Chapter 8 : King's Entourage

"Handsome..." That was the only thing on Sansa's mind when the prince of her dreams entered through the gates of Winterfell. Then and there, she knew—this was the person she had been waiting for all this time.

Those muscles, those long golden hair, those striking blue eyes, and by the Seven, that dashing face... For a few seconds, Sansa completely forgot that her uncle Benjen stood right beside the prince.

Her mind didn't have the luxury to even question why the Prince of the Seven Kingdoms would arrive together with her uncle or where the King and the rest of his family were.

No… for Sansa, none of that mattered. She only looked at the man in front of her, feeling her heartbeat rise—so much so that she thought it might burst out of her chest.

And she wasn't the only one under this delusion. Her siblings, her mother, and even the Lord of Winterfell assumed that this person was none other than the Crown Prince himself.

She was flying on cloud nine—until her Prince Charming spoke.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken, my lord. I'm not the Prince." I hastily corrected them, seeing what kind of misunderstanding was brewing in everyone's mind. Even Benjen, standing beside me, was glaring at me like he had just suffered a heart attack.

Unlike his brother, the Lord of the North, Benjen wasn't accustomed to dealing with many lords outside of the North. So, almost immediately, he believed what his brother had assumed.

I could see everyone looking at me with strange expressions, especially Ned Stark, who seemed unable to believe what I had just said. But when I didn't add anything more, he felt a little embarrassed and turned to Benjen, as if silently asking, Who is this?

"He is Thor. He's the reason I came here in the first place. We have a matter of great importance to discuss with you," Benjen said, now just as confused as the others.

I couldn't blame them, though. It must've been my timing—and my looks. With this blond hair, I definitely looked like a Lannister. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself internally, not even realizing that while I was amused by the misunderstanding, a certain girl stood there, gaping.

All her dreams had just plummeted faster than her heartbeat had been racing a second ago.

"He's not the prince?" Arya asked, confused. She had never seen a prince before, but even she could tell that this man looked very much like one. She also noticed her sister making that idiotic face—the one she always had when dreaming about an imaginary knight coming to take her away.

Robb was thinking the same. If this man isn't the prince… Unconsciously, he had now set a high bar for the real one.

Catelyn was now observing the man in front of her even more closely. As a highborn lady, she had met many nobles, but even she had to admit—there was something different about this man. He couldn't be just an ordinary person.

"Pardon me, I mistook you for someone else. I'm Ned Stark, Warden of the North," Ned finally spoke, coming back to his senses.

"I'm Thor Odinson. Glad to meet you, my lord," I replied with a smile. I noticed that he was still looking at me keenly—only the Old Gods knew what those eyes were searching for.

I saw him open his mouth again, clearly wanting to say something, but before he could, a horn was blown, drawing everyone's attention back to the gates.

This time, it was truly the King's entourage. I quickly nodded at Ned Stark before moving to stand beside Benjen. I knew my looks would make me stand out, but I really should have thought of a way to avoid this earlier. Now, there was nothing I could do about it.

As the entire royal entourage entered, a fat man struggled to dismount his horse, needing help from others before making his way directly toward Ned Stark. That was the King himself. Behind him were some of the most iconic figures in this world—the Queen, her children, and her brother, the famous Kingslayer.

I kept my mouth shut the entire time. To maintain a low profile, I stepped behind Benjen, as he was a Stark and belonged in the front.

The King soon began greeting the Stark children, while the Queen made her way forward to have her ego stroked—by making Ned Stark kiss her hand. It had been a long time since I had watched the show, but seeing everything play out live refreshed my memory.

However, I wasn't doing as good of a job of hiding as I thought. Suddenly, the Queen's eyes fell on me, locking me in a tense stare.

I quickly broke eye contact, not wanting to give that crazy woman any reason to make trouble for me. But it seemed like trouble was hell-bent on finding me anyway. I saw the Queen looking at me intently before making her way toward me.

I internally prayed she wasn't coming for me—but all hope was dashed when she stopped right in front of me and raised her hand.

It took me a moment to realize what she was doing. "My Queen, I am not a Stark. I don't deserve—"

"I'll allow it," she interrupted.

I had been trying to escape the predicament, but Cersei immediately shut me down. Gotta admit, now that she was standing this close, she was beautiful. If only she could do something about that permanent scowl on her face.

Unwillingly, I took her hand and softly kissed it.

"Who are you?" It was a straightforward question. She looked directly into my eyes as she asked, and only the gods knew what was going through her mind.

"I'm Thor. Thor Odinson."

Even after I answered, she kept looking at me. Slowly, her scowl morphed into a strange expression—one I couldn't quite recognize.

"How old are you?" she asked suddenly, catching me off guard. Besides my real age being a complicated matter, why did she even care?

"I'm 17..."

"What?" Cersei's eyes narrowed. I had totally forgotten that people here were weird with their numbers.

"Ten and seven name days old, Your Grace," I corrected myself, forcing a small smile to cover up my slip.

She still didn't respond. Instead, she gave me another glance—one that lacked her usual scowl but carried something else entirely—before finally turning around and walking away.

"What was that about?" Benjen hurriedly asked once the Queen was gone.

"I know no better than you do," I shrugged. What could I say? That woman was half-crazy. Best to keep my distance.

Benjen, on the other hand, gave me a hard look. First, his brother mistook the man he had brought as the Crown Prince. Now, the Queen was suddenly taking an interest in him. Benjen didn't like it.

It didn't help that neither he nor the Night's Watch knew anything about me. Well, at 17, I was a man, but calling me a boy wouldn't be wrong. It was just that, unknowingly, I or to be exact Thor carried an aura that made him stand out.

"Ned, take me to her," the King said immediately after greeting his old friend and family. I was just relieved he hadn't noticed me.

"We have been travelling for a moon, my love. Surely the dead can wait," the Queen spat, her scowl returning. She earned a glare from the King for that.

"Take me to her, Ned," Robert completely ignored his wife's complaint and followed Ned Stark.

Cersei looked like she was ready to murder someone. She flashed a fake smile at Lady Stark before marching inside Winterfell with her children.

However, just before she disappeared inside, she turned back—almost startling me—and gave me another strange look before finally leaving.

I won't lie—I was starting to feel uneasy. Mixing with that woman had never brought anyone good fortune. And in my current state with all stats being level 1, I couldn't afford to get caught up in her schemes.

I saw a few more notable people in the entourage, but now that both the King and Queen were gone, I just wanted to get away from all these watchful eyes as soon as possible.

So I just ended up following Benjen and kept my dead down as much as possible, however, again It turn out that I was unwantedly attracting unnecessary attention towards me by just being there. I saw Jaime Lannister looking at me and so was the case with crown prince.