Chapter 66 - Coming Home.

[Chapter Size: 2700 Words.]

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Third Person POV

Harrenhal, 101 AC.

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Jon was summoned to the castle once again.

It had been three days since the selection of the new heir to the Iron Throne, and the last two days had been marked by enormous banquets and celebrations throughout all the camps. Jon had not been summoned by the king, as he had imagined would happen, but this time, he went to him instead, finding the old monarch waiting for him. After greeting the Lord Commander, whom he had already grown familiar with, he entered the chamber.

"So, Jon... It seems this will be our last meeting..." the king said as soon as Jon approached.

Jon smiled faintly and set his lute aside, expecting the king to ask him to play.

It felt a little strange to be there now. He was still only a child, speaking with an old king who, until not long ago, had existed only in books and in the green dreams he had experienced while studying to become the king of a nation in that other world.

Meeting him in person was something he had never imagined would happen under any other circumstances. Even so, the two had already developed a certain closeness. Jon had asked the king a few questions, even if some of them had been somewhat impertinent, and had taken the opportunity to learn more about the realm.

That day, however, the king seemed to be acting differently. It would probably be the last time they met. From what he had heard, the king would leave Harrenhal the following morning, while Lord Stark would return to the North two days later.

"There is something I would like to speak with you about, Jon. Something quite important. It is the same request I made of Viserys," the king said.

Jon immediately gave him his full attention. "And what would that be, Your Majesty?" he asked.

"I would like you to go to King's Landing and spend some time at court. Viserys is willing to take you in. He will treat you well. You can build a great name for yourself in the future, I truly believe that, despite your origins. I believe it based on the stories I have heard about your abilities on the training grounds and, above all, after the last time you fought the young man of House Strong. It seems your fight drew quite a bit of attention, even from the grown men," the king concluded with a smile.

Jon nodded. Despite the offer, his mind was already working over what he had just heard. He certainly had no intention of going to King's Landing to live at court. Even so, he would not mind visiting it in the future as he traveled across Westeros.

In any case, the conversation continued for a while longer, and soon Jon took his leave. At the end of the day, two days later, they finally departed for the North after the entire camp had been dismantled.

Jon had to thank Lord Stark for the new wagons he had managed to acquire to transport all the animals Jon had insisted on bringing after buying them. He let the birds fly free, and they would follow them throughout the entire journey.

He also took the opportunity to acquire more books on the last day, and in addition, Jaehaerys himself gave him a collection of books about ancient Valyria, dragons, and the Targaryens. It was a highly symbolic gift to anyone who saw it, but the king preferred to keep it discreet. He simply had a wagon sent before dawn on the last day to deliver the gift.

Jon was grateful, but he would not have the chance to thank him in person one last time. So, he thanked him silently, deep in his heart, remembering that the old king would die before long, perhaps within two or three years at most.

In any case, the journey back to the North began, and Jon could not help but try to avoid the Roswell girl. It seemed that Lord Roswell had become even more convinced that his daughter should stay with him, especially after Jon had grown closer to the king.

Jon, of course, did not like that at all and had no choice but to ask Lord Stark for help. Lord Stark kept the Roswells at a distance because of it, while Rickon laughed at his expense.

The lords began saying their farewells as they traveled north. First, they parted ways with Lord Reed, who was certainly a rather peculiar man. Jon had spoken with him several times during that period, and the lord always returned to asking about his connection with animals. Jon was still uncertain about many of the answers, but after recovering part of the memories from that other world, he began speaking with the man much more openly. Words such as warg no longer seemed strange to him during those conversations.

In any case, the first thing Jon wanted to do was return to his family. The Dustins, the Roswells, the Manderlys, the Lockes, and the other houses began taking their leave one by one. The Tallharts did so later, while the main group continued along the Kingsroad toward Winterfell. When they were near the lands of House Cerwyn, Jon said his farewells to them as well.

Lord Stark left several men with Jon to help him transport the animals for which he was now responsible. Lord Stark even insisted that he bring them all to Winterfell for a few days, but Jon declined the invitation. He said he was certain he could handle everything on his own.

Thus, he bid farewell to everyone and would return to Winterfell within a moon.

Lyra wore a slight pout. Rickon had a friendly smile on his face. But both of them gave him a warm hug. Benjen smiled as he gave Jon a pat on the shoulder, though he carried his own thoughts about Jon and everything that had happened in the south. Lyarra ran her fingers through his hair as she embraced him, and Lady Alys, in turn, gave the boy a tight hug before saying goodbye.

With that, Jon continued his journey alongside the horses, the wagons, and the men accompanying him, heading west.

He wanted to see his parents. He wanted to remind them that this life had not only taken things away from him, but had also given him something he had never had before.

Sara was in the village with the little son she had with Caim when she noticed the town suddenly becoming restless. She soon discovered why. A group of Stark men had arrived, accompanied by wagons and horses.

Sara was about to approach them to ask about Jon after leaving one of the village houses, where she had gone to get herbs from a woman who cultivated a large garden, when she noticed the distinctive white wolf walking ahead of the Stark men and stopped. Ghost was unique in the entire world.

The wolf approached her as soon as he saw her, sniffing both her and Caim, who looked at him curiously, for a few moments. His expression soon relaxed, and he licked her face, catching the woman by surprise.

"Ghost..." she said in a reproachful tone, while Caim looked a little frightened. He still was not used to Ghost, even though he was already two years old and had seen him three or four times a year at the farm.

Soon after, Jon appeared. "Sarra!" he greeted her.

"What is all this?" she asked. It was not normal to see so many riders there.

"Lord Stark's men are just helping me carry a few things I brought back from the south," Jon replied with a crooked smile.

If his aunt knew he had spent more than a thousand gold dragons, she would certainly scold him. Even so, it was money he had earned himself.

Jon offered Sara a ride back to the farm, and she accepted, climbing into one of the wagons with Caim.

When they arrived, they found everyone gathered together, looking somewhat bewildered by the number of men. The surprise grew even greater when Jon jumped down from his horse with a smile and ran toward his parents.

His mother was completely taken aback when her son hugged her tightly.

"I missed you so much, Mom..." Jon said.

It was an affection he had never experienced before this life. Rowena remained surprised for a moment, but soon smiled, stroked his hair, and embraced him tightly.

"Oh, my dear... My baby... You're back. How have you been?" Still overwhelmed by the surprise, Rowena pulled the boy even closer to her.

Jon hugged his father as well, with far more tenderness than he usually showed. After that, he greeted his brother, Mary, and his uncle Roman.

He then began directing the Stark men without the slightest difficulty, under the astonished gaze of his entire family, as they started unloading books, toys, dresses—to Mary's surprise—and arousing little Caim's curiosity.

Then came the animals. Everyone took a step back when a massive white tiger emerged from one of the wagons. The birds arrived from the sky and began circling above the farm.

Among them was a white tiger. Rowena and the others were immediately alarmed at the sight of it, but Jon simply walked over to the animal.

"It's all right," he said, stroking the tiger.

"Jon!" Rowena shouted in alarm. "Get your hand away from that!"

Jon merely smiled and continued petting the animal, even showing his own mother that the tiger was gentle... At least with him.

Under the watchful eyes of the Stark men, anyone else who tried to approach the tiger would immediately be met with its claws swiping against the bars, accompanied by that distinctive threatening growl.

Besides the tiger, there were dogs and several other exotic animals Jon had brought with him.

"Where did you get all of this?" his father asked. Garrem truly wanted to understand where his son had gotten so many things.

Jon simply smiled. "If I told you I bought all of this, would you believe me, Father?" Jon asked with a mischievous grin.

His father simply stared at him, utterly bewildered.

Jon clapped his hands, pleased to see that the men had finished unloading everything. He then gave each of them a silver coin as thanks for their help and wished them a safe journey back. They would still try to catch up with the main Stark party, which was moving much more slowly because it was such a large procession, especially with so many ladies of the Northern houses demanding a bit more comfort, though they were nowhere near as demanding as the ladies of the south.

As soon as the last rider disappeared down the road, the entire family turned their attention to Jon.

"So, Jon... Are you going to explain all of this?" Garrem asked.

"We'll talk, yes. But how about we prepare a feast first?" Jon replied.

He had brought a great deal of meat, much of it preserved with salt, something extremely valuable in that era. Just seeing his son bringing back so much preserved food was enough to alarm Garrem. And that was without even considering all those animals.

"Don't worry. I earned all of this through honest work," Jon said with that mysterious smile of his.

He quickly looked away from his father, knowing that answer was far from satisfying him.

"Come here. I brought toys for you. Look." As soon as he opened one of the chests, Mary and little Caim ran toward him. The chest was filled with carved wooden toys, and the children practically threw themselves at it.

"Jon! You bought all of this?" Mary shouted excitedly, holding a painted wooden knight.

"These dresses are for you too." Jon pointed to the other chest, making the girl's eyes light up.

"These are for me? Really? Mom, look! I have dresses!" she shouted, unable to hide her happiness.

Sam and little Caim were excited as well, especially when they saw the wooden dragons.

Jon watched his brother in particular. He knew there was a bit of special blood in him. Those wooden dragon toys would certainly catch his attention, and that was a good thing. After all, he knew his younger brother harbored a little jealousy toward him. Since Jon had been taken to Winterfell, the two of them had lived apart for years.

There was no denying that, no matter how many great opportunities Jon had been given, growing up away from his brother would inevitably stir some resentment. Jon was a constant topic for his mother, and he had no doubt that she had always treated him as her favorite son.

Not because she loved Sam any less, but because Rowena's eyes naturally turned toward her eldest. Even so, she had never neglected her other children. She had always treated them with the same affection and devotion a mother should have.

His father, on the other hand, had never shown any favoritism, and Jon was grateful for that. As it turned out, Sam had become Garrem's shadow, learning everything about the farm, the animals, hunting, and all the responsibilities he would one day inherit.

In any case, Roman and Sarra also came over, together with Rowena and Garrem, as they examined each of the gifts.

"Father, look at these! They're Labrador dogs. Maybe with them you'll be able to take better care of the chickens and the other animals. Now they'll be able to protect them from predators," Jon said as he showed off the massive, heavy dogs, each standing about a meter tall.

He even let one of them loose. Roman tried to stop him, but it was already too late. The dogs simply looked at him excitedly, wagging their tails, while Ghost also approached them. None of them seemed afraid of the giant wolf, even though he was bigger than all of them.

"Look. Sit." The dogs obeyed immediately.

"They can be trained to help around the farm," Jon explained.

"I've never seen dogs this big. Where did they come from?" Roman asked curiously.

"They came from the far north of the mountains, in the eastern region of the continent of Essos," Jon replied.

Naturally, his parents had no idea where that was. So Jon opened one of the chests containing scrolls, took out a map of the known world, and spread it out before them.

That map was still far from being as detailed as the ones that would exist two hundred years in the future, much less compared to the map he himself had reconstructed in his other life, when he had charted nearly the entire coastline of the world through the eagles that served as his eyes in the skies during his travels.

Jon pointed to where that region was and then showed them where they were at that very moment, leaving everyone astonished when they realized the dogs had come from so far away, from across the sea.

In any case, Jon continued talking. He had not yet told them everything that had happened in the south, and he took the opportunity while his father began preparing the meat he had brought for the feast. At the same time, his mother, together with Sarra, began preparing the drinks.

Jon then turned his attention back to the younger ones. Everyone was curious to hear what his journey to the south had been like.

He told them about the Great Council and explained what the final outcome had been. He also spoke about the tournaments, just as he had promised before leaving, and revealed, to everyone's surprise, that he had taken part in the archery competition.

His father nearly shouted when he heard that. The reaction became even greater when Jon revealed that he had won the tournament.

"How much did you win?" Garrem asked, completely incredulous.

"Around fifteen hundred gold dragons."

Silence fell over the place.

Everyone stared at him in shock, exactly as Jon had expected they would. It was an absurd amount. It was what the farm would earn in nearly two hundred years...

Wasn't that unbelievable?

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