DISASTROUS ( Jon Snow )

03

'aren't you afraid of my darkness, my dear?' hades asked with mischief in his eyes.
'no,' persephone replied, 'you haven't even seen mine yet.'

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Cheeks flushed from the heat of the room, Amaris slipped unseen out of the great hall. The cold air that felt so horrible earlier now felt wondrous. Sighing, she walked towards the stables. Her ears picked up the sound of heavy breathing and what sounded like a dull sword hitting straw.

Curiously, she peaked around the edge. There he was, that handsome boy, furiously whacking at a straw figure shaped like a man.

Jon Snow. A small smile tugged at her pink lips as she watched him. It was improper, she knew but who was to say she could not indulge a bit?

"Who's there?" Jon Snow asked loudly in a thick, northern accent.

Flushing, Amaris stumbled forward and offered the boy a clumsy curtsey. "I–I'm sorry, my lord," she stuttered out. "I – I'm sorry."

"I'm no lord," Jon Snow told her, eyebrows furrowed.

She's peculiar, he thought. Unlike anyone else.

"Ah, yes, of course," she muttered. "Jon Snow... I do not believe I have seen a bastard as well-groomed as you."

The boy in question flushed irritably and his nostrils flared. Stunned, Amaris tensed and took a small step back. It had been far from her intentions to insult him.

"I apologize for that," Amaris said bashfully. "I assume you receive more than enough bastard comments from those you know. You do not need any more from strangers."

Jon Snow said nothing. He turned away from her and went back to hacking at the straw man. Amaris frowned. She was apologizing to him wholeheartedly and he ignored her?

"You don't talk much, do you?" she asked him, her voice raised into a somewhat commanding tone. She was attempting to mimic her father's confidence when he spoke to other lords.

"Haven't much to say," Jon replied briskly, hacking a fatal blow to the straw man's head. It hit the ground with a muffled thump and rolled towards Amaris' feet. "And you, my lady?"

"What about me?"

"You seem like you've quite a bit to say. Why are you wasting your breath speaking to me and not with Robb?"

Amaris smiled at Jon, her cheeks heating up as he looked at her brazenly. "He is very handsome and kind, but Robb does not speak to me like I am a person. He is far too delicate with his words, too fanciful. You, Jon Snow, talk to me like I am a person."

To that, Jon Snow smiled. Amaris liked his smile a lot. It made her want to smile and her stomach tied in knots as he looked at her. She supposed most people often wanted to speak with Robb and not him.

"Tell me, Jon Snow, why are you out here in the cold when there is a feast going on in there?"

"Lady Stark assumed that the royal family would be disgruntled by my presence," Jon grumbled.

"Is Lady Stark unaware of the vast number of bastard children that my uncle has?" Amaris asked with a small smirk. "In any case, I do believe he is far too inebriated currently to pay any mind to who is or is not a bastard."

"What are you doing out here in the cold?" Jon asked. "I figured the north would be too chilly for a southerner like yourself."

Rolling her eyes, Amaris grinned at Jon's jest and leaned forward against the railing that Jon stood behind.

"It is very hot inside that hall, I will have you know," Amaris told him. "You may very well be the luckier party here, Jon Snow."

__________

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Just Amaris, Rickon, Catelyn and Sansa were eating as they were the only ones awake.

"I didn't see much of you at the feast last night, Amaris," Catelyn commented with hopes to ease the silence.

The girl in questioned flushed deeply and avoided the watchful gaze of the older woman. "Yes," Amaris said, clearing her throat, "it was very warm. I went outside for quite a while to clear my head. It was hard to breathe in the feast."

When she was met with silence, Amaris felt as though she needed to add on to what she said. "I'm not one for large celebrations. I would much prefer to just have a nice meal and speak with friends or read by the candlelight."

"Very different from your uncle then," Catelyn said.

"Yes," Amaris replied, a small smile on her face. "I certainly take after my father... and my mother if I recall correctly."

Just then, as Catelyn opened her mouth to respond, the doors to the great hall opened and in tumbled Robb with Jon Snow and the man Amaris assumed was Theon Greyjoy. The three were laughing loudly, covered in sweat and dirt.

"Lady Amaris," Robb greeted through his laughter.

"Hello," Amaris said, smiling politely. She turned her attention to Jon and offered him a more genuine smile. "How was your morning?"

"Quite tiring," Robb answered, shooting a wry smile to his half-brother. "Ser Cassel had us working very hard."

"I'm sure," Amaris said lightly, picking at her fruit. "You boys are very..." she trailed off, eyeing their appearances, "filthy."

With a boisterous laugh, Robb and Theon took their seats at the table. Jon, on the other hand, was slower and quieter. He moved with hesitation Amaris had seen on no man before him.

Maybe more men should be bastards, she figured. At least then they might have manners.

She had never met a man so polite as Jon Snow. She had always been told that bastards were no good, scum on the bottom of her shoe.

They are people, just as you and I are, she would always reply.

They might be people, she was told, but we are better.

Like a good little girl and an even better lady, Amaris kept her mouth shut, smiled politely and nodded. Diplomacy at its best. Often times, she despised the world and found herself thinking that a queen would be far better fit to rule than a king.

____________________

jomaris met

amaris is an unproblematic fave

-bleuseys