It had been snowing that day, as it often did in the North. Robb was only a baby when his father returned, but Robb had never known his father. His home had been Riverrun for a short time, only knowing the sweet face of his mother. News had spread quickly that that Robert's Rebellion had ended, the Targaryen children had been exiled and Robert sat upon the Iron Throne. His mother had returned to Winterfell as soon as she could, the gloominess of it unnatural to Robb. A feast had been prepared for Eddard Stark's return and the castle had been brought to life. He remembered the strong face of a man, with a scruffy beard and long brown hair. The man's eyes lit up when he saw the boy in Catelyn's arms and the strength in his face had melted into kindness. Before the feast began, Robb's father had taken his mother aside to discuss something in private. Robb couldn't understand a word they were saying, but he remembers seeing disgust paint itself across his mother's face which was something he had never seen before. Her voice had been raised, shoving his father in her rage. The man's face remained calm, almost sorry, as he left to pick up another child. The child had hair as black as night, eyes the colour of hard ale. His skin was even paler than Robb's, but in every other case he was dark where Robb was light. Catelyn's face had softened slightly at the sight of the chubby boy, but she was cautious to hold him as if he would burn her skin. Robb was older than the pale boy but only by a few months.
When the feast begun, men and women sung in the halls and drank and ate to their hearts content. Catelyn sat at the top of the hall, with Robb held tightly in her arms. She would smile to the lords and ladies, but rarely stood up to actually talk to anyone. The bastard boy, Jon, was being looked after in a room farthest away from the hall. Eddard and Catelyn didn't speak much that evening, and when they did it often grew to shouting. At the end of the night, Catelyn had left early to sit in her chambers. Robb was rocked in her arms soothingly until he was asleep. Tears fell from his mother's gentle eyes, rolling down her cheeks and falling onto Robb's soft skin. He had his mother's red, wild hair and her soft, blue eyes. Another child had been brought past the walls that day, a Greyjoy boy around 5 years old who would serve as Eddard's ward. Despite his young age his tongue was sharp and his cockiness was strong. Servants had come in to collect Robb, to put him to sleep, and Ned had entered the room when they left. She was a fierce woman, but the love of her husband would overpower that. She didn't feel the same lying next to him for a while, as if she could feel the woman Ned had lay with beside her.
"You shouldn't just be swinging your sword. If you can't defend you won't be alive to attack." Theon chuckled, leaning against a fence as the two boys fought in the courtyard.
At six years old they were not trusted with anything but wooden swords and shields, but Jon and Robb were more than happy to practise with them. Theon often watched them as they fought, claiming to know almost everything about sword fighting despite his lack of experience with them. When they were old enough, Rodrick would begin teaching them how to fight and Robb counted down the days until that happened.
"What do you know about fighting anyway?" Jon asked, his northern accent already stronger than Robb's.
"Iron Islanders are fierce warriors, my brothers were great swordsmen. Better than all the Stark men put together!" He boasted, taking a bite from his apple.
Robb chuckled, rolling his eyes as he swung at Jon again. They had been working on their footwork, but their fighting was nothing but sloppy. Jon would often focus too much on his feet to remember to block Robb's strikes and Robb would forget about his shield completely. Theon felt like an older brother to the two boys, even if they didn't like him much. Theon was always laughing about something, Jon's lonely looking face or Robb's squeaky voice. Robb would catch him sometimes though, when he thought nobody was looking, looking hopeless. Robb swore he caught him crying in his chambers once, but Theon completely denied it.
"Well we're not in the Iron Islands now." Jon mumbled, holding his shield close to his chest.
They had fought for another hour, before Jon had knocked Robb's sword to the ground and held his own to Robb's throat. Jon never felt more tired than after fighting with Robb, he could tell that Robb would grow to be a great warrior. A huge grin spread across Jon's face, as he held out a hand to help Robb up.
"If that was a real fight, you'd be dead." Theon stated, walking over to the boys.
"If that was a real fight, we'd be too young to even be part of it." Robb got up onto his feet, brushing off the dirt from his clothes.
The three of them walked to the Godswood, contemplating what to spend the rest of the day doing. Jon had always loved the quiet of the Godswood, often coming here alone in the dark hours of the night whenever Robb was busy. Robb always found the silence eerie, and would never come here on his own.
"We could play hide and seek." Robb suggested, sitting down on a log.
"Hide and seek?" Theon snorted "That's such a baby game."
"Well what do you want to do?" Jon asked, sitting beside Robb.
"If I could do what I wanted, I'd be in a bed surrounded by whores." Theon chuckled, sitting on the floor.
"You don't know the next thing about women." Jon claimed, his voice low and rumbling.
"And you do?" Theon asked "Let me tell you, when I'm old enough I won't even be leaving my bed."
Jon rolled his eyes now, looking over at Robb who was listening intently. Robb knew he would have to have children, even though he wasn't sure if he wanted any. He would be Lord of Winterfell after his father and that meant producing an heir to reign after him. Jon had never thought about it much, he would see many pretty women in the castle but the thought of making children with them never crossed his mind.
"How do you know so much about women?" Robb asked, twiddling his thumbs.
"I just do." Theon said abruptly "In the Iron Islands we're taught at a young age."
"Taught what exactly?" Jon asked, he had never believed what Theon said to be completely true.
"You'll learn soon enough. When you are both old enough I'll send a whore to your chamber on your name day." Theon grinned "You'll thank me then."
Later that night, Jon and Robb sat in Robb's chamber on his bed. The fire in his room was burning bright, and Jon was absorbing the warmth from it. Theon had been sent off on an errand and wouldn't see the boys until the morning. There was often silence between the two, but it never felt awkward. They were simply that close that words didn't need to be said in order to enjoy each other's company. At night was when the deep conversations came, where Robb would tell Jon how he was worried to rule Winterfell, how he was scared to have so much responsibility. Jon would try his best to comfort Robb and would never say much about his own problems as many of them concerned Robb's mother and her treatment towards the bastard.
"Do you think Theon's telling the truth?" Robb asked, his knees tucked into his chest.
"About what?" Jon turned to look at Robb "He says a lot of things."
"About women." Robb answered "Surely I should know more than him."
"He's older, almost twice our age. Of course he'll know more." Jon lay down on the bed.
"But I'm going to be a Lord, I'm going to have to have a wife and give her sons." Robb mumbled.
"And when you become Lord, you will know more than Theon ever did, nobody is expecting you to know so much at this age." Jon reassured him, passing him a smile.
"I guess you're right." Robb lay down on the bed beside his half-brother "It just worries me, that's all."
It wasn't uncommon for the two boys to sleep in the same bed. Almost every night Jon would be in Robb's chambers, and they would talk until they fell asleep side by side. This night was just like every other, Robb's eyes would close first and as snores began to leave his nose Jon would drift off to sleep too. Theon would be ordered to check on Robb before he went to sleep himself, and would pull the furs over the two. It did hurt him somewhat, seeing how close the two were compared to how close Theon was with Robb. Jon and Theon never got on well, and stayed civil because of Robb. On that night he entered the chamber as he did every night, tucking the boys in and dousing the lights.
"Goodnight Theon." Jon mumbled, his arm around Robb's waist.
Theon let a smile crack across his cheeks as he walked out of the room.
"Goodnight Jon."