JON

The hall was in an uproar after the guards had left with Ramsay Snow, presumably to the dungeons to await justice in the form of Ice, the ancestral sword of the Starks.

The rapidly cooling body of Roose Bolton was still lying on the stone floor as a puddle of blood gathered around his head. Jon´s uncle and maester Luwin were standing around the body, but everyone knew that it was too late for the lord of the Dreadfort.

Every soul in the hall had heard the sickening crack as Roose´s skull broke on the stone floor, effectively ending his life and his line, if what he said about his trueborn son was true.

As far as Jon knew, Domeric Bolton had died a year before Robert Baratheon had come to Winterfell, the Bolton heir had been a newly dubbed knight and had been in the Vale for years. But according to Roose Bolton, his own bastard son had killed him in this lifetime.

Had Ramsay killed Domeric in the last life as well? If so, what had made the Bolton bastard kill his brother this time? Or had he just gotten the opportunity sooner in this life for some reason?

Jon looked to his side and saw that Arya was still staring at the corpse on the floor and Bran was close to tears but refused to let them fall. Jon turned to them with difficulty. "Hey, are you two alright?"

The two children looked at him with wide eyes, Arya put on a brave face and nodded her head. But Bran´s lip started to quiver as he tried to suppress his tears. Jon couldn't help the pity that was digging a hole in his heart at the sight of Bran looking so close to tears.

"Come here." Jon gestured for the young boy to come over to him, and Bran hurried over as fast as he could. Jon helped Bran so that the younger boy could use Jon´s good leg as a seat and he wrapped his injured arm around his young cousin. Bran used the opportunity to bury his face into Jon´s neck to hide his tears.

Jon used his good hand to rub his back, as he whispered in his ear that everything would be alright.

Jon glanced back to the lords, he could see Lord Ryswell and his daughter, the lady Dustin, talking among themselves in hushed whispers. From the looks on their faces they were both very unsettled.

He knew exactly why they were so frightened, now that Roose Bolton was gone, along with his trueborn son and heir, and his bastard son facing the sword of Eddard Stark, there was no one that could inherit the Dreadfort and be on their side.

Now it would be up to the lord of Winterfell to decide who would inherit the Dreadfort, and all the lords of the north that were likely candidates would not be likely to work against the man that gave them lordship over one of the largest lands in the north.

The Dreadfort itself was a strong castle made of stone on the banks of the upper weeping water and had massive towers and strong walls. Centuries ago, lord Bolton had risen against house Stark, and Harlon Stark had laid siege to the castle and it had taken them two years to starve the Boltons out.

Jon could see Ned Stark order his guards to take the dead body of the lord of the Dreadfort out of the hall and place it somewhere appropriate until they could bury the body. The man turned back to the high table and Jon locked eyes with his uncle. Ned looked at the young boy in Jon´s lap and gave Jon a small smile of gratitude for making sure that Bran was alright.

Jon could feel something lean on his arm. He looked and saw Arya had lightly placed her head on his upper arm, it seemed as if she was trying her hardest to make it look like she was not hiding, when she clearly was.

"Jon," He heard Sansa whisper to him. "Are you alright?" As he looked at her, he could see the concern shine brightly in her eyes. But for a moment he frowned, why wouldn't he be alright? He had seen people die before and he himself had caused many deaths in his past life.

It was like she could read his thoughts, Sansa glanced at Bran and Arya and then back to him. That made Jon realize that she was worried about how Bran sitting in his lap and Arya leaning against his arm, could cause him pain and discomfort.

Jon sent his lovely cousin a smile, as he nodded his head to tell her that he was alright. Judging by the look she sent him, she clearly didn't believe him, but she didn't say anything on the subject. But Jon had a feeling that he would have to be put on bed rest for longer than he cared for after this.

"My lords." His uncle called for attention. "May I have your attention." All the lords stopped their muttering to one another and listened carefully to what the lord of Winterfell had to say.

"I know that these resent events are surprising and more than a little disturbing, so why don't we take a break and reconvene in and hours' time." This was met with agreements from the lords gathered in the hall. No one had expected Ramsay to do this to his own father and most of the lords wanted a little time to gather their thoughts.

Most of the lords when outside for fresh air and Jon was sure that some of them even were going out for a quick spar to help clear their heads.

Jon could spy lord Howland Reed making a bee line to his uncle along with the Greatjon. They both started to talk to his uncle in low voices. But then something drew Jon´s eye to the shadows in the far corner of the great hall. It was a dark figure that Jon hadn't notice enter the hall, then again Jon thought that if he didn't want to be seen, they would have had a hard time noticing that man.

Jon´s uncle Benjen Stark, the first ranger of the nights watch approached his brother, and as uncle Ned noticed his younger brother, they embraced each other.

"That´s uncle Benjen." Jon could hear Arya whisper excitedly beside him. The arrival of their uncle Benjen seemed to have distracted her from what had happened earlier, but Bran was not so easily tempted out of the safety of his cousin's arms.

Bran glanced at their uncle, but quickly hid again in the crook of his neck. Sansa was smiling at them, but their attention was drawn by something red out of the corner of their eyes, lady Catelyn was walking briskly to her husband to presumably join their conversation.

"Hey is Bran alright?" Robb´s voice came from behind them, and it almost made Jon jump from surprise, he had been too absorbed in his thoughts of what the lord and lady of Winterfell were discussing with Greatjon Umber and Howland Reed.

Jon glanced at his four-year-old cousin that was in his arms. "Yeah, I think he is fine, just a little startled. No one expected Ramsay to do that." Robb nodded with a solemn look on his face.

"Aye, I agree, to do that to his own father is just unthinkable." Jon could see that Robb was rattled by what had happened, just like the majority of the lords that had witnessed the bastard´s brutality.

But Jon had to admit, that this made things a little easier for them, even if uncle Ned had offered Roose Bolton hospitality, uncle Ned had made no secret of the fact that the man had to answer for his son´s crimes.

And the fact that he had been offered guest rights was not enough to shield him from answering uncle Ned´s questions, as uncle Ned had witnesses that claimed Roose Bolton had committed the horrible crimes along with his bastard son.

Jon sat there with the Stark children, in silence for a long time, waiting until the lords assembled again. Finally, the hour that they had to gather their thought on what had happened, was up and all the lords and ladies attending came back to the great hall.

The great hall of Winterfell was filled with murmurs and whispers of the lords as they took their seats. Bran was still refusing to look up from Jon´s neck when Robb had to take his leave of them and return to his seat beside his father.

Benjen however came instead and took Bran´s unoccupied seat, though Benjen did have to remove the pillows that Bran had been using to prop him up so that he could see over the table.

Their uncle gave them a small, exhausted smile. Benjen Stark was still filthy from the road, it seemed that the man had ridden hard to get as fast as he could to Winterfell.

Jon glanced back to his uncle Ned, as the lord of Winterfell stood up to address the lords.

"My lords, I have come to a decision." The entre hall held its breath as they waited for what Ned Stark would decide.

"We will ride to the Dreadfort and find the truth of the matter, if the late lord Bolton did indeed commit the crimes that he was accused of." The lords called out their approval of the plan, but there was one of the lords that didn't seem like he was on board with the plan.

Lord Ryswell stood up and took to the floor. "Lord Stark, if I may, lord Bolton is now dead at the hands of his bastard, who also killed his only trueborn son. Why not just let the matter die with him?"

Ned Stark´s face was like it was carved out of stone when the lord of the Rills finished speaking. "And what about the families of the victims that suffered at the hands of whoever did this to them? Should we just forget about them as well?"

At this the lord of the Rills seemed a little uncomfortable, but he nodded his head in defeat and sat back down.

"Then it is settled," uncle Ned spoke again. "We will head to the Dreadfort when we have spoken to Lord Arryn about our grievances on how to finance the rebuilding and reconstruction of the castles of the wall, until then I hope that you will all do me the honor of being my guests here in Winterfell."

SANSA

After her father had adjourned the meeting of the lords, she turned to Jon who was still holding Bran securely in his arms. It was really touching to see him taking care of her little brother like he was doing at this moment. She couldn't count the times when she had seen him comfort Arya when she was troubled.

Now that she thought about it, Robb and Sansa´s younger siblings had more often sought out Jon for comfort rather than either of their older siblings. In her last lifetime, she had been so preoccupied by being the perfect lady and with her head in the clouds about noble knights and golden princes that she hadn't had time for anything but that, and Robb was busy learning how to be the lord of Winterfell so that he hadn't had much time either.

Sansa could feel the guilt creep into her gut as she thought of how little she had taken care of her younger siblings in her last life. She remembered in her last life, how she barely recognized her youngest brother as he had been laid to his final rest beside their father, she hadn't seen him since she had been thirteen and he had been six-years old.

But Sansa had been spending more time with her siblings in this life, than she had in her last life, in fact every moment that she could, she was spending with her siblings, Jon or doing research for the trade deals.

Sansa reached over to Jon and Bran and stroked the young boy´s hair. "Hey, it is all over now." She tried to keep her voice as gentle as she could, to try to coax him to look up. It worked; the little red headed boy looked at his sister as she smiled at him.

Bran tried to smile at her, but it was a little forced as he was half hid in Jon´s neck.

"Hello you four." A deep voice greeted them, and they all looked up at the source of the voice, it was their uncle Benjen Stark. He had stood up from his chair and was now standing behind them with a grin on his long face.

"UNCLE BEN" Arya cried out and lunched herself at the black clad man that was smiling at them kindly, and with much affection.

Sansa glanced at Jon, and she could see the bottomless sadness in his eyes. Jon had told her that they had met beyond the Wall when Jon had taken his party to find a dead man to use it to prove that they weren't lying, and to get help from the other lords and monarchs.

Benjen had died saving Jon and she could see that the rightful king of the seven kingdoms was still blaming himself for his uncle´s death.

Uncle Benjen lifted Arya up and placed her on his hip as she smiled widely at her beloved uncle. Their uncle that had dedicated his life to the nights watch, came up to Jon and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright Jon?" The concern in his voice was palpable as he looked at his nephew. But Jon just smiled at his uncle even though Sansa could see the sadness was lingering in his eyes.

"I am alright uncle Benjen." Jon said as he rubbed his young cousin´s back to make him feel better.

"Ned told me what happened." Benjen´s tone was serious as he stared at Jon. "He told me how you bought Ser Allyn time to get Robb and Sansa to safety, while you fought five men on your own."

Jon opened his mouth to reply to their uncle, but Arya was quicker. "He did, he did, Jon and Ser Allyn saved Robb and Sansa and Jon fought five men and won." Sansa could see Jon starting to blush a little as Arya kept going.

"That is why father had Ser Rodrik make him a knight, did you see uncle Benjen, did you see?" When Arya had started to talk about how Ser Rodrik had knighted Jon, Bran looked up at their uncle to see if he had watched when Jon had taken his vows.

Their uncle laughed at his niece´s excitement. "Aye, I did see, I don't think that I have ever known anyone that deserved a knighthood more that our Ser Jon Snow." Sansa giggled at how red in the face, Jon turned.

"And now Jon can make me a knight." Arya exclaimed happily from her uncle´s arms. Uncle Benjen was trying his hardest not to laugh at the young girl´s dreams at becoming a knight at five-years old.

"I think that you need to learn how to use a sword first." Sansa looked at where her father had appeared with Robb and their mother, and while Robb and her father were smiling kindly at Arya at her eagerness at becoming a knight, Catelyn Stark was sending Jon a fowl look for having Bran in his arms.

Sansa knew the only reason she wasn't demanding Jon to put Bran down this instance was because she didn't want to cause a scene in front of the lords of the north. Her mother´s face was drawn into the ugliest frown she could possibly make at this moment, and Sansa was a little worried that she would lose control of her temper at any time if this wasn't contained.

"Well," Sansa started. "I think that Jon has to go back to his room and rest now, he has had enough excitement for one day." She stood up from her chair and placed her hands on her hips as she gave Jon a pointed look.

Jon gave a defeated sigh as Benjen and Robb snickered at his misery. The lord of Winterfell took Bran out his Jon´s arms so that the injured knight could be helped to his feet.

Sansa moved to help Jon and as she did, Jon spoke. "I know better than to argue with you Starks, you are a stubborn lot." He was grinning playfully as he said that and there was a twinkle in his eyes that made her heart skip a beat.

"I will have you know that I am not stubborn, Ser." Sansa lifted her chin high as she pretended, badly to be offended. Jon just laughed as they started on their slow trek back to his room.

On the way back they had to stop five times for Jon to rest his leg a little, and Sansa couldn't help but to doubt that he would be up to moving around the next day or two. She could see that he was trying his hardest to cover up how much pain he really was in, but it was clear as day that he longed for a little rest.

They finally made it to his sickroom and the room was as warm as they had left it. It was uncomfortably warm for Sansa as she was starting to sweat almost immediately as they entered, but Jon didn't seem to have any problems with the heat.

She helped him take of his clothes and put him into something more comfortable to sleep in like she had done for many days now, and as always Jon started to blush to the roots of his hair.

EDDARD

He sighed tiredly as he watched Sansa help Jon back to his room. It had been painful to watch as Jon had limped his way to the middle of the great hall to take his vows of knighthood, Ned had almost asked him to return to his seat because watching Jon who had risked his life to save his children being in pain, was agony for Ned. But Ned couldn't do that to Jon, the young man had to do this, and it had paid off for Jon.

The lords of the north were impressed by him, not only to have saved Robb and Sansa, but also how well he seemed to carry himself after all these wounds that he had taken. It had also been necessary for the lords to see how wounded Jon had been after saving Robb and Sansa.

When the lords had arrived at Winterfell, it was clear that news of Jon heroics had reached them, Ned had been endlessly asked about what had happened and many of the lords had asked him what he intended to do with Roose Bolton and his bastard, and it seemed that many of the lords had suspected Roose of doing something fowl, as there had been refugees coming from the Bolton lands to their own in the last few years.

But now they needed to find a new lord of the Dreadfort, Ned knew that many of the lords would be angling for the Dreadfort for their second or third sons as the Dreadfort had one of the largest lands in the north and the Dreadfort itself was one of the strongest castles.

Ned knew that he would have to install someone loyal to the Starks at the Dreadfort, someone that wouldn't work against them when it came time for them to declare for Jon and put him on the iron throne.

Ned gestured for his brother to follow him and they made their way to Ned´s solar. They had taken a couple of steps when Ned had an idea, he turned around and gestured for Robb to follow them to the solar.

It would be good for Robb to listen to what they had to say, one day he would have to rule the north and he needed all the experience that he could get.

Robb beamed at them, as he hurried after his father and uncle to the solar, and Ned couldn't escape his little brother´s curious gaze. It was unusual for lords to drag their ten-year old sons to important meetings, but this was important for Robb to know.

The lords had been impressed with Robb, he had asked after their families and how they were doing, Robb had known all off the lords by name and their immediate families. It was clear to Ned that Robb was benefiting from all the time in the library with Jon and Sansa over the last half a year.

They took their seats and almost immediately Benjen spoke. "So, why the sudden interest in the nights watch Ned? Not that we aren't grateful, we really are as we can use all the help we can get."

Ned hated not telling Benjen the real truth, but he couldn't, Ben would never believe that he had lived through this before and he was now trying to make up for his mistakes in past life.

"As you know, the north and the watch have been in decline for the past two hundred years or so, probably for much longer, and we have to put a stop to it." Ned could see that Robb was listening to what they were saying with rapt attention, much to his pride.

Ned was proud that Robb was taking his role as the future lord of Winterfell and warden of the north so seriously, Ned had seen so much improvement in Robb over the last half a year and he was sure that Robb would continue to do the north proud.

But it wasn't enough that Robb was learning all he could about the north and its people, no when the time came, so would Arya, Bran and Rickon. They would also have to learn everything that they could to defend the north and the people that lived in it.

"As you know," Ned continued. "We have been rebuilding the castles here on Stark lands and resettling them, and so far, it has been working really well, and we are hoping that more lords here in the north will be following in our footsteps."

Benjen nodded quietly at his older brother. "Aye, even at the wall, we have been hearing of the rebuilding you are doing here, and I really can't believe that our father didn't start when he was the lord of Winterfell."

Ned smiled at that. "Aye, I know he wanted to rebuild moat Cailin, but for some reason he never started."

"He most likely didn't have the funds." Robb stated. When he had spoken up, Benjen looked startled at the young boy staring at them. Benjen hadn't seen how much Robb had changed over the last half a year, but when he would start having real conversations with Jon and Sansa, Ned doubted that the ranger of the night´s watch would ever recover from the shock.

Ned gestured for Robb to continue, he wanted to hear what the heir to the north had to say. "Well, house Stark isn't a the wealthiest of houses, but we are by no means poor. But we still don't have means to rebuild a castle of that size, on our own yet."

The young boy turned to his uncle. "As you know uncle Benjen, house Stark makes most of its gold from taxes, and we invested some of that gold into rebuilding the uninhabited castles on the Starks lands, but now that they are settled again, we can start to expect increase in the amount of money we can get from the Stark lands through taxation."

Robb took a breath before he continued to explain how they planned to rebuild the moat Cailin and the other castles.

"Grandfather Rickard lacked the funds to rebuild the castle, and for now, so do we, but we plan to start small, like with the castles on our own lands, which will hopefully start making the other lords do the same, which will also increase the amount of taxes we get as the lord paramount´s of the north. We are also planning to start selling wool, wood, fur and leather to the free cities. Revenue from both the trade deals and the taxes will eventually let us start rebuilding the moat Cailin, but most likely it will take us some time to complete it." When Robb finished speaking about taxes and trade deals, Benjen was staring dumbfounded at the young boy.

The solar was filled with silence until Benjen found his voice again. "You know, when I was your age all I wanted to do was play in the godswood with Lyanna, not spending my time talking about trade deals and how to rebuild the castles in the north."

Ned felt so amused as he watched his eldest son frown at his uncle at that. "I would rather be looking for ways to improve our home than playing games, and this way I can actually spend time with Jon, and Sansa too I suppose."

This made Benjen look very surprised. "They have been spending all their time thinking about trade deals and how to rebuild castles?"

Robb nodded furiously. "Aye, Sansa is really good with the trade deals and Jon and I have been working on the plans for the castles…well more Jon than I, but I helped." Robb turned to his father and Ned could see the pride shining in Robb´s eyes.

"Father, could you show uncle Ben the plans for the castles on the wall, please." It were moments like this when Ned could see the young child that Robb really was, he had started taking his studies more seriously in the last half a year and Robb had matured a lot since then, but there were instances like these that his true age showed.

Ned reached into one of the drawers and pulled out the plans for the castles on the wall. He handed them to his younger brother and Benjen started to look them over. As he looked over the plans for the castles, the higher his eyebrows rose and the disbelieve in his eyes grew more apparent.

Benjen looked up from the plans with shock written all over his face. "Ned, Robb and Jon made these?"

Ned nodded as Robb spoke again. "Well as I said, Jon did most of the work, but I helped him look through the old plans of the castles in the library." Ned smiled at his son, he really couldn't be prouder of him, Robb could have said that he and Jon had shared the work equally to everyone and no one would have contradicted him as he was the heir to Winterfell and everyone thought Jon was just a bastard, but he didn't, and only took credit of the actual work he did.

Ned sent his son a proud smile and Robb returned the smile a thousand-fold, as the young boy beamed back at his father.

"Ned." Benjen started again. "If these plans are realized, it would greatly help the watch. The improvements of the castles alone would go a long way, but I cannot see how this can be done without the help from the crown."

Ned nodded at his brother. "Aye, I will be hard for us to do this without support from the other kingdoms, but that is why I have asked Jon Arryn to come to Winterfell, maybe if he sees the plans he can talk some sense into Robert, but I have my doubts, I just hope that we don't have to take drastic measures before Robert is willing to listen to reason."

"What do intend to do Ned?" The worry in his brother´s voice made Ned almost smile.

"Well I think that if it shall come to it, I may have to stop paying taxes to the crown until such a time as reconstruction is complete." Ned had never seen his brother go so pale so fast, this was a last resort for Ned if Robert didn't help them, but if the north stopped paying taxes it would cause Robert many troubles.

If the north stopped paying taxes to the crown, Robert would have to do something, it wouldn't be good for him if one of the kingdoms stopped paying the taxes, the other lords would likely see it as weakness and start doing so as well, and Robert would have to do something.

Now, the Riverlands would have to side with Ned, as they were family, and the Iron islands wouldn't side with either of them, but as Ned was the one holding the heir to the islands and Balon´s last living son, the north would most likely not be the subject to their war time raids if it came to war.

If Robert would decide to resort to calling his banners, they would break on moat Cailin, even if it was a ruin, Ned had already put a garrison there to defend it if need be.

"Do you think that it will come to that?" Benjen asked looking even more worried than before. Ned shook his head.

"No, I do not think so, I think that he will rant and rave but sooner than later Jon will be able to talk some sense into him or so I hope." Jon had always been the only one that could talk any sense into the large man, not even Ned didn't have the ability to make the lord of Storm´s end see reason when he went on one of his tirades.

"You are putting a lot of faith into Jon Arryn, are you sure that he will not side with Robert Baratheon on this matter?" Ned could understand his concerns, Benjen didn't know the hand of the king and it was hard to trust a man that you didn't know.

But Ned was sure that the lord of the Eyrie would see the northern lords need. "Aye, I am sure that he can talk some sense into Robert, but I would appreciate it if you would stay and talk to Jon about the need that the night´s watch has of help." He could understand that it was hard for Benjen to stay here in Winterfell for the month waiting for Jon Arryn to arrive and then the talks, but they needed the hand of the king to see how great the need was for funding for the restoration was.

Benjen sighed. "Aye, I will write to Jeor and tell him what is happening. He will most likely be fine with me staying here for the next month or so, as this is work on the behalf of the watch."

Ned felt relief wash over him at that, it would make their case much stronger, having a black brother to tell the lord hand about the watch´s troubles.

"Now tell me something Ned." Benjen furrowed his brow as he spoke, reminding Ned of their father. "I know that it is well deserved, but why did you let Ser Rodrik knight Jon?"

"It was my idea." Robb piped up with a smile. It was true, Robb had come to his father´s solar this very morning to make his case for making Jon a knight. Robb had made Ned think, it was a good idea for Jon to be a knight, as in the south knights were respected and many of the Targaryen kings had knightly training before taking up their mantle as kings.

It would give Jon some standing in the south and force the lords to take him a little more seriously, especially now that he was the youngest ever to earn his spurs.

Sure, there weren't many knights here in the north, but that didn't mean that they didn't have them, Ned´s brother Brandon even had a squire, Ethan Glover who had hoped to be a knight, and house Manderly had many knights in their service and Winterfell had even one of their own until this day when increased their number to three.

Benjen smiled at his nephew as he ruffled his hair, making Robb laugh.