Fianna Bua, Lady of House Bua, never thought that she'd be riding off to war for the liege lord she hadn't even met.
But oaths are oaths, the Buas have fought alongside the Starks for centuries and she wasn't about to be hailed an oath breaker.
So w...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Jon
To receive, as his elder brothers in the Night's Watch would put it, a 'bollocking' from Stannis Baratheon was almost like being told off by Catelyn Stark when he was a child. Except much worse, because there was nothing really stopping Stannis from having Jon killed.
Jon Snow stood, shoulders hunched and hands clasped in front of Stannis. He had prepared himself for a number of hours now for this very conversation, and he knew he would have to stand his ground.
"A king's word is law, Jon Snow," he began with, the tone in his voice the same as always - forceful and determined. "If Fianna Bua refuses to follow my commands, then she's a lawbreaker. You should ask Ser Davos how I deal with lawbreakers."
Jon cringed slightly, knowing full well the answer to that.
"With respect, your grace," he dared to reply, "Fianna is a Queen in her own right, too."
"She's a child. She may have gotten lucky with the Dreadfort but she's not fit to rule and the North cannot be left to its own dominion. Show too much kindness and people won't fear you, people that don't fear you don't follow you."
"Again, with respect, your grace," Jon's voice arose again, "after all that's happened the Northerners will never follow a Southern King again no matter what you do. Too much bad blood has been shed."
"Who then?" Stannis prompted. "The Free Folk?"
Jon had to stifle a laugh at the ridiculousness of his question. Upon returning from his visit to Baelfort, he came back to a pile of ashes that one made up Mande Rayder's body. Stannis had asked him to allow the Free Folk to fight for him, and hadn't received the answer he wanted.
"They won't follow you. You burned their king alive."
Stannis paused for a second, mulling over his thoughts with a bitter expression. He looked down to the desk and tugged over a scroll that had been opened already.
"Do you know this wretched girl?" He asked as he shoved the letter towards Jon's direction. "Lyanna Mormont?"
"The lord commander's niece," Jon confirmed, picking up the scroll.
"Lady of Bear Island, and a child of ten. I reached out to some of the Northern households, seeing if they'd be willing to betray their Queen for better terms than Fianna could offer and that was her response."
"Bear Island knows no King but the King in the North, whose name is Stark," Jon read aloud, ending in a breathy chuckle as he reached the end. She was just as fierce as her uncle, it seemed. And just as stubborn as a true Northerner.
