Castle Black, 501 AC

As soon as she was spotted by rangers south of the Wall, word was brought to him. The Martell girl's arrival is not a surprise; a raven had been sent nearly a month past detailing plans for her arrival and orders for her stay. It isn't often that the rulers of Westeros meddle in the politics of the Wall, however, the new Queen is different than her predecessors, Roan is told.

She travels by cart-a luxury provided by the Queen-guided by one of his wandering crows, coming back with new recruits from King's Landing.

Roan watches from the top of the Wall as they make their way to the Wall. No commands need to be ordered to open the Wall-the Wall opens for everyone now-but Roan makes his way from his post on the top of the Wall to the gates to greet them. Stopping by one of the stewards, he tells him to ready the King's Tower for their guest.

A crowd has formed below as rumors of a Lady coming to stay at Castle Black have been circulating for weeks now. Roan hears a few of the newer recruits' remarks and draws his sword.

"She is not to be touched," he says authoritatively. His words are directed toward the three men speaking crudely, but everyone in the crowd knows they're meant for all.

"She can take care of herself," echoes a voice coming in from the Wall.

The sound of the cart Roan hadn't been paying attention to until this moment comes to a halt and all eyes focus on the girl riding it. She eases herself off and Roan watches in awe as she makes her way over to him. She wears a brace on her left leg, and uses a long rod of what looks to be Valerian steel to steady herself.

No where in the Queen's letter was there a mention of the reason for the cart, he found himself thinking.

It wasn't until she snorted in a distinctly unladylike way that he realized he said it out loud. "It isn't something I advertise, Lord Commander, " she responds.

"Roan, is fine, Lady Raven," he insists.

She smiles genuinely, "Alright, Roan, of House Mormont, then please do me the same courtesy and simply call me Raven."

"Of course," he agrees. He then offers to show her to her quarters as well as her workroom.

"Clarke's sending the supplies I outlined for her in the next few days, so I imagine my workroom is rather empty at the moment," Raven states. "I would love to see the elevator instead, to get a feel for what I'm working with."

Roan nods. Addressing the crowd around them for the first time since her arrival, he says, "You all have your duties," and then nods in the direction of the elevator. "This way," he says to the Martell girl.

-x-

Raven could tell from the moment she arrived at the Wall that the Night's Watch picked a good Lord Commander. He's new to the position, having had it just a little longer than Clarke has been Queen. Roan of House Mormont seems like a decent man.

She heard the crude comments from some of the men while she was in the tunnels under the Wall but wasn't surprised by them. While the Wall has been open for since the defeat of the white walkers over a hundred years ago, people don't tend to stay at Castle Black, or any of the other Night's Watch castles. The brothers on the Wall rarely see women, so Raven knew what she was getting into when she agreed to Clarke's request.

Roan's quick and definitive defense of her was a surprise. She had heard of him, too. The golden child of House Mormont, banished by his mother and replaced by a commoner. A serving girl taken from her parents and trained by Lady Nia to rule in his stead. He has certainly made something of himself.

At first, he and his men were against many of her proposed changes. "Castle Black and the Wall have stood for thousands of years and a thousand Kings," he had said over dinner in the common hall her first night there. "Why is the Queen commanding these improvements now?"

"What I'm planning to do wasn't possible before now," Raven had said confidently. Then, glancing sideways at the Lord Commander, she added, "and you're the first to even consider someone such as me to do the work."

Needless to say, Raven's measure of the Lord Commander proves true. She is given free reign at Castle Black. She visits the library often, where she finds him late at night. She has noticed that he seems to always be reading whatever book she had in her hands the evening before. He's also very patient when training the new recruits, and even more so with her interruptions of his training.

Clarke didn't choose her to be the Commander of her Queensguard for her looks or witty attitude, of course. She was a skilled fighter before her accident, and can still hold her own decently well. She can't help but watch from above the training grounds as the new recruits practice and shout out suggestions and criticisms to them. Roan tends to agree with her and expand on her words, turning her suggestions into mini-lessons.

Turnabout is fair play, of course, so he stops by her workroom most days and peppers her with questions about her changes to the elevator and the other improvements for the Castle that she's been commissioned to make. He has come a long way since her first night, and seems almost eager for the construction to begin.

Truth be told, Raven's enjoyed her time at Castle Black so much, she's trying to decide what to write Clarke and Bellamy in order to extend her stay. She considers telling the truth-that she likes the Night's Watch and like's its Commander-but she can't bring herself to put that in writing.

She'll simply have to explore the Castle some more and find something else to improve instead.