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“My girl, do not forget to bring in the laundry!”
“Yes, Lady Stark!”
“(Name)! Fetch the wine and bring it to the main hall!”
“At once, My Lord!”
“(Nickname), come play with me!”
“Of course, Lady Sansa!”
“My sword needs to be sharpened. See to it!”
“Right away, Lord Robb!”
This was your daily routine. From the moment you woke, well before the sun touched the sky, you were given order after order. Not that you minded. You carried out each chore with a smile, taking pride in your work.
You’d been living with the noble Stark family for a little over a year since you were found roaming the wilds. You had just barely escaped an attack on your own family, and you’d been on the run for many weeks. You were famished and exhausted when Ned Stark had stumbled upon you, and you could hardly muster up the strength to defend yourself.
However, your fear was misplaced, for you discovered once you’d regained consciousness that the gods had blessed you with another chance. A life that you were eternally grateful for. Catelyn was a wonderful mother figure to you, and Ned had ensured you regained your strength at a wonderful speed. Cat was astonished to discover you were only entering your ninth winter, her heart reaching out to you as if you were her own.
As you reached full health once more, Ned had offered you a place in his home as a future handmaiden for Catelyn. You had accepted the offer with great fervor, promising to be the best handmaiden in the North! That was the first time Ned had ever truly smiled at you, and you made it a point to keep him and the rest of your new-found family happy.
You huffed tiredly as you partially dragged the heavy long sword through the door. You winced as the scabbard scraped loudly against the wooden floor, your small arms whining in protest as you neared the weapon’s owner. “Lord Robb!”
Robb glanced up at you from the book in his lap, a mischievous smile tugging at his mouth. “Ah, finally!” He stood, taking the sword from your hands with ease. “I do hope you didn’t scratch it, you had it for so long!”
You pouted, poking your lower lip out as the eldest Stark child teased you. “I only kept it so long because it was so heavy! You know I’m not as strong as you, I can hardly pick it up myself.”
Robb chuckled at that, drawing his sword from its scabbard. “You never know, maybe one day you could beat me in a battle!”
Before you could bite back a snarky comment, there was a gentle knock at the door. Promptly snapping your mouth shut you felt your heart pounding in your head. You’d sincerely hoped it wasn’t Eddard or Catelyn. You’d be so embarrassed if they heard you speaking to Robb that way! Both you and Robb turned your attention to the door, and you were relieved to find it was neither of your fears.
It was the second eldest son of Eddard Stark, Jon Snow. Lowering his hand from where he knocked, he blinked at the two of you from beneath his dark curly locks. He cleared his throat, a soft sound, before he spoke. “Mother says that supper is ready.”
Robb grinned as he looked back down to you, raising his hand to flick you in the center of your forehead. “We shall continue this later, little sword bearer.”
Placing your hands over your abused forehead, you retorted, “I’ll match you someday, Robb!” Your words fell on deaf ears, however, as the eldest son simply waved you off, brushing past the silent boy in the doorway.
Your eyes then fell on Jon, and a kind smile found its way to your face. You’d spent quite a bit of time with Robb and Sansa, and you even got to play with Arya every once in a while, but you’d hardly gotten to spend any time with the dark haired boy. He seemed absent most of the days, and when he was around he seemed distant.
Skipping up to him, you kept your friendly smile as you opened your mouth to speak. Jon, however, promptly turned from you without a second glance, and walked down the dimly lit corridor. Huffing a sigh, you moved to follow him.
You figured he was heading to the dining hall, but when he took a sharp left and exited the hall you cocked a brow. Was he not going to supper? You’d intended to follow him as well, but upon hearing your name being called from the dining hall, you hesitated.
‘I’ll just find him later,’ you decided, turning to fulfill your duties as a servant to the family.
-*-
After having cleared the table of dishes and goblets, and putting away the remnants of dinner, you sighed happily. Another day gone by, and you were proud of your chores. You’d received constant praise from Catelyn, and that brought you all the happiness you could ever want.
The evenings were your own time to do with as you pleased. You usually roamed the estate, finding the stars in the sky a perfect reward for all your hard work. You munched happily on an end of baked bread, shuffling your feet against the wet sod beneath you.
Your thoughts drifted to the absent Jon, and you began to wonder where he could be. You’d seen him go outside before supper, but he never returned. What disturbed you more is thawed one really seemed to take notice of the empty seat.
A slight sniffing at your hand caused you to still, (e/c) eyes glancing down to find a familiar fuzzy face looking right back at you. “Oh, Ghost!” You knelt down and gently scratched the wolf pup behind his ears. Ghost blinked his big red eyes up at you, nuzzling into your hand that held your half eaten bread.
“Ah, you want this?”
Ghost licked his chops as a response, and you chuckled.
“Alright, on one condition!”
He tilted his head to the side, as if he was questioning you.
“Can you show me where Jon is?”
Without missing a beat, the wolf pup turned and looked up at you, waiting for you to follow. Straightening yourself up, you happily tailed Ghost, a small smile on your face.
He led you inside and up two flights of stairs, through several corridors until you reached the roof of one of the towers. Ghost nudged a large wooden door open with his muzzle, silently leading you out onto the cold cobblestone. You recognized the curls of the boy you had searched for as he sat on a stone wall, his legs dangling off the edge as he overlooked the courtyard.
Kneeling down, you fed the promised bread to Ghost, thanking him silently with a scratch behind his left ear. Receiving a little lick in return, Ghost then trotted over to his owner, reaching up to nudge his hand. Without glancing down, Jon gently ran his hand over the snow white fur of his pup.
Stepping gently forward, you cleared your throat softly. “Jon?”
Your unexpected voice startled him, and he turned to glance over his shoulder at you. He said nothing, only sighing and turning to look forward again.
Wringing your hands nervously in your skirts, you pressed forward. “I didn’t see you at supper… You must be hungry.”
“I’m fine,” his soft voice responded.
“Aha!” You snapped your fingers before shoving your hand into the large front pocket of your tattered apron. Shuffling over to stand next to him, you retrieved a perfectly red apple from your pocket. “Here. It isn’t much, but it’s all I could get from the kitchen.”
Jon’s brown orbs eyed the fruit somewhat disdainfully, “I said I’m fine.”
“Now, now,” you firmly took his hand, placing the apple in his palm, “I know what being hungry feels like, and I don’t want that for you!”
He fell silent, staring at the red fruit in his hand. His voice was soft, barely a whisper above the drifting wind. “Thank you…”
You smiled with pride, pulling yourself up to sit next to him. Dangling your feet over the edge of the wall, you watched as the trees danced in the wind, the night sky stretching as far as the eye could see. Jon took a small bite from the apple, eating in silence next to you.
“You shouldn’t skip supper, you know.”
Jon blinked, looking up at you for a moment before taking another small bite. “I wasn’t wanted.”
It was your turn to stare at him. With a brow raised, you tilted your head. “What? That’s silly, of course you’re wanted! It was so bare in there without you.”
“You seem to be the only one to think so,” he muttered under his breath.
Your smile fell slightly at his somber tone, and you nervously began to braid your (h/c) locks that hung over your shoulder. “Well, of course I think so,” you mumbled, “You’re part of my family, too.”
A stiff chuckle came from the boy, causing you to look over at him. “And tell me, what kind of family would make a member their servant? You’re a handmaiden in training, nothing more.” You winced at the bitterness in his voice, the coldness his words brought.
An uncomfortable silence fell between you, and you prepared yourself for what you were about to say. “I had four brothers, you know. And two sisters.”
This seemed to catch the ten year old’s attention, because he stopped midbite.
“Two of them were twins, my oldest brother and sister. And Ethan was only a year older than me, Nathaniel just two years younger. Brit was barely two,” you chuckled softly, “She was just learning to walk on her own…”
Jon looked to you now, his previously cold eyes gone soft as he listened to you.
“They came in the night, the raiders,” your hands slowed on the braid, a familiar stinging behind your eyes, “They killed my oldest brother first, and it wasn’t even quick… Nadia, my sister, she took me and hid me in the cellar. Told me to be real quiet.”
“(Name), you don’t-,”
“I heard it all. Every scream, every death,” you squeeze your eyes shut, your breath catching in your chest, “I barely got out alive. I thought, ‘If I can get out, if I can leave, I can get help’. But when I left the cellar…” You couldn’t bring yourself to finish your sentence, leaving Jon to piece it together himself.
“I thought I was going to keel over and die on the road,” you continued, your hands now folded in your lap, “I thought I was going to die alone, and there was nothing I could do about it… But then Lord Eddard Stark happened upon me.” A broken little chuckle escaped you, “It was fate, I think.”
Jon’s attention cast back down to his apple, the bites he’d taken already beginning to brown at the edges.
“I don’t mind being a simple servant to this house,” you said, small smile playing on your lips. “I don’t mind because I was given a second chance, and those are few and far between… I have a new mother, a strong father. I have a home I can call my own.” Your eyes trained on the distant treeline, determination burning in them. “I hope I find them one day, the men who killed my family.”
Jon flicked his gaze up to you. “Do you want to kill them?”
You pondered this for a moment, absentmindedly swinging your feet over the courtyard. “No, I don’t think I could bring myself to kill anyone,” you pulled your mouth into your cheek, flattening the creases from your skirt, “I would ask them why.”
Jon snorted, “That’s stupid. I’d kill them.”
You didn’t answer, wanting to stray from the topic of killing. You just let the wind gently whip around you, allowing yourself to smile.
“How do you do that?”
You blinked, glancing over to the brown eyed boy. He was pointing to your single braid, the partially eaten apple resting in his other palm. You consciously picked the braid up from your shoulder, “How do I braid?”
He nodded, his soft face laced in curiosity. You smiled, turning your body to face him. Gently taking the half eaten fruit from his hand, you raised them to your hair. He seemed hesitant at first, but you carefully began to lead him to braid your locks.
“Okay, then you just cross that one over, just like that. Then you pull this one up. And there! You did it!”
He huffed, a small pout on his face. “Yours looks way better than mine…”
Looking down, you saw his braid was messy and uneven, but you smiled brightly at him. “It looks great for your first time, Jon! With some practice, you can do it in your sleep!”
This seemed to bring a ghost of a smile to the young boy’s face, and deep down you felt accomplished. Tucking both braids behind your ears, you handed him back the apple. He held it, gazing down at it as if it was a treasure, as if it were something precious and valuable. “(Name)?”
You didn’t glance up from where you were petting Ghost, but answered anyway. “Yes?”
“Can we,” Jon cleared his throat, glancing off to the side, “Can we do this again? Not soon but… Maybe every now and again.”
You looked up now, a bright, sweet smile on your face. “Of course! I might be busy during the day, but once supper is finished I’m free to do as I wish. And I promise,” you placed a hand over your heart, in a promising manner, “Each time we meet, I will bring you an apple!”
He gave you and odd look. “Why apples? Why not… A sweet roll or a slice of bread with meat?”
You rolled your eyes dramatically, “Because those are expensive, silly. I’d never get to leave the kitchen with something like that!”
Jon nodded, taking another bite of his delicious fruit. “Alright,” he swallowed, giving you a smile, “Apples it is, then!”
You grinned, turning to look at the sky once more. Jon turned and looked, too, choosing to finish his fruit in silence.