Koner
Koner is a guard serving House Stark, stationed at the gates of Winterfell. His part in the story is brief but telling: he is one of the men who, without realizing it, nearly turns away one of Eddard Stark's own daughters from her family home.
Chapter 1
The gate that didn't recognize Arya
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Arya Stark
Sansa Stark
Jon SnowKoner and Henk are guarding Winterfell's main gate the day Arya Stark returns after years away. Neither of them recognizes her, and they refuse to let her in. When she asks after Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik Cassel, they tell her no one by those names is in the castle; when she asks for Jon Snow, they say he's a thousand miles away. The guards keep telling her to leave until Arya asks who is in charge. On hearing it's Sansa Stark, she warns them what will happen if her sister learns they turned away her own kin, and only then do they let her through. Koner and Henk then get tangled up arguing over who should watch her and who should tell Sansa, and in the confusion Arya slips away from them.
The two guards later report to Sansa what happened and who the stranger was asking for. Henk brushes it off, guessing she's an impostor from Wintertown, and offers to track her down. Sansa tells them not to bother, since she already knows where Arya has gone.