He led his guests into the castle and then to the dining room that had been prepared with all of the banners, furs, and other pointless things that were needed to show his family's glory.
As they walked they passed several of his knights and many of the men of the north, who he was playing host for the winter.
The men looked at Lady Asuna with hungry eyes, before they turned their attention to the young girl at her side.
Some of the men shoved the youngest boys that stood amongst them others simply smiled and tried to make themselves appear friendly to the strangers.
Yet what caught his attention were the silent glares of the elder men of the mountain, who had taken the long walk and found themselves serving the young lord of the wall and his wife.
Those glares were reserved for things that would get the young men killed and yet the elders were giving them to the men that now stood where they once did.
"Please sit." he says to his guest before the maids begin to serve everyone their meal.
Rickard couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he saw that Lady Asuna had separated herself and tried to make small talk with the maids before the women handed her a pair of plates.
Rickard watched as the woman gave a plate to her guards, the lone member of the watch that had guided her to his castle, then her husband, and finally her daughter before placing her plate on the table and taking her place next to her daughter who sat between her and her husband.
"Good, she knows her place." Rickard thought to himself before his eyes turned to Lyanna, who had already started eating.
'Please eat." he says to everyone when the maid puts his plate on the table.
Everyone ate quietly, as the tension of not wanting to appear uncultured forced everyone to eat slower than they usually would.
"So why did you attack the wall?" Brandon bluntly asks the pair.
Asuna and Kirito look at each other as if trying to decide if they would answer Brandon's question.
"The truth is we didn't know anyone was even in there, I mean more than half of the castles are abandoned or falling apart."
"The free Folk did tell us that people were living there, but our scouts didn't see anyone." Kirito answers Brandon.
"But you did attack." Benjinsays to Kirito.
"Yes and to be honest the men of the Wach did put up a good fight, but we were already moving, and stopping wasn't an option anymore."
"I mean we had beaten everyone we met along the way and there was this wall that had everything we needed, so we took it."
"I know it sounds wrong now that I say it out loud, but it's one of those things that you have to be there to understand." Asuna answers Benjin who nods as he accepts her answer.
Rickard understood all too well what had just been said, the kingdom beyond the wall was expanding and had conquered everything until they found themselves at the wall.
No wonder the Night's Watch had been beaten so easily, the people they had fought weren't a bunch of Wildlings, but an organized army that was emboldened by one victory after another.
"I see, however, if you don't mind me asking, the two of you do seem quite young."
"How is it that you came to know each other, did you meet, or did your parents decide to marry you?" Brandon asks the young lord and his wife.
'Daddy had to fight the Guild Master so he could marry Mommy and because he is the only person to ever make." The pair's daughter answers Brandon before she stops talking as she tries to remember the word that she is trying to say.
"Mr heathckckc," she tries to say the man's name but fails to pronounce it and gives up trying before she continues to tell her story.
"He never stepped back in a fight, but daddy made him walk back a lot and then daddy had to join the guild and then he married mommy." the girl carelessly says to Brandon.
"I see." Rickard says as he looks at the man sitting not too far from him.
It was a tale as old as time, someone of low birth who fell for the daughter of someone who was higher than him and had to fight to prove himself worthy of her.
There was certainly more to the story than what the girl knew, but he had learned enough.
"I know that the three of you must be tired from your journey."
"The maids will take you to your room, we can start our talks tomorrow." Rickard says to the three who thank him before excusing themselves and following one of the maids.
Rickard watched as their knights followed them closely.
"It's hard to believe that you are protecting them." he says to the elders who snort at his comment.
"Who says we are protecting them?" one of the elder mountain men answers him before a long pause sets in.
"At the top of the wall, the man of the watch have to either tuie themselves onto something or walk carefully so the wind and ice doesn't knock us off the wall and we fall to our death." the man of the watch says to him.
"I know." Rickard answers the man.
'They don't do either, somehow they can just stand there and take the wind as it tries to knock them down." one of the old men adds.
No wonder the old men respected the Kirito and Asuna, strength was something that the men of the north valued and respected, just being able to resist falling from the wall was a feat all on its own.
He turned to look at Benjin and then he looked at Lyanna, both of whom stiffened when their eyes met his.