A/N : Just a quick word to say that I've posted two chapters tonight because they were very short ones, also I just wanted to thank you for reading and to encourage you to leave a wee review if the spirit takes you.
Jon
The knot in Jon's stomach grew as the assembled group waited anxiously for the arrival of the southern queen and her party. The last time royals from the south had visited Winterfell all-out war had befallen the land, and now here they were Starks and a Baratheon waiting to greet his aunt the Targaryen queen. If you'd told him this, all those years ago, when he'd been a boy running to the wall he'd have laughed or called you mad.
The keep had been busy since the big wedding, it had taken some days for all the lords to leave and return to their own homes, the townsfolk also seemed reticent to end the festivities. Spirits had been raised and it appeared unlikely that they would drop any time soon. Sansa floated on a cloud of bliss, she ooh'd and ahh'd as she walked around Winterfell wrapped in the embrace of her king. On the other side of the spectrum there was Arya and her unknowingly betrothed Gendry, the pair had gone from jovial comradery at the feast to incredibly awkward the day after. The smith knight seemed restless, eyes were on him and he wasn't sure how to interact so he'd shut down almost entirely like a fish out of water… Jon noted that Arya for her part had taken his silence as a direct slight against her and was now doing her upmost to ignore the Smith Lord. Jon sighed as he caught sight of Gendry stood behind Arya, he appeared to open his mouth as if to say something before changing his mind and closing it again. Jon sympathised, he was a bastard and a secret son of royalty too… if there was anyone who could empathise with Gendry's sudden change in fortune it was Jon and so he resolved to talk to the smith as soon as possible.
"Here they come" Sansa announced excitedly, a large white and gold carriage cresting the hill with fur covered riders leading the charge.
When the caravan finally stopped, seven large carriages and thirty riders were now filling the main courtyard of Winterfell. The door to the main conveyance opened and a large man stepped out, he reached back and helped the queen step forth, she was dressed entirely in white furs she smiled happily at him and waved. Jon couldn't help but grin back, she was family.
"Your Highness welcome to Winterfell" Sansa said clearly.
"Your highness you do me a great honour." Daenerys responded warmly before shifting her gaze to Arya "Well, it is a great honour to meet you Princess Arya. I was momentously warmed by news of your return and I've heard nothing but glowing testimony from Tyrion" she shocked everyone by embracing Arya "We are family, however messy the bonds." Her gaze shifted again "My sweet nephew Jon, I have missed you terribly" she embraced Jon too.
"Ladies!" she called back to the carriage "Come meet my nephew" Jon groaned, she wasn't being subtle about this in the slightest in fact she was being downright obtuse. A stream of giggling girls in varying shades and styles of fur poured from the large carriage, they were all young and pretty and blushing. Margaery Tyrell was the last to step down, she was not smiling or giggling, she looked older and more serious. She shot him a look which he felt was full of intent before turning a smiling face to his sister Sansa, he watched as the Tyrell girl walked steadily towards her before dropping a very deep courtesy "Your Grace" she said solemnly.
"By the Gods rise Margaery" Sansa said breathily, she looked close to tears, Jon knew that the Tyrell woman had done everything in her power to help and protect Sansa when she'd been trapped in Kings Landing. "I have missed you." Sansa said before wrapping the girl in an embrace.
"Let us go to the Winter Hall, so these ladies can warm up, shall we?" Tyrion declared, he and Jon had both noted the Queen of the South trembling.
Jon took the mayhem of the servants unpacking and the women chatting to pull Gendry aside "Can we talk?" he asked quietly, the Smith Lord nodded wordlessly and followed as Jon walked back to the still bustling courtyard.
"Are you uncomfortable here at Winterfell?" Jon decided to be blunt, given that he lacked any tact this was always his only option.
"I'm very grateful for…" Jon stopped the boy in his tracks.
"I Know you are grateful Gendry Baratheon, but are you comfortable… you've stopped talking which my youngest sister seems to have taken very personally and you seem like you don't know what to do with yourself. Is this accurate?" Jon reasoned that without a formal education Gendry, like his friends in the Watch, may lack the skills to express exactly what they wanted.
"yes, milord that's right." Gendry responded looking more than a little sheepish. "I've never not worked, I've always known my place and even when it felt like I didn't belong I had the forge."
"Well then Lord Gendry I shall inform our armourer that he will be getting some assistance. Given your current status he'll more than likely just leave you to your own work but at least you'll feel less out of place."
Jon smiled smugly as he marched from the winter hall hours later, he had helped Gendry who was now at least smiling if not talking, he'd done his part and spoken to several young ladies, he had cheered Arya up and assured his aunt he would visit after winter and attempt to fly a dragon, all in all everything was going well for Jon… and if Arya married the Baratheon perhaps his own pending nuptials could pend for a little longer. When he pushed the door to his private room open he was shocked to see it already occupied, he quickly drew his sword and took an aggressive stance.
"They weren't wrong when they said you don't often bring company up here" Margery Tyrell said softly as she turned from the window to look at him.
"What are you doing in here Lady…" he stopped, he was never sure what to call her.
"Still Tyrell, the high septa said given that none of my weddings were consummated I've technically never been married." She sighed a little sadly before batting her eyelashes "and as for what I'm doing here I come with a proposition." The set of her shoulder became resolute as she looked at him firmly, it made the hair on his neck prickle uncomfortably.
"It's really not appropriate for you to be in here without a chaperone, if we are found…" Jon stopped at the sight of one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows raising slowly.
"Jon, I am a thrice widowed two and twenty-year-old maid with a reputation which spans the seven kingdoms and beyond. Quite frankly it would be more shocking if I wasn't found in your room." She reasoned with logic he found hard to argue with. He'd heard of her reputation from soldiers and maids, he doubted the legitimacy of most of the claims. One story involving her and a horse was completely out of the question, given the dimensions… he shook his head to dislodge the list of rumours he'd heard about Lady Margaery.
"What do you want Lady Tyrell?" he asked, eager to get the woman out of his room. She intimidated him, and made his skin itch.
"I want you to pick me, your aunt will ask you to pick one of her 'litter' as a wife before she leaves. I want you to pick me." She pulled the heavy fur coat she was wearing a little tighter around her despite the room being rather balmy.
"I'm not picking anyone." Jon responded resolutely "I'm a man of the Watch"
"You're not any more my lord, and if you've got a touch of the Renly's…" he stopped her.
"I'm not interested in bedding men." He ground out.
"As I hear it you're not interested in bedding anyone, and that is fine My Lord. But your aunt will insist and the Queen gets what she wants…" Margaery paused and took a small step towards Jon who suddenly felt like prey "I will be honest with you Jon Snow, I need you to pick me. You are known for your heroism so take this opportunity to be a hero I beg you."
"are you in danger?" he asked suddenly.
"I am hated in the south; in Kings Landing I am akin to the King Slayer. I opened the gates to the forces in the North, I am a traitor to the South." She sighed heavily.
He remembered her frightened face when she'd unlatched a service entrance to allow them their first wave, her shaking hands… but she had no other option, Cersei had had her locked up and was looking to kill her. She had to escape "It was very brave of you."
"I'm a brave woman, though that's not something we are supposed to be proud of. Before you reject me, I'd appreciate it if I were allowed to make my case." He nodded and she cleared her throat "You have to marry My Lord, it is necessary for you to take up a keep in the North, without a wife and the possibility of heirs this is impossible." He made to talk, to rebut her assertion but she continued "Castle Cerwyn has been abandoned since the Bolton's raid, no one has come forward to claim it. It is half a day's ride from Winterfell, and as the closest ally to Sansa it'll be in her interest to fill it with a trustworthy lord. Right now, she wants to place you at the neck but if you suggest Castle Cerwyn she will accept, it will take at least three years to rebuild which means you can stay here with your sisters… as for my part in all this… I am agreeable My lord, I will not be bothersome, I will not force you to love me or fawn over me, the other girls on offer are young and full of dreams of romance this will grow very tiresome very quickly… I am already friends with your queen I can offer her council, be helpful. You needn't love me or even want me all that much, all you need do is put a baby in me once every few years." He made to talk again, though he wasn't sure what he was going to say but the girl before him continued her pitch growing more anxious, more desperate "I cannot return to the south, I have no prospects, people think I am cursed." She took another breath "and as I understand it, you believe that you are cursed" her voice softened "Well doesn't that seem like a match made by the gods, two cursed souls One prepared to never marry who now must and one who was prepared to do nothing but marry but can't despite trying three times."
"You don't want me." Jon hadn't meant to sound so self-pitying and morose but he had, she was right, he was cursed. An undead soul, a play thing of the gods.
"I have been married to a man who fucked my brother, a man who was the product of his mother fucking her brother and a small boy who again was the product of incest… you Jon Snow are a catch, and barring you finding me physically repulsive I see no reason why you can't save me?" she tilted her head to one side, all desperation gone from her voice, her mouth stretching into a full smile. Jon once again felt like trapped prey, he swallowed hard which made her smile wider. The floor length fur coat she had been holding so tightly to her body was suddenly being pulled open, to reveal… nothing. She was completely and fully naked, he couldn't stop his eyes from scanning her briefly what he saw was perfection and it made him nervous, but still he didn't speak. He didn't tell her to leave and she seemed to be taking his silence as invitation, stepping closer still to the suddenly boyish Jon. She reached wordlessly for his hand and lifted it, placing it gently onto one of her breasts, he still didn't resist 'Say something' his brain screamed but what could he say, it had been so long since he'd been near a naked woman and he was suddenly realising he missed it. He missed skin on skin contact, that heat that could only be aroused by another person touching you. She raised her other hand and placed it palm down on his steadily growing erection, he did make a noise that was something between a squeak and a feminine gasp she grinned "we can rule out you being 'physically repulsed' then" she said sweetly before dropping a slow bend and picking up her coat, pulling it back on, covering her perfection.
"Pick me Jon Snow" she said softly before dropping a lingering kiss on his cheek and leaving the hand of the North in a very unsatisfied state.
"I need to go swing my sword at something." Jon groaned before fleeing from his room towards the court yard and a wooden dummy who would soon be no more than chippings.
