Chapter Text
Jon hadn’t thought about it when he was in the moment of happening. He hadn’t thought about it when he’d finally snapped, and done what he had been thinking about for too long since talking to Mance and Karsi.
They had been bothering him again. Tormund and Ygritte wouldn’t leave him alone, and you know what? He’s finally decided to do something about it.
There were caves on both sides of the valley as they moved along towards the wall. They were closer now, but not nearly as close as if they didn’t have a hundred thousand strong in their army.
The caves on one side were mostly heat caves, since they were the biggest, and heat caves were generally controlled by the cave people, but there were caves on the other side. Like most omegas, Jon stuck to the heat caves, to keep away any unwanted alphas while bathing, but Ygritte and Tormund used the other ones.
He didn’t think much before grabbing both alphas by the hand while they had been bothering him, and dragged him off towards the other caves.
If they’re going to be there, bothering him, he might as well make use of them.
The caves here were just as warm as the caves on the other side of the valley -though a bit of a longer walk to them- and Jon didn’t waste a moment stripping down.
It barely took Ygritte and Tormund more than a half a minute of staring at the stripping omega, to get with the program and get rid of their clothes as well. Jon snorted. Alphas were pretty dumb.
***
Dalla had gone into labor an hour ago.
Jon almost rethought his decision to have children himself at the screaming. A little late for that possibly though. He’s not actually sure yet.
Mance was with her, and Val seemed to be the only one of them with any experience helping omegas give birth, so she was in the tent too, though a lot more free folk than expected, were gathered around the tent, waiting for the King beyond the Wall to present them with his new baby.
Actually, Jon was a little eager to see the baby as well. He heard another scream though, and he winced.
“Rethinking having kids?”
Ygritte and Tormund weren’t dumb. They knew Jon liked them, but if he really hadn’t wanted something from them -in this case, children- he would have stayed away from laying with them.
Ygritte seemed torn between Tormund and Jon, and the pregnant beta she had sired a child for. The beta women had encouraged her to be with Jon and Tormund until he had a baby as well, though she seemed reluctant to leave the woman she knew was having her child, for the omega she hoped was having her child.
It could be either of theirs really, and they didn’t know there was one at all yet.
Jon shook his head. He was sure of it. He really did want this baby, but they were all right, the screaming was a little loud.
Things went silent, and from his place, closer than most to the tent, they could hear a baby’s cries. He let out a little smile, and knew that yes, he really did want this, no matter what Ygritte said. He wanted that.
***
“You don’t smell pregnant.”
Jon was actually startled by Dalla for the first time since he met her, and looked up so fast it actually hurt his neck a little. Normally, the scent of pregnant omega would follow her, so strong, that even betas could tell. She was right though, Jon didn’t smell like that.
“We don’t know if I am yet. It’s only been three weeks, it might not have even taken. We might have to try again.” Not that it would be too much of a hardship though, to be honest.
Dalla smiled a little, and took a seat next to Jon around a roaring fire. It was early, still light out, but for once, Jon had a moment of peace from Ygritte and Tormund. They would be ushering him off to eat soon enough though. Dalla had the baby in her arms, looking down at him so lovingly.
“Does he have a name yet?”
The little beta -a surprise to both his parents, but no less loved- was small and his face sort of squished up, with Mance’s dark hair, and his eyes would most likely follow later. He didn’t look much like his mother, but he smelled almost exactly like the omega. They didn’t know if that would change later on though.
“The free folk keep calling him little prince. Every time I try to think of another name, that’s all that comes to mind. He is, though. His father’s little prince.”
Jon leaned in and gently moved a bit of the edge of the swaddle so he could see the baby better. He really did look like a little prince, and by that, Jon means, a prince doesn’t have to have a specific look. Though, if he followed in his father’s footsteps, he would be an amazing king one day.
“Mance said to me once, the reason he came to Wintefell that night, was because he was inspired by another King beyond the Wall, Bael. That Bael had come into Winterfell and wooed the only daughter of the Stark family. Growing up, I heard it told another way.”
Dalla looked interested, though she’s most likely heard the tale as well. “How did you learn it?”
“A wildling once climbed the Wall, and stole away with the Stark heir. He raped her and forced her to bear his child. I never believed that it was rape. She wouldn’t have cried when her son brought her his head if it was. She flung herself from the highest tower that very night.”
Dalla was quiet for a moment, before looking back down to her babe. “And if you child brought you Tormund and Ygritte’s heads?”
It took him a bit to answer. “I like to think I wouldn’t fling myself from a tower. I also like to think they’d be ready to fend for themselves at that sort of thing.”
She smiled gently at him. “You’re not ready for when they find out you’re actually pregnant. You complain about their coddling now, but you’ll never have a moment’s peace then.”
It was true. Even violent alphas had a hard time harming a pregnant omega, it was the smell. They couldn’t fight past the smell. It made them all dumb and sluggish most of the time.
They say, down in King’s Landing, with so many omegas and heat, you smell it everywhere. That betas are the only violent people down there because of the scent of it, and even betas could smell it in the air, though it didn’t effect them the same.
He wondered how his sisters faired there.
But then, he had to turn those thoughts away, too painfully clutching at his chest to continue on. He looked at the woman again, glancing down at the baby. “Is it really worth this all? A child, worth the pain?” He choked once, thinking of Arya’s fighting spirit and Sansa’s harsh glares. They were so so strong, and now they were someone’s captives. “Worth knowing how defenseless children are, wondering if they’ll make it…”
She gave him a knowing look. “Sometimes, it’s the only thing worth it. Just because children are defenseless, doesn’t mean you can’t protect them. It’s why we want below the Wall so much, Jon.”
Jon nodded once, feeling sick. He thinks he understands now. This little prince, this child of less than a full moon of age; he wasn’t guilty because he was born behind the Wall, though Jon knows that many people would take any opportunity to execute him because of who his father was.
He felt a hand trail down to his stomach and he pressed down a little. If he had a child in him, it would be born here too, and his child deserved to be behind that wall just as much as any other.
***
When Jon slept that night, it was fitfully. He woke up with a pain in his chest and visions still in front of his eyes. He sat up with a shudder, mind reeling at the visions in his head. He hated them, he could never make any sense of them.
Tormund wasn’t in the tent with him when he got up and pulled on clothes, which he was thankful for, because he had to pause at least once to just stand there while silent tremors went through his body. He didn’t want to think about what he’d seen. He pulled on an overcoat, and moved to look out the tent opening, wondering if Tormund or Ygritte were anywhere near.
As luck seemed to have it -not a thing he had much of lately- neither of them were nearby, so he got away with sneaking out of the tent without either of them accosting him. Really, they could be annoying sometimes, but right now he wasn’t much into the idea of talking to either of them.
He wasn’t sure how he found himself in Mance’s tent, but the next thing he knew, he was blinking down at blurry hands clenched in his lap while sitting next to Dalla, who was feeding their son.
“What did you see, Jon?”
Jon blinked again and started untangling his hands from the painfully clenched position in his lap, and looked up at Mance. “I don’t want to say.”
“Obviously you do, or you wouldn’t be here.”
Jon scowled. He didn’t know how he got here of all places, so that was an unfair assessment. “It was a dream, I don’t remember much.”
Mance gave Jon a hard look, stern. It was rare for Mance to get stern with him of all people, and it made Jonn looked back down. “If you don’t remember much, then you better tell me now before you forget any of it. What happened?”
“Why do you even care?” It came out as a little mumble, unsure. He didn’t want to think about what he’d seen, couldn’t Mance accept that?
“Because anything about the future of the Free Folk needs to be considered, and whatever it is that you’re so scared of, needs to be discussed, so we can either know to avoid it, or let it happen. You’re shaking, I don’t think it was a good thing.”
Jon looked away from him, to his left, and started down at Dalla and the baby instead of Mance. When he spoke, it was quiet, concerned, but nowhere near the fear of what he’d seen. “Where is everyone going to live, below the Wall? What are they going to do down there?”
Mance seemed to consider that for a moment, sitting across from Jon with a thoughtful look on his face. “...well, the last I heard it, the Night’s Watch doesn’t have many people in it. They can only sustain three castles out of nineteen.”
Jon thought that over for a half a minute, considering. “It’s been a long time since any of them were manned, a lot of them won’t be habitable, but in an emergency, I guess even the most damaged of them could provide accurate protection. Besides, everyone in this army is used to living in tents, it won’t be much of a stretch to use temporary fortification.”
Mance nodded. “Will there be lands that we can eventually settle on? I know the north is big with lots of empty area.”
Jon frowned. “It’s empty because wildling raiders climb the Wall and kill people. People are afraid to settle there.”
“So it should be safe for us.”
Jon took another long breath, finally looking back up. “Alright, fine, yes, there is land to settle there. But first, we need to get below the Wall. How are we going to get below the Wall with over 100,000 people? My only ideas involve climbing it, which many people won’t survive, or boats, which we don’t have.”
Mance nodded. “Well, as I said when you first came here, my original plan was to have as much of my army as possible go over, and attack Castle Black from both sides. That’s still an option. We need a tunnel to get through.”
Jon thought about that for a moment. “You know, Castle Black might be the only tunnel out to the other side in use, but there are other tunnels. They’re flooded, but they can be dug through after their gates are opened. If you can send workers over the Wall, they can take the gate off it’s hinges and start digging. It’ll take a while, but they can do it.”
Mance looked interested at that, and Jon knew he was definitely going to try it at least. “Long? How long?”
Jon shrugged. “Months. Maybe longer.”
Mance was all for this idea. “It’ll be over a year before we reach the Wall. If I can find the right Castle now, send out workers, and they make it over, we can have a tunnel to go through.”
Jon nodded, suddenly looking a little unsettled. “Wait, it’s not that easy. You need to find a castle with enough protection to keep them from being spotted too. This includes being able to spot guards on the top of the Wall. They need to be stealthy, and quiet , because the Night’s Watch does have enough men to take out a small group of workers, even if they can’t take out an army of over a hundred thousand.”
Mance nodded, looking like that might be a minor setback. “I’m sure I can find the right workers for the job. It will take a bit of time, but I’ll find them.”
Jon nodded. If worst came to worst, they’d have to attack Castle Black, but they wouldn’t stand much anyways. He felt horrible about it… but there were so many children here…
It was the right thing to do. They all deserved to be below the Wall.
“What about the army itself? We need to all be together below the Wall when we get through. If the North decides they don’t want us there, we’ll need to find. I can’t imagine many of them fighting though, but we’ll still have to. We can’t have the Thenn’s going off to cannibalize people. That’s another thing, they can’t be doing that either. They need to follow the laws of the land, and murder is punishable by beheading.”
Mance nodded with an unsettled hum. “I’m working on that. I’ll take care of it. I’ll make sure they all know we might need to fight when we get down there.”
Mance turned to him then, that same stern look as before back on his face. “What did you dream?”
Jon looked away, distinctly uncomfortable. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You need to. You might forget it later, so tell me now, before it’s gone.”
Jon sighed. “I saw a great battle. It was terrible.”
“At the Wall?”
Jon shook his head slowly, looking sick. “No. It was at Winterfell. I could see my childhood home beyond the battlements, the bodies were as high as twenty feet in the center, covered in blood and filth. And beyond that, I saw the place I was raised in, standing tall, rebuilt, and with Bolton banners hanging down. I don’t know if we were winning or not, but I saw many of us there.”
Mance nodded just as slow, looking sad. “I know that must be terrible, Jon, I’m sorry. Do you know when this might happen?”
When they might finally be below the Wall . Jon shrugged. “Years from now, I think. Not many, but a few at least.”
Mance nodded, and finally, stood up, picking something up from it’s place near the bedding area. When he came back, he dropped a single, dusty white fox, into Jon’s lap. It was less than a pup, tiny with it’s eyes barely open. “What’s this for?”
Mance shrugged. “You miss that great beast of yours, I bet. His mam didn’t make it very long after her kits were born, but we try to raise them to adults anyways. They’re good for hunting, keeping kids busy.”
“So you’re trying to keep me busy?”
Mance shrugged. “You’ll be busy enough soon, I’m just trying to keep you happy. Or, as close to it as you can get right now.”
Jon looked back down to the kit, sinking his fingers into the soft baby fur while the little thing chittered up at him. He didn’t mind that, really.