Of Lions, Wolves, and Dragons (Jon Snow)

2. Winterfell

It took a month to get to Winterfell.  It was a very long ride, but the ride had been beautiful. Joellyn had never seen so much of the world before.  Of course, traveling for a month with such a small group of people meant that she was not able to avoid Cersei the entire trip, but her sister was much too concerned with the comfort of her and her children to worry much about her baby sister.  Mostly, Joellyn spent a lot of time with Tyrion talking about the history of the different towns they traveled through and the families that had lived in those towns.  Tyrion did not think that he had much to offer the family in the way of fighting or honor, so he had spent much of his life in books learning and developing his mind.  It amazed Joellyn how much information he had stored in his mind, so she did not mind listening to him talking and telling stories about things that he had read.  She wished she was as smart as her brother, but she would settle for learning at least a little bit of information from him.

Joellyn did ask Tyrion a lot about the Starks.  It was clear that the Starks and Lannisters did not have a very good relationship.  She had heard Jaime talk about his dislike for Ned Stark and the man's so called honor, but she did not know what had caused this dislike.  So, she turned to Tyrion.  He never really denied his baby sister anything she wanted, but all Tyrion really knew was that Ned formed a low opinion of Jaime because of killing King Aerys.  Ned believed that Jaime should have died protecting the Mad King since he was a member of the King's Guard.  All Jaime had ever told Tyrion was that he knew that it was the right decision to kill King Aerys and he did not regret his actions, even if it meant the honorable Ned Stark thought he was an oathbreaker.  Honestly, Joellyn does not have blinders on when it comes to her family.  Her father is a cold, power hungry man.  Her brother killed the king that he had sworn to serve.  Her sister was unforgiving and could be cruel.  Tyrion was prone to sexual adventures with whores.  Her family had it's faults, but she loved them regardless.  If Jaime told Tyrion that he did not regret killing the Mad King, Joellyn trusted that Jaime had a good reason for his actions.

Joellyn's interest in the Starks really stemmed from her father's insistence that she get to know the two oldest Stark children.  Tryion informed her the eldest was a boy of 16 years named Robb and the next was a girl of 13 years named Sansa.  Joellyn told her brother that their father had specifically mentioned wanting her to get to know these two.  Tyrion acted like he didn't know anything, but she could tell when he was holding information back from her.  Tyrion knew about something that her father had planned for their family regarding the Starks, but he would not tell her.  Even when Joellyn insisted that he was hiding something, all he would say is that all would be revealed in due time.  So, for most of the ride she put this from her mind and listened to the members of their party complain about the length of the ride and how much colder it was getting.

After their month of travel, they crested a hill and Joellyn finally saw Stark banners.  She would not have known it was Winterfell but for the Stark banners.  She was very impressed with the sight before her.  Though the weather was more bleak than Kings Landing or Casterly Rock, Winterfell had it's own sort of beauty.  A northern beauty that could not be found in places in the south.

Her brother Jaime waited for her at the crest of the hill, as Tyrion had left her alone to go off and probably find a whore house, and asked, "Well, is the wolf den everything you dreamed it would be?"

Joellyn responded by shaking her head saying, "No, it's more than I thought it would be.  The north is very pretty, even if it is very cold."

Jaime nodded in response then said, "You may think it is less pretty when you get inside and meet the Starks.  They live on their high horses and cling to their honor.  It is tiring."

Joellyn looked over at Jaime saying, "It may not be as tedious as you think, dear brother.  Just give it a chance."

Jaime shook his head saying, "It will be tedious.  I know the Starks.  You do not.  This month of travel has been torture enough.  Now we're here to deal with Stark honor and freezing temperatures."