Disclaimer – It has come to my attention recently that I unfortunately do not own any part of the Game of Thrones universe or the characters mentioned below. Who knew.
Ned raised an eyebrow at Jon before replying, "Apparently the wedding was a rather large event … as I imagine the marriage between one of the most well known Khals and a Targaryen would draw. Even the Dothraki must know of the Targaryens and the dragons and Valyria. There had been celebrations around a huge bonfire, and while the circumstances are not known, she ended up being pushed by one of the Khal's men into the bonfire, to the horror of the guests. By the time her body was retrieved she was completely burned and all that remained of her was her jewelry and some pieces of the dress that were made with a material that refused to burn."
Jon starred at his uncle again, as he had when Ned Stark had first roused them from their sleep to tell them the news once he returned from his ride with the King. However, rather than abject despair, this time the emotion running through him was elation.
Varys had managed to liberate Daenerys and in such a way that would not result in Westeros suffering.
Jon lowered his head and tried to hide a smile that was threatening to form on his face.
Eventually managing to control his emotions he looked back up to his family as they continued talking about what this meant and what it would mean for them going forward.
Jon could only half heartedly listen to the conversation, as he kept replaying what he had heard with two thoughts in particular filling his head.
'Daeneyrs had died in such a way that resulted in the Seven Kingdom's being safe from revenge from the Dothraki' and 'Daenerys was killed from falling into a bonfire resulting in her being impossible to identify'
Jon had no idea where she was now, but he was still struggling to contain his happiness at what Varys had managed to accomplish …
Afterall everyone should know … fire cannot harm a dragon …
The sun hung low in the sky, just creeping up over the horizon and casting it's warm, golden hues over the vast rolling hills of the Riverlands that stretched out before Jon.
He had been up for several hours breaking his fast among the men from Winterfell, however they had started to grow restless as there had been no signal this morning to begin the journey down the Kingsroad, and although all of them were not enjoying the sedate pace they were travelling at, they much preferred to at least be in motion rather than sitting around waiting for the signal to eventually start.
Being among the youngest in the Winterfell party and being related to the Hand of the King, the men had volunteered Jon Snow to head to the area where the King was to check on the reason for the delay.
As Jon and Ghost walked through the camps, overhearing plenty of grumbling about sitting around this morning, Jon could not help but compare the trip south with the trip he had taken North a lifetime ago. Surely, he could not deny that he much preferred the weather this time around, especially once they were past Mount Cailin and had officially exited The Neck, and he honestly really enjoyed getting to spend time with Bran, Arya, and even Sansa to a degree. Although the later had found excuses to spend more and more time with either Joffrey or the Queen, two individuals Jon had made every attempt to avoid.
However, as pleasant as his current trip was, he could not help but lament the loss of time with Tyrion and his uncle Benjen, as they headed up to the Wall. He smiled at the thought of being reunited with the dwarf in King's Landing, although he was dismayed that Tyrion had not been jesting about the possibility of beating him there. At the rate they were travelling, Tyrion had definitely made it to the Wall already and had likely left and was probably most of the way to Eastwatch by now … if not already on his way south on a boat.
As Jon thought about Tyrion, he could not help but think on the individuals currently at the Wall. He really hoped that he had not said his final goodbye to his uncle. And he could only hope that someone else had stepped up to train Grenn, and that someone else would step in to look after Sam.
Perhaps he would see if he could influence his uncle and see if he would be able to send an actual Master-at-Arms up to Castle Black. Surely, Ned had met Ser Allister Thorne before and even he must have realized that he was not a competent trainer of untrained boys. While not everyone needed to be as competent as Ser Rodrik Cassel, surely there were other alternatives who would accept a posting up to the Wall. And it would hardly be interfering in the politics of the Wall if Ned just happened to send a more capable individual to help the Watch.
However, realizing this would be an endeavor that he had no idea where to currently begin, Jon mentally set aside the thought as he came among a large crowd around the King's Tent, which was still set up, and the Queen's wheelhouse.
Recognizing the back of Bran's head off to the side, Jon slowly made his way over to him.
"Good morrow, Bran. What is the commotion? Why have we not started moving yet?"
Bran spun and around and smiled when he saw Jon. "Apparently the King decided this morning that he fancied heading out for a hunt with several of his men and Father. However, …"
He paused and pointed behind him.
"The crowd was drawn when riders from King's Landing arrived, sounds like they were sent to escort us on the remainder of the trip. Extra protection for the King I think."
As Jon looked back over to the Queen's wheelhouse, he noticed that Sansa, Joffrey, and the Queen appeared to be in conversation with several individuals who he did not recognize.
"I did find it weird that the King and his entire family travelled north with only three of his Kingsguard. Any idea who these new people are?" Jon asked Bran.
Bran paused and looked back in the direction of the gathering before responding, "Well … I am not sure who the young man in the green armor is. Although he looks like a younger and … healthier version of the King and carries an antlered helm … perhaps he is a relation to the King?"
As Bran was talking, Jon was inspecting the man wearing the forest-green armor. Perhaps this was the King's younger brother, he did certainly bear resemblance to King Robert and Lord Stannis, although at the moment Jon was not able to recall the name of the younger brother.
Realizing that that Bran had kept talking, Jon refocused his attention on what he was saying. "… I am not sure who exactly the plain looking knight is … Maybe a guard or someone. But certainly the last knight is a member of the Kingsguard and unless they appointed a new knight who was older, I am pretty sure that is Ser Barristan!" Bran finished excitedly.
Jon's head snapped back up to look at the knight adorned in the suit of armor with white scales and the pure white cloak, trying to get a better view of the Knight he would hopefully be squiring for soon.
Knowing that it would be more proper to wait for a formal introduction once Ned Stark returned, Jon refrained from introducing himself to Ser Barristan at that moment.
As he watched, the group start to break up. He watched the Queen lead Ser Barristan and the green armored knight into the tent, while the other knight walked away.
As Jon was about to turn around and head back to the site where the party from Winterfell was set up, he noticed Joffrey and Sansa walking off, out of the corner of his eye.
Jon froze as he watched them walking off together … something tugging at the corners of his brain. A half-forgotten memory from a conversation he had with Arya and Sansa while at Winterfell after defeating the Others. But the more and more he tried to recall the detail that was evading him, the more evasive the memory seemed to be. Shrugging his shoulders Jon turned around and took a step towards the path, motioning for Bran to follow him.
And then he froze … everything all coming back to him at once.
Feeling a chill down his spine, Jon realized this had to be the day where Arya attacking Joffrey at the Tident, an attack that resulted in Joffrey's outward display of hostility towards Sansa and the retaliatory death of Lady.
"Actually … Bran why don't you take Ghost and go back to the area where we are all set up and let them all know of the change in plans. I need to go grab something."
Without even waiting for a reply, Jon took off at a run to where his horse was picketed, immediately mounting his horse and taking off, at a near gallop, towards the direction where the Royal horses were kept.
Arriving there, he noticed the Prince's own horse was already gone. Jon felt panic building in his chest as he scanned the horizon searching for some evidence as to which direction they might have headed off in.
THERE!
Far in the distance on the top of a hill, he spied two horses trotting along, one of which seemed to share the coloring of the Prince's blood bay courser, while the other appeared to be a smaller mare.
Spying his quarry, Jon took off at a gallop knowing that if he lost them among the hills there would be little chance he would find them again.
Cresting the hill, Jon breathed a sigh of relief seeing that they had dismounted halfway down the hill and were inspecting a stream that ran in front of a small cave.
Jon slowed his horse to a walk, an effort to make sure his horse was not panting by the time he came alongside them.
Evidently, having been spotted, he watched as Joffrey pointed him out to Sansa and they had a brief discussion before he managed to ride up alongside them.
"Ah the bastard son of my father's Hand. What brings you out on a ride this morning."
Jon swallowed a grimace, "Good morrow Sansa and good morrow Prince Joffrey, I had been alerted that your father went out for a hunt this morning and since we are not moving, I decided to head out to explore the surroundings. It certainly is a little nicer to go for a ride out here than around Winterfell." He finished with a laugh. "Although I was not planning on getting too far away from the camps, in case any bandits were sneaking around the hills trying to pick off any stragglers who wandered too far away from the camps."
At that statement, Sansa looked around, a little worried, while Joffrey laughed. Although Jon was pleased to see a little bit of concern in Joffrey's eyes.
"Well if you are to follow the teachings of your Ser Cassel and try to fight them off with wooden swords you would indeed have cause for concern. Myself, I have brought along my Lion's Tooth," he said indicating his sword hanging at his side. He paused scanning the hilly terrain. "However … I have watched you fight with my uncle … and who better than to help protect my Jewel of the North …" Sansa blushed at the title, "… than the … what is the name you had earned for yourself in Winterfell bastard …"
Before waiting for Jon to reply, Joffrey continued with a laugh, "Ah yes, who better to protect my Jewel of the North than the feared Sword of the North."
Jon nodded his head, choosing to ignore the derisive tone of Joffrey's voice.
"If that pleases you, my Prince."
"Aye, it does or else I would not have said it. Although I do warn you to not intrude upon our ride. Stay back and simply follow. The best guards are barely seen and never heard."
With that he turned and smiled to Sansa, "But best be off my lady, I heard word that a shadowcat was spotted by one of the outriders around these hills. Wouldn't it be something to find it?"
Without waiting for Sansa to reply, Joffrey took off at almost a full gallop down the hill.
Sansa glanced down at Joffrey before turning to Jon and nodding her head slightly before turning and attempting to catch up to Prince Joffrey. Her face held an expression that appeared to be slightly disappointed at Jon's presence on their ride but at the same time also slightly relieved that should there be trouble he would be there to help … or Jon paused, considering that her head was so full of romantic ideas, maybe she was thinking that Jon would die tragically just so that the Prince could ride in heroically against a vastly superior number of bandits and free her from their clutches before riding off into the sunset together.
He let out a laugh and followed them down the hill.
As Jon spent the morning keeping an eye on them, he was doing his best to fight the urge to vomit over the side of his horse, as he watched the naivety of Sansa as she lapped up the attention of Prince Joffrey.
Even though Joffrey was certainly not treating her poorly, it appeared to Jon that his entire demeanor was a cultivated deception. The few things he had heard seemed to practiced, to planned to be sincere.
After Joffrey and Sansa had finished their lunch, they were riding along a nice cropping of trees when they suddenly stopped their horses. Without the sound of them riding ahead of him he heard the clacking of wood hitting wood, around the bend and figured that was the cause for their abrupt stop.
As Jon had been several horse lengths behind them, he rode up to them and listened in to their conversation.
"… perhaps we should head back, I don't want us to run into bandits." Sansa said, the worry evident in her voice.
Joffrey looked at her and laughed. "I want to see what it is and the battleground where my father killed Rhaegar Targaryen is right up ahead, I will not be robbed of this."
As Jon rode up alongside them, he inclined his head towards Sansa, "Perhaps Sansa is right Prince Joffrey."
Joffrey turned and sneered at Jon, which caused Sansa to momentarily recoil backwards from, before he managed to mask his sneer under a look of mild disdain, "And who do you think you are, bastard, to tell the Prince what he can or can not do. But if you are craven, I give you my leave to run back to camp and hide among the skirts of the women traveling with us. Perhaps ask Mycella to protect you."
He then turned his horse, drew his sword, and rode in the directions of the sound of wood smacking into wood.
Jon paused watching the retreating form of the Prince for a couple of seconds, in order to let his anger calm down.
Sansa looked over to him, "Thanks for trying Jon, I am sure he did not mean what he said. He … is just excited to see what is up there. Please come make sure everything is alright." With that she urged her horse forward in the direction Joffrey had headed.
Jon had to pause for another couple of seconds as he processed that this was likely the first complete sentence she had spoken to him this entire time they had been heading to King's Landing and certainly the first time he could remember her politely asking something of him.
Shaking off the surprise, Jon quickly urged his horse forward, quickly passing Sansa and coming around the bend in the trees, nearly colliding with Joffrey who had stopped his horse right at the edge of a clearing.
At the sound of him coming around the bend, Joffrey turned and after seeing it was Jon, he began laughing as he pointed to a boy and girl fighting with wooden sticks.
"See what it is you feared bastard, mere children."
Sansa's POV
She shook off her surprise as Jon rode by her, and following the bend in the path, momentarily disappearing from her sight as Joffrey had done moments before.
While she personally did not believe Jon held any negative intentions towards her family, after all Robb, Arya, Bran, and even Rickon seemed to get along well with him, she knew that her mother detested him and therefore out of principle she made an effort to not befriend him and rather ignore him choosing to neither act like her mother nor her siblings. His distant, brooding personality only made it easier.
Due to their distant relationship, she had been a little surprised that morning when Jon had agreed to spend the day following her to make sure she was safe and even more surprised moments ago, when he had sided with her against the Prince, with her decision to go back to camp, rather than get excited as Joffrey had done and want to see what was around the bend.
As she rode to catch up to the boys, she reflected on her behavior towards him and she felt a little guilty about the way she had been treating him on their journey south. After all, she supposed he was family … was he not? And while she doubted she would ever view him as a brother, perhaps she need not be so cold.
As she rounded the bend, she joined Joffrey and Jon as they watched a boy and girl fighting with wooden sticks, what appeared to be broom handles.
She overheard Joffrey once again laugh at Jon but chose to ignore them instead reveling in her relief that there was little threat, merely two children playing with 'swords', two very dirty children …
One of which looked familiar …
She paused as she recognized the girl.
"Arya?" she called out, horrified.
She heard Joffrey stop laughing at Jon and she saw that he refocused his attention on her sister and the boy, Mycah.
With a snort, he rode forward to them and interrupted the match.
She began to ride forward, before Jon put his hand on her arm. "Allow me Sansa, you need not get involved."
With that, he rode forward and dismounted his horse, near where the Prince had dismounted, and proceeded to walk up to join where Joffrey was standing near Arya and Mycah.
As she rode up slowly, she was able to view Joffrey as he taunted the butcher's boy. She was slightly alarmed when Joffrey suggested that Mycah fight him with his wooden sword but she was horrified when she saw the cruel gleam in his eye before he turned back and faced the butcher's boy. She shuddered as she heard the vicious tone of his voice as Joffrey placed his sword tip under the boy's eye and taunted him again, drawing blood.
She was so shocked when she saw Arya reach for her stick that it took her several seconds to realize Arya's intent. As she watched the swinging of the stick, she almost screamed as she attempted to dismount her horse, losing sight of Arya's attack for a moment …
CRACK …
The entire clearing went deadly silent, not even the birds were making sounds, as Sansa struggled to look over her horse to see the outcome of her foolish sister's action.
As she ran around the side of her mare, the silence was broken …
By Joffrey laughing.
As she came around the front of her horse she saw Joffrey holding his sides laughing, while Mycah and Arya were starring with a surprised look on both their faces at Jon, while Jon … he stood exactly between Arya and Joffrey, the broom stick at his feet.
Sansa starred on in confusion.
She was positive that when Arya picked up the broom stick and swung, she had intended to hit Joffrey due to his treatment of Mycah. A swing, Joffrey would have likely missed as he was intent on taunting the butcher's boy. And yet for some reason Jon had apparently stepped in front of Arya's attack. She was confused, and had no doubt that her face was a testament to this fact, as she starred at Jon not understanding, she had thought he and Robb hated Joffrey and she was pretty sure he had been standing several feet away, how had he managed to react in time and place himself in the path of the blow?
Joffrey managed to finally contain his laughter, "What was your plan Lady Arya?" Joffrey asked either missing or ignoring her glare at the title.
"You attempted to hit my with a stick? Unfortunately, you clearly have no training, you ended up hitting your bastard brother."
Sansa watched as Arya looked furiously at Joffrey and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Jon, "Shut up, Arya!"
The scolding from him shocked both Arya, whose face paled as she starred at Jon, and Sansa, who had never heard Jon ever say anything mean towards or about Arya.
Joffrey laughed again before continuing, "For what it is worth I admire your spirit. I understand the thrill of a fight and understand the desire to make others suffer, if only you weren't a girl I am sure you would have made a fine knight for me … that is if you could have been ever taught how to swing a sword and hit a target."
With that, he turned and started walking back to Sansa, as a result of this, he missed the fury in Arya's eyes and missed Jon firmly grabbing Arya's shoulder which prevented her from leaping at Joffrey.
As Joffrey approached Sansa, completely ignorant of what was happening behind him, he smiled at her, "Do you require aide my lady?"
She starred at him in confusion, "Sorry…?"
He indicated her horse, "On mounting your horse, do you require assistance?"
Sansa did her best to smile normally, "Oh… of course, thank you for the offer Prince Joffrey."
After he had helped her onto her horse, he mounted up, finally looking back towards where Jon and Arya stood with Mycah in the background starring at everything that had occurred in front of him.
He looked at Jon, "Clearly, I am capable of protecting Lady Sansa, however perhaps you should stay and look after her sister. Make sure nothing happens to her."
Turning to face Sansa, his face once more containing the princely smile, he started talking, "Well … I have had enough of playing with children and now that we will no longer have the bastard, let us ride back to camp in peace and I can tell you the story of my uncle killing the Mad King.
Sansa could only look back and forth between Jon and Joffrey trying to fully understand what had just occurred.
Realizing she had little choice in the moment, she urged her horse to join Joffrey's. As they neared the edge of the clearing, she spied her sister's direwolf, Nymeria, lounging in the shade of the tree line. A shiver travelling down her spine as she realized how close things had been to escalating out of control. And she wondered if Jon was aware of just how much his actions had affected that afternoon.
Risking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Arya struggling to escape Jon's grip, an image that was lost as they exited the clearing and rode around the bend.
Jon's POV
"What in the seven hells is wrong with you Jon? Why did you protect that little shit? I thought you and Robb also hated the prince. Why did you defend him?"
Jon finally released Arya and took a step back, "Perhaps this conversation is better held in private." He paused indicating Mycah.
Turning away from Arya he turned to face Mycah, "Are you alright … Mycah, was it?"
Receiving a rather numb nod of affirmation, Jon smiled, "Alright, I just need to have a word with Arya and then I will ride with you two back to camp. However, I would suggest that you keep this afternoon to yourself. There are certain people within camp who might not be happy to hear that a butcher's boy got into an altercation with the prince, no matter who started it or what really happened."
Seeing Mycah pale and nod, clearly understanding the implied message of risk, Jon turned back to Arya and led her off towards the tree line, out of earshot of Mycah.
They had barely come to a stop before Arya began again, "Why the …"
Knowing that Arya was capable of going on for hours, he placed his arm on her shoulder. "Arya you need to start thinking."
He almost laughed at the look of anger she was shooting at him.
"I am serious Arya, you need to think. All actions from have consequences, from the littlest child from the poorest village to King of the Seven Kingdoms, and this includes you. Your actions have consequences, just what do you think would have happened if you had hit Joffrey."
Jon paused as he watched her take a second to start thinking through her actions.
"Yes, I think Joffrey is a monster…"
This caused Arya's attention to snap back to Jon, "Then why did you …"
Jon again cut her off as he continued, "… Yes I do think he is a monster, he wanted to hurt your friend for the sake of it, I think he feels strong or at least happy while hurting others. And certainly he should have been stopped before the situation went too far. But to attack him with the stick? Arya what were you thinking?"
He paused and collected his breath, "What did you think was going to happen if you had managed to hit him with the stick? Did you think he would suddenly realize that he was in the wrong, apologize, and they would all ride off to King's Landing together, holding hands?"
Arya scoffed and shook her head, looking defiantly at him, however she at least remained silent.
"No, Arya, obviously he would have gotten mad and attacked you with his sword."
She paled slightly, looking back at her stick.
"I do not deny that you are better than any of the boys your age in Winterfell, but do you think you would have been able to defeat the angry prince while he was in possession of an actual sword while you had nothing but that stick."
Arya looked up at Jon, "What about Ser Regald Sand, it was said he gave up his sword to fight with a stick and still was a more capable than any of his opponents."
Jon looked at her and shook his head, "But you are not him Arya, you have not even reached your tenth name day and you have not had nearly his training. Even if Joffrey had managed to contain his anger after you had hit him with a stick, which I doubt he would have been able to, and had not lashed out, he would never have forgotten he would have never forgiven you. Eventually he would have taken that anger out on you or Sansa. I know you don't always get along with Sansa but she is just as much a part of the Stark pack as I am, would you want her to suffer as a result of your actions?"
Arya looked up angrily, appearing ready to shout something at Jon. However, Jon was not done yet so he firmly squeezed her arm again to stop her outburst and continued.
"And what about Nymeria?"
This simple sentence caused Arya to freeze.
"You know Nymeria would never have let harm come to you, just as Ghost would never let harm come to me. If the prince had attempted to attack you, she would have attacked Joffrey."
Arya scoffed, "He would have deserved it."
Jon shook his head, "Arya don't be dense. Nymeria would have attacked Joffrey and then what. She would either kill the prince or you would have eventually have to call her off after she had mauled him a little. Think about it for one second Arya, there is no way they would have been ok with that. Whether the King or the Queen there is no way they would let the mauling of the prince go unpunished. They would have killed Nymeria or found someone else to punish, whether it was yourself, Sansa, or Mycah. There is no way you would have won."
Arya starred forcefully at Jon but eventually he saw her demeanor begin to crack, relieved that he had managed to get through to her. And in the span of seconds Arya went from defiantly starring at Jon to trembling before him as tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.
"I wouldn't want any of that to have happened."
"I know you didn't Arya. I know you didn't."
"I was … just so angry watching … Joffrey torture Mycah, even Mycah knew …he knew he couldn't fight the prince … and it was all my fault … that Mycha and I were fighting in the first place. It was the first thing I could think of to stop Joffrey." She eventually got out between quiet sobs.
Jon leaned forward to embrace her in a hug, Noticing that she looked as if she was close to collapsing.
"It's alright Little Wolf, but you need to think through your actions. As mentioned all actions have consequences and we are no longer little children. We are heading to King's Landing where there will be eyes and ears everywhere."
Arya looked up angrily, "I never wanted to head down to King's Landing …"
"I know Arya, you were quite vocal with your opposition back in Winterfell." He said with a laugh. "But nevertheless you are here now, there is plenty to learn if you stop trying to fight everyone and just learn. You do not have to become a different person but if you learn everything else people have to offer you will have more tools to help you going forward. Even unexpected things can be helpful."
She looked up disbelievingly.
"I am serious Arya, at the very least stop trying to fight everyone regarding everything, at this point you are not likely to win those arguments and all you do is bring attention to yourself. And honestly, not all that attention is a good thing. It is the nail that stands out that gets hammered."
Arya let out a chuckle but Jon was thankful that she looked to actually be reflecting on what he had said.
"Arya you just need to think through your actions, I firmly believe you are capable of changing the world but even you can't fight everyone along the way. You just have to think through your actions, I am sure you will be able to find the right choice. For now, at least you need to go to Sansa and apologize."
"Apologize? For what? It was Joffrey that started this and Sansa did not do anything to stop him."
Jon shook his head, watching Arya immediately get all worked up again. "Arya we just talked about this. Sansa is a member of our pack, as much as I am. I know you don't always get along with her but you need to make sure she does not feel isolated. Otherwise then she is all alone with Joffrey and that … is a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone."
Jon paused giving her a second to think over what he had just said before nodding back towards Mycah.
"But it is getting late, why don't you grab Mycah and we will head back to camp. I am not sure when you headed out but father went out hunting with the King and Ser Barristan arrived at camp along with …"
Arya jumped back, "Barristan the Bold?" She exclaimed with excitement.
"Aye Ser Barristan and others arrived to serve as an honor guard for the remainder of the journey south."
Jon laughed seeing the excitement in her eyes before she took off to grab Mycah and then they ran off to their horses.
A couple of hours later when they finally made their way back to where the members from Winterfell made camp, Jon was surprised to be greeted by Sansa.
"Sansa? Is everything alright?"
"Aye, all is well. Joffrey rode back with me and safely delivered me to Septa Mordane a while ago. However, that is not why I am here, my … our father arrived shortly after we had returned. After seeing you weren't here he went to join King Robert in the King's tent. He requested that when you returned you were to be directed to join him. He wants to introduce you to Ser Barristan with the King present."
Jon smiled, "Well then, I best be on my way! Thanks for delivering the message Sansa, although I am sure someone else could have been able to pass it along as well."
With that said, he turned to the path that led to the King's tent. However he stopped when he felt a hand upon his shoulder. Turning around he saw Sansa withdrawing her hand.
"Thanks for saving Joffrey from Arya's attack earlier, I did not know you cared for him. I fear things could have very quickly gotten out of hand."
Jon nodded and looked directly into Sansa's eyes, "I did not do that for Joffrey, I stepped in to save Arya, I stepped in to save you."
Jon saw a flicker of surprise in Sansa's expression. "I know you saw his face during the confrontation, I felt as if I saw a mask slip, it appeared as if he enjoyed torturing Mycah, you know as well as I that Mycah could not pick up the stick to attack the prince."
Sansa opened her mouth, whether to dispute his claim or defend Joffrey he knew not, but nothing ended up coming out, apparently having discovered that she knew Jon's words carried some truth to them.
Jon reached out and clasped Sansa's hand, "I don't want anything to happen to any member of the Stark family. I know you do not really view me as part of the Stark pack. But I would do anything to protect those I care about and I care about you Sansa. I care about all of you. I don't doubt that you are capable of more than you give yourself credit for and I just want to make sure that you have the opportunity to see your journey through."
With that Jon gently released her hand and turned in the direction of the trodden path leading towards the King's tent and headed off, unaware that Sansa had not moved from her spot, remaining there starring at her hand before finally glancing up to watch his retreating form head down the path.
Kind Regards,
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