Chapter Text
Walking down the hallway, Jon felt sick. He just went through Sansa’s magical portal to come into the Stark castle, Winterfell was its name, as he remembered the map he had studied the night before.
He could not even pay attention to his surroundings because of how nauseous he felt. Everytime he used some kind of portal, it was as if his guts were swirling inside him.
“I hate portals”, he groaned, pushing back the loose curls that fell in front of his eyes. Jon shook his head, trying to get himself together after going through that fucking portal. His eyes were closed when he heard a low chuckling. He knew that laugh, he knew he heard it before. It was a sound reminding him of home . But Jon didn’t have a home. The only place he might have considered home was Castle Black and even there, his time was blurry.
“Jon?” he heard Sansa say. “Jon Snow?” she called again, sounding almost worried.
When he opened his eyes, they were met with bright blue ones. Sansa was looking straight at him, smile on her lips, she seemed amused by his reaction. She’s.. not worried. That alone made him crack a smile of his own.. Being a witcher, a mutant, as some would say, the first thing people would assume about him was that he didn’t possess the ability to feel, didn’t show emotions or basically a monster with only thoughts of killing. He had emotions and he had feelings too even thoug they were difficult to show. He was a contract killer and hunter, yes, he needed to be this way sometimes but there was still a human inside of him. Or so he hoped.
And right now, he could only feel her smile and her eyes toward him. It felt so strange, and yet so familiar.
“Sorry, I just hate…”
“Portals, yes I know. So much for being an all powerful mutant.” she giggled a bit before catching herself, and a stern look replaced the smile on her face once again.
“You know?” He frowned, he was much more curious about this now. It seemed like this sorceress knew much more than what he believed she did.
“I...,” she paused and looked away for a second. He didn’t understand her reaction but did not press on the matter. He had a feeling it was better this way for now. “I will explain in due time. For now we should see to my brother’s problem. Please follow me.”
They walked silently in the hallway, Jon took this chance to pay more attention to the interior of the castle. It didn’t look as familiar as it first felt. It looked like the Starks were making renovations to their home, he took note of important cracks on the walls that could be that could easily be noticed. Jon had heard the family had barely survived the war and he wondered how the castle was hit inside, maybe it was just old, but these fissures were not caused by old age, he had seen cases like this before where nobles were attacked inside of their own house by some creature. Maybe that’s why King Robb needed him. He may need to search the walls more intently after his meeting with the King.
They finally stopped in front of a wide black door. Two men were guarding it, Sansa told them something in a hushing tone. One of the two men stepped to the side to open the door.
They introduced him as the White Wolf. Sansa went forward, Jon followed her walking figure with his eyes. She stood behind her brother, her expression did not really change, she was so serious it made him miss the moment they had just in the hallway before. That was so quick, he wondered for a second if he could have another time with her.
Before he could think of anything else, or even bow for that matter, the King rised from his seat and went straight to him. He was smiling, a big broad smile he swore he had seen before. Jon examined the man before him, he was tall -taller than he was- , he was wearing what seemed to be expensive clothes but they were all from every shade of grey which made him look none of his noble blood. But his curly copper hair was what made him awe a bit.
What’s with this family being so familiar ? Jon thought. He did not reciprocate the King’s smile, he adjusted his swords behind his back feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“Ah Jon Snow, we meet again!” King Robb said, cheerfully. He approached him and clapped his shoulder lightly. “I never thought I would see you again.”
“Brother, Jon Snow does not remember. I have told you this..” Sansa pressed her lips together. Jon looked her way, perplexed. Once again he did not understand.
"Remember what exactly?”
“Oh, right.” Robb grimaced and sighed. “Well that can’t be helped. Let us discuss this after...Jon.. We need you, at least of your witcher skills.”
Jon wanted to ask more but they ignored him. Frustrated, he said almost angrily, “Okay then, it seems you really need me. Let’s talk about money first then you can tell me about that contract of yours.”
Jon was never one to discuss money first, even if he was a witcher and this was his living, he would listen to someone’s story and then judge if the persons involved really needed help. He had a code, not every witcher would act that way of course, but he never pushed people to pay him more than what the contract deserved. He was never greedy.
“You will have everything you want, when you find our little sister Arya. We believe...she’s been cursed.”