Treason in the Seven Kingdoms
I do not own Game of Thrones
Treason: The crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.
See also: Treachery, disloyalty, faithlessness, perfidy, duplicity, infidelity, sedition, subversion, mutiny, rebellion and punic faith.
Addendum: I feel that I should make it clear that this is not intended to be a serious work of literature. Jon is a jerk in it, Sansa is bashed relentlessly, everybody is pretty OOC and it's honestly just a vent piece that I typed to try and get through some writer's block. I find that bashing Dumb and Dumber's (lack of) writing skill helps to get my brain flowing when working on my other more serious stories.
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Gods. Jon loved her for all her flaws, but whatever Sansa had gone through over the course of her prolonged captivity had give her a chip on her shoulder and a narrow vision.
It was one thing to criticize his decisions, another to undermine them. But it was a whole new level of stupid to start a childish argument in the middle of the great hall over what he deemed a minor, petulant matter.
"Very well then." Jon nodded. "The Karstarks and the Umbers did, as you so eloquently put it: fight for Ramsay Bolton. They are guilty of treason, therefore: punishment is merited."
A chorus of agreement and chuckles filled the chamber. Towards the back he could see the forms of Alys Karstark and Ned Umber shrink under their cloaks as if both children were trying to sink into the floor and vanish.
"But while we are on the topic of treason, they are not alone in this matter." Jon smiled as he set his eyes on the rotund form of the Warden of the White Knife. "Lord Manderly. You are a learned man. Tell me, when punishment is meted out for treason, is there typically any variation in how severely all conspirators are to be punished?"
Lord Too-Fat-To-Sit-His-Horse cleared his throat and set his tankard down, rising to his feet with extreme effort. "Not usually, your Grace." He answered. "Unless there are some special circumstances which might warrant greater or lesser punishment, all participants are treated as equally guilty and are sentenced to death, typically by beheading or hanging. Such is the common practice across the Seven Kingdoms, anyways. Sometimes a Lord or Monarch may exercise their authority to grant a lesser punishment, perhaps in return for information on other conspirators for example; or a greater punishment to set an example. In short, it has been described by Maester Elden as follows: Treason is treason. Greater or lesser are irrelevant."
"Well said." Jon nodded. "Which is why, by the demand of my sister and this gathering…you are to no longer be Lord of White Harbour."
The colour drained out of the man's face as his mouth quivered. "W-what?"
"I do believe that House Mazin will make adequate replacements." Jon continued. "Lord Glover, the same applies to you. I believe Lady Mormont could put your lands to good use."
"Jon." Sansa hissed. "What are you doing?"
"Dispensing punishment for treachery." Jon answered. "I believe that House Hornwood's new lord would be quite happy to accept an expansion of lands, say…those of House Flint of Widow's Watch. It will be quite difficult to find new lords for all of these empty seats however…as only three houses in all of the North answered the call of their rightful liegelords."
Lords began to leap to their feet, shouting in outrage.
Jon stood up and drew Longclaw from his waist. "SILENCE!" He roared.
Many of the Northern Lords seemed ready to take up arms or storm out, but Jon had taken care to post guards from the Houses whose loyalty had actually been proven. The sight of burly Mormont fighters with bare steel was enough to calm many of the Northern Lords while the men of the Vale watched in astonished silence.
"I shall speak, and if anyone interrupts me even once they will be ejected from this room and confined to the dungeons. In that event, my threat to attaint them will be followed through and their lands and titles shall be forfeit." Jon told them, inking back into his chair with Longclaw set across his lap.
He let them stew in silence for several moment, using the time to best consider how to begin.
"When we called for the loyal sons and daughters of the North to join under House Stark's banner, you refused the call." Jon said. "By doing so, you aided the Boltons in their treason. As Lord Manderly has said: treason is treason. Greater or lesser are irrelevant."
He saw Lord Manderly flinch at his words being tossed back at him. Others appeared to be equally affected by this, their righteous anger dissolving away.
Good.
"But when you gathered here to name me King, I granted unconditional forgiveness to all of you." Jon reminded the Lords of the North. "No punishment, no hostages and no reduced lands or incomes. But what you fail to understand is that when I did so, this applied to all houses who had betrayed us. Not some, not most: all. Because in my eyes, you all were equally guilty."
There it was. Discomfort in the eyes of those most resolute in believing themselves innocent as his words hit home. It had not even occurred to many of these fools that they were singing the song of hypocrites.
"By refusing to aid us, you aided the enemy just as much as Small Jon Umber and Harald Karstark did by leading their armies against mine." Jon slid Longclaw back into its scabbard. "So, you have two choices. Either I punish those who aided the Boltons equally, be it those who fought alongside Ramsay Bolton or refused to fight against him. Or I forgive them all. Equally."
He swept one hand out to gesture across the room before him. "The choice, my Lords, is yours. For this is not the South where the King plays petty politics to gain the favour of his subjects. This is the North, home of the First Men. In the North, the King dispenses justice to all, from the lowest of smallfolk to the highest born Lord so that all may know that they are not exempt from facing the King's justice by virtue of their station. But he does not punish someone for being kin to those found guilty."
He turned and glowered at his sister, whose hands were gripping the arms of her chair so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. "And I would think, Lady Sansa, given that you were punished for every one of our brother Robb's victories in the field, that you would know better than to blame a child for their family's actions."
Looking over the gathering, Jon could see shame in the eyes of many a nobleman now. Eyes cast towards the floor or giving guilty glances towards the two would-be victims of their attempted mob justice, the Lords of the North were sufficiently cowed.
Up to this point, Lyanna Mormont had been watching silently with a hint of what looked like pride. Lord Mazin and the newly legitimized Lord Larence Hornwood did a better job of masking their expressions, but Jon could feel that they took some note of satisfaction in seeing the higher lords of the North put in their place. Sansa's face was set in stone, but her eyes glared at him much like her mother had done so many times in his youth. She would need to be spoken to later about this, made to understand that this was not King's Landing where punishment was meted out as a form of entertainment, but for the time being she appeared to have accepted his ruling even if she disagreed with it.
Finally. Now I can close this matter, and gods help Sansa if she tries to bring it up again, because I've neither the time nor the interest for playing her precious Game.
"Ned Umber and Alys Karstark." Jon called out. "Step forward."
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End