Naveena STARK :||: Queen Series #1

4) Naveena

I stood there watching him go, wondering for the hundredth time if I was making the right move, playing the right game. Jaime Lannister wasn't the worst man in the Seven Kingdoms, but he wasn't particularly bright nor malleable, his devotion to his sister wasn't something anyone could come between.

Turning, I almost ran into a figure who had been coming up behind me. "Jon!" A smile spread across my face. I hadn't seen him all night and wondered what he'd been up to.

"Naveen," He smiled, glancing around us nervously. "Would you dance with me?"

Taking his hand and stepping closer to him, I smiled. "I wouldn't want anything else."

His hand easily found its way to my waist and though his first few steps were awkward, he quickly fell into step with the new song and then we were flying. "I was looking for you earlier. Why were you not with your brothers at the table?"

The muscle in Jon's jaw flickered. "Lady Catelyn did not think it proper to seat a bastard with the king and queen."

My face dropped and something like actual hate for Nedd's wife flickered to life inside me. "I would have enjoyed your company."

"That is good to hear," He smiled down at me. "I think I would have liked to speak to an old friend again after all these years."

"But being the age we are, all these rules apply that didn't when we were children."

"Yes," He agreed, twirling us around in a flawless turn. "I hope we can all be together as friends again."

"I'm sure we will," I winked mischievously. "If Lady Catelyn banned you from sitting with your family, where were you? What were you doing?"

His eyes, dark brown with flecks of something else in them, glanced away from me. "I was outside, taking all my anger out on one of the practice dummies. Benjen found me."

I smiled, noting the way his face lit up at the mention of his uncle. "You admire him a lot?"

"He has always treated me like a true member of this family," Jon acknowledged, looking at me again. "I admire him. As a member of the Night's Watch, he's as much of an outsider as I am."

Without meaning to, my hand came up to stroke my hand down his cheek. He startled missing a step but I guided us into the next sequence. "I consider you a part of the Stark House. There have been few things that I have missed about the North, but you are one of them."

Jon stared, flowing through the steps automatically. "I've often wondered what you have been up to, Naveena. What your life has been like? What you have been feeling and experiencing? If you're happy?"

"I don't know about happy," I muttered, glancing away, spotting Robert through the dancing figures. "But I suppose I can't complain. My position in life started considerably less advantageous than where I am now. There are a lot of people with less, less luxury, less opportunity."

"Hmmm," He considered for a moment, guiding us through the smooth movements of the dance. "Some with less might miss the cages that those with more are put in."

It was clear the difference between the brothers. Robb was the heir to House Stark, he had grown up living as a lord's son and the life that came with it. Whereas Jon had grown up right beside him, he was a bastard and had grown up living Robb's life with none of the expectations. Jon was able to see the world a little clearer and with less naivety. 

"You intrigue me, Jon Snow," I studied his face and watched surprise flicker in his eyes before they returned my curiosity. "There is certainly more to you than Lady Stark would have people believe."