[Chapter Size: 2609 Words.]
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Eddard Stark POV
North Kingdom, Winterfell, heart of the realm, 289 A.C., On the same day.
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Ned was deep in thought, reflecting on the events of the past few weeks, as he, his guards, and Lord Torrhen arrived at the farm where Jon had stayed.
Upon reaching Torrhen's Square, he immediately grew angry with Helman Torrhen. He had no news of his missing son, who had been in the lord's lands for a while and had become quite famous, yet received no letter from the lord about rumors of a boy with black hair and gray eyes.
Lord Tollhart explained to his lord that he wasn't sure if it was the boy, so he didn't want to give false hope. But when he went to the location and confirmed his description with the farm families, the first thing he did upon returning to his castle was send a raven to Winterfell. However, by the time the raven reached Maester Luwin, Ned Stark had already left Winterfell two days ago.
When Ned learned that the boy had already left the farm, he felt disappointed and somewhat defeated. He had come close to finding Jon, but realized that, in the end, he was too late.
"You said he went north, right?" Ned asked Lord Torrhen at his side, along with his eldest son and heir, Benfred Tallhart, proudly wearing a small leather armor with the emblem on his chest: a brown background with three trees.
"That's right, Ned. We tried to track the boy, but he was faster. Even though I made 30 men available for it, in the end, the trail was lost, and the men were uneasy to continue after seeing the tracks of the giant wolves. You had to see them shivering with the description; few things scare men from the lands of the Tallharts, I can tell you that with confidence." Helman spoke.
"I see..." said Lord Stark thoughtfully.
"Lord Stark, is it true that your bastard stole in your castle, and you sent him to the Wall? Then he fled to our lands?" Suddenly, in the silence, the 10-nameday young Benfred.
The question was loud enough to make even the soldiers flanking their sides on the road look surprised, as it seemed like a delicate matter. But the young one was too straightforward to understand that and asked out of curiosity.
Lord Stark grew somber at this. He knew it was a question without any touch of malice. He already knew this young man, as the boy had become friends with Robb and Theon during his visits with his father to Winterfell. With Jon distancing himself from his heir, young Benfred had never had contact with his son/nephew. Catelyn made sure to keep him away from any heir, but everyone knew, whether from some comment from their children or because everyone knew the term "Bastard of Winterfell."
Ned was internally debating whether he should answer such a question and how, as it was a very complicated matter. First, he didn't like the idea of the boy asking about Jon's escape. But before saying anything, the boy's father spoke.
"Quiet, Benfred. This is not a subject you should ask about, nor is it the appropriate place; just be quiet. I apologize for this, Ned." Helman spoke sternly to his little son and looked apologetically at Ned. But it worked; the boy ended up shrinking and remained silent.
"No offense taken, just a curious child, Helman." Ned said that, but in the end, he inwardly thanked not answering such a question as we arrived at the farm, which was already in sight at this moment.
The first thing Ned noticed was a garrison on the farm to protect it with 15 Tallhart soldiers. Initially, he found it odd to have so many men on a farm, but he continued on his way without asking about it.
However, when he came into view of the farm and its fields, he was shocked by the quality of the land. The soil was visually so beautiful that he wondered if they were still in the cold lands of the north, even though the current season was summer.
The crops had already been harvested, but there was no way not to imagine a harvest larger than any place he had ever seen in all seven kingdoms.
'Is Jon behind this? Can he really make soil like this with that magic I heard in the song?' Ned wondered frantically.
"What's with this soil? Why does it look so vibrant in color?" Young Benfred couldn't help but ask, amazed.
"This, my son, is the reason we are here with Lord Stark. We will talk about it later." Helman asserted beside him.
As the group approached, Ned noticed that there were quite a few people on-site besides the families, but he figured the place had become quite famous and attracted many neighbors and onlookers.
The Lord of Winterfell also noticed how the families clustered together, growing nervous as he passed through the crowd at the gate. It was quite expected, given that they were not just with their local lord, but Lord Stark himself appeared in person at this place. They still wondered what to do with the lord; the one who commanded the entire realm stood in front of these humble families.
Inside the place, Ned saw several carpenters who were working before his arrival, as the place was being rebuilt. Apparently, these families had sold the last harvest and were using their profits on important aspects of the place and had even started the construction of two large windmills for grains.
Ned, like Lord Helman and his son, dismounted from their horses and walked toward the nervous and uneasy families, who quickly bowed to the high nobles of the realm.
"L-Lord Stark, Lord Helman, and your heir, Lord Benfred. We were informed of your arrival and humbly welcome you to Icehill farm." Dult, the man with the most command here, made an awkward greeting, but Ned and Helman couldn't blame or demand more from these families.
"Thank you for your welcome. What is your name?" Lord Stark asked, even though he knew the information from Helman beforehand.
"Dult, Milord," he replied.
"Pleasure, Dult. I would like to talk privately with you about some matters; would you grant us someplace more private to answer a few questions?" Ned easily inquired, trying to ease the people's nervousness.
"Of course, Milord!" he said hastily.
Dult led Ned and Lord Helman with some Stark-Tallhart guards to an open room where they held their banquets with the whole family, who had been quite active in recent days.
After settling in and offering some food and drink, Ned asked the questions that had been bothering him since he heard about Jon being here.
"So, Dult, I'd like to hear about the mysterious child who appeared in this place a few weeks ago." Ned asked. Dult looked at him cautiously and decided to speak honestly.
"So, Lord Stark, as you said, a child appeared in this place one day while we were working in the fields," Dult said.
"At first, we were surprised because the neighboring farms are 2 kilometers away, so seeing a boy appear here is not common. However, his appearance was quite different..."
"Different... What do you mean?" Ned asked. Helman was quiet on the side, even though he had already talked about it, he understood that Ned would like to hear it directly from the source.
"He appeared to be the age of my daughter, 8 namedays, normal height at 1 meter, black hair, and gray eyes, but his eyes had green circles that seemed almost magical. We thought he might even be a child of the forest, like in the legends!" Dult spoke.
'This is truly Jon's description, but those eyes. What happened to you, Jon?' Ned wrestled with himself.
"Child of the forest?!" Benfred exclaimed but was silenced by his father's side not to disrupt the conversation.
"Tell me what happened next," Ned spoke again.
"We ruled out the possibility of the boy being a child of the forest and asked who he was and why he was there," Dult continued.
"He said he was Jon Snow..."
When Ned heard that, he couldn't help but clench his fist tightly. His lost son appeared here without a doubt, while Benfred widened his eyes because he only knew about rumors, and his father hadn't confirmed anything. But he remained quiet, for when he was about to ask again and received a stern look from his father.
"... But what surprised us more than the boy being a bastard of some lord was that he wanted to go to the Wall!" Dult said.
"Do you know why he wanted to go to the Wall?" Ned asked, concerned. Ideally, he should be seeking Winterfell.
"I don't know, milord. I heard from him that he got lost on the way, which makes me wonder which family sent him to that end of the world. It makes me question how a family can send a child to the Wall."
Ned swallowed hard when he heard that. Helman was scowling, knowing they were talking about the man right in front of him. He didn't understand the intentions of sending the boy after stealing to that place, but he trusted Ned's judgment.
Dult didn't seem to see his lord's glaring look as he looked at Ned cautiously, wondering why he was asking so many details about the boy.
"We ended up taking the boy into our home that night because he just seemed like a poor boy with no ill intentions," Dult said.
"Don't forget about Caraxes!" A childish voice shouted, drawing everyone's attention. Mikaela, a girl Jon's age, innocently spoke about Jon's companion who left a memorable place in her heart.
"Yes, the boy brought a beautifully magical white eagle. This little guy grew in a surreal way while he stayed with us," Dult said with a nostalgic smile.
"I understand. Tell me more about this Caraxes and Jon," Ned said, wanting to know more about his boy and his days in this place.
He found it peculiar that Jon called an eagle Caraxes, probably related to the fact that the dragon named Caraxes belonged to Aemon Targaryen, the eldest son of Jahaerys I and Demon Targaryen, the rogue prince that Ned vaguely remembered from his Targaryen knowledge acquired in the Vale.
Ned had always feared that the boy would become so interested in the dragon house, so naming an animal after a famous dragon was not a big surprise.
After that, in the next hour, Ned heard a lot about his son/nephew and the unimaginable things that the commoners reported about the boy.
In the eyes of these people, besides the fantasies they told, Jon left an impression of being a humble, kind, and intelligent boy, which made Ned quite proud. But at the same time, it left him quite restless and sad in his heart. Hearing how they spoke that Jon was a cheerful boy as he spent his days on this farm, about a child who told stories eloquently and with a royal charm that only nobles have, making everyone laugh and admire. It even made Ned think of a certain melancholic prince who heard stories about him disguising himself among the commoners with his Kingsguard to play his songs and converse.
"If this is Jon, has Jon already shown this side in Winterfell?" Ned wondered when he was listening and answered his own question.
"No, but here, with a farmer's family, he showed a side that you yourself didn't know about the boy. You failed as a father, and there is no excuse for that." Ned lamented.
He continued to listen to how these people praised his Jon, who apparently didn't even know himself completely. Hearing that his son/nephew was a very hardworking boy and didn't let people work alone when he had nothing to do, made him internally question all the reports in Winterfell that the boy was lazy, especially his wife's complaints, who always complained about having another mouth to feed while he didn't help. It left a bitter feeling in him.
"Ned was also surprised to hear about the fencing skills of a former guard of Torrhen's Square, Lucas. This same farmer said that Jon was superior to him, and by a lot. He just couldn't defeat Lucas due to his 8 namedays old body. However, Jon easily defeated all boys up to 15 namedays old. Ned didn't know this side of Jon, as the boy never won against Robb in his presence, making him question what else he didn't know about Jon.
Ned was stunned by the description of how Jon killed at such a young age. He knew about it since Winterfell, but he couldn't believe he did it at only 8 namedays old. Jon really took a life, and Ned knew that it wouldn't be an easy thing to swallow, especially when you're a child without your fatherly advice.
Hearing absurd things about Jon made Ned even more bewildered: controlling animals, shooting arrows, stabbing a bandit after jumping from a horse, or having giant wolves to save his life. Ned didn't know what to find more absurd, not to mention how many times the boy almost lost his life!? Ned hated himself for being complacent; he was comfortably in Winterfell while his Jon was in life-threatening danger.
"And he only told you that he was heading north?" Ned asked after listening and digesting everything he heard.
He waited for them to answer, but now he was looking with wolfish eyes to catch any lies from these people; he had to know Jon's fate, he might not be his biological son, but he still loved him as such.
He only sent the boy to the Wall because he saw how unhappy he was in Winterfell, his expression from that day in the solar still haunting him. He wanted to leave the boy with Benjen for a while, thought it would be better than in the castle environment.
With the boy safe with his younger brother, he could address Jon's problem in Winterfell, even if he had to neglect his other children and work until he figured out the full answer behind why Jon stole. However, he would have to wait because with his wife pregnant at the moment and knowing how she feels about the boy, he didn't want to stress her during this time, and Jon would be safe with Benjen and get to know the Night's Watch, which the boy was thinking of joining.
The three families noticed the gaze of the northern lord and felt uneasy about it. Ned didn't know, but they were all worried that Lord Stark would hunt Jon down like a criminal. After all that the boy had done for this farm and its residents, they didn't want such a fate for the miraculous Jon. They had already been disturbed when Lord Tallhart took many of their men and asked them to track Jon while the boy traveled north.
Ned saw the family's hesitation as they kept silent and spoke.
"I'm assuming you're afraid that I might harm the boy, but I can assure you that I would never lay a finger on him. I would only hug him and complain about how he can make a father worried..." Ned gave a reassuring but sad smile after that comment.
Lord Tallhart, hearing this beside him, also smiled; even he knows that if his children went missing, he would search every corner until he found them. And one of them, young Benfred beside him, was struggling after hearing all these incredible things. Why did he never meet this Jon Snow who was in Winterfell during all his visits?
On the other hand, this comment left everyone in the families quite disturbed.
'Are you saying that Jon is your son? A son of the Lord of the North and House Stark?!' All the adults had these thoughts in their minds.
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