11. Dread at the Dreadfort.
"I have rid you of the wildling threat" said Melisandre to the men gathered in the Common Room at castle Black. "If you want, you can go back to the frozen waterfall and see for yourselves."
"I vouch for her" said Fibs. "We heard their yells as we were on our way back to Castle Black. I don't know what she did, but whatever it was, those wildlings are not there anymore".
"The whitewalkers will not be bothering you either" she continued. "You will see them one last time as they cross through your tunnel and you will never see the likes of them again." She motioned to Stannis and said "We are done here, my Lord. It is time for you to claim your Throne."
The men of the Night Watch standing in front of the black walls of their black fortress clad in their black cloaks stood in awe of the beings walking through the yard. Their icy white skin, their bony pale faces and their long white hair made their fiery red eyes and flaming swords stand out against the snow.
Melisandre led the way through the gates out of Castle Back into the Kingsroad. Stannis walked by her side together with Lady Catelyn, Sansa, Rickon and Osha, and behind them the rest of Stannis's army. The soldiers did not dare walk together with the whitewalkers. They feared them, but they understood that with the addition of these creatures their army had increased not only in numbers but in power, and their chances of winning the war had improved considerably.
"Jon, why can't you come back with us!" asked Sansa hugging her half-brother.
"I took a vow, Sansa" he explained. "I can't leave the Night Watch"
"Would you come if you could?" Catelyn asked him.
He looked at her and retorted "Would I be welcome?" to which Catelyn nodded. "I would need to get special permission from the Lord Commander"
"Something the King of the Seven Kingdoms can grant" she said. "There are some things I need to take care of in the South. Stannis has sent ravens to all the houses loyal to the Starks in the North. We are gathering outside Winterfell. He plans to take the Dreadfort and reclaim the North and then we're going to free the Riverlands. He thinks he will be able to amass a considerable army and then march on King's Landing. Once Stannis sits on the Iron Throne we will get your leave. It will take a while, but we can be together again. We can be a family."
"I would love that, Lady St.. Bar.." they laughed and she cut him.
"Don't even say it" she warned him with a timid smile.
"I would love that, Lady Catelyn" he finally said.
"I need you to do something for me, meanwhile. I need you to look for Bran. Osha said he went beyond the Wall with the Reed children. Can you find him for me? Please" she begged.
"I'll do my best."
"Thank you, Jon"
"Let's go" Catelyn told her children. "The King is waiting. We'll see Jon again soon, and hopefully Bran too".
Jon waived them good bye and saw them gradually melting into the snow making their way on the Kingsroad behind the gates and into the woods.
"Are we really going to King's Landing?" Sansa asked her mother. "Why can't we stay in Winterfell? I'm sure we can get the people back from the towns into the castle. We can have it repaired in no time"
"I made a promise, honey. I vowed that I would help Stannis get the throne and he helped me get you and Rickon back. We also need to free my brother. He's being held prisoner by the Freys. Don't you want to meet you uncle?"
"I just don't want to go to King's Landing." And after a long silence she continued "Are we taking these creatures to King's Landing"
"Apparently"
"They're going to kill everyone. Not everybody there is bad, Mother. King Tommen is a good boy. I don't want him to be killed. Margaery was very nice, too. She was my only friend. And Lord Tyrion was also very kind to me. He was the only one that actually took care of me and tried to help me. He's in jail now, but I know he didn't kill Joffrey. I don't want him to get hurt, either."
"I honestly don't know what Melisandre and Stannis intend to do."
A week later, Stannis found himself leading an army of Northern men out of Winterfell to the Dreadfort. Surely Lord Bolton would be awaiting them, there were hardly any secrets in the North. Sansa looked at Stannis and remembered her father. This man was nothing like her father. Men followed Ned blindly and would have proudly died for him, many of them actually had. She was not so sure these men felt the same way about Stannis. He was not of the North, and the men resented it. Yet, by marrying her mother, the Lady of Winterfell, he had in fact become Lord of Winterfell. Now he was on his way to claim the title of Warden of the North, her father's former title.
When the northern army surrounded the Dreadfort, Stannis addressed the people in the castle. He tried to convince them to surrender and they would be pardoned. When Lord Roose Bolton refused, Stannis ordered his army to storm the castle gates. Yet, before the men could reach the gates, Lady Melisandre stood in front of the portcullis and ordered the men to stop. Then she started chanting.
Soldiers on both sides of the castle walls could not believe their eyes. Creatures of the most unimaginable nightmares began creeping out of the woods. The army of whitewalkers took everybody by surprise. To the beat of Melisandre's chants, they walked by the stunned Northern army and into the Dreadfort. Arms at the ready, but standing still awaiting their next command, the Northern army had to cover their ears to drown the cries of panic and shrieks of agony coming from inside the castle. By the time they entered the Dreadfort there was not a living soul to ask for an explanation of what had taken place. But no explanation was needed. The carnage was evidence enough.
"King Stannis" said Melisandre "you are now Warden of the North."
TBC