The Children of Spring

James IV - Parents' Advice

From the moment they arrived at Winterfell, the only thing on James's mind had been, How am I going to buy time until they come back? He and Thomas were great liars, but they could never fool their parents, maybe omit the truth a couple of times, still never lie or fool. That was a complication that he had yet to figure out. Thomas said it was because they had seen them growing up and James agreed with him, still they had to find a way of keeping their father distracted and hope really hard that Marianne and Jenny could keep their mother disctracted as well. The night before that James went to find Thomas, they had to, at least, plan what they were going to say. He found him in his room, which was next to his.
"Hey." James said entering.
"Hey." Thomas said.
"So, what we're going to say tomorrow?" James asked.
"I thought we'd improvise." Thomas answered.
"You know that never works." James said.
"Right..." Thomas said. Nothing worked, planned or not.
"We have to find a way of keeping father distracted, without lying or being too obvious about it." James said thinking, as he sat on the bed of the room.
"We can lie with the truth." Thomas said thinking, as he walked through the room. James looked at him confused, he had heard rumours saying that the Lannisters were known to have that ability, since the times of the Lann, the Clever, still he had never quite understood how it was possible to lie with the truth, for lying was lying... wether it was right or wrong, there was no other way of lying. Despite James and Thomas being great liars, they never liked to lie, they prefered truth above all. Still, some situations demanded a lie or two. Besides, they really doubted that there was someone that spent their entire life without lying. For sometimes a lie had to be told to prevent some unwanted events, even the truest and honorable of the men had to know that.
"How do we do that?" James asked.
"We don't lie. We just omit the truth." Thomas said shrugging.
"Like asking questions non-stop?" James said, having an idea.
"Just like that. But we can't be too obvious about it." Thomas said.
"I just want to ask two things." James said shrugging.
"Two? Your list is down to two?" Thomas asked surprised.
"More or less, why?" James asked confused.
"Mine has the size of the Wall." Thomas said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Without counting the politcs and books parts?" James asked giving him a knowing look. Thomas rolled his eyes and then said,
"Piss off."
"That's what I thought." James said with a chuckle and they laughed.
"Do we really want to know all of that, James?" Thomas asked.
"Probably not... we have to, though. But I do want to know father's secret." James answered.
"You? You've never ever talked about these things. It's an unspeakable subject to you." Thomas said softly. It was true, James had ran from every conversation that had even showed the slightest signal to go that way. He just did not know why, he was many things, but shy had never been one of them. It just felt weird to talk about it, as if he had grown up and it also felt strange to hear talking about those things, because it was supposed to be normal, it didn't seem normal. But he was curious and James had finally accepted the fact that he was growing up and was becoming a man, why not learning all of it?
"It was just never the right time." James said and Thomas looked at him.
"Why does it bother you so much? You've never told me." Thomas asked softly.
"It doesn't bother me now. But then it just felt weird, like we'd be grown ups if we knew that. I know it doesn't make sense." James tried to explained.
"So you thought we'd become men just because we knew how to make sex? Where the hell did you get that from?" Thomas asked a bit surprised and confused as well.
"That's what father said, only without the unecessary sarcasm that you're using." James said.
"I'm your little brother,-"
"For 5 minutes!"
"Still I'm allowed to use sarcasm." Thomas said with a chuckle and James laughed.
"5 minutes don't count." James said with a chuckle too.
"But now for real, you really talked about that?" Thomas asked.
"More or less, not exactly. Remember two years ago when you asked that question that evening at the end of practice?" James asked.
"I do." Thomas answered.
Two years ago, James and Thomas had been practicing in the yard with their father, it had been a normal day, only their mother and Marianne would return from the Capital that afternoon and Jenny had not been in the practice, because she had skipped another sewing class and the deal was that if she did that, then she would have to study everything that was lectured in the class before practicing. Jenny had agreed to it, for she prefered to do that than to have to go to a class and all the other girls bragging for being better than her at sewing. Everything had been as it was in all the previous practices, they had just finished another fight and had been putting away the swords, when, out of nowhere, Thomas had asked,
"Speaking of swords, how does one sheath one's sword into a girl's sheath?" James had just wanted to get away as soon as he could, for he had not wanted to talk about those things, he had heard his friends saying that knowing how to do that was what made a man and he had not wanted to be a man so soon, he wanted to enjoy his childhood for being a man implied responsabilities which he just did not feel ready to take.
"At your age, one does not." Their father had said, however James had known that Thomas would continue to insist, therefore, before anyone could said anything else, James had said,
"I'm tired, I'm going to my room. I'll see you later." And he had gone on his way. After sometime, however, James having already changed and getting ready to go to the dinning hall for dinner, someone had knocked on his door. He had sighed and had asked,
"Who is it?"
"It's father. May I come in?" His father had answered.
"Sure." James had said and then his father had entered.
"Is everything alright, son?" His father had asked.
"Everything's fine." James had said.
"Then why did you storm out that way?" His father had asked.
"I was just tired." James had lied.
"I know you, James. You never get tired of practicing." His father had said softly.
"Fine. I didn't want to hear it or talk about it." James had said looking down.
"May I ask why?" His father had said.
"Because I don't want to grow up so fast and, you know, when you know how to do that you become a man and that implies responsabilities and I don't think I'm ready for it." James had explained.
"You think that knowing about those things, means that you're a man? Where did you get that from?" His father had asked surprised and also a bit worried.
"It's what my friends say." James had answered simply.
"Well, I can't speak for what your friends think, but I assure you that what they said it's not true. Being a man it's not just about that. It's about taking responsabilities for your actions and doing the right thing, it's about protecting the people you care about as well as everything you hold dear. Knowing those things it's just a small part of it and it's not as important as the rest." His father had explained.
"I just don't feel ready for that." James had said.
"You don't need to be. You're 12, James. Take it from someone who didn't have a normal childhood, don't worry about that now, just enjoy the present. Alright?" His father had said.
"Alright. But how will I know when it's time to grow up?" James had asked.
"You'll know. And if you need anything, I'm here, I always will be." His father had said. As of then, James realized that his father was right, the moment had come and he had known it was time, just like that.
"Thanks, father." James had said.
"You don't have to thank me. And, James, someday you'll realize that not everything that people say is true. Remember that, sweetheart, alright?" His father had said and James had nodded.
"I will. How did you know it was time?" James had asked.
"When my father died, I guess." His father had answered.
"Then how did you learn all of what it is to be an adult?" James had asked confused, he would never imagine how he would know everything he knew without his parents, he just couldn't imagine.
"Well, I learnt for myself most things. Others I had help." His father had said and James had nodded.
James smiled inwardsly at that recolection and asked his brother,
"Remember that I said I was tired and went to my room?"
"Yeah. I found it weird, but I really thought you were tired, it had been a long practice." Thomas said.
"Well, after that, father came talking to me and we didn't talk about it, but he explained me that it was nothing like I was thinking and told me that when the time came to grow up, I'd known. I do know the time has came. What about you?" James explained.
"I understand it. We didn't talk about it too. I just wanted to know, because I was curious, not 'cause I wanted to do it, obviously. You know I like to be ready for anything, even if it was years away." Thomas explained.
"You did. But you're not like that anymore, what changed?" James asked.
"Well, I continued to ask that day and father explained to me that we did not need to have everything planned all the time, because somethings can never be planned and we still need to be ready for them. He told me to enjoy what was happening then and do not worry about the future. So, I realized that maybe I should let things go the way they were supposed to. It turned out good so far." Thomas explained.
"So, tomorrow, guess we'll find out together?" James asked with a chuckle.
"Guess so." Thomas said with a chuckle too.
"Well, we better go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." James said and Thomas nodded.
"See you. And, James, everything will be alright. I know it." Thomas said.
"That's what you do best. You know everything, little brother." James teased.
"5 minutes don't count." Thomas said and James laughed, so did his twin brother. After that, James finally went to his room and got some sleep.
The next day, James woke up early, as everyone else. They had a quick meeting and then they spent the whole morning trying to avoid questions from their parents that never happened. James found it very weird, but he was glad for it, for it meant they still had time.
After lunch, Jorah and Rhaella went to KingsLanding and the others were waiting on Lyanna to tell them that they could start to put their plan in action. At length, Lyanna finally gave them the signal for them to put the plan into practice. Therefore, James, Thomas, Marianne and Jenny went to find their parents. They knew they were probably together. The only thing James did not know was how to start the conversation when his sisters and mother were present, he'd rather not do that while they were there, so did Thomas.
"How do we say that we need to talk about it?" James asked Thomas thinking, as the four of them were walking through a corridor.
"I don't have a clue." Thomas answered.
"I'm going to make this easier for you, don't worry." Marianne said surely.
"You have a plan?" Jenny asked her sister.
"I do." Marianne said.
"Which is?" Thomas asked looking for an explaination.
"Well, girls have a thing called girl talk, because we really don't have a choice when it cames to that. Besides, if I'm going to have to omit the truth all day, at least, I can get some advantage of it." Marianne explained and Jenny chuckled a bit. James and Thomas stayed looking at Marianne for some more time, when suddenly they understood what she had said.
"Mary! Brothers' ears nearby! We don't need to know that." James and Thomas said.
"Sorry..." Mariannne said and then the three of them realized that their eldest sister was quiet, too quiet. Normally, she too would say to stop the conversation right away, she did not this time, though. They looked at her suspiciously. Teasing time, James thought.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jenny asked confused.
"You are too quiet about these things. It's not like you." Thomas answered.
"What if I am? Last time I check, I'm 18, I grew up. And I'm older than you, why would I freak out?" Jenny said simply.
"We're not freaking-" James was saying, when Marianne interupted him,
"Wait. Have you and Gal...?"
"I'm not telling you about that." Jenny said.
"So..." Marianne said looking at Jenny with a knowing look.
"I said I'm not telling you, that means the three of you." Jenny said.
"Why not?" Thomas asked.
"You want to know? I mean it's private." James said to Thomas and Marianne, blinking. And they smiled.
"Thank you, James. See, there's the explaintion." Jenny said.
"So that was a yes?" Marianne asked and Jenny rolled her eyes. Will they ever give up?, Jenny thought.
"It was a yes." James and Thomas said surely and Jenny started to blush a bit.
"And you didn't tell me?!" Marianne said, seeing her reaction, stopping walking and James and Thomas laughed. James, Thomas and Jenny stopped walking as well.
"It's not something I will talk about with anyone but him." Jenny rebutted.
"Jen, you have to tell me." Marianne said. James and Thomas were so amused seeing their conversation, if anything was funny was when the three of them united against Jenny (what was worst was the payback), that they did not see their parents approaching.
"Tell what?" Their heard her mother saying.
"Nothing important." Jenny said shaking her head, as they turned to their parents.
"What were you talking about?" Their father asked.
"Well, Mary and Jen were talking about-..." Thomas was saying, when Marianne said,
"Girls' things"
"Swords." Thomas said finishing his sentence and looking at Marianne. Jenny chuckled a bit.
"Swords?" Joanna asked with a knowing look.
"Yep. And they got to the conclusion that Jen-" James was saying, when Jenny said,
"I can beat them, but that's no news. By the way, father, how's the leg?"
"It's getting better." Pod said and they smiled.
"That's great!" The four of them said.
"Mother, can we talk? About girls' things." Marianne said.
"Sure... Let's go." Joanna said. She and Pod were finding the coversation getting weirder than the usual for their children.
"See you later." Joanna said looking at Pod.
"See you, father." Marianne and Jenny said.
"See you." Pod said nodding .
Joanna and Marianne headed down the corridor to find a quiet place to talk and Jenny went with them, however James was not letting her get away that easily, therefore he said,
"Jen. Will you tell Mary about that sword fight or not?" Jenny stopped, turned and smiled, That's not good, James thought. He had screw up, badly.
"I forgot to tell you something, boys. Girls do talk. And they tell each other everything. Meaning everything. See you." Jenny said and then kept walking. Thanks a lot, James, Thomas thought. I'm so screw, James thought.
"What was that all about?" Their father asked them.
"That was a payback." Thomas said.
"What were you really talking about?" Pod asked, with a knowing look.
"Swords and... sheaths." James answered.
"Really?" Pod said.
"We're not very discret about it, were we?" Thomas said.
"Not quite." Pod said.
"I should have learnt by now." James said, thinking out loud.
"You really should and I should too." Thomas said.
"Well, we did warn you this game was dangerous." Pod said.
"We're starting to see that." James said.
"Anyway. Actually, we're looking for you." Thomas said.
"Why?" Pod asked.
"We need to have the talk." James said.
"The talk?" Pod asked.
"You know, that talk." Thomas said.
"Sure... Let's just go somewhere else, because we can't just have this talk in the middle of the corridor, alright?" Pod said looking at them. And they nodded. Therefore they went to a sitting room in the east wing of the castle.
Meanwhile, Joan and Catelyn had gone to find their parents as well, chatting on their way.
"Are you sure you want to tell them right now?" Catelyn asked.
"If not now, when?" Joan said.
"Alright." Catelyn said.
"Why? Don't you think I should?" Joan asked.
"I just wanted to make sure you'd go ahead with it." Catelyn said.
"Will you tell them about you and James?" Joan asked.
"I don't think I need to." Catelyn said.
"You're probably right." Joan said.
"I guess this means you'll get what you've always dreamt of." Catelyn said with a smile. She was happy for her sister and brother and she was happy for herself as well, she felt that she was about to start a new chapter in her life. She just had to know the truth about her parents' past.
"I'll get much more than that, I dreamt of love and of a perfect knight or a lord. But somehow me and Jorah fell in love and he's the prince and... he said that he'd like to have a Queen like me by his side when he takes the throne... I just hope I'm up to the job." Joan said looking at her sister.
"I'm sure you are. Don't worry." Catelyn said looking at her smiling.
"And you?" Joan asked.
"Me what?" Catelyn asked confused.
"Did you get what you wanted?" Joan asked.
"I guess so. Maybe this way, we won't always be at each other's troats all the time." Catelyn said with a chuckle.
"With your tempers, I wouldn't make promises. But, you know what, little sis?" Joan asked.
"First, 4 minutes don't count. Second, what?" Catelyn said.
"It counts. But, at least, if you fight or argue, then you'll have to make up to each other, after it..." Joan said with a devilish smile.
"Joan Lannister Tarth! You can't say those things!" Catelyn said looking at her sister, a bit in shock.
"As if you haven't thought of that yet." Joan said with a knowing look.
"Of course I haven't!" Catelyn said.
"Really?" Joan asked confused looking at her and Catelyn just looked away.
"I knew it!" Joan said.
"I'm not the only one and you know that." Catelyn said.
"I didn't say you were." Joan said.
"So have you and Jorah... yet?" Catelyn asked.
"No. Of course not yet. And you and James...?" Joan said looking down.
"Do you think that if we had, I would have reacted like that?" Catelyn asked looking at her sister.
"Just wanted to make sure." Joan said and then they looked at each other and laughed a little.
After some time, they finally found her parents in one of the halls and went to join them. Joan was a bit nervous, because she did not know which would be their reaction, however she did want to tell them for she did not want to have to hide it, like her brother did. Catelyn knew that, therefore Catelyn said,
"Hey."
"Hey, sweeties." Their parents said.
"Is everything alright?" Brienne asked.
"Everything's fine. We just saw you and thought of coming talk to you." Joan said.
"About what?" Jaime asked. Catelyn looked at her twin sister and she understood that Joan needed a little tug, therefore she said,
"Uh, Jo has something to tell you. Right, Jo?" Joan looked at her and smiled a bit, she was needing that.
"What is it, Jo?" Brienne asked.
"I just want to tell you that well while we're in KingsLanding me and Jorah talked and we realized that we had fallen in love with each other and we decided to give it a chance." Joan said as fast as she could and with as much convinction as she could. It took some time for their parents to take in all that she had said, eventhough they were used to her giving news like that.
"Alright... Let me get this straight, you and Jorah realized that you fell in love with each other and you decided to give it a chance. So that means that you two are together?" Brienne said looking at her daughter, for sometimes Joan would voice her news so fast that they had to at least comfirm twice that they had heard correctly.
"Yes." Joan said nodding.
"That's great. I'm happy for you, sweety." Brienne said smiling and Joan smiled, so did Catelyn. Then Joan looked at her father, so did her sister and her mother.
"Father?" Joan asked. Jaime looked at his daughter and smiled too.
"Your mother is right, that's great. I'm happy for you too, sweety." Jaime said and Joan hugged her parents. Catelyn smiled to see that.
"I'm sorry, it's just that you're my little girls, it's a bit hard to see you grow up." Jaime said with a chuckle and they laughed.
"He'll take it in eventually." Brienne said.
"I will, I promise." Jaime said.
"We'll always be your little girls, father." Catelyn said with a smile and Joan nodded. Their parents smiled too.
"Cat? Any news like this one? Better take the chance." Jaime asked.
"Do I really need to answer that question? I mean you already know." Catelyn said with a chuckle.
"Finally." Brienne said with a chuckle and Catelyn laughed.
"I don't know how, but they did snap out of it and realized it." Joan said with a chukle.
"Yeah, me and James snapped out of it, so did Ger and Mary." Catelyn said.
"At least, you didn't take 5 years." Jaime said.
"You took 5 five years?!" The twins asked.
"We had a rough start, so..." Brienne said.
"Like you wanted to kill each other?" Joan asked lightly and Catelyn looked at her.
"What do you know, Jo?" Jaime asked with a knowing look.
"Nothing." Joan answered.
"Nothing?" Brienne asked.
"We know somethings, we don't know if they're true, but you also don't know everything that happened these past months, so when we tell you about that, maybe you can tell us something too." Catelyn said looking down.
"We didn't tell you, not because we don't trust you, but because we don't know what your reaction will be. You see, me and your father carry heavy luggage and it takes some maturity for you to understand what we have. Guess the time's come. We'll tell you everything, we promise." Brienne said.
"I hope that you'll tell us everything as well." Jaime said.
"We will. There's too many secrets in this land already." Joan said and they nodded.
"Where's your brother?" Jaime asked.
"He's helping Ger with something, I think." Catelyn said. They stayed talking for some more time.
Meanwhile, Marianne, Jenny and their mother were trying to find some place to talk.
"We can go to the Godswood..." Marianne said, Gerion had told her something that she was dying to know if it was true or not.
"I don't think the gods will want to hear us talking about those things." Jenny said.
"We can go to the gardens." Joanna said.
"Alright." Jenny and Marianne said. When they got to the gardens, they sat in a couple of benchs below a chestnut tree.
"So... girl's talk?" Joanna asked.
"Yes and no. I mean I wanted to ask somethings." Marianne said.
"And James and Thomas wanted to ask father somethings as well, so Mary got the plan." Jenny explained.
"Alright... You're growing up, we have to face it." Joanna said with a chuckle and Marianne and Jenny laughed a little.
"What were the questions, Mary?" Joanna asked her youngest daughter.
"So... if, when it happens, we don't know anything about it, is it bad?" Marianne asked blushing a bit.
"Uh, no. It's not bad. It's a little bit clumsy sometimes... it's something that you only know how it is when it happens. Believe me when I say that, you know much more than I did when it happened.-" Joanna explained.
"Your sister didn't tell you?" Jenny asked curiously.
"It never came up. Actually, I didn't have the time to ask my sister about it, because I was sent back to the Rock at 14 and when I returned I didn't want to think about it." Joanna explained.
"So there's no problem in none of us not knowing anything about it?" Marianne asked to comfirm.
"No, there's no problem in that. But whichever question or doubt you have you can always talk to me and I'll help you." Joanna said and they smiled.
"Is it hard?" Marianne started and Jenny looked at her. What the hell?, Jenny thought. Everyone thought that before it, Jenny knew it, but they never asked it.
"No, it's not hard. It's..." Joanna started and then Joanna answered and explained everything her daughter asked her. She really wanted that her daughters, once that it was meant to happen one day, knew at least as much as they could know before it did happen. At the end of all of the questions and explainations, Marianne said smiling,
"Thanks, mother." She felt ready if it was to happen anytime soon.
"You're welcome." Joanna said.
"I'm out of questions. Jen?" Marianne said, at the end looking at her sister.
"It's a little bit late for that, I guess." Jenny said looking down.
"Really?" Joanna asked.
"It's the North effect." Jenny said and Joanna laughed a bit. Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Joanna thought remembering. When suddenly memories came poping in her head. Oh gods..., Joanna thought, after all those years, she finally remembered.
"Is everything alright, mother?" Marianne asked worried, she seemed that she had seen a ghost.
"Yes, yes. I just remember something. What else happened in the North?" Joanna asked, trying to hide the sense of relief and a bit of happiness to remember that.
"Tormund told us lots of things." Jenny answered.
"I'm afraid to ask." Joanna said.
"You should have warned us." Jenny said and they laughed.
"We hoped he had changed, I guess. Or that he would keep his mouth shut for once. What did he say about me and your father?" Joanna asked.
"He said that you and father married three times and that you defeated a Dothraki and jumped into a frozen lake to save uncle Jon. And that you had tried to fought five Walkers all at the same time. And... he told us about what uncle Tyrion was talking about when you met uncle Gery." Jenny explained.
"Seven Hells..." Joanna said.
"Why do you get to know and I don't?" Marianne said with a giggle, looking at Jenny.
"Me and your father would rather be the ones to tell you, obviously." Joanna said.
"So... is it true or not?" Jenny asked.
"Me and your father married one time, not three. And... the rest is true." Joanna said.
"I knew it!" Jenny said.
"So you and father did not married in the Godswood?" Marianne asked her mother.
"We... How do you know that?" Joanna asked.
"Someone told me." Marianne said.
"That someone being?" Joanna asked.
"Ger. He found out, because a man who used to go to the Godswood all the time saw you. And he was very impressed." Marianne explained.
"Yes, well, kind of. We said the words in front of the tree, but oficially, and this is very important, we married at Casterly Rock." Joanna explained and they nodded. They stayed talking for some more time.
As that was happening, James, Thomas and their father were talking as well. They had been talking for some time by then and James and Thomas had cleared out all the questions they had. Their father had answered all the question they had as best as he could. However, by then, at the end, James and Thomas asked,
"So what is the secret?"
"What secret?" Their father asked.
"The secret. The one with the rumours." Thomas said.
"I knew that one day that'll come back to bite me." Podrick said. When, suddenly, he didn't know how, but memories were poping in his head. Oh gods..., Podrick thought, after all those years, he finally remembered.
"Everything's alright, father? It seems like you've seen a ghost." James said concerned.
"Yes, I just remember something." Pod said, trying to hide the sense of relief and a bit of happiness to remember that.
"Alright..." James said.
"So, the secret?" Thomas asked.
"There's no secret." Pod said.
"What do you mean?" James asked confused.
"I mean there's no secret..." Pod said.
"But then why does everyone keep saying all of that?" Thomas asked.
"I don't know, honestly. A rumour in KingsLanding is like a plague and apparently this one did not only stay in KingsLanding. It happened, I'm not denying it, but... I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. It just happened." Pod explained.
"Tormund said it was because of the singing." James said.
"I can assure you that I did not sing." Pod said.
"Can I ask one more question?" James asked.
"You can." Pod said. He did not know what to expect from their questions anymore.
"Did you and mother marry three times?" James asked.
"What? No, we only married once." Pod answered.
"In the Godswood?" Thomas asked with a knowing look.
"Uh... Alright, we said the words in front of the tree, I won't even ask you how do you know that, because I think you know much more than that and right now it's not the time. But, oficially and this is important, we married at Casterly Rock." Pod explained and they nodded. It was two times then, James thought.
Meanwhile, everyone who was not in the distraction scheme was doing their duties, Galladon was helping Gerion with his. They were looking through some files for Gerion to help his parents in the management of the costs of the war.
"I'm really happy you're alive." Gerion said.
"Me too." Galladon said.
"I don't know what I would do without you, you're my best friend." Gerion said.
"You'd be fine, Ger. I'm sure of it. You're my best friend as well." Galladon said smiling and Gerion smiled.
"So a flaming sword, uh?" Gerion said and Galladon laughed a little.
"Yeah. Uncle Sandor gave it to me. It was Beric Dondarrion's." Galladon explained.
"That's good." Gerion said.
"And here?" Galladon asked.
"I discovered a lot of things from Arnold. He is a man who goes to the Godswood all the time." Gerion said.
"What happened in the Godswood?" Galladon asked confused.
"You have no idea!" Gerion said and Galladon looked at him surprised.
"Such as?" Galladon asked.
"All my family reunions were there! From my grandfather to uncle Jon and aunt Arya!" Gerion answered.
"That's not as weird as I was expecting, I mean the Starks are from Winterfell." Galladon said.
"Well, what would you say if I told you that someone in our family married in the Godswood without anyone knowing? Not counting the Starks." Gerion said and Galladon looked at him with a confusing look.
"Who?" Galladon asked with a smile.
"Uncle Pod and aunt Joanna." Gerion answered.
"You're kidding?!" Galladon said surprised. Tormund was right... At least, 2 of them, Galladon thought.
"Someone saw it." Gerion said.
"Tormund was right." Galladon said.
"What did Tormund say?" Gerion asked curiously.
"He said that they married three times." Galladon answered.
"What was the third then?" Gerion asked.
"I don't know, but he said it was at the Wall." Galladon said.
"My mother is always teasing them about the Wall, now that you mention that." Gerion said thinking.
"We'll find out soon enough." Galladon said.
"That's true." Gerion said and Galladon nodded.
"By the way, me and Jenny are engaged." Galladon said.
"You and Jen what?! How did that happen?" Gerion asked.
"In the journey, it's a long story, you'll understand when we tell it." Galladon said.
"Well, I'm happy for you." Gerion said.
"Thanks, Ger." Galladon said.
"So much for not wanting to marry, uh?" Gerion teased.
"Piss off." Galladon said and then they laughed. After sometime looking through the files, Gerion finally gathered the courage to ask his cousin something.
"Gal, can I ask you something?" Gerion asked.
"You know you don't have to ask that, of course you can." Galladon said.
"Good... Uh, so Rickon came talking to me and I realized that I'm getting behind, but I also don't want to rush things-" Gerion was saying, when Galladon interupted him,
"Ger. Take a deep breath and start over, because I'm not understanding what you're talking about." Gerion did as he said and took a deep breath and started again,
"Rickon came to talk to me. And apparently he and Mia did it.-" Gerion was saying.
"What?!" Galladon said surprised.
"You heard me. But it's a secret." Gerion said.
"With you keeping it like that it won't be for much longer." Galladon said.
"Piss off." Gerion said and Galladon laughed.
"What did he say?" Galladon asked.
"So he told me that and ask for a advice and I had to tell him: 'I'm sorry, but I haven't done it yet...' And he told me 'oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know'. So, as you can see, I'm getting behind. But I don't want to rush things, Rickon and Mia are together for a year now and me and Mary only worked things out days ago." Gerion explained.
"You and Mary have been in love with each other since you were 14. It's a long time. You should talk to her about it, maybe she is on the same page as you are. It doesn't matter that Rickon has done it already, what matter is what you feel you should do. But my advice is don't waste time waiting, if you both want to do it, because you never know when everything will start to crumble down. Everything can end much sooner than you want it to end and there's nothing you can do to stop it." Galladon said.
"I know. Guess, I'll talk to her. Thanks, coz." Gerion said and he nodded.
After all the talk and the duties, the dinner was getting closer and neither Jorah or Rhaella had came back yet. They all thought that the plan was going to fail. Everyone was gathered in the hall for dinner, there was only Jorah and Rhaella left. Lyanna had ran out of excuses, so had the rest of them. They were all looking at each other worried, if the adults had not suspected anything, by then they definetively knew something was happening. Everything was crumbling down, however, when Daenerys and Jon were about to ask where Jorah and Rhaella were, they finally showed up.
"I'm sorry, we got held up." Jorah said as he and Rhaella sat in their sits. This one is done at least. Now let's see if they indeed could get the book, James thought relieved. The dinner went on and eventhough the tension was a bit high for there was much that was still left to say, there was happiness as well for all being well. They got to the conclusion that Jorah and Rhaella had gotten the book after all.
When the dinner ended, everyone stayed talking and catching up. James was talking to his brother when he saw that Catelyn was leaving the room, he got worried and decided to go after her.
"Uh, I'll be right back." James said to Thomas as he was standing up, Thomas saw what was happening and nodded.
"When everyone is asleep, the meeting is in the Godswood." Thomas said and James nodded.
Then James went after Catelyn, he searched the whole castle and at last he found her in the top of one of the castle towers. Catelyn was there looking at the woods and the yard beneath, that was crowed with thousands of fires, Winterfell had come back to life. James went to her and hugged her from behind, she leaned into his hug.
"You miss Tarth, don't you?" James asked, after a while.
"I do. How do you know?" Catelyn said.
"I know you and you always go to the top of the towers in Tarth." James said.
"That's true, I miss my grandfather too. Do you miss the Rock as well?" Catelyn asked.
"I do. They're our homes, it's normal." James said.
"I guess it is." Catelyn said and then she turned and kissed him, he kissed her back.
"What's bothering you? I know you came here to think." James asked looking at her, she looked down.
"I don't want to have that conversation." Catelyn said.
"Alright. But you know you can tell me everything, right? I'm here, I always will be." James said and then she looked at him and smiled.
"It's just that me and Jo were talking and I realized something." Catelyn said.
"What was it?" James asked.
"Well, we're talking about it and she's ready to do that already, but I don't feel ready. I know that you probably are ready too-" Catelyn said.
"I'm not ready." James said right away, he wasn't. They had just started whatever they had and he didn't want to rush it, didn't matter who did it or not. James and Catelyn had always been different from the rest in that regard, they always took things calmly and they probably knew that they shouldn't wait too long, for if the journey had taught them something was that everything could end much sooner than they thought, still it was not the right time, when the time was right they would know. Did not matter if Joan and Jorah had done it or Mia and Rickon or Thomas and Jeyne, it only mattered that it felt right.
"You're not?" Catelyn asked surprised.
"No, we just started this, we don't even know what it is. And I think if it happens, no matter how far away or how close it is to happen, we'll feel it's the right time." James explained.
"I feel the same. But then why did you have that whole conversation with your father today?" Catelyn asked.
"I like to be ready and it was time I knew at least something about it, besides you know I'm curious by nature." James said smiling.
"I understand you." Catelyn said with a chuckle and James kissed her and she kissed him back, after the kiss they smiled.
They stayed there for some time, for they knew that they had to wait until everyone went to sleep and that most of their cousins and siblings were probably busy. Therefore, they just stayed there talking and spending time with each other.
When everyone was asleep, they all met in the Godswood, when James and Catelyn arrived, Lyanna, Brandon, Rhaella and Eddard were already there, so were Jenny and Galladon and Mia and Rickon.
"Where's everyone else?" James asked confused.
"Apparently, lost." Lyanna said sarcasticaly, she was more curious than ever and Jorah was the one with the book and everyone was late, it was anoying.
"We'll have to wait, if we go inside, we'll get caught." Galladon said.
"Any ideas of what they might be doing? Besides, keeping us waiting." Brandon asked.
"Many." Rhaella said and Catelyn chuckled a bit.
"What do you know, Cat?" Galladon asked looking at his sister.
"Nothing..." Catelyn said.
"It's just a feeling, right?" Jenny said looking at Catelyn.
"I guess you're right." Mia said and the three of them laughed a little.
"May I ask what are you talking about?" Lyanna asked curiously.
"We'll tell you in a few years, Lya." Mia said. Before anyone could say anything else, the others arrived.
"Finally!" Eddard said.
"Sorry, we got held up." Gerion said.
"Held up...?" James said with a devilish smile.
"Sure, sure." Rickon helped him, also with a devilish smile. All of them got without words and the rest of them, except for Eddard, Lyanna and Brandon that had no idea of what they were talking about, could not help but chuckle a bit.
"Next time, don't be late." Jenny said.
"Let's see what the book says, shall we?" Jorah said, showing them the book.
"Sure." Rickon said nodding.
"We didn't went to KingsLanding and back, only to look at it." Rhaella said.
They spent at least two hours reading the whole book, it had at least a thousand pages. It had everything on it, especially the historical facts and some moments that no one knew about it, that had not reached the people, because if they had... At the end, James did not know what to think just like everyone else. They had done it, they had found out everything. Right then, they wanted to talk to their parents and know it through their words. How could they not tell us?, James thought, it was what everyone was thinking and he knew it for their faces.
"When everyone said that our families were at war, I wasn't expecting this." Lyanna said sadly.
"No one was. But we'll talk to them and I'm sure that they'll tell us this time." Jenny said.
"They hated each other, didn't they? They had to, with all of this." Catelyn said.
"It's complicated. We'll find out soon enough. Still they are who they are today, that's what matters." Galladon said.
"We better go to sleep. Tomorrow we have to have a conversation." Jenny said and everyone nodded.
James went to sleep that night, with a million and one thoughts in his mind. Nothing made sense, still he would find out how to make sense of it the next day. Maybe it would be easier afterwards.