Chapter 4

'Shit, I'll be late!'

Jon sprinted through the hall, dodging servants. Father was probably already holding court and Lady Stark would no doubt punish him. It really was not his fault. Theon had once again taunted him by reminding him that no matter how much Lord Stark favoured him, he would get nowhere, "bastard that you are."

Father had been watching, so he couldn't beat the shit out of the squid. So, he was left hacking into the training dummy well into the night and, so, he slept late… Alright, it was somewhat his fault. He could only hope that the court would be particularly busy and no one would notice him as he slipped in.

He nearly managed to slip in unnoticed. But unfortunately for him, Lady Stark was attending court today alongside her husband. And almost nothing escaped her sharp eyes. Jon's eyes met hers the moment he stepped inside. Her stern expression promised a scolding in the future. He ducked his head and quietly went to stand behind Robb, suppressing the urge to break into a smile. Her eyes were stern, but not cold, not filled with hatred and scorn like they used to be.

Jon did not know what changed. He only remembered a terrible, painful fever, and a warm, comforting hand on his forehead. He did not remember much beyond the pain and the haziness. But he remembered seeing the blurry silhouette of a woman with bright auburn hair. The warm touch of a mother that he had always craved had been right there. And he had hoped - prayed - that this illness would last longer, that this illness would take his life if that was what it took to feel that warmth. He knew his father and his siblings would be upset if they ever found out he thought like that - not that he would ever let them find out - but even now those sentiments held true.

He remembered when he had tried to give a small gift to the Lady as thanks. A small wood carving he had made with the help of the stable boy who had a knack for such things. And he remembered her hateful response, poison dripping from her tongue. He remembered how he had felt that agonising pain in his chest, the twisting in his gut. He had not understood what he had done wrong. All he knew was that the kindness he had felt was gone. And even his father defending him had not done anything to mitigate the utter misery he had felt.

He did not know what had happened after that day. Just that Lord Stark spoke with his lady wife in the godswood. And, after that, the lady had locked herself in her chambers while Lord Stark had gone about his days as usual with a grim look on his face. When Lady Stark did come out, it was clear that whatever happened, it had furthered the gap between the couple. Their relationship was so frosty winter might as well have come early. And it made everyone in the Keep - and especially the Stark children - miserable.

The turning point of that undesirable situation had been - surprisingly - Jon himself.

Namedays were always simple in Winterfell. Even those of the Lords' and Ladies'. Usually there is only a small feast for the family, for the vassals and knights staying in or close to the Keep and the staff who kept the Keep running. Lady Stark's nameday was no different. Despite the indifference between the couple, they made an effort to not let it disturb the festivities of the night. They even danced once to the playful music of the bards. The night, overall, was enjoyable and somewhat eventful.

Jon, however, could not enjoy it in the slightest. He felt nervous and jittery as he kept glancing at Lady Stark. It was only when the feast came to finish and the people slowly filtered out that Jon gathered the courage to approach her. Despite everything that happened, he really did want to thank Lady Stark for taking care of him. This was his second and, most probably, last attempt.

He walked up to the raised dias and deliberately made a beeline for the Lady, resisting the urge to turn and run as soon as her eyes fell on him. He untied a pouch from his waist and held it out. It contained seven wooden figurines of the Seven Gods. He had spent weeks and a whole bunch of wood making them. It was the only thing he could think of giving to her. She did not need figurines of knights or kings or queens like his siblings. But she saw her going to the Sept in the middle of the night to pray sometimes. He thought that if she had these, she would not need to go out like that if she wanted to pray.

He had prepared an entire speech for this moment, about how he wanted to thank Lady Stark and wished her the best on her nameday and would she please accept this small gift? But now all that came through his mouth was a soft, stuttered "th-thank you". He kept his eyes on the ground, afraid of seeing that same venom he had seen back then. After a long, uncomfortable moment of silence, the pressure on his hands lessened as the pouch was lifted.

"Thank you … Jon," Lady Stark's voice was softer than it had ever been. Jon's head snapped up, eyes wide with naked surprise. Lady Stark never called him Jon. Never. It was always "Snow" or "boy" or even "you". Never Jon. Never his name. Such a simple thing, his name. But the sound of it in the Lady's voice left his mind blank. His throat closed up for a moment and his eyes burned. What was even more surprising was the lack of hatred in her eyes as he looked at him. The look in her eyes was something too complicated for the young boy of seven going on eight to understand. However, the contempt he was used to seeing was gone.

And that was enough.

All he could manage was a small bow before he turned and left, unable to cope with all that he was feeling.

In hindsight, that had been extremely rude of him. It was a miracle he had not been punished. But after that day, there was a slow but visible change. The Lady Stark did not quite show him the same warmth or affection that she afforded her children at first. Even now, she was more affectionate to her children than to him. But .. that was a given, considering his status. He could never dare consider her his mother. But perhaps… considering her a stern aunt would not be something Lady Stark would begrudge him for.

As Lord Stark wrapped up the current dispute between two neighbours - something about stealing hens - a guard entered the court and sought permission to speak. With a nod from Lord Stark, the guard bowed and spoke, "My Lord, some travellers seek your audience."

Lord Stark frowned. "It is difficult for me to pause court proceedings to take visitors. Who are they?"

"One of them calls himself Alphonse Elric, My Lord. Said you would know him."

Jon straightened. So did every Stark as well as Theon. They knew that name. How could they not? Even if father did not talk much about what he experienced on the battlefield, everyone else did. And the name of Alphonse Elric, the man who fought alongside Eddard Stark across the hanging rope bridge of Pyke, was a name known to those who cared to listen.

The effect was immediate. Lord Stark stood from his place immediately, a rarely seen excited smile on his face. Well… excited for Lord Stark, who rarely expressed his emotions. The man waved a hand and gave out instructions to pause the proceedings for the time being, before turning to the guard.

"Let them in."

The guards cleared out the Hall until only the Starks, Theon and Jon himself along with a handful of trusted people, including the Cassels, stayed. And then the guard came in, announcing, "Lord Alphonse Elric and his companions, milord."

"I am no Lord, Ser," the voice that came was so soft that it might as well be a woman's. But the figure that stepped out from behind the guard clearly was not. Golden hair that cascaded down to his back and eyes a shade darker than the hair, the man carried himself with confidence as he entered the room.

Another, smaller, figure followed the man. This one was clearly a young woman. A petite body, with hair up in braided buns and looped braids, she looked childish as she followed the man with a skip in her step. The fond glance that the man sent her way spoke volumes of their relationship.

Following them were two men that looked like the complete opposite of each other. One of them had skin darker than Jon had ever seen whereas the other could pass off as one of those Southrons that Yoren brought to take to the wall. Together, they were as sharp of a contrast to each other as they were to the couple walking before them

"My Lord," that soft voice once again drew Jon's eyes back to the first man that entered and found the man and the woman bowing, the other two quickly following suit. The sound of chair scraping across the ground reached his ears and he turned his head to look that his father was already stepping off the dais.

"Raise your heads," his father's deep voice held a hint of happiness and excitement to those who knew him well. "The man who saved my life has no need to bow." Lord Stark waited for the man to straighten before he clasped his hand. And then his eyes moved to the woman beside him. "Neither does the woman who saved the King's"

There was an audible gasp behind him. Arya. Jon pursed his lips to hide his smile. He could just imagine the star struck look in his little sister's eyes as she looked at the small woman, who was apparently the legendary woman who saved the King. He couldn't believe it before and he still couldn't believe it. This slip of a woman… who must have been just a young girl back then … somehow took down dozens of soldiers alongside the King and protected him.

"So… should we keep bowing?" The dark skinned man tilted his head, his voice deeper than Jon thought it would be. The seemingly innocent question was accompanied by a curve on the corner of his lips. Jon felt surprised that the man had the courage to joke around in front of a Lord.

Lord Stark chuckled. "Of course not. Any friend of Alphonse's is a friend of mine."

"They are my cousins," Alphonse Elric spoke up again, a smile breaking out on his face like the first rays of sunshine on a cloudy day as he saw the stunned looks everyone gave at the revelation. "Our grandfather got around."

He let out a soft chuckle. This time, the gasp came from Sansa. He could imagine why. If he wasn't a man, he definitely would have fallen for that smile. Theon definitely would have been ready to drop his pants.

"Let me introduce them," Alphonse said before stepping close to the woman and snaking a hand across her waist, and the woman pulled herself flush against him. Jon couldn't help but redden slightly at the open display of affection. He hadn't ever seen his father and Lady Stark being this close in public.

"This is my wife, May Chang," He said, making most of them frown. Man and wife yet different family names? That was quite unusual. But the man ignored their reactions as he pointed to the dark skinned man. "This is Jerso," his hand then shifted towards the blonde one, "and this is Zampano," He said before turning to them with a soft smile. "Please call us by our given names."

Lord Stark smiled. "Then let me introduce you to my family." He said softly before gesturing towards Lady Stark. "My wife, Catelyn Stark." Lady Stark curtsied and the men bowed in response. Lord Stark then started pointing at the children. "My children. Robb, Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, the little one is Rickon, and my ward - Theon." They all nodded or curtsied at their turn. The omission of the last names of Jon and Theon escaped absolutely nobody and Jon did not know whether to be happy or annoyed.

"Pleasure," Alphonse replied while his wife waved at them with a smile. He saw Arya wave back from the corner of his eyes.

Lord Stark turned to the man with a smile. "So? Where did you run off to all those years ago?" He asked. "We looked all over the Iron Islands for you two."

Alphonse chuckled in response but May spoke before he could reply. "We needed to go somewhere. It was important."

Lord Stark raised his eyebrows in response. "More important than the honor bestowed by the King."

She only smiled in response but it was clear the answer was yes. Lord Stark sighed. "And how exactly did you manage to get past the ships stationed around the island?"

She giggled this time before pressing a finger against her lips. "That's a secret."

This time, Jon himself couldn't help but gasp, albeit almost inaudibly. The audacity of this woman! No one would dare speak to the Lord of the North like that, even the vassal Lords that had known Lord Stark for most of his life.

"Dear," Alphonse's voice had a distinct admonishing tone to it but his wife only looked up at him and blinked innocently at him.

"What?" She asked, making him let out an exasperated sigh and shake his head.

Lord Stark let out a soft chuckle at the display. "Very well. And what brings you here after all these years?"

This time, they straightened and all four of them glanced at each other before their eyes swept around. Jon did not quite understand why but it seemed his father did, because he quickly waved his hand. "Oh, what am I doing? You're guests at my castle. You need to clean up and rest first and foremost. We can talk later in my study."

A mellow smile lit up the man's face. "Thank you, my lord."

Jon thought the man sounded relieved. Lord Stark nodded while Lady Stark called for a few maids to escort the four to the Guest Wing. Jon watched them leave, watched his father regain his calm composure, and watched the court session continue. Even so, he could not pay attention. He knew his siblings were the same. They kept glancing at each other. There was a strange tension in the air.

Something was turning, changing, and they could all feel it.

Author's Note: Hello! So... yeah. Irregular updates is going to be a thing. I am terrible at multitasking when a bunch of stuff is happening. I finally completed this chapter yesterday because either I did not have the time to write or did not have the energy when I did have time. I usually write when I want because I want to and... so... this is the result lol. I hope anyone who followed this story is not too disappointed. I am grateful to each and every one of you. I do intend to continue and finish this story no matter how long it takes. So please bear with me. I would really appreciate it. Thank you for reading!

Huge thanks to ArchangelCaesar for being my soundboard and beta!

I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are life! Constructive criticism is welcome. Flames are not!