A/N
Quick question. Am I putting in enough reactions from the characters? Because I feel like there isn't enough. Should I do more? Less? Or keep it how it is?
Now I planned on adding more characters when I was writing chapter 3, but I already had it mostly finished and didn't want to rewrite it. Those characters will be added once I release chapter 5. Chapters 1-4 will be rewritten slightly.
Due to the fact that I'm going to rewrite the first 4 chapters and that chapter 5 is going to be a lot longer don't expect the next update to happen anytime soon.
Also I'm going to have to start prepping for my exams in June. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but it will take a while.
No one really knew what to say after witnessing the massacre at Hardhome so they waited in silence for the screen to keep playing.
JON
Jon had been having strange dreams of being Ghost for years. Ever since he had gotten him in fact. The Wildlings or the freefolk as they liked to call themselves, called it warging or skinchanging.
"So you're a skinchanger?" Tormund asked. There was a glint in his eye. So that's why the direwolf, Ghost, was so unnerving. Not only was it an intelligent beast, but it also had a connection with Jon. Now Tormund wasn't a warg so he had no idea how any of that actually worked, but the animals the skinchangers warg into are a lot smarter than most.
"I guess." Jon shrugged. Maybe he was one of these wargs, whatever they were. That would explain his dreams of Ghost and his connection with the direwolf. But if that was the case then why did he feel the same connection with the dragon on screen as he did with Ghost?
"What is a warg or a skinchanger?" Edmure asked the question they all wanted the answer to.
"I think it's a northern legend about changing into animals or something." One of the Vale lords said. Truth be told the only ones who were aware of what wargs are were the northern lords. And there were only some that knew, most had simply forgotten or dismissed it as a myth.
"That's ridiculous. There is no way in the seven hells that this is true. How are any of you even believing this?" Cersei said with a scowl. These were just legends made up by those filthy barbarians in the north.
Arianne raised a brow with a blank expression. "And yet every single thing we had thought had gone extinct or was just a myth has come true." Cersei fumed in her seat. She would have that damn dornish slut killed.
"Great. More magic." Tywin grumbled to himself. The world was changing so much so fast and he had no idea how anything worked anymore. Even the bloody wildlings knew more than he did now.
They had the ability of entering the minds of animals and controlling them. Most were scared of the wargs and skinchangers but some thought it a blessing from the old gods. Jon would dream of hunting stags and other game at night and in the morning, he would see Ghost with a bloody muzzle. Then he knew it wasn't a dream. All the stories that old nan and the Free folk told him of people entering the skin of animals were real.
Most of the audience felt apprehensive of Jon now. And that direwolf was a lot more terrifying now. How would they even know if it was the wolf looking at them or if Jon was observing them through its eyes?
Howland, while slightly weirded out, thought this was great. If Jon could do this with his direwolf then it stood to reason he could do it with the dragons as well. It would certainly make the people much more accepting of dragons returning if the new king had such control over them.
Catelyn knew bastards were horrible, especially her husband's bastard. But this? He wasn't just a bastard, he was a monster. She was sure the bastard would use that wolf of his or some other animal to kill her children. It would have been a nice coincidence that all the Starks were killed by some wild animal and only the bastard survived. And now that fool Robert wanted to legitimize him?! Was he really that blind? How could no one else see that Jon would use this to take over Winterfell?
Ned had no idea what to think anymore. Not only was Jon the true King, he now had a valyrian steel sword, but he also had or would have dragons, he had killed an Other and on top of all of that he was a warg? One of the things old nan had been telling his children stories about. The world truly was going mad now.
The Stark children were jealous of their half-brother. They wanted to be able to have that connection with their wolves too. Or maybe they did and simply didn't know it yet.
All his life he had been a curious lad. He had loved to read and tried to read all the books in the great library at Winterfell before it had been burned to the ground after he had left for the wall. Jon had succeeded and thanks to his incredible memory he could remember all he had read. So to no surprise to himself he had to try out the connection he had with his direwolf.
"Oh, come on." Everyone looked toward Tyrion who had an annoyed and dismayed look on his face. "Why did the second biggest library in all of Westeros have to be burned down? Who does that?"
"What's it to ya?" The sellsword keeping the imp company asked. From the short time Bronn had to get to know the imp of Casterly Rock, he figured out he liked reading books, especially the ones about dragons.
"Winterfell's library has some very unique books about the Valyrians and their dragons that cannot be found anywhere else in Westeros. Those books are the only reason I was even going north before we all got here." Tyrion shook his head with a sigh. Well, at least he could still piss off of the Wall so the trip wasn't a complete waste of time.
"Jon could tell you about them, my lord." Sansa spoke up. "He read all of those books already and he remembers them all." Her half-brother was very good at remembering the things he learned. Sansa didn't hate Jon, he was always kind to her. She could see her mother frown at her for complimenting Jon. She didn't pay it any attention though, to her knowledge her mother had always hated him without any good reason. She should be directing everything at her husband, not Jon. He had no choice in any of this.
"I might have to take you up on that offer then. Perhaps once we get a break from this watching the future thing?" Jon nodded, accepting the half-man's request.
It had been hard going at first but when he had gone undercover beyond the Wall he had gotten better and better at controlling this strange gift.
But not long after he had started on the Great ranging, he had started getting other dreams. Even stranger than his wolf dreams.
"What could possibly be stranger than that?" Jaime asked before the answer showed up on the screen.
He didn't know what they were at first but soon he realized that he was dreaming he was a dragon.
For certain people, something just clicked once they heard that sentence. It would certainly explain a lot of things, but there was just no way, right? Jon seemed like a good lad, not to mention all the things they just learned about him. They would keep their mouths shut to make sure Robert wouldn't figure it out until they found a way to guarantee Jon's safety. For some reason, everyone seemed to forget about the invisible wall separating Jon from everyone else.
"Is his mother perhaps a Targaryen, Lord Stark?" Prince Oberyn asked cheekily. What he was really trying to do was distract Robert and those still loyal to him from figuring out Jon's father. As long as they believed Eddard Stark was the father then the only Targaryen woman who could have given birth at the time was queen Rhaella. And even the Usurper knew that wouldn't be possible.
"The only Targaryen woman who could have given birth at the time was Rhaella Targaryen and she was busy giving birth to Daenerys Targaryen." Tyrion said having caught on to what the Red Viper was doing. Tyrion had to protect his source of information about the books in Winterfell. And gaining some favors with the future king couldn't hurt either. Tyrion was sure Jon Snow was actually Jon Targaryen. He had to be. There was a Targaryen in the north and Jon could apparently warg into a dragon, that couldn't be a coincidence. And the honorable Ned Stark fathering a bastard? Not to mention the Targaryen themed chairs around Jon. Tyrion may hate a good portion of his family, but they were still his family. So while he held no love for his father or Cersei, he hoped Jaime would come to his senses and not get himself killed by siding against Jon.
"The imp speaks the truth. His mother couldn't have been a Targaryen." Robert said. Even if there had been any other Targaryen women at the time he would not believe that Ned would have had a son with any of them. Not after what the damn dragonspawn had done to Lyanna. The lad probably just had some Targaryen ancestry. Hell, Robert's own grandmother was a Targaryen. If a little Targaryen blood didn't turn him mad then Jon would be fine as well.
"There are no mentions of Targaryen's or any dragonriders having this warg ability. And I have read almost every single book about the dragonriders of Old Valyria and the Targaryens. This is simply a coincidence." Tyrion added. This was actually true, there are no records of any dragonriders having this ability.
"We also heard the dragon's thoughts and it never mentioned anything about warging or having some sort of connection." Varys said. He had to admit, Ned Stark had even him fooled. Now he just had to figure out what to do with the 2 or 3 other Targaryens, depending if Aegon was actually still alive.
Jon was disappointed. He had hoped this conversation would at least give him a hint about who his mother was, but Lord Stark was silently staring at the screen. He did send curious glances in Prince Oberyn's and Lord Tyrion's direction though, but Jon had no idea what that was about.
He had been sure for a long time that he was finally losing his mind.
Then he had heard that Daenerys Targaryen, the last Targaryen, had hatched three dragon eggs and birthed dragons back into the world. That had been when Jon realized that he was warging into one of them.
Those in the know were really starting to get nervous now. Robert may keep fooling himself and believe that Lyanna was kidnapped and that Jon was Ned's son, but even he would eventually figure it out and accept it. That will not be a pretty day. Now while that was not something they were looking forward to, Robert wasn't that big of a threat. The real threat was the old lion Tywin. Getting him on their side was not an option. As much as the old man hates Robert he would do anything to keep his daughter as the queen.
Jaime stared at the bastard of Winterfell in a new light. Could he actually be a Targaryen? But that made no sense. Unless… he was Rhaegar's son. Jaime's eyes widened. Of course! Lyanna Stark disappears with Rhaegar and is not seen for about a year, and Ned Stark goes to rescue her and comes back with a bastard child. The only thing that did not make sense was Ned coming back with a bastard unless the child was not actually his, but rather Rhaegar's and Lyanna's. It made perfect sense!
He shared a look with Barristan who seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Jaime. They discreetly nodded at each other. Was this breaking their oath? Yes. Would their honor be stained? Absolutely, but Jaime lived long enough to learn that honor was useless and only helped to get you and others killed. He learned that when he had to decide if he would let thousands of innocents die by keeping his oath or save them by killing a madman and breaking that oath. Jaime thought what he did was more honorable than what Selmy would have done at that moment. Barristan would have most likely stood aside and let them all die. All because of some damn honor. And did they really have a choice? Their only chance to beat the Others was those dragons and Robert would never agree to fight alongside a Targaryen, even if the end of the world was at stake. That was probably the only reason Selmy was going along with this.
Jaime would not fuck up this time. Not even if it cost him Cersei. For some weird reason, he felt odd about his sister ever since they came to this place. It definitely wasn't because the author was trying to speed up the process of turning Jaime to the good side and away from Cersei, no definitely not.
Jon had learned the name of the dragon he was warging into, his name was Rhaegal, Daenerys had named him after her brother Rhaegar who had sparked Robert´s rebellion by taking Lyanna Stark and died at the Green Fork.
Most people made a face at that. The war didn't start because of Lyanna and Rhaegar. No one would have gone to war because of a woman. It started when the Warden of the North and his oldest son were killed and most lords simply wanted to get rid of the Mad King anyway. But having a noble reason to start bloodshed was always a good excuse so they went with the kidnapping being the reason for starting the war.
The people who knew about Jon found that very interesting. The son of Rhaegar was warging into the dragon named after Rhaegar by Jon's aunt, therefore Rhaegar's sister, Daenerys. Wasn't life just full of funny little coincides?
When Jon had realized he was warging into the dragon, he had gone to maester Aemon and tried to ask him questions about dragons and the Dragonlords of old Valyria without giving anything away. He did not want the old maester to think Jon was losing his mind.
Regrettably maester Aemon didn't know anything about the subject of dragons and their riders that Jon hadn't read in the library of Winterfell.
Though after Jon and Aemon had spent a lot of time talking about dragons and related topics, they had formed a close bond. Jon had come to look at the old Targaryen maester as an uncle.
If only you knew, Ned thought to himself. Maester Aemon was actually Jon's great-great uncle. Even though Jon had no idea they were really related it seemed some things were just meant to be.
So, when he returned from Hardhome after rescuing the last of the Free folk he had been devastated to learn that the maester had died of old age.
Jon felt some grief. He may not know maester Aemon yet, but his future self obviously cared a lot for the old Targaryen maester. Jon had to wonder what Aemon had felt when his family was killed in the Rebellion.
His best friend and sworn brother Sam Tarly had dragged Jon with him to go though the maester's things.
Sam was shocked. The son of a high Lord actually didn't despise him for being fat and craven? Maybe it had something to do with being a bastard. Bastards weren't well-liked by most either. He was also a little bit sad. Not surprised, but sad. His father did end up sending him to the wall. Well, at least it wouldn't be that bad, not if he had Jon on his side.
"Ah, fuck it." He muttered under his breath before marching over to Jon's side of the room. If the southern lords would never accept him for being fat and a coward who would rather read books than fight then maybe he should just go to the people who would. And right now that was Jon. It was blatantly obvious this future was about Jon so maybe Sam could help him and achieve something meaningful in his life.
Everyone stared at Sam once they saw him get up and walk over to Jon. Sam was expecting to hit the invisible wall, as was everyone else, but he never did. Before he knew it he was in front of one of the chairs that were next to Jon. "May I?" He asked, a bit of uncertainty returning to him.
Jon and Tormund shared a look. "I don't see why not." Jon said. Ghost didn't even bat an eye at Sam and whoever Ghost trusted, Jon trusted as well. Sam did not strike Jon as someone who would ever pick up a sword, but he was smart. He proved that when he revealed just how big the army of the dead might be. He would be very helpful as a maester and maesters were always needed.
"If King Crow and his beast trust you, I'll trust ya too lad. Now sit down, I want to keep watching." Tormund said and turned his attention back to the screen. The lad was smart as far as Tormund could tell. Not much of a fighter, no definitely not, but smart people were important too. He also remembered the mysterious voice telling them the invisible wall would disappear for certain people. Tormund may be of the FreeFolk, but he wasn't an idiot. That wall would not open for an enemy.
And that was where Jon was now, sitting on the floor of maester Aemon´s quarters and looking through his things and trying to sort though everything.
"We have been at this for hours Sam. Perhaps it is time to take a break and get some dinner and go to sleep." He had not had any rest since he had come from Hardhome. Sam had whisked him straight away to the maester´s chambers.
Jon and Tormund and even Ghost turned to stare at their new ally. "I think you should let King Crow get some rest after that battle lad." Tormund told the new member of their small group.
Sam fidgeted nervously. "Well, don't look at me! I haven't done this yet, future me has!" They nodded, yeah that made sense. They shouldn't blame Sam for his future actions.
"We are almost done, just look in the chest under the bed and then go and get some rest."
"I thought I was the Lord Commander." Jon responded with a tired grin but did as Sam asked.
This time Sam rolled his eyes. It was actually nice to have a friend for once.
Jon stood up and walked to the bed and got on his knees and looked under the bed. There in the far corner was a long chest. It took him sometime to actually reach the chest even though he was tall and long limbed. The chest was heavy, but he managed to drag it from under the bed.
"How did you know of this chest Sam?" Jon´s eyebrows were drawn together in a frown.
"hummm… oh uh well maester Aemon told me to give this chest to you when he died. He said that you would most likely be in need of them." Sam answers with a shrug.
"'In need of them'? What does that even mean?" Brynden said aloud what they were all thinking. Just what could the old maester have given to Jon Snow. Maybe something to fight the Others?
"I doubt whatever some old maester will give him has any importance." One of the followers of R'hllor said to the other followers. They didn't agree. For some strange reason this seemed very important. When they saw Jon and the Night King facing each other it felt like destiny. As if it was meant to be. There was something strange about Jon Snow that they just couldn't figure out.
Those who knew about Jon were thinking that maybe, just maybe Aemon Targaryen found out about Jon's true parents. How he would have done that they had no idea. What he would give to Jon they also had no idea. But for some reason, they all had a weird sense of dread.
Jon stared at Sam with a frown painted on this face. What could maester Aemon possibly wanted to give him.
He opened the chest slowly and peaked inside. He sat on his knees and stared, this could not be possible. How could Aemon have hid this here at the wall for so long and no one was the wiser.
"What is it? What did maester Aemon leave you?" Sam asked after a little while. When Jon did not answer Sam stood up and looked in the chest. He stood there silent beside Jon for some time opening and closing his mouth like a landed fish for a good five minutes.
"Well, whatever is in there must be crazy for the lads to look like that." Bronn was… hesitant. Jon had seen, fought, and killed dead men and a fucking Other. What could possibly shock someone after all of that?
Jon wondered what the old maester could have given him. Aemon said he would be in need of them. But what or who was 'them'? Jon could not imagine that anything the maester gave him would help him against the army of the dead.
"Where did maester Aemon get four dragon eggs and a Valyrian steel sword?" Sam finally managed to croak out. "And not just any Valyrian steel sword either, that is Darksister if I am not horribly mistaken."
"Not important you say?" A follower of the lord of light asked the other.
"Well, fuck what I said!" The followers of R'hllor were now sure that Jon Snow was actually a Targaryen. Given his encounter with the Others, the followers of the lord of light were now convinced Jon Targaryen was the prince that was promised. Well, except for Melisandre, but she would soon see the truth.
Not a single person did not stare at the screen in shock. Jon Snow, the bastard of Winterfell, just received four dragon eggs and Darksister. How the fuck did anyone even begin to make sense of that?
"Of course! Of course, he gets dragon eggs! How could this possibly get any more ridiculous?" Tywin said in exasperation. Jon Snow had Targaryen ancestry, now that Tywin was sure of. There was no other way to explain this, it couldn't be a simple coincidence, not anymore. He wondered if that fool Robert would realize it.
Jaime and Barristan shared another look. Yeah, Jon was definitely a Targaryen.
"SEVEN HELLS! This is great!" Robert's shout made everyone stare at him now. "Now we won't need the help of the northern dragonspawn! The lad can just use his dragons to kill the Others!" Again Robert remembered that his grandmother was also a Targaryen. So while Jon's mother had Targaryen blood, and therefore Jon did as well, the lad had turned out to be a good man.
Those who knew about Jon just facepalmed. They didn't even try to hide it, there was no point. This guy was completely oblivious to what was going on around him. That's probably why the Lannisters were able to get so much influence.
Again Jaime and Barristan stared at each other. Jaime mouthed 'How in the f-'. Barristan just shrugged, he had no idea how Robert could be this oblivious. Or maybe he wasn't oblivious and it was simply denial. Denial that Eddard Stark could have betrayed him. Who knew what went on in that brain of his?
Jon's eyes were as wide as dinner plates and Sam looked to be having a heart attack. Okay, if Jon could hatch the eggs then they would be a massive help against the dead. But there haven't been any dragons in decades, except for the ones Daenerys hatched. How was Jon even supposed to hatch them? Could he even do that?
Ned and Howland honestly wanted to laugh. Not only would Jon soon get two grown dragons, but he would also get four more dragon eggs and one of the ancestral swords of House Targaryen. Maester Aemon definitely knew who Jon was, he had to.
"Brynden "the Bloodraven" Rivers came with maester Aemon to the Wall, and he had Darksister at the time. He must have left it here with maester Aemon when he left beyond the Wall."
"Yes of course, and this is the Butterwell egg. Brynden Rivers must have taken it with him and left it with maester Aemon." Sam picked up the egg that was red with golden flecks and black whorls. "They are very pretty, but I wonder why he would give them to you."
"Maybe maester Ameon knew about the Others?" Podrick guessed. "Dragons would help to defeat them."
"Yes, but how do you know he's going to hatch those eggs? As far as we know only Targaryens can do that and even then all the Tragaryens who tried it in the last 150 years failed, with the exception of Daenerys of course." Tyrion said. By now it was only a matter of time till they found out who Jon really was. Though Tyrion was curious if Jon could actually hatch dragons.
"Ever since I got back to Castle Black he and I have been talking about dragons and everything related to them." Jon wondered if he could tell Sam about his dreams. They sounded crazy even to him, how could he expect anyone else to believe that he, Jon Snow the bastard of Winterfell to be warging into the dragon that Daenerys Targaryen had hatched on another continent.
"And because of that he decided to give you four dragon eggs and his family´s ancestral sword?" Of course Sam saw through that awful excuse. "I´m not stupid Jon." Sam was getting irate.
Olenna chuckled. Looks like Sam eventually grew a backbone. Maybe once they got back he wouldn't be forced to take the black. He could overthrow his father. Gods know Olenna did not have the patience to deal with Randyll.
"I know you are not stupid Sam, I´m sorry. I don't know why he gave them to me, to be honest." Jon bit his lip and knew he had to tell Sam the secret that had been gnawing at him for years now. "What I am about to tell you… You can't tell anyone, do you understand?"
Sam nodded. He looked like Jon was about to confess to a murder. "I have been having these dreams… well not dreams exactly… it is hard to explain."
Jon walked to the bed and sat down. "You should sit down Sam. This is going to sound crazy."
"I don't think you being a warg would sound crazier than getting dragon eggs and Darksister." Sam said. Yes, the whole looking through an animal's eyes was crazy, but the whole eggs and Darksister thing was just downright insane.
"I hope your future self thinks the same." Jon really hoped so. Sam and he were apparently best friends in the future. That wasn't exactly something he wanted to give up.
"More crazy than an old man giving you four dragon eggs and his ancestral sword instead of sending them to his only living kin?"
"Yes…"
"Alright…"
"You know of warging right… the thing that some of the Freefolk can do. You know control animals and seeing with their eyes?" Sam nodded looking skeptical and a little bit worried.
Some shuddered. It was still weird to think that whenever that direwolf was watching them, it could actually be Jon who was watching them. As if reading their thoughts the direwolf turned towards them. They all hastily turned back to the screen and tried to ignore those piercing red eyes.
"Well I can do that too, I have been doing that with Ghost since I got him and that is how I can control him like I do." Sam nodded again and seemed to realize something.
"Is that how all the raven and horses are so calm when you are near? They know you are a… warg?" Now it was Jon´s turn to look puzzled. The ravens and the horses were calm in his presence? How come he never noticed that?
"Well, that's... nice. Not as useful as taking control of the direwolf or that dragon, but still good." Gendry said mostly to himself. Then again there aren't many things that are better than controlling an actual fucking dragon.
"I don't know, maybe but I have never noticed that other animals besides Ghost being calm in my presence." Jon shook his head and refocused. "But that is not the point. Ever since we left on the ranging beyond the Wall I have been having different warging dreams than the dreams with Ghost, I am someone or something else." Sam said nothing and waited for Jon to continue explaining.
"I think I am warging into one of Daenerys Targaryen´s dragons." Jon couldn't meet Sam´s eyes. He didn't want to see the horror in his eyes when he realized that Jon had lost his mind.
"I mean, yeah. It really does sound like you lost your mind lad." One of the northern lords said. Everyone else had to agree. What Jon was saying sounded like a madman's tale.
"I can not blame you for that, my lord. I wouldn't have believed myself either." Jon replied. No one in their right mind would believe something this absurd.
After a few minutes of silence Jon gathered the courage to look his friend in the eye. Sam was once again doing a remarkable impression of a fish. Maybe he should not have sprung the news on him.
"I think you broke him King Crow." Tormund said with a laugh.
"I know it´s sounds crazy and you don't believe me but I swear to you I am not lying or making this up." And still the silence stretched on. Jon was realized that he had made a huge mistake, and now because of his desire to confide in someone about him warg into the dragon, he was losing a friend.
Jon stood up abruptly. "Nevermind Sam, forget I said anything." He tried to walk out the door, but Sam stopped him.
"I believe you Jon." Jon turned slow towards Sam with disbelieve written all over his face. "I mean you are right, it sounds completely mental, but you have never been exactly normal." He said with a nervous laugh.
Jon gave Sam a confused and slightly hurt look. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, I don't know. A direwolf, dragons, Darksister, warging. You can fight really well, but you're also very smart." He was about to keep going, but Jon stopped him.
"Alright, alright, you made your point." Jon had to admit Sam was right. Most of the thing that happened to him were not normal.
"And if anyone is going to warg into a dragon on the other side of the world, it is you" Jon just stared at his friend. "And to be honest it kind of explains why you always know all the news of Daenerys Targaryen before the rest of us and in such a great detail. And I have never known you to lie about anything."
Honesty was a good thing, but if Jon was to be king he would have to learn how to lie. Then again maybe he could lie and simply never lied to his friends, like Sam for example. Or maybe he lied so well that not even his closest friend noticed. Tyrion would have to see more of the future to judge how good of a liar Jon could be.
Jon had never been more grateful for having Sam as a friend than in that moment. He could feel tears start to build up in his eyes, he refused to let them fall and willed them away. "Thank you, Sam." He could hardly speak because of the lump in his throat.
Sam was touched. He could hardly remember the last time someone was glad to know him. Maybe going to the wall wasn't the worst thing to happen to him.
Sam put the Butterwell back into the chest and closed it. "Here you should take the chest and get some rest." Sam could barely lift the chest so Jon walked towards him and took the chest from his arms. It was heavy but he could manage it well enough. Jon turned to leave the chamber, but Sam stopped him again.
"Jon, you know I will always believe you, no matter what. You could tell me that you are a grumpkin in a disguise and I would not doubt it for a second." Sam said with his impish smile. "Now that I think about it, you being a grumpkin makes a lot of sense."
"Hmm, are you a grumpkin?" Sam said with that same damn smile as his onscreen self.
"No? Yes? Maybe? I don't- How am I meant to know? Look at everything we have seen, I know nothing anymore." Jon said. What did he know anymore? What did any one of them know? This was the future and that was something no one could know.
Jon couldn't help but to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He bid Sam goodnight and left for his own chambers to sleep for what felt for the first time in years with a lighter heart than before.
The Stark children smiled at that. It was good to know Jon would have friends once he left for the Wall.
A few days later, Jon was sitting at his desk in the solar of the Lord Commander. Sam had already left for the citadel with Gilly and little Sam, and Jon was taking a break from planning what to do with the abandoned castles of the Wall.
Jon and Tormund turned to Sam with large grins. "Little Sam, eh?" Tormund said with a laugh while Jon elbowed Sam in the ribs. Now Jon wasn't happy that Sam broke the Watch's vows, but he felt there was more to the story of this Gilly and little Sam. Not to mention the Sam who was with them wasn't actually a part of the watch yet.
"I-I'm sure t-that's not what that means." Sam said with a nervous chuckle.
Jon gave him a curious look. "What makes you say that?"
"I mean look at me." Sam pointed at himself. "I can't fight, I would rather read books, I'm fat and I'm a coward. What girl would want this?" He said with a dejected and ashamed look on his face.
"You'll never get one with that attitude." Tormund was sure that most if not all of the crows broke their vows. There was no way any of them would swear an oath that stopped them from fucking. No sane person would do that.
"I read a lot of books too you know?" Jon understood where Sam was coming from, but if Sam went to the wall then he surely learned how to fight at least a little bit. And the Wall was no place for cowards as far as Jon was aware.
"And that's where our similarities end." Sam deadpanned.
Jon sighed. "Well, if this future is anything to go by then it's clear this Gilly doesn't care about any of the things you mentioned." Sam was going to keep arguing, but the more he thought about it he realized Jon was right. This Gilly either didn't care about the things Sam mentioned or he changed in the future.
Benjen wasn't that bothered by Sam breaking his vows. Most of the Watch broke them at some point in their lives at the Wall.
Like most nights after he and Sam had found the dragon eggs and Darksister, he was starring at the eggs that lay in the chest. He had placed the chest by the fire so he could look at them in the evening. Jon could not explain why he had the overwhelming need to stare at the eggs for hours at a time. It was like they were calling to him, demanding his time and attention.
"Your friend was right King Crow. You are not normal."
Jon just gave Tormund a blank expression.
The eggs had turned to stone, but they glittered like jewels in the light of the fire. The egg that he and Sam guessed was the Butterwell egg, shone red with golden flecks with black whorls. That egg had been made famous for being the prize in a tourney many years ago when Aegon the fifth had been a child and a squire for Ser Duncan the Tall.
Maester Aemon had told him that he himself had been given the beautiful blue egg that was adorned with whorls of bronze. That egg had been laid in his cradle but obviously had never hatched. But maester Aemon had never shown Jon the egg, it was however unmistakably his.
The other eggs were not so easily identifiable. But he was sure that the egg that was silver colored with steaks of gold was the egg of Elaena Targaryen. One of Baelor the blessed´s sisters. Her egg had been famous for matching her silver hair that had been streaked with gold.
The last egg was pale green with swirls of silver that looked like molten rivers running all over the fossilized egg. There were a few candidates that came to mind but he couldn't be sure.
He didn't know how long he had been staring at the eggs, when the doors of his solar burst open with a bang, effectively pulling Jon out of his trance.
Olly stood in the doorway, panting and sweating. "What is it Olly?"
"Who do you think that is?" Ned asked his brother. This Olly was very young to be joining the watch. He definitely didn't end up there voluntarily.
"A steward perhaps?" Benjen suggested. If Jon was the lord commander then he would have to get a steward eventually.
"You have to come outside Lord Commander, there is a ranger that came from beyond the Wall. He says he has news of your uncle Benjen!" Jon stood abruptly from his chair and raced down the stairs with Olly on his heels. In the courtyard some of the sworn brothers had gathered in a circle, effectively blocking someone from view.
Benjen grinned. So he was still alive in the future then. He had wondered why he wasn't at Hardhome with Jon. He was the first ranger, he should have been there. Unless he went on a ranging that took longer than expected.
"Over here Lord Commander!" One of his brothers called.
Jon pushed through the wall of men only to find no ranger returning from beyond the Wall but a sign.
The smile from Benjen's face vanished. "Why would they lie about me just to show you something?" He had completely forgotten that he was most likely dead in the future. Or at least missing.
A cold chill ran down his spine, and for a moment he could not comprehend the situation.
TRAITOR
That was the only thing that was written on the sign, and it was written in blood red paint.
It was so quiet in the room you could hear a pin drop. 'Traitor?' Ned's eyes widened. "The wildlings." He said quietly, but everyone else still heard him. They all came to the same conclusion as lord Stark. The Night's Watch had branded Jon Snow as a traitor for letting the wildlings through the Wall. Normally they would have done the same, but after witnessing the Others they changed their minds.
Everyone except for a select few people felt their stomachs drop. "Oh, fuck…" Bronn breathed out. The one thing every single person in the room agreed on was that this wouldn't end well for Jon.
Jon felt shivers go down his spine. Four years into the future he was going to be branded as a traitor for saving thousands of lives. It wasn't right. Were the brothers of the Watch so stuck in their ways that they would kill him? Couldn't they see that the Others were the real threat?
Tormund felt guilty. It wasn't something he was used to feeling. The King Crow had been declared a traitor and would most likely be killed for saving him and the rest of the Free Folk.
Then there was pain in his back. Jon turned around and stared wide eyed at the men surrounding him. Ser Alister Thorne, Bowen Marsh, Wick Wittlestick and Olly. They were the men closest to him. Jon could barely breathe from the pain in his back and he looked down and saw that Ser Alister was holding a bloody knife in his hand. He had stabbed him in the back.
Jon felt a jolt of pain and watched in horror as his future self got stabbed in the back. It was almost as if he could actually feel the pain his future self was experiencing. For some reason, everything around him seemed to go blurry and the only thing he could see clearly was the screen. He could see the outline of someone on his right telling him something, but he couldn't hear, all he heard was a strange ringing sound. Also, why was it so hard to breathe all of a sudden?
"King Crow?" Tormund shot Jon a worried look. He couldn't believe what was happening on screen. Tormund could not even begin to imagine what Jon must have been thinking, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. What worried him, even more, was that Jon wasn't responding to anything he was saying.
Sam stared at the screen in horror. His friend was being murdered in cold blood. And by his brothers from the Watch! They were killing their Lord Commander, this was treason! He glanced at Jon and saw him staring wide-eyed at the screen. If Sam couldn't believe what just happened then what was Jon going through? Not only was he watching his future death, but he didn't even die fighting the Others or a different enemy. He was stabbed in the back.
The Stark children all froze. Tears filled their eyes as they shouted out Jon's name in panic. Their mother was trying to calm them down, but it was of no use. Their brother was being murdered and all they wanted to do was run over to the Jon who was in the audience with them. But alas they couldn't, because of that damn invisible wall separating them. All they could do for now was cry as their mother held them. They saw their father run over to the wall separating Jon from the rest of the people.
Now Catelyn did not and would never care about the bastard, but seeing her children so distraught made her feel just a little guilty. She wanted him gone but she didn't want her children to have to watch as he died. She wasn't that cruel.
Benjen felt sick. Jon's brothers, no, they weren't Jon's brothers yet. Benjen's brothers had betrayed their Lord Commander and stabbed him in the back. "I'm going to kill every single one of those fuckers." Rage was slowly overtaking him and he went to join his real brother in his attempt to take down the wall separating them and Jon.
Howland could not believe it. His dear friend's son and the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms was being killed right in front of his eyes. Jon had survived fighting dead men, a White Walker, and who knows how many other things, only to die at the hands of his sworn brothers. He wanted to go and help the Stark brothers tear down that wall in his anger, but he knew he couldn't. It would draw unnecessary attention and it could make the wrong people suspicious.
Again Ser Alister thrust his knife in Jon, but this time it was in the belly. Jon staggered but did not fall.
Again he felt the pain where the knife was thrust. He could hear people shouting all around him, but all he could do was stare at the screen. And he still couldn't breathe for some reason. It was at this point he could feel someone lightly shaking his shoulder.
"Gods dammit! Let me through this fucking wall!" Ned shouted as he pounded on the invisible barrier. The person who brought them here stayed silent. His future self should have never let Jon take the back. He failed Lyanna and now the only thing he had left of her was gone. Betrayed by those who were meant to be most loyal to him. He could see Jon struggling to breathe and started hitting the wall faster. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Benjen join him in trying to take down the wall.
Another knife pierced him, this time it was Bowen Marsh who had stabbed him. Bowen was crying and muttered "For the Watch."
More pain flared up in his belly. He still couldn't fucking breathe. The person shaking his shoulder seemed to be getting more desperate to snap Jon out of whatever was happening to him.
"King Crow! Breathe Jon!" Tormund shouted to no avail. He would have asked Sam for help, but he was too nervous and jumpy right now. Out of nowhere the direwolf pushed him back slightly and laid down on his master's legs. Not knowing what else to do Tormund let Ghost try to get the King Crow out of whatever was happening to him.
"Why?" was all Jon could manage to get out of his mouth that wasn't blood.
"Why indeed." Tyrion reached for the wine under his seat once more, as did a lot of others. What was probably their only chance at defeating or at least holding back the White Walker threat was gone. He was tempted to laugh at the insanity of it all. They get to watch the future to learn of the Others and how to defeat them, only to be forced to watch as their only solution gets killed. Now, what would those two dragons do? Probably burn down the wall and kill everyone at Castle Black once they found out what happened to Jon. Looking over at the bastard he could see him struggling to breathe. He couldn't really blame him. Robert had found out he would die in the next few years, but he wasn't forced to watch his death. Not to mention Robert most likely just died in his sleep or something similar while Jon was betrayed.
"For the Watch" and a knife in the chest was the only replay he got as he fell to his knees in agony. His chest, belly and back were all on fire. It felt like someone had doused him in wildfire and the pain was unbearable.
Jon leaned forward as he wheezed for air. Why wasn't he able to breathe?! And why was there so much shouting? The shacking suddenly stopped and was replaced by something furry laying down on his knees. As if by instinct he grabbed onto whatever the furry thing on his knees was.
Sam could see that Jon's grip on Ghost was pretty hard. The direwolf didn't seem to mind though. Whatever pain he felt must have been overshadowed by the concern he felt for his master.
Then all he felt was cold and numb, he looked up at his murderers sluggishly. "Ghost…" Then Olly stepped forward and thrust a dagger right into his heart and the cold overtook him and everything turned black.
As soon as he heard his future self say the name of his faithful companion his vision cleared up and the ringing sound was fading out of existence. He saw that the furry thing on his knees was Ghost. He released a shuddering breath and loosened his grip on Ghost. The direwolf was staring at him with an expression of concern and… understanding?
The followers of R'hllor were stunned. Had they been wrong about Jon? No, they couldn't have been. That's the reason why they were seeing this. It's so they could stop the promised prince from dying at the hands of the Night's Watch.
The Starks rushed over to huddle around Jon. Ned and Benjen included. Rickon was trying to reach for Jon. Catelyn sighed and went over to the bastard. She supposed she could be a bit more… civil to the bastard. He did just watch himself get murdered after all.
"All right, everyone who's not a Stark, get out of here. You'll each find your room once you go through that door. We shall continue this tomorrow." The voice of whoever brought them here said as a door appeared on one of the walls completely out of nowhere.
Everyone left the room as Jon, the Starks, and their Direwolves stayed behind to try and comprehend what they had just witnessed.