RoWE - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Interfering with the Plot
If something must be done, then it's necessary to first understand what should happen next during the king's stay at Winterfell, how many major events related to the main storyline occurred in this world?
Searching his memory, Aeg tried to recall the plot.
The wildlings beyond the Wall had gathered at the Frostfangs under the call of Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, attempting to hold their ground against the White Walkers. Finding it ineffective, they had begun planning a major southward movement. Aeg hoped he had nothing to do with this; across the narrow sea, Daenerys Targaryen, still a young girl, had been sold by her brother and Illyrio Mopatis to Khal Drogo. The wedding was being prepared, and the time traveler could do nothing to help; within Winterfell, Eddard Stark and his wife received a secret letter from Lysa Tully Arryn, the widow of the former Hand and their sister-in-law, accusing the Lannisters of murdering her husband. This didn't seem to have much to do with Aeg, a member of the Night's Watch.
Compared to these important events, the misadventure of a young noble from the North, not even the eldest son, who "accidentally fell" while climbing a wall seemed like an insignificant trifle. Yet, it was this small incident that now had a direct connection to Aeg's interests: Petyr Baelish, known as Littlefinger, quickly exploited the news of Bran's fall, and Tyrion was falsely accused of attempting to murder Bran. On his way back from the Wall, he was publicly arrested by the boy's enraged mother and sent to the Eyrie in the Vale, where he suffered greatly before narrowly escaping death.
The stories and turmoil during this period might seem exciting and fresh when read on paper or watched on screen, but being caught in the midst of it could be just as dangerous as facing White Walkers. Aeg now only wanted to leave the dangerous and harsh Wall smoothly with the dwarf, without risking his life to experience a different life.
From the knight's squire of House Baratheon he met at the banquet, Aeg learned that the king's party would be staying at Winterfell for half a month. Eddard and Robert, who hadn't seen each other in years, had endless conversations and interactions. As the younger brother of the Lord of the North and an important member of the family, Benjen Stark had to accompany the king, the highest ruler of the realm, at all times, out of courtesy and respect. This was good news, there were only two Night's Watchmen in Winterfell at the moment. The First Ranger was busy with other matters, and no one, regardless of their rank, had the authority to boss Aeg around as a formal ranger.
This meant that for the next half month, the time traveler would be left to his own devices, with enough time to do as he pleased.
He had originally planned to use this time to scout the terrain, gather intelligence, and plan his escape, but now that he had Tyrion's promise of help, that was no longer the top priority. Now, he needed to find a way to ensure the dwarf's smooth journey south.
Preventing the tragedy at its source was naturally the best choice.
As a guest, Aeg had a comfortable time in Winterfell with food and drink. In the past few days, without anyone supervising his training or needing to work, he wandered around Winterfell during the day, talking to people to gain a deeper understanding of this world, and read about the history of Westeros and information on the great houses at night. Occasionally, he had to continue making up stories to satisfy Tyrion's interest in Caina's technology and culture. His days were quite fulfilling.
After a few days of inquiries and investigations, he first determined the location where the next important plot would unfold, the First Keep.
Winterfell was indeed built by Brandon the Builder, but perhaps to prioritize supplying materials to the Night's Watch for the construction of the Wall, Winterfell originally had no walls. Before the inner and outer defenses were established, what did the Starks rely on to protect themselves?
Fortifications and watchtowers.
The northeastern corner of Winterfell retained these two types of defensive structures from before the walls were built.
The remnants of the tower had once been the tallest structure in Winterfell, but after being struck by lightning and catching fire over a hundred years ago, the top had collapsed inward. Since Winterfell already had walls at that time, and the Starks were firmly established as the leading family in the North, the useless watchtower was never repaired. It stood next to the high walls in the northeastern corner of Winterfell, behind the old inner courtyard formed by the abandoned First Keep, guardrooms, and crypts. It was secluded and rarely visited. and also met the conditions for climbing and being high enough to cause fatal injuries, making it very likely the location where the Lannister siblings would be discovered having an affair, leading to Jaime pushing Bran off.
However, after a field investigation, he discovered that the staircase inside the tower had been destroyed, making it impossible to climb.
Puzzled for half a day, and having searched the entire Winterfell without finding a second abandoned high tower, he turned his attention to the neglected First Keep, which he had previously overlooked.
The First Keep was a round and squat fortress, adjacent to the initially suspected remnants of the tower. Although it was as dilapidated as the tower, it had been built more solidly and had not suffered any collapses. Upon reaching the top and looking down, Aeg suddenly understood: the reason he had the impression that it was short was firstly because it was too spread out and stout in shape, and secondly because the neighboring remnants of the tower were too tall. When comparing the two subconsciously, it was easy to get the wrong impression. However, in terms of height alone, the First Keep, which was four or five stories tall, was high enough to cause serious injury if someone fell.
Now that he knew the location, how could he prevent the plot from happening? Standing in the overgrown old inner courtyard, looking up at the tall remnants of the tower and the slightly shorter First Keep beside it, Aeg fell into deep thought.
Catch the queen in the act of adultery? Aeg wouldn't dare, even if he had the courage. If the story of ice and fire were condensed into one sentence, it would be:
All men must die, and those who stand out die faster.
Even Petyr Baelish, cunning and unscrupulous, who played with human hearts and power to the extreme, was quickly taken down once he stepped into the limelight. Willingly giving up these advantages and jumping into the public eye?
Even without considering the danger of becoming a target, he also had to consider Tyrion, who was about to help him leave the Wall. The dwarf was family with the Lannister siblings, who were both brother and lover. If Cersei and Jaime's relationship were exposed, given Robert's temper, finding out he was cuckolded could turn the Lannisters into the second family he would not stop killing until they were all gone, after the Targaryens. At that time, forget about helping him leave the Wall; even Tyrion's own safety in leaving Winterfell would be in question.
He must not interfere with Cersei and Jaime. What about preventing Bran Stark from climbing walls? This was a good idea, but not mentioning whether a lowly ranger like him, who had been sent to the Night's Watch for theft, had the right to say such things to a Stark boy, even if he could convince the boy not to climb walls, he would first have to speak to him.
Try?
Days passed, and there was no progress. Tyrion and Aeg grew more familiar with each other, and Jon at least nodded in greeting when he saw Aeg. Besides these two, he had not successfully spoken to any other important characters. The huge differences in social class and circles made it difficult for him to even meet the core characters of the plot, let alone establish relationships.
The cold reality dispelled the illusion brought about by the smooth progress of Aeg's plan to approach Tyrion, reminding him once again: in this world, he was still an insignificant minor character.
Aeg was an optimistic person. After feeling dejected, he actually felt a bit relieved. If he hadn't taken the opportunity at the banquet, under the influence of alcohol and a flash of inspiration, to strike up a conversation with Tyrion, he might not have made even the current progress. Since the primary goal of leaving the Wall had been basically achieved, he decided to let the plot changes happen naturally.
Having come to terms with this, Aeg obediently enjoyed another day of vacation, appreciating the pretty servants from the south in Winterfell, watching the young noblemen and squires duel with blunt swords on the training grounds. After calming down, he quickly came up with an idea: if he couldn't catch the adulterers or prevent Bran from climbing walls, why not try to prevent them from meeting?
If he couldn't start with the people, he would find a way through external objects!
The idea came to him, and the next day he resumed his daily training, but not in the training grounds within Winterfell, but in the old inner courtyard formed by the First Keep, crypts, and guardrooms. He brought a borrowed straw man and an old archery target, and took a chair from his room. Aeg spent an hour a day swinging his sword at the straw target, an hour shooting arrows, and after training, he would sit and read for another one or two hours. The daylight hours in the North were short to begin with, and he spent nearly half of his day in the open space below the remnants of the tower, hoping to deter the Lannister siblings from coming to have an affair: it was impossible to drive them away once Cersei and Jaime had chosen their rendezvous spot, so he would occupy the place in advance. As guests, the siblings couldn't force him to leave.
As for the potential impact of Bran not being injured on the subsequent plot, he could only ignore it for the time being. The current priority was to ensure the smooth progress of Tyrion's help in leaving the Wall. When his own safety was still uncertain, how could he afford to worry about so much?