Chapter 4
Samwell Tarly didn't much miss the Citadel. Though he knew there was a wealth of information there he may never find again, he knew in his heart that Winterfell was the right place for him.
It felt good to be around all the Stark children, Jon's family. Jon was the first real friend he ever had, the only one who ever stood up to him. In his mind, the man was a brother and that meant that these people were his family now.
He stood outside, but within the castle walls with everyone else, eagerly awaiting the return of the King in the North and the Mother of Dragons. He had heard that she burnt both his father and brother for refusing to bend the knee and he was not yet sure how he felt about it. His father had never accepted him, sending him to the Wall instead of allowing him to claim his birth right and there was no love lost with his brother and yet, they were still family in name.
No matter, many lives had been lost since the first day he took the Black, some with Ice and some with Fire and the past was already written. Jon, or rather Aegon Targaryen had chosen his Queen, and he would not be the one to bring up Randyl or Dickon Tarly.
He wondered how Jon would react to the news that not only was he not a bastard, but that he was the rightful heir to the Iron Throne? He never wanted it when the brothers of the Night's Watch voted him their Lord Commander, but he led them well anyway. A bastard, who now took on the title, King in the North, but Sam didn't think he would want to rule Westeros.
As the riding party approached the entrance to Winterfell, a hush came over the crowd of people. Like a sight for sore eyes, Jon Snow came into view riding on horseback right next to Daenarys Targaryen. They rode together in front of everyone until they came close enough to halt their horses. Jon hopped down and held out a hand to his Queen to help her down.
She allowed him to and when the two stood next to one another, everyone immediately knelt and Sam, realizing he should be kneeling as well, followed suit
Ser Davos spoke then "Jon Snow, the King in the North"
Jon stepped forward and then back as he allowed Missandei to speak
"I present to you, Queen Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons"
Everyone cheered as Jon and Dany joined hands together and held them up in the air. This was the time when everyone stood up and listened as Jon began to speak
"It's good to be home. We have tough days ahead but Queen Daenarys has promised to help us in the Great War. She is the Queen that I chose and I know you will all stand beside me, and her as we come together to face our biggest threat in centuries" he spoke with passion and he spoke boldly and everyone who heard couldn't help but feel a sense of unity.
"I am not here to conquer, I am here to help. I am here as a friend to the North. I have seen this threat with my own two eyes and though I know many of you may not trust me, I know that death is coming for everyone, including myself unless we come together" Her words rang true
Jon continued with "Our new Queen, risked her own life, and the life of her Dragon, who was murdered at the hands of the Night King, to come and rescue myself and the others who went on a mission north of the Wall."
He looked at her with gratitude and continued to speak "She has suffered a great personal loss to protect myself and the people of this Realm, we should all be grateful to her for her sacrifice!" at this everyone cheered loudly and Daenarys graced them all with a small smile.
"In Winter we do not feast, but tonight we will all break bread together!" Loud cheers were heard once more as everyone but the closest family and friends remained. Everyone bustled off to begin preparations for dinner that evening.
Jon immediately walked up to his sister Arya and gave her a hug. Sam could hear them speaking to one another.
"I've missed you "She spoke to him softly and a huge grin appeared on his face "I've missed you too. I see you still have your Needle" he gestured to the sword Jon had given her so long ago tucked safely in her belt and she smiled wide "My Needle is always with me"
Jon turned to Bran and hugged him as well, "Bran, I never thought I would see you again" It was true, Sam knew of Theon Greyjoy and his lie about killing the youngest Stark children, and he was the one who let the young boy through the Wall into the land of always winter.
Bran smiled back and said "It has been a long journey back home, but we are all together now. I've missed you too"
There would be longer reunions later he knew, for he and Bran still had to tell Jon the truth about his parents and about his claim to the Iron Throne. He knew that time would come but now was not that time and Sam waited as Jon spoke to Sansa for his turn with the King.
"I see you've done a fine job as Lady of Winterfell in my absence" He spoke truly and Sansa replied with "Thank you that means a lot, but I'm just glad you're back"
All four of the Stark children reunited once more.
"I can't believe we're all back here" Arya spoke and then added "well, not all of us"
Sam knew she meant her two other brothers as well as their mother and father. It seems that everyone has suffered loss in this war for the Iron Throne.
"I miss them" said Sansa and by the looks on all of their faces Sam knew, that everyone felt the same.
"I do too" spoke Jon "I do too"
It was then that Jon noticed Sam and gave him a big hug and clap on the back "Samwell Tarly! It is good to see you"
"It's good to be back" Sam replied happily "I've got so much to tell you about everything, but that can wait until later" He was glad to speaking again to his friend and to his King
"Yes, we can speak more at dinner tonight. It's been a long journey and I think we could all use a little rest." He gestured to his riding party and to his Queen.
"I've had rooms prepared for everyone, some will be sharing as Winterfell is now the place of refuge for everyone in the North but everyone will have a place to sleep" Sansa said this proudly and Sam knew that she enjoyed being in charge of things like this, making sure everyone was taken care of.
Jon nodded and returned to Daenarys, they spoke quietly and Sam couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could tell by the looks exchanged that Jon and she were quite close. He wondered how close? He wondered how she would react to Jon being Aegon Targaryen and the fact that he, not her, was the one with the most solid claim to the Iron Throne?
Sam wondered about a great many things to himself before Gilly nudged him and he snapped back to reality "Sam come on, it's cold. Let's take little Sam inside and get ready for dinner" She flashed him that smile he absolutely loved about her and his previous thoughts were forgotten.
Yes, he did like it here at Winterfell.
A/N : I just want to thank everyone very much for all the follows and story favorites and reviews! It means a lot to me and I'll try to get out at least one chapter each day!
