Aurelia entered Jon's chambers with a smooth, graceful silence which amazed him. He did not hear her footsteps outside his door, nor did Ghost make any sound acknowledging her presence until she was in the room. Then, Ghost trotted to her with as easy a gait as he always approached Jon himself (and no one else), nuzzling her leg as she scratched behind the direwolf's ears. Ghost moved to Jon's door and plopped down in front of it, yawning as he rested his head on top of his front paws. Aurelia joined Jon by the fire, her smile disarming his astonishment causing him to smile back at her.

"You are a marvel," he remarked as her eyes sparkled in the firelight.

Aurelia chuckled. "Your lover doesn't seem to think so."

Jon bowed his head, still ashamed of his actions with his wildling girl -the wildling girl - more so given his enjoyment of her. Part of him kept wishing for a chastising from Aurelia, or even outright fury. He believed he deserved it. Yet she always spoke of his relations calmly, though sometimes tinged with sadness, which hurt him more than if she had struck him. He gazed at his childhood friend, his dearest companion, the woman of his dreams. All his wishes and hopes for happiness included her at his side, but he could not bring himself to tell her. His oath, given to Qhorin in service of the Watch, allowed him a freedom of sorts with Ygritte. Now, back at the Wall and under enough suspicion, he dared not express his feelings regarding the one person for whom he might abandon his oath. She knew, and she did not try to pry the words from him - and for that he loved her all the more.

"I should be careful around her," Aurelia remarked as she took her gloves off, placing them on the floor near the fire. "She's a fighter, and I wager she's more like to fight in an attempt to win your favor than to scheme for it... or love for it." She cast Jon a look, trying to gauge his emotions. He gave little away, as always, but enough that, after years of knowing him and being in his confidence, he knew she could glean his thoughts. She pressed her own advantage to further cement her own beliefs with regard to his feelings for her, and for the other woman.

"She'll likely be in a strop with you as well." She added, smirking, "Though she's more like to try and pierce herself on you than come at you with a dagger."

Jon's eyes widened. "She came after you?" Ghost, head still on his paws, gave a low growl, the hair on his neck rising. When Aurelia put a hand on Jon's knee, Ghost settled.

"She did. She missed, obviously. Her temper does not aid her fighting. I believe we came to an understanding of sorts." Jon raised an eyebrow at her. "She hates me, and I doubt will ever feel anything less than slighted by my presence, but she understands me. Next time she tries to injure me she won't do me the courtesy of charging."

Jon closed his eyes for a moment before standing. Ghost's head came up, his eyes following his master around the room with a look as uneasy as Jon's. "I'm sorry," he replied. "I should never have-"

"You did what was needed," she cut in. "And you came to care for her."

She continued before he could interject. "There's not shame in that. Especially for a man who had not... experienced a woman like her, shall we say?"

Jon turned to face the fire, words and thoughts boiling within but unable to speak. Ghost rose and trotted over to Aurelia, nuzzling his head on her knees. Aurelia ran her hand over the direwolf's back a few times before Ghost settled in at her feet. She glanced up to Jon, his eyes gazing at the fire, though seeming miles away.

"I wanted it to be you," he whispered. "How terrible is that? To think of another when someone wants you..."

Aurelia blushed, falling silent for a moment before finding her tongue again. "What is it that wounds you more? That you wished for me the first time, or that you began to see the good in her, and to desire her in times after?"

He turned his head from her and she had her answer. Aurelia rose, stepping over Ghost, placing a hand on Jon's shoulder, willing him to look at her. At first he would not comply, but as she spoke he slowly turned his eyes to meet her gaze.

"It would be a lie for me to tell you I harbour no jealousy toward her, though I'll never let it show to her. Growing up with constant visits to Winterfell, I always felt at home. When Arya was born and I was allowed to hold her the first time, she felt like my own sister. It was easy for me and I lamented the times it was not easy for you, because to me you were as much a Stark, as much Ned's blood, as anyone. I followed my heart much as I could as a child, no less than I do now, but then I kept myself enslaved to duty. I knew one day it was likely I would become betrothed to Robb and I never grudged him that. I understood it even though I did not truly desire it, because I wanted to be a part of the Stark family and Robb was the easiest way for everyone else. Everyone except us."

Jon was gazing at her now with a longing she'd only seen in his eyes a handful of times. He also looked as though he might cry, but she continued.

"By Ygritte's customs you've earned a right to her that no other man has. I know the wildlings do not believe in faithfulness the way others do, so to them a man could steal more than one woman and have neither shame nor guilt. And the women should not feel slighted. Yet she does, Jon. When you were alone with her, you were hers. You gave yourself up to her even though, at times, it may have been against your true desires. Now that you're free to be your own man again she senses more keenly that your caring for her is genuine. Yet with me around she senses more. She knows she's not the first woman you've stolen."

Aurelia reached up, running a hand through his hair, down his face. She felt him tremble under her touch but he did not flinch from her. His gaze remained steady. "You stole me, Jon Snow. When we were children and you kissed my first scratch from a blade, you stole me. When my horse threw me, forcing me to stay abed in Winterfell for near two months and you visited me every day, then encouraged me with as much kindness as jibing while I recovered, you stole me. When it was announced that I would marry Robb and you stood in the hall, never flinching, but that night you came to my chamber and sat with me in silence, then left me with a kiss and tears in your eyes, you stole me. I have seen and experienced more of this world than you, and like you am no longer as innocent as we were in the days before we parted... but part of me has always been with you. You stole me, and what you stole I'd never have you give back."

Jon gazed down at her as her eyes searched his for a response. He covered her hand where it rested on his neck.

"Aurelia," he whispered, almost enchanted, as he leaned closer to her. His lips neared hers as she closed her eyes, until both started back at the knocking on Jon's door.

Jon sighed, leaving Aurelia at the fire as he went to open the door. A breathless boy stood before him, shivering.

"What is it?" Jon asked, hoping his tone conveyed as much concern as it did annoyance.

"Pyp wanted me to tell you... she's gone. The wildling girl."

Jon's eyes narrowed. "When? What happened?"

Ghost had risen and stood behind Jon. The boy, intimidated by the direwolf, trembled more. "I, uh... well, she seems to have... I mean she was here and then."

Aurelia stepped forward, positioning herself between Ghost and Jon, shielding the boy from the beast he eyed with fear. "What happened?"

The boy dipped his head in reverence, "M'lady, she... well no one quite knows how she disappeared, only that she was seen in the common hall, then atop the Wall, and now we can find no trace of her. We thought Lord Snow should know and..." He trailed off, his voice wavering again.

Aurelia glanced up at Jon's grim face, and noticed his hand flexing as her gaze drifted downward. She looked at the boy with scrutiny, "And they wanted someone to check that she wasn't here as well, didn't they?"

The boy's head drooped as Jon's stare bore into him.

"I should tell the other brothers, then, that you plainly saw she was not with me," Jon clipped. The boy nodded and began to move away. "You may also inform them they should begin preparing for an onslaught from the wildlings."

The boy looked, up, swallowed hard. "I will." He turned, walking away as fast as he could manage without seeming to run.

Jon closed the door and began pacing his room. Stopping at his desk-like table, papers strewn about from Sam's research and Mormont's notes, he slammed his palm on the table. "This is my fault," he muttered. "I thought if I brought her here..."

"You thought you might tame her," Aurelia finished.

"For a time at least." He stood silent for a moment, gazing again into the fire. "I know her better than that. I only hoped she might, for once, listen to someone else. To me." Ghost tilted his head at this, then moved to lay down near the fire.

Aurelia walked to him, taking his hands in hers. She massaged his fingers as she spoke, not looking up at him. "This is not all of your making. You thought by keeping her here to treat with you, with the Watch, it might keep the wildlings at bay for a time, and perhaps tensions could be eased. That may have been possible, it may not have been." She glanced up to see his earlier sharp gaze softening as he looked at her. "But the realm knows it would have been more possible without me here."

Jon clasped her hands, forcing himself to remain a foot's distance from her. "You saved my life," he stated. "And hers as well. Even if you had not, I do not regret your coming here. I will never regret your presence in my life."

Her wan smile cut deeper wounds within him. He wanted to speak more, and much less. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to praise her with his lips in every way possible, yet he could not find it within himself to take such blatant action against his oath.

Aurelia raised herself to the tips of her toes and leaned toward him, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "Nor will I ever regret your presence in mine." She pulled away, loosing her hands from his grasp. "You should go. Help your brothers prepare for what will come from the wildlings."

She bowed to him. "I am at your service."