Chapter 43 — "Two Conversations"
Ned found Alaric in the yard.
They stood with that for a moment.
The grey wolf shifted slightly and leaned against Alaric's leg. Alaric looked down at it briefly.
"What did Robert say," Alaric said. "In the hall after we left."
Ned was quiet for a moment — the quiet of a man deciding how much to share and concluding that honesty served better than management.
"He said he needs a man he trusts," Ned said. "He said Jon Arryn's death left a hole that political men have been circling since the body was cold—" He paused. "He is surrounded by snakes he said and needs me to run the realm so he could fuck and drunk till he die ."
Alaric looked at him.
"He's not wrong about the snakes." Alaric said.
"No," Ned said.
" But That doesn't make it safe," Alaric said. "He is right when he says he needs you , but trust me uncle you aren't the best person for this job. You will be a sword in a temple , no need for a sword isn't it. "
Ned looked at him and laughed at his nephew"You started to talk like a...., well not your father."
Alacric now serious didn't laugh at His Uncle japes. "Since the moment Harys told me Lord Jon Arryn was dead I knew where it was going and I've been thinking about it since. It's a hell out there. You won't fit there."
Ned was quiet.
"The Lannisters," Alaric said. "You need to understand that before you walk into that city. They are not just politically opposed to what we represent. They have specific reasons to want you removed —Me. Jon Arryn barely negotiated the peace but you aren't him. You are a soldier and a politician."
"Alaric," Ned said.
"I know," Alaric said. "I know you've thought about this. I know you're not naive about what you're walking into."
"Then trust that I can manage it," Ned said.
Alaric looked at him.
"I trust that you're the most honest man in Westeros," Alaric said. " That's the thing I fear about it. Honest people don't survive there."
Ned almost smiled.
"It served Jon Arryn for seventeen years," he said.
" And he wasn't a bit honest and you know it, he was a politician to his last blood. I don't know despite him raising you two , How you two could be so political unware." Alaric said.
The yard was quiet between them.
The grey wolf stood up suddenly and looked toward the castle gate with the alert attention of an animal that had heard something.
Ned thought about the matter deep ." I can't refuse him especially after what happened. You asked me what happened after you left. It was decided that I would come , can't refuse. But you are right so I have a request Come south,"
Alaric looked at him.
"Not as part of my household," Ned said. " You have your company and i would have a contract for your company ,when I become a hand " He paused, He held Alaric's eyes. "I am not asking my ward. I'm asking my nephew."
The distinction landed the way Ned intended it to.
Alaric was quiet for a long moment.
He looked at the castle. At the walls he had grown up inside. At the yard where Jon and Robb were visible near the stables doing something that involved Grey Wind.
"I'll think about it," he said.
Ned accepted that.
It was more than Alacric had expected.
"The wolf needs a name," Ned said.
Alaric looked down at the grey wolf.
"I know," he said.
"What will you call it," Ned said.
Alaric looked at the wolf for a long moment.
The wolf looked back.
" Winter," Alaric said.
Ned almost smiled again.
He left Alaric with the wolf and walked back toward the castle and the preparations that needed making and the future that was already moving regardless of whether anyone was ready for it.
The candle in Jaime's chambers had burned most of the way down.
Cersei was beside him with her hair loose and her dress set aside.
But despite what happened with Jamie, she was still furious about what happened"A bastard mercenary standing in Winterfell hall giving Robert a political lesson about the North and what did he do . Accepted it and what about my son."
"He was right, you know" Jaime said shrugging
Cersei looked at him furious eyes.
"About the political argument," Jaime said. "He was correct. The wolves are the Stark sigil made flesh. Taking them would have been a statement. Robert was right to back down and Snow was right to make the argument." He paused. "That doesn't mean I like it. Don't worry I will something about this."
"You also said that before that but you didn't. Father will hear about this, and he will do something " Cersei said.
"Father hears about everything eventually," Jaime said. "That doesn't mean ..."
Cersei looked at him.
"He humiliated Joffrey," she said.
"Joffrey humiliated himself," Jaime said quietly. "By trying to take a direwolf in the Stark yard in front of the Stark children." He looked at the ceiling. "If I had been there I would have stopped him too."
"Jaime—"
"He was wrong Cersei," Jaime said. Not unkindly. Just with the specific honesty he only used with her — the honesty that cost something. "Joffrey was wrong and everyone in that yard knew it and Snow stopping the Hound was the correct response. Politically. Practically. In every way that matters."
Cersei was quiet and furious "If you can't do anything. I will but don't give me a lesson about something. He is your child too you know. But I will do something if you can't."
"That doesn't mean Snow isn't a problem," Jaime said
He thought about the great hall. About standing at the end of the room watching Alaric Snow speak. About the quality of the man — the specific way he stood, the way he held the room, the way his eyes moved when he was assessing something.
The axe on his back.
The campaign record that had reached King's Landing before the man himself had.
Cersei looked at him.
"If something happens to him in Winterfell while the king is a guest, " Jaime said. "While Robert has personally brought him north— He is a Stark son ."
"I know," Cersei said.
"Do you," Jaime said.
She was quiet and gone wearing her dress frustrated with Jamie and him not doing anything about thier children . She left frustrated.
The candle guttered.
Jaime stared at the ceiling in the dark.
He thought about an axe and a flat pair of eyes .
He had fought a great many men.
He had assessed a great many more.
There was a quality that some fighters had — not skill exactly, skill could be learned.
The Hound had it.
Alaric Snow had it.
He had it.
Barristan Selmy had it.
Interesting, Jaime thought.
He closed his eyes.
Interesting, he thought again.
And slept.