The Sword Of The Morning
1 week later…
The army were riding down the dirt road towards the familiar sight of Moat Calin. Jon sent a few riders towards the castle while the army stopped to a halt. Daenerys rode up to Jon.
"I've heard many stories of Moat Calin, about how it was the greatest stronghold in the Seven Kingdoms" said Daenerys.
"It still is, armies in the thousands could throw themselves against the defences of this castle and still be defeated" said Jon.
One of the riders appeared in the gateway and signalled for them to approach. The army rode toward into the castle.
"Set up camp where you can, I want patrols on the walls watching for any one approaching" said Quentyn to one of the Dornish Captains who nodded before riding out of the gate.
Jon dismounted his horse and helped Sansa down from her horse before walking over to Ser Daryn.
"Send raven's to our allies in the North, inform them of our arrival and request for them to ride here with haste" said Jon.
"Yes My Lord" said Ser Daryn.
Sansa and Arya walked up to Jon.
"Come on, I'll find you some rooms" said Jon leading them into the castle.
He found a room with a double bed and led them inside.
"You two can stay here, I trust you will be able to get along" said Jon jokingly.
"Of course" muttered Sansa.
"We have been getting along for ages now Jon" said Arya in slight annoyance.
Jon laughed.
"I know, but I do like to tease my little Sister's" said Jon.
The two chuckled before rushing forward and wrapping him in a hug.
Jon smiled and wrapped his arms around them.
"I'm scared Jon" said Sansa.
"I know Sansa, I am too, it is nothing to be ashamed of" said Jon.
Sansa looked at him in slight shock.
"Really, you are scared as well" said Sansa.
"Yes, did you really think that I, your big warrior brother felt no fear?" said Jon.
"Well, yes" said Sansa slightly embarrassed.
"All creatures feel fear Sansa, it is a natural thing to feel fear" said Jon.
"Really" said Sansa.
"Really" said Jon.
Jon stayed with them for a short while before Quentyn came to tell him that Daenerys and the others were waiting for him and Sansa in the dining hall.
The two entered to see Daenerys, Tyrion, Missandei, Grey Worm, Ser Barristan and Tyrion stood around a large oak table.
There was a large map of the North with wooden sigils above each of the houses.
Jon, Sansa and Quentyn made their way over to the table.
Daenerys and the others greeted them before turning back to the table.
"So who are your allies in the North Lord Dayne?" said Daenerys.
Jon looked down at the map.
"House's Umber, Reed, Cerwyn and Glover, House Manderly and Mormont will also join us now that the Frey's no longer have hostages" said Jon picking up the sigils of the houses and placing them next to their own sigils.
"What of the other houses, like Karstark, they were always loyal to your family were they not" said Tyrion.
Sansa shook her head slightly.
"My Uncle Edmure told me that Robb executed Rickard Karstark a month before the Red Wedding, the Karstark's deserted them for that, we don't know if they would be loyal to the us or not" said Sansa.
"Then we must be cautious with the Karstark's, they may not have forgiven the killing of their lord" said Ser Barristan.
"So we have definite allies in Umber, Cerwyn, Reed and Glover, how many men can we expect from them" said Daenerys.
"House Umber is one of the largest houses in the North, but they lost quite a lot of their men at the Twins, Lord Umber will tell us how many men he has when he arrives" said Jon.
Daenerys nodded.
"And the others?" said Daenerys.
"Houses Reed, Cerwyn and Glover are all smaller houses, but we should get a few thousand men from them, it might not be much but these are Northern soldiers Your Grace, they are as strong and fierce as you can get" said Sansa.
"If House Manderly side with us, they should bring plenty of men, but the Bolton's won't be short on soldiers either, I'd expect them to have at least 8,000 men" said Jon.
"We have 40,000 men here at the moment, with another 30,000 travelling from Mereen" said Tyrion.
"Well here's the plan, we make camp here" said Quentyn pointing to a small valley on the map a few miles away from Winterfell.
"It is the most suitable location for our camp, trees and mountains for cover with a stream for water" continued Quentyn.
Jon nodded.
"That would work, as long as the Bolton's don't discover our camp that is" said Jon.
"Well that's settled then, we should be ready to move in a few days time" said Quentyn.
"Though I would recommend sending some men to scout the valley, and set up a small camp in preparation for our arrival" said Tyrion.
"They should also scout Winterfell and send news of anything important, soldier camps, defences, anything of importance" said Ser Barristan.
Jon nodded.
"Send Harrod" said Quentyn.
"Okay, I'll give him his orders" said Jon.
"Good, is there anything else to discuss?" said Quentyn.
No one else spoke up.
"Okay, you have your orders, go about them" said Daenerys.
They bowed their heads at her before leaving the room.
Jon and Sansa left the room together.
He had a guard take Sansa back to her room before heading into the courtyard.
He saw Harrod stood with Daemon, Obarra and Nymeria.
"Harrod, could you come with me?" said Jon.
Harrod nodded before following Jon.
Jon led him into the dining hall.
"I need you to ride towards this place" said Jon pointing to the valley on the map.
"What do I need to do once I'm there?" said Harrod.
"Set up camp, we will set up camp to attack Winterfell from there, I also need you to scout Winterfell and send any information back to us, soldiers, defences and such, and make sure the Bolton's do not discover you" said Jon.
"It will be done, when do I leave?" said Harrod.
"In the next two days, give yourself and the men a chance to rest" said Jon.
"Of course, I will take 500 men with me and set up camp, how soon can we expect your arrival?" said Harrod.
"A few weeks if everything goes to plan" said Jon.
"Very well, I will gather my men and prepare to march, we can leave in the morning" said Harrod.
"If you wish" said Jon.
The two went over some of the smaller details of the plan before leaving the room.
Harrod, Daemon, Obarra and Nymeria left two days later with their troops.
The day after they left Smalljon Umber, Robett Glover, Cley Cerwyn and Wyman Manderly arrived at Moat Calin.
They were escorted to the main dining room where Jon and the others were stood making plans for their attack.
They exchanged their greetings with them before Smalljon Umber delivered some incredibly bad news.
"The Bolton's have more men than we think, House Karstark is with them, as are a contingent of Lannister soldiers, they have nearly 20,000 troops, cavalry and siege weapons" said Smalljon.
Jon slammed his fist on the table.
"Dammit, this means we have to hold back on the attack until more of the Queen's troops arrive, the longer it takes the more likely it is for something to go wrong" said Jon in frustration.
"How many men do you have Lord Umber?" said Daenerys.
Smalljon looked at Jon questioningly who nodded.
"2000… Your Grace" said Smalljon.
Daenerys nodded and turned to Wyman Manderly.
"And you Lord Manderly" said Daenerys.
"1500 Your Grace" said Wyman Manderly.
"And you have around 400 Lord Cerwyn" said Daenerys.
"Yes Your Grace" said Cley Cerwyn.
"Very good, I can provide the troops required but it will take a few weeks for them to arrive" said Daenerys.
Jon and Quentyn filled the others in on the details of their plan.
4 weeks later…
Jon and Quentyn rode their horses out of the forest into the clearing where a small camp had been set up.
Harrod and Daemon walked up to them dressed in their armour and cloaks.
"Prince Quentyn, we have everything set up in the command tent, our scouts will give you a report on the enemy" said Harrod.
"Lead on" said Quentyn dismounting his horse and handing the reins to his squire.
Jon did the same and the two followed Harrod and Daemon into the command tent.
Sansa, Arya, Daenerys, Missandei, Ser Barristan, Greyworm and Tyrion joined them a few minutes later.
"Our scouts report that the Bolton army is camped around Winterfell, 20,000 strong along with a 5000 strong cavalry camped two miles west of Winterfell" said Daemon.
"What off other defences, siege weapons, anything else we need to be aware off" said Jon.
"They have large wood barricades and wooden pikes set up at the front of Winterfell, which would pose a big problem for our cavalry" said Harrod.
"A problem we will have to sort out before we attack, how many troops do we have?" said Daemon.
"Nearly 50,000, and 3 dragons" said Tyrion.
"So we have more troops, but they have the advantage of the defence, with defences like that they could cause some serious damage to our army" said Ser Barristan.
"What do we do then?" said Sansa.
Jon looked at the map in thought for a moment.
"We do two things, first we draw them away from their defences, our archers could fire on their defences, hopefully that might draw them out onto the battlefield, then we have them" said Jon.
"What off their archers?" said Quentyn.
"At the same time, we send most of our cavalry to the back of Winterfell, they could attack them from behind, it would force them forward and trap them between both sets of our army" said Jon.
"The Dothraki will do that" said Daenerys.
Jon nodded.
"And I'll lead the main cavalry" said Jon.
"What off their other cavalry?" said Daenerys.
"Unsullied will take care of them" said Greyworm.
"Good, double the guards around the camp tonight, stop anyone who attempts to enter the camp, we march for Winterfell at first light" said Quentyn.
"That soon, but our army have only just arrived" said Daenerys.
"The longer we wait, the more likely it will be that we are discovered, we need to strike before they realise we are here" said Jon.
The others nodded.
"Prepare the army" said Quentyn looking at Harrod and Daemon who nodded and left the tent.
The others walked out of the tent shortly after.
Jon was sat on a large rock sharpening his swords with a whetstone when a voice caught his attention.
"Are you sure this plan will work Jon?" said Arya.
Jon turned to face her.
"No, anything could happen, but we can beat them" said Jon.
"And what about you?" said Arya.
"What about me?" said Jon.
"Your leading the line, putting yourself in the most danger, what if you die?" said Arya.
Jon laughed.
"I haven't died yet Arya, and I have no intention of dying anytime soon" said Jon.
Arya nodded before rushing forward wrapping her arms around him tightly.
Jon dropped his Dawn and returned her hug.
"What is the one true god Arya?" said Jon.
"Death" said Arya slowly.
"And what do we say to death?" said Jon.
Arya pulled away from him.
"Not today" said Arya with a small smile on her face.
"Not today, that will not change tomorrow" said Jon.
Arya nodded.
Jon picked up Dawn and looked at her.
"Have you ever used a whetstone before?" said Jon.
Arya shook her head.
Jon handed the whetstone and Dawn to her.
"Do you want to make sure my blade is nice and sharp for tomorrow?" said Jon.
Arya took the whetstone and Dawn from Jon's hands and started running it down the blade sharpening it.
Jon watched her until the blade was sharp enough.
The two stayed where they were for a few hours talking before heading back to camp to go to sleep.
The next day…
Jon rode along the front line of their army stood stationary in front of the trees.
He turned to look at the large Bolton army still mobilising in front of Winterfell.
Quentyn rode up alongside him.
"That doesn't look like a 20,000 strong army, more like 15,000" said Quentyn concerned.
"I know, they must be hiding a part of their army somewhere else, we need to be careful" said Jon.
Quentyn nodded.
"And now it begins" said Quentyn turning to face Daemon and nodding.
Daemon walked forward along with Nymeria and several thousand archers and made their way onto the battlefield.
Once they were just out of range of the Bolton army they readied their bows.
"Nox" shouted Daemon.
The archers readied their arrows ready to fire.
"Loose" shouted Daemon.
The archers fired thousands of arrows towards the Bolton soldiers hitting the barricades and some unlucky soldiers.
They kept firing arrows as the Dothraki rode hard for the back of the Bolton defences with their war cries echoing throughout the battlefield.
As predicted the Bolton army panicked and began to move forward.
Jon unsheathed Dawn and pointed it forward.
"Forward" shouted Jon charging his horse forwards with Ghost following next to him.
Quentyn and the rest of the cavalry followed suit charging towards the Bolton soldiers.
The cavalry formed a half circle shape surrounding the Bolton soldiers cutting them down left right and centre as the Dothraki approached from behind.
To their shock arrows started raining on them from the woods to the east.
Jon looked to the woods to see thousands of Bolton cavalry charging out of the woods towards them with spears and swords while Bolton archers fired dozens of arrows at their soldiers.
Thankfully a large portion of their own cavalry rode towards the woods to take out the archers.
Obarra was stood with Harrod, Smalljon and Ser Barristan back with the rest of their infantry in front of the trees.
"We may as well be having shits back here" said Obarra.
She picked up her spear.
"Forward" shouted Obarra who started running.
Harrod and the rest of the infantry followed suit.
Daemon, Nymeria and the rest of the archers put their bows away and drew melee weapons charging into the battle.
The Bolton cavalry managed to get through part of the Dornish cavalry killing a number of Dornish troops in the process.
Jon drew his other sword and was relentlessly cutting down as many men as he could while Ghost moved from person to person attacking their throats, legs and arms.
When the fighting began to end Jon looked up towards the entrance of Winterfell. He saw Roose Bolton, Ramsey Bolton and Harrion Karstark make their way back into Winterfell along with a small number of their army.
He dismounted his horse and took off running for Winterfell killing any surviving Bolton soldier he encountered.
Quentyn, Ghost, Obarra, Daemon and Ser Daryn were hot on his heels as he approached Winterfell just managing to stay out of range of their archers.
"Bring the battering ram, and some ladders as well" said Jon hoarsely.
Ser Daryn nodded and left them.
Jon turned to Daemon.
"Take out those archers" said Jon.
"Consider it done" said Daemon pulling out his bow and arrow and killing one of the archers above the gate.
Their archers fired dozens of arrows at the archers defending Winterfell for nearly an hour before the large mobile battering ram was pushed towards the gate by multiple soldiers.
"Take it down, archers cover them" said Jon.
"Set the ladders up on the west wall" said Quentyn.
The soldiers carrying the ladders moved to the west wall and set them up.
Jon climbed up the ladder and jumped over the wall.
One of the Bolton soldiers saw him and ran towards him but Jon parried his sword and impaled him through the chest.
Obarra, Harrod and Smalljon climbed up the ladder after him along with dozens of their soldiers and followed Jon along the walls killing the Bolton soldiers.
After nearly 20 minutes the battering ram managed to break through the front gate.
Quentyn and the rest of their army rushed through the gate clashing with the Bolton soldiers.
Jon ran down the steps from the wall to see the tall pale faced Roose Bolton killing Dornish and Nothern soldiers and charged towards him.
Roose turned to him and blocked his incoming attacks.
The two kept fighting for over 20 minutes with Jon finding it difficult to get through his defence.
Roose knocked Jon to the floor causing him to drop his other sword.
Roose raised his sword to deliver the finishing blow.
Jon quickly lunged forward blocking Roose's sword. He pulled his dagger out and plunged it into Roose's chest.
Roose gasped and dropped his sword.
Jon locked eyes with him.
"The Starks send their regards" said Jon pulling the dagger out of his chest.
Roose's eyes went black and he fell backwards to the ground.
Jon put his dagger away and picked up his other sword before rejoining the battle.
Eventually they fighting stopped as they won the battle.
Ser Daryn walked up to him.
"Search the castle" said Jon sheathing his swords.
Ser Daryn nodded and walked away.
Sansa, Arya, Daenerys, Tyrion and Missandei rode into the courtyard a few minutes later escorted by several riders.
Sansa dismounted her horse and looked around in sadness.
"It's not the same, some things are different" said Sansa.
"Yeah, its quieter" said Arya.
Ser Daryn came running towards him.
"Lord Dayne, we found him in the dungeons" said Ser Daryn.
Two Dayne soldiers dragged a dirty man over to him and threw him to the floor.
The man was in his mid twenties with thick dirty brown hair dressed in rags covered in blood and mud.
"Theon" said Jon sceptically.
Theon looked at Jon briefly before looking back at the floor again.
"Not Theon, Reek, I am Reek" said Theon.
"Theon, look at me" said Jon angrily.
Theon slowly lifted his head.
Jon turned to the soldiers who brought Theon to him and nodded.
The two seized Theon by his arms and forced him to his knees.
Jon unsheathed Dawn.
"Jon no" said Sansa.
"He betrayed our family Sansa" said Arya.
"Look at him, he's nothing but a broken soul, let him go Jon, send him to the wall or something" said Sansa.
Jon shook his head.
"I cannot, he must pay for his crimes, Ser Daryn escort my sisters to their old chambers" said Jon turning to face Theon.
Ser Daryn marched his sisters out of the courtyard.
"I'm sorry Theon but there is no other option" said Jon.
Theon did not react.
"In the name of Daenerys of the House Targaryan, rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms, I, Jon, of House Dayne, Lord of Starfall, sentence you to die, do you have any last words" said Jon.
Theon looked at him with defeated eyes.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me for what I have done" said Theon.
Jon thought for a few moments before nodding.
Theon smiled and lowered his head.
Jon placed the sword on the back of his neck and raised it before swinging it downwards beheading Theon.
The two soldiers dragged Theon's body away as Jon stood still looking at his bloody sword.
Daenerys walked up to him.
He turned to face her.
"I was only 7 when I met him, he was 12, if someone told me back then that I would take his head years later I wouldn't have believed them" said Jon.
"Sometimes things happen that are out of our control, but he had to be punished for his crimes" said Daenerys.
Jon nodded.