Disclaimer: I don't own the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

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Chapter Nine

295 AC

Jaehaerys Targaryen

After his uncle had arrived to speak to Ser Arthur, Jae returned to his chamber to find Robb waiting for him. Robb beamed at the sight of him, eyes alight with excitement.

"Well what did you and Ser Arthur talk about?" Robb asked. "What's he like?"

"He seems like a good man," Jae said, smiling too. "And he has Dawn with him. He...he pledged his loyalty to me, Robb, I...I suppose I wasn't expecting it."

"Well of course he did," Robb told him, as though it was obvious. "You're his prince, Jae, and he's your kingsguard."

"He's not, he's Aegon's kingsguard." Jae argued, but Robb shook his head.

"Aegon's not here," He pointed out. "Ser Arthur is your kingsguard, at least for now. Enjoy it while you can, brother. Where is Ser Arthur now anyway?"

"With lord Stark," Jae looked down, biting his lip. "He's going to be so angry when he hears that Aegon survived and that my uncle didn't tell him."

Robb nodded, face turning serious. "Aye, he will be, but not at you, Jae. He won't blame you, he can't. None of this is your fault."

"I suppose," Jae said, a little uneasily. "But what if he does? What if he leaves me here and goes to Aegon without me?"

"He won't," Robb insisted. "He's far too honourable for that, and besides if he did that, what do you think Aegon would say?"

"I don't know," Jae muttered. "Thank you for finally coming Ser Arthur?"

"No," Robb told him. "Aegon wants you to come to him, doesn't he? If he hears that Ser Arthur left you behind, he'd be quite angry I'd imagine. Don't worry Jae, Arthur won't go anywhere without you."

Jae thought about it for a few moments, and then he nodded. He supposed that Robb was right, and he found himself smiling a little.

"I suppose you're right," He said. "I'd better get the rest of my things packed, though. Do I have time before dinner?"

"No," Robb said, shaking his head. "Dinner will be quite soon, actually. You'd better go show Ser Arthur where the main hall is."

"Aye," He nodded, turning for the door. "Want to come to?"

"Can I?" Robb asked, moving to follow him.

"Aye, of course. Come on, we'd best go now."

The two of them left the room, and walked down the halls until they reached Ser Arthur's room.

"This is where mother put him?" Robb whispered, looking at the door. "But this is the worst of our guest rooms!"

"Aye," Jae sighed. "It is, and he's going by a bastard name, so..."

"Gods be good," Robb muttered. "I can't believe her sometimes."

"Don't worry about it, Robb. It's not your fault she acts the way she does."
With that being said, Jae knocked lightly on Ser Arthur's door. "Ser, it's Jon," He called through in case anyone was listening.

"Come in," The knight called back, and so he did, nodding for Robb to do the same.

"We're sorry to disturb you, Ser," Jae said a bit hesitantly. "But it will be dinner time soon, and well...we'd be honoured if we could show you to the main hall."

The knight looked up at them, his violet eyes stormy with what looked like anger. That anger disappeared though as he looked at Jae, and at Robb beside him.

"Thank you, both of you," He said, smiling at them. "I'll be glad to walk with you both."

"Do you really have Dawn with you?" Robb blurted, clearly unable to help himself.

Ser Arthur chuckled, looking at Robb with amusement. "I do, lad," He confirmed. "Do you want to see it?"

"Can I? Oh, can I really?" Robb asked, and both Jae and Arthur laughed at his excitement.

"Aye, I don't see why not." Arthur said, and he unsheathed Dawn, showing the pale sword to Robb. Robb stared at it, eyes wide and sparkling.

"Wow," He breathed. "It's amazing...thank you for letting me see it, Ser, it's very kind of you."

"Don't mention it, lord Robb," Ser Arthur told him, sheathing his sword again. "Now, you two mentioned dinner, did you not?"

"Aye we did," Jae confirmed, nodding. "Let's go, Ser, Winterfell's cooks make the best kidney pies in all of Westeros."

"Then I look forward to seeing if that's true, my prince." The knight said, and he followed both himself and Robb out of the room.

On their way to the main hall, they met Arya going in the same direction. His little sister squealed when she saw them, giving both him and Robb a hug and then a punch on the arm.

"Where have you two been?" She demanded, arms crossed indignantly. "I haven't seen you in hours!"

"Arya," Robb said, amused. "We were sparring, and then Ser Marcus here arrived. Aren't you going to say hello?"

Arya studied Ser Arthur for a moment, eyes suspicious. "You're the knight who's taking my brother away, aren't you?" She asked him.

"Arya," Jae said. "He's not taking me away, I'm going to be his squire."

"Aye, my lady," Ser Arthur agreed. "Your brother will learn to be a knight, I'm not taking him away from you, not for ever."

"You'd better not," Arya told him fiercely. "And I'm no lady, I'm Arya Stark of Winterfell."

"Of course," Ser Arthur nodded, and smiled down at her.

"If you have to take Jon away," Arya said. "Can I go too? I'd be a good squire, I promise."

"You're a bit young yet, little pup," The knight told her. "Perhaps I will though when you're a little older."

Jae smiled, amused at how Arthur was indulging his little sister. Arya seemed satisfied, because she beamed up at him.

"All right then," She said. "I'll remember that."

Then she ran off towards dinner, and the others followed her, fond smiles on all of their faces.

"She reminds me of your mother," Ser Arthur murmured, too low for anyone else, even Robb, to hear him. "She's a wild little thing, isn't she? Seems fond of you though."

"Aye, she is," Jae smiled. "And I'm fond of her, too. Actually, I'm planning on getting her a present before we go. It would take a few days though," He added, suddenly worried. "I know you'd probably rather leave right away-"

"You can't leave right away," Robb said, cutting in. "Your nameday is in less than a week, surely you can stay until then at least, can't you?"

Both boys looked at Ser Arthur, who nodded. "Of course we can stay a few more days," He said. "We'll need to gather some supplies for the trip to White Harbor and I'll not have you miss your nameday feast either."

"there won't be one," Jae shrugged. "But thank you, Ser. We can go the day after it, I promise."

"There won't be one? Not even just for the family?" Arthur asked, looking between himself and Robb.

"No Ser," Robb said, looking down. "My lady mother..."

"Ah," Ser Arthur nodded. "I see. No need to explain, lord Robb."

Just then, they reached the main hall and Robb bid them farewell as he walked towards the high table with the other Starks. Jae lead Arthur to a table in the back, the table where lady Stark made him sit.

"This is disgraceful," Ser Arthur muttered beside him. "The Tully woman needs to learn her place. In Dorne, this wouldn't be tolerated, even if you were a bastard. Bastards aren't hated in Dorne, mayhaps I should have insisted you stay in Starfall with me, instead of being left here."

"It's all right, Ser," Jae said, shaking his head. "I...this is normal for me, it's fine. She doesn't know the truth of things, and we'll be gone from here soon enough anyway."

"That's true," Ser Arthur said, nodding slightly. "I take it lord Stark has arranged passage for us?"

"He has," Jae confirmed, and then after looking around to ensure they were alone, he lowered his voice as he spoke again. "I...I know you must know the truth of things now, that my brother lives. I'm sorry you weren't told, that lord Stark hid it from you." He said, and he looked down, afraid to meet the knight's gaze.

"No, you don't need to apologise," Ser Arthur said just as quietly. "I don't blame you, not one bit. You are innocent in all of this, and you have to know that. Lord Stark is who I blame, for many things in fact. You...well, I'm going to protect you, to keep you safe like I swore I would. I'll tell you anything you want to know about your parents too, if you like. I'll be happy to train you as well."

"You will?" Jae asked, looking up quickly. Ser Arthur smiled at him warmly, and nodded, causing him to grin in response. "Thank you, Ser, really. I'm grateful to be trained and protected by you. Will you really tell me about my parents, as well?"

"Yes of course," The knight said. "I was there for all of it, of course. And training you won't be a problem either, it will be my honour to do it. We can start tomorrow if you like, there is no need to wait until we leave."

"Really? Can we? Oh can my brother, can Robb, join us?" Jae asked, letting his excitement take over. After the words were out, he flushed slightly. "I'm sorry Ser, it's just that he's as excited to train with you as I am and..."

"Of course he can," Ser Arthur chuckled. "He can join us while we're still here, I have no problem with that. Robb seems like a good lad."

"Thank you, Ser, truly." Jae said, and he smiled, a smile that only widened when he saw what was for dinner. "Oh look," He said to Ser Arthur. "It's kidney pies tonight, it seems."

"Well my prince," Ser Arthur murmured. "It seems we'll soon see if you were right about these pies, won't we?" There was a spark of amusement in the knight's purple eyes, and Jae smiled at the sight of it. The knight truly didn't blame him, it seemed, and he thought that the two of them would get on well after all.

"Aye, Ser, that we will." He said, and they ate their pies, and soon enough, Arthur was agreeing with his assessment. They spent the rest of the meal swapping idle comments, not willing to say too much with so many people around. Still, as Jae went to bed that night, his heart was lighter. Things would be all right, he thought, and tomorrow, he'd get to spar with a legend.

Eddard Stark

"Keep your sword up," Ned heard a voice call before he even reached the balcony that overlooked the courtyard. "Watch your footwork, lord Robb. Better! Watch your opponent. Good, Jon, very good."

"A bastard knight training a bastard squire." He heard a woman's voice say coldly, and as he approached the balcony he saw Cat standing there with Septa Mordane.

"I hope I did not hear what I thought I did, my lady." Ned said coldly, startling the women.

"Not at all, lord husband," Cat replied, dismissing the septa with a look. "It seems that your son's new knight is training with our son as well."

"It is kind of Ser Marcus to do so," Ned said. "You should remember your courtesies, my lady."

"As you say, my lord." she replied, and they fell into a cool silence. Ned turned his gaze to the yard, where Jon and Robb were training under the watchful eye of Ser Arthur. Ned had been quite surprised to hear that he'd be training Robb as well while he was here. it was a kindness, one that after the night before, he hadn't thought the knight would bother with. Ser Arthur though was an honourable man, and one who would not let anger at Ned spill over to his children.

"All right," Ser Arthur called as Jon won the spar. "Good work, both of you. Lord Robb, work on your speed. You've got plenty of strength, and your technique is good, but Jon is faster. Jon, your offence is strong, but I want you to work on your defence for now. That's enough for today though, you've been at it all morning."

"Have they?" Ned asked, looking at his wife.

"Yes," She replied simply. "Ser Marcus has been working with them since we broke our fast."

"I see." Ned managed a small smile. Both boys would have enjoyed that, and he was grateful that Ser Arthur had not taken his anger out on anyone but him.

"When will the boy and the knight be going?" Catelyn asked after a moment of silence.

"After his nameday I expect," Ned said. "We'll have a small feast before he goes, just for the family."

"Why would we do that?" Cat asked, eyes flashing.

"Because he is my son, and he is leaving home." Ned snapped back. He was thoroughly tired of Cat's attitude regarding Jon, and he wouldn't submit to her wishes, not now when the boy was leaving home.

"He's only a bastard," Cat told him, eyes hard. "I'll not go to a feast for that boy, nor will I oversee one."

"Then don't go," Ned replied icily. "I'll have your meal delivered to your chambers that night, and Vayon Poole will see to it."

Cat stared at him, clearly shocked. She'd expected him to sigh and agree with her no doubt, well he would not. "My lord-"

"No, I'll hear no more of it, my lady," Ned said firmly. "I will see Jon off properly, and you are not going to stop me."

"So it seems. Very well then, my lord, as you wish." She stalked off then, and Ned sighed. Cat, despite how much he loved her, could be quite exhausting at times. Still, they'd be a feast for Jon's nameday, that really was the least he could do.

"Well done, lord Stark," A voice said, and he looked down to see Ser Arthur watching him. The boys were gone, and the knight was studying him curiously.

"Ser Marcus," He said, wary of listening ears. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Only that you're being a proper wolf for once," The knight said as he walked away. "You should do it more often, my lord, it suits you." Without another word, Ser Arthur left the yard. Ned looked after him, and couldn't help but agree a little with the knight's words to him.