It wasn't long after that, that the tunnel changed. One moment they were walking along, feeling the wall, the next it flared sharply to the left and right, opening up.

'Hold up,' said Jon. 'Something's different.' Gendry grunted. 'This side too.'

'I'm going to light a torch,' said Jon. 'We need to know what's going on.' The torch flared to life and suddenly there was light all around them, reflecting and refracting from the walls and roof. Jon and Gendry gazed around in amazement, Jon holding the torch up high.

They were standing in a chamber about five times as high as they were and about 50 paces across. It was a big, roughly-shaped dome. Like half an eggshell, stuck on the ground with an opening the same as the one they'd come through on the other side. But that wasn't what caused their mouths to drop with shock. The walls and roof of the chamber glittered, they were covered in -

'Dragonglass,' Jon breathed. 'It's a chamber of dragonglass. I guess now we know another reason the Children of the Forest used these tunnels.' As he spoke he walked around one wall, here and there spotting ancient cave paintings very similar to the ones he'd seen at Dragonstone. There were the Children, fighting against their age old enemy. Jon shivered as he looked into the piercing blue eyes of a group of white walkers. He looked away.

'Want to stop for a while?' He asked Gendry. 'Here's as good a place as any.'

'And at least there's something to look at,' Gendry joked.

Jon shoved the torch between two shards of dragonglass in the wall and they lowered themselves to the floor, both easing off their weapons and packs with a groan. Gendry pulled out food and water, still nursing his bad arm and leaned back into the wall. They ate in silence for a while, gazing around the chamber.

'I was thinking,' Gendry said. Jon looked across at him and arched an eyebrow.

'Before - earlier - you mentioned your vow and how you'd had to break it?' A look of pain flashed across Jon's face and Gendry backpeddled.

'Never mind, it's none of my business.'

'No,' said Jon. 'I don't mind. If I had the choice I'd do it all again anyway ... where to start? Do you know the oath the Night's Watch swear?' Jon asked.

Gendry shook his head, 'not really.'

Jon began, softly, looking at his hands, clasped over his knees.

'Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.'

He smiled wryly, looking up at Gendry. 'I left my post. They haven't given me a crown, but I've taken lands, become a ruler and I've won glory, for what it's worth.' He snorted bitterly at the thought. 'I didn't take a wife or father a child, but I did take a woman. Ygritte her name was. One of the free folk. Fierce and bold and so full of fire.' His voice was far away as he started out into the flickering cave.

'Did you love her?' Gendry asked. Jon's eyes refocused back on Gendry's face as he considered the question.

'Yes,' he said. 'And no. She was too different in the end. From too different a world to be trapped by me into something called love.' He shook his head, as if shaking away the memory of her.

'What about you?' he asked, changing the subject. 'Any great loves down in King's Landing? I bet the women throw themselves at you.' He said, looking at Gendry's broad shoulders, strong jaw and deep blue eyes. Gendry shrugged.

'I've been with a few women.' He paused, looking a Jon. 'A few men too.' Jon's eyes widened at this statement and his heartbeat skipped. Gendry continued, as if his words were nothing significant, but Jon thought his casualness seemed a bit forced, as if he were waiting for Jon's reaction.

'But none held my attention for very long. No one ... I want more than just sex. I want friendship, fun, someone who values the same things as me ...' he trailed off, as if a little embarrassed at how far his words had carried him. But Jon found himself captured by the words and the open, raw, gaze Gendry was giving him, as if trying to tell him something more than just the words.

Jon nodded, clearing his throat, before speaking. 'One of my greatest fears is that if I live through this, they'll marry me off to some highborn lady for the sake of cementing future alliances. I want - if I'm going to spend the rest of my life with someone. I want to choose it. I want to want them.'

'You're the King in the North,' Gendry said. 'You can do whatever you want.'

Jon laughed, 'if only you knew. I'm more constrained than anyone by the balancing games of power and alliances.'

Gendry frowned, then grinned mischievously, 'So we'll win the war and then run away. The two of us can explore the world together. Tied down to no one and nothing.' Jon grinned back at him, drawn into the fantasy despite himself.

'I'd like that,' he said, glancing across at Gendry shyly.

Gendry's playful look morphed into something more intense with Jon's agreement and a look had come into his eyes that Jon could only describe as - hungry. The other man shifted forward, eyes dropping from Jon's to flick over his lips. Unconsciously, Jon darted his tongue out to lick them. Gendry drew in a sharp breath at the sight and when his gaze met Jon's again, his pupils were blown wide. Jon felt a stab of heat run through him, pooling at his groin. He shifted forward slightly as well, reacting instinctively. At that moment, their torch spluttered and died, casting them into darkness again.

Jon felt the tension of the moment break suddenly and he took a shaky breath. 'Well,' he said. 'I guess it's time to keep moving then.'