[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]

  Third Person POV.Somewhere on North.

  ...

  ...

  Winterfell had been quite busy i moons, ever sihe king had arrived, the Starks had weled the entire royal family with open arms. They had also gathered many southern nobles, as they came to try and join the king's ente, as his stay had been quite long.

  A girl was running through the castle that early afternoon, with a small she-wolf chasing after her. She passed by Winterfell men of her own house, soldiers from other northern houses, and southern houses, mostly Lannisters and Baratheons. Lastly, there were knights from all the realms, who had e to Winterfell hoping to stand out before the king, though there was no tour here.

  Arya Stark, the you daughter of the house, kept running through the courtyard until there were fewer people around her, as she slipped into the more hidden ers of Winterfell.

  "Bran!! You're climbing the tain!!" Arya stopped walking and looked up, seeing the boy hanging there, her younger brother.

  "And you should be with Septa Mordane!" Braed from above.

  "That's true..." Arya grinned mischievously. "e o down from there, a's py! Things have been kind of b tely," she pined as Bran began climbing down at his sister's shout.

  "You left Summer alone again," she accused, seeing the wolf pup, now growing rger, waiting on the ground for his owo desd from his climb.

  "He always waits for me," Bran grumbled and looked over at the other wolf, Nymeria, standing by Arya's side.

  "Anyway, let's go to the godswood," she said as he nodded, and they slipped away before anyone could catch them and scold or punish them.

  "I 't stand being around the queen, her daughter, Sansa, and the others. The talk is s!" Arya muttered.

  "Yes, but there's a feast tonight..." Bran ented.

  "Yes, like three times a week. The king always asks for a party, and father is forced to host it, though he doesn't seem to like it much," Arya said with a smile.

  "Did you hear about the kierday? He was asking about him," Bran said with a curious look.

  "Yes... I still 't believe we had a brother... I barely remember him... I had just turwo when he disappeared from Winterfell, and you weren't even bor," Arya murmured as they walked through the godswood, nearing the small ke by the heart tree.

  "Father never liked him. Mother says he was bad and would have destroyed our house... I still don't uand..." Bran muttered.

  "She says it's because he was a bastard, that he would be bad, but I don't really believe that. However, father really doesn't like talking about him," Arya murmured.

  "That's why we have to ask the king!" Bran said, sharing his idea.

  "He might not know him... but I think you're right. After all, if he asks father to talk about him, no one deny a king's request!" Arya uood Bran's pn.

  They had grown up knowing they had a half-brother as old as Robb, and that he disappeared ht years ago. Lord Stark sidered him dead, despite searg for him at first, but soon gave up after a year with no sightings or news of him anywhere. They hadn't even made a tomb for him.

  Robb had mentioned a few things about him, but they were vague. The only person who could really talk about him was their father. Their mother hated their brother for some reason, which they believed was because he was a bastard and that bastards were evil by nature. She always told them to avoid the subject, forbidding it strictly, but Bran and Arya were always curious.

  The king had asked about Ned's bastard at the st feast. Despite Lord Stark being a bit nervous, he mao avoid the subject, and the king soon fot, distracted by a pretty servant from Winterfell.

  "Let's see if we ask about this brother that Uncle Benjen is the only one who talks about," Bran murmured. After all, Benjen was the only one who didn't mind speaking about Jon Snow.

  "Did I hear my name?!" A voice suddenly called out, making the children look to the side, where their Uncle Beood, smiling at them as his cloak swayed with his approach. Benjen always wore bck.

  "Uncle Benjen!!" Both of them excimed happily.

  "You're hiding here, aren't you?" he said as he came up to them.

  "Yes... but don't tell father!" Arya, who had just turned 10 namedays, excimed.

  "Alright... I'll let you off today... since I'm leaving soon," he said.

  "But already?!" Bran muttered with a sad tone.

  "I've been here for more than a moon... I 't leave my duties behind. Besides... the king will be leaving in the few weeks... your father has accepted to be his Hand in King's Landing," he said, gently tousling both his nephews' hair.

  "He accepted!? So we're going to King's Landing?" Arya excimed, finding the idea exg, eager to finally travel with her father from Winterfell ao the capital of the Seven Kingdoms as if on an adventure.

  "Yes... but that's something you'll have to ask him about," Benjen said.

  "Uncle Benjen, I want to be a knight of the Kingsguard! I'll work hard to bee one!" Bran decred.

  "That's good, I'm sure you'll be one of the fiercest," Benjen said.

  " you tell us more stories about the wildlings? Father's not here to stop you!" Arya said, knowing Benjen was always asked to tell stories about his battles as the First Ranger, but Ned had always been quite strict, saying those stories weren't for children.

  "Of course, since I'm leaving soon, we make an exception," he said, sitting down beside his o start telling them about some of his adventures.

  And so, Benjen tielling them tales of his battles in the godswood, while back at the castle, Lord Stark was in his sor, speaking with some northern lords.

  "So, you've accepted to be the Hand of the King? I'm surprised," Wylis Manderly remarked, as his rge frame barely fit into the chair in front of Ned, while they discussed matters ing White Harbor.

  "Yes... I'll be leaving in two weeks," Ned replied, and Wylis nodded.

  "It seems your son will be in and of Winterfell then. It's about time he took charge. One of my daughters could be the future Lady of Winterfell if you'd allow a unioween our houses," he said, hinting that he hoped Ned would accept a possible betrothal between the Manderlys and the Starks.

  "I'm not sure, my lord. You'll have tive me, after all, Robb is still very young. But we discuss this in the ing years," Ned responded diplomatically, not rejeg the idea but not agreeiher, knowing how important it was for Robb to have a northern wife, which would uhe North behind him.

  "That's a fair response, Lord Stark," Lord Manderly nodded.

  "And are you pnning to leave today, Lord Manderly?" Ned tinued, "I would like you to stay for tonight's feast," he said, hoping his vassal would also enjoy the gathering.

  Though thinking about the feasts often brought a sigh to his lips, as resources had been steadily depleting over the past few weeks to please the king. His wife had enced this at first, as it promoted the marriage between Sansa and the prince, with their e sealed in the early weeks of the visit.

  But now, the resources were running thin, and it would be quite detrimental for House Stark to have their coffers nearly empty, with months of northern tax revenue vanishing.

  "Very well, Lord Stark, I'll stay for tonight's feast," Lord Manderly agreed as he began to rise, preparing to take his leave and allow the Lord of Winterfell to be alone once more.

  ark remained alone in his sor, the silence allowing him to think over many things, one of which was how his life was heading in a dire he had never imagined, as he was about to bee the Hand of the King and serve in King's Landing.

  Initially, he had refused, but he o uncover some suspicious circumstances surrounding Jon Arryn's death. Acc to Catelyn's trusted informant, Jon Arryn had been poisoned, which worried him. Why would someone do such a thing? As the adopted son of the former Lord of the Vale, he wa justice.

  hought about the past for a moment, recalling his youth in the Vale with Robb, the war after hearing the news of his sister's abdu, his elder brother and father killed, and other things that followed. But soon, he pushed those thoughts aside. After all, there was nothing to be done about what had already happened.

  Catelyn was with Sansa, their eldest daughter, w oitg with her direwolf, whom she named Lady, lying at her feet. This displeased Catelyn, but the queen was beside her now, along with Princess Myrcel. Sansa spoke in a dreamy too the queen, asking about her duties and other subjects, as she would one day assume that role.

  Meanwhile, outside that room, Robb was training alongside the Kingsguard uhe watchful eyes of Ser Rodrik Cassel, while the king appuded, seated in a special chair set for him in the courtyard. The king drank stantly, surrounded by a few prostitutes, a sight that didn't please everyohough he didn't care. Barristan Selmy stood beside the king, always ready to act should his king be in danger.

  "e on, Robb! Are you going to lose that easily?" Theon Greyjoy taunted from the side, ughing at his friend, who was struggling against the Kingsguard member the king had requested to train with them.

  Prince Joffrey watched from a dista never participated in the fights, only casting mog gnces. Both Robb and Theon noticed this, but they couldn't say anything.

  "e on, Ned's boy! You do better than that!" King Robert shouted, expeg the boy to fight as well as his father, a warrior who had faced aed the Sword of the M in a duel, albeit with only oness.

  And so, they tiheir training, while elsewhere in the castle, a small boy ran with his wolf.

  "e here, Shaggydog," he murmured, as he followed the giant wolf to the stable, where they found another wolf, the sixth pup of the litter, a white wolf with red eyes that stayed alone most of the time and couldn't even make a sound, due to some issue.

  The wolf had no owner, and their father had wao sacrifice it initially, but they decided to let it live iable, perhaps being a good guardian. The you Stark, Ri, had grown fond of the pup, spending time with him and his own wolf, as Shaggydog always seemed i on io keep his brother pany.

  "You left the castle alone again?" Septa Mordane appeared at that moment iable's doorway, casting a disdainful look at both Ri's wolf and the white wolf. "e along, your mother will be furious if she finds out you've been sneaking out again," she said sternly, while Ri could do nothing but be led away, leaving the white wolf behind as his own wolf followed him inside.

  At Winterfell's entrawo figures approached the gates, or rather, one and a half.

  "Everything's ready for tonight's feast. I 't wait to get drunk and perhaps visit a brothel after the party..." The famous dwarf, Tyrion Lannister, said after a pause. He chuckled, while his brother Jaime looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

  "Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault there are bas all the time, and I've grown to enjoy them," Tyrion tinued with an ironie.

  "You enjoy all the bas," Jaime murmured mogly.

  Tyrion merely smiled at his older brother. "And who could deny a ba?" he said, drawing a smile from Jaime this time, as they walked off together.

  "I 't say the same about the Starks, though. I don't like that family," he added at the end as they ehe castle.

  Far from there, out of sight from everyone, a white mass desded over the Wolfswood. Jon and the dragon, after aire day of travel, finally arrived in the middle of the afternoon. He nded in a hidden spot, waiting for his dragon to remain there while he prepared to finally visit his old home.

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