On their travels, the group uncovered more of the Barrowlands, an area of extensive plains stretching as far as the eye could progress being aided by horses they had acquired in a nearby town. At first, amazement bubbled out of them, but excitement died by the seventy eighth barrow they passed.
Theon groaned loudly.
"When the fuck are we going to get there?" he asked impatiently.
"Define there, for there are a lot of theres out there," Sebastian replied.
Three voices groaned in response.
"We are almost there, young lords," Ser Cassel finally said, ordering the whole group to slow down.
"Theon," Sebastian said.
"Mmmhh?" Theon answered absentmindedly.
"When we get there, I would appreciate the melodious sound of your silence," Sebastian said dryly.
"Jon—" Sebastian said as the smaller lad instinctively diminished his presence. "—straighten your back, look them in the eyes, and show a Stark's pride. We are with you."
A touched Jon noticed most of the soldiers' and his brothers' heads nodding along.
"Robb," Sebastian said, while Robb tried to maintain his composure.
"Tell me, Sebastian."
"While I am in charge of our group, you are our official leader in front of Lady Dustin. Do as Maester Ludwig and I taught you. You will do great," Sebastian said, encouraging a sheepish but grateful Robb.
"Just like the Cerwyns?" Robb asked, searching for a point of reference.
"Not even close" Sebastian denied, while Ser Cassel chuckled at the young lord's nervousness.
They finally reached their destination: Barrowtown.
Barrowtown had a solemn air to it. All the Barrowlands did, but here you could almost taste it in the air. Quiet yet cautious people moved through streets lined with grey houses built from scavenged stone, their steep roofs designed to shed snow and weather. A small group of knights received them.
"Welcome to Barrowtown, young lord. Lady Dustin is waiting for you. Please, follow me," one said, offering his regards plainly but respectfully as he guided them toward the heart of the town. There, larger than all the rest, stood the greatest barrow, and atop it, a castle walking the thin line between majestic and solemn.
As they approached, they saw a stern black-haired woman and a serious looming teen.
"My future lord, Barrowlands receives you as guests," she welcomed them dryly.
"I am Lady Dustin, and you may call me as such. Here—" she said with a glint of pride, "—is my nephew, Domeric Bolton."
The word Bolton sent a chill through the whole group. Sebastian stealthily stepped on Robb's foot, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"You have my thanks, Lady Dustin, for your warm welcome" Robb recited, embarrassed when his memorized greeting did not go exactly as planned.
Lady Dustin squinted slightly, inwardly amused.
"You must all be tired from your travels. The soldiers may stay at the barracks, and Domeric will show you to your rooms," she added, graceful and stern, making all the men straighten their backs in near unison.
"Hope you had a pleasant morning," Sebastian said to a slightly sleepy group.
"Mmmhh… remind me again why we're waking up so fucking early," Theon complained, while Jon and Robb inwardly agreed.
"To tend the horses, of course. They aren't familiar with the stablehands here," Sebastian replied. Jon and Robb exchanged a confused look fot they hadn't needed such consideration at the Cerwyns.
They reached the stables, where Domeric was tending to his horse. The group tensed slightly, except for Sebastian.
"Dom!"
"Sebs!"
They shared a manly handshake amid the others' confused looks.
"What, did you think that because I am a Bolton I would be a skin-flaying monster?" Domeric asked, noticing the boys' discomfort.
"And you—" he added, turning to Sebastian's smug expression, "—ah, why do I even bother? You pull this sort of shit far too often for my liking." Domeric sighed as the group slowly recovered.
"You, you know each other?" Theon asked.
Domeric and Sebastian shared a look and nodded.
"Yes, I've known this bastard for quite some time now," Domeric said unintentionally, making Jon flinch. The group stiffened again, and Domeric quickly realized his mistake.
"Oh. My bad. For what it's worth, I don't really care about that. Hell, I'd gladly welcome a Snow into my family for I've always wanted a sibling," Domeric added, glancing enviously at Robb.
The tension finally eased.
"Robb," Robb said, shaking Domeric's hand.
"Dom." added Domeric
"I knew it. I knew that Sebs was planning something," Jon added. The boys glanced toward the culprit, who was sitting on a stool, cup of tea in hand, chin held high. They all tacitly decided to ignore him
"So, you like horses? Up for a race?" Theon asked, pointedly ignoring Sebastian.
"I'm in," Domeric said.
"Not this time, but Jon will participate," Robb said, earning a surprised but grateful look from the shy Jon.
They led the horses out into a moderately open field beyond Barrowtown. Taking their positions, they raced off, while Sebastian and Robb remained behind.
"Who do you think will win?" Robb asked.
"Dom will," Sebastian said matter of factly.
"Mmmhh… you sure?"
"He loves horses like family and has more experience on this terrain than Theon and Jon combined."
Robb nodded, considering the explanation.
"So, you knew each other" Robb said, watching the race with an expressionless face.
"You sound like one of Theon's girls" Sebastian teased, earning a laugh from Robb.
"I met him during my travels to King's Landing. Good lad. Quiet, likes horses and plays the harp."
"Quiet? Are we talking about the same guy who confronted us this morning?" Robb asked doubtfully.
Sebastian shrugged. "I told him I would visit with my friends"
Robb raised his brows, doubt etched on his face just like his father's.
"Friends?"
Robb pressed. "I've been meaning to ask… lately you've stopped being so—"
"So 'stick-up-my-ass'?" Sebastian supplied.
"Well, yes" Robb admitted. "Are you dying?"
"No. There's simply no one nearby to impress, and… well…my days at Winterfell are almost over, Robb." said sheepishly Sebastian
"What? Why? Is Mother making trouble again?" said Robb, aware of some of his mother's dislike for Sebastian.
"No. Just stupid old politics. The South has been whining about our new enterprises and, too avoid problems, I'm leaving the North." informed Sebastian
"But why should they care? We're so far away." asked Robb
"To preserve the 'balance.' The North has always been held back by cold and scarcity. With our recent advances, that balance is shifting, and I am the convenient scapegoat." Sebastian explained
"Why isn't Father stopping this?" asked a puzzled Robb.
"Because I asked him not to, my future lord. Me leaving is better than the South pushing harder. Besides, why do you think we're on this trip?"
Robb closed his eyes briefly. "To make alliances."
"Aye. And for you to see the world before leading the North. And most importantly—" Sebastian leaned closer, "—to get you and Jon some southern girls."
Robb's cheeks reddened at the thought of marriage and finally said.
"Wait, what about Theon?" he asked.
"Theon will learn that being a prick and sticking his little prick in every hole has consequences," Sebastian said cheerfully.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Ever notice soldiers who can't stop scratching their crotches?" Sebastian added without pity and before he could explain further, he was interrupted.
"They're coming back… and it seems that Domeric won" Robb declared to Theon's and Jon's frustration.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Barrowtown
Afternoon-Dustin's Solar
"Heard of your marriage, Sebastian Snow…" She slowly sipped her tea. "You have my condolences," she began, sharing the table with the guest seated across from her.
"Did you really thought about me being a Snow? or marriage?" asked sebastian.
She scoffed
"Does it matter? I am not that gullible. But the smallfolk…?"
Sebastian met her gaze, took a sip of his own cup, and grimaced.
"Just because you add leaves and hot water doesn't make it tea."
She nodded, taking another measured sip.
"Good tea is for guests, not annoyances."
"You wound me, my lady," he replied.
She scoffed again.
"I would need more than a few truths to correct a misbehaving lap dog. Now, apart from the obvious stunt of this morning—" she fixed him with her deep, penetrating eyes, "—why are you here?"
Sebastian, well aware of the woman's temperament, finally confessed.
"I am quitting, my lady."
She inclined her head once.
"The best outcome would have been for the lady to deny the claims of a Snow and arrange a marriage with a northern girl. But… here we are. What exactly are you planning?" she asked.
"Fosterage."
"Groundbreaking."
"Lady Sansa," Sebastian replied, and that earned him her full attention.
"Why?"
"I thought you would ask how, my lady."
She scoffed again.
"Don't patronize me. The fact that you suggest it means you have the means. Now answer my question."
Sebastian chuckled softly before explaining.
"Just as my lady said, what should have been a sound move turned into a childish contest over who is less wrong."
"Spite? How original. But spite alone will not move me so easily," she said sternly.
Sebastian sighed.
"Sansa is a clever girl, but she needs some distance from her mother's teachings."
"And it would allow me to properly educate the trout's daughter?" Lady Dustin asked coolly.
"Satisfaction comes from the strangest places, my lady." shared Sebastian
"How coincidental, just as my nephew was visiting for fosterage, you sly boy." said Lady Dustin
He shrugged.
"Good coincidences don't happen often. Unless we search for them." said Sebastian
"A good lap dog until the end, eh?" Lady Dustin mused
"I aim to please, my lady." replied smugly Sebastian
They finished their tea, and Sebastian left Lady Dustin alone with the proposal and her thoughts.
_ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
(1784 words not including author notes)
A/N: Ehmm, Hi... I... first of all thank you for your good wishes for me and my little girl. She passed away two hours after posting the previous chapter and it had been quite a shock for me. Second, thank you for all the massive support that you gave to this stupid little fic.
Your support, while gratefult for it, had been... overwhelming.
You see, we were just a few dudes,Unknownlion commenting first, turkeys sending stones, AstorothEverburn with his burning entussiams, OverlordBGs with his lovely gifs,Vanishinggod and Daoist4R7rzCwith his tftc, and RionSteinerand correcting some mistakes on my part. And then BOOOM, I got a little bit scared and I had to let the hype die a little bit before writing. Some of your comments were good, others were... well, not so good, so I am taking a moment to adress some things:
*I've never read asoiaf books. I write with what I remember from the show, the asoiaf wiki, reddit theorys and video essays that I found in youtube. So think of this as an AU with glitter on top.
*This is a selfsulfillment ff, where I add happy endings to stuff that I like. So if you wanted a more viceral approach... well... not this fic sadly (at least not so much)
*I used an OC from my previous (and failled) ff. (It wrote it on the synopsis) You do not need any context from that ff to read this one, for I will provide it here(in fact, dont read it because it is horrible, that is why I am rewriting it)
* The mask has a purpouse, which one? I will soon write it
*Sebastian past life? well, he had two, the 'normal life' (our reality) and the 'shinobi life'. That is why he is a double reincarnator.
* I read your comments and I tried to implement your suggestions in this chapter (dk if it worked).
*Last but not least, while the story is compressed, it needs to be that way. You see, I try to write self conclusive chapters because I hate cliffhangers (that's why everything happens too fast at times) I do it like that because I want to write and finish this fic along all the ideas that I had for it. I am quite traumatized by good fics with no ending ( like domeric bolton hp/got ff, I loved that one)
Sorry for the rant, hope you liked it, leave likes, stones, reviews, or dont. And also, Happy new years fellas!