TO LOVE A WILDLING | TORMUND

7 | RISK

"Lord Ashford." Sam placed a letter in front of Jon, who signed it without even giving it a second thought. "Lady Caulfield." He placed another one down. "Lord Smallwood."

Huffing, Jon shook his head to rid him of his thoughts as he scribbled his signature across the parchment for the umpteenth time. "I've never even heard of these people."

"They haven't heard of you, either," Sam pointed out. "But we need men, and they have some." He set another letter down and prepared to grab another one.

"How many men does this Lord Mayzen have to send for us?" Jon asked, but he signed the letters placed in front of him anyway. He knew Sam had a point. They wouldn't stand a chance against the white walkers and wights, or even the wildlings if they orchestrated another attack― not if they didn't have more men.

"More than Lord Wibberley." Sam watched him sign that letter, hesitating before he set the next one down in front of Jon. Part of him wished that Jon would just sign it without even noticing who it was addressed to, but Sam knew better than that. Jon was observant.

The moment his friend's entire body stiffened, Sam knew he had seen the name at the top of the parchment. "Not him," he said lowly, pulling his quill away.

"I know. I'm sorry," Sam apologized. "But we need men and supplies... and Roose Bolton's the Warden of the North."

"He murdered my brother, and he tried to murder my sister," Jon said through clenched teeth. 

"We swore to be the Watchers on the Wall. We can't watch the Wall with fifty men. And we can't get more men without help from the Warden of the North."

Jon's knuckles turned white from how tightly he gripped his quill as he scrawled his signature onto the parchment with clenched teeth. "If any Boltons take the Black and they so much as even look at my sister, I swear to all the Gods that I will kill them," he told his friend, thinking back to how bloody and battered Lyanna was when Nova carried her into the courtyard of Castle Black all those months ago.

"I know that, and I wouldn't expect anything less," Sam said honestly. He hesitated, and then mustered up a small smile to try and soften the mood. "But for what it's worth, I'm sure that Lyanna would have no trouble killing them herself." He gestured outside of the window, where they could see Lyanna down in the courtyard sparring with Edd. "She's a fighter just as much as you are, Jon."

And Jon knew that. Really, he did. But Lyanna would always be his twin sister, his best friend. She would always be the little girl who used to laugh at him when Robb and Theon pulled pranks on him― but no matter how much she laughed at him for it, Lyanna was always the one who would help Jon get back at the boys in return. She would always be the little girl who would come up with random games for the two of them to play any time Catelyn left them out of her dinner parties, mostly just because she knew how upset Jon got and wanted to cheer him up. She would always be the little girl who would sneak to Jon's room and wake him up after having nightmares― which they later found out were visions― so that he could sit with her in silence, because she found comfort in her brother's company, and comfort in the fact that she wasn't alone.

Jon and Lyanna had grown up and they were both adults now, but to him, Lyanna would always be the little girl he grew up with. And even if she was more than capable of defending herself, Jon would always make it a point to look out for her.

No matter what.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

LYANNA DIDN'T KNOW THAT JON FREED THE CAPTURED WILDLINGS until Kane sought her out the moment he was able to. The brunette had been gone all day and had just returned from taking Nova and Ghost outside of Castle Black's grounds so that they could hunt. When she caught sight of the boy running up to her, it completely took her off-guard. "Kane, what are you doing?" She asked with wide eyes, looking around to see if any of the Night's Watch members had noticed the boy. "If they see that you escaped―"