Wayward King - 005

Chapter 005 – Specialty

[289 AC – Winterfell]

Jon was immersed in the lines of text as time passed by when he suddenly heard the door open and looked up, only to see a young boy enter his room.

"You're awake, brother!", Robb smiled with relief, though his expression turned strange as soon as he saw the book in Jon's lap, "But why are you reading a book? Is Maester Luwin not even gonna let you recover before tormenting you with his lessons again?"

“That old man sure is cruel.”, he whispered in a lower voice while he approached the bedside, looking left and right cautiously as if afraid that the Maester would overhear him.

Looking at this 'brother', a complex mixture of emotions welled up in Jon's heart.

He and Robb had grown up together, had their lessons together, trained in swordsmanship and everything else together. They were practically attached at the hip, their basically non-existent age difference and constant proximity making them truly grow up as brothers.

As far back as Jon could remember, Robb had been his brother.

Now though, things had changed.

Since Jon had become aware of his true heritage and gained an additional set of memories, he had another perspective with which he viewed their relationship. And while Robb was still his brother in his heart, Jon understood that they could never be equals as long as he was the 'bastard son' of Eddard Stark.

This might have been a rather obvious fact even before but Jon had not realized how readily he had accepted this to be the case.

He still remembered this one time when they had pretended to be some of the great knights and heroes of Westeros while fighting each other with their training swords, calling out their imaginary identities while challenging each other.

And when it had been his turn, he had stated to be the 'Lord of Winterfell', but instead of just accepting his words as part of the game, Robb had answered that such was impossible since he was a bastard.

There had been no malicious intent in those words but the innocent cruelty had still cut deep into Jon's heart.

Not to mention all the times that he had lost on purpose in their spars or 'fell behind' in their studies because he could feel Catelyn Stark's eyes bore into his back uncomfortably whenever he trumped Robb in anything.

Recalling all those moments now, caused his view of their brotherly bond to change.

Jon wanted to be Robb's equal. He didn't want to be the lesser in their relationship any longer, and he swore to himself that he would not hold back anymore.

This resolve of his didn't change the fact that he still saw Robb as his brother though, but it gave him a seed of confidence that would grow and allow him to be himself and not the 'bastard son'.

And so, shaking his head, Jon answered Robb naturally as he said: “He isn't making me read. But he ordered me bedrest until he says otherwise. What else am I going to do besides going mad with boredom? I might as well read since he will have us learn all this anyway.”

"Well, I would much rather go mad.", Robb barked out with the bright laughter of a child.

He didn't stay long though as he just told Jon a bit about his own lesson with the Maester and that Sansa, who was just five years old at this point in time, had also been worried and had asked about him.

Arya, being only two years old, obviously didn't quite yet understand what falling ill meant. Death, in general, wasn't a concept she could comprehend at her age.

Still, Jon promised to make it up to Sansa, who had been distraught because of him. Though he didn't mention anything about Robb bringing her along for a visit, knowing that the Lady Stark had always tried to limit his contact with Sansa and Arya when Eddard wasn't around.

Eventually, Robb left for his sword fighting lesson with Ser Rodrik, who was the master-at-arms of Winterfell and was thus responsible for the training of the new recruits for the household guards, as well as the training of the Stark children.

He was one of the best fighters serving House Stark and had even been the captain of the household guards for a good many years before this duty had been passed to his nephew Jory just half a year ago.

And even though the Greyjoy Rebellion had prompted Eddard Stark to rally the men of the North to fight in the name of the king, he had ordered Rodrik Cassel to stay behind to take over the protection of Winterfell in the absence of Jory and over half the household guards while continuing his training of Robb and Jon and recruit some new boys suitable for the guard's position.

After all, as cruel as it may seem, it was highly likely that not all the household guards would return from the fighting since there existed no such thing as a war with null casualties, so it was best to prepare for that by training some new guards in advance.

Guarding Winterfell was also an incredibly important task considering that those left behind when the soldiers left for war, were those that needed the most protection. To be at ease with fighting in the war, it was imperative for the soldiers to know that their homes and loved ones were protected.

Rodrik's experience and the immense trust that Eddard held for the men were the reason that he had been chosen for this task since it could not be left to someone incompetent.

And while Jon was eager to join Robb in his training, his thoughts wandering to his System, he knew better than to risk the ire of the Maester.

Eventually, Jon turned his attention back to 'The Great Houses of Westeros'. He read page upon page, hardly even noticing when another servant entered the room, carrying roughly a dozen wooden logs on his back with a simple contraption to stock up the wood supply for the fire.

The book had a strange attraction to him as he read it, the long history of so many noble houses turning out to be much more interesting than his last life's history lessons.

It might be because modern history tended to be 'faceless' and largely untransparent, it made one feel impersonal and unrelatable, whereas this world's medieval history was written by humans about actual humans bringing about change.

Naturally, this was just Jon's perspective and biased perception speaking since he hadn't actually read any historical literature on his own accord, which might have caused him to think otherwise.

Still, Jon was forced to set aside the book around midday, disregarding the times when he just had just quickly added wood to the fire every now and then, since another meal had been delivered to his room, this time by Gilla, a 'well-fed' middle-aged woman who always seemed to carry a slight scowl on her face.

The woman also held a clear dislike for him, which Jon guessed might have something to do with his bastard status. Though he wouldn't rule out the possibility of him being wrong since Gilla didn't seem to have a favorable impression of anyone, herself included.

There were actually very few people who held such sentiments though since even as the bastard son of Eddard Stark, his 'father's' acknowledgment of him acted as a deterrent.

Though Jon did wonder briefly why it wasn't Alyssa who brought him his meal but quickly guessed that she must be busy since dinner around midday was the first meal of the day that the whole household ate.

After all, breakfast was usually reserved for the Starks only, a privilege of their status. Normal people, even those in service of House Stark, only ate two meals a day, which consisted of a sumptuous dinner around midday and a light supper in the evening.

In fact, since this was the North where growing crops was made complicated and often a fruitless task by the harsh climate, even a single full meal a day was something to be thankful for for the common people.

Jon's meal consisted of some stew with plenty of vegetables and pieces of tender meat. The seasonings used were mild, which was good since he didn't want to stress his stomach too much during his time recuperating.

There was also another pot of tea and some more water, which was fortunate since he had emptied his water skin just a few minutes ago.

He ate by himself and did so with measured movements, noticing the message in his mind that had popped up during his reading.

['History – Novice(89)']

His skill had advanced by two points while he had read around a fifth of the book in the last few hours.

Now, he had already finished the sections that talked about the Great Houses in the Crownlands, the North, the Vale, and the Westerlands.

Both the North and the Westerlands had only ever had a single Great House in a ruling position, which were House Stark and House Lannister respectively.

This fact was also one of the reasons why the northern nobles were so loyal to the Starks since they had never been ruled by another house after House Stark had unified the North and reigned as the Kings of Winter.

Naturally, that was up until the time when Aegon Targaryen rode on the back of Balerion the Black Dread and demanded their allegiance, which they had given him to avoid pointless deaths and the destruction of their House.

It had been a wise move since Aegon had already turned Harrenhal into ruin and had just burned thousands of men in the Field of Fire at that point in time.

The Vale, on the other hand, had two Great Houses to its name, one being House Arryn and the other being House Royce. Both still existed even, though it was House Arryn that ruled the Vale.

Jon had already started on the section which talked about House Gardener, which was the Great House of the Reach that had gone extinct in the aftermath of the Field of Fire, the last survivor of the House dying of his burns three days after the battle.

With the end of House Gardener, it was House Tyrell that had been appointed to preside over the Reach by Aegon the Conquerer, turning it into the Great House of that region.

Though before Jon could pick up the book again to gain a more detailed understanding of House Tyrell, he received nature's call and decided that he could make it to the privy by himself, his urge to do so mostly owed to the fact that he wanted to avoid having to use the chamber pot.

He still felt a bit weakened but his fever had gone down massively and the privy was just down the hallway.

The Great Keep had four floors including the cellar and ground floor. The Lord's solar was naturally on the highest level, which was the second floor, as was the Lord's bedchamber. The first floor and ground floor were reserved for the other members of House Stark.

John's room was the second smallest room on the ground floor while Sansa's and Arya's rooms were on the first floor.

Robb's room had originally also been on the first floor, which had four rooms in total, but he had moved to the ground floor of his own volition several years ago so that he could sleep in the room next to Jon's.

Every floor also had its own privy, which were all built looking like tiny rooms that had been 'glued' to the outside of the original cylindrical-shaped Great Keep. Though the location was an inconspicuous one in a tight corner between the tower and a connecting wall.

The excrements from the first and second floors privy would then just fall into a small pit that had been dug out and was filled up with some straw and sawdust every now and again, as well as being completely emptied at regular intervals.

The ground floor privy, on the other hand, gathered the excrements in a large wooden tank, which could be directly accessed from the outside of the tower and was also emptied regularly.

The part of Jon that had knowledge of modern amenities found this rather crude but another part of him knew that the hygienic and engineering standards were too far apart for a fair comparison. Still, at least when it came to waste disposal, he was glad to be born in the North since the cold climate would make the smell more tolerable.

He could only imagine how tormented his nose would be if he had been born in King's Landing or further South.

Funnily enough though, the doors to the privy were most often the ones whose craftsmanship was the best and allowed for them to be closed the tightest.

Leaving his bed, he quickly slipped into his leather boots and grabbed a woolen overshirt before slipping out of the warm room and quietly moving down the corridor like he usually did it. On his way to the privy, Jon passed by the room that functioned as the bath, of which there was also one on the second floor for the Lord and Lady of Winterfell, and he heard some movements from inside the room that indicated someone was sweeping the floor.

Not having to want to risk having to explain his actions to a particularly meddlesome servant, he mustered some strength to dart past the half-open door with quick but quiet steps, reaching the privy after another few steps, the well-greased hinge causing the door to open almost soundlessly.

One might expect dusty corridors floors and squeaking doors while living in an age-old castle but with dozens of servants in employ to maintain the premises with care and meticulousness that wasn't the case most of the time.

Only the residences of impoverished nobles fell into disrepair, and Winterfell, being the seat of the most powerful House of the North, certainly didn't fall into this category.

What Jon did not expect though was the notification that popped up in his mind as soon as he closed the door of the privy.

['Stealth – Novice(21)' has been registered in the first 'Specialty'-Vein. The 'Specialty'-crystal has been set up as the second sub-crystal.]