ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀꜱ ʙʏ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ

012

Robb V

Inside Hoster's solar, a young man and the Blackfish were casually talking. The young man was fat, no amount of clothes could hide that. He had two things in his hands, one of which was a weapons belt. He had a pudgy pale face with dark, stringy hair and a patch-work, scraggly beard. He seemed pleasant enough though.

When Robb and Jon entered, a smile of relief came over the fat boy's face. "Jon," he said happily.

Ghost flashed across the room and circled Jon's legs, making sure he was alright before he went over to Greywind, the two playfully nipping at each other.

Jon returned the smile. "Sam, thank you for holding those for me," he said, taking back his belt before clapping Sam on the shoulder. "I want you to meet my brother, Robb."

Sam turned and bowed to Robb. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my lord."

Robb waved aside the greeting. "Call me Robb," he said kindly. "Any friend of Jon's is a friend of mine."

The Blackfish nodded. "I'll take my leave. I have two of my most trusted men right outside the door. They'll make sure you aren't interrupted."

Robb nodded. "Thank you, Uncle."

The Blackfish bowed slightly and strode out of the room, closing the door behind him. When they were alone, Robb walked over to the small table on the side of the room and grabbed the tray bearing a few hunks of bread and a small bowl of salt. He held it out to the two men.

"Bread and salt," he offered.

Both Jon and Sam grabbed their piece, sprinkled it with salt, and ate it. With the Guest Right established, they all sat down. Robb sat behind the desk while Sam and Jon sat across from him on the other side.

"Right, get on with it," Robb said, gesturing for Jon to start.

Jon nodded, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "The Night's Watch was not what I thought it would be," he began. "It was full of criminals, to put it bluntly. I began to doubt whether I wanted to stay there or not. When I heard of father's imprisonment, I struck out that night with the intention of helping you save father. Sam joined me. He was the only one who was kind to me at the Wall. The night I was leaving, he approached me and asked to come with me. He was bullied worse than I was and we knew he wouldn't last long without me."

"And neither of you took the Black." Robb clarified.

Jon nodded. "We were a day or two away from taking the Black, but we never took it," he answered. "Please believe us, Robb. We are not deserters. We're brothers, I would never shirk my duty, not if I had taken an oath."

"And you're vouching for your friend as well?" Robb asked, glancing at Sam.

Jon nodded again. "I am."

"If I may, my….Robb." Sam said. "We stopped at castles in the North on our way south. If we were deserters from the Watch, we would have been executed by now, or the Lord Commander would have sent men to bring us back."

Robb raised an eyebrow. The large lad may not be a warrior, but he certainly was intelligent. The thought never even crossed Robb's mind that others would have stopped the two on their way south. Now that it was brought up, it made sense how Sam and Jon made it this far.