Game of Thrones Imagines Book Two

The banner "man" - Part 7 - Jory x Reader

(Y/n) made her way into the night. As always in the north, it was bitter. But she didn't care, she was running now. Running to get as far from the great castle as she possibly could. Running to get as far away from Jory as she could. Her heavy breath and footsteps in the thin layer of snow on the ground, the only things the young woman intended to leave behind.

She had never expected that the captain would find out about her true identity in such a way. But there again, she didn't really know how she wanted Jory to find out that she was actually a woman. A little part of her not sure that she had ever intended to tell him at all. But now that he did know. Now that he had seen her as she truly was, the fact that she was running from Winterfell with the idea of being chased away by the bannermen that she had come to know. Of being run off by dogs, proved to her that whatever friendship she had thought had built up between her and Jory. Whatever fantasy she had had in her mind about what could be between them, didn't exist. Would never exist. That her dreams of being a bannerman. Following in her father and grandfather's footsteps had turned into a nightmare.

Suddenly she stopped. (Y/n) slumping against one of the gnarled tree trunks of the wood that lined her way. The tears rolling down her cheeks, as her mind was filled by the look on Jory's face, as he saw her. As he realised that she was not what she claimed to be. The look of betrayal in his beautiful dark orbs, as she had stood before him. As she had tried to explain why she had done what she had done. One that she was sure that she would never forget. But what was she to do now? She couldn't go home. The small patch of land holding nothing for her, other than the graves of her parents. She had lost everything. Jory would never be hers, and she would never be a bannerman..............Though, the daughter of the twin blade swordsman thought, as her hand reached up to brush the tears from their cheeks. Perhaps.........just perhaps, there was another way. Perhaps there was another noble House that would look on her more favourably. A House, that if she could prove herself to its lady, would accept her for what she really was. That could see past the fact that she was a woman, to the warrior that she had been raised to be. And even if it wasn't House Stark, being a bannerman for anyone was better than not being a soldier at all. Passing on her father's techniques to others, more important than anything. The legacy of the twin blades not one that she wanted to die. So, she would make her way from the north for the first time in her life. She would leave the only world she had known. She would face everything that the journey had to throw at her, in hopes that another woman that knew what it was to take on a man's role, would look on her favourably. The young Sharpe pushing herself off the tree. Pulling her bag back over her shoulders, before taking a deep breath and continuing into the night.

                                                                >>-------------------------------<<

Jory stood before the lord and lady of the north. Stood before his uncle. The night before he had looked for Sebastian. He had done as much as he could and been as far as he could in those late hours. He had called out her name into the cold night air. He had prayed to the gods to allow him to find her. Yet, she had vanished. Not a single trace of the young bannerman to be found. A sudden flurry of snow covering any possible tracks that she might have left behind. The captain left with the knowledge that he would have to explain the absence of one of his guards to Lord Stark. He would have to explain to Ned, the lady Catelyn and his uncle, what had happened. And that was how he found himself here. His eyes cast to the floor. Not sure what else to say to the lord and master at arms.

"So.........our Sebastian was a woman?" Ned asked. Jory looking up, as he heard a hint of amusement in the lord's voice. The lord paramount of the north looking at Catelyn that sat by his side.

"Yes milord..............."

"And just how did you discover that, captain?" Ned continued. Doing his best not to smile, as he saw the hint of pink kiss the captain of the guard's cheek.

"Um...........it was..........she was in the bath house.........and I went in. She.......was.......well.......she was............." Jory spluttered out. Coughing uncomfortably, as the glow to his cheeks deepened. The memories of her beautiful form filling his mind, as he tried to explain everything to Ned.

"I think I understand, Jory." Ned chuckled, as he leant back in his chair.

"What I don't understand though, is why it took so long for my supposedly, alert and ever watchful captain of the house guards, to discover that Sebastian was not really a man. Especially as I have known for some time.........."

"Only because I told you................." Catelyn interjected. Jory looking at the lord and lady in disbelief.

"You..........you knew that Sebastian..........that he wasn't........that he was...........?"

"I have known since the moment my husband mentioned the Sharpe name. Guthrie Sharpe and his wife only had one child, a girl by the name of (Y/n). Quiet a beautiful thing she was supposed to be too. When I was informed that Guthrie's "son" had been accepted as a bannerman, I explained to Ned that there had been some mistake. That she must in fact be his daughter. But that despite her gender, I believed that she should be given a chance. That she should be able to prove herself just like any other. Especially when she had gone to such lengths to follow in her father and grandfather's footsteps." Catelyn explained to the wide eyed captain of the guard. Jory not sure that he was hearing what he was actually hearing.

"Yet what I cannot understand, is why she is not here with you to address your concerns. Why she would run off into the night................" The lady continued, as she looked at the speechless Jory. The captain confused by the lady's words. Not sure if his uncle knew about Sebastian's or should that be (Y/n)'s true identity. Not sure whether this had all been a test of some kind. The captain not sure of anything anymore.

"I............I sent him........her away. I told her to leave, or I would have her run out of Winterfell. That she didn't belong here. That she should just go home.............." Jory finally replied. The guilt gnawing away at his insides once again, as he remembered hearing her sobs, as he left the bath house.

"Then perhaps that is the first place that you should go and look for the young woman................."

"You want me to bring her back..............?" Jory asked, as he turned his attention from the lady to her husband.

"Of course. Son or daughter, she is the child of Guthrie Sharpe. A man that served this family loyally for years. A young woman that knows the techniques of her father's twin blades, as well as Guthrie himself. And given that, I think that it is only right that she should be the first female bannerman. But she cannot be that, unless you bring her back. So maybe you should leave now, and.................." Ned explained. A smile pulling at the corners of his lips, as Jory raced for the door, before the lord could finish his words. The captain determined to find (Y/n). Determined to bring her back to Winterfell. To bring her back to him.