'Think, Torrhen. Think!'

His mind was thinking of any possible way to get out of this situation his family faced, but the more he thought, the less he liked his chances. How was he going to become a powerful lord?

[Why not take your own land?]

"Who was that!?"

Torrhen straightened up, his body freezing up in tension. He quickly swivelled his head to search the room and find the source of the voice but to no avail.

[My lord, I'm Alfred. Alfred Fairfax.]

"Where are you!? What do you want? How can I hear you so clearly when I can't see you!?"

He broke out into a cold sweat. He had no idea what was going on. Regardless of the magic there was in the world he was in, this was still something peculiar and unexpected, its abruptness making it more unnerving.

[One, I'm inside you. Two, I want you to be strong enough to overcome the coming hardships. Three, because I'm inside you.]

"How-"

[Before you continue with that, I must let you know that I can read your thoughts.]

"And how should I believe that? For all I know, this might be an elaborate plot to kill me. I have no knowledge of who you are, and I don't trust what you've told me so far."

[Think back to the very first thing I said.]

'Huh? The first thing he said? Hmm, 'why not take your own land'...that could have been an answer to the thoughts I was having!?'

[Precisely.]

If he was unnerved before, now he was outright terrified. There was no known magic mentioned in either Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire that had to do with reading someone's thoughts. What could this mean? That I can be read like a book? What extent could there be to this? Have my memories have been scanned? These were the thought swirling through his head. But then he had a moment of clarity.

'Alfred Fairfax? Are you the person I gave that name to?'

[Yes I am, my lord.]

'How can I hear you? I'm not in that library.'

[Oh, but the library is inside you.]

Images of a bookshelf forcing itself on him from behind flitted across his mind before he immediately put that thought to rest, his bile and innards threatening to spill out from his mouth.

'How so?'

[You are not ready for that information just yet. Actually, you're not ready for a lot of information yet.]

'Well that's just bloody great, isn't it! A library with books I cannot gain access to. What a useless library!'

[But I can still help you greatly for now.]

'And how would you do that?'

[A second opinion and perspective, wealth and magic.]

'Whoa! You have magic?'

[My lord, I thought the wealth would attract you more.]

'Wealth be damned! It's a youth's romance to use magic! Tell me, is it powerful? Does it look flashy? Does it have any requirements?'

The simple mention of magic seemed to have erased all the tension he had been feeling moments ago, leaving him with frantic anticipation. Magic was something he had grown up yearning for, whether in this life or his last, and the thought of using it thrilled him.

[To explain it, it is nothing simple or eloquent. But it is powerful. Given your strength, there are only a few you can choose. But this can wait for later. I believe we have more pressing concerns. I have read your memories and agree that given the current circumstances, we are in a dire situation, and becoming a powerful lord before your father heads to King's Landing would be effective in alleviating the detriments to our situation.]

'You read my MEMORIES!?'

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. After being called in by Torrhen, maester Luwin stepped in, holding a thick tome in his hands.

"As you asked, Torrhen. 'The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms'."

"Ah, thank you Luwin."

"Would there be anything else you need?" Luwin asked as he handed the book.

"I really am sorry Luwin, but, if possible, could I please see a map of Westeros?"

"A map of Westeros? I believe we only have one, and it's in your lord father's possession, " he replied. "Such maps are quite rare, making each one all the more valuable. I'll see if your father can accept lending it to you."

With a slight bow, he quickly walked off, no doubt wanted to quickly return to his schedule. Opening up the book, he quickly turned to the pages concerning House Baratheon.

"Lord Stefforn Baratheon, dark of hair...King Robert I Baratheon, dark of hair. Prince Joffrey Baratheon, golden-haired...Prince Durran Baratheon, dark of hair? Prince Durran? Who the fuck is this!"

So apparently there's a dark-haired Baratheon prince. But how this came to be baffled him.

[Originally, King Robert and Queen Cersei would have a child, only for the child to die in his infancy. Most probably as a result of your existence, that child became King Joffrey's younger twin.]

'My existence?'

[The history of what you knew and what was were one and the same until the day you were born. In the original way of things, there were never meant to be no Stark twins. As a result of that, a great many things came to change.]

'Ah, the butterfly effect. I guess everything before my birth should be the same then?'

[Yes it should be.]

'So everything until the end of Robert's Rebellion should be the same, then. That would be useful. So, Winterfell and Riverrun are bound by the marriage alliance of my parents. Tywin still sacked King's Landing, so Dorne still hates the Lannisters for what happened to Elia Martell and her children. Lysa is most likely still unhinged, and Baelish will use this. Both Daenerys and Viserys are across the narrow sea, but it's still uncertain whether or not 'Young Griff' still exists. Okay. It's still very problematic that the first child is Joffrey. What are the damn chances!'

Flipping the pages to Hous Lannister, what greeted him gave him even more surprise.

'Lord Tywin remarried after the rebellion and had two daughters? His second wife died of a fever? What in the fuck is going on!'

At this point, he was getting quite confused. He realised that there would be more changes to the political layout of the Kingdoms than he thought.

[This could be useful, my lord.]

'Why do you call me 'my lord'?'

[I saw it in your memories and decided to stick with it. Anyway, this can work out in your favour. Once you become powerful enough, you could marry his daughter, tying the West to the North. It could always prevent someone like King Joffrey from taking your father's head, given that he would be kin.]

'Interesting, but how can I have enough power to marry the daughter of Tywin? Unless...I got it!'

"The Stepstones!"

'If I recall correctly, the Stepstones separated the Narrow Sea from the Summer Sea. A hefty amount of trade from Planky Town, Oldtown, Lannisport, King's Landing, the Free Cities, Qarth and Slaver's Bay all passes through this chain of islands. Control the Stepstones, and you control all trade in the area!

'Set up taxes in the area and set up farming land on the islands and the gold would keep flowing in. Trade would grow as shipping routes grow more secure. This would bring me riches, riches that could be used to develop a powerful army. There is no way Tywin Lannister of all people would turn a blind eye to this.

'If I can successfully get a match with Lord Tywin's own daughter, I can guarantee some modicum of stability between Houses Stark and Lannister. With Joffrey in the seat of power, I will need every way to prevent his tyranny from executing father. If I become the Queen's brother-by-law, that should go a long way at that. That and being Lord of the Stepstones.

'Alight. Stepstones it is. Alfred, what was that about wealth?'

[I thought you would never ask. Hidden within is enough gold to make up 1 million gold dragons.]

'1 million gold dragons. That should be enough to buy me the ships and men. I will need to look at the map and plan further, but it appears I must make my way to the Stepstones.'