The Boy in the Broken Tower.

Chapter Four.

Robb Stark was very, very frightened. He was sitting in his chair on the small table where father would have them all break their fast alone, it wasn't often used as his father always preferred that they broke their fast and had their evening meal in the great hall with the men and women of Winterfell, his father always said that it was important that the people you would rule over know who you were, don't let them die for a stranger that they never saw.

But Robb knew why they were having breakfast in the smaller room, Father was going to keep his promise and he was going to bring Jon down to eat with them and he was excited about that but the thing he was scared about at the moment was his Mother. No, it wasn't that he was scared off her because he knew that she would never hurt him, he was scared of how she would react when she saw Jon.

Robb didn't know why Jon was in that tower but he did remember that Jon said that they had the same father, but he hadn't mentioned anything about having a Mother or who she was. That could only mean that Jon didn't know who his Mother was and that meant that Jon would only be their half brother, but his father hadn't been married before which meant that Jon was a bastard.

Robb didn't think that he had ever meet a bastard before, there were a few that he learned about from his lessons with Maester Luwin, the Targaryen bastards were always the most famous, or infamous for how often they rebelled against the true Targaryens, wars that lasted for years and always brought blood and death on to the Seven Kingdoms.

Jon didn't seem like he would bring blood and death to anyone, he seemed to nice to do that. They hadn't talked since Robb had discovered him at the top of the tower but he was his brother, he didn't think that Jon would hurt him. But from what Maester Luwin had taught him in his lessons if a Lord had a bastard child then the normal thing to do was to send them to another lord to be fostered, it was considered an honour to be asked to raise someone else's child under their roof and it stopped the lord's bastard from being see as an insult to his lady wife and to his trueborn children.

But Father didn't send Jon away, he kept him in Winterfell even though he had locked him up in the broken tower. He had to wonder then if his Mother had been the one to make Jon stay in the tower. When Robb had told his parents that he had been up to see Jon with his siblings and Theon, his mother had dropped her glass out of shock so she must have known that Jon was up there.

If it was true, if his Mother had locked Jon up in there, if she had made Father do that...Robb didn't know what to think, it couldn't be true could it? This was his mother after all, his Mother who used to hold him when he was a babe and fed him from her own breast, who held him when he had been young and had fallen and scrapped his needs, who had kept him safe when he had been scared of thunder storms at night and let him sleep with her in her bed.

She couldn't be the same woman who would lock a boy, no older than him, up in a tower? She just couldn't be.

But then, he had thought that about his Father as well. He was an honourable man, everybody always said so. He wouldn't lie to anyone, he didn't plot and he didn't scheme and he wouldn't stab anyone in the back or hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. So did Jon deserve it? Did he deserve to be locked up in a tower for the rest of his days? Robb didn't think that he did.

But then, Robb didn't really know what to think anymore.

His mother was dressed in a gown of heavy green velvet and had her hand clasped tightly around her goblet, her other hand was hold Bran's just as tightly. His baby brother looked uncomfortable but he also looked too scared to say anything about it. Sansa was sitting on their mother's right, dressed in her blue silk dress that had been a gift from form Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbour. It had always been one of her favourites and Robb knew that she would wear it all the time if Mother allowed her too, he was surprised that she would let her wear for when it was just a breakfast.

Arya was dressed in a grey dressed and looked uncomfortable and miserable in equal measure, kicking her feet back and forth and Robb knew that all she wanted at that moment was to jump out of her chair and go and run outside. He imagined that the only thing that was keeping her from doing that was the threat of more lessons with Septa Mordane, Arya hated the woman almost as much as she hated vegetables although she had not ever tried to fend the septa off by swinging her doll at her, yet.

The door to the room opened and Father stepped in, his face was cold and seemed to be carved from stone and Robb realised his mistake. It may have just been them that were eating in the room but Father was not here, Lord Stark of Winterfell had come instead. Following behind him, glancing around the room like it was made of solid gold instead of grey stone, was Jon.

This was the first time that Robb finally got a good look at him instead of just his face, he was a little shorter than Robb but not by much and he was dressed in a grey cotton shirt and black trousers. He seemed a little thinner than Robb as well, not to the point that he looked like he was being starved but enough so that he looked like he wasn't eating enough as he should have been.

His father pulled out the chair that was next to Robb and across from Sansa and Jon sat down in it, Robb gave him a smile to try and make him feel welcome and it seemed to work as Jon smiled back at him. The smile soon dropped however when Jon turned and noticed that Robb's mother was staring holes into him. Jon dropped his head so he was looking down at the table. Robb frowned heavily as he glanced between his brother and his mother, not sure what to do or to say.

Father took his place at the head of the table and a few moments after he did so the servant's entrance opened and the serving women brought out platters of food and pitchers. There was still silence as food was being placed on their plates, if any of the woman found it odd that there was a child that neither of them had seen before than none of them said anything.

Almost too soon all of their plates were filled with bacon, eggs, buttered peas, blood sausage and some oaten bread that had only been in the oven a few moments ago, Bran didn't have the same as he was still too young and so he had a bowl of porridge that had been sweetened with a lot of honey and had fresh winter berries on the top. It looked delicious but Robb found that he had little appetite but at the same time he knew that if he didn't eat it would just draw attention on to him and so he picked up his fork and stabbed it into his blood sausage as he used his knife to hack at it.

It seemed he had taken the plunge as soon everyone else had began to tuck into their plates, his Mother using her fork and knife to cut up Arya's bacon and sausage before she turned to feeding Bran his porridge. A yelp turned everyone's attention to Jon as he dropped his fork on to the plate, a piece of bacon speared on top of it. His eyes went wide when he noticed everyone was staring at him. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to it being that hot."

An awkward silence filled the room again as everyone stopped eating, his father's lordly masked slipped for a moment and Robb saw a glimmer of shame and pain in his eyes for a moment before the mask slammed back into place. He reached out and picked up his mug of ale and before he took a gulp of it said. "Don't forget to blow on it Jon."

"I won't Father." Jon said as he picked up his fork again, staring at it for a moment before he started to blow on the bacon. The clatter of forks and knives filled the air, once Bran had eaten half of his porridge Robb's Mother turned her attention to her own plate, ripping her oaten bread in half and rubbing it in the fat of the bacon and slowly biting into one of the halves.

"What are you reading? You like to read don't you? You said that you did." Robb asked as gently as he could, not wanting to scare his brother considering how nervous he looked. It still seemed to shock him that someone who wasn't their Father asked him a question as he turned to look at him, his greys eyes wide with surprise.

"Oh, well. I was reading about some of the great sieges of Westeros but I was also reading a tale about Ser Aemon, the Dragonknight. Well, actually it's a lot of tales in one book. You can have it, if you want. I've read it a lot of times already." Jon said with a smile before he turned his attention back on to his plate before Robb could answer him, in truth Robb honestly didn't like reading that much but the offer clearly meant a lot to Jon and so he said nothing either way.

"Why do you live in the Broken Tower?" Arya asked from her own chair, a bit of blood sausage hanging from her mouth. Their mother was quick to chastise her and told her to not speak while her mouth was full. Arya swallowed her bit of sausage before she repeated her question as though her mother hadn't even said anything in the first place. "Why do you live up in the broken tower?"

Jon glanced between Arya and their father and it was clear to Robb that he had no idea what to say. "I don't-I don't know why, I just do. I've been in there since I was able to walk, I think."

Arya frowned heavily and looked like she was about to say something more but she couldn't before their Mother slammed her goblet down on the table, her blue eyes darkening as she stared across at his Father. Robb had never seen anyone look at his Father like that, certainly never Mother. "Ned, I need to speak with you. And I need to speak with you know."

The lord of Winterfell's face didn't twitch, he simply kept meeting her eyes. "Robb, take you brother out into the yard. You can show him the rest of Winterfell, Sansa, take Bran and Arya and go and find your septa." As soon as the words were out, Robb and Jon leapt from their chairs while Sansa tool hold of Bran and held Arya's hand as they all left the room together.

As soon as they were out in the corridor Sansa looked at Jon like he was the ugliest thing that she had ever seen, spinning on her heel as she walked down the hallway, carrying the squirming Bran and protesting Arya away. Jon was looking down at his feet and playing with his fingers. "I should have just stayed in the tower."

"That's not true!" Robb shouted, Jon jumped like he had just been screamed at and Robb realised that he wasn't used to being around other people. He reached down and took hold of Jon's wrist. "Come on, we're going to go and find Theon and then I am going to show you all of Winterfell."

Robb practically dragged Jon down the hallway, he was going to show him the godswood and the great hall and the crypts and the hot springs, he would love the Library tower considering how much he loved to read. Robb had a new brother, this was not a bad thing no matter what Sansa or his Mother and Father thought. He'd make them all see that.

Jon wasn't going back into that tower. He wouldn't allow it.

End of Chapter Four


Welp, a short chapter but the breakfast is done and dusted. Next chapter we are switching perspectives, it will either be Ned or Cat. Place your bets and place them now.

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Love,

Doctorwhofan12345.