Of Lions, Wolves, and Dragons (Jon Snow)

46. Recruits

Joellyn found her way to the hitching post where they had left their horses earlier and placed both hands on the post.  She sunk her head, felt her hair fall around her face shielding her from the outside world, and leaned into the post some more as she let her tears begin to fall.  It had been years since she had seen Myrcella, but Myrcella was good and sweet, and Joellyn loved her dearly.  Joffrey had deserved to die.  He got the worst qualities of Cersei and did not have a drop of good in him.  Myrcella was the exact opposite.  Now Tommen was alone and under Cersei's control.  Gods only knew how protective Cersei was being of him. 

Joellyn knew that she needed to calm herself and return to the rest of her group, so she decided to give herself just a few moments more.  As she let out a sob to try to let the rest of her feelings out, she felt a hand on her back.  She closed her eyes and focused on making her breathing more steady in order to calm herself as the unknown person rubbed her back softly.  It took her just a few moments more, but between her steady breathing and the person beside her, Joellyn managed to calm herself and began to feel like she could return to the rest of her group.

She opened her eyes as she pushed herself off of the hitching post and turned to face the person beside her.  She was met with Jon's concerned eyes and a sad smile.  She tried to return his smile, though she was not sure it was very convincing.  Jon turned so that he was facing her directly and raised both hands and pushed the hair that had fallen into her face out of the way, but he did not remove his hands right away.  After he tucked her hair back, his fingers rested behind her ears and his thumbs gently wiped away the tears that remained on her face.  He looked into her eyes as he said softly, "I'm so sorry about your niece."

Joellyn wasn't sure whether she would be crossing a line or not, but she decided to not care in this moment.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled closer to him to hug him.  His arms fell gently down her sides and wrapped around her waist as he returned the embrace.  She held tightly onto him for a moment before saying softly in return, "Thank you being here with me."

As she pulled back, Jon didn't remove his arms from around her waist, so she left her arms wrapped loosely around his neck.  They stood like that for a moment, looking into each other's eyes, before Joellyn realized that Jon had been slowly leaning forward and now his face was now mere inches away from hers.  He paused though, almost as if allowing her to decide if she wanted to do this or not, so she closed the distance between them and pressed her lips softly into his.  It was gentle and sweet, but it was everything that she needed in that moment.  She felt Jon pull her closer to himself and felt her body fill with warmth in response.  Their lips continued to move slowly, but she could feel the passion and the emotion behind his kiss, like it was something that he had been wanting to do for some time now.

As they pulled apart, she rested her forehead on his and continued to stand in each other's embrace for a few moments more.  She sighed and looked up into his eyes.  They were still so close together that their noses were touching as she said, "We should go back in there."

Jon removed one hand from her waist as he moved some hair that had come free behind her ear again as he said, "Aye, we should."  He kissed her softly once more and Joellyn closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his lips on hers.  This time when he pulled away, he put more distance between them and took her hand in his.  He nodded his head in the direction of the door to the audience chamber and said, "Are you ready?"

Joellyn nodded and smiled in response as he he led them back to the door.  He still had her hand in his and she was happy for the contact.  He did release her hand to open the door and said softly, "After you."

She reentered the audience chamber and was met almost immediately by a flash of red hair and a hug from Sansa.  She returned Sansa's embrace as Sansa said, "Joellyn, I'm so sorry."