[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Third Person POV.
North.
...
...
Attacking Hornwood wasn't difficult. Moving with only ten thousand men was much easier than fifty thousand.
Jon went straight for the castle, ignoring the smaller strongholds, since they posed no threat and offered no resistance. After all, there weren't even two thousand men in the entire territory to raise arms.
The farms and villages had been devastated by the ironborn invasion, which had reached that part of the North.
When the castle came into view, Jon could already see that they were raising the white flag. He sent his men directly to enter it, already preparing a camp at its entrance.
His first order upon seeing the castellan, the maester, and the master-at-arms waiting for him in the courtyard was simple.
"Arrest them all. I want everyone restrained."
That caught them by surprise — guards and servants alike. No one would be spared. And since there was no room for everyone in the dungeons, Jon ordered his men to tie them all up and leave them kneeling in the courtyard.
"Why are you doing this, my lord? You can't just treat us like this! We have rights when we surrender!" the master-at-arms shouted.
Jon simply looked at them.
"Well... it's a shame you ignored that when you left your lady to starve. We're here to bring justice. Everyone who had a hand in this will be executed."
Jon spoke calmly, but his amplified voice made it very clear to everyone present, and he could see the fear in their eyes and faces going pale. That said a lot about the castellan and the master-at-arms, who were clearly in command of the castle — and there would be no escape for them.
"Where is the tower where she was kept?" Jon asked, looking at the kneeling, tied-up servants, their numbers growing by the minute as his men brought more out into the courtyard.
"It's on the east side, my lord," a young boy murmured.
"Then do me a favor," Jon said to the boy.
"Take some of my men there. If your lady's body is still there, bring it here."
Jon gave a signal, and a dozen armored free folk were sent while the boy disappeared with them into the castle.
Ten minutes later, as Jon organized the containment of the guards and servants and the free folk continued dragging out hidden soldiers and servants from inside the castle, they brought out a body.
Jon grimaced when they showed him the corpse, already in a state of decomposition.
She was laid before Jon. The crowd watched. The servants were terrified. Jon knelt down, ignoring the stench, and examined her face.
"She killed herself," Jon commented, seeing the wound on her forehead.
"She must not have lasted long. This indicates she ran into the stone wall to bash her head. That killed her... an act of self-mercy."
Jon stood up again, his tone dry.
"Attention, I want you to occupy the walls and stay alert for any Ironborn walking through the territory and approaching the castle. We'll be here for more than a day, but it's something we need to resolve," Jon decided, nodding inward and issuing a few orders.
"Bring my Maester with me."
The men began dragging the Maester inside, while Jon entered a large hall where there was a chair, like those in castles for audiences, and sat in it, watching the Maester being thrown near him before collapsing in front of him.
"My lord, I had nothing to do with her death, please!" the man trembled.
"You're a Maester. I understand your options aren't many, but that doesn't mean you're not guilty in this. But let's do the following: I want you to record everything that happens in this room, and I'll let the Northern lords judge you. What do you say? It's better than the certainty of being executed by my sword," Jon proposed.
He would leave it to the Northern lords, once this war was over, to decide what to do with the Maester. That clearly gave the man a glimmer of hope — he preferred the uncertainty of judgment to the certainty of death.
"Release him. I want him to get a quill and his blank book. Start writing down everything that happened today. I want it recorded for all the North. Are we understood? And I hope you don't make mistakes. I don't want you to lie — write down exactly everything that happened here."
With that, the Maester nodded, starting to be escorted by some of the free folk to his quarters, where he would retrieve those things.
Jon also gave an order to his men.
"Fetch the body and place it right in the center of the hall."
"Bring me the castellan first," Jon ordered, while his men brought in the first man, who looked terrified, collapsed on the floor.
"Please, my lord, don't kill me! I have a family!" he began to plead.
"You should call him king, like everyone else does!" Tormund shouted from a corner, eager to watch Jon's proceedings, while looking at the free folk man.
"When they say My King and my lord, they mean different things," he began to explain, while the man nodded, seemingly fascinated by learning the terms.
Jon looked at the scene as if standing before two fools, then turned back to the man, who now looked even more terrified.
"My king..." he murmured, but Jon interrupted him.
"Well, forget that. I want to know exactly everything that happened here. How did you let your lady meet such a terrible end? Especially since you're not a new castellan. I know you've served House Hornwood for a decade," Jon began, while the man didn't look any less frightened.
"It was Ramsay Bolton..." he started.
"Ramsay Snow. I don't recall him ever becoming a Bolton," Jon corrected.
"But the king had legitimized him!" the man insisted.
"So you're still claiming someone else is king, when I am your king and stand before you? And I don't recall changing any names by my decree," Jon mocked, knowing he was only terrifying the man further, but then he shook his head.
"Anyway, go on. I want every detail. That will be essential to determine whether your head stays on your shoulders by the end of this or not," Jon said.
The man, trembling, continued speaking. His account said that the Boltons took over the castle and forced Lady Hornwood to marry. Ramsay didn't consummate the marriage and simply locked her in the tower with Bolton men inside the castle to control House Hornwood.
He said they couldn't do anything, that they were merely obeying.
Jon looked at the Maester taking notes. He had been sitting there since the beginning, writing quickly everything being said. Then Jon returned his gaze to the man near the woman's corpse, so they would feel uncomfortable.
"Good. I want you to go back outside and wait there. I want you to stay until we've gone through all the witnesses and accused," Jon said, watching the men take the castellan away.
Seeing the Maester stop writing, Jon simply raised his hand, palm open, and the book began to lift on its own. The Maester flinched, looking at Jon as the book flew into his hand.
Jon caught it and returned to the beginning, reading through the entire account.
"Good... you're not trying to deceive me. That's good. Just keep going." He returned the book, which flew back to the startled Maester.
Other witnesses began to be called shortly after, the next being the master-at-arms.
Jon listened to him patiently, asking a few questions and noting details when they contradicted a previous story.
He began to hear every man, without exception. He even heard the words of the Bolton men among them, which already contradicted the castellan's claim that there had been many Bolton men — but it wasn't a number large enough to control the castle.
Soon contradictions began to surface. People who were supposed to take care of the tower — maids, soldiers — accused one another moments apart. There were betrayals, desperation, lies.
Jon saw all of it and made sure the Maester had written down every word.
"Well, I think that's the last one, isn't it?" Jon said.
He smiled at Val, who stood beside him. But he could see she was tired from staying in that position for more than sixteen hours.
It was already the hour of the wolf. Jon himself was also tired.
"Well, I believe we're done here. Now let's begin delivering the sentences," Jon stood up.
"At this hour?" Val asked, surprised. Ygritte didn't like any of it and was inside a tent guarded by the giant wolves.
"Yes. I intend to spend the entire night executing these men, in memory of this woman. It's the least I can do for her. I'll sleep in the morning," Jon decided, as he began to walk outside.
Val followed close behind, not letting her husband go alone.
Jon stepped outside, seeing the captives huddled together, shivering from the cold.
A platform had been built during the day, but the lighting was very dim.
"I want more torches placed around," Jon demanded.
The men nodded, bringing more torches to the area as he stepped onto the platform.
"I'm going to do this in a more Northern style," Jon decided, drawing his leviathan axe and waiting for the Maester to arrive.
"Maester, I want you to read aloud each of the names to be executed, understood?" he commanded, and the Maester nodded.
"Start with the first."
The Maester first announced the castellan, who stepped forward, looking at Jon in terror.
"Please, no, my lord! I had nothing to do with it! I'm just a man who looks after the castle!"
"Your neglect of your lady troubles me, castellan. That alone makes you deeply responsible. I will not allow an act of cruelty like this to go unpunished in the North," Jon said, as the man was placed against the block, sobbing.
"I, Daemon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Targaryen, of House Stark, heir and protector of the Seven Kingdoms, execute this man for his negligence toward his lady. Even if he was not the direct cause, I denounce all who took part in this vile and cruel act — letting a woman starve atop a tower, driving her to suicide to end her suffering. This will not go unpunished. I sentence him to death."
Jon gave no warning — he simply moved his axe and crushed the man's neck, his head rolling away.
"Next," Jon said, startling the Maester, who continued to witness everything as he opened the other ledger of testimonies and read the next name: the master-at-arms.
"You damned bastard!" the man shouted, yelling, while Jon gave him a mocking glance. He was placed against the block, and once again, Jon made his declaration before swinging the axe and severing his head.
"Next!" Jon shouted again.
Another man, weeping, stepped up to the block. Jon swung his axe after declaring the charges and sentence.
"Next!" Jon shouted again.
The free folk looked on at the pile of heads growing before the block, some even falling off the platform for lack of space — Jon had to kick a few aside, unable to move without stepping on a severed head.
"Next!" Jon shouted.
He no longer knew how many he had executed by now. Hours had passed. It was well into the early morning, and still the men watched, alert, every hour.
"Next!" Jon shouted once more.
The axe came down. Another head severed.
"Next!"
Another head fell. A pile of more than a hundred now.
"Next!"
Some men could already see sleep creeping across Jon's face, but the adrenaline of watching lives end one after another kept them awake.
"Next!"
The servants wept, screamed, begged for mercy — but none was given. Only a few were spared, when it was clear they had no part in the castle's condition, and Jon continued executing the rest without pause, one after another, after they were accused.
"Next!"
By now, the sun was rising from the other side, and even the ten-thousand-man camp outside looked toward the castle to witness the commotion, joining the crowd.
"Next!"
It was midmorning, and all those who had been there since the beginning watched with admiration as Jon showed no change in his actions, always repeating the same steps: the next was called by name and brought to the platform, the Maester announced his testimony, Jon gave his sentence, and another head was removed.
"Next!"
The carts kept leaving the castle, hauling away bodies with separated heads in piles, pulled by horses.
"Next!" Jon shouted as it struck noon.
"My lord… it's over. There's no one left to execute," the Maester stammered.
"It's over? How many did we execute?" Jon asked.
"Three hundred, my lord. You executed three hundred servants and soldiers from the castle…" the Maester was pale, his voice weak and hoarse.
"I see. Well… give Lady Hornwood a proper burial now. I want my men to fill the gaps I've left in the castle, and also the necessary positions of a keep. In the meantime, I'll rest in my tent," Jon said, looking to Val beside him, who had stayed awake the entire time. He pulled her toward the tent as they walked through the gate, leaving the rest to the free folk managing the castle.
This event would not take long to spread and would soon earn a name that would make everyone remember how fierce the Stark truly was — something akin to what happened when Gregan Stark executed twenty traitors in King's Landing after the Dance of the Dragons. Without rest, he himself carried out the executions with Ice.
This was a fine example that the Stark blood running through Jon's veins still ran hot.
They had called that event "The Hour of the Wolf," but what would they call this one — when it was a dragon who carried out more than three hundred executions over twelve straight hours?
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!
I hope each chapter has provided incredible moments. If you like my work and would like to support the continuation of this fanfic, consider becoming a patron with plans starting at $2!. As a token of gratitude, I offer access to more than 210 extra chapters with 7 active fanfics at the same time, along with other exclusive benefits on my profile, such as images and significant decisions for the stories.
Even if you are not a patron, I am making chapters available a few hours earlier here, so become a free member on the platform!
🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟
Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague
Extra Content Already Available:
🏴☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra chapters!
🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters!
🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters!
⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters!
Except for One Piece with daily chapters and DragonBorn once a week, all fanfics are updated 3 times a week, there's just a pause in updating in the week, only to create drafts for the week's chapters.
In addition to the extra chapters, daily chapters are posted and 25 chapters per week!
Your support is very important and makes all the difference in keeping these stories alive.
Thank you very much for being part of this journey! I hope you continue to enjoy the story and that it brings even more joy to your life!
Visit our Patreon for more!!
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆