Raenna
“Breathtaking, isn't it?”, Jorn asked, though Raenna had the slight impression he wasn't even looking at the Wall in front of them. She however was too stunned by the sight to even pay much attention to him, so she just nodded, staring at the inconceivably giant wall of ice.
“Eh, it'll pass”, Erik added. “Once you're in that castle, trust me, the whole wall will turn to shit. I had my reasons to leave” Jorn, with notable irritation, raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”, he asked and Erik smirked. “Well, first of all there's the rules. Never been fond of these, guess that's what brought me here in the first place”
“Yeah, figured that much”, Jorn replied and Erik gave him a sharp grin. “You get used to the cold”, he continued, with a brief glance at Raenna, who was slightly shivering despite the thick fur. “But there is one thing I just cannot deal with in this godsforsaken Night's Watch and do you know what it is?”
Raenna shook her head, pressing her lips together as she stared at the gargantuan wall of ice. “It's the people”, Erik explained. “There's three types of people in that castle. My type's petty criminals. I stole a loaf of bread because I was starving, so I got exiled to guard a wall of ice for the rest of my life” He raised an eyebrow. “You ever been hungry, pretty boy?”
As Jorn gulped, Erik chuckled. “Figured that much”, he said. “Anyways, all can take the black. You can probably guess, the harsher the punishment would be otherwise, the more tempting this becomes. So, you got folk like me, who broke the rules once or twice, and then you got rapists, murderers and worse. We're bottom of the pecking order to them” His tone grew colder as he continued. “But do you know the worst type stranded there?”, he asked. “It's people like you, Mormont. Highborn assholes who think they still own the world. Brother of the Watch my ass, no matter how low their rank, they all expect me to bow to them. I'm not a fucking kneeler anymore”
Jorn was quiet after this, his smile gone. Raenna could see that Erik's account was troubling him. “My father used to say they are noble men”, he mumbled and Erik shook his head. “Maybe ten thousand years ago”, he spoke. “Now it's Westeros' dumping ground for all those they don't want anymore. Second sons, or maybe thirds, dissidents and criminals of all shapes and colours” He leant closer to Raenna and his smug expression faded. “Come to think of it, when we're at the Nightfort, keep your girl close, will ya? Worse things have happened there”
Raenna clenched her fists, though she noticed the honest concern in his gaze, so she nodded in return. She too had grown up with stories of the distant Nightfort, headquarters of the Night's Watch, their oldest and darkest castle. And never had she ever imagined that she would see this place with her own eyes.
The Nightfort was honestly a bit less threatening than she expected. It was large, yes, but it lacked walls to defend it from any side but the northern and compared to the Wall it looked almost tiny. Clearly ancient, perhaps older even than Winterfell, or at least not as carefully maintained, it had stained walls, lying completely in the shadow of the Wall. One tower was crumbled and if it wouldn't be for the smoke and the torches, she would have considered the whole thing abandoned.
“Why would they ever even build a wall like this?”, she mumbled, not quite able to look away from the most massive structure she had ever seen. Sure, the Hightower was at least as high, but this wall, it was as long as the eye could see and more. Awe-inspiring in every sense of the word, as well as intimidating.
“Not to keep out people like me”, Erik replied. “Or, well, you know, the Free Folk. We're a threat to farms and villages, but you've seen how quickly a few castle-trained assholes dealt with my group. Nah, that wall seems a bit excessive for that, eh?” He shrugged. “I've heard rumours though. Fuck, we all did”
“Not just rumours”, a voice growled from behind and Raenna tensed up momentarily. For a man of his broad frame, sitting on such a heavy and stocky animal, Mace Crowl was remarkably silent. And yet, out of them all, the Skagosi was perhaps the most accustomed with the wildlings, to a degree not even the deserter Erik was. “The Others. White Walkers, as the mainlanders call them. They're not rumours, not fairytales or legends”
“I take it you've seen them?”, Erik snarked at him and Mace did not respond to the slight provocation. He merely shook his head. “My grandfather has visited the lands beyond the wall”, he said. “Sailed across the sea to the settlement the Free Folk calls Hardhome. There, he spoke to their elders and they showed him what remained of the White Walkers in this world, remnants of the Long Night” He glanced up at the Wall. “Our ancestors had a reason to build this. We'd be foolish to disregard their wisdom”
Erik shrugged. “Haven't seen any White Walkers in my time beyond the Wall”, he admitted. “But there's a lot Myrla didn't tell me” He gulped, as he looked at the Nightfort, now completely serious. “Oh man, I do so not like being here again”, he sighed and Jorn raised an eyebrow. “You have Lord Roffe's word that no man of the Night's Watch will harm you”, he reminded him and Erik smirked dryly. “Yeah, but I don't have theirs”, he growled.
Raenna gulped, as his warning still echoed in her head. She glanced behind her, where Mace was riding on his unicorn. The horned beast remained calm while he kept an eye on it, but even Dag's wolf was afraid of getting near it. There was something about its scent that made the horses nervous, as well as a cruel intelligence whenever she looked it in the eye. However, it was at least fiercely obedient to its master and the Skagosi treated it with kindness.
“I... think I'm going to check up on Briar”, she mumbled. The girl was sitting on the cart behind Mace, between Gared Snow, who was driving the cart, and Malina Karstark. Behind them, Dag Umber sat next to his wolf. And yet behind them, Eon and Harrold were chatting about something, with the Hornwood man's chuckles cutting through the cold air.
She slowed down her horse and the unicorn briefly glared at the other animal as it trotted past them. Still, as nervous as it made her, she mustered a smile towards Mace. “Snow hair”, he greeted her, before he was past her. She nodded in return, though there was a smile on her face as she locked eyes with Briar. The girl was stunned at the magnificence of the Wall, probably even more so than Raenna.
“And what is behind it?”, she asked, to which Malina gave Gared a sharp glance. The Dustin bastard merely grinned in return. “A frozen wasteland”, he told her. “Filled with cannibals and White Walkers” The girl's mouth slightly opened. “What is a cannibal?”, she then asked, though before Gared could answer, Malina placed a finger on his lips. “Not someone you want to meet”, she said, before her glare towards Gared grew sharper. He seemed to take enjoyment out of her discomfort though. “If you say so, mylady”, he replied, giving her a wink.
“Hey Raenna”, Malina greeted her and the woman nodded in return. “Just wanted to see how you are holding up”, she mumbled and Malina glanced at Briar, whom she had wrapped an arm around. The girl nodded. “I'm excited!”, she assured her. “Can I touch the Wall?” For some reason, the fact that this was the first real question the girl asked caused Raenna to chuckle. “Only if you want to lose a finger”, she warned her. “That thing got to be cold”
“Yeah, and don't lick it either”, Dag replied. “My sister Nea lost the very tip of her tongue that way, back when she was a child” Briar followed by sticking out her tongue. “Yeah, I'm not going to lick it”, she assured him. “But can we climb it? I want to see what is beyond, the cannibals and everything!”
“It is supposed to be quite a view”, Gared brought up. He smiled at Briar, who nodded with excitement. Raenna however gulped, as she thought of just how high that thing was. Involuntarily, a memory crept into her mind. Alysanne, the madness in her eyes, as she had pushed her. And Raenna remembered falling. “I... maybe we'll talk about this later”, she stuttered. “For now, I want nothing more than a warm meal once we arrive”
Her next sentence was interrupted, as a single horn signal sounded from the castle. A smile formed on Malina's face. “And it seems you won't have to wait too long for that to happen”, she replied. “If Lord Umber's letter has reached them, we should receive a warm welcome” Gared shrugged. “I don't know about you, but warm is the last thing on my mind when I look at that thing”, he replied.
It did not take long for them to reach the Nightfort after this. Even from afar, Raenna was able to see the men, patrolling the courtyard and doing their duty, clad in black, with heavy fur cloaks. Some were clearly glancing at them, sometimes with more than just some casual interest and she was glad for the company of Gared, who had been keeping close to Briar over the past few weeks of their journey. She noticed, few of their glares were friendly, albeit some were obviously directed at Erik, who wore the fur garb of a wildling raider.
The large courtyard was covered in snow and frost. The men quickly made way for them, as the cart entered the centre of the Nightfort. A large, yet unadorned hall loomed over it and Raenna spotted a massive tree with red leaves growing somewhere behind it, a weirwood as she had learned from her stay here in the North. From here, the castle was a maze of towers and vaults, closing in on them like the fingers of a giant fist. From in here, everything about the Nightfort seemed threatening. This was a dark place, the wind like the howling of the countless souls that had died here, in the shadow of the Wall.
A dozen men walked out of the open door to the hall, the Great Hall of the Nightfort as she now realized. Their leader was clearly the one walking in their midst. Clad in the same black, his cloak was wider, covering his broad frame. A beard of the same colour was covering his lower jaw, falling down onto his chest and framing his face like a mane, while the hair on his head showed signs of balding. His face was brutish and ugly, with a heavily broken, slightly crooked nose and lines of wrinkles crossing through it. Yet his eyes were menacing, deep, black pools, the look in them calm and confident. Never before in her life had Raenna seen such dark eyes, yet the collected look on his face somehow mitigated how utterly unsettling they were.
Behind her, Dag jumped down the cart, Mutt following him at once. The dark-eyed man only briefly glanced at the wolf, his gaze more wandering from the unicorn, to Erik, back to the unicorn before briefly resting on Raenna. Then, he spotted Briar and he narrowed his eyes. “Ser Dag Umber, I presume”, he finally spoke, his gaze shifting to Dag as the man approached him. Dag replied. “I see my brother's raven did reach you”, he spoke and the cloaked man nodded slightly. “That it did”, he confirmed. “Plus, only an Umber would be mad enough to travel here with a wolf. That thing attacks any of my men, we'll be having it for dinner”
“He will behave”, Dag promised, before he hesitated, his head tilting slightly. “Lord Commander Hoare?” The man nodded. “Harrigon Hoare”, he introduced himself. “But if you don't mind, today is freezing. We'll continue this inside” He turned around at once, beckoning them to follow with a wave of his hand. “You take care of the horses”, he growled towards some of the men accompanying him. “And...” He glanced at the unicorn. “Whatever the hells that is supposed to be” Thankfully, Mace remained by his steed's side. “I'll do it”, he simply mumbled as one of the Night's Watchmen approached him.
With him remaining behind, Raenna, Dag and their companions entered the Great Hall of the Nightfort. It was a high room and only slightly warmer than the downright chilling air outside. There was a fire burning, but it was neither enough to warm the entire room, nor to even illuminate it and the corners, as well as the ceiling was covered in darkness. On top of that, the wind was howling through the top of the building and Raenna frowned slightly at the noise. At least Briar did not seem to mind it. With pure excitement, she was sitting on Gared's shoulders, as the man carried her inside. The wide smile on her face was the only thing that prevented Raenna from regretting her decision to bring the child along.
“Now, Umber, I must admit, I expected you to come with less... unusual company”, Harrigon Hoare growled, as he sat down close to the fire. Another man was sitting there, thin, with a long grey beard and hair of the same colour. He was wearing a thick robe, though no cloak and the chain around his neck clued Raenna in on whom he was. “Coracinus, Maester of the Nightfort”, Hoare introduced him in this moment and the maester nodded briefly, studying the newcomers out of his curious eyes. “A pleasure, Ser Dag”
Dag smiled, as he took a seat next to the Lord Commander. “My apologies for any effort we force upon your men”, he said and Hoare smirked thinly. “You don't force any effort upon us, Ser”, he replied. “If we didn't agree to host you here, you'd be out, freezing in the snow. Your brother told me what to expect, I agreed and here you are” He narrowed his eyes. “Bringing a deserter into my castle”
Erik had gotten into the hall with the rest of them, but while Raenna and Malina gladly took a seat close to the fire, he remained behind, as far away from the Lord Commander and his maester as possible. “Oh, I know you, boy”, Harrigon growled. “Erik Flowers. Arrived here a year ago, deserted after six months. We thought you died beyond the Wall. Hoped for it even”
Erik managed an acidic smile. “Sorry to disappoint, Lord Commander”, he replied, but any attempt at sarcasm was drowned out as something dangerous flared up in these dark eyes. Raenna remembered how the saying about his house went. Black of hair, black of eye... She shivered, as she saw the anger in his gaze. “Been running with Half-Thenn's men, I heard”, he spat. “At least that's what Roffe Umber claims and the man is not a liar. He's also the only reason I don't have you flogged to death”
His voice was calm, cold and threatening and Raenna could see how afraid Erik was of this man. Not that she could blame the Lord Commander. After all, he was still a deserter. “I never met the Half-Thenn, Lord Commander”, he mumbled. “But I...” Harrigon cut him off by raising his hand. “But I don't want to hear a word from you, Flowers”, he spat. “You got a second chance here at the Wall. The fact that you get a third one is out of my hands” He glanced at Dag. “And I expect something in return”
Dag nodded. “Anything, Lord Commander”, he assured him. “I...” Hoare cut him off. “Wasn't finished”, the Lord Commander snarled. “But all in due time. I know why you are here and I might be able to help. Your house has helped my Watch a great deal. Half of Sable Hall is made up from Umber recruits. Only reason that castle still exists, to be honest. So, it'll be my pleasure” He said this in a tone that made it clear to Raenna that it was anything but his pleasure, but at least he managed an almost warm smile as he looked around. “Now tell me, who are your companions? Besides the deserter, I mean”
“Well, there we got Lady Malina Karstark and her companion, Gared Snow, the bastard of Barrowton”, the knight explained at once. “His half-brother Eon Dustin, heit to Barrowton and his friend Harrold Hornwood. Jorn Mormont, the heir to Bear Isle. Outside, we got Mace Crowl of Skagos. And here we got Raenna Minsworth and her young ward, Briar Catelins”
Harrigon glanced at Briar, then at Raenna, slowly narrowing his dark eyes, but not before she saw the concern in them. “You bring a deserter to my halls, Umber”, he finally said. “A Skagosi, which is pretty much half a wildling, then two women and a little girl” He grinned dryly. “I cannot decide which is worse. You're demanding quite a lot from me and mine” He sighed. “And there's a lot of fancy names in your group. Dustin and Hornwood and Mormont. Hope none of you expect that to be worth a damn once you pass the Wall”
With this, his glare fell upon Erik. “Deserter, come closer”, he barked. “Hate to say it, but you're even more useless if you freeze to death over there” Reluctantly, Erik followed the order. There was something commanding about Harrigon Hoare. Unsurprising, as she realized, considering whom his brother was. Raenna had thankfully never met the King of the Isles and the Rivers, but she imagined them to be similar in these regards. Authorative and probably intimidating. At least Harrigon was not a tyrant by any account.
“And me and Coracinus, we want to hear your story”, he revealed. “Compare it to what we know. I want to see if you bullshit these people, you understand?” He leant forwards, a predatory glare in his dark eyes. “Or better yet, how much you're bullshitting them” Erik gulped, as all eyes were on him. Harrigon Hoare however exchanged a glance with Raenna. “You and I, Valyrian, we must have a talk as well”, he added.
It took Raenna a moment to reply. “Me?”, she merely managed to say and the Lord Commander grinned slightly. “No, I mean one of the other dozen Valyrians in the room”, he snarked. “Of course I mean you, snowflake” Briefly, he glanced at Briar and Raenna tensed up, as the Lord Commander shifted slightly. He rose from his chair. “Actually, I'd like to do that first. Come with me”, he ordered her and after Dag gave her a nod, she followed after Hoare, who was already approaching one of the walls of his Great Hall.
He stopped next to a small window. “Can't say I expected a Valyrian in Umber's company. You're probably the only one of your kind in the North right now”, he spoke and Raenna shrugged. “I've been the only one of my kind a lot of times”, she replied, to which the Lord Commander flashed her a crooked grin. “I like that attitude”, he admitted. “Though I still question your intelligence”
Raenna narrowed her eyes. “This is about Briar, is it not?”, she asked and Harrigon gave her a firm nod. “Briar, aye. The Wall is no place for a child”, he confirmed. “I mean, I never had children. Don't even like them to be honest, but I get it. She begs you and pouts and gives you one of these cute looks and you just can't say no. And so you bring her with you, all the way to the border of this world”
There was something about his tone that struck her as genuine, so she merely tilted her head. “Is she in danger here?”, she asked and Harrigon sighed. Carefully, he placed a hand on her shoulder, before he pointed out of the window and onto the courtyard, where the Night's Watchmen were doing their duties. “There's almost four thousand men stationed here at the Nightfort”, he revealed. “I know half of them by name, or at least why they are here”
First, he pointed at a slim, unassuming man, who was carrying a few swords towards a building. “Rapist”, he revealed. “Took the black to keep his manhood” His finger wandered towards one of the guards, a burly man with a spear, who patrolled across the courtyard. “Another rapist”, he spoke. “Rumour has it he had his way with a wildling woman once, so I don't send him on patrols anymore” Finally, he pointed at an older, grey-bearded archer. “And finally...”
“Another rapist?”, Raenna asked and Harrigon shook his head. “Child rapist”, he corrected her. “And there's not just them. We got people here who would flat out murder your girl just to see tears coming out of those sweet eyes of yours, simply because it is the most exciting thing that'll happen here before the long, terrible darkness of winter engulfs this dreadful place”
Raenna bit down onto her lower lip, as she glanced over her shoulder, to where Briar sat, merrily in Gared's arms. “Don't get me wrong, we're not all like them”, Harrigon assured her. “I'd say there's four hundred men in this castle who are genuinely vile. I don't mean honest folk who made a mistake, or even outlaws who mean to reform themselves, I'm talking people who see this as the easy way out. They should have never been given the chance”
“Why do you keep them around then?”, Raenna asked and Harrigon sighed. “Because without them, the Night's Watch would lose a third of their members. I'd have to give up five castles at the least”, he admitted. “I don't like it, but those men, they play a part in the Watch's survival” He shook his head. “And there's good men here as well. Highborn recruits, volunteers, people who genuinely want to do their duty”
Raenna bit down onto her lower lip. “Do you think Briar is in danger?”, she asked, to which Harrigon shrugged. “I don't know”, he said. “I know you are not. Don't know your story and frankly, I don't even care, but Umber has a reason to drag you along for this. I bet you're not half bad with that knife of yours. Lady Karstark has her grunt by her side. But your girl? She has none”
“She has me”, Raenna insisted, to which Harrigon smirked. “Yeah, because your duty lies entirely with protecting that girl during your stay here, huh?”, he asked. “No, you got something to do with Umber and his brother. What I mean is, I got good men here, whom I'd trust with my life. And I offer to take two of them to guard your little girl while she stays here”
The offer caught her by surprise. Raenna raised an eyebrow, but said nothing at first. She did not know Harrigon Hoare, nor had she even been to the Wall, so she was not certain if she could trust either of them. The Watch was way past its prime, filled with murderers and rapists. And Hoare? Ironborn, a tyrant's brother. Black of heart...
Yet was she in any position to decline? He was right, taking Briar along had been foolish, but she couldn't just refuse the girl a wish, could she? If she could trust him, it would be a generous offer. But perhaps it would be better to stay as far away as possible from the Night's Watch and from the Hoare who led them. If she'd ask, surely Gared would be up for the task, or Jorn, or maybe even Mace...
[Agree to have his men guard Briar]
[Tell him you prefer to have your group guard Briar]