Game of Thrones: The Direwolves in the North

Chapter 11: Good News

Jon sat with both his elbows on the table, trying to listen to whatever his so-called small council and the lords and lady of their bannermen were saying.

Jon sat at one end of table. His sister Sansa sat on his right; beside her were Davos Seaworth and the Tormund Gianstbane. An empty seat next to Tormund was Maester Wolkan's, but he was busy organizing and tending to the ravens in the Maester's turret. To his left, were Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island; Wyman Manderly of White Harbor; Robett Glover of Deepwood Motte, and Cley Cerwyn of Castle Cerwyn. And for some reason, Yohn Royce of Runestone, one of the Knights in the Vale. Clearly, he was sort of a stand in for Littlefinger, the Lord Regent of the Vale, who had left and returned to the Eyrie to inform the people of the Vale of their alliance with the North.

Truthfully, Jon never wanted to be the King in the North. He had enough titles, and it even got him killed. He's a bastard and he shouldn't have claims to whatever his father had left behind. If anyone should be holding the north, it should be Sansa, since she's the last trueborn child of Ned and Catelyn Stark. That is, if Bran and Arya come back home, wherever they are.

But no, the northerners rallied him ahead of Sansa, disregarding his bastard status. And Sansa herself was encouraging him. He'd never been close to her, unlike their other sister, Arya; and out of his five siblings, Sansa's the one he'd had less interaction with. But he figured that it's because he's the only brother she's had that's alive, unless Bran shows up, of course.

They've been through a lot. Their father lost his head in the capital. Their mother, well, not his mother, was killed at the Twins, along with their eldest brother, Robb. Little Rickon lost his life trying to get to him from Ramsay Bolton. Bran, now a cripple, paralyzed from the waist down, went beyond the Wall. And according to his friend, Samwell Tarly, he went with Hodor, two other people and his direwolf. He had no idea where his sister Arya was, or whether she's still alive.

If he wasn't King in the North, he would've grabbed a horse and find his younger brother and sister and bring them home. There aren't many of us left, Jon thought. We need to stay together.

Sansa snapped him back to reality.

"...Dreadfort, Karhold and Last Hearth to the Free Folk," Sansa said. "For their support of the King and for their own sustenance in—"

"Wait, what?" Jon asked as if he'd misheard. "You're giving Karhold and Last Hearth to the Free Folk?"

"And the Dreadfort," Sansa added. "But I'm merely suggesting that you do. They can't stay in the Gift for long with winter coming in."

"The Princess is right, Your Grace," Davos Seaworth agreed. "The Free Folk will need shelter with the winter coming."

"Winter is already here, Ser Davos." Jon said.

"That's why you need to shelter them." Sansa insisted. "They won't survive for long out there with the winds growing colder everyday."

"What you're saying is we force the Umbers and the Karstarks to leave their homes." Jon said. "I won't allow that."

The lords of their bannermen started talking at the same time.

"Your Grace, if I may," Lyanna Mormont spoke up. "What the Umbers and Karstarks did is an act of treason and therefore should be penalized for breaking their vows."

"The Free Folk helped you retake Winterfell, Your Grace." Robett Glover brought up. "It's only right that they should be repaid for their efforts."

Wyman Manderly nodded in agreement. "The Karstarks and the Umbers should be relieved from their lands and have their titles stripped off."

Jon pounded his fist on the table which immediately silenced everyone. "The Karstarks and the Umbers had reasons why they chose to side with the Boltons—"