#koner x gn!reader

[brighteyedbushybrowed]

𝐀 𝐍𝐨𝐭-𝐒𝐨-𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏)

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 (Koner x Spellcaster!GN!Reader) When Koner turned up at your door asking to do business with you, you didn’t expect your agreement to turn into something more. 

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 No smut but the next part(s) will have 18+ only content so MINORS DNI SOD OFF AWAY FROM ME AND THIS BLOG. A little bit of angst if you squint, brief mentions of sex, more of the lead up to the relationship than anything, barely proofread because it’s the middle of the night and I’m tired lolol. 

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 Yes, I bent the lore of GoT for magic because I say magic rights and don’t care what George R.R. Martin says. The next two parts will be smut and will also be the same as each other but one will be written for v owners and the other will be written for p owners so that I’m not limiting it to a specific set of anatomy. I didn’t feel up to writing smut, so I wrote this instead with the intention of writing smut in separate parts. Honestly I’ve had to take a short break from writing because doing smut all the time can be a bit draining for me for personal reasons. 

The quiet and solitude of your little home you’d made for yourself in the small village a few miles from Winterfell was something you’d grown accustomed to. You’d lived with your parents for most of your life, but when the time came you built up a life away from them, although still in the same village so that you could be there for them if they needed your help.

Your house was a simple one and resided at the outskirts of the village. Your parents visited from time to time, but apart from that you never had company over. If you were to meet your friends and spend time with them, you did it in the local tavern or at their house. Of course, you were questioned about why you never invited anyone into your home, and you would wave it off saying that it was simply too small to adequately entertain guests. It was a believable enough excuse, and one that meant you were never bothered by anyone unless it was your parents wanting to catch up or spend time with you. However, the true reason behind you never having guests was nothing to do with the size of your home.

You were a spellcaster.

You had known from a young age that you were able to use magic. However, your parents made sure that you only ever used it within the family home so as to not raise suspicions. Magic wasn’t banned as such, but it was long thought to be dead and nothing but fanciful stories and old wives’ tales. If anyone thought there was even a chance that they could use magic and obtain the kind of power that could be utilised by an enemy to overthrow Winterfell, you and your parents would never have heard the end of it. So, you kept it hidden and only used it in the safety and privacy of the family home. Now, as an adult, you practiced your magic in the solitude and emptiness of your own house. It was difficult, of course, because you still weren’t sure of the limits of what you could do even after growing up using magic. You could do small things like summoning small flames into your hands and lighting fires with the blink of an eye, but when you tried to venture into other possible disciplines of magic you just didn’t seem to be able to do anything else.

It was while you were practicing your magic, trying to see how large of a flame you could conjure into your palm, when you received a knock at your door. You swiftly extinguished the fire you’d created and wrapped yourself up in your moth-eaten blanket then opened the door. Before you stood a man wearing the uniform that the Winterfell soldiers donned, confusion etched onto his features as he tried to look behind you into the house.

“Can I help you?” you asked, a polite smile on your face as you tried to close the door a little to stop him being nosy.

“Didn’t you just have a fire lit in there?”

You shook your head. “A fire? No, sir. I’m sure you’re mistaken.”

He fixed his eyes on you and you noticed immediately how dark they were. If it weren’t for the lighter flecks of hazel mixed with the brown, you’d have thought they were black.

“No, I definitely saw a fire. Why did you put it out? Are you trying to freeze to death in there?” he said, clearly determined to get an answer out of you.

“Instead of arguing about this imaginary fire you claim to have seen, why don’t you tell me why you’re here? What brings you to my home, soldier?”

As if remembering that he wasn’t there to ask about fires, his frown morphed into a smile that you had to admit was rather pretty. “I was told I could find herbal remedies and medicines here for a reasonable price if I asked nicely enough.”

You narrowed your eyes. “And who told you that? What’s wrong with the remedies and medicines up in Winterfell?”

His eyes raked up and down your body, making you let out an involuntary shiver. “None of them are as easy on the eye as you are, pretty thing. Who told me where to find you is none of your business. I have my ways.”

You let out an indignant huff but opened the door a little wider and stepped aside. “Get in, before I change my mind. Quickly now, you’re letting out the warmth.”

He smirked as he brushed past you and entered your home. You slammed the door, irritated, and made your way over to the fireplace. If he knew about the herbal remedies and medicines that you crafted, that meant he likely knew about your use of magic and there would be no point in hiding it from him now. However, that didn’t mean you weren’t going to make sure you didn’t need to start preparing to leave at a moment’s notice.

You gazed down at the kindling in the fireplace and clicked your fingers, delighting in the gasp the man let out when it caught alight and began to warm up the room. You quirked a brow as you turned to look at him and took in his expression of amazement.

“Don’t act so shocked. People don’t come to me asking for my services without knowing first at least a little about what I am, and aside from my parents nobody else knows the truth of why I live out here alone. So, tell me the name of the fool gawking at me like I’ve just grown a second head and then tell me who directed you to me.”

The soldier was quiet for a moment before he responded. “Koner.”

You nodded as you moved over to the shelves filled with remedies and medicines you’d concocted and perfected over the years. “Is Koner your name or the name of whoever needs flaying for putting both of us at risk?”

“That would be me.” You heard the man – Koner – pull out a chair from the table and assumed he’d taken a seat there. “So, is it true what they said? You make your own medicines and sell them to other outlying villages to make some coin?”

You glanced over your shoulder at him. “Yes, that’s the long and short of it. I suppose they also told you what I am as well, did they? That I use magic once thought to be extinct to concoct my remedies?”

“Yes and no.”

You picked up a couple of potions you’d put together that took care of one’s general health and placed them in front of him on the table before taking a seat opposite him.

“They told me about your business. I’ve come by here more than once but ended up never knocking on the door. I’ve seen you through the window a few times making fire out of thin air and realised that must be part of how you make them.”

Admittedly, that wasn’t the answer you’d been expecting from him. You were concerned that you would need to track down whoever had discovered your secret and put an end to their rumour spreading in order to protect both yourself and our parents. However, Koner seemed to be telling the truth, though you didn’t completely trust him yet. If he became a regular customer, you would have to see if his words were true or if he was lying to cover for someone else. One thing was for sure: you were going to need something to cover up your windows if you wanted to keep your secret exactly that.

You lifted one of the potions and observed him as he watched in interest. “This takes care of general health. Think of it like a tonic or a pick-me-up. As long as you promise to keep your mouth shut about what you know, I’ll provide you these for free if and when you need them. Other remedies and such will still cost you.”

Koner nodded, a stray brown curl slipping from beneath his hood. “Of course. Will I need to arrange with you a place to meet and trade?”

“And risk someone catching me in the act and following me home? No. You will come to me when you need something from me,” you told him, placing the potion back down on the table.

“And if someone sees me? Asks questions? What shall I tell them?”

A playful smile teased your lips. “That you’re getting an easy fuck from the village hermit.”

You laughed when he choked on his own spit, his eyes wide with shock.

“I’m joking,” you told him. “Nobody would be mad enough to come to me if sex was what they wanted, although I certainly wouldn’t say no to you given the time to get to know you better. Just say to them that my parents have asked you to check in on me regularly. I’ll make sure they know to corroborate your story should somebody discuss it with them.”

Once he agreed, the two of you spent another hour or so becoming better acquainted with one another. You found out that Koner was an only child and both his parents had died five years prior not long after he’d turned twenty. After that, he’d become a soldier of Winterfell to keep himself afloat and had been welcomed with open arms. He’d grown up in the North, but a couple towns over from the village you lived in. Frostbite had almost taken his fingers of his left hand in his first year as a soldier, scars from the ice adorning his fingertips. In turn, you’d told him about growing up as the only person in your family who had magic and how you’d found that other kinds of magic had escaped your capabilities no matter how hard you tried. You regaled him with tales of close calls and the time you’d accidentally burned your mother’s best dress when you panicked as a child, unable to control your magic as effectively at such a young age. You showed him the scar on your knee from when you’d fallen out of a tree when your childhood rival Bram bet you a fresh loaf of bread you couldn’t climb to the top.

When Koner left with the potions you gave him, it was with the promise that he would be back soon if he needed anything else. You bid him farewell with a smile, knowing that he would keep his word and likely return before the week ended.

 ***

 As weeks passed, you and Koner settled into a routine. Every Friday, once the sun set and never a minute before, your curly haired soldier with his chocolate button eyes would rap his knuckles against your door in the pattern you had both devised so that you new who was at your door: two short knocks, a pause, two more, another pause, and then one last knock against the wood. Then, you would let him in and swiftly shut the door behind him before proceeding to close the shutters on all of your windows. He’d then tell you what he needed, you would put the requested items in the satchel he’d bring with him, he’d pay you, and then you’d spend the next couple of hours talking. Sometimes it was about something that had happened that week. Other times it was more questions so that you could become more familiar with one another.

What hadn’t been planned as part of your routine was falling for him. Koner was undoubtedly a handsome man, but his personality – his kindness, the strength of his spirit, the softness behind the hardened exterior of a soldier – was more handsome still. You would spend your days apart hoping that he would drop in unexpectedly one night to spend more time with you, always keeping your home more organised and tidier just in case. The money he paid you for your homemade remedies and medicines had been enough to keep you better fed and you had even given some of it to your parents so that they too could live a better life. Even when you told him he didn’t have to pay you as much as he did, that you would reduce the price just for him if he wished, he would always pay you the full amount.

One evening, when your mother came to visit your home, she’d asked you about your relationship with Koner.

“When are you going to tell him, love?” she’d enquired.

You gave her a frown in return. “Tell him what?”

“That you’re in love with him.”

Those six words had hit you harder than you thought they would. You merely shook your head.

“He doesn’t see me in the same way, mother. Besides, he’s a soldier. He could have anyone he wanted. Why would he want the lonely village hermit with their little parlour tricks and potions?”

You glared at her when she smacked your arm.

“I will not have you speaking of yourself in such a way! If he cared so little for you, would he still insist on paying you no less than the full amount of what your potions are worth? Would he bother to stick around after getting what he needs? Would he try so hard to get to know you better and treat you with such kindness? I think you underestimate him and his feelings.”

“And what if he really doesn’t care for me at all?” you murmured, your head bowed to avoid her gaze. “What if all of this is him being polite? He’s a soldier of Winterfell, mother. There must be countless men and women who would do anything for him at the tip of his hat. What makes me so special?”

Her arms wrapped around you from behind and pulled you into her warm embrace. “You always were too stubborn to take mine or your father’s word for it. If you asked Koner how he felt, I know that he would say he feels the same for you that you do for him.”

Even with your mother’s reassurance, the voice of doubt still lingered in the back of your mind.

 ***

At the four month mark of yours and Koner’s friendship, he knocked that now comforting rhythm at your door and you opened the door with a smile to be met with a sight you weren’t expecting.

He’d brought you flowers.

“I hope you don’t mind, pretty thing,” he said sheepishly. “I saw them on my patrol when I walked past the flower stall and thought of you, so I bought them. If you don’t like them, I can always throw them away. It was a bit forward of me really and I wasn’t thinking when I bought them. I apologise if –”

You took the small bouquet off him before he could change his mind and stepped aside for him to enter, inhaling the scent with a grin. “They’re beautiful, although I’m not sure what I did to deserve such beautiful flowers.”

Koner closed the door as soon as he was inside and shrugged off his cloak. “That’s why I’m here, actually. Tonight will be the last of our business together.”

His words filled you with ice cold as you stared at him. “Oh. I see.”

He continued. “I’ve been considering this for a while. I can’t continue pretending anymore.”

At this point, you could feel a knot forming in your stomach. “Pretending?”

“Pretending that I see you as a friend.”

Your hurt must have shown on his face because he quickly backtracked.

“No, wait, that came out wrong. I meant pretending that I see you as just a friend.”

You licked your lips and placed the flowers down on your table, busying yourself afterward by closing the shutters of your windows so that nobody could look in. A jolt of shock ran through you when a pair of firm hands turned you around once the last shutters were closed, those same hands coming to rest on your hips as you gazed into his eyes.

“And how do you really see me?” you whispered, your heartbeat hammering in your ears.

“Something I don’t have a word for.” His thumbs caressed your sides soothingly. “You are all I think about when I’m on patrol and carrying out my duties as a Winterfell soldier. I work as hard as I can, hoping to be paid extra if I work hard enough, in the hopes that I can buy even more from you and have an excuse to stay here longer every Friday. It never works, and the lads tease me relentlessly for it, but I don’t care. When my comrades boast about the latest whore they’ve laid with in the brothel in the next town over, all I’m able to think about is how I wish I could lay with you. One of them tells me a joke and I think about whether you would laugh at it too. I see Lord and Lady Stark and the love they share, and I feel a need rooted deep inside me to have that with you regardless of what others would think or say. I dream of you some nights, dreams that I dare not repeat out loud, and when I wake up you occupy every inch of my brain until I swear that I’m about to lose my mind.

“So, you see, I can’t continue to see you every Friday without hoping that you feel the same way. If you can see me only as a friend, then please tell me. Tell me now so that I don’t keep getting my hopes up and deluding myself into thinking that you care for me as much as I care for you.”

Speechless and unable to think of the words to say, you cupped his face and brought his lips to yours in a kiss that you hoped conveyed just how deeply you felt for him. How hard you’d fallen for him over the past four months. He pulled your hips flush against his and you started to relax when he returned the kiss, lips moving over yours messily as you tilted your heads for better access. You hadn’t even realised you were both moving until your back hit the wall. Your fingers buried themselves in his hair and tugged at his brunette curls, his soft moan making you smile against him.

Your lungs crying out for air, the two of you parted and broke the kiss but still held onto one another as if one of you were about to disappear.

“Fuck, I wanted to do this properly,” he muttered, making you laugh.

“Koner, you still have the chance to ask if you so wish. I won’t stop you.”

He blushed as his eyes flickered to and from your lips. “Very well. Y/N, would you do me the honour of blessing me with your presence on a horse ride away from the village, lest I corrupt you and ravish you here and now?”

The thought of him having his way with you had you biting your lip, but that could wait for a later date. He wanted to romance you properly, like a gentleman, and who were you to deny him that?

“I would love that, my sweet man.”

Beaming, he pulled you in for another kiss.