Rare and Expensive Gifts

"Well, Arya, I actually have more than one gift for you and the rest of our siblings but I will be spacing them over the next few days," Jon remarked. "Still, let's start with the soon-to-be nameday girl, shall we?"

And with that, he grabbed the hilt from within the open chest and showed his dear sister her first gift of the week. She gasped as she stared at it.

"That's a Valyrian Steel dagger!" She cried out, sounded so very excited. "THANK YOU!"

The Bastard of Winterfell chuckled as he handed her over the century-spanning knife. "You're welcome, Arya. But remember that this a tool, not a toy, alright?"

"Of course, of course," She muttered while examining the rippled patterns of the blade closely, the rest of her siblings laughing along with Jon at her reaction while his father raised an eyebrow at him.

"How did you get some Valyrian Steel?" He asked curiously.

"Long story," Jon replied with a shrug. "Suffice to say for now that Essos is full of wonders if you know where to look, have enough connections, and/or have managed to acquire sufficient gold."

Before Ned could ask more questions, he moved to another of the chests that he had claimed with his written ownership powers.

"Now that the special nameday girl got her first present, I have another gift for Maester Luwin," The Captain announced as he went to look for another, much larger chest.

"Oh, Jon, you shouldn't have," The elderly advisor said, but couldn't help but smile from his chair.

"Nonsense," Jon replied firmly. "I was able to make good use of so many of your teachings while I was exploring the lands across the Narrow Sea and preparing my new mercantile business. So, I would like to pay that back with a gift I am sure you would consider...invaluable," He added with a growing smirk.

The Maester of Winterfell tilted his head at that, clearly wondering what was in the chest now. So, without more preamble, Captain Snow opened it on the table and the advisor looked down, to see it full of scrolls and on more than one layer of the box.

His eyes widened as Jon had never witnessed before when he reached the top scroll.

"This is a copy of the masterwork of history known as The Fires of the Freehold that chronicle the past of Old Valyria in detail, written by Galendro himself!" He gaped, his jaw dropping to the floor. "Nowhere in Westeros is there a complete copy! Even the Citadel lacks 27 of the 62 scrolls! How many did you manage to find in Essos and where did you even get your hands on it?"

The Bastard of Winterfell smirked, chuckling at his old mentor's excitement. "I found it in one of the palaces for the wealthy beyond the Black Walls of Old Volantis. As for how many...that's the great part, Maester. As far as I can tell, it's the entire set."

Luwin looked like he was in danger of passing out from excitement. "I must send a raven to the Citadel immediately! So many Archmaesters from the Conclave would love to examine all these scrolls, especially the ones we didn't have."

"I am sure," Jon nodded in agreement. "But, please do me a favor and at least read some of it to your heart content before sharing the information with your peers, will you? This was, after all, meant to be a gift to you."

The bald Maester paused for a moment to consider those words before grinning widely at him. "Oh, my boy, I am afraid that, for all my education, I don't know a word big enough to express my gratitude but all the same, thank you so very much. I will cherish this gift forever and I am sure my order will do the same after I am gone."

"You're welcome," Jon said, his eyes surely brightening.

Then he turned to look at his father and couldn't help but notice that he seemed...very tense. He was trying trying to hide it under his smile but the corporal language made that clear. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what was up with that.

Finally, Ned turned to him on his own and opened his mouth. "I may be misremembering," He said slowly. "But I seem to recall that only people that can trace their ancestry to Old Valyrian nobility are allowed to cross the Black Gate into Old Volantis. So, how did you manage to enter the palace where you found the scrolls?"

"Ah, that," Jon thought. "Well, that is true when it comes to living there," He explained aloud. "But nowadays, Scions of the Old Blood can invite others into their own keeps even if they are outsiders as far as Valyrian ancestry is concerned. Doesn't happen often but I earned my invitation after rescuing the daughter of one of the Volantene nobles that had been captured by slavers after they also tried to also raid one of my ships and we beat them back instead," Captain Snow revealed. "The father was so grateful that he invited me to spend a few days in his palace and asked me to name his price. I ended up picking his complete copy of The Fires of the Freehold and he found it a fair trade."

For some reason, the tension in his father's posture melted into relief with that explanation. He wondered what that was about but said nothing. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he noticed that Sansa was looking at him with an impressed look on her face after retelling how he saved the Volantene noblewoman...along with some guilt bleeding into her expression.

Jon could easily figure out why...

Suddenly, a doorway into the Great Hall opened and the stewards started bringing some small and quick appetizers for their rushed feast, which was the cue for the members of the Stark Household to sit down. Once his father invited Jon's followers to sit as well, he smiled and felt extra welcomed.

While everyone started enjoying the sudden feast at high noon with nice food, talk of the past and merry conversations with the newcomers Jon had brought with him, the Bastard of Winterfell continued to share gifts with his friends and family.

Since Robb was set to inherit their family's ancestral Valyrian steel greatsword named Ice, Jon gifted him a Valyrian Steel shield he had commissioned to be reforged by the sorcerer smiths of the Free City of Qohor that had retained their secrets for how to rework existing Valyrian steel. Robb was delighted by the remarkably light but highly resistant shield, especially with the added touch that his half-brother had requested the smiths to include the sigil of House Stark into the piece.

To Bran, he gave a translated copy from a rare book that talked about the known history and legends of the now-vanished Kingdom of the Ifequevron in northeastern Essos. After all, Jon remembered that his brother enjoyed the legends about the Children of the Forest a great deal, and from what he had been able to gather, many Maesters believe the Ifequevron to have been kin to the elder race of Westerosi wood walkers, only that these ones decided to remain in Essos long ago.

To Rickon, he gave a bow made of Goldenheart wood from the Summer Islands, which are considered the finest, most powerful bows in the world aside from those made from dragonbone, although the latter category of bows has become exceedingly rare since the Doom of Valyria.

Jon explained when asked that while the exportation of Goldenheart bows through trade is forbidden by law in the Summer Islands, occasionally they grant those bows to people that have proven themselves friends to one of the Princes or Princesses of the various islands in their archipelago, which he did during one of his many adventures to the south of the Summer Sea. And that now, he wanted to give it to his little brother as a nice gift. Rickon gave him a hug worthy of giants as a response, which made him chuckle.

To his father, he told him that he had managed to gain the service of a bunch of expert glassmakers from the Free City of Myr that specialize in making Glass Gardens. He told him they hadn't arrived at White Harbor yet but that once they got North, he will be able to use their talents to make more Glass Gardens in and around Winterfell for the next year so that they are able to grow food even in the middle of winter. The Warden of the North embraced him after that information and told him he was so proud of him, which made him smile.

Finally, he told Sansa that he had a surprise for her in the chest and that, while she didn't have to, he would appreciate it if she would open it in private and then return to the Great Hall once she was ready. She smiled warmly at him and agreed immediately, saying that she will be back soon.

And so, he finally sat down at the high table and started to eat and make merry conversation, while they all waited for his sister to come back with the gift he had given her.

A/N: Just for reference, the Kingdom of the Ifequevron is an actual thing in the books. They are apparently extinct by the present-day story but Maesters suspect they were biological cousins of the Children of the Forest or something to that effect. All the other references to locations and details from outside Westeros have their basis in the books if not expressly mentioned in the show. And yeah, for a Maester like Luwin, who also made a link of Valyrian steel for his chain to signify that he studied the Higher Mysteries, being gifted a complete copy of The Fire of the Freehold would probably be as enjoyable for him as reading really high-quality erotic literature, I imagine.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, thanks for all the comments so far and if you have any theories for the secretive gift he send Sansa, I am all ears, lol. Until next time and as always, please review.