The Long Winter | Jaime Lannister X Stark OC | GOT/ASOIAF

Six Inch Nails

It was dusk, when they reached Winterfell. The lanterns had been lit as the sun set over the moors and mountains, making the great grey castle appear almost warm and welcoming. It would be home to Ross no matter what it looked like. King's Landing was grand and impressive, but it never, ever felt like home. Nor had the Dreadfort. Despite being its lady for over thirteen years, there were certain places that sometimes, when she was alone, made her uneasy. A prickle on her neck, a shiver up her spine, like she wasn't supposed to be there. No, Winterfell would always be where her heart lay.

She rode alongside Ren as they passed through the gates into the courtyard, scanning the assembled crowd, hoping for a glimpse of her other three children. The girls should have been in Winterfell a week already, whilst her son had been fostered there since he was nine. Sure enough, Edrick was stood to the right of the Starks, Aileen beside him, now a good inch or so shorter than her brother where they'd once been the same height.

Aileen took after her father in looks, whilst Edrick looked more Stark than any of the others. Her eldest daughter was clever, quietly-spoken and studious, and was Lord Bolton's favourite of the three. Edrick, despite being the heir to the Dreadfort, generally irritated his father. Her younger son took after her brother Brandon in temperament; wild and hot-tempered, with more than a drop of wolfblood to him.

And then there was Morganna. Her youngest daughter was not one to fade into the background. She said what she thought without caring for the consequences, and there was an ever-present wicked gleam in her eyes. The girl was Lady Margaret's favourite bar Aileen, and could be the picture of charm when she wanted, but tended to prefer riling people against her for fun. Much like her father. Not to mention, she was a successful liar, through through no subtlety of her own; Morganna was such a force of nature in looks and character, she tended to blindside people into going along with whatever she said. Ross could see through her, but few others could.

The King was greeted first, of course, impatient as ever with the formalities, but glad to see Ned. Then Cersei - Ross had bitten back a smirk when the enormous wheelhouse couldn't fit through the gates, so its occupants had to walk - and the three royal children. Thirteen-year-old Joffrey and Myrcella, then eleven-year-old Tommen. Robert took noticeably greater pride in introducing Loreon right after his trueborn children were announced. This was... unconventional, and Ross could understand the murderous look in Cersei's eyes, even if she did not agree.

And then it was their turn.

"Ross," Ned smiled at her as she approached him, having handed her horse over to an anxious-looking stable boy.

"Ned," She embraced him, briefly but tightly.

The moment she let go, Morganna had already broken protocol and hurried over, throwing her arms around her mother in a crushing hug. She had always been the most affectionate of Ross' children, and the most clingy. Her father had little time for her, and Edrick and Ren rarely returned to the Dreadfort; all this made her eager for attention from Aileen, Ross and, unfortunately, her hateful grandmother.

In the background, Ned was being pulled away to the crypts by an impatient Robert, despite the Queen's obvious displeasure. Ross managed to feel a spark of anger that even after all this time he idealised Lyanna enough that he wanted to see her tomb the moment he set foot in Winterfell. Over Morganna's shoulder, Jaime was watching them, his expression bored but his eyes focused. Despite having seen Ren almost every day for the past five years, this was the first time he had set eyes on their daughter.

"I missed you," Morganna murmured against her chest. She wouldn't say it in anyone else's hearing; Robb and Edrick would surely tease her for it.

Having been talking with Catelyn, Cersei swept inside with her children, casting a characteristically disdainful look over everything as she did so. It was strange, seeing someone so intrinsic to King's Landing in her childhood home. Like the two sides of a life colliding. Ross would go to her, tomorrow some time, but for now she turned her full attention to her family.