CHAPTER 37. THE WATCHERS ON THE WALL

EAST WATCH

Walder Frey had been made Lord Commander of East Watch. He sits in his solar with his three eldest sons and reads the letter from Queen Vivienne Tyrell nee' Basteel. "Father we can't the Night's Watch will hunt us down…" Stevron says.

"We will leave by ship…"

"Our honor was besmirched because of your actions at the Battle of the Trident…Now you wish to break our vows to the Night's Watch."

"How dare you speak to me like that! I am your father!"

"Stevron…Father is right…Come with us…We can become the Lords of the River Lands…" Black Walder says.

Stevron stands up, "Do as you wish I will not betray you until you leave…"

Walder Frey releases the Wildings they recently captured, "Go and tell your King the gates of East Watch will be open to him…" A raven had been sent in response to the Queen's request. Three weeks later the ships show up to carry the Freys south to fight.

As they sail off Stevron sends a Raven to Castle Black for acting Lord Commander Aliiser Thorne. He had hidden the Raven from his father and after they left he sent the Raven. Then Stevron rides for Castle Black as he is alone at the castle.

OWEN

Alliser Thorne sends a Raven to Winterfell and in turn the Queen sends a Raven to Owen Stryder in White Harbor demanding that he stop the Freys. Owen takes ten of the sixty ships he had built to hunt down the ships carrying Walder Frey and his brewed. Owen must find the fleet before it gets past the Bay of Crabs as the waters beyond that are controlled by the Royal Navy.

"Enemy spotted!" A man screams.

Owen leaves his cabin and comes on deck, he is handed a spyglass. "Oars out! Chase the fuckers down…" They meet in open water at the halfway point between Braavos and outer most land mass near the Dread Fort.

MANCE RAYDER

Mance Rayder was once a brother of the Night's Watch. He was found as a baby by the men of the watch and taken in. As a ranger he learned of his true heritage and deserted the Watch. He spent seventeen years of his life convincing the Free Folk clans to form an alliance and work together to head south before the long winter comes.

Now the Free Folk number over one hundred thousand and begin the march to the wall. A hundred leagues from Craster's Keep they run into Free Folk that have been freed by the Freys. "They are called the Freys and they have betrayed the Night's Watch and have abandoned East Watch Castle. These Freys also left the Castle open…"

"Are you sure?" Mance asks.

The man looks at Bayer a man of the High Mountain clan. "I stayed behind and watched…It be true they left the Castle wide open…"

"It could be a trap…" Rattleshirt says speaking up.

"We march on East Watch…" Mance says.

CASTLE BLACK

Jon, Sam, and Grenn are on duty on the wall. It is Grenn who spots a rider coming to Castle Black from south of the wall. He blows the horn once as the signal for returning Watch brothers. Later Jon goes down to feed Ghost, then he attends a meeting of the Night's Watch. "My Brothers…Walder Frey had betrayed us. Left East Watch castle open to the enemy…I have sent Ravens to Commander Pyke of Shadow Tower…Our brothers at Shadow Tower are on the way…That will give us just over eight hundred men to defend Castle Black…For thousands of years the Watch has stood…If we fall it is open season on the North…

…Will you let that happen?"

"NO!" They all scream in unison.

"Man your posts and stay alert…"

Twelve days later Carter Pyke arrives with his men and all the supplies they can carry. It is Tannon Stryder who suggested they build platforms on the wall to hold the new Catapults given to them by House Stryder. The catapults have pin cushion ammunition and Wild Fire. "We will save the Wild Fire for last…" Alliser Thorne says with Tannon, Jon, and Janos Slynt walking beside him.

"We should save the Wild Fire for the White Walkers when they come calling…" Tannon says speaking up.

"The immediate threat is the Wildlings we have to stop them…"

"Do we have to fight them?" Jon asks. "We should try to make peace again…"

"We did that Mance Rayder refused…"

"Aye he did…The Wildlings do not bend the knee…The Kings below the wall have no say in the affairs of the Night's Watch…We make the offer again only this time we leave out bend the knee to her sits on the Iron Throne…"

"If you want to make that offer then go make it…I have a castle to defend…"

"And if I do and they accept will you honor it?" Jon asks. Alliser pauses then he keeps walking without answering.

"Let it go lad…He is a stubborn man that one…" Tannon says.

MELISANDRE

She had been living in Mole's Town since Jon Stark came to the wall. When she heard of the Frey betrayal she decided to head to East Watch then beyond the wall to find Mance Rayder. During her time in Mole's Town Milsandre had converted some people to her faith. A few of her new converts accompany Melisandre beyond the wall.

After nine days of travel Melisandre and her group runs into Wildling scouts. They take her before Mance. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"I am Melisandre, a Priestess of lord of light…and I have come to help you…"

Mance and everyone in the tent start laughing, "How can you help us?"

"For starters I can give you information…The Night's Watch has new weapons called Pin Cushions…They are launched from Catapults, they explode in the air and rain down thousands of spikes like this one…" She hands Mance the Spike. "It's made of Valyrian steel…You will need to reinforce your shields…They also have Wild Fire…"

"What the fuck is Wild Fire?" Tormund asks.

"Think of the hottest fire you have ever felt and multiply by a thousand…It is a green liquid that is very unstable…when lit it consumes everything it touches and incinerates it."

A plan is formed and messages sent to the forces heading for East Watch. Mance has thirty thousand fighting men and women. Rattleshirt has another thirty thousand to attack the wall from the south. Those who cannot fight will remain at East Watch.

JON

The snow falls and the cold rises, the long summer is over. Jon walks the battlements with Grenn. Then a horn sounds, one long blast and then it sounds again. "Wildlings!" The wall and castle come to life as a huge fire roars on the other side of the wall. Jon is joined by Alliser Thorne. "Knock and hold!"

"My Lord the Pin Cushions…"

"We hold then for now…Lets see what the bastards throw at us…"

A lone figure walks out from the main force. Jon frowns and watches as a ball of fire flies from the lone figure and blows the main gate apart. "They breeched the gate!" Janos Slynt says.

"FIRE!"

A hail of Valyrian steal tipped arrows are fired from the top of the wall, "Pin Cushions!" The catapults are loaded and the fuses are lit, the balls made of wood and metal explode in the air and drop thousands of spikes onto the attacking Wildlings. Some raise their shields in time and those who do not are struck in the head or shoulder.

While the Night's Watch is distracted by the attack north of the wall Rattleshirt and his men try to get as close to the castle without being seen. "Wildlings!" A man screams just before he is shot in the neck. Carter Pyke leads the men in the courtyard against the attackers. He is joined by Tannon on the ground.

When a giant smashes through the gate; the Tannon drops down with his sword and stabs the Giant in the head. When he falls forward Tannon Stryder rolls forward and comes up on his feet. They fire barrels of flaming pitch at the attackers killing hundreds. On the wall Alliser looks down as the defenders in the castle are being overwhelmed.

"You men with me…"

Jon and several others go down in the lift then the ropes and chains of the lift are cut after two more trips. There are enough men on the wall to man the catapults and shoot arrows The brothers of the watch fight a desperate battle, but for every men they kill two or three more are fresh to the fight. With the gates breeched from through the tunnel and the main gate the Night's Watch are overwhelmed. By sunrise the Night's Watch has been defeated.

Mance Rayder walks before them, "I did not want this…Give us peace and we will allow you all to live…"

"I will burn in the seven hells before I grant you peace…" Alliser Thorne replies.

"As I understand you are not the Lord Commander Thorne, but acting Lord Comander…"

"There is no man here that would make peace with a traitor or your Wildling scum…"

"We offered peace before you rejected it…" Cotter Pyke says.

"Your offer came from a King who wished us to bend the knee…As I understand it the Night's Watch has nothing to do with the will of Kings or Queens on the Iron Throne…Choose a Lord Commnader and let us make peace or die…and then we can fight the real enemy…"