Trueblood || Jon Snow ✓

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞 ~ 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖌 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖆𝖗

AFTER SO LONG NOT BEING ABLE TO PRACTISE, it was a dream to fall back into her old habits with the sword and bow. Sometimes, much to Jon's concern, she'd spar with the men. And every time she prevailed, the scar on her chest a reminder of the one time she hadn't; something she'd never let happen again.

A few days later, she sat around a map with the others.

"We can't defend the North from the Walkers and the South from the Boltons." Jon was saying. "If we want to survive, we'll need Winterfell and to take Winterfell, we need more men."

Yelena sighed. "Aside from the Starks and the Boltons, the most powerful families in the north are the Umbers, the Karstarks, and the Manderlys. The Umbers and the Karstarks have already declared for house Bolton. No surprise there."

Sansa glared bitterly at the pieces on the map. "The Umbers gave Rickon to our enemies. They can hang. But the Karstarks declared for Ramsay without knowing they had another choice."

"Begging you pardon, my lady," Davos pointed out. "But they know a Stark beheaded their father. I don't think we can count on them either."

The redhead frowned. "How well do you know the North, Ser Davos?"

"Precious little, my lady."

She nodded. "My father always said Northerners are different. More loyal. More suspicious of outsiders."

"They may well be loyal," he pointed out. "But how many rose up against the Boltons when they betrayed your family?" he sighed. "I may not know the North, but I know men. They're more or less the same in any corner of the world and even the bravest of them don't want to see their wives and children skinned for a lost cause."

Yelena studied the map carefully. "If Jon's going to convince them to fight alongside him, they need to believe it's a fight they can win." she bit her lip. "There are other houses in the North too; Glover, Mormont, Cerwyn, Mazin, Hornwood. Two dozen more." She looked up at Jon, who seemed to understand what she was saying.

"Together they equal all the others." he nodded. "We can start small and build."

"The North Remembers." Sansa said. "They remember the Stark name. People will still risk everything for it from White Harbor to Ramsay's own door."

"I don't doubt it." Davos said softly, as though measuring his words carefully. "But Jon doesn't have the Stark name."

"No but I do. And there's another name they remember too. Yelena's father and mine ended the reign of the Mad King. If they hear that a Stark and a Baratheon are working together again, it'll give them hope."

Yelena's lips twitched with a smile. "Let's just try not to crown me queen of the Seven Kingdoms while we're at it." her expression became serious again as her eyes refocused on the map. "Besides, Jon is every bit as much Ned Stark's son as Ramsay is Roose Bolton's."

Davos frowned in confusion. "Wasn't he given the Bolton name?"

"By a child king whose bastard blood revokes his right to the throne." when she caught the shocked looks sent her way, she shrugged. "I love my brother, but he is my mother's bastard. He has no Baratheon blood."

Sansa nodded. "There's also the Tullys. They're not northern, but they'll back us without question."

The Onion Knight raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know the Tullys still had an army."

"My uncle, the Blackfish, has reformed it and retaken Riverrun."

"How do you know that?" Jon frowned.

"Ramsay received a raven before I escaped Winterfell." Yelena's eyes narrowed when she saw Sansa's fidgeting, but there were bigger things to worry about.