378 STARK TRUTH PART TWO

The walk to the Great Hall for the evening meal was a weird one. Everyone looked at me with a mix of both pity and pride. I ignored the looks and greeted everyone like usual, with a word, a nod, or a small wave, and entered the Great Hall through the main doors.

The place was packed with people, unlike every other time I arrived, because I was usually first. It was also a surprise to have the third table full of other people. They were a mix of the apprentices and workers of the keep, leaving my sole seat unoccupied for me to sit down.

As I walked around the table, a few of the braver boys patted my arm or back. Again, their faces were a mix of pity and pride, then one of the girls near my seat blushed and tried to look at me in the face. I had to clamp my mouth shut when I realized it was Mikken sitting there.

I gave her a smile and sat down beside her. “I kept it, you know.”

“Wh-what?” Mikken asked, surprised.

“The bread you make for me. I ate the underside and kept the top crust.” I told her and she really blushed. “I wasn't going to waste the present you gave me, Mikken.”

“J-Jon, you... why... couldn't you be older?” Mikken asked.

I chuckled at her prompting me to do what I did the last time she said that. I glanced around and saw nearly everyone staring at me, so I decided to screw propriety and leaned in and kissed her cheek. Nearly all of them made surprised sounds, especially Catelyn, Sansa, and Arya.

“It wouldn't be fair to you to make you wait for so many namedays for me to catch up to you.” I told her and everyone else. “We know it can't happen, because as I gain namedays, so do you.”

Mikken sighed and nodded. “After I heard what you said, I... I only... wanted to...”

I chuckled and leaned against her shoulder slightly and sat up straight to tell her the truth. “I'm sorry, Mikken. Your fair skin was not the first these lips have touched.”

Gasps came from all the women and girls, clearly scandalized. You could almost see the thoughts going across their faces as they considered what I had been doing with all the girls around the keep.

I laughed at the reaction and pointed at the main table. “Lady Arya's forehead, at least once a week, since we started sharing lessons nearly a year ago.”

Rickard Karstark at the next table laughed and slapped the table. Several other men and boys also laughed at me pulling a good joke. Most of the women still looked scandalized; but, the younger women and the girls all looked relieved, especially Sansa's recently gained commoner friend, Jeyne Pool.

I mean, I was nearly 8, so I shouldn't even be considered for things like that... and then I remembered I was in a medieval society that usually had betrothal marriages from young ages. Sometimes they had them at ten, twelve, and fourteen years of age, depending on the needs of the lord of the lands, the favors or promises between him and his bannermen, other lords, and sometimes the king himself.

Mikken beside me let out a girlish giggle and gave me a look. She glanced at the girl next to her, then leaned in to me and kissed my cheek back. “Then I'll claim that kind first.”

I smiled and bowed my head slightly. “You have, since no one else has done so. Thank you.”

Mikken smiled back and the food was brought out. Gretchel gave her a very pointed look after putting down an actual platter of food in the middle of the table instead of serving me a single plate like usual, then she leaned down to kiss my cheek and made the other girls at the table titter and giggle.

“You're too late!” One of them said, excitedly. “Mikken claimed his first cheek kiss already!”

Gretchel let out a sigh. “I knew there was a reason you made extra bread today.”

I gave Mikken a questioning look and she nodded.

“The matron kicked me out of the kitchen because I was done early.” Mikken said, a little proudly.

“Heh, smart.” I said and she blushed with a huge smile on her face. I looked up at Gretchel and smiled at her. “Thank you as well, fair maiden. I appreciate your attention, even if it is wasted on a youngling like myself.”

The boys at the table laughed and the girls looked pleased.

“Wasted, he says!” One of the boys said. “Wait til he gets to the courtyard after supper!”

I turned my head to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“It's all over the keep, innit?” He said and picked up a strip of venison to place on his split bun of bread. “No one can call you the skipped over little lord anymore, eh?”

“Skipped over?” I asked and then chuckled. “Yes, you're right. I always would have been.”

“Ya, an' everyone knows it, and now they knows you gave it up.” He said and added some green leaves to his bread and then picked it up and started eating it.

“You pledged it in front of the old gods, too.” Torrhen said from the next table. “Everyone's talking about it.”

I nodded, because gossip always spread faster than light, no matter where you were. “I was there paying my respects and it seemed like the right thing to do.” I told him and a lot of the people around us smiled. Being pious wasn't expected; but, being genuine about it when you were, especially to the old gods that they also respected and worshipped when they could, made them all happy to hear about it.

I started eating and Mikken's hand might have rubbed mine a few times, totally by accident of course, and she kept whispering about what else she could sneakily do before Gretchel called her out on it. That gave me an inkling of what Mikken had caught Gretchel doing a couple days ago to make the girl pass on such an embarrassing message to me.

The conversations were a mix of everything, from normal work, to how difficult some of the apprentices had it, like Gretchel and Mikken in the kitchens, and the soldiers guarding the gates and the ones guarding the Karstarks while they were outside of their own keep.

The meal came to an end before I realized it, because I had been caught up with talking with everyone. It had been such a change to my normal meals that I hadn't been prepared for how enjoyable it was to have so many people to talk to. The others looked as disappointed as I was when the snack foods and barrels of ale were brought out.

“Hold here for a moment or two.” I said a little loudly as I stood, which stopped the younger ones from getting up and following their minders that were supposed to take them from the room before it became roudy.

Everyone watched as I walked over to the head table, bowed my head to Ned, ignored Catelyn, closed my eyes instead of looking at Sansa, and then smiled widely at Arya and winked at her to make her laugh.

“I'll be busy for Lady Sansa's nameday next week, so I decided to present her present to her right now.” I said, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Surprisingly, everyone returned to their seats and sat down as a deep silence fell in the room. Both Sansa and Catelyn looked shocked and I ignored them as I walked over to the servant's entrance and stepped out, then I pulled out my heavily modified and enchanted guitar from my inventory.

I took a deep breath and let it out, then pulled out a high stool as well. I carried both back into the Greta Hall and everyone started whispering. None of them, not even the people that knew me, had any clue I could play a musical instrument.

“I've been practising in secret for a long time.” I said, truthfully.

I put the stool in the middle of the hall and sat on it, then plucked a few strings to make sure the thing was still tuned perfectly. It was, so I gave it a few strums. The sound echoed a little, so I would have to be careful about not strumming too hard. The reverberations could ruin the tempo.

I had a couple songs I could sing, just to mess with Lady Catelyn; but, I wasn't doing this for myself. I was doing it for Sansa and the people listening, so I chose my song and only had to slightly modify the lyrics to Paul Young's song, Love of the Common People, to fit the people of the North.

“Living on the food that others grew... water in the milk from a hole in the roof where the rain came through... what can you do? Hmm mmm?” I said and lightly strummed the guitar. “Tears from your little sister... crying because she doesn't have a dress that can match for the party to go... but you know, she'll get by... because she's living in the love of the common people... smiles from the heart of a family man. Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to... momma's gonna love you just as much as she can... and she can.”

Every single person sitting there stared at me as I sang and played. They had shock, awe, and wonder on their faces as I strummed that guitar and magic infused the music to build them up and made them feel proud about themselves.

“It's a good thing there's not much money... it could fall through the fingers of your hands and you'd lose it in the snow on the ground... you got to walk through the town, back to the keep.” I sang and saw and felt the understanding on their faces. “Trying to keep your hands warm... when the tops of your boots lets the snow come through and it chills you to the bone... you better go home, where it's warm.”

No one said a word, or breathed, and I was sure only a few of them had blinked.

“Where you can live in the love of the common people... a smile from the heart of a family man. Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to, momma's gonna love you just as much as she can... and she can.”

I played a few strums and did my best to not grin at their immobile faces. It was so much fun shocking people like this.

“Living on a dream's not easy... but, the closer the knit, the tighter the fit, and the chills stay away... cause we take them in stride, for family pride.” I sang. “You know that faith is your foundation... with a whole lot of love and a warm conversation; but, don't forget to pray. It's making it strong, it's where you belong... because we're living in the love of the common people...”

I sang the chorus a couple of times after that and ended the song with a few more strums of the guitar. The sound didn't echo much, thanks to me modulating how hard I strummed, and it made the song sound better. I took a deep breath, let it out, and hopped down off the tall stool and picked it up.

I closed my eyes before I turned around to face Sansa at the main table and bowed deeply, with my arms spread and I held the guitar in one hand and the stool in the other. “Happy Sixth nameday, Lady Sansa Stark of Winterfell.”

Not one single person moved or spoke, so I stood up, bowed once to Ned, then I turned around and walked out through the servant's entrance. As soon as the door shut behind me, I stored the stool and guitar and ran, because I knew I would be swarmed with questions as soon as they knocked themselves out of their shock and realized I had left.

My point of retreat? Exactly where Ned Stark asked for me to meet him after supper. Inside his private solar. Why? Because no one would ever look for me in there.

*

Catelyn Stark managed to keep her outward composure while her insides were churning and giving her pains she never had before. Why? Why were things turning out this way? How could they? He was just a bastard and a waste of space, a waste of food, a waste of time and resources that could be better spent on someone more worthy.

Then today happened. It had started well, with an entire morning off from trying to keep her youngest daughter corralled. These days were her relaxing days and today should not have been any different. Only, it was. Arya had somehow disappeared in plain sight. No one knew where she was after she had gone to Maester Luwin's lesson.

It had driven her into a panic wondering where she had gone off to and she had Sansa with her to search everywhere for the missing child. It never once occurred to her to check with... him... to see where Arya went. It was always best to ignore the bastard, because nothing good ever came from their interactions. He even had the nerve to call her mother a few times! Her! A bastard's mother!

Catelyn's anger and worry only subsided when she finally went to the Greta Hall to order Ned to call the men to arms and search everywhere inside Winterfell for his youngest daughter. His reassurances that she was perfectly safe and would be found, made her relax for a short while. Then her food was eaten and her feelings rushed right back. What if some bandit or ruffian kidnapped her?

She rushed Ned and her daughter out of the Great Hall and Ned reluctantly asked for a cursory search of only the main keep, his words that she wouldn't have gone far, made her feel much better about the whole thing. That is, until several pages from the training yard rushed to her husband and told him the news.

THAT ROTTEN BASTARD TOOK MY DAUGHTER! Catelyn yelled inside her head, because she was much too ladylike to actually yell it. Instead she glared at her husband. “Get him.” She ordered. “Now.”

Ned had sighed and nodded at a group of soldiers. They moved out and he could do nothing about Maester Luwin and the large group of civilians that also spread out to find Jon Snow. The task then became a lot easier when a civilian approached one of the soldiers and told him which direction Jon had run.

Of course he went to the blasphemous godswood. Catelyn thought angrily and tried to compose herself as she brought up her own personal devotion to the Seven that were one, or better known as the new gods. She let her faith envelop her and give her strength to face the ugliest tree she had ever seen in her life and led her eldest daughter to a place she had only visited a handful of times in all the years she had lived in Winterfell.

Then Catelyn saw something her faith refused to let her believe. It wasn't natural. No, it was unnatural. That evil tree glowed, as did the bastard as he threw away the very thing she had trained her whole life to strive for and to run. She could do nothing but flee in the face of something that contradicted everything she believed in, both personally and faithfully, and brought Sansa with her.

It took her quite some time to recover from the shock and she was still reeling as they sat for the evening meal. She had clung to her eldest daughter and whispered to the girl that what she saw was just a trick, something the bastard must have set up a long time ago to pull off as soon as he had enough witnesses around.

Sansa had nodded her head several times, fully believing her, and Catelyn finally relaxed as the meal came to an end and it was time to usher the children out of the room and send them to bed... and then the bastard stood and told everyone to hold... and everyone did, even her. His voice had commanded, even if it only sounded like a suggestion, and they all obeyed.

Then he shocked her and everyone by bringing out a weirdly shaped lute and sang as a gift to Sansa. He really sang! It was like the voice of the maiden herself as he sang about life in Winterfell, then about how they lived in the love of the common people. Nearly every word he sang was true and it made her feel more connected to her home than she ever had, and it left her speechless.

Catelyn could feel Sansa trembling as the boy sang for her, sang for their lives, and made them feel proud that they were of the North. Despite no one outwardly reacting, all of them seemed to have sat up straight and had given him their full attention, as did she. How did he ever learn to do such a thing? Why were his words so inspiring? How could a simple song move her and everyone else so much?

Then the bastard ended the song, wished Sansa a happy nameday, and fled. Catelyn had been too stunned by everything to move, or speak, or do anything else except sit there and stare at the servant's entrance that he had gone through.

After a few minutes, a deep breath was heard next to her and Catelyn turned her head to see her lord husband move. The man slowly stood and he looked even more regal than he usually did. Everyone in the room turned to look at him as well, seemingly shaking off the paralyzing effect of the music.

“Perhaps tonight is not the night for revelry but reflection.” Ned said and everyone nodded. “I will be in my solar as I consider everything that's happened today.”

“Aye, my liege. We'll return to our rooms as well.” Rickard Karstark said and stood. His group stood a moment later and they filed out of the room with their backs straight and their heads held high.

“Gentlemen. Ladies. Lads. Lasses.” Ned said and nodded around the room. He turned and walked out the same servant's entrance that Jon had. He knew where the lad was going and would meet him there. His many questions had multiplied and he wondered if he would find the answers he wanted.