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Jon
Jon Snow and his brother Robb Stark had thrown down their wooden swords preferring to wrestle in the dirt. Laughing as they fought, the two boys soon found themselves exhausted. Jon heard his stomach rumble.
"I'm hungry," he said to his brother.
"You're always hungry," Robb said back. Jon thought that yes he was always hungry and that was why he was skinnier. Maybe if he ate more he would grow bigger then Robb and he could be Lord of Winterfell one day. Except, deep down he knew that wasn't true. He knew he wasn't like Robb. That he was a bastard which meant they had the same father but not the same mother.
A growling sound came from Robb's stomach, too. "See," Jon said. "You're hungry, too."
"I heard they made cakes today," Robb told him. "Let's go see."
"What if Lady Stark finds us?" he asked.
"My Lady mother," Robb said. "She won't do anything." Not to you, Jon thought glumly.
"Come on," Robb said running off towards the kitchens. Jon had no choice but to follow along.
Winterfell's kitchen was a huge long room with cook fires, wood ovens, tables, cutting boards, pantries, and lots of food. Amazingly, the kitchen was empty. It was a warm afternoon, the servants were most likely resting before they had to prepare the evening meal. At the far end of the room, they found what they were looking for dozens of freshly baked cakes. Cherry cakes, honey cakes, nut cakes, and lemon cakes. Robb filled his hands with one of each. Jon looked around to see if anyone was watching.
"Don't be scared," Robb said just as voices could be heard coming down the hallway. Jon swore one was Lady Stark. "Quick" his brother added. Jon only had time to grab two cakes a cherry and a lemon cake. The voices were almost at the main door as the boys ran out a back door of the kitchen. Laughing they ran all the way back to the nursery.
The nursery consisted of two large sunny rooms connected by an open archway. The front room was a space for the children to play. The back room filled with two small beds and two small cradles. Sprinting into the front room, the boys quickly hid their prizes in a small cupboard.
"Ah boys, ya back," called an old voice from the other room. Old Nan popped her face around the corner. "I mus' take these to the laundry. Stay wit the wee one. I'll be back in jus a wee bit." Robb and Jon looked around the corner to see their little sister, Sansa's, red head bent over a piece of parchment scribbling with a chalk. Heads tilted looking at the non-sensical drawing, they heard the door close behind them. With Old Nan gone, Robb ran back to the hiding spot to grab a cake.
Convinced, his sister Sansa was too engrossed in her paper to notice cakes, Jon went to join Robb. She wasn't even three yet and could barely talk properly. Still, Jon felt oddly protective over the pretty little girl. He even remembered when she had been born. Both him and Robb were three years old. They had been so excited to have another playmate. Instead, they got a baby who cried and slept and sometimes even smelled bad.
But Jon remembered one night after Robb had fallen asleep in the nursery. Lady Stark was rocking baby Sansa to sleep. She seemed very tired when she noticed, Jon sitting in the corner listening to her coo to the baby. She didn't shoo him away as usual. Instead, she began to tell a story like one of Old Nan's. It was a story of Aemon the Dragonknight. How he defended his sister, Queen Nerys' honor in a trial by combat. Even once she finished the story, baby Sansa was still awake oooing and ahhhing. Lady Stark motioned for Jon to come closer. She asked if he would like to hold her. He nodded his head yes. She said he must be very careful and could never do this without her or Nan or a wet nurse nearby. He sat on a bed against the wall with a pillow under his arm. Lady Stark gently put Sansa in his arms. He stared down at the little girl. She felt warm and soft in his arms. Her big blue eyes in pink face stared back at him and he smiled at her. Lady Stark had sat back down in her chair and promptly fallen asleep.
He held his sister for what seemed like a very long time. He didn't care it was the nicest Lady Stark had ever been to him. He wanted to show her that he could love his sister maybe then she would love him. Eventually, Sansa's wet nurse returned to the nursery taking the babe from Jon and tucking him into bed.
That was a long time ago. No matter how nice he was to Sansa or the new baby Arya, Lady Stark never seemed to love him. Sighing, his thoughts returned to the cakes he was sharing with Robb. He was just finishing his cherry cake when he turned to Sansa standing next to them, eyes wide.
"Ohhh, I want.." she cried out.
"No!" said Robb. "You're just a baby. You're not allowed to have sweets." Jon quickly stuffed the last of his cherry cake into his mouth.
Sansa began to pout, "I want!" she demanded. "Please!" she added. Robb took the rest of his cakes and ran out of the room. Sansa looked at Jon crestfallen, defeated. She is barely three he thought. Sighing, he pulled out the lemon cake. He didn't even really like lemon cakes. In his rush to escape the kitchen, he didn't have time to grab anything else.
"Have you even had a lemon cake?" he asked. She shook her head. Sighing, he held a small piece of the cake up for her to bite.
"Try it first," he told her. She took a tentative bite. Her eyes widen, her mouth turned into a wide smile.
"Yummy!" she said. "More!" He gave her another bite and another bite. He took a bite himself deciding it was good. Not cherry cake good but good. She begged for another bite. It wasn't long before little Sansa had eaten most of the cake herself. He took one bite before giving her the last small piece.
"All gone," he said glumly wishing he had more cakes. For a moment he thought she would cry and ask for more. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck giving him a big hug. They played together a little longer until Robb returned having eaten all his cakes.
That evening Lady Stark seemed very curious as to why none of the children seemed hungry enough to eat their dinner. She told them that they could not have the cakes that had been made for dessert that night. Both Robb and Jon went to bed with pouts on their faces.
A few days later, Jon found himself with Old Nan when Lady Stark came to discuss Sansa's name day celebration. It would be a special day because Sansa would be turning three. When a child turns three they get their first haircut. Jon felt bad for his little sister. He hated haircuts and thought she would not enjoy hers very much. Lady Stark asked Old Nan what foods she thought the children might like to eat for the special day. They discussed all kinds of options, meat pies, candied yams, cakes. They all sounded delicious to Jon, who was always hungry.
"Sansa likes lemon cakes," he mumbled.
"What, child?" Lady Stark said harshly.
"She likes lemon cakes," he mumbled again looking down.
"Speak clearly, Jon Snow," she commanded him.
Gathering all his courage, he said as clearly as possible, "Sansa really likes lemon cakes."
"And how do you know that?" she asked. Jon just shrugged and ran off as fast as he could.
"Well, a guess we can have lemon cakes." He heard Lady Stark say to Old Nan.
The name day celebration came the following week. All the castle children were invited to the feast. Jon even got to sit a little closer to his brother and sister than usual that day. Little Sansa looked beautiful with her hair freshly trimmed and braided. When the lemon cakes were served her blue eyes grew wide and she clapped her hands. She ate two refusing to eat anything else for the rest of the feast.
After the feast, the children went to play in the castle yard. Sansa chased after Jon, coming up to him and pulling a small piece of lemon cake out of her pocket.
"Here," she said.
He held the smashed piece of cake in his hand smiling. "Thank you, Sansa."
At a distance, he saw Lady Stark watching them. She gave him a sad smile while Sansa ran off to play with the other children. Putting the piece of cake in his mouth, he thought it was the sweetest cake he had ever tasted.