Chapter 2

Karl Franz frowned. He had never heard of the "Night's Watch". "I apologize Jo- erm, Lord Commander, but I am not familiar with the "Night's Watch"".

The man stared at the Emperor, looking completely confused. "Your Grace, I am not sure who you are either, you and your men have the appearance of Southerners, but there are no Emperors in Westeros either. With all due respect, where did you come from?"

"I rule the Empire, on a continent known as the Old World. I assume we are currently in Westeros. Unfortunately I do not know where Westeros is.

"Westeros is, well it's, that is going to take a long time to explain. How many men are with you, if I may ask?"

"17,000, give or take."

Several of Snow's men exchanged nervous glances, including the boy. Karl Franz suddenly realized how this must look. From their perspective, he appeared to be leading an army of conquest. He didn't blame them for looking nervous. Franz himself was in full battle armor, with Ghal Maraz slung over his back.

"I apologize for our appearance. We just finished fighting a great battle. We have no hostile intent, and wish you no harm. But I truly must ask where we are. My men are already very worried. I need to see to their safety."

The Lord Commander looked at Franz for a few seconds before speaking, in a significantly more friendly tone, "I thank you for your politeness, and am willing to let you and your men in. I am not exactly in a position to refuse anyone past the wall. You may bivouac your troops along the southern portion of the wall. I would like to ask you something as well, once we get inside."

Karl nodded, and turned his horse around. It was time to tell his men what they were going to do.

—

Olly saw the Emperor gallop away on his armored horse. He had to admit, the man looked impressive. These could not be wildlings, they were not the barbarians who butchered his family. His stomach turned at the thought. No, he could think about that now. He mentally cursed himself. Reminding himself of the massacre would give him another night of terrible dreams. NO. He stopped the thought completely, before his eyes could fill with tears again. He saw Jon turn his horse and gallop back toward Castle Black. He followed behind him and the rangers who had gone with him. As they entered the tunnel, Olly heard a horn blow behind them. It wasn't a horn of the Night's Watch, it sounded much higher pitched.

When they were in the Castle, he saw almost the entire garrison looking out the observation ports. Jon went to one, and Olly followed. When he looked outside, he saw a column of riders approaching. They were in fine armor, with musicians at the front playing bombastic martial music on trumpets and drums. The gate was opened again, and in they came. The column, trotting 6 abreast looked absolutely splendid in their spotless, polished armor. Their clothes appeared to be fine as well, but rather odd looking. Olly squinted; at their belts were strange looking sticks with metal attached. Olly assumed they were some sort of musical instrument. After them came more riders, these ones in full plate, wearing hounskull bascinets and wielding long lances. Behind them, were riders dressed similarly to the first ones, but they had even longer sticks with metal attached. These were hung from the saddle, and had multiple holes on the front. Behind them still, came column after column of infantry. The first few columns carried massive two handed swords, and had strange looking floppy hats. After these came infantry with more strange metal encrusted sticks, this time with them over their left shoulder. Last came infantry with halberds, spears, and swords.

After what felt like hours, the last column came through. Olly looked around. Where was the Emperor? Then he heard what sounded like an eagle. Olly looked up, and gasped. Above him was the Emperor, riding on what appeared to have the front end of a bird of prey, and the back end of some sort of large cat. He had never seen anything like it before. The creature circled several times before landing, and the Emperor dismounted. A band began to play an upbeat tune as the Emperor approached Jon.

—

Jon Snow's head was spinning. Two days ago he had returned from Hardhome convinced of the imminent destruction of the world as he knew it. Even with the wildlings on his side, there couldn't be a way to stop the army of the dead. But now, if this Emperor was willing to assist. 17,000? He couldn't imagine that many men defending the wall. Every Castle could be manned at full strength. The Emperor approached him, and Jon shook his hand. The two went to the Lord Commander's office along with Olly. Jon sat down at his desk, and offered a seat to the Emperor, who took it. Jon did his best to explain the situation to Karl Franz, and was very surprised when he believed him. Franz mentioned something about "Chaos" and "Vampires". Jon chose not to ask him about this.

After several hours of conversation, the two came to an agreement. The Emperor and his army could stay in The Gift as long as they needed, and would forage there, beyond the wall, as well as buy local food to supply themselves. In exchange for this, the Imperial Army would aid in garrisoning the wall. When they finished, Jon and Franz shook hands again. As Jon Walked outside with the Emperor, he noticed Ser Alliser was missing.

As Karl Franz walked away, he heard footsteps rapidly approaching from behind him. He turned and was face to face with Ser Alliser, who was wielding a dagger, Jon leapt aside, rolling away as Alliser swung his dagger down toward him. He came at Jon again, and Jon saw he would not be able to dodge this one. Just as Alliser was about to stab him, a deafening sound tore through the night. A hole suddenly appeared in the chest of Alliser, who looked down in shock, then collapsed. Behind him was an Imperial soldier, holding a strange wooden and metal device, with smoke billowing out of the tip and back. "I take it you haven't seen a firearm before, Lord Commander."