10 Chapter 10: Birth Right

Jon walked through the street markets of Winter Town with five armored men at his side. Unlike his usual attire consisting of light armor such as padded leather and chainmail, he wore heavy plated armor. This armor was visually imposing, with every piece of it from helmet to steel toe being a horrendous black.

The helmet in particular was very intimidating as it was made in the shape of a snarling direwolf's head. The open jaw only left enough room for Jon's sharp yellow eyes behind his protective visor.

"Harwin." Jon spoke to the young man to his right.

The man known as Harwin had a very gloomy demeanor and cautiously looked around with his hand on the hilt of his sword. His face was full of short stubble and his long tangled brown hair covered his shoulders. Although he was very young, only around 18, he also had expensive armor worth a couple golden dragons in total.

"Yes Jon?"

"Go around and ask any of the merchants if they have milk of the poppy, dreamwine, and manticore venom. I want at least 2 pints of each."

Just as Jon handed over a small sack of coins to Harwin, another hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Jon Snow. You cannot purchase medicine or poison without Lady Catelyn's permission. We have to report and wait for her approval first." Jon's head turned over to the man who grabbed his shoulder.

"I'm buying medicine to prepare for the long journey ahead of me. I don't believe I need permission from Lady Catelyn nor Lord Stark seeing as I am no longer under their service as a guard of Winterfell." Jon's voice grew quiet as he slowly moved his hands to his waist.

But the man standing before him didn't care about the light threat. Unlike Harwin, this man didn't have the signia of the Stark house anywhere on his body, but a sliver trout carved into his dark grey steel breastplate.

"That doesn't matter. Lady Catelyn sent me to guard you and keep you safe. I must report that you're purchasing dangerous materials."

"You're one of Lady Catelyn's bannermen?" Jon's mouth widened into a smile underneath his helmet upon seeing the trout on the man's armor.

"He's one of Lady Catelyn's guards. One of the twenty she brought with her to Winterfell after the war." A man said. "He's not one of Lord Stark's bannermen."

Alyn. A large hefty man with quite a few pounds on him. He stood taller than most men at a height of 6 '0. His clean handsome face, exotic red hair and skill with a sword made him one of the most well known guards of Winterfell.

Just like the other men who had agreed to join Jon on his journey out of Winterfell, he was very young, only around 19. He always had the dream to become a knight, which was why he decided to follow Jon on his journey to the Reach.

Most of the men who joined Jon on his journey had similar motives. All of them were young men with dreams of traveling the world, going on adventures, and gaining glory and riches along the way.

"Lady Catelyn wants you to spy on me during my journey to the Reach? Does she plan for me to have an accident once I cross into the Riverlands?" Jon's voice became bitter with hate and anger as the men around him drew through swords and surrounded the Tully bannerman.

At this point, Jon could see the sweat forming under the man's iron cap. Judging by his grey hair, the man must've served as a knight for at least a few decades by now, but even he couldn't take out five men. Especially these particular five men, each of them had been drilled into soldiers since a young age by Ser Rodrik, normal knights couldn't beat them one on one, much less all five at a time.

"You misunderstand. Lady Catelyn is just concerned for your safety. She would never try to hurt you in any way."

Jon laughed. "Drop your weapon and take off your armor. Then I'll consider listening to your words. If my mother truly didn't mean me no harm then I wouldn't leave Winterfell in the first place."

Jon kept his voice fairly loud. People saw that a conflict was about to happen and a small crowd had formed in the middle of the street. People were gathered around them, far enough so that they wouldn't be involved but close enough to hear them.

Jon planned to blow this event out of proportion. At first he just planned to buy a couple medical drugs but now he had a much better idea. Since Lady Catelyn wanted to monitor him he'd force her to hand over some recompensation.

What would people of the North think if they saw a Tully bannerman try to bully the bastard son of Eddard Stark. Jon knew, they would take great offense to the outsider and the person who commanded him, that being Lady Catelyn, a Tully foreign to the North.

"With all due respect Jon Snow, you cannot command me to do anything. I am a Tully bannerman, you cannot harm me."

Jon took off his helmet and gave a viscous smile as he dropped it to the floor and pulled his twin short swords out of their sheaves.

"Are my mother's men not mine to command?"

"You are not Lady Catelyn's son. You are just a bastard." Gasps were heard from the crowd and the Tully bannerman's face went pale once he saw the horrific change on Jon's face.

The boy's yellow eyes grew slim as a line, like the eyes of a venomous viper, and his black sclera revealed itself, earning the screams of the common folk as if they had seen a demon appear before them.

"Leave him. I will take his life with my own hands. I will not let a Tully bannerman disrespect me in my rightful home. I am Jon Stark, son of Eddard Stark. I will not be denied my birthright."