[Chapter Size: 3600 Words.]
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Third Person POV
Hardhome, 299 AC.
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It was undeniable that everyone felt the change in the air the moment Jon asked his question. The distant roar also alerted the Night's Watch, both those in front of the King of Arctic and those above the Wall; even the horses stepped back involuntarily, sensing the cold that overtook the environment. There had been a change ever since the man had called Jon's uncle a traitor.
Jon narrowed his eyes, filled with anger. Everyone could feel it. Janos Slynt, who had been arrogant before among the other members of the Watch, now looked worried, no longer carrying the same haughtiness as before, considering that even though they were more than twelve men, the man clad in Valyrian steel armor before them was a legend — full of achievements and victories throughout the world.
Even so, they were greater in number and believed Jon was alone, without his men and without his army. Because of that, Janos Slynt held onto a bit of confidence and arrogance.
Jon's eyes went directly to the arrogant middle-aged man, calculating every movement, while he tried to keep his horse still despite its involuntary agitation at receiving such cold stares that surpassed any other sensation since he had come to the frozen North of the Wall.
"What did you say?" Jon repeated, not caring about those around him.
Even Sam, who was beside Jon, stepped back in fear as Jon's eyes locked onto the man who had called his uncle a traitor. Ser Alliser Thorne, the current of the Watch, was a bit cautious with how things were turning out, with Janos Slynt no longer possessing the courage from before and quickly averting his gaze from those cold green eyes, despite the evident anger.
"What are you waiting for? Are you going to let him speak like that?" he asked Alliser, holding the agitated horse.
"You have no right to say anything in front of us!" Thorne swallowed hard and stared with the coldest look he could muster at Jon and spoke with anger, but Jon grew even more furious.
"One of you calls Eddard Stark a traitor… and you want me to stay silent? Tell me what that means, before I knock all of you off your horses." Jon no longer wanted to talk.
He simply thought it would be a waste of time to keep threatening them and acted — and suddenly, all the horses of the Watch began to jump, rearing violently and throwing their riders to the ground, one after another, with screams and curses leaving their mouths.
The men atop the Wall watched the scene in total silence, seeing their companions being thrown down like dolls more than 300 meters below them, while groans and frightened screams echoed through the snow.
Thorne fell to the ground and remembered very well their last encounter — when Jon had broken his nose. It was no wonder he hadn't called him "bastard" this time, yet even so, the previous scene seemed to repeat itself.
The improvised Lord Commander was completely immobilized, paralyzed before all of it.
But Jon didn't care; he only observed each one of the men now fallen on the ground, groaning with all kinds of injuries the fall could have given them, though none had died or broken any bones.
"Now, will any of you tell me exactly what happened? Otherwise, I won't let a single one of you return to the Wall without telling me the truth." He was serious, and his tone was as cold as his eyes.
The horses immediately moved away and lined up between the fallen men and the Wall as a barrier so they couldn't run, almost like trained guard dogs, obeying every command only through the force of the mental bond the King of Arctic created in an instant with the animals the moment he saw them.
The men had already been frightened before, asking what creature had roared; now they seemed in panic facing the situation. Their horses no longer belonged to them; worse, that man controlled them like in the stories told in the South about his powers.
They had already heard stories about Jon of Arctic's strange abilities — it was no wonder he had done that to Thorne once, and now he demonstrated it again. It wasn't hard to understand what had happened there; only the fear in the men was visible.
"What is this? He's a sorcerer!!" Janos Slynt exclaimed, terrified, while feeling he had dislocated his shoulder in the fall, whimpering.
"You don't seem to have understood anything that's happened in the last few years, have you?" Jon returned the question in the same cold tone. "I know your type, so you'd better give me your answers. I want to know exactly what happened in the South." He paused.
"Why is my uncle being accused of being a traitor? Why are you calling him that?" the king asked.
"Do you want a war against the Night's Watch?" Thorne growled still from the ground.
Jon stepped forward, advancing to the center of the men. They all stared, stunned; they had barely managed to recover, and Jon was already on top of Thorne, grabbing him by the neck.
"You know… I've helped the Watch a lot. I've always offered food, drink, weapons, and warm clothes over the years. And you take me for a fool? What's your name again? It doesn't matter." Jon didn't care, lifting Thorne a few more inches off the ground. "Tell everyone that from today on, Arctic will no longer give any support to the Night's Watch after the war we are fighting in the North. And they should thank their new Lord Commander for that — a grumpy fool." Jon spoke each word slowly, while Thorne gasped, struggling to breathe.
Right after, Jon let him go, and he fell heavily into the snow.
"Now you have a choice: tell me exactly what happened in the South and return to the Wall alive. Or I will take that information by force. And don't say I didn't warn you."
"Don't challenge him! We've heard stories about this boy!" one of the men pleaded, making Thorne grow increasingly frustrated as he was still recovering from the touch of the king's hand. It was evident that his enormous pride was beginning to crumble.
"Ned Stark is dead. He was declared a traitor." Thorne finally said, sounding frustrated, but at the same time there was a satisfied glint in his eyes as he spoke those words.
Everyone looked at the King of Arctic. Jon froze for a moment.
"What are you saying? How could this have happened?" Jon murmured, his voice low and heavy. No one there tried to deny it; Sam seemed shocked and even more cautious. He knew Ned Stark had been imprisoned for treason, but dead?
"The last time I saw Lord Stark, he was imprisoned. His sister, Sansa Stark, had been taken from Winterfell. Her father went to King's Landing to get her back. He demanded it from King Robert, who would have even allowed men to be sent after Stark's daughter… but King Robert died a few days later..." Sam began speaking from behind Jon.
"During the trial, Lord Stark not only declared that he wanted his daughter back and that the Lannisters had killed Robert, but also that the three royal children were bastards, born of incest between Jaime and Cersei Lannister. I didn't hear anything else after that." Sam murmured everything with hesitation, while Jon remained still, listening to every word, absorbing it. His gaze slowly returned to the men in front of him.
"We received the news 2 moons ago. King Joffrey Baratheon, the First of His Name, publicly sentenced him and his executioner cut off his head with Ice itself..." Now it was Alliser Thorne who answered, opening a small smile at Jon, who was still there processing everything.
Janos Slynt desperately wanted to shout that it had been that man who had ordered Lord Stark's arrest, also filled with anger after what had happened with the horses, but he felt he would be dead if he said that at that moment.
Jon kept his eyes fixed on the ground.
His uncle was dead. He was in the middle of a war. How could this have happened now? Why had his uncle gone to King's Landing after Sansa, what had really happened?
"I heard that, in truth, your sister fled Winterfell on her own. They fled the fortress during the night and, if the rumors are right, boarded a ship in the east and sailed to King's Landing. A letter was sent saying that Sansa would be killed if Lord Stark did not go south. Her father didn't want to waste time and went to King's Landing, even if it meant his death, to demand justice for his daughter's kidnapping. He knew he was in great danger, but still went to the city," Sam murmured into the silence.
He even tried to approach Jon, but as soon as he took a step forward, he felt a wave of cold coming from the King of Arctic.
The men of the Night's Watch felt it as well, as if it burned their skin with how cold it was, trying to move away immediately with frightened screams. Around the king, a freezing chill spread as if responding to his inner fury. Jon closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'Try to calm down,' he ordered himself internally, while his blood felt filled with ice and fire, ready to explode, but this was not the right place for that. He knew he couldn't let anger alone control him, yet he still had to deal with what was happening.
His eyes blinked a few times before returning, colder than ever, to the members of the Night's Watch.
"Tell me, now that I know one of you came from King's Landing after my uncle was killed…" Jon began while looking at Janos Slynt, who seemed to grow pale under the gaze of the King of Arctic. "Let me ask you: do you have anything to do with his imprisonment, with his execution and death?"
The man froze upon hearing the question, trying to get up quickly. Jon never took his eyes off him and stepped forward, unsheathing Blackfyre.
"That…" Thorne seemed shocked when he saw the Targaryen House's sword in Jon of Arctic's hands, almost ignoring the fact that the king was coming toward them with the weapon drawn.
"Don't touch me! Your uncle was a traitor!" Janos Slynt shouted.
He heard footsteps approaching behind him and saw the aligned horses starting to move forward, forming a barrier to push him toward Jon. That only made him more terrified. His companions also seemed nervous, drawing their swords, but Jon did not stop, ignoring everyone. He simply walked toward Janos Slynt.
"I will kill anyone who tries to stop me. So think carefully if you want to die. Take one step forward, stand in my way to this bastard…" Jon's voice was calm, but everyone could see the anger and hatred behind it.
If his uncle had been imprisoned in King's Landing, it meant the former leader of the Gold Cloaks had something to do with it.
"N-no… don't come near!" the man pointed shakily, but Jon did not stop advancing.
"I have friends at court! Don't you dare kill me here, they won't stand idly by!" the man exclaimed, trying to retreat but unable to move, as the horses were already blocking his escape. He still tried to run, but one of the animals raised its head, pushing him and knocking him to the ground, neighing as Janos Slynt screamed in terror.
The man nearly ate snow and looked around, terrified; his companions seemed uncertain ever since Jon had threatened them, saying he would kill them all if necessary.
From atop the Wall, even without hearing clearly, the watchmen saw the chaos unfold, and all of them were visibly nervous.
"Do you know what your father said when he was executed?" Janos Slynt began, trying to save his life. "He said you weren't his son! He said he really had betrayed his friend, yes, because he hid his sister's son in Winterfell — the son of Rhaegar Targaryen. He said you are the true king of the Seven Kingdoms! And he screamed it to all of King's Landing before being executed! You're not even his son, can you believe it?!" He shouted in despair as he watched Jon approach, while his companions seemed to freeze upon hearing it. Thorne stared at Jon with an almost frightened look, as if seeing a ghost.
"I know I am Rhaegar's son. My birth name is Aegon Targaryen." Jon said calmly, getting closer and closer to Janos Slynt, who tried to stand and run.
He even managed to get up quickly and ran to the side, but another horse appeared before him, turned its body, and delivered a kick. The man groaned as he flew nearly two meters before rolling in the snow again, losing all the air in his lungs. His eyes lifted, seeing the one who wanted to kill him approaching like a sentence.
"N-no…" His voice came out as a whimper, looking at Jon with pure terror, feeling his death drawing near. His eyes sought Thorne and the other watchmen, but they seemed far too terrified by Jon's threats to do anything.
"You know… I've met foolish men. But you are among the worst of them." Jon stared at him with complete coldness. The man seemed to forget everything he had done — and if the Watch had truly been warned about what Jon was capable of, he understood it now.
The man tried to crawl across the ground, even without air and with broken bones from the kick he had taken earlier, but Jon didn't allow him to get far. He lifted the sword with one hand and placed his Valyrian steel boot on Janos Slynt's back, pinning him to the ground as the man began to cry.
"Please, don't kill me! I'm sorry!" the man begged, now crying.
Jon no longer cared. Just thinking that his uncle had been killed, and that this man had been involved somehow, made his anger grow. He simply moved his hand — and delivered a clean cut.
He didn't need to force him to kneel or use a block to execute him; Jon did it with the man lying on the ground. His sword slid through the snow without any difficulty until it reached the man's thick neck. The steel passed as if cutting through cheese. The cut was swift and precise.
The head rolled as it separated from the body, and blood poured out. Jon did not hesitate, did not tremble, did not look away. He executed a man of the Night's Watch right in front of the Wall.
The entire place fell into silence.
Sam seemed to tremble, wondering if it could have been him had he delivered the news. But Jon had not killed Janos Slynt for telling the truth — he killed him because that man had played a part in Ned Stark's downfall.
Jon's cold eyes turned to the rest of the Watch, searching for anyone else who might be guilty — or who dared to become a target for his anger and grief.
He noticed that Alliser Thorne was now staring at him in a strange way. There was no fear. No hatred. There was… hope and guilt? Jon didn't know what to make of it — nor did he care. The anger still burned in his chest.
"Is it true?" Alliser asked then, almost voiceless. "You are Rhaegar's son?"
"Does it matter?" Jon replied with a hint of disdain. He didn't like that man, but he took a deep breath and continued: "Yes. I am the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. I've known for years. My children have Targaryen blood — some are born with white hair, others with purple eyes, some with the full traits. But I doubt you care about that, ser Thorne. Nothing changes." Jon spoke with disdain.
"It changes everything," Alliser answered. He took a step forward — and fell to his knees before Jon, instinctively.
"I beg your forgiveness, my prince, your majesty. I acted wrongly toward you the entire time!" The declaration stunned everyone present — including Sam, and Jon grimaced at it.
"I beg forgiveness for calling you a bastard before. I had no idea you were his son… I accept any punishment you wish to impose on me. I only… want to sincerely apologize for the way I treated you, Your Majesty. I can see it now… you have much of your father in you, your real father."
Jon might have been surprised at any other moment, but this was not the day. The anger still echoed inside him. He needed to think about what to do after hearing so many revelations.
He knew Thorne was a legalist — after their last incident, his uncle had spoken about him a bit while they returned to Arctic, and even Benjen would receive hateful looks from Thorne for being Lord Stark's brother — but he hadn't expected him to react like that.
Still, Jon shook his head. "Stand up. You were punished last time. Even so… I killed one of your men. Are you fine with that?" Jon asked. He had seen Thorne mocking him when he spoke of his uncle's death — Jon wouldn't forget that — but killing him for it wasn't worth it.
"He deserved it, Your Majesty. I won't seek vengeance or anything. I should have killed him myself the moment he offended you." Thorne said the words naturally, his behavior completely changed.
His men were becoming increasingly confused — their Lord Commander had turned into a boot-licker the moment he realized Jon was Rhaegar's son.
Jon stared at him, but soon shook his head. "I want to know exactly what you know happened in the South. I want every detail. I also want to know what happened to Jeor Mormont."
Upon hearing that, Thorne nodded and began to explain. Kevan Lannister had visited Winterfell. He demanded restitution for what had happened to his nephews and accused House Stark of neglecting guest rights. Obviously, Lord Stark defended himself. Cersei had tried to kill his youngest daughter and had created a possible irreversible war against Arctic.
The Lannister did not leave Winterfell satisfied. Later, they discovered through rumors that he had left men hidden in the North, but no one knew where. It seems that Cersei was sending secret letters to Sansa — the queen herself was communicating with her in secret. They created a plan for the girl to flee, promising she would become queen and marry Joffrey.
Sansa fled Winterfell on her own. She said she wanted to be queen, that she had been seduced by the idea of marrying Joffrey, but to do so she needed to abandon her family. And that was what she did. When Lord Stark discovered she was in King's Landing, he wasted no time. The family begged him not to go, but he went anyway.
He went to retrieve his daughter, and the king received him — although the old warmth between them was gone. The king died a few days later, while Lord Stark was accused of trying to stage a coup.
After the king's death, Lord Stark was imprisoned with the entire city turned against him. He claimed that the three royal children were bastards… but Thorne had never heard the part where he declared that Jon Snow — or rather, Jon Arctic now — was the legitimate son of Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark. Saying he had betrayed his friend by hiding a Targaryen prince as his own bastard son for eight years in Winterfell.
Janos Slynt had not told that detail to his Night's Watch companions, likely thinking it nonsense — and, indeed, the news did not seem to have spread. The Lannisters probably did everything in their power to keep it secret. It would be far from pleasant for them if rumors spread about a Targaryen prince, the rightful heir to the throne, with a massive army north of the Wall, a ready kingdom, and every right to Westeros. Many could easily support him.
Thorne stated that if he had known that earlier, he would never have treated Jon the way he did — and said that Janos Slynt had hidden that information from them.
As for Jeor Mormont, he had been killed when he departed with the Watch to the North, trying to discover what was happening regarding the war. They were attacked by the dead, the Watch was scattered, and Mormont ended up being betrayed and killed by his own men at some point. The traitors were still alive somewhere, but the Watch had never been able to track them down.
Jon listened to everything in silence. He needed to take a deep breath to keep his rage from exploding — and his dragon was just as furious. Not only him, but all his connections in Arctic seemed to tremble; they all felt the impact of his anger through the mental bond with Jon as he tried to hold back the full eruption of fury they could unleash.
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