Melisandre felt like it was an eternity and also too soon when Jon broke the kiss, his life-sustaining kiss, and she was about to gasp at him for denying her, then he turned her around to hug her from behind and his strong hands mauled her breasts. She moaned like a cheap whore instead and writhed in his arms.

“You've been a very bad woman.” Jon whispered in her ear and pinched her rock hard nipples. “You need to be punished for everything you've done.”

“Ahhhnnn! Yes! YES! Punish me!” Melisandre pleaded and was suddenly bend over Jon's lap and his hand felt like stone as he spanked her. “AHH!”

It was not really pain she was feeling, though. Jon's magic poured through her as he made her ass sting, like she deserved, and suddenly her mind replayed each and every death she had caused over the centuries, either by sacrifice for power or because they were in her way.

By the time Jon was done, her ass was severely red and her face was covered in tears. She still wasn't feeling much pain, however. She had long ago sacrificed most of her sensations, for more power and to survive the extreme heat of fire, only now she regretted it. She hadn't gotten off and felt even more frustrated now than she ever had before.

“I think I know the perfect way for you to suffer.” Jon whispered in her ear again, even though his face was nowhere near her ear.

Melisandre gasped as she felt... something... start to work on her body. She had no idea what it was, since his magic had mostly pulled away from her, and then she started to change. Her enchanted necklace stopped her from seeing anything at the start, then as more time passed, her form started to shrink.

Her entire body trembled as she watched her hands grew smaller, her breasts shrank and nearly completely disappeared, and her hair grew shorter. That was when she realized what was happening to her. She was growing younger and younger and it didn't seem like it was going to stop... and then it did. Her sexy robes hung off of her much smaller self and she didn't know what to say.

“It's called chronomancy.” Jon said as he helped her stand up. “I didn't transfigure you or gave you another illusion to replace your enchanted necklace.”

Melisandre winced as she felt her red bottom clench, then she gasped again. She had felt it!

“I reversed the flow of time on your physical body, so everything you've gone through since your tenth nameday, is now gone.” Jon said. “All of it.”

Melisandre wasn't sure what he meant, because she was still reeling from the shock of being in her younger body, then she reached inside herself for her power to reassure herself, only to feel barely a trickle. Her connection to her god was still there, which meant R'hllor hadn't abandoned her. This was... it was a test. A test of her faith. She would not fail him or her given task.

Jon waved a hand over her and her robes shrank down and fit her just as well as they had before. However, she was only ten and her just starting to bud breasts barely pushed out on the light cloth, not like her previously huge lovely mounds used to do. Why did that loss hit her harder than the rest of it did?

“It's because your body was tied too closely to how effective of a priestess of R'hllor you were.” Jon said and took her hand, which she clamped onto tightly. “You were used to sing it to entice people and not having your breasts as weapons has left you feeling weaker than the lack of magic.”

Melisandre could only nod at that, because her mind still had all those deaths at the front of it. She really had used her sexiness as a weapon and brought many men and women down to sacrifice them to her god in the name of power.

“Don't worry too much about it.” Jon said and waved towards the odd dwelling. “I need to introduce you to the other two girls that are living with me.”

Melisandre nodded and let him lead her back up the path and inside a home the likes of which she had never seen before. Her eyes roamed over everything and her mind was afire with details and possibilities. Her guilt didn't abate, because Jon was right. She had to be punished for what she had done and losing her beauty and her magic, something she had worked so hard to strive for, was an appropriate price to pay.

“Dany? Arya? I found a new friend for you both.” Jon said and Melisandre stared at him. He didn't let go of her hand as he leaned in to whisper. “You're going to adore them as much as I do.”

Melis doubted his words until the prettiest blonde girl she had seen in years almost danced into the room. Right behind her was a younger brunette with long wavy black hair and her cuteness could not be denied. She felt a surge of emotions, conflicting ones, as both girls came to a stop in front of her.

“This is Melis.” Jon said and presented her, finally letting her hand go as he did so. “She just had her tenth nameday and travelled a long way to live with us.”

Dany gave her a curtsy. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Melis. I'm Dany and I'm eight namedays old, nearly nine.” She said and motioned to the shorter girl beside her. “That's Arya and she's almost five namedays old.”

Arya gave Melis a stern look, then made a decision. She reached into the bag at her belt and pulled out a stuffed wolf toy. Melis hid her shiver at the sight of obvious magic, because the toy could not have fit inside a bag that small, then she caught her breath when Arya handed the toy to her.

Melis clung to it tightly and stared down at it as she felt tears come to her eyes. Her emotions were running away from her usual tight control and she didn't know how to get it back. Why did she feel like her heart was squeezing? Was it because no one had given her anything before, not without demanding something else in return?

“You like wolves, so you're okay.” Arya said, and that was that. “I'm going to my room to play.”

“Supper is in an hour, so don't get too sweaty.” Jon warned her. “We won't wait to eat for you to bathe first.”

“I know!” Arya said and ran off, giggling. “You can smell me later!”

Melis felt a laugh build up inside and barely stopped herself. She hugged the toy and wasn't sure what else to do with it, since she had never had any kind of toy before. What do you do with these things?

Dany didn't fight it and let her laugh out. “She's more of a Northman than some Northman are.”

Jon smiled. “That's why I never tried to stop her from being herself, unlike her sister and mother. They are both court trained and enjoy sitting quietly.”

Dany sighed and nodded. “I know where she's coming from.”

Jon reached out and pulled Dany in to hug her, which the girl enjoyed and let out a contented sigh. “It's okay. You both can be who you want to be and there's no one around that will tell you different.”

“Thank you, Jon.” Dany said and her face went a little red, then she kissed his cheek. After a moment, she realized she had another girl right there in front of her that just saw her do that. She made an 'eep' sound and fled.

Jon chuckled and turned to Melis. “Come on, I'll show you to your room.”

Melis kept hugging the wolf toy as Jon led her through the room to a hallway where both of the other girls went. He opened the second door and motioned for her to go inside. She did so and her eyes widened at the opulence. Silk draperies, paintings, vases, statues, and rugs were spread out all over and the huge bed had many colored pillows that looked so inviting that she felt the urge to jump into them.

“Supper is in an hour, so make yourself at home.” Jon said and stepped back. “Because you are.”

Melis let the tears flow at hearing that and she nodded, then she watched the door close. She stood there and didn't wipe at her face as she tried to get herself under control again. She had been so used to always being calm and collected that her current state was unnerving her more than her minuscule amount of magic.

She walked over to the bed and didn't jump up onto it. She climbed on and over to the pillows, then laid down among them and hugged the toy wolf as tightly as she could. It was then she realized Jon's punishment had many more aspects to it that just making her ten again. She would have to relearn how to assert her composure and that would take as much work as learning to live as a child again.

*

Lord Osbert Serry was slightly wary of the new tenant on his island. It was strange for the old woman to issue direct orders to anyone, without the fiction of going through her son Lord Mace Tyrell first. So, she had piqued his interest and his worry in equal measure. He ordered his son, Talbert Serry, to take a stroll with a few guards to observe Jon Snow at his new residence.

They were gone for less time than he thought they would be. His worry increased when he heard the tale of half stone buildings, partially buried in the ground. The tops were made of wood and the roofs were made of glass, which was strange. There were no windows in any of them, or any signs of how they were built. How did he make such things in only two weeks of gaining the land?

There was also a huge dock, one that rivalled the main one at Highgarden. Where did he get the wood and stone for that? Did he have ships deliver things without his knowledge? Why did the patrols around the island not see them or discover their passing? He would have to look into their deployment if they could miss so many deliveries and work crews building those buildings.

At least the home there looked somewhat normal and there were a couple of girls there that were happy to tell Talbert all about Jon Snow and how he was working for Lady Olenna and growing things like sweet fruits and bananas, as well as grapes and many different tasty vegetables. He had to wait for the delivery of the animals, so there wouldn't be any locally grown meats, milks, or eggs for a while.

Hearing that made Lord Serry pause. He spent an inordinate amount of money for things like the basic staples of food for his people. He started to hope that he might have a local producing them and could buy them at a reduced cost, since there would be no shipping costs from the mainland associated with every delivery.

He was still wary about the boy; but, if Jon Snow could succeed where many others have failed, Lord Serry would put aside his thoughts and prejudices. The benefits for the people on his island were too many to count and he would be a fool to ignore this opportunity. He just regretted not having a second or third daughter to pawn off to the boy to tie him to the family.

Osbert immediately thought about his cousin, Lya Serry, now Tyrell, and she was married to Theodore and had two children, a son Luther and a daughter, Elinor. She was near or close to the boy's age, wasn't she? Within a year or two, at least. Yes, he would send word to her to see if she would like to visit and bring the girl along.

It wouldn't hurt to have Lia check the boy out as a potential suitor for her girl, especially if he told her about his orders from Lady Olenna herself. They didn't say he couldn't have others approach the boy for family alliances, did they?

*

Ned Stark read the missive from Bear Island once more. He couldn't believe the turn of events that had transpired. He had finally decided Jorah Mormont had to be executed for his betrayal of the North, for the taboo of selling men into slavery, and was prepared to travel there and complete the task. Unfortunately, the coward killed his wife and then himself. He ended the main family branch and that left his aunt Maege Mormont as the head of House Mormont, except she had been kidnapped by Balon Greyjoy, claimed as his wife, and was now Queen of the Iron Islands at the man's death.

Lady Mormont left her eldest daughter Dacey in charge of the keep and whatever people remained on Bear Island, then she called for the rest to 'bring everything' and to come to the Iron Islands to restart their lives. The problem was, Ned couldn't blame her for leaving or could punish her for it, because she hadn't been head of house for long or pledged herself to him and his service, as was proper.

Instead, she was declared Lord Paramount officially and raised to his own level, thanks to the raven send from Kings Landing from his foster father, Jon Arryn. That had been a difficult thing to read, with all the things that had happened recently, and how he accused Ned of keeping important things from him.

At least Ned didn't have to lie when he sent a quick response that he didn't know anything about any of it. He did explain why Jon was sent to the citadel and not to the Iron Islands. How did the boy end up there? He had no idea. Why would he be sent there by the maesters?

As far as Ned knew, there were no old Valarian things anywhere on those islands or with the Ironborn, since they saw things like historic relics as trinkets. If they did have anything like that, they probably sold them as fast as they found them during their raids.

Ned sighed and set the missive aside and thought about making the trip anyway, then shook his head. Dacey wasn't the head of the family and her kneeling and swearing her family into service wouldn't work. She could only speak for herself and he wasn't sure she would, not with her own mother being raised to become a ruler of an entire region, one of the seven kingdoms.

No, he would have to let the insult go. Jorah was dead and couldn't correct his mistake, or apologize, or inform the rest of his family of the mess he left behind with his death. Then again, he did save their family the embarrassment of suffering such a blow to their reputation.

Imagine if he fled? Ned asked himself and shook his head. It was almost laughable that he would throw away his honor like that and Ned discarded the ridiculous thought.

His hand reached for the next translated note and his face flushed red from embarrassment. This was not the way he wanted to learn about Catelyn actually going behind his back to send a small group of soldiers after Jon. He closed his eyes and spent several moments calming down, because he didn't want to confront her in anger. That way led to madness and decisions that neither of the could live with.

Everyone in Winterfell knew Catelyn had moved out of their rooms after hearing about him taking the kitchen matron as a lover. She stayed in the room next to Sansa's and still presented a united front in public, sitting with him at meals and gatherings. However, she never spoke and kept the same polite smile on her face the entire time.

In private, Catelyn ranted and raved at him for destroying their family and not doing everything he could to bring them all back together again. Through it all, his son Robb had stepped up and started helping with running the keep and the staff as Ned dealt with the family drama.

The only one seemingly unaffected was Sansa. She merely said that as Lord of Winterfell, his word was law, and if he needed a woman to lay with while her mother was too busy, then that was his right. Ned suspected that her time spent with her commoner friend, Jeyne Pool, had given her a much different perspective on her family and how they treated each other.

Ned stood up from his desk, grabbed the notes from both Jon Arryn and Dacey Mormont, and left his office to hunt down his wayward lady wife. He had important things he needed to discuss with Catelyn, especially her decision to send both Stark men and her elder brother and Tully men after the boy that did not kidnap their youngest daughter.

On the positive side of things, they now knew where Jon Snow was. The Iron Islands. Hopefully, Arya was with him and the both of them were safe. Ravens with messages for them were already winging their way towards them and would reach them soon.