Their steps on the freshly fallen snow were silent and fast. Although the night was cold, both of them were used to bear much more cruel coldness. There was nobody else on the street but they could see fire burning behind several windows they were passing by.

"Nervous?" asked the taller one. He put an effort to make his voice sound calm and confident, but his companion caught the amused, excited tone he was trying to hide.

"Why should I be nervous?" the younger man responded, but his voice disclosed his feelings. He really was nervous, much more nervous than he has ever been before any battle. He could feel his heart pounding somewhere in his throat. Calm down, you coward, he said to himself. He felt so embarrassed.

"I remember my first time," the taller one said. "I was frightened like a child", he laughed. "Don´t worry, Jon. This is going to be the best night of your life."

It better be, said Jon Snow to himself. He took a deep breath and swallowed as his stepbrother knocked on a massive wooden door, giving him a slight grin.

Few minutes later, they both were walking up the wooden stairs leading to a narrow corridor. Rob was counting the doors they were passing by and stopped at the third one on the right side of the corridor. Jon followed him.

"Rob…" Jon hissed and stopped his stepbrother whose hand was already placed at the door handle. "I´m not sure if this…"

Jon couldn´t believe how nervous he was. His hands were shaking and he felt his heart beating even in his toes. If he could, he would slap his own face at that moment. He hated the feeling. He always seemed to be able to control his fear, but now, for the first time in his life, he felt helpless . Oh yes, he was excited by the thought of bedding his first maiden. And he couldn´t wait. But he was scared at the same time and he didn´t even know what exactly he was so scared of. He felt weak… and that was what he couldn´t handle.

Rob turned his head and look at him, placing his left hand on Jon´s shoulder. "Listen…" he seemed to be looking for the right words.

"This girl…" Rob made a gesture towards the door. "She has been paid to do anything you will want her to do, Jon. She´s there to please us… and she is waiting behind this door for us. Let´s not make her wait too long," Rob said and pressed the handle of the door.

"And furthermore, " he added before he opened the door entirely. "… she is a virgin. You can´t imagine how hard it is to find a virtuous virgin these days."

One would expect the heavy wooden door would make a creaky noise, but they opened in a sheer silence in which Jon could hear his own heart beating wildly. He clenched his hands in fists. You coward, you coward…. he heard himself reprising in his head.

Rob walked in first. The room was well lit and spacious, there were dark carpets on the wooden floor and in its corner there was a large bed with duvets and pillows on it. "Close the door", Rob whispered, as he walked to the window where the girl was standing.

Beautiful was the first thought that came to Jon´s mind when he saw her. She was small and the baby features of her face were giving her a very young look. Her hair was brown and wavy and even across the whole room Jon could recognize the color of her eyes, they were blue. She was wearing a light blue tunic made of a silky fabric and she was barefoot. It was freezing outside, but inside of the room it was very hot. Jon looked in the burning fire in the hearth and he realized he was sweating in his thick furry coat. "It´s so hot in here," Rob said as he was taking his own coat off. Jon quickly did the same.

"Would you like me to open the window, my lord?", the girl asked tentatively without even looking at any of them.

"No… I think I´ll just have some wine," Rob said smiling, walking towards the bedside table with a jar of wine and two goblets on it.

"Let me do it," the girl said, outrunning Rob and grabbing the jar in her tiny hand, pouring the wine in both goblets. "Please, make yourselves comfortable," she said quietly, handing Rob one of the goblets, leaving the other one on the table. Rob sat down on the bed, watching her slow movements with a hungry look. Then he smiled at Jon and made a gesture with his hand, inviting him to sit next to him. Jon´s face remained inexpressive when he sat on the small wooden chair next to the door. It made Rob laugh silently and he whispered something through his lips, but Jon couldn´t hear him.

The girl´s eyes were slipping from one man to another. She was standing close to where Rob was sitting and Jon could see her palms leaning against the wall, almost as if she wished to merge with it, to disappear from their sight. Jon remembered what Rob told him – she was a virgin. Suddenly he realized she must have been as frightened and nervous as he was and he felt a need to stand up and take her in his arms, whisper in her ear that there was nothing to worry about… He wished to tell her all he desired was to have a drink with her, talk to her and laugh with her all night… like a friend… but he felt his body was paralyzed, his boots nailed to the floor and his voice stuck somewhere in his throat.

"Come here, girl," Rob ordered, still smiling. The girl looked down and walked slowly towards him, sitting down on the bed, placing her hands in her lap. Rob took her hand and pulled her even closer. He brought her cold, trembling hand up to his lips and kissed it. It was the first time the girl lifted her head up and looked him in the eyes.

"You are such a lucky little girl," Rob said, leaning closer to smell her hair. "You are lucky because me and Jon are here tonight. Because one of us is going to be your first…" he whispered as his breath got faster. Jon´s heart began to race when he saw Rob placing his hand on her thigh and stroking it softly. "Do you know what would happen if there was anybody else here, girl?" he asked quietly, pressing his lips to her neck, making her body shiver. "Everybody else would throw you on the bed," he whispered, playing with her hair with the fingers of his other hand. "…and fuck you like a whore," he said so quietly Jon almost couldn´t hear it. "They would make you scream in pain and they would never have enough." Jon could clearly see how she shivered listening to Rob´s words.

"But I said you were lucky, didn´t I?" Rob continued as he stood up to pour more wine in his goblet and hand the other one to Jon. "Because we both will be gentle to you, won´t we, Jon? Please, excuse my companion, he obviously is more frightened of his first bedding than you are," Rob laughed.

"I´m not frightened," Jon said, squeezing the edges of the chair tightly with his hands.