[Chapter Size: 2800 Words.]
Third Person POV
North, 96 AC.
Six months passed as Jon followed the road to the village, along the small stretch between his home and the place.
He was riding Ghost, who was now considerably larger than he used to be, while his father rode beside him on the farm horse. Sam was in front of him with Garren, while the boy made small sounds, following his older brother.
...
"I ride along the road with Ghost at speed,
The wind blows strong, I sing and feel so free.
My father rides beside me, guiding his steed,
And little Sam laughs, trying to follow me.
On the farm I grow, beneath the shining sun,
Through trees and rivers, there's so much to see.
With my wolf beside me, I fear no one,
Ghost is my friend, my guard, my family."
...
Jon sang a lively melody while riding Ghost. His father remained silent, letting his boys enjoy the song. He didn't stop looking at Jon. Not only was the music he sang something he had created himself, but his voice was also very well tuned.
It was a talent they had discovered recently. When he started learning some songs with Roman, he began to replicate them with ease.
Rowena loved her son's voice. Just as Sarra and Mari would stop to listen to him singing.
...
"Through the village I pass, with all eyes on me,
A boy and his wolf, as wild as can be.
With my family, I know where I belong,
On the road or at home... I just want to sing."
...
Jon had stopped singing at that moment, looking at his brother before starting to smile in a childish way.
"You have a beautiful voice, son," Garren praised.
Jon looked at him and nodded. "Thank you, father," he replied, a bit shy.
He used to be more shy, now he no longer felt so embarrassed to sing. The people around him liked it, and that ended up taking away some of his shyness. Jon became a bit more active with it, trying whenever he could, even inventing songs about the forest, the animals, his mother, and his family.
This made him come up with a new rhythm in his head and start singing while playing with the words:
"I, my mother, my father, my brother, we live on the farm, back there... We have the animals as friends..."
They continued riding along the road.
"Ghost is a loyal wolf, who can take me anywhere..."
They arrived at the village at that moment, while the boy kept singing. The wolf began to raise his head upon hearing his name, and Jon laughed.
The people of the village, already in their routine, soon noticed the giant creature that almost matched a horse.
Ghost, lately, had grown so much that he even frightened Jon and his family. He would go hunting every day and always came back with dirt and blood, Jon always needed to take him to the stream to wash him before entering the house.
His appetite had become something insatiable. Jon understood why this was happening. Ghost hated having been injured last time and failing to protect him, at least in the wolf's mind.
He wanted to grow. He wanted to become stronger.
Jon felt emotional seeing his wolf act that way.
If people already thought it was madness to have a giant wolf living near them, seeing him in person always left everyone quite frightened.
"Garren, you're here? My God... your wolf survived and suddenly turned into a monster!" one of the villagers who knew the family said, looking cautiously and keeping some distance from the boy riding the wolf.
Ghost did not seem aggressive, but even so, no one thought of approaching.
"Oh, hello. How have you been?" Garren asked.
"Well. I've already heard that your brother has been living with you for half a year. Are these your two boys?" the man said, observing Sam in Garren's arms and Jon on top of the white wolf.
"Yes. We came to get a few things today. My eldest is celebrating his sixth nameday," Garren said.
Jon opened a smile upon hearing that. His parents had been organizing a small celebration for him since he woke up, and his father said they would get something for him in the village, a gift. They didn't say what it was, but his father assured that Jon would like it.
That was why they were there today.
More people approached while Garren talked to them. They looked at Sam with curiosity, but also at Jon, who truly drew attention. He and his wolf were something quite peculiar and outside the standards of the common folk of the North.
Jon still maintained his princely appearance, becoming more mature, and that drew the attention of the young women of the village. Not that they had any intentions toward a boy of six namedays, but they certainly appreciated male beauty, and upon looking at him, they could not help but imagine having a son as handsome as Jon.
Even girls around Jon's age who lived there looked at him with fascination. Mari always accompanied him when Jon went to the village with his father, and liked to push the other girls away, as if she were about to lose an important toy, showing a certain jealousy of Jon.
His father moved forward, and Jon followed him. They went to the butcher shop, where Owen, the village butcher and business partner of Jon's father — since Garren was an extremely skilled hunter — came out from inside, wiping his hands with a cloth when his father called him, while looking at them.
"It was about time you showed your face, Garren. You're getting older... and your son... well, I still don't think he's your son," he said with an old joke.
"How long are you going to keep saying that? Don't you see that here, my son, takes after me, but got an upgrade by taking only the best of my wife's beauty?" Garren replied arrogantly.
Owen simply snorted. "I wouldn't call him handsome if he were as 'handsome' as you... And I think even the other little one there was lucky not to take too much after you, he certainly took after his mother, since he's also better-looking than you. Not that that would be very difficult," Owen replied, laughing.
"Let's stop talking about this nonsense. Can you give me what you got today? My son is turning six namedays."
"Ah, right, you mentioned it," said Owen, looking at the boy on top of the wolf. "That wolf has grown quite a bit, huh? I heard he protected you from a giant bear that even frightened Lord Stark, and no one has the courage to venture into that part of the forest thanks to the giant bear... But your wolf faced it, he is certainly a fine animal... and loyal. A giant wolf to the point of even making the other Stark children jealous, from what I heard. Winterfell is talking about the little boy from our village who has a wolf."
Garren frowned slightly. "They are talking?" he asked with some caution. Obviously, he didn't like his son being mentioned. Lord Stark hadn't appeared again, nor Lord Tallhart, but Tallhart soldiers occasionally came to check how the farm was doing... That already made them cautious.
"Yes... and how they talk, Garren! I didn't even need to go there to see it. The merchants themselves ask about this story, if there really is a boy who has a giant wolf like the Starks near the village," Owen said, looking serious.
He paused briefly before continuing. "A trader yesterday said there's a rumor that your wife is a Stark bastard. That would explain why the boy has something that not even the house of the wolf has," he said.
"Just nonsense," Garren growled. He didn't like that at all, and it was clear in his voice.
Owen didn't insist further.
"Well, let's get his gift now. You know, it's a bit peculiar... most six-year-old boys ask for something like a sword or something like that, but this..." Owen commented, curious.
"It's what my son asked for. I think it's fair to give it to him. Even if it seems impossible for him to actually use it now, he still wanted it more than anything else," Garren said.
Jon's eyes immediately lit up. "Father, did you really buy what I asked for?" he asked, on the verge of bursting with joy.
"Yes. Your father was lucky that I found a good merchant who had one of these. No one wanted to buy it, not even some lesser nobles," Owen said as he went inside.
The butcher's wife came out at that moment. "So you're turning six namedays, my dear." She said, approaching Jon.
"Jaquel." Garren greeted her, that was her name.
The woman approached Jon with a smile after waving to Garren, unafraid of the wolf. It wasn't the first time she had done that.
"Ghost, get down," Jon asked the wolf.
The wolf obeyed, crouching as Jon got down and hugged Jaquel, who received him warmly, as if he were family.
"Look at you, you're growing bigger and bigger... and very handsome. The girls in our village are going to start fighting over you. But I'd recommend using that appearance to try to win over some beautiful noble lady with a very large castle," she said, joking.
Jon blushed a little. He was already used to some female attention, but hearing that directly said to him was still a bit much.
"Don't put the wrong ideas in my son's head, Jaquel," Garren replied.
She stood up and ruffled his hair before looking at the wolf. "What a strange creature... so deadly, yet so calm at the same time," she said, looking at Ghost.
The wolf simply watched her with his red eyes, in silence. The people of the village continued watching from a distance because of the wolf and their interaction at the butcher's shop.
Owen returned at that moment, bringing two packages.
"Well, this here is what your father bought for you," he said, handing one of the packages.
Jon didn't waste time. He opened the package and saw a book. He jumped with joy. "A book! It's a book! Thank you, father!" Jon said, clutching the object to his chest before hugging Garren tightly, looking at him with gratitude.
"It's the first time I've seen a child jump with joy over something that isn't a wooden sword. Are you sure this will suit him?" Jaquel asked, curious.
"He wanted this. Who knows, he might learn something from the book," Garren said.
Jon was already there, excited, looking at the book. He opened it, seeing the symbols of the letters forming words and meanings. He didn't know them, but by some instinct, he felt that those symbols were not strange to him... nor difficult.
That excited him immediately, but he said nothing. He would certainly study when he got home.
"And that's not all," Owen said, picking up the other package.
"What is this, man?" Garren asked, suspicious. He had already ordered the book.
"Well, I managed to bargain with the money you gave me, so there were some coins left. But I added a few more things together with Jaquel, and we asked the blacksmith to make some things a week ago," Owen said.
Garren got down from the horse and put Sam on the ground, approaching the package and picking it up.
Jon finally took his attention off the book in his hands and watched his father open the package.
Garren removed a small sword inside a sheath. It was a very small blade, almost like a dagger.
"This is for you," Owen said to Jon.
Jon was shocked.
Garren frowned. "A blade for my son? Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Garren narrowed his eyes.
"Well, a boy almost died once, didn't he? Why not let him have a chance to defend himself? Besides, there are also wooden swords for him and his brother to play with," Owen said, while Garren also pulled out the training blades.
Jon immediately thanked them, hugging Jaquel again and shaking Owen's hand, while the man shook the boy's hand back.
They stayed there a bit longer talking and, finally, mounted up to leave.
Sam seemed quite excited about the idea of having a sword his size, while Jon was torn between the book and the steel sword.
When they returned home, they found a place waiting for them, with Garren and the others finishing the preparations for a banquet that night.
Garren had managed to get an elk, and they cooked it whole when Jon arrived.
He went straight to his mother, carrying the sword and the book, jumping with joy. But soon he took the steel sword and the book and went to the room, while Mari and Sam took the wooden sword to play.
Jon reached his room and opened the book, lighting a candle beside the bed.
He began studying the letters in that book without understanding anything, but he started to associate one thing with another. His parents clearly didn't believe their son could actually read, but he wanted the book so much that they gave in. They thought Jon deserved it.
Jon stayed there for hours and hours, trying to find patterns among the letters and form his own words.
After four hours of this, he finally succeeded, forming his first word.
"Valyria." That was what the symbols said.
"What is Valyria?" Jon asked himself alone in the room.
But that didn't matter. What he had already achieved was already worth it. Somehow, he had identified a word, and now he would use the same symbols to learn everything else.
Jon was only interrupted when Mari came running in with the wooden sword.
"What are you doing there, Jon? You missed it! We played all afternoon!" she said.
Jon blinked, finally closing the book while looking at the candle, which was already at its end. "Is it already night?" he asked, worried.
Mari nodded. "Yes. They're already getting ready to eat. Mom asked me to call you," she said.
Jon nodded, setting the book aside. He would have much more time to study it.
He spent the night at the small banquet that his family and his uncle's family held for him, talking with everyone, while also singing.
They ate and drank refreshments, then played a little, and finally Jon went to sleep with a smile on his face.
The next day, he didn't even leave his room. He took advantage of the sunlight coming through the window and settled in to continue reading his book.
His mother went to him to ask if everything was alright, since he wouldn't put the book down. Perhaps, since it was something new, she thought it was normal.
But Jon was already forming his first words. Here and there, he already had around twelve words he could identify in the symbols.
"If I can learn all the words in the book within a month... I'll already be able to start reading these texts!" Jon declared to himself, excited.
The desire to study and learn lit a flame inside him.
He knew he could never compare himself to the children of nobles, who studied from the age of three or four, starting very early, having a maester. And he was already a bit behind at six years old.
But if he worked hard, maybe he wouldn't fall so far behind.
What he didn't know was that no child learned as fast as he was learning at that moment. Not even at six namedays would they be reading books that way.
The thirteenth word Jon identified was:
"Dragons."
It was a book about this place called Valyria that Jon didn't know, but it also spoke of dragons. That excited him. Maybe he could become stronger for his dreams.
What he didn't know was that he was reading a book in High Valyrian, a book as ancient as the doom, which had been removed from Valyria before the destruction and used as merchandise, rotting in warehouses for more than a hundred years in Essos and Westeros, until it fell into the hands of a common merchant who saw it only as a worthless book.
Since he couldn't read, he had no idea it was Valyrian. And as he showed it to some nobles, they saw it was a different language and were not very interested.
It was almost as if the book was destined for that boy from the countryside, somewhere in the North, living an ordinary life.
Jon wanted to read more, but his brother began calling him to train. Jon had to set the book aside. He had already learned thirteen words. He would read again at night.
Now, he would pick up a wooden sword for the first time.
And it was there that another passion was born within the boy, one he did not know he had: the art of battle.
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