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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 13:20:37 GMT -7
Ser Davos is waiting for him on the balcony outside of the great hall, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes upon the men setting up just outside of the still-open gate. Unlike the rest of the brothers marching to and from their duties, he is not dressed in black. His clothes still bear the mark of Stannis Baratheon, the pouch of knuckle-bones still hangs around his neck.
Jon takes in a deep breath in preparation, and continues to where Ser Davos stands.
"Do we have the supplies to house this many men, Lord Commander?" He asks, voice laced with formalities. Jon comes to stand at his side, and sets his items flat upon the railing. He takes the moment to strap Longclaw around his waist.
"We'll have to make do." He replies, avoiding the real answer. The Night's Watch has been running on strict rations for months already, the cold driving any game further and further south and making it difficult to hunt anything more than large rabbits and foxes for dinner. As for wood, Jon will have to send men north of the wall to chop the line of trees there. "But with any luck, they'll have brought rations of their own."
"With any luck, your large friend will have found something worth eating." Davos adds on with a stern bob of his head.
"Aye," Jon sighs, cinching the belt of his sheath tight. "Let's hope he has."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2017 13:48:25 GMT -7
Katherine took the seat and then grabbed the stuff from her bag. It mostly had books and a journal but also some clothes too, even if at the moment the only thing she could wear is the dress so it would mean that when she went outside she would have to bundle herself up in furs but she had them already and still she got a bit cold so she wondered how Jon and the others had managed this long up here.
Her thoughts turned towards Jon once more and she bit down on her lip, her brown eyes watching the fire. Everything had changed so much in the time she had last been in the North of course back then it hadn't started to turn to winter just yet and even if the Stark's words were Winter is Coming it hadn't come then but now it seemed like it was on it's way or it was even here. She grabbed her journal and used the quill but for some reason she couldn't quite get her words down on the parchment because of the fact her words seemed to have deserted her. How could she explain what she was feeling other than anger?
She pushed the journal to one side and got up from the chair and went for a rest for a little bit.
Katherine woke to the sound of someone knocking on her door and she rubbed her eye a little she wasn't sure how long she had been out but she felt a bit better even if there were still signs of tiredness lingering around her. She got up and moved to the door and opened it up and saw William standing there. She gave him a soft smile and then opened the door wider and moved away from it. "Is the camp set up?" she asked and grabbed her cloak and the gloves that Robb had given her before putting them both on.
"Mostly all done Your Grace" he said and smiled before walking out with her.
"We shouldn't be too long just long enough to make enough plans" she walked down the steps. "You ever think about joining the Nights Watch, William?" she asked him and put her gloves on and her cloak hood up over her hair, but the wind was definitely blowing her dark hair around and making it impossible to tame.
"Can't say that I have, Your Grace" he said around a soft chuckle and stopped to look at the other men "But I do have big respect for those that do, some of them have no choice, others join because they do have a choice and would rather choose the Black and not lose a hand or something else"
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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 14:09:18 GMT -7
"And what happens when the Lannisters get word of the remaining Stark bannermen camping outside Castle Black," Allister spits like venom, "You think they're going to have pleasant thoughts about us? You think they won't send soldiers in the night to reward our kindness?"
"As long as we do not take a side in this war, it does not matter which lord or lady marches through those gates, we have to accept them in." Jon replies, his words just as harsh as he marches across the courtyard. Allister stays right as his heels, the constant lingering shadow of doubt. "We have no oaths to anyone but ourselves and we are no more traitors now than when Stannis Baratheon stayed here for a fortnight."
"Aye, you're all about hospitality, aren't ye' boy." Allister huffs. Jon tries his best to contain his grimace. "You and your pet hound-"
Jon whirls back on him, his hands in fists at his side. Allister barely comes to a halt in time. "Not boy," he says, voice sharp and hard like steel, "Lord Commander. And you'd do well to remember that the next time you question my judgement." Allister presses his mouth flat, but the viciousness does not leave his pale eyes. Jon presses on. "You don't want anything to do with our guests? Fine. You can man the wall until they leave."
A single low blow of the horn high above them echoes across the mist, but Jon does not break his stare. Neither does Allister.
"Rangers are returning, Ser Allister." He says coldly. "You'd better receive them."
A moment of tense silence follows, before Allister clucks his tongue and turns away, his cloak sweeping across the dirt as he marches towards the gate below the wall. It's only until Allister is out of sight that Jon's shoulders relax and his fingers stretch straight. He huffs out a heavy breath and rolls his neck, hoping to loosen the tightened muscles in his back tugging at the scar there.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2017 14:28:08 GMT -7
Katherine turns to say something else but she watches the scene between Jon and another one of the Night's Watch. If she was honest, her sister would probably hunt her to the ends of the earth especially after the fact that Katherine had left the Capital and headed straight for the Stark's and in the end married the King of the North. It would seem like she was a traitor to her own family and no doubt the Lannisters would spin it every way they could to make sure that Cersei put word out for Katherine's head. So it wouldn't be a bad thing to her that Robb had died but there was another player in town and that would be her. She would make sure that House Frey got everything they deserve and then whatever happened after that would be up to them but for now they had one target in mind.
A part of her was starting to feel a little bad at the fact that she seemed to be causing Jon some trouble with his own men. No it wasn't right for her to come here but right now she had no choice and it wasn't like she could camp outside of Kings Landing and pray that her sister would let her back into the castle to have her baby and then would let them go again to punish House Frey. She wouldn't willingly put her men in danger of the Lannisters and this was supposed to be neutral ground so really this was the only solution that they really had.
She looked up when there was a sound of the horn but she couldn't see where it coming from but she guessed it was from high on the wall, her hood fell back and exposed her dark hair. She moved her eyes back down to Jon and the other man and watched as he moved away and from here she could see the tension in Jon's shoulders.
Katherine told William to wait for her and she moved over to where Jon was and then came up to his side. "You know we could leave if it's causing you too much trouble" she said softly and watched him. The last thing Katherine wanted to do was causing him trouble and it seemed like the other man would cause him trouble no matter what happened or whether or no she was there. He seemed like a real cunt. Katherine moved her hands up and pulled her hood back up once more, covering her dark hair but her cheeks were definitely a little cold from standing out here but it was bearable for now.
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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 15:04:50 GMT -7
Jon turns his head a little when Katherine suddenly appears at his side, her voice soft. He had not seen her there before, had not known that she'd heard any of that. "You are not the cause of any trouble," he replies with a shake of his head, "Ser Allister would oppose my choice of breakfast if that brought him any satisfaction." His tone is laced with bitterness, the ordeal of dealing with that man for nearly six years weighing heavily upon his nerves. Jon could take a shit and Allister would tell him he's doing it wrong. "Stay here as long as you need. I'll handle him."
There's a commotion in the direction of the gate, and only seconds later do three men appear pulling on ropes attached to a fat black bear. They heave and huff as they drag its body through the snow towards the kitchens, and Jon furrows his brows.
"Excuse me," he says quietly to Katherine before moving forward. "What is this?" He asks as he approaches the men, struggling to get anywhere in the slick mud.
"Your hound caught us dinner!" One of the men huffs out after nearly slipping.
"Don't ask us how."
Jon releases a surprised laugh, a smile playing around the edges of his mouth. "So he has." He turns his eyes back towards the long, deep tunnel leading beneath the wall, just as a large figure appears out of the darkness.
The man is tall and heavily muscled, standing a head above nearly anyone Jon has ever met. With long, wavy hair dark as a raven's wing and skin like golden honey, he stands out amongst the pale-faced men of the Night's Watch. His face is strong, intimidating -- a pair of steel grey eyes peering out from beneath thick black brows, a scar carving its way down the left side of his face, a short beard curving the sharp edges of his jaw. Despite the cold, he wears only a single fur thrown around his broad shoulders, which he immediately tugs off to toss aside.
Jon's smile widens, and he turns himself towards the man, walking forward to meet him halfway. "A fuckin' bear?" Jon asks in jest, bouncing his brows upwards. Edric grins, and the two give each other a short, friendly embrace. Jon pats him twice on the back before they break apart.
"You wouldn't stop fucking complaining about being hungry." Edric retorts, his voice deep and rough.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2017 15:21:33 GMT -7
Katherine watches him and nods but she couldn't help but notice the bitterness in his tone she knew it couldn't be easy dealing with everything that happened up here but she really was only here for a little bit and they could pretend that they weren't there if that made it better, sure it was hard to ignore the men that was outside out Castle Black and the direwolf banner that was no doubt blowing in the wind. She gives a slight smile when he says that she could stay for as long as she needed. But again the last thing she ever wanted to do was cause trouble for him.
There was a commotion and she moved her eyes away from Jon and over to the men who had come in and were trying to pull a bear. Her eyes widened because she guessed that whoever caught it didn't know that they had extra mouths to feed, sure her men had some rations but it wasn't enough so seeing the bear actually made Katherine want to put her hand on her chest and feel bad for the damn thing but in the end it was food after all.
Jon excused himself "Of course" she said and watched as he moved over to the men but her eyes were watching Jon and she moved her eyes in the direction in which he was going and her eyes came across, well she wasn't sure she would call him a man because he was definitely taller than anyone she had met, but he didn't look like anything non-human so she guessed that he was a man. A noise came out of her mouth and her eyes widened because of the fact that she really wouldn't want to get on the wrong end of that. William walked over to her and she heard his voice.
"What in seven hells is that?" he said and his eyes widened.
Katherine was moving her eyes up the mans body and she was sure that he seemed to get taller every time she looked at him. She cleared her throat before looking away. "It's not nice to stare" Katherine said to William.
"I don't think I can look away, Your Grace" he admitted.
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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 15:38:17 GMT -7
"We call it the hound," Olly says aloud from his perch atop a few barrels stacked in the courtyard. He swings his legs as he skins potatoes with a small blade, his big eyes on Katherine and the man beside her. "Jon's pet." A spiraled slice of potato skin falls to the dirt beneath him, and Olly tosses the pretty white tuber into a basket with the rest of the peeled ones. He grabs another, but looks to Jon and the man he's speaking with as he goes to work with the blade. "Jon brought it back with him when he returned from north of the wall." He says it a little sourly, his nose scrunched up in disdain. "Filthy thing."
"What's with the extra eyes?" Edric asks, his grey stare turning towards the man and woman across the courtyard looking at them. Jon glances back, and exhales a breath.
"Katherine Stark," he replies, watching her momentarily before looking back to Edric, "Robb's wife."
"Hmph," is all Edric replies, unimpressed. Jon doesn't need to hear him to know what he's thinking, to know what criticism lies behind his icy stare. Katherine is beautiful, far beautiful now than she had been all those years ago at Winterfell, and Robb Stark died because he fell in love with that same beauty.
"The men who rode with you," Jon says, changing the subject, trying his hardest not to think of his brother's severed head. Edric finally looks back to him. "They didn't see you?"
"No," the larger man replies, shaking his head and swiping a sleeve across his cheek where a spot of red still remains. "Too busy trying to skewer rabbits with their little knives." Edric pulls the ax from his belt and hands it to Jon by the blade, not even a hint of gore marking the metal. "Should feed us for a week. Even with your new guests."
"Thank you." Jon replies, taking the ax and stuffing the hilt through his own belt.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2017 15:57:47 GMT -7
There is a voice that answers them and she moves her eyes over and looks at the boy who had spoken and she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he said that Jon had gone north of the wall. She might not have been here before but she knew what lived north of this wall, wildlings. And if you believed the stories then also the white walkers lived there too. It had been stories that she had grown up on, white walkers coming out of the dark. Katherine wasn't sure what she believed when it came to things like that but she guessed that there were people that did believe things like that.
"He's from the north?" Katherine asked after a moment and looked back over to Jon and the man that everyone seemed to call 'the hound' "He seems like the mountain to me" she said in a jest and looked back at Olly and gave him a soft smile. Katherine couldn't help but wonder what this boy had done to land him up here on the wall, was it something bad or did his family just not want him around? Either way he was here and something about the way he said 'filthy thing' made her want to protect Jon. It was then that she slowly moved her eyes back over to look at the two and then sighed softly.
Katherine could see that William was still looking and she huffed out a breath and raised her hand to turn his head away from the two men that were talking. William cleared his throat before then finally saying "Your Grace we have things to talk about"
"A Queen's work is never done" she said in a soft tease before smiling again at Olly and turning away from the young boy and started walking with William once more "So what is the problem?" she asked after a moment.
"House Frey" he said and walked with her. "The other men want to know what the plans are and how we're going to bring down the house" he said and then stopped when she did and watched as her brown eyes were on him.
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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 16:28:44 GMT -7
"Run into any wildlings?" Jon asks as the pair of them turn towards the stairs. Jon glances to the side just to time to see Katherine and one of her soldiers leaving the courtyard, deep in conversation. Edric shoves his fingers back through his long hair, pushing the thick strands out of his face.
"No, but I could smell them," he admits, keeping his voice low as they climb towards the Great Hall. "They're close and they're desperate, Snow. You remember what happened at the fist. What Ygritte said. Mance Rayder won't wait long to save his people. They'll march on the Wall sooner rather than later, and when they do..." He trails off, but Jon knows what will happen. The wildlings have no love for the Night's Watch. They'll kill them all in order to make their way south and escape the wights rising from the ice. Jon remembers the carnage at the fist. Remembers watching his own brothers die bloodily, only to reopen their eyes and join the hoard of the dead. He does not blame the wildlings for their desperation.
"If there was a way to make peace..."
Edric stops him before he can finish his thought, his heavy hand grabbing onto Jon's upper arm to halt his ascent up the stairs. "There isn't." He reminds him. "You might convince one tribe, you might convince Mance, but the Night's Watch will never accept a truce with the wildlings. They don't even like me."
"I know." Jon sighs, shoulders deflating as he looks towards Olly, who's watching them with a grimace. Wildlings killed the boy's parents, cut up his entire village. And others have lost friends, family, their own lives to the free folk. Jon might have seen a different side of them. Might have loved one of them. But these men have not. He looks away again. "And now we have the worry of the south marching on us too. Katherine is Queen of the North now. And she's carrying the rightful heir to Winterfell."
Edric releases Jon's arm and furrows his brows, "She's pregnant?" Jon nods. Edric swears in a tongue Jon does not know or recognize. "How do you find yourself in these situations." He huffs a moment later, carrying himself the rest of the way up the stairs.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2017 16:48:49 GMT -7
Once out of the gate she started to see the tents of the men that had come north with her and the banners of the houses that they belonged too, and even the direwolf banner. She smiled at the men when they spoke to her and she couldn't believe that she had gone from a normal Princess to the Queen in the North in a short while and now she was running the show on her own, there never had been any talk of what would happen to her if anything was to happen to Robb but clearly she was going to be looked after because while it wasn't as much as they had before, loads being murdered at the Twins, there was still enough that she was protected but in the end they would need some more men. But right now she wasn't sure who she could really trust when it came to the houses of Westeros.
"This came for you while you were resting" William said and produced a piece of rolled up parchment and then handed it to her.
It seemed like the ravens would find them no matter where they were and what's worrying is who it could be from. She took the parchment and opened it up to see that it was written in a language that she hadn't written in in a while but she knew who it was from instantly. "With Robb dying Cersei wants us to swear fealty to them and they promise not to do anything but you men will take the black" she shook her head and rolled the parchment back up and then put it into her pocket on her dress and would look at it later on.
When she done the walk through of every tent that belonged to her men she moved back to the wall and took the note back out and looked at it. Anger moved through her again, how in seven hells could Cersei write this letter? How could she use their old language and pretend that she could call out to Katherine? It made her stomach tighten to think that Cersei wanted her to bend the knee to her like she was nothing. "Kak smee tya" she muttered and crunched the parchment up in her gloved hand. How could she politely decline the request without starting a war between the two of them? Word would've got out that she was a pregnant Queen of the North by now with no where to run but north.
It was the first time she wasn't sure what she was going to do but she needed a plan and she needed to put it in action before she left this place.
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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 17:11:29 GMT -7
the next morning "Keep your shield up," Jon instructs, adjusting his grip on the hilt of the sparring sword and circling around Olly, "Or I'll knock your head so hard it'll ring like a bell." Despite the mud sloshing around their feet and the snow drifting from the sky, he spars with the boy in an attempt to teach him before the inevitable war descends upon them. Edric watches from the side, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his lips pressed flat. Jon knocks the boy to the dirt, Edric exhales a slow breath through his nostrils. Olly won't survive the long winter. He'll die long before the wights reach them. And Jon... "He should go easier on the lad," Ser Davos speaks as he approaches Edric's side, watching the same scene before them. Edric doesn't turn his head to look. Jon reaches down to pull the boy back to his feet, speaking quiet words of encouragement before stepping back and retaking his fighting posture. "He is," Edric replies. He doesn't believe there is a cruel bone in Jon's body. A single part of that man that has the capability of truly hitting Olly. But the boy needs to learn. Both of them really. Jon most of all. "It's the men who need better training," Ser Davos argues, clasping his hands behind his back and watching with a stern eye, "Baker's boys and thieves who've only ever held a sword here in this very courtyard. The first time they see combat, real combat, they won't know what to do with themselves." He's not wrong. Jon is the only man upon the training field with an ounce of experience with what lies beyond. And Jon nearly did not survive. "The bannermen..." Edric says, drawing Ser Davos' gaze, "They should be training with them. Teach them how to work like an army." Ser Davos stares at him for a long minute, surprise plain even on his never-changing face. "That...is a decent idea. Have you suggested it to the Lord Commander?" "Snow is not the one who needs convincing."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2017 17:32:59 GMT -7
Katherine had been awake early that morning but she wasn't sure if it was down to the note or whether she just couldn't relax for some other reason but either way she was up early and had just pretty much stared at the door to her new quarters, she still didn't right taking Jon's bed after what happened the day before with one of his men. She knew that he wouldn't take his room back from her til she had left. So Kat spent that morning looking over the map that Robb had been looking over a few or so days before he had been murdered.
Then William had come and seen her and they ended up back outside and this time they were watching the training down on the courtyard. She had crossed her arms over her chest underneath her cloak, the hood pulled up once more ad her gloves keeping her fingers warm. She couldn't help but watch them and the thoughts running through her head had been mostly about comparing Robb and Jon and that didn't seem fair but she noticed the differences like how Jon could easily pass on the training to someone else but he wanted to be the one to train them whereas Robb had someone else to train the man but then again every one of his bannermen knew how to fight but if they hadn't she couldn't see Robb doing this, there had always been this stage about him and she bit on her lip.
Katherine watched and looked over at Jon, there was just something so.. normal about him considering he was the Lord Commander. He might be the one in charge of this group of men but he clearly still liked to be in the thick of it. Her brown eyes ran over him even from head to toe and she knew that she shouldn't be thinking things like this because he was her husbands brother. She heard William clear his throat and heard him say something.
"You wouldn't see the King in the North doing anything like this" he then looked over at Katherine "I mean begging your pardon, Your Grace" he said but he knew it was true.
"No," she said after a moment "he wouldn't have been the one to train his men" she admitted and sighed softly. Katherine loved him like she has never loved anyone before but even she could see Robb's faults.
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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 17:52:25 GMT -7
"Get your shield up," Jon barks out the command, the edge of the blunted sword pressed against Olly's neck. He walks forward, forcing Olly to move with him.
"It's too heavy," Olly replies in a stammer.
"If it wasn't heavy it wouldn't stop a sword, now get it up." Jon chastises before lowering his own sword back down to his side. As he turns to walk back several paces, giving Olly room to move, he catches sight of Katherine standing high on the balcony. She looks down at him, hands hidden beneath her cloak, her second in command standing at her side. There's something in her stare, something he can't quite name. But seeing her there, watching, brings back memories of Winterfell. Of training in the yard with Rodrick. Of seeing her notice him for the first time.
He looks away, wets his lips, and spins the sword around in his grip until it sits comfortably in his hand. "Come on." He says to Olly, and the boy rushes forward.
They eat bear for lunch that day, the meat juicy and tender and soaked in broth. For the first time in a long time, the Great Hall is nearly silent as the men bury their spoons in their stews, eating as much as they can as quickly as they can. Jon makes sure the Stark men are fed as well, and saves a spot at the head table for Katherine, should she choose to join them. Edric stabs his meat with a knife, and tears into it with his teeth.
"You'll scare our guests off, eatin' like that." Jon comments as he takes a seat at the Lord Commander's spot, setting his bowl upon the wood. Edric grunts.
"Good."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 25, 2017 18:21:30 GMT -7
Katherine felt his eyes on her and their gaze connected for a moment and it was like they were sharing a thought because it took her back to Winterfell all of those years before when she watched him training with Rodrick. It was the first time she had wondered why exactly he was treated so badly, she knew that bastards usually were treated like they were something on the bottom of someone's shoes but it wasn't his fault, he never asked to be born. It was just something that had happened and now he was paying the price for it. She came out of that thought and he looked away before she sighed under her breath. Sometimes going back to the past wasn't always the best thing but she found that she had memories of herself and Jon and Winterfell all those years before.
Everything had changed now, she wasn't the young Princess that had found a bastard fascinating, she was a Queen and would soon be a mother and one that was at war. And he definitely wasn't the babyfaced boy that she had come to know. Both of them were different, he was Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and that meant that nothing could happen even if they did feel something. Not that she was saying she did feel anything.
Katherine watched for a little bit longer before she disappeared and had gone back into her quarters, they might be used to the north but she definitely wasn't.
When lunchtime came she could smell the food from her room and she knew that she wanted some of that. Her back was aching and she was more than ready for her little babe to be born but at the same time it worried her because of what would happen next. But she pushed that thought away as she moved from her room and towards where the great hall was. She was so hungry that anything would smell good right now but when she opened that door she was hit by the smell of food, food that she knew they probably wouldn't have if they hadn't been here. So there were some perks to being here.
She looked around the hall and it was somewhat silent and it was the first time she had heard it be like this, they clearly must be hungry. Her eyes found the seat next to Jon but her eyes caught on the man that she had seen in the courtyard the day before, he still seemed very scary but she put her head up and moved to the spot near Jon before taking a seat. Another memory from Winterfell had had her looking down on the people there too but she hadn't been sitting near Jon, in fat he hadn't even been allowed into the celebrations but everything was so different now with him sitting at the high table and not for the first time did she feel like she was on show. It was a feeling that she wasn't going to get used to at all.
Katherine took a taste of the food and that overcome anything she felt. She moved her eyes to Jon and she gave him a soft smile.
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Post by Ray on Aug 25, 2017 18:37:34 GMT -7
Jon laughs a little at Edric before his eyes shift towards the opening door to the great hall. Katherine steps through, a noble visage in the presence of so many large and haggard men all slurping at their bowls. A few halt their eating to glance up at her, the sight of a beautiful woman enough to even make them forget their greedy hunger for a moment. At least, for Jon it does. She turns towards the high table and Jon clears his throat before finally taking his seat. Edric chews as he stares at Jon's profile, a somewhat disapproving look lingering in his light-colored eyes.
Kat sits down, a little hesitantly, in the empty chair at Jon's other side. A kitchen boy hurries over with a bowl, and dumps a large spoonful of bear stew within for her. It's unceremonious, even messy, and Jon has to halt himself from wincing a little. Nothing about the Night's Watch is pretty or proper. Nothing that Katherine would be used to, even in Robb's camps. But she says nothing, and takes a bite, and even smiles a little at him.
"I'm...sorry if it's not very good. Our cook only knows how to make one thing." He says with a light laugh. "And not all that well."
He spies Edric rolling his eyes out of the corner of his own, before ripping off another chunk of meat like he were tearing bread.
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