The moment he put his hands on the stone Bran knew he shouldn't have done it. He'd promised his mother that he wouldn't, he'd sworn his word, and he knew that his word was his bond. But there was a crow near the tower and Bran wanted to get a closer look at it. He'd followed it all the way here and it would be a complete shame if he didn't at least get the chance to see it up close. Crows never came closer now that he had a direwolf.
He moved his hands up and put his feet on the footholds and pulled himself up. He knew Mother would be furious if she learned what he was doing. She was always scared that he would fall. But Bran never fell. He knew exactly what to do and where to go, how to avoid the pitfalls that came with climbing. How he knew, he didn't know, he just did. There wasn't a place in Winterfell that he hadn't climbed.
He'd climbed the main castle, the keep, the shelter, the sept-that had seen him walking with a sore bottom afterward-and now he was going to climb the Broken Tower. Nobody had ever ventured into the Broken Tower before. Nobody knew why either. It just wasn't the done thing. But now he was on it. He was hauling himself up and he would see what was inside.
Maybe when he came back down, he could share what he'd seen with Prince Tommen. Tommen was unwell, having eaten something that didn't agree with him. Bran was sad that Tommen was unwell, he liked Tommen. They shared similar interests in knights and stories and climbing. Though Tommen wasn't as good a climber as Bran was. But he was a climber which was nice.
He was definitely different to Crown Prince Joffrey. Bran wasn't sure why, but there was something deeply unsettling about Joffrey. Bran's direwolf had snapped at the Prince yesterday during the feast for Robb's wedding. And then there was the fact that Lady, Sansa's direwolf had snarled at him this morning as well. Something was not right with him. What it was Bran didn't know, but he did think it was something that neither of his siblings drew the same reaction from the direwolves.
Bran pushed the thought of the Crown Prince from his mind and focused on putting his feet in the right place and his hands in the right place. That was the key with climbing such a structure. You needed to know where to put your hands. If you didn't then your feet would get unsure and that's when you'd fall. That was something Uncle Benjen had taught him.
He'd been surprised when Uncle Benjen had taught him that. He had not thought that such a serious and grey man could do something as fun as climbing. But then, he supposed that Uncle Benjen had been a child once and would have done fun things as well.
Maybe that was why he'd looked as though someone had hit him in the face when there'd been an announcement a few days ago that Jon was to be the King's squire? Maybe he'd been jealous? Maybe he wanted to head south as well? It couldn't be very fun up at the wall where it was cold and there wasn't much to do.
Bran glanced up and saw the crow near an opening. It was hovering there. Bran quickened his speed. Moving by basic instinct. Hands going in the right places, feet going in the right places. He covered a big distance quickly, such that he got to near the opening in the Broken Tower when the crow flew off and hovered near by.
Bran was about to chase after it when he heard voices.
"I don't understand why you're so angry about this." A male voice said.
"Because, Jaime, I had other plans for Myrcella's marriage. I did not want her marrying a Stark." A female voice said.
"Well who would you have had her marry then, Cersei? Willas Tyrell? The Cripple? Quentyn Martell? Who?" the male voice asked.
"I don't know but it wouldn't have been a Stark." The woman said.
"Well, Cersei there's little that you can do about it now. The marriage ceremony has been concluded, and if Ser Arys is right, it was consummated last night. So now it cannot be undone." The man said.
The woman-was that really Queen Cersei? - laughed. "Oh Jaime, don't be naïve. There are always ways to have things undone. How do you think I convinced Robert to keep you in the Kingsguard."
Bran frowned, what was the woman talking about?
He heard a grunt from the man-the Kingslayer? -and then what sounded like ripping and then more grunting. Curious as to why there was grunting, he peeked up into the opening and saw what looked like wrestling. Two blonde figures wrestling and grunting.
It was a strange thing to be doing this high up. He noticed that Ser Jaime's pants were on the floor. Could that be comfortable?
"You…know…the…thing…I'm…more…concerned…about…is…Joffrey." Ser Jaime said in between grunts.
Surprisingly, the Queen wasn't grunting as much. "Why?"
"Because…he…will…do…something." Ser Jaime said.
At that moment the crow cawed. Bran moved down to avoid being seen, his heart thumping in his chest. Was Prince Joffrey going to hurt Myrcella and Robb? If so why? What did Ser Jaime mean, and why was he wrestling with the Queen instead of guarding the King?
His mind full of questions, Bran started climbing down. He couldn't ask Mother or anyone why the Queen and Ser Jaime had been wrestling, otherwise they'd know he'd been on the Broken Tower, and he'd get in trouble for that. But maybe he could ask Robb why Joffrey would try and hurt Myrcella?
That seemed sensible. He'd do that. Surely no one could get angry at him for that.