The Protagonist System
375 Stark Contrast

I woke up before the evening meal and felt a small weight on me. When I opened my eyes, I saw Arya Stark cuddled up on my chest and she looked quite peaceful. I almost didn't want to disturb her; however, we both needed to go to the meal and she needed to be fussed over and made presentable.

In her current state, her mother and most of the staff in the keep would be shocked. How could she let herself become so dishevelled? It was scandalous, even if she was only a babe and shouldn't be expected to behave. She was a future Lady and needed to comport herself properly at all times.

That was hogwash, in my opinion. She needed to be allowed to express herself and to find out what kind of person she wanted to be, not be moulded into what others wanted her to become. As far as I knew, that was why she liked me so much, despite me being a bastard. I didn't let it get to me or allowed Catelyn's bias to affect me.

“Little wolf, you need to wake up.” I whispered and shook her shoulder slightly.

“Leggo.” Arya mumbled and clung to me tightly. “Mine.”

I barely held in my laugh at her claiming me in her sleep. It apparently didn't matter to her if I was her half-brother or not. I was hers and no one was allowed to tell her different. Her thoughts weren't difficult to follow, because she was young and her mind wasn't that complicated. I played with her and treated her like she was normal, and not a lady in waiting, so I was her favorite person.

I observed her and saw where her features would eventually earn her mean nicknames, like horse-face and lumpy-face, so I used my powers to tweak her a bit. Her Stark heritage was a bit too prominent and made her look more like a boy, so I adjusted it to more align with the Tully features.

I didn't take away from her looks and only enhanced them, so no one could claim her as plain. She would catch people's attention for both her skills and her looks from now on. It was the least I could do for her, since she was young enough that no one would notice the changes, not even her mother.

“Cheese and bread.” I said in a normal voice instead of whispering, because it was the food she liked the best.

“CHEESE!” Arya gasped and sat up, instantly wide awake. Her eyes looked down at me and she smiled widely. “JON!”

I made an 'oof' sound as she lunged back down and hugged me just as tightly as she had when she was asleep. “We need to get ready for the meal, little wolf.”

Arya hummed and sighed, let me go, and sat back up. “No fun.”

I reached up and tickled her sides, instantly proving her wrong. She laughed an unrestrained laugh and squirmed under my hands without trying to get away. I sat up and hugged her after a minute, kissed her forehead, and stood up with her still in my arms. Arya didn't notice how easily I had done so and clung to me with a smile on her face.

“I have to put you down to change.” I warned her and she didn't say anything, so I cast a cushioning charm on the bed and tossed her onto it.

Arya laughed when she bounced and she rolled over to land where my pillow was. “Again!”

I had to laugh at her enjoying being tossed and bounced. “In a minute.”

Arya watched as I went to my closet and I took out some fancy clothing, something she had never seen before, because I had just transfigured them. I stripped off down to my underwear and she didn't react or looked down at my small clothes. Her eyes were taking in everything as I dressed in the much fancier clothes and she immediately held her arms up to me when I finished.

“All right, once more and we have to go.” I said and scooped her up. She started to laugh when I turned her upside down, then I tossed her back onto the bed and she bounced twice.

Arya laughed and laughed as she landed on my pillow, then she hugged it like a teddy bear. She sniffed it and cuddled it, almost automatically, and wouldn't let it go when I picked her up again. I shrugged at her wanting to keep something that was mine and I carried her out of my room and up the stairs to where the rest of the family had their rooms.

No one was in hers and I spent the next few minutes putting her into a proper semblance of a young lady of the keep, which she allowed me to do without fuss, because she did not let the pillow go the entire time.

“You can keep it here if you want.” I told her and discreetly cast a preservation charm on it, so it would stay soft and keep my smell on it until the spell was dismissed.

Arya smiled at me and tucked it under her own pillow, as if to hide it, and pulled her blanket up to cover both pillows. I nodded in approval and held a hand out to her. She took it like it was a lifeline and she almost skipped down the hallway as I brought her over to Sansa's room.

I knocked on the door and closed my eyes, specifically so I could keep my word to Lady Catelyn. The door opened and Sansa gasped at seeing both myself and Arya dressed up in our finest clothes.

“The wayward child returns.” Old Nan said with a cackle.

I didn't ask her if she meant me or Arya, though. “I somehow found her and am returning her to her rightful place.”

Arya giggled, because she knew I hadn't found her at all. She had found me and had spent the whole afternoon and early evening napping on top of me.

“I need to change as well!” Sansa exclaimed and rushed over to her own closet to look for something that matched the outfit I had made for Arya. She would not be successful.

“Go on in and keep Old Nan company until your sister is ready.” I said to Arya with my eyes still closed. Funnily enough, she didn't ask me why I was keeping my eyes closed.

Arya reluctantly let my hand go and walked over to the old woman.

“You're looking more like a proper lady every time I see you.” Old Nan praised her, not realizing Arya didn't care about any of that.

I waved to her and the old woman before I closed the door, then I walked down the hallway and down the stairs. I didn't open my eyes until I was out of the family living area and entered a common area that the servants used. I passed through that and made my way over to the Great Hall to arrive before everyone else and sat in my designated place at the third table.

I sat with my back straight and waited for everyone else. Since it was the last meal of the day, it would be the heaviest and full of roasted meats and vegetables. It was to stoke a body's internal engine enough that the cold night wasn't too hard and would make people enjoy their sleeps. They would be ready to face another day in the harsh North lands with determination, just like every Northerner.

Ned arrived first and he nodded to me, his hands surprisingly free of paperwork, and he sat regally and also stayed quiet as we waited for everyone else. Robb was next, his thoughts telling me he had just escaped his mother after she couldn't find Arya. I held in my laugh at seeing his relieved face and I nodded to him when he waved. He was a good kid and took after his father.

The other family members soon arrived and Catelyn looked both pleased and annoyed. It didn't take a genius to realize it was because I had been the one to take care of Arya and dressed her in finery she didn't know about. Her eyes went to my own fancy clothing and they narrowed in a silent vow to find out where I had found them or stolen them from.

The Karstarks were next and the mood in the room lightened considerably as Ned greeted them warmly. We were soon joined by Maester Luwin, the commander of the guard, and several higher ranked soldiers. The serving girls brought the food out and there were twice as many platters and everyone started helping themselves and conversations started up all over the hall.

I was served a single plate again, only it was mounded high with extra meat and I lifted my gaze from the table to see Gretchel's slight blush.

“Mikken said to tell you she'll make more bread for you, since you liked it so much... and that you're handsome... for a boy.” Gretchel said and her face fully flushed to red.

I held in my chuckle at her saying that with witnesses around. “What did she catch you doing to make you say that?”

Gretchel sucked in a sharp breath as a couple of the Karstarks chuckled. “Never you mind!”

I let my chuckle out and smiled at her. “Then tell her she has my thanks and I'll be by in the morning before my lessons to thank her properly.”

Gretchel nodded and went back into the kitchens to grab the ale and continued working.

“Don't be doing anything you shouldn't be doing with a lass, young Snow.” The old man named Rickard Karstark said sternly, then his large greyish-white beard shook as he softly chuckled.

“I would need another six or seven namedays for that, Lord Karstark.” I responded and grinned at him. “If only to not disappoint the lass in question with a lack of performance.”

The old man looked surprised, then barked a laugh. “Aye, you've got that right. Even the wenches want some effort put in while in bed!”

His sons muttered agreement and we all started eating. I let the conversations around me fade into the background as my thoughts went to the men sitting in front of me. From this life's knowledge, I knew that the Karstarks were loyal to the North and had followed the Starks for hundreds of years.

However, my previous knowledge told me that if the leadership of the lands faltered in any way or was somehow removed, the younger men would throw their fealty towards whomever they thought would bring the North back to prominence.

My eyes went to Ned Stark and wondered how things would turn out if I didn't do anything else to change things. Would Jon Arryn taking care of Littlefinger years early and Jon not being murdered by his wife Lysa, change King Robert's decision to bring Ned to the capital city of Westeros, named Kings Landing, to become the new Hand of the King?

While I was lost in my thoughts, the meal came to an end and the platters of food were replaced with things to snack on and more ale was brought out. The room started to become rowdy, which gave Catelyn the excuse to send the children off to avoid what she knew was going to be a long night.

I didn't protest being included, since it let me leave without causing a fuss. However, I did promise that when I had enough namedays under my belt, I'd choose to stay and share a drink with them. That made most of the Karstark group smile and nod, accepting my word as a promise of staying friendly with them. Rickard's youngest son Torrhen looked forward to that day, as I was closer to his age than anyone else in the room.

I made sure to close my eyes when I looked over at where Catelyn was helping a servant usher her three children out of the room. The brief look of loathing on her face was enough for me to know she thought I had lied about never looking at Sansa again, then she watched me like a hawk as I walked around the servant, patted Arya on the top of her head, and I went out the side entrance the servants used.

I did that so I could avoid having my eyes closed the whole time as we returned to our rooms, since there would be many chances I could glimpse Sansa in the corner of my eye. I made my way out of the building and into the family living area and into my room. I made sure to block my door with a chair and a spell, just in case Catelyn decided I needed a talking to for my behavior. I did not need that right now.

I put my fancy clothes into the closet, leaving the transfiguration, and dressed in comfy cotton pyjamas. I transfigured them to show little wolves instead of being plain and climbed into bed. I had some actual sleep to catch up on, because the magically exhausted sleep I had earlier didn't count. I needed my mind sharp for tomorrow's learning lesson.

*

Sansa almost screamed with frustration as Jon avoided her again! She glared at the servant's entrance he had escaped through and held her tongue until her mother led them out through the main doors and they shut behind her with a dull thump.

“Mother? Why he is ignoring me?” Sansa asked.

“Who?” Catelyn asked back instead of answering.

Sansa would have rolled her eyes if she knew how. “You know who.”

Catelyn's mouth formed a thin line. “Perhaps he has finally learned his place.” She hedged, rather than tell her daughter it was because of her. She also wondered how the bastard had moved around with such grace with his eyes closed. It was eerie and she was starting to suspect it was unnatural.

Sansa wanted to claim how annoying that was, because she had wanted to be the one to put Jon in his place. She also wanted to throw a tantrum for the same reason. However, she was a young Lady and she held herself in check, because her mother's lessons were serving her well.

“How is he supposed to make my gift for my nameday if he is avoiding me?” Sansa asked instead, her mind coming up with the perfect excuse. “Does he even know what I like?”

Catelyn barely stopped herself from reacting to her words. She had completely forgotten about that and might have messed everything up. She had thought the bastard had been having bad thoughts about her daughter and he might have only been wondering what to make for the girl.

She silently cursed herself for her plan being so effective and it succeeding at exactly the wrong time to keep her daughter happy. What was she going to do now? There was no chance that the boy would believe her if she said he was allowed to look at Sansa again, not after what happened. He would think it was a trick to catch him ogling her, and she had to admit that she would actually do that.

Unfortunately, that would make Catelyn look foolish after the things Ned had said to her about her treatment of Jon. Of course, if Ned found out that Sansa herself wanted the boy's attention, and why, that could also make Catelyn look like a fool for using corporal punishment to fix a problem that hadn't existed until she brought it up.

“I will... see what I can do.” Catelyn lied. She would probably have one of the servant girls give the boy a reminder of Sansa's nameday celebration and that he better have something good for a present, since many of the bannermen had been invited to celebrate the special day as well.

If the boy didn't have anything for her precious daughter, then... her thoughts came to a halt when she realized something important. She would have to lift her restrictions on him to invite him. He couldn't be seen with his eyes closed for the entire celebration, because he wasn't allowed to look at Sansa.

The other guests would definitely ask him about why he was acting that way and that would cause her just as much embarrassment as her husband having a bastard in the first place.

Without saying anything else, Catelyn put her eldest to bed and tucked him in with a kiss on the forehead, did the same with Sansa and another promise to handle things, put Arya to bed and hung up the fancy dress clothes that she had never seen before and had no idea the tailors could make such a thing, and then finally she went to the baby's room and nodded at the mid-wife taking care of little Bran.

A goodnight spoken to the sleeping boy later, Catelyn was in her own room and undressed. Her mind tried to come up with some way to undo what she did without undermining her own authority. She had scared the life out of that boy to ensure he listened to her commands, and now she had to somehow un-scare him to make him return to how he acted before.

She went to bed wearing her nightgown and drifted off to sleep long before her lord husband made his slightly drunken way to their bed. Thankfully, he was too tired to want to share some time with her and had let her sleep, his own thoughts muddled by ale and talks that men only shared when drinking.

*

The bald man named Varys, otherwise known as the Spider, was a eunuch (his manhood was removed) and was a member of King Robert Baratheon's Small Council that helped run the Seven Kingdoms. He was the Master of Whisperers, or the spymaster, and had informants spread out over two continents, Westeros and Essos.

It was one of his spies, or little birds as they were known, that had just informed him of the death of the future Targaryen king. He doubted the truth of the accident that decapitated the young man; but, there was no point in trying to investigate it past what his spies already had. He was dead and left behind an eight year old little sister that was not currently suitable to sit upon the Iron Throne.

It was a massive blow to his years of planning to bring the pair to Westeros and Kings Landing. Viserys was supposed to live long enough for the vows and pledges both Varys and the Prince of Dorne swore to reinstate the Targaryen dynasty, and he didn't. All the schemes, the backroom deals, the money changing hands, and it was all for naught.

Varys rubbed his bald head and sat at his desk, wondering what he should do. There were no other suitable candidates for him to use to replace Robert on the throne. Even the man's bastards were currently too young to be viable, even if it came to light that his youngest son Tommen wasn't actually Robert's son. In any case, he was still too young to rule.

For now, all Varys could do was sit back and watch. And wait. And hope. For what? For a sign. Or perhaps, a gift from the gods. He didn't really know and he wasn't going to speculate. With luck, and time, all things should come to pass, and he would be there to watch it all... and maybe help things along when it was necessary.

Varys wrote out a note, in code of course, to have his good friend and co-conspirator Magister Illyrio Mopatis in the free cities to take a firmer hand with Daenerys and to keep their future asset hidden away.