The Wars to Come - J.S.

3 - OATHS

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, 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 shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."

— castle black —

Aurora is headed for her father's chambers when she hears a loud crash come from his room. She runs the rest of the way down the hall and throws the door open to see Jon and her father standing next to a burnt body. 

"What the hell happened? Are you alright?" she asks, running to her father's side, and placing her hand on his arm as she looks into Jon's eyes.

"We're fine, Little Bear." Jeor answers, wanting more than anything to protect his daughter from learning about the fate the people of Westeros will soon meet.

—

The night is coming to a close and many of the others have gone to bed, Aurora and Jon still sit at a table in the gathering room.

Their cups are empty but their hearts are full as they laugh loudly together. 

Soon they decide to head for their beds, and Jon walks Aurora to her room. Ghost following them quietly.

"Thank you, Lord Snow, you are too kind." she jokingly curtsies to the man and he laughs once more at the brunette's sarcastic sense of humor. She reaches down to scratch Ghost behind the ears, making the direwolf nuzzle into her hand.

"Good night, Rory." 

"Good night, Jon." 

She watches as he walks away and turns to look at her once more, making her blush as she was caught staring at him.

She enters her room after giving him a small wave and locks the door behind her before collapsing on her bed and sighing.

"Why must you have these feelings Aurora?" she mutters to herself.  It's in that moment that she realizes just how much she has grown to care for all of these new recruits, never before has she met a group she has loved so much.

She supposes it has something to do with them all being misfits like herself, Jon a bastard, Sam an unwanted child, Pyp disgraced for not being obedient, and the rest much the same.

She also wonders if the strikingly good looks of one recruit in particular have something to do with her sudden feelings.  

She drifts off to sleep thinking about the boy with the wolf.

—

"Jon, I'm so sorry." she whispers as the boy stands in her doorway with his head hung low. He has just heard news that his father was killed in King's Landing, and the others just stopped him from deserting the Night's Watch.

She invites him into her room and he sinks down on the floor in front of her bed, she sits beside him and rubs her hand up and down his back as his body shakes with sobs of sadness and anger.

"I should have been there." he mumbles, "My sisters are alone in King's Landing now. My father died for a crime he didn't commit. I never should have left them."

"Jon, there is nothing you could have done to prevent this. Do you understand me? You are where fate has brought you, this is where you are meant to be."

—

The next day, Jeor Mormont knocks on his daughter's door and she opens it to see a solemn look on his face.

He tells her that they are going beyond the wall. 

"Father, please let me come with you." she begs, eyes full of desperation.

Jeor sighs, "It is too dangerous, I can't allow you to go out there with us." His mind flashes with images of the things he has seen and heard of that lie beyond the wall, and he thinks only of how he could never subject his daughter to those horrors.

"Please, you know I can fight. You know I could help you out there." 

"No, Aurora. That is my decision. And it is final." 

She glares up at him for a moment before her facade breaks and she falls into his arms and cries.

They stand in her room and he holds her as she sobs, the thought of being alone at Castle Black, without her father or friends, is terrifying to her.

The next day before they leave, she seeks out her friends and says her goodbyes to them. 

When Jon is the only one left, the others are quick to excuse themselves and Aurora and Jon are left alone. 

"Be safe, please." she says, a sadness in her eyes as she looks up at him.

He nods and reaches out to squeeze her hand. Her eyes gravitate towards their hands and she smiles. But her mind drifts towards her feelings for him and she clears her throat and quickly pulls her hand away.

—

 After a year of sitting in Castle Black with only the remaining men at the castle, with their sneers and dirty comments, to keep her company, Aurora becomes tired.

 She is scared of what could be happening to the the people she loves on their long journey, that seemingly may never end.  Her thoughts going wild with the possible scenarios.

So she decides it is finally time for her to leave Castle Black. She writes letters to her father, to Jon, and to Sam. She hopes they will understand.

She doesn't want to be stuck waiting around forever, so she decides to take life into her own hands. 

She knows exactly where she is going, and she knows she won't stop until she gets there.