The Provenance || Jon Snow | Game of Thrones

1.03

 The King's hunt is not something to be missed by anyone with eyes—or even without—given the sheer multiplicity of men in the courtyard and clanging of spears in the nearby armory. And though they are forbidden on such occasions as these, women still clamber about the area with the pretense of wishing the men a short farewell. And whether this is the truth of the matter depends on the woman—whether they have much to gain or are simply looking for entertainment in the dreary and historical North.

Jon wishes to be surprised to see Arya with his brother and Theon, watching the King as he chants up a storm about wenches and wine. And yet, this cannot ever be the case, his younger sister being remarkably boyish since she could first walk, taking favor with her brothers over Sansa, something that Jon cannot blame her for. But she's still your sister, Jon.

"Have you seen Ghost?" the bastard of Winterfell asks the group of three, coming to stand near their witnessing sides and breaking the silence that spanned between them for some moments—a miracle for Theon surely.

Arya's left arm rises to point bitterly beyond the masses of man and horse, a small snarl on her upper lip as she responds, "Yeah, he's over there with the pack."

"Pack—?" Jon begins to disbelievingly question before noticing the target of Arya's attention: Gabrielle Baelish surrounded by a massive and furry group of five direwolves as she talks to Lord Tyrion, the small man eyeing the wolves suspiciously. And though it ought not to surprise him given the incident with the falcon on the previous day—said bird still resting on her shoulder—Jon cannot help furrowing his eyebrows at the sight--stunned.

Of course, it cannot be said that the wolves don't form a pack, but their pack is focused about their owners: if the Starks are together, so are the wolves. And yet, Sansa and Bran are not present for the scene, both Lady and Summer crowding the grey skirts of the Southern Lady with wide eyes and abiding grins. Indeed, the five (minus the wily Shaggydog) look more like a pack than ever before, looking to Gabrielle as a pack leader despite her natural state as a mockingbird, never canine.

"Where'd she get a falcon?" Arya asks, distracting from the true state of the situation, but bringing about a valid point to all those, excluding Jon. Sounding both bitter and envious, Jon would not be surprised if Arya marched up to Gabrielle herself and demanded her wolf back and the truth of her falcon.

Jon grins at the thought, imparting, "It just landed on her shoulder at the godswood and started taking her command. It's unnatural."

"You took a girl to the godswood, aye Jon?" Theon questions, Jon then realizing the fault of his language and mentally berating himself for opening his identity to assault, especially from Theon.

"Shut up, Theon," Jon is quick to return with a harsh look sent towards the ward, "She was collecting the tears for some poison."

Robb's eyes, previously stuck to the radiant woman now being protected by his own wolf, rise to look at Jon, eyebrows furrowed much like a Stark, "Poison?"

"I didn't ask."

Jon wants that to be the end of the conversation--for whoever's sake, he does not know. And yet, Theon is a pesky bastard and more irritating with each day, asking again, "What else did you do in the godswood? I tried to take Ros there, but—"

"You best not finish that sentence, Greyjoy, or I'll cut your head off--both of 'em." The four residents of Winterfell whip around to see a stationary Hound, his burnt face in full view and giving him a ghastly look as he glares at the Kraken heir. Theon looks about ready to wet himself at the threat, Jon just barely withholding a grin of his own as Sandor Clegane then turns to him, a burning look that returns Jon to the true state of things—his weakness when confronting this powerful soldier. The Hound threatens, "She likes you for some goddamn reason, boy. Don't betray her, or I'll do worse."