m_findlow

Title: Food enough
Fandom: Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Author: m_findlow
Characters/Pairing: Jon Snow, Bowen Marsh
Rating: PG
Challenge: 113 - Numbers at drabble_weekly
Warnings: none
Spoilers: none
Summary: Jon is convinced there'll be enough food to see them through winter. A double drabble.

Jon trailed silently behind Bowen Marsh as they wandered through the dark cellars. They were actually the tunnels that ran under Castle Black and the Wall itself, a labyrinthine maze of passages that threatened to disorient even a seasoned brother.

'Thirty barrels of apples, sixty two barrels of potatoes, seven bushels of chestnuts,' Marsh reported, expecting Jon to note it down diligently as he followed.

The inventory was important work, Marsh explained to the unannointed lad. 'Supplies from the south take time to reach the Wall, even in summer, and still depend on being surplus to demand.'

The Night's Watch could scarcely afford to pay, so only took what was cheap, with the exception of ale. 'Never deny a Night's Watchman a decent ale,' he warned. 'Twenty eight carcasses of salted beef,' he continued on. 'Those will disappear fast and winter is coming. Hope you like potato broth, boy.'

Jon wrote it down. For a hundred men it seemed more than enough, but it was hardly a drop in the ocean compared to the stores at Winterfell. He said Lord Stark would supply them. His father would never let them starve. Not his flesh and blood.

'We'll see,' Marsh replied.