Fandomweekly Challenge 87 - Taking the mantle

[m_findlow]

Title: Taking the mantle 
Fandom: Game of Thrones 
Author: m_findlow
Rating: M (language) 
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none 
Author notes: Written for Challenge 87 - Leadership at fandomweekly
Summary: Edd is troubled by what the future holds for them.


The weight of the cloak in Edd’s arms felt heavy as he watched his best friend ride out through the gates of Castle Black. It was strange to think of Jon as anything other than a brother of the Night's Watch, but now he was leaving them and not planning on returning.

No one had ever left the Night's Watch. Not apart from dying, and he supposed Jon had done just that. It was true that they were bound to hold their vows until the day they died. Now he had died - and been miraculously returned to life by a magic that Edd neither understood nor wanted to understand - he was absolved of any further obligation to the Watch. Edd had simply assumed that Jon would never leave, death or not. He'd lead them to this point and it had cost him his life to do so. Small wonder the man no longer felt he had their trust. All for the sake of a handful of men who refused to bend and make peace with their enemy who were no longer their enemy. They had a collective new nemesis far more deadly than any skirmish between Wildlings and brothers of the Night's Watch. What was coming would kill them all.

'What should we do now, Lord Commander?' came the question directed at him even as he was still staring at the castle gates which had finally been drawn shut behind the departing riders.

'I'm not your fucking Lord Commander,' Edd replied.

The man looked confused by his reply. 'But the Lord Co… Jon Snow,' he corrected himself, 'said that he was handing over command to you now.'

Edd nodded at him. 'Aye, is that how we do it these days now?' He foisted the cloak onto the man. 'Here, you're Commander of the Night's Watch now. Congratulations.'

The black brother hastily pushed the cloak back into Edd's arms.

'What you don't want to be Lord Commander just because I say so?' He smirked. 'That's right. Because that's not how it works. It goes down to a choosing where we each cast a vote, doesn't it? A thousand fucking years we've been choosing Lord Commanders that way and we're not changing how things are done now just because the last one rose up from the fucking dead and left us.'

Edd's words had the desired effect, ending any discussion of his appointment by default. It had been weeks since Jon gave up command and since then the Night's Watch had simply carried on as if he hadn't. Not until now when he'd finally ridden out through the gates did everyone come to realise he hadn't been joking - not that Jon was known for his humour.

Edd didn't even know who he himself would choose for the position. There were few enough of them left now, less than fifty to guard the entire seven kingdoms against whatever evil lay beyond the Wall. Who would want that responsibility? Jon's departure only made their chances of surviving that much slimmer. Whoever was chosen might very well be the last Commander the Night's Watch ever had. What an inglorious appointment that would be, assuming there was a soul left alive to document the tragically short tenure.

Edd nodded his head to the side. 'Go on. Get inside and get something warm into you.' They'd spent half the night standing watch on the Wall. Slowly the men began to filter out of the courtyard and into the main hall, leaving Edd alone to consider the future of the Watch. It was surely out of his hands. There'd be a choosing and that was that.

He couldn't say how long he stood there, but eventually a dark shadow rose up behind his shoulder. The tall stature of Tormund Giantsbane towered over him, his flame red hair standing out against the sombre black and white of everything else.

'I never expected this,' Edd said, casting his gaze out over the castle walls at the blue ice wall which stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. 'I thought Jon would always be here. That he'd know what to do when these White Walkers come for us.'

'Better we have less enemies hemming us in on both sides,' Tormund replied.

'Aye, there's that too.' He couldn't begrudge Jon needing to take back his family's home and rid the North of Ramsey Bolton. The Night's Watch alone couldn't stand against the Army of the Dead when it came. They needed allies and the North was a good start. If anyone could win them over, it was Jon. A man who could make allies of a thousand years old enemy whose name should be Stark was probably the only one who could.

Tormund blew out a breath that clouded by Edd's head, blurring his vision momentarily. 'So, do you want the good news or the bad news?'

Edd repressed a grin. 'No such thing as good news around here.'

Tormund looped his thumbs through his belt. 'Well, then. The good news is that you don't have to worry about being part of a choosing for Lord Commander tonight. The bad news is that's because no one else in that hall wants to stand against you. You're the new Lord Commander whether you like it or not.'

A chill wind whipped through the castle courtyard, kicking up snow and whisking tiny shards of ice from the face of the enormous ice wall that loomed over the castle like a silent sentinel. Just thinking about what lay behind its icy promise of safety made Edd shiver. He looked angrily down at the thick black cloak with its shaggy fur collar - Jon's parting gift to him. He didn't want to be in charge. He'd be terrible at it, but Jon had told him this was his duty, and all a Night's Watchman had was his duty.

'For fuck's sake,' Edd growled, unfurling the cloak and sweeping it begrudgingly across his shoulders.