Chapter Text
There was no wall protecting Castle Black from the South. The Kingsroad rode straight into the mess of buildings and keeps nestled right up against the Wall. Jon strained his head up and tried to see if he could tell where the Wall ended and where the clouds began, but the only hint was the fast disappearing winch and stairs that ran up the side of the wall and straight into the clouds themselves.
“A Stark built this?” Theon asked. Both of them stopped on their horses and strained to make sense of the massive wall of ice that cut through the forests and hills.
“Brandon the Builder.” Jon thought Brandon the Builder must have been some kind of fantastical mage to build something this massive. No average witch could form anything close to this.
“It seems a dreary place to die, the edge of the world.” Theon said and urged his horse on. Jon clicked his tongue once and his horse followed.
“It’s honorable work.” Jon protested, the dream of becoming a brother of the Night’s Watch not yet forgotten.
“An honorable death for rapists and thieves.” Theon said and Jon glared at the back of his head but didn’t comment.
“Turn your collar down.” Jon ordered as they got closer to Castle Black, men coming into view and stopping when they saw them headed their way.
Theon sighed, making a noise like he was annoyed, but he did it anyway, letting his furs open far enough that the mating mark on his neck was visible to anyone that was looking. “You oughtn’t worry.” Theon complained, but Jon was still new to being mated and his instincts told him to guarantee that everyone knew that Theon was his. And after Theon’s revelation a few nights before that pureblood Krakens weren’t allowed in the Night’s Watch, he felt even more cautious. The Lord Commander and perhaps advisors as well would know what Theon was when they saw him and men like this on the edge of the world didn’t live by the same rules as the rest of the North.
“It’s not worry.” Jon lied and urged his horse to match with Theon’s so that the Kraken wouldn’t be the first one into Castle Black.
“Ho there! Who goes?” A man called out as he walked across the yard.
“Jon Snow, Ned Stark’s son, and Theon Greyjoy.” Theon answered.
“We’ve come to talk with the Lord Commander and Benjen Stark.” Jon added.
“It’s late.” The man said and both of them brought their horses to a halt. Dusk had started to fall, obscuring the top of the wall even further in the grey gloom of a cloudy day.
“The road was long.” Theon said.
“Edd!” The man shouted back at another man on the other end of the yard. Now that they were closer, Jon could tell that the man was an Andal. It wasn’t just wolves at the edge of the world.
“What?” Edd shouted back.
“Tell the old bear he’s got guests.” The man called, then gestured Jon and Theon forward, “Come, you can stable your horses.”
Jon swung down from his saddle, flipping the reins over the horse’s head before pulling him forward, “What news is there?” Jon asked as they followed the man towards the stables.
The crow shook his head, “Best you hear it from the old bear.” He didn’t seem to be the talking type.
He led the two of them back across the yard and up into the main keep. The sun was almost down and the wind bit at their cloaks. Summer was never warm in a place like this. “We’ll send grub up soon.” He said as he opened the door to a solar.
Jon nodded his thanks and ducked into the solar. The stench of men was strong throughout Castle Black, he’d smelled it even in the corridors, but the solar was strong with the scent of an alpha, the old bear as the Black Brothers called him, Jeor Mormont. “Lord Commander.” Jon greeted the massive man shrouded in a heavy cloak who sat on the opposite end of the room behind an oaken desk.
“Jon Snow,” The man had a booming voice even as he looked at both of them wearily, “And the Kraken.”
Jon looked around the room, “Is my uncle ranging?” He’d hoped to find Benjen here, it would have been easier to bring the news if he was here.
Mormont sighed, “You should sit. I take it you have not heard any of the recent news?”
Jon paused, but took a seat across Mormont’s desk. Theon sat beside him. “Not since we left Winterfell before the King’s arrival.”
Mormont shook his head, “Edd! Tell the Maester to come.” He shouted at the door and immediately turned back to them, sure that his orders would be followed. “You did not hear that your father became the King’s Hand then and journeyed South?”
“No.” They hadn’t. He had assumed his father was at Winterfell, they’d even considered riding South to Winterfell with their news instead of North, but Castle Black was closer.
“We just received the news today, we were out ranging, but the King is dead and your father arrested for treason.”
Jon froze.
Theon spoke for his shock, “What?”
“You won’t like the rest of the news either,” Jeor Mormont said with a sigh, still watching Jon even though Theon had spoken, “Your uncle went ranging soon after your father turned south. We found the bodies of two of his fellows today north of the wall.”
“No—” Jon stopped himself and shook his head. He didn’t understand what had gone wrong. Everything had been fine when they had ridden out of Winterfell all those months ago, and now this? “My uncle, is he—?” Jon didn’t need to finish the question.
“Most likely,” Mormont sighed and leaned back in his chair, “His fellows weren’t so far from the wall.”
“The treason,” Theon asked, leaning forward and placing a hand on Mormont’s desk, “What was the treason?”
There was a knock at the door and the bear called out, “Maester Aemon, come in.”
An old man who seemed to be bleached white and grey with age hobbled in, his eyes glassy and two huge horns, twisted and curled with age, sprouted from the sides of his head. Jon almost jumped in his seat, his eyes widening. He’d never seen a Targaryen before. A Dragon.
“Lord Commander.” The maester greeted and a steward followed him in, a fat boy who looked sullen and small despite his size, and helped him to his chair before ducking back out of the room. Jon looked over at Theon briefly and Theon seemed just as shocked as him to see a Dragon in a place like this, but the curiosity was more obvious on Theon’s face. This maester had to be more than two hundred years old. A number that Theon could hope to reach, seeing kings and cities fall and rise again all in the span of one lifetime.
“Lord Jon Snow, son of Eddard Stark, and his mate, Theon Greyjoy have come.” Jeor Mormont said and the Dragon nodded and turned his unseeing eyes towards Jon.
“Welcome, Lord Snow.” The maester said with a sage nod.
“I was telling them of the news we received.” The Lord Commander said and the Maester seemed to quickly pick up on the topic and continue along.
“Ah, yes,” Aemon Targaryen, son of Maekar, he had to be, who reigned centuries hence, said, “Of the King’s death. The raven spoke of your father’s arrest when he claimed Stannis Baratheon as the king’s true heir. Joffrey Baratheon sits on the throne now, I am told.” Aemon turned his blank eyes back towards Mormont.
A crow flew across the room and landed on Mormont’s shoulder, “Corn!” It called.
“Why should Stannis Baratheon be the king’s heir?” Theon asked, perhaps too bold considering the look that Mormont shot at Jon.
“The affairs of the seven realms mean nothing to us,” The Lord Commander said with a sense of finality, “I only bring you the news out of good will.”
“But surely my father could not—” Jon stopped himself when the Lord Commander looked at him with icy eyes. Jon knew better than to attempt to pardon a traitor of the crown, even if the traitor was his own father. At least in front of unknown company.
“Your father was a good man, just as your uncle was,” The Lord Commander said, “But good men make mistakes just as bad men do.” He said it with a type of finality that only a man who had seen his fair share of good and bad men could.
“If it matters to you, Greyjoy,” Mormont seemed measured with his words, each one purposeful in its presence and absence, “There have been no mutters of treason from your father after your titles were given up.” Jon saw Mormont pointedly look at the mating bite displayed on Theon’s neck.
Theon didn’t respond to that at all. He seemed to glare back at Mormont, almost like a challenge until the old bear turned away and back to Jon. “You said you had news for me?”
Jon nodded, “I have reason to suspect there is a danger beyond the wall.” He said.
“A danger beyond the wall?” Jeor Mormont asked, folding his hands on his desk, “And how have you come to know of this?”
“Wildlings came onto my land, they spoke of—”
“Wildlings?” Mormont said, “How many? You managed to dispatch them, did you not?” The Lord Commander looked away to hunt for a piece of paper, no doubt to take note of where the Wildlings had come over the wall.
“I—” Jon stopped. He saw Theon turn to look at him in the corner of his eye, “Aye, Lord Commander, we did.” He lied and Theon turned back to watch Mormont again. The Dragon maester seemed to tilt his head.
“They spoke of something beyond the wall when we captured them,” Theon said, easily taking over the lying, “Wights, Lord Commander, that pushed them south.”
The Lord Commander frowned, “Wights, they spoke of?”
“And dead men, coming back to life.” Jon added, the haunting tales that Horth had told still kept him awake at night.
“Lord Commander,” The maester muttered, “We’ve had reports from Eastwatch-by-the-sea of fisherman’s tales. And from our rangers of the King Beyond the Wall.”
“It’s good you brought this to us,” Mormont said, his gruff frown tilting further downwards as he pulled at his beard considering the situation, “If something is making more wildlings scale the wall then we need to reinforce our patrols.”
Jon furrowed his eyebrows, that wasn’t exactly what he’d been looking for, “And about the wights?” The Night’s Watch was sworn to protect the realms of men from them and if they really existed up north of the wall, then Jon would expect the Lord Commander to put together a force to destroy them.
“Tales from the wildlings, perhaps,” Mormont said, watching his maester more than Jon, “To make you sympathetic to their cause. We have rangers north of the wall, at their return I can assess better.”
It sounded like a dismissal and so Jon stood, “Thank you for listening to us.”
“Your lands are close to The Gift now, almost falling under the purview of the Night’s Watch.” Mormont said with a nod that reminded Jon of his father. If anything, Mormont was trying to convey that he felt an obligation to Jon to protect him and his lands, and so Jon bent his head in deference.
“Theon.” He summoned and Theon stood, both the maester and the Lord Commander following.
“My steward will see to a room for you both,” Mormont said as he walked them towards the door, “And Snow,” He called as they were leaving the solar. Jon stopped and turned, Theon already half out the door. “You shouldn’t have brought him.” Mormont said, nodding towards Theon. Jon felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
“What?” He said and pushed down the urge to pull Theon closer.
“Krakens like him,” Mormont said with too much emphasis, “Aren’t meant to be up here. Watch him carefully.”
Jon held back the little growl creeping up his throat at the implicit threat.
“No Kraken with fins and gills is permitted to swear oaths to the Black Brothers of the Night’s Watch,” The maester recited as if from a manual, “For they be no brothers at all.”
Jon took a shaky breath, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He swallowed the growl down into his stomach where it roiled with anxiety and just nodded and left the solar, letting the door close behind him. Theon was watching him.
“Don’t worry for me, Jon.” Theon warned and Jon bristled at his words and brushed past him to follow Mormont’s steward to where they’d been given rooms for the night.
“It’s my duty to.” He muttered as he did and he knew that if Theon was a wolf he would have smelled some sour scent off of him, but as it was, he only felt Theon’s glare at the back of his head.
Theon didn’t try to start up conversation again when they made it to their room, but he went into their furs first and Jon took it as a truce as he lay down beside him. There were other things on his mind besides Theon’s apparent heightened vulnerability here. His father arrested and his uncle missing. There were too many things to consider.
He must have been laying on the furs staring up at the ceiling for a long time because eventually Theon turned to his side, muttering, “You think too much,” As he arranged them both so that he could wrap around Jon’s back like a leech. Jon fell asleep like that, Theon’s soft breath against the back of his hair.
He awoke in what was quickly becoming a familiar place. Or rather, a familiar body.
It was the smells that hit him first, the sharp scent of cold and the heavy scent of too many unwashed men passing through this place before. And then there was a new scent, something sharp that hurt his nose, it smelled of death and decay and of ice colder than Jon had ever smelled.
He awoke again to Theon shaking him.
“Jon, Ghost is at the door.”
He remembered scratching at it, trying to wake his own body up, and now he could hear Ghost on the other side doing the same. He pushed out of the furs, Theon sitting up beside him, alert.
“Something’s wrong.” He reached and grabbed his sword, pulling it from the scabbard immediately. Theon didn’t wait for anything else, but was up beside him in a moment, reaching for his dirk. Jon didn’t wait and unlatched the door. “Lead us.” He asked Ghost and the direwolf raced back deeper into the keep. Jon almost raced after him, but then he reached back at the last moment and grabbed Theon’s wrist, pulling him along. “Stay right behind me.” He ordered and Theon, thankfully, didn’t question it.
They encountered the first dead man in the hall, a guard on the way to the old bear’s solar where they had been the night before.
“Jon… he’s frozen.” Theon muttered and started leaning down to look at the body. Jon grabbed his shirt and tugged him away.
“Don’t touch him.” He felt the warning through Ghost’s nose, not his own, and wasn’t willing to test anything further.
There was another body half way along the corridor and Jon raced past it to where Ghost disappeared through the open door into the old bear’s solar. “Mormont!” He shouted and raced into the black darkness of the solar, only a lone candle still burning away the shadows.
He saw another open door on the side of the solar and ran through there and a figure was standing over the old bear, asleep in his bed. “Theon!” He yelled back behind him even as he sliced at the form, not even sure what he was attacking. The thing reared back towards him and he saw the icy, frozen, distorted form of a man, a dead man, who had been sitting out in the cold long enough that his lips pulled back off his teeth and the skin around his eyes turned red and black.
It was disgusting and shocking enough that Jon stumbled back when the icy dead man lunged for him, falling over the door jam back into the solar. The wight, for that’s what it had to be, advanced.
“Drowned god.” Theon whispered behind him and his hand on the back of Jon’s clothes pulled him out of the way of the wight’s hand flying out to cut him.
“I cut him.” Jon said, astonished, knowing that his sword had cut through from shoulder to hip on the wight’s back and it didn’t slow at all.
“Fire, Jon!” Theon yelled and slashed at the wight with his own dirk as the thing lunged forward again.
Jon turned and twisted and then saw the cold oil lamp next to the small burning candle. He grabbed the oil lamp, uncaring of how the oil dripped onto his hand and flung it at the wight. It burst and sprayed the thing with oil, but the wight still advanced. Theon’s swings were the only thing to stop it. Jon grabbed the lit candle and threw. “Aah!” He shouted as he saw fire lick upon his own hand as the wight caught aflame.
A hissing sound filled the room like water caught in a log just set aflame. The wight seemed to shake and scream and fall back through the room, scrambling as if to escape the fire. The fire started to lick only everything he touched, the desk, the wood paneling, and the curtains by the window. The deadly hiss continued like a shriek of the wight’s dying breath and the body finally collapsed against the far wall, burning away into ash faster than an ice cold thing ever could as fire spread around him like wings.
Jon grabbed his wrist and looked back down to see if his hand was still aflame, but there was nothing there. It had to have been a trick of the light as he threw the candle.
“What is this?” Mormont stormed out of his room, his own sword in hand, and looked down upon the ash and the smoke
“A wight, my lord, just as we told you.” Theon answered and Jon looked up to see the moment the doubt disappeared off the Lord Commander’s face into grim realization.
And then, the whole room began to go up in flames.