Northern Adventures - Bronn of the Blackwater
Five men of the Night's Watch prepared a fire for later that night. Nightfort wasn't supposed to be manned at all, but these men were just passing by. They would be leaving for the Shadow Tower by morning.
Bronn snuck away and returned to his camp. Laurel led his crew of nameless, wannabe sellswords. Their employer was an awkward looking man by the name of Augustus. A rich lord who was hell bent on getting to Nightfort unharmed.
"My lord, there are five men from the Watch camping at the Nightfort till morning." Bronn helped himself to some meat.
"Are you certain that they aren't stationed there?"
Bronn and the men laughed. "No, my lord. Five men wouldn't be enough to hold a fortification… especially that one. Nightfort is just a ruin."
"No…" Augustus slumped against his tree.
"Why do you need to get to Nightfort?" Bronn noticed Laurel giving him a disapproving look. "Just curious." Bronn gave an apologetic shrug and got closer to the fire.
"I am collecting stories across Westeros, and I was hoping to find a published document recording the tale of the Night King at Nightfort."
A fool and his money are soon parted. "Glad to be of service," Bronn said with a convincing smile.
"I've never liked you," Laurel growled.
"The feeling's mutual. Could you pass the beans?" Laurel shoved a cup of beans into Bronn's hands.
After a good night's sleep Bronn returned to Nightfort to see if the Watch had left. Smokey embers stood where the fire once blazed. Bronn waited a little to see if he could find any movement.
He moved slowly in the snow taking advantage of every hiding spot that crossed his path. He'd hate to have to battle five watchmen by himself. When he felt confident that he was safe he strolled to the campsite.
He couldn't understand why the men wore black. It was more masculine than wearing white, but you might as well be painting a bullseye on you wearing it in the snow. He looked around to see if there was anything that he could pocket for himself. He laughed to himself when he found nothing. There was nothing to steal from men who had nothing.
He checked the cold ruins. A chill ran up his back. Looks good enough for me. Bronn returned to the group and nodded to them. Augustus rushed ahead. "Careful lord. They might have forgotten something and returned. Best that you stick close to us."
Augustus frowned like a spoiled child, but de did what he was told.
Laurel and his men did a more thorough search. "We've checked everything that was above ground. You won't find any books here my lord."
"Above ground." Augustus looked optimistic.
"If you are going down there, you are going alone, and we want our payment now," Laurel demanded.
Augustus nodded. He counted out a few stags and dropped them into Laurel's hand. "If you get me back home there will be more. Possibly a dragon or two."
"We're not going down there," Laurel insisted.
"I'm not asking you to go down there. I'm asking you to wait for me." Augustus waited for Laurel to nod. "Good."
"Do I get anything extra if I go with you," Bronn offered.
"Bronn," Laurel snapped.
"It's fine Laurel," Augustus said dryly. He turned to Bronn and gave a slight nod.
Bronn smiled widely and winked at Laurel. There was a small hint of a skip in his step. Irritating Laurel was the fun part of the journey.
"You wouldn't mind if I had my sword drawn? There's something about this place that makes my skin crawl."
"Please do as you wish. You're not like the others. You can admit your cowardice… That's what I like about you."
Bronn smiled. "I'll do a lot of things for money, but I'm not a fool for it either." The wind blew out from the corridor that led down. Bronn took the torch from Augustus and lit the mounted torches that led the way down. When they got to the bottom he returned the torch back to Augustus. The smell was foul. The remnants of dead rats were scattered on the ground. Bronn took the legs off of a table and tore down a tattered banner that hung on the wall. He made a few torched of his own to help light their surroundings. "Well this isn't good."
The walls surrounding them had two archways embedded in them.
"Yes, they've made the catacombs for storage, escape paths and traps."
"My bet is on the most tread on path." Bronn pointed to the south facing arch.
"It's the exact opposite direction of where we need to go. Do you really think they would go through all that trouble?"
"We won't know unless we try it."
They walked quite a bit until they came across a glowing door with a wrinkled face on it. Its eyes were white and sightless. "Who are you?"
Bronn looked at Augustus who shook his head.
"Could you tell me about the Night's Queen?"
"She dwells in the north. Who are you?"
"If you could tell me more…"
"Who are you," the door reiterated.
"I'm commander Mormont," Bronn announced boldly.
The eyes shut and the glow of the door faded away.
"It was worth a shot." Bronn waited for Augustus to turn back. Bronn didn't like how Augustus was quiet. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like Augustus' next proposal.
And he was right. "We need a man from the Night's Watch," Augustus told Laurel.
Everyone groaned in unison.
"That is a crime punishable by death my lord. We can't kidnap someone from the Watch." Laurel looked at Bronn as if to blame him for Augustus' crazy idea.
"I'll pay ten dragons for a man of the Night's Watch." Some of the men whistled, but there were no takers.
"I'll see what I can do my lord." Bronn volunteered with much less enthusiasm this time. He'd have to kill Laurel and his men to prevent anyone from leaking the news that he had kidnapped a man from the watch.
He waited for night to fall. Sooner or later, someone would have to take a piss. Bronn smiled as he saw that it was one of the scrawniest of the bunch. He snuck up from behind and knocked the boy out cold. He dragged the body and covered up some of the tracks.
This would have been easier with a horse.
Augustus rushed towards the young man in black. "I need you to come with me to Nightfort."
The boy turned to Bronn. "Then just kill me already! I can't go in there! It's haunted!"
"We've been in there boy. It's not haunted. You've just got to speak to some face scrawled in a door." The boy looked at Augustus with confusion. The sooner we go in, the sooner we can leave. "If you do as I ask you can serve as my steward. No one needs to know you ran away from the Watch."
"I didn't run away," the boy said reluctantly. Bronn could see that the boy seemed a little more willing to cooperate.
This time, Laurel and his men came down to the catacombs. The boy was just as shocked as Laurel when the door spoke. After saying the vows of the Night's Watch, the door's mouth widened. On the other side was the sea of snow.
"You'll have to come with us boy. I won't remember all that." Augustus shoved the boy forward.
"You coming," Bronn asked.
"That… that is a suicide mission. We're done," Laurel gasped.
"Well it's been nice knowing you." Bronn shoved a knife in between Laurel's rib cage. He then proceeded to kill Laurel's men.
"What are you doing," Augustus shouted disapprovingly.
"I can't have anyone know that I kidnapped someone from the Watch."
"I won't tell," the boy sobbed.
"I know you won't, but they would have. Let's get going." Bronn cleaned his blades and returned them to their sheaths.
"What interest do you have in the north?"
"Just curious is all. Just wanted to know why everyone was so afraid of what stood behind the wall. If it were just wildlings, they wouldn't need to build it so damn high."
"They say giants and white walkers live beyond the wall," Augustus said as he watched the door close.
"I've heard some of the men say that they've seen giants." The boy shuddered.
"Well let's see if they were yanking your chain. Which way my lord."
"We should've gone up the wall. There must be a castle somewhere." Augustus said with regret. Bronn considered killing Augustus right there and then.
"There are no castles my lord, but there is Craster's Keep. Craster is an old man who knows much about the goings-on of the north. My lord, what is it that you are looking for?"
"Best not to ask, boy. Just lead us there." Bronn shoved the boy away from the wall.
They camped in the forest. Bronn hated feeling uneasy. The feeling never left him after seeing the face in the wall. "I'll be back. Need to take a piss." Bronn left behind the roaring fire. He had wanted a smaller fire to not attract so much attention, but Augustus griped that he was too cold.
Bronn felt relaxed as he let himself go, but he stopped short. He could feel the ground move. He crouched to the floor to look as if he were a mound of snow. He could hear Augustus and the boy scream in terror. Bronn snuck over to the camp and saw Augustus and the boy being picked up and slammed into the ground. Giants! Bronn watched as the giants reduced the men to nothing but pulp. The fire was put out and the giants seemed bored. It was only a matter of time before they left. Bronn understood now why the wall had to be built so tall.
Digging through the pulp he tried to find what he was looking for. The red velvet pouch had flown a few feet away from the bodies. Bronn wiped his hands and took the pouch. He looked inside and groaned. He was hoping for something more exciting than a couple of dozen stags… He then noticed hints of gold underneath some of the coppers and stags. Fair enough.