JON
After brushing down his horse, he made his way to where his uncle Ned and the others were sitting and drinking their ale and eating their dinner.
His head was still full of thoughts about how Robb now knew about the fact that Jon wasn't his brother, but his cousin. It had been a fear of his that Robb would have been angry at him for not telling him and would want nothing to do with Jon anymore after finding out the truth.
But it seemed that the only people Robb was angry with was his own father and his father´s former best friend, Robert Baratheon.
Jon had done his best to tell Robb the truth, but there was still something that he would never talk about with anyone but those who had shared in the experience, and what was the fact that they had lived other lives before this one. So, Jon couldn't tell Robb that Ned Stark had actually let Jon go to the watch without telling him anything about who his parents were in their last lives.
But it did help a little to hear Ned admit that he had been wrong and a coward in not telling Jon the truth. While it didn't change anything, it for some reason make Jon feel a little better knowing that Ned was sorry for what he had done and that he regretted it.
As he walked closer to where the lords were sitting, he passed maester Wolkan, or former maester Wolkan as the man was insisting. The man seemed convinced that the citadel would strip him of his chain because he had testified against lord Bolton, when he was sworn to serve the lord of the Dreadfort.
Jon had to admit that it was a very likely option that the maesters of the citadel would decide to strip the man of his chains, as Wolkan had broken a very fundamental rule that kept the maesters in the good graces of the lords, and if the lords didn't think that they couldn't trust the maesters to keep their secrets, then they wouldn't want them in their castles and having access to all their secrets.
Jon greeted the man as they passed each other, and Wolkan bowed deeply to Jon which made a little uncomfortable. When Wolkan had told Jon about his troubles, which Jon had managed to drag out of him on the way back to Winterfell, Jon had offered Wolkan a place with him at Queenscrown, as Jon would be making his way North again soon. Wolkan had been so grateful that he would have a place to go to if the maesters excommunicated him, as not many lords would employ a man who had been stripped of his chain. But Jon couldn't find it in himself to let the man just go after his bravery of standing up and telling the truth about Roose Bolton.
So, Wolkan had naturally accepted the opportunity to join Jon at Queenscrown when he would be making his journey back North.
His uncle and Robb had both tried to persuade Jon to stay longer in Winterfell, but he wanted to start as soon as he could on seeing the restorations through. He felt like this was an opportunity for him to show the people of Westeros that he could do good things for them and help improve their lives, so he decided that he would go to Queenscrown as soon as he could and start working on restoring it.
He took a seat beside his cousin and Robb handed him a mug of ale, and a servant came over in a hurry to give him a bowl of stew.
There weren't as many of the lords with them anymore, as lords Karstark and Umber along with lady Mormont had all gone to their holds along with their sworn lords. But the lords who had their homes in the more southern parts of the North where still with them and would be staying in Winterfell until they headed back to their castles.
The gathering around the fire was a small one, as many of the lords had taken their leave and gone to their tents to get some sleep as they would be reaching Winterfell in a few days and they wanted to get some shut eye for the journey.
His uncle was talking to lord Jon Arryn, Ser Wylis Manderly and lord Howland Reed, who had clearly decided to stay awake for a little while yet.
"So, lord Arryn," Ser Wylis spoke up. "How are things in King´s Landing truly?" Jon could understand his question, as Jon Arryn had been the man who had tried to get Robert Baratheon to make Ser Wylis´s father the master of coin, but regrettably nothing had come of it.
Jon Arryn sighed tiredly before he spoke. "After Littlefinger escaped the dungeons, things haven't been all that well I am afraid, as you probably know like many others, he was taken captive after his and my wife´s…indiscretion."
Jon watched as the heir to White Harbor and Newcastle nodded, and there was a seriousness in his eyes that Jon hadn't seen before, as every time Jon had seen the heir to New castle, he had been jovial and merry.
The fact that Lysa Arryn had mothered a bastard child while married to the lord of the Eyrie and the Warden of the East, was so shocking to most people and Jon doubted that it would be soon when people stopped talking about it.
"My apologies, I shouldn't have brought it up, my lord." The heir to White Harbor looked embarrassed for having brought lord Arryn´s troubles up.
But Jon´s namesake just gave a short laugh. "Nothing to be sorry about, Ser Wylis." He took a short swing of the ale. "It is not your fault, and you have a right to know what is happening in the capitol."
"What about the boy?" Asked Uncle Ned with concern in his voice, Jon had a feeling that he wanted to find him a home where he would be treated well and educated. "What will be done with him?"
Jon Arryn sighed again as he stared into the mug of ale in his hands. "I don't know, Hoster cannot take him, and he is the boy´s grandfather, and the boy´s father is somewhere out there, fleeing from the law, so he cannot find him a place, and the boy has no living relatives on his father´s side."
Before anything else could be said, Theon Greyjoy strutted up to them. The iron born boy handed Jon´s uncle a letter which Ned opened and read quickly.
They were all silent while the lord of the North read. "It seems that Ser Brynden Tully is arriving in Winterfell, or has arrived, depending how fast the messenger rode to us."
"Ser Brynden?" Lord Arryn asked surprised with his brushy eyebrows rising high on his forehead. "What is he doing so far North if I may ask?"
Ned Stark looked at his foster father. "It seems that he wants to talk to you, Jon." He looked back to the letter as he looked it over again. "It doesn't state why, but I think we can guess the reason he came all this way."
Yes, it wasn't that hard to guess why his cousin´s uncle was making his way North to speak to lord Arryn. Ser Brynden had most likely come to talk to the man after the incident with his niece who was lord Arryn´s wife.
Jon could see an exited glint in Robb´s eyes at the prospect of meeting his famous uncle, the Blackfish.
Ser Brynden Tully was one of the legendary warriors of their time and he had served in the war of the Nine penny kings and in their last life, he had served Robb faithfully and had held Riverrun in his name for some time after his death. But regrettably the man had died before Sansa could have met him, and Jon knew that it was something Sansa regretted very much, as she would have loved to meet him.
Thinking of Sansa made him a little nervous, he wasn't sure how she would react to Jon going to Queenscrown for some time to rebuild the Gift.
Over the time they had spent together ever since they had come back, they had grown so close and she was the only person he felt that he could be himself around, and he wasn't sure how he would be able to be so far away from her, for so long, when now they had been separated for little over two months and he longed to talk to her and tell her everything that had happened.
He felt so restless not having her to talk to her about everything, and he missed her greatly, which would be felt even more deeply when he would be going North for such an extended period of time.
He was dragged out of his thoughts by Robb. "But what will happen to little Robert?" The young boy looked at lord Arryn with his big Tully blue eyes and there was worry in them.
Ned Stark glanced at his foster father before the hand of the King replied to the heir to the North and Winterfell. "Well, I will try to find a good home for him, where he can learn something that can help him in the future, when he is older."
Jon looked at the hand of the King, most men who had been saddled with the bastard of their wives who had been conceived when they had been married to said wives, would most likely have tried to ship the boy of the wall where the boy would trouble them no more, but it seemed that Jon Arryn didn't want to do that.
It seemed to Jon that he had found the reason why everyone called Ned Stark so honorable as the man took after his foster father more than his actual father. Not that Ned Stark was as honorable as people would like to believe.
Ned Stark had tired and succeeded in making Jon believe that the watch was much more than just a refuge to the unwanted men of Westeros, but Jon couldn't really lay all the blame on Ned Stark´s shoulders, Jon had decided to join the watch without actually making sure that he knew what the watch was. He had just believed the man he thought was his father and refused to listen to anyone else, believing that Ned Stark could do no wrong.
Well he wouldn't be making that mistake again. Which was one of the reasons why he was going to Queenscrown and supervise the restorations himself, but the biggest reason was that he wanted to restore the Gifts on his own merit and hard work, and not have his uncle just do everything for him.
But his uncle would be helping him even though Jon had insisted on going himself. His uncle Ned would be providing guards, which was helping Ned as much as he was helping Jon. It made his excuse of training soldiers to defend the North from the Freefolk much easier to sell if the guards were sent north to the Gifts to fight the Freefolk that managed to get over the Wall.
His uncle would also be providing Jon with builders so that they could start on repairing the tower holdfast of Queenscrown and the small abandoned town that had once been at the shore of the lake.
"But what will happen to him in the meantime?" Robb asked, ever persistent in his search for answers, as he inquired about the fate of his young cousin.
Jon could see that this made his Uncle Ned look deep in thought. "Well, he could always stay in the Dreadfort and be raised by whoever I will name castellan there." The lord of Winterfell wondered out loud as he stared into the fire.
Jon Arryn stared at his foster son with wide eyes, and the nephew of the lord of Winterfell could see wonder and gratitude in the pale blue eyes of the hand of the King. "Ned, if you would allow young Robert to stay there, I would be eternally grateful to you."
Jon had to admit that having Robert Waters grow up in the Dreadfort since it was now belonged to house Stark was a fine solution of the problem. The young boy couldn't be raised in the Vale, as it would still be a slap in the face of Jon Arryn and his lords, since Lysa Arryn had been unfaithful to her husband and Robert Waters was the result of that unfaithfulness, and his grandfather didn't want him either because the lord of Riverrun considered him a blight on the honor of his house.
So, letting the boy grow up in the Dreadfort under the supervision of someone that the boy´s uncle trusted, was the best solution to the problem. Jon would have volunteered to foster the boy, but he knew that he was still too young, or so people believed, so he had decided to say nothing on the matter.
Jon looked at Robb, and he could see that the heir to Winterfell looked happy with having young Robert stay in the North, as little Robert was after all his family, even if he had the bastard name of Waters.
But Jon could still see that Robb had a long way to go to forgive his father for the lies he had told to everyone and the fact that once he had intended to send Jon to the Wall, without telling Jon the truth, and Jon had to admit that he loved his brother even more for that.
But at the same time, Jon didn't want this to do lasting damage to the relationship between father and son. Robb deserved to have a father he loved and respected, and Ned had the work cut out for him to earn Robb´s respect after what happened.
As Jon watched the men and Robb talk around the fire, he observed that no matter how much Robb tried to hide it, there was a hint of anger in his eyes, and all Jon could do was to hope that Robb would soon forgive his father.
EDDARD
He was so glad to ride through the gates of Winterfell; his foster father Jon Arryn was riding beside him and Ned could see the relief on his face as well. Ever since Ned had agreed to let young Robert Waters stay in the Dreadfort with whomever Ned decided to make castellan there, Jon had been much happier than he had been before.
As they entered the courtyard of the castle, Ned felt a smile breakout on his face as he spotted his wife and children, excluding Robb, standing there waiting for him and the party returning to Winterfell.
Catelyn was standing there with little Rickon in her arms, smiling softly and Bran was clinging to her skirt. As Ned dismounted from his grey stallion, the little boy ran to him laughing and threw himself at his father, making Ned laugh as he caught him and hugged him close.
"I missed you father." Little Bran said as he hugged Ned around the neck, making Ned incredibly happy and guilty at the same time.
Ned was still battling with himself after Robb had found out the truth, and it seemed that his eldest son and heir wasn't going to forgive Ned anytime soon for intending to send Jon to the Wall without telling him the truth of his parentage.
Not that Ned could really blame his son for his anger towards him. What Ned had done in his last life was wrong and he could never really make up for his mistakes.
Ned walked over to his wife with Bran in his arms, as he walked closer to Cat, he could see that there was a faint line on her lip and there was a chunk of her hair missing from her scalp. What on earth had happened to her?
He leaned over and kissed her temple, he would ask her what happened when they were alone, he didn't want to embarrass his wife. He also gave little Rickon a kiss on the top of the head, making the few months-old babe giggle as his beard tickled him.
"Father." He didn't have much time to turn, when Arya launched herself at his leg and hugged it with all her strength. "We all missed you." She smiled up at him, before she ran to Robb and Jon to greet them, and Bran wiggled out of his arms to run after her.
It was then Ned could greet Ser Brynden, who was standing next to Cat and next to him was Lysa Arryn, looking irritated at having to be here.
On Cat´s other side was her brother Edmure Tully, the heir to Riverrun and the Riverlands. Ned had to admit, that he hadn't expected him to be here. Ned greeted both men with the respect that their status demanded. "It is good to see you both here in Winterfell." Ned said to them as he shook their hands.
Ser Brynden gave a respectful nod. "Thank you, lord Eddard, I apologize for arriving so suddenly." He glanced at Lysa Arryn. "But I have an urgent need to talk to lord Arryn."
It didn't take a genius to figure out what Ser Brynden wanted to talk about with Jon Arryn, it had to involve Lysa´s unfaithfulness to her husband.
After making all the necessary greetings to the two men, Ned turned to Sansa, who was patiently waiting to greet her father with a smile.
He reached out and hugged his elder daughter. "Welcome home father." She said with a smile. "There are a few letters waiting for you in your solar."
He laughed at her words. "I am sure they will be there tomorrow, sweetling."
Sansa smiled and nodded and left to greet her brother and cousin, who were still being held captive by Arya and Bran.
After greeting everyone Ned hurried to his solar and took a bath to wash the grime and dirt from the road of his body, and when he was done and in the middle of dressing there was a knock on the door of his chamber.
He called for the person to enter and it turned out to be his lovely wife. "Cat, I thought you were getting ready for the feast." He said with curiosity in his tone.
She gave him a weak smile and rubbed her hands together after closing the door. She must have left Rickon with the wet nurse, since he was nowhere in sight. Ned could see that she was uncomfortable, he gestured for her to sit down on the bed, then he waited until she started to speak.
"I am afraid I have brought disgrace upon you, my lord." She said as she looked at her hands that were folded in her lap.
Her words caused Ned to frown. "What do you mean my lady?"
She looked up at him, and it was then when he noticed tears in her eyes. "Not too long ago, Lysa and I got into a fight in the great hall, and then she attacked me, and I had to defend myself." The tears were now running down her face as she spoke. "But the worst thing is that the girls and the servants all saw what happened."
It was then she broke down in tears and buried her face in her hands. It took Ned a moment to shake himself out of his shock, that did explain the line that must had been because of a split lip and the missing chunk of hair had to have been a result of their fight.
Ned could hardly believe what his dutiful and ladylike wife was saying, she and her sister had gotten into a fight in the middle of the great hall in front of not only their daughters, a daughter of one of his bannermen but also all of the servants.
He walked over to his wife as she cried and sat down beside her on the bed, and he put his arm around her shoulders to try to comfort her.
Of everything he had expected her to tell him, this wasn't one of them, he was having a hard time imagining his wife fighting her sister, when Cat had always been the very image of a highborn southern lady. But this explained the line on her lip and the missing chunk of hair on her head.
As Catelyn got her sobs under control, he had to ask. "What were you fighting about?" As he asked, he could feel her go still as a statue and she looked up at him with her big blue eyes that all but one of their children had inherited.
He could see that she didn't want to talk about the incident anymore, but he had to know so that he could help her.
They sat there in silence for a moment, while Ned waited for his lady wife to say something. "She came into the great hall, and Lysa was making her jabs at the children like she has been doing ever since you and Lord Arryn left Winterfell." This made Ned frown, why on earth was Lysa making jabs at her own nieces and nephews? But he said nothing as he waited for her to continue.
"I just got so angry with her for saying that Sansa and Arya will never find proper husbands and I said that she was in a no position to say anything when she couldn't even be faithful to her own husband." As she said those words, Ned noticed that her face was pale, and the rosy color of her cheeks wasn't there anymore.
Cat wiped the tears away from her face. "Then we just started to scream at one another, and she accused me of trying to steal little Petyr away from her when we were children and other nonsense."
Catelyn rubbed her eyes with her hands and Ned could see that this had been bothering her for some time now, and he hugged her close to him. "You haven't shamed me, my lady." Cat looked up at him with her big blue eyes and stared at him in surprise. "While I think that both of you shouldn't have been fighting in the great hall in front of our daughters, our ward and the servants, I cannot be mad because you were defending yourself." He smiled softly at his wife.
"And you can't go on fighting your sister like this anymore, when you respond to her like this, it just gives her more to throw back at you." Ned knew that he was a little condescending, but it seemed that his wife needed to hear them, as she hadn't shown the greatest of restraints when it came to her sister.
Catelyn nodded and wiped her eyes once again to make sure than no more tears were running down her face. "I am just glad that you are back Ned." She sent him a weak smile, which he returned, he was every glad to be back home.
"Come now, my lady, we have a feast to attend." Ned hurriedly dressed and they both left the lord´s chamber to go to the great hall, where the servants were waiting to serve dinner.
SANSA
They walked through the dark forest while only using the half moon and the stars as guides, and she could hear Robb stumble a little from behind her, as he hadn't traveled this way before, especially not in the dark.
Sansa was glad that the feast was over and done with, as she had been waiting eagerly to talk to Jon alone. But it seemed that she would have to wait for longer as when she had hugged her cousin as they returned to the castle, Jon had whispered in her ear that Robb knew.
She had felt her blood freeze in her veins when he had told her that her brother now knew that Jon was the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna. It wasn't because she didn't want Robb to know, but it would be much harder for them to conceal the truth, the more people who knew it.
They had all decided to meet by Jon´s room and head from there to the clearing in the Wolfswood, where the dragons were hiding. Apparently, Robb was dying to meet the dragons, and Sansa couldn't really blame him for that, as Jon´s dragons were the first dragons that had been hatched in around hundred and fifty years, and only three other people had seen them.
They traveled in silence and as they entered the clearing the moon was high in the sky and shining brightly at them, and she could hear her brother let out a gasp. It was one thing to hear about dragons but seeing them in real life was something else indeed.
The destrier sized dragons where all waiting for them in the middle of the clearing, and for some reason they reminded her of overgrown puppies as they hurried over to Jon.
She let out a giggle as the three dragons rushed over to Jon, letting out happy shrieks as Jon walked towards them with a large smile on his face. Jon was having a hard time petting the ever-growing dragons as they clamored for his attentions.
Robb however was standing beside her, stiff as a statue with his eyes wide in wonder and awe. Sansa understood the feeling very well.
Before she had first seen the two dragons that followed the Dragon Queen around, she had heard from multiple sources that dragons were back in the world, but that did very little to prepare one for seeing dragons in real life.
As Jon was greeting his dragons, she dragged Robb over to a fallen log and they took their seats so Jon could have a moment with the dragons in relative peace.
As she turned to looked at Robb, she could hear Jon let out a laugh. "So," She began as Robb was still staring at Jon and the dragons. "You know."
It was then when Robb managed to drag his eyes from the dragons. "Aye, I overheard father and Uncle Benjen talking." Sansa could see a flash of anger in his eyes as he mentions their father.
"What did they say?" She asked as concern filled her being.
Robb glanced at Jon and the dragons before he spoke. "I heard father say that he had planned to get Jon to take the black without him knowing who his parents are." At her brother´s words, she could feel her stomach drop. So, that had been his intentions like she had suspected ever since she had been told of Jon´s parentage.
It brought her pain to think that her father had wanted to condemn Jon to a life on the Wall, when his friend, who had been happy that Tywin Lannister had ordered the death of Jon´s siblings, sat on Jon´s throne and was stealing his birthright.
"He said he was sorry, and that he was a coward for what he had intended to do." Robb continued as he looked at her with his Tully blue eyes. "But I don't know if I can forgive him for what he wanted to do."
Sansa looked at Jon where he was still petting the dragons with the largest smile on his face, and she watched as Algernon licked his face, making the rightful ruler laugh as he tried to wipe the dragon saliva out of his face as Illyrion begged for a rub on the chin.
"I think what father did was wrong," Sansa spoke as she looked back to Robb. "But he is trying to make up for his mistakes now, and we have to give him the benefit of the doubt." Robb sighed and nodded.
"That is what Jon told me as well." They sat in silence for a moment, before Jon walked over to them with the dragons following his every step. Jon took a seat in the grass in front of them and Earendil laid his ever-growing body behind Jon, so that he could lean back and use the emerald dragon like the back of a chair.
Sansa could see that when the dragons came closer, it brought Robb out of his musings about their father.
It was then when Illyrion fixed his golden eyes on Robb and walked slowly closer to the heir to Winterfell, and sniffed him curiously, making Robb start glancing between the dragon and Jon who was sitting on the ground and giving him a smile. "It´s all right, Illyrion won't hurt you."
Robb reached out slowly and the cream-colored dragon sniffed at his hand, before he started to inch closer and closer to Robb, and it was clear to Sansa that Illyrion wanted Robb to pet him. As Robb started to hesitantly pet the pale and golden dragon, she could feel something large and warm in her lap.
Algernon looked at her with his hopeful red eyes, making her giggle as she gave him what he wanted.
"What were you two talking about?" Jon asked as he leaned against Earendil´s emerald body.
"Father." Answered Sansa, she glanced at Robb, who was staring transfixed at Illyrion as the heir to Winterfell slowly petted the pale dragon.
"Ah," She could see that Jon understood what they had been talking about. Jon frowned for a moment and he seemed to debate with himself if he should say something.
"Sansa, I have something to tell you." His tone was so grave that she was beginning to worry again. Sansa decided to wait for him to say something more. "Uncle negotiated with Lord Commander Mormont and they decided to make me the lord of Queenscrown."
"That is great Jon, this could really help in strengthen the watch and the North." She said and she could help but to smile.
But Jon was still frowning. "I will be leaving for Queenscrown in a week or so." Sansa could feel her heart sink into her stomach at his words. He had just returned home, and now he was leaving again?
She could feel the same emotions swell in her being as when she had been standing on the dock of King´s Landing, when Jon had been leaving for the last time to take the Black once again.
She realized she had stopped petting Algernon, when he nuzzled his large head to get her to continue. "Why?" As she asked, she had to forcefully keep her voice from cracking with emotion, she didn't want him to leave again.
Jon sighed. "I want to prove myself that I can help restore the Gifts and not just hide behind Uncle Ned." Sansa could understand Jon´s desire to prove himself, and it was one of the reasons she loved him, Jon had such drive and thirst to prove himself worthy and she couldn't help but to admire that.
Jon rubbed the back of his head as he continued. "How can I ask everyone to declare for me, if I haven't proven myself to be a capable lord and worthy of being made King?"
There was a lot of truth in his words, it would be hard for the lords that weren't directly tied to Robert Baratheon, to deny the trueborn son of Rhaegar his birthright if they knew he was alive and the fact he was already proving himself to be a good ruler.
"You are right." She agreed with him sadly. It had been hard when Jon had been gone with her father and brother to the Dreadfort and the Wall, she had missed talking to him and confiding in him, as he was the only person she felt comfortable talking about her experiences, as the only other person who knew that she had lived another life, was her father and there was no way she was talking about her treatment at the hands of Ramsay Snow with her father.
"So," Robb began. "There is nothing we can say to change your mind." His voice was filled with sorrow and there was a small sad smile on his face.
"Afraid not." Jon replied with an equally sad smile on his face. They sat there in silence for a few moments before Robb spoke again.
"So, how did you know how to hatch dragon eggs?" The question made Jon look a little sheepish.
"Well, to be honest I wasn't sure if it was going to work and I just followed my gut." Sansa had to suppress a snort at his non answer.
As they all talked about the dragons and what the future would hold for them when it would be time to reveal that Jon was in fact the trueborn son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, she couldn't help but to feel the bittersweet taste linger in her mouth.
While she hated that Jon had to leave for Queenscrown to oversee the restorations, she knew that it was something that Jon needed to do to prove himself to the other lords of the realm.
As she watched Robb pepper Jon with questions, she couldn't help but to think that the next few years would be hard for her.
