Eddard
"You're leaving, then?" The question filled Ned with an anxiety he hadn't expected. On the one hand, the Ulthosi sorceress was more than a little disruptive of his household and having her gone would be a relief. On the other hand, King Robert would arrive at Winterfell shortly and not having the sorceress on hand could prove difficult. Even when she does what I want most, the woman manages to be vexing.
Lady Jade didn't pause in examining the arcane devices in her ship's hold while replying. "Only for a few days. The trip north won't take more than an hour or two, and unless another tree starts talking to me I don't expect the Wall to provide any serious answers this time around. This is more of a getting to know you visit; I've seen the thing from orbit, and I've heard stories about it but I need actually see it close up too." The sorceress looked rueful. "I need to give it a good kick or two."
Ned gave her a puzzled frown. "Kick it?"
"A long time ago, a philosopher in my country was told that the world was just an illusion, and there was no way to prove otherwise. The philosopher replied by kicking a stone—" Jade kicked at a box, which responded with a dull clanking sound "—and exclaimed 'I refute it thus!'"
"I see." And in truth he did. The Ulthosi had spent her time in the wolfswood and in Winterfell reading and talking. Knowing the Wall existed was one thing, experiencing it was another entirely. "Only a few days, you say?"
"Shouldn't be more. Get some samples, get some scans, talk to a few of the veterans. Maybe yell at a wierwood or two, I don't know." She paused, seemingly lost in thought. "That's weird, isn't it?" Ned had no good response to that. "Anyway, yeah. I promise to be back before the king gets here, and I also promise to land outside the castle."
The Master-At-Arms
The castle was in an uproar. Had been in an uproar for the past moon's turn, if Ser Alliser Thorne was going to be honest with himself. The whole sorry mess had started with the falling star to the south that half the new brothers were fascinated by and half the veterans were convinced was some portent of doom. Then the rumors started filtering to the castle. The star had fallen near Winterfell, or the star had fallen on Winterfell and destroyed it. Lord Stark had rode out hunting for the star and found a great chunk of sky-metal, or a clutch of dragon eggs, or a sleeping live dragon, or Bran the Builder reborn and a cache of magical First Men weapons... and on and on it went.
Aye, and snarks and grumkins and Others as well, no doubt. But then the raven came from Winterfell bearing Stark's seal, informing the Lord Commander that some of the rumors were true, most were false and the subject of those rumors, a witch from the furthest reaches of Ulthos, was due to arrive at the Wall shortly. Stark also cautioned the Watch to "watch the sky for her arrival," which Ser Alliser puzzled over. The road to Castle Black was well-marked if not well-traveled—damn it all—but why the sky? Were they expecting a dragonrider?
That at least seemed to be the consensus of the summer children, as well as some fools who ought to have known better. Work at Castle Black ground to a halt for the next two days as half the Watch spent their time staring at the southern horizon.
"I'd almost say Stark was having a jape at our expense with this nonsense," he grumbled. Lord Commander Mormont grunted. "I've known Ned Stark since he was a boy, and he's as much a jester as you, Ser Alliser. The Stark of Winterfell knows better than most what the Watch means; he would not have been so specific in his message for a jape."
"Perhaps," Ser Alliser allowed. "Yet specific is not the word I would use for his message. A warning to watch the sky for 'you will know when you see?' See what? Dragons? Griffons? Flying snarks?"
"Whatever it may be," Jeor Mormont replied thoughtfully. "It must be distinctive." Ser Alliser didn't bother to pursue the point; he was no better informed than the Lord Commander and the argument had been done to death a hundred times over by everybody in the castle. And while we wait for Stark's grumkin and argue, work doesn't get done and our vigilance slips. With patrols missing and rumors of wildlings massing in the Haunted Forest, to boot. Damn Stark for his distractions. Ser Alliser scowled, his head throbbed at the aggravation, a disgruntled humming that sank down into his bones...
Wait. "Do you hear that?" he asked the Lord Commander. Mormont blinked and shook his head. "Aye, I hear it, but what is it?" And further reply was forestalled as one of the new recruits, a fat little craven of a Reacherman, rushed into the Lord Commander's office as quickly as his legs could move him. "Lord Commander, Ser Alliser!" he panted. "It's here! The witch is here!"
The humming grew into a low rumble, a constant roll of thunder overlaying the steady moan of wind. Mormont was first out of his seat and Ser Alliser close behind, brushing past the recruit—a Tarly if he remembered right, how the gods had cursed a man like Randyll Tarly with a son like that was a mystery—and rushed to the southern windows. The rumble grew into a roar, and Lord Commander and master-of-arms alike crowded into the narrow opening to see just what in seven hells was going on outside.
A great ship made of white metal, its prow blackened and scorched in spots, drifted a good three hundred feet in the air where ships were not supposed to drift above Castle Black. Brothers and servants stood at windows and in the courtyard, transfixed by the sight. The ship turned gracefully above the castle and began to drop, thin legs emerging from its belly as it lowered itself to a landing outside the castle's gate. "Gods be good," the Lord Commander breathed. "A true metal dragon!"
Ser Alliser nodded. "Aye, I'll not hold Stark's words against him now," he said. How could you describe anything like this in a raven's scroll? "I'll whip some of the men back into working condition; we'll need an honor guard." The Lord Commander nodded, not taking his eyes from the ship. Ser Alliser swept back down the tower steps, his scowl clearing the way for him. Approaching the courtyard door he started braking orders, snapping the gawping men of the Night's Watch out of their reverie and getting them to fall into some semblance of order. Their discipline hasn't utterly failed them yet, he thought. Good. He and his men fell in behind Jeor Mormont as the Lord Commander emerged from the tower and strode in good order towards the gate.
They reached the gate as the great sky-ship lowered a gangway from its stern, and from the inside of the ship emerged a dozen slightly dazed men in Stark colors. Clearly Lord Stark had sent a guard of his own, to lay claim and protect his grumkin, no doubt. The Stark men assembled in front of the gangway as three more people descended. The first was a young man wearing the Stark sigil with the air of a lord about him. Stark's eldest, I'll wager, Ser Alliser thought. The second was another bannerman, though one with more of the Stark look to him than the other. The third was, undoubtedly, the witch Lord Stark had written about, an unprepossessing slip of a Dornishwoman in green. The Stark boy and his banner approached them with open hands, while the witch stopped at the edge of the gangway, caught staring at the Wall in all its midday glory.
Ser Alliser allowed himself the tiniest of smiles at the sight. At least we can pay back a little of what she did to us with her arrival. "So," Jeor Mormont said with a smile of his own. "You must be Robb. Welcome to Castle Black, my lord."
"Aye, Lord Commander," the Stark boy replied, clasping Mormont's arm. "I am Robb Stark. I bear some messages from my lord father, but I also bring our latest guest, Captain Jade Hasegawa of Ulthos." He gestured to his side, then blinked as he realized that the Ulthosi witch wasn't beside him. He turned and Ser Alliser's eyes followed back to the end of the gangway, where the witch was crouched, poking at the turf. "Lady Jade?"
"There's no melt," the witch said. "I beg pardon?" the Stark boy replied. The woman stood, brushing soil from her fingers and pointed straight at the Wall. "That's ice," she said. "The air temperature is above freezing and the sun's shining directly on it. It should be melting, there ought to be pools of water at the base, streams rolling downhill, the ground ought to be saturated with water, But look at it! It's not even glistening in the sunlight!" Ser Alliser turned to look and sure enough the Wall looked as it always did, in summer or winter.
"Captain Jade," the Lord Commander said carefully, "the Wall has stood for thousands of years."
"No no, I get that bit," the witch interrupted. "But it's summer, and it's not melting. I mean, haven't you ever looked at that great big block of ice and then looked at the, um, mostly green ground that goes almost up to its foot and wondered why?" Jeor Mormont looked at Ser Alliser, and he could see his own blank look reflected in the Lord Commander's face. The witch smiled like a sword, sharp, bright and dangerous. "Oooh," she said. "Is that a psychological thing, or an active effect? A notice-me-not? No, couldn't be or I would've been caught in it. Something to note for further examination." She looked past Ser Alliser and focused on the Lord Commander.
"Lord Commander, it's a pleasure to meet you," Jade Hasegawa said. "But I'd also like to meet your maester, meet your library and I'd also like to get on top of that damn thing as soon as I can."
Jon
So far, the Wall had been nothing like he'd expected.
A good part of that was the company: Jon wasn't sure exactly why he'd agreed to accompany Robb and Lady Jade to Castle Black, but winging their way north in the Carefree Victory was a completely different experience than riding a horse along the kingsroad. A week's ride was done in bare hours, and they were landed in the castle. The men of the Night's Watch were more than a little overawed by their presence, much like Jon had felt when they found the fallen star in the wolfswood. The Lord Commander and his master-of-arms, a hard-looking man with a humorless smile, had greeted Robb graciously enough, even if Lady Jade's behavior was... well, Jon was used to it by now.
He supposed those who hadn't been at Winterfell the last moon's turn might not be.
From there Jade was a green-eyed whirlwind, rushing to and fro across the castle's grounds, examining and inspecting everything her gaze fell across. She spent several hours locked in the maester's quarters, interrogating the old man about the history of the Wall and the Watch. Then she was out in the old lichyard, her three familiars bobbing along in her wake, looking at the old stones marking the resting places of fallen brothers.
And then, true to her words, she was going to the top of the Wall. And, to his surprise, she'd asked Jon to accompany her.
A hundred scenarios flashed through his mind, each one more detailed than the last, and he fought to maintain his composure long enough to agree. Something must have shown in his face: an expression crossing amusement and sadness flickered across her features for the briefest instant before she tossed a heavy pack to him and they made for the winch.
The ride up on the winch was only a little terrifying, it might have been worse had he not just flown in the Ulthosi sky-ship. The men of the Watch going with them were distinctly nervous having a stranger and a witch in the cart with them. Lady Jade remained fearless, looking up and down as the winch slowly cranked them into the sky. "This is some impressive work," she noted. "Beats all hell out of walking up, that's for sure." The black brother nearest them gave her a baleful look then proceeded to pretend the sorceress didn't exist for the rest of the trip up.
Stumbling out of the winch at the summit, they found themselves on a wide expanse of rough ice, the green of the North in summer to the south of them and the deeper green-blacks of the land beyond to the north. "A hell of a view," Jade said happily. "And the ice is just as solid up here as at the base. Interesting, isn't it?" Jon nodded, taking in the long white line of the Wall marking the edge of the world. "Hm, Dot, library access" she commanded the familiar. "Do we have Zhou's paper on psionic terraforming?" Her familiar chimed once. "Only the abstract, huh? Damn, that's too bad. Ah well."
Jon tore his eyes away from the world around him, took a deep breath and stepped up to Lady Jade. "How may I help?" he asked. "Well," she replied, "hand me the pack for one, then you can hold some of this crap while I get some samples." She pulled a small glass phial from her pocket and, stooping, scooped a bit of loose ice into it.
Jon's face fell a little, but he managed to hide it before the sorceress looked at her again. So much for that hope. He dutifully did as she said as they walked back and forth across the Wall, Jade stopping to look at bits and pieces that Jon either couldn't see or didn't understand the significance of. Once or twice a brother of the Watch would approach, but Jon would subtly place himself between them and the distracted sorceress.
Some time passed this way, as Jade went about her magical business and they strayed further from the winch and the staircase back to the ground. It felt almost like they were the only two people anywhere, walking along a road caught between two worlds, the green and the black. Jade finally looked up, the black brothers had vanished back down or dispersed to their posts and none could be seen nearby. "So," she said, pitching her voice lower. "I suppose we should talk."
Ah. Jon had been waiting for this moment for days now. If it wasn't the one thing, it would be this. "This is where you turn me down, then?" he said woodenly. He turned his face, looking at the lands beyond the Wall, searching for something in the woods and meadows that wasn't the sorceress.
"Not quite how I expected it," he heard her say behind him. "But... yes. You'll make someone really happy one day, Jon, I'm sure of it. But it won't be me. It can't be me, I'm sorry."
"Why?" Jon winced, the word came out almost as a whine, far too plaintive for his taste. He could almost feel Jade's wince. "There's a lot of reasons," she said, "but the big one is, eventually, I'm going to leave Westeros. Not today, not tomorrow, not in a month or even a year but I'm not going to stay here forever."
"I could go with you." There, I said it. He turned back from the horizon to face her, to find a small, sad smile playing across her lips.
"You could," she agreed. "But assuming you managed to handle life in my world—bear in mind," she said before Jon could interject, "that what you've seen of me so far is just the barest edge of things—you wouldn't be allowed to come back. This isn't like joining the Night's Watch, where there's a chance you might be allowed to go south once in a while on business. You'd be effectively dead to your family if you came with me. You could never come back, Jon, you couldn't even write letters home. Cut ties, now and forever... and if you come with me it's more than likely you'll outlive all your family. Is that something you want, really?"
Jon thought about it. Do I want that? Could I go through with it? He thought about Father's approval, Robb's friendship, Arya and Bran's laughter. He thought about sailing through the skies with Jade by his side, seeing far Ulthos and whatever else there was beyond the edge of the blue sky. And then he thought about not being able to share his stories, unable to tell Robb about his adventures, or watch Arya, Bran, Rickon and even Sansa get wide-eyed at tales of faraway lands.
"No," he said slowly. "I couldn't do that. Not really." Jade nodded. "I didn't think so," she said. "Which honestly is a bit of a relief, because otherwise I'd have to dodge your sister's wrath."
Jon blinked. "My sister's what?"
Jade looked suddenly sheepish. "For such a tiny girl she knows how to use her instep," she said ruefully. "She didn't want me to steal you away and well, things proceeded from there." Jon blinked again.
"Aye, that sounds like Arya," he said. "If I ran off she'd hunt me down again if it took her two lifetimes." Jade laughed at that, and the grim mood lifted a fraction. Jon appreciated the Ulthosi's smile a little, then sighed. "I cannot say I understand all your objections," he said. "But... thank you for telling me. You could have just let me pine forever, or humiliated me like Greyjoy."
"I could've," Jade agreed easily. "But that would've been made me a real asshole, and I only try to be an asshole to people who deserve it." She reached out and pulled him into a quick, tight embrace. "I'm not kidding when I said you'd make some girl very happy one day, Jon," she whispered. "If anybody ever doubts that, just tell 'em you have a prophecy from an authentic witch, so there."
After that, the rest of their time went like a blur. Lady Jade collected chunks of ice and snow from the Wall, mumbling to herself the whole time whilst Jon acted as porter and bodyguard. The black brothers manning the lookouts kept their backs to them, apparently hoping that the witch and her companion would soon leave them be. Soon enough they were on their way back down, the winch just as precarious as the trip up, and they returned to Castle Black.
Robb, of course, managed to isolate him as soon as he could. "So," he said with a hint of a lecherous grin, "have an enjoyable liaison on top of the Wall?" Job restrained from rolling his eyes at his brother.
"In fact," he informed Robb, "the lady decided to decline." Robb's eyes widened in shock. "That was not what I expected when she asked you to join her," he said frankly.
Aye, you and me both but Others bugger me if I ever admit that. "I think she just wanted a chance to talk without prying ears," he said with a mock glare. "But no, I had no more chance than Greyjoy, and she's quite adamant on that."
Robb deflated. "I'm sorry, Jon," he said. "When I asked if you wanted to accompany me I'd hoped, well, for a better outcome than that." Job nodded, that sounded like Robb's reasoning. And yet...
"It wasn't a total loss," he replied. "Aye, it hurts a little," or more than a little "but I've not lost her respect. And I got a prophecy out it, too."
"A prophecy?" Robb looked intrigued. "What kind of prophecy?"
Jon held back a smug smile. "That would be telling."
