A War of Fate and Prophecy

Chapter Thirty One

As they march along Alyssays is fascinated by listening to the others talk and interact. Jon and Jorah keep her firmly between them in the line and even Tormund and Gendry even seem to be helping with keeping the new members of their little party away from her.

Tormund in particular never fails to entertain her as they trudge through the snow.

"You all right?" Jon asks Gendry who is shivering.

"Mm." He nods, too cold to answer and she has never been more grateful of her hot Targaryen blood.

"Ever been north before?" Jon inquires.

"Never seen snow before." Gendry admits.

"Beautiful, eh?" Tormund interjects. "I can breathe again. Down south, the air smells like pig shit."

"You've never been down south." Jon tells him with a smirk.

"I've been to Winterfell." The wildling objects.

"That's the North." Jon reminds him but the big redhead sticks out his tongue and blows a raspberry.

"How do you live up here?" Gendry demands. "How do you keep your balls from freezing off?" He glances at Alyssays. "Sorry princess."

Tormund answered the question. "You got to keep moving. That's the secret. Walking's good, fighting's better, fucking's best." He looks at Aly. "Sorry."

"There's not a living woman within a hundred miles of here except her grace." Gendry points out.

"We have to make do with what we've got." Tormund chuckles and he and Jon exchange a look and move forward a few steps with a chuckle . "This one is maybe not so smart."

Jon shrugs. "Davos says he's a strong fighter."

"Good. That's more important than being smart." Tormund agrees.

"Smart people don't come up here looking for the dead." Jon points out.

"So, you meet your princesses Dragon Queen, huh?" The wilding asks.

Jon nods.

"And?"

"She didn't want to fight beside us unless I bent the knee. If it weren't for Alyssays I don't know that she still wouldn't."

"You spent too much time with the Free Folk. Now you don't like kneeling." Tormund observes.

"Mance Rayder was a brave man. A proud man." Jon muses.

"The King beyond the Wall never bent the knee." Tormund agrees. "How many of his people died for his pride?" He looks back at Alyssays who is walking next to Gendry. "How are things going with your dragon dreamer?"

Jon smiles. "She agreed to marry me."

Tormund stops walking in shock and stares at Jon. "Well fuck, I thought she'd was smarter than that."

Aly is walking beside Gendry when the brotherhood catches up to talk to him.

"You still mad at us, boy?" Thorne asks.

"You sold me to a witch." Gendry grunts back with a scowl.

"A priestess." He corrects then shrugs at Gendry's expression. "I'll admit, it is a subtle distinction."

"We're fighting a great war. Wars cost money." The one eyed man whose name was apparently Beric and once upon a time had been lord of Blackhaven said.

"I wanted to be one of you. I wanted to join the Brotherhood, but you sold me off like a slave." Gendry ranted. "Do you know what she did to me? She strapped me down on a bed, she stripped me naked..."