Gods Among Us | Game of Thrones

Chapter Two

Winterfell 291 AC.

Jon Snow.

Jon frowned at the words, watching them shift about the page and turn into symbols he didn't understand. How is it that he was able to pick up on everything else, but the seemingly simple skill of reading had always eluded him? The concept of literature always seemed just within reach but slipped through his fingers when Jon tried to grab it. Once, on a particularly bad day, he had taken the matter to his father and, ashamed and nearly in tears, asked him about it, but Lord Eddard Stark had only smiled softly and revealed that Serena suffered the same affliction.

Jon shifted in his seat and glowered at the symbols once more before glancing around the turret. The maester sat at the head of the ironwood table, glancing up at them now and then to ensure the lord's children were still studying the allocated work. Robb was intently focused, the heir to Winterfell not having any trouble with this, but Jon saw Serena was quite the opposite; she wriggled in her seat, her bottom lip quivering, glaring at the book before her... However much Jon hated the written word, his half-sister hated it even more. He'd caught her crying over it once before and had to finally admit that he couldn't read well, no more than she could.

Serena caught Jon's eye and whispered, "I hate this."

He offered her a wan smile. "Me too. Want to leave?"

His sister grinned at him. "Maester Luwin," Serena called. The little grey man looked up from his accounts and let a grandfatherly smile grace his lips. He was always like that, Maester Luwin. "Might I be excused? I remember that I'm supposed to present my new gown to Septa Mordane this afternoon, and I've not finished it yet."

The master's smile turned into a knowing smirk. "Very well. You may go. Gods forbid Mordane doesn't get her due from you," he said. Eddard Stark's eldest daughter grinned at him, curtsied, and darted from the turret chamber. Robb lifted his eyes and gave Serena's back a suspicious look. "Jon, am I to assume Ser Rodrik has you polishing all the swords in the armoury... Again?" Jon Snow smirked at the maester.

"I am a troublemaker, maester."

The maester chuckled. "Very well. Don't keep Rodrik waiting."

Grinning, Jon leapt to his feet and darted from the room, knowing Robb was glaring enviously at him as he went. A vengeful satisfaction fuelled him by leaving his younger half-brother to suffer under Luwin's tedious assignments.

Serena was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, hopping from one foot to the other as she did. "What should we do now?" She questioned when he came jogging down the stairs.

"I heard Gage boasting about this perfect batch of lemon cakes," Jon remembered. Serena's lips twisted into a wicked grin, one that Jon matched. "Sansa would just love to try them."

"Sansa? She'll be lucky to get a crumb!"

Jon laughed as his sister snatched his wrist and hauled him across the yard towards the kitchens. They had always been close. The eldest daughter of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully was his favourite sibling by far, his partner, and his other half in a castle as large and imposing as Winterfell. As much as their father welcomed it, Lady Stark was another issue—she abhorred the bastard being so close to any of her daughters, but Jon didn't understand why. He loved his sisters dearly, even baby Ayra. Perhaps she thought he would corrupt them with his "wickedness." If only she knew that her eldest daughter was the most wicked girl in the world.

Later, after they'd finished eating the stolen sweets on the highest floor of the broken tower, Serena began to feel weary, so they wandered through the Great Keep towards the family quarters. Moonlight filtered through the large windows shaped like diamonds, the frost covering them making the light glimmer, and torches flickered on sconces along the thick stone walls. Giggling as she skipped through the hall, you wouldn't know that Serena was tired. He shook his head and let his sister swing his hand back and forth, smiling softly at her antics as he jogged after her.