Brandon "Bran" Stark a boy of ten, had taken this risk many times. The stones were steady enough, but from such great heights it was a long fall to the ground. He had promised his mother Catelyn Stark that he would stop clambering up the stone walls of Winterfell, a promise he had made and broken several times before. But she wouldn't notice, not with all of the company she had to keep her entertained. Robert Baratheon, the King of all of Westeros, his family and other entourage had arrived on official business. This meant that, being the wife of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, she was busy accommodating for her guests.

Bran ascended up the tower, grasping onto vines, wooden beams and foot holes to hoist himself up. His direwolf Summer observed from the ground, nervously awaiting his master's return. Bran proceeded to head towards the gates when he heard muffled noises coming from inside the tower. Unsure of what or who they belonged to, Bran made his way toward the window. Reaching the archway, Bran peered in as he saw a man half naked and on his knees. He recognized the man as Ser Jaime Lannister, a knight of the Kingsguard. Jaime had not yet noticed Bran as he was thrusting into the behind of a blonde woman. Bran froze, unsure of what to do. His instinct told him to leave before he was discovered, but with curiosity he watched on as Jaime committed this foreign act.

Bran suppressed a gasp as the blonde maiden revealed her face. It was that of Cersei Lannister, the King's wife. The Queen looked directly at Bran, her incestuous secret had been discovered. Cersei and her younger twin brother Jaime had been having an affair for quite some time, and it was he that fathered her three children. They kept it hidden, and Cersei claimed the children were her King's.
"Stop, stop!" commanded Cersei in panic, attempting to cloak herself. Jaime too had seen who was watching them.
Bran hurried out the window to climb down, but Jaime was faster and grabbed the boy by his shirt.

"Are you completely mad?" questioned Jaime, as he held Bran in the window.
"He saw us!" uttered Cersei.
Bran scrambled to leave, suddenly feeling quite frightened of the consequences of being a witness.
"It's alright" assured Jaime calmly, gripping tighter onto Bran's shirt.
"He saw us!" repeated Cersei, with more authority in her wavering voice.
"I heard you the first time" replied Jaime over his shoulder. He then looked past Bran and down to the ground, realising the distance Bran had climbed. "You're quite the little climber aren't you? How old are you boy?"
"Ten" Bran replied anxiously.
"Ten" echoed Jaime, and sudden relief seemed to flood his face. He made a gesture to let go of Bran and turned back to his sister.

"The things I do for love" Jaime said, amusedly. And with that he pushed Bran out of the archway, hoping the secret would die with the Stark boy.

Bran grasped desperately onto one of the rafters, hearing nothing but the loud barks of Summer who never left the side of the tower. Robb Stark, the eldest of the Stark children had been walking past when he spotted his slim younger brother dangling from the tower. He walked over with an amused smile as Bran safely descended down the tower. Bran landed with a thud and took in heavy breaths. "You better not let Mother catch you climbing again" grinned Robb as he approached the tower, but his expression dropped when he saw Bran's worried colourless face.
"Bran, what's wrong?"
Bran glanced back up to the window, knowing the capability of Jaime Lannister. He was lucky this time. But if he told anyone what he saw, he mightn't be so lucky next time.
"Nothing" murmured Bran, looking at his shoes. Before Robb could ask any more questions, or either of the Lannister twins could find him, he ran towards his room with Summer bounding behind him.

That night Bran had gone to bed earlier than usual, avoiding the banquet hall altogether. Just before the feast had started, his older sister Sansa Stark had come in to fetch him. "Don't argue" she sighed in her proper voice, "Mother says we're all to be present." Sansa had taken a liking to Cersei's eldest son Joffrey. Joffrey was the next in line for the throne and Sansa was more than happy to be betrothed to him.
"I don't want to go" stated Bran, burying himself under his fur blankets. Sansa rolled her eyes and exited Bran's room, not wanting to miss a moment of Joffrey's company.

The banquet hall was filled with noise and festivities. People chatted gaily as they sat around the heavy wooden tables, dining on food set before them. Rickon Stark, the youngest of the Stark children was looking bored as he waited for Bran to arrive to keep him company. Arya Stark, the tomboyish daughter of Eddard and Catelyn, was sneaking food out to the direwolves and lingered to make sure Jon Snow wasn't lonely. Jon was the bastard child of Eddard Stark's, and in the eyes of Catelyn he was a reminder of sin. Jon knew he didn't belong in there so he practiced his swordcraft outside, readying himself for Night's Watch. Catelyn was about to take her place beside the Queen when Sansa came over.

"I tried. He won't leave his room" she said simply, as she looked for the table with her friends around it. Robb entered a few seconds later and Catelyn pulled him aside.
"Robb, would you mind telling your father that I've gone to fetch Bran. I'll be back in a moment."
He nodded, and then remembered his earlier encounter.
"Mother, Bran was acting particularly strange this morning. When I saw him, he was hanging on for dear life to the side of the tower. I asked him what was wrong but he looked too scared to say."
"Hanging?" she asked in a mix of surprise and shock.
"Bran's climbed those walls a thousand times over; something had to have gone wrong. He nearly fell from the top."
Robb asked his mother to wait whilst he went and spoke to his father. Eddard looked over at Catelyn and then back to Robb. Soon after Robb came back to his mother and the two of them went back towards the Stark residence.

Summer growled lowly as a knock came from the other side of the door. Jolting awake, Bran went and opened it. There stood Robb and his mother, and silently the three of them sat in Bran's room.
"Bran, I will not scold you for climbing that wall. But you need to tell me what happened."
"Nothing, I just fell and-"
"Brandon Stark, eyes to me. You always look at your feet when you're lying. You've climbed that tower so many times before. Please, tell me."
Bran's eyes shifted between Robb and his mother, reluctantly about to share what happened. He told them about how he had climbed up the tower, heard something and wanted to see what it was. He described what he had seen in his ten year old way, saying that it looked like what Theon Greyjoy, Robb's best friend and local prostitute Ros did when he accidentally saw them in the stables.

"There's more" said Bran. "When I was hanging from the beam just below the window…"
"What is it?" his mother asked, concerned.
"The Queen asked her brother what will happen if people find out about her children?"
"What about her children Bran?" interjected Robb, confused.
"That their father isn't Robert. That they are children of Ser Jaime."
"You're certain Bran?" questioned Robb.
"Yes. I'm certain."
Robb turned to his mother, unsure of what to do with this new information.
"What do we do?"
"We tell your father, and only your father" Catelyn decided, taking Bran into her arms. "He would know, better than any of us, what to do."