Chapter 28: An Ending and A Beginning

Though she had witnessed it herself, the whole thing still felt as surreal to Lyra as it did to Ser Addam, Arienne, and Myrcella. Watching Jon hang the men for his own murder, Lyra could only quietly watch like everyone else who was present; which was everyone. News got around Castle Black fast apparently.

The men who were speaking kept saying things like: I saw him die; it's unnatural; he was dead and now he's back...how?

Ser Addam, who had personally seen Jon's corpse with Lyra, and even checked for a pulse that hadn't existed on Jon's ice skin, couldn't believe what he was seeing. As soon as he saw Jon walking about the castle, he walked up to Lyra's cousin, grabbed the man's wrist, and checked for a pulse. Bewildered at how Jon now had a pulse and his skin was as warm as his own, Addam looked as if he'd seen a ghost and walked away repeating, "He was dead, now he's alive...he was dead, now he's alive."

If Lyra hadn't been in such shock herself, she would have laughed at Ser Addam's reaction; however, it paled in comparison to Tormund's.

Upon seeing Jon, Tormund told the newly resurrected man that everyone things he's a God, but that he knew he wasn't because "A God wouldn't have a pecker that small". It was crude like everything Tormund was, but that's when Lyra lost it and fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Of which was both out of hilarity of Tormund's words to Jon and the fact that Lyra thought she herself had gone mad. She still couldn't believe what had happened either.

After the men and the lad, Olly, were hung to death when Jon cut the rope supporting the beam with Long Claw, everyone, including Lyra who had seen many executions, winced as the men and the lad slowly died; their necks did not break as everyone was expecting. Almost as if fate itself was punishing their treachery.

When it was all over, Ed suggested that they burn the bodies so that they didn't come back as wights. To which Jon took off his mantle and gave it to Ed, telling him that his watch was over and that he was now the Lord Commander. Taking Jon's mantle, Dolorous Ed could only stare as Jon walked away saying, "My watch has ended," while Lyra, Addam, Arienne, and Davos followed him to discuss their next move.

Lyra offered to let Jon come with her; " You died for the Night's Watch; officially, your watch is over." Grabbing his hand, she added, "We need good swordsmen to help us get South, and there will always be a place for you as far as I'm concerned."

"Aye, and then your husband will behead me as a deserter the moment he sees me."

That was when Lyra realized that wherever Jon went, he couldn't go with her.

"I saw you resurrected myself!" Lyra argued, "So did Ser Addam! I'm sure that together, we could convince Jaime to-"

"I'm sorry Lady Lannister, er, Lyra, but you know that would be unwise. I seriously doubt that Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, believes in the Gods, let alone magic."

Crestfallen, Lyra asked what he would do then.

"Get warm," he responded. "I was at this place called Hardhome, a sort of capitol for the Free Folk. I fought the White Walkers there, we fought them there," Jon added, looking at Edd and Tormund. "We lost." He finished sadly. "Lyra, when you go back, tell your husband about what happened here. How you witnessed it first hand. The Long Night is coming for us all," Jon told her darkly.

"Would they dare come to a place as hot as Dorne?" Princess Arienne asked fearfully yet dignified.

"I'm afraid that they bring the Winter and the cold with them Princess," Jon assured her.

"So that's it then?" Edd asked angrily. "You're leaving us to face those fucks alone? After pledging to guard the Wall? For all nights to come?"

"Yes, Edd," Jon told the new Lord Commander firmly. "I died for the Wall, killed by my own brothers. How can I stay after that?"

Dolorous Edd was about to argue back when a horn blew.

Fearing that it was the Boltons, Lyra ran to the window; however, instead of seeing horror, she saw something, or rather, someone who she thought she'd never see again. Without a second thought, she ran out the door to meet the party that had just arrived.


Brienne tied a piece of cloth on her bleeding hand while they waited for the gates of Castle Black to open. She had her reservations about taking lady Sansa to a place where rapers and murders lived, but Jon was Lord Commander. After traveling through the North and witnessing the atrocities at the hands of the Boltons and their allies, she realized that Lyra had been right: the Wall was the safest place for Sansa.

As Pod and Lady Sansa rode into the courtyard with her, Brienne unconsciously put her hand on Oathkeeper. Especially when she saw the rather crudely dressed and unshaven man with red hair and a matching beard give Brienne a strange look.

Dismounting, Sansa rubbed her cheek where a bruise had formed from her daring escape with Theon from the Boltons. Looking around, she was hoping to see her half-brother, Jon, but he was nowhere to be found among the men currently staring at her, which was beginning to unnerve her. However, a woman with plaited dark hair wearing a dark fur cloak burst through one of the doors. Upon seeing this, Brienne instinctively started to pull out Oathkeeper until Sansa stopped her; she recognized this woman. Dark hair and eyes with olive skin and wearing a torn tunic with a sword at her hip, she was much thinner than Sansa remembered her, but the woman rushing towards her was unmistakably her cousin Lyra.

"Sansa!" Lyra didn't even stop running before embracing her long lost cousin. "Gods you're alright!"

Jon, following his cousin who had practically bolted out to the courtyard, saw Lyra hugging and crying with a woman with Tully red hair. Walking down to the courtyard himself, Jon thought that surely he must be dead.

When Lyra and Sansa finally released each other, Lyra had a thousand questions for her cousin, but that completely left her mind when she saw Sansa. Jon was walking down towards them with the same bewildered expression Sansa currently wore on her face.

Lyra smiled to herself and nearly cried again when she saw Sansa and Jon embrace. They likely thought they'd never see one another again.


Bronn had only been back in King's landing with Jaime for a day and a half, and now they were headed to the Twins. Jaime had all of the soldiers and Lannister knights in a tizzy; the same day they got back, Jaime was telling his men, who weren't even remotely ready to travel, that they were to leave for the Twins the next day.

Fuckin' Lannisters. Always getting into trouble, Bronn thought to himself. His back and his ass already hurt from their boat trip, and trotting on a horse wasn't making things better. Most of the men didn't have horses, Lady Lannister's army had most of them at the Twins, and Bronn could tell that Jaime was frustrated that his men couldn't go any faster. They were actually having to move at less that half the pace Lyra and her 2,000 men had gone due to multiple factors: one, they had 4,000 men; two, most of their men were on foot.

At the horizon, Bronn saw Jaime galloping back atop Honor. If his back and ass weren't hurting him so badly right now, Bronn would have actually had some sympathy for the man. Jaime hadn't been sleeping or eating much ever since he heard about Lyra's sudden trip to the Twins without giving a reason. However, Jaime had Bronn running around like a mad man trying to get the lads to pack up for the trip faster, so Bronn's sympathy was quite limited at the moment.

"Before you say it again, I'm cutting to the quick; the men are going as fast as they can, and I'm sure that your lady wife is fine," Bronn told Jaime irritably when he rode up to him.

"She's not fine. She wouldn't send a letter like that if she was fine," Jaime grumbled back to Bronn.

Watching Jaime put a hand through his hair, something Bronn noticed he did when he was worried or frustrated. "Listen, she survived being poisoned and slapped the shit out of your sister," Bronn offered. "Not only that, but she can handle herself with a sword, and she has 2,000 soldiers traveling with her," he added. "She's fine. Don't worry about her until there's something to actually worry about. For all we know, she could have gotten sick or simply decided that the Twins was a safer place to stay."

"This isn't like her Bronn," Jaime snapped back at him. He was getting tired and that tended to make him irritable. Before riding off with his group of knights ahead of the army, he added, "Tell the men that we're not stopping. We're riding through the night."

Watching Jaime ride off again, Bronn inwardly groaned. Fuck me...this shit ain't worth being a knight.


After giving Sansa the rest of the day to rest and clean herself up, she joined Jon, Lyra and Princess Arienne for supper just before night fell. Lyra and Arienne agreed that the less the Lannisters and Myrcella know about Sansa, the better. They didn't want much if any information about Sansa getting back to Cersei.

"The soup is good," Sansa said, finishing her bowl. This earned her a look from Edd and Lyra.

"What are you talking about? It's only broth; the soup's bloody awful," Lyra and Arienne laughed.

Despite herself, she was grateful just to have warm food in her stomach, Sansa smiled. Her first genuine smile in a while too. "You don't really sound all that Dornish anymore," she turned to Lyra. "It's also claimed that Jon rose from the dead and quit the Night's Watch. Not to mention the fact that the Lannisters and the Dornish have now joined forces. Winter is really coming," she added wistfully, thinking of her father.

Everyone fell sober and silent, however, when Sansa and Jon began recalling their childhood at Winterfell. Their laughter at Old Nan's horrid kidney pies soon turned into dark commiseration when Jon mentioned that the Stark children should have never left Winterfell. Sansa regretted being horrible to Jon during their childhood just because he was a bastard and that she was thoughtlessly emulating Lady Stark.

Lyra closed her eyes, feeling guilty over being hurt by the fact that none of those memories included her. Looking at Sansa and Jon and how they spoke of Winterfell and the North, Lyra was beginning to wonder something she had wondered about since she headed North; where did she belong? Did she belong anywhere?

I grew up in Dorne, but I was born a Stark of Winterfell. Though I know the Dornishmen better, they always expected me to go to the North; yet I don't belong here either. The North, the one place Lyra had been dreaming of taking back as her homeland, was now such a foreign place to her. Though Lyra had some good memories in this place, that's all they were: memories. The more Lyra thought about it and the more she heard Jon and Sansa speak so fondly of the North as their home, the more she realized that the North was never her home; and it quit feeling like her homeland since the day Prince Doran had her reject Robb's proposal.

Feeling that they should leave, Lyra nudged Arienne. After both women excused themselves, Jon and Sansa continued.

"We were children," Jon tried.

"I was awful, just admit it," Sansa smiled. It was a regretful smile.

Jon had to laugh before admitting to her that she was occasionally awful to him for being a bastard. However, he also added that to be fair, he couldn't have been much fun to be around seeing as he was usually sulking if he wasn't training with Robb or Arya or even Lyra.

"Forgive me?" Sansa asked Jon.

He shook his head, "There's nothing to forgive." Upon her laughing and insistence that there was something that needed to be forgiven, Jon relented. Thinking Sansa must be thirsty, he handed her his ale. It was only after she sipped it and coughed as if it were poison that Jon forgot to tell her how rough the ale was.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Should have warned you, but you'd think that after two thousand years the Night's Watch would be able to at least make decent ale."

"Where will you go?" she asked him. It seemed that Jon was being asked that question a lot these days.

"Where will we go," he corrected her. If Jon didn't watch over his last remaining sister, he feared that Lord Stark's ghost would come back and haunt him. And after his own brothers killed him, he couldn't stay here, nor could Sansa. "Lyra and Princess Arienne have offered to take us South with them," Jon offered.

"I can't go South," Sansa's face falling as she said so. "Lyra can try her best to keep us safe," she added. "She could even die trying to keep us safe, but nothing in this whole world can keep me safe anymore. Especially if I leave the North." Cersei surely had a bounty on her, and she doubted that Jaime's love for Lyra could save Sansa from being given to the Crown for Joffrey's murder. However, they couldn't be fugitives in the North forever, which left them only one place to go: Home.

"Do you think that Lyra and Princess Arienne will allow their forces to fight with us to take back Winterfell?" Sansa asked Jon.

"I think so," Jon replied. "Princess Arienne and Myrcella and Lyra are all eager to go South, even if it means that they have to fight the Boltons. Lyra's called up her two thousand Lannister soldiers to come to her aid because the Boltons are threatening to flay them on site."

Pausing for a moment, Sansa asked why Princess Myrcella was with them. She was also concerned that Cersei would be sending an army to bring her daughter back and recapture Sansa in the process.

Jon assured Sansa that she had nothing to fear about the Princess or the Queen. Leaning in, he added, "Lyra wants to keep you safe. That's why she hasn't allowed her soldiers or Princess Myrcella to come near you." Sansa looked relieved at this news.

"She was good to me when I was in the Capitol," Sansa spoke of Lyra. "She said that she wouldn't ask Jaime if I could come to the Rock with them; she said she was going to tell him that I was coming." Jon and Sansa both had a laugh at Lyra's fighting spirit and willfulness; which made them sad as this reminded them of Arya.

"We have to take back Winterfell," Sansa concluded. "It's the seat of the Starks not the Boltons. It's our home, and Arya's and Bran's and Rickon's, wherever they are. We all need a place to go home to."

"What do you suggest? Asking the Boltons to pack up and leave? Lyra said that she and Arienne had the Dreadfort burnt to the ground in retaliation to the Boltons for taking you and threatening them. They will fight just as hard as we will for Winterfell," Jon surmised.

"We Fight for it."

"With what army?"

"Lyra's for starters; though she's married into House Lannister, she's still a Stark. Legally, if Winterfell is anyone's, it's her's since the rest of us have been branded traitors by the Crown," Sansa started. "How many Wildlings did you save?"

"First, how do you know that Lyra will give us Winterfell?" Jon started. "Second, the Free Folk didn't come here to serve me."

"Lyra's interest in Winterfell died with Robb. Believe me, when she heard that none of her sons or daughters would be taking her ancestral seat, she barely flinched," Sansa explained. "Even if she does want it, she can't hold it. Lyra's a Stark in name and that's about the extent of it; she grew up in Dorne and she doesn't know the Northmen well enough to hold the North. Also, she's Lady Lannister, she has Casterly Rock to take care of, and she's much more concerned with her business South, which could take years."

"And the Free Folk? They bow to no-one."

"Yes," Sansa conceded, "but you saved their lives. You died for them. They owe you their lives." Sansa concluded.

They continued to argue back and forth until Sansa gave him an ultimatum; "Until we take Winterfell, we'll never be safe. And if you won't help me, then I'll take it myself."

The next morning, Jon and Sansa broke their fast with Lyra and Princess Arienne, who made Tia bring food to Princess Myrcella as she feared that she'd be lonely, along with Tormund, Dolorous Edd and Brienne.

Wolfing her food down, she wasn't sure if it was her lifted mood or what that was making her so hungry, Lyra couldn't help but to gawk at how Tormund kept staring at Brienne. He was even chowing down on a bird in such a way that Lyra knew that the wild man was trying to court Brienne in his own strange way. Something Dolorous Edd noticed as well considering that he and Lyra both raised an eyebrow at this. Brienne must not be courted often, which didn't surprise Lyra given the woman's grossly inelegant appearance and height, as she simply looked at Tormund as if he were a creepy crazy man she didn't want to get too close to when he smiled at her.

To say that the atmosphere at the table was awkward was an understatement. Ser Addam already disapproved of Lyra simply leading and fighting along side his men; he especially disapproved of a high born lady like Brienne wearing full armor and carrying a longsword, dressing and acting like a man. Though Tormund was trying to be flirtatious with Brienne, he was coming across as creepy. Pod seemed a little terrified of Ser Addam, who kept staring him down with disapproval overtime the young man looked up from his plate. Princess Arienne and Lyra kept nervously looking back and forth at Sansa and Addam, worried that he might try taking her prisoner. Jon and Edd simply kept looking at each other not exactly knowing what to do.

What a group of misfits we make: Lannisters, Martells, Starks, and Wildlings. Lyra couldn't help but to think.

Suddenly, a brother barged in and said he had a message for the Lord Commander. Edd, not used to his new post yet, kept looking at Jon until he reminded him that he was now Lord Commander. The brother gave it to Edd, who, upon seeing the Bolton's seal, gave it to Jon, who reluctantly took it. When Jon began to read it, everyone at the table stopped what they were doing.

To the traitor and bastard Jon Snow,

You allowed thousands of Wildlings past the Wall.

You have betrayed your own kind, you have betrayed the North.

Winterfell is mine bastard. Come and see.

Jon, Sansa, and Lyra exchanged worried looks before Jon continued.

Your brother Rickon is in my dungeon. His dire wolf's skin is on my floor. Come and see.

I want my bride back.

I want the Dornish and Lannister scum who destroyed my ancestral home. They will not be leaving the North with their heads or their skin.

Send my bride and the scum to me, bastard, and I will trouble you and your wildling lovers no more.

Keep any of them from me and I will ride North and slaughter every Wildling man, woman, and babe living under your protection.

You will watch as I skin them living along with your traitor Lannister cousin, her cousin the Princess of Dorne, and everyone in their company.

You-

Jon stopped there, looking at Sansa, Lyra, and Arienne in fear. Wanting to hear the rest, Sansa grabbed the parchment from her brother and continued:

You will watch as my soldiers take turns raping your sister.

You will watch as I personally rape your cousin and her cousin.

You will watch as I will allow my soldiers take turns with them.

You will watch as my dogs devour your wild little brother.

Then I will spoon your eyes from their sockets and let my dogs do the rest.

Come and see.

Ramsey Bolton, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North.

Sansa finally finished the grotesque letter, visibly angry.

Arienne's face went white in fear.

Lyra looked at Ser Addam, who stood and asked, "What are your orders Lady Lannister?"

"Ready the men," she responded. "and rouse the Dornishmen to ready as well," she added upon Arienne's nod of approval; she couldn't even form words at the moment.

Once Ser Addam left, Lyra rose and addressed everyone at the table; "If it's a fight Ramsey wants, then it's a fight for his life he will be getting."

"You'll help us regain Winterfell? Even though I'm a fugitive of the Crown," Sansa asked her cousin.

"Sansa, I'm hurt. You didn't really think that we'd simply leave the North without giving Winterfell back to the Starks did you?"

Arienne added fiercely, "Let's show the Boltons what happens when you fuck with the Martells."


Author's Note: Sorry about the humor in this chapter! I love Dolorous Edd and I ship Tormund and Brienne so I had WAY too much fun in some part of the chapter.

Next: Sansa, Jon, and Lyra try to garner support for their cause, Ser Dezial looks for a traitor among them, Ser Addam goes South to redirect the Lannister army, and Arienne finally confronts Myrcella.