ROBB

His sister dragged him through the halls of Winterfell and he was barely paying any attention where they were going, as his head was still spinning from all the information that had been shoved into it, in such a short span of time.

The anger he had felt, when their father had announced that Robert was demanding Sansa´s hand in marriage, had made Robb burn with anger, and for a moment he had thought that he would start breathing fire like Jon´s dragons.

The gall of the man caused Robb to see red, and he would be damned if the fat King Robert would lay a finger on his little sister.

His sisters deserved to have husbands that loved, respected, and took care of them, and Robb would rather die than seeing either one of them married to a man like Robert Baratheon.

The man was famous for eating, drinking, and whoring and he was also old enough to be their father, and he thought that he deserved to marry Sansa just because he sat on the Iron throne?

But when his sister had told them that she wanted to marry Jon, all the anger at the usurper had vanished, and it had been replaced by shock.

Jon had been raised here in Winterfell, as their brother and Sansa wanted to marry him non the less?

But he is not your brother, whispered a voice that sounded a lot like Sansa herself in his mind. He is your cousin and cousins marry all the time.

That was true, it was perfectly respectable to marry your cousin, and they were close in age, and who was better to love, respect and protect Sansa than Jon? And if Jon married Sansa, he would be Robb´s brother again in fact.

In all honesty, when Robb thought about it, Jon was the only person that he trusted with Sansa´s wellbeing. Jon was good and kind, and Robb couldn't imagine him to start whoring and drinking himself it to an early grave, or disrespect Sansa like he knew Robert Baratheon would.

It had been Jon who had told Robb that there was no guarantee that a husband would treat Sansa and Arya with the respect that they deserved, and it had been Jon who had always offered Sansa help when it came to her lessons in the training yard.

Jon was also the man they were planning to place in the Iron throne, and to rule the Seven Kingdoms, and if Sansa married him, she would be Jon´s Queen.

Sansa would make a wonderful Queen, of that Robb was sure.

So why was it wrong for them to be together?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sansa, as she dragged him into her room and pushed him down on one of the chairs by her small desk, that was filled with letters, scrolls and books.

She poured him a cup of water and handed it to him, as he continued to stare in surprise at her and he was vaguely aware that the direwolves had followed them into the room.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything to his sister, but she was quicker. "Robb, I know that this is a shock to you that I want to marry Jon, but please don't be mad."

Sansa had been all smiles when they left their father´s solar, but now as she begged him not to get angry, he could see the worry and fear in her eyes and again he tried to speak but was interrupted.

"I know that this all seems strange to you, and at first it did for me too, but I love Jon with all my heart and I just want to be with him."

She grabbed a cup and poured herself some water. "And I know that you think of Jon as your brother and not your cousin, but he is our cousin and it is perfectly respectable for us to marry when we announce that Jon is really Rhaegar´s and Lyanna´s trueborn son and heir. In fact, it would help to prove that our father´s words are true as he is ready to marry his own daughter to Jon."

Sansa walked up and down the room, with her cup in hand as she glanced at him as he sat there, still shocked and confused by the situation as his sister continued to try and convince him that it would be good for them if she married Jon.

"And me, marrying Jon might help us when it is time for us to take back his birthright, I mean the Northern lords would believe father´s word that Jon is a trueborn son of Rhaegar´s and Lyanna´s, but they might get offended that Rhaegar didn't ask for her hand like tradition demands, and that it was all done in such secrecy that it cost uncle Brandon and grandfather Rickard their lives, and they could hold it against Jon that his parents kept the marriage and the conception a secret."

Robb was given no change to say anything as Sansa continued her monologuing.

"Yes, I mean every Northern lord might hate Robert Baratheon after he ignored our need, but we must have the North united behind Jon if we are to take back the Iron throne, and while they might like and respect him after everything he has done to help us rebuild the North, they might want a more tangible bond to him in the form of a marriage."

His sister put the mug back on the table, without having taken a sip from it as she continued her pacing.

"Sansa I-."

"And yes I know that if he married Margaery Tyrell, it would tie the Reach to him, but if he marries me, then not only would it secure the North to him for generations to come, but also tie the Vale and the Riverlands to him through our mother and aunt Lysa."

"San-."

"And yes, I know that lord Arryn has a trueborn daughter by our aunt that he could also theoretically marry, but she is only four years old, and Jon will be needed heirs a lot sooner than she could provide them for him, and it would be a lot better that Alys Arryn would marry Rickon when the time comes as they are much closer in age, and Rickon is the youngest of three sons so I think that the Northern lords would be alright with it if he married a southern girl, in fact I think that they would be glad if he did marry Alys, because if he married her then his children would be in line to inherit the Vale."

His sister was clearly getting more and more nervous as she started to speak faster and faster as she was trying to reason with him and making him see that marrying Jon was what was best for the North.

"Sansa, please stop." Robb stood up, put his own mug on the table and gently grabbed her by the upper arms, making her stare up at him with her blue eye wide in surprise, as he stopped her from continuing speaking so rapidly that she could hardly be understood anymore.

"I know that you, marrying Jon would be great for the North and for Jon, but is it something you really want?"

Her big blue eyes were wide in surprise as she answered him. "Yes, I want it more than anything in the world."

He watched as the smile on her face grew once again as she started to talk about how much she loved their cousin, and how kind, gentle and strong he was, and even when she mentioned Jon´s flaws there was a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes but Robb was only half listing to what she was saying.

Robb was more focused on the smile and how her eyes lit up rather than her words. The smile that had grown to be so rare, lit up her face and it was more than enough to convince him that Sansa marrying Jon was the right thing to do.

He smiled gently at her and let go of her arms. "That is all I care about; I just want you to be happy."

Sansa´s eyes were suddenly filled with happy tears, as her smile turned even brighter, and she hugged him tight around the waist. "I was so afraid that you would be angry with me."

"Why would I be angry with you?"

Sansa hugged him even tighter and whispered sadly. "You were so disgusted with Ser Jaime and Cersei Lannister." It was like she was trying not to be heard and was worried that reminding him of his disgust with the Lannister twins would make him change his mind about just wanting her to be happy.

Robb hugged his little sister close and he felt the urge to kick himself for his words earlier in their father´s solar. "I think that this situation with you and Jon is vastly different from the one that the Kingslayer and his sister are in."

He leaned a little back so that he could look her in the eye. "After all you and Jon are cousins, and not siblings, so it should be fine."

He smiled at her as she giggled at reminding her of her own words, as she had tried to make him see the benefits of the marriage between her and Jon.

They talked for a few hours more, and as Robb listened to his sister, he grew more and more convinced that they were doing the right thing.

But when the servants came to her chambers with her tub to so that she could wash the dirt form the trainyard off her, Robb hurried to his own rooms with Greywind on his heels, intending to take a bath himself as he was dirty as well from training with master Syrio.

But he didn't even make it halfway to his chambers, as a guard intercepted him and bade him to meet his father in his solar again.

Robb frowned but did as he was asked, he couldn't imagine what his father wanted to speak about now.

An unbidden thought entered his mind that his father wanted to find Robb a wife now that they would soon be placing Jon on the Iron throne.

He knocked on his father´s solar and waited until his father called for him to come in.

When he entered, Robb could see the exhaustion on his father´s face as the lord of Winterfell gestured for him to take a seat. "I am sorry for asking you to come again, Robb but there was something I wanted to talk to you about without anyone else present."

Robb nodded mutely and waited for him to continue.

His father cleared his throat and laced his fingers together and once again the thoughts of him being married off entered his mind.

"I think that it is time for you to take a wife, Robb."

Robb had known that this day would come, but he had hoped to have a little more time. "And who have you decided on?"

He knew full well that it would always be his father who would decide on who Robb married and that he would just have to live with his father´s decision.

"I haven't, nor am I going to without your input."

Robb could only stare at his father in surprise. He opened and closed his mouth in surprise, trying to find the words, but it seemed that every thought had fled his mind.

"You are going to allow me to have a say in who I marry?" He managed to croak out, barely believing what his father was saying.

"Aye, I will not be forcing you, or any of your siblings into a marriage that you do not want. And as long as you pick a highborn girl from the North, I do not see the harm in having you pick your own bride."

Robb could feel the smile form on his face. "Thank you, father, I…thank you, I don't…" He was almost at a loss for words, he was so happy that he could have a say in this matter that he was sure that he would be smiling for the rest of the month.

His father smiled at him. "You are welcome son, now I will be inviting the lords and their children to Winterfell to discuss the negotiations with the Freefolk that want to be allowed to live on the Gifts, and the fact that Robert is commanding me to raise my banners and marry Sansa to him, and I think that is a good opportunity for you to get to know the daughters of the lords and hopefully pick one of them."

He nodded furiously at his father with a large grin on his face. "I will father, I will pick someone that will help house Stark grow stronger, I promise."

While he was still angry at his father for having wanted Jon to have taken the black at one point, the amount of happiness he was feeling now was threating to overshadow everything else.

JON

His garron shook his shaggy mane as they rode through the haunted forest toward what had formerly been known as Craster´s Keep.

The journey from Castle Black had been relatively calm and quiet so far, and Jon could only hope that it would stay that way but as soon as they entered the North side of the Wall, it seemed to grow much colder with every step they took.

As they rode though the haunted forest, Jon had to compare it to the last time he had traveled this way.

It had been in his last life when he had decided to take Tormund up on the offer to travel North with him and help him settle his people and to help them rebuild their lives after the Great War.

When Jon had ridden though the forest last time, it had been just another forest after the fall of the Others and their dead soldiers, but now it had become just as dark and oppressive as it had been before the War and the atmosphere was almost suffocating.

Jon could hear his captain of the guards, Ser Allyn grumble in a low voice about the unnatural darkness of the forest as Benjen rode up to Jon. "He has the right of it, this forest has been growing darker for years now."

He glanced at the youngest of his mother´s bothers, and he could see the seriousness in his blue grey eyes, making it clear that he was not jesting. "What do you mean?"

Jon hadn´t served the watch in his other life long enough to see any visible changes before the fall of the Others, he had simply thought that the forest had always been so dark and dreary.

"When I first joined the watch, the forest was dark and unnerving, but it seems to grow darker with every year that passes, and now the villages like Whitetree back there are being abandoned."

Jon studied his uncle for a few moments in silence before he spoke. "The women at Craster´s aren't safe here."

Benjen shook his head. "No, I don't think that they are. Whatever is making the others flee will most likely soon turn its eyes to them."

Jon knew that his uncle´s words were true, with Craster no longer sacrificing his sons to the Others, they would soon come baring down on the women.

They fell silent and Jon glanced around them, and he could see that some of the night´s watch men were weary of negotiating with the Freefolk, while a few of them were outright saying that this was folly at its height.

But the fact that they had ridden out and were attempting to negotiate was progress, and Jon was sure that they would prefer not having to fight the Freefolk and live mostly in peace, and there were many of the Night´s watchmen were convinced that they could negotiate with the Freefolk as the ones that lived in the Gifts were peaceful and obeyed the law just like everyone else.

Jeor Mormont had chosen a variety of men to accompany them, veterans, and fresh-faced recruits alike but Jon was glad that the men who had stabbed him to death in another life were not here and had remained at the Wall.

If Ser Alliser Thorne had accompanied them, he would have been a liability at the very best, as he seemed to have transferred his hatred of anyone that was associated with Robert´s rebellion on to the Freefolk since there were so few men that he could take his anger out on at the Wall.

Thorne would most likely tried to kill any attempt at negotiations at it´s infancy if given half the change, and it seemed that the Old bear had recognized that since he had thankfully left the man at the Wall, despite the fact that he was one of the senior members of the watch.

"Here we are." Benjen pulled Jon out of his thoughts with a relief filled voice, and Jon would see the home of Craster´s former wives appear amongst the trees. Jon could see that the Freefolk that followed Tormund had already made their way to Craster´s and were already bustling about in a quiet manner that was unusual for the people beyond the Wall, as they kept sending them suspicious looks.

"I´ll be glad to warm myself by the fire and be away from the damned cold."

There was a hint of mirth in his uncle´s voice, as he fixed his laughing blue grey eyes on Jon, making him smile at little in return. He too longed for a fire to warm his frozen bones, as the weather had been getting colder and colder by the day, but every time Jon had looked into the fires, all he could think about was Sansa´s hair and the way she had looked in the tub as he had seen her though Ghost´s eyes.

Jon took extra care that every time he warged into Ghost that he would not see anything inappropriate and thankfully he hadn´t witnessed anything like what he had witnessed the first time he had entered Ghost´s mind in this life.

But the image of Sansa haunted him still, and when he closed his eyes it was all he could see.

Jon almost jumped out of his skin when he felt someone shake his knee and call his name. As he was pulled out of his thoughts, he noticed that they had stopped, and everyone was already dismounted and were giving him curious looks.

He could feel his cheeks burn as he hurriedly dismounted his garron and planted his feet beside his uncle. "Are you alright Jon?" Benjen asked quietly with a half a smile on his lips.

"Uh, yeah I am, just fine, I am great." He stumbled over his words like a child trying to hide their misdeeds from their parents and he could feel his cheeks grow even hotter.

His uncle slung his arm around Jon´s shoulders and chuckled. "If I didn't know better, I would think that your head was in the clouds over some girl."

The feeling that washed over him was somewhere between embarrassment and terror. If anyone found out that he had warged into Ghost and seen Sansa in the tub, he was sure that he would be murdered on the spot, and Jon was sure that he would deserve it.

He felt like the worst sort of bastard when he thought about how little self-control he had when he had stumbled on Sansa having a bath and the fact that he had broken her trust in him.

"Oh, so it is a girl." Benjen was grinning playfully at him as he ruffled his curly hair. "There are times when I forget how young you are, not even a man grown and yet here you are doing important diplomatic work for the realms of men."

His uncle moved his hand to Jon´s shoulder and the grin was replaced by serious look in his eyes as he spoke so quietly that only Jon could hear him. "You must remember that the girl you marry will one day become Queen, so you must be careful who you pick. You cannot just think about your feelings or how much you care about the girl, you have to think about how many swords and lords she will bring to your cause."

"I know uncle." Jon replied as quietly. He knew all too well the truth in his uncle´s words, but the girl that was haunting Jon every waking moment would bring Jon more swords and lords to his cause than any other, but Jon would never force that fate on Sansa.

He would never force her to marry him for an alliance for her father´s armies and her familial connections. She deserved better than that.

Sansa had suffered enough men for many lifetimes that had tried to use her for to get the North, and he would not be one of those men. It was his duty to see her marry someone that she loved and loved her in return, even if the thought of her marrying some lordling made him so angry that he could hardly see straight.

"Good, now come on, before they start the meeting without us." Jon grabbed his saddle bag from his garron and one of his men lead the small horse away to be taken care of until Jon had need of him again.

Jon and Benjen caught up with the others, and together they made their way into the wooden building.

The keep itself was just a hall with a sleeping loft above it, making the hall long and low and it could only hold about fifty men inside, so most of the Night´s watch men had to wait outside, as did the Freefolk.

The hall had a few benches that surrounded a large wooden throne like chair that Jon remembered Craster siting in while watching his wives do most of the work around the keep. But now the matriarch, Daella had claimed the chair for her own and gestured them to come closer.

As he and the night´s watch men made their way to her, his eyes found Tormund who was smirking at him from beside the matriarch, and the knowing glint in his eyes as he raised his mug to them as they entered made any doubt disappear that he had in his mind and he was sure that the red headed man remembered everything.

But behind Tormund, was a person that Jon hadn´t expected. Seeing Ygritte once again made him feel like he had just been punched in the stomach as the guilt threatened to overwhelm him, but Jon was just glad that she didn't remember, for if she had, he would have found himself full of arrows before stepping foot inside.

Jon could see that Tormund and many of his people in the hall had dragonglass daggers attached to their belts, and Jon couldn't help but to wonder where they had gotten them.

The matriarch gestured for them to take their seats on the benches facing the Freefolk, and Jon could see a glimmer of hope that they might come to a peaceful understanding in her eyes, as he took the seat she offered him next to her.

Daella had the same face and eyes as her daughter Gilly and when she smiled, she revealed the same overbite as she gave him a once over. "You must be Jon Snow, Benjen´s nephew."

"I am my lady." Daella gave a little laugh.

"I am no lady, Jon Snow. Your uncle Benjen talks about you every time he rides though here like you are his own son and it is clear that he thinks highly of you, but if you would be so kind as to tell me, how is my daughter Gilly doing in the south, in your lands?" There was worry in the woman´s eyes when she mentioned her daughter and she seemed to sit on the edge of her seat when she asked about her.

"Gilly is doing well, she is learning her letters and numbers and healing from our healer Wolkan, who is a great learned man and he thinks that she had a bright future in the art of healing." Jon opened his saddlebag and drew out a shawl made of beautiful and warm fabrics that Gilly had made for her mother when she heard that Jon was traveling North. "Gilly asked me to deliver this to you and to tell you that she is always thinking about you."

As Gilly´s mother accepted the shawl there were tears in her eyes as she thanked him.

Jon turned to face Tormund who was giving him a knowing smirk. "No pretty shawl for me, little crow?"

Jon had to fight the laugh at the jab that Tormund had so loved to use in their last lives. "I am afraid not, but I do have Dragonwater that I think that you would enjoy better." Jon reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a wineskin that was filled with the amber liquid and tossed it to the wild haired man.

Tormund seemed to grow extremely excited to taste the Dragonwater and took a large swing from the wineskin, as some of his people glared at Jon wearily, most likely thinking that Jon was trying to poison Tormund.

"He is not a black brother." Jon glanced behind him and lord commander Jeor, who had taken his seat next to Jon, at Thoren Smallwood.

The Riverlander was a ranger that Jon remembered having become first ranger after his uncle Benjen disappeared, but he had died at the fist of the First men.

Jon had no love for Smallwood, the man was aggressive and a friend of Alliser Thorne, and he hated the Freefolk with passion.

"Aye," Jon heard his uncle Benjen pipe up in amusement from behind him, preferring to stand like he was guarding Jon and making sure he was safe, which he most likely was. "and he is not so short, but I don't see you mentioning that, Smallwood."

As the men gave nervous laughs, Jon turned back to Tormund who was smirking at Smallwood before fixing his eyes to Jon once more. "We would like to make a deal with you little crow, to be let south of the Wall."

Tormund handed Jeor Mormont the wineskin to drink from it, and he could see that the old bear gave a half smirk at the gesture as he took it and drank from it.

"That can be arranged." Jon said and leaned on his elbows that he rested on his knees. "There are many Freefolk that have been settling in the Gifts and are living peacefully amongst us, who follow our laws and earn a good living."

He felt Ygritte´s displeasure before she even spoke. "You mean you force them to work the fields like slaves while you sit pretty in your castle."

There was a snort from one of the spearwives beside her that Jon had never seen before. "I don't think this one needs a castle to be pretty, I think that is pretty enough right here."

As everyone laugh at her words, another spearwife that Jon had never seen, agreed with the other one with a smirk. "Oh, aye I think I might steal this one myself if given half the change."

Jon knew that he had to change the subject and fast as he listened to them laugh at the jabs of the spearwives.

"The lands around of the Gifts are first and foremost used for agricultural purposes, so most of our people work the fields, but they are not slaves and can leave whenever they wish, but it is the most lucrative work for those who don't have education in other fields, like building, healing or working at a forge."

Ygritte opened her mouth to respond harshly judging by the look on her face, but Tormund jumped in. "Ygritte, enough if we are to live in the south, we are going to have to follow their laws until we can return back to our lands."

"Why are you trying to go south?" Jeor Mormont asked Tormund in a serious manner. The lord commander had been growing more concerned with all the abandoned villages north of the Wall in the last few years, and it was clear to the older man that something unusual was going on.

The Freefolk all looked fearful for the first time since they arrived. "It´s the dead." Tormund said grimly and rubbed his beard. "The Others have returned from the lands of always Winter and have started to hunt us down in droves, and it is them that are taking your rangers."

Smallwood snorted in anger. "That is convenient for you, that you are not the ones killing our friends but the dead and the stuff of wives´s tales that you cannot prove exist are the ones responsible."

"Smallwood." Jeor Mormont barked at the man. "Be silent or go outside."

Jon remembered when the old bear had spoken like this to him when he had spoken out of turn in this very house, and he found himself not envying the Riverlander one bit.

Thoren Smallwood closed his mouth in anger and shot the lord commander an evil look. The old bear turned back to Tormund. "The Others have been gone for more than eight thousand years."

"Aye," Tormund agreed. "But they were not dead, and now they have returned, and they don't care if we are crows, freefolk or southerners. They will kill us all if given the change."

Benjen shifted behind him. "Then why are there so few of you here to talk to us and try and negotiate if the Others are coming for us all?"

Tormund glanced at Jon for a moment before answering Benjen´s question. "Mance doesn't think that it is possible, and that the lords of the south and the crows hate us too much to try and make peace with us."

The man wasn't wrong, there was so much hate between the men of the southern side of the Wall and the Freefolk that if they didn't believe that they had an even greater enemy than each other, it would be hard to make peace between them.

But ever since Jon had been allowing small groups of Freefolk on his lands, to live and work alongside Northerners, the hatred seemed to have lessened a lot, but there was still a lot of work to be done to lessen the anger between the Northerners and Freefolk.

They talked for a few more hours, speaking about the conditions that had to be met with on both sides, for Jon and the watch to let the Freefolk south of the Wall.

As they talked the air grew steadily colder as the sun set, and he could see that Craster´s former wives were tending fires to warm the hall, but it didn't seem to bare much fruit as some of the men and Freefolk were clearly trying not to seem bothered by the cold.

"But," Tormund said with a grin and reached for something behind him. "I have a gift for the lord of Queenscrown, as a token of good faith and to show you all that we want to make peace between our peoples and work together against the dead."

He could feel confusion enter his mind and he opened his mouth to say that there was no need to give him anything, but he quickly closed his mouth when Tormund handed him what looked like a sword wrapped in old cloth that had clearly seen better days.

Jon shot his friend a bewildered look, and Tormund was sending him the most excited look he had seen since they had celebrated the end of the Great War in Winterfell and Jon had almost thrown up from drinking too much.

He slowly unwrapped the cloth of the sword, and when he had a good look at it all he could do was to stare numbly at the blade.

"Is that…?" He could hear his uncle say in amazement.

"Darksister." Jon finished as he picked the blade up and examined it closer. The hilt was black, and the pommel was made in the shape of golden flames.

"Where did you find her?" Jeor Mormont asked Tormund in surprise, making the red head smirk.

"Found her in a cave with a three eyed crow that didn't want to give her up." Jon quickly looked at his friend at his words. "but the three eyed crow didn't live long enough to fight for it, I´m afraid." He finished with a laugh and Jon had to force the sigh of relief down so that he didn't draw attention to himself.

The relief that he felt that Bloodraven wasn't around anymore to lure his cousin Bran to his cave was so great that he almost felt dizzy from it.

Bran, who was always so kind and quick to smile didn't deserve to end up dying in some cave only for his body to be taken over by Brynden Rivers to have his revenge.

Jon had been trying to come up with an excuse to travel beyond the Wall in the last year to the cave, but he didn't know where it was located and he didn't even know where to begin to look for it.

He glanced back at the sword in his hands before looking at his friend to thank him, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he could see his breath came out of his mouth like smoke out of a dragon´s mouth, leaving pale trails in its wake as his hot breath clashed with the cold air.

Jon could feel terror grip him as he glanced at the fire that one of the women was tending, trying desperately to stoke the flame, but no matter how fiercely the fire burned, the air only grew colder.

The others in the room had followed his line of sight and Jon could see the fear and dread in Tormund´s eyes that he was sure that was mirrored in his own grey ones.

"What is it?" Benjen asked, and Jon could hear how he was battling with his teeth from making them chatter as the air around them continued to grow colder.

But Jon didn't answer as he watched his breath linger in the air as he grabbed the hilt of Darksister tighter in his hands as the screams started.