The Calm
Aegon
The merriment was thick in the air, so was the smell of good food and the sound of good music as the band played a cheerful tune. The northerners in the corner of the great hall of the newly renovated Harrenhal were in good voice tonight as they joyfully sang and drank, toasting to their victory earlier that day.
Their mood was contagious as men, women and children took to the dance floor and just enjoyed the moment for what it was.
He smiled as he let his eyes scan the crowd, softly tapping his leg to the beat of the band's tune.
"...so you can see why I wouldn't mind talking to the man, that beautiful creature of his could potentially produce a fine litter." He heard Margaery's brother and his brother in law, Willas say to his other brother in law, Garlan as they sat at a table together.
"Have you spoken to him?" Garlan replied as he took a sip of arbour gold from his goblet. Aegon turned back to the two of them just in time to see his uncle Oberyn slowly making his way towards their table.
Willas shook his head "Not had the chance to I'm afraid, whenever I try to find him, he's nowhere to be found and when I do spot him he seems to be busy. I imagine he'll be even busier now after what happened today." He replied as he looked over the hall towards the table the Starks were currently sat at.
He furrowed his brow "What's this about?" He asked, a slight grin growing on his face as he locked eyes with his approaching uncle.
Garlan turned to him "Willas wants to breed with Snow's wolf." He said as Willas' eyes widened.
His uncle seemed to join the conversation at a completely unfortunate time for his brother in law.
"Aren't you afraid of what people will think of you when they find out?" His uncle said in his thick dornish drawl as he winked at him and patted Willas on the back.
Willas huffed but smiled at his uncle "Prince Oberyn." He said in greeting. Garlan nodded his head at the Prince of Dorne.
Their friendship had always been an odd one, many in the realm expected the heir of Highgarden to hate his uncle after the unfortunate joust that resulted in the Tyrell man having to live with a walking cane glued to his hand for the remainder of his life. Nothing of the sort happened though, Willas seemed to know that Oberyn hadn't hurt him on purpose during their bout and even went as far as to let him know there were no hard feelings.
Ever since then, his uncle and brother in law had sprouted an unexpected friendship. One that most people to this day, still didn't understand.
"I know you have an interest in mutts Willas but I didn't you think you'd resort to taking one as your wife." He heard his uncle reply. He chuckled at his uncle's behaviour whenever he was around him. He knew he really shouldn't but Oberyn was his favourite uncle by a country mile. It wasn't like he had much competition though, he didn't see enough of his uncle Doran due to his ailment confining him to Sunspear and the Water Gardens and the less said about his other uncle the better.
"I think my brother is interested in a different canine to wed Prince Oberyn, the red wolf variety." Garlan said as he grinned into his goblet.
"Don't." Willas replied to his brother in a low tone as he glared at him. Garlan just shrugged his shoulders in response before finishing off his wine.
That glint in his uncle's eye was unmissable, you had two options whenever you were on the receiving end of it, brace for impact, or run. He smiled to himself already knowing that The Red Viper had already sunk his teeth into Willas.
His brother in law closed his eyes and seemed to deflate as Oberyn slung an arm over his shoulders "I thought you and me had something Willas, and here I am, finding out you've been looking elsewhere. You wound me my pretty rose." His uncle said with a grin as he whispered the last part into Willas' ear.
He'd never seen Willas move so fast as he bolted up from his seat "Right, I'm going to go and find grandmother, even a lecture from her is better than whatever this is going to turn out to be." He said as he grabbed his cane and made his exit, not without a few good natured laughs being fired his way.
As soon as he was out of ear shot, he nudged Garlan in the shoulder "Who's this red wolf you speak of? It wouldn't happen to be Lord Stark's daughter would it?" He asked as his uncle made himself more comfortable with the extra space that had been left in Willas' departure.
"The very same. Caught him staring a few times." He said.
He furrowed his brow "I thought he was interested in my sister? I thought it was going well with the amount of times I've seen them talking with each other back at the Red Keep." He replied. He knew his sister was digging her heels in about marriage but he genuinely thought there was some progress there between the two. Her sister could do a lot worse in his opinion.
Garlan huffed "Grandmother is interested in your sister." He said with a bit of humour "Willas said he enjoys your sister's company but doesn't see anything coming from it, said it made him feel dirty trying to force something that your sister was clearly not interested in. Grandmother has had face on with him ever since he told her." He finished with a chuckle as he refilled his goblet.
"My niece knows what she wants, it's the Martell blood in her veins." His uncle added as he sipped from his own goblet, dornish red no doubt.
He looked towards the table his sister was sat at, a group of ladies present at her side including Margaery, Dany and his dornish cousins. The conversation seemed to be lively between them as they drank and laughed, he didn't miss the looks they shot around the hall at the men and women present, or the looks a few of them were sending in the northern group's direction.
He doesn't blame them, the northerners were somehow getting louder and louder as the evening went on.
"...and I'm pretty sure I know what my niece wants." His uncle added as he looked on at the table Rhaenys was sat at.
He raised an eyebrow as he looked at his uncle "You do?" He asked.
Oberyn smirked as he tore his eyes away from his niece and looked at him "Of course I do, not much gets past me my prince." He replied as he took a sip from his goblet.
He seemed to get both of his and Garlan's attention after saying that, it was no secret to the realm that his sister and aunt were awfully hard to impress. His uncle was almost basking in the attention as he made them wait for him to explain. After a few moments of his uncle grinning like a mad man and enjoying his wine, he impatiently motioned for him to continue.
"Well?" He asked.
His uncle's smirk hadn't fallen from his face as he lowered his goblet before turning to Garlan.
"Put it this way, your brother isn't the only one interested in one of them wolves. Where your brother likes the red kind, my niece prefers the white variety." He said as he finished his goblet.
White Kind?
Wait...
"The bastard?" He almost blurted out, completely taken by the news. His uncle quirked his own eyebrow at that.
"You sound surprised, are bastards incapable of anything in general your grace?" He replied, clearly referring to his own daughters. He felt bad almost instantly for his response.
"My apologies uncle, you just took me by surprise that's all." He offered in apology. His uncle waved the whole situation off like it was nothing.
"Are you sure though?" He asked.
His uncle nodded "Positive, your sister isn't very discreet with her appreciation of that boy. I'm surprised nobody else has noticed to be honest." He explained.
His eyes drifted towards the table where the b...the man in question was sat, currently embroiled in what looked like a drinking contest with Lord Umber if the rhythmic banging against the table by the men surrounding them was anything to go by.
Why? Why him of all people?
Yeah, he was easy on the eye, you didn't have to be a woman to notice that and he was clearly an exceptional warrior, Ser Arthur had even vouched for the man's prowess when he'd gone to rib him after the melee had finished.
But that was it. His sister had met plenty of lords and knights who shared those same enticing attributes, what was so special about this one?
He shook his head "I don't get it, what's so special about him?" He said, speaking to nobody in particular.
Garlan swallowed the wine that was in his mouth before answering "Not sure, I mean, he's clearly a very gifted fighter so I suppose that's something. I know Loras is a fan of him, make of that what you will." He said.
Loras? Why was he a fan?
"Both of you limit yourself to only half of what's on offer, you'd understand otherwise." His uncle interjected as he took a lazy sip from his goblet, zero shame as he stared across the hall where Snow was turning his mug over the top of his head to the cheer of the men around him.
He rolled his eyes and huffed "He seems to have caught your attention as well uncle, what would aunt Ellaria say?" He said, fully aware of how open the two of them were with their relationship.
His uncle turned back at him with trouble written all over his face "Your aunt has already asked if we can take him home with us." He said before finishing the contents of his goblet.
He expected nothing less.
He remembered what had happened after his uncle was eliminated by Snow "Uncle, what did you say to him in that yard?" He asked. He looked back towards his sister's table and noticed that not only was she being very obvious with the way she was peaking towards Snow, so too was Daenerys.
Seriously?
His uncle hummed as he refilled his goblet "Not much, just the usual I suppose." He replied with a grin on his face as he slowly looked up at him.
The usual...
He huffed "You flirted with him." He said, it wasn't even question because he knew exactly who his uncle was.
Oberyn just shrugged as he finished filling his goblet, sipping from the top of it where it nearly overflowed "I flirted, he flirted back, we had fun." He replied.
His brow furrowed "Wait...so does he...is he..."
"Does he like fucking men?" His uncle asked, eyebrow quirked. Garlan took an extra-long gulp from his goblet.
He just nodded.
Oberyn huffed as he shook his head "Nah, he's as straight as my cock on a morning. He took my flirting in his stride, I was quite impressed really, you know how I like making men uncomfortable with the things I say." He replied with a grin as he caught Garlan finishing his wine in one go.
He rolled his eyes.
Never change uncle.
Garlan clapped him on the back before rising from his seat "And with that, I bid you both farewell, your grace..." He said as he nodded at him "Prince Oberyn." He finished with another nod, his uncle lifted his goblet in the air bidding him farewell before bringing it down to his mouth.
He looked back at his sister's table, for once, her and Dany weren't staring towards the northerners, they were in some sort of conversation with his wife.
He took a big swig from his own goblet as he stared at her, she'd been wearing that dress all day, the one that squeezed all of the right places on his wife's perfect physique. She'd been a little embarrassed by the silver lines that had been left on her body after the birth of their baby girl but he was quick to reassure her.
She'd earnt them, bringing that little girl into their lives.
His cock strained uncomfortably against the leather of his breeches, the idea of what they could get up to tonight enough to cause such a reaction.
"Oh dear." He heard his uncle say, he tore his eyes away from his wife and looked at him in confusion before looking to where his uncle was looking.
Lord Edmure had just entered the hall with determination in his stride and an awful looking black eye. I suppose that was what you ended up with when a knee is driven into your face.
"This should get interesting." He heard his uncle say. And he was definitely right with the way the heir of Riverrun approached the northerners, more specifically, Snow.
The sound of merriment slowly reduced to a murmur as everybody noticed what was happening, the harsh scrape of a chair making a few people jump as Snow rose to his feet with nothing but a cold look on his face as he eyed the approaching Riverlord.
Fuck me, he felt that glare from here and it wasn't even aimed at him.
It would seem Lord Edmure had felt it as well as his determined stride slowed down, almost to a standstill. Aegon looked towards the head table to see what his father's reaction was to all of this, to his surprise, he just looked on with undisguised interest.
He looked back at the scene in front of him and noticed the heir of Riverrun slowly walking backwards before he turned around and approached the table the ladies were sat at.
He bowed in front of his sister and held out his hand to her "Your grace, would you do me the honour with this dance?" He said. He already knew his sister had to agree to it, denying a dance with him would definitely cause problems in the future. It was why there was no surprise on his face when she nodded and took the man's hand.
Lord Edmure had an annoying smirk on his face as the two of them headed towards the dance floor, a smirk aimed right at Snow. Unfortunately for the Riverlord, his sister's polite smile screamed of how unimpressed she was with the whole thing.
"What a penis." He heard his uncle say as the volume of the hall grew when the band moved onto their next song.
He chuckled, he couldn't for the life of him disagree.
Maybe Snow wasn't the worst his sister could do after all .
The alternative was attempting to lead her through a simple dance and making a poor attempt at it.
Maybe Snow knocked something out of place when he kneed him in the head. He mused.
He looked back at Snow as he looked on at Rhaenys and Lord Edmure, a cold look of indifference on his face.
What a shame, he clearly had everything Rhaenys wanted in a husband if the way he caught her attention was anything to go by.
Everything but a name to give her.
Jon
He masked his grimace well as Greatjon bellowed out with that laugh of his, way too early for such a volume of noise to hear. What made it worse was the horrendous feeling he had after last night's festivities, he may have been able to keep up with Lord Umber but he was definitely feeling the consequences this morning.
The copious amount of booze he'd drunk last night had served its purpose though, it had made the feast bearable, well, of what he could remember of it that is.
It wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done, using alcohol to help him through the night wasn't ideal by any means. Still, it'd done its job perfectly, it wasn't his idea of a good time, a room full of family, one side of it including a man pretending to be his father and a woman who had not hidden her hatred of him all night. The other side of his family weren't even aware of his existence, well, apart from his grandmother, who he'd caught a few times keeping an eye on him, probably silently judging him.
And then the trout's little brother had turned up with a chip on his shoulder and another eye he wanted blackened.
It was a depressing thought but that pisswater they call ale down here was his best friend last night.
He held a hand over his eyes and squeezed his temples with his finger and thumb to ease the pressure in his head, he could feel every beat of his heart through the pulse that went through his skull. His futile attempt to roll his eyes as Greatjon asked him if he wanted any ale resulted in even more suffering on this bright morning.
"Rough night? HA!" Lord Umber asked from his seat where they were sat as they broke their fast. He just looked back at him unimpressed.
"How are you okay this morning? You drank as much as me...I think." He replied as he finished off his cup of water. That was his fourth cup already this morning, it was nearly enough to end his throats suffering, a throat that felt as dry as a dornishman's sandal.
Greatjon chuckled "I've been doing it for years lad, plus I do have half a foot or so on ya." He replied as he, to Jon's horror, poured himself another mug of ale. He just looked at him stunned and shook his head.
"So! What's your plan for today...champ." Lord Umber said as he took a sip from his mug, the last part said with a smirk.
"Nothing. I need to recover from last night." He replied almost instantly. Nothing was getting done today, preferably alone. He was hoping Ser Arthur's comment about the attention he would no doubt get for beating him was false but if the few times he was approached yesterday after the melee was anything to go by, the legendary knight was correct.
Ser Arthur was by far, the second best swordsman he'd come against, the stories about him being the best were absolutely true, the knight was insanely sharp with his actions and his mind.
But Jon was better, he had Master M to thank for that.
The real question though was why did he have to go and beat the man? He knew he'd hate the attention it brought.
Stupid male pride. He mused. That and he owed it to Ser Arthur to show him his best. He wouldn't have appreciated it if he'd held himself back and neither would Master M, he'd taught him better.
He missed Master M, he missed Gerry.
"I'll leave you to your day of rest then lad, though, I'm not sure of how much of that you're gonna get." Greatjon said as he eyed something over Jon's shoulder.
He turned and looked at whatever had caught the man's attention, instantly noticing a group of lasses whispering to each other and sneaking looks his way.
His groan was almost reactive.
He grabbed Lord Umber's arm as the older man rose from his seat "I didn't mean it, take me with you, I beg you." He pleaded. Greatjon just laughed at him as his arm fell.
"No can do I'm afraid lad, I've got a meeting with your Lord father, I get to see how you winning yesterday affects my coffers. Hell, there might be a full keg of northern ale coming your way courtesy of the Lord of Last Hearth HA!" He said before walking away, leaving Jon alone at his table. The mention of his uncle sobering his mood.
He had to get away before anybody even got a chance to approach him, so he finished off whatever was left in his cup and stood up, he checked his back to make sure his swords were still present before briskly making his way out of the northern camp without looking back.
The markets were a no go, he wasn't in the mood for being shouted at as merchants tried to sell him shit he knew he never needed. The practice yards would be even worse, people would be relentless with their need to test their mettle against him after yesterday. He'd probably end up a source of entertainment as people betted on the result of his spars.
Arya and Sansa were having lessons with their septa, Bran and Rickon were having lessons with the Blackfish and Ghost the little shit had fucked off into the woods after he'd stolen Jon's last sausage at breakfast. His options were very limited.
He couldn't really walk up to the castle and request to see his grandmother again either, questions would definitely be asked and suspicions would be raised tenfold.
They'd probably think we were doing something we shouldn't be. He thought, amused at the idea of such a thing.
There was someone he could see though, somebody he'd not spent time with in a while. With his decision already made, he changed the direction he was mindless walking in and made his way towards the banks of the God Eye. A brisk walk along those banks would get him to the woods Ghost had bolted towards and further in those woods he'd be able to see if he could get away with seeing her.
He chuckled as he looked on the bright side, if she was spotted it would sure as shit pull the attention away from him.
And probably cause mass hysteria in the process.
Lost in his thoughts, he nearly missed the voices he could just about hear from where he was walking along the bank.
"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" He heard somebody shout. He looked in the direction it came from and noticed a group of boys in the lake, clearly enjoying the cool water of it to counteract the hot day they were inevitably going to get.
Well, not all of them, one of the boys was stood on the bank fully clothed and looking very uncomfortable.
"What's he doing Dickon? Is your brother simple or something?" He heard a different voice shout from within the group of boys in the water.
The boy stood on his own seemed to cringe if his face scrunching up was anything to go by.
The closer he got to the group, the more he started to realise what was going on. The one-sided conversation that seemed to be happening between the boys in the water and the boy on the bank making it rather difficult for him to just ignore.
"Hey! Piggy! Are you coming in or are we gonna have to come and drag you in?" Another boy said as the group around him started laughing at the boy's expense. All of them apart from the one he assumed was the boy's brother.
What a shit brother.
Unfortunately, Jon couldn't disagree with some of the things the boys were saying, this boy, or Sam as one of them had said, was a little bit on the large side. But it still didn't mean they had to act the way they were towards him the fucking cowards. The brother wasn't saying any of the cruel things but neither was he standing up for his brother.
If somebody was making fun of Bran or Rickon, bones would be broken.
"Piggy's got an admirer, look." He heard one of them say as he approached the group. A snooty nosed little cretin with a head of dirty blonde hair the culprit of the jape.
The image of Kireina approaching the group and annihilating them from existence until they were nothing but a thin film of viscera and dust floating on the water's surface was a disturbing yet amusing picture in his mind's eye. The chuckle he let out obviously didn't sit well with one of the pricks in the water.
"What are you laughing at pretty boy?" The same boy who'd called Sam piggy.
His eyebrows raised at that and he pointed at himself wondering if it was him they were talking about.
"Me?" He replied with his grin still plastered to his face. He could already see a few of them were getting annoyed with him.
"Yes you, are you simple like him as well?" The blonde little prick replied as Jon moved next to Sam. The large boy was looking at him with a little fear.
He shrugged his shoulders as he eyed the group of boys, a few of them clearly recognising him from yesterday as their eyes widened. It would seem the reputation he'd gained wasn't all bad after all.
Instead of replying to his question, he turned to the boy stood next to him and held out his hand.
"Jon Snow." He said as he received a handshake back.
"Sam...Tarly, Samwell Tarly Ser." The boy replied, rather nervously if his sweaty palm and the slight tremor in his voice when he replied was anything to go by.
He huffed and shook his head "I'm not a knight Sam." He replied, amused by the sight of the boy blinking in surprise.
"Oh?...Why's that?...I mean, if you don't mind me asking." Sam replied. At the edge of his peripheral vision, he could see that a couple of the boys in the water were getting a little annoyed with the way he'd blanked them, the exact thing he wanted from this situation.
"I'm not a knight cos I was never knighted." He answered. Over Sam's shoulder, he noticed Ghost slowly emerge from the woods he was just heading for until he was interrupted.
This is gonna be interesting.
"When you put it that way, I suppose that is a good reason." Sam replied with a smile, the boy seemingly getting more comfortable with his presence. The same couldn't be said of the group still in the water.
"Why the fuck are you still talking to h..." The same blonde cunt shouted in their direction before he was cut off by one of his little buddies who bumped him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear.
He could pinpoint the exact moment of realisation when the blonde prick's eyes widened.
He smirked.
"What was that?" He asked in a light voice, the blonde lad looking nervous all of a sudden.
Wonder why that was?
All he got back was a quiet "nothing" in reply, a few of them stiffening up when they clapped eyes on Ghost who was slowly approaching behind Sam.
He should warn Sam of Ghost but a wicked part of him kind of wanted to see the boy's reaction.
Jon tried to think back but for the life of him, he couldn't remember anyone yelping the way Sam did when Ghost walked around him to approached Jon.
"Oh my!" Sam stuttered out as Ghost walked past both of them and approached the pile of clothes that, if he had to guess, belonged to the five boys that were currently still paddling in the water.
Oh dear.
Ghost walked around the pile of tunics and breeches whilst sniffing them before cocking is back leg up and relieving himself all over them.
He was getting a little concerned with how perceptive Ghost was getting. Eventually, all it would take was Jon to be a little annoyed with somebody before Ghost would take it upon himself to piss on them.
"Hey!" One of the boys in the water said as Ghost finished his business before walking up to him and sitting. He looked in the wolf's eyes and saw how proud he was of himself.
He made Sam jump as he put his arm around his shoulder "C'mon Sam, I think we might have over stayed our welcome." He said as they both started walking away from the group.
"What do you do for fun Sam?" He asked as they made their way back towards the castle grounds.
"Oh, well I like to read. I doubt that that's your idea of fun." He joked.
He looked at him and raised an eyebrow "You calling me stupid Sam?" He replied.
Sam instantly realised his mistake "Oh...no, I mean...I mean you're a fighter, everybody who was at the melee yesterday knows that. I apologise." He rushed out as he looked down.
He squeezed his shoulder "Don't worry about it, I'm just messin' with ya." He replied with a smile as they both witnessed Ghost walking off ahead.
Sam looked at him and smiled at that "Thanks for that back there by the way. You didn't have to." He said. He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled at him.
"I know." He said in response. "Now, let's go and see if they'll let us in the castle library, we should find some peace and quiet there." He suggested. Sam nodded in response.
Unaware to Jon and Sam, a Kingsguard along with his charge and the group of ladies she'd brought with her for a picnic brunch had just witnessed the whole situation from under the shade of the tree's nearby.
Rhaella
"Lord Tarly had some choice words this afternoon during one of our meetings." Rhaegar said to her from where he was sat. The whole family were in attendance for tonight's quiet dinner as opposed to yet another feast in the great hall.
Not the whole family, they were missing one. She was reminded by her thoughts.
She looked up from the smoked trout on her plate and looked at her son "Hmm, anything of importance?" She asked before washing the taste of fish from her mouth with a sip of arbour gold.
Nothing near as important than what I'm dealing with right now, that's for sure.
Her son shook his head and waved his fork before cutting into his own dinner "Just a little annoyance due to an incident earlier today, just boys being boys that's all." He replied. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her daughter lower her head before reaching for her goblet.
Seventeen years later and she still doesn't comprehend how little her mother missed. Nervous ticks, mood changes, everything, she doesn't miss a thing when it comes to her children and grandchildren.
She still had to learn a bit when it came to another grandchild of hers but if the initial meeting with him was anything to go by, it wouldn't take her long. He shared a lot of habits that his father had, the rest was all wolf's blood from his mother.
That dragon blood and wolf's blood was a potent mixture, she'd almost seen an example of it last night when Lord Edmure had decided to wake the dragon within her grandson. The ice cold look he'd given the heir of Riverrun must have brought the fire burning inside him down to a simmer. She wasn't naïve though, if it was just the two of them in an empty room with no witnesses, Lord Edmure would be walking out of it with the other side of his face broken, a perfect match for black eye he'd been sporting since the melee.
Courtesy of the champion himself, her grandson. To say she was impressed by what she'd seen in that event would be the ultimate understatement. Pride, nothing but shining pride at seeing her own flesh and blood make a mockery of plenty of well-known names bar Ser Arthur. Even the Sword of the Morning looked perplexed as to what or who he was fighting when he inevitably faced her grandson, Jon had been clearly tempered and sharpened completely differently to the men who he'd shared that yard with.
A story for her to hear about in the future. She mused.
"Mother, what do you think is the best course of action? Personally, I think I need to get both sides of the story before any decision is made." Rhaegar said as he lifted his fork to his mouth and looked at her waiting for an answer.
She shook her head, annoyed with herself with how distracted she'd become ever since'the news' " What's that dear?" She replied as she pierced a piece of her own fish and popped it into her mouth. Hopefully he didn't notice how distracted she'd become lately.
He huffed before taking a sip from his goblet, he looked over the rim of it directly at her like he was measuring up his response. She knew he wanted to ask her what had gotten her so distracted lately but her son was smart enough to know that he wouldn't get an answer from her. She looked back at him and quirked an eyebrow waiting for him to open his mouth.
He cleared his throat as he placed his goblet back on the table "Lord Stark's son," He said, she hid the way she stiffened up at the mention of him well "...Ser Barristan was quick to corroborate with Lord Tarly's accusations, apparently the boy's pet relieved itself all over the belongings of Lord Tarly's son and a few of his acquaintances who were taking a dip in the lake." He explained to her. She didn't miss the quiet chuckle from her other son or the way Rhaenys hid her pleading look from her father.
How does she play this?
"Have you spoken to the boy about it?" She asked.
He shook his head "I haven't yet no, but it would be Lord Stark I would be having words with. His son will have to chain his wolf, we can't have it roaming around harassing people. Lord Stark will no doubt understand." Rhaegar explained before lifting another piece of fish to his mouth.
She saw Daenerys turn and scowl at Ser Barristan before turning back to the table and looking at Rhaegar "Did Ser Barristan explain why Jon's wolf peed on those brat's belongings? I was there with a few ladies in waiting by the way, how do you think Ser Barristan knew about what had happened in the first place?" She asked, fire present in her gaze. She noticed Ser Barristan lower his eyes to the ground.
So its Jon now is it?
Rhaegar seemed to miss that and looked towards Ser Barristan for a bit more clarification.
"Care to explain a bit more in depth what happened Ser Barristan?" Her son asked.
The veteran knight sighed and clearly tried to avoid her daughters fiery gaze as he looked at his King.
"There was a situation occurring your grace, Lord Stark's son seemed to interfere." He explained. Daenerys head swivelled back around to look at her brother.
"They were teasing and harassing someone brother, Jon stepped in and helped him. It should be them being reprimanded, not him." Her daughter explained passionately. She knew her daughter was a champion of the smallfolk back at home, handing out food and coin to the homeless, visiting the city orphanage along with Margaery, so it wasn't a surprise to anyone that she felt this way.
She looked at her son to see his reaction and it was like something had clicked in his mind.
"I'll have a word with Lord Tarly tomorrow so I can get his son's side of the story whilst subtly reminding him that lying to the King is not in his interests." Rhaegar concluded before taking a large sip from his wine.
Daenerys was taken back with how easy that was "Really? That's...good, that's good." She replied, nodding to herself before returning to her own dinner. She didn't miss Rhaenys' sigh of relief.
Honestly, she had to agree with her daughter, it was very surprising that it was that easy to convince her son of the truth. She looked back across to their King and noticed he was holding his Queen's hand on the top of the table. Elia had a soft smile on her face.
She'd heard the stories about Lyanna from the pair of them, how she was a no-nonsense wolf spirit who you didn't want to make an enemy out of, how she'd chased a group of squires away from one of her father's bannermen who was being harassed with nothing but a stick and a bark. Daenerys' brief story about Jon seemed to invoke some of those memories between the two.
Lyanna's son invoking memories of Lyanna herself, the sheer irony of the situation almost caused her to laugh at the table.
The situation wasn't funny though. She doubts anybody would be laughing when it all came out.
That was a sobering thought.
"So mother, been up to anything interesting today?" Rhaegar asked, smiling at her as he waited for her response.
Trying to come up with a plan where you don't declare war on the North when you find out what Lord Stark has done.
She shook her head "You know me son, when you get to my age, everything you do seems rather boring to the ears of the younger generation." She replied with a slight grin. Her son chuckled and shook his head.
"You'll never be boring to me mother." He replied sincerely.
Ned
"Shall we begin?" Catelyn said from the other side of the table they were all sat at. Their dinner had been plated out, a mixture of freshly caught fish and vegetables laid steaming on their plates in front of them.
"We have to wait for Jon." Arya said stubbornly from her seat, an empty plate sat next to her where her brother should be sat.
Catelyn huffed "If we wait any longer Arya, the food will go cold. He's a grown man, if he wanted to be here, he would have arrived on time." She tried to explain.
It was an innocent explanation on the surface but to anybody who knew how Catelyn felt about Jon, there was a deeper lying meaning to it.
Before any more words could be said, mainly from an annoyed looking Arya, the flap of their tent was opened by one of the guards minding it, a breathless looking Jon entering swiftly after.
He moved across to sit next to Arya who was smiling as soon as her brother entered the tent. He mussed her hair and sat down next to her before reaching across the table to fill his plate and mug. He finished by taking his cloak off and sitting back down in his seat with a sigh.
Catelyn looked at him in annoyance "We've been waiting for some time." She gritted out.
Jon looked up from his plate and looked at her with little interest "My apologies." He said before taking a sip from his mug. Ned missed the look Jon shot his way when he took a sip from his own mug.
"What have you been up to?" He asked in the hopes of actually getting a conversation out of him, something he'd struggled with ever since he'd returned from the wall.
Jon shrugged his shoulders as he shovelled a fork full of veg into his mouth "Not much, just went to see a friend that's all." He said with a mouthful. He could already feel Catelyn's annoyance building and bad table manners weren't going to help with that. To Jon though, it looked like he couldn't care less what Catelyn thought of him and it had been like that ever since he'd returned back to Winterfell a few months ago.
"Anybody we might know?" He asked as he placed a fork full of fish into his own mouth.
Jon seemed to look into his soul as he chewed his own food, it looked like he was mulling over his response. He took a long drag from his mug before replying.
"Kireina." Was his single word response.
His brow furrowed "Kireina?" He said as he shook his head "Somebody new you've met?" He asked.
Jon shook his head, those dark curls of his bouncing as he did so "I've known her for a while now." He replied, Arya's head snapping towards him quick enough to do herself harm.
"Her? Why have I never met her?" She said before putting a mouthful of greens into her mouth.
Jon chuckled and ruffled her hair, Arya batted his hand away and glared at him with a slight grin on her face "Don't worry little wolf, you'll meet her sooner or later." He explained. Arya just pulled a face before returning to her dinner.
Jon doesn't really speak to girls, as much as they wished he would. Whoever this Kireina was, she must be somebody special to be regarded as a friend by Jon. It would also explain why he always seemed to spurn the advances of the fairer sex, the boy was spoken for. It would also explain his random disappearances, he just hoped Jon hadn't dishonoured the girl. He knew he shouldn't worry about it but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility, men did stupid things after all. He was a prime example of that.
He had to be careful with the way he worded what he was about to say.
"Have you met her family yet Jon?" He asked before taking a drag from his ale, waiting for the lad's response.
Jon looked at him for a second before answering.
"No."
He nodded as he ate his dinner "Do you plan on meeting them?" He asked a few seconds later.
The moment Jon's brow furrowed, he knew he'd misstepped.
"What are you implying?" Jon asked as he shook his head. The idle chatter around the table had come to a halt as everyone took notice of their conversation.
He shook his head "I'm not implying anything son, I'm just interested with what your intentions are with this girl." He replied. Midway through that sentence, Jon almost broke his mug with how hard he was gripping it.
"My intentions?" Jon replied. It wasn't a growl per say but it was as close to it. "What makes you think I intend to do something with her?" He asked.
He was losing him, he needed to keep it civil "Nothing, my mistake. It's just odd to hear that you'd befriended a girl that's all, even you have to admit you rarely talk to them." He explained, giving Jon a smile to show he was being sincere. To his delight, it seemed to work as Jon nodded back at him with his own smile.
"Maybe I've changed, we're all capable of it aren't we? Sometimes change is needed, caused by the mistakes we made in the past, wouldn't you agree?" Jon asked, the look he gave him looked innocent but there seemed to be more meaning behind it. He just nodded in response.
The rest of the dinner went off without a hitch and eventually, after Catelyn had ushered the children out of the tent after the meal was over, him and Jon were the only ones left in the tent. The silence between them was almost deafening, the sound of crackling wood from the lit brazier was almost comforting against the awkwardness.
Each of them had a mug of ale that they were nursing, the awkwardness between them was at an all-time high, something, at that very moment, he decided to attempt to fix. He knew it would be a slow process but it was needed, he missed his son.
Before he could open his mouth, the air around him became almost unbearable to breathe in, a foreboding sense of dread built in the pit of his stomach. All caused by the four words Jon uttered to him in a determined tone.
"We need to talk."