A Feast For Dragons

Sansa & Jon

If there was one thing Jon had become rather good at in his time at Winterfell before his journey to the Wall was observing those around him. He needed to learn who was a friend and who was a foe, of sorts. A lot of the villagers thought he was a bastard-a noble bastard, but a bastard none the less. They thought he had a glorious life, that he was surrounded by luxuries and gold.

He had never had a glorious life, not even at Winterfell. His father had treated him with respect and with love, that was true, and his brothers and sisters had all loved him dearly, but he was still the bastard. He was not a Stark, he was a Snow, and Lady Catelyn made sure that he remembered that each and every day. He was excluded from training, from riding into the woods for hunts, from grand dinners and festivals-because who wanted to see the bastard Snow among the children of House Stark?

Jon had come to terms with what he was after he had met Tyrion Lannister. The dwarf had been a better friend than anyone had ever been to him, and that was saying something. He should have hated the dwarf-he was a Lannister after all-but he couldn't bring himself to. Tyrion had been different than his siblings, and that's all that had mattered to Jon. Tyrion saw the world differently; he understood what it was like to be a bastard, even if he didn't bare the bastard name.

It was because he had grown up with Theon, because he had learned to observe and remain quiet when was needed, that he knew something was wrong-that something so horrible had happened to Theon that it had broken the man's mind. For a split moment he caught himself thinking good, he deserves it for what he's done to my family, but it only made Jon frown. No, no one deserved this. No one deserved getting broken and punished and used by a maniac. He's heard stories about Ramsay Bolton-he knew how psychotic the man was. The Stark's had been as much of a family to Theon as they had been to Jon. Yes, Theon had been Ned Stark's ward-his prisoner-but he was never treated as such. He was treated better than Jon ever had, and half the time it was why Theon believed himself higher than him. But the Stark's had been their family, and the fact stands that Theon had betrayed them. He'd never be able to forgive him for it, but he wouldn't hold the man standing before him responsible for it. This man was no longer Theon.

Jon remembered every inch of Winterfell. He remembered exploring it with Robb when they were younger. Everything looked the same, and at the same time, everything was so different. The flayed men flag of House Bolton swayed in the wind instead of the proud direwolf. The stench was even different-it smelt of rotten meat and burnt flesh. It made Jon sick.

The doors to the Great Hall were the same though, and still held the wooden carvings of the Stark's sigil. As the heavy wooden doors opened, Jon was lead inside. He had expected to see Roose Bolton and Ramsay Bolton and whoever else the Bolton's had here. Instead he came face to face with his half-sister and the sinister smile of the man Theon called 'Master'.

Ramsay and Sansa waited for Reek and the other's in the Great Hall. He sat on the Warden's throne and Sansa stood with a straight back and folded hands. The gifts he presented at her feet were never gracious gifts, only horrible things that brought her pain. When the doors swung open and the guards brought Jon into the Hall, She was stunned but not surprised. Reek closed the door behind them.

They threw Jon to the cold marble in front of Ramsay and his half sister. Ramsay smiled psychotically. Sansa hurried to her brother's side and fell to her knees in front of him.

"Jon!" She whispered breathlessly, tears flowing down her cheeks. Sansa lost sight of hope; she couldn't seem to catch her breath. She took Jon's face in her soft hands and pulled him up to meet her gaze. Years have passed since her brother left for the Wall, since she parted ways with her mother and brothers to live in King's Landing with the royal family. She was a woman, more beautiful than any in all the Seven Kingdoms.