Winter Is Our Fury

Chapter Sixty-One: Lady Of Winterfell

"I want every Northern maester to scour their records for any mention of dragonglass." ordered Jon. "Dragonglass kills white walkers. It's more valuable to us now than gold." he explained. "We need to find it, We need to mine it, we need to make weapons from it."

Jon had explained not only to Aris, but everyone in Winterfell that there was a greater threat than just Cersei or dragons, a greater threat beyond The Wall, one he had come face to face with. It was hard for Aris to comprehend at first, but living in a world where dragons once where, and now are once again real, she had no choice to believe Jon's wild words until he had the backing of Torment and all his Wildling friends.

Winter was coming and the dead were coming with it.

"Everyone aged ten to sixty will drill daily with spears, pikes, bow and arrow." continued Jon.

"About time we taught these boys of summer how to fight." commented Lord Glover and small laughter agreed with him.

"Not just the boys." replied Jon and the hall turned silent. "We can't defend the North if only half the population is fighting."

Lord Glover rose from his seat. "You expect me to put a spear in my grand daughter's hand?"

and Lady Mormont shot from her seat on his note, "I don't plan on knitting by the fire while men fight for me. I might be small Lord Glover, and I might be a girl, but I am every bit as much Northerner as you are."

"Indeed you are My Lady, no one has questioned..."

"And I don't need your permission to defend the North." she shot. "We'll begin training every man, woman, boy and girl on Bear Island."

"Aye!" the men wrapped their fists against the table and Lord Glover nodded in acknowledgement.

"While we're preparing for attack, we need to shore up our defences. The only thing standing between us and the Army of the Dead is the Wall, and the Wall hasn't been properly manned in centuries." explained Jon. "I'm not the king of the Free Folk," and Torment turned his head in response from the other end of the hall. "But if we're gonna survive this winter together..."

Tormund grunted rising to his feet. "You want us to man the castles for you?"

"Aye. Last time we saw The Night King was at Hardhome. The closest castle to Hardhome is EastWatch-by-the-Sea."

"Then that's where I'll go." and Tormund looked at the Northerns in the room. "Looks like we're the Nights Watch now." he said with a chuckle and small chatter started up in the stone hall. Some men disliking the action.

"If they breach The Wall, the first two castles in their path are Last Hearth and Karhold."

"The Umbers and the Karstarks betrayed the North." Lord Royce announced standing from his seat. "Their castles should be torn down with not a stone left standing."

"What did the castles do to you?" Aris announced from the long table beside Jon's right. "We're going to need every fortress for the coming war."

Sansa hummed in agreement. "We should give the Last Hearth and Karhold to new families, loyal families who supported us against Ramsay."

"Aye." a collected sound echoed across the men of the room and Aris tensed her shoulders.

"The Umbers and the Karstarks fought beside house Stark for centuries. They've kept faith for generation after generation." said Jon.

"And then they broke faith." told Sansa.

"I'm not going to strip these families of their ancestral homes because of the crimes of a few reckless sons."

"So theres no punishment for treason and no reward for loyalty?" questioned Sansa and leant over the table to peer at Aris who sat on Jon's opposite side and asked, "Tell us, did they willingly join Ramsay's side or not?"

Aris glanced up at Jon and she could feel the annoyance begin to radiate from him. "They did-" and grunts circled the room. "But!" she said loudly over the grunts. "I agree with Jon. The punishment for treason is death. Smalljon Umber died of the field of battle. Harold Karstark, too."

"They died fighting for Ramsay." argued Sansa. "Give the castles to the families of the men who died fighting for you, Jon."

Chatter erupted again and the men banged their fists on the table showing their vote for the argument. LittleFinger who stood in the far corner of the hall smiled to himself enjoying the political argument between the Stark siblings as the men continued to chatter.

Jon looked down between his sister on either side, both waiting for his choice. "When I was Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. I executed men who betrayed me. I executed men who refused to follow my orders. My father always said, 'the man passing the sentence should swing the sword'." Jon recited. "And I have tried to live by those words. But I will not punish a son for his father's sins. and I will not take a family home away from a family it has belonged to for centuries. That is my decision, and my decision is final." Jon firmly stated tilting his head toward Sansa, like although he was ordering her and not the men in the room.

Sansa sighed turning her head away.

"Ned Umber." Jon called forward and a little boy stepped out from the cluster of men. "Alys Karstark." a red headed girl stood up from amongst the men. Both terrified by the eyes of everyone as they came before the King in the North and the house their family betrayed. Jon motioned his hand for the pair to come forward.

Alys Karstark and Ned Umber shuffled down the aisle.

"For centuries our families fought side by side on the battlefield." spoke Jon. "I ask you to pledge your loyalty once again to house Stark, to serve as our bannermen and come to our aid whenever called upon."

Alys was first to draw her sword and kneel before Jon with Ned following her action. Both children pledging loyalty.

"Stand." ordered Jon. "Yesterday's war don't matter anymore. The North needs to band together, all the living North! Will you stand beside me, Ned and Alys, now and always."

"Now and always!" both repeated.

Men cheered pounding the tables feeling a sense of unison and by the time the meeting was over, Aris had wondered off.