The weather did not shift with the tides of war. The light snow that had fallen steadily throughout the siege of Winterfell continued even after Aegor took the castle, showing signs of turning into a heavier snowfall. Ice crystals drifted down, quickly blanketing the chaos of Winterfell in a new coat of white.
After sending Robb and Catelyn back to the main castle, Aegor toured the city, inspecting his troops' progress and overseeing the orderly transfer of residents, along with repairs to the damaged city gate. Once he confirmed that all was proceeding according to plan, he found himself with a brief window of leisure. After a moment's thought, he decided to go and speak with Arya.
The Gift and the North stood on equal footing. They were not subordinate to each other, and Aegor had never sworn fealty to any Stark. From a legal and political standpoint, calling what he did "betrayal" was not strictly accurate. But the truth remained: when people accused him of treachery, they were usually referring to his violation of the Night's Watch's principle of neutrality, and his failure to honor the long-standing trust and support extended to him by House Stark.
From that perspective, saying he had betrayed the Wolf Family's trust and friendship was not entirely wrong.
To admit he was a villain would undermine the justice and legitimacy of his southern campaign, and Aegor was not so foolish as to do that. Still, that did not stop him from maintaining a basic level of self-awareness. While rhetorical justifications were useful for rallying his followers, deluding himself and refusing to face the truth was a dangerous trap. If he truly wished to shed the label of traitor, it was not enough to emerge victorious or to minimize harm to the Starks during his campaign. What the Starks said about him publicly in the future would matter just as much.
Their previously close relationship had frozen over in the brief and violent conflict that had just passed. But even if he set aside personal guilt and looked only to reputation and political capital, if he wanted to remain in Westeros and continue using House Stark and the North as allies and resources, he needed to make efforts to repair the damage. He did not expect things to return to how they were, but he hoped to salvage what he could.
And the best place to begin was through a certain... Lady Stark, with whom he had once shared a bed more than once and already held a considerable level of intimacy.
...
On the bridge connecting the main castle to the rest of Winterfell, movement had resumed as usual. The people coming and going were all familiar faces from Crown Town. Aegor was not like Theon, who had once taken Winterfell with only half a ship's worth of men. The five thousand strong he had brought for his South Expedition included warriors, craftsmen, medics... a complete set of personnel capable of forming a self-sufficient community. In terms of manpower, Aegor lacked for nothing.
To make it appear as though Winterfell was still under Stark control when Queen Daenerys arrived, Aegor allowed the surrendering members of House Stark to remain in the main castle. However, to maintain control, he took two additional steps. First, he replaced all the original guards, stewards, and maids—excluding the Stark family themselves—with his own people, who now wore Stark colors and fulfilled their roles. Second, he separated the Starks, giving each one their own room, with the exception of infants and mothers.
This way, the Starks had no personnel to use, no opportunity to conspire, and no way to bypass the armory. The entire castle had been transformed into a controlled space for soft imprisonment, with minimal risk of things going awry.
The people removed from the castle had naturally been sent out to Winter Town, along with the other displaced residents.
The facilities and ground floor of the main castle had been damaged by cannon fire, including shells that had penetrated the gate. Aegor paused briefly to observe the destructive force of his trump card weapon before asking for the location of the second daughter's room and calmly ascending to the residential quarters.
As he walked slowly, he pondered how to begin the conversation. A sturdy spearwife dressed as a maid approached him.
"Lord Commander, that little girl under my care insisted I give this to you. She said you'd be in danger otherwise."
Aegor frowned. Talking to people with vague descriptions was always tiring. He had to ask again, "Which little girl?"
"The little one." Perhaps realizing her answer was too vague, the woman added, "The one with hair like gold."
That narrowed it down. Aegor shook his head. "That's Maeve—Maeve Snow. You're playing the role of a Stark family maid now. You can't even remember the name of the girl you're assigned to?" He chastised her sharply, then moved to the main point. "Where's the item?"
"Here." Having been managed with a firm balance of discipline and reward, the people of the New Gift had developed a mix of respect and fear toward Aegor. The woman nodded vigorously and handed him a crumpled piece of paper. "Maeve. I'll remember that."
Aegor waved her away and unfolded the wrinkled paper.
It was a triangular scrap, clearly torn from the corner of a book. Neatly written in elegant script were three simple words: Arya-hiding-needle.
The message was cryptic, but Aegor immediately understood. Even without his memories as a transmigrator, he had personally witnessed Jon give Arya a small sword named Needle, taken from the blacksmith.
Was Arya hiding the sword now for a sense of safety? Or... was she planning to stab someone?
Maeve was a clever girl and would never raise a false alarm without reason. Aegor quickly recalled Arya's silence earlier during the surrender at the armory. So she hadn't changed her nature. She was biding her time and plotting against him.
And he had nearly walked into it.
Aegor froze, pushing away the brief wave of fear that rose in his chest, and began thinking about how to respond.
If it were purely a matter of safety, then he should send soldiers to storm Arya's room, conduct a thorough search, and confiscate the sword. But that would defeat the purpose of this visit, which was to repair goodwill and improve his standing with House Stark. How could he show up like that? But if he ignored the warning entirely... swords were not forgiving.
After some careful thought, he crumpled the paper and tucked it away, deciding to proceed with his original plan.
It wasn't that he wasn't afraid to die. But since no member of House Stark had been killed during the siege, Arya probably didn't hate him enough to attack him on sight. And even if he was wrong, the breastplate hidden beneath his black coat would give him some added protection. What was the point of wearing it, if not for moments like this?
...
The main castle wasn't large, and Arya's room was just a short walk away. After quietly giving a few backup instructions to his guards at the door, Aegor stepped forward and knocked.
"Go away. Don't bother me!"
The girl's irritated shout came from inside. It seemed she mistook him for someone else. Hearing that she hadn't immediately leapt out to ambush him, Aegor was slightly relieved and carefully pushed the door open.
The second daughter of House Stark was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to the door. When she heard the door open, she turned to look, and just as she was about to snap, she quickly turned back after seeing who it was, falling silent like she was sulking.
But Aegor, already alerted by the message and paying attention, caught the subtle movement of her hand slipping beneath the blankets, clearly gripping something.
So she was serious.
His nerves tensed. He gently closed the door but didn't approach. He stayed where he was, keeping a safe distance.
"Arya, we need to talk."
(To be continued.)
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