Magic, Power and Glory (Game of Thrones)

Perspective

The Wildlings were getting close. We could clearly see their fires from atop the Wall now. It was making me nervous and I never get nervous before battle. Maybe it's because I now know what I could lose and because if I lose someone else, I'll be pushed too far.

For once, Jon and Samwell do not have to patrol atop the Wall at night, so we were in Jon's chambers. I wanted to know how he had been doing up here. Alliser Thorne must have been relentless with what he says, especially on the topic of Robb and Father.

Hunter, Allister, and Brandon had all realised that I was safe with Jon, so they had backed off. Hunter was still a little wary of both Jon and Brandon, but I did not blame him. He was forced to grow up in the most poisonous place in Westeros: King's Landing. Northmen often do not bother with the politics of the South.

The fire in Jon's chambers was keeping us all warm. I wanted Steel and Ice to be allowed in here. They had stayed with me this entire time and they deserved a bit of warmth instead of being locked away in the stables. My direwolves are not horses, they are creatures that could kill us all if they wanted.

Jon was explaining that Alliser Thorne hated him and when Father had been killed for treason, the old prick had made fun of him for it. Then, when Robb died, more jokes were made. Alliser told Jon that the Starks were all treasonous pricks who deserve to die. I would not stand for that, but Jon had controlled himself.

"Tell me about the wildlings," I insisted. "You spent more than a year with them. These men tell me that they are savages, but they have an army and savages do not have armies."

"I was meant to kill a wildling woman named Ygritte, but I could not bring myself to do it," Jon admitted. "We had to sleep next to each other to keep warm and the next morning, we set off to find the others. She escaped and I was captured by the wildlings, as well as Qhorin Halfhand. I had to kill Qhorin and become a spy, while we were going to meet Mance Rayder. They freed me from my ropes and let me march into the camp as a free man. They are all about being free and they are free."

"Being truly free would bring chaos," I stated, shaking my head. "If they were truly free, they would be killing each other. You can never truly be free. That is what Robb wanted for the North. Roose Bolton created chaos and turned on us."

"Well, they are more free than we are. I travelled with a group of wildlings led by Tormund Giantsbane. I showed them the best place to climb over the Wall. On the way..." Jon paused. "I fell in love with Ygritte and I broke my oath by having sex with her. We climbed over the Wall and after a while, they asked me to kill the old man who breeds the horses for the Night's Watch. I could not do it, so I killed one of the wildlings instead. Two wolves helped me and then I rode off. Ygritte found me and she was furious. She shot me with three arrows before my horse carried me back here."

We sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Jon knows how I feel about people unnecessarily breaking their oaths and that annoyance and anger has just increased since Robb's death. However, Jon is my last brother and possibly my last sibling. I cannot give that up just because I disagree with what he did.

The Wildlings were going to kill us all, but at least we now knew their tactics. Jon broke half his oath by joining the Wildlings and the other half by having sex with Ygritte. The first part was not necessary, but it was very smart. The second part was stupid, but he is my brother and I will forgive him no matter what.

"We have a meeting on soon," Sam reminded us. "We should all get ready."

I silently agreed and stood up. My sword was still on the ground, so I picked it up, sheathed it and then I left. Unfortunately, my chambers were not close, so I had to walk across Castle Black to get ready for a meeting in the library.