[Llow 4/4 ~76 BPM | LOW DREADNOUGHT | floor tom | sparse RESONATOR: 1–♭2–♭3–4–♭5–5–6] [FEMALE NARRATOR, storytelling voice] [Verse 1] They reached the northern outpost With the dead still miles away, Moving south as slow as winter, Closer every passing day. They needed neither sleep nor water, Never stopped to hunt or eat. What they lacked in speed they carried In the certainty of feet. Jack sent riders east and westward: Bring the Watch. Bring everyone. Coley's chair stood empty. Someone had to sit in it. [Verse 2] [STEADY PULSE] It took weeks to bring them inward From the scattered northern line, Black coats riding through the gateway Twenty, fifty at a time. Men who'd watched those posts for decades, Men whose black was scarcely worn, Miners, ranch hands, thieves and drifters, Rich men's sons and prison-born. Nearly two thousand voices Filled the yard and mess-hall floor. Four names rose above the others: Pike. Moss. Shaw. Then— Snow. Jack shook his head. The room laughed. [Verse 3] Harlan Pike had served for decades, Knew each trail and frozen creek. Calder Moss believed the answer Was to make the Watch less weak. Edwin Shaw knew stores and wagons, Every cartridge, horse and pound. Jack Snow said he wasn't standing. Someone called from farther down: “Coley didn't ask you either when he fell and left you there.” Jack had no reply to that one. So they put him in the chair. [Verse 4] [LOW MALE CROWD MURMURS] Too damn young. Too little service. Too much Winter in his blood. Raised on beef and clean-bed living While some Crows grew up in mud. Soft on men. Too slow to punish. Never had to earn his bread. Put a rich man's bastard over us? Jack let most of that be said. Then one voice asked which command He'd follow if the two opposed: The Watch— Or Sarah Winter? Jack looked up. “The Watch.” “How do we know?” “If Sarah tells me otherwise, I'll tell my sister no.” [Verse 5] [LOW WOOD FLUTE: 1–2–4–5–♭7, NO 3RD] Pike asked why the blind boy Had a place inside the hall. Jack said Brayden had been farther north Than most men by that wall. Brayden turned toward Pike and murmured: “So have you.” Pike frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?” “Eleven years ago. Past the split pine.” Pike went still. Brayden added: “You turned back when you heard singing.” [RESONATOR: ♭2→1] Nobody laughed. [Verse 6] Moss said timber, stone and rifles Could hold anything that came. From the corner Brayden answered: “No.” Moss demanded him explain. “You tried that.” “I've never fought them.” Brayden tilted up his head. “Not yet.” [LONG PAUSE] “You're standing on the west tower. Smoke is underneath. You keep calling them to fire.” Moss swallowed. “And?” Brayden listened somewhere distant. “Nobody answers.” [Verse 7] [SINGLE GUITAR] Shaw said they should guard their stores And wait for southern aid. Counties couldn't leave the Watch Without the food and arms they'd pledged. Brayden quietly interrupted: “The wagons don't come.” Shaw stared. “What wagons?” “The ones you're waiting for.” Nobody asked another question. Shaw sat slowly down. [Verse 8] Then a Crow stood up and shouted That the game was plain to see: Every man against young Jack Got some convenient prophecy. “Ask him, boy. Tell us what happens if your brother gets command.” Brayden's face turned toward Jack. Jack tightened one hand. “Jack loses men.” [LOW TOM] No one moved. “Some because he waits too long.” Jack whispered, “Brayden…” “Some because he doesn't wait long enough.” [RESONATOR: ♭5→5] [Verse 9] Jack finally asked his brother: “Have you seen who wins tonight?” Brayden shook his head. “No.” Jack breathed once. “Good.” Someone asked what Brayden saw Whenever he looked Jack's way. No commander. No great savior. No victorious future day. The blind boy seemed confused That they had even had to ask. “My brother.” [WOOD FLUTE: 1–2–4–5] And somehow that was all. [Verse 10] [STEADY 4/4] When they called the names to speak, Jack stood and faced the hall. “Pike knows more about this Watch. Shaw knows every store and stall. Moss has worn the black three times As long as I've been here. Choose any one of them tonight, I'll follow without fear.” “But I've been north. I've seen what's coming. And there's one thing that I know: None of us has done this before.” Then Jack Snow sat down. [Bridge] Votes were scratched on scraps of paper. Counted once. Then twice again. One was spoiled. Two were challenged. Nobody joked by then. Three men watched the counting. Four men waited by the wall. At last the old Crow with the tally Raised his eyes across the hall. “Snow.” Jack didn't move. “By how much?” “Enough.” [Outro] [LOW DREADNOUGHT] For a moment there was silence. Then a hand struck wood. Another. Boots began against the floor Until the whole room joined the sound. Jack sat staring at the table Like another man should rise. Someone finally leaned beside him: “Commander Snow?” Jack looked around the crowded hall. Nobody else was answering. [PAUSE] “Hell.” [ONE LOW TOM] [CUT]
