Alysanne Mormont slammed her wine goblet on the table, "The Night's Watch has no business south of the gift." She said glaring at Jon.
They were in the Flint's hall. Seated around the round table. All major clans were here, and Alysanne Mormont, heiress of the Bear Islands. They had just returned home with their survivors when Jon had arrived at their doorsteps to call them back to battle. No wonder they were reluctant.
"And the lords of the south don't interfere with the command of the watch." Jon Snow answered, "The Bastard threatened to cut my heart out and eat it. He asked me to turn my guests over to him, people that saved the wall while all of you were sleeping in your beds."
Alysanne Mormont flushed. "My uncle wrote to me about these blue eyed corpses." She hissed at him, "You should be worrying about them. Not about the high seat of the Starks."
"There is also the matter of the wildlings." Old Flint said gravely. "M'lord Snow promised us that they will remain on the wall. Yet now they root through the ancient wolfswood. Straight into the heartland of the north."
"To avenge the king you supported." Jon pointed out "And only the fighting men are marching. The wives and mothers and the children remain at Mole's town." He spread his hands, "You cannot lay this charge at my door, my lords. This was the queen's doing. She had need of men, and the wildlings were eager for the glory. They thought they could do what you couldn't." That should get their blood boiling. Selyse had not come with Jon to persuade the clansmen to join her. The proud clansmen might take it as an affront, but had Selyse and Melisandre come, the wildlings would also have come, which was out of the question. So now Selyse was marching along the kingsroad with a slow pace, hoping that Jon could bring a proper army for her. It was proving just as difficult as Jon had anticipated.
Morgan Liddle bristled at Jon's words, "Couldn't? It were the thrice cursed Ironmen. Took us in the rear." His eyebrows met as he scowled, "And that bloody Arnolf Karstark. He told Bolton about the lakes and our plans. The King wanted to drive the Boltons into the lake. The ice floor was like cheese, we had been fishing so much. It wouldn't have taken the weight of the army. We tried three times. Even after our rear broke. The last time, we had them pinned. But that thrice cursed arrow…" He made a gesture. "If Tormund the Bear-Whore thinks he can do better than us, I say let's let him."
"And leave my brother in his hands?" Jon asked, "Rickon is six my lords. You would not want the Stark in Winterfell be raised as a wildling, would you?"
"And will he be the Stark in Winterfell?" Liddle growled, "Wouldn't the southron queen rather have someone who can lead an army as the lord of Winterfell?"
"I do not mean to steal my brother's birthright, Liddle, if that is what you are implying" Jon said in a cold tone, "My place is at the wall."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I told you." Jon said, trying not to sound impatient, "Ramsay Snow threatened to cut my heart out and eat it. And I mean to make him pay for his words. The Night's Watch is a servant of the Seven Kingdoms, but that does not mean you can disrespect it." Jon was used to negotiate with hard men. The wall had been full of them. But he would be lying if he said that these men didn't frighten him. They were all looking at him. Old Flint, his sons Artos Flint and Black Donnel Flint. The Norrey and the younger Norrey. Morgan Liddle and Will Harcley. Any of them could pronounce him an oathbreaker and hang him. He knew Alysanne Mormont wanted to. "If you fear that I might try to usurp my brother's place," He said to them, "I think the best recourse you have is to come to Winterfell with me and make sure that that does not happen"
Morgan Liddle flushed. The Old Flint snorted. But the She Bear stood up from her seat, "That sword you sport on your hip," She nodded towards Longclaw which was currently hanging from the wall on a peg, "It belongs to the Mormonts. My mother sent it to our uncle at the wall after Jorah fled. She later told me that he never used it. That it reminded him of Jorah's shame. I wonder what he will think about having the sword in your hands if he could see you now. That sword deserves better than you." She looked about herself, to the chiefs and their sons seated on their chairs, "I can see that your decision is made. There must be a Stark in Winterfell, I agree. But it matters how we get him there. If the roots of the tree are poisoned, the entire tree dies." With a screech, she pushed her chair back and got out, "I will not serve in an army led by someone wearing a black cloak side by side with wildlings." She said and stormed out of the room. The door slammed behind her.
Jon watched her go. What would the Old Bear say, truly? It had been better when he had a father, or a Lord Commander, to tell him what to do. To tell him what was right. Even a measter's council. You know nothing Jon Snow, Yigrette used to say, and she was right. He didn't know if what he was doing was right. But how could trying to save your brother be wrong? He didn't know if he was an oathbreaker. He didn't know if this was what his father would have done. If he would be proud of Jon, or say that his dishonor was only that. A dishonor.
"That is a regret." Big Bucket Wull said, "House Mormont is a great house and well respected. If you lose them…" He gave a shake of his head, "It won't look good."
"And what about you my lord?" Jon asked leaning forward. "I may have already lost Alysanne Mormont, but what about you? Have I lost you as well? Has Rickon?"
"No." The Wull said. He looked around the table to see if anybody will contradict him. Nobody did. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that Prince Rickon has not lost us." Jon nodded. "Boltons have committed crimes beyond count." Wull continued, "That poor girl. Lady Hornwood. The Young Wolf. All our friends at the Twins." His voice rose as he made a huge fist, "Roose Bolton is a leech upon the north." he said, "He cannot be suffered to hold Winterfell. He must pay for his crimes. The north remembers."
They reached Selyse's army five days later. Jon got a surprise when he was greeted by Ser Richard Horpe. "Ser Richard has brought our knights back." Selyse told him when he went to see her, "Six hundred and fourty three of nearly eleven hundred that came north with Stannis." She fumed. She rounded on Jon, "How many have you brought, my lord?"
"About twenty six hundred strong, your grace." Jon said. Selyse grimaced. Their army right now totaled about four thousand. But Bolton was supposed to have a little less than that behind the walls of Winterfell. "Your Grace," Jon said, "I still say we should go to Dreadfort. Ramsay Snow is there with less than three thousand swords. We can trap him under the walls of Dreadfort and…"
Selyse held up a hand, "We have heard this before. Lady Melisandre says no." She looked at the red women, who was always present to whisper in the queen's ear. "Your brother will be safe surrounded by Dreadfort's walls, Lord Snow." The red women said. She was gazing into the fire that was lit on the ground. They had camped for the night, and the prayers had just been done, "Wasn't it you who counseled King Stannis against marching on the Dreadfort? Lord Davos has about two thousand men. He will hold the Dreadfort. We need to get the King's body."
"Ramsay Snow had the body. And still does if he hasn't already destroyed it." Jon said. Melisandre shook her head, "I told you, I've seen it in the fires. The flames do not lie." She spoke over Jon when he started to protest, "And not only that. Ser Richard's scouts spotted a strong escort taking a wagon back to Winterfell. He thinks that Snow feared us attacking him the same way you were planning to. So when he found out that Selyse had marched from Castle Black, he sent the body to his father."
"Even if he did, my lady," Jon said, "we could never get to it before it reaches Winterfell. And it is lost after is passes the gates. Roose Bolton will have no use for it anymore when you are at his doorstep. We cannot get to the body."
Melisandre smiled at him her infuriating smile, the smile of those who think they know it all, "Have faith in the god, my lord of Snow. He will protect his servant Stannis. Haven't you already seen his power?"
Jon ground his teeth. He knew of the red god's power. He just didn't have any faith in him. Stannis had had faith in the red god, and look where it got him. He withdrew from their presence before he insulted them or their god.
They continued the march through the wolfswood. The redwoods and ash and oaks watched them pass silently. Sometimes the hills would be filled with pines and senitnels, where in some places, the woods had lost their leaves, and all around them rose the skeleton trees. Soon Jon started seeing familiar places. Memories of so many hunting trips. There was a creek in which he and Robb had fought with mud balls once. A jagged rock in an overgrowth reminded him of the time Theon had put an arrow through a tiger's eye. A meadow where Jon's horse had broken its leg while racing Robb. The arrogant Stark had rounded back and just sat there laughing at Jon as Alyn helped him up. It still made Jon smile to remember those times of the past. And it hurt as well. Even Ghost felt his pain. He would howl in the nights, and in the wolf dreams Jon would see the two boys, Snow and Stark with their father as they had been in the memories of the wolfswood.
The march was a slow and frustrating one. Jon had split the army into three columns. It had no rear or van. Rather, the wildlings marched on the east side, and the northmen on the west. With the southron knights in the middle. With three columns however, the speed was slow. And with the wildlings, even slower. And the fights… Jon had split the army this way only to separate the northmen and the wildlings, yet they still managed to find cause for knifings and brawls. Their hatred for each other transcended all reason, and almost every other day Jon had to ride up or down the column or into the camp with scores of spearmen and break up a fight.
They had left the long lake behind them when they met with a surprise. Crowfood Umber had the charge of their scouts, and he led about a two hundred men into their camp one afternoon. "A head." He told them when they all were together. Jon, Tormund, Melisandre and Selyse and some of her queen's men. Crowfood was grinning. "One head each at Torrhen's square, Deepwood Motte and the Bear Island. Some Frey. The letter was by Sansa Stark. She writes that she is coming north with an army of ten thousand strong from the Vale of the Arryn. To take back her family's home from the traitors. She warns the houses of the north to declare for Rickon and Shireen, or meet the same end as the Freys have." He grinned some more, at the shocked and delighted faces around him. "This is no fake girl I tell you. This is a Stark, no matter her name."
Jon was aghast. Sansa, a girl who would look away from blood disgustedly, who hated the war stories of Old Nan that Bran had so loved, could send more than a dozen heads flying on ravens. He could not imagine what horror she must have seen in King's Landing to have changed in such a manner. Yet the army kept swelling. Alysanne Mormont had been at Deepwood Motte when the flying head arrived there, and she had ridden out to gather the men that had run from Stannis' army after it had been defeated. Her messenger told Jon that she promised not to come with less than a thousand men. But she made it clear that this was for Sansa and Rickon, and not for him. Jon didn't mind either way.
A few days later two letters came from the Last Hearth. They had been sent there by Sansa. One was for Selyse, and one for Jon.
Selyse was not as happy as she should be with her letter. Selyse called her knights and Jon and Tormund to discuss the letters "She wants me to marry Shireen to a Targaryen.", she said angrily, "Does she think Stannis will let his daughter marry a Targaryen pretender?"
"She does not know we mean to wake Stannis up." Jon pointed out. "But maybe it is not such a bad thing, your grace." Ser Dorden, a queen's man said. "If the queen in the north and the king in the south united, much of war could be avoided."
"Stannis is the only king." Selyse said stubbornly, "Do you think this Aegon will give up his claim once he realizes Shireen's father is alive? What does she care about this Aegon?" She complained.
"She doesn't." Ser Dorden said, "She cares about Rickon Stark. She has guessed, or knows that we mean to marry Shireen to her brother. But that will make Rickon Stark the king in the north, making him a target for any king in King's Landing. Be it Tommen or Aegon. She wants to get the target off his back."
Jon nodded. It made sense. "The Iron Bank will agree." He said, "If that is what you fear." When Lord Davos had landed at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, he had met with Tycho Nestoris, the Bravosi banker that had treated with Stannis. Ser Justin Massey had been with him. And together Massey and Lord Seaworth had convinced the banker that even if Stannis was dead, there was a chance that Shireen could prevail. So the Iron Bank had decided to honor its agreement with Stannis. But the one crucial condition for it was that Shireen marry Rickon, so that the two houses claiming kingship could be united. Selyse had been angry that her daughter's hand had been given to someone without consulting her, but she had accepted. Another clause in the agreement said that if Lord Davos could not get the Riverlands and the Vale rise for Shireen and Rickon, he will proclaim Rickon King in the North and refrain from marching south of Moat Cailin until Rickon came of age. But if there is no king in the north… "The Iron Bank wanted to stop Rickon from marching south until he was sixteen. This Aegon is already seventeen. They shouldn't have any problem with it as long as he repays them what they are due. Sansa doesn't want Rickon to march at all, whether now or when he is sixteen, if she can prevent it. In exchange she is ready to call Robb's kingship an error. I assure you, if the northmen think that Lord Eddard wanted Stannis to have the throne, they will flock to your banners before you even call them. This is not an offer you can just throw away."
Ser Axell was reading from his niece's letter, "Maybe. But we don't have to worry about it right now. She says Lord Hardying is staying in Riverlands to gather support from them." He looked at Selyse, "It is only her that is coming, and the Blackfish. In any case, Stannis will be awake by the time they get to Winterfell. They can take it up with him."
Selyse snorted, "You are right. This is a matter for the king to consider. This Lady Lannister who is a Stark can haggle with Stannis once she reaches Winterfell. I should like to see that." She laughed, "I should like that a lot."
Stannis won't haggle with Sansa, Jon thought. He will have someone much tougher to deal with. But he kept the thought to himself. They will find out when they have to. In his letter, Sansa had written about Lady Stoneheart. Harry had sent his messengers in the swamps to meet father's old friend Lord Howland Reed to get his help in taking Moat Cailin. But they learned that he had already taken it with the help of Lady Stoneheart, an outlaw from the Riverlands. His castellan met us at the Moat, and he told me who she really was.
What surprised Jon more, he could not say. The real identity of Stoneheart, or the fact that Sansa had warned him about her. When they had been children at Winterfell, Sansa had only been as affectionate towards Jon as his bastard birth would allow. But now she wrote We are both old enough to acknowledge that my mother does not like you. I write this to warn you of her coming, to let you know beforehand. Please don't let her think that you mean to usurp Rickon's place at Winterfell. The outlaws tell me that she has changed. That her death has made her cruel and merciless. When I was in the Vale, we heard the tales about the Hangwomen. I am almost afraid to come meet my own mother. I do not know if she is the same person as before. The one I remember and love. Do not give her cause to hate you. They say she means to burn the Kingslayer to awaken Stannis. I do not understand what that means, but I do not want you to be on her bad side as well.
The march afterwards was many shades of improvement on the past. Everybody thought their victory was eminent. More and more soldiers came and joined Jon's army, and they brought news with them. Reports of how people were deserting Roose Bolton at Winterfell. They heard that Ramsay Snow killed Hothor Umber for trying to take his soldiers back to Last Hearth. This robbed the Boltons of most of their supporters they still had. Soon, only the Dustins and Freys remained in Winterfell.
Also, now the soldiers were enthusiastic to reach Winterfell. To take it for their princess who was coming to them and bringing vengeance. They named her the savior of the north. The She-Wolf that even the lions could not kill. "She should be the queen of the north." Artos Flint exclaimed one night after having too much ale to drink. He was ready to set aside his wife and marry Sansa for avenging the Young Wolf. He even got into a fistfight with Middle Liddle after the latter reminded that she was already married. This was the one of the few fight that Jon let happen, he even cheered them on with others as the two exchanged blows until Artos stuck Liddle into a beer barrel. In the nights, the soldiers told each other what they thought happened at the Twins. They told each other stories of how they had heard Joffrey die. "She opened his throat with a dagger. Right as his mother and the Lord o' Lions were watching." Some said, while others said that she put the poison on her lips and gave the king a last kiss. Some were even sure that she had been the one to kill Lord Tywin, and not the Imp. They speculated on what will happen at Winterfell. "She will flay the Boltons, see if she won't." One Glover man said to Jon once. His companion wanted to know if she had a wolf of her own, and bet that she will feed Roose Bolton to it. Rather than answer them, Jon steered his horse away. Not because he didn't want to tell them what had befallen Lady, but because he could feel another wave of bitterness coming on.
Most of the time he hid it well. Nor was it there always. Most of the time, he thought about Rickon. And Sansa, how brave and strong she must be. But sometimes, and almost every night when he would lie on his mattress in his tent with Ghost sleeping by his feet, Jon's thought would turn to the future. Lady Stark was alive. Jon guessed that he should be happy. This will mean that Sansa will not be alone. That Rickon will have someone to look after him. And maybe Bran and Arya will come back as well. Sansa claimed that Arya had been with the outlaws for a while, before going missing again. There was a chance that she was alive. But after the happiness wore off, all Jon felt was loneliness. And wretched at not being happy. For if Lady Catelyn was at Winterfell, it would mean Jon couldn't be.
I was never going to stay, he told himself, again and again. I only wanted to save Rickon, and then I would have gone back to the wall. But now, for the first time, Jon Snow realized how very tired of it all he was. Of the wall. Of his brothers and his vows. There was no easy recourse there upon the wall. Never a stop to the problems. I told myself that I would be as great a lord commander as there could be. That I will defend the wall against the threat of the others. But every move on the wall was a circus. Every decision a increased the threat to his life, to his honor. The Others were almost nowhere in sight, and still the watch was falling apart. Was Robb ever so troubled, he wondered? Jon finally allowed himself to admit that he had been glad to leave the wall. And that he was afraid to go back. He no longer dreamed of the stone kings, nor did he see the memories of the wolfswood. Instead he had started seeing daggers. He would see Bowen Marsh, Wick Whittlestick. Ser Alliser and Janos Slynt. And in their hands, the daggers shone with coldness. An oathbreaker, Ser Alliser would say, and for what? Your family does not need you. And they do not want you. He would laugh as they advanced towards Jon. And Jon Snow could not find the will to stop them.