Ned was having to deal with the mess that his good 'friend' Robert, the king of Westeros had brought with him to the North and his home, Roberts words of a few days ago had brought much anguish to his family and especially to two special people in his life.

Jon, the boy who he had raised as his own who everyone had thought to be his bastard, but now knew was in fact his nephew and the first born son of the king and his sister Lyanna. The other, his wife Catelyn who, now having found out that although he had not broken his vows to her but instead had lied to her all these years instead, had not trusted her enough to carry this secret, had become cold to him in the last few days. He understood her coldness, she had been hurt by his actions and he knew it would be some time before she warmed to him again and things were once again good between them.

Catelyn had not spoken to him for the last few days except to discuss any business to do with their home and children, her words stilted and cold, something he had never heard from her, even when she had thought him a dishonourable man in breaking his vows to her and fathering a bastard. he hoped that she would soon warm to him again, he missed her and needed her.

Ned paused in his work as he once again thought of his wife and the harm he had caused in not trusting her. He had not meant to hurt her but rather protect her, for if the 'truth' of who Jon was had been revealed any earlier in the last few years, then she would have been imprisoned along with him and possibly executed. Their children and the North would have been left without their protection, the lying was something he had willingly done in order to protect her and their children and even his people even though it had meant impeaching his honour.

XxX

Across the castle the object of his thoughts, his wife pondered her own reactions to the events of the past few days. She understood logically what Ned, her husband and Lord of Winterfell had done in order to protect not just the boy, whom she had always believed like everyone else in the North, to be his bastard son. But now she felt so ashamed for how she had treated him, it had not been his fault, his birth, however in her heart she still felt hurt that her beloved Ned had not trusted her enough to tell her the truth in the beginning.

Cat laid down the needlework that she had been working on as she gazed out of the window, her head turning to the sounds of weapons clashing together in the practice yard and she rose and crossed to the window, looking out.

She gazed down at those training and saw her son and the Winterfell ward Theon sparring, others around them doing the same but she did not immediately see Jon and she moved her eyes over the practice ground to see if she could find him. It was not till she moved her eyes to the side of the area that she spotted him off to one side, conversing with another.

The person was indistinct, one of the men-at-arms was slightly in the way as he sparred with another and for a moment she was unable to make out who the person was but as those sparring moved to one side, she realised with horror that Jon was talking to a Lannister, not just any Lannister but the imp no less!

The lady of Winterfell pursed her lips together in a thin line as she watched the imp converse with her nephew, for a moment she caught herself as she realised for the first time in days that she had immediately thought of Jon as her nephew and not as a nuisance, a stain on the honour of her house. She narrowed her eyes as if to see just what the two were conversing about, even though she knew she would not be able to see what they conversed about and she felt a shiver of fear go through her as she watched the two.

XxX

Ned laid the sheet of parchment to one side, he could not concentrate on the matters at hand, and his mind was not on the everyday running of his estate, as he again thought of Jon and what would happen when the king left to return to Kings Landing. He knew that Robert was determined to take Jon back to Kings Landing with him when he returned South, regardless of what anyone thought or did, the King was used to getting his own way.

He knew that whatever decisions were made in the next few days were going to affect everyone, not just he and his family but everyone in Westero.

XXx

The king paced the chamber he had been assigned with his wife, frustrated at the lack of contact he had had with young Jon in the last few days, he had given his word to Ned that he would not try and force the decision that the young man, he paused in his pacing as he realised that his first born was already a young man and that he had lost out on seeing him grow, lost out on seeing Jon's first steps, his first words, his first everything.

Robert grimaced as he realised just how much he had missed out on but he thought to himself, nothing would stop him from watching his son grow into the man he knew he could be. Even if it meant breaking his word to Ned about allowing the boy to make his own decision, he was the king and his word was law!

A/N: Looks like Robert is not going to keep his word to Ned or will he, what will that do to their friendship? What decision will Jon make, to follow his heart and go to the Wall or to follow a new path instead? just what is the imp up to?