Yes, I started playing with timelines a bit, and some character story lines. If Benioff & Weiss can do it... well, I hope I'm not doing it to the extent they do.
The cold wind snapped at Aurelia's nose and cheeks, but she held herself firm in the tree. The air smelled of men, more than she had seen crossing the path viewable from her perch. It had been three hours waiting for the train of wildlings to pass by, and now that dusk had come to the lands, she'd seen no one for near half an hour. She was finally about to descend, knowing she needed a less conspicuous, yet still guarded and hidden, place to rest for the night. The Wall was only another few hours away but Aurelia would not risk traveling at night. She may be south of the Wall, but she felt wary of more than just wildlings and the remnants of armies. The darkness and cold stirred fears deep within her, fears of beings which had only been stories as a child. Yet if the letter Stannis and all the 'kings' of Westeros received was to be believed, those stories broke free of imagination and came to life. Aurelia still wasn't certain of their existence, but she would not take chances.
She was just warming up her limbs to get out of the tree when she heard voices on the path. A woman's first, raving but unintelligible, and then a man's behind her. Aurelia shrank back. The man's voice became clear a moment later, and Aurelia almost toppled from the branches.
"Ygritte!" Jon called. "If you stop struggling I might be able to help you."
"I don't need help from a crow!" Ygritte called back. "No matter how dark it gets, I can find my way to your bloody castle on the Wall."
"It's not safe and you know it," Jon huffed, catching up to her.
They now stood about fifty feet away from Aurelia's perch. Ygritte's hands were bound behind her. Her hood had fallen and her fiery hair splayed across her shoulders.
"Then let the darkness take me," Ygritte snarled.
Jon stepped toward her and Aurelia felt a lump in her throat. He was more rugged, worn and scratched, his hair wilder and his whole carriage weary. To Aurelia he never looked so strong, nor so lost.
"You don't mean that," Jon replied to Ygritte. "We can't keep going tonight. We'll find a place to stop and make it to Castle Black after first light."
"If you stop us, I'll wait until you're asleep and slit your throat."
"Ygritte, please." Jon didn't plead, but Aurelia heard the pain in his voice.
Aurelia slipped one of her daggers out from her coat, twirling it silently as she eyed the wildling girl. She was about to slip her quiver over her shoulder when an arrow whizzed past Jon's head. He spun, pulling his sword, as Aurelia stuck the dagger in a branch and readied an arrow in her perch.
"It's gonna be crow for dinner," a voice called in the encroaching dark.
"Thenns," Ygritte said with a twinge of fear.
Aurelia gleaned enough already to know that if the wildling girl was afraid, it was of something worth fearing.
Another arrow flew past Jon and stuck in the tree. As Aurelia scanned the darkness beyond the path, a streak of white silently plunged from behind her tree perch, across the path and beyond.
Three men could be heard yelling, one suddenly yelped in pain and then they broke through the trees. One of them lagged behind, Ghost having clamped down on his leg then sped away. The two uninjured men made for Jon. He quickly parried one of them away with his sword, then had to contend with the larger man swinging an axe at his head.
Aurelia took a quick breath, then loosed her arrow, striking Jon's first attacker in the back. Ygritte had backed against the tree and looked up.
"How did-" She began before Aurelia dropped from the tree, dagger in hand, bow and arrows slung over her shoulders.
The man she'd struck in the back lay on the ground, moaning. Aurelia unceremoniously moved to him and jammed her dagger in the side of his neck. Jon was embroiled in fighting the large Thenn with the axe. The third man finally arrived, limping and cursing. Aurelia threw her knife straight into his chest and he collapsed.
The man with the axe was about to swing it down on Jon's head when Ghost leapt for his arm and Jon sprang back, missing the blow. As the Thenn tried to free his arm from the direwolf's jaws, Jon slammed his sword into the man's stomach and upward. Ghost released the dying man and trotted over to Aurelia, sniffing her hand, then nuzzling against her. Aurelia looked down at him and began to scratch his head as Jon pulled out his sword. He looked at the other two bodies, then turned around.
"Thank you," he sighed. "Who-" He paused, noticing Ghost cozied up to this figure.
Jon took a step forward, wary and, somewhere deep inside, hopeful. "Who are you?" He asked in a tone which demanded an answer and yet seemed to fear one.
Aurelia pushed back her hood as she raised her head. "Hello, Jon," she said softly.
Jon froze, eyeing her as though she were a ghost, or a dream.
"Aurelia," he breathed.
She took a step toward him, and it was then they both heard Ygritte yank Aurelia's dagger from the chest of one of the dead with a grunt. She sat with her back to the dead man and seemed about to try something when Aurelia aimed an arrow at her throat.
"Don't," Aurelia warned.
"You won't kill me," she sneered. "A valuable hostage I am. Ain't that right, Jon Snow?"
Jon stood beside Aurelia. "You did shoot me in the leg."
Aurelia dropped her bow slightly, the arrow now directed toward Ygritte's thigh.
Ygritte glared, standing slowly and dropping the dagger. Jon moved around her to pick it up and gave her a nudge away from the body. He retrieved the dagger, then walked back to Aurelia and held it out to her. She lowered her bow, then slung it over her shoulder and replaced the arrow in her quiver. She took the dagger from Jon and slipped it back within her coat.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Aurelia asked.
Jon looked nervously between the women. "Aurelia, this is Ygritte. Ygritte, this is the lady Aurelia Moors."
"A highborn lady?" Ygritte scoffed. "What you doin' all the way up here? You get lost?"
"I could ask the same of you being down here."
Jon glanced to Aurelia who gave him a look which held him in check.
"Come on," he grumbled. "We have to get off the road for the night. There's an abandoned cottage just over the hill."
"You taking this highborn princess with you to meet your brothers?" Ygritte smiled. "What will they think of that?"
Jon said nothing as he gestured to the path. Ygritte snickered, then gave a small, mocking bow to Aurelia. "My lady, after you."
Aurelia said nothing and started down the path, Ghost following on her heels. She fought to remain passive, calm, but she could feel her insides burning.
"How is it your wolf acts like that with her?" Ygritte asked Jon as they plodded along. Aurelia smiled, feeling the tension roll off Jon and the frustration in Ygritte's tone. "Is she a warg?"
"No," Aurelia called back. "Just a very old friend. Or I was."
There was a pause, then Jon answered back. "You are."
"Am I? Good to know."
She didn't want to be cold with him. In truth all she wanted was to pull him to her, forget the world around them, and lose herself in his touch for days… or forever. However, she hadn't known about or anticipated Ygritte. He jealousy mingled with her aggravation over not meeting Jon alone, nor properly at Castle Black as she'd intended. Everything had taken her by surprise and remaining cold and calm was the only way she could keep from bursting into tears. Ghost at her side was a comfort, though. If he remained warm with her, maybe she had not lost Jon entirely.
Once they came upon the cottage, Jon ushered them inside. It had just become fully dark and they had to feel their way around. Luckily, the small hearth was intact and a few logs were stacked beside it. Jon set to work starting the fire while Aurelia kept her eyes fixed on Ygritte. Ygritte plopped down on a bench beside what was likely the dining table and Aurelia leaned against the wall near the door after placing her bow and quiver beside her.
"So you've known Jon Snow a long time, have you?" Ygritte asked casually.
"I have."
"Not as well as I do though, I'd wager."
"Ygritte," Jon cut in. "Don't."
Ygritte grinned. "So she don't know you like I do."
"If getting trussed up and hauled off to the Wall against my will is the price, I'm glad not to have to pay it."
Ygritte's smile faded. Jon turned to the hearth and started to work on creating a flame.
"You know-"
"If the words 'you know nothing' come out directed at her," Jon said without turning, "I will let her stab you."
Aurelia inclined her head, looking to Ygritte. "You were saying."
"It's damn cold in this place," Ygritte grumbled.
Just then, Jon sparked the kindling and the fire started up. "It'll warm up soon."
"The temperature will at least," Aurelia mused.
"Didn't bring any food, did you?" Ygritte asked as she gazed toward the fire.
"Well, I wasn't planning on having to rescue others, so no. I didn't bring rations for the company."
"We didn't need your help," Ygritte countered.
"Mmmhmm."
"We did," Jon said, rising from the fire after giving it a few stokes with a poker. "And thank you, my lady," he added, looking to Aurelia.
"You're welcome," she replied, not making eye contact with him.
"We'll make for the Wall at first light. It should only take us a few hours to get there. We should all get some rest." He looked pointedly at Ygritte who shifted on the bench.
"And how am I supposed to do that when you have me trussed up like this?"
"You've had worse," Jon remarked.
Ygritte opened her mouth to speak, but something in Jon's look silenced her. She slid off the bench and moved to a corner near the hearth, grumbling unintelligibly. Slinking down, she seemed to find a degree of comfort and soon drifted to sleep.
Jon, meanwhile, moved to the bench she had sat on and took off his heavy cloak and coat. He sat down near the edge to feel the fire, but faced Aurelia. Aurelia watched Ygritte until the wildling girl fell asleep. It was an odd scene: Jon watching Aurelia, Aurelia watching Ygritte, Ghost laying between them on the floor, and Ygritte fading into uneasy, then heavy, slumber in the corner. Once Aurela was certain she slept soundly, she finally glanced to Jon. He rose, swift and quiet, stepping over Ghost. He stopped a few inches from Aurelia. She had been immobile while watching Ygritte, but as soon as Jon stood, her breathing quickened. Jon reached out, slowly unhooking the clasp on her cloak. He pulled the draped fabric off her body, hanging it on a hook on the wall. Aurelia shrugged out of the wool jacket beneath and Jon took that as well. Once her outer clothes were off, Jon gently took hold of one of Aurelia's hands. He brought it to his lips then pulled Aurelia up and into his arms. He held her firm, inhaling her scent, recording every inch of her that touched him in his mind.
"Aurelia," he whispered after a moment. "How did you find me?"
She clung to him fiercely, as though to let go would end her. "I was going to the Wall. For you. To tell you…"
Her voice was choked with a sob.
"Robb?" Jon asked, tears welling in his eyes.
Aurelia nodded, still pressed to him.
"They told me. I didn't know - I feared you-"
"No," she said quickly.
Jon pulled back from her, clasping her face in his hands.
"Jon," she whispered, knowing he should not proceed.
His lips were on hers in an instant, her whisper more an invocation than a warning. For a few brief moments the world fell away and they were lost in each other.