Chapter 271: Lady Stark's Plea
Winterfell, Stark Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric left Lord Stark's Solar and was about to go back to his room when he ran across a woman in the castle that he really did not want to meet.
"Lady Stark." He said with an apathetic voice.
"May I have a word with you, Lord Bolton?" Catelyn Stark asked.
"You may." He said.
She looked at the guards standing outside the door and said. "In private."
"No. I neither trust you nor like you enough to go into a room alone with you. If there's something you want to say, then say it now. My time is precious to me."
Lady Stark pursed her lips, not looking as angry as Domeric had hoped she would be.
"I…" she paused and took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you would be able to help my son."
"Bran?"
She nodded, a thin sheen of tears forming in her eyes.
'Merlin.' Domeric was now starting to feel like a dick for trying to be hard on her. She was just a grieving mother asking for help.
He took a deep breath, wondering how to deal with this situation. Should he tell her about Bran's talent as a Greenseer or not? Doing so would lead to more questions and more scrutiny than he was honestly comfortable with.
Lady Stark saw his hesitation and continued. "People say that the Old Gods themselves favor you. Is there nothing you can do for my boy? I heard that you saved the life of Lord Reed's son beyond the Wall, a wound even Maesters could not heal."
She was practically begging at this point, and he felt the urge to smack his head on a wall somewhere.
Men are really not well-equipped to deal with grieving women.
But Domeric was still pondering how to respond. He was already considering helping Brandon Stark. After Bran woke up, he would send word to Lord Stark and ask for him to be sent to the Dreadfort to have his feet healed.
Treating Bran at Winterfell was out of the question. First, he didn't yet have the necessary potions, and more importantly, he would have to use magic regularly to heal Bran. Domeric couldn't do that in Winterfell, in front of everyone.
Frankly, Domeric wanted to use this opportunity to heal Brandon Stark in his own lands.
Domeric had long been planning and seeking opportunities to introduce his Wizard identity to Westeros. He knew that once he performed the Dragonlord ritual and began raising his dragons, many people would start to fear him.
Furthermore, Domeric feared that if his Wizard identity were perceived negatively, people would hesitate to follow him.
Yes, everyone would fear him, but that wasn't what Domeric wanted. Reigns of fear were never healthy governance. And Domeric didn't want to be that kind of ruler.
That's why Domeric must be very careful about his wizard identity. And that's why he's been hiding his identity for so long.
But Domeric recently saw a solution to this problem.
After the battle with the White Walker during his expedition beyond the Wall, he discovered Jojen Reed was injured and about to die. So, he treated and saved him.
If Domeric hadn't healed Jojen with magic, his survival would have been nearly impossible, even with a Grandmaester present. So, Domeric saving Jojen's life was something of a miracle.
But instead of questioning or fearing Domeric, everyone there praised him. Just as Lady Stark had said, they had come to see him as the chosen one of the Old Gods.
This reminded Domeric of some historical anecdotes he had read in his past life.
In medieval times, when Muggles were hunting witches, some wizards and witches, rather than hiding, stood out and were even held in high esteem by Muggles.
These wizards and witches were Healers, specializing in healing spells. But Muggles more commonly called them Saint and Saintess, viewing them as God's chosen servants.
They even built statues and buildings in their name, named streets after them, and organized celebration days in their name.
After all, at that time, what the nobles, the rich, and the powerful feared more than witches and wizards was death itself. Apart from holding healers in high regard to escape death, there were even people who would sell their souls to the devil if necessary to delay their deaths.
Therefore, instead of assuming the identity of a wizard, Domeric planned first to unleash his magical powers as a miracle healer.
His main plan for this was to prepare the Elemental Moon Cores and fuse them with his Magical Core first.
By combining the Light and Life Elements, Domeric would obtain the Holy Element, which would grant him numerous healing abilities. Even regrowing lost limbs wouldn't be difficult for Domeric.
But even though Domeric didn't yet possess the Holy Element, healing Brandon Stark's lower body was possible with potions and spells.
Therefore, Domeric saw Lady Stark's request as an opportunity and decided to put his plan to assume the identity of a miracle healer into action.
"My lady. Actually, I already checked on Brandon's condition when I visited him with the power bestowed upon me by the Old Gods." Domeric said.
Catelyn Stark's eyes widened at Domeric's words. For a moment, she hesitated over whether she wanted to hear his following words, but she asked anyway, hopeful. "How is Bran? Will he survive?"
"Bran's body was severely injured when he fell from the tower. So, his body needs to rest and recover for a while. But barring any setbacks, Bran will wake up when his body has healed enough."
"Really? Will Bran live?" Lady Stark asked, as if to make sure.
"Yes. But I must warn you about a few things. First, Bran may have memory problems when he wakes up due to the effects of the fall. I don't think it will be anything serious, but he probably won't remember the last few days." Domeric said.
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether my Bran remembers the last few days, as long as he wakes up." Lady Stark said.
"Unfortunately, that's not all, my lady. The impact of the fall has severely damaged Bran from the waist down. As long as he remains in this condition, he will not be able to walk again."
"What? No, no, no... My poor Bran... No..." Lady Stark could no longer hold back her tears at the devastating news.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.272: Second Round of the Duel
Ch.273: The Duel Concluded
Ch.274: Time to Return to the Dreadfort