Warning: I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire, nor this Story.
This story deserves to be available for readers to read. This Story was removed, it deserved to be available, Original Author is Blackwolf2019 as i don't own this story or its work.
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Chapter 42: An Execution in the Cold
Sorry I am late. On a master's degree now so very busy. That and dany's pov took work. Hope you all enjoy and feel free tae comment as always.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Sansa
Sansa felt Rickon place his hand to her shoulder as she looked at what was her brother Bran and now a dead eyed being known as the Three Eyed Crow at this Weirwood beyond the Wall. Jon and Rickon had told her upon their reunion of what had happened to Bran. Of how he had given himself to the Crow in order for the First Men to have a chance to make a pact with the Others.Of how it killed Bran so the Crow could have his body.Sansa thought sadly to herself as she looked at what was once her brother by the Weirwood; guarded by the Dead Man known as Cold Hands.
"I almost killed the Crow when Jon had brought me here to see what had truly happened to Bran when I was old enough." Rickon said quietly with a growl as he looked at the Crow.
Sansa felt her brother's pain in the words.
"And you killed more squids and bandits than any man could count after." Whoresbane, Great Jon and Ned Umber said in almost unison.
Sansa knew that story. Old Nan had told her of how Jon and Rickon had spent a month after their visit to the Crow on the Western Shore, killing as many squids that they could dare find. It was where Rickon started to earn his name as the Hungry Wolf come again until it was cemented permanently with the end of the Iron Islands.
"He didn't deserve that fate." Sansa responded.
It was Meera Reed, the Lady of Greywater Watch, that replied to her in the circle around the Godswood. "He didn't Princess Sansa. But he did something few would be willing to do. He died a Stark."
Her words were solemn and mournful.
"The North will never forget Bran Stark my Princess." Lord Flint said in the circle of Northmen.
She could hear a few of them murmuring"The North Remembers Bran Stark"with respect.
"His legacy lives on in every first man and woman that lives today in Spring my Princess." Alsyane Mormont added.
"Like yours will as the she-wolf that brought the knights of the Vale to heel." Toregg stated firmly.
Sansa had never felt more relieved to be home with her people even as they were waiting to witness an execution. Her people had welcomed her home much kindlier than Sansa could have expected and she had been offered time to dwell in all of their keeps and lands of every Northern house both old and new so the Princess that had been stuck in the South could enjoy her homeland. It was an offer that Sansa was more than happy to accept.But let me enjoy my pack at Winterfell first.Sansa had responded to them all as she turned her gaze from Bran to the pack of Starks with her. All of their Direwolves present and surrounding the pack; Nymeria and Shaggy at the front.And my young pup will join them when she is old enough.Sansa thought proudly at the gift her nephews and nieces had presented upon her return.
All but the youngest Starks were present with Jon's youngest Robb and Rickon's children left at be the Starks of Winterfell.
Even Uncle Benjen was here, watching over the main prisoners in the circle.
Val was at the front of the pack and staring at the dragons chained and tied to stones beside the Weirwood. To her left was Rickon's wife Lyanna and young Lyarra and Eddard at her right.Lyarra Stark a mix of them both and young Eddard just like his namesake barring the blue-grey eyes.Just to the side of Lyanna were Rickard and Brandon Stark. Jon and Val's eldest children. Rickard was Jon's son to the letter with the same dark brown hair and grey eyes and Brandon taking his mother's colouring in full. Between the two brothers was Jon's mother, Ashara Dayne. She could hear the two whispering words of comfort to their Grandmother in preparation for what was to come. She could hear them whispering words on how to proceed when it happened.
"Don't look away. Father will know if you do."
Bran had told her those words after witnessing his first execution. Jon had said them to him to help him keep his nerve.
"These Southerners clearly didn't have a cold winter if they're still shaking in their boots." Old Nan spat as Osha kept her upright.
Sansa smiled at the Old woman that she had long thought dead before turning her gaze to the Southern Lords that no longer controlled the North or herself. The shivering Lords all waited impatiently for Jon to arrive. All but the Queen Shireen who stood more like a Northerner in the cold; having left her sons and Davos Seaworth the hand of the Queen to govern in her stead so she could witness this.
To witness the end of one dynasty. And for hers to begin.
And a new reign it was. The Northmen's vengeance had created a new realm South of the Neck. Something that nobody could deny. The Riverlands had risen to a true Kingdom under control of House Tully. House Royce returned as Lords of the Vale. The Stormlands once again under a Baratheon. House Martell and Dorne with a new Prince that was influenced by Jon's cousin Edric Dayne and House Yronwood. The Westerlands now under House Marbrand and the Reach under House Tarly. All of under the command of Shireen of the House Baratheon. The Storm Queen that was likely to do what Aegon the unlikely could not and have the entirety of the realm South of the Neck bound to the crown in blood by marriages with Stannis betrothed to Edmure's youngest daughter Catelyn and Davos to be betrothed to Manfrey's granddaughter and future Princess of Dorne.
A realm bound in a way that never could be achieved with dragons.Sansa thought as she looked at the Dragons that burnt her sister. They were both chained to large stones and looked a sorry sight; both of them shivering in the cold as their advisors turned prisoners watched with shivers as well. Sansa didn't feel pity for any of them. Not for the bastard daughters of Aegon that would be married to third sons of Houses so lowly in the Riverlands and Vale that their heirs would have little to nothing. Nor his sons that would serve the Watch for a lifetime. Sansa didn't even feel pity for Lord Tyrion even though she had asked Jon to send him to the Watch.Simply as a payment of a debt in King's Landing.Sansa thought as she looked at the dwarf dressed in black like all those who would join the watch today.
At least your life will be useful at the Wall. You can do what Jon commanded of you and quell any dissenters against my Uncle.Sansa thought as she enjoyed the cold and the howls of Nymeria and Shaggy as they moved away from Val and Rickon. The circle going silent. All the Northmen present and Shireen knew what was to come now.
Jon's here and it is time their watch begins.Sansa thought solemnly.
Jon
The Crown of Winter wasn't an ornate one made of jewels and gold or of silver and finery as told in the history books. It was a crown made of much more practical materials. A circlet of bronze with the runes of the First Men littered across it.The North Remembers that Winter always comes for us.And Nine Iron Spikes attached to the circlet in the shape of longswords. The simple words and practical materials served a reminder to any King in the North for 8000 years of what truly mattered to the North and her people. Robb Stark's crown was modelled to be an exact copy of that original crown.And now I am to wear it.Jon thought as he picked the crown up and placed it on his head in his almost empty quarters at Castle Black. Only Ghost with him in this moment.
It was the first time Jon had worn the crown. Jon and Arya had found it on Lady Catelyn's corpse before burning her corpse. He had chosen not to wear it on that day. Simply leaving it in his solar as a reminder of Robb and what he had begun upon his crowning as King in the North. His people didn't need him to wear a Crown to be their King. Jon didn't need a constant reminder on his head that it was the only thing left of his brother barring the bones of him and Grey Wind in the crypts; returned home just before Jon's fight with the Others had begun and overshadowed by his sister's death.I still wouldn't wear it if I had a choice.Jon thought as he placed Ice and needle on his back before leaving for the courtyard.
But I promised.Jon reminded himself as him and Ghost made their way into the almost empty courtyard and mounting his horse to ride through the tunnel to the Lands Beyond the Wall.
It had been along the Wall as he made his way to Skagos where he had met Robb again after the burning at the Wall. Jon had found himself in the crypts of Winterfell when sleep finally took him a few nights after Arya's death. He had run through the crypt faster than ever in that dream so Jon could see Arya; forgetting that he could not see her in this moment unless her body was interred in the crypts. Jon didn't remember that until Robb had managed to stop him in his tracks; his brother's firm grip on his shoulders bringing him to his senses from the mad panic Jon was in and bringing him back to see his brother again.
Robb hadn't looked any different to how Jon had left him at Winterfell with his broad build and kind face. Only the eyes were different. His blue eyes were filled with the same with grief and rage that Jon felt. Jon felt comfort from that look because he knew what it meant. It wasn't a look that begged him to calm down or think about what he was about to do.Not the one Ned would have gave if he had come that time.It was a look of understanding between two brothers that Jon would go to the ends of the world and back to avenge their pack. It was a look that promised blood and Jon was more than happy to answer it for his pack. His brother had made him vow to wear the crown when he brought vengeance for Arya and the Pack. Jon would never refuse his brother of that and had hugged him as he swore vengeance for his sister to him and for all the Starks long dead to hear.
"And now I end this."Jon growled under his breath as him and Ghost rode towards the large procession of Southerners ordered to attend by Shireen and prisoners to take the black that was to either side of him beyond the Wall. He could see the fear on all but the Northmen that were guarding the prisoners and watching the Southerners that had been brought to witness House Targaryen's end. He could see the coldness on their breaths as they watched him ride through the path left for him. Each breath getting colder as Jon rode closer and closer towards the Godswood.They're here.
Most of those that had come from the south wouldn't actually see the executions. It would mainly be the Lords from the North, South and the most significant prisoners witnessing it around the Godswood beyond the wall. The rest would see the bodies brought through though. He knew it would be more than enough to make those taking the black to hold to their vows and for the Southerners to remember what the North was willing to do to those that harmed the North.
Harmed my pack.
The growl escaped his lips in an instant at the thought of Arya as he got closer to the Godswood. The chill in the air dropping once again as the circle of people around the Godswood became clear. Jon could see the banners of the North present and flying around the circle. Everyone from Umber to giant and Mormont to Glover and Crowl and Wull and Thenn had lost blood to the dragons. All the lords and ladies of the North were present to see justice done for their dead kin burnt at the Wall and lost fighting in the South. They would have their vengeance today and know their freedom was assured from now until the end of time against the South.
Jon could see those Southern banners too of all the most major lords of the new six Kingdoms now that the North was free and the Squids no more. The most significant prisoners from Arianne Martell and her bastards to Tyrion Lannister and the Tyrells were also present to witness their monarchs' deaths before taking the black and becoming prisoners elsewhere for the women.It's time I avenge you.
The banners of both the North and South parted for him silently as Jon strode through them and began to make his way to the Heart Tree in the centre. Nymeria and Shaggy taking to his side alongside Ghost. His pack was nearest to the Weirwood with Val at the head and his children with her alongside Sansa, Rickon and Lyanna. Even Old Nan as she stood weakly with the help of Osha. All of them waiting for him to bring them vengeance.
And so is my mother.
The Lady Ashara was in between his eldest sons. Her Grandchildren clearly supporting her for what was to come. She had become a part of the pack over time since allowing her to see Rickard after his birth.At least for my children.Jon hadn't been able to look or speak with her long over the years. It hurt too much to see someone who reminded him of what had been done to Arya. It didn't take long for Jon to just see Arya's burnt corpse instead of the mother that had been wronged by House Targaryen like Jon had as well. Any doubt that she felt otherwise had left him when Rickard told him she'd rid herself of that poison.
She knows she can't go against the pack.Jon thought as he turned his focus solely to the task at hand.
The Three Eyed Crow was already in place at the Weirwood by its large roots with Cold Hands standing sentinel behind him. And the Targaryens were already in place. The dragons that burnt his sister and people chained to large stones placed next to the Heart Tree below the Crow. Jon saw red at the sight of them as he came closer.
Aegon and has bloodied visage with scars both old and new. He had no nose, no ears and a permanent shake in his hands from where Ice and Needle had pierced through them. There was even a shake in his legs even as he sat chained to the stone due to the damage Jon had done. This was a Half-broken man from how Jon had beaten him at God's Eye.A Price for burning my people and thinking yourself above them.Jon thought as his rage turned to the Dragon Queen that had burnt his sister alive; bruises on her face and missing teeth from where he had knocked her out at God's Eye. She was silent for once, albeit reluctantly. The Northmen had gagged her so she couldn't yell and rant; something that had got worse since her time in Winterfell's dungeons. Jon would remove that gag soon and let her have her final words as was the way of the First Men.My people can hear her scream in pain like my sister and people did all those years ago.
Jon unsheathed Ice with a powerful snarl and the growls of the pack with him as he finally stood in front of them. The Wolfblood pounded through his veins along with all the pain and grief. Jon snarled again as he gave a single command in the snow.
"Words."
Daenerys
Daenerys barely understood the usurper as he unsheathed his sword and then spoke. It was too guttural and primal. It was too much of a growl like that of the three Wolves beside him.He's nothing more than a savage dog.Daenerys thought as she tried to remove the gag to scream at the usurper. The one that dared wear a crown in front of her.That's all he wanted. He wanted power not rightfully his.Daenerys tried to angrily vent. The usurper that dared ignore her said the words again at her husband. This time louder and much more forcefully. The growl ever-present.
"Words!"
Aegon shivered and shook fitfully and with clear fear in his eyes as he looked at the Usurper above him; dressed in full Savage Northern Tartan with a giant Valyrian Steel Sword in his hands and wolves by his side. He cut the terrifying figure for lesser men.Probably why I'm gagged. He knows I will call him what he is as nothing more than a brutish usurper.
Her husband did his best to stop the shivers and movement of chains tying him as he tried to look the Usurper in the eye. Daenerys could see the fear in Aegon's light violet eyes. Never as dark as hers.
"Please. Mercy. That's all I ask."
All he could ask. The usurper stole his right to take the Black. Another reason he is an unjust usurper.
The usurper didn't seem pleased with the words as he growled angrily with his wolves. His hands gripped the Valyrian Steel sword more firmly.
"Then your last words are that of a hypocrite. You had no mercy when you burnt my people alive and demanded they bend to you."
The growl was loud and the snarl more guttural than before. Her husband started to cry, tears freezing down his cheeks and where his nose used to be. The shake in his hands and legs increasing in the chains as they rattled.Pathetic. I'll be happy to see you die.
The usurper just snarled more as he turned his gaze towards her. His face looked more predatory than that of the Cannibal that had killed her children.
"Words."
The man in black near the freak in the trees came over and removed her gag with frozen cold hands. Daenerys screamed angrily at the usurper.
"YOU DARE WEAR A CROWN IN FRONT OF YOUR QUEEN! YOU DARE JUDGE A DRAGON AFTER KILLING HER CHILDREN! IT SHOULD BE YOU HERE DYING!"
The usurper growled and nodded as Daenerys ranted and raved. He turned back to Aegon; ignoring her screams of rage. His face turned cold and solemn as he looked at the whimpering wreck that was her husband. It was almost calm as the snows landed on his usurper's crown and the Great Valyrian Sword with a blood red tip. He stood there for a moment in the whimpering and screaming before the White and Black Wolf stepped forward; their red and yellow eyes wide and their teeth bared.
They sunk their teeth right into Aegon's thighs. Daenerys turned silent as Aegon screamed painfully at the giant wolves' bites. They were large enough to rip the legs off if they wanted to but had simply stopped at the bones and waited as Aegon screamed in horrible agony. The circle of usurpers and prisoners all watching silently. The usurper then stepped forward with a solemn face and slowly pushed the Great Sword into Aegon's stomach as the wolves held on tighter. Aegon screamed even harder as the sword pierced the skin and went right into his intestines. Daenerys watched in horror as the usurper slowly but surely pulled them out. Taking his time as blood fell out from Aegon and his screams fell out of his mouth to a silent audience.
The usurper just growled as he slowly pulled them out in a way that kept her husband alive as long as possible. It was only until the intestines were almost fully removed when the usurper released one hand from his great sword into order to unsheathe a much smaller blade. The usurper growled as he pulled the intestine out fully and slit Aegon's throat at the same time. Blood fell freely out of the neck and stomach as Aegon died. All of the life leaving his violet eyes and ugly face. The savage slammed the small sword into the ice as he gripped the Great Sword again and walked towards the Heart Tree with the freak beside it and offered her husband's guts to the Tree's branches and roots. Blood covered the snow as the usurper did his work.
Daenerys started to scream angrily again at him and everyone around them. "YOU CALLED ME THE MONSTER AND YOU'RE GOING TO ALLOW THE SAVAGE THAT DARES CALL HIMSELF A KING DO THAT TO YOUR QUEEN?! I'LL BURN YOU ALL WHEN THE GODS SEND NEW CHILDREN TO ME NOW THAT I'M RID OF MY HUSBAND!"
The circle wasn't even looking at her as she screamed.
They were all looking behind the heart tree where a great coldness seemed to emerge from. And with it the creatures that Daenerys could only assume were the ones she had saved the realm from as they joined the circle.The Others.Daenerys realised as she saw her breath go even colder.
"HE WORKS FOR THE OTHERS! YOU HAVE BEEN TRICKED BY A MONSTER INTO KILLING YOUR SAVIOUR!"
It fell on deaf ears as they looked at the Others.
There were five of them present. Human in stature but in appearance and bearing they were something different. They all looked the same with Ice blue skin and bright emotionless blue eyes. Their faces were like carvings. There was only one that looked different. It looked bigger and broader with horns bigger than the rest and a single bright blue eye and a giant scar where the other eye should be. It was clearly the one in command.
And the one that had a look of fear when standing in front of the usurper and his bloody blade. The usurper growled at the creatures before returning to her. The Others followed slowly and brought the cold closer to her.
Daenerys tried to spit at him. It turned to ice before it could hit him.
"YOU ARE LIAR! I DIDN'T DOOM YOUR PEOPLE! I SAVED THEM BEFORE YOU COULD FEED THEM TO THE OTHERS LIKE YOU DID YOUR SISTER!"
The force of the usurper's hand as it smashed what was left of her teeth out almost brought Daenerys to unconsciousness as she felt the blood freeze down her chin. She felt his savage grip as he brought her head up to see him. His eyes were flashing red in the grey like a demon.
"Know that everything I have done from killing your monsters to ending your reign will guard the realms of men and has fulfilled a pact more important than any."
The growl was piercing through her as he spoke the same madness as the old woman in the dungeons. Daenerys felt a shake in her body.I will not be intimidated.
"Liar." Daenerys spat out.
The usurper snarled. "But know I would do all of this because you burnt my people alive…"
He got in closer; his teeth fully bared with malice.'I would do all of this because you took my sister's life from her and took her from the pack. Because you burnt my sister to death and left me nothing but her burnt corpse and sword.'
Daenerys tried to hide her shaking of chains."I am the dragon."
"You will watch what happens to you after I finish gutting you while my wolves feast on your flesh." The usurper said icily as he pushed her head towards Aegon's corpse and held hit firmly to the stone. She could feel the pain as he pushed slightly. Daenerys looked at her husband's pathetic corpse and wondered what more there was to see until she saw the Other with one eye go towards Aegon's fresh corpse.
Daenerys screamed before the Other did whatever sick magic that made Aegon's eyes flash blue and scream an ungodly scream as his legs and arms started to move in the chains. Only the prisoners screamed with her as the man with frozen hands looked emptily at the screaming corpse and cut the chains from the stone; allowing her husband to walk again as a Wight with chains attached to his arms and legs.
It was a disgusting sight as blood dropped and froze to the floor from the now moving corpse as it moved close to her with emotionless eyes before going behind the Others to join them.
"And now his watch begins."The Northmen all said solemnly. Their words icy.
Daenerys kept screaming as she turned her head back to the usurper. His face more wolf like and predatory than before as he held the bloody sword.Worse than the Cannibal's face.
Daenerys wanted to beg. The King in the North didn't let her as the White Wolf and Grey Wolf Bitch jammed their fangs into her thighs and the King in the North jammed ice through her stomach. Daenerys screamed in terror until the small blade of Arya Stark slit her throat and the Great Sword took her guts out into the bloodied snow.
Tyrion
Tyrion's vision was transfixed on his former King and Queen as the Others guided Daenerys and Aegon's risen corpses through the large crowd outside of the Godswood for all to see after the King in the North simply said to return in a decade. Their blue eyes were shining unnaturally and standing out all the more in the white snow. Tyrion could see the blood dripping from their guts and thighs onto the snow as they walked through the silent crowd. The blood turning to Ice. He could hear the iron chains clanking against the corpses as they took every step at the command of the Others.The Others that fear the King in the North.
Every part of Tyrion's body felt like ice in the moment as he tried to hold himself together from what he had seen and would see again in a decade. Not that Tyrion could ever forget as he held back the bile in his throat. If it were only Tyrion and the Northmen present, he would have been the odd one out as he saw their looks of grim satisfaction at what their wolf for a King had done.Solemn faces but approving eyes.Tyrion realised as he looked at every Northern Lord in the circle from the Starks all the way to the giants that towered over them in the circle.Even Sansa approves by those wolfish eyes.
The faces of the prisoners shared a similar look to Tyrion though. Aegon's eldest bastards, Rhaegar and Elia, looked broken at the sight of their father turned to a corpse. Arianne Martell looked terrified for once in her life. Willas Tyrell looked the same as Tyrion; his entire body willing himself to hold back the bile and disgust.
They all shared the same look of dread on their faces at witnessing a demon kill without mercy.
Tyrion could even see that dread on the newly risen Lord Paramounts of the Reach and Westerlands. Both Tarly and Marbrand looked terrified. Lords Tully, Royce, Yronwood and Martell had solemn looks but Tyrion could see the shock in their eyes. The hints of fear. Only the Greyscale Queen, Lord Dayne and the Knights of the Bold had a face of approval and grim satisfaction like the Northmen.
"You will never forget this and will be shown them again once a decade." The King in the North growled as he faced the prisoners in the circle and the Southern Lords.
Tyrion turned to the demon; his bloodied blades and crown standing out in the snow alongside the blood red eyes of his wolf. Everyone's gaze transfixed on the demon as he spoke with the same force that he had with Daenerys before executing her and turning her into a walking corpse.
'You will not forget what lies beyond the Wall nor the pact that must always remain in place. You will not forget your duties to the Night's Watch. You will not forget what the North does to those that dares to harm her and make her yield… '
The King in the North's snarl lingered in the air for a long moment. Tyrion felt the blood drain from him as the snow landed on his shoulders.
'And You will not dare to forget my sister's name and what you did to her!'
The last words seemed to make the world shake for Tyrion as the fear consumed his body. The Northern Lords' words adding to it as they joined their King as he spoke.
"The North Remembers and so will the South!"
The words echoed in the Godswood alongside the howls of the Direwolves. It felt worse than the roars of Cannibal. Tyrion was speechless.
And Tyrion was terrified as the Lord Commander Benjen then barked for all the male prisoners to walk before the Heart Tree. Rhaegar and Tyrion were pushed to the front to be the first to take the Black with the dead eyed man in the tree watching over them. Neither refused them as the King in the North glared at them with sparks of red in those vengeful grey eyes; watching over them as they approached the Weirwood tree.
Tyrion felt tears leave his eyes as he said the words; the dead man in black and Benjen Stark forcing his hand and Rhaegar's onto the bloodied roots of the Weirwood.
"Night Gathers and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall not take not wife, hold no lands and father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers and the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honour to the Night's Watch, for this night and all nights to come."
Tyrion cried all the way through the words as he felt a tug from the Weirwood. As did Aegon's eldest bastard. He was terrified knowing his fate that would come back to haunt him every decade alongside the Others.To guard these realms knowing that if I dare disobey that demon's orders, I will serve the realm in both life and death as a corpse and reminder of what the North is willing to do to those that dare harm the pack.
Tyrion was the first of ten thousand men to take the black that day.
None of them dared run. To run was a face worse than death.
"And now our Watch begins."Tyrion repeated to himself with icy tears on his face as he looked again at the demon that had destroyed Tyrion's reign and had made him nothing more than a footnote in the rise of the North.
Hope you all enjoyed it there! Feel free tae comment as always and ask any questions.
Once a decade they Others will come and show themselves off and that of Aegon and Daenerys as a reminder of what the North can do and that they should remember the Others exist.
Jon wouldn't settle for less for his sister's death.