DAENERYS TARGARYEN
Winterfell is my home, Daenerys thought as she overlooked the courtyard of the busy castle which was making the necessary preparations for the arrival of the King and his court. From her vantage point in the Library Tower, she could see all the activity that she knew was her mother's doing for the most part. You could say what you wanted about Benjen Stark; that he was a renowned warrior and an effective governor who had proved more than up to the task of ruling the vast and untameable North; but when it came to organizing banquets and other social events, even for his fellow Northerns, he was a walking nightmare. Daenerys couldn't count the number of times when she had heard her mother cursing over his somewhat minimalistic plans for such events: indeed, all he would arrange for would be several barrels of ale and wine, the needed food for a host of starving lords (always to be increased when inviting the Greatjon, Lord of House Umber, whose appetite was as legendary as his ferocity in battle and the ear-shattering sound of his snoring), and a complete lack of formality and etiquette. It had therefore been agreed long ago that, while Benjen ruled the North, Elia would rule Winterfell. It was a task she devoted a great deal of her time too and none could doubt that she was uniquely qualified to run the Stark household. And it was rare, even after fifteen years of marriage to their liege lord, for the Northern lords to grant her such respect.
That made Daenerys even more apprehensive about the thought that she would soon be leaving Winterfell; she had known from the start that she would one day be leaving but that didn't make the thought any easier to accept. After all, Winterfell was the only home that Daenerys had ever known and the only other places she had seen were the other holdfasts of the North where she had travelled with her good-father when he had insisted on taking her with her, events which had been rare because of her mother's reluctance to let her leave Winterfell. It had always hurt Daenerys that the respect she had always been granted was denied to her mother by Benjen's bannermen. She knew that her mother didn't care in the slightest but it had always made Daenerys feel uncomfortable. For as long as she could remember, it had always been Elia and her against the world, confidents in all things and accomplices in everything. And Elia could be quite the trickster when she put her mind to it, showing a carelessness that surprised many. It was one of the things that had allowed her to gain both the respect and loyalty of the people of Winterfell. But the rumours of her relaxed attitude were yet another reason of her deep unpopularity in the North. And the only people she could ever confide too about her troubles were Daenerys and Benjen. When her daughter would leave, she would lose so much more than just a child. And it was something that she was already far too familiar with.
A loud bang and cry of pain dragged Daenerys out of her thoughts and she looked down to see one of the tables destined for the Great Hall had been dropped. One of the peasants that Elia had hired for the occasion had got his foot caught under it. He was now screaming to the Seven Heavens in a futile hope that the pain would just vanish. The poor man's tragedy had had the unforeseen side effect of dragging the young woman out of her thoughts; she didn't want to dwell on them right now. She needed a distraction and the book that she was reading wasn't going to do the trick. Standing up from the window ledge where she liked to read, she returned the book to its shelf. She came often here enough to know where every book was located and Maester Luwin would always insist that she guide any person wishing to find whatever book. The Library Tour had become Daenerys's refuge since she had stopped seeking it solely in her mother's arms. It had brought comfort when she needed. Now it only served as a reminder that she would soon no longer be able to come here.
Hoping that either Jenna or Rick would be available or willing to accompany her on a ride, she made her way to the stables to ask for her horse to be prepared while she went to find her brother and sister. However, when she saw who was crossing the courtyard pulling his horse by the reins towards the stables, she forgot all about her plans. "Jon!" It was indeed Jon Snow who had just walked in. He turned his head when he heard her cry and his ever so serious face broke into a smile. Daenerys ran towards him and jumped into his arms, her smile wide and all etiquette forgotten. He returned her embrace and his laugh filled her ears; she had missed his laugh more than anything. They hadn't heard it that much when he still lived at Winterfell but since he had left for the Night's Watch, it had filled the halls whenever he had returned.
"What are you doing here?" she asked when she released him.
"Got fed up with the cold at the Wall; decided a little chill might do me good," It was a long running joke between them. Daenerys had once asked whether the cold was as biting as she had read when you were on the Wall, on the edge of the Land of Always Winter. The joke also served to lighten the fact that winter seemed to be truly coming after nine years of a long summer which the North itself had seen but the Wall wouldn't have noticed. Daenerys wandered what it would be like up north when winter hit: she could still remember the last winter she had been through. That mere thought made her blood freeze and she suddenly feared for Jon's life.
"You know you can come back whenever you want," she said, much more serious all of a sudden. "You don't have to spend all your time up there."
He smiled widely. "I appreciate the offer but I wouldn't change my cell at Castle Black for all the comforts of Winterfell. It may sound strange to your ears but you'd have to witness it to know it."
He sounded sincere and Daenerys knew that he was. He had found a home at the Wall, a home he never believed that he found while living in Winterfell. It seemed terribly unfair and sad to her. But she had him back and she intended to make the most of it. Who knew when she would see him next?
"We should find Benjen," she said. "He will be delighted to have you. But why are you here?" The question seemed redundant as she knew very well why he was here. And she was that reason.
But it wasn't the answer he gave. "The Lord Commander asked me to travel to Winterfell to meet with Uncle Benjen. Our rangers have reported that the wildlings have been gathering in ever growing numbers and we fear that they may try and attack the Wall."
Daenerys was surprised. "Could they do that?" She'd heard stories about the attacks of wildlings on the Wall led by their leaders, the Kings-Beyond-the-Wall. But every single one had been a failure and there hadn't been one for centuries, since the Stark had ruled the North as kings. The thought that it could be happening again… Daenerys admitted that she would love to see something like that. "It's serious enough that the Lord Commander has sent me here for it," Jon said.
Daenerys accompanied Jon to the stables where they left his horse in the good care of Hullen, the master of horses. They then made their way to the Great Hall where they would undoubtedly find Benjen. Along the way, Jon satisfied Daenerys's curiosity about the wildlings and the precarious situation of the Night's Watch. She found all this talk absolutely fascinating but, if she was being truthful, it was mostly an excuse to avoid the subject she was sure that Jon would eventually bring up. And she didn't want to spoil the joy of his return with the sadness of her imminent departure.
When they reached the Great Hall, they indeed found the Lord of Winterfell, deep in conversation with Maester Luwin. Benjen's sharp features softened considerably, giving him a much more handsome look, when he saw Jon enter the room. Even Maester Luwin's habitual grim demeanour relaxed somewhat; He had, after all, contributed to raising Jon.
"My black nephew," Benjen said, rising from the table on which he had been seated, one leg swinging back and forth. The two men embraced as a father and son would, and that was close enough in their case. "What cold wind brings you this far south?"
He gave Daenerys only the slightest of looks before looking away. "A potent one, Uncle," Jon replied, having bowed his head in respect towards Maester Luwin. "I bring tidings from the Wall and a message from the Lord Commander."
"And have you planned to spend time with your family during this time?"
"Why else would I have accepted the mission?" Jon answered, only half-serious. Daenerys laughed to herself.
Before anymore could be said on the subject, a squeal was heard from the end of the room where men were shuffling in and out to complete the planned arrangement for the feast tables. A young girl who could be no more than nine years old ran through one of the doors flanking the Lord's table, accidently bumping into one of the hired hands. He cursed and started giving her a piece of his mind when he suddenly realized who she was. He bowed and stammered out an apology before getting back to work. A few moments afterwards, a thirteen-year-old boy emerged from the door, snatching his sister (who was still stunned from her blunder) and loudly boasting: "I've got you!" The girl squealed before trying to fight him off. Daenerys knew that if no one stopped them, the girl would start resorting to very dirty tricks to get free.
Benjen apparently had the same thought. "Rick! Jenna!" he called to his two children, stopping them mid-struggle. They apparently hadn't expected their father to be there. "Come here," he said, sounding stern but looking slightly amused. The children rushed to him, Rickard's head bowed in shame and Jenna's proudly held up; ready to face her father's wrath. Daenerys smiled at it, secretly admiring her sister's fierce character. Their mother had raised her in the true Dornish method: while Benjen tried to turn her into a lady of the North, Elia encouraged her to fight with the boys. Rickard was more subdued and quieter, in the manner of his father, and took his role as the heir of Winterfell very seriously. Although he did let loose and enjoyed playing with his siblings as much as any boy his age would, he tried to remain as serious as possible, especially when his father was present.
What would have been a reprimand which Rick would have taken and Jenna would have defied didn't happen because when Jenna saw her cousin, she squealed again (her only true girl trait, Daenerys thought). Rick looked up to see his sister throw herself at Jon and he himself let go of his guarded expression to smile widely although he waited for Jon to come to him before embracing his cousin. Benjen seemed to give up on the reprimand (for now) and turned to Daenerys as his children begun to take complete possession of Jon. "Do you know where your mother is?"
"Isn't she here? I would have thought she would want everything to go according to her plans?"
Benjen smiled. Elia had never been much for decorum and other events before her marriage to him but, with the task of managing the Stark household, she had discovered a real talent for it. It also meant that she was constantly trying to control every moment of the preparations or at least be present to make sure things went according to her wishes. So it was surprising that she wasn't here right now. "I'll go and find her", Daenerys said.
"Tell her that an outrider reports that my brother has been spotted two days away from Winterfell, so things need to be done quickly. That should get her down her fast."
It was smiling that Daenerys left the Great Hall. It didn't last long as the thoughts that had briefly been swept away had returned, stronger than ever. Jon had clearly returned to Winterfell just to see her and, while she was grateful to him for that, she couldn't help but slightly resent him as well. His return would make her departure all the more complicated because, now, she would have to accept the fact that she probably wouldn't be seeing him again before long; that was if she ever saw him again. Jon had been more than just a playmate to her during their years together at Winterfell during their youth: he had been her confident and best friend, the one who had listen to her, to whom she had confided the things she couldn't have told anyone else, not even her own mother. He had listened and often he had given her advice, advice that she knew he got from his own difficult experience of being an acknowledged bastard. And an acknowledged bastard could not set foot at court, Daenerys knew. Especially when this bastard was the King's baseborn son.
So lost was she in her thoughts that she paid little mind to where she was headed or what was in front of her. She collided into the man quite violently, without forewarning, so she was brutally drawn from her thoughts. The shock was such that she would have fallen down had the man not caught on to her arm to steady her and preserve her from a painful fall. Cursing herself for her foolishness, Daenerys turned to the cause of this incident.
"Could you not look where you're going?" She felt angry at this man, probably a bit unjustly because how she felt when she bumped into him.
"My apologies," he answered with a very amused voice. "I haven't visited Winterfell before, I don't have a good knowledge of these corridors and you were the first person that I met here. I imagine this is not the introduction that you would have wished we had, Daenerys Targaryen."
Many things suggested to her that this man was different from any she had ever met: the first clue was his accent; she had rarely heard such a strong Southern accent, one befitting King's Landing, the Riverlands or the Rock but not the North or Dorne which she was most used to (thanks to the numerous visits made by her uncle Oberyn to Winterfell). The second clue was the fact that he hadn't released her arm yet and, although he wasn't hurting her, it did unsettle her. She finally looked up and found herself looking at a man of the Night's Watch, dressed in a fine black tunic, with black breaches and boots made of good leather, a sword and dagger hanging at his side and black gloves. His blood hair which was long to the shoulders and his beard contrasted strongly with the black of his garb and one wouldn't expect someone as handsome to have been sent to the Wall. He was obviously from a noble House and Daenerys knew which one as she looked into his amused eyes.
She drew away from him, wrenching her arm free. "Such fear, young one," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm and a sneer on his face. "Why should you fear a humble ranger from the Night's Watch?"
"We both know you are not harmless, Ser."
He laughed and it seemed genuine to Daenerys's ears. "That I am not. Neither are you although in other ways than me. Speaking of which, I believe congratulations are in order, Princess."
"Why would you congratulate me?"
"I am sure you are looking forward to your upcoming marriage. After all, you must have been raised your whole life expecting it. I wonder how it must feel to finally be arriving at something your whole life has been prepared for."
He was starting to scare Daenerys, although she would never admit it. "Did you ever expect you would be sent to the Night's Watch during your youth?"
"No, I never did."
"What if you had?"
"I suppose that is how you feel today."
Daenerys wanted to get away. "I would imagine that you are looking for my father, Ser."
"I was not aware you called him that," he said, before finally granting Daenerys's wish and asking her where the Great Hall was. She gave him the indications and he made to leave. Before he did, he turned to her again. "I am glad we go to meet at least once, Daenerys Targaryen. Best wishes for your marriage."
With these words, he turned and left. Daenerys also turned and when he left he could not see her anymore, she began picking up her pace until she found herself running, trying to find her mother. She needed to tell her what had just happened; she needed her to know that one of their guests for the next few days would be none other than Ser Jamie Lannister, the First Ranger of the Night's Watch and who was more infamously known as the Kingslayer, the murderer of Daenerys's grandfather.