Divide & Conquer 9 (Patreon)

Winter is Coming: Eddard Stark 1

There was a fierce, savage grin on Draugur’s face, as he stared at the strange women that he had captured with his wife and Arya. Turning his gaze to Lady Revy, such a strange name, as she etched strange runic symbols on the floor surrounding the unconscious women, Draugur spoke, “So, you’ve gotten more points thus far and you got the asari bitch. I’ll let you bind Lust and Wendy there while I’ll take the rest.”

Lady Revy rolled her eyes before responding, “Sure, take the best ones for yourself. I see how it is. Thought you were a monkey, not a horndog.”

“Did you forget, you discount lich? I’m also a dragon. Plus, I’ve got a plan for what I’m going to do with the points from them. Oh stop it with that sour face, Ned,” Draugur chided with his customary, cocky grin. “Once you hear what these ladies can do for the North you’ll be begging me to slap a collar on ‘em. Which reminds me, toss me the box next to you.”

It was petty, since Lady Revy would order him to do so anyway, but Ned ignored the ‘request’ in favor of asking, “What do you mean by that? What manner of strength do these unfortunate women possess?”

Rolling his eyes, Draugur walked over to where Ned was standing and picked up the box himself before answering, “Right, the one with blonde hair and muscles for days is named Charsi. She’s a blacksmith that can make weapons and armor capable of fighting and killing demon lords. I want her to take a look at Ice after she’s bound and see if she can figure out what the fuck the Valyrians did to make their special steel.

“The blue skinned one with a perfect ass is Yrel, she’s what’s called a draenei. She’s not a smith, she’s what’s called a paladin. Think a knight with some special sunlight themed magic, works wonders against undead, demons, and other unholy shit like that while also allowing her to do some healing. I’m going to abuse the shit out of that once she’s bound.”

While the potential for a smith to rediscover how to make valyrian steel was quite potent, it wasn’t enough to be nearly as tempting as Draugur was making it sound.

“Oh don’t worry, I saved the best for last. The one with white hair and deliciously dark skin? Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm. Her power allows her to control the weather,” Draugur said, his grin curling into a smirk.

Ned stared at Draugur, before his eyes slowly slid towards the woman who could have come from the Summer Isles. Controlling the weather… the impact on crop production, depending on how large a scale she could control… now Ned understood why Draugur said that he’d be tempted.

“Hey dipshit! Get over here and put collars on the ones you’re claiming before I take all of them,” Lady Revy called out as she stood, brushing chalk dust off her hands.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m on my way,” Draugur said with the same sort of casualness that he had with Robert when they were fostering in the Vale.

Most of the women were still unconscious from whatever drug or toxin that Talia had developed, the only ones awake were the blonde smith, the blue-skinned one, and the one with strange proportions that completely covered her skin. Gingerly stepping over the marks made by Lady Revy, he took his strange necklaces from the box and started to apply them to the different women. After he finished, he left the circle, being as careful exiting as he’d been entering.

“Right then, take it away, Lesbo!”

“Fuck you, Gibbon!”

Ned would never understand the friendship the two seemed to share. He’d seen how quickly the two jumped to each other’s defense, but at the same time it seemed like every third word was an insult to the other. Although, thinking back to the days of the Rebellion, several of the soldiers in both his own and Robert’s armies behaved in the same way.

Lady Revy knelt in a circle connected to the larger one she’d drawn, the movement pulling Ned from his thoughts. Pulling her odd device from a pouch, she began chanting. The words were nonsensical, and there seemed to be no indication that the words were doing anything. Draugur for his part was tapping a foot impatiently, eager for Lady Revy to finish. After approximately ten minutes, the chanting finished and Lady Revy took a deep breath.

“You will not attempt to harm me, my retinue, Draugur, or Draugur’s retinue. Training and Sparring are allowed. You will obey the spirit of any orders I give to you. You will feel an ingrained sense of loyalty to myself. You will not attempt to subvert my control over you or any other members of my retinue. You will not recall being given these commands, but you will follow them regardless. When I direct the word Worcestershire at you, you will enter this trance state for further commands. Such commands will not be consciously remembered but will be followed regardless. When I direct the word Salisbury at you, you will exit this trance state. Salisbury.”

Ned blinked in confusion, the words just spoken seemed strange. The women were almost entirely unconscious, how would they understand the orders? But to his surprise, the group of eight women all sat up, as Lady Revy turned to face Draugur.

“Any desire to bone the spider-catgirl or Lust?” she asked her compatriot.

“Not especially. You got a hankering for Leah or Tali?” he shot back in response. Lady Revy gave a flat look at Draugur, who just chuckled in response before turning back to the group of women.

Lady Revy turned to face Ned, “Go ahead and head back to Winterfell, we’ll be up later tonight after we’ve had our fun. Oh, feel free to lay with Cat tonight, my seed’s had time to properly take.”

“Yes… Lady Revy,” Ned said hesitantly before turning around to leave the Crypts.

He didn’t know how to respond to the ‘offer’ she gave. Knowing that his Lady Wife was carrying a child that wasn’t his, and he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it… his thoughts and emotions were strange around Lady Revy. By all rights he should have executed her that same day they met, yet he couldn’t bring himself to entertain the thought and found himself obeying her.

The last words from the group that Ned heard before exiting earshot were from Draugur, “Right then Tali, let’s see what you look like under that suit…”