thesphererp | memshare | Father's watching

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memshare | Father's watching

[The memory being broadcast.

The memory is in the courtyard of a stone keep, still surrounded by green and not yet covered by the snow of the coming winter. Jon stands in the courtyard with two of his brothers, Robb and Bran. Bran is practicing his archery. "Father's watching. And your mother," Jon tells him.

Bran's shot goes wide, which prompts laughter from Robb and Jon.

"And which one of you was a marksman at ten?" This from their father.

Some advice from them this time -- not to think too hard from Jon, and to relax his bow arm from Robb -- and this time there's an arrow hitting the center of the target. Only it wasn't fired by Bran; it was their sister Arya who hit the target. This gets more laughter from Robb and Jon as Bran chases Arya.

As their father leaves to tend to some business, Robb collects stray arrows, and Jon returns the arrows to where they belong, the memory ends with Jon looking up to see his father's wife staring down at him.

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Now you are queen and you don't need anyone else to get you there. What happened to father was all Joffrey's doing. No one could have changed that.

Ramsay has paid for what he did to Rickon. And to you.

[He just hugs her for a moment.]

They might be gone, but they'll never be forgotten.

I know- I know, logically- but for years I blamed myself. I was a
Thirteen-year-old girl, alone in a pit of lions. They killed the whole household, Jon. Even Septa Mordane- she gave her life for me. I never got to thank her...

[Sansa moves to the nearest comfy space to occupy, sitting on it with her legs tucked under herself. She gestures for Jon to join her.]

I’m rebuilding the crypts, in time. Giving them the statues they deserve, so we can always see them. [she doesn’t tell him she’s giving Theon a statue. Or a posthumous knighthood.]

None of their bodies were reclaimed. [And for the best.]

Jon... I think if she were alive... mother would have apologized for how she treated you. I think she would be proud of you. I just want you to know that.

[He settles in next to her, because this is going to be that kind of conversation.]

You're not the first person to trust the wrong people. Or the last. Certainly not the last one in the family to do so.

The statue is the only thing I know of either of my parents. [It's still strange to think of them that way, and they'll never really be his parents in any way that matters, but after so many years of knowing nothing about his mother, he still looks for anything he can find.]

She never liked me. What reason would she have to feel proud?

Because of who you are. Who you’ve become.

[She had hated him because he was a reminder of Ned’s alleged infidelity. Sansa had hated him too, as her mother had.]

And the lengths you’ve gone to for us.

I’m sorry- I miss her so much. I remember when I was upset she’d play with my hair. I made my handmaiden did the same, but Shae never got it exactly right.

Of course you do. She was your mother. [He never met his, and yet he still misses her.]

I might not officially have any family, and I have no claim to any of it, but Winterfell is my home. The Starks are my family. Even if they are the kind of family where the bastard doesn't get to come to dinner when the king visits.

[He's not bitter about it. He made his peace with that situation a long time ago.]

Of course I was going to fight for my home.

[She takes his hands again, squeezing them.]

You're a very good man, Jon. And I, personally, will see to it you come down from the Wall to sit at my right hand when the king visits. Bran's promised, once all is in order.

[it'd be so easy, too, what with the fast transit system they had installed.]

Winterfell will always be your home. And you will always be my family.

I will gladly come to Winterfell when the king visits.

[This is still a lot for him to take in. Bran being the king now, and the fact that he himself should be but never will, and not being sure how he feels about that, either. At least Bran will be a better king than the Barratheons or the Lannisters ever were.]

I expect that it will be a benefit to Winterfell to have an ally in the one place that's farther north than you are.

There should not be much of a threat now. The Free Folk are welcome within our borders, as well. [Obviously if they caused problems they would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.]

Be wary if you bring Tormund with you, as Ser Brienne will surely accompany Bran-- she is captain of his Kingsguard, now.

Good. There's no reason we can't live in peace. Did you know that the Northmen and the wildlings are both descended from the First Men, the Children of the Forest, and the only reason for the difference between the two groups is that they were on two different sides of the Wall when it was built.

Ser Brienne? She's got a knighthood now?

It's so strange. I always heard tales of how brutal and violent they were, that they were savages. I was happy to have been proven wrong.

She does. Jaime Lannister knighted her, the night before the battle.

[She looks him over, frowning slightly.] Are members of the Knight's Watch able to be knighted? You hold no titles, but to be knighted is an honor.

[Do you want to be knighted, Jon? Don't say you don't want it.]

I think those stories got started because people forgot why the Wall really existed. It was built to keep something out, and in their minds that must have been the wildlings.

[He doesn't actually know how to answer that. That would be something to ask the maester...if they ever find a new one.]

Some of the men who come to the Wall had knighthoods when the joined the Watch, and they're not stripped of that when they take the oath. I've never heard of anyone receiving a knighthood after they join.

We know now that wasn't it at all.

[She shakes her head. So many years and years of conflict and fear over something that paled in comparison to the true darkness beyond the Wall.]

Then I see no reason one cannot receive one. [And, as some would say: she does what she wants. She looks over at him side-long with a sly grin.]

It wasn't. Hopefully our alliance will only continue to grow.

[He recognizes that look, Sansa.]

Is this another case of the Starks doing whatever they want?

I wouldn't say whatever we want.

Almost whatever you want, then?

Precisely.

Shall we wait until your return to Winterfell?

What other options have we got?

If you’ve your sword I could knight you here and now. I’d have to adjust the words, but I see no reason why that should stop us.

I have my sword.

[He doesn't go anywhere without it. It's even within arm's reach when he sleeps.]

Alright.

Can you get it?

I'll be right back.

[Not even ten minutes later, he's back with Longclaw.]

Here we are. One sword.

Beautiful.

[She moved to him, holding her hand out for the pommel. Swords were not her strong suit. But she was sure she could manage one for knighting someone.]

Shall we?

Be careful with it. It's Valyrian steel.

[He holds it out to her so she can draw it, then kneels in front of her.]

Of course.

[She draws the sword from it's sheath. It's heavy, heavier than she expected, and the surprise registers on her face, and in her arm. Still, there is not much swinging she needs to do with it. Using both hands, she places it on Jon's right shoulder.]

Kneel, Jon Snow. In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the innocent. [Now expecting the weight, she moves the sword from one shoulder to another, alternating with each sentence as she finishes out the rest of the oath.]

Arise, Ser Jon Snow, a Knight of the North, and Watcher on the Wall.

[He waits while she says the words, and he doesn't even care that he follows the old gods and not the Seven, because he'll keep the oath anyway. And of course this is all theoretical unless they return to Westeros.

He stands when she's finished.]

I'll serve the North well.

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