Sam thought it was fascinating, meeting someone from another world. A whole new set of history, a whole new culture, completely knew to him. How could he not be interested in that? He listened to her explanation on how she knew where things were with amazement, it was an incredible accomplishment for sure.
She further explained though, that it was something she had to learn… that she had been a prisoner and experimented on. She had already explained to the free folk that helped her, and to Jon as well. She was careful when talking about Jon and the wildlings, making sure to keep them separate, wanting to make sure he wasn't in more trouble than he already was, Sam was inclined to think.
He was told to take her to talk to the high table after talking with Maester Aemon. He was worried that somehow, even unintentionally, they would use something she said against either herself or Jon. So maybe, telling her to avoid describing her time with the wildlings would be best. The bare minimum at least.
All in all, she didn't talk to them for long. He waited outside for her, planning on taking her to where she was staying later, with Gilly and the baby, and introducing them. She walked out and said she was done. He peaked inside and could see Maester Aemon smiling like he had been chuckling. Thorne was scowling after her, the rest were either uncomfortable or glaring as well.
She wasn't given official guest rights but was being given refuge like Gilly was. He could tell after he got her settled in the others were going to ask him questions; eyes where following her and she walked with him. Just her appearance alone would be enough to get people talking, but the fact she was one of the others they heard about, well…
He was curious about how long she had known Jon, what exactly it was like for him in the wildling camp. She explained a little but he could tell she still wasn't sure how much to share. She did say he told her about his family, about the choice he had to make to stay here.
Sam choked up a bit hearing it, realizing again that Jon didn't know about his brother, about lady Stark, and how one of his brothers was north of the wall now. He decided to tell her about the red wedding, how the Freys and Boltons had betrayed Robb Stark, and the carnage that followed.
Verona's eyes had widened in shock, and she had exhaled sharply, she muttered shit under her breath. Her face turned to concern, shaking her head and saying, "He's been away for so long. He had no way of knowing…"
Fortunately, she and Gilly got along alright. Gilly was curious as well, and Sam thought she just asked the sweetest questions.
"I was named after the Gillyflower. Were you named after something, where you're from?" Gilly had asked Verona, who had a small smile on her face while replying.
"Yeah actually. My father's family came from a different country, named Italy. My great-great grandmother was from a city named Verona. My father always liked Italy, so he named be after the city they came from."
"Oh, I didn't know you could be named after a city. It's a very pretty name." Gilly told her.
Sam figured she would be alright for the night, and was going to slip away but before he could, Verona called out to him.
"Hey! Uh, Sam? You'll tell me when Jon wakes up, won't you? Or, just… how he's doing?" She asked him, he could tell she was worried about him.
"Of course, I'll make sure to inform you. Goodnight." He tells her, and smiles and waves to Gilly. She responds in kind and he leaves them.
After Jon woke, he was greeted shortly by his friends. Happy but grim at the same time. He could tell he was about to receive bad news, but even then, he couldn't have imagined just how bad. He could tell they had a lot to ask him, but he wanted to be alone for a while, he just wasn't up to it yet.
Sam came back to visit him later, he spoke more to him but still, it felt raw. Hearing about Bran north of the wall gave him mixed feelings. He was glad he was alive, but he knew what was out there beyond the wall. It would make any older brother scared. Seeing Sam though, had him thinking about whether Verona had been able to find out about her people.
"And how is Verona? Is she staying here? Are more of her people alive?" Jon asked him, while getting ready to speak to the high table members.
"She's staying with Gilly and little Sam at the moment. I was able to send a raven earlier today, I had to wait for one to return, we had sent out all of them before you got here. But, yes, there are more of her people after all. Closest to Barrowton according to Maester Aemon." Sam tells him.
Jon gives a relieved nod. "That's good at least. I know she wanted to find more of them since I knew her. She thinks they'll have a way to get home."
"Yes, she was relieved to hear it… she asked about you a lot, wanting to know you were going to be alright. She wanted to talk to you but Ser Alliser insisted you talk to them first, to make sure your stories are the same. Though she only talked with them a couple minutes I don't think she told them much." Sam told him, he sounded like he wanted to ask him something else.
Jon was concerned hearing that Ser Alliser didn't want them to speak yet, even though he didn't plan on keeping anything from them… except maybe Ygritte. He wasn't sure yet.
It still hurt to think about her. How betrayed she looked when he saw her again, how betrayed he felt when she shot her arrows into him. She even took a shot at Verona, who was her friend. He looked at Sam expectedly, as if saying 'something to add', at his hesitance.
"Well, there has been some talk, that maybe… you know, you and her… got together on your travels?" Sam asked him timidly.
Jon was surprised at that, he had only considered Ygritte while traveling, Verona hadn't shown an interest. In fact she sometimes teased them with Tormund. He didn't consider an outside perspective though. He did consider them friends at this point at the least, and after arriving with him just escaped from wildlings, and her in her other world get up, he could see how people would assume.
"No. We're just friends Sam." Jon told him. "There was someone though… I'll tell you about it later alright?" He promised Sam, as he was finished getting ready.
Sam nodded, looking curious, and Jon set off.
Jon gave a quiet exhale of relief, hearing Maester Aemon telling him he wouldn't loose his head today. He could tell Verona didn't tell them practically anything, except that he had to escape at the end. All members of the high table surprised to hear he had laid with a wildling. Jon had to hand it to her, she was able to pick up on things well for not being able to see. It also made him grateful she tried to protect him still…
Jon was about to leave, thinking he was done, but he heard Ser Alliser call out for him to stay.
"There's someone else we need to discuss. That… blue haired foreigner." Thorne told him.
"More than a foreigner I would say." Janos Slynt added.
"What's there to talk about? I was told her people are alive, she wants to go back to them." Jon asks them bluntly.
"Maybe the fact, that she hasn't told us anything at all. Some of her people are alive, from another world. And she hasn't even given us details about how she got here or where she's from. But I think you know, Jon Snow. I think she told you." Thorne tells him sternly. Jon considers him silently before responding.
"If she didn't tell you, maybe she doesn't want you to know." Jon tells them.
"Well, since she has people here in the north, and we've not offered her guest rights, then she leaves today. We don't need to waste time or resources on a stranger." Thorne stares down at him in challenge. Jon grimaces, knowing he'll do it. Just kicking her out isn't right. She told Jon, and the other free folk, maybe she just didn't want to talk to Thorne, he couldn't blame her for that.
"That wouldn't be in your best interests. She's well known, where she's from. Why do you think her people haven't left yet?" Jon asks them. And honestly, he was just guessing the last part.
The members of the high table look at him, intrigued.
"Well go on." Slynt tells him.
"She asked me, soon after we first met, to make sure she could leave when she wanted. She could tell I was lying, somehow. One of her… talents, you could say. You've already learned another." He nods towards them. They nod in agreement; everyone knew about her ability to 'see' without sight.
"She told me that she's the daughter of her country's president. That's what her country calls their leader." Jon tells them. Which was almost true, judging from what she told him of her family, and later what she told Mance about the President. He understood at that moment she wasn't just a random girl the enemy took. He just didn't mention they were killed; it wasn't really a lie really, at least that's how he justified it in his head.
The high table shares glances between them, knowing that if true, throwing her out could potentially ire her people. And no one really knew if they could send more here or not. A few looked unconvinced though, doubtful that it mattered since there were reportedly only seventeen of them here in the first place.
"Not only that, later, when she was talking to Mance Rayder, and he was demanding he tell her more, she told him that she had the power to control storms. Since then, I've seen proof that she's able to do it." He pauses to let it sink in. Most look alarmed, Slynt looks more scared than any of them. Even Maester Aemon raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"How is this possible?" Maester Aemon asks him.
"She was a prisoner for seven years, experimented on and made to have this ability to use against her own people, before she escaped. You see, her entire world was at war, until just a week before her people came here. From the way she speaks of it, it was bad. And most likely why she didn't want to speak to any of you. She told us some things, but never a lot at once." Jon hopes she doesn't mind how much he shared. She seemed to have a problem telling them, but once they knew she didn't seem to care much, at least as far as he could tell…
"I don't know about this. Having a strange girl with that kind of power… are you sure she can do the things she claimed?" Mallister asks him next.
"She can at least control the wind. She used it when we were climbing the wall. To keep myself and a wilding girl from falling. Before that, there was almost no wind at all, she said she controls it unintentionally sometimes. That storm about a week ago? I think that was her too. She was upset at the wildlings, that's when she decided to leave." Jon tells them seriously, trying to get them to believe him.
"Then that makes her too dangerous to stay. Lady of princess, or, whatever her people would call her." Thorn tells the others. Most look uncomfortable with the idea, not wanting to risk it. There was one final thing Jon could think to say…
"She told me there are four hundred million people living in her country. I don't think its in your best interest to risk it." Jon stares right at Thorne when he says it. Thorne gets the message and actually seems to be nervous himself now. Jon understood the feeling, it was unnerving to think there were that many people from another world.
"It's decided then." Maester Aemon says. "We shall offer her guest rights, and recognize her position. I will have to add this of course, when writing to the citadel. Perhaps we should further discuss, who we need to tell this information to."
Thorne turns to look at Jon once more. "You can leave Jon Snow. Unless there's something more you want to add?"
Jon shakes his head, and leaves.
He finds Verona with Sam and Gilly, who's holding little Sam in her lap. When he walks in, he notices that Verona's hair seemed more tame, less wind struck than before, and seemed to be long enough to go behind her ears now, he couldn't tell that before. She turns his way and stands up after he walks in.
"Jon?" She asks hesitantly.
"How'd you know?" He askes surprised.
"People walk a certain way." She explains, a small smile on her face.
"Sam told me you were alright, but Ser Alliser Thorne didn't want me speaking with you. And I'm… I heard about your family, I'm so sorry." Her smiles slides off her face as she speaks, her eyebrows pinch in concern. He hadn't noticed before, but she did have an expressive face.
Jon looks down before he can respond though, the ache he felt now almost familiar, he wondered if it would ever really go away.
"There's nothing to be done now." Jon says glumly, and sits next to Sam. Verona sits back down next to Gilly and little Sam.
"Verona was telling Sam about a library she went to once, in the capital. It sounds nice, she said they even let women in it too." Gilly tells him with a genuine smile. He can see Sam smiling at Gilly sweetly as she spoke, in the corner of his eye. Even Verona smiles again hearing Gilly's awe.
"I bet it's as big as any here." Jon says. "How do you find castle black so far?" He asks them.
Gilly seemed a bit more hesitant now. "It's alright. I work in the kitchens mostly. I don't think people here like me very much." She admits.
Verona looks sad hearing it.
"I haven't had any trouble. Though I can't actually tell if I'm getting any dirty looks or not so… " She shrugs nonchalantly. It makes Jon remember something Tyrion Lannister once told him, about using his bastard's name as armor, so it couldn't hurt him. Maybe that's why she mentions being blind so casually all the time. Though he had to admit, she could be pretty funny with it.
"I hear them calling me 'blue lady' for some reason. At least I think they're referring to me." Verona continues.
"Well sure, that's a good name. I've never met anyone with blue hair before." Gilly tells her.
Verona looks at her confused. "What?"
Gilly looks at Jon and Sam in confusion now, wondering if she wasn't supposed to say anything, they both look confused now too, Sam gives a shrug.
"You, have blue hair." Gilly tells her again.
"…You're serious." Verona says in surprise, both eyebrows raised now. She blinks a few times before giving a huff of exasperation.
"Ever since I got free, not once has anyone cared to mention that to me." She sounded annoyed now and looked down in embarrassment it seemed, her hair falling into her face again. "I thought it was brown." She muttered.
"It changed color then, after you were blind?" Gilly asks her, looking confused.
"Must have… I guess it does make more sense then. As a nickname." Verona says, sounding resigned.
"Did you have other nicknames." Jon asks, trying to change the subject.
Verona tilted her head to the side a bit. "Yeah, in school my friends called me Vera mostly. My brother would sometimes, but he mostly called me Vee."
"Vera, I like it." Jon teases with a smile. She smiles and rolls her eyes.
He can see Sam looking at him in the corner of his eye. Jon gives him a 'what?' look.
They stay for a little while, but Jon and Sam had to leave to continue with their duties, and Jon wanted to see more of his night's watch brothers. He wasn't sure how much time the members of the high table needed to decide things, and he wasn't sure what they were telling the others, but he figured he should get ahead of it while he can. He also needed to figure out a strategy against the free folk that were marching this way, maybe discuss it with his friends. When he found out more, he would give Verona some warning on what they knew.
Verona stayed with Gilly, attempted to help her with some of her work. But she wasn't that useful unless it was pulling out feathers it turned out. She wasn't wearing her vest at the moment, so only had a plain black shirt on. When she rolled up her sleeves to help, Gilly couldn't help but stare at the scars she saw. She wasn't sure what to say though, or how to ask, so she thought of something else.
"Aren't you cold, without a coat or cloak?" She asks Verona.
"… I am actually, a little. It's not so bad inside though." She tells her, after pausing to think about it though.
"I'm sure Jon will get you one, they must have a lot of them here." Gilly reassures her with a smile. She watches as Verona clumsily tries to de-feather the bird in her hands, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"You've really never done this before?" Gilly asked her intrigued.
"No… and I don't really know how to cook either…" Verona admits to her.
"Well its not hard. It just takes practice." Gilly reassures her kindly.
Just then, little Sam started to cry out. Gilly wiped her hands clean before checking on the small boy, picking him up and rocking him gently. He whimpered to himself for a bit, and was starting to calm down, when a commotion could be hear outside, another door slamming maybe. He started fussing louder, letting out some louder cries.
"I've been trying to keep him quiet, so the others don't complain more about me." Gilly tell her, sounding nervous. Verona puts down the bird she'd been attempting to de-feather, and cleaned her hands off before walking closer.
"I used to hold my brother sometimes, when he cried… There was a song my mom and dad used to sing, I think I could hum it for him…" Verona offered, sounding hesitant.
Gilly gave a grateful smile and asked her if she remembered how to hold him. Verona held her arms out in a cradle shape. Gilly gently corrected her, telling her to make the cradle smaller, and carefully passed over little Sam.
Verona started to hum her song, gently rocking the small boy in her arms. He still whimpered but was growing quieter. Verona was able to hold the boy securely in one arm, little Sam holding onto her other hand, calming down, little tears outlining his eyes. Verona finished her tune, and swung the boy's hand back and forth smiling down at him.
She traced his face softly with one hand. "Aren't you an adorable little guy." She coo-ed down at him. Gilly giggled, she had gone back to working after seeing her son start to calm down.
"Can you tell what people look like if you touch them?" Gilly asked.
"Sort of. I can guess better, and things are less fuzzy if I touch them."
"That makes sense. You said you had a younger brother, are you trying to get back to him? Is that why you're trying so hard to find a way back?"
Verona's smile fades after she asks, but still lets little Sam play with her hand.
"No. He died when he was seven. I don't have anyone to go back to really…"
"Why go back then? I can tell you were hurt… I can see the scars on your arms. If it was a bad place, maybe you shouldn't. Sam saved me, from a bad place. I don't ever want to go back."
Verona considers her for awhile. Thinking about what could happen if she stayed. Never having to go back, never having to answer for… what happened. She could be someone else here. She liked who she was in this place. It was like remembering what it was like before the bad things. Despite all the missing amenities, she hadn't smiled this much since she was eleven… But she couldn't run. She would be suffocated in guilt if she did. She had to try to go back, at least once.
"I'd be guilty if I didn't try." Verona decided to say.
Alliser Thorne was not a particularly fearful or superstitious man. He knew the white walkers existed because there had been proof. He didn't believe there could be people from another world, until there had been proof standing in front of him. Hearing Jon Snow declare her to have powers, was ridiculous, but he had to admit, Jon Snow was no liar.
He sat alone writing, including the most important things that he had discovered. Her 'powers' he cited as being witnessed by only one and could be refuted. Her status though, and number of people in her country, was by far the most important. That was the information that lords and kings would want to know.
He prepared scrolls for Kings Landing, Winterfell, Sunspear, Highgarden, Riverrun, Dragonstone, The Vale, even Casterly Rock, despite no one really being there. If these people proved to be a threat, they needed to be dealt with accordingly of course. But knowing this information could be the deciding factor to some, no doubt.
He needed to wait for more ravens to return, but once they did, they wouldn't get much rest from him. Maester Aemon only wanted to inform the citadel, but he couldn't agree with that decision.
Alliser Thorn scowled to himself, thinking of what had transpired again. Jon Snow, breaking his vows for a wildling girl, and then protecting some other girl from another world. That bastard had no loyalty.
AN:
So, Thorne is just spreading the news everywhere, which will have consequences. I'm going to do a chapter soon on the others and what they have experienced so far.
As always, thanks for reading!