Winter Winds

Mercy

Ella snuck away after lunch to speak to Mance Rayder. Jon failed to convince Mance to bend the knee to Stannis, and she wanted to try to help him.

The small girl walked into the stone room, where Mance sat in a corner by the small slit of sunlight flooding the room. The once free leader of the wildlings now sat in a small room, chains binding his ankles and wrists.

Ella slammed the small wooden door, locking it behind her. She inched closer to Mance, the wildling leader smiling at her as he towered over him.

"Last time I saw you, you were on our side," Mance chuckled. "And now you're back in crow black."

"I am," Ella nodded her head.

"I never expected you to turn on us." Mance said looking out the window. "Your brother yes, but not you. I always thought you were different."

"Everyone my whole life has said that," Ella sighed. "I get it. My hair is black as night and my eyes are pale blue, almost silver. It's weird, I know."

"I'm not talking about your looks, girl," Mance snarled. "Your heart. I've never seen anyone with as gentle a heart as you. Even when I lived South of the Wall."

Ella blushed. "You have a fire in ya, girl. Don't lose it."

Ella nodded her head. The girl sat on the floor, directly in front of Mance as the continued to speak to one another.

"Jon told me you won't bend the knee," Ella said.

"And you're here to change my mind," Mance stated.

Ella shook her head. "No? Then why are you here?"

"Jon couldn't figure out why you won't do it," Ella said. "But I know."

" And why won't I bend the knee to this southern twat who claims himself as king? "

"It's quite simple," Ella said. "Freedom. You'd be giving up your people's chance at freedom. Once you bend the knee to a southern ruler, your people stop respecting you. They won't have any choice but to follow the laws and commands set forth by a man who wasn't picked to lead. But they chose you. You respect them so much, and united over ninety clans for the first time in history. They didn't pick you because you're the son of some high lord. They chose you to lead them because you respect them and want what's best for them. That's why you attacked the Wall. You wanted to get through Castle Black in order to lead your people to a better life. A life far away from the White Walkers. But you can't do that if you're fighting in a war that your people have no business fighting in. Not when the real war is North of here."

Mance smiled slightly at the small girl in front of him. "See, Miss Ella," he spoke. " I told you that you were special. It's the reason why Tormund cares for ya so much."

Ella felt the heat rise in her face. "He does not."

"Aye, he does," Mance nodded his head. "And you care for him as well."

Ella did not respond, but the wildling leader could tell she felt something for the ginger giant.

"So, how will they do it?" Mance asked. "Hanging? Beheading?"

"Jon told me that Stannis plans on burning you at the stake," Ella whispered. Mance's face flooded with fear, and Ella took his hands in hers.

"Bad way to go," he sighed, looking to the ground. "I'll be honest with you, girl. I don't want to die. Or be burned alive. I don't want people to remember me that way. Scorched, screaming. I have to admit though, it's better than betraying everything I believe in."

Ella stayed with Mance for a little while longer, right until the guards came to take him to the courtyard. Ella's heart dropped in her stomach as she bid farewell to Mance one last time.

Ella stood beside Jon as Mance was found and tied to a post on the middle of a pyre. Ella looked across the courtyard and met the blue eyes of Tormund Giantsbane. The rest of the wildling prisoners were  brought to the courtyard to witness the death of their leader.

"Mance Raider has been called the King Beyond the Wall," Stannis addressed the people of Castle Black. "But Westeros has only one true king. I have given this man the choice to bend the knee and follow me, but he has refused. And tonignt, he will burn for his choice."

Ella watched as the Red woman approached the pyre. She turned to everyone and smiled. "We all must choose. Man or woman. Young or old. Lord of peasant. Our choices are the same. We choose light, or we choose darkness. We choose good or evil. We choose the true God or the false god."

She stepped to the left, taking a lot torch from a guard. She lifted the torch in the air and turned to the wildlings. "Free folk!" She spoke. "There is only one true king, and his name is Stannis. Here stands a man, your king of Lies."

"Jon, we have to do something," Ella whispered to her brother. "This is torture. We can't let them do this to Mance."

"There's nothing for us do to, El." Jon said in a hushed tone. "Just look away. It will be over soon."

"Behold the fate of those who choose the darkness." The red woman pressed the torch to the wood, lighting each corner of the pyre.

Ella knew it was up to her to stop the madness. Jon wouldn't stop the mad woman from torturing an innocent man, so she had to try her best. She pushed through the crowd, grabbing a bow and arrow from a nearby rack of weapons. She dashed up a wooden staircase, adjacent from the flaming pyre. Mance's groans of pain filled the silence of the night.

The flames around Mance grew higher with each passing second. Ella loaded the bow into her weapon and drew back the string. She released the arrow, sending it through air and into Mance's heart. His body soon went limp and his eyes shut forever.

All eyes landed on Ella Snow. The bastard of Winterfell who showed a wildling mercy. The girl who ended Mance Rayder's life.