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Chapter 30: A Heart on Fire
Castle Black
The Northmen led by the King of Winter, Arthur Stark who had saved the Wall and the Night's Watch from being sacked by the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder.
Stannis Baratheon and his army move with haste to where the Wildling force is camped, nearly 5000 men, a portion made up of mercenaries from the Stormcrows and the Company of the Cat.
Mance Rayder waits and watches the Wall as his wife gives birth to his child, he has sent 1,000 Free Folk over the Wall to attack Shadow Tower and Castle Black.
Within the first castle of the Night's Watch, Arthur stands with the Greatjon as the Night's Watch talk about what to do. He has brought enough men to defeat the Wildlings, they are marching beyond the tunnel as they stand here.
"We appreciate your assistance Lord Arthur- " Bowen Marsh, the Lord Steward of the Night's Watch began to speak, Howland Reed corrected the man on his mistake.
"He is King Arthur, Lord Steward. Named so by King Robb Stark, his brother." Arthur smiled when Bowen Marsh shut his mouth, the next to speak was Ser Alliser Thorne.
He knows this man, Jon wrote about him in his first letter. This man is a hard one, hateful and full of rage for those beneath him because of his choice during the rebellion. His purple eyes glared at Alliser and nodded at Jon who sat with his two of his friends, one of them didn't make it and was burned in a pyre.
32 men of the Watch, 9 of his own soldiers, and a total of 123 Wildlings. More beyond the Wall, two giants and some 400 of the savages.
There were eight captives, Jon told him the more notable of them were Tormund Giantsbane, Ygritte, and Styr's son, Sigorn who is now the Magnar of Thenn.
Jon seems to have a personal history with the Wildling woman, he wants to ask him about it but right now they have to deal with Mance Rayder and his army, that and the raven that arrived from Eastwatch, Stannis Baratheon had disembarked from his fleet of fifty with an army of five-thousand.
"Your grace, what Bowen Marsh means to say is that we are grateful for your support, if only the other Kings could have been more open to aiding us as you have." Of course, but other battles needed to be fought and the Watch had stood for thousands of years, Robb had gotten the request for aid and deemed it unimportant when they were deep into the conflict against House Lannister.
"And in an hour, I will march against Mance and crush his army, send his Wildlings back, possibly even into the Lands of Always Winter." He swore to the room before exiting and allowing the rest of the Night's Watch to talk amongst themselves.
A moment of walking with Dusk and Grey Wind and he heard the footsteps behind him and turned to see Jon, thinking about what else he was here for.
"You have to talk with Mance, see if we can come to an understanding." He scoffed, crossing his arms at his brother.
"Wildlings raided and raped and murdered throughout the North, and you want me to negotiate with them? Jon, they are the enemies, not our allies." He said to his cousin who frowned and was quick with his response.
"They will be our enemies if we drive them back!" He was left confused by Jon, what did his cousin even mean with that, "You don't know what's out there, they are worse than Wildlings and giants, more than once it has attacked both them and the Night's Watch." He stopped, looked at his cousin with a strange look before bursting out with laughter.
"Oh, Jon, you and your jokes. There is nothing out there but wilderness and the army in those woods, no grumpkins, and snarks." He walked away from Jon and halted from saying anything about his true identity until the Wildlings are defeated.
Jon huffed and stormed off, Ghost followed him and Arthur sighed, he and Jon have only spoken once or twice since he arrived last night but so far it's been calm, now, it has become a little rough.
"We should get going, Arthur, the men are waiting." He nodded to the Greatjon's words and left to get ready for combat.
While Arthur and his people started readying the army to pass the Wall, Jon had started to make his way down to the ice cells. It housed the Free Folk they had taken captive in the aftermath of the Battle of Castle Black.
Tormund cursed at him as he walked passed his cell, a Northmen looked at him with confusion before opening the door which led to Ygritte's cell.
His brother doesn't know, he doesn't know what lies beyond the Wall, he hasn't seen the dead and the White Walkers as he and many had seen over the last two years.
Now, Arthur leads the Northern forces against Mance Rayder, a man who has thousands behind him and if Arthur succeeds as he expects... Then that 100,000 Wildlings will be 100,000 enemies that don't fear death or the charging of horses, they will only fear fire and they don't have enough of that.
"What do you want?" Ygritte snarled at him, he frowned and noticed the wound that was patched up by Maester Aemon and Sam.
Olly, he tried to kill her and he was furious, he shouted at the boy who scowled at him and left. Now, he stands at the side of Alliser. He thought sourly as he stepped closer to Ygritte who backed away with her head held high.
"I came to see how you are doing? How's the wound." He gestured to her left arm where the arrow had been lodged. "My brother is going to fight Mance, soon, he'll no doubt be killed or imprisoned afterward or retreat with his army." He explained and her scowl became more prominent, he sighed and shook his head.
"Will your brother have me beheaded, will he do it himself? I know you Starks love doing that." She spat at him and he shook his head once more, this time to answer her question.
"I'm not a Stark, neither is he, even if Robb had made it so." He did, in fact, find it hard to swallow that Robb would make Arthur a Stark and leave him with the name of Snow.
The other half of him understands, he is a man of the Night's Watch, sworn from holding lands, titles, and even crowns. Arthur wasn't, he was at Robb's side, was at their father's side before he died where he wasn't.
"I will ask to set you and the others free, take some land in the Gift to use." He told her and the red-haired spearwife remained silent, looking back at him.
"... Oh, you know nothing, Jon Snow." He frowned and raised his head, "You know, we should have stayed in that cave, me and you, we could have stayed there for a thousand years." And he wished he could have as well, but, he had his duty to the Watch and to the Realms of men, he had to get back and defend his home and his friends.
He left Ygritte after things had cooled down between them, she had even smiled, saying that if she wanted him dead, he would be.
A laugh erupted from him, it was because he sort of knew she purposely missed when she put three arrows in him. He loves her and still loves her, for that, he has decided to try and save her people from being massacred by his brother, then the White Walkers.
He dressed in a Northman's gear, was a Karstark and he took a horse going out of the tunnel and rode out to the Wildling camp. His horse was a little agitated, nervous around the Free Folk who began to gather at the edges of the woods.
He stopped at the foot of Mance's great tent, the largest and he saw a few faces he had seen before. The Lord of Bones scoffed and took a step down, glaring at him.
"I came to see Mance, bring me to him." He didn't need to wait for that, the King-Beyond-the-Wall exited his tent and clapped his hands while chuckling.
"Black doesn't suit you, Jon Snow, let's talk."
Jon and Mance walked within the tent and sat down to talk about negotiating peace between the Free Folk and the North, he just hopes that Arthur holds off on attacking and give him the time he needs to make peace.
Back at Castle Black, Arthur had mounted his horse and pulled off his cloak, embracing the winter air. A frown was expressed as he started to make his way down the tunnel and out the other side.
Damn it, Jon. Was the thought running through his head as he looked into the empty wastes and the forest.
Arthur held fast to the reins of his horse, he sighed and looked to either side of the cavalry force that was anxious to begin the final stages of the battle.
Lord Karstark told him about one of his men losing his mail and cloth, Jon was gone and Ghost was with Samwell Tarly. He quickly determined that Jon went ahead to speak with Mance Rayder but there isn't anything to discuss, they are the enemy and threaten the prosperity that the North had just gotten back.
So, he chose to lead the charge and with a heavy heart, urged his horse to begin moving.
Within Mance's tent, Jon and the King-Beyond-the-Wall were talking about why the Free Folk needed to get behind the Wall.
The Others have been hounding the great army since last year, terrorizing and killing the people then resurrecting them to fight against their own. Jon knew, he knew what was coming and wished there was a way before the battle that took place.
He thought that perhaps they were getting to some agreement, then he heard the blowing of horns and Mance was quick to reach and take him by the throat with a knife. "You said your King brother wasn't going to attack!" He was questioned and he didn't have time to answer before Mance ran out from the tent and he followed.
Arthur could see the forest getting bigger as he got closer, he grunted and unsheathed his sword and was followed by the many behind him.
It was slow, the beginning, but the charge began to hasten as the army descended on the Wildling lines who had fruitlessly rushed to form any sort of defense.
Out from the corner of his right eye, Arthur spotted another mounted force. House Baratheon. He had a choice, then, he could turn the army around and let Stannis dig in first or join their offensive and go in together.
In the end, Stark and Baratheon cavalry charged into the lines of the Wildling army, breaking past and into their camp. He moved his arm to avoid a spear thrust, then stabbed the savage. His horse trampled over another enemy, to the North, another mounted charge from Stannis's army came and the three forces enveloped Mance's army.
There didn't seem to be 100,000 as Jon pointed out, it seemed more like 30,000 or possibly 65,000.
No true count of dead was made but thousands of the Wildling army fled the field, to where, he didn't quite know but it was confirmed that they weren't a threat no longer.
At least 2,000 were captured but mostly children and the old, he and his closest advisers rode to a great tent, it was where he spotted Jon and what seemed to be the King-Beyond-the-Wall.
Others were there, as well, he saw a pair of men walking toward them, one bore the fiery stag on his chest and he concluded that this man was Stannis Baratheon, a claimant for the Iron Throne.
"Are you out of your mind, Jon. He could have killed you." He said to his cousin, Jon frowned and Mance chuckled.
"He gave me no reason to kill him, I'm not some ambitious player of the game if that is what you think of us, King Arthur Snow." He smirked and Mance eyed Ice on his back, "That greatsword killed a lot my former brothers, a lot of the men around here lost ancestors to failed invasions." Aye, that they did and he took a step closer and eyed the man.
"You might be one of those lost." He said to Mance before turning to Stannis Baratheon and his man who finally joined them, Northmen and Southerner and Wildling watched on as the three Kings convened with one another. A fourth being a Prince. Arthur thought as he glanced at Jon for a moment.
Stannis locked eyes with Mance, "You're the King-Beyond-the-Wall?" Stannis asked and continued after a moment of silence, "Do you know who I am?" Mance shook his head no, saying that he never had the pleasure.
"This is Stannis Baratheon, one of the five Kings in Westeros. Though, you aren't a King of anything, the Stormlands has all but bent the knee to Tommen Waters and Dragonstone is under siege." He explained and gripped his blade, Stannis glanced at him for a long moment.
Some of Stannis's men reached for their weapons, the Greatjon and Lord Rickard went for theirs, "Don't be stupid, summer cunt." Jon Umber said to one of the men.
"This man is Stannis, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms- " Mance cut the older man off.
"We're not in the Seven Kingdoms and aside from the King in the North and his men, you're not dressed for this weather." He could almost agree, raising his head high.
"There is no King but me, the North is in rebellion and the lands beyond the Wall belong to the Realm... And I am its protector." Purple eyes narrowed themselves on Stannis who turned to him, "I denounce this one, put him in irons, both of them." When some men went to apprehend him, his Lords and Jon stepped forth.
The intensity was getting thicker, hands were on blades and gripping on spears.
"The North belongs to House Stark, always had been since Barrow Kings were defeated. Brandon the Builder forged the Wall, my father followed Robert and swore to him out of brotherhood... I plan to never bend my knee to any Southern King." He told Stannis who glared at him for what he had proclaimed, his followers echoed this by saying 'King in the North'.
"I need the North to take my throne, if you are challenging me- " He scoffed and cut Stannis off.
"I won't bite on a beaten dog, by all means, go South if you wish. I will be turning my eyes on skinning the Lannister's myself." He said and was truthful, he won't bend his knee to Stannis but neither will he outright destroy him.
He can let him go South and be a nuisance to the Lannisters, let both sides scrap with one another while he rests and gathers his strength to finish what Robb started.
Now, what to do about the Wildlings. Arthur turned left an eyed the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance shared the same courtesy and turned right back to face him.
"My brother said you and your people are running from monsters in the dark, is this true?" He doesn't believe it, grumpkins and snarks and White Walkers are a fable- A tale told to them and their siblings as children by Old Nan.
Mance glanced at both he and Stannis, "Aye, the Others are after us, now many have scattered to the winds and are easy to pick off by them." He looked to Jon who nodded in accordance to the story he was hearing right now.
"I don't like Wildlings, your people caused many in the North much pain and sorrow, over the years." He started speaking to Mance, glancing back at Greatjon who wasn't so enthused about what he is about to do. "I will need proof, because, I trust my brother." He added and Jon looked at him, relieved to hear him say that.
"Does that mean you will let my people pass?" It was a question he hated to answer, it wont make him popular amongst his people.
"For a time, but, if these things you say are chasing you false... I wont stop at just driving you into the lands of always winter." The Northern force will remain on standby, neither standing down to these allies or march against them all.
He had Jon escort Mance and his lieutenant chiefs back to Castle Black. He was alone with Stannis who had remained silent during the entire conversation after he had told him off.
"We don't have to like one another, we don't even have to be friends. Our enemies are the same, I will aid you in fighting the Lannisters, but you will acknowledge that the Kingdom of the North as an independent nation within Westeros." He decreed and Stannis looked to argue further about being the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, he's heard from Lady Stark on their way to the Twins.
The older man from before stopped his King, the two men talked amongst one another for a few minutes before Stannis sighed deeply, turning to face him and started to speak.
"I will defeat the usurper in the South, then I shall bring the full might of Westeros on the North." Stannis threatened with that Baratheon fury that they have in their house words.
Mya had such a fury, when he snapped at her when word came of Bran and Rickon.
"You are welcome to do so, the Andals tried with the hundreds of thosuands and failed to enter into our heartland, my ancestor repelled them and ripped their loved ones from them... You won't fare no better."
AN: And so this chapter comes to an end, I hope you all have enjoyed the conclusion to the fourth season, now, we head to the fifth season which will have conflicts between the Baratheon army and the Stark army. The Lannisters do battle with House Tyrell, and the Sparrows. Dorne reacts to Oberyn's death in the harshest of ways, Mya and Brotherhood see a vision, and the Darkstar nears the Neck and onward to Winterfell to claim his prize.
And across the Narrow Sea, the Dread Wolf reaches the ears of the Dragon Queen.