-Chapter 146-
-POV Benjen Stark-
I had been waiting for Jon's arrival for several moons, but when I saw him again, I immediately understood that the Jon I knew had been dead for a long time.
He no longer resembled the proud boy who was a spitting image of Ned. No, now I could clearly see the similarities with his true father.
'At the same time, it's normal given the color of his hair and eyes,' I thought as I distractedly watched my nephew enter the room where his men had imprisoned me.
"Uncle Benjen," he said with a small smile.
I stood up and hugged him before taking his shoulders and saying:
"It's been so long since we've seen each other, it feels like a decade."
Jon, or rather Aegon, smiled before saying, "I share the same feeling, Uncle."
We sat down, and then I asked him to tell me in detail how he had managed to claim his throne, although I already knew the main points of this story from the many discussions I had with the new members of the Night's Watch.
For half an hour, he told me everything in minute detail, and I realized that he had endured many trials to assume and claim his Targaryen heritage.
I couldn't help but feel a bit sad when he explained the now cold and tense relationship he had with Ned and his children.
'The mark of "bastard" that Ned branded into Aegon's forehead at birth will never disappear from my nephew's mind,' I thought with some sadness as I listened to Aegon speak resentfully about Ned and Catelyn.
I couldn't help but also feel overwhelming guilt.
I kept replaying the events that led to all this and my role in it.
In the end, maybe everything that has happened until today was my fault?
All those deaths, all that suffering, maybe if I had spoken to someone about what I had seen… about what I knew, today my sister might still be alive, maybe even Rhaegar, his wife Elia Martell, and their children who were Jon's… Aegon's siblings might still be among us.
Maybe Aegon wouldn't have had to endure such pain, such trials, and he wouldn't have to bear the weight of the responsibility of an entire continent on his young shoulders today.
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-POV MC-
Once I finished telling my story to my uncle, I took a few seconds to observe his reaction. Unlike my other uncle, I had an excellent relationship with Benjen, because he never imposed anything on me and he was the only one to support me when I decided to leave Winterfell for Oldtown.
So it's only natural that his opinion means a lot to me, which is why I avoided contacting him during my conquest of the continent. I didn't want him to dissuade me from doing things that could be judged as too cruel.
I'm thinking in particular of the eradication of several noble houses of the Ironborn or the end of the illustrious order of the Night's Watch.
"So, what do you intend to do with the wildlings?"
"I don't know yet," I said without revealing that I simply had no intention of caring for this people who had proven rebellious so far.
He raised his eyebrows and then said, "From everything you've told me, you seem to think about events that haven't even happened yet, and you're going to make me believe that you don't know what you're going to do with the wildlings?"
Seeing that he wasn't fooled, I smiled softly and then said, "I'm still hesitating."
"What makes you hesitate?"
"As you know, the white walkers are not just a legend, so when I think about it, I tell myself that on one hand, letting the free folk, the giants, and everything else beyond the Wall die could prove to be a terrible strategic mistake because as undead, they would be a truly devastating force against us. But now that Joramun's Horn is destroyed, I tell myself it would be quite easy to counter the white walkers with a properly prepared army on the Wall."
Benjen frowned and said, "You don't care about all the people who will die and come back as undead until the end of time?"
I sighed then said, "I'm not saying I don't care, but as a king, I don't have the right to make decisions based on personal feelings, I have to think about the greater good."
Benjen shook his head and then said, "Be honest with me and stop giving me bullshit, really tell me what you think, don't hide behind hypocritical excuses and own your choice."
I frowned, not understanding what had gotten into him, then said:
"You want me to be totally frank with you?"
He nodded so I continued:
"The pure truth is that I will never let my lineage's kingdom fall a second time, the time when every lord of this realm was a king on his lands is over, whether it's the Martells, the Lannisters, the Tyrells, the Arryns, or even the Starks, whoever defies the authority of House Targaryen will meet their end in fire and blood."
He frowned, not understanding where I was going, then I said:
"I don't intend to let uncivilized tribes, united by another king simply by the fear of the white walkers, settle on my lands. What Mance Rayder is doing is purely and simply an invasion, no more, no less. If he ever wants to take shelter on my lands, he should bend the knee, and if his subordinates want to do the same but the king they have recognized and elected as the leader of their people doesn't want to, they should change leader."
Benjen looked at me for a few seconds, surprised by my outburst, then said:
"You have changed."
"That's an understatement," I said, rolling my eyes.
"You've grown, I still see you as my nephew, little Jon with a runny nose, but it's clear now that you're a king," he said with a long sigh.
We remained in deep silence for a few minutes, then he said:
"The wildlings are First Men like us, we have the same blood running through our veins, I understand your position as a king, but grant me the chance to find an agreement with them."
I thought deeply about the matter, then nodded.
The best solution for me was for the wildlings to surrender because they would bring with them the giants, skinchangers, and fearless warriors forged in ice and blood, quite different from the summer knights that filled the south.
"But I have a condition," I said, freezing the nascent smile on my uncle's face.
"I want you to accompany me to the South and take the position of Hand of the King."
For a few seconds, he remained frozen, then he burst out laughing, probably thinking it was a joke.
But seeing that I wasn't laughing, he said, surprised: "You're serious?!"
I nodded, then he said:
"But I'm just the captain of the rangers, I took an oath."
"The Night's Watch no longer exists, I already dissolved it, and whatever you say, I will not give control of the Wall to an entity not part of the kingdom."
His frown deepened, and I said: "I know it was our ancestor who created this order, but the world is constantly evolving, I need to unite the entire continent properly so that a positive change results from my conquest, I don't want to repeat the same mistakes as my predecessors."
I felt he was hesitating, so I went all out by pulling on the heartstrings:
"I need someone I trust to help me make the right decisions, you are a good person, Uncle Benjen, I'd rather it be you helping me manage the kingdom than a power-hungry southerner who will try to poison me in a few years."
He passed his hand over his face, then said: "Very well, but my sworn brothers… I would like you to give them their freedom."
I frowned because he was asking me to release people I didn't want to see at court, like the remaining Tullys or the lords of the Vale.
Who knows what kind of grudges they could be harboring since I sent them here to die?
"By releasing everyone from their oaths, I will also be releasing people who were supposed to be sentenced to death and chose to take the black," I said without fully exposing my thoughts.
"Like the Royces and the Tullys," he said, perfectly understanding what actually worried me.
"Like all the lords I decided to exile as well as the rapists and murderers supposed to end their lives here," I said.
"I imagine you didn't think enough about it before, but if you want to be considered a fair ruler, you will have to give them all the same treatment: death or pardon, it's your choice."
Thinking more deeply, I realized that capturing and dissolving the Night's Watch was a rash decision.
Because all the noble people here had relatives ruling either the houses they came from or simply married into other powerful houses of the kingdom.
No one will dare rebel against me for the moment, but it will increase the resentment of some like Catelyn, for example, who could poison the minds of the Starks to portray me as a monster.
This was just a small example, but if this blunder led me to make another of the same kind, I would quickly find myself with a bloodbath in the kingdom and unnecessary losses.
I racked my brain thinking about the best way to handle the sworn brothers of the Night's Watch, then I said:
"For those who joined the Night's Watch of their own free will without committing a crime necessitating their membership, whether they are commoners or nobles, I will grant them all the title of knight, an annual allowance to be determined for the next 10 years, and if they wish, they will receive a position in the royal army which is still expanding."
Benjen nodded without saying anything, so I continued:
"For those who were condemned by the usurper Robert Baratheon because of their allegiance to the Targaryen side, it will be the same but with a piece of fertile land."
Still without saying anything, he nodded.
"For those who were condemned for crimes of murder and rape, they will be enlisted in the new army I am about to establish, the Expiation Legion."
He frowned then asked: "I don't know this legion."
"That's normal, I hadn't planned to actually establish it, but recently I found the last ingredient I needed to create this legion."
"Can I know what it is?" he asked, slightly curious.
"You'll know if you become my Hand," I said with a sly smile.
Benjen smiled, shaking his head, then I said in a more serious tone: "I agree to pardon the nobles of Westeros who fought against me, but they will no longer be nobles and I will exile them from Westeros for the rest of their lives."
Benjen frowned, then relaxed, saying: "That's doable."
Intrigued, I asked: "What would you have done if you were in my place?"
A touch of coldness appeared in his eyes, then he said: "I don't know, but I wouldn't have released them."
I didn't know what he was implying, but I liked the touch of cruelty I saw in his eyes.