Chapter 6: The Boy Who Would Be King - Part 5

A lifetime of instinct had me opening my mouth to defend myself, but then the root that had speared clean through his eye twitched, dripping blood, and I turned around as horror and nausea clogged up my throat.

'Isn't this a dream?' I wondered hysterically 'How the hell do I feel sick?'

A chuckle sounded behind me, the noise not unlike what I imagined tree bark scraping together "Not very pretty, is it?"

I turned around, keeping my focus on his skeletal chin as he went on "I should have died decades ago, boy. The Weirwood I willingly gave myself to prevent this, but greenseeing and dream-speak are gifts of the natural living, though few have the power to sustain it as I do so now. The weirwoods can deal with both of those limitations but at the cost of consuming more of me"

I shuddered "I thank you for your sacrifice ..." What should I address him as? My lord? Great Uncle?

He chuckled once more before I could make up my mind, and there was something distinctly sinister about the sound.

"I did not do so for your benefit, usurper. I did it for my own. If all my efforts and that of my kin and more are to go to waste, I am at the very least owed the chance to see the abomination that has brought ruin on us all!"

My heart stuttered.

This was very, very bad

"I did no such thing." I replied with as much strength as I could muster "And I am no usurper, lord Bloodraven"

Formality seemed the safest bet..

"No?"

There was a hint of mocking to his tone now, though I wouldn't have caught it if I hadn't been fixated on every word that left his mouth with the kind of attention only someone truly desperate could manage.

"Few can lie to me, boy, and fewer still in mine own domain. I see you for what you are"

A hand, entwined with roots, rose and gestured at my body. My adult body.

"Go on then, Jon Snow." he goaded "Tell me that this is your flesh. Perhaps I've slumbered too long, and my mind plays tricks with me. Or perhaps, and I believe this to be far more likely, you are a liar and a thief, one who has taken that which was not his to take and in doing so has DOOMED US ALL!"

His sudden terrifying bellow had me stumbling back in fear, almost tripping over the now shifting weirwood roots. Soil and powdered rock began to rain from the ceiling, and I knew, despite this being a dream, that I'd never been in more immediate danger.

I dropped to both knees immediately "I beg of you to listen, Lord Bloodraven! I can explain everything, please!"

To hell with pride and dignity, we were well past that point now.

The shaking tapered off, though I could feel faint movement underneath the soil. 'Underneath me', I thought with trepidation.

"And now," The satisfaction in the withered being's voice was unmistakable "the truth. Lie to me again, boy, and I will show you horror the minds of mortal men could never comprehend"

Knowing the exact scope of his powers, I had little doubt the man meant that literally.

Shit.

"I swear I am not in this body of my own free will" I spoke as fast as I could, not even giving myself time to stop or reconsider what I was about to reveal. "I died, Lord Bloodraven, died in a land far beyond Westeros, or the known world at that. I woke up as Jon Snow, and I've spent the last two years barely aware of who I was. It was only when I saw the Heart tree at Winterfell that I remembered who I was."

I tried to meet his gaze, despite how sickening a challenge that was.

"I swear to you, I don't know how I've come to inhabit this body or be in this land, I swear it. I am aware of you, and portents of the future through knowledge written in books I once read in my homeland, and that's how I knew to reach for your assistance."

And just like that, the cat was out of the bag.

For a moment, silence reigned, long enough for me to imagine the myriad of ways that I was going to die. I didn't elaborate on the books, but if it came down to it I would tell him everything. An insane truth was better than a lie.

"You speak the truth" Bloodraven whispered, a note of wonder in his voice "You speak the truth! ha!"

Then he tipped back his head and roared with laughter, the sound of bark on bark all the more painful for it. I stood nervously, wringing my hands.

"These books of yours?" His question caught me off guard "Books of prophecy, perhaps?"

I went to answer, but he carried on "No matter. It is of no consequence now. For all that I have the look of one, boy, I am no monster. I will not punish you for crimes not your own"

He looked me in the eye once more, and this time his expression was that of defeat, than anything else.

"Even If I wished to, it would be a waste of effort" He grunted "I have seen it. Your presence here means that Jon Snow, the real Jon Snow, will never come to be, and without him, we have already lost the Great War yet to come."

My blood turned to ice in my veins.

"That can't be" I whispered "You can't let that happen!"

"LET!" He roared again, though this time I was half expecting it and only flinched. He gestured to himself by spreading both arms wide "Let, he says. Look at me boy, look at the horror I've become and realize this is nothing. I, my ancestors, and forces far beyond your comprehension have been fighting endlessly for millennia to save the world. And all it took for all that effort, all that sacrifice, to go to waste was one fucking boy greener than fresh grass in the middle of spring!

Anger coursed through me suddenly, the emotions that'd been burning underneath the surface exploding at the insinuation that this was my fault "I played no part in this! I am not here of my own free will!"

"That changes nothing" his voice dropped, and he leaned back "Intentional or not, the Long Night shall come again, and nothing shall stand in its way"

"Then help me stop it!" I screamed. Dimly, I realized I meant the words. I couldn't stand by and let the end come, not when it was indirectly my fault "Lend me your aid, and together we can-

"No"

I froze, hopes brutally cut down at the dismissal. He carried on "I have seen what will come to be. Jon Snow was an integral factor to defeating the Long Night, and you are not he, and no amount of preparation will change that"

"What could he possibly do that I can't!"

I howled in panic, as I could feel my one chance slipping through my fingers like sand

"A naive child with a pitiful sense of self-worth, brought on by years of being stared down and considered a stain on the oh-so-perfect Eddard Stark's honor! The same man who would rather have the nephew he swore to protect be sent off to freeze his balls off in the utter, pathetic joke that is the night's watch than help him claim a throne that is rightfully his!"

"It is precisely that honor that would have made all the difference" Bloodraven intoned "For all his many faults, Jon Snow would stand firm where others would bend. He would unite the realms of men because of that honor. You? I could give you all my knowledge and put words that would give you the kingdoms freely in your mouth and you'd never be able to match him."

The words struck me with physical force, and I desperately rallied "I tried! The moment I woke up I came to you!"

"You came to me driven by your fear, boy." He sneered at me "You came hoping I would save you from the dangers of the world when your very presence has left us vulnerable to the greatest of them all. Craven!"

"Please" I begged, bringing my head to the floor with no shame, as the cave shook once more "Please, please, please, just tell me what to do! What am I supposed to do?"

"Join the Watch. Become a maester. A Sellsword, a Lyseni pleasure whore, I care not" Bloodraven's voice grew distant, "It makes no difference to me."

The wind howled, suddenly, whispers I couldn't make out rose, and the last I saw of Bloodraven was his hand stretched out towards me, a thunderous look on his face.

"Now begone from my sight!"

...

I woke up in the Godswood once more. My hands were pressed to the white bark, and the skin of my fingers was torn and bleeding where I struck them against the tree. The early light of dawn filtered through the red leaves, illuminating my vision.

I paid it no mind.

I had no help, no support. The world would end, and It would be my fault simply for existing.

I pressed my face to the tree trunk and wept.

...​

A/N: So. Blood Raven's a jackass. Any agreement, Folks?

The next chapter will be a two-year time skip, and the end of The Boy Who Would Be King (the arc, not my dude) is coming soon.

Secrets will be unveiled, and a path will be chosen.

Next Chapter: The Boy Who Would Be King - Part 6