"What are you doing here anyway," Jon said after coming to a stop in front of his sisters and students.
"Oh! We are here on Lady Stark's orders," Emily said while standing up gracefully from where she was petting Frost, "She called both of you to Lord Stark's chambers,"
"Why?" Jon asked while exchanging confused glances with his brother, "What happened?"
"I am not sure... But I think maybe its because the army is finally ready to leave,"
Over the past few weeks, the gate guards of Winterfell were kept busy throughout the day with the irregular times the Lords of North arrived along with their army. Some arrived early in the morning, while others during the evening, so even the cooks and the staff had to be ready at all times to make sure everyone was settled properly.
"Oh! Then we should hurry up..."
All of them went out of the godswood together, with Frost having left them for the Wolfswood for a hunt. While they moved toward the Great keep they through the armory and smithy which was more crowded than ever, and at all times during the day, the constant hammering and the smoke churning out of the chimneys could be seen.
Even little Tom was being told to handle a lot of work even though he wasn't a proper expert yet. But while he was busier than ever, there was a constant smile on his face whenever Jon saw him, which proved his initial claim that he loved being a blacksmith.
But while all of them were busy doing different things, Jon still managed to find some time during the day to take his students (which had increased to three,) to the now empty hunter's lodge for a warging lesson.
Halfway through they came across Jory who confirmed for them that the army would be leaving Tomorrow, after the last and the farthest Lord Umber arrived from the last hearth that morning.
So Emily and Becca separated from them there, as they wanted to say farewell to Old Mark as he would also be leaving with the army. Jon told Emily that he would go to Old Mark's room after he was done to say his own farewells.
Before long all four siblings came to the Great keep and after climbing the stairs before the Lord's Solar they found Catelyn there standing outside the door speaking with the Steward.
"I'll make sure that everything's ready, My Lady," The steward said before bowing and going away.
"... You're finally here," Catelyn said when she turned and found all of them, and immediately turned around to open the door and ushered all of them in, "Come inside,"
Eddard was going over some papers alone in the solar and looked up when he saw his whole family entering, "Oh... What are you all doing here?" he asked while standing up and coming toward them.
"I called them," Catelyn said, "I thought you would want to say your... " She hitched and stopped mid-sentence and turned her head away to hide her face.
"Thank you, Cat," Eddard said while warmly rubbing his hand behind her back to console her before turning to his children.
"Robb," Ned said while putting his hand on his eldest son's shoulder, "You know that I must leave to do my duty to the king tomorrow. You'll be the Stark in the Winterfell then, so I am counting on you,"
"I won't let you down, Father," Robb said while puffing his chest as much as possible before Eddard rubbed his hair with a small smile while giving him a hug, "I know you won't, Son,"
Eddard moved to his other son, before similarly patting his shoulder, "Jon, you're the smartest of the lot so I am leaning on you to take care of your siblings and keep them in line, Understood," Jon nodded and Eddard hugged him fiercely, but before moving away he whispered so that only Jon could hear, "And give Catelyn too much grief,"
Jon nodded with a laugh as Eddard went to his Daughters, "Now, Sansa, my baby girl—" Eddard started but before he could go on, Sansa immediately jumped into his arms and started crying loudly, "Please don't go! Father,"
"Calm Down, Sansa. I won't be gone for long," Ned said while rubbing his daughter's back but she started crying even louder, which set off Arya who started bawling even louder than his sister, so took her in her arms too, "Damn those squids," he hissed to himself while looking at his crying daughters whom he had to leave behind because of the reavers.
Eddard tried to console his two daughters in his arms, but he wasn't having much luck, he looked to his sons for help but Robb was barely holding himself together with his wet eyes, and Catelyn wasn't even looking at them but he could see her shoulder's shaking, so finally he turned to Jon, the only one who wasn't crying in the room along with Eddard.
Jon nodded immediately and took the crying Arya into his arms, and started to rock her which after a few minutes turned the crying into silent hiccups.
"You know father, I heard that the squids have eight wiggling slimy legs and I heard somewhere that when the people on the iron islands eat them they wiggle inside their mouths..."
"Eww..." Sansa said in disgust before giggling wetly at the way Jon was wiggling his fingers, Eddard finally sighed in relief when the crying finally stopped, he immediately changed the subject to a friendly one about that day's dinner.
...
The next day all the lords were leaving through the gates of Winterfell along with the Warden of the North. The army had already left an hour ahead of them, and they were bringing the rear along with the end of their baggage train.
They were just out of Winterfell's view and Eddard was talking with GreatJon about something when he heard a sudden shout behind him, and when he looked back, he could just make out his sons standing on the walls shouting at the top of their lungs, "Don't Bring Back Any Squids!"
"HaHa! HaHa!" GreatJon laughed loudly and said, "Your sons sure are lively,"
"That they are..." Eddard shook his head before waving his hand and turned around to leave after taking a final look at his home.
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I am back from the wedding!
...
To read ahead go to pat reon.c om/lazywizard
Check out my other work: Sirius Black SI