Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun.
Book 2
Chapter One-Hundred and Twenty-Five
Ned had only been a little boy the first time he had seen the Wall, Father had taken him and Brandon with him to visit the Night's Watch to show them both that it was not just Moat Cailin that defended the North, and that he wanted them to appreciate the sacrifices that the men who manned it made. They had forsworn lands and honours and titles and families all to protect the realm.
It had made Ned's head spin to stand in the shadow of the Wall and look up at it, he had just been a boy and he had thought that it must have gone on forever. He was a man grown now, a husband and a father and a king, and yet the Wall was still as immense as it had been when he was a boy. It was odd, but he found that somehow comforting.
It had been a while since the men of the Night's Watch had a king to visit, his last had been seven years ago which in all honesty felt more like twenty, and yet they showed him every courtesy and honour which was impressive considering that they suffered the harshest conditions that the North could offer.
In truth, while Ned was glad for the hospitality of course, but he would not have come for the visit himself. He knew that the Night's Watch had enough to deal with, more than most ever knew, and he would not want them to waste any of their supplies on him considering that as a king men and women tend to flock around him as flies swarmed around shit, and the flies would consume everything in their path.
But Benjen had insisted that he accompany him to the Wall, of course Ned was the elder and the King and could have easily denied him, but it might have been years until he saw his brother again and Ned did not want to leave on sour terms with him and so he had agreed to it.
Before they had set off though Ned had said goodbye to Sansa and Arya, both girls were being sent off to ward. Sansa to Bear Island and Arya to Sunspear, his elder girl was travelling with the Mormonts and the younger was to journey to Sunspear by taking ship from White Harbor which she would reach by travelling with Lord Wyman's family, the Lord of White Harbor's youngest granddaughter accompanying her to Dorne.
It had been hard to let them go, but he was the king and their father, and he had to be strong for all of them. Perhaps it had been selfish of him, foolish, in wanting to keep all of his children close to him for as long as he had but there was naught that could be done about that now. So, when it came to it, he had simply held them close and pressed a kiss to their brows and let them go.
It still hurt his heart to think on it, more so as he knew that Sansa had not wished to go to Bear Island, but Elia had made her case to him, and Ned had agreed to it. Benjen had taken the head of Jorah Mormont when he had been found to selling poachers to slavers in order to support his expensive wife, Jorah might have been a criminal, but he had still been the Lord of Bear Island and it had left an unspoken wound, taking Dacey as a lady-in-waiting for Elia, a position of high honour, had gone someway to mending that wound.
But the Mormonts needed to know that they had the trust of the crown and the Starks, and so they gave them Sansa.
The games they had to play, it tired him so. Ned sighed and shook his head and tore his gaze away from the Wall and made his way inside the Mess Hall, every man at their tables rose as he walked in and fell to their knees but Ned bid them rise almost as soon as they had gone down and bid them to continue on with their day before he walked over to the high table where his younger brother was feasting with the high officers of the Watch.
"Your Grace," Jeor Mormont growled as Ned sat down at the table, Ned had been worried that the older man might have carried a grudge for what he had suggested and what Benjen had done to his son and while Ned doubted that either of them was his favourite person in the world, but he had never let that affect his duty as Lord Commander and both himself and his brother had been supportive of the watch.
"Lord Commander," Ned replied as he took his seat, and a bowl of venison stew was passed to him. The stores of the Wall were kept full by the hunters that the order sent North past the Wall as well donations from the rest of the Realm and Ned had ensured that King's Landing had always been more than generous, indeed his own Hand had suggested that he had been much too generous.
But that was simply another thing that he and his hand disagreed on, in private of course. For all the wounds that laid between himself and Hoster Tully, there disagreements were something that was kept between them, and Ned had never acted like he was anything other than grateful to have the Lord of Riverrun as his hand.
"I am always grateful to you for allowing me at your table Lord Commander, the hospitality of the Night's Watch is generous indeed." Ned allowed his cup to be filled with a sweet and thick beer which he took a sip from, savouring the hops on his tongue, before he took a spoonful of his stew. There were northern cooks in the kitchens of the Red Keep who made stew similar to this but having it in the North made it taste all the better.
"Nothing less than a king deserves, your Grace." The Old Bear answered as he tore a slice of bread in half and dipped it into the bowl, allowing it to soak up some of the gravy before he popped it into his mouth. "You'll be glad to hear that the repairs of Greyguard and Stonedoor are proceeding as planned, with luck we shall be able to have a garrison in both of them by the end of the next moon turn."
"I am very glad to hear that indeed," and he was, when Ned had ascended the Iron Thron the Night's Watch had been a shadow of its former self, only three of the nineteen castles that had been raised in the shadow of the Wall still stood manned, Castle Black, the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, the rest of the castles had been left to fall into rot and ruin.
Ned and Benjen had both worked to change that, and so coin and supplies flew to the wall and the Night's Watch had slowly started to grow once again. Today, Westwatch-by-the-Bridge, Deeplake, Queensgate and Long Barrow all stood restored and regarrisoned, when the repairs were done to Greyguard and Stonedoor there would be nine castles that guarded the Wall.
"And just in time in truth, the cold winds are rising," The Old Bear's voice had fallen quiet at the end of his words but everyone around the table knew what he meant. "The omens are growing dire, we found a direwolf that had come past the Wall. A great she-wolf with a massive belly and she went into her labours right in the middle of the yard in Castle Black, but all she brought into the world was blood and deathworms."
Ned frowned heavily; such an omen could hardly be ignored. Direwolves were the sigil of House Stark and none had been seen south of the Wall in centuries, now one had and it had brought such horror with it? No, nothing good could come of it at all.
"Ned, will you walk with me?" Benjen's question brought Ned out of his thoughts, and he turned his head to see that his brother had stood to his feet, the Lord of Winterfell turned to the Lord Commander and tilted his head at him. "If you would please excuse us, Lord Commander?"
"It's not for me to tell the Lord of Winterfell and the King to stay," That seemed like as much leave to go as the man would give and so Ned and Benjen left the mess hall and strode out into the cold of the training yard of Castle Black, the song of steel clashing against steel rushing to meet their ears.
As Ned and his brother walked together one of Maester Aemon's attendants ran by them, stopping only for a moment to give a sharp bow, before running on to serve his aged master. Ned had to admit that he was surprised that the old man had lived as long as he had, he had been old when the rest of his house had been brought to ruin and the past twenty years had hardly made him younger.
Maester Aemon had been one of the things that he and his Hand had disagreed, Hoster had wanted the man's head on a spike, but Ned had told him no. If he did not take Rhaegar's children's heads, then what threat was a blind old man at the end going to pose?
That thought lead Ned to thinking about the other Aemon, the boy had always worried him the most. It wasn't just that he looked so much like Rhaegar, but he was quick to anger and slow to forgive just like his mother. Was allowing the boy to live a mistake as well? Had it been an indulgence to spare the life of one child, to keep that blood of his hands, if it meant that the result of his mercy was a war where thousands of children could suffer and die in it?
A part of him hoped that their ship had been swept away by a storm, drowning could not be the worst way to die, could it? And it would avert a war, if they boy came back then Ned would have to take his head, there could be no avoiding it this time, even if the thought of it was like a dagger in his heart. He had raised Aemon with his own children, he loved him as a son.
His sentence to the Night's Watch was meant to be the way that Ned could spare his life, Aemon would never be king or have lands or children, but he would have honour, a place in the world and he might have even become First Ranger one day, perhaps even Lord Commander. What a better world it would have been, if that was the case.
"I would have enjoyed having the boy here," Maester Aemon had said to him when Ned had gone to see him in his chambers on the first day they had arrived at the Wall, the man had not been a prince in so long and yet he was still as courteous as one, the old man serving him mint tea and bread with honey and blackberry jam. "I've not had any family around me in such a long time, the boy was young, and the young are so restless. I could have helped him find peace here, at least I hoped so."
He had turned his head away from him then, his unseeing eyes staring into the flames that was burning in the hearth. "And now he is a wanted man, a dead man who still walks," the ancient man had laughed then, the chain around his neck shaking softly as its owner laughed. "What fools the gods do make of us."
It was Benjen's voice that brought Ned out of his thoughts, he turned his head to face his brother and a surge of melancholy ran through him, all trace of his baby brother had faded throughout the years and now all that was left was the Lord of Winterfell, Benjen had not wanted it any more than Ned had wanted to be King, but it was what the realm required them to be.
"You were dreaming brother; you are starting to show your age." Benjen grinned, and for just a moment he was the boy he was.
Ned rolled his eyes at him, "You not too old, or too high, for a clout behind the ear you know."
"You're too old and slow for it, you might fall over and break a hip. It wouldn't do for a king to be seen having to be carried," Benjen stepped away from him and closer to the Wall, looking up at it for a moment before he turned his head back to look at Ned. "Come on, let's go and have a look, when was the last time you walked the top of the Wall?"
He hadn't on his last visit, Ned was sure of that, but he had done it on at least one visit since he had become King, but it was never something that truly appealed to him but if it was when Benjen wanted then Ned would indulge him, but Ned would not allow him to walk up the carved steps on the Wall, they would go up in the metal cage or they would not go up at all.
It was a little cramped, with himself, Benjen and both Ser Brynden Tully of the Kingsguard in there but they arrived at the top with little harm done to them and the three men strode until they reached the edge and started out at the vast wildness of the lands beyond, the setting sun was bringing a chill with it but the sight of it as it turned the sky a dusky orange was beautiful and for a moment Ned did not wish to turn away.
"This is where I belong," Benjen's words made Ned turn to face him, a frown heavy on his face. Benjen did not look at him, he just kept starting ahead at the horizon, his eyes were wet with unshed tears. "I am not going back to Winterfell, I am staying here. Do not worry, I do not mean to swear any vows but Rickard and Minisa are old enough and wed, they can rule in my name for a while."
"How long is awhile?" Ned asked as he stepped closer to his brother, resting his hand on his arm. "You have duties Ben, not just as the Lord of Winterfell and as my Warden of the North but as a husband and a father."
"Lysa will be glad to see the back of me, I knew her well enough and have a deep enough understanding of the state of my marriage to know that," there was no sorrow in his words as spoke, he spoke it as easily as if he had been noting the chill in the air. "And the girls, I love them, I do but I know that I am hardly what could be considered a decent father, I doubt that any of them will weep too heavily over me."
"I could command you to go back, and I am more than willing to do so."
"I know that you could, but I am asking you not to." Benjen turned to face him then, he looked so much older now. "Ned, we know what's coming. If we had any sense then we would command every single lord and every single sword to march North and man the Wall, because if what is one the other side of it breaks through then nothing else will matter."
"I know," And he did, but if the truth was told then how many of the lords would believe him? Elia and Jon Arryn knew but it was a secret kept from the rest of the small council, who knew what they would do if they thought that they were dealing with another Mad King? The realm was barely holding together as it was, this may well be the street that would shatter it into a thousand pieces.
And so, the defences had to be seen to in a subtle way. It was now understood that if singers expected patronage in the King's court, then there would have to be songs sung of the honour and bravery of the Night's Watch to tempt highborn men to serve there, the prisoners in the cells were offered the Wall in exchange for any other punishment, except for rapers who Ned castrated and had done with it.
And it had swelled the ranks, Maester Aemon had told him as such but even with all the new men and all the castles being repaired, he did not know if it would be enough. It was part of why he had made Rickard lord of Moat Cailin, if he could repair the castle then it would be another barrier against the Others and the army of the endless ice and cold. He knew the boy had been complaining about the lack of supplies for repairs, but that was only because Benjen had been sending them to repair the castles on the Wall.
"You would sever better in defence against it in Winterfell," Ned turned to look back at the horizon before shaking his head. "Have you told Lysa?"
"She would not believe me; she would think me mad." Benjen scoffed, his arms crossing over his chest. "She thinks I send supplies to the Wall as an act of misguided fondness, a way to live out a boyish dream that I had been forced to abandon, my choosing to remain here will not come as a surprise to her even if she does not truly understand the reason why."
"Nothing I say will convince you away from this, will it?"
"No, I'm sorry Ned."
Ned sighed and shook his head and was about to curse at his brother when the sound of running feet caught their attention, Ser Brynden needed to catch Thomas Flowers before he bowled into both of them and knocked them off the edge. His squire looked at Ned and tried to catch his breath. "Your Grace, I'm sorry, but there's been a bird from Oldtown. A white raven."
"Autumn is here."
End of Chapter One-Hundred and Twenty-Five