Hello there! I´m Valaena. I recently became addicted to A world of ice and Fire fanfics after reading the books and decided, why not writting one of my own. Well, I hope you like it, because it took a lot of effort to writte it. Might I add it´s not for Catelyn´s fans? Look, I don´t have anything against the woman, but she threated Jon like a bug in her home in the bookverse, so... I guess you can empathise with her a little because of the lies Ned fed to her in the show, but no need to take it out on the kid, no? Well, enjoy it!
A song of ice and Fire belongs to George R. R. Martin

"Shhhhhhh, I´m bringing them" Robb said, leaving Jon hidding behind the statue of a young woman, their aunt Lyanna. The younger of the two listened carefully, trying to notice when his brother would be inside with the rest of their siblings. His hand brushed the statue for a second and he felt some strange feeling of sadness overcome him. he looked up for a second, trying to discover something in the stone woman´s face. Nothing. Perhaps that has been just his imagination.

"… I promise you it´s true, father told me there was a ghost down in the crypts" Robb´s voice brought him out of his mind. There were several sets of feet stepping in the dusty stone floor of the Stark grave. "I so wanted to meet him or her…"

"Then why don´t you go down there on your own? Or better, with Jon or the Horseface here" said Sansa in her usual tone. For a second Jon considered emptying his second sack of flour over his least favourite sister, but it was something he would never do. Besides, lady Catelyn would never forgive him for what he was about to do. Well, at least she didn´t call him a bastard, he thought angrily while he waited to her to be close enough to scare. "Such a dirty place is not fit for a lady."

"This is the place of our forbearers you know" the oldest Stark now was a little bit tempted to empty the flour sack in her head himself. "If the ghost is here, then it heard you and is going to curse you. You will have him following you the rest of your live. And your future children will be also seeing the ghost until…"

"Stop it!" the angry redhead shoved her brother out of her path, growling. This was by far the most inappropriate thing he has been doing in a while and that was much to say. After all, the septa always say a lady must always be proper. "I´m getting out of here. Your stupid ghost does not interest me in the slightest and I…" suddenly something white appeared out of nowhere, scaring the propriety out of her. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHH!" Bran and Arya followed them. A laughter coming from Robb and the ghost joining him told them they have been utterly fooled, calming them down enough to notice it was their brother, covered in flour. Sansa was about to say another nasty thing, but her older brother choose that moment to grab the second sack and pour it over her head. After all, she had it coming.

"ROBB! YOU UTTER FOOL! I´M GOING TO TELL MOTHER THIS INSTANT AND YOU ARE GOING TO BE PUNISHED!" the older girl raged out of the crypts, shrieking like a banshee and throwing at them her sewing basket, which she brought with herself. Her siblings stayed there, silent. After a few more moments, the other female start laughing, reassuming the calm atmosphere.

"Oh, gods, this was epic" the little Stark said, hugging her brunette brother, then punching him in the gut. "Don´t even try that again! I mean… don´t try to scare me, because showering Sansa in flour is another thing" she smiled wickedly. "Perhaps I should try too!"

"Don´t even think about it"

"But she needs to be taught a lesson! Besides it´s funny!"

"You are right, but if you do it, your mother will know and force you to endure more of Septa Mordane´s sermons about the Seven Pointed Star. Do you want to stay hours inside listening to the Septa reading the most boring book in human history when you can be outside riding your horse?" she shook her head quickly. "Then don´t even try it."

"I promise" Jon was sure that she was already thinking a way to mess with Sansa that wouldn´t land her punished by her mother. Something he should think about right now, because unless he thought quickly, he was going to end up punished by Lady Catelyn. And in a way far less pleasurable than the one she used on her children.

"We should get inside before Sansa tells something to your Lady Mother" the children left the place, with no care in the world. But they would no stay in that way for much longer, as they didn´t notice something awry in the crypt. A few minutes after the youngsters left the graveyard, a loud sound interrupted it´s calmness. Lyanna´s sword felt to the ground. It has been hit by the thrown sewing kit. But inside the castle no one could hear it. Specially with Sansa´s screams.

"Mother! Robb and Jon played an awful joke to me in the crypts!" Catelyn´s precious jewel complained to her, making the Tully woman stop in her tracks. Rage overcame her, the bastard was corrupting her adorable children. And tormenting her daughter, her closest child, the perfect little lady of her eyes.

"Don´t worry, sweetheart" the older redhead patted her now white hair. "Why don´t you go get a bath and change clothes? I will talk to your father after dinner about your half brother´s latest prank."

"It was Robb the one that emptied the damn thing over my head, so he deserved a punishment too"

"And he will have one" she assured, thinking about what she should do to purge her firstborn from the bastard´s influence. Perhaps she should order him to clean up the stables… after she managed to convince Ned to send the mistake away. Maybe she can send him all the way back to Dorne. "Don´t worry, my sweet." Later, after she delivered punishment to the boys, being harsher with Jon than with Robb, the woman went straight towards her husband. "Milord, we need to talk."

"Really?" oh, that formality meant trouble. Cat hasn´t been that proper with him since the early days of their marriage. "I heard Robb and Jon got into trouble down in the crypts in the afternoon, it´s about that?"

"Partially" his wife answered.

"I have time after dinner, do you want to come to my solar to discuss it tonight?" Catelyn nodded, straightening her dress. Whatever happened that night, she was going to have that bastard punished for all his misdeeds. She entered the dinning hall with her head held high, not knowing that stronger forces were working against her. Back down in the crypts, in the solitude of the night, two lights emerged from the stone recipient that held the lady Lyanna´s remains. Two little, shinny lights that moved on their own, floating towards the entrance of the cave. And into the dinning hall. And solar. "Cat…"

"No, Ned" she said, gritting her teeth. "Have you not listened to what happened in the afternoon? Robb dumped a whole sack of flour over his sister´s head right after your bastard scared her in a cruel manner" the redhead continued. "and I am sure Robb would never even think about doing that if the boy…"

"Catelyn, you are getting think out of proportion, they were just two boys making a prank" Eddard tried to calm her down. He knew his wife and nephew didn´t get on with each other, but, for gods sake, the woman could be more understanding. Boys will be boys and it was just a harmless prank, much like the ones his brother and sister played on him and Brandon when growing up. "No one was hurt and they already apologized for scaring the little ones. Jon even went down to the crypts again to recover Sansa´s sewing kit."

"It is not enough! Our daughter could have been hurt or mentally scarred! And that´s probably what he intended in the first place!" she was furious. Why did her husband avoid to see it? Bastards were always jealous of their trueborn siblings and, as beings born of sin and lust, sought to cause them harm to steal what was rightfully theirs. "He targeted Sansa now, who will he hurt next?"

"That´s plainly your paranoia speaking and I´m not going to allow you to spread more poisonous words about him without cause. This conversation is over."

"Ned…"

"It´s over, Catelyn, leave it that way. I´m not sending my son away or permitting you to punish him when he was just acting like any other boy" the man turned around, ready to leave the room. "I bid you goodnight, milady"

"Goodnight then, milord" but this was far from over, she will make sure of that. The bastard will not cause more harm to her precious children... in a corner of the room, the two orbs of light were watching the scene, invisible to any who would look. They were trembling, emitting something very much like anger, just… stronger. And it was all directed to the Lady of the Castle. Following her, they entered the part of the castle where the family slept. The Tully woman took a turn towards her children´s bedrooms, only to see a tall figure exciting her youngest daughter´s rooms. Her anger was immediately ignited. "What were you doing in Lady Arya´s room?"

"Ahhh… Lady Catelyn…" Jon tried to think of an excuse quickly. In reality, it was not his fault. And he hasn´t done anything to Arya. It was just… well, it was a combination of things. First he has been convinced by Robb to stay in the dinning room later than usual to steal some leftover lemon cakes. He was rarely allowed to eat sweets, so he stupidly complied. After that, he was ready for bed, but, as usual, Arya was not. His little sister couldn´t go sleep without hearing one of his bedtime histories, so he daily went to her before Lady Catelyn went to check on her children and tell her one. He tried to convince her otherwise, knowing that if he was caught here he would be in a big problem, but she refused to hear. And thus, he stayed to tell her a history and here were the consequences. "I didn´t do anything wrong"

"Save your saliva for another, bastard, because I don´t believe anything that comes out of your lying mouth" Catelyn walked towards her husband´s illegitimate child, grabbing a huge part of his hair when she was close enough. "You are telling me this instant what you were planning to do to my daughter or I…"

"He wasn´t doing anything, mother" Robb exited Arya´s room. His mother released the boy immediately. She knew that with her precious child presence, the cowardly bastard wouldn´t dare to do anything, her boy wouldn´t consent it. "This is all my fault. I convinced him to help me steal some lemon cakes, that´s why he was late for Arya´s bedtime history and couldn´t get out before you came."

"Arya´s… bedtime history?" said Catelyn perplexed. Her youngest daughter never asked her to tell her a bedtime history. Why would she ask her bastard half-brother to do it?

"Yes. Every night after dinner, Jon goes to Arya´s room to tell her a bedtime history. She can´t sleep without it" the auburn haired boy told her, while Jon scrambled, hiding in the darkness before Lady Stark turns her attention back to her. "He is usually back in his room before you notice him, but tonight I… don´t make me repeat it."

"Why… why is HE being asked to do it? He is not trustworthy enough…" that must be why Arya´s behaviour was taking a turn for the worst. The bastard must be corrupting her through those seemingly innocuous bedtime histories… "If she wanted a history, she should have asked me or Old Nan to…"

"Oh, she did, but you never listened to her when she told you she hated the histories you tell her and Old Nan is taking care of Bran and Rickon" Robb approached his mother, who, for once, was speechless. "She is not Sansa, mother, you shouldn´t threat her like she was. The poor thing is bored and tired of those stupid tales about princesses and princes Sansa likes so much. That´s why it´s Jon and no you the one she chose to."

"But… but those are the kind of tales a young girl…"

"Mother… let´s discuss this in other place, shall we?" the boy sighed, noticing his brother still there. Deciding that he would be the one to deal with his mother that night, he waved to the boy. "Goodnight, Jon"

"Goodnight, brother" the other boy took his opportunity to leave, avoiding punishment from at least a few hours. He practically ran to his room, barring his door when he was inside. The teen breathed in and out, recovering from his encounter with Lady Stark. After a few seconds, Jon managed to snap out of it, proceeding to put some trunks in his chimney and setting fire to it. He rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself. Lady Stark always limited the amount of wood he could use for his room, so the place was cold during his absences, but he didn´t care. Waiting for the temperature to adjust was something he was used to. And it gave him time to think. "I wonder where you are… mother" he grabbed a paper from a table. It has a picture of a woman, the one he sees in his dreams. "Are you blond or raven? Beautiful or not so much? Did you loved him?" he sighed, finally changing and getting into bed. "Do you love me?"

"My beautiful boy" a voice sounded in the darkness, as beautiful woman appeared. She was made of light, with a hair that reached her waist and a warmth only a mother could possess. The ghost extended his hand towards him, caressing his messy raven hair. "My dear perfect prince."

"My dear" a man with the kind of ghostly glow, fingering a ghostly harp. He started playing the soft notes of a sad song, a lullaby made to make kids go to sleep. This helped the boy in the bed to sleep deeper, comfortable with the presence of the protective ghosts. "You are our song of ice and fire."

"Eddard promised me" she said when her companion finally was over and picking some new tune to play. "He promised me on my deathbed, he promised me he would be fine and well taken care of… yet he lets that woman mistreat him like he is some sort of… criminal" the frown in the female´s face deepened. "She won´t do it anymore"

"Lya…"

"I won´t let her"

-The next day-

"Good morning" Jon saluted after entering the main hall, where a frowning Lady Stark was waiting for him. He lowered his head. Apparently, the talk with Robb didn´t go as well as he hoped. And his father was not yet there to protect him from her mood. For safety´s sake, he went to lower tables after serving himself some porridge and started eating. His brother suddenly joined him, making him raise his head. "What are you doing here? Go back to your place before your mother skins me alive."

"She won´t. Father heard us arguing last night about you and was very crossed with her. That´s the reason she is angry" he sighed. "Apparently, they also fought before she found you exiting Arya´s room. I don´t know what it was about exactly, but from their expressions I can tell it concerned…"

"Me" oh, great. He was the reason of two fights in the same day, splendid. Who knows what Lady Catelyn will have him do to ease her anger.

"Sorry. Have I known, I would never have argued with her" Robb apologized, knowing that his mother would discharge her wrath on Jon´s head. "If you want to leave the fort while it´s still save, I can cover for you."

"No, I would never do such a cowardly act" the dark haired boy returned to his meal, trying to eat as fast as he could to get away from his step mother and her heated glare. Besides, as fast as she delivered the punishment, the sooner he would finish with that. Then he remembered something. "Hey, where is Sansa? I have to congratulate her, her skills in high harp have improved greatly."

"What? The last time I heard her, the poor instrument wanted to fly out of her arms" the Stark heir answered, shaking his head. It was true after all, his sister should stick to singing.

"Wasn´t she practising in the corridor last night?"

"If she were, then none of us would have been able to sleep" answered Robb, remembering the last time the auburn haired girl had the brilliant idea to do so. After such an experience and a sleep deprived Rickon gave her hell, Lady Catelyn forbid her from doing so. Since then, the only one that had to endure her terrible music abilities was poor Septa Mordane. "Why were you asking?"

"I think I heard someone playing the high harp last night" Jon said, not knowing from where the hell that came from. "But I was deep asleep, so… I don´t know. Perhaps it was only a memory I didn´t know I had."

"Let´s see… did it sound like the instrument was being killed?"

"Nope. In fact, the person playing it knew what he or she was doing. Too much, I think."

"Then it wasn´t Sansa. Maybe it was Septa Mordane, but I don´t remember any time she let you sit or even listen to her playing" Robb bit his lip. "Maybe not, she is not the best of players"

"Have you ever heard someone that was really good in it?"

"Nope" answered the Stark. "and I don´t remember the last time Father employed musicians"

"When Lord Manderly was visiting" answered Jon, smiling when he remembered how the fat lord introduced the whole family to lamprey pie. "In fact, it was Lord Manderly who brought the musicians. I remembered when one let me use his high harp" his fingers itched with the memory. "It was a fun afternoon."

"Yes… specially because you are a better player than Sansa" they finished with their meals and went on to their lessons. They were about to meet master Luwin in his study when Lady Stark appeared. She was less than pleased to see them together. "Mother…"

"Go on to your lessons, Robb" she instructed her son, then turned to her stepson. "Once you get out of there, instead of joining Ser Rodrick for training, you are going straight to the kennels and help the kennelsmaster to clean all the place. And I don´t want to hear anyone saying you were anywhere but there, do you understand?"

"Yes, milady"

"And from now on, you are forbidden from entering my children´s rooms" she informed him. "It´s unbecoming of a young lord or lady to have their bastard half-brother entering their rooms and I won´t have you ruining my daughter´s reputations by entering their chambers in the middle of the night. Are we clear?" the woman expected a protest, perhaps on the lines that Arya can´t get to sleep without a history or what should he do now before bed, but there was none. Well, she told to herself, at least the boy knows his place. It was a little bit simpler to deal with that kind of bastards. "Go now"

"By your leave" Jon Snow went away, not noticing the light orb near him trembling with barely hidden rage at the woman. Catelyn turned around and left, thinking about her list of duties, not noticing the orb was gone. The auburn haired lady took a turn in an enclosed passage near her husband´s solar, when a particularly heavy statue felt and nearly crushed her. In fact, she was barely able to jump to the side.

"What was that… Cat!" Eddard came running out of his solar, tending his hands to her to lift her form from the floor. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yes… I… I am" the Tully looked at the place her body has been before the accident. "That… the statue nearly felt on me. It could have killed me if…"

"Nothing happened, Cat. We should be grateful for that" Ned hugged his trembling wife. Deciding she needed a break to get over the scare, he pulled her towards the place he just excited. "Come with me, my love. I have some wine we could share to help you get the tension out of your body."

"Ye… Yeah" the Lady kept staring at the place. Somehow, she didn´t know how, she knew this was related with the bastard. Her fingers balled into fists when she entered the solar, a decision made in her mind. That bastard needs to go, before he murders someone. And she was going to be the one to expel him from this halls.

What do you think? Hope you enjoyed it. I´m going to be posting next time I can, but I´m not sure I can made it this week... perhaps this sunday or past it. And please send your reviews, I really need some ideas on how to continue this.