Winterfell 301 AC.
Howland Reed.
He had done his best to calm people down when the Long Night fell, Howland more prepared for it than some were. That was not to say that it didn't worry him when it happened or that it was something he wished to see, more he had always known that it was likely he'd see it in his lifetime. Though not as close to the gods as he once was, he'd not received a message or vision from them in a number of years, he had always known what it was that Jae was being prepared for and without the Long Night there could be no Dawn.
When Elle came to him worried about what this meant for Ned and Robb and for her father and brother, as well as the others that she considered family at the Wall, Howland had done his best to reassure her. He'd also ridden to Wintertown and seen that the city hadn't devolved into panic. His words only carrying weight when he told them that their liege lord and his heir were fighting with the king to see the night defeated. The mere mention of Jae's name and that he was there, doing far more than even the mention of the Starks to calm the situation down.
It was a strange thing for him to see, even knowing Jae as well as he did and believing in him completely. To see men and women of the North look more to a dragon than a wolf was not something that most would have expected to happen. Though Jae was a wolf too and it had been he who had finally led Ned Stark to begin to howl. That there were so many men and women who'd come north in search of a better life and that they had done so pretty much at Jae's behest. That only added to how the king was thought of as being more important to them in some ways than the Stark in Winterfell was.
"See that torches are lit and hung in the streets, that men are posted and fires are kept lit so that people can always find an escort or help should they need it." he said to Ser Jacelyn Waters, the young man being one of those that the people of Wintertown rallied around.
"I will, my lord. You'll return?" Jacelyn asked hopefully.
"Aye, on the morrow." he said and almost chuckled when he did so, the thoughts of knowing when morrow had fallen in a world of darkness being ones that amused him a little.
"His grace will see us through this." Jacelyn said emphatically and whether it was to him or to himself, Howland couldn't quite be sure, but he welcomed the sentiment all the same.
He rode back to Winterfell and saw the torches there were burning as brightly as they could and for the next few days all seemed well enough. People were worried about their family's and Lady Elle more than most seemed to be withdrawn, but no one broke and their spirits were as good as he could have hoped for. Ser Rodrik helped him out greatly and his own men did their best to rotate the guards and to keep him abreast of who if anyone's mood was turning to despair.
As for his own, while he worried about the lack of news he received from the Wall and thought often about Jyanna and his children, his spirits were high. Or they were right up to when the first of the birds chirped and the reality of what he now needed to do hit home. It caught him by surprise, so much so that for almost an hour he argued with the bird until he realized that it was pointless and that he was just wasting time. That wasn't the only realization he had either as he then remembered that others had their own birds too and so he hurried to the Lord's Chambers and found Lady Elle in a state of much distress.
"Howland, gods, does this mean? Ned…oh Gods, Ned…" Elle said her tears falling and the woman herself looking close to following them.
Whether it was the gods' interference or just that he was a young boy who needed his mother, Rickon had woken up and was crying and so was brought into the room barely a moment after Howland had arrived. The little boy running straight to his mother for comfort and his presence allowing for Elle to concentrate on something more tangible than her fears over his father.
