Chapter Text
One
The boy does have a knack for getting himself into trouble. Though he did not seek it as his brother did. But just like him, he tested the patience of others. Though, Egg behaved as he did: a foolhardy young boy. This boy was not foolhardy to say the least. No, he could hear the iron tones in his voice.
So serious for a boy of only four-and ten. But no one can be a boy forever. Especially a boy who's stench is not filled with the dreams of summer; of knightly ventures and the like. No, this boy's dreams were for something far different.
Two
He does have a certain charm to him. Not the obvious charm that every man, woman and child falls for but he has one. Egg was like that too. They also have a knack for befriending anyone and everyone they come across.
He can still remember the day Egg had come with his friend, who at the time called himself Dunk the Lunk. Egg had met many different people and had been good friends to them all. Yet, Ser Duncan the Tall was his closest compatriot.
Jon Snow, a highborn boy who grew up in his father's castle, had earned himself some friends. From what Samwell Tarly had told him, the recruits that he had fought with had now become his closest friends and allies. There was Grenn, who was tall and thick as an aurochs. Pyp, who had once been a mummer and frequently told tall tales and japes. Halder, who supposedly is as strong as Grenn if not just as tall. Jeren, a boy of roughly the same cloth as Jon Snow. And even Samwell himself; a meek and shy boy.
Strangely enough, Sam reminded him much of Duncan when he was that age. So unsure of himself and the sense of wanting to belong somewhere. And both of them in a place where they cannot marry or have children.
Egg would have loved to meet these boys.
Three
Half a wildling, the other officers called him. Many great lords and small oft said that Egg was half a peasant. He roamed the lands of Westeros as no prince of the blood would have done. Jon Snow had roamed the lands that were beyond the Wall.
The both of them spoke for them, my brother for the smallfolk he loved dearly and Jon for the wildlings he came to care for. He could try to deny it all he likes, he could not hide it in his voice. There is no doubt that the Halfhand told him to do what he'd done, but he found himself unburdened for once.
Mayhaps, he had felt like a boy once again?
Four
Love. Love can be a folly at times. Love often comes at a cost. And it does for those in hold of great power.
Egg did not pay that cost. He married his lady love quite young. No one looked twice at it. And no one could see just how much he and Betha were made for one another.
Jon Snow found love. He could hear that in his voice too. The iron in it was still there, but placed with something as soft as a feather-pillow.
This girl, whomever she was, was no ordinary girl. She had placed herself deep within his heart and being. He is likely thinking of her with every fleeting moment.
Mayhaps, you will see your lady love once again, Jon Snow.
Five
Leaders often lead with a heavy burden to shoulder. Everyone who is not a leader often believes that it is the easiest thing to do. It is not.
Leadership is the heaviest of burdens to bear. Egg understood that more than any king that came upon the Iron Throne. Being a leader means to care for all those you intend to lead. Knowing the men whom you are leading; whether into battle or simply leading your countrymen into peace rather than war. Diligent, preparing, seeking the grander perspective in things, unyielding in a nature of sorts, demonstrating an undying sense of loyalty in others.
The boys he befriended would readily die for Jon Snow of Winterfell; now the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. The Aurochs, the "Mummer's Monkey", the Stone-Headed, the boy of Oldtwon, the twin boys of Fair Isle, the Horse from Mole's Town, Iron Emmett of Eastwatch. All of them would easily lay down their lives for a man they clearly chose as leader. Much like the Kingsguard Egg chose: his beloved Ser Duncan, the young devout Ser Gerold, the bright Ser Harlan ...
Surely, my brother has been reborn in this boy.
And One
Kill the boy. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. And let the man be born.
Do what my brother failed to do. Even as he became king, there was still a touch of the boy who had wandered the kingdoms.
He was three-and-thirty when the Great Council chose him to mount the Iron Throne. A man grown with sons of his own, yet in some ways still a boy. Egg had an innocence to him, a sweetness we all loved. Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the Wall.
It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born. You are half the age that Egg was, and your own burden is a crueler one, I fear. You will have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you to do the things that must be done.
Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born. I know you will be the man that Egg could have been. The man he needed to be.
The man to lead the Wall and bring about the light in the darkest of days.