Theon woke up to an empty room. He had a bath brought up and washed quickly. The boys hadn't eaten after they broke their fast this morn and he was hungry. Jon came in looking flushed.

"Where were you?" Theon asked, typically the boys trained at arms when they were not at their lessons.

"You would not believe me if I told you," Jon said truthfully.

"Huh? Let me guess you were bedding Roz at the whorehouse while I slept?" Theon jested, he liked thinking of the lovely Roz.

"I wish I were. Nay, I was with the girls. They had a bit of a row and..." Jon drifted off.

"What?" he wondered.

"Sansa was pleasant to be after," Jon said, still a bit surprised at the recent turn of events.

"Gods be damned. I would have never guess such a thing possible. Soon the Lady of Winter herself will be calling you her bonny lad and petting your pretty hair," Theon said with a laugh.

"Now do not be daft, I would be lucky if she just did not glare at me every time I came near her," Jon smiled. He sometimes dreamt of his mother. Father would not speak of it. He imagined her warm and welcoming, the opposite of Lady Stark.

"We have some time before we dine. Shall we train a bit?" Theon ventured.

"Aye, let me get dressed," Jon said pulling on his quilted leather coat. The wooden training swords were in the training yard.

"I think I want to talk to Mikken about making something for Arya. She has had a rough week," Jon confided.

"Let me guess, she went through with one of her japes, got caught, and ending up getting her hide striped," Theon said, more on target than he realized.

"Aye, something like that," Jon said ready to go.

Mikken said he would think about some different sword designs. He asked if Lord Stark approved of this, Jon promised to ask him when he returned. Theon practiced with his bow and Jon drilled a bit.

Soon they heard a ruckus through the old hunter's gate. They were home. They dropped their equipment and ran to meet the group. Ser Rodrick would probably clip them around the ears for that, but in their excitement they did not care much. They wanted to tell Robb about the stable yard. Jon also wanted to tell Bran about the progress he had made with a stallion there. Bran loved his pony, but was always going on about when he was a knight and had a warhorse.

"Greetings, Lads!" Robb and Bran yelled as they say the other boys. Father and the other men must have already gone in to get ready for the evening meal. There would not be a big feast tonight, but tomorrow.

"How did thee fare? See any snow bears or shadow cats?" Theon asked.

"Oh yay, plenty. How about you? Tame all the stallions and ride off to the Wall and back?" Robb jested back.

"Aye, we were running the stable by this morn," Jon answered back, now with his arm around Bran.

"Jon, did you like it? Find me any warhorses?" Bran asked eagerly.

"Only a few, but you may have to get a bit taller before you mount this stallion," Jon admitted.

"Aye, oh, Father did get an elk! Well, almost..." After catching Robb's skeptical glance.

"It was a good hunt, but no elk. We missed your bow, Theon," Robb admitted.

"We were pretty busy mucking out stables and rubbing down ponies, truth be told. We did meet two lads you might like though," Theon mentioned.

"Gods, were is my mother? She is usually the first one to greet us," Robb wondered.

"We heard that she and Rickon had a cold. The septa got it so no lessons," Jon shared.

As Bran tried to talk to Theon about his bow, Robb put his around arn Jon and whispered, "How was it really?"

"Rough," Jon said in a low voice, "but the smallfolk there were good to us. I learned a lot about horse flesh. The smell was horrendous."

"And is Hullen really such a brute, as Father's stories imply?" Robb asked with a conspiratorial wink.

"That one has a heavy hand, all right," Jon admitted, knowing there was no hiding the truth from Rob.

"Seven hells. How many times did ya get it?" Robb asked, a bit eagerly.

"Well, three, but only two from Hullen, it is a long yarn. Do not get sent to the stable, Robb. Those lads would love to see the Prince of Winterfell over Hullen's damnable bucket," Jon said, not wanting Bran to hear. He was still pestering Theon, who was a pace ahead of them.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell ye. Father said that we would go on another hunting trip in a week or two. I think he felt badly that you too were not there. He did say he was inviting Hullen in case you two stepped out of line, though," Robb smiled.

"Oh gods, I will have to warn Theon, my arse is still sore from last eve. They have this huge, round brush that..." Jon ended up telling Robb more than he meant to, but it was worth it as Robb was impressed they made it through.

Things were odd after that day, a deserter from the Night's Watch had to be executed. Hodor started working in the stable. Lady Stark and the rest recovered from their brief illness.

Several weeks later, the small hunting party found something interesting in the woods. Robb found a dead direworf and her five pups. Ned called to the other men, "Come, let us see what mischief my sons have rooted out now."

Bran was staggered by the huge size of the dead beast, she was larger than his pony! Jon convinced his father to let his siblings keep them as they are the Stark's sigil. Then, Jon finds the sixth pup, the "runt" as Theon calls it to call his own. Jory, Hullen, and Harwin all saw the direwolves as a bad omen. Father did not believe in that nonsense. Theon called them freaks and thought they should be put down.

"It's no freak," Jon said calmly. "That's a direwolf. They grow larger than the other kind."

Theon Greyjoy said, "There's not been a direwolf sighted south of the Wall in two hundred years."

"I see one now," replied Jon.

However, Father said they could have them if they trained them.

"And the gods help you if you neglect them, or brutalize them, or train them badly. These are not dogs to beg for treats and slink off at a kick. A direwolf will rip a man's arm off his shoulder as easily as a dog will kill a rat. Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes, Father," Bran said.

"Yes," Robb agreed.

The children were delighted with the little balls of fur.

A while later a raven came with news from Lysa Arryn. Then, they got word that the King was coming.

And nothing was ever the same again.

The end

Bold indicates original text.