A River in the north?

[Cerwyn 298 AC]

Jaehaerys.

Jae had been stretching out his aching muscles when the boy returned with a plate of chicken and a near-overflowing tankard; the smell of spice broke Jae from his concentration. And he turned around, taking the food and ale from the boy before sitting down to break his fast. The chicken was as good as any Jae'd ever eaten, maybe a little dry, but that was nothing the warm ale couldn't fix.

As he ate, he watched the boy with Winter. The warhorse liked him well enough, and Winter had always been an excellent judge of character, so Jae trusted his horse's intuition. And when they left, Ghost would decide how much Jae should charge this boy he'd be taking on a grand adventure as his unofficial squire.

Suddenly, Jae remembered he had forgotten to ask the boy's name during the exhaustion he felt the night prior. He briefly wondered whether his mother would smack him for forgetting his courtesy but shook that fantasy away before he felt the gloom return. "Do you have a name, boy?" The boy looked at him as he ran his fingers through Winter's black mane. "I can't keep calling you 'boy,' now can I? I could, but that would get annoying after a while."

"Brynden, My Lord," said Brynden with a smile, though a beat later, his face fell, and his expression went meek. "Bryden Rivers."

Jae nodded and kept eating. He could feel Brynden's eyes on him as he drank a gulp of his ale; he sighed before looking at the boy. "Did you think I would leave you behind because of your name? Don't be stupid, lad, you're not stupid; a pain in the arse, yes, but not stupid."

Brynden looked relieved. Jae supposed he ought not to be surprised by that—even here in the north, where the Seven had little to no hold over the populous, bastards were oft mistreated. On that, Jae was grateful that Eddard had some shred of the honour he claimed to have, for that had kept the abuse on his person at bay... while his uncle was at Winterfell.

But when Eddard had gone off to remove a head or two, off to meet with his Lords, or to fight in the war, that had left Lady Trout and her school of followers to do with him as they pleased, which had ended with him being moved out of the Great Keep and into the room at the Guest House. And that was where he and Robb started drifting, even more so when Eddard had brought Theon back after the rebellion.

"What is your name, My Lord?" Brynden asked, bringing Jae back to the present. After finishing his chicken, he shook his head and gulped the last of his ale.

"Jon," he said, the name bitter on his tongue. "I am no true lord, no more than you are a true squire." He stood from the bale and cracked his neck. "Did you put the change back in the pouch?"

"Yes," said Brynden, patting said pouch. "Fourteen coppers."

Jae wondered if that was right, nodded after settling that it was, and grabbed Winter's bridle's reins. "Good lad. We best be off. We'll be riding hard for the next few days."

"Alright," Brynden said, making Jae glad for the lack of questions.

Jae led Winter through the small town and saw Jonelle in the market. But, unfortunately, he had not hidden his face quick enough, and she came skipping over, her hands behind her back and a bright smile on her lips. "Gods be good," he cursed, stopping and ignoring the confused Brynden.

"I had not thought Jon Snow to be the type to come all this way to Cerwyn only to leave without saying goodbye." Jonelle came to a stop, her ample bosom bouncing as she did.

"Hello, Elle," Jae greeted his friend. Jonelle was two years his senior, and they had become friends because of the times she and her father visited Winterfell—the castles were but half a day's ride from each other, so the Cerwyns came by once a moon, at the least, and thrice at the most. "I only stopped to allow Winter some rest. We have been tracking quite a large stag since late yestereve."

Jonelle gave Winter a few pats on the neck, earning a content whicker from the horse; she scratched him behind the ear, and the horse gave that smile of his. "You could have come to the castle. Father would have given you a room; you know he would. So, why didn't you?"

'Always the suspicious one, Elle,' he thought, sighing inwardly. "I was beside myself with fatigue. Forgive me?"

"Sure, I forgive you, Jonny," she smirked.

"Ugh," he rolled his eyes, catching a glimpse of the wide-eyed Brynden as his head darted between them. "I told you not to call me that."

She smiled innocently. "Where's Ghost? I'm sure I have a leg of lamb somewhere around here for him."

"He's off hunting in the wood," Jae said truthfully. "The little sod was in no mood for the children trying to braid his fur again."

Jonelle giggled behind her hand. "He does hate when they do that, doesn't he? But, hmm, never mind that. Which way are you off to?"

"Torrhen's Square," he lied, feeling only slightly guilty. "Ghost caught the scent of the stag off in that direction."

"Oh, alright," she said, finally seeing Brynden beside Jae. "And who is this? Wait, Bran? No, no, Bran's shorter than him."

Jae glanced at Brynden. "This is Brynden Rivers. He's my self-appointed squire. I've told him I'm no knight, but the lad's almost as persistent as you were. Do you remember when, what were we, me seven and you nine? Do you remember how terrible you were? He's worse."

Jonelle scoffed, rolled her eyes, and crouched in front of Brynden. "He's not taking you against your will, is he?"

"Not at all, My Lady," Brynden said after staring for a second, sounding uncertain. "He's definitely not doing anything of the sort. Help me," he whispered the last part loud enough so Jae could hear him.

"Should I call the guards?" Jonelle played along, and Jae rolled his eyes.

"Do you think they can beat him?" Whispered Brynden, blue eyes going wide. "He looks fast."

"Might be we need the GreatJon's help," she grinned. "He'll pick him up and throw him over the Wall with all the other wildlings."

"Alright, alright," said Jae, only half-annoyed they were ganging up on him. "We have a stag to hunt. I will see you at Winterfell on your next visit, Elle."

Brynden grinned as Jonelle pointed to Jae with her thumb before rolling her eyes; she stood up and kissed Jae on the cheek. "Tell Arya I'll bring her some shortcakes when I come for the King's arrival."

"She'd like that," he said sadly, covering it with a smile and nod. If Jonelle noticed, she kept it to herself. "Goodbye, Elle."

"Bye, Jon," with that, she spun on her heel and hurried back to the stall she was at—shortcakes, he saw and smiled a little.

Jae looked at Brynden, and the two started walking again. Winter neighed his goodbye, and he saw Jonelle wave at the horse before buying a bag of sweets. Jae nodded to the guards by the gates, and they nodded back at him before letting them out.

He mounted Winter, grabbed Brynden by the arm, and pulled the boy behind him. "How do you know the Lady, Jon? And who's Ghost?"

"Keep a good hold on the saddle. Winter takes a little getting used to," he avoided the first question. "And you'll meet Ghost in a bit."

Brynden nodded and held tightly to the saddle. Then, Jae spurred Winter forward, and the horse took off into a trot. When around ten minutes passed, Jae spied white dashing between the trees. Brynden must have seen him, too, as he felt the boy tapping his shoulder rapidly, yelling that a wolf was chasing them.

"Don't worry," Jae said calmly. "You wanted to meet Ghost? Well, there he is. I promise you'll be glad for his company when the nights get colder."

"You have a wolf?" Asked Brynden, his initial fear giving way to excitement. Jae chuckled, nodding and telling him that he would introduce them when they stopped for rest at dusk. "Dusk?! My arse hurts already!"

"You'll get used to it," Jae promised.

Brynden was not so sure. "Really? You swear?"

Jae shrugged. "Might be you never get used to Winter," he admitted, and Winter picked up the pace, eliciting a shout of surprise from Brynden. "Easy, boy! You'll likely need your own horse someday, but riding tandem will have to do for now."

Later, when the sun was cresting the Barrowlands, they found a place beside the river to camp for the night. Just off the river bank by a cluster of large boulders that would shield them from the cold winds. Jae guided Winter out of the shallow waters, the horse more than happy to be free of the wetness, and dismounted; Jae helped Brynden get off, too, and shook his head with a ghost of a smile when the boy rubbed his backside, grumbling something Jae couldn't hear.

"I'll make a fire," he said. "My sword needs a good sharpening. Take the cloth and whetstone and sit by the water. I take it you've seen someone work a blade before?"

"I watched the smiths in Cerwyn a few times," Brynden said, unclipping the bastard sword from the saddlebag and grabbing the whetstone. Jae nodded and picked up whatever branches he found on the bank, cursing himself for forgetting to take an axe. "Why is it called a whetstone? Is it because it has to be wet when you use it?"

Jae shook his head as he dropped an armful of branches on the stones. "No. Whet, it means to sharpen a blade. Where is Ghost?" The white wolf had vanished back into the trees the second they had seen the boulders. Jae whistled, but the wolf didn't come. 'He must be hunting,' thought Jae.

"Am I doing it right?" He heard Brynden ask after lighting the fire. Jae turned around and saw the boy concentrated on running the stone in even, rhythmic strokes down the length of the blade.

"Aye, better than I did at your age," Jae said honestly. "There may be hope for you yet. Don't cut yourself—I may know how to mend a gash, but I can't grow back a finger."

"I won't cut myself. Ouch!"

Jae hurried to his feet and jogged to the boy. "Are you alright?" He looked down and saw Brynden smirking up at him, sword and stone resting across his knees. Then, he clicked his tongue and flicked his forehead.

"Hey!" Brynden rubbed his forehead where Jae had flicked it. "What was that for?"

Jae walked back to the fire. "Get back to work, or I'll give you a proper clout round the ear."

"No, you won't," Brynden replied cheekily but kept working either way. Just then, Ghost burst through the foliage, a hare gripped in his teeth and blood all over his face. And Jae knelt to the wolf, scratched him behind the ear, and took the offered meat. "Did he hunt that for us?"

"Aye, seems to be. It might be he ate before coming back," Jae said, watching as Ghost padded towards Brynden silently. "Go on. You can touch him; he won't mind." He nodded, more comfortable after seeing Ghost allow Brynden to touch him; one could never be too sure, Jae told himself.

And then, Jae unsheathed a dagger from his belt before beginning to skin the hare. "His fur's very soft," he heard Brynden saying.

"Aye, he likes his soap," Jae said, pulling the innards from the rabbit. "When we get to Moat Cailin, I'll have to scrub him down nightly, or else he might get grumpy."

"Moat Cailin?" Brynden said, confused. "I thought we were headed for Torrhen's Square?"

"No," said Jae, flicking the heart off the tip of his dagger. Ghost caught it and swallowed it quickly before lying down by the fire. "We're going south, not west. Moat Cailin, then Greywater Watch. I have to speak with a friend of my mother; he has some information I want."

"Oh, alright," Brynden muttered, still sharpening the blade. "When will you start teaching me to use a sword?"

Jae peeled the skin off the hare, it was a poor job, but he guessed he would be far better at it when they arrived at Greywater. "When I am sure my brother and his wolf can't sniff us out." Ghost's ears perked up, and Jae looked at him. "Don't worry, boy; I'm sure Nymeria gave them your farewells." The wolf whined silently and lay back down, watching the treeline closely.

"You have a brother? And why would he be looking for you? Did you not tell him where you were going?"

"In truth, he's my cousin, but I have a brother, aye. And I didn't tell anyone I was leaving," said Jae, stabbing a stick through the hare. "We'll eat first, then you brush Winter down. And, if we have time before dark sets in, I'll show you how to use a dagger."

"Really?" Brynden said excitedly.

"Aye. Get some of the spice from the bag. I can't eat plain rabbit. Don't just drop my sword! Pick it up and put it down by the boulder." Jae sighed as Brynden smiled sheepishly before doing as he was bid. "I would have gotten a beating if I had done that around Ser Rodrick."

"Sorry, sorry," said Brynden, gently leaning the sword against the boulder.

"A weapon needs to be treated with care, understand? Treat them like they are worth a thousand dragons, even the plainest ones."

"I understand," Brynden said, pulling a small bag of spices from the saddle. Winter walked off towards a small patch of grass on the bank. "Shouldn't we hitch him?"

"Winter's a more loyal horse than any you'll ever meet," Jae said, and the horse whinnied his agreement. "He won't leave my sight unless I tell him to." Ghost raised his head to stare at his giant companion, probably wondering if he could eat grass. It would make hunting far easier.