At Castle Black…
Having already witnessed such treasonous actions, Ser Davos gathered a few of Stannis Baratheon's personal guards and run down the steps towards Jon Snow's body as other brothers of the Night's Watch approach. Led by Eddison Tollet, all present were taken aback by the sight of their friend.
"It's the Lord Commander!"
"You're Dolorous Edd, aren't you?" Davos asked. "Help me get him inside."
All parties including the other Night's Watch brothers help pick up Jon Snow's lifeless body from a pool of his own blood and carry him inside of one of Castle Black's rooms. Ghost follows close by. While Eddison wipes a nearby table clean, Jon was placed on top of the table. Saddened and furious, Eddison placed his hand on Jon's wounds before brushing his eyes closed.
"Throne did this," he snarled.
"But why would he do this?"
"He hasn't seen what we've seen. The Fist of the First Men, Hardhome… he hasn't seen the true threat we've seen beyond the Wall. The White Walkers."
Davos blinked. "White Walkers? What're White Walkers?"
As if on cue, Mance Rayder and Tormund enter the room – surprising the Night's Watch brothers as they drew their blades before sheathing them. The former King-Beyond-the-Wall and his second-in-command both observe Jon Snow, Rayder and Tormund looking down almost mournfully – though each of their eyes indicated a sense of personal respect for the bastard Snow for sticking his neck out for the wildlings… even if it indeed cost him his life.
"The fuckin' dead; the reason why we Free Folk have been trying to get south of the Wall," Tormund explained. "Ye southerners think we wanted to invade? No, we've been trying to find safety the whole time. White Walkers have been pickin' us off for years."
"And we're nothing but sacks of meat in their army. The more living they slay, the larger in size the Army of the Dead grows," Mance chimed in. "Ned Stark's bastard might've been a crow, but Jon Snow was a good lad. I know when someone else's heart is in the right place even if another tries to steer him clear of it. He spoke for the Free Folk when no other southerners would."
"And he died for us."
"Perhaps not for good. Ser Davos," Melisandre made her announcement known.
Eddison looks over his shoulder at Davos, who reluctantly nods for him to stand aside. The Night's Watch brothers and few Free Folk back away to let the Red Priestess through; Melisandre visibly disturbed, whether at the sight of Jon Snow's body or the scolding ridicule of a lecture she received from the echelons of the Red Temple's high-ranking leadership. But there was a sense of uncertainty, as well; Melisandre's faith began to crack and lose faith as Vaeraleah's words slowly wormed its way into her head and the possible concept that she was following the wrong man.
"Why are you here?" one of the Night's Watch brothers asked.
Melisandre tried to maintain her faith. "I… just received word from the High Priestess of Asshai. It… would seem that the Lord of Light has plans for Jon Snow."
Davos remained skeptical. "All this time you've remained firm in your belief that your fire god favors our lord, Stannis Baratheon. Now you say He favors Jon Snow? Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Because I saw… I had a vision of him with two others in the flames, fighting against the darkness at Winterfell." She touches Jon Snow's cheek.
"The White Walkers," both Mance and Tormund acknowledge.
Melisandre nods. "Jon Snow, Daveth Baratheon, Daenerys Stormborn… it was them I saw in the flames. We'll need them alive when the darkness comes."
'Stannis won't like hearing that,' the Onion Knight suspected. "But to do that we'll have to make it past Throne. He'll try to make it official before Lord Stannis can catch him, he'll try to take Castle Black for himself."
Eddison unsheathed his sword again. "I don't care who's sitting at the high table. Jon was my friend, and those fuckers butchered him. I say we returned the favor."
"We need more numbers before it ends in a bloodbath."
Mance took that as his cue. "Leave that part to us," he said turning to look at Tormund, "Gather the rest of our people. I think it's time to demonstrate what happens when you put yourself ahead of the group."
Tormund nodded in approval. "I'll be sure to get Wun Wun for this. Be sure to bolt the door behind me. Don't let any of them fuckin' crows in. I'll be back as soon as I can," he ruffed before leaving the room.
When Tormund left, Davos turned to Melisandre. "Do you know of any magic… that could help him? Bring him back?" he asks.
One of the Night's Watch brothers looked confused. "What magic? What are you talking about?"
"There are some with the Lord's power," she answers. "I met a man in the Riverlands who came back from the dead six times, but the priest who did it – It shouldn't have been possible. The High Priestess used the same magic to bring back your King from the dead twice now."
"But it was," Davos said. "It could be now. I saw you drink poison that should've killed you at Dragonstone. I saw you give birth to a demon made of shadows. Fuck the Lord of Light. Fuck all of them. I'm not a devout man, obviously. Seven Gods, drowned gods, tree gods, it's all the same. I'm not asking the Lord of Light for help. I'm asking the woman who showed me that miracles exist."
Melisandre looked surprised. "I… I never had this gift, Ser Davos."
"Have you ever tried?" he countered.
Davos, Mance, Eddison, and Melisandre all gather around Jon Snow's body while Ghost lies sleeping on the floor next to the table. The Red Priestess begins performing a ritual on Jon Snow's body, wringing out a wet cloth with which she cleans out the wounds, cuts his hair and beard and throws the hairs in a firepit before placing both her hands on Jon's chest.
"Zyhys oñoso jehikagon Aeksiot epi, se gis hen syndrorro jemagon. (We ask the Lord to shine His light, and lead a soul out of darkness)," she utters an incantation in Valyrian. "Zyhys perzys stepagon Aeksio Oño jorepi, se morghultas lys qelitsos sikagon. Hen syndrorro, oños. Hen ñuqir, perzys. Hen morghot, glaeson. (We beg the Lord to share His fire, and light a candle that has gone out. From darkness, light. From ashes, fire. From death, life.)"
Letting her hands down slowly, Melisandre withdraws herself from the table – looking to Davos, uncertain as to whether or not the spell she enchanted even worked. Gripping the large enchanted ruby necklace as it glowed, the Red Priestess had never even attempted to bring someone from the dead back to life in her almost four centuries of experience. Davos and Eddison linger and stare at Jon Snow's body, but failed to notice Ghost suddenly waking up and looking at the table.
After a moment of tense silence, it was broken by a sudden gasp.
"*GASP!* *huff* *huff*"
Jon Snow's eyes shoot wide open, gasping for breath.
"I-It… Lord Commander!" one of the Night's Watch brothers exclaimed with surprise.
Jon slowly sits up on the table, still breathing heavily. The resurrected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch shakes steadily and looks down at his body, feeling his stab wounds. Jon's gasping become much harsher and shaky before attempting to stand, but falters and nearly stumbles to the floor before Davos catches him and wraps Jon in his cloak.
"Easy, easy. Easy," the Onion Knight gently calms him.
Eddison assists Davos ushering Jon onto the ground into a sitting position. All the while, Melisandre drops to her knees and stares at Jon.
"What do you remember?"
Jon still shook. "They… they stabbed me," he said. "Olly… he-he put a knife in my heart. I-I shouldn't be here."
"Easy, Jon," Eddison calmed him. "The lady brought you back."
"Afterwards, after they stabbed you, after you died, where did you go?" asked Melisandre almost begging for an answer. "What did you see?"
Mance did not like the way the Red Priestess started bombarding Jon Snow with random questions as soon as he woke up again. The other Night's Watch rangers loyal to Jon protested rather loudly.
"Hey!"
"Back off, lady!"
Jon ignored them. "Nothing," he answered. "I saw nothing. There was nothing at all."
'There's… nothing? But why?' Melisandre looked disappointed. "W-well whatever what was or wasn't seen, the Lord of Light brought you back for a reason. It seemed the whole time I misinterpreted prophecy," she turned to Davos. "You were right all along, Ser Davos. Stannis was not The Prince Who Was Promised, but rather there were three sides of the same pyramid to fulfill the destiny. Jon Snow is one of them."
Davos grabs a stool and sat down in front of Jon. "Ease up on the lad," he told her in a harsh, scolding manner before turning back to Jon. "You were dead. And now you're not. That's completely fucking mad, seems to me. I can only imagine how it seems to you."
"I did what I thought was right. And I got murdered for it!" Jon shouted. "And now I'm back. Why?"
Mance sat down next to him. "None of us knows the truth. Maybe there are some things we'll never know, but what does it matter, Jon Snow? You go on doing what you do best: fight. You fight for as long as you can. You endure as much shit as you can."
"I… I don't know how to do that. I thought I did, but… I failed."
"We all can't learn from our mistakes without failing at least a few times. Learn from your mistakes and mine. Now go fail again."
At the Castle Black mess hall…
Ser Alliser Thorne, First Ranger, sat at the high table among the other leaders of the Night's Watch First Steward Bowen Marsh and First Builder Othell Yarwyck, watching and listening to the rest of the Night's Watch brothers-in-arms shouting at each other when they all learned the death of Lord Commander Jon Snow.
"He was our Lord Commander!" one hollered.
Another yelled. "He never should have been!"
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
Pounding his fists on the high table three times, Alliser demanded silence – immediately causing the entire room to quiet down. All eyes were soon locked onto him now. Upon rising from his seat, Alliser decided to get straight to business.
"You all know why you're here. Jon Snow is dead," he informed them.
The men murmured amongst themselves for a few moments.
"Who killed him?" one asked.
Before Alliser could reply, Stannis Baratheon and his men barged into the main hall. The assembled Night's Watch quickly rose from their seats, taken by surprise by the Lord of Dragonstone's entrance before gripping their swords at the sight of Stannis's armed guards arriving alongside him.
"Your very own leaders in this castle," Stannis informed them. "Alliser Thorne, Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck… even the boy he took under his wing. You all turned against your own Lord Commander, mutinied against Jon Snow and took a turns at stabbing him in the heart again and again."
Once the Night's Watch was informed of this stunning revelation, they all quickly turned their sights on their own leaders.
"Murderers!"
"Traitors!"
"Oathbreakers!"
The shouting resumes. Olly walks up beside the high table, possibly fearing that everyone in the room will kill them all. Alliser sensed the Night's Watch was ready to kill him, but again remained firm in his decision.
"You're right!" he shouts dispelling any ideas that he regrets it or that he is alone. Any hint of hesitation or guilt would be deadly for him here, and he knows it. "Lord Stannis is right. We've committed treason, all of us. Jon Snow was my Lord Commander. I had no love for him. That was no secret."
Having established that this mutiny involved several people, Ser Alliser makes the leap and extends the blame to everyone present, the entire Night's Watch. While not strictly a true statement, it gives the sworn brothers pause. None of them can be sure just how big this mutiny was, and suddenly speaking out against it feels like a dangerous prospect. Alliser breezes past this lie by following it up with an undeniable truth, an empty confession. Everyone knew he hated Jon. Stannis noticed the silence, before noticing the men murmuring amongst themselves again as Alliser made his next move by appealing to their sense of duty.
"But I've never disobeyed an order. Not once," he continued. "Loyalty is the foundation on which The Night's Watch is built and the Watch means everything to me. I have given my life, we have all given our lives to the Night's Watch. Jon Snow was going to destroy the Night's Watch!"
The men looked shocked and turned towards one another for verification; a few glanced at Stannis and his outnumbered guards. If they decided they were to remove him by force, they very well could – yet remained motionless against the more experienced, hardened Baratheon lord.
"Jon Snow let the wildlings through our gates as no Lord Commander has ever done before! He gave them the very land on which they reaved and raped and murdered!"
Again, Ser Alliser remains taking a straightforward approach. He takes accountability and explains his reasons, which do make sense. These wildlings have been reaving and raping as far back as memory goes. It's a small picture view, but it's relevant all the same. He also points out, he has been completely loyal in his own view. This is probably the most compelling part of the argument for the Night's Watch brothers. Most of them disagreed strongly with Jon's particular decision here. Allowing their ancient bitter enemies of thousands of years through the gates to eat and live with them. When the Wildlings outnumbered the Night's Watch, the brothers began to fear for their own safety.
"Lord Commander Snow did what he thought was right, I have no doubt about that. And what he thought was right would've been the end of us. He thrust a terrible choice upon us and we made it," Alliser concluded, reiterating his previous points.
Stannis, however, did not buy it. "Even treachery is not lacking as far north as the Wall itself; how corrupt the Night's Watch has become despite our contributions."
That sparked anger amongst the crowd.
"How dare you question our honor?!"
"Unbelievable!"
"Where I come from, treason is met with a different sort of punishment," Stannis continued. "Unlike some lords of Westeros, I do not forget. I do not pardon. I do not punish men for bravery, I reward them. And I execute traitors. 'Death or the Wall? Take your pick,' my brother Robert said that twenty years ago when you refused to bend the knee after the Mad King fell, Ser Alliser."
Ser Alliser felt his blood run cold at the apparent threat. Several others remain loyal to him as the First Ranger glared at Stannis.
"I think it's time for you to leave," he huffed. "You've overstayed your welcome here at Castle Black. Go in peace now and never come back. Nobody needs to die tonight."
Refusing to abide by the words of a traitor, Stannis Baratheon and his men unsheathed their swords – prompting the Night's Watch rangers to do the same. Sure they were outnumbered, but Stannis refused to give any ground. Ser Alliser, Yarwyck, Olly and Marsh looked rather confident in themselves… believing their superior numbers would win the day. Before each side came to blows, all in the room heard loud thudding emanating from outside.
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
One of the Night's Watch stewards ran inside. "We've got trouble! There's a large group of wildlings attacking the gate!" he shouted.
Outside…
Each of the Night's Watch rangers pushed their way past Stannis and his guards and gathered in the courtyard. Stannis decided to take a moment to observe the commotion, but not before seeing Davos, Melisandre, Eddison, Ghost, Grenn… and of course, the resurrected Jon Snow on the upper balcony just out of sight. Pleased with the Red Priestess's resurrection spell, Stannis's lips curled and folded his arms – watching in silence as Ser Alliser and his followers readied themselves for battle.
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
After several more, increasing and more forceful rams, Castle Black's main gates were broken down by the giant Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun – allowing the other wildlings led by Tormund to rush into the courtyard. Mance Rayder decided to take the initiative and leapt from the upper balcony on top of a Night's Watch ranger loyal to Ser Alliser Thorne, pouncing on him and shoved his blade into his back. Alliser notices the archers have their bows drawn at the wildlings, but do not fire. Instead, they back away slowly.
"Attack!" he shouts.
Deciding to take part, Eddison, Grenn and their sworn brothers loyal to Jon surrounded their comrades on all sides. Stannis orders his men to flank them, his troops armed with swords, spears, pikes and shields huddled them in a compact double envelopment formation. As Alliser draws his sword, a Night's Watch ranger charges at Tormund but is easily cut down. This causes the other Night's Watch members on the ground to recognize they were surrounded on all sides and could not retaliate.
"Fight, you cowards!" Alliser roars again.
"You're surrounded, Ser Alliser," Stannis points out. "All you'll end up doing is getting the entire order wiped out."
A Night's Watch archer on a balcony shoots Wun Wun in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt; the giant appears unfazed and turns to face the man before grabbing him by the legs, slamming him against a wall and tosses his body to the ground in front of Alliser. One by one, each of the mutineers allied to Alliser began dropping their swords in surrender. Tormund, Mance, Eddison and Grenn approach the First Ranger with swords drawn at him.
"You fucking traitor," Alliser cursed at them.
Grenn pointed the tip of his blade at Alliser's throat. "You're the fucking traitor, you murderous piece of shit!" he shouted.
Eddison agreed. "The only traitors here are the ones who shoved their knives into their Lord Commander's heart."
"For thousands of years the Night's Watch has held Castle Black against the wildlings," the First Ranger declared.
Mance got in his face. "Until you," he corrected him.
Olly shouts and charges at the former King-Beyond-the-Wall with his sword, but is quickly apprehended by Tormund and disarmed, then tossed to another man who restrains him. Nodding his head upwards, Mance directs his surviving followers to apprehend Alliser by the arms.
"Throw them into the cells where they belong, like they did to us," he ordered.
As the Free Folk and Night's Watch members loyal to Jon dragged Alliser Thorne, Olly and the other betrayers away, Tormund and Eddison look up at the balcony where Jon Snow stood – who noticed the whole thing in the courtyard before his very eyes.
"We'll led Snow decide their fate in the morning," the wildling chieftain proclaimed. "But somethin' tells me that the backstabbing crows will be getting' their comeuppance."
Chapter End
Author's Note: Jon Snow is brought back to life, but the traitorous Night's Watch members who sided with Ser Alliser Thorne ended up getting easily routed by both those loyal to Jon and Mance Rayder and Stannis Baratheon. Although he's no longer the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance played a role in apprehending the mutineers and decided to return the favor for what they did to Ned Stark's bastard. Think this was poetic justice? I'll let you guys decide. Next chapter will return our attention towards Daveth Baratheon and his conflict with the High Sparrow and his followers. Thoughts? Let me know.
Rezan: Absolutely amazing, I cannot wait for more.
C.E.W: I fear, that the Sparrows may cause damage that can destroy a lot of the hard work, Daveth did to unite the realm. The Sparrow problem might kill Margaery and Tommen, and if Margaery dies, the Tyrells will blame Daveth for failing to protect her. If that happens, Daenerys could gain powerful allies in Westeros. Ramsay rebelling, even Robb defeats Ramsay which he most likely will with Stannis' help it will cause damage that can weaken Daveth's support in the North. Daenerys wins over the Dothraki, and the Golden Company with Jon Connignton's help, she'll have an army big enough to challenge Daveth.
Tohka123: Another lovely chapter, keep up the hard work
―Thanks.