They walked back in comfortable silence, Asha's hand wrapped in Jon's. He remained alert, feeling Gyūki quietly grumbling inside him, unsettled by the Spirit's probing.
Jon (softly):
"I didn't want to bring that kind of attention."
Asha (smiling gently):
"She accepted you, didn't she? You heard her."
Jon:
"She said she'd deal with me later if things go wrong. That's not exactly comforting."
Asha:
"That's just how she talks. If she thought you were a real danger, she wouldn't have let you leave. She trusts you—like I do."
Jon exhaled, his hand instinctively going to Asha's belly.
Jon (murmuring):
"I won't let anything hurt you. Or our child."
Asha blushed but didn't pull away. The tension between them melted into the calm of the forest.
Back in the village, the elders were already aware of Dryas's meeting with Jon. Word spread quickly, and now there was a different air in the way villagers looked at him—not just as the outsider who earned their respect, but now as someone bearing an ancient power.
Dominic the Dwarf elder gave him a curt nod. Syldora the Elf watched him with measured curiosity. Ursula, Asha's mother, simply smiled.
Ursula (to Asha):
"He's dangerous… but gentle. Like your father."
Jon helped repair fences, carried supplies for expecting mothers, and even joined a few warriors in hunting. But now, the elders knew his secret—and he could feel it changing things.
Even so, Jon wasn't running. Not this time.
He had found peace here, however temporary.
And if Dryas, whimsical as she was, believed in his future with Asha…
…then Jon Snow would carve out a life worth protecting.