A guard reported the situation to the lord, glaring angrily at Lady Stark and me.
"I understand what happened here, and I will give the necessary punishment later."
As he finished speaking, Lady Stark interjected.
"Eddard has confessed and accepted punishment."
He turned around and looked at me with a questioning gaze.
"Yes, sir. I accept the aforementioned crimes on the condition that I tell you what I have to say."
Then the other Stark children arrived. I turned to Sansa and said.
" Sansa, do you remember what Septa Mordane said to you two years ago, about the Old Gods and the Lady of the North? I asked you to relay her words to Lord Stark, but you seem to have forgotten."
At first, she looked at my face with confusion, seemingly not understanding what I was saying, but after a few seconds, she must have remembered something, because her facial expression suddenly changed.
"Yes, I remember now, I forgot to tell my father about it."
"That's why I saw her in the Citadel today. If Lord Stark knew Septa Mordane's opinion, he would never allow such a despicable person to approach his children again."
Lady Stark shouted angrily.
"How dare you insult the servants of the Seven!"
This time, I infused my voice with even more magic, I said.
"Madam, neither I nor anyone here cares what the Seven and their servants think!"
The people around were somewhat agitated, and Lord Stark seemed a little shaken.
"Kind Lady Stark, I have always told you we don't care about the Seven, but you insist we must. We North would rather die than allow the despicable Seven and their greedy, silk-clad, fanatical servants into our North. The only reason no one says anything to you is because of our Lord Stark, not because we have opened our hearts to the Seven."
Everyone in the crowd, including knights and nobles, began to nod in agreement or cheer for the Old Gods.
"My lord, do you know how our good Septa Mordane taught your daughters? She told them that any woman who takes up a weapon or stands around the training grounds is a barbarian clinging to a tree. What about Lady Maege Lady Mormont and the other female warriors of the North?"
Angry voices began to rise from the crowd, I continued.
"Those greedy and fanatical followers of the Seven can speak ill of the Old Gods right under our noses... under the eaves of our lord! But we, the people of this proud land, must remain silent before these despicable people."
"My ladies, you greedy Silk Monks and monks idly collect donations. Do you know of any who claim to be priests of the Old Gods, who heal the sick and save lives without receiving anything in return? What have the Seven done for their followers? Do they heal the sick and save lives, or protect the weak? If the Emre the Druid has acted as a priest of the Old Gods, then I, Aermir Drasil, as the Sword of the Old Gods, protect the weak on my journey in the name of the Old Gods and Lord Stark. Have I ever asked for anything in return? Never! For our duty is to slay vile creatures and protect the good people of the North!"
All the knights and soldiers began to cheer deafeningly.
( Eddard Stark's perspective)
I don't know if raising this child was a mistake. Although he's now being aggressive towards the Lady of Winterfell, not only the knights and soldiers, but even the nobles are cheering him on. In just a few minutes of conversation here, he's turned the entire Winterfell against the Seven.
If Catelyn exerts more pressure to punish him, she will receive opposition from everyone instead of support, without even realizing it herself. If what he said is true, even I want to punish the nun, so I completely understand his intentions.
He was fanning the flames, waiting for Catelyn to back down and retract her order. If he pressed any further, he would succeed. But at the same time, everything he said made sense. If he was speaking his true thoughts, as long as we were defenders of the Old Gods, he would be completely loyal to the North and House Stark. I said, looking at Sansa.
Is he telling the truth?
"Yes, Father. That's what she said."
Afterwards, she told me the nun also talked about the North and the Old Gods. I was confused. It seemed this old spinster bitch thought she was untouchable because she was a nun, and kept complaining endlessly about the North and how bad we were compared to the South.
"Guards, find Septa Mordane and give her ten lashes. For she has been disrespectful to the nobles and the Old Gods. Then put her in a wheelbarrow—I mean a wheelbarrow, not a carriage. Send her back to her beloved South, and never let her return to the North. She is banished. In fact, every monk in Winterfell is banished. From now on, Lady Elara Cassel and Maester Luwin will be in charge of the girls' education."
I turned to Arya and said.
"As agreed, I'll find you a suitable fencing coach after Winter. Until then, Rodrik will take care of your training."
At that moment, Sansa jumped out and said...
"Father, if you want Arya to learn swordsmanship, then I want to learn archery too."
It was a surprising turn of events, but I allowed it. I thought she wasn't interested in anything physical; it seems I was wrong. Catelyn leaned closer and whispered.
" Eddard, how could you do this? How could you banish the nuns and monks, yet allow our daughter to commit such an Lady act!"
" Cat, you need to learn and adapt. This is the North. This isn't the Riverlands. You are the Lady of Winterfell, and we are followers of the Old Gods. All my children will be too. All this time, I thought they were just teaching our children aristocratic morality. If I had known they wanted to poison our children against the Old Gods, I would have kicked them out long ago."
I paused for a moment before speaking.
"Don't force me to hit him anymore. I won't whip him; I'll give him a more appropriate punishment later."