Winter's Promise

10th Month of 298 A.C. Winterfell

Lord Benjen Stark

He was the last one, the last of his siblings to remain alive. That was something he had never thought would happen when he was younger, when he had heard the words of the green men, he had thought he would be long dead by now, but he was not, he was alive, and his siblings were not. It was a bitter thought for Benjen Stark, his brothers were gone, brought down by their own follies and passions and Lyanna, she had led herself to her death, and now here he was, the last child of Rickard Stark still alive. He often found himself wondering what his father would have made of that, the son who had killed his beloved wife, his father had been a distant man with him at least, he never seemed to show much emotion unless it was for Brandon and Lyanna, and that thought had always made Benjen bitter. But he could not be bothered being bitter at a dead man now, not any longer, not with what he had to do. His nephews had ridden off to war, and now he was the Stark in command at Winterfell, just as he had been during the rebellion. There was much and more that needed to be done, and he intended to get it done before winter came.

Benjen looks at those gathered in the room alongside him, Lady Catelyn, his goodsister, and a lady he truly respects, Maester Luwin, the man who had allowed Benjen to trust once more and Ser Rodrik Cassel, the master at arms, who had been around long before Benjen had been born. He trusts all of them, still they must take caution with all that is happening. The issues to the north are plaguing his thoughts, as he remembers the words he heard spoken long ago. Clearing his throat, he begins speaking. "I think first of all we should thank the gods and the King and Lord Stark for the victories that we have achieved in the south. Twice now we have defeated Tywin Lannister's armies and as such the false King is lacking in some serious strength. That is good, and now we must hope that Tywin Lannister is finished before he can begin."

There is a murmur of agreement and then Catelyn speaks. "That is all well and good Benjen, but there are still armies out there who would oppose the King. Renly Baratheon for one, as well as the false King's levies in the crownlands. We do not know how the lords of the crownlands will react to the King."

"I agree with Lady Catelyn; we cannot assume that the war is done just yet. There is much and more that must needs be done before the King is secure on his throne." Maester Luwin says.

"Naturally," Benjen responds calmly, he thinks over whether or not he should mention that which Ned had told him before he had departed for the south, and he decides that it would not hurt to inform them. "Before he went south, Lord Eddard told me that he intended to send men to find Daenerys Targaryen. She is the last of King Aerys children, and whilst there might be those who would doubt the King's claims, there would be none who could doubt hers."

"And it would help bring those who would otherwise sit inside their castles to come out and fight. A smart plan." Catelyn says, her voice heavy with grief.

"I do not know if Ned was successful in achieving what he had hoped to achieve, but I think we must put that to the side now. There are more pressing matters for us to focus on." Benjen responds. "Firstly, the issue of the wall, word has come from Mors Umber that the wildlings are pushing over in even greater numbers, and that the Night's Watch is failing to keep them in check."

"What has Mors been doing about those wildlings who have managed to get over the wall? How many are crossing over?" Catelyn asks.

Benjen looks down at the letter before him and then responds. "At last count, there had been some three hundred wildlings scouting through Umber lands. They were all dealt with and their bodies were burnt as advised, but it seems Mors feels that there will be more coming soon. I am not sure what Jeor is doing, or if he is still alive, Castle Black has been quiet."

A look of fear crosses over Catelyn's face then. "Do you think that he might be dead?"

Benjen thinks over that, not sure just how to respond, it is certainly possible, but then who would dare kill the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch? This is not the south, this is the north, and though the wall is filled with all sorts of people, the Watch is still respected enough to not warrant such actions. After much thought he replies. "I am not sure, whilst it might be a possibility, I am sure we would have heard from the Wall had anything happened. After all we have our own people there."

"Unless they were discovered." Luwin points out. "Lord Eddard was never sure how reliable some of those who he got to work for him could be at the Wall. And with some of the people there, it would not be all that surprising if they were gone now."

"Very true," Benjen replies, he looks at Catelyn then and says. "With your permission my lady, I would ask Mors to go to the Wall himself to see how things are progressing."

"Of course, do what you think needs to be done." Catelyn replies.

Benjen nods and then turns their attention to the next pressing issue. "Summer is slowly fading into the distance, and as such we must begin preparing for Winter. Maester Luwin how are the stores looking?"

The maester looks at his ledgers and responds slowly and measuredly. "We shall have enough food to last for around five years of winter at present. If we were to increase the rate at which food is brought in we would have enough for a ten-year winter, but then there would be a risk of angering some of the more shall we say factitious houses."

Benjen looks at the maester and then says. "The Boltons and their bannermen. Do you truly think they will object to doing what will benefit everyone come winter?" He is old now, but he still finds it hard to believe just how stupid some people can be.

"Well Lord Roose might not have objected, but he is dead now, and his son is not a known quality. Furthermore, word has come from our sources near the Dreadfort, it appears there has been talk of a danger spreading through their lands." Luwin says.

"What sort of danger?" Catelyn asks.

Benjen looks at Luwin intently then, whilst the man is nowhere near as strange as Flowers was, there is something about him that might not be completely honest, and it is something Benjen knows he needs to find out, and soon. Eventually the man replies. "There are rumours that the bastard of Bolton is still at large, or someone operating under his name is causing chaos within Dreadfort lands. There has been a lot of raping and pillaging within the Dreadfort lands, and people are scared to venture out from their homes."

Benjen sighs then. "Bolton claimed he had dealt with the bastard many years ago, and yet from what you are describing it seems as if the man might well have been lying about that. Though it could well be that there are those within the Dreadfort lands who do not want to contribute towards the war cause. After all, wasn't Lord Domeric acting strangely before the war began?"

"Domeric has always been a strange one truth be told," Catelyn says then. "There was always something about him that seemed to be off."

"What word was there from Lord Howland regarding his own son?" Benjen asks then curious.

An odd look crosses Catelyn's face. "I am not sure, Howland said that his son had not be feeling well for many days before going off to Winterfell, and had in fact decided against going. Therefore, he was not sure who the person was who was in personating his son."

"So the boy who was here as Jojen Reed was not Jojen Reed?" Benjen asks aloud. He runs a hand through his beard then, thinking through this new piece of information, running through all the possibilities in his head, trying to think through what all of it could mean. Eventually he says. "Is it possible that the enemy in the south could have made use of their resources to hire someone?"

"A faceless man?" Luwin asks then, immediately catching onto what Benjen is asking. "I am not sure my lord, it is possible, but why would they need to send one here?"

"The Lannisters are power hungry, we have all known that, the whole realm knows that. Tywin Lannister failed to recognise his role as Hand, when he was the Hand. And the realm bled for it. Now, it would not surprise me if they were to send someone here to gain information to use against us." Catelyn says. "Jojen disappeared from sight when the Princess was here, and then, well we all know what happened."

Benjen nods his head, he remembers hearing about it from Torrhen, the cries and blinding lights all of it, something happened when that boy and Domeric Bolton were in the godswood and none know what exactly it was. Sighing he shakes his head. "Regardless, we know now that the boy was not Jojen Reed, whoever he was, he did not get what he wanted, at least nothing that is visible to us now. But still, I think perhaps having a search of all the rooms within the castle is in order." And the crypts, there are levels here that not even Ned knew about. He thinks to himself.

"Of course." Catelyn says. There is a moment's silence then as they think through the consequences of all that they have been discussing, and then his goodsister asks. "Do you think the Ironborn will look to attack?"

Benjen looks at the map before him. "Perhaps aye, Balon Greyjoy has little sense in his head, but I do think he might well think to attack, if only to see how the King and Lord Robb deal with that issue and Theon. He might be an idiot, but he knows that much. Regardless, there will be patrols on the western coast, to ensure that there is nothing untoward happening there."

Catelyn nods her thanks, and Luwin speaks then. "My lady, my lord, with the harvest feast coming soon, is there anything of note that you would like to have brought to the castle for the feast?"

Benjen looks at his goodsister then. "My lady?"

His goodsister looks lost in thought, but she replies all the same. "No there is nothing that I can think of."

"Very well then my lady, my lord." Luwin responds.

"I think that is all we need to discuss for today." Benjen says, and the others all nod and rise departing, though Catelyn remains. "Cat?" he asks then. "Is all alright?"

His goodsister looks at him then, and he thinks he knows what she is going to say before she says it. "Will they come do you think?"

Benjen does not need to ask who she means, for he has thought about it as well, all the signs of their return are there, Arya's death, just as she died long ago, the wilderness, the direwolves, they are returning, but why? He does not know, and he is not sure what to say. "I do not know Cat. If they do come, then we can only do our best to prevent them from finding Rickon."

Cat looks scared then. "Why do they keep doing this?"

He takes a long time to respond, visions flitting through his eyes, the screams, the pale, the deaths, all of it going back long, long ago, when dragons danced, and then died, and the wolves sang. "Revenge."