Chapter 21: Interfering with the Plot
If one must take action, one must first clarify what is supposed to happen next—during the King's stay at Winterfell, how many major events related to the main storyline actually take place?
Scouring his memory, Egger struggled to recall the plot.
North of the Wall, the wildlings, answering the call of the King-beyond-the-Wall, had gathered at the peaks of the Frostfangs, attempting to use the terrain to hold out against the Others. Realizing this was ineffective, they were already beginning to plan their great journey south. Egger hoped to remain uninvolved in that. Thousands of miles away across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen—still just a young girl—had been sold by her brother and Magister Illyrio to Khal Drogo; the wedding preparations were already underway, and there was nothing a transmigrator could do to help. Within Winterfell, the Lord and Lady Stark had received a secret letter from Lysa Arryn—the widow of the late Hand and their own sister/sister-in-law—accusing the Lannisters of murdering her husband. That didn't seem to have much to do with a man of the Night's Watch either.
Compared to these momentous events, the "accidental fall" of a certain Great Northern Lord's troublesome child—not even the primary heir—while climbing a wall was a truly minor interlude. Yet, it was precisely this small incident that was now directly linked to Egger's personal interests: Bran's misfortune would be swiftly exploited by Littlefinger once word reached him. Tyrion would be framed for the attempted murder and, while traveling south from the Wall, would be publicly arrested by an aggrieved mother and hauled off to the Eyrie in the Vale, suffering greatly before Narrowly escaping with his life.
The stories and turmoil of that period might seem exciting and fresh through the medium of paper or a screen, but if one were actually trapped within them, the danger would likely be no less than facing an Other. Egger now only wanted to smoothly follow the dwarf away from the perilous and harsh Wall; he had no desire to risk his life experiencing an "alternative" lifestyle.
...
From a Baratheon knight's squire he met at the feast, Egger learned that the King's party would stay at Winterfell for a fortnight. After years apart, Eddard and Robert had endless things to discuss and do together. As the younger brother of the Lord of the North and a key family member, Benjen Stark—whether out of courtesy or respect—had to accompany his brother at the side of the Realm's supreme ruler at all times. This was good news. There were currently only two Night's Watchmen in Winterfell; the First Ranger was busy, and no one else, regardless of rank or title, had the authority to boss around an official ranger like Egger.
This meant that for these two weeks, the transmigrator would be effectively unsupervised, with plenty of time to do as he pleased.
He had originally planned to use this time to scout the terrain, gather intelligence, and plan an escape. However, now that he had Tyrion's promise of help, that was no longer the top priority. Now, he had to find a way to ensure the dwarf's journey south went smoothly.
Since the tragedy had not yet occurred, preventing it at the source was naturally the best option.
As a guest, Egger lived a fairly comfortable life in Winterfell with plenty to eat and drink. During these few days, with no one monitoring his drills and no work to do, he spent his days wandering the castle chatting with people to understand the world more deeply, and his nights in his room reading Westerosi history and information on the Great Houses. Occasionally, he still had to spin tales to satisfy Tyrion's curiosity. His days were quite full.
After a few days of inquiry and investigation, he first identified the location where the next major plot point was set to occur: the First Keep.
Winterfell was indeed built by Brandon the Builder, but perhaps to prioritize materials for the Night's Watch to build the Wall, the castle initially had no curtain walls. Before the inner and outer barriers were established, what did House Stark rely on for protection?
Fortresses and watchtowers.
The northeast corner of Winterfell preserved these two types of defensive structures from before the walls were built.
The Broken Tower had once been the tallest structure in Winterfell, but over a hundred years ago, it was struck by lightning, causing a fire that made the top collapse inward. Since Winterfell already had curtain walls by then and House Stark was firmly established as the premier family of the North, this useless watchtower was never repaired. It sat near the high wall in the northeast corner, tucked behind the old inner ward which was enclosed by the abandoned First Keep, the guardroom, and the crypts. It was secluded and rarely visited... while also meeting the criteria of being climbable and tall enough for a fall to be fatal. Ten to one, this was the spot where the Lannister siblings' tryst would be discovered and where Jaime would push Bran.
However, after a field inspection, he found that the stairs inside the Broken Tower were destroyed; a person couldn't go up.
Puzzled for a long while, and having searched the entire castle without finding a second abandoned high tower, he turned his gaze to the abandoned fortress he had previously overlooked.
The First Keep was a round, squat fortress adjacent to his initial suspect, the Broken Tower. Although just as old and weathered, it had not suffered any collapse because it was built more sturdily. Looking down from the top floor, Egger had a moment of clarity: the reason he previously thought it was short was partly due to its sprawling, squat shape, and partly because the adjacent Broken Tower was so tall. The human brain subconsciously compares the two, creating an illusion, but in terms of height alone, the four-to-five-story First Keep was plenty high enough to cripple a person.
Now that he knew the place, how could he prevent the plot from unfolding? Standing in the weed-choked old inner ward, looking up at the tall Broken Tower and the slightly shorter First Keep beside it, Egger fell into deep thought.
...
Catching the Queen in the act? Not if someone lent Egger a whole suit of armor's worth of courage. If the story of Ice and Fire could be condensed into one sentence, it would be:
All men must die, but the tall poppies die faster.
Even Littlefinger, who was cunning, treacherous, and a master of manipulation, was swatted down the moment he stepped from behind the curtain to the front of the stage. Why would Egger voluntarily give up his advantages and leap into the public eye?
Even putting aside the danger of becoming a target, he had to consider Tyrion, who was about to help him leave the Wall. The dwarf and the Lannister twins were family. If Cersei and Jaime's relationship were exposed, given Robert's temper, the revelation of his cuckoldry might turn the Lannisters into the second family after the Targaryens that he wouldn't stop until he'd exterminated. At that point, never mind helping Egger leave the Wall; whether Tyrion himself could walk out of Winterfell in one piece would be a question.
He absolutely couldn't target Cersei and her brother. So, stop Bran Stark from climbing? That would be a good "cut the grass at the roots" approach. But setting aside whether a lowly ranger—sent to the Watch for theft—had any standing to say such things to a young master of House Stark, even if he had a plan to convince the kid to stop climbing, he'd have to actually speak to him first.
Try it?
Several days passed without any progress. Tyrion and Egger grew more familiar with each other, and Jon would at least nod in greeting when he saw Egger, but beyond those two... he had not successfully spoken to any other major characters. The vast gulf in social class and social circles made it difficult even to see the core figures of the plot, let alone build relationships.
Cold reality dispelled the illusions brought on by the smooth progress of his plan to approach Tyrion, reminding him once again: in this world, he was still a negligible minor character.
Egger was an optimist. After the initial frustration, he actually felt a hint of relief—had it not been for the liquid courage and a flash of inspiration on the night of the feast, he probably wouldn't have made even this much progress. Since the primary goal of leaving the Wall was basically achieved, he'd let the business of changing the plot take its natural course.
Having come to terms with this, Egger spent another day honestly enjoying his "vacation," admiring the pretty southern maidservants in Winterfell and watching the little lords and young squires shouting and trading blows with blunted swords in the practice yard. Once he calmed his mind, an idea quickly surfaced: if he couldn't catch the lovers or stop Bran from climbing, why not find a way to prevent them from meeting in the first place?
If he couldn't work on the people, he'd work on the environment!
The idea took hold instantly. The next day, he resumed his daily training and warm-ups, but the location was no longer the main practice yard of Winterfell; instead, it was the old inner ward enclosed by the First Keep, the crypts, and the guardroom. Having borrowed a straw man and a worn-out archery target, and having brought a chair from his room, Egger spent an hour every day swinging his sword at the straw target and another hour shooting arrows. After training, he would sit for an hour or two and read. Daylight in the North was not long to begin with; by spending nearly half the day in the open space beneath the Broken Tower, he hoped to discourage the Lannister siblings from choosing it for their tryst. It would be impossible to drive Cersei and Jaime away once they'd already chosen the spot, but if he occupied the place beforehand, the siblings—as fellow guests—couldn't exactly force him to leave.
As for the potential impact on the subsequent plot if Bran weren't crippled, he simply couldn't consider that for now—the immediate priority was ensuring Tyrion's help in his departure from the Wall went smoothly. When his own survival was still at stake, how could he afford to worry about so much else?
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