NALIA SNOW HAD ALWAYS FELT LIKE A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN. Ever since the death of her father and the welcoming she got into the Stark family. She hadn't felt a true moment of peace. Winterfell was comfortable, cold she was sure, but comfortable nonetheless.

"I find I quite hate stitching." Nalia huffed as she let her embroidery fall against her lap.

Sansa leaned over to look at her pillow. "Perhaps you hate it because you are bad at it." She teased. Nalia's mouth fell open in faux offense. She never took anything Sansa said with seriousness, she knew that she never meant it.

"Are you aware of the fact that you are a cruel girl?" Nalia teased back, a wide grin on her face.

"Very much so." Sansa smiled as she leaned back into her chair, focusing down on her own embroidery.

"You two are insufferable." Arya looked over at the two girls, during which she promptly stabbed herself in the finger. She hissed as she looked down at the spot of blood that had seeped from the wound on her finger.

Nalia never minded Arya's comments. She found that she didn't care what the younger girl thought. She and Sansa had usually been in their own worlds anyways. It was as if it was just the two of them and everything else was simply background noise. It had been that way from the first time they had met.

Nalia bit her tongue before she made an off handed comment at the youngest Stark girl, as Septa Mordane approached the girls, her arms behind her back.

"Fine work, as always. Well done." The Septa complimented Sansa's work before she looked at Nalia's. A disappointed expression washed over her aged features, and Nalia knew that her work had been less than satisfactory. "Keep trying." She encouraged and left the girls.

When her back was turned, Sansa let out a fit of giggles.

"Hush you." Nalia gently hit Sansa in the arm, which did nothing to stop the girl from clutching her stomach with laughter. Even at her own expense, Nalia couldn't help but laugh too.

"I think that's enough for today." Sansa tried her best to breathe as she set down her needlework. Her younger sister was more than happy to oblige and left the two older girls, eager to see the sparring in the courtyard below.

Sansa watched her younger sister rush out of the room and towards the courtyard. "I do not understand why she is so interested in such boyish things." Sansa muttered.

"Not all of us can be successful at needlework, and must find other ways." Nalia joked.

Sansa turned back and looked at her friend, she found that no one made her smile quite as often and large as Nalia did. They were best friends after all. "And I suppose you will join the knights and take up sword fighting?" The smile on Sansa's lips never faded from her face as she stood.

Nalia tilted her head back and forth as she followed Sansa. "If I so feel like it. Though, I feel like I would make an awful knight." She scrunched up her nose at the thought of wearing such heavy armor.

Sansa and Nalia too made their way near the courtyard, but instead of near the bottom by the action like Arya, they joined Catelyn as an observer.

"Mother." Sansa greeted her mother warmly.

Catelyn and Sansa had always been warm, at least that's how it always felt to Nalia. She found she was quite jealous of it. She wished that she had someone that would brush her hair at night and tell her stories of the past. Yet, she brushed her own hair and went to bed with nothing but the sounds of the castle around her.

"Sansa. Nalia." Catelyn had tried her best to be friendly with Nalia, but she found that she didn't appreciate Ned bringing in another child for them to take care of. Especially when Nalia's last name matched Jon's. "Have you heard the news?"

"What news?" Sansa asked.

Nalia made sure to keep quiet around Catelyn, she didn't want to give her a reason to dislike her or even a reason to get rid of her. She knew that Sansa would fight for her presence and companionship, she just wasn't sure how influential her voice would.

"Jon Arryn is dead." Sansa's mouth fell open as she thought of how her father must've felt when he heard the news. "The king rides for Winterfell. With the queen and all the rest of them."

"They are coming to the North?" Nalia couldn't help but ask. She was unsure why the King would come so far.

"I'm afraid so." Catelyn confirmed.

"When will they be here?" Sansa asked, the concern in her voice staying the same.

"Tomorrow." The two girls left in a giddy at the idea of meeting the King and Queen. Sansa was left a little sad about the news of Lord Arryn, but she never knew him as her father did, she did not mourn.

"What gowns will we wear when they arrive?" Sansa asked as she looked through her wardrobe, her fingers brushing against the soft fabrics of the dresses she so adored.

Though Nalia was well off with what her father had left her, she did not have nearly as much as Sansa's family had. Her only hope was to marry someone wealthy, which even at thirteen was something she was aware of. Marrying for love was not in her future.

"Whatever you desire!" Nalia exclaimed. She was perched on the chair in front of Sansa's vanity, she found she was quite jealous of all of Sansa's things.

"Perhaps this red?" She held the red silk of a gown that Nalia had seen her in before. "Or this green."

Nalia thought about the dresses for a moment before she shook her head. "The blue one, the one that Robb had picked out for you."

Sansa nodded her head as she dug through her wardrobe. She gently pulled out the light blue dress that her older Robb had gotten her earlier that year. "This one?" She held it up for Nalia's approval.

"Yes!" Nalia exclaimed from Sansa's bed.

"As you wish." Sansa hung up the dress. "Do you think the prince will notice?" Sansa, unsure asked her closest confidant.

Nalia adored Sansa. She always had, which was why she valued her feelings more than anything. She ignored the idea of how she would feel if Sansa abandoned her for the prince. 

"How could he not?" She smiled at the redheaded girl.

Sansa smiled as she thought of the prospect. She found she wanted nothing more than to impress the prince.

"Perhaps he will bring a friend, for you of course." Sansa didn't want Nalia to feel left out. She figured that Nalia wanted what every young girl wanted, love. Which was true. Nalia just found it wasn't her main focus.

"I care not for a friend of the prince. I am much too occupied with mischief." Nalia smirked at the girl. It was true that Nalia was more devious of the two.

"Girls." Ned Stark peaked his head into his daughter's bedroom.

"Lord Stark, how did you know I was here?" Nalia smiled at the man. He often reminded her of her father.

"Where Sansa goes, you usually follow." Ned entered the room, but his hands were behind his back, obviously holding something in his hands.

Sansa smiled at her father. "Father, what do you have?" Sansa delighted in gifts.

Ned smiled at the two girls before he pulled his arms out from behind his back, revealing two wolf puppies.

"Father!" Sansa exclaimed as she went to accept the gift.

"We found them on our hunt. One for all of my children." Ned's eyes stopped on Nalia, a soft look around his eyes. Her heart melted at the idea of Ned referring to her as one of his children. 

"They're direwolves. The sigil of our house."

He handed one of the pups to Sansa and the other to Nalia. Sansa's was a light grey, Nalia found that Sansa's wolf fit her. Nalia's was dark brown and snuggled into her arms.

"Father, I love her." Sansa gushed.

"Thank you, my lord." Nalia smiled at the man. He soon left the room, leaving the girls to be excited about their new companions.

"I shall call her Lady!" Sansa exclaimed when it was just the two girls. "What about you, what shall you call him?"

Nalia looked down at the pup asleep in her arms. "I shall call him Echo."

The two girls had stayed up far past Septa Mordane had wanted them to. Sharing deep secrets and outrageous dreams. A prominent of those dreams being Sansa leaving for Kings Landing and becoming the queen of the Seven Kingdoms with Nalia by her side.

Sansa smoothed out her skirts as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Do I look presentable?" Sansa fussed.

"You look delightful." Nalia reassured her, she was adorned in an emerald dress. "He will be stunned by your presence."

"You are sure?" Sansa turned around to look at the girl head on.

"No doubt in my mind." Nalia reassured her.

"Girls!" Robb called outside of Sansa's room.

Nalia rushed to open the door. The ever dutiful son was on the other side of the door. Nalia liked Robb. She liked all the Starks, but she loved Jon. Not as much as she loved Sansa, but nearly as much.

"Nalia." Robb nodded his head at the girl. Lady and Echo bounded their way towards Robb as soon as he had entered the room.

Robb's wolf, Grey Wind sat by his side. It had seemed that the direwolves had doubled in size just overnight.

"The king and queen will be arriving soon." Robb looked between the two girls, a faint smile on his lips when he saw that Sansa was wearing a gown he had gifted to her.

"Yes brother, we shall be right down." Sansa assured him. Robb spared Nalia a nod and left the room.

Nalia practically deflated. "I do not think he likes me." She huffed. She had always wanted everyone to like her.

Sansa smoothed her hair as she looked at her self one last time in the mirror. "Nonsense, everyone likes you."

As much as Nalia wanted to believe that, it wasn't true. Sansa found that is she liked Nalia, everyone else should. It was as simple as that, but Nalia knew that she walked a fine line with Catelyn Stark, and Robb found her annoying.

She tried not to care, but she did, most of the time she cared entirely too much.

"Come. We musn't be late to meeting the King." Sansa wrapped her hand around the other girl's and pulled. They bounded through the castle, hands intertwined until they reached the courtyard where the rest of the Starks were.

Sansa, hand still holding onto Nalia's pulled her next to her in the line, but that wasn't right. She wasn't a Stark.

Which was why when Catelyn turned and stared down at the girl, she pushed herself behind Sansa instead of next to her.

"What are you doing?" Sansa looked between her mother and her closest friend.

Nalia's thumb rubbed over Sansa's hand before she let it go. "I am not a Stark.". Nalia looked back to Catelyn for confirmation of her place. The last thing she wanted to do was inconvenience the Wardeness of the North.

Sansa turned towards her mother, a pout present on her face.

"Move!" Arya shoved her younger brother Bran out of the way and took her place next to Sansa. Arya turned her head to look at what Sansa was so upset about, she should have known that it would have something to do with Nalia, it always did.

The family silenced as the royal court made their way over.

Sansa's irritation about Nalia's placement behind her, melted away as soon as she set eyes on Joffery Baratheon. The blonde boy smirked at the girl and a red blush tinted her cheeks. Nalia couldn't see her face, but if she had she would have scowled at the boy. She approved of Sansa and Joffery in theory, less in practice.

As Robert Baratheon dismounted his horse, everyone kneeled. Nalia's knees dug into the ground and she found she liked the feeling more than looking at Joffery and Sansa.

The king approached Ned Stark, he gestured up with his hand, and the man stood. The two men were stoic as they looked at each other. The rest of the courtyard rose with them.

"Your Grace." Ned greeted.

"You've got fat." The king looked him up and down.

Ned smirked and raised an eyebrow at the king. The two grown men fell into a fit of chuckles as they clapped their hands on the other's back. Two old friends reuniting at last.

Robert laughed as he moved on to Ned's wife. "Cat!" He dragged out her name as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Your Grace." Was all Catelyn could mutter.

"Nine years. Why haven't I seen you? Where the hell have you been?" Nalia smiled at the king's words, she found she quite liked his humor.

"Guarding the North for you, Your Grace. Winterfell is yours." Ned smiled at his old friend.

"Where's the Imp?" Arya whispered into Sansa's ear as Robert had started with the eldest Stark sibling, Robb.

"Will you shut up?" Sansa snapped at the younger girl.

"My, you're a pretty one." Robert referred to Sansa. Nalia was unsure how Sansa never got annoyed with statements like those, Nalia thought it must've been clear to everyone with eyes that Sansa Stark was the most beautiful girl in all the lands. "Your name is?" The king stopped by Arya.

"Arya." The girl tried to feign confidence but, her voice came out weak.

Robert moved onto Bran and Nalia could see Arya, breathe out a relieved sigh.
Nalia's eyes scanned over the court, her eyes fell on Jaime Lannister as he was removing his helmet and dismounting his horse.

Without thought, Nalia leaned forward whispered into Sansa's ear. "That's the queen's brother, the Kingslayer."

Sansa tried to contain her smile.

"It's fine when she does it, but when I—" Arya received a kick to her shin from her younger sister.

The queen, Cersei Lannister approached the Starks.

"My queen." Ned greeted the miserable woman.

"My queen." Catelyn mirrored her husband.

"Take me to your crypt, I want to pay my respects." Robert had already turned to head towards the Stark crypt. It was no secret who Robert Baratheon wanted to see in the crypts.

"We've been riding for a month, my love. Surely the dead can wait." Cersei tried to reason with her husband, but there was no one that was going to get between Robert Baratheon and Lyanna Stark.

"Where's the Imp?" Arya whispered again, this time not so quietly.

The queen, embarrassed in front of Winterfell went back to her brother.

After the uncomfortable interaction between the court, the families of Winterfell resumed their daily tasks, of course not without lingering stares on the royals.

"He's so handsome." Sansa whispered to Nalia as they approached the castle once more. Nalia turned her head to look back at Joffery, handsome was not the word that came to her mind when she laid eyes on the boy.

"Don't you think he's handsome?" Sansa asked, Nalia's opinion was practically the only one that mattered to her.

Joffrey met Nalia's eyes, the two stared for a moment. "He's quite handsome, my lady." Sansa hated it when Nalia used formal terms when addressing her, she so desperately wanted Nalia to recognize her as an equal, as a friend.

The redheaded girl rolled her eyes at her friend. "You know I hate it when you call me 'my lady'." Sansa quickened her pace towards her bedchambers, Nalia following behind her as always.

"Apologies." Nalia catches up with the girl, she leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "My lady." She was already picking up her skirts and running ahead before Sansa could catch her.

"You scoundrel!" Sansa shouted as she took off after her.

All that could be heard throughout the castle was the gigglings of two very best friends as they chased each other through the halls.

"We must get ready for the feast." Sansa pulled Nalia towards her. "Here, sit." She pushed down on the girl's shoulders until she was sitting in front of her. "I will do your hair."

Sansa's nimble fingers threaded through Nalia's hair, pulling pieces where she wanted them to go, braiding her dark hair.

"You do not have to." Nalia tried to pull away.

"Of course, I do." Sansa tugged on her hair causing Nalia to wince, she did not think that Sansa did it by accident. "Who else will do it?"

Nalia was sure that Sansa didn't mean anything harmful by it, but the comment stung somewhere deep in her heart.

So she sat there and let Sansa weave her hair into a long braid.

"Come! We're going to be late!" Sansa pulled Nalia behind her as they scrambled down the hall to the great hall. When the came upon the door, Jon Snow standing in the courtyard caught Nalia's eye.

"What are you doing? Let us go." Sansa urged Nalia inside the hall.

Nalia grabbed Sansa's hand with both of hers. "Go, I shall see you inside." She squeezed the girl's hand.

Sansa paused, looking the girl over before she went inside. Nalia's sure her absence was going to be noted, not because she was remarkable, but because of Sansa's entrance without a chaperone. She knew it wouldn't be long until Robb was sent to find her, especially because of Sansa's inevitable whining.

"Not interested in delicious food, Lord Snow?" Nalia approached the curly headed boy.

Jon turned to look at the younger girl, an endearing smile on his face. "Afraid I wasn't invited." Nalia frowned at the news, she always looked forward to spending time with Jon.

"That's hardly fair." She crossed her arms over her chest. "They let me go."

Jon sighed. "The fit Sansa would throw is not worth the trouble." He chuckled. "Besides, do you really want to spend the night with pompous wealthy folk?"

"Not really, no. But-"

"Sansa does." Jon finished for her. Silence hung in the air between them. A heavy silence, almost a goodbye.

"You're leaving aren't you?" Nalia broke the silence.

Jon inhaled. "Yes."

Nalia blinked up at him, she knew of his want to go to Castle Black, she was just never sure if he was actually going to go.

Tears filled her eyes, but she never let them fall.

"I suppose I should join the feast before Lord Stark sends Robb after me." Nalia swallowed. "I wish you good luck on your journey, Jon. I'll always be on your side."

"If the time comes for you to call upon me, I'll be there." He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he didn't, too afraid to cross a boundary that wasn't there.

"Don't make promises you cannot keep, my lord." She smiled, a cheeky smile as she turned and walked into the hall.

"Nalia!" Was the first thing that greeted her ears as Sansa rushed to her. She never found that her and Sansa were separated for long, even in sleep Sansa found her way to Nalia in their dreams. "I talked to the queen!" Nalia could tell that Sansa was trying to stay quiet and was failing at doing so.

Sansa pulled Nalia back to her table, all while speaking quickly about her interaction with the queen.

"And she wants me to make a gown for her, can you believe that?" Sansa exclaimed.

Nalia was sure that she wouldn't even be able to get a word in, but that didn't bother her, she found that she liked listening to Sansa more than she liked anything else in the world.

"It's amazing! I cannot-" Sansa cut herself off as she made eye contact with the prince from across the room.

Sansa was watching Joffrey. Joffrey was watching Sansa. Nalia was watching Sansa watch Joffrey. She feared it was going to be a habit, and she was unsure why she hated it so much.

"Sansa." Nalia pulled her away from Joffrey's gaze.

"What were you doing outside anyways?" Sansa deflected, she knew that Nalia had caught her crushing, not that she entirely minded.

"Speaking with Jon." Nalia replied casually, everyone knew that her and Jon got along.

"What about?" Sansa felt herself entitled to everything that happened in Nalia's life.

"Must you know?" Nalia's hostility caught Sansa off guard, the two girls simply staring at each other until Arya spilled something on Sansa.

"Arya!" Sansa shouted.

And their interaction was forgotten, a single thing that Nalia knew that Sansa did not. A divide, almost microscopic, between the two girls.