Ned felt the dawning sunlight warm his back as he trotted down the beaten road on his horse. It felt good to be riding again, out of the walls of Winterfell and on the open road. He glanced around at his group of companions; all seasoned riders and fighters serving as his guards for their journey. They were not likely to come across outlaws, but Ned always decided on the most cautious route. Ser Rodrik Cassel trotted up to Ned and rode beside him for a short time.

'We should make it to King's Landing in good time.' He reported. 'We have been blessed with good weather.'

Ned smiled. 'Aye, that we have.' He looked up at the faded pink sky of morning, a slight mist covered the vast, rolling hills of the landscape surrounding Winterfell. He took a deep breath of cool, fresh air.

'Yes'. He thought. 'It's good to be out here.'

Ned thought back to that morning as he had left for the city, saying goodbye to his children. Little Rickon had begun to cry as Ned hugged him goodbye. Ned's heart softened at that and, knowing his children well, asked if there was anything Rickon wanted as a present from King's Landing. The little boy's tears had stopped at that and he looked up gleefully. After much deliberation, he and Bran, the second youngest, had both asked for toy knights.

Feeling obliged to ask the others, they too had given their requests.

Jon had smiled at his father's kindness. 'A black cloak to keep the winter at bay.'

Next he went to Theon. Theon was not truly his son, he was a ward, but Ned had brought him up and thought of him as one of his own.

Theon had pondered deeply before looking up with his answer. 'A nice pair of new boots.'

Ned then made his way to the training yard and found his eldest son, Robb.

Robb had grinned at him. 'Find me the most beautiful girl in all of King's Landing and bring her back for me.' Ned had laughed hard at that.

After that, he had begun to saddle up his horse after looking for his daughter, Arya, for what felt like an hour. He had just about given up when he suddenly felt a sharp tug on his hair. Ned turned around and saw her simply standing there, grinning up at him. He had never heard her coming.

'Where have you been Arya?' He asked.

She smiled proudly. 'I caught a raven and put it in Sansa's room.'

Ned frowned at his daughter, attempting to hide a smile. No matter how foul or bitter Ned's mood, Arya always seemed to find a way to make him laugh.

'And does your sister know it's-'

Ned was cut off by a loud shriek coming from Sansa's bedroom window, answering his question. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, readying himself to deal with the situation. When he opened them again, Arya was smiling innocently up at her.

'I would like a new sword'. She said.

Ned didn't even question how Arya knew he was going to ask her that, so he simply nodded and went up to Sansa's room.

She had been backed against the wall, her expression terrified. One of the guards was attempting to shoo the raven out of the open window but to no avail. The sound of the raven's shrieks filled the air, black feathers fluttering to the ground.

Upon seeing Ned, Sansa had ran to her father and hugged him.

'I was just reading when it- it flew in', she squealed.

Ned smoothed her hair down. 'I know.'

'And then it started squawking and flying around the room!'

'I know.'

Suddenly the room fell silent. Ned looked up and saw the raven flying off into the open sky. The guard smiled, content, and left the room.

'Sansa, it's gone now', Ned said softly.

She looked up and sniffed, before crossing to her bed and picking up her book; checking it for damage. Ned went over and sat next to her, peering at the book. Sansa usually had her head in a book, whether she was walking, sitting, talking or eating. This one appeared to be one of her favourites; it was about a mysterious, handsome knight who had rescued a young lady from a dragon and given her a rose as a gift.

Sansa smiled down at the book, smoothing the page with her slender fingers.

'I have to get going now', Ned sighed. 'Is there anything you would like from King's Landing?'

Sansa kept her gaze on the illustration of the rose in her book before replying. 'A rose.'

Ned frowned. 'A rose?'

She nodded up at him. Ned kissed her on the forehead, bid her goodbye, and turned from the room.

As he strolled out into the yard, his wife stood waiting by his horse, hands folded in front of her. Even after decades spent together, Ned was still struck by the pride and elegance in Catelyn's stance. Her face showed years of laughter and happiness, her eyes bright and youthful.

Ned held her by the shoulders as he heard his companions readying their horses around him.

'And what would you like?' He asked, putting his face close to hers.

Catelyn smiled at him knowingly. 'Just come back safely. And don't let Robert push you around.' Ned chuckled. 'I'll make sure he doesn't.'

Ned was going to miss his family for the time he would be away, but it would make it all the more sweeter when he returned.

A few hours later, as the group of them continued on their way, Ned noticed that the clouds had begun to darken and the threat of rain was now imminent, despite the calm start.

One of the boys came up beside Ned. 'If I may say so, m'lord, there's a short cut through that forest up ahead.' He gestured to the huge mass of trees that stood to the right of the road, it seemed to stretch on for miles.

Ned frowned. 'I think we'd best stick to the road.'

The boy nodded and fell behind, in stead with his fellow riders. But as he did so. Ned looked up at the sky with a dark expression on his face. The gentle mist from before had grown thicker until it became hard to see far in front.

'Ser Rodrik', Ned called, keeping his eyes on the descending mist. The old knight once more trotted beside him, eyeing the clouds. 'Do you think it wise to stay on the road?'

Cassel looked uneasy and stroked his long brown whiskers. 'It may be prudent to take shelter in those trees, but we will lose time.'

'Robert can wait', he decided. He had known the king since he was a boy, the two of them were like brothers and he knew he'd understand.

'We make for the forest', he said.

As they entered through the trees, Ned knew he had made the right decision as the sound of rain could now be heard from beyond the trees and the men felt drops of water fall on their heads and shoulders.

Once they were fairly deep into the woods, the group dismounted and began making a fire, fishing out rashes of bacon to keep them going through the cold.

The young boys huddled around the fire as they swapped stories about the surrounding lands. Ned sought out Ser Rodrik.

'We stay only until the rain stops', he said quietly. 'I don't like the feeling of this forest.'

Ser Rodrik looked around, uneasily, as though sharing Ned's thoughts. He got the feeling that they were being watched from all around, as though they shouldn't be there.

Ned shook his head, attempting to rid the thoughts from his mind, and sat down near the rest of his group, tuning into their conversation.

'I hear there's a giant dog that lives in this forest', one of the boys said, grabbing a piece of bacon.

'I've heard that too!' Said another lad eagerly. 'I heard it eats people and its house is made of the skeletons of anyone who comes here.'

Another laughed at that. 'That doesn't make any sense. My sister told me that a friend of hers had seen a man in here once. He was huge, the size of a bear, but he only had half a face. She said that the other half had been ripped off by his dog.'

They all ate in silence, looking around warily a the trees. Ned stifled a laugh. He remembered as a lad making up stories like those to scare others and himself.

As night descended, the rain had only gotten worse, so reluctantly, they had decided to stay in the forest for the night, taking it in turns to keep watch. Ned found himself falling asleep fairly easily, despite the ominous atmosphere of the forest. After the boys' stories, they all appeared jumpy and unsure but the crackling fire they made seemed to keep all doubts at bay.

However, Ned was woken suddenly by someone shaking his shoulder. Immediately awake, he sat up, reaching for his sword. One of the boys was knelt in from of him, the moonlight illuminating a terrified expression on his face.

He gulped. 'It's Jarred. We can't find him.'

Ned stood up, unsheathing his longsword, Ice. 'Where is everyone?'

The boy's face crumbled. 'I-I don't know, they all ran off looking for him. He said something about a shortcut.'

'What's your name?' Ned asked, trying to keep him calm.

'Rowan', he replied, his teeth chattering.

Ned looked around, trying to determine the best way to find the boy. A howl suddenly sounded from deep inside the forest, sending shivers down Ned's arms.

He gritted his teeth. 'Come on'. He said, pulling the boy to his feet as they both ran through the trees.

Again, Ned had the sensation that there was something very wrong with this forest. It wasn't particularly threatening or dangerous but it felt like they were unwelcome. He had half the mind to turn back onto the open road and try and regroup there, but with a pang of dismay, Ned realised he didn't have a clue where they were, let alone where the road was. So, with a feeling of dread, they continued through the trees, leaping over fallen tree trunks and roots.

There came from far away a sudden scream. Rowan stopped abruptly.

'Jarred?' He yelled. 'Hold on, I'm coming!'

And without a backward glance he tore off through the trees in search of his friend.

'Hey!' Ned called. He could understand the boy's anxiety but that was a foolish decision. He cursed under his breath and rubbed the back of his head, attempting to figure out some sort of plan.

He knelt down, gently touching the soil, checking for footprints and sure enough he found some. Whoever it was had big feet and a heavy build so Ned assumed it was one of the bigger lads. He sheathed his sword and, as quietly as he could, followed the tracks.

They seemed to go on forever, and Ned began to doubt whether he was going the right way, he seemed to be going deeper and deeper into the forest; something he had been trying to avoid. His feet began to grow weary and he was thirsty and hungry too, but Ned attempted to block his needs out, focusing on finding his men.

Eventually he came upon a large house. Ned stared up at it, bewildered. It was dark and overgrown, looking as though no one had lived there for years. The windows were stained and some had cracks in them. Vines encircled the house so it was hard to see the bricks underneath. The place gave off a haunted, mournful feeling and Ned wanted nothing more than to keep on walking right past it, but he saw with dismay that the footprints lead right up the front door.

'Perhaps one of them managed to find shelter', he thought.

With a grim face and a feeling of dread, Ned trudged forward into the house, finding that the front door was unlocked. The first thing Ned noticed about the house was the coldness, it felt colder than outside, he could see his breath misting up in front of him. Ned appeared to be the kitchen; he could see cupboards and a wooden table stood in the middle of the room. On it lay an abandoned loaf of bread and cheese with a flask next to it.

Ned looked at them with longing. He was suddenly much more aware of his hunger and thirst. He looked around, wandering whose house it was. Did the food belong to the owner? He was now beginning to doubt that any of his men had found their way here otherwise they would have shown themselves by now.

'Hello?' Ned called out in a hoarse whisper. There was no reply, only the distant sound of rain against the windows.

Uneasily, Ned sat down at the table and, with a silent apology to the mysterious owner, tore off a chunk of bread. It was sweet and soft in his mouth, not stale, it had been cooked recently. Perhaps someone was home?

Tearing off another chunk of bread, Ned vowed to find the owner the next morning and explain himself once he'd gotten some rest. It had been a long night.

Too exhausted to do anything more, Ned lay down on the floor, huddled himself up in his cloak, and settled down for the night.

The next morning Ned awoke to sunlight streaming in through the windows. He looked up hazily before remembering where he was. He stared at the door facing him, leading to the rest of the house.

'Before I do anything else I must introduce myself to the owner', he thought, striding over to the door. He turned the door knob, hesitantly, only to find it locked. He rattled it, but it made no difference. Ned breathed a sigh of relief and turned away, pocketing the rest of the bread and cheese and drinking some of the wine in the flask. He felt bad for doing so without permission, but he couldn't help that. With a guilty feeling, Ned walked out of the house.

He turned around, taking one final look at the strange building. For a moment he thought he saw a shadow go past the window but Ned assumed it was his mind playing tricks on him. Despite it being daytime, it was still gloomy in the forest and the air smelt of damp moss from the previous night's rain. As he turned to go, out of the corner of his eye Ned spotted a flower bed round the side of the house. Curious, he walked up to it. His mouth opened slightly as he saw a beautiful bed of roses. Ned knelt down to inspect them closer; each were bright red with a sweet smell wafting towards him. The rest of the garden was made up of weeds and overgrown grass, it appeared that somehow the roses had managed to stay intact despite their lack of attention.

Remembering his promise to Sansa, Ned fingered one of the rose's leaves thoughtfully, before picking it. So engrossed was he in the beauty of the rose that he did not hear the footsteps approaching him from behind. Suddenly a huge black shadow loomed over Ned. He froze.

'What the hell are you doing', a voice rasped from behind Ned.

Ned stayed completely still for a while, preparing himself for what was going to come. He turned around, staying low on the ground, rose still in hand. The man, supposedly the owner, was around seven foot with a huge, muscular build. One side of his face was covered in scars that looked like burns and his hair was shoulder length and ragged. He snarled down at Ned.

'Forgive me', Ned said. 'I was on my way to King's Landing when my men and I got caught in the rain. We sought shelter in the forest but got separated. I found myself at this house and fed myself. I apologise profusely.'

'And how do I know you're not just some outlaw scum come to steal from me', the man growled.

Ned cleared his throat and straightened himself up. 'My name is Eddard Stark of House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North.'

The other man said nothing for a while.

'Stark, huh.' He muttered. 'You're a long way from home.'

Ned kept silent, allowing the man to make up his mind about outcome of his situation.

'But it appears you have stolen from me', he said, eyeing the rose in Ned's hand.

Ned sighed. 'I confess, I did take the rose. It is for my daughter, Sansa, she's only a girl.'

He looked up at the man who was staring, hard, back at him. For a moment Ned thought he saw a flicker of softness in the man's eyes, but it was only for a moment.

The huge man turned away, holding his head as though in pain. 'Go.'

Ned hesitated, confused, however the man said no more. Ned stood up hastily and stumbled back into the forest before the man changed his mind.