"The North won't bend the knee willingly," Jon says. "And I won't give it away. We're proud and we should stay proud. If Cersei cannot conquer us, one woman with sellswords cannot conquer us either. Besides, if she did conquer us, she'd rule by fear and not by love. As soon as she died, we'd be independent again."

Jon closes his eyes as Gwen threads her fingers through his curls and turns into the touch. He's spoiled by touch with her, having had a long childhood and time at the Wall without, and he thinks he'd do damn near anything for her just to have her smile at him and pet at his hair like this.

"Why is it that I always agree with you? You've a true talent, Gwen. You'd better not teach it to the Targaryen queen or I'm done for."