[Contains GoT spoilers! This series follows Seasons 2 through 8 of Game of Thrones.] Rhaena Velaryon is the daughter of the late Lord of the Tides, Trysten Velaryon, and of the former Princess of House Targaryen, Visaerya Velaryon. Living on the isl...
[Coincides closely with 'Oathbreaker'. Spoilers will ensue!]
Jon rises slowly, using Rain's shoulder to support himself as he does so. When she offers her arm to help him walk, he shakes his head. He refuses to look weak when he delivers his justice. He marches towards the door, but stops. He looks at his hand and sees it shaking. With a deep breath, he continues in to the chilly evening air and makes his way as quickly as he can to the lift. While Rain slept, he looked in to the fire in the hearth, pondering why he had been given a second chance. He couldn't make sense of it, even when Melisandre told him her God still had use of him. He could still feel those wounds deeply in his stomach, could still see the darkness he had been brought to. He believes he shouldn't be here. Were it not for the girl trailing behind him and the love he holds in his heart for her, he thinks he would have returned himself to the darkness - any God having need of him be damned.
When they turn the corner, there is already a crowd formed of every man at the castle. They look at him, some with horror, but he ignores them and climbs the stairs to reach the makeshift hanging stand built at the top. He fights the pain in his chest and uses his momentum to force him to climb. At the top of the stairs, he stops and casts his eyes to the men set up before him. Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwick... Alliser Thorne. All he feels is rage but manages to speak calmly.
"If you have any last words, now is the time."
"You shouldn't be alive! It's not right." Othell Yarwick cries immediately.
Jon slowly looks at him, annoyance in his voice. "Neither was killing me." With him silenced, Jon moves on to Bowen Marsh and looks up at him.
"My mother is still in White Harbor." He says, his voice close to breaking. "When you write her, tell her I died fighting the wildlings." Jon stares at him, determining whether or not he should honor the request or tell his mother of his treachery. He decides on the former only to spare a mother of the horrid truth before moving slowly on to face Ser Alliser. The knight stares back down at him, not an ounce of fear in his face. If anything, he looks at peace.
"I had a choice, Lord Commander - betray you, or betray the Night's Watch." He states. "You brought an army of wildlings in to our lands. An army or murderers and raiders. If I had to do it all again, knowin' where I end up, I pray I 'd make the right choice again." Jon swallows hard and furrows his brow at him.
"I'm sure you would, Ser Alliser."
"I fought. I lost. Now, I rest." Alliser nods. "But you, Lord Snow, you'll be fightin' their battles forever." Jon is briefly baffled at his calm nature, but he expected nothing less from him. He came to the Wall a traitor, and now he will die a traitor. Though, as Jon walks sullenly to the rope holding them up, he feels sad knowing he must kill these once respectable men. They were his mentors at one point in time and now, whether he likes it or not, their lessons with live on in him. He unsheathes Longclaw and grips it in his hands. His brothers crowding below the stairs wait with bated breath, for Jon to cut the rope and end them already. He glances briefly to his right and sees Rhaena among the crowd, holding her cloak around her, burning eyes glaring at the men. He sees Edd at the base of the stairs, waiting with his arms folded. He sees the Red Woman watching from the rafters several yards away, bundled once again in thick red cloths.
With a deep breath, he raises his sword and brings it down. The barrels the men stand on are thrown backwards and they are suspended in the air before falling. The horrendous sound of their necks cracking and their gasping and gurgling as they are strangled by their ropes fills the dead silence. Their legs twitch beneath them in every direction and Jon watches the scene wholly until they fall still, their necks bent in awkward directions. Their eyes are bulged from their heads. Large orbs growing glassy and cold from the open air. When it ends, he averts his eyes. Where his brothers may feel like justice has been met, Jon only feels more empty inside.
He sheathes his sword slowly and straightens up. As he leaves them, intending to return to his chambers with Rhaena, Edd stops him at the stairs. "We should burn the bodies."
Jon looks at him sorrowfully. "You should." He tells his friend. He removes the thick fur cloak from around him and hands it to him. Edd looks at it, confused.
"What do you want me to do with this?"
Jon sighs. "Wear it. Burn it. Whatever you want. You have Castle Black." He turns away from him before he has the chance to protest and descends the stairs, marching away in the direction of his chambers. "My watch has ended." He declares for them all to hear. He stops at the corner before turning and looks back to see Rain following him. He extends his hand to her and she takes it. Wherever he may go now, she will go as well. He will see to it that she is freed from her oath as well without fear of death. He pulls her along to his chambers, thinking of where they may go next. Wherever it may be, he thinks as he pulls her close to him, it will be warmer than this hollow place.
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[A/N: "Don't look away, Father will know if you do." :D]
