The Demon of Winterfell

Chapter Thirty-Four: Lord Commander

Emmelyne stood before Stannis, who wished to punish her for what she'd done. "I ordered Mance Rayder burned at the stake," he said. "You prevented that order from being carried out. You showed mercy to Mance Rayder. A king's word is law. Perhaps you should ask Ser Davos how much mercy I show to lawbreakers."

Emmelyne's fingers curled into fists. "Show too much kindness, people won't fear you. If they don't fear you, they don't follow you," Stannis.

"With respect, King Stannis, Aerys Targaryen used fear to his advantage and look what happened to him. In fact, Aerys liked to burn men alive, too. You want the wildings to follow you? They won't."

"Who, then? You? Your brother?"

"No. One of their own."

Stannis sighed, pushing a letter toward Emmelyne. "Do you know this wretched girl? Lyanna Mormont," he stated.

"A relative of Jeor Mormont, I'm guessing."

"His niece. Lady of Bear Island and a child of ten. I asked her to commit her house to my cause. That's her response."

Emmelyne opened the letter, confused as to why this pertained to her. "'Bear Island knows no king but the King in the North, whose name is Stark,'" she read off, squinting at the messy writing with a soft chuckle.

"Something funny to you?" Stannis demanded.

"Apologies, King Stannis. Northerners can get stubborn. Loyal to their own, mostly," Emmelyne explained.

"I know. My brother Robert went on often and loudly about how difficult it was to control them. Even with your father's help."

Emmelyne nodded slightly. "Pardon, Your Grace, but I don't see why you've shown me this letter."

Stannis looked at Davos, then back to Emmelyne. "There is no 'King in the North' anymore. Robb is dead, Jon is a bastard, Bran and Rickon are dead. You're the eldest remaining child of Eddard Stark. You're all that's left. You could have power if you wanted it. Tell me, Lady Stark, do you want that power?"

Emmelyne shook her head. "I'll leave controlling northerners to you, Your Grace."

Stannis nodded a bit. "You're free to go," he muttered. "Send in your brother."

"Of course," Emmelyne said.

She turned, leaving the room quietly.

Emmelyne stood at the back of the hall. The Night's Watch was voting in a new Lord Commander. "Crowded," Alliser noted. "You'd think we were serving venison stew."

This brought forth some laughter from the small crowd gathered near Alliser. Maester Aemon, a frail, nearly blind old man with thinning white hair, stood from his seat. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Does anyone wish to speak for candidates before we cast our tokens for the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch?" he questioned.

A man stood up. Emmelyne knew him to be Janos Slynt, and he was once the commander of the City Watch in King's Landing. "Ser Alliser Thorne is not just a knight," he stated, "he's a man of true nobility. He was acting Commander when the Wall came under attack and led us to victory against the wildlings."

A chorus of agreements surrounded Janos, who continued his speech. "He's a veteran of 100 battles and has a defender of the Watch and the Wall almost all of his life. He's the only true choice."

Cheers rose up, and men began pounding the tables. Another man stood, one Emmelyne did not know. He waved a hand toward another brother. "Ser Denys Mallister joined the Watch as a boy and has served loyally longer than any other ranger. Through 10 winters he served. As commander of the Shadow Tower, he kept the wildlings away. We could do no better."

More cheers and table pounding. "If there is no one else," Aemon said, "we will begin the voting. The triangular tokens count for Ser Alliser Thorne. The square tokens Ser Denys Mallister. Each brother will- -" he began.

"Maester Aemon," the round man, who Emmelyne learned was named Sam, stated.

Everyone turned in their seats, eyeing Sam with disdain. "Samwell Tarly," Aemon acknowledged. "Go on."

Jon shook his head at his friend, urging Sam to be quiet. "Sam the Slayer," Janos joked.

Laughter. "Another wildling lover just like his friend Jon Snow. How's your lady love, Slayer?" Janos mocked.

Sam didn't take the joke. "Her name is Gilly. Brother Slynt knows her quite well. They cowered together in the larder during the battle for the Wall."

Now the laughter was directed to Janos, who took an immediate offense. "Lies!" he cried.

"A wilding girl, a baby, and Lord Janos. I found him there after the battle was over in a puddle of his own making," Sam continued, and even Emmelyne couldn't contain her chuckle. She even noticed Aemon smiling.

"Whilst Lord Janos was hiding with the women and children," Sam said, grateful of the laughing, "Jon Snow was leading. Ser Alliser fought bravely, it is true. And when he was wounded it was Jon who saved us. He took charge of the Wall's defense. He killed the Magnar of the Thenns. He went north to deal with Mance Rayder, knowing it almost certainly meant his own death. Before that, he led the mission to avenge Lord Commander Mormont. Mormont himself chose Jon to be his steward. He saw something in Jon and now we've all seen it, too. He may be young, but he's the commander we turned to when the night was darkest."

Cheers and table pounding. Emmelyne tipped her cup toward Sam, smiling appreciatively at him. But Jon looked surprised when they continued cheering, the loudest it had been for anybody. "I can't argue with any of that," Alliser said, standing. "But who does Jon Snow want to command? Night's Watch or the wildlings? Everyone knows he loved a wildling girl and spoke with Mance Rayder many times. What would have happened in that tent between those two old friends if Stannis's army hadn't come along? We all saw his sister put the King-beyond-the-Wall out of his misery. It can assumed he gave her the order to do that. Or if you don't believe that, what about when he brought a dead wildling girl beyond the Wall? Do you want to choose a man who has fought the wildlings all his life or a man who makes love to them?" he demanded.

Aemon slowly got to his feet. "It is time," he said.

Little by little, brothers of the Watch stepped forward, dropping a token into a jug. Emmelyne moved to sit at Jon's side, glaring at anyone who tried to take her seat. She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Do you want to be Lord Commander?" she asked, but he did not answer.

Finally, once the voting was done, the jug was smashed open. The different shaped tokens were lined up on tall sticks of wood, as to see how many votes each candidate had. Everyone watched with baited breath, and Emmelyne squeezed Jon once more. Once all the tokens were stacked, it was Aemon's turn to cast a vote. Alliser and Jon were tied, and Denys had the least amount of votes. Emmelyne presumed that Aemon would either Alliser or Jon; he'd be the deciding factor. A brother leaned over, whispering to Aemon. "It appears to be a tie, Maester," he said.

Aemon leaned forward, groaning slightly as he got to his feet. He felt the stacks of tokens, figuring out which belonged to who. Then, he slid a circular token onto it's stack. Jon was the new Lord Commander. At first there was a silence, and then cheering broke out among the men. Emmelyne smiled, looking at Jon. He seemed surprised, his eyes widening as he let out a chuckle. "You won," she laughed.

"Jon Snow!" the men began to chant, and Emmelyne joined in.

Jon stood, embracing Sam tightly before looking out at the people. Alliser and his group of friends were the only men not clapping. Aemon smiled as he sat back down, and Emmelyne decided that she liked the old man. As the cheers and clapping settled down, Emmelyne looked at Jon. "Congratulations," she said.

"Thank you, little sister," he nodded.