4th Month of 300 A.C. Castle Black
Lord Commander Jon Snow
It was bitterly cold today, it was always bloody cold. There were times when he would wonder why he had decided to take the black and why he had forsaken all that could have been his for this damned piece of frozen shit. He could have fought alongside Robb in the south doing his bit to avenge their father and to try and save their sisters. He could have guarded Winterfell and killed Theon Greyjoy when the traitor had tried to take Winterfell. There was so much and more he wished he could have done, and yet to voice it aloud would be tantamount to admitting the contempt he felt for his post. That was something he could not and would not do. He was the Lord Commander and he would act as such, even if it killed him.
Of course such a thing was made much harder when he looked at Torrhen Umber, the third born son of the Greatjon Umber. A man who had come through the snows to bring news and speak with Jon. He did not entirely know why the man had come and yet he had. "My lord thank you for making the journey. As unexpected as it is, I am not sure what service I can offer you, but I can certainly try my best."
Umber was a big man, broad of shoulder, and strong. "I have come mainly to speak with you about why you are allowing wildlings to settle on the gift. This is something that against the pact that your predecessors signed with my ancestors."
"They are not the true enemies of us and you my lord. The dead things beyond the wall are. You have seen them, I know you have my men brought back reports of aiding you in beating them. Why do you protest more aid in the fight against death?" Jon says.
"Those things were nothing but shadows. We cannot allow for them to divert us from our true purpose. There are other things we must discuss. The wildlings cannot be allowed to cross onto our lands. They have long been our enemies and allowing them onto our lands would only allow for more raids and a continuation and perhaps worsening of what has been going on for the past thousands of years." Torrhen bellows.
They are both silent then as they hear footsteps walking past, once they are sure that there is no one outside his door, Jon whispers. "What news has come from Deepwood Motte do you know?"
Torrhen smiles. "Aye, Baratheon has taken the Motte. The Greyjoy girl was captured and now Roose Bolton sits in Winterfell shitting himself."
Jon smiles that is a good thing. "Do you know what his plans are now? What does he intend to do now that the Motte has fallen and Stannis looks a more significant threat?"
Umber is silent a moment and then replies. "From what Whoresbane has told me in letters he intends to remain in Winterfell for the time being. He will wait for Baratheon to come to him."
"He will not try to engage Baratheon?" Jon asks his voice barely above a whisper.
"I do not think so. Bolton and his son will play a waiting game, to see which one of them or Baratheon cracks first. It also seems that Bolton might well try negotiating with the Ironborn at Torrhen's Square." Umber says.
Jon feels something akin to anger boil inside of him. "The traitor, has he no honour? What does he intend to do at Torrhen's Square? The Ironborn there will never agree to work with Bolton unless he gives them Asha Greyjoy. And as he does not have Asha Greyjoy they will never concede to work with him." It is then the thought comes to him. "Unless of course he means to make Stannis come to the square. Stannis will no doubt try to attack Winterfell first, and then when he fails he will head back. He will need to gain more support and in doing so might look toward the square. It is then Bolton will send men to aid the Ironborn."
Umber nods. "Aye that is what I was thinking. It seems the man might well look to weaken all his enemies here. Some think he means to wear the Winter Crown himself, for the Lannisters are falling into turmoil and they do not have a clear leader. Their eyes are not on the north, but rather the south. Bolton has the strength to look toward crowning himself."
"I cannot allow that. I will not allow that. Bolton will never sit where my father sat, where Robb sat. I cannot allow that, my vows be damned." Jon snarls.
"They will name you a traitor and some of the lords might well follow Bolton's lead in accusing you of being a deserter. A deserter who is also a Stark bastard, there will be some who would willingly want to lynch you my lord. That is too great a risk, a risk I am not willing to take." Umber replies.
"I will not allow Bolton to profane my family's home with his treachery. He has defiled enough of what has been considered sacred already. He tried to convince the north that he had wed my sister to his bastard son and now he tries to convince them all that I am a threat? Perhaps I should be one then." Jon snarls.
Torrhen looks somewhat surprised of the anger in his voice, but then Jon does not care, he has had enough. Truly enough. "There might not be need for that my lord. There is no need for you to go and risk yourself needlessly."
"There are no more male Starks alive, my sisters are either dead or fled. I must fight to ensure my family does not die." Jon snarls.
"The Starks are not dead my lord. There is one left alive, one who sits in Last Hearth." Torrhen says.
Jon stands then and growls. "Who?"
Umber smiles and says. "Your youngest brother, Rickon."
Bowen Marsh
It was not right, what the Lord Commander was doing. The Wildlings were their enemies, they always had been. That was what was right, the wildlings were their enemies and they were the enemies of the wildlings. Trying to work with them was not the normal order of things, it was an abomination allowing wildlings to sit and eat where once black brothers had done so. It was against all Bowen believed in and yet the Lord Commander did not see it that way. He argued the dead things over the wall were more important than the wildlings, wildlings who were plotting crimes most heinous. It was why Bowen had organised this meeting with several other members of the watch to speak and to vent.
"The Lord Commander and Umber were arguing today." Oryck one of the old guard says. "It seems they were arguing over the wildlings settling in the gift. The Lord Commander was arguing most stringently for it, whilst Umber was stating just how bad an idea it was."
"And I presume the Lord Commander merely dismissed what it was Umber was saying?" Bowen asks.
"Yes, he did not seem too keen on actually having a true discussion on the matter. Just as he is with us, he was with Umber. The man shows no sense of propriety or decency. He will bring about the end of us all." Oryck says.
"The Lord Commander was changed by his time with the wildlings." Bowen says. "That girl he took as his lover made his mind twisted and warped. No doubt he believes what he is doing is right. But what he is doing goes against all we stand for. Everything we stand for is being brought into question, the new recruits do not know whether we have lost our way or not."
"The Lord Commander must be made to see reason. Anything else is not right. He has strayed too far already, bringing him back down to the right path is the best we can hope for." Oryck says. "Anything else and we would be pushing the natural limit. And that is something I will not feel comfortable with."
"Comfort? Comfort? If you wanted comfort you should not have come to the damned wall!" Allister Thorne says. "This is not about comfort this is about standing up for what is right and what is not. We must make the commander see sense. Even the Old Bear would not have allowed the wildlings to come south in such great numbers. Unless of course he meant to slaughter them. This boy must be made to see sense that is what it is."
"To what end though? Arguing with him brings nothing about, there is only one course of action he understands and that is fighting. We cannot fight amongst ourselves though, for the wildlings would take advantage of that and run amok of us. We must find some other middle ground to see that the Lord Commander sees reason." Bowen argues.
"We must make him realize that the wildlings are not the paragons of virtue he believes them to be. No doubt he is fucking one of them. That is why his eyes are blinded to the realities of the threat they pose." Thorne says.
"What do you suggest we do then?" Bowen asks. "Anything that amounts to attacking them will make it so that we are the ones being brought into disrepute nothing else. I highly doubt the Lord Commander would do as his predecessors had done and make common cause with us against them. After all he is practically one of them."
"We must make it so that the wildlings feel compelled to act of their own volition. Anything else and we shall all be brought down low. That is not something I wish to experience, nor is it something that would bode well for the rest of our sworn brothers." Thorne says.
"The wildlings are a quarrelsome people. They will no doubt find something with which they will protest over. Something that will no doubt even irk the Lord Commander. They are not the people he thinks they are, and he must see that sooner or later. Otherwise we shall all die." Bowen says.
"What about the others? What about the darkness and death he claims is coming this way?" Oryck asks.
"Mere fantasy. There is nothing more to it. The others have not crossed the wall in thousands of years they will not do so again. The Wildlings are merely using them as an excuse to try and do what they could not do by force. And our Lord Commander is a mere fool for accepting it." Thorne says.
"Then what do we do? The Lord Commander seems to think the others are coming on us like the winter. It is time we made sure that the Lord Commander remembers that we were the ones who made him, and that we can unmake him as well." Bowen says.
"Then we must begin planning now. We do not have too long. Umber shall be gone within the end of the week. Whatever plans we make we must do it now. And we must act on them very quickly. We cannot allow for Umber to leave without there being some sort of agreement between us." Thorne says.
"The question then remains what do we do? Whom do we turn to and whom do we trust. Not all will side with us, the bastard's allies in the fat maester and the bull and the girl will want to remain by his side. We must separate them." Bowen muses.
"The fat maester can be dealt with. He eats far too much for the rest of the men to be truly happy with him. We can simply play on that and the fact that the old maester is beginning to age. Castle Black needs a new maester that is the plain and simple fact. As for the others, I do not know." Thorne says.
"We have two days to think and plan. And then we must act." Bowen says.
