"Jon! JON!"
"Huh."
Robb was looking at him, waiting for the reply to a question that he didn't listen. But Theon who stood just beside him with a smirk on his face, knew that Jon hadn't been paying any attention to them.
"So?"
"So, what?"
"Jon, did you even hear what I just said?"
"No."
He gave a blunt answer. There was no need to lie; there was no honor in lying, something his father had taught his sons. Moreover, he knew if he lied, Robb would easily catch it because apparently Jon was a bad liar.
"Robb, forget about the bastard, just continue."
"Theon!"
"What?"
What followed on was a few minutes' rant where Robb scolded Theon for saying something like this. Usually Ironborn knew not to call him names infront of Robb.
Becuase Theon might have been Robb's best mate but Jon was his brother. He might consider Ironborn as his family but Jon was his blood and he loved him more.
After squabbling for few minutes, Robb turned to him.
"I was just telling how mother doesn't appreciate Sansa's soul mark?"
"Why? What does it say? Did you see it?"
Theon and Robb shared a look which resulted in Ironborn laughing out loud and Robb clearing his throat. The heir of Winterfell threw a glare at his companion.
"Well, I have not seen it ..."
"Why?"
Robb coughed a little, his face flushed, the red color spreading from his cheeks to his ears.
"Well it's not in an appropriate place for everyone to see."
"Oh."
The words had almost the same effect on Jon, but he was more surprised that there was no joke made by Ironborn. Apparently Robb might have already done some damage previously and taught him the lesson.
"Yes, but mother did and she was furious. Father and I had been talking with Maester Luwin when she barged into the room. She was very angry. She took it as an insult to Tully's even though father didn't seem to think so."
"Are you going to tell me what the words are?"
"You won't believe it Snow, I didn't."
"But Arya is over the moon."
"Why?"
"I have been avoiding them since the incident."
"Will you stop stalling and tel me what did it say?"
———--——Scene break——--————
"Who do you think it is?"
"Father is not sure; he said there are not much clues in the words."
"What if it's a knight?"
Sansa gasped on hearing Jeyne Poole's suggestion, both of them fell into giggles and their sound made Arya want to bash her head into something.
"But you know who it isn't?"
Sansa gave her an irritating glare, Jeyne following her lead. Arya wasn't even a bit intimidated by their glares. She had been on the receiving end from the time since both girls had started to be around each other.
They were both irritating and stupid.
"Who?"
"Prince Joffrey."
"What?"
"Yes, he doesn't have a soul mark."
"You are lying."
"I am not. Robb told us about this last year."
"Arya, stop lying."
"Ignore her Sansa. She is jealous. That you have a soulmate and she doesn't."
"I am not lying."
"Anyway, it doesn't really matter. Mother and father don't have one and they are in love. Even though mother was bethroed to Uncle Brandon."
"Yes, neither of them had a soul mark unlike you. It could be a someone from Flea bottom for all you know."
"ARYA!"
———--——Scene break——--————
What is a bastard?
It was a word that Robb had heard when he was just three and someone had called Jon the same in the market. Jon didn't give any response to the man and Robb couldn't understand why.
They were in the middle of the morning meal and everyone had been enjoying it till Robb had gathered up his courage and asked it.
The sudden stillness of everyone made him realize that he had spoken out loud and had asked something wrong. HIs father had looked at Robb and then at Jon, who inspite of being his brother never shared the table with them. Jon always sat at the table below, sharing the seats with Ser Rodrik instead of his family.
Everyone's eyes were on Jon who had hunched even more than he already was, his eyes staring at the ground as if he had found a golden dragon. His mother, instead of looking at him, seems to be glaring at Jon.
Robb had questioned Jon regarding this previously but was not provided with any response. But he knew that Jon knew what it meant. And in sudden anger for his brother not telling him something, he had thought of questioning the same infront of their father.
"Robb!"
His father had given him a disappointed look and his confusion was cleared out when on the same night his father told him what it meant.
Jon was his father's son but not his mother's, a child born of unmarried parents. Jon could never take any land, or titles or even their name, Stark. He was not Jon Stark, he was Snow.
His mother said that according to the Seven, Jon was born of sin. A taint to his father's honor and his mother's pride.
Few days, he kept his distance. Thinking how could Jon dare to be born, he was shame to his father's name?
But then his father told him something that he would always remember.
When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.
He was his pack. His blood. His family. Doesn't matter that they would never share a name, but they had each other's back.
Jon had been the first one whom he told when he saw the mark. The first who had smiled and wished him a good future. Both of them had spent the whole day thinking who she would be and where he would meet her.
And why Robb would do something like this to any man, let alone ordering something like this.
You want to know what side my family fights? That boy lost his foot on your orders.
———--——Scene break——--————
"My Lady, Lord …"
The sentence was not even finished when someone barged into the room, not letting the guard complete his introduction or ask for permission. Usually he was one for the tradition, polite and courteous but this morning had not been the same for him.
"What?"
"Grandmother!"
However, the lady in the question looked at the other person in the room, who without any question brought the chair standing at the corner to closer to the Lord as possible. With a low bow, the guard left the room and closed the door.
"Sit down before you hurt yourself."
"Thank you. But look, it has turned darker."
Our families fought on the opposite sides of the rebellion, my Lord and insulting my mother's family will not help you in gaining trust of our people.
———--——Chapter end——--————
A/N: Thank you everyone for all the fallowing and favoring this story. Your reviews and support means a lot to me.
I wrote this chapter almost four times, each time changing the whole scenario. I hope this turned out good. Please review and give your feedback.
P.S. King Robert will soon be coming to Winterfell and with him comes my favorite character.
Help me, it's like the walls are caving in. Sometimes I feel like giving up, But I just can't. It isn't in my Blood. (Love this song so much.)