[After this chapter, things are finally going to explode in Winterfell.]
"Lady Catelyn," Jon said.
Catelyn nodded and smiled stiffly in response. It was not as if there was any overt sense of enmity or hostility between them, but every onlooker could feel the awkwardness in the air. Especially emanating from Catelyn.
The spectators and her children could tell that there was a sense of hesitation in her demeanor, probably, a lingering sense of shame in her posture. Was she regretting her past actions?
That was not something they could easily discern. And if she truly was regretful, was it because she had genuinely realized her mistakes? Or simply because of the great achievements Jon Snow had attained, heights so great that Catelyn now had to crane her neck just to catch a glimpse of him?
Jon's men pulled her gift from the box. It was a dress. The man holding the neatly folded fabric let it slide on itself and unwrap, and the entire dress came into full view. Another murmur of amazement and awe echoed across the room.
It was a gown-like dress, tailored in the style Catelyn usually favored. It was blue in colour, accented with shades of white, and featured a beautiful pattern of golden embroidery. The dress was exquisite and undeniably expensive.
"It is a very rare variety of silk found in the far east of Essos. It is believed that the silk will not lose its colour even after a century," Jon described. "The embroidery is done with pure gold thread and was crafted by the finest artisans Essos has to offer."
"Thank you, Jon," Catelyn responded softly.
But Jon was not finished. The man began to neatly fold the dress once again while another pulled out a different object from the crates. It was another wooden box, quite large in size. The man placed it on the high table and removed the cover.
Twenty glass containers, resting in separate cushioned compartments, came into view. All of them were filled with liquids of different colors. It did not need to be said that these were perfumes.
"Lys is famous for its perfumes," Jon continued. "And though there are a lot of varieties that are commonly available across the world, there are a few that are truly rare. These are not widely available, as the ingredients required to make them are incredibly scarce."
"And these," he continued, gesturing towards the bottles, "are a collection of twenty such rare perfumes. I assure you that you would not find any of these perfumes anywhere in Westeros."
Another wave of gasps echoed in the hall. The ladies present knew of these rare perfumes and just how difficult it was to obtain them. If it had been one or two bottles, they might not have thought much of it. But twenty bottles of twenty different varieties? Then again, given Lord Aeos's influence, achieving the impossible did not seem very hard. Even Sansa's eyes sparkled. She was already dreaming.
She imagined wearing that beautiful necklace and then applying one of the perfumes. Maybe Catelyn would even allow her to wear the dress after wearing it a couple of times herself. She was not asking for too much, was she? Catelyn was her mother, after all.
"It is too much, Jon," Catelyn responded softly.
But then, likely knowing that resistance would only make things more awkward, and considering the immense value of the gifts he had already given to her children, she sighed.
"Thank you," she said, accepting the gifts.
Jon nodded, taking a step forward to arrive in front of Ned. The entire hall was now almost holding its breath. He had given one extravagant gift after another. And now, it was finally the turn of none other than the Lord of Winterfell himself. What would Lord Aeos gift to Lord Stark?
"Lord Stark," Jon said. "You are a very noble and honorable man, and that is probably the reason you are extremely difficult to impress."
"Not to be disrespectful to anyone, but for anyone else, a few barrels of my expensive wine or anything valuable would have done the trick. But not for you," he added with a slightly helpless smile.
"Anything you give me, it would be my pleasure to receive, Jon," Ned responded with a small shake of his head. "Anything."
"As I said, you are too honorable, and I know that you will surely keep my gift in high regard no matter what I give you," Jon said, gesturing to one of his men.
Another box was unbolted, and Lord Stark's gift was pulled out of it. It was nothing extraordinary. In fact, out of all the gifts brought out from the boxes, this was the most ordinary. As the people in the hall looked at the gift, they could not understand what was so special about it. Special enough to be presented to Lord Stark.
It was a cloak. It was a long, fur-lined cloak suited for the harsh winters of the North.
"Some time ago," Jon said, "I hunted down a bison. I have hunted a lot of animals, a few bears too, but this bison was special to me."
"It is my greatest and most special hunt to date, and will perhaps remain so for the rest of my life," Jon remarked. "I hunted this bison at a very great disadvantage."
"And I thought that something involving a personal touch would be a very fine gift for you, Lord Stark," Jon said.
Ned nodded, a genuine smile on his face. If it had been something extraordinary and overly pricey, it would have been too difficult for him to actually accept it. It would have made him too uncomfortable.
But he liked this gift. And he appreciated the gesture from Jon. He understood that some hunts were truly special, and a man generally wanted to keep the spoils of those hunts as memories. Jon giving him a gift from his most prized hunt was a deeply significant gesture.
"Thank you, Jon," Ned said, accepting the cloak. "I really appreciate this, much more than I would have appreciated a costly gift."
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