4) Revolution in the backyard.
After the tense meeting the day before, the mood in Winterfell was quite grim. There were court greetings and polite nods when the Starks joined the Lannister brothers and Daenerys for breakfast the following morning.
Jon decided to address his people as soon as possible so he had them all summoned in the yard after they had broken their fast. He stood in the balcony side by side with Daenerys, with Sansa standing to his left. Arya and Bran were next to Sansa, and Tyrion and Jaime next to Daenerys. Sam and Brienne were standing behind. Below, everybody who was currently staying at Winterfell: Vale Lords and their soldiers, Northern Lords and their soldiers, Wildlings, Unsullied, servants, cooks, smiths, in short, anybody who would lend a hand in the fight for the living. Jon took a deep breath and took a step forward.
"People of North. People of the Vale. People of Essos. We need to forget where we come from and band together to fight a common enemy. As you may very well know, there is a threat the likes of which we have never seen before lurking at our doorstep. I will not lie to you nor will I soften my words, for we should all be prepared and aware of what is coming" he said and waited for everybody to calm down.
"The white walkers have awoken and the Night King is leading them. I have already fought them, and they are not an enemy we can beat easily. Other men who have also stood by me beyond the Wall will testify to the utter importance of our work here. This is our last stand. Should the white walkers venture past Winterfell into the South, there will be no stopping them. Their army grows with every enemy they defeat, turning dead soldiers into part of their army" he continued and allowed his people a moment for the information to sink in.
"We have received news that Eastwatch by the Sea has already fallen and we are not very hopeful for Castle Black. We have received no news in days, and their last communication was dire. We know that the Night King has got himself a dragon, much like the ones flying up above our heads. But we have two things in our advantage. They are not an army of men who can think, they are just beasts. And also, we have a way to stop them: dragonglass and valyrian steel. Queen Denerys and I have brought dragonglass from the mines in Dragonstone and our smiths working as we speak to add little studs of glass into our weapons. I believe we can win this. Two of our dragons can best one of theirs. And our men with the right weapons can best creatures with no thinking ability. We can do this. For the living!" he finished with clenched fists in the air hoping for a loud roar of approval and cheer. But none was forthcoming, only low whispers and muted conversations. Jon and his companions at the balcony were at a loss.
"Is that all?" a loud voice rang out from the group of people below.
"For now" Jon replied defensively. "We need to band as one and bring our strength together" Jon tried to rally the men again. "For the Living!" he cheered.
"But you're not telling us everything" the same man challenged him. "We know the truth now, but we want to hear it from you" he directed his anger at the nine people in the balcony.
"Aye, it is time you came clean with us" another man supported him.
"We know how the Night King got his dragon: a foolish plan by the Lannister Imp that our gracious King Jon botched."
"You doomed us all you fools!"
"Just like when you had us fight the Boltons with no strategy! You led us like rabbits onto the battlefield. You led us to our deaths."
"Where are the men from the Capital? The Lannister army? All we got from Queen Cersei is a useless, one-handed fool! You botched our chances of getting more men!"
"And who is this babbling, incompetent, fat boy who is now part of the Council? Where did he come from? How can he call himself a Brother when he has a wife and a baby?"
"Fat boy was a Brother and he left. Jon was also a Brother and he left. Do these oaths no longer matter? Do these oaths mean nothing to you anymore?"
"And who is this foreign Queen?"
"Will you have us burned if we don't bend the knee like you've done to others?"
"You're a tyrant! Just like your father was!"
"What is she doing in our House? Why did you surrender our trust to her? You betrayed us!"
"Why bring a Targaryen after we fought so hard against them? My father and uncles died fighting them! Fighting the monster that had abducted our beloved Lady Lyanna. Fighting to avenge our beloved Lord Rickard. And it was all a lie! Lyanna lied to her people."
"And now we hear that Lord Eddard knew about it from the beginning and kept the truth from us, taking us to war under false pretenses."
"I bet you all knew as well! That's why you went to negotiate with the Targaryen Queen in the first place. The Starks have given our lands and our freedom to the Targaryens."
"Were you planning to hand our country to her once the fighting was over?"
"I chose a Stark as my King, but now I question my choice."
"You and all your petty squabbles to see who should be our King. Is it Jon? Is it the Targaryen girl? Is it Sansa? It should be none of you!"
"The Starks have been lying to us for years while we do their bidding!"
"Many of us died fighting for Lord Eddard in Robert's Rebellion and it was all a lie. Many of us died fighting for King Robb and the fool breaks a vow that gets them all killed. Many of us fought with Jon for Winterfell, and the fool got our friends killed by recklessly rushing in with no plan. It was the Vale army brought in by Lord Baelish that saved us. And how was his kindness repaid by the Starks? He was murdered in cold blood."
"I see you now making great friends with the Tagrayens and the Lannisters, people who have caused so much grief to the North, but keeping us, your loyal servants who have fought and died for you, in the dark!"
"We had to find out by chance through a boy. Were you even going to tell us any of this? Or did you mean to keep the truth from us and have us think you were all these great heroes?"
"I piss on the Stark honor!" the crowd roared in anger much to the confusion of the Stark family and their friends up on the balcony.
"Silence" a piercing cry was uttered by a feminine voice accompanied by the shriek of the two dragons soaring up above. "If you do not remain quiet and listen I will be forced to act" Daenerys threatened the angry crowd. "Dracarys" she yelled at the sky and one of the dragons started to spit fire into the air. When the crowd was silent she continued.
"I do not want to threaten you. I mean to rule you. My name is Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons" she addressed the men before her. "Everything Jon has told you is true. We need to put all these arguments behind us and band together for the common good" but she was crudely interrupted by a rock landing on her face.
"You are not my Queen" the young woman who had thrown the rock yelled back. "None of you are" she said pointing at the Starks in the balcony. "House Stark is not my Liege House any more"
Having uttered those words, she turned around and started heading for the gate. Other people followed her and not long after that, there was a trail of Northerners making their way out of the castle.
The Vale Lords also resented the fact that their newly pledge loyalty had been squandered and given away to a foreign Queen. "If you have lied to your own people who have chosen you of their own free will, what will you do with us?" one Lord questioned.
"It was our army that won the battle and saved your lives. However, the credit that should have gone to us went to that good for nothing traitor that has doomed us all with his arrogance."
"If Lady Sansa lied at the Eyrie to defend Lord Baelish after he had killed her aunt, why did she have him killed now? She made us look like fools!" Lord Royce bellowed. "We are no longer pledged to House Stark" he declared. His departure was soon followed by the rest of the Vale entourage.
Arya watched in astonishment and disbelief. "They are all leaving" she cried desperately.
"And this was all our doing" Sansa murmured.
The watchman in the tower followed with his eyes the trail of men and women marching. The knights of the Vale led by Lord Royce himself were heading south on the Kings Road, while the Northern soldiers were scattered along the landscape, each party making its own way home. But he suddenly lost interest in the group of people leaving. Something in the horizon caught his attention.
"I see them" the man in the tower cried pointing at a spec of dust rapidly approaching the castle from the North. "The white walkers are here"
TBC
