Hardhome 299 AC.
Tormund.
He had thought a dragon and a Direwolf to be the most impressive things he'd seen that belonged to the southern king, yet as he watched the first few ships come into sight, he now believed it was them. Val had said the king had more than one of these huge ships and while he had no reason to doubt her word, a part of him did just that. Now seeing five of them on the horizon, Tormund found himself to be more than happy to be wrong.
As for the king himself, he was a strange one and not at all what he had expected. He'd thought very little of him at first, he was young, probably green, and didn't look to him like a man who could fight. Of course seeing him ride a dragon was impressive, seeing him with a Direwolf even more so but then he had found that the Direwolf was Benjen's and not the kings. His armor, the sword that he carried on his hip, even the men with him, all had impressed him somewhat, the boy king, not so much. Then Hranvir had to open his mouth and Tormund and each of the Free Folk had looked on eagerly at the fight that was about to take place, only there had been no fight.
What he'd seen was something that had shocked him and the others completely. A light that shone so brightly that he had to shield his eyes and only when the boy-king put his sword away was he able to look properly at him and Hranvir. Only to find that Hranvir was laying on the ground and the boy king had beaten him without even breaking a sweat. It made him revaluate things and he watched as the boy sparred with his guards daily, as he strolled through the camp and sought out the children, played with them, listened to them, and wore a large smile on his face as he did so. It made him speak to Mance and to find that he believed now as his old friend did, this boy king would see them to safety.
"Why does he spend so much time with the children, Mance?" he asked.
"He told Dalla and me that his wife is with child, Tormund, he's the same each time we speak here, he's even held mine own son in his arms." Mance said with a smile and Tormund looked at him curiously.
"A man who cares for babes then?" he asked and received a nod.
He turned his eyes from the water and the ships that sailed their way and to the boy king and those who stood with him. Mance, Dalla, Val and Benjen, Mother Mole and Styr, and yet the boy was speaking to none of them, instead, he was on his knees speaking to the group of children who'd be among the first to leave. Tormund didn't need to listen in to hear what was being said either, he knew they were being reassured that sailing on the ships was safe and that they and their families would be housed and protected, that they had his oath on that.
Not one person moved from the shore when the ships dropped their anchors and the boats made their way towards them. Tormund briefly wondering why there were so many looking on and then almost smacking his head when he realized that it had started, the Free Folk were truly going to leave this place. It excited and terrified him at the same time. The thoughts of being brought behind the Wall and away from danger were ones that he knew each and every one of the Free Folk had been having more and more since the boy king had arrived. Yet there were thoughts of what would happen once they got there and whether or not they'd truly know peace too. There had also been thoughts of betrayal though those had mainly gone away, this king was not here to play them false.
"I'll ask the men to bring the supplies with them when they return, we should have the first families ready to leave as quickly as we can, Mance." he heard the boy king say and he smiled as he moved to help with the preparations.
He wasn't there when the boats landed nor when the boy king gave the orders to his men, so he didn't hear or see if those orders were followed happily or with doubt. Tormund did get to speak to some of the men who rowed though, to challenge them somewhat and quickly found they cared not to get involved in such things. Try as he might he couldn't get a rise from them, calling them kneelers and saying that he hoped they liked the weather in the true North not having any effect. They either feared or respected the boy king too much and whichever it was didn't matter, as both worked in their favor.
"I want you to go with the first boat old friend." Mance said when their people were ready and Tormund looked at him in shock until he explained "Jae has said he'd allow some of us to look over the ships, Ygritte and Styr are going in one of the other boats, just make sure there is not some large force of men waiting on us."
"You fear betrayal?" he asked surprised.
"No, but you know our people, Tormund, if they hear it from you and the others after you've been on the ships yourselves they'll be more willing to leave."
"I'll do as you ask." he said and Mance slapped his back.
He helped row the boat himself, him, two kneelers, and two families of Free Folk who were far more comfortable with him in the boat than they may have been without him. Well, this was true of the parents anyway, the children he heard speaking of something called a Yenture, whatever that was. They sat with smiles on their faces and seemed excited and he recognized some of the faces as those who had spent time with the boy king.
"Jae said that the new lands have green fields and the lake is full of fish."
"A stone house, what would it be like to live in a stone house?"
"Warm."
Shaking his head he found he had a smile on his face at their words and as they drew nearer the large ship he finally got to see it even more clearly. It was huge, it took even him some time to climb onto the deck and he was surprised to see the men standing there with food in their hands. What was even more surprising to him was the things they gave the children and their reaction to them, candied apples he heard one of the men say and he watched as the man showed the child how to eat it. Rarely had he seen so many smiling faces at once as each of the children was given one and then he and they were led to where they would stay.
If he wished to then the boy king could bring gods knows how many men here on these ships, as it was there were very few or fewer than he had expected. Enough to sail it and that was it and a thought suddenly hit him as they walked beneath the deck and were led to a large open space that had some blankets and a soft floor for them to sleep on. These ships had been sent with so few men so that they could carry even more of the Free Folk, so there would be room for more of them. The boy-king cared more for getting as many of them away from here as he could, as quickly as he could, than he did for even the safety of these ships themselves.
He didn't fear they would try and take them for their own, or that they'd seek to overwhelm the crew, he was instead placing as much faith in their word as they were in his. It made Tormund even more certain that he was a good man, a true one, and as Mother Mole had said, he was the Prince that was Promised and the man to lead them through the Long Night. So once he made sure that all were settled and the boats were once again ready to row back to shore, this time carrying supplies, Tormund bid his farewells and joined them. They had much work to be done and the boy king would have his ax to help them through it all.
Hardhome 299 AC.
Arthur.
It took all day and most of the night for the ships to be loaded and as soon as they were they set sail. No time was to be wasted and once the ships had unloaded at Eastwatch they would return. Arthur stood with Walder, Loras, and Oberyn as they watched Jae look out on the empty water. He knew that Rhaenix was flying over the ships some of the way, not going far enough so she couldn't be back here within the hour but going some of the way to see that the ships faced no trouble. There were also some eagles flying on ahead of them both to Eastwatch itself and to the lands that Jae was settling the Free Folk in before they moved more into the Gift.
He waited as did the others until Jae was ready to walk back to the camp and he saw Jae take more purposeful steps as he did so. It was as if he'd been nervous that they'd not manage to get the ships here on time or that they'd not manage to convince the Free Folk to leave, even though that had almost been managed before they had arrived. Jae's nervousness had gone away somewhat after the fight with the cannibal, a fight that Arthur had wished he'd not needed to take part in and yet had understood the reason why he did.
As they walked through the camp he could see how they looked at his king, the hope in their eyes had turned into a belief and it was one that Jae shared. They would get these people from here and into the lands south of the Wall and then they would begin to prepare for whatever it was they would need to face. The people believed it, Jae believed it and Arthur believed it and so it was with much lighter hearts they all sat down with that night.
"Will you sing, Jae?" Benjen asked as they finished their meal, the Free Folk around them all looking on eagerly.
"Again?" Jae said with a small laugh.
"Aye again, it's either your or Tormund." Ygritte shouted.
"Very well since you asked so nicely." Jae said looking at Ygritte who just laughed at him as she moved closer to Quentyn.
It had become a nightly thing, Jae singing as they sat around the fire, sometimes a song he knew and at others one he did not. Some of those he knew were songs that Rhaegar had written, some written by Jae himself, and each time he finished singing them always led to the same routine afterward, Arthur doubted tonight would be any different. So he sat and listened and enjoyed it as Jae sang a couple of songs to almost warm-up his voice and then as he got quiet which was usually a sign that he was to sing one they'd not heard before.
I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete
Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?
Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
And if you have a moment, why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know
Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin
And if you have a moment, why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go? So why don't we go?
Oh, this could be the end of everything
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know
Somewhere only we know
Arthur looked around at the faces of the Free Folk when Jae finished and saw each of them seemed to be letting the words that Jae had sung sink in. Unsurprisingly Jae once he was done rose to his feet and moved from them so he could walk to his tent. Arthur and the others stayed sitting while he then walked to where he knew Rhaenix was waiting for him, the Glass Candles once again in his hand. His king as he always did at these times was now more than ever, eager to speak to his wife.
"I had thought myself a bard once, my own champion, my own fool, my own harpist, that boy beats me in all but the fool part." Mance said softly.
"He can be his own fool too, Mance." Oberyn said with a warm smile on his face and Arthur knew exactly what he meant.
Jae was a fool with children, he was a mummer, a bard, a storyteller, he played their games and listened to them as if he was one of them. It had been something he'd seen with Joy, Martyn, Willem, Tion, and Walder while in Casterly Rock and in King's Landing. He'd seen it with Jaime's daughter Joanna and with Jae's sisters and younger brother and it was something he was most grateful for. Though he was not as melancholy as Rhaegar was, there were still some times when he almost was and Arthur hated those times. He far preferred to see his king play with children than to get lost in his head as his friend had done far too often and given what Jae needed to do, he needed that release too.
"Well, I'm off to my bed, I reckon you all should head to yours, we speak to the Giants on the morrow and Jae is going to explain to them his plan for moving them South." Benjen said and Arthur smirked when Val rose as soon as he did.
"Aye, you've got the right of it, Benjen." Mance said and soon it was just him, Oberyn, Walder, and Loras left with Tormund, Quentyn, Ygritte and Styr, and a few others.
He bid them goodnight a few moments later, Loras and Walder quickly joining him though Oberyn stayed to speak to Quentyn and Ygritte and to drink some of that god-awful sour goat's milk. His brothers and he did a quick check on Jae, finding him exactly how he expected. The Glass Candle was lighting as he leaned against Rhaenix's side a little ways off in the distance. Jae had not really slept in a tent since he'd gotten here, both because he wished to spend time with his sister and also to allow them to get their own sleep.
As he took to his bed he found himself worried about speaking to the giants. He'd seen them but briefly, though he had not gone to where they were camped and even though he'd been told they wouldn't be in any danger, it gave him pause. How did you protect the king from a giant? Was it even possible? Knowing that if he gave it too much thought he'd not get any rest, for now, he did his best to put it out of his mind, and thankfully he got some sleep, before waking early the next morning and making his way over to Jae and Rhaenix.
"You're up good, let's break our fast and go and see some giants, Arthur." Jae said with a chuckle when he saw him walking his way, Arthur shaking his head and smirking as he replied.
"It'll be good to see Walder finally having to look up to someone." he said and Jae laughed loudly.
The two of them made their way to where the food was being prepared, finding other than those who were cooking they were the first to awake. Loras, Walder, Oberyn, and the others began to arrive well after they'd sat down to eat and once they'd eaten too and Mance and Tormund had arrived with Benjen, they made their way through the camp.
"More ships will be here today and the largest part of the fleet will be here either on the morrow or the day after." Jae said as they were walking towards the giant's camp.
"How many trips do you think it'll take?" Mance asked.
"I think we can get about half your people out in one trip, maybe more, so two should be enough." Jae said and Mance looked to Tormund who asked the question.
"How long?"
"Less than a moon." Jae said happily and Arthur felt relieved to hear it, as did the others, though it was Jae and Oberyn who seemed the most pleased by the news.
"And the giants?" Mance asked.
"They'll leave far sooner, far sooner." Jae said cryptically and he wondered what exactly his king had planned and how he was going to move giants and mammoths south.
Hardhome 299 AC.
Oberyn.
The free folk were a people he found that he instantly respected, true some of them were wild, strange and he could see why they were thought of how they were. But they had a way of life that he'd always wished for himself, a way of looking at things that he could relate to. They had rules, they cared for their families but they were free to a degree that he'd never seen before. Each man and woman decided their life's path for themselves, they followed the king if they wished to, they stayed with their clans if they wished to, with their families if they wished to. Once a man or woman was old enough to bear arms and catch their own food, they were free and no man or woman would tell them they were not.
It had made them wary of his nephew at first, yet just like with everyone else once they spent time with Jae, they began to see the truth of him. Nowhere was this more true than with the children and Oberyn marveled watching how Jae interacted with them. It was something that Quentyn and Ygritte had both brought up to him and though he explained it as best he could, he was sure he'd not done it justice.
"You know what he thought he was Quentyn, what he believed he was." he said looking to his nephew as they spoke in his tent.
"I know he was raised as a bastard but how does that make him treat children so?" Quentyn asked.
"What's a bastard?" Ygritte asked and Oberyn chuckled if only the rest of the realm asked themselves that question he thought to himself before answering.
"A bastard is a child born when two people aren't wed." Quentyn said and Ygritte looked confused as to why that would be a problem.
"South of the Wall there are those who think that makes the child lesser." Oberyn said with disdain "For Jae, he had it ingrained in him that he was lesser for the first six years of his life, even, later on, he suffered because of this, saw how people looked at him, a child, because of this. So he does what he does partly because of that, unlike those who simply speak the words of the gods, he understands them far better than most. All children are innocent in the eyes of the mother and would that more people remembered that." Oberyn said.
It wasn't the full explanation but it was one he knew there was more truth in than not and simply saying that at heart Jae was just a child himself didn't seem to be a better answer to him. He knew though that the Free Folk seeing how Jae was around their children had taken to him almost as much for that alone as they had for seeing him wield Lightbringer or seeing the ships arrive. It made him true to them in a way that nothing else really could and so as they walked to the giant's camp a strange thought came to him, What did a giant's child look like?.
He laughed far too loudly and he was relieved that he'd done so before they reached the camp rather than after it. The thoughts of the giants thinking him disrespectful, not ones that he wished to consider too much. Jae looked at him with an odd look on his face and so Oberyn was about to tell him what he had been laughing about when he saw them. It was a sight he'd remember for a long time, as even though he'd seen one or two at the main camp, seeing them in their own was far more impressive. Oberyn wasn't the only one who looked on in stunned silence as giants sat around fires or moved through the camp. Loras, Walder, and Arthur all but his nephew seemed almost dumbstruck by the sight in front of them.
"Their king?" Jae asked Mance.
"They have no king, Jae, not even I can claim to be so." Mance said before adding "Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg, Mag the Mighty, he speaks for them and leads their clan but don't call him a king, he'll not appreciate it." Mance said with a chuckle.
Jae said nothing and just nodded, Oberyn looking to Arthur, Walder, and Loras who all seemed to be wondering what they had walked into here. Knowing Arthur how he did he knew that he was worried about protecting Jae, he also knew that here that would be impossible. If the giants weren't friendly, if they wished them dead, then dead they would be. Yet Jae didn't seem fearful and neither did Mance or Tormund nor Benjen Stark and so Oberyn relaxed as they walked to take a seat beside Mag the Mighty and Jae got ready to lay out his plans.
He saw Jae look curiously at a giant who was even larger than Mag the Mighty a small smirk on his nephew's face and he wondered what that was about and then he heard Mance begin to speak words that he didn't understand.
"Seo é an Rí ó dheas ón mBalla, tagann sé le togra, Mag, is fear maith é, ba chóir duit éisteacht." (This is the King from south of the Wall, he comes with a proposal, Mag, he's a good man, you should listen.) Mance said.
"Mance." the giant replied, his voice almost guttural and bellowing.
"He'll listen Jae, go ahead." Mance said and Oberyn watched as Jae moved forward.
"An rud a thiocfaidh inár ndiaidh, tar chugainn go léir, a dhuine, a fathach, a mhamach, titfidh siad go léir má fhanfaimid léi. D'aontaigh Mance agus na Saor-dhaoine teacht ó dheas den Bhalla, iarraim ort an rud céanna a Dhéanamh." (What comes for us, come for us all, man, giant, mammoth, all will fall if we stay here. Mance and the Free Folk have agreed to come south of the Wall, I ask you to do the same.). Jae said.
Oberyn looked to his nephew and to some of the giants who now looked at him even more curiously, Mance and Tormund too looking at Jae with surprised looks on their faces. Though it was the large giant that his nephew had looked to earlier who seemed to be paying the most attention. However, it would take a better man than him to understand a giant's expression.
"Glún?" (Kneel) Mag asked loudly.
"Níor iarr Mance ort do ghlúine a dhéanamh, ná ní dhéanfaidh mise." (Mance didn't ask you to kneel, nor will I.) Jae said and Mag looked to Mance who nodded.
"Conas a thabharfaidh tú ó dheas sinn, muidne agus ár mamaigh?" (How will you bring us south, us and our mammoths?).
"Siúlann siad siúd ar féidir leo turas a dhéanamh, iad siúd nach féidir leo." (Those who can will ride, those who cannot, walk) Jae said and Oberyn saw Mag shake his head.
"Tá an Balla rófhada agus na daoine eile ag máirseáil freisin, gearrfar mo mhuintir i bhfad sula sroichfimid é." (The Wall is too far and the others march too, my people will be cut down long before we reach it) Mag said his voice louder still.
"Ní bheidh tú ag máirseáil go dtí an Balla agus tugaim mo mhionn duit nach mbeidh aon duine eile idir seo agus an áit a máirseálann tú. Mar sin fiafraím díot, an dtiocfaidh tú ó dheas leis an gcuid eile den Saol Saor?" (You won't be marching to the Wall and I give you my oath there will be no others between here and where you march. So I ask you, will you come south with the rest of the Free Folk?) Jae said and for the first time, Oberyn heard hesitation and doubt in his nephew's voice.
"Mance, An bhfuil muinín agat as a mhionn?" (Mance, you trust his oath) Mag asked as he looked to Mance.
"Táim sásta mo shaol, Dalla's, ár babes agus na Free Folk's a chur ina lámha, Mag. Mar sin Aye, tá muinín agam as a mhionn." (I'm willing to put my life, Dalla's, our babes, and the Free Folk's in his hands, Mag. So Aye, I trust his oath.) Mance said and Mag nodded.
"Téimid ó dheas." (We go south) Mag said loudly and Oberyn saw the smile on Jae's and Mance's faces.
They were on their way back to the camp when he asked Jae what had been said and his nephew explained it all to him. The giants, he and Mance had spoken the Old Tongue, Jae saying he had learned it over the years because of Walder's grandmother, the large guard looking at him with a proud look on his face.
He then explained that there was power in words and that knowing them had unlocked a door in the crypts at Winterfell and so he'd wondered if at some point in the future he'd need to know more. He said he had a feeling that he would need the language at some point and so using the Glass Candles, books and with a little help from Aemon, Shiera, Missandei, and others, he'd found the words came easy to him after a while, just as Valyrian did. Arthur said it was something to do with his dragon blood, that the Targaryen's always picked things up quicker than most, yet it seemed Jae didn't agree.
"No this, this was all Wolf, Arthur." Jae said.
"How are you going to get them south, Jae?" Mance asked and Jae smiled.
"I'm going to build the largest bridge the North has ever seen." Jae said as each of them looked at him.
Hardhome 299 AC.
Loras.
This was a strange place and the people who called it their home were just as strange, though compared to the giants, perhaps not. He had been worried when seeing them, knowing he was outmatched and that should it turn violent then he'd not be able to keep his word to his sister. Yet it had not and he was relieved when they returned to the Free Folk camp and he was once only forced to look up to Walder rather than everyone around him.
He had no idea what Jae meant about building a bridge though and so as Mance went back to his tent, he, Tormund, and Benjen followed Jae to the edge of the water and watched as he looked out upon it. A strange thought came to him but one that he knew couldn't be true, yet it wouldn't leave his mind and so he turned to speak it to Walder and Arthur.
"Is he building a bridge across the sea?" he asked feeling foolish as he did so.
"I believe he is." Walder said and Loras went to laugh only stopping when he saw the serious look on both his and Arthur's faces.
"A bridge to where?" he asked and that at least seemed to at least change the looks to ones of bewilderment.
Looking to Jae, he could see him hunkered down and leaning back on his heels as he looked out on the sea, his hand was moving through the water and though he couldn't see his face, he knew his eyes were closed. Tormund and Benjen stood beside him and him, Walder, and Arthur were a little behind, suddenly the silence began to bother him. It felt different, charged somewhat and he wondered if he was just imagining things and it was how own doubts and feeling that was causing him to think this way.
"The time is wrong." Jae said standing up and Loras looked carefully at him when he turned to face them.
"The time?" Tormund asked.
"Tonight, I'll do it tonight." Jae said and then they began to walk back to the camp.
"Do what?" Tormund shouted after him but Jae was off in another world, and not even Benjen calling his name made him turn his head.
"Is he well?" he asked worriedly as he, Arthur, and Walder followed behind him.
"I'm well." Jae said and he felt a little embarrassed that he had heard him.
They walked through the camp and he followed as Jae made his way to the tent he'd been given and then told them that he needed to rest, Loras surprised by that as it was still only mid-morning. What was even more surprising thugh was when he asked him to come inside and take a seat, Loras looking at him curiously as he did so.
"Jae?"
"I spoke to Margaery last night, she's well, she asked after you." Jae said with a small smile on his face.
"Is she worried that we're here?" he asked and Jae nodded.
"You know I didn't wish you here with me." Jae said and Loras felt his throat almost close up as he swallowed the lump he felt in it "I wanted you there with her, by her side but she wished you by mine own." Jae said, smiling fuller now.
"Why didn't you wish me with you?" he asked, his voice almost cracking.
"I have Arthur, Walder, Rhaenix, and while she has Barristan, Ser Richard, Jors, Ser Robar, it's you that I trust with her, you that I'd see by her side, just like my father wished for Arthur by my mother's." Jae said and Loras felt his chest expand.
"I'm not Arthur, Jae." he said softly, shaking his head.
"You are to me, Loras. You are to me. Do you know how often I think of the Tower of Joy, of my mother?"
"I would imagine it's often." he said.
"It's every day, Loras, every single day. Little things, the smallest of things make me think of it, of how it could have been, how it was, why it was. I think of my father leaving and heading off to war and as he did so he left Ser Gerold, Ser Oswell, and Arthur to guard what was most precious to him. He left them there because he knew, he knew…" Jae said and then turned his head away from him and wiped his eyes.
Loras felt himself choke up a little upon realizing that his friend was crying, Jae then turning back to face him and though he'd wiped the tears from his eyes, some still fell.
"My father knew that those men would give their lives, Loras, but that's true of all Kingsguard, I know Barristan, Jors, Richard, Robar, I know they'd face death, Walder, Arthur, I know…but my father trusted Arthur more than any man, he was his brother by choice, Loras, just as you are mine own."
Loras looked at his friend, his brother by choice, for that was what Jae had been ever since he'd come to Lannisport. He could see that clearly now and it made him feel some shame that he'd thought he'd left him behind for other reasons.
"You're my brother too, Jae." he said softly.
"Are you happy, brother?" Jae asked, his words catching him by surprise.
"What?"
"Are you happy, I…I didn't wish to pry but ever since Satin left I…." Jae said.
"It's been hard, Jae, I won't lie. I considered going with him, I've thought about it since then, even imagined leaving and heading to Dorne."
"Why haven't you?"
"I'm a Kingsguard, it's what I wished to be. Perhaps I'll know love too and find someone someday but I want the white cloak, I want to stand by my king's, my queen's sides, as much as I want anything in this world, I want that." Loras said his voice more determined than it may have been had Jae asked this question before saying what he did.
"If it's ever what you don't want, Then I, Margaery, we wouldn't think less of you, you know that right?" Jae asked.
"I know, thank you Jae." he said and Jae nodded as Loras rose to his feet and turned to walk from the tent "Why did you speak to me of this?" he asked as he reached the tent opening and was about to head through it.
"Last night when I spoke to Margaery…"
"She asked you to speak to me." he said interrupting Jae before he could finish.
"She told me to." Jae said and Loras smiled as he thought of his sister ordering the king to speak to her brother "I thought you knew already, Loras, why I wished you with her, I thought you knew, I'm sorry I didn't speak of it before now."
"I know now, brother, that's good enough for me." Loras said and he saw Jae nod and lay down as he then walked from the tent.
Standing guard at the tent for the rest of the day, he did so with a much lighter heart and he quickly realized something. What he'd felt earlier, it was a feeling he was experiencing more and more since they'd come here. Seeing Jae spend time with the children, with the Free Folk, he had felt that though he was here he may as well be back in the Red Keep for all the words that he and Jae had spoken together. Loras had felt as alone as he had felt when Jae left him there as he and Arthur traveled on Rhaenix's back, now he was feeling much different. He wasn't alone and though he knew he'd still feel loneliness in one part of his life unless he met someone that was, he at least felt far happier in the other, and that for now would be enough.
Hardhome 299 AC.
Quentyn.
He helped with the loading of the ships, another eight had arrived though only two were the large Pinnacle ships and so they'd be taking fewer people than had already left with the first ships that had arrived. Still, it was a decent enough number and it was hard work to make them ready to leave. They had needed to gather their things, row them to the ships, help them aboard and gather what supplies the ships had brought for them before rowing back to shore and repeating the process and he was feeling tired as the day was coming to an end.
By the time the last of their people were on board, night was falling and as he rowed back to shore he could see the ships already sailing off. Each Pinnacle ship took almost four hundred people, the smaller ships a little over a hundred, so all in all over a thousand people had just been sent to safety. More than two thousand had gone already and when the rest of the fleet arrived they would send almost forty thousand people south, a little less than half their number. It was a staggering thing and one that he could barely comprehend.
He couldn't even begin to imagine how long it would take to fill those ships and he hoped Mance had crews ready to take over the rowing as he was exhausted after barely a little over half a day rowing to and from the shore. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel had to do so on the morrow also. When he reached the shore he was surprised to see Jae standing with his uncle and Ygritte and he knew he'd not be able to get by without speaking to him. It was something he was incredibly nervous about, despite both Ygritte's and Oberyn's words.
"Good work, Quent, I'm off to my bed." Jaragir said.
"Bed, there's good drinking time left" Minda said and Quentyn knew the large woman would enjoy more than one drink before she turned in for the night.
He bid them his goodbyes and walked slowly to where Jae was standing, his cousin's eyes on him all the way. When he reached him, he found he couldn't speak and so he was glad when Ygritte spoke to him rather than Jae. Though his cousin didn't stay silent for long, even if what he did say surprised him.
"I spoke to Gilly and the women you brought here, they'll be leaving on one of the next ships and that's thanks to you." Jae said.
"I did what any man would, Jae." he said and Ygritte scowled at him, she always thought more of him than he did himself but then she'd only truly known him since he came here and not the man he had once been.
"True, but it wasn't any man, Quentyn it was you. You should be proud of that." Jae said and he looked to see that Ygritte was looking at him proudly.
"When we get south of the Wall, you have a choice to make." Jae said and Ygritte interrupted.
"He's not going back to the crows, they'll not take his head." she said firmly and despite his nerves, he smiled at her.
"No, he's not going back, that's not the choice I was talking about." Jae said.
"What is it you would ask of me, Jae?" he said.
"You can never go back, Quentyn, not even to visit, Dorne, the South, the North, should you step foot off my lands without my permission, then you'll face justice for your desertion and for the lives of the men who died so you could do so." Jae said.
"You…" Ygritte began before he quickly interrupted her.
"Ygritte." he said shaking his head before she could say something they'd both regret.
"If you stay on my lands, however, either just while the Free Folk are there or later should you and they wish to stay, if you stay on my lands then you'll do so as a free man." Jae said and Quentyn looked at him, at Ygritte, and finally at his uncle.
Jae said no more and just walked away from them, his cousin walking to where the white dragon was waiting and had Quentyn not been so shocked by what Jae had just said, then he'd have been kicking himself for not seeing a dragon lying in the snow just a few feet away from them.
"What does this mean?" Ygritte asked as Quentyn saw the dragon take to the sky with his cousin on its back.
"As Jae said, Quentyn is free as long as he stays with the Free Folk, should he leave and try to come back to Dorne or go anywhere else, then he'll face a death sentence." Oberyn said.
"So the crows, they can't touch him?" Ygritte asked.
"Not unless they wish to anger my nephew, no." Oberyn said and Quentyn looked at him.
"My mother?" he asked softly.
"I'm sure Jae will allow her to come to speak to you nephew, we can perhaps arrange a visit." Oberyn said and Quentyn nodded.
He was left alone with Ygritte then, the two of them looking at each other and finally, he saw some nervousness in the redhead's expression and so he moved closer to her and brought his hand to her face.
"We are free, you and I, born free and we'll die free, together, but not today." he said softly.
"Aye, not today." she said as he kissed her.
They made their way back to the tents, Ygritte grabbing them some food which they ate inside instead of out with the others for once. He even drank some sour goat's milk and then the two of them shared their furs and did what free people did. It was different, it felt different and he wondered was that because he knew that they now had a future. Each day he'd spent with her had in some ways been a day spent under a cloud, even more so since Jae and the other had arrived. It was something she noticed too as when they were done and laying together she looked at him, her eyes searching deep into his own.
"You're mine. Mine, as I'm yours. And if we die, we die. All men must die, Quentyn, But first we'll live."
"Aye, first we live." he said as he kissed her again.
Hardhome 299 AC.
Jaehaerys Targaryen.
They flew through the air and he could see it below him, the distance was massive, far more than he had anticipated and yet he knew it, he'd seen it and he would build it once more. Rhaenix enjoyed having him on her back as they'd not flown together since they had arrived here and she had missed it, as had he. His sister continually dropping down close to the water so she could splash him before then flying high in the sky so the world below them faded away. When they reached it he had Rhaenix fly over it slowly and he was surprised by what he saw.
It was rocky and deserted and yet there were some decent lands near the center of the island and so he had her land in a large open space. Once she had, he climbed down off her back and walked across the grass. It was grazing ground, not the best but it would do for now he felt, and perhaps the mammoths would like it here. Moving to the tree's he saw some small berries and fruits, not enough to live on but something all the same. Once he was sure of the island's desertion he then made his way back to Rhaenix and they were soon back in the sky, this time heading north and not south. They landed on the beach and he looked to see the Kingsguard, Oberyn, and Benjen were standing there waiting for him, he climbed down from her back and went to speak to his sister before speaking to anyone else.
"Are you sure, you should do this?" she asked as he leaned against her head and stared into her eyes.
"It's what I'm supposed to do, I feel it, Rhae, I've seen it in the Glass Candles, it's there beneath the surface." he said and he felt her rub against him.
"It's too much magic, Jae, too much blood." she said worriedly.
"I have the blood, the magic, if I don't use it for things like this then what's the point, Rhae?"
"I don't wish to see you hurt." she said softly.
"Nor do I wish to be hurt. I think this is like training, Rhae, it's hard to explain but I think this is the same as training with a sword, or with the glass candles, it feels as if it's all part of a larger plan.."
"To Bring the Dawn?" she asked.
"I think so, I believe so."
"Be careful, Jae, please." she said worriedly.
"I will now go rest, eat." he said looking at her and he felt her snort.
"When you're done, not before."
"Aye, when I'm done." he said closing his eyes as he told her that everything would work out.
By the time he walked over to the others, it was more than just his Kingsguard and uncles that were standing there. Jae seeing Mance, Tormund, Val, and Mother Mole all there amongst the others, he'd not wished for so many to be here but in the end, it really didn't make any difference. He would do what he needed to do regardless and so he walked to Arthur who held the jar in his hands and then he spoke to Benjen, Oberyn, and the Kingsguard to reassure them just as he had Rhaenix.
"This is going to look odd to you uncle." he said speaking to Benjen "But Oberyn, Arthur, Walder, and Loras have seen me do this and though this is going to be on a much large scale, it's the same principle."
"You're sure this is safe, Jae?" Benjen asked and Jae nodded.
"I'd not try it if I thought it too much of a risk uncle."
He moved to Arthur and told him not to be alarmed if this took more out of him than Queenscrown did, and that he was certain that with some rest he'd soon recover. Then he moved to the edge of the water, to where he'd seen it through the Glass Candles and once he removed his sword, he poured the blood over his head and drove the sword into the water, feeling it as it hit the sand and rock beneath him. Then he began to sing and saw the light begin to shine.
Using magic was a feeling unlike any he could truly describe, he could feel it flow, surround him, almost as if it was in the very air itself, and was reaching out to touch him. Then it was inside him and pouring out as if he'd taken a huge breath of that air and just exhaled and then it would begin to flow. His voice rose, the light shined even brighter and he felt it rather than saw it. How long he sang for he knew not, but it was far longer than he had done so at Queenscrown and by the time he was done, his throat felt almost raw.
He sheathed Dark Sister and tried to rise to his feet and found he could not, Jae almost collapsing against the sand as he felt completely spent. Then there was nothing but darkness and he felt himself being lifted, carried, voices speaking around him though the words themselves were ones that he couldn't make out. Soon even they were lost to him and other than he heard Rhaenix ask him if he was hurt and he told her that he was not, that he was tired and needed to rest, and then the world was silent to him.
The eagle soared in the sky and beneath it, he saw the boy with the black wolf as he looked out while the men built the keep and dock. Beside him stood a girl with dark hair who held his hand. They kissed, softly, almost as if they were afraid to give in to their feelings and then they looked at each other and smiled and the eagle flew out over the sea and to the island off in the distance.
When it reached it, he saw the girls ride their horses and the wolf run alongside them, both of them laughing as they race through the woods. They had bows on their back and daggers on their hips, and those behind them couldn't keep up as they rode past the trees and bushes and then came out the other side, the keep, the ships, all in view now as the grey-eyed girl seemed to win the day. He watched as the other girl spoke some words which soon had them laughing once more.
The mouse scurried along the floor and he heard the laugher and then sounds of something far different, the breathing heavy, the moans making it clear what was going on even if he couldn't see from his place on the floor. Climbing up the leg of the chair he looked towards the bed and saw the red-headed blue-eyed man kiss the dark-haired woman, the sounds of their joy plain to see and so he moves quickly away and ran through the hole he'd entered into the room from. Soon he was watching as the older man held the boy in his hands, as the woman took him from him and the man smiled, his grey eyes sparkling as he kissed the woman and then moved to the door, the large wolf waiting for him and walking beside him as he headed down the stairs and out into the courtyard.
He slithered across the sand and came as close as he dared to the dragon, watching as the small man and the woman climbed down off its back. The woman knelt down in the sand and grabbed some in her hands before letting it fall from her fingers while the small man moved closer to her and ran his hand over her stomach. Though he tried to get closer, he felt the dragon's eyes upon him and so he moved back into the sands where it was safe.
The bird rested in the branch and looked down at the figures below it, the silver-haired woman stood with her sword in her hand while the silver-haired man readied his own. Around them, men stood with spears, and a small girl stood watching next to a man whose face was scarred and a dark-skinned man whose belly was bared and covered in scars. The silver-haired man moved forward and the swords began to clash, the sound was loud to the bird's ears and it heard the laughter when the man was tripped and the small dagger was held to his throat. Though none laughed as loudly as the silver-haired woman and man.
The deer ran across the field away from the two dragons as they flew over its head, relieved that they flew by rather than slowed and turned in its direction. The bird flew behind them and saw the man and woman on each of the dragon's backs, their silver hair flowing in the wind as they flew far from the fields and the deer below them, both of them flying in no particular direction. Almost changing which way they were heading at will and the bird knew that they were simply enjoying the ride and not going anywhere in particular.
Balerion watched the two boys sparring, the other boys sitting around waiting their turn. He turned his head to see her standing there, the other girls nearby, and yet she was speaking to the smallest of them all, his sisters, both of them, his newest sister and the one he'd named as such from the first moment he'd met her. He listened in as they spoke and as they talked of the Yentures they'd go on when he returned and as one girl told the other that soon she'd have an Apple's all of her own.
The hawk flew from the man's hand and yet it hovered in the sky and looked down at the man and the girl beside him, her red hair almost the color of fire in the morning light. He saw her rub the wolf's head and then take the man's arm as they began to walk, the hawk flying off to the sound of the cane hitting the ground.
He was back in the cat as it sat on the girl's lap, as they ate and she fed it from her plate, he saw the children, the young babe held in the woman's arms and the little girl held in the man's. His family, the family he chose. Then before he knew it he was in an even more familiar place, his red eyes looking at the worried look on the woman's face as she held the Glass Candle in her hand and spoke his name softly.
"Jae, answer me, please." she said, her voice sounding worried and so he moved as the wolf, quickly and silently licking her hand and moving to rub his head against the swelling of her stomach.
"Jae?" she said looking at the wolf and he licked her hand again "Is it you, are you hurt?"
He did his best to answer her questions, to let her know he was well, and when he felt himself sure that she knew so, he knew he was ready to leave.
Jae opened his eyes to see Arthur and Loras sitting on either side of him and it was Arthur who noticed that he was awake first.
"Thank the gods, are you well, do you feel any pain?" Arthur asked as Jae tried to speak only to find no words coming from his mouth at first, then a soft scratchy voice that he didn't recognize as his own began to speak.
"Water." it said and so foreign did it sound that he felt there was someone else with them in the tent.
Loras grabbed the water and he drank it down quickly, spluttering a little as he did so but he asked for another and was glad to hear his voice beginning to sound a little more like himself. The second mug he drank more slowly but it too he finished and asked for another and this one he sipped.
"How long?" he asked.
"Five days." Loras said.
"The ships, the Free Folk?"
"The fleet has arrived and is being loaded, we had thought to send you with them but that old witch said you needed to stay here, and then when we ignored her and tried to move you, Rhaenix made it clear you were to be left where you were." Loras said.
"Did it work?" he asked and Arthur chuckled.
"Work, aye, it worked, you should see it Jae." Arthur said with a laugh.
He wanted nothing more than to do so but he could feel he had no strength and so he asked Loras to get him some food and to let the others know he was awake. Oberyn, Benjen, Mance and Tormund, Mother Mole, Styr, each and every one of them wished to see him and he was thankful when Arthur kept it to his uncles and Mance, for now at least.
"You gave me quite the scare nephew." Oberyn said smiling at him as he brushed his hair from his face.
"You, me he almost bloody killed, don't do things like that to me, Jae, I'm not a young man anymore." Benjen said, only half japing.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it would take so much from me." he said.
"I have no idea how you do half the things you do, Jae, this, this is beyond my thinking." Benjen said.
"It truly worked?" he asked, his voice finally sounding almost back to how it should.
"It did, now where does it go?" Benjen asked.
"Skane." he said and both his uncles, Arthur and Loras looked at him incredulously.
"You built a bridge from here to Skane?" Oberyn asked, his voice full of both wonder and doubt.
"I rebuilt a bridge, it was there, I just brought it back to the world." he said and he saw Oberyn look at him and shake his head.
After they were both certain he was feeling better and would soon be up and about, Mance was let in and Jae told him the same as he had them. Later that day he was finally able to get up and move about, though he needed help to do so and was more than thankful for Walder when he helped him over to where Rhaenix rested.
"You felt me?" he asked.
"You're lucky I did, had I not then we'd not be speaking, little brother." she said and he chuckled.
"I think I knew, I think I knew I had to speak to you, Rhae, that I had to let you know."
"Good, because I don't like this place, Jae, It feels wrong."
"Wrong?"
"Since you fell it feels wrong, we should leave, all of us, we should leave now." she said and he nodded.
Walder helped him down to the seashore and he looked out and saw it, it wasn't the more than two dozen Pinnacle ships or the rest of the fleet that drew his eye. It was the bridge, the bridge that stretched as far as the eye could see and rose more than a few feet above the waves that crashed against it. It was wide enough for maybe six of seven men to comfortably walk it spread out in a line. He nodded to Walder and he brought him closer and Jae leaned down to touch the stone, feeling that it was firm and solid.
"Has anyone walked it yet?" he asked and he was told that Tormund, Mance, and some others had "Any giants?"
"No."
He nodded and looked out on the ships, seeing them rowing to them and them being loaded and he asked how many had been loaded so far, finding out that about a quarter or more had already sailed south.
"Can they dock at the bridge?" he asked and no one was able to give him an answer, so he asked for word to be taken to one of the captains of the Pinnacle's to see if it could be done.
If it could they could load people far more quickly and he felt they would have a need to. Calling for Mance, he asked for him to send for Wun Wun and to ask the giant to test the bridge, to bring a mammoth too, and then he felt the tiredness come over him once more.
"I need to rest, Oberyn, Benjen, see if you can get the ships to dock and then load the people from the bridge. Mance if Wun Wun can cross the bridge with a mammoth, speak to Mag and the others, Skane is at the other end and it'll be a place they can be safe until we move them further south. Who knows perhaps they'll seek to stay there?"
"I'll speak to them, you go rest, Jae." Mance said.
He was helped back to the tent and he lay down, he wished not to sleep and yet knew he had to, he was tired and no good to anyone how he was right now, he needed rest, he just hoped he wasn't wasting time. As he closed his eyes, he swore he felt it, the storm was coming in from the North, it was there in the distance and as he drifted off to sleep, he hoped that there it would stay.
A/N: Thanks to all who've read and reviewed, things are a bit hectic at work and so my timing is all over the place, I'll answer the reviews on Thursday. I've used Irish for the Old tongue here and a canon Ygritte line, changed to fit the circumstances and the song is Somewhere only we know by Keane. Up Next, Hardhome part 2, The Storm arrives.