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Layla watched on from the window as Jon sparred with the boys, and she was proud that little correction was needed. It had been awhile into their relationship before she attempted to give them any tips on swordplay, afraid they would spurn her help. But under the tutelage of her and Harlon they were growing to be capable warriors. Their father would be proud, she thought to herself, but he had also asked her to keep them safe and she had made them exiles because of her foolishness.
She would not fail Roderick now. She would keep her promise. Willam had wished to ride south with Stannis, but she had forbid it much to his displeasure. But he could begrudge her all he wanted, as long as he was alive.
But he was almost a man now, and soon she would not be able to protect him from his own youthful naivety.
Her dread soon turned to sorrow, as she remembered Robb had sparred with them too at Winterfell. They had all been younger then, with less woes. Robb had always promised them they would spar again, but there had been a war to fight and so his promises went unfulfilled. Just as so many of his promises had.
But Robb would never promise her anything again. He would never spar with her sons again, nor the child growing inside her. Jon would, she told herself, he may speak of the Night's Watch as his only family but he would not turn his back on his fatherless nephew.
The one-shots Dream's to Come and The King's Heir take place between this chapter and the next. Due to changes I've made in the placing of the events, there will be continuity errors for The King's Heir, which I hope to soon fix.