AN - Sorry for the delay. By way of an apology, a two chapter update. The second chapter is also longer than usual. Enjoy.

Troubled Waters

Jon was practicing with Ser Waldis when he spotted Varys around the edge of the training ground. He wasn't distracted enough to let Waldis get a free hit in with his blunted sword. He dragged his attention away from Varys but he was already moving out of the way of his opponent's strike. Completing his dodge, the flat of Jon's blade slapped the back of the other knight's helmet.

Waldis laughed as he removed his helmet, his squire rushing up to collect it with a skin of wine in hand,

"I swear it Ser Jon... You have the most uncanny reflexes I have ever seen on a man!" he joked as he handed his squire his helm and drank from the wine skin, "You've the battle presence of a veteran I'd dare say."

Of course the praise was welcome but Jon knew that it was rather unfounded. Ser Waldis wasn't much older than Jon himself so hadn't been able to fight during the Greyjoy Rebellion. The man had no experience in war but, then again, neither did Jon. He had experience chasing bandits away from the Wolfswood and had a skirmish against raiders to his name.

Every other fight he had ever been in took place with blunted training weapons. Or Tourney weapons. It was kind of humbling to admit that some of the hardest fighting he had ever done in his life had been at this tournament. Fighting the raiders had been so sudden that it didn't have time to be hard - it was over quick and the battle-vision had wrapped around him almost instantly. No such luck in a tournament it seemed.

He smirked ever so slightly at Waldis,

"My thanks Ser... but what would we know of veterans?" he joked, the Frey joining in as Jon's own squire came forward and collected his helm. He took the skin of water from his squire, drinking a little before handing it back, "Thank you Edric."

His squire seemed to be warring with something inside of himself but he didn't move. Seeing his squire's distress he waved his hand in a manner to suggest he was allowing Edric to speak,

"Ser... if it pleases your Ser, call me Ned."

Ned huh? He knew it was also his father's nickname but he had never even thought to use it. His father was Lord Eddard Stark, the Warden of the North and the man Jon respected above all others... it seemed a little wrong to address his father by such a name. Of course he had no such reservations about his squire - it might help the slightly awkward young man adapt to his new duties a little bit,

"I'll refer to you as Ned but when it's just us - or other members of the order - just call me Jon alright?" he requested with a little grin, "I heard that the Dornish were supposed to be more liberal than the rest of Westeros?"

This seemed to be what Edric had been wanting to request - the freedom to act more casually around him. Almost as soon as he had issued the 'order', Edric visibly relaxed and shot back a cocky little grin,

"Liberal? That's the politest way I've ever heard it said since leaving Dorne." he admitted, much to the amusement of the two Freys and Jon himself, "Well, we're at least more 'liberal' than the people of the North. My sister said the term 'frigid'...?"

Both Freys, knight and squire, laughed at this joke while Jon just smirked, pushing Edric's shoulder playfully but still almost pushing the smaller man over,

"Laugh it up Ned - You're going to be experiencing the North first hand." he smirked wider, "I can't wait to see what you make of snow."

Edric snorted right back,

"I lived close to the mountains Jon... I know about snow."

This time both the Freys and Jon laughed at his response and Edric was rather surprised. Waldis took another drink from the wine skin,

"Boy, you don't know snow." he joked with a little smirk, "The snows in the Riverlands during the last winter were several feet deep. North of the Neck? I'd say the snow fell deep enough to burry someone of your height, honestly."

Jon didn't remember much about the last winter. He knew it had lasted a few years and he knew that it had happened when he was very young, not long after Robert's Rebellion but ending before the Greyjoy Rebellion. He vaguely recalled heavier snow than he was used to as a child and being locked up inside the castle.

He took another drink of the water from his skin,

"By the time winter rolls around again we'll be ready don't worry. "he assured both Ned and the Freys, "I might be a bastard Stark but I was raised a Stark. I know the words and I know the warnings, the preparations... you'll only freeze up a little bit little Dornish."

Edric glared at him but Jon could see there wasn't anything too malicious about the glare. IF anything, he thought the younger man was planning some kind of revenge for making him look a little foolish in front of the Freys. So long as he didn't go too far, Jon had no concerns with Edric looking for a small measure of vengeance so long as it didn't get out of hand.

All revelry aside, Jon turned to Lord Varys, who had been waiting patiently at the edge of the training area. Standing behind Varys but towering over the sly Lord was a dark haired youth with bright blue eyes that seemed to be darting around to take in the whole scene before him. Jon approached and the youth locked gazes with him before looking down.

A low-born it would seem... but the youth had some resentment towards people like Jon and the others it seemed. It seemed that this Gendry Waters had some issues with knights and Lords and heirs... people who generally looked down on the smallfolk with contempt. Well, they did in the South as far as Jon knew. The people in the North tended to be better protected considering they were perhaps the only real commodity for several areas of The North - didn't really make sense to abuse the smallfolk when they're the ones who hunt and farm so that high and low born don't freeze or starve to death during the Winter.

Jon stopped in front of Varys, making sure to look at the Lord rather than the tall youth behind him,

"Lord Varys."

The tittering laugh again... it still made Jon feel uncomfortable but there was little he could do about it. It reminded him that this sneak of a Lord had managed to strong-arm Jon into accepting a new member to his own order. And it didn't even look like the youth had even the slightest interest in joining! He was already starting to be annoyed by the young man's attitude but he'd deal with it later.

"Ser Jon Whitewolf... I present to you, Gendry Waters."

The Youth, confirmed to be Gendry, looked up and caught Jon's eye. There was a lot of resentment in those eyes... good. The young man had to have something to hold onto and if it was his resentment then so be it. Because if he didn't, Jon would beat the young man black and blue in the training ring and then, when combat was upon them, Gendry Waters would die. He needed something to drive him forwards - something that would be the fire in his belly during combat.

Jon had his promise to keep him going - his burning need to protect his family and their people. He imagined the Freys had a desire to prove themselves against odds so their family, and the realm, would respect them. Edric, he imagined, wanted to be respected before he took on his lordship. But Gendry Waters?

He was an angry youth who hated the world and his lot in it. If he didn't hold onto that, or changed his outlook on life entirely, he would die and without anything in his life changing. Of course Jon wasn't about to say this to the man he had just met,

"Well met, Gendry."

Bastard stared at bastard and neither of them blinked for a few moments. Gendry blinked first before lowering his gaze, as if just remembering that he was addressing someone of a higher station than him so was supposed to show some deference,

"M'Lord."

Jon looked at the other bastard, who was perhaps the same age as him, before snorting in amusement. Gendry looked incensed for a moment before surprised as Jon rested a hand on his shoulder,

"None of that Gendry. Ser if you must, Jon because I insist."

This seemed to surprised Gendry a bit but Varys just lifted a hand to his mouth and tittered a little. Jon had come to the conclusion that absolutely nothing surprised Varys. And if it did he imagined that would be a sign that the white walkers were on their way back and the world was about to end. He gestured for Gendry to come over and the other bastard slowly moved to stand beside himself rather than Varys,

"Lord Varys... thank you for helping Gendry join my order." he thanked the other man with a slight bow, which was returned by Varys, "I hope our partnership will be a long and fruitful one."

Varys tittered again and Jon had to resist the urge to punch the man for making such an annoying noise all the time. The eunuch nodded in agreement,

"So long as you protect and serve the realm, you may count on my aid." he assured Jon with a sly little smile, "I fear the realm may soon need defending from many foes."

Now why did he actually believe this eunuch lord? For some reason when the tittering man told him that the realm would soon face threats, he believed him. Whether those threats came from the eunuch himself or from other, outside, influences, he didn't know. But he did know one thing,

"You needn't worry Lord Varys - I will defend the realm from any threat." he made sure to catch the sly man's eye at this, "You can always depend on that Lord Varys."

The Eunuch stared at him for a few moments longer before turning and leaving without a word. Jon knew his 'threat' wasn't too frightening considering he was the master of a knightly order of... five people. But if the current trend continued he might well have more knights than he knew what to do with soon. He might have to invest in a master-at-arms in the future but right now he was comfortable managing four other people. He turned to Gendry,

"I assume you have a trade."

A bastard boy like Gendry with the level of muscle he could see in the boy's arms? No way had he been trained in combat considering he hadn't been acknowledged like Jon had. That left some kind of trade as the best option for how the other bastard had gained his mass. Hopefully it was that anyway. The alternative was that Gendry was some kind of cutthroat or the like.

"I was apprenticed to a blacksmith in Kings Landing."

Well, that was both interesting and rather useful. He nodded a little bit as he brought Gendry over to the rest of 'the order',

"Gentlemen. Gendry Waters has joined our ranks. He was apprenticed to be a blacksmith." he smiled faintly, "I think we could do with a blacksmith. Of course any blacksmith of ours would also be able to hold his own in a fight."

Gendry seemed surprised by this. He likely thought he was going to be 'given' to this new knightly order to be their blacksmith and nothing else. No offense to the young man but Jon wasn't about to put the lives of his men in the hands of an apprentice blacksmith without first checking the quality of his work. But either way he would be taught to fight. That way if he was a good blacksmith and stayed at the keep he wouldn't need guards for himself. And if he wasn't a good blacksmith then he could still be trained to be a fighter.

Jon wasn't practiced at assessing men for combat but he could honestly say Gendry looked like he could pack a punch with whatever weapon he chose to use. A hammer of some kind might be good for the young man - he was bound to be used to wielding hammers on some scale and hopefully that familiarity would translate well to any hammer-based weapon he used. Waldis smiled a little bit before reaching out and clasping Gendry's forearm. The younger man seemed surprised by the sudden show of acknowledgement from the older knight,

"Well met Gendry. I am Ser Waldis Frey." he gestured to his squire, who waved awkwardly, "This is my kinsman and squire."

Jon looked to Edric and his squire seemed to be regarding Gendry with a little bit of apprehension,

"Edric Dayne. Ned to my friends." he greeted the blacksmith bastard frostily, "Heir to Starfall."

There was a pause before Gendry turned to Jon with a bemused expression,

"How come he's the only one to talk like he's got a stick up his arse?"

Try as he might, Jon was unable to stop himself from snorting in amusement. Waldis and his squire openly laughed as Edric fumed a little, his face reddening. Jon shrugged a little bit,

"I suppose it's because he's the only one here who actually stands to inherit the lands and titles of his family."

Jon didn't because he was a bastard and, now, had his own family name now. The Freys? Well they had enough family that it would take a localised plague to bump Waldis up in the line of succession. Edric was the one who was basically Lord already - he just needed to be trained up a bit and he'd be ready to assume control of his family's lands.

Said heir was not amused in the slightest,

"I happen to just have more manners than yourself you oaf."

Instead of bristling, Gendry just laughed loudly,

"You curse like the little lord you are!" he declared, finding this very amusing before patting Edric on the shoulder with a big hand. The force behind the pat almost knocked Edric over but Jon could see that it hadn't been done with the same intent. Seemed that Gendry didn't know his own strength, "I think you and me are gunna have fun Ned."

Edric spluttered a little bit but seemed to be warming to the boisterous young bastard if the small smile was any indication,

"I said my friends call me Ned, you fool."

Gendry just grinned,

"Aye, you did." he agreed before glancing back at Jon, "So I gotta start on fighting right? What's the first thing I gotta know?"

Jon couldn't help but smirk slightly as he remembered what the Winterfell Master-At-Arms had told him when he had first started training with a sword,

"Stick em with the pointy end."