Chapter 294: Jon Arrested

"Hiss—screech—"The great black dragon roared as it flew over the wildling camp, blocking the golden sunlight and casting a massive shadow below.

"Ahhh! The demon dragon! The demon dragon is here!"

The spearwives milking goats, the men in hides chopping firewood, the butchers slaughtering fat pigs, and even Mance Rayder, who had just stepped out of his tent pondering the Queen of Dragons' letter, all looked up and turned pale at the sight of the black dragon circling under the blue sky.

Children wailed and screamed, mothers called out anxiously, wildlings cursed loudly and desperately drew their hard bows, firing arrows into the sky—fast as shooting stars but weak and ineffective. Giants beat their chests and roared skyward, shaking their spears, and mammoths howled in long, shrill blasts like steam whistles.Yet none of this disturbed Daenerys under the azure canopy of the sky.The golden fingers of the rising sun reached into the misty white fog of morning, and the vast Haunted Forest lay spread before her. Towering oak trees, soldier pines, and ironwoods stretched across the land, broken by rivers and lakes, their surfaces frozen and glinting gold under the sunlight.

The forest was silent, with barely a chirp of birds or howl of beasts. The sound of running water was absent too. Other than the rushing wind from high-speed flight, Daenerys heard nothing.

Unable to help herself, she patted Drogon's back. Sharing her thoughts, the black dragon swooped downward in a graceful arc, brushing lightly over the treetops.

Crack, crack...The sharp treetops bent and sprang back, shaking off showers of snow, but below, there was still not a sound from any animals.

"Have they all hidden? Or died out?" Daenerys murmured.

Still, she didn't dare continue tempting fate. If the Night King hurled an ice spear from the forest, she would be doomed.

Drogon quickly pulled back up into the air, climbing to the safe altitude of a thousand meters.

After circling the Haunted Forest and finding no sign of White Walkers or wights, Daenerys headed northward. The trees below thinned out, the sunlight remained strong, but the air grew ever colder.

She flew for seven or eight hours, making a rough sweep within a thousand kilometers of the Wall, but found no trace of White Walkers—perhaps they feared the sunlight and had hidden away. She saw none.

Still, she did not come away empty-handed. Beyond the Wall, the snowy landscape was breathtakingly beautiful, the terrain complex and varied.She soared through winding valleys, skimmed over icy lakes, raced snow leopards across the snowy plains, and competed with white-headed eagles in the sky. A sense of freedom washed over Daenerys, as if she were a divine dragon soaring through the Nine Heavens.

Especially in Windscream Gorge, a deep and narrow canyon, Drogon sometimes tilted his body, his wings scraping the rocky cliffs on either side, sending flurries of snow flying.Sometimes he dropped lower to dodge massive, glistening icicles overhead.Other times, he spewed dragonfire to clear away hanging vines and ice-blocked trees.When the space grew too tight, Drogon had to leap out of the gorge, soaring parallel to the mountain ridges.

Clutching the bone spines on Drogon's back, Daenerys sometimes screamed in both terror and excitement.It was her first time navigating such a complex flight path, and it was thrilling beyond words.

"Ahh! A dragon! A real dragon! The true dragon has returned!"

As Drogon neared the Wall, a large group of black-clad Night's Watch brothers crowded the battlements, shouting excitedly. Some even dropped to their knees atop the Wall.

Compared to when she had left in the morning, there were dozens more guards on the Wall now.

"Hiss—screech—"Drogon skimmed over the cheering crowd, flying a little farther south before flapping his broad wings and gliding down to land in front of the King's Tower.

"The main force of the Night's Watch has returned?" Daenerys asked, seeing the curious brothers peeking out from the courtyard.

Barristan Selmy stepped forward and said, "The Shadow Tower's men brought back Bowen Marsh, and the brothers patrolling east have returned too."

"This is Her Majesty Daenerys Targaryen!"Old Maester Aemon shouted toward the Night's Watch brothers.

Daenerys dismounted and approached the stone steps. Nearly two hundred men, some laying down their tools, others emerging from towers, stables, the smithy, or the main hall, all gazed at her and the massive black dragon beside her with a mixture of fear and awe.After a moment's hesitation, someone knelt in salute.

With one person leading, more and more knelt until almost all of them were crying out:"Long live the Queen! Long live the Dragon Queen! Long live the true dragon!"

Though stunned by the appearance of a Targaryen and the arrival of a legendary dragon, the Night's Watch quickly accepted the reality.Other than sneaking glances at the black dragon dozing on the stone steps, they soon resumed their work.

Looking around, Daenerys asked, "Where's Little White? Out hunting?"

"He flew off toward the eastern woods not long after you left," Barristan replied.

"Your Majesty, allow me to introduce—"Old Aemon led a few Night's Watch brothers over. Other than the one-armed Donnel, Daenerys didn't recognize any of them.

"This is Lord Commander Bowen Marsh, also our chief steward," Aemon said, pointing to a red-faced, bandaged man who resembled a plump pomegranate.

Indeed, Marsh had a serious injury around his waist and stomach, thickly bandaged beneath his woolen cloak.

"Greetings, Your Majesty," the pomegranate-like man said, bowing stiffly.

"Ser Denys Mallister, commander of the Shadow Tower."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for coming to aid the Wall."

A white-bearded man in his sixties, tall and sturdy, with a ruddy face and a booming voice, his eyes gleamed sharply—he was similar in demeanor to Barristan.

"And this is Ser Janos Slynt, Earl Slynt."

A short, stout man with a double chin glanced at Daenerys, his eyes shifty.

"Ser Slynt?"Daenerys raised an eyebrow and said strangely, "My lord, you helped the Lannisters betray Eddard Stark, then later assisted Cersei in killing Robert's thirteen bastards. You must be a loyal Lannister ally.There's a question that has long puzzled me—may I ask it of you?"

"Uh..." The double-chinned man's face flushed red as he stammered, "Y-Your Grace, I... I am not that close to the Lannisters anymore. I have already taken the black. You cannot punish me for my past ties to the Lannisters."

"Heh, where was all that courage when you beheaded Eddard Stark in front of the Great Sept of Baelor?" Dany sneered coldly.

"It was Ser Ilyn Payne who beheaded the Hand. I merely, I merely—"

"You merely pinned Eddard Stark to the ground with all your strength to make it easier for Ilyn Payne to swing his sword," Barristan said coldly.

"Ser, I—" Slynt tried to argue but quickly caught himself and pointedly said, "Your Grace, Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon were the main culprits in stealing your father's throne!"

"Ugh, I don't care about your rotten past. Like you said, taking the black wipes the slate clean," Dany waved her hand dismissively, her tone sharp. "I only want to ask—since you were close to the Lannisters, can you tell me why Joffrey changed his mind at the last moment?

"The Lannisters had promised Eddard that if he confessed and took the black, they would send him and his daughter back to the North.

"If that had happened, the lion and the wolf would never have gone to war. It was the best outcome for both houses."

"Uh, about that..." Slynt breathed a slight sigh of relief, but his face quickly twisted in frustration.

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Seeing Maester Aemon and a few Night's Watch officers looking on with detached curiosity—and noticing the dragon behind the queen eyeing him hungrily—Slynt gritted his teeth and blurted out: "Littlefinger paid me six thousand gold dragons to swear loyalty to Eddard Stark—just to deceive him into thinking everything was under control. But in truth, Littlefinger and I had already pledged ourselves to the Queen—or rather, I had been Queen Cersei's man from the very beginning.

"Originally, that bribe was supposed to be returned. It was all just a performance.

"But then Littlefinger came to me, full of worries. He said that even if Eddard Stark went back North and left the Lannisters alone, he would surely seek revenge against small men like us.

"Then he said... Seven save us, that man is truly cunning. He understood Joffrey's nature perfectly—knew he would inevitably change his mind!

"Littlefinger told me that once King Joffrey gave the order, I must act immediately—before anyone, especially Cersei and Varys, could react—and kill Eddard Stark.

"So that bribe turned into my payment. That's the whole truth."

"So Littlefinger really..." Barristan was visibly shaken, his expression complicated, as he recalled what Dany had once said to Catelyn at the Brotherhood Without Banners' hideout.

Dany merely nodded slightly, her expression calm, and then turned to Maester Aemon, saying, "Continue. There are still several knights left to introduce."

"What? Oh—" Maester Aemon finally snapped out of his shock and went on to introduce Alliser Thorne and Glendon Hewett of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

As mentioned before, all of the Night's Watch commanders were knights—noble-born, well-educated, and possessing considerable military skill.

After a round of formal greetings, Dany noticed something odd—her guard, Jon, was nowhere to be seen.

Before she could ask, Aemon took the initiative and said, "Now that Your Grace has returned, shall we proceed with the trial of Jon Snow?"

"Trial? What crime has Jon Snow committed?" Dany asked, surprised.

"Your Grace, that bastard killed a brother of the Night's Watch and joined the wildlings," Ser Alliser Thorne said eagerly.

In the wooden hall of Castle Black, chairs had been pushed aside to leave a large open space in the center. Jon Snow knelt dejectedly on the cold, hard floor, his head bowed. The firelight from the hearth cast an angry and despondent look across his face.

At the head of the hall sat a long wooden table. Slynt sat in the middle, flanked by Maester Aemon and Steward Marsh. Several other knights sat behind the table as well.

Dany did not sit with them. Matters within the Night's Watch were theirs alone to judge; a king—or queen—had the right to know the full truth, but could not intervene directly.

She sat by the hearth with Barristan, with Perestan and a dozen other Night's Watch brothers nearby.

"Snow, you killed Qhorin Halfhand. We have wildling prisoners who witnessed you slitting your own commander's throat. Do you deny it?" Janos Slynt demanded sternly.

Jon argued, "I was undercover! Qhorin ordered me to obey the wildlings, no matter what they asked of me. He told me to kill him to earn their trust—and I obeyed."

"Who else knew you were undercover?"

"Qhorin Halfhand himself. He gave the order."

"And he's dead. Dead at your hands," Ser Alliser said gleefully—his excitement was palpable even to the observing brothers of the Night's Watch. "Boy, do you take us for fools? Spinning tales to save your neck?"

"If I were truly a traitor, I would never have returned to Castle Black to warn you all to strengthen your defenses!" Jon shouted angrily.

(End of Chapter)

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