Snow. Snow. Snow. That's all there ever was to Jon's life.

At first it had been his name, Jon Snow, marking him different from his siblings, making him less. Sansa had been the only one of his siblings to care but Lady Catelyn had never allowed him to forget his low birth.

The Wall was made of snow and ice and Jon couldn't believe he'd thought taking the Black had been an honorable choice. There was no honor at the Wall, only a fight for survival against the cold and, yes, snow.

Nowadays snow was everywhere else too, Jon notes. Winter had come to the Southern parts of the Seven Kingdoms, just like the Starks had told them. Jon smiled. His Lord Father had joked during a rare bout of playfulness that during winter, the Stark words were "We told you so," earning delighted laughter from his children and a chuckle from Maester Luwin.

Jon rode forward. He has to make it to King's Landing before dark. As the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, it's his duty to tell the monarch of the threat to the Realm of Men presented beyond the wall. The Night's Watch and the Free Folk wouldn't be enough to hold back the Others for long anymore and they would need assistance from everyone. According to rumor, the Queen even had dragons with her, two of the three living dragons in fact. The third had flown away when the Mother of Dragons had died, giving birth to a second still born son. Jon wouldn't believe Arya had dragons until he saw them himself though because that would be too good to be true.

Rickon would be there too, Jon knew. King Stannis had sent him with the envoy to appease Queen Arya. He nearly couldn't believe it when Stannis had sent a raven, telling him he had his youngest brother Rickon with him, raising him to be the Warden of the North and Lord of Winterfell once he gained it. And when the news of Arya being the conqueror Queen, he'd nearly feinted. Two of his supposedly dead siblings were alive! And Sansa was only missing! There was a chance he might see her too! And if Rickon had gotten away, what made him think Bran hadn't? Other than the fact that Bran couldn't run or climb like he used to. Hodor would have been completely reliant on Bran's commands and if the situation had only called for running, he wasn't sure what the outcome would have been. Now if only Robb's death would have been uncertain Jon was sure he could have danced. But Jon was a realist. Even if Bran had escaped the sacking of Winterfell (he'd never asked Rickon) the Winter was upon them and Jon wasn't sure how Bran could have survived. Rickon had survived because Osha was of the Free Folk and Shaggydog was a wild beast that killed anything that threatened Rickon, but Bran only had Hodor and Summer with him. And Sansa was a gentle girl who hadn't even picked up a dagger in her life. Being on the run wouldn't have suited her at all and was most likely dead in a ditch somewhere, buried under the snow.

A burst of fire above the Red Keep caught Jon's attention and he swore.

Two dragons were flying just below the heavy snow clouds, breathing fire at each other.

Hope welled in Jon's heart. Maybe they could live to see Spring after all.