The Children of Spring

James II - Really?!

After a few seconds to cope with the fact that the man in front of them had just said that he had met them 15 years ago, James said,
"Well, it's possible. We're 14 now."
"14? That's great! Look at all of you, you're men and women now." Tormund said. Well, guess he really knew our parents, James thought surprised. It was strange how their parents knew someone as far north as north could go. He knew from his classes that the Free Folk had helped in the Long Night, however he had never thought that their King was so friendly or that he had gotten along so well with their parents.
"It's been some years, so..." Jorah said.
"Yeah, it has been some. You must be tired, it's not a small journey from the Wall to here. Settle yourselves in. And then we shall have a feast. I'm going to make preparations." Tormund said and then, without fully understanding what was happening, they went to settle themselves in some tents.
The young men stayed in one tent and the young women were placed in another.
In the tent of the young men, James said,
"This is where we're going to find out everything about our parents."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Galladon asked.
"That guy is going to tell us everything!" James said with excitement.
"Do you really think that he'll just tell us what we want to know?" Jorah asked, not believing him.
"Oh, he will. He's the nicest person, I've ever seen. And if James keeps asking question, after question, then by the end of the night we will know everything there's to know." Thomas said simply.
"I intend to do just that." James said smiling.
"Well, go ahead then. I'm tired of not knowing things." Jorah said.
"Just don't let things get out of your control." Galladon said.
"I won't. Besides, what can we find out that would be so scandalous to that point?" James said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, it's not like their past is full of dark secrets." Jorah said with a chuckle and they laughed. However, Thomas thought, If it hadn't dark secrets, then they would talk about it.
As they were leaving the tent, Thomas called James.
"What is it?" James asked confused.
"Be careful and, by that, I mean don't stop asking questions. Ever." Thomas said seriously. The thing about Thomas that James could never figure out was when he talked like that, the way he knew something that they did not and that something was usually important.
"You know I hate when you talk like that. I won't stop asking questions, but what do you mean?" James asked.
"I've got the feeling that what we're about to find out it's not something that can be taken lightly. So don't let anyone speak besides you and control yourself. I'll try to help." Thomas said.
"Fine. I will, don't worry." James said seriously and then they left the tent and joined the others. He was taken aback by what his twin brother had just said. However last time that he did not listen to Thomas, he ended up being punished, so he would do as his brother had said.
As soon as they entered the huge tent, where the feast would take place, everyone cheered. This is awsome!, James thought. They sat next to Tormund in the high sits.
"Thank you so much for doing this, it's a honor for us." Jenny said. James looked at his sister and thought, well, at least, she didn't skip all the lessons.
"The honor is mine. Your parents and you are always welcome here." Tormund said.
They had dinner and talked a lot for a huge amount of time, James was always looking for the right moment, still none seemed to be the right one.
At last, as there were just a few people left in the tent, James took the chance to start,
"Did you know our parents very well?" James asked.
"Oh, yes. Some of them, yeah. I'm sure they must have told you great stories." Tormund said.
"They did. Lots of them, actually. However, I was wondering if you could tell us some. I mean they told us, but it's much more exciting hearing it from other people." James said as if it was the most true of the truths. I hope you know what you're doing, James, Jenny thought. They had told them what James was going to do, still it could fail. However, all of them wanted to know more and, if James could get it out, then they would let him.
"Of course, I can. Let's see, let's see. Oh, I know. This one is about Jon. I'm going to tell you how we've turned a little crow into a king." Tormund said.
"About my father? That's awsome!" Jorah said smiling, oblivious to what the nickname 'little crow' meant.
"That sounds great! Thank you!" James said. How can he do it?, Jenny thought. She had no idea of how James and Thomas could lie so easily, when she and Marianne could not, eventhough Marianne was much better at it than her.
"You're welcome. Let's see. At that time, the crows were hunting us down." Tormund started.
"By the crows you mean?" Thomas asked, he was going to help his brother.
"The Night's Watch." Tormund answered.
"Great nickname!" James said, before Jorah could say anything. Then he looked at him and he was just in shock.
"I know, right! Anyway, they were hunting us down and so they came beyond the Wall. Jon was among them and, one day, he and Quorin, Halfhand, were caught by some of us. Then Ygritte, a beautiful ginger bowwoman a grown man would fuck relentlessly every day and who could beat most men in single combat, brought him to Mance Ryder, the King-Beyond-The-Wall, because Jon had killed Halfhand and he had said that he wanted to be one of us. When he entered the tent, I was there. I asked Ygritte what was the bussiness with the baby crow and that was when she told me about Halfhand. I could not believe he had killed Halfhand, that cunt had killed friends of mine that were twice his size. I told him that. You know what he said?" Tormund asked
"No, what?" James asked entusiasticaly as the other nodded as well. They were in shock, Jorah was the one who was most in shock. Why the hell was my father in the Night's Watch?, Jorah kept thinking.
"He said, 'my father told me big men fall just as quick as little ones if you put a sword through their hearts'. I told him that plenty of little men had tried to put a sword through my heart and that there were plenty of little skeletons buried in the woods. And then I asked him, 'what's your name, boy?' 'Jon Snow' he said. The strenght with he said it, I knew he was still a crow, but he had the real north in him. Of course that then he thought I was Mance and he knelt and called me 'Your Grace', it was really funny. Anyway, Mance told him that we knelt to no one beyond the Wall and then asked him why he wanted to join us, why he had betrayed his brothers? And he said that the Lord Commander had ignored the White Walkers and that he couldn't do that. Jon was one of the few people that understood that we had to stay together." Tormund said.
"That's so awsome. Please, tell us, what happened next?" James asked.
"Well, Mance let him stay. The dead were coming, we thought the Night's Watch was dead or at least most of it, it seemed not, otherwise that maestre Sam would be dead." Tormund said. Uncle Sam?! He was in the Night's Watch too?, James thought surprised.
"Mance told me to climb the Wall and to bring Jon with me. Then we would wait for the biggest fire the North had ever seen to strike Castle Black." Tormund said.
"How many time did you take to climb the Wall?" Catelyn asked curiously.
"Two days I think, but we did. However, few days before the strike, Jon left us to return to the crows. It was a shame because I like him, he was a good soldier and he had the North in him. Also because he and Ygritte loved each other, he broke his vow because of her, I mean, who wouldn't? She put three arrows in him when he run and still... I don't recall seeing him so happy, until he met the Dragon Queen, of course." Tormund said. What the hell?, Jorah thought.
"What happened then?" Mia asked curiously.
"Well, we did strike the castle and we lost, because of that damn cunt Stannis Baratheon, I'm so glad Brienne killed him." Tormund said. What?!, Galladon and Catelyn thought.
"Do you know why did she killed him?" Galladon asked.
"Ah, that's another story. I'll get to that one later. Anyway, then he captured Mance. Ygritte died and Jon buried her in the real North. Stannis sent Mance to burn, because he would not bend the knee. Jon ended his misery and gave him a clean and honorable death." Tormund said.
"That's very... wow." James said.
"Then he was made Lord Commander. His first order was to get the Free Folk south of the Wall, because he knew that we had to come together. So him and I and Edd and some other men went to Hardhome. We managed to convince them to come with us, but the dead stroke. That was where Jon realized that Valyrian steel killed White Walkers, not only dragonglass. It was dificult but we escaped and we returned to Castle Black with lots of people. However, when we got there, Stannis was gone and the crows were against Jon and they... killed him." Tormund said.
"They what?!" Jorah said in shock. What?! He's alive!, James thought.
"They stabbed him because they were stupid sons of bitches who could not see what was coming! Their stupidity almost cost all of Westeros doom for, make no mistake, we're all here because of Jon Snow and a couple of others."
"How did he come back to life?" Thomas asked.
"Davos got the Red Whitch to bring him back. It took few days, but he came back. Guess the God of light knew we could not make it without him.Then he killed the traitors and he said he was done with the Night's Watch. I don't blame him, I would have left it ages ago." Tormund said. I can't wait to get to the part where he met my parents, James thought.
"What happened next?" Jenny asked and James was so glad that she did not screw it up.
"Next... it was one of the best moments of my life..." Tormund said, his eyes were shinning. Oh my gods, the young women thought. Then they looked at each other and realized they were right, he was talking about a woman, but who?
"Really? What happened?" Mia asked.
"It was a normal day, given the normal at that time, and I was in the yard... the gates opened and then... she entered..." Tormund said. Shit! There are only three women that went to the Wall at that time..., Thomas thought. He had been in the library of the Wall and had seen some of the records of that time.
"Who was she?" James asked curiously. Barely did he know, he was about to regret it.
"A Godess! Yellow hair..." Tormund said. Fuck!, Thomas and James thought.
"Blue eyes..." Tormund said. Fuck!, Jenny thought and she just looked at Galladon and just took his hand under the table.
"The tallest woman you've ever seen..." Tormund said. Seven Hells! Where the hell was my father?!, Catelyn thought.
"Calm down. Don't listen." Jenny whispered to Galladon.
"It's a little dificult to do that." Galladon whispered back a bit angry.
"And then what?" James asked, trying to change the subject.
"What? Sorry, I zooned out." Tormund said. We saw that, Galladon thought.
"What happened?" James asked.
"Ah, well, Brienne, Sansa, Joanna and Pod came to the Wall. They had just escaped Winterfell. Those days were a little crazy, actually. I mean that Bolton bastard was always treathening us, especially Sansa, he had rapped her apparently. She was like a scared little bird at the time. Guess she had went through a lot. None would say she would became the Queen she is now." Tormund said.
"What?!" they all asked in shock.
"Yeah. And then Joanna and Pod were not married and then they were and then weren't again and then she jumped into a freaking frozen lake to save Jon and then they married in some sept down South, I've never understood that." Tormund said. What?! Frozen lake?! My parents married three times?, James thought confused. That's the less weird thing that I've heard today, Jenny thought surprised. One more question to the list, Thomas thought.
"Anyway, then after Jon and Sansa had managed to convince the Houses of the North to fight for them. There was a battle called 'Battle of the Bastards' and it was very harsh, the Bolton bastard killed the little Stark in front of Jon and he lost it. The pile of bodies was udge, however we won. Sansa fed the fucking bastard to his dogs and got it over with. Jon became King in the North, with the help of a little girl called Lyanna Mormont. She could be little, however whenever she spoke the room went silent. She even killed a giant! She was one of the many that we lost in the Long Night." Tormund said, ending the story. Alright, focus! You can think about all of this later, James thought.
"That must have been a great battle. Could you tell us about it? You're so good at telling stories and so much better than our parents." James asked. That's not a lie, though, James thought.
"Of course. So, it all started when the Wall fell. The Night King had brought the dragon that had been killed on the frozen lake back to life and it melt down the Wall with it's blue fire. Me and Beric managed to escape in the nick of time, ran to the Last Hearth where we met Edd. It was very scary. We were always with our guard up, the place reaked of death still when we thought we're safe, one of the Umbers boys, that was hang on the wall of the castle, dismembered and presented in one of their blasted circles, opened his eyes and started to scream, more loudly than ever, he tried to kill us, but Beric killed him with the flaming sword." Tormund started. They got scared, they were not kidding, they fought against the dead, James suddenly realized. The thought gave him goosebumps.
"Anyway, we managed to get to Winterfell. The first thing, I told Jon was that everyone that was not there at that moment, was in the army of the dead. There was a meeting about the war, everyone was there. We had a plan, still everyone knew we're going to die. It was impossible to survive. Everyone knew that and they were ready to go ahead. I think that brought all of us a little comfort, because most of us were enemies in the past, almost everyone in that castle had fought the Starks and by then we're ready to defend their castle together. At least, we would die together." Tormund said, remembering. They were ready to die..., Jenny thought and then looked at the others and everyone was thinking the same.
"How were all of you dealing with it?" Mia asked.
"Everyone dealt with it the best way they knew how. But everyone spent the last night with the people they cared about, I think." Tormund answered.
"What did you do?" Galladon asked.
"Well, me, Davos, the Lannisters, Brienne and Pod, we spent most of it in a room near the fire. Just talking and drinking. The Halfman said we're going to live and we should have believed him. But we just chuckled. Then he said, 'I do. How many battles did we survive between us?' He then started to recite some deeds. He said, 'My sister defeated a Dothraki in single combat and survived both the Battle of the Frozen Lake and Blackwater." Tormund said. What?! That's so amazing!, James thought, he could not wait for the moment where he talked to his parents.
"He said that Davos had survived both the Battle of Bastards and Blackwater, and then Davos said without any shred of combat and it's true. Then he said that the King Killer was the fabled hero of the Siege of Pike, I don't know what that is, and then the King Killer said that he was the fabled looser of the Battle of Whispering Woods, I think that the Starks defeated the Lannisters at that one, Jon told me but I don't recall it very clearly." Tormund said. I assume the King Killer is uncle Jaime... I mean some people called him Kingslayer for some reason, Thomas thought. Lannisters against Starks? Really?, James thought. That's... I don't really know what that is at this point, Galladon thought.
"And then?" James asked.
"Then he said, 'Ser Brienne of Tarth defeated the Hound in single combat-" Tormund said.
"What?!" Catelyn said. Seven Hells!, James thought.
"I know, right! And then, he excused himself because he was supposed to called her 'lady'. I was confused and I asked if she was not a knight. She said that women couldn't be knights." Tormund said. But... they are knights, Jenny thought, she would never imagine that her aunt and her mother were not knights once because they were women.
"Why?" Jenny asked.
"That was what I asked. Brienne and Joanna just said one word: tradition. I said 'fuck tradition'. I've never understood those southners traditions and this was one of the most stupid ones. Even more so because who won the Battle for the Dawn were the women." Tormund said. And Jenny, Catelyn and Mia smiled. And now they'll never shut up about it, James thought.
"Our parents managed to change things about that." Jenny said smiling.
"I'm glad they did." Tormund said.
"So how did they become knights?" Mia asked.
"Why were they that won the battle?" Catelyn asked.
"Ah, I'll get there in a bit. Well, at least, that sister-fucker had the right mind when came to that tradition-" Tormund said.
"That sister-what?!" Catelyn asked. Fuck!, James thought. He would never think that it would be Catelyn to break the plan. And I was worried?!, Galladon thought.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Tormund said.
"Which sister?" James asked.
"The Queen." Tormund said simply and they all sighed in relief. Thanks the gods, James thought.
"Alright, uh, I have two questions. First: What do you mean by 'sister-fucker'? And second: How do you know that?" Galladon asked.
"Well, first, it's in the literal sense of the word. And second, it was the worst kept secret in Westeros, except for that two knights that were fucking each other, some Baratheon and some Tyrell." Tormund said. Wait, what?, Mia thought confused.
"But all of this was long long ago, way before he fell for your mother and stole her from me. Don't worry." Tormund said. Yes, because you're just her type, Thomas thought sarcasticaly.
"Thanks for explaining." Galladon said and then thought, alright... how is this all even possible?
"Anytime. Anyway, he knighted her. Everyone was happy." Tormund said and then he looked at James and asked,
"Wait, did you think I was talking about Joanna?"
"Well, she is his sister. And none of us here ever met Cersei." James explained.
"Oh. But of course, not. I mean she clearly has a good taste in men, if she went after Jon into a freaking frozen lake and got together with Pod, speaking of which, I'm pretty sure her and him did it that night." Tormund said. I didn't need to know that, Jenny, James and Thomas thought. What lake?!, James thought. While other people freaked out out loud, James usually did that to himself, when he could control it.
"Even more so after he sang that song. Maybe that's his trick." Tormund said thinking. Please, stop, Jenny thought, fearing where this conversation would go.
"Uh, what trick?" James asked curiously.
"Well, it's common knowledge that he went to a brothel and the girls did not charge him afterwards. You know what that means, right?" Tormund asked.
"We're 14, can you tell us? We won't say anything." James said. He knew perfectly well what he meant, however he needed to hear it.
"It means that he was so good that the girls asked him to come back. Imagine how fucking good he wasn't." Tormund said. James and Thomas looked at each other smiling and thought, We have to have a serious conversation with father.
"Calm down. Don't listen." Galladon whispered to Jenny, like she had told him before, maybe with a little bit of teasing in it.
"Shut it." Jenny whispered back.
"Anyway, I'm pretty sure almost everyone did it. Gendry and Arya were nowhere to be seen." Tormund said. I did not need to know that, Mia thought.
"Jon and the lads were somewhere I did not know. I mean, I would have done it if I had someone. Still, I'd like to know his trick, everyone would like to know, but he doesn't tell us. Even today." Tormund said. He'll have to tell his sons, James thought.
"And then? What happened next? Please, go on." Jenny said and then thought, Please.
"Ah, yeah. Sorry, I drifted away. Then the horn blew and we got to the positions. It was a very dificult battle, still we could prevail. Everyone fought together, we're fighting death. They did not stop coming and they weren't afraid to die. We fought until our last breaths." Tormund said.
"You said that the women won the battle, why?" Jorah asked.
"Well, it started with the Red Whitch, lighting up the Dothraki's swords. Eventhough that did not win the battle, it bought us some time. Then they came, they were killing everyone. Daenerys and Jon brought fire upon them and it helped a lot, but we still had to retreat. Brienne was the one who oversaw the retreat, everyone got inside the castle. Inside the crypts, they were anxious and Sansa was doing her best to keep them calm. However, they could break through the gates and that was when little Lyanna Mormont, a girl of 8, killed a fucking wight giant! He was huge and, if she had not killed him, the castle would have been destroyed. She died because of that. Then it all seemed lost when that Night King cunt rose the dead-" Tormund said.
"He did what?!" James asked, he could not control himself.
"Exactly! He rose the dead. Ours too. Jon was in the middle of them, however Daenerys saved him so he could get to Bran. He got out of there, still he got trapped by the ice dragon. The crypts were full of dead, Sansa and Tyrion managed to killed some again.
It was all going down, no one could moove. Me, Grey Worm and Gendry were trapped and we had the high ground, but Brienne, Jaime and Pod were trapped against a castle wall and they couldn't moove. Davos was in the high walls and the Hound was trapped inside the castle. The Godswood was unprotected, only Greyjoy stood and he died protecting Bran. Somehow, Joanna got to Arya in the middle of all of that. They had a plan. Arya went for the Night King and Joanna went for the Walkers. She told us that she screamed, 'Hey! Ice-heads! Come and get me!', I don't know if she was kidding or not. But they did go after her, five against one, well four because she killed one. It's not easy. And then Arya tricked the Night King and killed him, she did something with the dagger. Every whight fell dead at that moment... At the end, we had survived, but most of the people hadn't. The next day there were a lot of pyres and at the end of the day there was a feast. We celebrated the living, but we still remember those who we had lost. Then I brought the Free Folk to the real North again, but I heard that there were some problems in the South, I think the Lannisters were crazy at that time." Tormund said, finishing the story.
"Really? Could you tell us more about the Lannisters?" James asked curiously.
"Tomorrow I will. But now it's late and my woman is waiting. Rest. Tomorrow is a new day." Tormund said and then they thanked him and left to their tents.
However, before they went to sleep they all got together and Jenny said,
"We have a lot to discuss-"
"You can bet we do." James said right away.
"But we can't talk here." Jenny said, looking at him seriously.
"We don't know where we are and the walls have ears everywhere." Galladon said and everyone nodded, they would talk when they were alone.
Later that night, as James laid in his bed roll to sleep, he looked up to the top of the tent and thought softly and smiling, I knew my parents were heroes, I just didn't know they were crazy too.
He missed his parents and there was something in his heart that made it seemed that he missed them even more, especially his mother. Then he looked at Thomas and knew that he was thinking the same. They hoped that everything was alright in the Wolfswood camp.