Chapter 37 — "Brothers Reunion"
Robert and Ned walked toward the crypts together.
The yard broke apart after that — the formal assembly dissolving into the organised chaos of a large party finding its feet in a new place. Servants directing. Knights unsaddling. The specific busy noise of Winterfell absorbing several hundred additional people and figuring out where to put them all.
Robb was moving before the ceremony had fully finished.
Jon was already there.
He had crossed the yard quieter and faster than Robb which was very Jon — arriving without appearing to move, standing in front of Alaric with his arms folded and his expression doing several things simultaneously.
Alaric looked at them both and tries to hug them but was refused by both
At Robb's grin that was trying to be stern and failing completely. At Jon's folded arms and carefully maintained expression.
He smiled.
The slow easy smile of a man watching a performance he found genuinely entertaining.
"Four years," Robb said.
"Aye, it's been a long time my dear little brothers isn't it. Then why you refuse to welcome your handsome big brother." Alaric said grinning.
"Four years and two years since you left your foster. You could have back to Winterfell but you didn't come home to meet your dear little brothers."
"Uhmm" Alaric too confused to answer properly .
"It seems Cat got your Tongue , big brother" Robb said. He was trying to maintain the tone and the smile kept getting in the way of it. "We wrote. Constantly. Jon wrote. I wrote. Even father wrote and father doesn't write to anyone unless it's serious. And you—"
"I read them," Alaric said.
"You read them," Robb repeated. He looked at Jon. "He read them."
Jon with his most creepily innocent voice with a sarcastic tone "Aye, looks like big brother can read, I am so happy to finally know that. Because I thought he lost that ability by hitting his head somewhere in the tourneys, that's why he isn't replying and responding to our letters. But it's wasn't the case Thanks to the old gods. But then why 'Big Brother ' you won't respond to the letters written by your adorable and little brothers" he said while pulling his sword out of sheath
Harys who was coming there and heard this and made his way back trying to avoid this brother affair.
"Traitor you bastard" Alacric muttered while seeing Harys retreating his way back.
"Now Now Jon Robb , don't be a brats now. Your brother has come back , This is your way of welcoming him. We could resolve this by peaceful ways. Right " Alacric said.
Robb grins. " It seems in the absence of our Role model we have become little too violent. It's not our fault. What could we do. "
Alacric sweats and gulping down but as a Respected Warlord and Big Brother he won't back down infront of two brats that he made the man out of. So he did the most logical thing and avoided the two and goes to meet his other siblings who are also coming to meet him.
"Hey Sansa , it's been so long, You have grown more beautiful cousin." Alacric complimented
"Thank you " Sansa was middle of replying back when Arya the little ball of energy goes and hugged Alacric really hard.
"Brother Aly. Why didn't you come sooner." Arya screamed.
Alacric smiles and hugged her back ." Here is my little Wolf. "
Alacric smiles and meet with all his cousins.Bran and Rickon who finally recognised the changed Alacric.
Then finally he met with Lady Stark " Lady Stark" he bows a bit
Lady Catelyn scoffed but greeted back as King party was still there. Although most important members already in Castle but still pretenses has to be maintained.
They all goes to the Castle and settled down.
In the private chambers, Alacric sat with his brothers to finally talked about things seriously.
"You could have come back earlier, " Jon said seriously without the japes that were outside. Quietly. "Once. At any point in four years. You could have come back."
Alaric looked at him and sighs signalling his defeat.
Jon held his gaze.
"Aye, I could have but you know" Alaric said. " It wasn't easy, when I was sent it felt like a exile it wasn't easy for me . You know this."
Just that. Not an apology. Not a deflection. Just the plain acknowledgment of a man who knew he was right and was taking it.
Jon looked at him for a moment longer.
Then something shifted in his expression — the carefully maintained front giving way to the thing underneath it which was not anger at all.
Robb watched his brother look at their big brother and find him there and real and standing in the yard after four years and saw exactly the moment Jon stopped performing the frustration and just felt the other thing instead.
Robb felt it too.
"You came back with the king," Robb said. The stern tone was fully gone now , serious and Lordly tone heavy now."It didn't seem like a coincidence."
"Aye , it isn't. Its a important thing, I have come to discuss with Lord Stark . " Alaric said.
Robb stepped forward and gripped his arm. The specific grip of a young man who had been trained into lordly restraint and was applying approximately none of it.
Robb and Jon both noticed the Lord Stark instead of Uncle Ned. Noticing the still anger in their brother but still despite thatputting Family matters above his anger and coming to Winterfell to talk about this
"You look different," Robb said. Looking at him properly now. At the height and the shoulders and the axe and the face that was the same face but with four years of mountain passes and southern roads and mercenary work written into it. "You look—"
"Old?" Alaric said grinning.
"I was going to say dangerous," Robb said. "But also old."
"I'm seventeen."
"Oh please have a grooming then.You look old in that uneven beard. " Robb said cheerfully.
Alacric ignored the japes of Robb.
"Wolf of the Passes,huh seemed like a story" Jon said.
"It reached here. I was hoping not to." Alaric said sighing
"You know that you are popular among merchants right." Jon said.
Robb was looking between them " Even about the story of you sleeping with a Lannister Lady is quite a popular stories in the bars and soldiers you know. " He grins after saying that
"Right," Alacric He said it shrugging. Everything in those words has a story that he wasn't going to say more elaborately.
Robb laughs " forget it.You're here now and there's a feast tonight and father and mother is going to have opinions about all of this and I for one am very glad that I would be listening to that conversation"
Alaric looked at him.
"How glad," Alaric said.
Jon nodded once. Agreeing. Its going to be fun conversation.
Alaric looked at them both.
" Oh that's going to be a headache, but I will survive somehow." Alaric said.
Robb grinned.
"Good," he said. " Cause I need you alive to show you what Jon looks like doing paperwork. It will improve your mood considerably."
Alacric imagines Jon doing paperwork and his face while doing it and laughs.
Jon looked at him.
"I do the paperwork efficiently," Jon said.
"You do the paperwork while making a face that says you going to murder someone" Robb said. "There's a difference."
"I don't make that face."
"You make a face Jon. I could imagine it ."
Alaric walked between them toward the keep.
The yard noise continued around them. The castle doing what castles did.
He was home.
Please, please join the Patreon and show your support. A request.
---
Drop some Power Stones . Comment your thoughts.
If you want to read ahead
Join the patreon to support .
www.patreon.com/NateStark.
Please join my Patreon to support and read extra chapters ahead