m_findlow

Title: Into the fire
Fandom: Game of Thrones
Characters: Jon Snow, Mance Rayder
Author: m_findlow
Rating: M
Length: 500 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Bingo Card Prompt - Independence at fffc
Summary: Jon has a proposition for Mance.

Mance Rayder leaned back against the furs lining his chair and looked up and down at the young man who stood in front of him. Most Night's Watchmen who ventured north of the Wall found themselves on the end of a sword or a well-placed arrow. Few survived long enough to converse with their foes, and fewer still made it all the way into one of the Free Folk camps.

This boy was different though. He wasn't some thug that had saved his own neck by joining the Watch, or some disgraced knight who had lost favour at court and was now hell bent on finding a new glory for killing.

'You're really Ned Stark's bastard son?'

'I am,' he replied. demonstrating no fear.

'I met your father once,' Mance said. 'Came down south on our way to gather more men for the Watch. An honorable man.'

'And what does the King Beyond the Wall know about honour?' Jon asked.

Mance smirked. The lad was no cutthroat or dullard, but he was still as a green as a summer sapling. 'What have they told you about me, these honorable men of the Night's Watch?'

'That you besmirched their name when you abandoned your vows. That you seek only power and glory for yourself.'

Mance drew his leg over the arm of the chair. 'Is that so? What is your duty, then? The one they made you swear to?'

'To be the shield that guards the realms of men.'

Mance nodded. 'Aye. And what do you see outside this tent, boy?'

'Wildlings.'

'Free Folk!' Mance corrected him, growing annoyed. 'Men. Women. Children. Who guards them? I came north to protect them. I've seen the things that lurk in the shadows beyond the wall. My people have freedom and independence. They don't have to bow to any king or obey any law that isn't of their own making. But neither do they have an army to protect them. Hundreds of years, thousands maybe, they've had to protect themselves. The Long Night is coming and we need to march south if we've a chance of surviving, but to do that we need to do it together. One clan alone cannot stand against the Night's Watch. I've spent years uniting these clans so that when the times comes, we'll be strong enough to break through the Wall and find safety on the other side. So, I ask you, are you a loyal crow come to cut my head off when my back is turned, or do you wish to be a free man and help me lead these people home?'

Jon's gaze was unwavering as it met his own. 'I killed the Halfhand so I could be a free man. Free of being a bastard, free of being pledged to the Watch.'

'Free to love a woman?' Mance asked, having seen the way he looked at Ygritte.

'Will you have me or not?' Jon asked, avoiding the question.

Mance grinned. 'Aye, we'll have you.'