[1377 Words]
—Westeros, The North, Winterfell, Godswood, 298 AC—
Catelyn Stark, nee Tully, walked through the street sellers and smallfolk of Winterfell, making her way to the godswood.
She saw her husband, Eddard Stark, sharpening his sword as he sat on a log. She has a slightly sad look on her face as she fumbles with a letter hidden by the long sleeves of her dress.
"All of these years, and I feel like an outsider whenever I come here." She began to say, trying to find something to stretch the time she had before she told her husband of the sad news from King's Landing.
Ned looked around, trying to see if there was something off with the Godswood. "You have 5 beautiful, handsome, and strong northern children; you are no outsider here, at least not to me."
Ned replied, his tone filled with pride and love for his children and wife as he looked into her eyes earnestly, which only made Cat feel more sadness for what she would have to tell him.
"I wonder if the old gods would agree," Cat replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, trying to draw this out even a little longer. "It's your gods with all the rules."
Ned replied, but sensing something was wrong, he looked into Cat's eyes, and she knew that she could not wait any longer.
"I am so sorry, my love," Cat said as she brought out the letter she had been hiding in her sleeves. "Tell me," Ned said, not liking this anxious atmosphere.
"There was a raven from Kings Landing. Jon Arryn is dead, it says a fever took him. I know he was like a father to you."
"Your sister and the boy?" Ned asked, but she reassured them that they were safe and healthy. She sat right next to him as she began to speak again,
"The raven brought more news: the king is coming with the queen, and the lot of them." She said not with any particular fondness, they had a back-and-forth talk about Robert's true reasons for coming this far North.
In the Great Hall of Winterfell, servants were bustling as they prepared the Great Hall for the Royal Family, and Catelyn Stark was going around to make sure everything was okay with Maester Luwin by her side.
While in one of the rooms where raw meat was on the table, three young men, Robb Stark, heir to Winterfell, Theon Greyjoy, warden of House Stark and heir to the Iron Islands, and Jon Snow, bastard of Winterfell, heir to nothing in the north, two of them, Jon and Theon, were standing around while Robb was getting shaved.
"I don't know why your mother is so dead set for us all to get pretty for the king," Jon said with a hint of annoyance as he mentioned Robb's mother, and even though they are brothers, his mother was not his own.
Theon just in with his opinions on why she may want them to get all dressed up. "It's for the queen, I bet. I heard she is a she's a sleek bit of mink, and don't even get me started on the princess. I heard that she is nearing or even surpassing that of her mother's beauty."
"I hear the prince is a right royal prick, well, at least the crown prince, the younger one Axel, I think his name is, but I heard he is a great swordsman, but he cares little to none about the smallfolk."
Robb added to the conversation and shared his thoughts about Joffrey that were very clearly negative, but when it came to Axel, it was still not positive; it wasn't as bad as Joffrey.
Theon added a derogatory comment about Joffrey, as if he didn't deserve it. Tommy the barber pushed Robb off the stool, and then Robb pushed Jon onto the stool.
"Go on, Tommy, shear him good, he's never met a girl he likes better than his own hair," Robb said as Jon was pushed down on the stool by Tommy, as he looked at Robb with an annoyed look.
The two boys laughed at the disturbed look on Jon's face as his hair was being sheared off.
A few leagues away from Winterfell, the king's entourage to the North could be seen in the distance, as Brandon Stark, the second son and second youngest child of Ned Stark, could see them from a tall tower.
As Bran could see the Ryal Family get even closer, she began to climb down the tower at a quick but careful pace, like he had been doing it for a long time.
While on the ground, Catelyn could see him climbing down and began to reprimand him since this was not the first time he caught him doing so, and Bran defended himself the best he could.
The king's entourage trotted in on their horses while one of them wore a dog-shaped helmet, and Arya Stark looked on with an amazed look on her face, before she began to run off to join he family in the welcoming party.
After a bit of talk between the Stark family and the King, Robert Baratheon trotted in on his horse, and all those present bowed. He got off his horse with some assistance and walked up to Ned Stark and gestured for him to get up, and all those who were bowed rose with him.
"Your Grace," Ned said with a bow of his head.
"You got fat," Robert replied. After he said that, Ned looked down at Robert's belly, and they both burst out in laughter. Seeing this, the Stark Family, the close helpers and friends, let out a relieved smile.
Robert hugged Cat and patted Rickon Stark, the youngest son and child of Ned, on the head and began to talk to Ned. At the same time, most of the Royal Family got out of their carriages and off their horses.
Robert went to each of the Stark children and said some words to them, and Cersei went up to Catelyn and Ned, who bowed and said, " My queen."
"Ned, let's head down to the crypts. I want to pay my respects to Jon." Robert said as he was about to leave, but Cersei did not want him to go due to the long trip, but he just called Ned and kept on walking with Ned following him.
Just then, Axel came in on his horse with Persia right beside him. It is strange how the horse is not startled by the big cats' presence, but most people couldn't care less as they looked at Axel's appearance, not his face, not his body, but his appearance.
His back was straight as he got off his horse, standing at a towering six feet, which is quite tall for his age; with broad shoulders, and his hair, a mixture of black and gold, seemed to dance in the wind.
It's said that he got his looks from his mother and body from his father, as his well-groomed black-gold attire was snug around his fit and toned body, but what really pulled everyone in was his mismatched green and bluish-purple eyes.
"Sansa, do you see how handsome that guy is? He's more handsome than Jamie Lannister." Arya said, but this time Sansa did not tell her to shut up because this time she was awa struck at her appearance.
But Axel paid them no mind; he knew how handsome he was, but he did not care about the thoughts of lessers unless they seemed interesting or were one of them.
He walked up to Myrcella and Evie while Jacob had already wandered off to God knows where, well, his god. Axel let them both grab his arm as he went up to Maester Lewin and asked for the location of where they would be staying, and left.
"Did you see how cool, manly, and chivalrous she was when he let the princess and her friend grab on to his thick, strong arms."
Arya said again as Sanas nodded vigorously, but no one paid attention to the Crown Prince Joffrey, who, seeing no one looking at him, walked away with his mother, in Axel's direction.