Chapter 3
A small coughing noise came from behind us and we whirled round to see Theon leaning on a nearby building. "So I guess the great Jon Snow has got it in him after all." The smirk on Theon's face was huge. I could feel Jon bristling behind me. I placed a hand on his arm and he seemed to calm down slightly. "What do you want Greyjoy?" I asked, annoyance clear in my voice. He laughed "Just thought that I'd let you know that were about to leave and Lord stark wants to both to go with him, and we all know how it's bad manners to keep a lord waiting." with that Jon spoke up "And we all know it's bad manners to disrespect a princess." Theon grunted and started to walk off. Jon looked at me and said "Come on, for once Theon's right, we don't want to keep Father waiting." I nodded my head and followed him to the stables where everyone was waiting. Robb looked between me and Jon and frowned slightly, a look of jealousy crossing his face. I frowned at that and walked over to my beautiful horse, Shadow Fax. His coat was the colour of the snow with a pure white mane, forelock and tail. He whickered as I walked up to him. Shadow Fax was a magical beast but only myself Jon and one other knew that. A bit like the fact that only one other person knew that I have magic, a little secret that I learnt to keep from anyone but myself. Possessing magic back home in Camelot meant for a speedy death. One that I had to avoid even harder than most seen as I was a princess. I quickly saddled up Shadow and gracefully mounted without any problems. I'm the best rider in the whole of Winterfell, whenever I have the spare time I either go out riding or train.
We soon arrived at the holdfast and saw a man secured to one of the walls, he looked old and scrawny, not much taller than Robb. He had lost both ears and a finger to frostbite, and he dressed all in black, the same as a brother of the Night's Watch, except that his furs were ragged and greasy. Lord Stark got down from his great charger and walked over to the man, a few questions were asked and after a short time Ned called for his sword, Ice. It was as wide across as a man's hand, and taller even than Robb. It was made of Valyrian steel, spell forged and dark as smoke. He took a hold of his sword with both hands and said: " In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, by the word of Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, I do sentence you to die." Jon whispered something to Bran and then he looked over at me offering me his hand. I grasped it thankfully giving him a tight smile, Jon smiled back at me with a look in his eye that said otherwise. I could tell there was something wrong and that he was hiding something from me just by looking into his eyes. He subtly tilted his head to tell me to turn my head back and just as I did Eddard brought the great sword Ice down on the man's head, chopping it clean off. My hand jerked slightly in Jon grasp but I gave no other sign that it affected me. Jon gave my hand a reassuring squeeze which I was grateful for. After that everyone mounted back up and we started to make our way back to Winterfell, I looked back one more time to see the man's neck still spurting out blood from and artery that no longer existed. On the ride back everything was quiet, I felt like Robb was watching me but every time I turned around he turned his head, even Jon was acting strange and made me feel even worse. As we were just about to cross one of the many bridges to Winterfell we were stopped in our tracks by a deer carcass in the middle of the bridge. We dismounted to get a better look, as you rounded the side of the deer you could see that something had cut its stomach open, emptying its contents on the floor. Suddenly Robb could be heard shouting, "Come quick, see what I've found". We followed him through the snow, we found him knelt at the side of the riverbank knee deep in snow cradling a small bundle. "Gods!" was all that Theon could come up with. Laying beside Robb was the body of a huge wolf. "It's a monster, a freak!" Theon squeaked from his place on the bank. I rolled my eyes at his stupidity, "It's a direwolf you fool, they are much larger than their more primitive cousin. She is no monster." I took a step closer to try and get a better look at her wounds but an arm wrapped itself around my waist pulling me back. Before I could say anything I found myself in Jon's arms again looking up at him with confusion in my eyes. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop me from investigating, I was too stubborn. He sighed heavily and said: "Fine but be careful." He gave me what was meant to be a stern look but it only made me giggle. I stayed long enough to see him smile back at me then I moved over to Robb's side to see the wolf. "Wow." Robb gave me a funny look and moved away handing a small pup to Bran who squealed like a child at Christmas. "We should kill them, put them out of their misery. They'll never survive out here on their own without their mother to look after them." Theon made a grab for the pup in Bran's arms. "Stand down Greyjoy." Theon scowled at Robb. "I don't take my orders from you Stark I take them from your father" Ned sighed and said "Leave them be Theon, you will have to look after them yourselves you know that don't you?" Bran nodded vigorously. "You'll have to train them and keep them out of trouble as well" Bran perked up slightly, "Of course Father, they'll be the best trained wolves in the whole of Westeros." Bran and Ned smiled at each other. Jon piped up "Lord Stark there are five pups, three male and two female. The direwolf is the sigil of your House. Your children were meant to have these pups my lord." At that time I knew exactly what Jon had done, he had forsaken himself so that his trueborn brothers and sisters could have those pups. I could see it made him hurt just having to say it. I slowly walked over to where Jon stood and looked up at him, worry in my eyes. He looked down at me and smiled. "You always were good at persuading me Jon, fine you may keep them but remember they are your responsibility and nobody else's." Bran let out a squeal and grasped his Father tightly, "Thank you Father, we will look after them properly I promise you that." With that Ned looked satisfied and he started to make his way back to where the horses were tethered followed by Theon and the rest of his men. Jon and I were the last to leave, I was so fixated by the wolf that I hadn't realised that everyone else had gone. A small squeak caught my attention, I looked up at Jon and saw that he had heard it too. We gingerly walked over to where the noise was coming from, Jon making sure that I was behind him at all times. The sight that greeted us was an unexpected one. A small, albino direwolf pup sat on its own surrounded by five dragon eggs. I let out a gasp. The dragon was the sigil of my house, surely these couldn't be mine could they? Jon carefully picked up the small pup and held it in his arms, I walked past him and picked up one of the eggs. It was a beautiful gold colour just like the dragon on our family crest. The other four were and array of colours ranging from vibrant green to crystal like blues. I stroked my hands over the egg and I swear I felt a small bump from inside it. Jon handed me a bag and I loaded the eggs into it, only carrying the golden egg with me.