WHEN THEY LATER RECEIVED A SUMMONS TO THE WAR ROOM, Yelena stood by Jon's side as he read the letter from Winterfell. Though the news about the Army of the Dead was terrible, she felt her heart lift immeasurably at learning that the Stark children were alive and well.
"I thought Arya was dead." Jon said finally. "I thought Bran was dead."
"I'm happy for you." Daenerys told him, then frowned slightly. "You don't look happy."
He shook his head. "Bran saw the Night King and his army marching on Eastwatch. If they make it past the Wall-"
"The Wall has kept them out for thousands of years, presumably." Varys intervened.
Yelena shot him a look. "And how many times in the past thousand years have they launched a full-scale attack on us? Or any attack at all? Even if they can't get through, they can just go over. They don't tire."
"I need to go home." Jon told the queen firmly.
"You said you don't have enough men." her tone sounded reasonable.
"We'll fight with the men we have. Unless you'll join us?" his voice was irked and doubtful.
"And give the country to Cersei? As soon as I march away, she marches in."
"Perhaps not." Tyrion said thoughtfully. "Cersei thinks the army of the dead is nothing but a story, made up by wet nurses to frighten children. What if we prove her wrong?"
"I don't think she'll come see the dead at my invitation." Jon's laugh was humorless.
"So bring the dead to her."
"I thought that's what we were trying to avoid." Daenerys's brows furrowed.
He shook his head. "We don't have to bring the whole army... only one soldier."
Davos frowned thoughtfully. "Is that possible?"
"It should be." Everyone turned to look at Yelena. "I've come to believe that most of what I knew growing up was horse shit, but there were books about the walkers that may hold some truth. Supposedly, a wight is kept alive by the life force of the walker that turned it, so as long as its sire doesn't die..."
Her uncle nodded. "Bring one of these things down to King's Landing and show her the truth."
"Anything you bring back will be useless unless Cersei grants us an audience and is somehow convinced not to murder us the moment we set foot in the capital." Varys couldn't fail to point out.
"The only person she listens to is Jamie." Tyrion sighed. "He might listen to me."
His queen gave him an exasperated look as he turned to her. "And how would you get into King's Landing?"
His eyes moved to Davos, who seemed to think about that for a second. "I can smuggle you in, but if the gold cloaks were to recognise you, I'm warning you, I'm not a fighter."
"Well it will all be for nothing if we don't have one of these dead men." Daenerys said.
"Fair point." Varys looked to Jon. "How do you propose to find one?"
He looked uncertain, but it was Jorah who spoke next. "With my queen's permission, I'll go north and take one." she looked at him in disbelief. "You asked me to find a cure so I could serve you. Allow me to serve you."
"The free folk will help us." Jon stepped in. "They know the real north better than anyone."
"They won't follow Ser Jorah." Yelena warned.
"They won't have to."
The princess's head snapped around to stare at him as Davos spoke up. "You can't lead a raid beyond the Wall. You're not in the Night's Watch anymore, you're King in the North."
"I'm the only one here who's fought them." he reasoned. "I'm the only one here who knows them."
"I haven't given you permission to leave." the queen intervened.
But Jon only shook his head. "With respect, Your Grace, I don't need your permission. I am a King."
When he was quiet, Yelena took a small step toward the queen, meeting her eyes. She didn't know the other woman very well yet, but they'd established something of a friendship since meeting, so she hoped that perhaps she could sway her. "We knew the risks when we came here." she said gently. "We sailed to an island of Unsullied, Dothraki, and Dragons, and whether they're true or not, we've all heard stories. But we put our trust in a complete stranger because it was the best chance for the people. Now I ask you to put your trust in a stranger, because we know each other better than you think. We've more or less faced many of the same nightmares, gained many of the same values as women climbing to power. I'm asking you to trust me... because it's our best chance. It may be our only chance."
Finally, she nodded.
***
Decked out in her gear without a skirt or cloak in the way and her hair pulled back into a tight braid out of her face, Yelena strode about the caverns, overseeing production and helping where she could.
Ser Davos's voice broke her focus. "Begging your pardon, Your Grace." he strode towards Jon with a young man at his side, and Yelena hopped down from the ledge she was on to join them. "My Princess."
"You survived King's Landing." Jon smiled.
"Yet again." he looked to the boy beside him. "This is Clo-"
"Name's Gendry, Your Grace." he interrupted. "I'm Robert Baratheon's son. Bastard son."
If looks could kill, Davos would've murdered the poor lad right then. He sighed while Jon simply blinked in astonishment. "He was meant to keep that to himself."
Yelena chuckled. "I guess blunt honesty runs in the family." she extended a hand. "Yelena Baratheon. Robert's daughter and, I suppose, your sister."
He grinned, shaking the offered hand. "Great to meet you. Really great. I've heard amazing things but... wow, are you sure we're related?" She laughed, and when she stepped back, his gaze turned to Jon. "Ser Davos told me where you're going, Your Grace, and why. Let me come with you."
Davos's head snapped up. "Don't be a fool. You're not a soldier."
"Neither am I, but I'm not letting Jon leave me behind south of that pile of ice." the princess pointed out. "You a fighter, brother?"
His reply was immediate. "Yes."
She looked at Jon, who sighed. "You know how to use a sword?"
"I prefer a hammer."
Princess and King both looked to Davos for confirmation. He gave an exasperated huff, but gave in to honesty. "He can handle himself."
Jon seemed slightly hesitant, but nodded anyway. "We could use the help."
"As my father used to say," Davos muttered. "'It's better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life'."
"I owe you my life twice over now." Gendry told him. "And if what you say is true about what's up there, I can't wait out this war."
The Onion Knight huffed. "Yeah, nobody mind me. All I've ever done is live to a ripe old age."
Yelena grinned. "Don't worry Ser Davos, I don't intend to die anytime soon."
Travelling once again on the open water, it didn't take them long to find themselves at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Jon had tried again and again to convince the princess to stay safely on Dragonstone, but she wouldn't let him face the dead alone this time. Not to mention she now had a brother to look after as well. A small shiver ran down Yelena's spine at the sight of the Wall as her memories of her last encounter with it flooded back. She would still dream about it sometimes; Jon's blood coating her hands, Alliser's hand threatening to squeeze the air from her lungs, a burning sensation over her heart, the contrasting feeling of cold snow beneath her and warm blood pooling around her...
"You alright?" Jon's voice pulled her from her memories, and she gave him a small smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You sure you're ready to go back there?"
He sighed. "I don't have much of a choice." their fingers twined subtly together out of view of the others and she saw a ghost of a smile flash through his eyes. "But I don't have much to worry about with the fearsome Princess Yelena beside me."
Inside the castle, Tormund was looking at her with one eyebrow cocked. "I thought it was your job to talk him out of stupid shit like this."
Yelena chuckled. "It's my self-assigned job to keep him safe when he gets a stupid idea like this."
"How many queens are there now?" he huffed.
"Two." Jon replied.
"And you need to convince the one with dragons, or the one who fucks her brother?" Yelena snorted in a very un-ladylike way at that.
"Both."
"How many men did you bring?" Tormund asked.
Jon's gaze slid around the table. "Not enough."
"The big woman?"
Jon chuckled, and Jorah spoke up. "We were hoping some of your men could help."
"I'll be staying behind." Davos told the wildling. "I'm a liability out there, as you well know."
He nodded. "You are." his eyes turned back to Jon. "You really want to go out there? Again?" When Jon nodded, Tormund looked around. "Well you're not the only ones." he took them down to the cold cells where faint and pale sunlight streamed onto the floor between bars. "My scouts found them a mile south of the Wall. Said they were on their way here."
Three men sat inside, and Yelena blinked in shock at the one laying on the table. "Sandor Clegane."
"The Hound?" Jon asked in slight disbelief. She nodded.
"They want to go beyond the wall too." Tormund told them.
"We don't want to. We have to." The man who spoke was a bit older, with a scrappy-looking eyepatch over his right eye. "Our Lord told us that the Great War is coming-"
"Don't trust him." Gendry said darkly. "Don't trust any of them." Yelena's brows furrowed as he continued, stepping closer to the bars. "They're the Brotherhood. And the last thing their Lord told them to do was sell me to a red witch to be murdered." Yelena's mind flashed to Lady Melisandre.
"Thoros?" Jorah asked, seeming to recognise the last man, who leaned a little further from the shadows at the sound of his name. "I hardly recognised you."
"Ser Jorah Mormont." A little grin crossed the man - Thoros's - face. "They won't give me anything to drink down here. I haven't been feeling like myself."
"You're a fucking Mormont?" Tormund's voice was quiet, but angry. "Like the last Lord Commander?"
"He was my father."
"He hunted us like animals."
Jorah's eyes darkened. "You returned the favour, as I recall."
"Enough." silence ensued as the princess watched the two men carefully. "If we were judging people by their fathers then the dragon queen should have killed me, and I her. But that is not what we do."
"Here we all are," intoned the man with the patch, a small smile playing at his lips. "At the edge of the world, at the same moment, heading in the same direction for the same reason."
"Our reasons aren't your reasons." Davos glared.
"It doesn't matter what we think our reasons are." he stood, approaching the iron bars. "There's a greater purpose at work, and we serve it together, whether we know it or not. We may take the steps, but the Lord of Light-"
"For fuck's sake, will you shut your hole?" the Hound snapped. "Are we coming with you or not?"
"Don't you want to know what we're doing?" Jorah frowned.
"Is it worse than sitting in a freezing cell, waiting to die?" Thoros asked.
Yelena arched a brow. "Probably not."
"He's right." Jon finally spoke again. "We're all on the same side."
"How can we be?" Gendry asked in disbelief.
He sighed. "We're all breathing."