The Winter Sworn
Chapter 4
The Shivering Sea
He had been on a boat for a little over a month and Jon detested it. Jon decided two weeks into his boat journey that he'd never be a sailor and his stomach agreed with him. He had never been so sick as he was those first days of his journey. The sailors called it see sickness but, to Jon it was a slow salty death far from home.
"Are you feeling better?" Asher asked him.
"Better, still not the best." Jon said.
Asher smiled.
"You'll get used to it. I remember my first time on the sea. I must have lost two stone throwing up my meals over the side." Asher said while laughing.
"ugggh, don't even speak to me about meals. Yesterday was the first full day I didn't throw anything up." Jon said.
Asher slapped Jon on the back earning him a glare.
"See, you're getting used to it already."
Asher laughed bawdily again.
"Where are we going?" Jon asked for the umpteenth time during the trip.
"To our headquarters of course. The farthest reaches of the Northern Kingdom."
Jon looked at Asher with a confused look on his face.
"I thought you said that we were going to Braavos."
"When did I say that?"
"You said that we were on our way to Essos to join the Company of the Rose. If I'm not mistaken, the Company of the Rose is located near Braavos." Jon said matter of factly.
"Aaah, I see your confusion."
Asher looked out onto the sea. He could barely start to make out the island that he was sure was there. Covered in mist, it was the most secure Island in the world. It wasn't protected by great fleets or great barrier reefs. No, this island was protected by something grander, it's inhospitable weather.
"Look out there Jon and tell me what you see?"
"I see nothing but mists on the horizon. "
"Correct, we are too far to see it properly, but, behind that mist lies our greatest stronghold. The Last free region in the North. A land waiting for it's king to claim her."
Jon looked at Asher like he was insane.
"What are you talking about. We left the North weeks ago. We're nowhere near the north." Jon said.
"Hmmm, is that so. Tell me young Jon, what do they say about Cregan Stark in the North?"
Jon thought about it and decided to recite a poem that all Northerners knew.
"It was the dawn of a new age. The Dragons age it would be. Tohren stood with crown in hand and bended knee. But one wolf stood against the Dragon three. Cregan shouted I am ice and no dragon shall ever shackle me. So, with his men did the White wolf flee only to return when the north is free."
Jon said.
"And that is the tale of the White wolf and the Dragon three." Asher finished for him.
"It's a brilliant poem though a bit short. It cuts to the heart of it but is lacking in detail."
Jon nodded wanting to know the real history.
"The real history is a little bloodier I'm afraid." Asher said before pausing.
"While Cregan did leave the North, it wasn't willingly. He and his men were found guilty of trying to incite rebellion in the North. They wanted to break the alliance between Aegon and the North. They thought that the Northern Kingdom deserved to be free not shackled to some southern ruler who knew nothing of the Ice and snow." Asher said.
"What? They never mentioned that in the stories." Jon said.
Asher shook his head at Jon's innocence.
"Of course, they didn't. Tohren loved his brother deeply. He wanted the North to remember him fondly not despise what he and his men had done."
"What did he do?" Jon asked.
"Simple, he took a bunch of men and headed south. He spent a year hiding with the Crannog men waging a shadow war against the Lannister's and the Tully's. He'd hide in the Neck and raid castles from The Crag to the Darry."
"Why would he do that? The chances of he and his men surviving wouldn't be very high."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because, Aegon had dragons." Jon said.
At this Asher just shook his head.
"Boy, you are a fool if you think that. First, the dragon's roosted on Dragonstone or King's landing. It would take them time to reach the Riverland's and the western mountains. By the time they got to where Cregan attacked, he and his men would be long gone."
Jon took this in and thought.
"Still wouldn't an army be pretty hard to move. Aegon and his dragon could have easily made it up North and attacked them before they returned to the neck."
"Hmm, maybe you're not as dumb as you look." Asher said.
Jon glared at him and after a moment Asher continued.
"Cregan didn't organize his forces as an army back then. He reasoned, like you young Jon, that an army would be too easy to spot and too easy to defeat on the back of a dragon. So, instead of a standing army, he split his forces into five easily manageable companies?"
Jon looked on in confusion and Asher had to clarify.
"A company is a group of 100 men. You'll learn more when we join the company of the Rose."
Jon nodded.
"Cregan organized his army into five companies. He had multiple companies, but he only raided with five companies at a time. Five hundred men would set out from the neck from different directions. They would all meet at the desired target. Usually a small keep or a small village. Then they would come in and kill the town leaders or the petty lords in charge. After they killed the leadership, they'd split off and disappear into the neck."
"That's barbaric. There is no honor in killing innocents or people who cannot defend themselves." Jon said questioning his decision to join the company.
"Aye, that it was. It was a dishonorable deed with an honorable goal." Asher said.
"What goal would that be? I don't see how butchering innocents could bring independence to the North." Jon said with absolute certainty.
"Hmm, you have to understand Jon that this was during first years of Aegon's conquest. Cregan reasoned that if he raised enough of a concern Aegon would have call in all the banners to deal with him."
"Why do that, he had three dragons. Surely, that would be enough to deal with Cregan."
Asher shook his head at Jon's naiveté.
"Did your maester teach you anything?" Asher said.
Jon looked down ashamed of his lack of knowledge. He answered Ser Asher the only way he knew how. With the truth.
"Lady Catelyn, always banned me from lessons with Maester Luwin whenever father wasn't around. I always learned second hand from Robb or Arya." Jon said in a low voice.
Asher looked at the sullen boy and decided to deal with this situation head on.
"Look at me boy." Asher said.
Jon looked up.
"Lady Catelyn is a bitch. You didn't deserve what she put you through. In the North, all sons and daughters are precious, trueborn or not. Don't let some southern bitch tell you you're not worthy. You're a son of the north and in my book, your worth more than any ten of those pansy knights. Do you understand?"
Jon nodded.
"Good, because I'll not have any Northerner think we are any way less than those assholes in the south. Now, where were we?" Asher said not remembering where he was.
"Dragons." Jon said.
"Ahhh, Dragons. Well Jon Snow, if you recall your history, dragons were enormous magical beasts. Creatures of mass destruction that could change any battlefield they were put on. In other words, they were unbeatable."
Jon nodded like it was a fact everyone knew.
"This is what you know. What you don't know is that dragons were few and far between. They couldn't be everywhere and Aegon only had three. The first dragon would have to protect the city. The second would have to be able to defend from the south in case of treachery. Remember Jon, Dorne had still yet to fold. It was still independent in those days."
"But, didn't Aegon and his sisters conquer Dorne?"
At this statement, one of the sailors who had was half Dornish half Northman laughed out loud.
"Boy, Aegon could never conquer Dorne. He had his descendants marry the Martells instead of killing them properly. It was the only way they would bend knee."
Jon looked to Asher for confirmation.
"Our friend is correct Jon. The Dornish would never bend otherwise. But we are getting farther from the point. One Dragon needed to defend the south and High Garden in case the Dornish decided to do something foolish. Which left only one Dragon for the North."
Jon thought about everything and finally saw a little of what Cregan Stark must have seen.
"That's why Cregan had five separate forces that gathered, attacked, and broke up. The dragon couldn't be everywhere at once and at most, only a fifth of his forces would be defeated or killed."
"Exactly, Dragons are good at two things and two things only. One, they can decimate an enemy that's massed and not entwined with your own forces and two, they are good for razing castles. Dragon's are too temperamental to do anything else."
"But, why would Cregan do this? He knew he couldn't win. At most, he'd piss off everyone enough that they'd have no choice but to go after him."
"Think it through boy. Sometimes losing is winning. That is how the great game is played."
Jon didn't know what game he was talking about but, he decided to think about everything Cregan had done and what possible reason he would butcher a bunch of innocents.
Jon thought it over while Asher stayed silent.
Cregan wanted the North free but, his brother had already bent the knee. He knew he couldn't win with swords alone but, maybe he could win with something else. Aegon had just conquered the seven kingdoms, well six kingdoms, Dorne was still in rebellion. The wardens were probably still considered kings in their own land and giving up a crown while others still rebelled must have left a bitter taste in their mouths. If Dorne had kept their crown why couldn't they?
"He wanted Aegon to show weakness. To show he wasn't fit to rule. Aegon had conquered them one by one but, if they all rebelled at once, Aegon would have a tougher time conquering them once more."
"Exactly. What warden or banner to the crown would ever accept a king who couldn't protect them from some rogue northerners. Remember this young Jon. Leadership is a tenuous dance between those who lead and those who follow. Cregan was making a fool of Aegon and if he continued to do so, Aegon's kingdom would fracture faster then it had been forged."
Jon nodded along. He still hated the way in which Cregan conducted business but, he couldn't help but admire his scheme. It was a plan that should have worked. Aegon had only three dragons and sooner or later someone would find a way to kill them. Everything can be killed, nothing lives forever.
"How did he fail?' Jon asked.
Asher let out a breath.
"Easily. Aegon went to Winterfell and threatened the Northerners with something they feared more than dragons. He threatened to bring his dragons north and destroy the wall. After that threat Cregan and his people surrendered themselves to his brother. His brother chose to exile him instead of sending him to the wall and that is how the Winter sworn were born. "
As he said this the lookout in the crow's nest shouted.
"Land ho!"
Jon looked to where he was pointing and slowly a volcanic island covered in snow appeared from the mist.
Asher pointed to the island.
"Behold Jon Snow here lies the ancient Isle of Ibben. First conquered by Cregan Stark in 302 AC, it is the farthest reach of the Northern empire. It is headquarters of the Winter sworn and the birthplace of The company of the Rose. Welcome to the isle of your ancestors. Welcome home."