eighth wildling ➳ ( voice )

[freewoman]

[Guess who is sick? And dragged to the hospital against her will stuck in the hospital.]

I don't want none o' your doctors. [She wheezes into the device, smart enough to keep it off.]

What I need is a wise woman. There are herbs and teas t'do me fine, none o' these metal machines. [She has to lean over to cough. It sounds like she's hacking a lung out.]

I won't stay here. In this metal buildin'. I'll fight me way out. I swear-- [And another coughing fit takes over before she just ends the feed.]

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[heirwithouthope]

You told me that you have a king you chose to follow. You do not even follow his command?

[freewoman]

The King Beyond the Wall ain't like your kings. I choose t'follow him.

[heirwithouthope]

[The King Beyond the Wall sounds like an honorable man. That's something that occurs to him briefly before he responds.]

How much do you know about kings, Ygritte?

[freewoman]

I know what they do t'lands, what they turn people into. I know what kings've done t'my people.

[She grits her teeth, speaking out harshly.]

[heirwithouthope]

Those are not proper kings. And it is not just your people that find honorable men to follow. Some understand what it means to rule, without betraying others.

[He's not even referring to himself, here. His title as King Under the Mountain was not yet earned while the Arkenstone was still lost, and the dragon still occupied his halls. Thorin thinks about his grandfather, staunch in his respect and loyalty to him, even years after Thror died. Even without forgetting the sickness that took his mind: there was no one that could call him a bad king without invoking Thorin's rage.]

[freewoman]

They called themselves kings. They had the power of a king. [She purses her lips together.]

We gave Mance power t'lead because he deserved it. We came together because there's an even bigger threat t'our people. The only way we'd live is if we fought it. The Free People don't need no king.

[heirwithouthope]

All people need to be led by someone, at one point or another.

[freewoman]

Maybe your people.

[heirwithouthope]

It is not just dwarves that have kings. Elves and Men have them, as well.

[freewoman]

And it ends the same. People chained and barred.

[heirwithouthope]

[His voice becomes tight.] That is not what a king does.

[freewoman]

And yet, their people ain't free.

[heirwithouthope]

They are unified and kept safe. A king protects his people and guides them to their best interest. Do your kinfolk not have laws to stop them from falling into chaos?

[freewoman]

No. No man can tell another what they can't do. They can shove a spear into'im if he goes after him or his.

[heirwithouthope]

The same applies to a kingdom, though a king's law might find it unnecessary to kill for every crime.

[freewoman]

Law? Y'think you can speak some words and they'll listen? Words mean nothing.

[heirwithouthope]

The dwarves of my kingdom had no trouble listening to my grandfather. Or to me.

[freewoman]

I know little about your people. Just of mine and the Kneelers below the Wall. [She isn't accustomed to holding her tongue-- and even here isn't quite. But she knows she doesn't want to say the wrong thing.]

I admire your loyalty t'them. [But she doesn't comment on the reverse since she hasn't seen him with them or them with him. Do they kneel because they have to or because they always have or do they fight with him because he's an honorable man and king?]

[heirwithouthope]

[Thorin is silent for a while. He can't see her in audio--let alone peer, as he would if they were facing one another--but he seems to be putting his thoughts together.]

You have conviction in the ways of your people. I cannot fault you for this.

[Her viewpoint frustrates him, and he still thinks she's inherently wrong. But she explained what happened to the Wildlings, so he can't claim ignorance to its roots. He couldn't deny someone the ability to never forgive a slight, either.]

[freewoman]

Two warriors equally matched then.

[They would probably never see eye to eye on this, but they respected one another enough to not break out into another fight about it this time.]

[heirwithouthope]

I would need to see you fight before making that call.

[It is one part ribbing and overall that bare brand of honesty Thorin has that makes it impossible for him to socialize like a normal person.]

[freewoman]

And someday y'may. [But she wasn't talking about their physical strength.]

[heirwithouthope]

I do not doubt it.

[They're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.]

[freewoman]

I await the day t'fight with you, Thorin Oakenshield.

[heirwithouthope]

That day might not be far behind. [Considering how this place operates.] But it is important that you recover your strength, before then.