Cyberdyne of the Night's Watch

Chapter 16

Yoren's new recruits sprang into action. The Gold Cloaks' bodies were cleared away within a matter of minutes and thrown into hastily-dug graves in the forest. Others washed the blood off of the road's flagstones with buckets of water from the river. Once the bodies were disposed of, some old leaves and branches were scattered across the upturned dirt. I suppose there are some advantages to recruiting groups of murderers and thieves, Jon thought to himself as he surveyed the work. It only took a few minutes before there was hardly any sign of battle at all except for the gore still splattered all over Cyberdyne.

"It won't delay 'em for long," Yoren said, shaking his head. "But we may get lucky. It seems the Crown has a good amount of enemies these days, so maybe ol' Tywin Lannister won't be willing to spare the gold cloaks to chase after us anymore. After all the stories the survivors will tell about this one," he gestured over to Cyberdyne, "I doubt they'd be willing to come back without a whole army."

"You had better get moving, then," Jon said. It was near midnight now, but traveling by night would probably be safer. Even in times of trouble, there were still plenty of merchants and travelers making their way through the Riverlands. They'd be spotted and identified for sure if they traveled by day.

"You still intend to go to King's Landing, then?" Yoren said. "Even after all of this?"

Jon went to his bag that he'd left near the waterfront and returned with the large glass jar containing Othor's head. He removed the sheet, and both Yoren and Arya stumbled backwards a bit in fright. The head inside gnashed its teeth and flailed its tongue against the glass, and its eyes wandered wildly between them as it determined which one to attack. Even months after being removed from the rest of Othor's body, the head inside had barely decayed at all.

"Mother help us..." Yoren muttered under his breath. "Is that... Othor? By the Seven! I've known him for twenty years!"

In hearing all that Arya had gone through in King's Landing, Jon hadn't exactly had time to share his own story of why he was on his way south and why the Watch needed reinforcements so badly. The still-moving head was a pretty quick way to catch them up to speed. He briefly recounted how the bodies had been found beyond the Wall, moved to the Lord Commander's office, and come back to life. Jon even showed them the nearly-healed wound on Cyberdyne's shoulder that he'd taken during the battle.

"Just like in Old Nan's stories," Arya said. Jon was a bit surprised to see that she wasn't even frightened by the prospect. Or, now that she'd gotten over the initial shock, by the head in the jar. She'd certainly had to grow up a lot in the past few months.

"Exactly," Jon said. "Which is why it is so important that I go meet with the King." But even thinking of Joffrey made his blood boil. A small part of him wondered if he'd have the self-control to not just wrap his hands around the brat's throat as soon as he got close enough. Jon did his best to silence that little voice. "I have to explain how this is a threat to the entire realm."

Yoren grimaced, looked at the head, then back at Jon. "You can still come back to the Wall with us," he told Jon. "The Lord Commander sent you down here because your father was Hand of the King, right?"

Jon nodded, tight-lipped. He still took umbrage at the idea that this was just nepotism, even if it was the truth.

"Well, he's not the Hand anymore..." Yoren said. Arya bristled at the reference to his death. Jon, however, had not considered that aspect. He hadn't really had time to think about how all of this new information would affect his mission. Still so focused on actually getting to King's Landing, he'd forgotten to consider what would happen once he actually got there. "And we know that the Gold Cloaks aren't going to treat you right once they learn who you are. So come back North with us, and the Lord Commander can just send someone else with..." his eyes fell on the jar. The head inside had worked itself into a frenzy and was now slobbering. "With that," Yoren finished his thought.

Jon considered that option. It would be the safest course of action, and surely the Lord Commander would understand. And, though he denied it to himself, the opportunity to safely escort Arya back to Winterfell was certainly an advantage to consider. He was a member of the Night's Watch now, and had forsaken all of his previous ties. Even to his sister, he had to remind himself.

But then again, it would be a long trip. He'd been on the road for months now, and King's Landing was still maybe a week or so away. They might be able to find a nearby keep loyal to Lord Tully (and thus willing to help the daughter of Lady Catelyn) and get a raven up to the Wall, but that didn't solve the problem. It would still be months before someone could get down to King's Landing, which might be too late. Not to mention that the replacement would have to travel through the Stark-Lannister warzone. Members of the Watch aren't supposed to be involved in such political affairs, but it appeared that those rules had been thrown out the window of late. Othor's head might never end up making it to King's Landing, and the Watch would never receive the necessary reinforcements.

There was only one option, in Jon's mind. "No," he told Yoren. "I'm still heading south to meet with the King. Let's hope that Joffrey is still respectful of the Night's Watch autonomy, even if his men are not."

Yoren let out a bark of sarcastic laughter. "Sure," he said, shaking his head from side to side. "Good luck with that, Snow."