I finally got the chance to see them—Benjen Stark and Jaime Lannister.
They looked tired but alive now, after some proper meals and real beds to sleep on. Their faces were thinner, and their eyes held the weight of long days in darkness and cold. They had been given food and rest by now, and though they still looked rough, they had enough strength to talk.
Both got the worst luck in the entire series—Benjen got lost in the North for as long as the series was good, while Jaime was held captive and lost his right hand in the ordeal by the third season.
If I didn't know better, they were testing who got the worst luck at this point. What in the world gave them the idea that going north was wise?
I sat with them near the fire. Jaime leaned back with a smirk—how that man smirked even after what happened to him was beyond me, as if the last few moons hadn't nearly killed him. Benjen was quiet, as always, but his eyes watched everything closely. Clearly, the First Ranger of the Night's Watch didn't believe the wildlings a bit.
So the fact that those savages released them, fed them, and gave them warm beds was anything but suspicious to the boot.
"I didn't expect to see your golden hair up here, Lannister," I said.
Jaime shrugged. "I almost forgot they were golden. Almost felt like I had haystacks up there."
"Piss, mud, and turd on them does that to you." I nodded.
"You speak as if you know it firsthand." He shot a curious glance at me—even in this condition, the guy wasn't ready to leave a single chance to be an asshole.
"Experience, yes—but not mine. Could go into a lengthy explanation on whose, but let's spare a brooding Stark here for the sake of this upcoming jolly tale of a Wolf and Lion forgotten beyond the Wall, together caged in the wild. Now that's a tale I'd love to hear..." I smiled, much to their annoyance.
"What happened to you both?" I asked again when they didn't catch my drift to start talking.
Benjen, sighing, answered first, his voice calm and low. "We came with a small group. A scouting party sent by the Night's Watch. Our mission was to confirm the stories… about the White Walkers."
"You still call them stories?" I looked at him like he was an idiot, which he kind of was. He was Ned Stark's brother.
"And I knew that old man Mormont wouldn't sit still but to send people out even after knowing the danger." I sighed.
"They aren't stories. I knew that. You know that. But many, even in Castle Black, don't believe in the White Walkers' existence. Lord Commander needed proof to make sure..."
"I gave you proof. What more did you need?" I cut him off, not letting him continue his mindless tirade to justify this foolish expedition of theirs.
"Don't lie, Stark. Tell me why exactly he sent you." I narrowed my eyes, pondering what that old man would be thinking when sending Benjen here.
Benjen remained silent for a while before sighing and opening his mouth.
"While the fact that we needed to know more about the wights is true, he also gave us another mission. He wanted to know more about the wildlings," he said and paused, like thinking something to himself, his eyes darting before he resumed his speech.
"After knowing that those White Walkers could raise dead bodies, he was worried about the numbers these wildlings have beyond the Wall."
I too thought so. That old man was more cunning than he looked. He wanted proper intel before he could move against the wildlings. Knowing him and the rest of the northern lords, they would never compromise and let those Free Folk come south of the Wall. Meaning he was planning on eradicating them completely.
But how? A small scouting party can't do that. How did he plan on doing this?
More headache for me, I guess... sigh.
"And?" I leaned forward.
"We found them." Jaime willingly took over the conversation from there, the humour gone from his voice. "Or they found us."
"The wildlings?" I asked, to which they didn't respond.
"Wights."
Benjen nodded. "It was deep in the frozen forest. They came at night. Cold and silent. Half of our men were dead within minutes. Before we knew it, we had to run away from our own men—turned dead and now chasing us. We tried to run."
"And we did—if not for these blasted wildlings," Jaime added. "We ran straight into them. They were waiting, hiding in the snow. Ambushed us."
"So you were caught?" I asked.
Jaime gave a dry chuckle. "Wouldn't be here if we weren't."
"They didn't kill us," Benjen said. "Mance Rayder knew who we were. Jaime is a Lannister—valuable for trade or negotiation once they cross the Wall, at least that's what he's filling these wildlings' heads with. Taking our homes and lands. Killing our men, raping our women," Benjen said, with nothing less than pure hatred in his tone.
Years of serving on a border like this Wall could do that to a person—hatred towards the other side even though there was no reason for that hatred, no origins. There's always a way for the hatred to manifest.
"And he's the First Ranger of the Night's Watch, and Ned Stark's brother. That gave him worth," Jaime concluded the topic.
"Smart of Mance," I muttered. This also explained somewhat why he wasn't as influenced when I put the reality in front of him and the rest of the Free Folk. They think they could somehow salvage the aftermath of their siege on the Wall by offering these two here to those southern lords.
Benjen looked at me seriously. "Why are you suddenly here? Why are those wildlings listening to you? What kind of deal did you make with Mance Rayder?"
I nodded. "A long story. It might even sound like a madman's rambling. You sure you want to hear it?"
Jaime raised an eyebrow. "We are mad enough to come beyond the Wall just to see the army of death with our own eyes. What do you think?"
"Fair enough..." I shrugged, and thus I started explaining what happened with me—and by extension, to the entirety of Westeros—by the time they had been captured here.
By the end of it, both were all but gaping.
"I need to go back to King's Landing," Jaime muttered, now much more serious. The thought of kings dying and other houses declaring war against the Lannisters didn't bode well with him, especially while he wasn't there and his sister-cum-lover was trapped in Red Ford like a sheep to be slaughtered.
"No can do. Ned Stark is currently stationed in Castle Black. He'll directly capture you. If you somehow cross the Wall in any other way, then those northern lords would hunt you down. If I were to choose one, I'd choose Ned Stark capturing you over them, honestly.
Divided by the Wall, they may be, but the blood of the First Men flows in their veins as well. Your treatment in those northern lords' hands wouldn't be much better than with the wildlings here."
"Then take me. I know you can," Jaime replied, now a little panicked and desperate.
"Aye, I do plan to go south eventually, but before that, I plan to go north. Seeing that army of dead myself."
"What! Are you a madman? We just told you what happened to us, and you're still going on about that?" Jaime retorted.
"Tsk tsk tsk... and here I thought we were the same kind of people. What would the world be without a little bit of madness, Ser Jaime? Believe me—you'll like the north of here."
"What? The Seven will burn their sept before I go there..." Jaime scoffed.
"Oh, you won't have to bother them. Why do you think I'm here?" I smiled at him. He had a bad premonition just now.
"And Benjen, I hope you'll be coming along as well, right?" I asked him happily, but he didn't reply.
He was still looking at me like I was mad.
Going north to see those abominations and taking those wildlings beyond the Wall?
"Never..."