Disclaimer: I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire; the only person i own in my gal Gabrielle, but if I DID own Jon Snow, let's just say that Id be more than happy to keep him warm at the Wall in my own special way ;)

Full Description: Jon Snow has finally married the love of his life, a kind yet unlawfully beautiful maiden named Gabrielle Pournell. After being called to court by his father a year after their wedding day, Gabrielle manages to catch the eye of none other than the infamous Jaime Lannister himself. Offering more wealth, power and prestige than the bastard Jon, Gabrielle finds herself caught between the love of her life, and the powerful Kingslayer.

They galloped for miles on that faithful winter day, their laughter carrying on the wind behind them as Jon Snow, bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, pulled his horse to a stop. His best friend and betrothed, Gabrielle Pournell, did the same with a laugh and a merry toss of her head. Her long, thick, curly ebony hair fell down to her waist in a cascading waterfall, and Jon felt his heart swell at the beautiful visage of her.

Gabrielle Pournell, the beautiful and only raven-haired daughter of a Winterfell blacksmith, had caught Jon's eye the day he had traveled to her father's blacksmith with his father in order to look at a new batch of swords. He had caught a glimpse of her over her father's massive bellows, and when she smiled so prettily and looked down at the basket of fresh vegetables from the market she was carrying, blush tinging her cheeks, Jon felt his heart leave his chest and he knew immediately that he was in love.

They barely left each other's side since that day.

They quickly dismounted and carefully made their way down a gently sloping hill, where they sat down on a grassy bank by a babbling brook to rest and catch their breath. Their two horses were tethered to a nearby tree, where they could crop at what grass was still living and that managed to poke up from the forest floor. Jon looked down at Gabrielle lying on her back, her breathing ragged, her cheeks flushed from exertion and a grin on her face. The ties to her scarlet red bodice had come slightly undone, revealing her prominent collarbone and the swell of her small, yet still ample breasts underneath her furred cloak. Suddenly, he felt the compulsion to kiss her, to take her in his arms and make love to her on this very bank. He leaned over to kiss her, but hesitated when he realized that she was so lovely to look at and he couldn't bare to disturb the heavenly angel laying underneath him. When Gabrielle finally spoke, it was unpremeditated and her own words took her by surprise,

"I love you, Jon."

Jon froze, his eyes wide with surprise. She was lying, she had to be lying. He was a bastard son, one that's destiny was to be carted off to the Night Watch to live a life of celibacy and vigilance, not to marry and father children with bastard blood. He thought it was impossible for her to love him, much less feel the tiniest bit of affection for him that was not in least bit friendly.

Gabrielle sensed his growing hesitation and gently put her hand on his stubbled cheek. "I said I loved you Jon . . . are you going to say anything?"

Jon opened his mouth to speak but they were interrupted when Jon's powerful black warhorse gently nuzzled the neck of Gabrielle's dapple gray mare, which squealed and pawed at the ground, arching her neck. Both horse's ears were pinned forward, their eyes alight with merriment. They chuckled and glanced at each other before they gazed back at the horses, only to see the warhorse slyly edging over to the mare. Jon and Gabrielle grinned

"She's in heat . . ." Jon commented, almost to himself, but Gabrielle gazed at him as he spoke those words.

"Does it make a difference?" Jon shook his head indifferently and shrugged.

"Not really. It's just really going to be hard to control my horse when he constantly wants to mount yours on the way home . . ." He trailed off, his words meant in a joking manner, but when Gabrielle wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and brought him down, where her lips met his ear, he realized that there was nothing that was going to be joking in her next words. He had to quickly adjust himself on his hands on either side of her as she drug him down to her.

"She's not the only one who wants to be mounted, Lord Snow . . ." She whispered, and Jon gasped huskily as Gabrielle gently bit his earlobe suggestively. She then pushed him away, grinned slyly and hopped up, where she ran over to her mare and hopped up into the saddle. She reined her mare back, for she immediately wanted to gallop off, and grinned coquettishly at Jon, who was still leaning dazed on the grassy bank, exactly where she had been laying seconds ago.

"The sooner you catch me Lord Snow, the sooner you can take me! That or the faster we arrive back in Winterfell!"

Gabrielle then kicked her mare in the flanks and took off at a fast gallop down the forest path. Jon grinned at the challenge and ran over to his horse, where he quickly mounted. He too kicked his horse in the flanks and his warhorse immediately jumped into a fast gallop, spurred on by the chase.

Jon could see the pearl embroidered black cloak of Gabrielle whipping the air behind her as she galloped down the path, dodging low-hanging branches and the occasional pot-hole in the dirt path. Jon's warhorse was snorting after every long-legged stride, expertly dodging branches, fallen limbs and pot-holes without Jon even having to tell him to. Gabrielle's gray mare was fast, but Jon's horse was a warhorse, bred and taught to catch up with the chase and it wasn't long before Jon was hot on her heels.

"Ready to give up yet, Gabrielle?" He called to her over the sound of their horse's galloping hooves, and Gabrielle let out a joyful whoop, tossing her head back and shaking her head.

"What's the fun of the reward, Jon, if you can't handle the chase?"

Jon grinned but it was immediately wiped from his face as Gabrielle unexpectly veered her horse from the path and took off through the forest. Jon watched in shock as she jumped the fallen log and continued on her way. Jon cursed good-naturedly under his breath, and kicked his horse to fallow hers. They jumped the log with ease and he was soon back to fallowing the billowing of her cloak through the air.

He lost sight of the gray mare for a moment before he finally caught up to her, only to see her tethered to a tree in a clearing. Jon grinned as he dismounted his warhorse and tied him to the very same tree by a stream, where his warhorse lowered his head gratefully to the water. Gabrielle was around here somewhere, and indeed her words rang true . . . she was certainly giving him a chase.

He pulled off his gloves as he walked slowly through the clearing. "You certainly are giving me a chase, Gabrielle! How about my reward now?" He heard laughter split through the air but he could not discern where he came from. He glanced back at his warhorse, seeing if he was gazing somewhere in the forest, his ears perked forward, but his head was still lowered to the stream.

"Gabrielle, oh where are you! If we are not home in a few hours, there will be Hell to pay with your father –"

He was interrupted by pale arms wrapping around his chest and a sly voice in his ear,

"My father . . . can certainly wait . . ." Gabrielle whispered in his ear and Jon grinned as he twirled around and took her in his arms, where he kissed her deeply, passionately, their tongues entwining in an intimate dance that either of them had yet to enjoy with each other. They hit the grassy floor of the clearing, her hands buried deep in his black hair and his arms wrapped tightly around her, their legs entwined.

They broke apart for a moment, a quiet moan escaping past her lips before their lips attacked the other's again, their kisses becoming even more passionate. Gabrielle deftly untied the stays to his pants and wormed her hand inside, where she wrapped her hand around his cock. Jon let out a small groan and bit his bottom lip as his lips moved down to make love to the flesh that made up the nape of her neck.

His hand moved inside the bodice of her gown (which he had so expertly been undoing the laces all this time) to cup her left breast, right over her pounding heart. Her breath shortened and he kissed her again, his free hand fallowing suit, where it went to her other breast, her nipples pebbling under his callused palms. A gasp fell from his lips as she stroked him faster, and he kneaded her breasts gently, slowly, her breath quickening. Her hands moved down to grip his biceps.

"Jon –"

"Jon? Jon, where are you?"

Jon and Gabrielle startled apart, their eyes wide with shock at who had found their intimate tryst. They jumped back from each other, both of them moving to quickly right themselves as his half-brothers, Robb and Bran Stark, accompanied by their two guards and Bran's governess, came walking into view on their horses.

Immediately, Robb's eyes lit up with a playful, all-knowing twinkle when he saw the flushed, slightly disheveled look of Gabrielle reclining aganist the grass of the small clearing with Jon kneeling not far from her, but Bran, who was too young to know of such adult matters, simply smiled and nodded towards Gabrielle and his older half-brother. The guardsmen and Bran's governess simply ignored the indecent pose of the two young adults, something which they were wise to do.

"Good mourning Jon, Gabrielle." Gabrielle and Jon smiled a small smile at the second youngest Stark, and Robb nodded a greeting, the same playful, all-knowing twinkle in his eye.

"Brothers, good morning. How . . . how did you find me?" Jon asked, genuine curiosity flitting through his features, and Robb grinned.

"Oh we just fallowed the noises of the animals." Gabrielle blushed and immediately looked away whereas Jon's eyes immediately became filled with anger at the well-hidden insult. Robb's grin grew only wider at the reaction that he had garnered from his brother. Even though they were as close as two friends could ever be, Robb still loved teasing and getting a rise out of the brother that he had grown up around all his life, but was the bane of his mother's exsistance. He was also the only one who knew about Jon's relationship with Gabrielle, and that Jon's greatest dream was that his father would finally give him permission to marry her. Bran smiled at the inside joke, if only to act older than he actually was by acting that he got it.

Robb shrugged. "We were sent to fetch you, actually. Father wants to see you back at the castle as soon as you are able." Jon nodded as he got to his feet, where he immediately reached out a hand to help Gabrielle to hers. He turned to her and shot her an apologetic look. Gabrielle smiled warmly, her hand smoothing across his chest to lay over his fluttering heart. He lay one of his hands on hers, and the look they shot each other was one of longing.

"Just wait Jon . . . our wedding night . . ." She whispered so that only he could hear, her eyes filled with hope, and Jon Snow smiled a small, loving smile and nodded as he gently rubbed her upper arms. Yes . . . their longed for, dreamed-for wedding night. He was confident that his father would give him the okay to marry the only girl that had ever had his heart, and if he couldn't marry her, he didn't know what he would do.

Jon turned back to the group waiting for them, and smiled brightly as they moved to their horses tethered to the nearby tree. "Well I suppose I shall go see what father wants, huh?" He spoke to no one in particular, and everyone knew that he was no in particular hurry to go see his father, but everyone did know that it was just an excuse to get closer to Gabrielle for a few more last minute seconds.

"When will I see you again?" Gabrielle asked him quietly as they slowly undid the knotted reins that tied their horses to the branches of the oak tree. Jon thought for a moment before he answered her,

"I'll ask father today if I can marry you. If he gives me permission, I'll make all haste to your father to ask for your hand," He finally undid his horse's reins and turned to Gabrielle, who had yet to fully undo hers. She turned to face him nonetheless, her expression one of skepticism. Jon gazed at her pointedly, hoping to make her believe him as much as he was trying to make himself believe his own words. His father, although a kind man, was also one of astounding stubbornness. Not-to-mention, if Catelyn Stark had any say in the matter, Jon would not only not be able to get to marry Gabrielle, but he'd surely be sent off to the Wall, where he would say his vows of celibacy with her personally holding a sword to the back of his neck!

"I promise you that I will be with you, Gabrielle! Not even the White Walkers, the Wildlings or my insufferable stepmother will keep me from you!" Gabrielle smiled a small, teary smile and smoothed a palm over his stubbled cheek.

"You must do what your family wills of you, Jon." She reminded him, but Jon shook his head stubbornly.

"No. Gabrielle, I will run away in order to be with you. We'll run to the farthest reaches of the earth, if only it means I can be with you!" Gabrielle shook her head tearfully as she finally finished unknotting her reins.

"You say that now, Jon . . . but if your father tells you that you are to go to the Wall, will you actually do that? Does your family mean that little to you?" Jon recoiled, a look of shock to his face.

"Gabrielle, I did not mean it that way –"

"I know what you meant, Jon, I was only teasing." Gabrielle interrupted him with a tinkling laugh and a gentle smile. She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. He reciprocated with the same gentleness and lovingness she showed him, their tongues barely touching, and when they broke apart, they broke apart. Gabrielle went in the opposite direction of the Starks, where she mounted her horse and rode off back to town with a guardsman and Bran's governess to make sure nothing happened, leaving Jon alone with an evilly grinning Robb, an oblivious Bran, and two guardsmen that were paid to notice nothing in private conversations.

They rode in silence for a while and garnered a safe distance behind Gabrielle and her escort, when Robb coughed, successfully gaining Jon's attention. "So . . . you explored Gabrielle's deep roads yet?" He asked Jon quietly, and Jon's gaze shot onto his older half-brother by only two months, his eyes wide with a look of infuriated shock that made Robb laughed outright. "Oh, that look!"

"Robb – that was totally uncalled for!"

"No really, you should have seen your face, Jon! Oh, I do wish I had a picture of that look!" Robb kept laughing, despite Jon angry retorts to 'shut up', until tears were falling down his face and he was holding his aching sides. Jon was making a point of ignoring him and it could be said that he was definitely in a brooding mood, which only heightened his exotic good looks. Robb eventually stopped laughing and teasingly nudged Jon in the sides. Jon threw his arm away in a huff, and Robb rolled his eyes, grinning.

"Oh come on, don't be that way, Jon! Okay, I admit it, Gabrielle's beautiful – gorgeous even! She's sweet, intelligent and loves children! She's everything one could want in a wife and mother, and if you don't mind me stating, she definitely looks like she could be a wildcat in bed!" Jon shot him a scathing look, and Robb glared at his brother in something that was almost close to exasperation. "Jon, she's gorgeous, of course your going to have men who are going to eye her! You mineaswell get used to it, and learn to keep your sword at the ready! At least until you two have your first child, anyway . . ."

He trailed off then, and reluctantly, Jon nodded.

"Yeah, I know, Robb, its just that . . . we've came close – very close, but always – always – something ends up interrupting us."

"Did we interrupt you?" Robb asked with a grin, and Jon shot him another scathing glare.

"Yes! This time got us closer than most, actually!"

"She had you harder than a fuckin' flagpole, didn't she, Jon? I could tell by the look of your trousers when you stood up –"

"Fuck you, Robb."

Robb laughed another booming laugh. "Oh come on, Jon, I jest! I jest!" Robb placed a hand on Jon's shoulder with his last work, shooting him a semi-amused, semi-apologetic look. "Okay, I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone about her, I promise. Of course, that doesn't mean that the morning after your wedding night will be immune." Jon glanced at Robb.

"Do . . . do you honestly think that father will give me the okay?" Robb nodded confidently.

"Of course! You've always been da's favorite, and once he gives you the okay, Gabrielle's father will be an idiot if he doesn't agree! Bastard son or not, you are still a Stark, Jon, and the son of a very influential, very rich man." Jon nodded as they continued down the forest path to Winterfell.

"Good . . . because I'd kill to marry Gabrielle."

Winterfell was a huge castle complex spanning across several acres and in which consisted of two massive walls with a ditch between them and a village located just outside. The village was a pretty good size village, with a large market place and whose smiths were famed worldwide for fine weapons and armor. Gabrielle dwelt in the village with her long-time ailing mother and morose father, who was one of Winterfell's finest smiths. The complex itself consisted of many building and keeps, some ancient, some decrepit, and some in good repair. The castle itself was located atop one of the North's many hot springs, which kept the castle warm even in the worst winters.

Right now, though, the heat only made Jon's nervousness worse.

He moved swiftly through the stone corridors to his father's study, his Dire Wolf, Ghost, trotting beside him, panting. He rehearsed what he would say in favor of a marriage to Gabrielle, every step of the way. Even though he doubted his father would turn his proposal down, he was terrified that would be in a mood to do just that. Jon didn't know what he'd do without Gabrielle, and he knew with an absolute certainty, that he would never be able to go aganist his father's wishes. If his father commanded him to go to the Wall and never think of Gabrielle again, Jon would go off to the Wall with no questions asked and no temper tantrums thrown. But being sent off to the Wall without ever seeing her again, would be an agony he could not even begin to imagine, nor describe. He likened it to his heart being torn out of his chest, ripped into tiny pieces and then sown back together again before being placed back in his chest to beat anew. It would be agony living without her.

He finally reached the reinforced wooden door leading to his father's study, and swallowed a heavy lump forming in his throat before he knocked. Half of him hoped that his father either didn't hear him or wasn't in, but his hopes were dashed when he heard heavy footsteps on the other side and the door swung open, revealing a tall back with shoulder length black hair and a beard of the same color. Jon couldn't help but grin at the sight of his uncle, Benjen.

Benjen Stark beamed and moved aside to allow his nephew to enter the room. "Jon, my boy! How are you?" He asked jovially, and Jon nodded.

"Fine, uncle. Um . . . father wished to see me?" He directed his question more at the stoic man sitting at the desk, than the jovial one standing at his side. Neddard Stark nodded and smiled a small smile at his son.

"Yes, I did. It is about –"

"Sorry for interrupting father, but I have to ask you something before it is too late!" Jon all but blurted out, and Benjen and Ned raised their eyebrows in unbridled curiosity as they gazed at the nervous looking Jon Snow. Ned nodded and gestured for him to speak.

"Yes, what is it Jon?" Jon swallowed heavily and shuffled his feet before he finally summoned enough courage to speak.

"Father, I've . . . I've come to bed you for permission for me to ask Gabrielle Pournell's father for her hand in marriage."

A heavy silence descended upon them, stifling Jon more than the warmth of the room was. Benjen was silent behind him and Ned himself looked alarmed at the statement. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again, not knowing what to say. Eventually, though, he did speak,

"But, Jon, I thought you wanted to join the Night Watch –"

"I-I know," Jon interrupted him nervously, shifting on his feet again. "But . . . Gabrielle is . . . father, I love her, and she loves me. I . . . don't know what I'd do without her, and I thought I wanted to join the Night Watch like uncle Benjen, but that was before . . ."

He trailed off then, not knowing exactly what to say that would not sound childish or immature, and his eyes furiously searched his feet for the words he needed so desperately to say. He wanted to say that those were his wishes and dreams before Jon had kissed her that night at the Harvest Festival, when they had gone walking by the creek that bordered the forest not that far away from the marketplace and the festival. It had been a shy kiss, their lips barely touching. They had broken away not very long after it had been instigated, both blushing so furiously, that they could see the redness of their cheeks even through the darkness of the night. When he had turned back to speak, to apologize, Gabrielle had grasped his shoulders and furiously pressed her lips back to his. He had kissed her back, putting as much passion in it than she had. He remembered the softness of the young spring grass underneath his palms as she fell back aganist the grass, him falling to support himself on his hands above her. It had been the first time he had ever made out with a girl, and ever since then, they had been nearly inseparable.

Ned waited patiently for Jon to continue, and when he did not, Ned stayed silent. His face was expressionless as he observed his son, and Jon felt his heart fall down into the pit of his stomach. His breathing got heavier in order to match the frantic pounding of his chest and he would have fallen to his knees if Benjen did not rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Ned . . . give him permission." He told his brother gently, and Ned and Jon both turned their gaze up at Benjen in alarm. Benjen nodded to tell them that he meant what he said, and Ned opened his mouth to speak,

"But Benjen! Jon gave you his oath that he would join the Night Watch when he came of age –"

Benjen chuckled, successfully interrupting his older brother, and he shook his head. "We all know what it is like to be in love, Ned. You and Catelyn have it, just like I had it with Petronia. Everybody deserves to feel that love, and if, for whatever reason, this Gabrielle dies like Petronia, then I will more than welcome Jon into the Night Watch. But as long as he is in love, I will not take him. I do not have the heart cold enough to separate two young lovers." Jon gazed up at his uncle in unadulterated thanks, and Benjen smiled back down at him. Jon turned his pleading eyes onto his father, who sighed and looked away, thinking. Benjen's gaze darkened. "Ned . . . need I remind you of Whylla?" Ned's gaze shot onto Benjen's, and Jon immediately knew who they were talking about.

They were talking about his mother.

Ned then turned his eyes back onto Jon and then, after a moment, he nodded his head. Jon broke out into a grin and felt like jumping for joy, screaming his joy from the rooftops, but managed to refrain himself.

Ned eventually smiled a small smile and chuckled. "Benjen is right . . . I cannot deny one of my son's, his love. Go . . . go demand ardently for this girl's hand in marriage and then come back me with the answer. We'll plan the wedding date then." Jon grinned and bowed.

"T-thank you, father!" He turned to his uncle Benjen, who smiled kindly. Jon nodded in his direction too. "And thank you, uncle." Benjen nodded back and gave his nephew a one-armed hug.

"Your quite welcome, my boy. Now go! Before anything happens!" Jon nodded and obediently ran for the door, where he opened it and ran down the corridor towards the entrance hall. Benjen closed the study door behind him, and the two Starks chuckled.

"You've always been a sucker for romance, haven't you, Benjen?" Benjen shrugged at his father's words.

"Oh and you haven't? I remember it like it was yesterday, Ned! You chasing after the exotic, black-haired Whylla so ardently, that it was almost like Catelyn and you wasn't even married! You fell so hard for her, Ned, and when she became with child . . ." Benjen trailed off at seeing the expressionless look on Ned's face, and Ned sighed and looked away.

"That . . . was a long time ago, Benjen. Whylla has surely moved on by now. She's probably forgotten about her son and the man who used to love her." Benjen scoffed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away.

"You know that's probably not true, Ned! Whylla loved you like no other, and you were the same with her! When Catelyn sent her away, she screamed and howled for you, but of course, you were away with Robert, so you couldn't answer. I'll remember her screams of agony till my dying day." Benjen stayed silent for a moment before he spoke again,

"I know you have a cameo of her that your keep in your pocket all the time, and no mother alive ever forgets her child. Believe me, she knows of Jon and she will never forget him or you!" Ned glanced at him.

"I just want my son to never have to go through what I went through with him and his mother." Benjen smiled weakly.

"He won't half to, Ned. Not anymore at least."