25 Flirting With Trouble

Rhaella

She slid the curtain of their carriage away from the small window and peeped outside, Harrenhal loomed over them all. A place that held mixed memories for many people, hopefully the tournament would help bring some more happy memories to the people of Westeros. She looked across to her daughter who was looking through her own window, Rhaenys peeping over her shoulder.

"They really did do a good job didn't they." Daenerys said as she looked towards the newly renovated castle.

Her daughter was right with her evaluation, Rhaegar and his team of advisors had done a fine job restoring the castle. It had been downsized a little from its completely absurd size but still held a grandeur appearance from the outside at least. The black charred stone that made up the remains of the old castle had been replaced with white stone, the surrounding areas cleaned up to a degree, the grey smog that seemed to be a staple in the area around the castle all but gone.

"The perfect place to hold this celebration if you ask me. Held at Harrenhal, the renovated castle and the same castle that our ancestor burnt to cinders." She mused.

Her granddaughter turned to her and smirked "Seems ironic doesn't it." Rhaenys japed. She hummed in response, ironic indeed.

"I wonder what it was like?" Daenerys seemed to say to herself as the carriage got closer and closer to the castle.

Elia turned to her "What what was like Dany?" The Queen asked as she held little Alysanne on her knee. The little princess seemed to be in a world of her own playing with the jewellery on her grandmother's hand.

Dany shrugged "Just dragons in general." She said.

It was no secret to anybody that her daughter always had a love for the symbol of their family, the stories of dragons were always her favourite when she was growing up, that love had followed her into her teens and could be seen in some of the jewellery she wore, even today.

The carriage was quiet as they made their way into the courtyard of the castle, due to the recent renovation everything seemed so clean. Their whole retinue stopped as they finally entered the yard. They were welcomed by Lady Shella Whent, Ser Oswell's sister and her children and were quickly shown to their rooms to get settled in. They walked through the corridors of the new castle, taking in their surroundings, banners of house Whent and house Targaryen lined the walls of their new home for the next few weeks.

The King and her son, Rhaegar turned to her as they approached the wing of the castle they'd be staying in "Lady Whent informed me that the lords of the North, the Riverlands and the Crownlands are already here. The Vale retinue have been spotted a few miles away so they should be here very soon."

She nodded as they entered the guest wing "And the rest?" She asked.

"Lord Tywin and the Westerland lords should be here by the end of the day. The Stormlands, The Reach and Dorne should be here by tomorrow or the day after at the latest if the scouts are accurate. Nobody knows when or even if the Iron Islands will be attending, we never received a reply from Lord Balon." Her son explained.

"Is that something we should be worrying about?" She asked. Silence from the Iron Islands was always a concern.

"Lord Paxter has his fleet on standby just in case, Varys sent the raven to Lord Redwyne before we left the capital." Rhaegar explained.

She nodded "Good." She answered. The realm was at peace at the moment but you could never be too careful, especially with the ironborn involved.

Her son chuckled and smiled at her "See, I do listen when you tell me things mother."

That he did. She remembers the day very vividly when her boy told her that she was his mother and his father, the only one who taught him how to rule, how to be good, how to be remembered for better reasons than the last king. Everything she told him he seemed to absorb, his sister was exactly the same.

Viserys was unfortunately different in that aspect, there was no getting through to him however hard she tried and he would always think he knew best.

She looked across towards her youngest son, he always walked around with an air of superiority, his chin raised high. She didn't miss the side long glances he gave to his siblings, what to make of them she didn't know.

Nobody knew what went through his mind sometimes.

They settled in rather quickly, all given the best rooms in the castle to call home for the next few weeks. Half an hour into settling in, Ser Arthur was knocking on her door and announcing that the Northern lords were here to meet with the Royal family. Meeting with all the lords that would be attending the tournament was a crucial duty for their family, good relations with their lords was paramount however tedious it was meeting them all.

The first of the lords they'd be meeting were the northern ones, Lord Eddard Stark, his family and the rest of his bannermen were being ushered into the great hall of Harrenhal at the moment. The northern lords, the same as her family, were impressed with the rebuild of the castle as they looked around, a short brunette girl at the front was especially impressed, even the word 'wow' was heard from where she was stood.

She internally smiled at her youthful innocence .

The girl was later revealed as Lord Stark's youngest daughter, along with the rest of his children. His eldest was currently running Winterfell in his absence and his baseborn son was back at the northern camp and deemed inappropriate for this sort of thing according to Lady Stark.

Charming.

She couldn't blame the woman for how she was like though, a bastard child could cause many problems, especially in marriage. If Lord Stark's face was anything to go by, it had done just that. His bastard was clearly a sore point based on his reaction at the mention of the boy. The man almost looked terrified at the mention of this, Jon Snow.

"Maybe we'll see him in one of the events during the next few weeks." Rhaegar replied, more in politeness than anything.

That reply was received with a snort from the giant of a man known as Lord Umber, he did a poor job at covering up his slip up with a cough.

"Something amusing Lord Umber?" Her son asked as he caught the slip up himself. Lord Stark looked particularly on edge now.

Lord Umber cleared his throat and grinned "Not at all your grace. We look forward to seeing how your white knights fare against us northern brutes HA!" He explained. It would seem that the man was a bit of a character.

Rhaegar smiled back but she could see it was to cover up her son's intrigue "Oh? I wasn't aware it would be much of a competition between the two." Her son light heartedly replied with his own smirk.

Lord Umber laughed at that, a great bellowing thing that made a few of them jump, she even caught Ser Loras unsheathing steel in reaction until he realised what had happened and sheathed his sword back in its scabbard.

"Strong words your grace, but I wouldn't be overly confident just yet." Lord Umber grinned.

Now her son looked very intrigued "Oh, and why is that Lord Umber? Do you plan on summoning a giant straight from the banners of house Umber itself to compete?" Rhaegar japed, a few people chuckled, mainly the members of the Kingsguard spread around the Royal family, especially the Kingsguard that would be competing in the melee.

Men and their pride.

Lord Umber and a few of the other northern lords seemed privy to something as they grinned in reply. Lord Umber himself shook his head "Oh no your grace, I think we'll be just fine without one of them." He said.

To her own annoyance, now she was intrigued what the big secret was.

Wonder if it's got something to do with this Jon Snow?

Just then, her grandson held his hands up in surrender "Fine, you got me. I'm their secret weapon father." Aegon japed as he stood in front of Rhaegar and looked at him with a grin on his face.

The King smiled and shook his head "My own flesh and blood teaming up with the northerners to watch us fail, you wound me son." He joked as he held a hand to his chest.

Ser Arthur spoke up after the chuckles faded "Are you sure that's a good idea, your grace?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow aimed at the crown prince.

To everyone's amusement, Aegon grimaced "Yeah, your probably right. Our spars are enough punishment for me, no need to publicly shame me is there Ser Arthur?" Aegon japed as he moved back to his spot. He caught the mirth between her son and grandson. She also caught Viserys rolling his eyes.

She heard Lord Stark clear his throat "With your leave your grace, I'd like to make sure our camp is fully set up and my people are settled." He said. It was a believable excuse, they also had the other lords to meet before luncheon so Lord Stark's wish to end this was beneficial to both of them.

She believed it was nothing but an excuse from the man though, ever since his bastard son was mentioned he looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

It felt like there was more to it though, she'd met people who were ashamed of their 'mistake' but that was all it was, shame. Lord Stark looked nervous, almost scared.

Should she pry?

Maybe she'd task one of the Kingsguard to take a subtle interest in this Jon Snow, see what all the fuss was about.

Maybe.

Sansa

"Thank you, father." She said as she hugged him.

Her father hugged her back "No problem, sweetheart. Jory and a few guards will accompany you and your siblings just in case, can't be too careful." He said as he looked over at her mother. She wasn't too sure about letting them wander about the grounds on their own, especially with how young Rickon was but she'd managed to convince her father that they'd be fine. A few guards were okay with her if it meant they could explore what the stalls around Harrenhal had to offer.

"What's this?" Her sister said as she entered their parent's private tent that had been erected in the centre of the northern camp.

"Father said we can go explore." Bran chirped up from the table that him and Rickon were sat at.

"Really?!" Arya asked as she looked at their father.

Her sister clapped her hands in excitement as their father nodded. "Yes, but you'll be taking Jory and a few of his men to keep an eye on you. They'll be making sure you stay out of trouble." Her father explained, mainly looking at Arya than anyone else.

"Okay, I'll go tell Jon. We'll met you outside our tent Sansa." Arya said as she darted out of the tent without a second look.

She gave her mother and father one last smile as Jory and a few of their guards escorted her, Jeyne, Bran and Rickon towards her tent. Her father gave Jory a bag of gold dragons for them to spend if they saw anything they wanted, Rickon already said he wanted sweets to nobody's surprise.

It turned out that Arya and Jon were waiting for them by the time they'd made it to her tent, she looked at Bran and Rickon and saw the disappointment on their face when they noticed Ghost was nowhere to be seen.

Rickon skipped towards him "Jon! Where's Ghost?" He asked as the rest of them walked towards Arya and Jon.

Jon ruffled his hair in response "Hello to you too ya little monster. Ghost is out causing trouble in the woods near the edge of the Gods Eye, you'll see him later." He answered as he looked at Bran as well.

Jon looked at her "Sansa." he said as he nodded his head, she smiled at him in response. "Jeyne." Jon continued as her best friend gave him a bashful smile, a small blush blooming on her cheeks. It was a secret to absolutely nobody that Jeyne had a crush on her brother, unfortunately, she was sure that Jon didn't share the same feelings. She'd tried to talk her best friend down, in the hopes that she wouldn't get her feelings hurt and she hoped she'd taken some of the things she'd said into consideration.

"C'mon then!" Arya exclaimed as she walked off on her own, the rest of them huffing and eventually catching up with her. Jory already looked fed up with Arya's antics as he cursed under his breath, Jon laughed and clapped the older man on the back.

"Never get used to her do ya?" Jon said to Jory as they slowly entered a group of stalls, merchants already grasping for customers attention.

"No you do not." Jory replied with a huff, Arya turned to the two of them and stuck her tongue out at them.

Their group eventually made it into the heart of the market, the different sounds, the multitude of coloured stalls and banners, the variety of smells permeating the air from the food stalls, Sansa was in heaven.

"There's a lot of people." She heard Bran say as they stood there, trying to work out where to start.

Jory spoke up "More reason to stay close and not run off then." He said as he mainly looked at Arya and Rickon.

Arya narrowed her eyes "Why are you looking at us?" She asked, Rickon nodded in agreement and crossed his arms.

Jory raised an eyebrow at that "You know why, septa Mordane and maester Lewin are always telling me to find ya when you run off from lessons." He explained.

Arya rolled her eyes "Fine. We'll be good." She said as she looked up at Jory, glaring at him from underneath her eyelashes. Sansa for one didn't believe a word her sister had just said, neither did Jon.

"Little liar." He said as he smirked down at her, Arya grinned in response.

"Right, where first?" She spoke up since they were just stood there ignoring everything around them.

With Bran's suggestion of starting from the first stall and made their way around the market. They all ended up picking something up for themselves, she'd bought herself a small silver necklace in the shape of a snowflake. Jeyne bought herself a small roll of blue silk for embroidering. Arya for some reason, had bought a small leather belt with silver fittings, a belt was something she'd never seen her sister wear. She was a little bit suspect when Arya turned and winked at Jon with a grin on her face.

I wonder what that is about?

Bran bought a nice collar for his direwolf who he'd named Summer and Rickon had bought a little wooden wolf sculpture that was painted black so it looked a bit like his direwolf Shaggydog, he also got some sweets for himself which surprised nobody.

Jon had looked at the stalls but bought nothing for himself, he mainly kept an eye out along with Jory and their guards. By the time they were finished, it was just nearing lunch time and time for them to head back to camp to eat, the quicker they ate lunch the quicker they could return to see the rest of the grounds. Bran had already seen a few knights in the practice yard that he wanted to watch and the rest of them had agreed to watch with him when they returned.

"Lady Sansa!" She heard somebody shout as they made their way back to the northern camp. She frowned as she turned around, it wasn't the voice of somebody she knew.

How do they know my name?

As she stopped and turned around, she noticed a man approaching them with a smile on his handsome face, he was accompanied by what looked like a guard. She blushed when she replied "Yes?" She said as she looked at the mysterious man.

He was rather handsome, not her two older brothers level of handsome but handsome nonetheless.

The man "Lady Sansa, it's a pleasure to meet you." The mysterious man said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"I fear you have me at a disadvantage my lord, I am unaware of your name..." She said as she admired the man's deep blue eyes and dimples as he grinned.

There was something off about his smile as he looked at the rest of her group, especially when he looked above her head and locked eyes with somebody behind her.

He looked back at her and cleared his throat "Lord Hardyng my lady, Harrold Hardyng, but you can call me Harry. That's just for the special ladies like yourself." He said as the smile on his face grew.

She could practically hear Arya's eyes roll.

She heard Jon huff "Special lady? You've literally just met her." He said in a rather unimpressed tone.

Harrold looked up at Jon with his smile still in place, this time though it seemed to have an edge to it "And you are my good man?" He asked.

Jon cleared his throat "Well, since your being so rude and didn't even acknowledge anybody else, let me introduce to you Lord Bran Stark, this is Lord Rickon Stark and this," he said as he touched their sister's shoulder "this is Arya Stark, but you can call her Lady Arya. That's only for the special men in her life." Jon said. "And me, I'm Jon, Jon Snow. I'd shake your hand but I'd rather not." He finished.

She heard Arya snort and Jory cough to cover up what she believed to be a chuckle.

The smile on Lord Hardyng's face morphed into an ugly smirk "Snow? Interesting..." He seemed to say to himself.

"Not really." Jon replied in a bored tone.

"Jon..." She said, this was slowly getting out of hand and the situation could turn ugly.

"You're a brave bastard speaking to a Lord that way aren't you. I could make life very difficult for you." Lord Hardyng seemed to growl out.

The situation was lost and she wasn't sure who to blame for it.

"Go for it, should be a lot more interesting than this conversation." Jon answered in an amused tone, Arya was making a bad attempt at covering up her smile.

"Whatever bastard." Lord Hardyng answered. That always seemed to be the only thing people used against Jon and since he'd returned, it had little to no effect on him. Jon's answer to the snobby lord was a prime example of that.

"That all you got Harry? Very disappointing from somebody who claimed he'd make my life difficult." He replied. He seemed to be toying with the man now.

Ever since Jon returned, he'd been sharper with his words, very quick on the reply. He'd also become cheekier as well, it was clear that somebody had been a bad influence on her brother.

She didn't tell her mother or septa Mordane that she rather liked the new Jon, she found him amusing now, he seemed to have a certain charm to himself as well.

No wonder Jeyne had taken a fancy.

Lord Hardyng seemed to have had enough of them as he scoffed at Jon "I don't have time for this." He seemed to say to himself than anybody else "Maybe I'll see you later Lady Sansa." He said as he put on a clear fake smile.

She put on her own smile as she replied "Maybe we will Lord Hardyng."

Lord Hardyng smiled at that "Maybe without any unwanted guests as well." He said as he looked at Jon.

"Maybe you will Harry, but just a little word of warning for you," He said as he ushered the lord to come to him. Lord Hardyng gritted his teeth but moved towards Jon anyway.

Jon cupped his mouth, leant in and whispered in Lord Hardyng's ear, just loud enough so that everyone could hear.

"If you hurt her in any way, you'll regret it. Anything you do to her, I'll do to you...anything." He warned, the last word he dragged out for effect. His tone sent a shiver down her spine and clearly down the spine of the Lord as well. She even saw him visibly gulp.

"C'mon." Lord Hardyng said to his guard as they turned around and walked off without a single look back.

She turned around and slapped Jon on the chest after Lord Hardyng was out of earshot. "You're always causing trouble Jon." She said but smiled at him to show him that she wasn't really upset with him.

Jon smiled back at her and smiled "I try." He replied, their group chuckled in response.

"C'mon guys, I'm hungry." Rickon perked up as he dragged Jory by the arm towards camp.

"You're always hungry, ya tubby wolf." Jon replied as they walked on.

"Rich coming from you Jon." Bran said, grinning at his older brother.

Jon shrugged "I have no idea what you're talking about." He answered as everybody chuckled.

"Thanks Jon." She quietly said to him when they finally got back to camp.

He furrowed his brow as he looked at her "What for?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders "Just looking out for me back there." She answered.

Her brother wrapped his arm around her shoulder, she sank into his embrace. She was never allowed to be like this with Jon whenever her mother or her septa were around.

"What kind of brother would I be if I wasn't overly protective of my sister eh?" He said with a smirk. She chuckled in response.

She looked up at him "All the same, Thank you." She said.

Jon looked down at her and squeezed her shoulder "You're welcome." He replied as they entered camp.

Jon

After a quick lunch inside camp, him and his siblings made their way towards the practice yards to watch some of the knight's spar, Bran's idea more than anybody else's. He knew his younger brother was all into that sort of thing so he humoured him, Arya and Rickon sounded interested in the idea and agreed with their brother that it would be fun. Sansa was the biggest surprise and even shocked Arya when she said she'd like to watch as well.

"Do you think we'll see any knights of the Kingsguard there?" Bran asked to nobody in particular as he walked towards one of the many training yards scattered around the grounds, a clear bounce in his step.

"I hope so, we didn't get to see any of them really spar when they visited those moons ago." Arya answered as she swung Rickon's arm back and forth as they held hands.

"Maybe Jon can spar with one of them." Bran exclaimed like the idea had just this moment come to him.

Arya gasped and smiled "Oh yes, that would be really fun to see." She said as she looked at him hopefully.

He chuckled "Not a chance, I'm going there to watch not tire myself out." He answered as the practice yard in question slowly came into view.

Arya scrunched her face up at him "Why!?" She said with an edge of anger, like the idea of him only wanting to watch was such a nonsensical idea.

"Cos I want to, that's why." He replied as he grinned at her.

"That's not an answer." She replied back, a little scowl on her face that made it hard for him to keep a straight face.

"Well it's the answer your getting, take it or leave it ya little brat." He answered as he ruffled her hair. She scowled at him more as she fixed her hair.

Jory nudged him in the side as they got closer to the yard "Uncle Rodrik told me he'd be sparring in one of the yards earlier today, we might see him here." He explained.

"I suppose he needs to wake those old bones up for the melee, he wouldn't want to disappoint the Greatjon now would he?" He said as Jory grinned back at him.

He chuckled "I'll tell him you said that shall I?" He replied.

"Make sure you speak up when you do, they say that's one of the first things to go when you get to that age." He answered back, Jory just shook his head and poorly suppressed the beaming smile on his face.

"Oh bloody hell." Jory said all of a sudden as Bran, Arya and Rickon ran towards the edge of the yard, standing on one of the wooden beams of the fence that surrounded it to get a better view of the fighters. Jory jogged off and caught up to them leaving Jon with Sansa, Jeyne and a few of the house guards.

"They say you're really good in the yard Jon, I would have liked to see for myself. It's okay if you don't want to though." Sansa spoke up from his side, he turned at her and saw Jeyne nodding in agreement.

It really warmed his heart that she was at least trying to be nice to him ever since he returned, the bastard label he walked around with didn't seem to bother her as much anymore and their relationship benefited from that.

He smirked at her "Maybe I'll reconsider if we see our friend Harry there. That's if he'd like a spar at all, I'm not sure he likes me after our last catch up." He said as they approached the edge of yard, meeting back up with the rest of their group.

Sansa and Jeyne chuckled at his response. They reached the fence that Arya, Bran and Rickon were leaning against and Jon whistled as he took in the sheer size of the yard, they hadn't cut any corners.

Before he could really take in his surroundings, Bran pointed in the distance and caught his attention "Look Jon! Ser Jaime of the Kingsguard. I hear he's competing in the grand melee." Bran explained.

Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, and Gerion's nephew. He'd heard a few stories about the man along with the rest of his family. A man with very little interest in politics, the complete opposite of his brother Tyrion. Very close with his twin sister Cersei until a situation occurred in their childhood which all but destroyed that relationship according to Gerion. Ser Jaime, according to their uncle, refused to even speak with his sister anymore and kept that up till he left home to squire.

Gerion had a mouth on him when he was boozed up, he wasn't sure he was meant to know any of this.

He looked back at Bran and smiled "I reckon you could take him." He said to the boy as he ruffled his hair.

Bran looked up at him with a scrunched-up face and a smile "Don't be silly, that's a member of the Kingsguard, the best of the best, there's nobody better." He explained.

He huffed "Don't let Lord Umber hear you say that, he might actually eat ya." He said as Rickon giggled, the rest of them following suit.

"What's got you lot tickled?" A woman's voice spoke up from behind them, he turned around and instantly met the brown eyes of a short and rather buxom young woman, she was accompanied by a couple of guards. She smirked when she caught him looking at her chest for a second.

Bloody hard to miss.

"Large tracts of land." He replied without a second thought, Jory coughing and turning away.

The small woman quirked an eyebrow but smiled anyway "Oh yeah? And what would that mean Ser..." She said, fishing for a name.

He shook his head "No Ser, just Jon, Jon Snow. I was just talking about this large tract of land they'd used for the yard Lady..." He said, attempting to weasel himself out of a corner.

The woman seemed to know exactly what Jon was talking about but gave him respite as she slowly eyed him up and down "Lady Myranda, Myranda Royce. It's very lovely to meet you Jon." She replied, he nodded at her and smiled at her as he turned to the rest of the group, Sansa had her eyebrow raised up as she looked at him.

"I've actually come here to speak to Lady Sansa." Lady Myranda said as she looked at his sister.

"Oh?" She replied, seemingly caught off guard.

"Yes, I came to apologise. I heard there was a small incident this morning involving Lord Hardyng or Harry the Arse as we like to call him. Lord Arryn found out and asked me to apologise on that idiot's behalf." She explained.

"Oh, that's okay, no harm was done. I think my brother scared him away anyway." Sansa replied as she looked from Myranda to him and then back to Myranda with a smile.

Myranda looked back at him "Tall, dark, handsome and he protects the innocent. Is there anything you can't do?" She asked him, the grin she gave him was borderline filthy.

He smirked back at the flirty woman "I'm positively awful at embroidery." He replied.

She let out a light giggle as she looked up at him "Those are some lovely curls you've got there Jon." She said as she licked her bottom lip.

He chuckled as he looked back at her "They're not for sale." He answered as he winked at her.

"What the hell is happening?" Arya blurted out.

Bran looked on confused "I'm not sure..." He slowly said. Jon looked away from them all, leant on top of the fence with his arms folded and looked on towards the yard in the hopes of avoiding their looks.

What the hell is happening indeed. He blamed Gerion for half of the shit he came out with.

"Maybe I'll see you all again soon, Lady Sansa." He heard Myranda say, amusement lacing every word. He looked over his shoulder and saw her walking away, clearly exaggerating the sway in her hips. He looked back towards the yard before he got caught looking again.

Jory clapped him on the back as he looked towards the sparring men with him "If Robb was here, he'd be destroying you right now." He said as he grinned at him.

He huffed "I think Robb would be too busy sucking his wife's face off to be bothered about what I'm up to." He replied as he made eye contact with Ser Jaime, the first glance from the man could have been a random occurrence but the second one definitely wasn't.

I wonder what that's about.

The Lannister knight looked away from him before Jon broke eye contact, he was always going to win that battle, and to be honest, he needed to if he was to compete with his father, the great Lord Tywin when they met.

Jory seemed to have noticed the Kingsguard knight looking at him as well "Looks like Lady Myranda has competition when it comes to garnering your attention." He said as he nodded towards Ser Jaime who had decided to look their way for a third time.

"If he's tryin' to be subtle, he's doing a shit job of it." he replied as he winked at the white knight. Ser Jaime to his credit, smirked back at him and carried on drilling a few men who were with him.

"Why does Ser Jaime keep staring at you?" Arya asked him with a furrowed brow. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, everybody looked in the direction of the white knight.

He looked at Arya and shrugged his shoulders "Not a clue, maybe he wants to see if my hair is for sale as well." He replied.

"I don't think Ser Jaime needs to, he already has beautiful golden hair himself." Sansa replied as she looked on. He looked at her with a smirk which fell from his face when he saw her eyes widen. He looked where Sansa was looking and noticed Ser Jaime approaching them.

Here we go. Looks like he'll be finding out what he wanted.

"Lady Sansa, what a surprise to see such beauty blessing this yard." Ser Jaime said as he made his approach. He sneaked a look and noticed a bloom of pink slowly appear on his sister's cheek's. He also caught the smirk from the Lannister knight in response.

A smirk he'd definitely seen before.

Ser Jaime held his hand out to Jory and the man shook it, a small grin on the northerner's face.

"Ser Jaime, good to see you again." He said.

Jaime nodded "Same to you." He said as his eyes slowly drifted towards Jon.

He held his hand out towards Jon "And you must be this Jon Snow Lord Umber has been harping on about." He said with the same shit eating grin his uncle Gerion wore.

He grasped the man's gloved hand in his own and gave him a strong shake "Ser Jaime, it's a pleasure to meet you." He replied. He looked to his left and caught Bran staring at the member of the Kingsguard in front of him.

Ser Jaime noticed the young lad looking at him and smiled back "Lord Bran, I imagine you're still interested in being a knight?" He said as Bran nodded his head in excitement.

"Good, make sure to pay close attention then while me and your brother spar, you should pick up a thing or two." He replied with smirk. He looked back at him and Jon just quirked an eyebrow at him.

"It won't look good when your beaten by this one here will it now, Ser Jaime." He said as he placed a hand on Rickon's shoulder. He felt instantly regretful when he saw the fear in his little brother's eye's when he looked up at him. He squeezed his shoulder in assurance.

"Oh, I think we all know who I was talking about. Who knows, you might learn something yourself." Ser Jaime replied, grinning like a fool.

Does Ser Jaime genuinely underestimate him or is he playing a game?

"Oh Jon, you have to!" Bran exclaimed.

He looked at Bran "Do I?" He replied.

"Of course you do, stupid" Arya answered for Bran, smirking at the corner she'd backed him into.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, there was no point arguing with Arya, it'd be easier just sparring with the man and getting it over and done with.

"Fine." He answered as Arya's smile grew. "Lead the way Ser Jaime." He said as he vaulted over the fence. He took his sword's off his back and handed them to Jory to look after.

"Good luck." Jory said as he clapped him on the back, he smiled at the man in response.

"I won't be long." He answered as he turned around and walked towards the group of men Ser Jaime was stood with.

"Who's this?" A man with shoulder length copper hair said to Ser Jaime as he nodded in Jon's direction.

Ser Jaime looked over his shoulder at him as he approached "That's my new sparring partner for the rest of this session. Jon, meet Ser Addam, Addam, this is Jon Snow, Lord Stark's son." He explained.

"Nice to meet you lad," Ser Addam said as he shook his hand "though I'm not sure why he's chosen to pick on you." He japed as he smiled at Ser Jaime.

"I'm not picking on anyone, I just wanted to test my metal against some northern blood." He explained as a young boy ran to them and handed a tourney blade to him and the white knight.

"Why not ask Lord Umber? I imagine he would have been well up for it." He said as he tested the weight of the blade. He would have asked for another sword and used two but he didn't want to give too much away to the Lannister knight.

Ser Jaime snorted "No thanks, that mad fucker scares me sometimes. Plus he's too busy singing your praises so I thought, why not go for you instead." He explained.

It made sense but he felt like there was another reason he was singled out. He looked around and noticed a small crowd building around the yard, his eye's narrowed when he saw Harry the Arse smirking in his direction.

Was this that cunts idea? Were him and Ser Jaime pally?

"C'mon then, let's see what you're made of." Ser Jaime said as he clapped him on the back and walked past him into the middle of the yard. A few fighters stopped to witness them.

"YOU CAN DO IT JON!" He heard Arya shout from the other side of the yard, he noticed a few people turn and look at her. He smiled and waved at her.

"C'mon Jon, you can't let you sister down." Ser Jaime said as he got into a stance. Disappointing his sister wasn't a possibility in his eyes.

Humble him or destroy him? He thought to himself.

He knew Ser Jaime had to be the cream of the crop to be regarded as one of the best swords in the realm...

But this man hadn't been trained by that mad fucker, Master M.

He looked into Jaime's eye's, in full focus mode now. He saw the smirk on the man's face twitch but only slightly. If he blinked, he would have missed it.

"First to yield loses?" He said as the Lannister knight nodded.

They circled each other first, trying to work out each other's movements, eyeing an opening to capitalise on. He wasn't gonna lunge in straight away, this wasn't some whale from White Harbour, this was Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard.

"Interesting stance you've got there, who trained you?" Ser Jaime asked as he twirled his sword to readjust according to Jon's movements.

He smirked, he'd just found his opening and Ser Jaime had just handed it to him on a silver platter.

"Your uncle's friend trained me." He said as he poised to strike.

Ser Jaime frowned in confusion "Uncle's frien..." He tried to say but was cut off by Jon's swift advancement.

The White Lion as some people liked to call him was fast, much faster than some of his sparring partners in the northern camp. His defence was good as Jon focused his strikes higher and higher, giving the knight no time to riposte Jon's quick and if Ser Jaime's frown was anything to go by, incredibly unorthodox striking pattern.

That's probably because there wasn't a pattern to begin with, Master M deemed them lazy and easily exploitable. As soon as the old man had shown how easy it was to put him on his back by knowing his patterns, he'd eradicated them from his style. It was incredibly jarring to forget what he knew but Master M had slugged him through it and he was a much better fighter come the end of it.

He backed off from his strikes as Ser Jaime regrouped. Jon grinned and held his sword loosely, lulling the man into a false sense of security before rushing him again, Ser Jaime getting his blade up just in time to block the swift overhanded strike but not quick enough to block heavy swinging kick to the outside of his left knee, right on the joint. The man's greaves absorbed some of the hit, but it was clear by the way Ser Jaime favoured his right leg as he repositioned that he'd caused the man some grief.

"I thought we were sparring, not brawling." Ser Jaime said as he swung low and attempted to strike out with his free hand, a steel gauntlet whooshing past Jon's face as he easily avoided the man's obvious attempt at getting one back on him.

"I thought you were teaching me some new things, not whining like a little bitch." He said, grinning as the man shook his head and desperately fought the smile appearing on his own face.

They exchanged strikes back and forth, he allowed the knight to put him on the defensive, giving him the time to learn his patterns and habits. The strikes were easy to read and block, Ser Jaime's offense was clearly affected by the kick to his knee, taking away the ability to plant his feet properly and thus, taking away a lot of the man's power.

He saw Ser Jaime's knee buckle under his weight when he kicked him but he didn't realise he'd left lasting damage. Master M had taught him all manner of strikes, holds and throws to incorporate into his style and in case he was ever unarmed. He had him kick a thick pole of wood until it splintered and cracked to improve the power in his strikes and that had clearly worked, the evidence was eyeing him right now.

He thought it was in everyone's best interest for this spar to end, Ser Jaime so he could rest his knee and Jon so he could get away from the slowly increasing crowd.

What he planned wasn't very fair but so what, nothing was fair in love and war.

He gripped his sword in two hands and leaned back as Ser Jaime lunged, the knight over extended and became slightly off balanced, Jon riposted the strike and instantly put the knight back on the defensive.

He looked into Ser Jaime's eyes as he fluidly struck left to right, he smirked as he remembered the story Gerion told him "Did your father ever find out who spilt all that wax in his desk drawer?" He asked as the man's eyes widened in shock. It gave Jon the opening to plant a foot behind Jaime's left leg and force the man against it, tripping him backwards and landing in the hard dirt of the yard with a rattle of his armour. He bolted towards him and placed a knee against the man's plated chest, keeping him glued to the ground. He brought his sword down and let it rest against Ser Jaime's neck as he smirked down at the man's shocked face.

"Do you yield, Ser Jaime?" He asked as everyone started whispering.

"Ho...how do you know about the desk drawer? Only one person knew about that?" Ser Jaime asked, shock and confusion all over his face.

"Yield and I'll tell you everything." He replied.

"I yield." Ser Jaime instantly answered, the spar clearly less important to him than the information Jon held. "Now tell me how you know that?" He asked again.

He got off the knight and held a hand out to help the man to his feet which he took instantly.

"Your uncle told me." He said as he took Ser Jaime's sword out of his hand and handed both of the tourney blades to the young lad from earlier. The boy looked at him in slight awe as he was handed the swords.

Ser Jaime frowned "Uncle Kevan doesn't know about that story." He said as they walked away from the centre of the yard, people still staring and whispering. Neither of them noticing a Kingsguard and his charge looking on in interest.

He shook his head "The other one, the only other person other than you and me who knows about you spilling your father's wax whilst playing with his lion head letter stamp." He replied, Ser Jaime grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him so Jon was looking at him.

"You're playing a dangerous game Snow." The man said, his face a mix of anger and hope.

He decided to put the man out of his misery "Gerion is alive, I've met him, I've lived with him and I would consider him one of my closest friends." He said, clearly stunning the Kingsguard speechless.

Ser Jaime started shaking his head in disbelief, holding a hand out to silence whatever his friend Ser Addam was trying to say to him as they returned to the sidelines of the yard.

"It's impossible, he's been dead for years, lost to the smoking sea searching for our ancestral sword. I knew it was a stupid fucking idea when he first told us about it." He said, mainly to himself as he looked into nothingness in disbelief.

He clapped the man on the shoulder, he knew from what Gerion had told him that he was Jaime's and Tyrion's favourite uncle. Jaime looked at him, he looked desperate for the truth.

"I have something to show you, specifically something from your uncle." He said as the knight nodded. Desperate for that confirmation of his uncle's survival.

"I think your father will want to see it as well." He finished.