Diplomacy and Secrets

Once they got over their shock, Jon followed his sister's uncle and grand-uncle into the ancestral seat of House Tully. His Ice Dragon elected to fly to the top of the highest and biggest tower and laid down there to rest her wings. She was still very much visible from below, however, which would remind the Lannister-Frey forces of her constant presence by the time they stop running for their lives.

Not that it seemed likely they would return soon after such a devastating and sudden attack, however. They had made themselves scarce so fast that Blackfish was confident enough to open the gate and order his men to loot all the useful supplies, weapons, and gold they could find on the countless tents of their camp. It would take them a couple of hours to go through the whole place but Jon suspected the mere presence of his draconic companion would dissuade their enemies from trying anything in time.

For now, however, he followed them to the Blackfish's personal quarters on Riverrun. They offered him to sit down and gave him some bread to establish the guest's rights. Once that bit of ceremony was complete, Jon stared at the two of them, not quite sure where to begin. But before he could decide, Brynden "Blackfish" Tully beat him to the point.

"You have grown a lot since we last saw each other at Sansa's 10th nameday celebration," He remarked. "And in more ways than one, clearly."

"Indeed," Edmure said in agreement. "Thank you so much for coming to our aid when you did. In all honesty, I am not sure what I would have done if you had been a few minutes late," He added, his tone guilty.

Blackfish narrowed his eyes at his own nephew. "What exactly did the Kingslayer did to make you even consider surrendering our family's home, boy?"

"Threaten my family," He replied with a sigh. "I know my marriage happened on a night of treachery and bloodletting but my son had nothing to do with that. I was...conflicted. And afraid for his safety."

Jon nodded sympathetically. "I can imagine. At any rate, I wouldn't worry that much about the Freys or the Lannisters killing him now that they know we have an Ice Dragon on our side. They are better off keeping him as a hostage to try to negotiate a peace settlement later. If they were to kill him, however, they would believe there would be little stopping me from raining down frostflame on the Twins and everyone in it. So, don't worry too much. We will get your son back eventually."

Edmure grabbed his hand and shook it firmly, his gaze earnest. "Thank you. That means more to me than you know."

The secret god nodded his respect and turned to look at the seasoned veteran. "I imagine you have a lot of questions. Where do you want to start?"

About an hour later, Jon had explained to them most of the relevant details that there were to tell, from his resurrection and subsequent release from his Night Watch's vows to the victory at Ironrath and his subsequent flight here. He answered all the questions they had for him to the best of his ability while keeping the true extent of his new powers a secret, simply suggesting that it seems the god that brought him back granted him some level of magical might he was still figuring out in full. Which was true, after a fashion. He also took note of the fact that aside from a few expressions of shock here and there, such as when he explained to them the situation at the North Grove or about the return of the Army of the Dead, they barely said anything, choosing to catch up first instead. By the time he was done, the two of them glanced at each other, clearly surprised.

"Well, it seems you have been busy," Blackfish declared, gruffly.

Edmure simply nodded.

Jon chuckled. "That's one way to put it, I guess."

At that moment, a cupbearer entered the room with a bottle, explaining he had taken it from an officer tent on the battlefield and imagined they would like a drink. The commander of the garrison smirked when he noticed what it was.

"Ah, Arbor wine," Brynden said in a good mood. "We ran out of that early into the siege. And you know what they say about a looted bottle..."

"The truest taste of victory," Jon recited with a grin.

"Indeed. And taken from the Lannister-Frey forces at that, so it should be even sweeter."

The young man took that as his cue to serve them the expensive wine in their respective cups before turning to leave. At that moment, Blackfish stared at Jon right in the eyes.

"I never had reason to like you," He declared abruptly. "We may have only met once and barely talked even then but while I could see Robb loved you, unfortunately, you represented a stain on House Tully's good name. That was more Ned Stark's fault than yours, of course, but it was hard not to resent you on principle just a bit, as my niece did."

"Yet you came to our aid when our ancestral home was besieged on all sides," He went on. "And managed to send our enemies fleeing. I will never, ever forget that," The veteran assured him. "So, make your case, tell me how we can repay you and we will see if we can reach an accord."

Jon nodded at him in understanding and took a deep breath. "As you know, Sansa and I are rallying our forces to retake Winterfell. So far, we have the support of House Mormont and House Forrester, with House Glenmore soon joining their Forrester allies now that we have broken the Whitehill siege. While not guaranteed yet, I have good reasons to believe House Glover will decide to back us up in a matter of days and now that we have pacified his region in a show of strength and once that's official, the rest of the Wolfswood region will follow. And that's not counting the nearly 3000 thousand Free Folk and Giants that choose to follow me for the sake of their own survival."

"But I am trying to gather as much support as I can before making our move against House Bolton and their allies," He went on. "Not just to improve our odds of victory but to give our historical bannermen enough time to remember that House Stark ruled the North for 8000 years and that its remaining members are not going to give up without a fight. That way, when all is said and done, everyone would have chosen their side, for good or ill. And while I know House Tully is from the Riverlands, you answered Robb's call when he was declared King of the North and the Trident. So, I was hoping you would come to our aid to reclaim Winterfell, for Sansa's sake at least if not mine.

Brynden and Edmure stared at each other for a long moment before turning back at him.

"And would you be able to use that...connection you gained to Weirwood trees in order to regroup our forces with yours in an instant?"

"Yes," Jon replied. "Although, I think will still have to wait a couple of hours before my...magical energy reserves recover enough to do that again," He lied, seeking to establish limits. "So, you have some time to think about it."

"In that case, would you please give my uncle and me some time to discuss this amongst ourselves?" The Lord of Riverrun requested. "We will send for you soon."

"Of course," Jon said with a curt nod. "I will go check on my dragon."

After he walked out of the room Blackfish scratched his chin and looked at Edmure for a moment before addressing the elephant in the room. "Are we really going to do this then?"

"Well, it was our late King's last will and testament," The younger Lord responded.

"Indeed," The military leader said. "Besides, he has an Ice Dragon under his command now. You saw what it did to thousands of soldiers. We will have a better chance of securing our independence from the Iron Throne if we pledge our loyalty."

"That's definitely an added benefit," Edmure said in agreement. "Although...my sister's vengeful ghost will come back to haunt us if we dare back him up over her remaining children."

Blackfish sighed. "Probably. But we have to think about our people now that the siege is broken, not just worry about taking down as many of our enemies as possible before being brought down ourselves. And right now, it seems like Jon would be our best bet to secure our future.

The Lord of Riverrun took a deep breath. "Then it's settled."

He stood up and opened the door before sending for Jon, deciding that it was time to tell him the contents of Robb Stark's will.