Jon Snow sat in the stable, his eyes on the horses pacing before him. If not for Grenn, Pyp, and Sam watching him, he might have already jumped onto a warhorse and ridden south to join his brother Robb's army to avenge his father.
Samwell Tarly stared at Jon and advised, "Jon, don't do anything foolish. If you leave the Black Castle, you'll be treated as a Nights Watch traitor. By then, everyone south of the Wall will be hunting you. Even if you reach your brother's army, your brother will tie you back to the Wall, and then the Commander will have no choice but to behead you in front of everyone. You won't be your father's proud child; you'll only be his disgrace."
Pyp stuffed a piece of pastry he had just stolen from the kitchen into his mouth, chewing as he said, "I don't know about the things Sam said. I just know the Commander told me to watch you and not let you do anything foolish."
These words of persuasion were useless to Jon. His mind was completely filled with the news of his father's death; he couldn't hear anything else.
"Damn it! The Drillmaster is here," Grenn, standing at the door, suddenly cursed and warned.
Sam and Pyp immediately stood up from the ground, nervously looking at the door.
The slightly ajar stable door was kicked open from the outside. Although Grenn dodged in time, he was still hit on the shoulder by the door and let out a painful grunt.
At the same time, Allister Thorne walked in with a grim expression, his eyes sweeping over the people in the stable before finally landing on Jon. A scornful smile appeared on his face, and then he reprimanded Sam and the others, "Everyone else is busy working. Are you sure you're coming to the stable to slack off..."
Sam immediately retorted, "Lord Allister, we are not slacking off. The Commander ordered us to stay here and take care of Jon."
Allister glanced at Jon, and said mockingly, "Take care of Jon? What's wrong with our Young Master Jon? Did he break an arm or a leg? I remember isn't he the Commander's Steward? He's not a Ranger, so he's not qualified to fight enemies head-on. Will he get injured? Could it be that he was injured by a document while fetching it for the Commander? Young Master Jon."
Jon stood up abruptly from the ground, glaring at Allister, his hand on the hand-and-a-half sword at his waist.
"What, do you want to fight me?" Allister walked directly in front of Jon, staring at him, and said, "You are just like the sword in your hand, both are bastards. Your father, Eddard Stark, is the same, also a sanctimonious bastard. On the surface, he looks righteous, but in reality, he does all sorts of dirty deeds. Now he's messed up, failed to seize his friend's son's throne, and was publicly beheaded for treason. This is his best outcome. Do you know how happy I was to hear that news? Bastard."
Jon's anger instantly flared, and he directly drew his hand-and-a-half sword, slashing towards Allister. Allister had already anticipated Jon's move, retreating in time and also drawing the knight's sword from his waist.
Sam immediately stood between the two, while Pyp and Grenn held the enraged Jon from left and right, preventing him from continuing his attack.
"As an Steward, daring to attack the Drillmaster..." Allister's face showed a smug smile, ready to pin a crime on Jon.
But Sam interrupted Allister, saying, "Lord Allister, you'd better think about your own situation first!"
Allister frowned and snapped, "What nonsense are you talking about? What's there to think about my situation?"
Sam turned and pointed to the hand-and-a-half sword in Jon's hand, saying, "This hand-and-a-half sword in Jon's hand was personally given to him by Lord of Summerhall, Prince of the Narrow Sea and the Stepstones, Divine Chosen One Linde Terra. It is Lord Lynd's personal sword. However, you just now kept calling it a bastard. This is a public insult to Lord Lynd. Jon has always admired Lord Lynd and practiced his swordsmanship with Lord Lynd as his goal. Your insult to Lord Lynd just now enraged Jon, which caused him to do something irrational. Think about it, if the Commander and the Commanders knew about this, would they tie you up and send you to Summerhall for Lord Lynd to deal with, or would they listen to you and punish Jon, who drew his sword against you to uphold Lord Lynd's honor?"
Allister's face turned ashen when he heard Sam's words. He knew very well Lynd's standing in the Nights Watch's hearts, and even he himself greatly admired Lynd. If what Sam said about his words pointing at the hand-and-a-half sword were truly told to the Commander, the Commander might really tie him up and send him to Summerhall to apologize to Lynd.
Allister argued, "This hand-and-a-half sword, he's always just claimed it was given to him by Lord Lynd. Who knows if he's lying? He's just a bastard, how could Lord Lynd give him his personal sword?"
Sam said seriously, "Not long ago, when Countess Daisy Mormont came to the Black Castle, she already confirmed that this sword belonged to Lord Lynd. It's just that you were at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea at the time and didn't know. You wouldn't even disbelieve Countess Daisy's words, would you?"
In the hearts of the Nights Watch, if Lynd was a lofty object of worship, then Daisy Mormont was their provider. For all these years, the Nights Watch had been well-fed, well-equipped, all thanks to Daisy Mormont. The supplies that they believed could not be exchanged with their previous furs were all obtained through trade with Bear Island.
Although they all knew that Lynd was the mastermind behind these trades, they were even more aware that Daisy Mormont was the actual executor of these trades. If they offended Daisy Mormont, no one knew if she would cause trouble. Once Bear Island stopped its supplies, the many people of the Nights Watch would fall into a crisis of food shortages, and even internal strife. Therefore, everyone in the Nights Watch, including Old Bear Jeor Mormont, had an inexplicable fear of Daisy.
Precisely because of this, after hearing Sam say that Daisy had confirmed that the hand-and-a-half sword indeed came from Lynd, Allister did not doubt it. With a cold face, he turned and left the stable.
After Allister left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Pyp and Grenn also released Jon's hands, allowing Jon to sheath his hand-and-a-half sword.
Grenn suddenly asked with some confusion, "I remember when Countess Daisy came to the Black Castle, she didn't seem to say that the hand-and-a-half sword on Jon was Prince Linde Terra's personal sword, did she?"
Sam and Pyp simultaneously rolled their eyes at Grenn, saying in unison, "Stupid ox."
Sam then turned to Jon, who was still fuming, and said, "Jon, did you know how dangerous your actions were just now? If you had really stabbed Allister, even if he had insulted you and that sword beforehand, you would still be punished in the end. Fratricide is a serious crime in the Nights Watch military regulations."
"He's not my brother," Jon said in a deep voice.
Sam sighed, not knowing how to persuade Jon in his current state.
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