Chapter 13

Winterfell

Benjen watched his sister-in-law carefully. He had been exceptionally surprised by her treatment of Jon since they all had found out the truth of his parentage. If he was being honest with himself, Benjen had never expected her to be so supportive of their nephew. He had truthfully expected her to hate poor Jon more than she ever had before.

He had been meaning to speak to Catelyn about it for a while now and tonight would be his last chance. For Benjen and Maester Aemon were due to begin the return journey to Castle Black on the morrow. He had received a missive the day before from the Old Bear, stating that they had been gone long enough, and reminding them of their responsibilities to the Watch.

Watching as Lady Catelyn rose and strode from the Great Hall, Benjen quickly followed, ignoring the pointed stares and whispers that followed him. Upon reaching a somewhat quiet corridor, Benjen called out "Catelyn."

It was with no small amount of satisfaction that Benjen watched his sister-in-law start in surprise. Glancing back over her shoulder in surprise, she saw him hurrying toward her.

"What is it, Benjen?" she asked, a hint of surprise in her tone.

"I want to speak to you," Benjen said, catching up to her. "Not here," he quickly added in response to Catelyn's raised eyebrow.

Glancing around at the few servants in the corridor, Benjen quickly hurried Catelyn into his brother's empty solar. Benjen couldn't help grimacing at the sight of the empty room. His brother had been doing an awful lot of skulking and sulking lately, when he should in fact of been attending to his duties. If this was any indication of what the future held, Benjen feared for the future of his family.

"I wanted to speak to you about Jon," Benjen said after locking the door behind them.

"I gathered that," she said quietly. "Hence the need for privacy. What about the child?"

Benjen studied her careful as he spoke. "Ever since you discovered the truth about Jon's parentage, you have been unusually civil about him. I would like to know why."

"I have been expecting this conversation," she said quietly, sighing. "And in truth, I have no good answer for you, Benjen. I admit that I have always treated a motherless child like dirt out of fear and jealousy. Fear that he would one day try to usurp the rights of my trueborn children, despite it being as plain as the nose on my face that he had no wish to do so. Jealous over the fact that his father loved his mother more than me."

Catelyn paused, attempting to gather her thoughts. This wasn't easy for her. "As long as Jon lived in Winterfell, he posed a threat in my mind, real or imagined. As long as Eddard continued to perpetuate the lie, Jon would always remain a threat in my mind. If only he had told me the truth from the start, then things might have been different. I can only pray for forgiveness for my past indiscretions and hope that Jon can find it in his heart to forgive my past treatment of him one day."

Benjen studied his sister-in-law carefully. She seemed to be sincere. He nodded slowly as he thought about his next steps, wondering what his next steps could be from the Wall. He knew Catelyn well enough to know that she would make sure that her children were guarded and defended. He didn't entirely agree with coddling them – he had seen how dangerous the world was at first hand – but at least they would be safe for now. And considering the fact that Dacey Mormont had arrived the day before, he could at least rest assured that the children would be better educated.

Benjen had to admit, though, that he was rather unimpressed with his brother's treatment of the lady. Eddard had seemed rather surprised by her arrival, and upon being reminded why she was even at Winterfell, had automatically said that he had made a mistake and that she wasn't needed anymore and that the Septa was more than capable of educating his daughters. It hadn't taken Benjen long to interrupt, Dacey Mormont was more than needed, especially considering that the bloody Septa was only capable of turning those girls into wilting Southern pansies instead of strong Northern women (no offence meant to Lady Catelyn). His brother hadn't been happy, but hadn't countermanded his orders.

Catelyn spoke again then, breaking into his thoughts and making him jump. "Perhaps while we are here you can assist with a dilemma I have."

Benjen couldn't help but be confused. Intrigued, but confused. Why would Catelyn come to him about a dilemma? A part of him understood why she hadn't gone to her husband, at least. Eddard's behaviour was becoming more and more out of behaviour lately. It was almost as though a part of his mind had broken when he realised that Jon had found out the truth about his parentage. He had just snapped. There was no other way to describe it.

"What sort of dilemma?" Benjen asked, not giving anything away. He would reserve judgement until after he heard what it was.

Catelyn exhaled softly. "I have a friend in the capital. Petyr Baelish. He fostered at Riverrun when we were children. I received a letter from him a few days ago. Petyr claims to be worried that he hasn't heard from me in a few weeks. And he's right. I haven't replied to Petyr's letters since finding out the truth about Jon. As I understand it, Petyr has gained himself a reputation during the time that he has been in King's Landing and would use any hint of Jon's true heritage to his own advantage and everyone else's detriment. If I'm being honest I don't know how to reply without letting anything slip."

Benjen couldn't stop himself from groaning at that. Why on earth Catelyn would think that he was a suitable person to discuss any of this with? He had been barely fifteen when he had joined the Watch. He had no experience in these kind of interpersonal relationships. Absolutely none. Surely anyone else would have been a better person to discuss this with. Anyone at all.

They were so cut off at the Wall that Benjen wasn't even sure who any of the political players were anymore. If you'd asked him when he was a teenager, he was sure he would have been able to name them all. He wasn't so sure he could anymore.

Benjen's eyes suddenly widened. Now that he stopped to think about it, he remembered the name Petyr Baelish. Before marrying Eddard, Catelyn had been betrothed to their eldest brother Brandon. Baelish had been rather obsessed with Catelyn by all accounts and had challenged Brandon to a duel over her hand. Benjen distinctly remembered Brandon calling Baelish a jumped up little upstart who believed himself better than he ought to be.

From the drips and drabs of news that they had received from the capital, it seemed that the man had recently gotten himself appointed to the King's Council as Master of Coin. Quite a prestigious appointment for a lad from a no name spit of land in the Fingers.

A thought occurred to Benjen then. He could understand communicating with a friend, of course. But to spill family information that the other person had no business knowing? That was out of line as far as concerned. Family business was just that, family business. Outsiders didn't need to know the exact details of their day to day life.

Movement brought his attention back to the other person in the room. Catelyn was beginning to look rather unnerved by his silence.

"Apologies," Benjen muttered, attempting to anchor himself in the present. He seemed to be getting lost in the past far too much this evening.

So she asked quietly. "How do I avoid answering Petyr's questions? You know full well that I cannot risk revealing the truth of Jon's parentage."

"Why do you feel the need to tell him anything?" Benjen asked. "I understand you consider the man a friend, but you are under no obligation to tell him anything that you do not want to. There is no reason for you to tell Baelish anything about Jon."

Catelyn bit her lip. From her nervousness Benjen suspected that it was Baelish who had fed into her paranoia about Jon all these years. That being if he hadn't been the cause of it altogether. Benjen wanted to groan. He was too weary for this nonsense. "Spit it out, Catelyn. It's getting late and I'm exhausted. I would like to get some sleep before sunrise."

However Catelyn continued to hesitate. Part of Benjen wanted to slap some sense into her. She certainly wasn't making this easy on herself. He really didn't want to be having this conversation. And who would possibly blame him at this point?

"Just say that you were ill with a fever or something," he finally muttered. "Something minor like that. I don't quite see why you are making such a big deal out of it."

Something in Catelyn seemed to momentarily relax before tensing again. "My sister Lysa has always been jealous of my friendship with Petyr. If I send such a letter to Petyr, Lysa will likely send me a letter in reply, wanting to know why I am trying to 'steal' Petyr from her."

"Why should your sister care what you write to a friend?" Benjen snapped, losing his temper. "Both you and your sister are married women. It's beginning to sound to me as if both you and your sister are as obsessed with Baelish as he is with you. The pair of you are married women. Stop caring what a random stranger thinks, Catelyn, and start thinking about your families. If a few uncomfortable letters are what it takes to keep a potentially deadly secret from becoming public knowledge, then so be it. It's time to stop worrying about your social standing. There are more important things at stake here."

Benjen took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. Finally he continued with his final point. "It seems to me as if you care more for the feelings of a man you knew as a child than you do about your own family. Decide what is more important to you. Your family or your social standing." He was pleased to hear Catelyn's shocked gasp at his words. As far as he was concerned she needed a reality check.

On that note Benjen turned and left the solar. Or rather, he tried to. On the other side of the door, stood a young boy in the form of Theon Greyjoy. Benjen frowned at the child. He hadn't had much to do with the boy from the Iron Islands who had been taken as a hostage after their Lord had rebelled. It seemed to him that the squid took after the haughty arrogance of his people. It unnerved him more than he cared to admit to realise that the boy had clearly been eavesdropping on their clearly private conversation.

As Benjen glanced over his shoulder at Catelyn, to see her looking as alarmed as he felt. While he was certain that the squid hadn't heard anything that could be used against them, he neither liked nor appreciated the smirk the boy wore.

Attempting to pull himself together, Benjen quickly frogmarched Theon Greyjoy out of the solar, straight back to his bedchamber. The short walk was fairly quiet, despite Benjen's best attempts at scolding the boy about the need to respect his elders and the dangers of eavesdropping. He wasn't sure how much got through to the squid, however, not when he continued to war that awful, shit-inducing smirk.

Before he departed the next morning, he would remind his brother to make sure that Jon's Targaryen heritage was locked down tight. Given his brother's recent behaviour, it might not be such a bad idea to warn him of the dangers of overconfidence. From here on out, Eddard would have to make sure that he was running a tight ship. A word with Maester Luwin about ensuring that the squid was never left unsupervised around the solar and the rookery would not be amiss either.

Theon Grey was sure he would fall asleep grinning. Before the King's men had stolen him from his home, his father had instructed him to spy on whatever great house he was placed in for him. He had been too terrified at the time to entirely realise what his father had been asking of him, not to mention the fact that he was grieving his elder brothers. After all, how could he, at eleven years old, possibly be able to uncover enough secrets to blackmail a Lord Paramount? But it seemed that it was far easier than he could ever have imagined. The Starks were stupid. Truly stupid indeed.

He had only been landed with these Greenlanders for close on two months now and he had truly hit the jackpot tonight. He was sure that the conversation he had just overheard between Lady Catelyn Stark and the Nights Watchman. He wasn't sure what it meant yet, but he knew it meant something. He could use this to his advantage.

The very fact that they were closeted away together meant something big was going on. In fact for a moment he had thought that they were having a carnal relationship. He had been rather surprised indeed when they had simply had a long, rather boring conversation. At least that's what it had sounded like through a closed and locked door. Not that Theon knew what carnal relations sounded like yet. He had to admit that he was rather looking forward to visiting the Wintertown brothel when he was a little less heavily guarded. Or he could just give them the slip one of these days.

He had received a surprise to hear them discuss Lord Stark's acknowledged bastard son. He had known the bastard had gone south with Barristan the Old shortly after he had arrived. But this seemed to give the departure a different context entirely.

The most interesting part of what he overheard, at least as far as he was concerned, was about that Baelish fellow. From what he could tell, it rather sounded like Lady Stark was in love with the man. Had been in love with the man since she was a little girl. Once a whore, always a whore, it seemed. Especially if she was so especially concerned about how things 'looked' to him. If the woman cared so much about what Baelish thought of her, then maybe she should have married him instead of her husband. It wasn't as though they had a very good relationship from what he had seen.

It had been unfortunate that he had been caught in the act. If he had just been able to sneak up to the rookery before anyone had noticed, he would have been able to send word home immediately. Instead he would now be forced to wait until morning.

But with the big fat juicy tidbits of blackmail information that he had been able to scrounge together, Theon was sure that his father would be able to pull some strings in order to get him back to the Iron Islands as soon as possible. With a bit of luck, he would be back reaving the open seas within a month. He now had the knowledge to get himself back where he belonged. It was on that happy thought that Theon finally drifted off to sleep.