The black cloak

Jaime POV

The cold was unbearable. The wind bit my skin like a vicious beast. Even under a heavy black cloak and fur covering my body, the cold still found its way to my skin. It was hard to breathe. If I breathed through the nose, It would start hurting. My throat ached, breathing through my mouth.

I was amazed by my companions. I could now acknowledge them, even if I didn't like it. They didn't seem to mind the cold that much. Truly nothing could have prepared me for this. It still wasn't even winter yet. I didn't know how I would survive then.

"We should reach the next outpost soon, Kingslayer," Waymar Royce said. "Try not to freeze to death till then."

"I am fine. It is nothing."

"Sure, and your shivering is from excitement," Waymar laughed. "In the first month, I was surprised about the cold here. It can get pretty cold in the mountains of Vale, especially the winds. They are harsh and vicious as Shadowcats. Yet it still didn't prepare me for this."

"You still were better than Kingslayer. We didn't need to light so many bonfires for you. By now, every wildling knows of us," The old scrawny Gared said. "It's been a month. He should have gotten used to it by now."

"To be fair, it is getting colder each day, and it is his first time so far north. You can't expect more."

"I said I am fine," I said before they could continue talking about me like I wasn't here.

Waymar and Will laughed at me, while Gared only grumbled. I am still a Lannister. I won't be complaining, no matter how hard it gets. Even if this past month was probably the most brutal in my life, being a prisoner wasn't so bad. Still, I refuse to show any weakness.

"We arrived," Waymar said.

"Finally, the Kingslayer can stop breathing so heavily, it gets annoying," Gared complained.

I tried to breathe more quietly, but it was impossible. Each breath I took was painful and always felt like it was not enough. Only now, after a month, I realized how powerless I was. I enjoyed King's Landing's warmth too much, for too long.

"Let's go," I said as I couldn't wait to cuddle near the hearth.

"Wait," Waymar stopped us. "There is no smoke."

"What does it matter?" I asked in annoyance.

"It is already evening. Even if they don't need to warm themselves, they should be cooking dinner. Yet there is no smoke," Waymar explained. "Prepare for a battle. The wildlings might have taken the outpost."

Dammit, a fight isn't something I wanted now. My muscles were stiff from the cold, and I could barely feel my fingers. It was probably the first time in my life that I dreaded a fight. There was no way I could win against even inexperienced warriors, and I heard that the wildlings were great warriors.

"I don't see anyone," Will said as he climbed off his horse and drew his sword.

"They might have seen our fires and are preparing to ambush us," Waymar replied. "Or maybe they took what they could find in the outpost and ran away."

"Either way, we should proceed with caution," Gared added. "Kingslayer stays with the horses. We don't want them to run away if they are spooked. Or being stolen."

If it were any other situation, I would have bashed his face for even suggesting for me to stay. But everyone knew I was not in the condition to fight right now. I hated myself right now. It was the same hate I felt when I had to leave my children to Edmure's will. The powerlessness gnaws deep inside me.

"Come, Kingslayer."

It was intense minutes as I watched them getting closer to the cabin. It was a relief when they called out for me. It seems there won't be any fight for now. Getting inside the cabin, the first thing I saw was a body. From the black cloak, I could tell he was a man of the night watch.

"So, the wildlings already left," I commented.

"Help me," Waymar ignored me and started to undress the dead man.

"Are you mad?" I asked.

"There is no blood on him," Waymar said and opened the man's chest. "Something is wrong. Look at a stab wound, yet there is no blood."

"The wound froze," Will said.

"Find the others. There should be at least three more."

Gared and I left searching nearby but found nothing, no bodies or horses. Gared pointed out that no traces were left coming to the cabin of leaving it. The wildlings rarely would cover their traces, and if the rangers ran away, there should be left something.

"The body is at least a couple of days old, yet I don't see maggots, and it looks like he died recently," Coming back to the cabin, I heard Waymar's comment.

"Then how can you be sure it is a couple of days old?" Will asked.

"The food, it was left unattended," He pointed to the table where the half-eaten stew stank awfully.

"We could not find anything, no bodies, not even any signs of fighting," Gared reported.

Waymar suddenly got up from the body and looked around the cabin. He went from one corner to another, picking up something. While he did so, I went to the hearth and started to make fire. The night was descending, and it was becoming intensely cold.

"Kingslayer," Waymar called out. I started to hate him calling me so. "Do you know of anything that could shatter a castle-forged sword?"

"Shatter?" I asked. "A hammer or a mace might break a sword, but I never heard them shattering swords. A Valyrian sword, maybe? But even then, it would be a stretch."

"Then how do you explain this?" He asked and showed us pieces of the blade and a sword hilt.

"Cold," Gared sudenlly said. "I heard Noye saying that if steel freezes, it can shatter into tiny pieces."

"Was there a night so cold recently that it could freeze a sword to such a decree?" Waymar asked.

"If there were, the Kingslayer would have already died," I hated how right Gared was.

"So, what could do something like this?" I asked.

"I heard White Walkers carry swords made of ice," Will replied. "Waymar, we heard of the rumors recently. It could be them."

"Again, with this nonsense," I couldn't take it anymore. "The sword might have been already heavily damaged and not taken care of. A wildling might have hit the sword from such an angle that the sword shattered."

"Maybe," Waymar didn't agree but didn't disagree either. "We will stay for the night, and with the sun, we will leave for the Wall. Gared, can you ride to the outpost we were previously and warn them of what happened there."

"Alone? I don't like it," Gared grumbled.

"You are the most experienced ranger of all of us. I can only trust you with this. I will take the body to the Maester Aemon. He might find something that I could never."

"It will take a long time for us to reach the Wall with the body," I said.

"Sorry, Kingslayer, your training is over," Waymar said. "We will ride day and night if it has a clear sky. So, rest as much as possible tonight because you won't have another chance in some time."

Shit, so this was only training for me. I hated that I couldn't refute his words. It was better to swallow my pride for now and rest as much as possible, as Waymar suggested. I will suffer on the way back, which I was sure of.

"Should we set a watch?" Will asked.

"No, we need to be well rested tonight, and whoever attacked this outpost has not returned for days."

"I will stay until the hearth is burning well," Gared said. "Now I regret Lord Commander's decision to set out these outposts."

"Craster could not be trusted anymore," Waymar said.

"Who is Craster?" I asked.

"A wildling that we used for information about the wildlings," Gared replied. "Benjen Stark doesn't trust him anymore, so he advised Lord Commander to set out outposts Beyond the wall. It was a brilliant idea as we got more information than ever."

"With the resources, we have given in these past few years, we can take more risks," Waymar added. "If you weren't suffering so much from the cold, you would have realized that we came to check on these outposts and gather information of what they know."

I didn't reply, as I remember them talking about the sightings of the wildlings, but I didn't care to listen more. But from Gared words, I could gather that Benjen Stark was second in command after Lord Commander. Once I would probably have killed myself rather than serve under a stark. Now I was happy if I didn't fucking freeze to death.

…

I woke up in the middle of the night. Damn the cold. I swear it made me piss every couple of hours. The fire in the hearth was still smoldering, so I added more wood and let it go ablaze. I get as much warmth as possible tonight.

Nobody was on the watch tonight, as Waymar thought everyone should rest as much as possible. When I stepped outside, I almost tripped over the body of the man of the Night Watch. It was left out not to bother us inside, yet it still managed to bother me.

The black cloak covered his body. Like me, he was a brother of the Night Watch, yet I still find it hard to hold on to the same sentiment. I only have one brother. Even if he was only half the man, I cared for him more than I would care about any of them ever.

I wondered what Tyrion was doing now. Maybe he was happy to be the heir to Casterly Rock, finally. Father can't deny him now. Nobody will get me out of this service. Father might have hoped that he could make me retire from Kingsguard, but now I was stuck in this cold for the rest of my life.

I walked a bit away from the body to take a piss. I laughed a bit, remembering how Tyrion boasted that he would piss off the world's edge. And now I am pissing beyond that edge. Damn, I hope Tommen and Myrcella are fine. I hope that Cersei is missing me as I am missing her.

After I was done, I walked back to the cabin. Yet I stopped by the door as I noticed that the body was gone. I quickly took out my sword, fearing wolves had taken the body unbeknownst to me. A cold chill settled as I imagined a pack of wolves watching me.

Quickly returning to the cabin, I was ready to wake everyone when I saw a man standing over Waymar and strangling him as he gasped for breath. Without hesitation, I stabbed the man in the back and pushed him away.

"Waymar, are you all right?" I checked on him as he was catching his breath.

"Behind. You," He said between hard breaths.

I quickly turned around and found the man on his feet. He cast a shadow on us. Were wildlings so hard to kill? Again I stabbed him, this time right through his heart. The man fell towards me, and I let out a sigh. Yet the relief was short-lived when the man grabbed my neck and lifted me into the air.

What kind of strength could a man have to lift me with one hand? And most importantly, why isn't he dead yet? When I saw his face, I understood why he didn't die. He was the dead man from the Night Watch we find in this cabin.

Before the man could crush my neck, Gared tackled him to the ground. I fell on my back, and Will helped me get up. Gared didn't last long on top of the man as he was pushed away. Waymar took my sword from the man's chest and cut his arm off with a mighty swing.

Yet it was not enough. With the other hand, the man grabbed Waymar by his head and smashed him against the wall. What in the seven hells going on? I took my sword from the ground by instinct alone and cut the man's head off his shoulders. I screamed in horror as the man, now without his head, turned to me and tried to grab me.

Will came to my rescue, shoving a burning log at his chest. Gared took another log and did the same, while Waymar held the headless man, not letting him escape the fire. Soon I joined them and pushed the now burning headless man out of the cabin.

Breathless, we watched as he burned. Nobody spoke, but horror in our eyes said everything. As his burning body stopped moving, we breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously. Turning back, I went to pick up my sword. I would never sleep without it ever again.

The second time in my life and the same night, I screamed in horror when I saw the dismemberment head still moving its jaw. Waymar quickly ran up to me and became stiff at the sight of the head. Gared and Will took their swords and went to stab the head.

"Wait," Waymar stopped them. "Take a sack, and put the head inside. We are bringing it back to the Wall."

"I am not touching it, even if you tell me I can leave the Watch afterward," I said and backed away.

Waymar, the bravest man I ever met, took a sack and put the head inside it. I missed my home when the most I had to fear was the King finding out about Cersei and me. I had never experienced so much stress, and everything else in my life now looked so simple and peaceful.

A.N. As always, thanks for reading and If you want more, up to five advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852