Gentle sunlight spilled over Winterfell.
In the distance, mountains merged with the horizon and stretched all the way to the edge of the sky.
Not far off lay the godswood of House Stark—tall sentinel pines wearing gray-green needles like armor, along with great oaks, hawthorns, ironwoods, ashes, and soldier pines, all whispering in the wind.
The heart tree stood at the center, like a white giant frozen in time.
That grove was dim even in daylight.
"Lady Dustin, I'm honored to welcome you to my betrothal feast."
At the castle gate, Domeric bowed to a noblewoman.
She wore a gown that was solemn yet richly made. Wrinkles traced the corners of her mouth and eyes, but her posture remained tall and straight, her features composed. Brown-gray hair was tied at the back of her head in a widow's knot—the long years had left their mark on her.
This was Barbrey Dustin, widow of Lord Willam Dustin of Barrowton.
She also had another identity: Domeric's aunt.
Domeric's mother, Bethany Ryswell, had been Lady Dustin's elder sister.
When Lady Dustin was young, she had fallen hopelessly in love with Brandon Stark—Lord Eddard's older brother. Brandon had taken her maidenhood and her innocence.
Of course, she wasn't the only noble girl Brandon Stark had "taken innocence" from.
Unlike his dutiful younger brother Eddard, Brandon had been called the "Wild Wolf," said to carry the true "direwolf blood."
It was said that at the tourney at Harrenhal, years ago, Brandon Stark had asked Ashara Dayne—sister to the Sword of the Morning—to dance with his brother Eddard, only for Eddard to refuse out of shyness.
After that, Brandon and Ashara Dayne had slept together—and she had conceived.
Brandon had roamed the noble circles of Westeros like a storm: charming, reckless, and scattering seeds everywhere…
Leaving behind more than enough stories for the bards.
Later, Lady Dustin's father—Rodrik Ryswell, lord of the Rills and Domeric's maternal grandfather—had wanted to marry her to Eddard, but Catelyn had gotten there first. In the end, Barbrey had married Willam Dustin, Lord of Barrowton.
Willam died in Robert's Rebellion. Because Lord Eddard never brought her husband's bones back north to rest among his ancestors, Lady Dustin bore Eddard a deep and vicious hatred.
New grievances stacked on old.
In the canon timeline, later in the War of the Five Kings, when the Boltons took power in the North, Lady Dustin even wanted to whip Eddard's corpse to vent her rage—only they never found the body.
"Domeric… you've grown taller."
Her concern for him seemed genuine, though her gaze flickered—subtle, but controlled.
Lady Dustin set her hand in Domeric's palm as he escorted her into the castle.
…
"Come with me to the glass gardens."
Suddenly, Lady Dustin spoke into Domeric's ear.
Before everyone had arrived and before the feast began, this aunt of his clearly had something she wanted to say.
The glass gardens were Winterfell's heated greenhouse, warmed by the hot springs. Because of that, the place was humid and hot, often used to grow southern fruits and vegetables, along with costly flowers.
Lady Dustin had once loved Brandon Stark so deeply she'd dreamed of becoming Winterfell's lady.
So she knew Winterfell's layout like the inside of her hand.
"Why didn't you discuss something this big with me?" Lady Dustin asked, face hard, teeth biting into her lower lip.
"You mean…?"
"Your marriage to House Stark."
Clearly, his aunt was unhappy about the match.
Barrowton had once belonged to the Barrow Kings, and House Dustin had once been among the strongest houses in the North—second only to House Stark and House Bolton.
But after Robert's Rebellion, with Lord Willam dead and no heir, the house had steadily weakened.
And because of that, Lady Dustin hated Eddard Stark to the bone.
Domeric couldn't help thinking of the attack at the Smoky Log Inn. If he ignored the fact that Lady Dustin was his aunt, she would be the most suspicious candidate.
Because no one would want a Bolton–Stark alliance less than Barbrey Dustin.
First, a powerful Bolton–Stark union would put even more pressure on Barrowton.
Second, Eddard was the man she hated most—and she didn't want her nephew marrying Eddard's daughter.
Still… no matter how much she loathed Eddard, she shouldn't be taking a knife to her own nephew.
So Domeric didn't let his suspicion settle on her.
"This… we were forced into it," Domeric explained carefully, choosing words that wouldn't offend her.
"Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbor, for his own self-preservation, didn't want to be caught in any possible conflict between House Bolton and House Stark. He made sure the whole North learned that Lady Catelyn wanted the marriage. Father had no choice but to agree to the betrothal…"
"And Lady Catelyn is the duke's wife—the lady of the North. We can't afford to offend her."
"There's nothing to fear!" Lady Dustin snapped, almost hysterical. It seemed she hated Catelyn down to her marrow—after all, Catelyn had taken the place Barbrey once imagined for herself, as Brandon's betrothed in her own dreams.
Then she seemed to realize her loss of control. Lady Dustin steadied herself and continued in a lower, calmer voice:
"Domeric, I've heard what you did beyond the Wall—defeating the wildlings. And I know what you've built in the Lonely Hills. House Bolton is not what it used to be…"
"You know Willam and I had no children. House Dustin is thin-blooded, with no heirs. One day, it could all be placed in your hands…"
"And with your grandfather Rodrik Ryswell's support…"
Her tone dropped, but the edge sharpened into something dangerous.
"We have the strength to overthrow Winterfell's rule—and make your father the Warden of the North."
Lady Dustin finally spoke the ambition that had been boiling inside her. She exhaled, then stared at her "good big nephew," waiting.
Truth be told, if not for the coming catastrophe in King's Landing, if not for the War of the Five Kings, if not for the ironborn invasion, if not for the mad "dragon queen" across the Narrow Sea, and if not for the ever-looming threat of the Others…
Then her proposal might actually have been worth serious consideration.
But canon was about to begin. Westeros was walking into disaster.
If the North tore itself apart in a civil struggle now, it would only stumble into the coming storms weakened—and then be crushed.
Unfortunately, Domeric couldn't exactly use that as an argument with Lady Dustin.
Seeing Domeric say nothing, Lady Dustin let out a slow sigh.
"Keep my words in your heart. Talk to your father about it properly. I'll be waiting for you to change your mind."
Then she took Domeric back toward the feast—acting as if none of it had happened.
-
-
-
-
-
GAME OF THRONES: SECRETS BENEATH THE DREADFORT
🏰🩸 GAME OF THRONES: SECRETS BENEATH THE DREADFORT 🩸🏰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📢 DARK SECRETS RISE IN THE NORTH! 📢
Game of Thrones: Secrets Beneath the Dreadfort has 30 chapters ahead available on Patreon! 🐺🩸
Beneath the Dreadfort, old horrors stir.
Power, bloodlines, betrayal, northern cruelty, and buried secrets wait beneath one of the most feared castles in Westeros.
❄️ The North remembers.🏰 The Dreadfort hides.🩸 And some secrets should have stayed buried.
Uncover what lies beneath before anyone else does.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🛑 ALSO AVAILABLE ON PATREON:
🌃 Cyberpunk: Dogtown Legend🔥 Cyberpunk: The Relentless👩👦 Cyberpunk: Lucy Adopted Me and I Got a System🧠 My Cyberpunk 2077 Simulator🤖 My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew?🛡️ Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore🌌 Star Wars: Relics of the Past⚡ The Rebirth of Harry Potter🌹 R18: Reincarnated in Her World
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔗 Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus👤 Patreon Name: SrMagnus🐦 X / Twitter: https://x.com/SrMagnusBook
⚠️ The novel with the most Power Stones gets more chapters first!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━