry blinked as he came out of the trance. The wardstone remained pulsing with runes on his palm. Harry reached out with his free hand towards Anya. His faithful student fished out one of the ice dragon crystals from a sealed box. The crystal was configured into the shape of an egg with finely crafted runes carved over its smooth surface. The runes glowed bright white as the crystal was placed in his hands.

Harry placed the crystal in place of the wardstone. His mind jerked as the wards kicked in with full force. Other than the induced nausea for anyone looking to harm House Stark, the new crystal wardstone was primed to strengthen the castle and its gates against any foe in case of an attack. There were other defences in play like barriers and jinxes that were designed to keep the enemy down.

Harry watched as the floor closed up over the crystal hiding it from his sight after he retried the power ring from the altar.

"Are you going to inform Lord Stark of the wards?" Anya asked, once Harry secured the wardstone he retrieved from the chamber into a box.

"Hmm...not yet. I want to make sure the wards are working properly before I bring up the matter with father." Harry paused halfway to the stairs turning to look at Anya. "Keep an eye on the castle's inhabitants. If anyone suddenly falls ill or finds themselves tripping repeatedly while walking, note them and report to me once I return from White Harbor."

XXXXXXX

"Are you going to agree my lord?" asked Maester Luwin.

Eddard was not sure what to make of the request from the Tyrells. To send Mace Tyrell's second son to foster under his roof was not something he expected from the Tyrells. The Reach has always been Targaryen loyalists and they proved their loyalty during the Rebellion. He had cut down many fine knights of the Reach at the Trident and at the Stoney Sept. Even though he never saw any major Reach lords at either location there were many soldiers and knights representing the Reach fighting beside Rhaegar and Jon Connington.

On the other hand, Mace Tyrell did surrender and bend the knee without further bloodshed and has been loyal to Robert ever since Aerys was dethroned. The Redwyne fleet played a crucial role in beating back the Iron fleet and the Tyrells did send some troops when Robert called the banners.

"The Tyrells are bound by blood to the Hightowers and the Redwynes. They also wield considerable influence in the Citadel." Maester Luwin said.

Eddard looked at the Maester for a time before sighing.

'Maester Luwin is right. The Tyrells are well connected.' Eddard thought.

There was also the simple fact that the Tyrells, despite their former allegiance to the Targaryens, retained the title of Warden of the South. So, denying an honest request from a Lord Paramount would be unreasonable on his part.

"House Tyrell fought for the Mad King. If I can help it I'd prevent them from supporting Viserys Targaryen against King Robert's heirs. Perhaps, fostering Garlan Tyrell is a way to build better relations with the Reach." Eddard mused aloud.

"A wise decision my lord. Shall I send the raven then?"

He just nodded.

Eddard leaned back in his seat after dismissing the Maester. Harrion and Robb were on their way to White Harbor as part of House Stark's commitment to helping them increase the yields of their farmlands. In return, the Manderlys would send their best builders for constructing a port at Sea Dragon Point and in time a sizeable fleet. With his son's ability to build structures from stone and sand, the plans for Sea Dragon Point could be accelerated. He had already given permission for Harrion to raise a castle once the surveyors return. The boy had clearly worked wonders with the Burned tower. At this point, he doubted there was anything his son could not do with his magic. That old pile of rocks was now the most beautiful place in Winterfell other than the Godswood.

At least, he could stop worrying about the developments of Sea Dragon Point. Harrion seems to have a good handle on the matter and seems to have some interest in seeing it done. This left Eddard to worry about matters closer to home namely the arrival and lodging of some ten Maesters or so. Those far-eyes Harrion made were far more trouble than he had initially imagined. He just hoped the bunch of old men would not stick around for too long.

'Winterfell is not a place for Maesters and their inane curiosities.' Eddard thought gruffly.

AN:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!