Chapter 25 - Chapter 25

𝓒𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓪

"Are we sure they were Benjen's men?" Wylliana asked as a party of five Keeper of the Light walked in the snow. Cassie, Wylly, Rose, Derya and Luna had been out there for good four hours, waiting for the party of Night Watchmen with dogs before starting to explore far more deeper those abandoned lands.

"Othor and Jafer Flowers" Cassandra answered kneeling down to look for traces.

"Probably wildlings attacked them" Derya said as the wind moved her blond hair, but Rose shook her head.

"It cannot be" she said "Wildlings had never done such thing to bodies."

"And they never got that close" Luna muttered looking back at the Wall, still visible from where they were.

"What are your thoughts, princess?" Derya said "On this matter."

Cassandra never took away her gaze from the ground, irritated that she was not able to spot any sign, any movement. Any track. She was better than that, she knew.

"I just want to find Benjen." she said before letting out a growl "I cannot see anything!"

"The party shouldn't be that far away from here" Rose said walking closer "We are going to find them." 

It's how they would have found them that got Cassandra worried. She was supposed to be with Ben, that was how she had always thought it would have been. She was not afraid of death, but loosing Ben, not even knowing where he was, it was not how she had pictured it. They had always gone together beyond the Wall; since after her first mission. Ben was the person she trusted the most, the person that had always took care of her. If he had died, she should have had died with him.

Suddenly a noice made them all turn with their weapons in hand, only to see Ghost coming out of the woods. The red eyes of the direwolf fixed on her before he trotted towards Cassie and nuzzle his snout against her leg giving her some kind of comforting feeling, before the party appeared in front of them. Silently the five Keepers nodded at the Lord Commander and the Matriarch, before following Ghost into the woods, until he led them in a clear, where unnatural black bodies where resting on the ground. 

"Such a good boy" Cassie caressed Ghost's head that looked up at her with proud eyes "Able too lead us where the hounds couldn't." then the direwolf moved his tail happily as Jon approached to stop next to Cassie.

"Only Ghost was able to find them." Cassie said to him.

"That worries you?" Jon asked making the girl looking up towards him. They were trained since young age to be able to find anyone. There was something strange, the Wildlings weren't that neat with their traces.

"I cannot look" Sam's voice got their attention. He was so pale that he seemed made of snow.

"You have to look" Jon said trying to not get the attention of someone else "You are here as Maester Aemon's eyes? What good are them, if they are shut?" 

Sam didn't seem to gain any courage "I'm such a coward Jon..."

"You're a man of the Watch, Sam" Cassie said looking at the bodies not far away from her "They are the first, but they won't be the last bodies that you will see." she could promise that to him.

"Besides there are a dozen of Rangers and Keepers, Ghost and the hounds" Jon said trying to give his friends more courage "You'll be safe, I promise." 

As Jon pushed Sam a little, observing his friend so that he was sure he would not run away, he spoke.

"They are my uncle's men" he muttered, before shooking his head "Not so long ago, I follishly thought I was ready to go with him. To follow him through the North, but I know I would have probably be one of them by now."

Cassie took a breath as the sight of Jon Snow laying on the grownd, appeared in her head. And that thought made her shiver. Dead on the ground, dead like Aesteria. Could Jon share the same faith with Aesteria.

"Do we still mount watches?" the voice of the Lord Commander made her turn and the Ranger, Ser Jaremy with his Keeper companion, Vesna looed at each other. They were in charge of the watches beyond the Wall.

"We do, my lord, but..." Ser Jeremy tried to say but the Lord Commander interrupted him.

"This man has a hunting horn" he said pointing at what was left of Othor "I supposed he must have blown it before passing. Are all of yours rangers and keeper got deaf or blind?"

That seemed to have angered Ser Jeremy and Vesna.

"No horne was blown, my lords" Vesna said with strong voice.

"Besides we have only few men" Ser Jaremy argued "And after Benjen Stark desappeared, we cannot afford to go far away from the Wall, by your own command."

"Then tell me how they died" the Old Bear almost commanded. 

Cassie observed the bodies, they were so white and their eyes were open; their iris as blue as clear summer skies. Axes semeed to have been used against them.

"Wildlings, my lord" but those words didn't eased Cassie's mind, too neat of a work, too good at hiding their passage. And she head the Lord Commander be unsure as well. But if no wildling, then what sort of beast could do such thing to a man?

"The Others" Jon muttered from next to her, making her blood run cold inside her veins.

"What did you just said?" asked Cassie in a mutter with wide eyes, not him too. It could not be. It was not possible.

Jon shook his head "Just foolish thoughts, don't mind my words."

"It had been almost half of a year since Benjen disappereance, there had been no sign of him or his party" Ser Jaramy words caught Jon's curiosity as Cassie could not help but feel that strange feeling that had hunted her since when she came back to the Wall. Since Hydi's words. 

But how could she believe it? Those were just children's songs. She was a Baratheon, a woman, a Keeper of the Light... 

You are like a legend come alive niece, he uncle Tyrion's words echoed in her mind as she looked around to look at the other women. A legend... the last testimony of the ancient magic that ruled those lands before the disappearence of the Children of the Forest. If they were still there, why not other creatures?

"These corpes are fresh, these men cannot have been dead for more than a day..."

"No" Sam's voice brought Cassie back to reality as they all turned to the guy, that seemed surprised by his own voice.

"We did not ask for your words, boy" Rykker said with a cold tone, glaring at the boy.

"Let him speak, ser" Jon spoke. Cassie looked at him, before turning to the Lord Commander, noticing how his eyes moved from Jon Snow, to Sam and back. And what he said next surprised Cassie.

"If the lad had something to say, we'll hear him out." Mormont said and Lady Eloyse nodded from next to him.

"Move closer, Samwell" she spoke gesturing him to walk towards them.

As Sam moved, Cassie could not help but think about the look on Mormont's face as he looked at Jon. He trusted him and his judgment, there was no mistake in that. 

"The... the blood, my lords" Sam spoke timidly pointing at the corpses, trying his best not to look at them "You can see... where Ghost... Jon's direwolf tore off that man's hand... there's no blood." Cassie frowned as she turned her head, she hadn't noticed that. Derya seemed interested as well, because she walked towards the bodies, kneeling near them, observing closely.

"No blood" she said looking at the Mathriarch "Not at all."

"In a fresh kill" Sam kept say "The blood... would flow out, but these men... their flesh is all crusty... dry even..."

Wylly was next to Lady Eloyse, listen carefully at Sam's words before she spoke out of curiosity "There's no smell though" she said "If they'd be out here for so long..."

"They... they are not rotting, my lords" Sam explained more and Derya nodded her head as she touched the bodies.

"The lad is right, for someone that lookes like he could faint at any second, he took a good look at these corpses" she said almost impressed "no wormsn or maggots, no animal ate them, well except for the little beast over there" Cassie looked down at Ghost next to Jon's leg.

"Ghost is different" Jon said in a soft tone, before turning towards the hounds "He is the only one that got closer, the dogs and the horses don't go near them." 

A shiver ran down Cassandra's back. That was not normal. None of that was. They were corpses, hounds were supposed to find corpses, why only a direwolf could find them?

She looked at Ghost. Another legend come alive...

"And..." Sam kept saying "There's no... blood around them... With all those wounds, terrible wounds... there should be blood all over." 

Cassie took a breath and went closer to the bodies, walking all around them, trying to find some reasonable trace. There should have been. There must have been some kind of explenation.

"Maybe they didn't die here" the ranger Dywen said, but Cassie shook her head as she knelt down touching the ground.

"There is no sign of dragging, my lords" she said "Nor footsteps..." then she turened to the corpses. How did they die? How did they come this close to the Wall?

"Did Othor have blue eyes?" Derya asked with a frown, but Dywen shook his head.

"No, neither did Flowers."

Everyone was confused and worried about what must have happened to those man, there was no explenation, no reasonable cause, and that was not liked by anyone. At the end they decided to take the bodies and bring them back at the wall. Mormont and Lady Eloyse wanted for Maester Aemon to study their wounds.

As they were arranging the bodies to the carriage, Jon moved closer to Cassie that was still inspecting the ground. 

"What are your thoughts on this?" he asked kneeling next to her. 

"I have no thought, Jon" she said in honesty turning towards him "I've never seen something like this. That... that is not... what happens to corpses." Jon observed her in silence, matching her same look; confused and worried. There was no explenation, nothing that made sense. And the only thing that did, it was not possible. Those were stories, songs. They were surely missing something.

The ride back to the Wall was silent. Cassie rode with the Keepers as she looked at Jon who followed the Lord Commander on the front, as his steward that was his place, as Wylly was doing with Lady Eloyse. But the silent ride didn't ease Cassandra's mind, nothing made sense. She thought about many different possibilities, but none of them seemed right or logical for what they had witnessed. She wondered what had happened to them, she wondered what had happened to Benjen, but her heart felt heavy and she knew that something was wrong.

That feeling didn't leave her even when she step in the yard of Castle Black; as she dismounted from her black mount, she could feel the gazes of Allyser Thorne and Donal Noye on her. What were they looking at?

"Cassandra" Lady Vyva's voice made her turn "I need to share words with you." 

Cassie observed the woman, with a strange, almost sad expression on her face, and she shared a look with Rose, that wore the same confused frown as she did.

"Follow me, Cassandra." Lady Vyva said. So Cassie turned to leave her horse to Rose, sharing a confused look, before she started to follow the woman. As she climbed up the stairs, she felt many eyes on her, too many. There was something wrong. Something must have happened. And at that thought she stopped on the stairs.

"Is it about the King?" she asked, making lady Vyva turn to her.

"I think is it better if we speak privately" But Cassie's didn't move.

"Is he dead?" she asked and she didn't need the woman's words to know. The King was dead. Robert Baratheon had left that world, wounded during a hunt. She wondered if he was proud of himself for that. If it was how he had pictured it. She wondered if he had laughed, or if he drank until the last moment.

"Did the Queen wrote some words to me?" Cassie asked.

"Cassandra..." lady Vyva had such sorrow in her face that made Cassie chuckle.

"She didn't" Cassie said knowing her mother too well "So these are words of the Capital you want to speak about... don't mind." she took a breath "Gratitude, to have informed me of the King's death. We will share the sorrow of the entire realm. My prayes are with the Royal Family."

And with that she turned her back and walked down the stairs. She didn't need any words of compassion. From anyone, not even from her family. Cassandra saw no point of private discussion, she knew he would have died. But what she didn't like was the gaze of the people all around her, what did they have to look at? 

The King was dead, he had an heir. No one cared about the Royal Family there, and no one in the Royal Family cared about her up there. There was nothing to be sad about. 

She crossed the yard, not able to bear all those gazes on herself, so she decided to go to Jon's cell, the only person that she wanted to see in that moment. She knew that Jon had decided to move his cell, to a side of the castle far away from the others, so that he could keep Ghost with him, without people getting scared. 

When she arrived, Cassie knocked at the door. She didn't hear Jon's voice, but she could hear some scratching noise against the wooden door.

"He left you inside" she muttered, opening the door to see Ghost waving happily his tail as she step inside the cell. Cassie knelt in front of him, caressing his head.

"What a good boy" she muttered, before she set on Jon's bed, followed by Ghost who put his snout on her legs, looking up at her with his red eyes.

"Father died" she said quietly taking a breath "The King is dead." Cassie let out a bitter chuckle "And my mother, the Queen, didn't even wrote me" then she rubbed her blue eyes with her hands "By Seven Hells, why am I even surprised about that?" Ghost nuzzled his snout against her leg.

"I don't care, Ghost." she whispered, hating herself for the stinging feeling in her eyes. She wouldn't have cried. There was no reason. She stood there in silence for some time, before Ghost turned towards the door, waving his tail happily. And in fact, it didn't take long for the door to open, to reveal Jon Snow. But his face, Cassie didn't like. He was pale and his grey eyes were clouded as his gaze stopped on her.

"What happened?" she asked standing up.

"The King died" he muttered, making her frown in confusion.

"Yes I know" she said as he bit his lips.

"Do you know they have imprisoned Father?" 

The blood run cold in Cassie's veins and her heart drummed in her chest. Her father died and her family imprisoned Ned? What in the Seven Hells was happening?

"Under what charges?" Cassandra asked feeling all the coldness of the Wall against her body. Jon took a shaky breath.

"He is charged with treason." 

What was happening? 

"It is said he plotted with Robert's brothers to deny the throne to Prince Joffrey."

Cassie's mind was so confused. Her uncles? Why would they want the throne? Her uncle Renly had never manifested any interest in becoming king. And how could they deny the heritage of Joffrey, he was the first born son of the King and the Queen. And how could Ned had a part in it? Ned would have never done it.

"This cannot be" she muttered. Treason? 

That was a terrible charge, but against the King. Ned could loose his life, that was what happened to traitors. Her breath laboured, but she did her best to not showing it. 

"The Lord Commander wants to write to the king, to ask for Father to join the Night's Watch." 

Her father died during a hunt, Ned imprisoned, her uncles denying Joffrey on the throne. What was happening? None of that made any sense.

"He will ask about Arya and Sansa as well" Jon kept say "In the letter of the Maester there's no mention of them." 

What was of them? They could not hurt them, they were two ladies of one of the greatest Houses of Westeros, no harm could have come to them. They were just two little girls.

"Jon..." she muttered getting closer to him "I am so sorry" he let out a shaky breath.

"I cannot go" he said "Mormont said that now my place is here, but... how can I turn my back at them? They are my family."

He made a choice, there was no turning back from the words he had pronounced, the consequence would have been his death, he could not go.

"I am so sorry" she whispered feeling tears in her eyes, knowing what was happening in the South and seeing how much Jon was suffering. Slowly he moved towards her putting his forehead on her shoulder letting out another shaky breath as she quietly put one of her hands at the back of his neck and the other across his shoulders.

"My father is no traitor" he whispered and she looked up to not let any tear to roll down her eyes. She know he wasn't. She knew Ned, and the Starks. There must have been a mistake. There must have been a reason to all of that.

"I will write to my mother, or my brother" she promised "I will do all I can from here Jon, I promise." 

They stood in silence for long, no words was shared between them, there was no reason to. But at the end the both of them decided to go to the great hall so to try and eat something. When they arrived the men and women in the room looked at them, observing their very move, but Cassie did her best to not focus on that, and she hoped that Jon was doing the same.

They walked to their usual spot, where Sam, Pyp, Grenn, Rose and Wylly were sitting. And immediately they started to talk to Jon.

"We asked the septon to light a candle for your father," Rose said taking his hand with a sweet smile.

"It's a lie!" Pyp exclaimed "We all know it's a lie, even Grenn knows it's a lie" and Grenn nodded his head.

"Lord Stark is a man of honor" Wylliana spoke solemnly "No Manderly would ever believe such words."

"You're my brother now, so he's my father too," Sam said. "If you want to go out to the weirwoods and pray to the old gods, I'll go with you." 

Cassie was sitting next to Jon, observing him and she could not help but feel shame on what was happening. No one believed her family, and they were the only cause of Jon's suffering in that moment. What was happening? What was her family side of the story? What were they doing?

Suddenly a laugh could be heard and as Cassie turned she saw Thorne speaking louder so that everyone could hear him "Not only a bastard, but a traitor's bastard." 

Before she could react Jon had grabbed a dagger and he lounched himself towards Ser Allyser pushing his bowl from his hand, men started to shout but Jon was focused on Thorne ready to use the dagger. Cassie was immediately on her feet as did Pyp and Sam. Pyp launched to cling on his back to stop his moviment, Sam took his arm. At the same time Grenn stopped him by the other arm and Cassie put herself between Jon and the man, facing her friend.

"Take him away" she said to the boys, she knew that Jon would have not stopped, he would have killed him "Take him away."

As she observed them dragging Jon away from the hall, she could hear Allyser laughter, and that made her turn with dark gaze.

"That was uncalled for" she whispered in a dark tone.

"I spoke only the truth" after he spoke, she closed her hand in a fist before moving it with all the strength she had, and she hit the man across his face. Hearing gasps from the people in the hall, Cassie turned him, putting one of her hands on his neck. Allyser looked at her with wide onyx eyes as she moved forward.

"No one asked for you opinion... Ser" she whispered before releasing him and walk away from the hall.

Their action had consequenses of course, it went better to Cassie though, since Ser Allyser wasn't one of her commander, her being a Keeper, her punishment was to take the Watch for three nights. 

To Jon it had been different. They took his dagger and sword and they closed him in a cells in the Lord Commander Tower, but no one could go and see him. At least he had Ghost with him. 

Cassie wondered how he was feeling, that was not an easy time for Jon, and she didn't like to know him alone. 

She was going to take watch when she stopped in the middle of the yard. That was something strange that night. It was so cold and silent... there was something wrong. She felt a shiver down her back as she turned towards the Lord Commander's Tower. She quietly walked towards the entrance, feeling so much cold. Was it normal to feel that cold? It reached her bones, making it difficoult to her even the breathing.

She climbed up the stairs, looking back to make sure that no one was following her. There was no one. But that strange feeling remained. Her hands moved towards her belt, and she cursed when she remembered that she could not took her daggers with her. Taking a breath she kept walking, until she reached the dark corridor and she heard a movement. She leaned her back against the wall taking a deep breath and when she felt steps coming closer, she moved taking the person by the neck. 

"Cassie!" 

"Jon!" she muttered letting him go "What in the Seven Hells are you doing?"

"Someone killed the guard of my door." he whispered eyeing Ghost not so far from where they were, who was acting strangly.

"What?" she said with wide eyes.

"His head was twisted completely around" he said before looking again at Ghost "He knows something." 

Then the two of them looked at eachother and quietly they agreed on following the direwolf. Ghost leaded them up towards the chamber of the Lord Commander.

"Where did you find the sword?" Cassie asked as they moved towards the chamber.

"I took it form the guard..." Jon answered looking at her unsure. And she could share the feeling. That was not normal. Was there a murderer at the Wall? But it had never happened before. Who could it be? Did he want to kill the Lord Commander?

Jon stepped forward shielding Cassie as he opened the door. The chamber was so dark, that it was almost impossible to see, but strange sounds could be heard.

"Who's there?" Jon demanded with the sword high. Cassie bent slightly, ready to attack anyone that was in that chamber. Looking closely, before the sleeping cell of Mormont there was a cloaked dark figure, but when he turend the blood in Cassie's veins ran cold; his eyes were icy blue, like the one of the corpses.

Ghost was the fastest, launching himself towards the figure, that, by the sound, must have fallen against a chair, with the direwolf above him. 

"We need light" Cassie said, she could do nothing if she could not see. Suddenly she felt Jon moving, she tried to find him in the dark, but there was no use. She just hoped that he was far away from the fight.

"Corn, corn, corn, corn" Mormont's raven kept saying.

Then suddenly, the curtains move, to let the moonlight shine inside the chamber and Cassie gasped when she saw the man's dark fingers thightening aroung Ghost throat. The poor direwolf was trying all he could but he could not set free. So Cassie launched herself towards Ghost, pushing him with all her strenght away from the man's grasp, making both the direwolf and herself to fall on the ground. The man made a strange sound, but before he could move, Jon had already attaked him with his longsword, but there was something strange. 

Jon was slashing him, cutting away his limbs, but the pale man kept moving, almost unbothered. She knew that man's face...

"Othor..." she muttered. But he was dead. They all saw him dead. Suddenly though the pale man launched towards Jon, pushing him against the table, making him let out a cry of pain. Immediately Cassie was on her feet, taking the man by the shoulders to push him away from Jon. The men turned towards her, taking her by the neck.

She kicked him as hard as she could, but he didn't seem to feel pain, so she moved her hand to take Othor by the neck. Her hand trembled against her skin, but she didn't fought her power this time, she let it go. She looked deep in Othor's eyes, but there was something wrong. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had no will for her to take.

Instead, an overwhelming emptiness exploded inside her. The power she usually felt from others—taking control, forcing their will to bend—was gone. In its place, something darker stirred. A cold, malicious presence wrapped around her mind, as though the dead man was trying to take her instead.

A sharp pain shot through her head, exploding like firecrackers, blinding her with agony. She cried out, her voice raw and full of torment. The pain intensified, and it was like the world itself was splitting apart in her mind.

"Cassie!"

Jon's voice, desperate, broke through the fog of pain, but she could barely register his words. Her body jerked violently, her hands clutching at her head as though trying to tear away the agony. Her legs gave way beneath her, and with a strangled scream, she collapsed to the cold stone floor.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, her muscles seizing and spasming as the pain seemed to wrack her very soul. She couldn't breathe, couldn't focus—only the darkness and the blinding, consuming pain filled her senses.

"Cassie!" Jon's voice was a lifeline, but it barely reached her through the storm. His arms were suddenly around her, lifting her from the ground, pulling her into the warmth of his embrace, but it did little to quell the whirlwind in her mind.

She couldn't open her eyes. All she could feel was cold—so cold. It wasn't the chill of the night or the frost on the air; it was something deeper, something more bone-chilling. The cold of Winter, of death itself.

Finally, as the storm in her head began to subside, the pain ebbing away, she felt herself being cradled gently. Her body was limp in his arms, but she could still hear his voice, filled with worry.

When she finally managed to open her eyes, she found herself in Jon's arms, his face inches from hers. His expression was strained, filled with concern. Her head was throbbing, as she noticed that Othor was on fire and Mormont was looking at them with wide eyes. She tiredly moved her eyes back to Jon.

She felt his warmth surrounding her. And she could hear his breath, steady and anxious, and feel his heartbeat against her chest. His arms were around her, holding her tight, grounding her. But all she could focus on was the pain in her head, the tremors that still lingered in her body.

"Jon…" she whispered, her voice hoarse, barely a breath.

At the sound of her voice, Jon turned his head toward her.

"Cassie..." His hands gently cupped her face, his eyes filled with concern. But what caught her attention first were his hands. They were raw, blistered, red and burned from what she could only assume had been a terrible burn.

"Jon…" she whispered again, her gaze locked on his hands.

He winced slightly, looking down at his own palms, the burns a stark contrast against his otherwise pale skin. "I…" He swallowed, hesitating for a moment, but then explained, "I threw the oil lamp at him."

Cassie blinked slowly, her gaze fixed on his hands. "With bare hands?" she asked in disbelief, her breath shallow.

Jon chuckled softly, though it was pained. "I didn't have time to think."

He reached for her hand, holding it gently, his eyes meeting hers. "Are you alright?"

Cassie nodded slowly, though her heart was still racing from the aftermath of the pain. She wasn't sure if she was alright, but she couldn't let him see the extent of her fear. "I… I think I am."

Her eyes shifted toward the remains of Othor, who still burned fiercely before them, his body a smoldering wreck. The flames danced and flickered, but there was something unsettling about it, as if the fight wasn't truly over.