Westeros, over the millenia it had stood, had never seen a woman quite like the one standing at the gates to winterfell, peering in at the courtyard of the castle with light curiosity in her eyes. Her hair was short and brown, and she was short and stout, sturdy at the waist with a fine figure, but the favorite feature was her face. High cheekbones and rounded rosy cheeks framed pert pink lips that widened into a almost frightening smile. Her eyes, round and wide were framed by long tangled black lashes, exposing the iris of cold gunmetal blue. The eyes were not spectacular in their beauty, though they were beautiful, but rather in the crinkle of skin that caused them to look kindly upon all that she met.
Her hands, clean for once but stubbly fingered and calloused, scarred slightly as a good lady's never should be, touched her cloak, letting them rest on the grey fabric as she let herself transform.
Her short shiny hair became limp, and her round cheeks sunk in, the fine clothes she wore tattered to rags that would have left her half frozen had she not have been who she was. Her shoes all together disappeared, and she seemed quite the beggar, a rather attractive one at that. The only feature that marked her from before was the crinkle of her eyes, her kind look, as she stumbled into the courtyard.
"Hey! Who's that? She shouldn't be in the courtyard whoever she is," Theon Greyjoy spat, his blunted practice sword lowered to the ground from where he stood in the hastily made fighting ring. His stillness had won him a blow however, as the flat of Robb Stark's sword caught him on the side "Hey!"
"Don't let down your guard for a beggar girl!" Rob cautioned, looking over at the cause of the commotion now that it seemed the fight was stopped for the time being. "Girl!"
The woman, or perhaps Rob's estimation of girl had been more correct, started forwards. Her feet tripped over one another as she trotted along, causing her to slip and fall onto the cold stone. A sharp laugh from Theon echoed around the courtyard, which was empty of anyone but the three practicing boys, and the beggar girl.
"Yes?" She said, her voice croaking and rough as she looked upon the eyes of Rob Stark, the eldest son of Ned Stark, from her place on her stomach on the ground.
"Yes my Lord!" Theon encouraged with a smirk.
Rob huffed at his friend, jumping over the fence and helping the girl to her feet. He was too well brought up to leave a lady on the floor, even if she was no lady.
"Yes my Lord," The girl echoed faintly, looking at Rob again. He recoiled slightly, she looked ugly in the state she was in, he did not see the kindness in her eyes.
"I'm afraid i'll have to ask you to leave," Rob said, looking over at Jon who silently walked forwards. "Jon here will escort you out,"
"Please my Lord, i'm starving, just a bite of bread! Or perhaps let me sit in the warm for a few minutes before I am on my way!" The girl croaked, her thin dirty face contorting grotesquely with panic. She was a good actor.
Robb Stark thought it over. Perhaps on a nicer day he would have given her the bread, as his father would have had him do, he would have sat with the ugly girl inside till she was well enough to continue on. But he had just lost a fight to Theon but a few minutes ago, and he was impatient to get back to it.
"Jon, if you would," Rob directed at his brother, getting back into the ring.
Jon looked at the girl, and in her desperate face, and saw the glint of kindness in the crease of her eyes. His heart tugged, and he walked over, taking her by the arm gently and pulling her away.
"Please my Lord, just a bite," She said again, this time softly, mournfully, as if she expected to be kicked out again so surely she would not embarrass herself further with another wild declaration.
"Quiet yourself," Jon said lowly, his hand slipping down to her own and holding it, despite its rough dirty texture. He was sure they were out of sight, and he ran his thumb over her knuckles, leading her up the steps of the lonely cold tower were he slept. "You will have your bread,"
He opened the door to his measly chamber, nothing of note laid in those four walls but the man himself. And his snow white wolf pup. He had been moved to the lonely tower not long after his twelfth nameday, not that it had been celebrated; lady Caitlin's way of getting him as far from her as possible.
The girl looked up at him with bayul eyes, watery and pale like the rest of her. Another man might have left her outside for fear of her dirty skirts ruining the room, but in Jon's eyes there was not too much to ruin. He took a few slices of bread from the plate he had left in his chamber, the lunch he had made for his return after practice, and gave it to her.
"Here," He said kindly, yet stiffly, "It's not much but you can sit here and eat it before you leave, I'm sorry for Rob, normally he would have been much more courteous,"
The girl looked at him for a moment more, before smiling a smile so wide it terrified him. She touched her hand to her shoulder, and transformed back into the lively beauty she had been at the gate. Her rosy cheeks and bountiful figure wrapped in swathes of white organza, making her look erethial as she sat on Jon's bed, with him looking upon her in absolute bewilderment from his chair across from her.
"You Jon, are quite the man," She said, her kind laughing eyes sparking as she took a bite from the plate in front of her. "Not many men of station even such as yours actually feed me, let alone in their own chambers. And I don't think any have disobeyed an order, and apologised on behalf of someone else,"
"You just changed,..." Jon trailed off, and the girl smiled.
"Indeed I did Jon! I am Mimir, I suppose you would simply think of me as one of the old gods however," She said, taking another nonchalant bite of Jon's lunch. "I am however, the youngest, born very few years ago. And I have come looking for a hero to watch over,"
"A hero?" Jon asked, still very confused, but not particularly threatened by the woman he had accepted as a goddess. She was beautiful enough, and magical enough for sure.
"Indeed Jon, I think you are in fact that hero ."