At Castle Black…
For the first time in 14 years, each sworn brother of the Night's Watch gathered in the halls of Castle Black for a Choosing to nominate a candidate to serve as the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Unlike the rest of Westeros, the Night's Watch is one of few institutions that hold elections in choosing their leaders almost similar to the Faith of the Seven's ruling council the Most Devout, the Order of Maesters' Conclave. In contrast, however, only the Night's Watch serves as a true, representative democracy where every member of the Night's Watch, from the First Ranger and the other high-ranking officers, down to the cooks, and even the lowliest steward who cleans out the chamber pots, has an equal vote when electing a new Lord Commander.
And whoever becomes the new Lord Commander, ultimately decides the fate of the captive wildlings during the Battle of Castle Black apparently.
"Treason! The Night's Watch have always defended the realm from what lies beyond the Wall for more than 8,000 years and we will never let the wildlings pass through into our lands, no matter how much they plead!" Ser Alliser Thorne called out.
First Builder Yarwyck nodded in agreement.
Jon Snow sat a small table with his friends Grenn, Eddison Tollett and Samwell Tarly. The situation was tense; with the Night's Watch's numbers greatly replenished and enough breathing room, there were some of their sworn brothers who backed Ser Alliser Thorne, Castle Black's Master-at-Arms and acting Lord Commander. Most of them touted his experience during Mance Rayder's wildling army attacked the Wall. Some even supported Ser Denys Mallister, commander of the Shadow Tower.
"Quite the select men to actually volunteer for the post," Grenn rolled his eyes.
"You'd think they'd have learned what we know, seen the things we've seen," Edd agreed.
Jon said nothing. Sitting a few tables across from him was a drunken Joffrey Baratheon, gulping down what appeared to be his fourth or fifth cup of ale. Word had already arrived from the capital of Petyr Baelish's and Cersei Lannister's trial by seven and subsequent execution on charges of treason. Normally Jon would've felt more sympathetic, but Joffrey had become incredibly violent and insubordinate; many of their sworn brothers made numerous complaints about Joffrey's aggressive behavior—only for both to be equally met with verbal reprimands.
"*hic!* Mother…" Joffrey bemoaned bitterly. "Fuckin' broth— *hic!* fuckin' brother. Hope you fuckin' burn in the *hic!* deepest corner of the *hic!* Seven hells…"
Samwell winced a bit, but Edd and Grenn looked at him with equal disgust.
"He's been like this these past four weeks," Grenn noticed.
Stannis Baratheon and his guests were permitted to observing the Night's Watch election on the condition there were no interruption or outside influence affecting the outcome. The fiery Stag of Dragonstone had his arms crossed and never took his eyes off of Joffrey.
'He should've been dealt with back at King's Landing,' he observed. 'They called him my nephew, but Joffrey shares no blood with me.'
As Ser Davos and Lady Selyse took their seats to watch the proceedings, but Stannis remained at the back of the hall with his personal guards. Soon enough, every sworn brother of the Night's Watch took their seats as Castle Black's maester Aemon slowly stood up from the Lord Commander's seat at the high table to officiate the vote. A wrinkled, shrunken, very old blind man of 104 years of age, Aemon was originally the second son of King Maekar I Targaryen, a Prince who renounced his claim to the Iron Throne before his older brother Aerion "Brightflame" died and refused the throne in favor of his younger brother Aegon—a sibling he referred to as "Egg". King Aegon of House Targaryen, the Fifth of His Name… who died many years later during the Tragedy at Summerhall and was succeeded by Aemon's nephew the Mad King Aerys II.
"The gods were cruel when they saw fit to test my vow. They waited until I was old," Maester Aemon once told Jon Snow four years ago. "What could I do when the ravens brought the news from the south? The ruin of my house, the death of my family… I was helpless, blind, frail. But when I heard they had killed my brother's son, and his poor son, and the children! Even the little children!"
"Who are you?"
"My father was Maekar, the First of His Name. My brother Aegon reigned after him when I had refused the throne, and his son… was Aerys… whom they called 'The Mad King.'"
"You're Aemon Targaryen."
"I am a Maester of the Citadel, bound in service to Castle Black and the Night's Watch. Whatever cruel test the Gods see fit to throw at you, Jon Snow, you'll have to live with whatever choice you make for the rest of your days, as I have."
Samwell had been taking care of Maester Aemon lately; given his old age and frailty, almost everyone knew that Aemon would inevitably die soon. Even though most of the Night's Watch often disregarded his wise counsel, Maester Aemon was still held in high regards.
"Crowded," Darius Hill uttered. "You'd think we were serving venison stew."
Aemon cleared his throat. "Does anyone wish to speak for candidates before we cast our tokens for the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch?"
Camren Rivers, a bastard of House Darry from the Riverlands, rose from his chair. "I nominate Ser Alliser Thorne! He's not just a knight, but he's a man of true nobility. A veteran of hundreds of battles and defender on the Watch almost his whole life, he was acting commander when the Wall came under attack and led us to victory against the wildlings. Ser Alliser is our one true choice."
"Hear, hear," some of the Night's Watch applauded.
Ser Alliser grinned and looked back at Jon Snow, the bastard he had a social hostile rivalry ever since Jon arrived to swear his vows years ago. What made it worse was how humiliated Alliser was when Jon took command during the Battle of Castle Black when he was wounded in battle. Men cheer and beat on the tables as Alliser nodded at his supporters.
"Is there anyone else?"
One of the sworn brothers from Shadow Tower stood up. "Ser Denys Mallister joined the Watch as a boy and has served loyally longer than any other ranger. Through 10 winters he served. As commander of the Shadow Tower, he kept the wildlings away. We could do no better."
Men, including Jon, Grenn and Edd bang their cups on the table, but the reaction is much weaker.
"If there's no one else, we will begin the voting," Maester Aemon announced. "The triangular tokens count for Ser Alliser Thorne. The square tokens for Ser Denys Mallister. Each brother will—"
Grenn immediately rose sharply. "Wait!"
Every sworn brother, including Jon, Eddison and Samwell, look to Grenn at the back of the room in shock.
"Grenn. Go on."
Jon shakes his head 'no' at Grenn. Ser Davos, Samwell and Eddison were curious; Stannis, meanwhile, looked on in curiosity whereas Seylse frowned at the rude interruption.
"*hic!* Ah, the fearless giant slayer Grenn the Abandoned," Joffrey slurred. "And his trusted *hic!* companions Edd the Dimwit and Sam the Slayer."
The whole room turns and glares at him, including Stannis and his guests.
"What's a wildling *hic!* lover and his friends *hic!* Jon Snow the Bastard," he continued rudely. "Tell me, Piggy, how's your *hic!* lady love, Slayer? *hic!*"
More men frowned; very few chuckled but were silenced. Grenn was red with anger.
Samwell stood up in his friend's defense. "Her name is Gilly," he corrected. "Brother Joffrey knows her quite well. They cowered together in the larder during the battle for the Wall."
Joffrey scowled in fury as the men started laughing at him now. Rising sharply, Joffrey threw his cup across the room but his aim was terrible due to his intoxication.
"Lies!" he screamed.
"A wildling, a baby, and Joffrey the Illborn," Edd chimed in. "I seem to remember that we found him there when the battle was over curled up in the fetal position in a puddle of his own piss."
"SHUT *hic!* UP!"
Even stronger laughter erupted in the room, even Maester Aemon cracked a smile.
"Whilst Joffrey fled with his tail between his legs, hiding with the women and children, Jon Snow was leading," Grenn pointed to Jon.
The room goes quiet. Samwell nodded in agreement. "Ser Alliser fought bravely during the battle, it's true. It's an act of honor that cannot be questioned or dismissed. And when he was wounded, it was Jon who saved the day. He took charge of the Wall's defenses."
Eddison rose from his seat. "Jon Snow killed the Magnar of the Thenns. He went north to deal with Mance Rayder, knowing it would mean certain death. And before that, Jon led the mission to avenge Lord Commander Mormont."
"Mormont himself chose Jon to be his steward. He saw something in Jon and we've seen it all, too. He might be young, but he was the commander we turned to when the night was darkest."
Grenn looked at his friend. "With that, I'm proud to nominate my friend and brother Jon Snow as a candidate for Lord Commander of the Night's Watch!"
Jon blinked and looked across the room as men gave him a strong cheer. He wasn't expecting his name being put forward, almost uncertain what to do. Across from them, Ser Alliser Thorne stood from his seat.
"I can't argue with any of that. But who does Jon Snow want to command? The Night's Watch… or the wildlings?" he argued. "Everyone knows he loved a wildling girl and spoke with Mance Rayder many times," he looked at Stannis. "What would have happened in that tent if the Young Stag's own uncle Stannis Baratheon and his army hadn't come along?"
Stannis remained stoic, yet deeply frowned; believing it to be a slight on his honor that his cavalry rode to decimate the massive wildling army.
"We all saw him put the King-Beyond-the-Wall in a small cell on the condition he was not to be harmed until a new Lord Commander was chosen," he continued. "Do you want to choose a man who has fought the wildlings all his life? Or a man who makes love to them?"
Jon frowned angrily but doesn't respond; the memory of Ygritte's loss was still a fresh wound for him and Ser Alliser rubbed salt on his wounds, and Joffrey smirked in a smug manner. With the sworn brothers trading banter, Maester Aemon rises again.
"It is time. The triangular tokens count for Ser Alliser Thorne, the square tokens for Ser Denys Mallister… and the circular tokens for Jon Snow."
One by one, each sworn brother of the Night's Watch marched in a single-file line to the front of the room to place their selective tokens into a jar. Jon watched as he sipped his ale, but couldn't help but notice Joffrey glaring at him; his face curled in a wicked snarl.
'He's still upset about what happened down south,' he speculated.
What felt like several long twenty minutes, First Builder Yarwyck takes a small hammer and cracks open the jar and begins to count the tokens before stacking them up on the table. Everyone was holding their breath. Denys had a small amount, but Alliser and Jon have the same amount of tokens.
Yarwyck leaned close to Aemon's ear. "There appears to be a tie, Maester."
As the most senior member of Castle Black's leadership, Maester Aemon was now in his capacity to break the tie. With the aid of Yarwyck, Aemon steadily rose from his seat once more and feels each stack of tokens to determine which is which. Albeit he was old and blind, Aemon's other senses were still intact. Taking his own spare token from his sleeve, his hands steadily shook and cast his own vote for Jon Snow.
*CHEERS!*
*APPLAUSE!*
Amidst cheers and laughter, Olly turned and smiles at his mentor. Jon Snow felt as if the wind was knocked out of him in surprise, but smiled as his friends Samwell, Eddison and Grenn clapped the loudest. The men near Alliser, including Joffrey, look angry. The group of men gathered around Mallister, however, was rather content and even waived their hands up in a congratulatory acknowledgment.
"Jon Snow! Jon Snow! Jon Snow! Jon Snow!" the room chanted.
Elected as the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon took a shaky breath and sees Alliser glaring at him, and lets out a small smile for the first time since he entered the room. With his new position, Jon felt a growing confidence swelling up inside him as he left the room with Olly, Samwell, Grenn and Eddison in tow—walking past Stannis and his attendees.
'Maybe I'll be able to settle an everlasting peace,' he thought hopefully.
"What are your orders… Lord Commander Snow?" Grenn asked.
Jon shrugged. "Still not used to hearing that," he admitted.
"Yeah, well, you're in charge of the Night's Watch now," Samwell pointed out. "Lots of responsibility."
"And that means a lot of hard choices lay ahead," Edd nodded.
Jon turned to his steward. "Olly, go to my chambers and fetch me Longclaw."
Olly nodded. "At once, Lord Commander."
As the boy left the room, Jon turned to his friends once he was certain they were alone.
"What I'm about to do now… it might divide the Night's Watch. Bitterly."
Samwell looked confused. "What do you mean?"
Jon exhaled, yet remained firm and absolute. "I'm going down to the cells to have a word with Mance Rayder, see what I can do to negotiate peace between us."
Chapter End
Author's Note: A brief cameo, but Jon Snow is the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and intends to have a private audience with Mance Rayder and Tormund Giantsbane regarding the fate of the wildlings. And Joffrey was not a happy camper and behaved irritably now that he knows what's happened at King's Landing. Now the next chapter will definitely include the face-to-face meeting with Daveth Baratheon and Doran Martell. So stay turned for more updates! Thoughts? Let me know.
C.E.W: Don't forget Daveth also getting justice for the Martell's Kingsguard uncle Prince Lewyn Martell by killing Ser Lyn Corbray, another thing justice to add to the list of what he helped deliver to Dorne.
Austin: Ok nice chapter nice to see of how things are at jon's neck of the woods.
Honestly I know Joffrey is probably gonna get chopped or get hanged depending on what is he gonna do to piss jon off.
Now the meeting of Doran and daveth is coming soon. I can see daveth getting a hero's welcome in dorne for having a hand in killing the mountain which in result avenged elia martell.
But Ramsay and his pack are coming to dorne as well.
I'm honestly am just tempted to like jump into this and help daveth out and kill the fucker Ramsay all for honor style as I'm tempted to execute the tucker in many ways possible for what he did to many people mostly commoners who done nothing wrong. Because I have to give props to ramsay's actor as he did a phenomenal job at being the flayed snow as we all hate Ramsay with a passion.
But another question once the faithful meeting of daveth and daenarys happen. If daenarys starts of how she is the rightful heir to the iron throne daveth will counter "correction you were the heir to the iron throne as my father killed your brother prince rhaegar in battle, and took the iron throne from your father the mad king. Simply put my father conquered the iron throne which is honestly pure irony or poetic as the iron throne was made by a family conquerors and they just got conquered." Plus not to mention daveth did alot good to the seven kingdoms so daenarys will honestly be surprised of getting no support from kingdoms like the reach as expected.
So good luck on the next chapter and hope it comes soon.
Hear My Fury: Well, considering how Joffrey had almost the same dialogue as Slynt, my guess is that he's going to the chopping block when he's given Greyguard. If he's given that castle. Other than that, I hope Melisandre doesn't burn Mance and he's given a chance to live. I always liked his character in the books and I was disappointed when he died on the show. Hopefully it doesn't happen here.
C.E.W: Will Jon Snow alert Robb and Daveth about his plans for the Wildlings?
—Not at present, no. But eventually someone will learn about Jon's plans for the wildlings.
Zeze: Nobody cares about bastard snow. We wanna see the wedding god dammit
Magi Tail Welkin: No doubt Jon will end up betrayed just like in the show. Really my problem with the Jon Snow subplot in these fan-fictions is that they really no way to vary it.
chase manaena: this is a great read cant wait for the next chapter
The Last Kenpachi: Maybe Stannis will rein in Thorne... maybe.
mpowers045: Now that was the kind of reaction I expected Joffrey to have when he heard about Cersei's trial, I hope Jon doesn't get mutinied and killed
RHatch89: Awesome update :)
—Thanks.
10868letsgo: Joffrey, you got to admit the world is better off without your mother. Is Joffrey is going to die with a mutiny after they tried to kill Jon Snow?
The Three Stoogies: A good chapter keep up the good work
—Thanks.
Patty 4577: Well. The way things are up at the wall, Prince Cunt appears to be heading the same way as Janos. But I wanna know what you think.