Proclamation

When Jon returned, he noticed that the Tully Lords had summoned their Maester, a white-haired man with a matching beard that was carrying a piece of parchment in his hands.

"Jon," Blackfish greeted, "This is Maester Vyman. He has served our house and castle faithfully these past few years, sometimes under very stressful circumstances.

"Good to meet you," The secret god replied with a respectful nod.

"And I you," The elderly man responded. "I still have a hard time understanding how you managed to tame an Ice Dragon but thank you all the same for coming to our aid when we needed it most."

"It was my pleasure, I assure you," The former Lord Commander replied.

"Well then," Edmure said. "Now that the introductions are over, let's get down to business. My uncle and I have discussed it and we have agreed to pledge House Tully to your cause. We even have some ideas that should help improve our position to further provide you with additional aid. However, before we get on with that, I believe it's important for us to reveal a valuable piece of information that concerns you."

The dragonrider raised an eyebrow. "Alright, I will bite. What piece of information?"

The two close relatives of his father's wife glance at each other for a moment before nodding. Then, Blackfish went on.

"King Robb Stark's last will and testament," The veteran replied.

Jon froze at that, his eyes wide. "He mentioned me in his will?!"

"Don't sound so surprised," The freed Lord of Riverrun responded. "You know he always had great respect and affection for you. You may have been a bastard but you were also brothers and had known each other most of your lives."

"Well, yes," Jon said as he scratched his neck. "It's just that I was still in the Night's Watch when this testament would have been made and had no idea I would find a valid loophole to get released from my vows. I imagine Robb didn't count on my resurrection at the time."

"You are right about that," Blackfish said gruffly. "Which is why he was planning to send 100 prisoners of war to the Wall and offer them to the Night's Watch in exchange for them to release you from your vows. It simply became a moot point after the Red Wedding."

"Huh," The former Lord Commander muttered. "I can't say I have heard about an offer like that been done before."

"It would have been unprecedented," Edmure agreed. "But Robb was confident they would have accepted it, given the dire straights they were in at the time, with a new King Beyond the Wall gathering a massive army back then."

"I see," Jon said, sighing. "Oh, brother, it would have been good to see you again."

"That may not be possible now," Brynden said slowly. "But now that you have found an acceptable way to get released from your vows, we can more easily enforce what our late king required of his loyal bannermen in case he died without issue which, unfortunately, he did."

And with that the two members of the ancient and noble House Tully bent the knee before him, making him inhale sharply when he realized what they meant. Then, the Maester read the parchment he had in his hand, with Jon realizing that it was a copy of his brother's will.

"In the name of the late King Robb of House Stark, ruler of the North and the Trident, I hereby proclaim his intentions to legitimize his half-brother Jon Snow and to name him his heir. All hail King Jon Stark of Winterfell!"

"LONG MAY HE REIGN!" Roared the Lord of Riverrun and its military leader.

Jon stared at them with a mask of shock, scarcely able to believe this was happening. He had wanted to become a true Stark for so long it felt like a dream. But as he saw the dead serious looks on their faces, he swallowed, and his thoughts turned to Robb.

"Brother, I don't know if you can hear me, even with my powers," Jon thought in silence. "But if you can, then know that I will strive to make you proud for the trust you have placed in me...and to bring your killers to justice."

The new king opened his eyes and hardened them. It seems he had a lot of work to do...in both the short and long term.