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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 0:27:17 GMT -7
"The country is torn apart by war, I might not get anything from anywhere." He admits, knowing the reality of his situation. Three kings have already died horrible, bloody deaths, followed by their soldiers and thousands of innocent men, women, and children. King's Landing doesn't seem to want to help anyone but it itself, and the North is splintering quickly into houses willing to betray one another. He wishes he were more optimistic. He wishes he were more like Robb, but when the odds look this grim, it's hard to be. But he'll prepare nonetheless. He has to. He refuses to die without at least fighting first. And if none of the seven kingdoms heed his warning, then...he'll have done all he can.
"You don't have to apologize, Katherine." Jon tells her, shaking his head. "Not when I'm just as limited in helping you as well."
And gods he wants to. If he were a braver man, a more reckless man, he'd forgo his oath and take up arms against the Freys. Against the Lannisters and the Boltons and every single person who's ever harmed his family. He'd kill them all. But he can't. Maester Aemon told him that once, the first time he'd thought of running back to Winterfell. Told him that love is the death of duty. And if he let his heart guide him, he'd be leaving every single one of these men here to die horrible deaths alone. He owes them at least the decency to stay by their sides. To fight with them until his dying breath.
Robb would have wanted him to honor at least that.
Looking down once more, Jon takes a deep breath to clear his head, and considers pouring himself another glass of wine. "Anyway...you wanted to talk. Earlier."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 26, 2017 5:59:56 GMT -7
It was true what he was saying, every house seemed to be at war with either itself or with other houses. Parts of the Kingdom torn because the Lannisters want to show their strength and that they belonged on the throne and not anyone else and all it took was her father dying and Ned Stark being executed.
Katherine looked down at the map when he said about the north being splintered into so many houses who were willing to betray Robb and their King. She looked back up at Jon when he said about the fact he wanted to help her but was limited in doing so. For the first time it felt like they both were in the same situation. Katherine so desperately wanted to help him, to have the extra men that he needed but most of the men that had been with Robb had been killed at The Twins.
But then there House Bolton who had ran to the Lannisters the first chance they got.
He then said about her wanting to talk and for a moment she scoffed before shaking her head. "It seems somewhat like we're in the same situation" she admitted. "I'm a young girl fighting a war I never wanted, a war that even Robb never wanted but he did want to get your father back" she said and nodded.
Her brown eyes went back to the map that she had brought in. "I am Queen of the North and yet I don't have much of a north, I can't trust anyone to not stab me in the back" she glanced at him. Jon might be the only person outside of the war that she could trust, she knew he wouldn't betray her.
"Winterfell," she put her fingers on where it was "is now being run by the Boltons" she moved her fingers to The Twins "who were in league with the Frey's and the Lannisters" she moved her fingers to Casterly Rock and King's Landing. "And all of them now probably want my head on a spike next to Robb's" she sighed and knew she shouldn't be burdening him with this because he couldn't help but maybe a little bit of advice might help. "And the Tyrell's like to switch sides so many times that it's hard to keep up" she admitted and looked up at him.
"I promised the men Walder Frey's head and I'm wondering if I really can deliver that"
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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 11:40:17 GMT -7
Jon listens to her own less than favorable situation, following her hands as she moves them across the map, telling him details he only knows a little of. Here, at the wall, they receive news like everywhere else. But the messages are always short, to the point, a slim summary for those so far removed from the dealings of the south that they can't be bothered with it anyway. King Robert is dead, Ned Stark has been executed as a traitor, The Young Wolf has been killed by his own bannermen, long live Queen Cersei. Even Katherine's quick rundown of the state of the realm is more than Jon has heard in months.
"How many men do you have with you?" He asks, looking up to her, knowing that it can't be more than a few hundred at best. A thousand, if she's somehow managed to hide a few out of sight. It's more than Jon has, far more, but not nearly enough to march south and expect to win any battle against a house like the Lannisters or the Boltons. He stares at the map for a moment longer, weighing options.
Pointing to the Twins, he lets his thoughts spill from his mouth, hoping that either one of them can grab onto a useful thread. "If you attack the Twins straight out, you'll have control of the Neck but only for a short time. The Boltons and the Lannisters will hit you from both sides within a fortnight, and even if you hole yourself in the castle, you won't be able to withstand them for very long. If you attack Winterfell," he continues, moving his finger to the familiar point on the map, "Bolton's standing army is three times the size of yours and he's well fortified. Your men would be slaughtered before you reached the gates." He presses his fists the table, hunching himself over the map and letting the gears spin in his mind. But then his eyes flick north.
"But...they'll be expecting to fight on open fields. And if there's one thing I've learned from the wildlings, a small force of well-trained men can take down an entire village by never letting anyone know they're there until it's too late." And then something clicks. He stands straight to move away, grabbing pieces from a chess set Mormont once played. Bringing them back, he places the black King piece upon the marker for the Twins, a white Queen just to the west, and a white knight at the east. "Split your men in two, one half on the west side of the river, the other on the east. Move by nightfall, don't light any fires, keep under the line of trees, and the guards on the ramparts won't see you. Sit for a few days and watch the patrol, taking note of every shift change, every man, every routine. And then, when you're confident, make a distraction when the guard is lightest. Something small to not raise a panic, but big enough to have a few guards leave their stations. And when they do..." he has the Queen piece knock over a black pawn, "Take the uniforms and dress your best men. Send them back into the Twins where they can have control of the gates and kill the last remaining guards there. But it has to be quiet. Quick. And when your men open the gates for your armies, you can't march in single file screaming for revenge. You need to take control of the castles before any word can get sent out to the Boltons or the Lannisters."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 26, 2017 12:00:46 GMT -7
Katherine had to admit that she definitely had a smaller army than what Robb had when he went to The Twins. He was meant to be meeting back up with her but when she got the note she knew that he wouldn't be meeting her there and that was why they headed north.
"A few hundred, maybe a thousand" she admitted and listened to what he said and found that what he said was good council. She watched as he moved away and grabbed the chess pieces and watched when in the end he had the Queen knock down a pawn. Katherine might not have ever played chess but she knew that sometimes it could come in handy. Hell there was a lot of stuff that Katherine hadn't played at and one of those roles was Queen.
Katherine watched him and then looked down at the map. "Sometimes I wonder who is running the seven Kingdoms, whether it's my sister who is pulling all the strings or Tywin Lannister" she said after a moment and then finished up her wine before putting the cup to one side.
Looking down at the map now she could see that what Jon had said would be the best solution, if they could get into the Walder Frey's castle then she could hit him right where it hurt but first she had to put that all on hold. Maybe with her men helping jon's to train she could actually go over what Jon had said once again and then relay it to her men that they had a plan.
She looked up at him, a soft smile pulling at her lips "You would make the better King than i would Queen, are you sure I can't steal you away from here?" She asked in a soft tease.
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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 12:21:23 GMT -7
Jon huffs out a slight breath of a laugh, a small smile twitching at his mouth. Never once in his life has he heard someone say he'd make a good King, frankly the thought had never even crossed his own mind. A bastard boy can't even become Lord of his own home, let alone King of the Iron Throne, not unless by some miracle. And would he even want it? The title, the responsibility? His heart hurts for the one hundred men under his command, he could scarcely stand the pain of ruling a million.
But he looks to her face, sees the softness, the tease, and there's comfort in knowing that she isn't serious. "I wouldn't be much of a King, your Grace." He replies, choosing his words carefully. "And my vows..." His vows should have stopped him from even giving her council. Standing here, playing with these chess pieces, telling her to stealthily kill the Freys in their beds, that could be enough to have Allister screaming treason. But he did it nonetheless. Told her how to take control of the Twins. Chose a side. He's made no promises, pledged no men, set aside no duties. But the thought is still the same.
Jon lowers his eyes back to the map when he finds himself looking at her lips, and clears his throat quietly. "I'm Lord Commander of the Night's Watch," he continues, "My place is here. I wish I could fight beside you. Believe me, I do. But I swore a sacred vow at the godswood. I pledged my life to the Night's Watch."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 26, 2017 12:43:53 GMT -7
Katherine bit in her lip as he started talking and she couldn't stop the smile from pulling at her lips even further. "Trust me I have seen men rise up who thinks they should be King but they don't have a claim to the throne" she looked down at the map and wondered if she would be ever having this conversation with someone If she was in King's Landing. "And I didn't mean take over the Iron Throne" she admitted. She couldn't see Jon sitting on the damn thing anyway, but she couldn't see herself either.
"Jon, please it's Katherine" she said and looked back up at him. All the formalities wasn't necessary. But she guessed that it didn't matter how many times she told him he would always call her 'Your Grace'.
Katherine lightly tapped the map once more and watched him look down and heard his words "I'm not here to make you desert" she admitted "it was merely a suggestion and as for this" she swept her hand across the map to indecate what he had told her "can stay between us but I think what council you did give me was what I needed" she smiled. Katherine now had a plan and sure it was from Jon but no one else needed to know that.
They could keep it their little secret.
She found her eyes looking over his face and them settling on his lips and for the first time she wondered if she would taste the wine on them that he had drank or whether she would taste the cold of winter here in the north. Either way she wasn't sure if she was going to find out.
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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 13:01:37 GMT -7
"I know you're not," Jon replies in a sigh when Katherine tells him she has no intention of making him desert his duties, already knowing in the way she'd smiled at him as she teased. "I just needed to remind myself." A reminder that gets harder and harder to hear every time he says it aloud. There was Ned's beheading, the first time he ran away. The first time he took his disdain for the Night's Watch, his love for his family, and let it rule his head. He made it to Mole's Town before Sam and Pyp and Grenn brought him back by reciting the very vows he swore at the godswood back to him.
And then there was north of the wall, and Ygritte, and the cave. He'd loved her. A part of him still does. And when she asked him to stay in that cave with her forever, the Night's Watch had seemed so dim and so far away and gods he had wanted to. Wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go. To live forgotten in that land of snow and ice. But his vows...they brought him back once more.
And now...Now it's Robb's head hanging on a rampart somewhere, sawed from his neck after he'd been stabbed in the heart by his own men. Robb, the one man who ever deserved to be King, the one man who's heart was truly good, truly just. And even weeks after news first arrived, Jon still feels sick to the stomach every time he thinks of his dead brother. And here's Katherine, his beautiful bride, marching south to get revenge. And he could drop everything and join her if he just let himself forget his vows long enough.
Yet he couldn't.
He feels her eyes on his face, and turns his head to look at her.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 26, 2017 13:15:06 GMT -7
Katherine could see that he wanted to ride south with her, to deliver a blow to the very people that had taken his brother away from him and if she was being honest with herself she wanted him to join her more than anything. She wanted him to be by her side when she walked into The Twins and watched as Walder Frey saw the death of all his children before he was given death too but for her she would make it as slow and painful as she could for the men involved.
But she knew that he was part of the Night's Wafch and she knew that he had his vows and breaking them could be one of the worst things ever but that didn't mean she didn't want him too. That didn't mean she didn't want him to see his plan put into action, for him to be there when they took one House out.
Katherine would never speak out loud and ask him to leave this place when he had his own burden to bare. When he had his own war coming.
He looked over at her and for a moment she held his gaze, his eyes looking back at her and she was sure she could see something in them but she wasn't sure if it was the wine that she had drank having not drank it in a long time. If it was the wine then it would explain why she was giving intimate thoughts about him. After a moment she dropped her gaze back to the map.
"I think I have taken up too much of your time Lord Commander" she said softly.
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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 13:46:00 GMT -7
Looking at her stirs something in him, something he dare not name. But it pulls at the reckless side of him. The side that so quickly fell in love with Ygritte, the side that very nearly did stay in that cave, the side that wants to ride south. But in the growing quiet, it's hard to drown it out with vows and duty.
And for a moment, he doesn't think he can. Doesn't think he wants to.
Katherine breaks the gaze first, looking to the map and softly speaking. Jon drops his eyes as well, and stands up straighter, willing himself to move. With a quiet clearing of his throat, he shakes his head at her words, "No, it's quite all right." Upon picking up the chess pieces from the map, he turns away back to the small cabinet, and drops them onto the shelf where the folded board sits. The fire has grown low in this room, and as he looks at it he notices for the first time how chilly it's truly become. Jon crouches down and sets a fresh log onto the embers, glancing briefly over his shoulder back towards Katherine. "But it is getting late. Might be best to turn in for the night." He stabs at the wood with a fire poker, moving it around to let the flames breathe.
"I can build you a fresh fire before I go, if you'd like." He adds on, nudging his chin towards the open doorway to her quarters. "The logs are so dry here, they burn quick." He rises back to his feet and sets the fire poker upon it's stand, before turning to face her.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 26, 2017 14:09:18 GMT -7
Katherine could feel heat in her cheeks and she was glad when she couldn't feel his eyes on her anymore. This really isn't what she wanted, she has been seventeen the last time she had pretty much teased him. She had been in Winterfell for a few days and being up in the north hadn't exactly been an easy place to get too but in the end they had ended up with the Stark's.
She glanced up to see him putting the chess pieces back and she allowed herself that time to take a shaky breath and prayed to all the gods that they could calm her heart down. She needed to be preparing for a war, preparing for the arrival of her child and not having moments like these with Jon Snow, the brother of her dead husband.
But that didn't stop her from thinking about him anyway. It didn't stop her thinking about the kiss they shared so many years before in Winterfell. A single soft kiss that was never repeated or even talked about between them, not because Katherine didn't want too but because she didn't want Jon to get into trouble over it. She might not care about the fact that he had been a bastard but others did and they would've made sure he had been punished for it and that was the last thing Kat had wanted.
Katherine rolled up the map that she had got from Robb too. All of her stuff she had got was from him. She hadn't left with much when she left King's Landing but Robb seemed to have made up for that not that she needed anything.
She looked up when he spoke to her and then bit on her lip as she glanced towards the room she was sleeping in before looking back at him. "That would be nice actually" she admitted and then smiled before grabbing the map and walking back into her room, her heart was pounding hard in her chest right now and it might be feeling cold but she was feeling hot and she hoped that he didn't notice but he was sure to see her cheeks burning.
Katherine put the map down with her things and made sure that the room wasn't messy because she didn't want him to think she was abusing his room by making it messy.
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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 14:19:51 GMT -7
Jon nods, and lets Katherine step into the room first, taking the small moment of solitude to pull a deep breath into his lungs. Gods, Edric is right. How in seven hells does he end up in these situations.
He turns towards the bedroom, and steps in, keeping his attention and his eyes focused upon the fireplace. Just as he did when Mormont was Lord Commander, just as he does every night before going to sleep, he bends a knee in front of the hearth, and sets to building the fire. He extinguishes the old and cleans out the ashes as Kat mills around the room, straightening up out of the corner of his eye. Stacking the wood in a manageable position, he takes a moment to tug his gloves off with his teeth and set them aside, before striking the flint to create a spark. Even with his years of practice, even with the year he spent north of the wall having to build fires out of nothing, it takes him two strikes more than it ever has before to get the damn kindling lit. He swears lightly under his breath, before picking up the fire poker to stoke at the flames. Within minutes, a substantial fire burns in the hearth, casting off light and heat into the otherwise chilled room.
Jon rises back to his feet, picking his gloves up from the ground beside him, and searches out Katherine "That should last the night. I'll have Olly come and build another one for you after breakfast." He says with a nod.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 26, 2017 14:38:33 GMT -7
Katherine watches as Jon stokes the fire, if it was chilly in here then she didn't feel it and she put it down to the heat she was feeling in her cheeks. Although she did have a little shiver to her but she was going to lie, if asked if she was okay, and say that it was down to the cold.
Jon stood up in the end and she smiled. There was the heat that she had felt the day that she had turned up here and he had given her his room. But it seemed to be making her hotter and she wondered if she needed to step out into the coldness to cool down.
She moved her eyes away from him and looked at the fire when he said about the boy coming in and lighting another one after breakfast. She was sure that it would last because once he had left she would be getting into bed and probably wouldn't feel much of the fire until the morning.
Plus the next day her men would be training his men, they might as well get stuck in while they were here as they didn't have any time to lose. "I'm sure it will be fine for tonight as I'm going to go straight to bed anyway" if she could sleep then it would be a miracle. The last few mornings she had been up early with the little kicks inside of her.
Katherine pulled her lip in between her teeth and it on it for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something but she swallowed hard and looked down. Instead she finally said "ill bid you a good night, Lord Commander" she said softly and looked back up with him even if a part of her was tempted to reach out and see if his lips still felt good under hers. To see if his lips did taste like wine or winter. But he was a man of the Night's Watch, he couldn't have a woman.
But that didn't mean she didn't want to kiss him.
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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 14:56:25 GMT -7
"Goodnight to you as well," Jon replies. Balling his hand into a fist around his leather gloves, he finally wills himself to move. His feet carry him to the door leading out into the cold night, and Jon does not allow himself to halt. He pulls open the door and steps through, but not before turning his head slightly back in her direction and murmuring a quiet, "Your Grace," before the door closes behind him.
The wind is bitter and cold, far less inviting than the warm fire within, but he keeps moving down the narrow walkway leading in a large square around the courtyard. This time of night, the only ones out are the men patrolling the gates and the wall, their torches casting orange glows with fireflies in the darkness. He blows hot air into his hands before tugging his gloves back on, his shoulders shrugged up against the cold, his eyes cast downwards. He looks up after a moment, only to be met by a pair of red glowing eyes.
He sucks in a sharp surprised breath until Edric appears out of the shadows and mist, the red glow fading into a pale grey. Jon exhales just as quickly in annoyance, his shoulders drooping in one fell swoop. "Do you ever sleep?" Jon asks, rounding around Edric and continuing on. Edric turns and follows.
"You were with her for a long time."
"She wanted advice," Jon admits, looking straight ahead. "She plans on marching to the Twins."
"Right," Edric huffs, "Advice. And what advice did you give her?"
"She has a good heart, but she's never been in battle. All she wanted to know was where to go from here."
"Yes, I've seen you looking at her good heart." Edric comments, tone laced with sarcasm. Jon halts just to turn back on him, his brows pulling tightly close.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asks, words sharp and irritated.
"It means..." Edric says, uninhibited, bending just a little low to lean his face close in to Jon's, "You need to remember your vows, crow." And then Edric carries on, pulling open the door to the barracks.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Aug 26, 2017 15:34:00 GMT -7
Katherine could feel her heart wanting to jump out of her chest and if he stayed any longer then it just might've. Plus if he had stayed longer she wasn't sure what would've happened because she had been eager to taste those lips of his. She gave him a soft smile and watched as he left bidding her goodnight too. She clenched her fists down at her side and only let the breath that she didn't know she was holding when he shut the door. She shouldn't be doing this, it had only been a few weeks since she got that letter, since her life changed so dramatically that it had led her here.
She moved over to the door and moved the bolt to home and she looked around the room after leaning her back against the door. After a moment she moved away and over to bed it had been an exhausting day that she was glad to slip under the covers; letting out a sigh when her back hit the bed. Katherine pulled the covers over her and then looked at the fire once more. She could put the blame of her actions on the wine because she was pretty sure that's what happened. Maybe drinking wine wasn't the best thing to do because it could make a person do stupid things and she didn't need to do any more stupid things.
Katherine let the warmth take her into the land of the dreams.
The next morning she actually had a better sleep than she had in a few days so maybe that wine had done something and helped her to sleep a bit easier. The bed was warm and she didn't want to leave it but she knew she would have to get up and show her face.
She left her room and saw that her men were already in the courtyard and they were training the men individually and making sure that they took in as much as information as they could, she had made sure they knew how important this was because of the urgency. Katherine hadn't gone into too much information about what was happening but she had asked them to help out. She put her gloved hands on the railings and watched them. The sound of their voices reaching up to her and it came down to something was skilled men who hadn't taken the Black was training men of the Night's Watch how to hold a sword.
The day was grey and there didn't seem to be any sun but even that didn't make it feel anymore warmer, maybe the Stark's were right this time. Winter was coming and it might already be here and so could the wildlings on the otherside of the wall but for now the men were training and it was coming them occupied while they were here at least they weren't causing fights between each other, Katherine wasn't sure if she could handle that. Her eyes fell on William, he was usually at her side but clearly he wanted to spend the morning helping out as much as he could too.
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Post by Ray on Aug 26, 2017 21:10:00 GMT -7
His dreams are restless that night. After finally settling in to a sunken bunk and tossing and turning until his eyes could no longer remain open, he falls asleep only to return to the wall. It's empty though, quiet. A shrouded sun shines down upon a deserted Castle Black. He walks, through every hall and every building, but finds no one. Just dust. Just rats. His feet carry him through the thick layer of snow to the tunnel beneath the wall, and out he walks into the dreary oblivion on the other side. A grey mist covers everything, making it impossible to see anything more than a foot ahead of him. He holds a hand in front of his eyes, shielding them from the onslaught of an ice storm, and continues on.
The further he walks, the deeper the snow becomes, until he's struggling to break his legs through the knee-high blanket. He sweats, despite the freezing chill, but continues on all the same. Something rises out of mist ahead of him, dark and towering and obscured. He fights to get closer, fights until he can begin to make out walls and pillars and burnt stone. And then he's suddenly free of the snow. His feet touch rock, and the storm lessens. All around a room takes shape, long and wide and desolate. The roof has been torn open, but he cannot see the sun here. Only gray. He rounds a pillar, and sees it. Sitting atop a set of steps. Ugly and twisted and gnarled. Not ever as he imagined it. In an abandoned hall, the Iron Throne stands alone, with no one to sit upon it.
He approaches, slowly, but the closer he gets the harder it is to breathe. Something warm blooms across his chest as he reaches the bottom of the steps, and he pauses to look down. Crimson bleeds through torn holes in his tunic, dripping onto the rock floor.
Jon wakes with a start as the first light seeps in through the windows, his ears ringing and his heart hammering in his throat. Slowly, the room returns to him, filled with the sounds of slumber and snoring, filled with the early morning chill of a burnt out fire, filled with all the things he knows. He lets himself relax back upon his elbows, his breathing returning to a normal rhythm, and listens as Sam mumbles something about hot pies from the bunk next to him.
By mid-morning, the sound of training fills the courtyard, voices echoing into one consistent hum interrupted only by the ring of steel upon steel as swords connect. The men not fighting roll barrels of pitch onto the elevator, riding the long line up to the very top of the wall. The rest carve arrows, sharpen swords, stack shields, cut wood -- hustling back and forth in an effort to somehow beat the army outside their defenses. An army that could attack any day, or not at all.
Jon doesn't like uncertainty. So they prepare.
"We should flood the tunnel," Othell says from his seat at the head table in the great hall beside Jon, watched by the First Ranger and the First Steward on either side. Davos breaks apart a piece of bread as he sits at the table below with Maester Aemon and Sam. Edric is nowhere in sight. "Let it turn to ice before the wildlings attack."
"And keep us from venturing beyond the wall when we need to?" Allister argues. "You'd be cutting our sworn duties in half, making us useless."
"We'd be stopping the wildlings from using giants to tear the gate apart and giving them complete access to Castle Black." Othell argues, his face pinched with anger.
"Ser Allister is right," Jon sighs, though it pains him somewhat to do so, "We can't flood the tunnel. Most of our big game comes from beyond the wall, we'd be starving ourselves. Besides, the tunnel is narrow. If they did break through, they'd be putting themselves into a tight spot they can't get back out of. It'd be like wild chickens running to slaughter."
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