RoWE - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Fateful Fall

"What happened?" Cersei heard the boy's scream and looked at Jaime in panic with wide eyes.

"He fell." Jaime turned sharply from the window, picked up his coat, and quickly put it on, "Hurry, we need to get down there."

"Who fell?"

"Bran Stark, the second son of Lord Eddard!"

"Damn it," Cersei was flustered, "Did he see us?"

"No, but we can't be careless. You hurry up. I need to go down first to stop that Night's Watchman!"

Half a minute earlier, when Aeg parted ways with two passing guards and returned to the training ground in the old inner courtyard, Bran had already climbed from the roof of the guardroom to the outer wall of the First Keep and was crawling horizontally towards the remnants of the tower along a familiar "route." Knowing he couldn't stop the boy, the Night's Watchman deliberately shouted loudly. not hoping that Bran would listen, but only wishing that the couple inside the First Keep would respond in time.

The first half of the plan was successful, but things didn't develop as expected. He saw clearly in the old inner courtyard: this time, Jaime hadn't pushed Bran down; he had just appeared from the window and scared the boy into falling.

After a dull thud like a sack of flour hitting the ground, the boy lay still, his eyes closed, motionless, the corn he had planned to feed the crows on top of the remnants of the tower spilled all over the ground, a golden and ironic sight.

Aeg stood frozen beside the fallen boy, his mind a chaotic mess. Instinct told him he should call for help immediately, but the Lannisters were still inside the First Keep, and his chances of leaving the Wall would be completely ruined. Moreover, after all the effort, not only had he failed to prevent Bran from falling, but he had also gotten himself involved. The boy had fallen while he was shouting at him. If responsibility were to be determined, would it be his distraction or Jaime's scare that would weigh more heavily?

A Night's Watchman, causing the nephew of the chief ranger and the second son of Lord Stark to fall from the First Keep, still wanting to leave the Wall after returning? The thought sent shivers down Aeg's spine.

Footsteps approached as Jaime sprinted out of the entrance of the First Keep like he was running a hundred-meter dash. He rushed to Bran's side and checked the boy's breathing and heartbeat. After a moment, he stood up, his eyes no longer casual but flashing with a menacing light.

The Kingslayer grabbed Aeg's collar. If not for their similar height, he might have lifted him off the ground. This proud and cynical Lannister spoke in a trembling tone, "Tyrion said you're the sharpest soldier he's ever met. You should understand that the boy fell on his own. That's better for both of us. Do you get my meaning!"

Fell on his own? Aeg calmed down and quickly understood what the other meant. Yes, there was no fourth person to witness the entire accident. If Bran had fallen on his own, at least until the boy woke up, they wouldn't have to worry about whose responsibility it was.

But he quickly realized he couldn't accuse the other party, nor could he take the blame alone, "I understand. Yes, he fell on his own, but I'm afraid no one will believe a mere soldier like me!"

Jaime looked at him menacingly, and seeing that Aeg wasn't going to compromise, he had to take a step back, "I can testify for you, but I can't involve. Her Grace, the Queen!"

Aeg nodded quickly, "Of. course, the Queen has nothing to do with this."

On any other day, Jaime probably wouldn't have bothered to say a word to Aeg, a lowly Night's Watchman, but today, he had unavoidably encountered him while looking for a place, and now they had both contributed to Bran Stark's fall. Conversation was inevitable.

They quickly and simply coordinated their stories. Once their exchange was over, Cersei emerged from the high fortress with a tense expression, and Aeg left the old inner courtyard to call for help.

The Stark family had not experienced any accidents since the War of the Usurper, and Winterfell fell into a chaos not seen in many years. The guards hurriedly carried the boy back to the main keep on a stretcher and notified Lady Stark and Maester Luwin. Everyone with medical knowledge, including the accompanying doctor from King's Landing, participated in the rescue.

It wasn't until the king's hunting party returned in the evening that someone came out of the room.

As night fell, Bran's direwolf howled outside the window, its call for its young master echoing throughout Winterfell, while Aeg lay in bed in his room, tossing and turning.

Bran's love for climbing walls was well-known, and almost every resident of Winterfell had worried about the reckless child. Today's fall was an unexpected accident for those involved, Jaime and Aeg, but for the rest of the city, it was just a fear that had finally become reality.

Although Aeg was extremely nervous, no one actually suspected him, a Night's Watchman, of causing the incident. It wasn't until Eddard Stark returned to Winterfell that the head of the family remembered to call the ranger who had first discovered his son's fall to inquire about the details. With the testimony of two guards who had spoken to Aeg and Jaime Lannister, the Warden of the North soon also frowned and waved him away.

It seemed that Bran's fall hadn't brought him any trouble, but things weren't that simple. Aeg was now truly afraid. Bran's fateful fall today made him start to doubt his life.

He was a thorough materialist, insisting that everything in the world could be explained by science. Here, science refers to systematic knowledge gained through specialized study. He believed that even the magic of the White Walkers and the Lord of Light must operate according to some rules he didn't yet understand. Given time, he was confident he could learn more about this unknown force and understand, if not control it.

But after a few days of maneuvering, Bran still fell at the same time and place as in the original plot. Was this a coincidence, or was there some force in the shadows pushing the plot to develop along its original lines?

Aeg forced himself to stop thinking about this unknown and powerful entity because he now had more immediate troubles than "the force in the shadows". Although he wasn't currently suspected, at least not publicly, of causing Bran's fall, he was already inextricably linked to the plot: if the story continued and the unknown assassin entered Bran's room and tried to "mercy kill" the boy, the Starks would definitely become suspicious of the child's fall.

Once the investigation began, the Night's Watchman who insisted on training in the secluded old inner courtyard during his visit to Winterfell and was the first to discover Bran's fall would certainly be remembered. By then, he might have already left the Wall with the dwarf, Tyrion, who had nothing to do with Bran's fall or assassination attempt, but the Lannister label couldn't be removed. If that happened, being judged by the Starks as an enemy of the Lannister camp would be like jumping into the Yellow River, no, the Trident River, and still not being able to wash away the suspicion.

Would the Lannister family not cause trouble for him? With Cersei's venom and pettiness, a Night's Watchman who seemed to know her secrets and refused to take the blame quietly, and who didn't stay obediently at the Wall but instead associated with her most hated dwarf brother, any of these reasons would be enough for her to want him dead.

He was in a no-win situation.

Originally detached from the Game of Thrones story, his first attempt to interfere with the plot had backfired, and he had gotten himself into trouble. If he had known better, he wouldn't have meddled in this mess!

Aeg was extremely annoyed, but since the situation had already escalated, finding a solution was the right course of action. What could he do now to break this awkward impasse?