They left at midday the following day Jon and a dozen of his closest friends most of whom like him hadn't stepped foot in Westeros in years and for a couple never before.
Jon had wanted to leave as soon as Asher handed him the message but he knew he needed to ensure the legion was in order; he had fought and bled with the men of the Rose and he couldn't just abandon them. With the legion in capable hands and plans in place they left.
They rode for two days and nights before reaching the coast. Salladhor Saan and his fleet still at anchor celebrating their victory.
'Ah the Snow lord going back to the frozen lands of the North, has the sun finally melted you my friend' Salla laughed as he passed Jon a glass of the finest Lyseni wine.
'My family have need of me my friend and I need make haste to my ship in Bravos. I would ask a favour of you' Jon started before being interrupted by the self proclaimed Prince of the Narrow Sea
'There will be no favour Jon I still owe you my life after that little misunderstanding in Volantis. You will have my fastest ship ready within the hour' Saan said more serious than Jon had seen him speak in the three years they knew each other.
True to his word they were at sea within the hour, the Summer Isles Swan Ship gliding through the Shivering Sea.
Less than three days the voyage took before they passed beneath the Titan of Bravos and like so many times before Jon was awestruck at the sheer size and formidability of the giant structure.
Taking him from the memories of the first time Jon had seen the Titan more than six years ago he heard the captain bellowing orders to his crew to prepare to dock.
He didn't delay when they docked simply reminding his men of their tasks while in the city.
While Jon, Nohi Dimittis and Robar Royce had set off for the Iron Bank Gylbert Farwynd and two others had stayed in Ragman's Harbor ensuring that the Laughing Wolf one of the half a dozen ships Jon owned was stocked and the crew were ready to depart when ready.
Torrhen Karstark and five others spread out to the Inns and Taverns that Westerosi usually visited to see could they learn any further details of Bran's illness. Jon hoped that with the amount of Manderly ships in port that someone knew something.
Nyles Rowan and Perwyn Frey headed for the Smiths quarter the latter acting as a guard to the youngest brother of the Lord of Goldengrove. Jon had a number of orders placed with Bravos's finest smith and hopefully the weapons were ready.
'Commander Snow it is a great pleasure to see you again, we were very pleased to hear of your Legions success over Lorath' Bessaro Reyaan one of the Keyholders of the Iron Bank said softly in the luxury meeting room Jon had been brought to upon their arrival to the Bank.
'Thank you my Lord Reyaan, unfortunately I am not here to today to speak on the Legion but for personal matters' Jon said in reply before going into detail on the fact that he would need a large sum of gold and silver for his return to Westeros as well as access to his personal vault.
'Of course that will not be a problem Commander I will see to it that the amount is delivered to your ship before you depart. We had heard that your brother had fallen ill and anticipated that you would wish to be by your families side, as such we gathered some information on his illness. The keyholders also thought that you would appreciate some more information on the Seven Kingdoms at large since it has been several years since you have last been home' Bessaro said softly passing across a stack of papers.
Jon knew the keyholders didn't do anything out of the goodness of their hearts. They provided help now because Jon had deposited and invested a vast amount of gold with the bank. He also suspected that they knew some truths that few knew but that didn't matter for now as Jon's eyes went straight to the pages on Bran and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the words 'Bloody Flux' wrote down.
He left sooner after that stopping only at his personal vault; looking at the chests and artifacts he had gathered over the years he was relieved to see that the small steel box engraved with Valyrian lettering was still where he had left it and its contents undamaged.
Taking the box he made to leave before his eyes were drawn to a large glass jug that depicted a stone man on its top. Remembering something he had heard from a sailer from Driftmark a couple years ago Jon took that as well.
They stayed in Bravos for two nights in total, longer than he had wanted but the weather and the tides couldn't be controlled.
'Gods there's nothing like Northern air' Torrhen Karstark said with a smile on his face as they docked in one of the new piers of White Harbor.
Despite his reservations about being back in Westeros Jon couldn't help but agree; there was something about the clean and crisp air of the North that didn't compare to anywhere else he had been.
Looking around the northern city Jon was happy to see that the city looked to be prospering greatly with dozens of ships at dock or anchored off the coast, the markets overflowing with goods and construction taking place in what was the Wolfs Den.
'You sure you don't want to head to the New Castle and speak with Manderly? He'd only be too happy to send a raven to Winterfell of your arrival and no doubt hold a feast in your honour' Torrhen said as they walked along the dock.
'No I don't want to raise hopes or distract from Bran' Jon said before saying his goodbyes to Karstark and some of the others.
Jon, Robar, Perwyn and Gregory Wode left immediately for Winterfell while Torrhen would lead the others in a day or so with their carts and supplies after Gylbert Farwynd took the ship south.
They rode north beside the White Knife for three days and nights before cutting north west out of the lands sworn to House Manderly into Cerwyn lands for two days passing forests and vast wilderness before finally entering those lands directly sworn to House Stark.
In total it took eight days from White Harbor before Jon saw the massive granite walls of Winterfell appear in the distance.
For the first time in six years Jon was home!
The Dozen who rode with Jon:
Torrhen Karstark – Youngest son of Lord Rickard Karstark
Ser Robar Royce – second son of Lord Yohn Royce
Gylbert Farwynd(the younger) – second son of Lord Gylbert Farwynd(lord of the Lonely Light – Iron Islands)
Nyles Rowan – younger brother of Lord Mathis Rowan
Ser Perwyn Frey – fifteenth son of Lord Walder Frey
Ser Gregory Wode – first cousin to the main branch of House Wode(landed knights) sworn to House Whent
Alister Storm – bastard of House Selmy
Eldon Sand – Bastard of House Allyrion(brother of Daemon Sand)
Jack One Hand – Crownlands sellsword
Red Moon – Freed Unsullied
Nohi Dimittis – Bravosi sellsword
Garin of Volantis – Former slave from Volantis
Notes
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