Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
DOZENS of cheers and screams riddled amongst the common room, almost shaking the floorboards beneath them. Maia stood next to King Stannis and Ser Davos, picking at her nails and wishing this time had headphones to plug into her ears. Oh, did she miss technology.
Jon was currently looking down at his feet as he stood, listening to his council criticized beside him: "You bring Wildlings here? Through our gates?"
He slammed his fist on the head table, causing Maia to look up at his stern expression. "Men, women, and children will die by the thousands if we do nothing!"
"Let them die!" Ser Othell exclaimed. "We got our own to worry about. Less enemies for us."
Cheers were shouted from the crowd of brothers. Jon's eyes connected with Maia's, and he found himself swallowing down the lump in his throat.
"Fewer," Stannis sighed, correcting the man's speech.
Maia snickered as Davos turned. "What?"
"Nothing," the King muttered, glancing in Maia's direction.
Sam stood from his table in front of Jon's. "There is good farmland in the Gift." He advised, causing others to laugh at him. "Land that no one uses now. A dozen of abandoned villages."
"Then why do you think the farmers abandoned those villages?" Ser Bowen countered. "Because the Wildlings raided them for years. Cut them down! Just like they did to this boy's people!" He said, pointing to Olly as his fellow brothers shouted in agreement.
Maia stood in the back, studying the men around her. There was so much negativity towards the Wildlings, and she understood, but that didn't make the Night's Watch any less innocent. They had done the exact same to the Free Folk. She understood Jon's point then: there was no greater time to make peace than during the brink of war.
Alliser Thorne piped up in usual gravel voice. "We've been fighting them for thousands of years. They've slaughtered villages. They've slaughtered our brothers."
"We slaughtered theirs," Jon whispered to Alliser.
Ed stood from his spot next to Sam. "I will follow you anywhere. You know that." He said. "But they killed Grenn and they killed Pip. They killed fifty of our brothers. I can't forget that. I can't forgive it."
"Haven't they done the same?" Maia whispered to Stannis. He nodded, and she noticed a couple of brothers turn to glare at her.
Jon looked towards his friend. "You were at the Fist of the First Men. If we abandon them, you know what they become. We can learn to live with the Wildlings or we can add them to the army of the dead." He met the eyes of the members around him. "Whatever they are now, they're better than that."
The shouts began again as Stannis and Maia glanced at one another. The Baratheon King breathed heavily through his nostrils before exiting the common room, leaving Maia behind in the corner. She looked towards the front again, noticing Jon staring at her. He nodded for her to depart.
