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obb would not rest until he found Joanna, he divot even need her with him but he just needed her to be safe. While he did what was expected of him at Castle Black, he knew he'd never swear an oath to them. He couldn't.

Not when his wife and child were somewhere lost and in danger. He grunted as he handed Maester Aemon more books, his cuts healed but he was far from healed. The scars lay on his back from the arrows shot through his body as he shielded Joanna, the cut on his stomach as Bayla fought off a Frey still in tact. He was grateful for Bayla, if it wasn't for her he'd be dead. But he still had so many questions as to how things went so horrid right as they were gaining momentum in the war.

And now the war of five kings was no longer, and while Renly Baratheon had the peace of death but what did he have.

Robb Stark, the young wolf, king in the North- the king who lost the North.

Through the eyes of Greywind he could see the North become in ruins under the hands of the Boltons. Robb cursed himself as he felt like the fool of the war. A fool who broke his sworn oath to marry a Frey and gain Walder Freys trust. The fool who beheaded Lord Karstark. He shook his head as he sat across from Maestor Aemon as the last thing he could think of was Joanna the night of the red wedding.

How she wept and screamed as they were pulled away from each other.

"I assume by your brooding, you and the Lord Commander had another dispute Stark?" Maestor Aemon asked the young man seated across from him.

"Did I make it that obvious?" Robb replied lighthearted knowing that the only reason he's even healed is because of the Maestors work.

"Your brother is Jon Snow, is he not?" Maestor Aemon amused "Though I have no eyes,  I can always tell the brooding of you Stark men." He chuckled "But I must ask what upsets you so much?"

"My wife..."

"Love is the death of duty." Maestor Aemon recalled "I told your brother that once."

"I don't want to discuss this."

"You made a mistake in trusting the men who at a time were loyal to them." Maestor Aemon answered "You married a woman your people, your house would never accept and yet your devotion and love is what blinded you."

"I-" he sighed in defeat "I never meant for any of this to turn out the way it did."

"I know." Maestor Aemon empathized "This old man may be blind and useless now but even I remember what it was like to be in love."

"You were?" Robb asked with genuine surprise

"It never surprises me to know the lack of depth you all have. Is it so surprising to imagine an old man, at some point in his life was like you?"

"I'm sorry Maestor Aemon." Robb apologized "I did not mean to offend you."

"Do you know who I was before I came here? What I could have been?" Maestor Aemon continued "I don't expect you to, it was long before you were born. I had many girls who were after me as Aemon Targaryen. " he revealed himself as Robb felt the neck on his hairs rise. A Targaryen in front of his very eyes

"Some of them were quite forward in their attempts to win my affection. One of them succeeded." Maestor Aemon smiled in a manner he had not in so long. Robb recognized the look on his face, it was the same one he had whenever he'd wake up to find her next to him. "I was very young."

"Who was she?" Robb asked as he recognized the look of love

"Ah..." Maestor Aemon reminisced "I could tell you everything about her. Who she was, how we met. The colour of her eyes and the shape of her nose. I can see her,  right in front of me. She's more real than you or me and as I grow older I find myself missing her more."

Robb understood that "I'd like to imagine Joanna somehow, someway moved on from me. That perhaps she's happier than what she had endure with me. The war..."

Maester Aemon shook his head as sympathetically smilled to the boy "Days will pass, the sun will set over again and she will be still think of you." Robbs heart skipped a beat "You will always be her first love. She'll find her days continue on but her mind still wandering off to her. The silence will grow as you grow old but your heart will still yearn for the way it did when your eyes landed on her for the first time. I doubt that she will ever move on, that's what is so special about your first love. It stays with you because it was the first time you felt your heart and soul tethered to another."

Bayla enjoyed the night. It reminded her of her years in Kings Landing when they were children. She would have them sneak out at night and join festivals in Flea Bottom. They would exchange cakes in the secret tunnels and laugh until the morrow. Bayla always felt more alive at night than during the day. She struggled to even stay awake when the sun was out, plus she found her most important during the night.

She was one of Varys' favourite little spies. She'd report to him on the morrow after an evening in Flea Bottom. The Red Keep had more than enough hadmaidens,  no one would care if one were to go missing for a night as long as the queen regent, princess and princess were safe, she could wander the streets for as long as she wanted.

Bayla was never a fighter, she admired Joanna for being one but she knew her place was not on the battlefield. She never allowed that to make her feel weak, because she knew her most dangerous weapon was her brain.

Bayla felt so useless at Castle Black. She was a woman in a regent she knew nothing of and knew no one. The only reason she travelled further to the wall was because that was Catelyn Tullys last request and it was the only login option left for them. If she could get him to the nights watch, Robb would be untouched by the crimes of the war.

She sat in the kitchens as her food had cooled down. Since arriving,  though as comforting as it was to have Gilly , another woman there, she still didn't feel welcome. She was a Southerner and if history has proven anything,  it's that she would never be welcomed North.

Bayla's hand played around the firelight candle as she gripped the first cloak around her body. Sleep was something that had become a foreigner to her. She couldn't sleep without waking up crying as the memories of the red wedding flooded her mind.

"Is this seat taken?" A voice asked. She turned to see Jon Snow. Bayla kept her distance from everyone who was not Maestor Aemon or Robb. She no longer had to ability to trust anyone anymore, not after all that has happened

"I suppose not." She answered as he took a seat across from her. The two sat in silence as neither knew what to say to one another. The two had never spoken to one another unless Robb was with them,  if she had to think back it would be her first time alone with Jon Snow.

"I um" Jon started as her glare made him  retract in his words "I just finished my watch, what are you doing up at this hour?"

"I wanted to be alone." She quickly answered "I mean I wanted to clear my head,  I'm not much of a sleeper anymore..." she corrected herself

"Oh" Jon replied "Do you want me to-" as he slowly stood up Bayle shook her head as he sat back down again "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's fine." She sat on both her hands as she continued the conversation "I just prefer to sleep during the day, that's all."

Jon lifted his brows , unable to imagine where he could have the luxury to do so "Why is that? If I may ask..."

The corner of Baylas lip turned upward as she felt uncomfortable with the answer "I sleep with candlelight to feel safe, but even in my dreams I still relive the red wedding. "

Jon hated to see what the red wedding did to Robb. How short tempered and unsure of himself he was. Robb refused to train with him as he was not strong as he used to be with his injuries,  but he couldn't imagine the terror and fear Bayla felt as she rode North with him. How could the nights were, the fear should they ever have been caught

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you two made it out alive. No one deserved what happned to you all that night..." he tried to hold her hand but Bayla pulled back "I-um" Jon stammered "I didn't mean to- I would never hurt you. You saved my brothers life. I'm indebted to you."

Bayla chuckled as she thought back to her years in Kings Landing "You're a lot like him. Like Eddard..."

"You knew my father?"

"Oh yes." Her face fall "I tried to protect him before his death, to the best I could at the time. He was naive but he was kind."

Jon involuntarily laughed "I don't know whether I should be offended or honored."

Bayla grinned at his laugh as she replied "The decision is all yours." She fiddled with the fur of her cloak in her lap "But I mean it, he was a good man." She looked down to her bitten nails before looking back to Jon "So, do you believe what they tell you of me?"

"If who told me what?" He dumbly asked

She scoffed as she replied "There are men from the kingsgaurd here. Varys and I did not have many friends in the palace. I'm sure they have told you about me."

"They told me you were a spy and not to be trusted."

Bayla nodded her head in respect "They're not wrong." She agreed "I am a spy because it's all I've ever known , but do you share their mistrust?"

"Surprisingly I don't. Robb seems to trust you, for now that's enough for me." Bayla smirked as she poured them ale handing him his cup

"Well, if there's one thing Varys taught me, is that it would always be good to have a friend." She raised her cup as it felt so strange to feel herself smile again , their cups cranked against one another as they spent the night learning to know each other or what they felt comfortable with sharing with one another.