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.

Author Note 1 – I just want to say I have been blown away with all the support and love (feedback and follows I have been receiving). I am near my next feedback milestone, so I think next week I will be releasing two chapters. Thanks again! I am just happy people seem to be enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it.

Author Note 2 – I enjoy writing short stories for my own enjoyment but at a suggestion from a friend, I have decided to start posting some of my stories that I am working on or have completed. All feedback is welcome (hopefully constructive!) Looking forward to what you think!


"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 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 into Sansa's eyes, "I did not do that for Joffrey, I stepped in to save Arya and 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 to dispute his claim or defend Joffrey he knew not but nothing ended up coming out, apparently having discovered that 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 starring at her hand before glancing up to watch his retreating form head down the path.


Jon Snow approached the Royal tent with a mix of apprehension and excitement as he knew that within at least stood Ned Stark, the legendary Ser Barristan Selmy, and the imposing figure of King Robert Baratheon; he also knew that within stood his future.

As he approached the entrance to the tent, he was stopped by the guards stationed around the doorway. As he awaited being formally announced and allowed entry, he could hear muffled conversation and the clinking of armor from within.

Finally allowed entrance to the tent, Jon paused as he entered, momentarily starring at the regal splendor contained within the massive tent. A long table was set up within, covered in wine goblets and platters of roasted meats and fresh vegetables and fruits. The King, Ser Barristan, and Ned Stark sat at the head of the table deep in conversation.

Looking up from the conversation King Robert grinned broadly, blue eyes sparkling with mirth. "Ah Jon Snow! You have finally joined us. Sit, boy, sit. Glad a plate." He commanded, gesturing to the table in front of him.

Jon smiled and nodded, his throat dry, and took a seat at the other end of the table from them. Aware of the stares from Ser Barristan, he felt like a small bird in a room with a hawk.

Ned Stark, seated to the right of the king, offered Jon a reassuring smile, which Jon acknowledged with a grateful nod, though it did little to alleviate the nerves.

"Ser Barristan," King Robert began, addressing the Head of the Kingsguard, "this is Jon Snow, Ned's son. He's a strapping lad, and as we were discussing I've a mind to make him your squire."

Unfazed by the statement, Ser Barristan shifted his attention from the King to Jon Snow, assessing him with a keen gaze, letting his gaze linger, as if attempting to fully assess the young man's worthiness.

"Your Grace," he eventually replied, "this is not just a serious honor to bestow, but a weighty responsibility. The Kingsguard do not take untrained boys of only … thirteen … and make them squires. The Kingsguard are supposed to be the best of the best, charged with defending your life and we have little time to also train babes. Beyond this, a squire for the Kingsguard must be more than just a willing student; he must have courage, loyalty, and skill."

Jon's heart pounded in his chest as he met Ser Barristan's gaze with determination.

However, before he could respond Ned Stark interjected, "He is fourteen, soon to celebrate his fifteenth nameday. Ser Barristan, this is more than just a favor for a friend or a condition I attached to becoming King Robert's Hand. Jon is ready for this, and you would be unlikely to find a more deserving or harder working individual in all of the Seven Kingdoms."

Jon starred at his uncle, momentarily speechless from his kind words, before glancing back to Ser Barristan Selmy and nodding. "I am willing to learn, Ser Barristan. I promise, on my life, that I will do my best every day to prove my worth to you."

The King's eyes twinkled with amusement as he watched the conversation unfold in front of him. "Well said, Jon Snow. But for one such as Ser Barristan, perhaps words are wind. Ser Barristan, what test would you have for the lad?"

Ser Barristan, who had been evaluating him, leaned forward, not breaking eye contact with Jon Snow, his expression serious. "Your Grace, I propose a simple test of skill and courage. We shall have a sparring match, blades dulled, of course. If Jon proves himself in combat, I shall take him on as my squire … although I reserve the right to remove him from the position at any time. Those are my terms, I will not budge." He finished and leaned back in his chair glancing towards King Robert and Ned Stark.

Ned looked ready to argue with Ser Barristan, but before he could open his mouth Jon responded. "I agree with your terms Ser Barristan, however I promise, before the King and the Warden of the North, that I shall give you no reason to have to reconsider your decision, else I will myself recuse myself from the position."

This caused King Robert to throw his head back and laugh deeply. "Well there you have it Ser Barristan and if skill with the blade is what you are looking for, we should have brought in Ser Jaime to vouch for him."

At the mention of his bouts with Ser Jaime, Jon watched Ser Barristan's silver brow arch slightly in surprise, clearly not having yet heard of the duels with Ser Jaime back within the walls of Winterfell. Before anyone could respond though, the King clapped his hands and led the way out of the tent.

The four of them made their way to a makeshift training area outside the tent, where, after the situation was explained, Jon was handed a blunted practice sword, while Ser Barristan drew his own practice sword with the grace and fluidity of a true knight.

The duel began immediately, with a clash of blades, and as with Ser Jaime Jon was hopelessly outmatched and found himself immediately on the defensive. Ser Barristan's skill with the sword was awe-inspiring and Jon struggled to keep up. Blow after blow rained down upon him, but he held his ground, refusing to yield.

They circled each other, the dance of combat flowing between them. Jon parried Ser Barristan's strikes and launched his own counterattacks when he was able.

While Ser Jaime might have been a slightly better sword fighter than Ser Barristan, a little quicker and stronger due to his younger age, Ser Barristan was a smarter, more technically skilled opponent and Jon could see that all aspects of the duel were to test some aspect of Jon's fighting. As such, Jon tried to rise to the challenge and give everything he had to Ser Barristan's test. Knowing this was not just a test of skill but also a test of character.

As the spar continued, Jon's confidence grew as to his ability. However, just as with his duels with Ser Jaime, the outcome was inevitable and after thirty minutes of constant dueling Jon felt the tip of Ser Barristan's sword on his breastplate. Realizing he was beaten, Jon dropped his sword, "I yield Ser Barristan."

Panting for air, face flush with exertion, Jon finally looked around and saw that they had drawn quite a crowd, who burst into applause and cheering. Among them were Ser Jaime who was smiling and clapping, and Sansa who starred on in wonder.

Ser Barristan Selmy nodded, his expression one of approval, "Well fought, Jon Snow. You have proven your mettle. I would be honored to have you as my squire."

With that, he turned, stepped back, and stood alongside King Robert who had walked up to them after the fight finished.

"Well fought, Jon Snow, well fought indeed. If you keep this growth up, you might indeed have a future as one of my Kingsguard's … My friend protecting the realm and his son protecting my life. I could imagine worse fates …" Jon noticed that the Queen who had been standing right behind King Robert scowled slightly at that statement before covering her expression with one of bored disdain. "Congratulations Jon Snow, I look forward to seeing you around the Red Keep. But it is about time to start preparing for the evening feast. I will see you late Ned."

Jon couldn't help but smile, a sense of pride and accomplishment filling him.

After the King re-entered his tent and the crowd started to disperse, Ser Barristan walked up to Jon. "So, Jon Snow, what do you know about being a squire?"

Jon looked at the ground a little embarrassed, before looking up into the eyes of the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, "Almost nothing, Ser Barristan, but I will throw myself into the work and I promise to learn quickly."

Ser Barristan nodded, "That is alright, I appreciate the honesty. And I would much rather prefer you coming in with no knowledge than to have to spend time untraining bad habits."

Looking around to Ned Stark who was standing several feet away watching, he refocused on Jon, "I will ask you this once. Are you sure you want this position? And you are not being pushed to do this. This will be difficult and it will be painful. If you are not doing this for the right reasons you will not make it through the experience and will end up wasting your time … and mine."

Jon paused and considered all the danger that was coming both the known and the unknown and knew without a doubt that this position would not only impart on him skills he would otherwise be unable to learn but also allow him access to information that he would otherwise have no access to.

Looking back up to Ser Barristan, Jon nodded, "This decision is my own. I am no stranger to hard work. Up to this point in my life I have had to prove myself every step of the way and I would not expect this to be any different. I will not fail, and I will not waste either my or your time."

Ser Barristan smiled and looked down at Jon, "Well then, I am happy to take you on as my squire. Your official duties will start once we get to King's Landing. I will need time to determine what exactly your responsibilities shall entail and unfortunately there is a lot that is currently required of me here in camp. So, make sure to enjoy yourself now, for I am unsure you will be able to do so once we arrive within King's Landing."

Ser Barristan smiled once more and clasped Jon's shoulder before turning around and heading into the Royal tent.

Jon smiled when he saw the beaming face of Ned Stark walking over to him, "Congratulations Jon. That was a fine duel, and I am really proud of the way you composed yourself while meeting with Ser Barristan. You have certainly earned this opportunity on your own merit. I am positive your mother … your mother would be proud of this." He said his voice cracking a little at the mention of Jon's mother.

However, before Jon could do more than raise an eyebrow in surprise at the mention of her, Ned Stark became serious and focused again.

"I have to ask you about earlier today though."

Jon looked at him questioningly, although he had a feeling of what Ned was about to question him regarding.

"Well first, let's start back towards camp … too many ears around." Ned finished quietly as he indicated the several people who were still littered around their general vicinity.

Halfway down the path back to their tents, Ned Stark began talking again. "What exactly happened this afternoon? When I rode back into camp, I expected to see you but was greeted only by Sansa and Bran. When I asked as to where you were, wanting to introduce you to Ser Barristan, I heard you had rode off in haste this morning, had spent the entire day with Sansa and Joffrey, but yet were still out after they returned."

Jon nodded and decided to be honest with his uncle … or at least partially honest.

"I had arrived at the Royal tent this morning and saw the arrival of Ser Barristan and the others. I had been excited about meeting Ser Barristan however when I had heard that you had gone hunting with the King I knew I had some time this morning to go riding as I assumed either you or the King would want to formally introduce me to Ser Barristan and bring up the issue of being a squire for him."

Ned nodded as he starred at Jon, motioning for him to continue.

"It was while I was riding that I happened upon Joffrey and Sansa who had gone off on their own to explore the lands. I was shocked that they had ridden off without any guards, at the Prince's insistence, so I offered to ride with them … to prevent any thing bad from happening and to provide help should Sansa need it."

Ned who had frowned a little, at hearing that the prince had rode off with Sansa without any escort or a chaperone, looked at Jon, "Thank you for that. While Joffrey … is … I am sure very capable. I am glad all the same that you were there as well. Why were you delayed in your return though. Why did you not arrive at the camp at the same time as Sansa and Joffrey?"

"Well …" Jon paused looking around making sure no one was around them, "we ran into Arya who had gone out with Mycah, the butcher's boy, and were practice fighting by the ford. Joffrey had decided he wanted to teach Mycah a lesson for attacking the sister of his betrothed. And well … Arya didn't take it well …"

"By the Old Gods, what did she do? Sansa had mentioned that they had run into Arya and that Arya had almost ruined everything but hesitated to elaborate before I had to head back to King Robert's tent. I was hoping that it was just their rivalry ... What happened Jon?"

Jon looked at his uncle, as he guiltily revealed what had happened, "She swung her stick at the prince … with enough force and from unexpected direction … it would have caught him unaware."

Ned starred at Jon as his face paled.

"However, I stepped in the way, and Joffrey laughed at the idea of me getting hit when Arya had gotten upset. At that point Joffrey got tired of having me chaperone them and he rode off with Sansa. I chose to stay back and have a chat with Arya …"

Jon paused letting Ned process everything that he had said.

"We chatted about the need to think before acting. We talked about actions having consequences and her need to think out what could happen when she does something. We talked about her … need to keep fighting everyone."

Ned starred at Jon as he slowly massaged his temples. "Jon … Jon I pray that you never have to deal with these issues when you have children of your own. Thank you so much for intervening … I pale to consider what could have happened had she hit the prince and it caused any actual damage. Certainly, the Queen would have demanded punishment for hitting her son."

Jon nodded knowingly.

"Arya becomes more and more like my sister each day, never stopping to think about the consequences for her actions … meanwhile you … well … you are much more levelheaded than my sister ever was …"

Ned trailed off, realizing that he likely did not want to continue this line of discussion. "Thank you, Jon, for intervening when you did. Thank you for your words to her as well, although I hesitate to assume they will stick with her. Arya certainly is a willful one."

At this statement both Jon and Ned let out a little laugh knowing it was certainly a valid description, if a serious understatement of her nature.

"I wish the rest of the family thought out their actions as well as you do. But enough of this, you should go back to the camp, I am sure at least Bran will be excited to hear you shall officially become a squire for Ser Barristan. Enjoy the night. I will catch up with you at the feast, King Robert was successful on our hunt."

"Oh, are you not coming back to our site just yet?" Jon asked looking at his uncle in confusion.

"Not just yet … I was informed, while we were waiting for you, that several other individuals arrived at the camp this morning, while I was out on the hunt with the King. I mean to greet them, certainly at least one of them … well I need to talk to at least one of them regarding something I was thinking of while back at Winterfell."

Jon's eyebrow rose as he looked at his uncle, "Oh?"

"Worry not Jon, this does not concern you. I will see you later."

With that elusive ending, Ned spun on his heels and walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Jon to shrug as he turned to look down the path towards the Winterfell tents.

Jon had scarcely made it thirty paces down the path before he heard a wooden knocking sound from off to the left. Deciding he still had time, Jon stepped off the path to investigate the sound. And fifteen paces into the trees, just out of sight from the path, stood Arya smacking a stick against a tree.

"Arya?" Jon questioned.

She spun around, clearly not having heard his approach.

"Oh … Jon … sorry I did not hear you."

"No need to worry Arya, are you ok? I thought you would have hung around the tent. Are you alright? Did you chat with Sansa?"

Arya hung her head before replying, "… yes Jon, … we had a little chat. I … apologized. What did father want?"

Jon smiled at Arya, "Well it is official now, I shall be squiring for Ser Barristan."

Arya looked up shocked, "That is great! I thought you already were though."

"Well Ser Barristan said the Kingsguard do not usually take on green boys as squires and I needed to pass a test. But in the end, he seemed impressed with my responses and our duel."

Arya's eyes opened comically large. "You got to duel with Ser Barristan as well! Jon! You have now dueled with Ser Jaime and Ser Barristan, they have to be the two best fighters in all of Westeros! How was it? How did it go?"

Jon laughed, "Why don't we go back to our tent. I am sure Bran would like to hear as well."

Arya nodded hesitantly, "… Alright, … I guess."

"Perfect, but yes after Ser Barristan accepted me as a squire, I chatted with father about this afternoon and then …"

Arya's smile was replaced by a small look of fear, "You told father? He wasn't upset was he? He's not going to prevent me from riding out again is he."

Jon looked seriously at Arya, "I do not think he is mad Arya, certainly he was not happy about what might have happened …"

He paused, as he saw her look at the ground. Jon reached out and lightly grabbed her shoulder. "Arya he was upset about what might have happened, but he was not angry at you … otherwise he definitely would have come to find you himself."

A hesitant smile started forming on Arya's face before it quickly disappeared.

"I told him of our chat and he seemed to agree that you are capable of accomplishing anything. Since there was no bad outcome, he did not care that you made a mistake. Arya, it does not matter that you made a mistake, honestly I think you are allowed to make as many mistakes as you can. But you only fail when you do not learn from your mistakes. Let them make you better … but enough of that," Jon paused and looked at Arya with a smile on his face. "I'll race you back to the tent. If you aren't quick enough, I might just tell Bran the whole story about meeting Ser Barristan and you will have to be nice to him in order for him to tell you."

With that Jon spun away from the surprised girl and started running down the path, laughing as he heard a frustrated scream and the sound of Arya running down the path right behind him.

Kind Regards,

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