Note: I'm revising the chapters to correct the small mistakes I know I've made (for instance, not writing capital letters were needed, writing correctly some GoT names and terms...) So if you notice sudden changes, it's due to that. Don't worry, the corrections don't affect the contents of the chapters at all. :-)
Lunch was served at the main hall. Sansa was sitting next to Jon, Cory and Lem were to his left, and Brienne, Jaime and Pod had occupied the bench opposite them.
"How were things at the capital when you were released from the cells?," Sansa asked. Tyrion had told her in his letters, of course, but Jon was a valuable first-hand eyewitness.
"Awful, but people were starting to rebuild. The streets were a chaos of debris being shifted from one place to another and corpses rescued from the ruins. Tyrion had movilized the armies as well as the surviving City Watch that had opposed to Cersei's regime of terror in order to help with the clearing and to keep order and prevent pillaging. Among the armies were the few unsullied and dothraki who agreed to stay in Westeros. The rest headed straight for the ports to sail back to Essos." He made a pause. "By the way, I've never seen your brother so vibrant with activity, Ser Jaime," he commented with a smile. "I heard he enjoyed his time as Joffrey's Hand, and I believe it heartily. Your brother accompanied me in my first travel to the Wall, when I was still a naive squirt who knew nothing." At that, he gave a hint of a sad smile, lost in a faraway memory which seemed to cause him pain. He shook his head and went on. "I befriended him and he gave me good advice and helped me deal with my new comrades at Castle Black. Were it not for him, my throat would have been slit the first night. He truly proved himself a friend during our short adventure together, and also years later when he returned with Daenerys and we met again. I still regard him as such and always will. Thanks to him and Bran, the kingdoms will improve a lot, I have no doubt."
Jaime grinned sincerely at Jon's praise of Tyrion. "He's always had a soft spot for cripples, bastards and broken things. His own words, mind me," he added quickly when he noticed Brienne stiffening to his left and her stormy furrow. This righteous wench doesn't ever let things be, he thought fondly. "I think we all fit into those categories. Well, except for Pod here. You'll never find a more innocent and adorable thing. Nonetheless he's strangely a hard nut to crack." Jaime smiled mischievously at the boy, who blushed and wore an expression split between pride at the dubious compliment and an urgent wish to vanish in thin air.
The two men next to Jon appraised Brienne's squire with skeptical reserve, while Jon nodded vigorously. "Indeed. Not many fought the dead and escaped the Long Night unscathed."
Cory's and Lem's look changed into incredulous admiration. "You don't look as such a hard fighter," Cory blurted.
"Looks can be deceitful," Brienne inserted in defence of her protegé.
Sansa intervened."Well, Jon, now that the Night's Watch is being rebuilt and the conditions have changed, how do you foresee the future of the institution?"
The conditions to which Sansa referred had been decreed by the crown very recently. The members of the Night's Watch who weren't sentenced for life because they hadn't committed blood crimes (that is, murder, serious body damage, rape or any form of sexual abuse) or that simply volunteered to belong to the Watch, didn't have to swear lifelong vows. They could leave the brotherhood once the expiration date of their sentence finished or, in the case of the volunteers, anytime they wished. They would be more or less like any other soldiers who served the causes they seemed fit. But they were asked to take the task really seriously and accept it as a life commitment even if they weren't forced to serve. The only dealbreaker condition was not to take wives or lovers to reside in the castles, as the Wall wasn't a suitable place to raise a family, and besides, the presence of women and children might arouse dark instincts in the brothers that were sentenced there for blood crimes. In that aspect, the Night's Watch would remain the same. Murderers, rapists and sadists of any kind would be offered two options: execution or mutilation versus a life sentence as black brothers.
Jon pondered Sansa's question. "I'm not sure about the volunteers. I don't think we'll have a lot, but I'm afraid that if the Wall doesn't establish a filtering process, not all of them will last long and the majority will quit after a short while, thus wasting time and resources. Life at the Wall is very harsh. You and Bran have promised more support and I trust it will be supplied, but the kingdoms are impoverished. It will take long, understandably. Not all recruits will be fit to put up with such a rough life. I'm planning to propose a strict recruitment program. Those capable of succeeding the procedures, will be allowed to stay. But on the contrary, those unfit will have to leave. The program will encompass a varied range of skills. Fighting will be just one of them, but not necessarily the decisive one. I can speak from personal experience with my friend Sam, who became an excellent brother in spite of being shit at swordsmanship. By the way, I suppose Tyrion wrote you that Sam is curently the Lord of Horn Hill and the Master of Laws. He's married Gilly and she's due to give birth any time by now, if she hasn't already."
Sansa had informed Brienne a week before. They were very glad for the Tarly family. Like all the remaining black brothers, Sam had been freed from his vows once the Night King fell. But there were still a small number of them who didn't want to abandon their posts, so they were allowed to stay. They were the ones who founded the new Night's Watch.
"Maybe you all think I'm a raving lunatic, but I'm only too glad to go back. Now it's the ideal time to start anew. I miss the comraderie and the challenges. From now on the Free Folk that wish to cross to the South will be permitted to pass. The Gift lands will be leased at a low cost to anyone who settles there, and they'll be under the Night's Watch protection and will count on the support of the North crown as well, as long as they don't cause trouble. Those who wish to venture further into the South will be warranted the same treatment from the South crown if they wish to settle down on uninhabited lands. And the ones who seek residence in towns or cities, will be submitted to their taxes and laws like any other Westerosi citizen." Jon paused to eat and drink.
"I hope a certain redheaded member of the Free Folk doesn't come to live near Winterfell. I had enough of his slobbery flirting aimed to Brienne," Jaime couldn't help but spit.
Jon stared at him with mirth. "Tormund? He didn't stop beating everyone's ears with her qualities since he met her. But he's not a bad guy, just quite rough on the edges. He was smitten to the marrow with Ser Brienne. I wouldn't put it past him to come for a visit now and then just to check that she is well and available for wooing." The little rat is enjoying this too much, Jaime seethed, narrowing his eyes at the traitor.
"I'm perfectly well and about to marry Ser Jaime. Tormund can go woo someone else," Brienne protested.
Jon aimed an appeasing smile at her. "I can try to tell him that the next time I see him if he brings up the topic again, but I doubt he'll listen to me."
Both Brienne and Jaime rolled their eyes exaggeratedly and the rest of the occupants of the table laughed.
"Our most urgent task will be to rebuild the castles as well as the collapsed section of the Wall destroyed by the White Walkers and Viserion. The Night King is gone, but evil sooner or later finds the way to take shape, and it seems to feed from the everlasting cold and darkness of the lands beyond the Wall. That's why the Night's Watch shouldn't disappear. But this time the difference will be that the Free Folk won't be fought like before. They won't be treated as the enemy. They're just people like the rest of us. Any member or candidate for the Watch who thinks differently, will be punished or expelled. I know most of the surviving brothers. They fought in the Long Night with Tormund and his warriors and they agree with these measures."
Jaime lifted his wine jug to toast. "Cheers to new beginnings."
"To new beginnings!," the others exclaimed in unison, mimicking Jaime's gesture and clinking their mugs. Brienne's contained just water. She hadn't drunk alcohol since she suspected about her pregnancy.
The rest of the meal passed in relaxed conversation. When it came to an end, the visitors stood to leave. "It's been a nice meal. Probably the last good meal we'll have in a long time," Jon jested, addressing a meaningful glance to his brothers-to-be. The boy can tell jokes. The next thing will be the Wall melting, Jaime thought with a secret smile. "I'll visit whenever I can. I'll always belong in Winterfell. Though the Wall will become my home again, this is where I was truly happy. Where my true father taught me to be the man I am today. Where I grew up with the only siblings I've ever had. My dear Sansa, I love you. I'm proud of you. I'll be there for you whenever you need my help. We can't take sides, but be sure that if you encounter trouble, I won't leave you in the lurch."
They embraced tightly once more while the rest waited respectfully. Right then Jaime missed Tyrion. There were things one could only share with a sibling. There was so much he wanted to tell Tyrion, but he was too lazy to write with his clumsier left hand. He had improved his handwritting, but it was tiresome and anyway he hadn't ever been good at writing.
After the visitors had departed, leaving behind a tearful Sansa, everyone retired for the afternoon break.
"Wow, the dude is delighted to freeze his ass in that pile of ruins. He definitely spent too much time there. His brain is frozen too," Jaime said.
Brienne shook her head. "Don't you think it's better if you really like the duty you're bonded for life to? Didn't you like the Kingsguard?"
Jaime assessed the question. "Yes and no. You know why I joined it. At that time it was my chance to remain near Cersei, but secretly I also longed for the honour of becoming part of it. I achieved my secret desire, but then I discovered that Aerys had appointed me just to spite my father. All our plans, Cersei's and mine, went to hell when my father found out about Aerys' malice. He was only interested in using me. By making me a member of the Kingsguard, he deprived my father of his heir. Not that I wished to be the next lord of Casterly Rock, while we're at it. Be that as it may, my father quit as Hand and returned to the Rock, taking Cersei with him. I was left alone in the Red Keep with a cruel king to guard. And you know the rest. An oath becomes shit as soon as you realize the person you're sworn to is shit. I served more than enough shit kings. But despite everything, I wanted to keep my position, even after I lost my hand. And not only to be near Cersei. I've always been a sentimental fool at heart, you know. I still believed there was time left to accomplish something to be proud of. But that silly dream never came to pass."
Brienne objected. "You're wrong, Jaime. You did. You accomplished something to be proud of." She squeezed his hand.
He denied stubbornly. "By killing the king I swore my oath to. Such an honour."
"A mad king. You chose between a lost cause and a whole city. You chose to take a life to save thousands. The truth is there and we both know it, and that's enough." She made him look at her. "Fuck loyalty, remember? When said loyalty clashes with what's correct, you choose what's correct. You've proved it."
He looked away, ashamed. "Not always, Brienne. I've done horrible things. Since I first met you, I've felt more and more compelled to listen to my conscience. But before... You saw it with your own eyes at Robb Stark's camp. You heard what I said to Lady Catelyn out of spite and bitterness."
"Yes. Precisely earlier during Jon's visit I thought I had to ask you how you felt about what you said to Lady Catelyn when Jon's true parentage came to light some moons ago."
Jaime snorted. "Like horse shit. I was suddenly lacking one of the reasons I had to cut Ned down to size." She adopted her stormy expression and he quickly backpedaled from his dry humour. "Of course I felt badly, alright? The poor woman died believing the love of her life had cheated on her and she had to share her home with the living proof of his indiscretion."
"He was protecting the child, even at the cost of his own conjugal peace. He did the correct thing, no matter that it spoiled his reputation." She lifted one eyebrow meaningfully.
He circled her waist, grinning. It seemed foolish, but her words made him feel much better. Her mere presence managed to do it. "Are you comparing me to him? I'm loads handsomer, just for your information. And funnier."
"And more modest," she added sarcastically.
"I'm very modest. Out of this chambers, I don't brag about how much you want me. My lips are sealed."
She pushed him brusquely onto the bed. He hit the mattress with a groan. "See, you wild woman. I'm right."
His smugness was soon replaced with moans.
