HOTD: Black Wolf

A Son For A Son

An: I've decided to change the last scene of the Black Queen, so Jace will find out in this episode. 

The Wall 

No one POV 

Cregan, Anne and Jace were going up the wall and Cregan said " Duty is sacrifice. It eclipses all things, even blood. All men of honor must pay its price. The North owes a great duty to the Seven Kingdoms. One older than any oath. Since the days of the First Men, we have stood as guardians against the cold and the dark. Through its long tradition, the Night's Watch cultivated its strength from doomed men who had their life as their only possession. But my ancestor, Torrhen Stark, began a tradition by making an offering at the onset of winter: one in 10 men from our household was to be chosen to fortify the Watch. This is not a sentence but an honor. A duty embraced by all who serve the North. Even by mine own kin." 

Anne said "Well,not by everyone" and Cregan said "Anne" and Anne said "I've said it once, I've said it again, you would do a lot better if you could also include the other half of the population." 

Cregan said "It is the oldest rule of the Night's Watch" and Anne said "Doesn't mean it can't be changed. I fought when our Uncle tried to take control, Was I weak? I'm merely making a point,  The North must stand ready. Winter is coming." 

Jace said "Coming? What is this, then, that falls from the skies and shivers my bones?" and Cregan said "This is why you need to visit more often, what have you told him, Annie" and Anne glared at him. 

Cregan said "This is only a late summer snow, my prince. In winter, it will cover all you see, and all memories of warmth will be forgotten." 

Jace said "It pleases me to think that over a century ago our ancestors treated in this very place. The Conqueror and the King in the North." 

Anne said "Jace" and Cregan said "You, at least, had the mercy not to threaten me with your dragon." 

They walked out, Anne said "I know it's important in your family, and it's a moment of pride but it's not like that for everyone else." 

Others there said "My Prince, My Lord, Princess, My Lord" and Jace said "Surely the great Torrhen Stark would've sooner died than bent the knee. Unless he believed the Conqueror could bring unity to the Seven Kingdoms." 

Cregan said 'You are right in that." 

Jace said "That unity is now threatened. The realm will soon tear itself apart... if men do not remember the oath sworn to King Viserys and to his rightful heir." 

Cregan said "Starks do not forget their oaths, my prince. Especially when it concerns my own family, I will not turn my back on my sister or my niece." 

Anne smiled and Cregan said "But you must know that my gaze is forever torn between north and south. In winter, my duty to the Wall is even more dire than the one I owe to King's Landing. I need my men here." 

Anne said "Cregan" and Jace said "Whilst your men guard against wildlings and weather, the Hightowers plan to usurp the throne. If my mother is to defend her claim to hold the realm united, she needs an army. War is coming to the whole of the realm, my lord. We cannot wage it without the support of the North. It's coming for my wife and my daughter as well, your sister and niece." 

Anne said "Jace" and Cregan said "Has Anne told you of when our father brought King Jaehaerys and Queen Alyssane to see the wall? His Grace stood at this very outlook and watched as their dragons, the greatest power in the world, refused to cross it. Do you think my ancestors built a 700-foot wall of ice to keep out snow and savages?". 

Jace said "What does it keep out?" and Cregan said "Death." 

Anne said "Cregan..I know of your duty to the North, I know it well, I know full well that Winter is coming and the Whole of the North must prepare, but a war with dragons is coming, The Hightowers have taken what is not theirs, they have committed treason, and they will come for us as well, They'll come for Jace, they'll come for me, and they'll come for Aemma, I intend to fight for this family that we are connected to, our families are bonded in this , that means this is all our fights, We need to fight back, We have an advantage they don't, The Hightowers have their army yes, but not the whole of the Reach, we  have the whole of the North. The North remembers, they and you remember that our father made an alliance with the Queen, that came with our marriage, I refuse to sit idly by, and watch as my husband's claim is stolen, as my daughter's claim is stolen, She is second in line now."