Ch.2
The Godswood
Jon opened his eyes to the sound of noises in the courtyard below. He ran his fingers through his hair as his mind ran over the events of the previous night. It could have been a dream he thought to himself. Yet again it could have been real. He rose to his feet, pulling on his shirt, the fire had died down, with only a few glowing embers giving off a weak light. He threw on his fur and started for the Great Hall, what was her name, Elira, yes that was it.
The guards greeted him as he walked out.
Jon smiled and said "funny how two brave guards can be so easily disarmed, or should I say charmed by a pretty face."
He made his way to the great hall, where Sansa was just leaving, he greeted her and noticed Ser Davos sitting at one of the benches, chewing on a piece of black bread, and washing it down with some ale. Jon greeted the knight, and took a seat right by him
"And how did the young wolf sleep," Davos asked smiling at Jon as he would at a son.
"Troubled, by thoughts of a woman" Jon said with a smirk on his face as one of the servants poured him a cup of ale, and placed a plate of food in front of him.
Davos let out a hearty laugh.
"What man has not been" Davos said as he patted Jon on the shoulder.
The two of them sat and ate, talking about Winterfell, the men, and the provisions that would need to be made for the winter.
The meeting with the Wildling woman kept repeating itself in his mind.
He excused himself from Davos and made his way to the courtyard hoping to spot the wildling woman. She was nowhere to be seen. Rays of sun were fighting their way through the overcast sky.
It somehow warmed him to see Winterfell hectic with activity, the sound of children running and laughing, of the master at arms giving lessons to the young boys in the courtyard. He remembered himself with Robb in their place, it felt like only yesterday, yet he knew that things would never be the same. He had come to terms with that. But he still missed them all, especially Robb and Arya. They were the only family he had ever known.
He went to the stables, where he found his gray stallion chewing on a piece of hay. The stable boy saddled the stallion, and Jon was off for his customary morning ride. Off all the things he loved about the north it was the quiet, it gave a man a chance to think, to plan. He made his way through the winter town, which was beginning to get settled once more as the winter approached. He kept riding, losing himself in the rolling hills, as if in a dream.
He did not notice how long he had been riding, he decided it was time to turn back, he hoped with all his heart to see the wildling woman again. She said she had known Ygritte. Jon felt like a drowning man clutching at a straw. Yet just to hear her name again warmed him. He knew he could never love another, but with the arrival of Elira, his heart was thrown into confusion.
He stopped on a hill and looked at Winterfell which lay a little ways off. Its towering walls a refuge, yet they offered little in the way of that to him. Was she there, would he ever see her again?
He made his way to Winterfell, where he lost himself in the daily duties of ruling not only Winterfell, but what seemed the whole north. When night fell, he snuffed out the candle in his room and made his way to the silence of the Gods Wood. He looked at the old trees with their gnarled roots, the foliage underfoot silencing his walk. He sat on a large stone, and stared at the ancient trees.
"Do you pray to the old gods, Jon snow" Elira said, as she looked at the troubled wolf.
"I do, my lady, it seems you have a knack for finding me." Jon looked at the wildling woman, not at all surprised to see her there.
"Men are often creatures of habit Jon" Elira said as she took a seat next to Jon on the large stone
"And it would appear you know my habits," Jon said as a smile spread across his face.
"I could only hope to get to know you Jon, Ygritte told me so little about you, yet I could tell from what she did tell me, that you were different, not like the rest of the men on the wall." She said.
"All men are flesh and blood Lady Elira and all men fear death, how am I any different." Jon said as he rose and started walking among the trees.
"I am no lady Jon, and there is so much more to you than just flesh and blood," said Elira as she caught up and walked beside him.
"How would you know, we hardly know each other" Jon said as he looked at Elira.
"I see the way your men look at you, they trust you, my brother followed you into battle because he believed in you, and he died fighting for your cause." She said doing her best not to betray the sadness in her voice.
"Your people fought bravely, I am truly sorry for your loss" Jon said as his eyes found hers, and in them he found a peace and gentleness that almost scared him, for it was so different from all the fighting that had recently surrounded him.
" It's quite alright Jon, we've both lost people we cared about, sometimes it's better to leave the past where it belongs, as much as it hurts to do so." She said as she studied the man they called Jon snow.
Ygritte was right, he was different, yet how exactly she could not say.
The two walked among the ancient towering trees. Finding a sort of comfort in each other's company.