My hair had been divided into three parts and braided until the three braids met into one larger braid. Septa Mordane and helped me find a gown that would be suitable enough to greet the king, a dark gray woolen dress and a dark emerald cloak. I was as well dressed as any of the Stark children, the only difference was that I wasn't a Stark child.

All of the Stark children had their mother's looks; auburn hair and blue eyes. The only exceptions were Arya and Bran, who both had the brown hair and gray eyes of a Stark. Meanwhile, I had dark black hair and bright blue eyes; according to Lord Eddard Stark, I had my father's looks.

And today, my father was supposed to be arriving here in Winterfell, along with his wife and royal family.

Ever since she had found out, Lady Catelyn Stark had been preparing. The entire castle of Winterfell was cleaned and polished, the stables and kennels were completely washed out of all waste, and every person who lived in the castle was to look their best in front of the royal family.

I wasn't sure how I was going to react to seeing King Robert. He hadn't really acted like a father ever, but he had made me a recognized bastard. He had left me in the care of his friend Ned Stark, so that I could be raised properly among the Stark children. I've been living here since before Robert's Rebellion started, granted, I had only been a baby when the rebellion had taken place. This made me about a year older than Robb Stark and Jon Snow.

Jon and I stood along the side of the courtyard, watching the last of the preparation happen. He had just gotten his face shaven and his black curls trimmed. He kept shifting his feet or rubbing his face with the back of his hands.

"Nervous?" I asked him.

"Can't imagine how happy the queen is goin' to be when she sees two bastards," Jon said bluntly.

"I'm sure she already hates me more than you," I said with a short laugh. "I am the love child of her husband and a whore, or a pig farmer."

Jon laughed at that, looking more relaxed than earlier. "Your mother got a new job?"

"More like a new husband." I said, thinking about my mother. She had been a whore when King Robert had been with her. But in the years since I was sent to live with the Starks at Winterfell, my mother had run off and gotten married to a pig farmer. She had sent me a raven a month ago to tell me that they had had their third child together.

Catelyn Stark appeared at that moment, briefly giving me and Jon a curled lip expression before continuing to talk to Maester Luwin. They were most likely going over the last of the arrangements needed to house the royal family and their court for however long they panned to stay here. The nameless direwolf Bran had was seated at the edge of a wall over by them, causing both the lady and the maester to look down at the pup.

"They're here!" A voice from above shouted with glee. Jon and I looked up to see little Bran Stark running on the roof.

"Brandon!" Catelyn exclaimed, her face going from worried about the king's arrival to worried about her son falling off the roof. "Get down here at once!"

"But they're coming this way!" Bran continued, but he did what his mother asked him, hopping down from the roof and onto a pile of crates that most likely contained food for the feast tonight. The nameless direwolf puppy who belonged to Bran trotted forward until he could nip affectionately at his owner's fingers.

I looked from Bran to the top of the roof, which showed me nothing but the cold, blue sky. Jon nudged my arm gently with his. "Nervous?" He asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." I said.

"How long has it been?" Jon asked. "Since you last saw him, I mean."

I had to think about that for a moment. "Years. I believe I was a few years old, maybe. Sansa was just a newborn, so I was four."

Jon didn't say anything, clearly thinking hard. I watched Catelyn talk to Bran, scolding him for climbing up there no doubt. I let out a silent sigh and allowed my attention to be torn away when Septa Mordane entered the courtyard, accompanied by Sansa, Arya, Jeyne Poole, and Beth Cassel.

"Shouldn't you be with them?" Jon asked me teasingly.

"Oh, shut up." I grumbled. The old gods and the new all knew that the septa wouldn't let me near any of the highborn girls today. Usually, she just taught me basic things "a lady should know how to do" and then sent me off to do whatever else I pleased. This had usually landed me with learning how to sword fight with Ser Rodrik.

As the caravan of royals got close enough, the population of the castle was brought out and lined up. The Stark family got to be in front to greet them, and I was told by Catelyn to be in the second row with Jon and Theon Greyjoy. I stood between the two as the gates to Winterfell's courtyard opened wide for the royal family.

The first person through the gates was no one I recognized. A boy who looked to be around Sansa's age with gold hair entered first with a member of the kingsgaurd at his side and a much larger knight right behind him who's helmet was shaped to look like a snarling dog. I figured that this could only be my half-brother, Prince Joffrey.

A large and expensive looking carriage entered next, mot likely carrying the queen and the rest of the royal children. Following the carriage was the king himself. I didn't get a good look at him before everyone dropped to their knees to bow. But while everyone was down, I managed to glance up and see my father for the first time in thirteen years.

The last time I had seen King Robert Baratheon, he had been large with muscle, a great black beard, and had looked intimidating by the way he had held himself. Now, he was still intimidatingly large, but fatter. His black beard was speckled with gray, and he just looked tired to me. I looked back down at the ground when he got off his horse and started towards Ned.

Only when Ned stood up, did we all stand up. I found myself torn between looking right at the king or not looking at him at all. Robert and Ned embraced each other, greeting each other for the first time in years. I watched in silence as the king went down the line of Starks, greeting them in turn and meeting some of the younger ones for the first time.

Cersei Lannister approached the Starks, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else then here. She had just walked up to the line when Robert announced that he wanted to visit the crypts. Ned had no choice but to go with the king to pay their respects to Lyanna Stark.

I don't remember Lyanna Stark. She had been taken away by Rhaegar Targaryen when I was a newborn baby, so even if I had some memory of her, it'd be practically nonexistent.

Cersei's eyes were scanning the people in front of her, and finally, her emerald eyes landed on me. She narrowed her eyes and stared at me long and hard, no doubt recognizing her husband in me. There was a brief flash of intense dislike in her eyes, bit it was gone as she turned around to join her twin brother where he stood with the rest of the kingsguard.

I exchanged a glance with Jon, who had witnessed the whole exchange. I leaned towards him and said in a hushed voice, "I told you she'd hate me."