CHAPTER 22 | DEATH TO LOVE

DESPITE Maia's lingering anger, she found it to be her duty to make sure the Watch's Lord Commander was fed. He had missed dinner, leaving her to realize he was cooped up in his office, as usual. Maia's recurring dream played in her head like a track on repeat as she carried his hot bowl of stew in her hands. She still had no idea when the problem of his death was going to pop up; she had no clue if she was right to assume so.

She was lucky enough to not be outside today, for thunder wrecked havoc in the sky. Her fingertips burned against the surface of his dinner, which must have been her reason for sprinting into his workspace and plopping the bowl on his desk. Jon looked up from the piece of parchment in his hands, muttering, "You didn't need to do that."

"But I did anyways," she smirked, pushing the bowl forward. "Eat."

He rubbed at his eyes. "I'm not hungry."

Maia released a huff as she sat on the desk, hugging her cloak near to her chest. "Why are you here? Figured you'd be tending to your wounds for another night."

Jon looked up, a small grin present. "Are you offering to help with that?"

"No."

They both sat there, staring at each other as if their eyes had sunk into their skulls. Before they could continue, the two began laughing uncontrollably. Jon had laced his fingers with her own, their chuckles rolling in sync with one another. Maia held one hand to her chest, giggling, "I didn't mean to dampen your mood last night." She sighed, her laughter dying down. "I guess I was more worried than usual."

"You're the only one who can make me laugh in this time of crisis." He leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips before picking the papers on his desk again. He breathed out and glanced her way. "What was that about last night?"

Maia held her hands together. Her nerves were suddenly sky-rocketing. This was the moment. She had to tell him now. What better time than the present? She was unsure of how much time she had left with Jon, and she was going to try her hardest to stop that from happening.

"You see –"

The door immediately swung open, and the couple moved farther away from each other as their eyes rested on Olly. "Lady Sanders," he cleared his throat before looking at Jon. "Lord Commander, it's one of the Wildlings you brought back. Says he knows your Uncle Benjen."

The words began to click in her head. Maia remembered this moment; she remembered this scene. She remembered Derek screaming at their television to "not trust Olly."

She found herself repeating the words that came out of Olly's mouth: "Says he's still alive."

"Are you sure he's talking about Benjen?" Jon asked, standing from his seat.

Maia's eyes widened as she watched the sight unfold before her. No, this can't be the time. She hadn't told him yet. This couldn't be –

"Says he was First Ranger," Olly answered. "Says he knows where to find him."

Olly ran out of the office, gesturing from Jon to follow. The Lord Commander bolted from his spot, but was suddenly stopped when he found Maia's hand wrapped around his arm. "What are you doing?"

Her facial expression was pure terror as her hands shook violently. Something was wrong; she felt wrong. Her grip tightened around his bicep. "Jon," she paused, "don't go."

"Maia, I have –"

She shook her head. "No, no. Something bad is going to happen. You can't –"

"Seven hells!" Jon exclaimed, ripping his arm away. "You don't actually know that!"

"I do!" Maia brought him closer yet again, tears welling up in her eyes as she closed her hands around his cheeks. "Jon, I – I'm not from here. What I was trying to tell you last night – it was all true. I'm not from this world. I know what's going to happen to you. I know everything –"

Jon's eyes seemed to bug out of his skull. He looked at her as if she was a ghost. No words fell from his mouth.

"I – I never told you because I was scared. I didn't know what you'd say. This is why I have those feelings on what I think is going to happen. It's because I know."

She released a breath. The weight suddenly lifted from her chest. She had finally said it. A bolt of lightening ripped in the sky outside.

He removed her hands while he began to slowly retrace his steps. "Maia, you're scaring me." He shook his head as he moved towards the door.

"No!" She cried, hand clasped around his shoulder. "You're going to die, Jon."

He paused for a moment, turning his back to her. Maybe she had officially gone crazy, but there was something in the way that she sobbed that told him her words were true. She believed in them, but he wasn't sure if he believed in her.

Jon looked over his shoulder, muttering, "It's my uncle. You have no idea how much this could mean to me."

Before she could release another shriek, he was sprinting out of his office. She followed his footsteps towards the outside of Castle Black, where Olly was waiting to guide him. They trekked down the snowy stairs, allowing Maia to wait from the deck as Jon bellowed, "Stay there." Thunder cracked above as Olly glanced at her, sending a glare.

A scream lodged itself in her throat. Her chest heaved. She felt as if she were being pelted with a million stones.

Alliser Thorne was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for Jon. "He says he saw your uncle at Hardhome on the last full moon."

"Could be lying," Jon muttered.

"Could be," Ser Alliser agreed. "One way to find out."

Maia watched Jon flex his hands in his gloves from above, seeing them near a group of Watch brothers. "Where is he?" The Lord Commander questioned.

"Over there," Alliser replied towards the group of brothers in a circle.

Jon shoved his way through the gang that huddled together. He anxiously wanted to meet said man. He wanted to know anything about his Uncle Benjen's whereabouts. Maia didn't understand what this information could mean for him or for Benjen.

But as he reached the middle of the brothers' circle, he only noticed one thing: mounted to a post under the dense firelight, was a piece of wood with the word, TRAITOR, carved into it.

Maia creaked down the stairs, tears falling down her cheeks. She could just see the post-marked word from her spot, and she remembered what came next. Why didn't he believe her? The moment finally came, and he didn't believe. She was to save him, but he didn't want that.

Jon cocked his head to the side, slowly turning to face his members.

Alliser was already behind him, and as soon as he spun around, he stabbed his Lord Commander in the gut. "For the Watch."

The First Ranger pulled the knife out, splattering blood to the ground as Jon gasped for breath. Lightening mixed with the snow falling. Maia's sobs were uncontrollable as she resisted the urge to hunch herself over. She couldn't help Jon now. She couldn't do anything and it actually killed her inside.

Another man came. And another. And another. And yet another. All plunged their filthy blades into Jon's stomach, repeating, "For the Watch." The look on their faces were disgusting. Their actions were disgusting. They were all disgusting.

Jon panted as his knees gave out, sending them to the snowy ground. He gasped for air and his eyes connected to Olly above, who was slowly inching towards him. The knife in his hand quivered as Jon stared at him, pleading for a release of torture.

Maia lifted a hand to her mouth, her heavy breathing matching Jon's. Derek's holler from the past echoed in her mind.

Jon tried backing away on his knees. Tears stung at his eyes as he watched the child. "Olly," he croaked.

Olly's face contorted into anger, a flashing of what the Wildlings did to his village began to play in his eyes. He hated Jon. He completely, utterly, hated him. And as he saw his Lord Commander start to cry, he rammed his blade into his chest. "For the Watch," he repeated.

Jon's lip trembled as his eyes searched for Maia, spotting her walk closer to the scene. He carefully shook his head, losing breath from his body. She had been right. He watched her sadness overcome her, but even with shaky vision, he knew she needed to go. They would surely kill her too.

Maia didn't know what to think or do, so she kept her eyes locked with a dying Jon on his knees. She was ready to run over, but then she watched his lips form the word: "Run."

Suddenly, she saw all the brothers' eyes on her as Jon slipped to the ground. They all raised their weapons, faces angered with her presence. They were all going to murder her.

Maia took off at the speed of light, hearing Alliser command, "Follow her!" She headed for the gates, realizing now the only reason she refused to break through them the first time was her being so weak from the cold. Maia found herself grow stronger being at Castle Black, and she quickly struck her whole body against the frail wood of the gates. "Don't open the gates!"

The brothers working on the peak of the Wall heard differently, and without a second thought, they began to roll open the entrance. Maia looked over her shoulder, realizing an unknown Watch brother was already speeding her way. She had to think fast; he was going to reach her in little under three seconds. As he sped close with his weapon raised, Maia took an intake of breath and rammed her fist into his face. He was sent back a foot away, lying on the ground in a daze.

Maia saw their torches just a few feet away, causing her to smash herself into the gates yet again. She shoved her fists into the dull entrance, and tried not to puke at the sight of blood covering her knuckles. The wood finally cracked as the gates fully opened, to her confusion, and she quickly slid herself out. She found herself where she started: outside of the Wall. Maia hadn't seen a real scenery in so long, but she couldn't wait. She knew exactly where she needed to go, and she hoped her assumptions were correct.

The sky crackled, a storm brewing ahead as the snow mixed within it. Maia trudged through the deep snow, hearing the Watch brothers scream for their friends to open the gates more so they could find her. She had the lead now, and she couldn't stop.

Maia breathed heavily as she neared her destination, chest burning with exhaustion. Her lungs hurt more than anyone could imagine. Thunder riddled the clouds and lightening shook the ground. She could see the familiar white-barked tree from a mile away, the leaves following the ground and coloring the snow red. Maia looked behind her, noticing the Watch had finally dispersed from the gates. They saw her, and began marching through the snow to reach her at the weirwood tree.

"Kill her!" Ser Alliser ordered as they neared.

Maia shrieked while another bolt of lightening hit the base of the weirwood tree, and as her arms wrapped around the trunk, the band of brothers reached her spot. They raised their weapons, but before they could stab her in the back, Alliser Thorne watched Maia Sanders disappear into thin air.

•••

A/N: Okay, this had to happen for the sake of the story going along smoothly as it usually does. Maia wanted to save Jon, but just like how Melisandre observes, it was his destiny to die.

Jon's death was the only way to push Maia into going back to her real world, honestly. This time without him will help her learn more about herself! And extensively, Book II will deal with more about destiny for Maia and Jon.