The Provenance || Jon Snow | Game of Thrones

3.01

Her words remind Jon of Gabrielle's stories almost a lifetime ago in the lonely halls of Winterfell, prompting him to ask Ygritte, "Can they squeeze a man to death between their toes?"

"Aye, I've seen it before.  How'd you know?" the woman asks, her eyebrows prettily furrowed in confusion at this bit of knowledge a crow possesses.  But Jon does not answer her--not wishing to explain the Mock Queen or remember his life at Winterfell--only tucking his head and continuing off in silence.

The shouting of 'crow' towards the black-adorned man grates on Jon's nerves as they travel further into the camp, Ygritte recalling, "You're wearing the wrong color."

"Mance was a ranger," Jon grunts, highly doubting that the man had avoided wearing black for fear of evoking this type of response from the people.

But Ygritte seems entirely and usually obliged to taunt the boy crow, "In your hearts, all you crows want to fly free."

And yet, Jon is getting better at this game of theirs, to taunt one another just for the excuse to keep their eyes locked, "When I'm free, will I be free to go?"

"Sure, you will," the woman jokes, sticking out her spear to trip a collection of children who seem inclined to throw rocks at Jon, something not appreciated by the man.  But all the same, his heart seems to lighten as Ygritte continues to taunt him, "And I'll be free to kill you."  Her eyes turn to the running lot of children, "Got no respect, this lot.  Got no fathers to slap 'em when they're foul."

Jon's eyebrows furrow in confusion at her words, asking "What happened to their fathers?"

"Some of them were killed by crows like you."  Jon winces at her response and his brown eyes darken in their direction downward, wishing to no longer partake in this task of his, and brooding all the same.  She pokes him, "Don't look so grim, Jon Snow.  If Mance Rayder likes you, you'll live another day.  And if he don't..."

She leaves that to the fates as Ygritte sweeps open the tent flap with a grin on her pretty face, and Jon's forced to recognize he's now in the tent of Mance Rayder.  And by no means is the tent nicer than any other--maybe roomier--as a hearth burns at the opposite end of the tent, lending light to the man in the middle of the room, a tall and wide figure with bright hair like Ygritte's.  The man sits casually, eating what Jon assumed to be chicken, his head quirking at the sound of footsteps before bluntly responding, "I smell a Crow."

The man turns then and Jon comes to understand why the wildlings are greatly feared, this man of enormous size and confident with his combat skills.  The Lord of Bones informs this wildling, "We killed his friends...thought you'd want to question this one."

"What do we want with a baby Crow?" the man asks with a derogatory tone.

"This baby killed Qhorin Halfhand," Ygritte almost proudly returns, and Tormund Giantsbane visibly pauses, looking at Jon with utter surprise.  But Ygritte continues, "He wants to be one of us."

The man steps towards Jon, his eyes narrowed with analysis of this boy's actions, "That halfhanded cunt killed friends of mine—friends twice your size."

"My father taught me big men fall just as quick as little ones if you put a sword through their hearts," Jon stiffly responds, refusing to be afraid of such potent power in this man, though he blindly misses the interested expression Mance Rayder sends him from the other room.

The redhead laughs at Jon then, loudly and without fearing of scaring anyone, "Plenty of little men tried to put their swords through my heart.  And there's plenty of little skeletons buried in the woods.  What's your name, boy?"

"Jon Snow...Your Grace."  The boy kneels then in the carpet, leaving the wildlings in a shocked silence that has Jon's heart beating, knowing he's done something wrong.  And then, they all laugh heartily as Jon stares--glares--at them from his position on the floor.