The Lost Dragon | Game of Thrones

Chapter Thirty-Five

Violet sat in the dining hall with Jon, Sam, and Tormund. She sat atop one of the tables, while Gilly was tending to baby Sam beside her. Violet looked to all three men in total confusion.

"So let me get this right." She started, leaping from the table before pacing the floor. "There are ten thousand free folk at Hardhome, and you the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch are wanting to march them through your gates?" 

Jon nodded his head. 

"And why exactly do you need me to help convince them? I couldn't convince Mance to kneel, not that I can blame him for not wanting to. And we both know I'm not the best talker." 

It was Tormund who responded. "The Free Folk follow strength. I've seen you fight, and if your baby crow gets attacked he might need you there to help him." He smirked and Violet rolled her eyes. 

"We know what's beyond the wall, the less bodies that are added to the army of the dead the better." Jon told her. "There are women, children, old people. They all deserve to live through the long night." 

Violet already knew she was going to help him before he even asked. She would always help Jon. Even if she had no idea what she was doing, she would always try. 

"We also need ships." Jon added, looking pointedly at Violet. Who had coincidentally just acquired a hundred ships at her disposal. 

"Well what else am I going to do with them?" She shrugged, smiling at Jon. "Lets get this show on the road then, shall we?" 

~

Violet, Jon, Ed, and several other brothers from Castle Black were sailing alongside Tormund to Hardhome. A small run down village off the coast of Eastwatch by the sea. Jon had only brought men he could trust, as many of the brothers and even young Olly his ward looked to Jon as if he had just betrayed the human race by leaving them.

Violet understood Jons motives. He was a protector at heart, and he couldn't sit aside and watch people die. It was not a part of who he was, and it was something that Violet felt would be his undoing in the end. She also quickly realized that these would be people under her sisters rule when they took back Westeros. People she needed on their side. 

But at least having Jon with her this time kept her mind off the fact that she was once again on a rocking ship. A short ride, but she didn't hate it any less. Hardhome wasn't too far from Eastwatch by the sea, it only took them half a day to sail there. 

As their ships anchored and Violet and their men rowed to the shores, Violet wondered how these people were living here. Snow had hit it hard, covering every inch and it still fell from the sky in sheets. The buildings were missing sections of the roofs, making it complicated to find a single portion that looked livable. Small fires littered the land around them, and a large gate separated them from the large mountain that resided behind them. 

Overall the place seemed to put a damper on everyones mood. Tormund more so than anyone, as the people he considered family were all in this run down community of free folk. Violet gave his arm a gentle squeeze before she, Jon, and everyone else disembarked from what was now her ship.

Violet walked alongside Jon, both of them trailing alongside Tormund who was in front of them. The free folk seemed to all clamber out of their tiny huts to look at the new people who were following along with what was now essentially their leader. At least Violet assumed he would lead them as Mance was now gone, but she had no knowledge of how the free folk chose who to follow. 

The free folk all matched in snow white bundles of clothing, even the single giant she saw was wearing the same. There were tiny children running around, and what looked like sickly old people clambering out of the huts at the sound of commotion. 

"Lord of bones." Tormund acknowledged to the man who had appeared before them. Violet peered around his towering figure to see a man of similar stature with a mask made of bones across his face. 

"Why the fuck do you have crows with you? Where's Mance?" he asked. Tormund sighed before nodding Jon and Violet forward.

"Grab the others, we need to talk." 

~

Violet stood close to Jon and Ed in front of a small fire. Around them were the different leaders of the respective clans of the people of the North. 

"So, wheres Mance?" The one with markings on his face asked. Violet remembered killing a couple that looked just like him on the night she came to Castle Black. 

"I killed him." Jon suddenly exclaimed causing the room in uproar in anger. Violet pulled the sword off her hip and stood in front of him like a protective shield. This action was not unnoticed by the free folk. 

"Baby crow has a body guard now?" One of them laughed, several followed. Tormund rolled his eyes, the giant among them grunted softly.

"I would not mess with her if I were you, she killed all your men." Tormund told the men with face carvings. The uproar only seemed to grow the longer they stood there.

"Why did you bring them here Tormund? These murdering crows?" A young woman asked. Violet wasn't blind, the woman was very beautiful, but her beauty was masked by anger and rage. 

"I am no crow." Violet growled. "I killed the men who tried to kill me, and Mace's death was not at the hands of Jon. He gave him mercy." 

Her words seemed to quiet the men only slightly. 

"Is this true?" they asked Tormund, who nodded in response. 

"Stannis Baratheon was the one to kill your king, he's dead now." She told them, sliding her sword back into its sheath. 

"You should all listen to what they have to say." Tormund told his people. They all seemed reluctant to do so, but their respect for Tormund seemed to outweigh their hatred of the people beyond the wall. 

"We want to offer you lands, south of the wall. The lands are empty, and plentiful. It would give your people a chance to survive this war. We would open the gates at the wall, and let you all through. Also, a gift." Jon told them, before plopping a heavy sack onto the table. 

"Dragonglass?" The woman asked. "Ive heard stories about Dragonglass."

"I've seen a man of the Nights Watch kill a white walker with one. Come with us, and they're yours." Said Jon.

"If?" One of them asked. 

"If you fight with us when the real war begins." Jon answered. 

"My ancestors would spit on me if I broke break with a crow."

"So would mine, but fuck 'em, they're dead." The woman said causing Violet to chuckle quietly.

"And why is she here?" She nodded to Violet. 

"If you've seen the things I've seen her do, you would want her on your side too." Tormund told them all. 

"My sister and I plan to conquer Westeros, we have a very large army, and three very large dragons. We won't stop you settling in Westeros, if you don't stop us from taking the throne. We have no problems with the free folk. As Mance told me, King, Queen, it won't matter when the dead come for you, I don't want to add any of you to those numbers."

Violet speech seemed to stir something inside of them all, especially at the mention of their dead king. The woman nodded her head before picking up a piece of Dragonglass, two other men doing the same. 

Violet and Jon seemed to be happy with their response, but their happiness seemed to diminish at the sound of a ominous horn blaring outside. And the Free Folk seemed to know exactly what it meant. White Walkers.