A Combination of Shock and Acceptance

"Oh. Ohhhh!" Arya blurted out, sounding immensely surprised. "You own me! I can't believe I never knew that before. Wait, have you always owned me? Why didn't you say anything before?"

Jon stared at his recently claimed sister, taking a brief moment to once again marvel at the power of his god-given gift. Like with the other times he had enforced his claims, the person in question always seems to think the written proof of his ownership means that they have always been the property of the Bastard of Winterfell. What makes them shocked most is usually the fact that before that point, they hadn't actually figured it out, not so much that he actually owns them. As a result, between the earlier talk of his access to magic to his previous experience claiming his followers, he knew how to respond to her questions with practiced ease.

"Yes, I have always owned you," Jon replied, his tone soft. "However, before, I didn't really want to say anything because you are also my sister and I love you so I didn't want you to feel less than the wonderful young woman you are. But since this was the only way for everyone to understand that I have the authority to break your betrothal to Theon, I decided to use that spell to make my claim to you visible for all to see. Now, we just have to have them read the words on your palm and even the King will have to accept my decision not to move through with your betrothal," He explained.

"I see..." She said slowly, clearly still trying to digest this monumental piece of information.

She sat back down on the chair, shaking her head with wide eyes. Jon just stayed there in silence, letting her begin to come to grips with the fundamental shift in their relationship. A couple of minutes later, she took a deep breath and actually smiled at him.

"Well, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I came here asking for your help but you have kept your word and freed me from a life I would have hated," She remarked. "And I thank you for letting me grow up without knowing that I was your property all along. You could have commanded me to do so many things before and I would have had to go through with them whether I liked it or not, because you are my owner and I must obey you. But you held off for as long as you could and when you finally let me know, it was to fulfill my wish because I asked you to," His sister said with grateful conviction.

Then she got up and rushed to hug him, embracing him with the strongest grip she could.

"I love you so much, brother," She said in a whisper, her voice trembling with emotion. "Thank you so much for rescuing my dreams."

Jon hugged her back, sighing deeply as he did so and feeling incredibly pleased with her reaction. It was even better than he had been expecting.

Eventually, they broke away and Arya took a deep breath. "So, what now?"

As a response, he handed her the leather glove back. "For now, we act as if nothing has changed between us," He stressed. "Do not let anyone read the words on your palm until I tell you to. Since the king arrives tomorrow along with Theon, we won't have to wait that long before we reveal that I can break your betrothal. But I still don't want you to just show that to them the second they arrive," The Bastard of Winterfell explained. "Just because they will have to accept my command on that matter doesn't mean they won't be angry at the situation. After all, for good or ill, they had been counting on that betrothal to bind the Iron Islands to the North in a big way. Such disappointment might be enough to make a few enemies or even cause some problematic consequences involving the King. So, I am going to need a bit of time to prepare so that I can quell these fires as soon as they start."

Arya nodded in understanding, accepting every word he said. Jon scratched his chin, thinking.

"When were you supposed to get married?" He asked, looking for details.

"The day after my nameday," His sister responded. "So, in three days. The King and his court were supposed to be staying long enough to attend. Apparently, we would have also gotten another ceremony back on Pyke with a priest of the Drowned God overseeing it but now it's not going to happen, thank the Old Gods," She muttered.

"Hmph, three days," He mused, making some rapid calculations in his head based on the flying speeds he had come to expect from Brindled Wyverns.

Then he nodded almost imperceptibly, realizing that it would be just about enough time, provided he could send out a glass candle message and get his people across the Narrow Sea working on his new orders immediately.

"That should be enough time for me to call in some favors, pay a few services, provide several gifts and...change the minds of some important people, despite their stubbornness," Jon added. "Don't worry, I will be ready to control the damage when the time comes, as long as you make sure that no one reads the words that prove that I own you for the next 3 days. Well, at least not without my permission."

"Deal," Arya said slowly as she tilted her head at his words. "Wait, are there more people here in Winterfell or soon to arrive at the castle that are actually your property even if they don't know that yet?" She asked, sounding curious.

The Bastard of Winterfell paused at that, considering for a second before deciding to tell her the truth about his intentions, or at least what would soon become the truth for all intents and purposes. After all, that would make it easier for her mind to readily accept his future claims in the keep.

"Yes," He told her with a nod. "And in fact, most of the people that followed me here also belong to me, including Lyra Mormont and Sarella Sand."

Her eyes widened at that but, as usual, when it came to the ones he took over, didn't question the validity of it all. "No wonder Lyra decided to follow you after the raid at Bear Island and stayed by your side for all these years. And I suppose having such a loyal, personal healer would be most valuable. Anyone else I should know about?"

Jon took a deep breath finally said aloud what he had been keeping inside himself for a long time, albeit in a twisted form to better fit his dear sister's mind that now accepts his claims as retroactive, not new.

"Well...I also own Sansa," He said, as her jaw dropped to the floor. "Not that she knows that yet."

"Huh," Arya muttered, her expression shocked. "That's incredible to hear and also...very ironic, given my mother's fight with you."

Jon inhaled sharply as the memory came back to him due to those words and he nodded in agreement. "Indeed. But I also didn't want her to feel mortified or different as there was a chance she might have if I had told her before, so I didn't, even after Lady Catelyn was pushing for me to leave due to the...incident," He explained.

His little sister smiled brightly at him. "That makes you a very loving and considerate owner, you know that Jon? I am so glad that it is you that I belong to and not to someone much worse."

"And I am glad that once the truth is revealed, after all this time, you will be able to follow me on my adventures across the world," Captain Snow told her with a grin. "It will be really great to have you along."

They hugged once more and Jon was able to feel her breast colliding with his chest. He shook the tempting idea that abruptly came to him out of his head, however, resolving to wait for a more intimate and celebratory moment; perhaps after he had prepared enough to solve their immediate problems during her eighteenth name day and had gotten his sister in a great and grateful mood.

Eventually, they broke away. "I need to get some orders to my followers so that I can start our preparations," He explained. "In the meantime, go look for Sarella and tell her I order her to come to my room with her box of medical supplies. I will be back before you return and she will be able to tend to the wound in your shoulder. The sooner that heals, the better."

"Alright," Arya said as she nodded and headed to the door. "See you soon, Master." She added as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to say.

"And knowing the usual effects of these powers, it probably is from where she is standing," He thought to himself.

Then, Jon shook his head and went for his personal bag, before taking out the magical glass candle that he carries with him for when he is the one that needs to contact his most capable and well-placed servants. Then he took a deep breath and focused. It was time to send new orders to his agents on the Free City of Braavos.

A/N: Just to clarify, like many other threads, I am also operating under the idea that claiming someone with these powers ensures that they think they have always belonged to their owner, not that it is a recent development. However, given the magical connotations of the conversations in the last chapter, Arya would have at the very least wondered what exactly was Jon doing with his "magical artifact" when he wrote on her so, he decided to use a cover story that the magic didn't actually claim people, just made everyone looking aware that said person had always belonged to him.

Not exactly a change in the nature of the Written Ownership powers since Jon is actually lying there. Still, the cover story he has developed for his special quill makes it easier for the recently claimed individual to go into acceptance mode quickly. So it was important in this context given that Jon still loves Arya and wanted her to feel at ease instead of giving her uneasy mysteries to ponder on or commanding her to not question the gaps in her logic.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and Arya's reaction to everything. Now, instead of dealing with the healing efforts and the glass candle message in "on-screen" in the very next chapter, there will be a slight time skip after that. You see, Jon has now realized that in claiming Arya to fulfill her wishes, he is going to have to do previously unplanned damage control. He will start putting that in motion during his "off-screen" call to Braavos but after that, he will realize he will have to accelerate his other plans and, ideally, to get a crucial part ready before Catelyn gets back and starts causing trouble for him, not to mention watching him like a hawk, which would include who he meets in private and why.

So, expect the next chapter to deal with that. Until then, please review and hopefully see you soon!