Chapter 465

The cold wind howled as it rushed into the room, carrying the sounds of more guards gathering outside in response to the commotion. Inside, two Night’s Watch officers stared in bewilderment at the intruder, while Jaime stood imposingly at the door, his expression thunderous. Behind him, two sentries had drawn their weapons, their blades aimed squarely at his back, yet he paid them no mind.

“Jaime?” Aegor frowned at the sight of the Kingslayer, already guessing the source of his anger. “I didn’t summon you back to Hearthguard. You shouldn’t even be here.”

“And I’m supposed to rot away at Ice Bay Port, babysitting Northern ships?” Jaime shot back, his voice sharp with frustration. “I donned the black to join the Night’s Watch, not to play bodyguard for the Starks!”

Aegor’s lips tightened as he signaled the guards to stand down. Jaime turned to glare at them with a scowl. “What are you fussing about? Do I look like I’m here to assassinate someone? I didn’t even bring a sword.”

Under normal circumstances, deserting a post without orders and barging into the Lord Commander’s chambers would be punishable by death, especially during these tense times when Aegor was secretly planning a campaign to the South. Any other officer—Cottor Pyke, Bowen Marsh, or Othel Yarwyck, for instance—would have seen their head on the chopping block for such transgressions. But Jaime was Jaime. Aegor had no intention of alienating Tywin Lannister by butchering his son, not when he still planned to leverage the Lannister name for Daenerys’s benefit.

Besides, Aegor knew Jaime well enough to recognize the truth in his demeanor. The man wore his temper on his sleeve; this anger wasn’t likely to mask anything nefarious.

“Leave us. Shut the door behind you,” Aegor ordered after a moment’s thought. He decided to tolerate Jaime’s insolence for now, though he signaled Humphrey Hill to stay behind—just in case. If Jaime did try something reckless, Aegor could buy enough time to draw his sword. And if he couldn’t handle an unarmed knight on his own, what good were his years of military command?

The guards reluctantly sheathed their weapons and exited, leaving Jaime to stride inside. He made no threatening moves, merely pulling out a chair opposite Aegor and dropping into it heavily.

“Well? What do you want to say?” Aegor broke the silence, though his face remained stern. He preempted Jaime with a pointed remark. “Do you have any idea how much effort it took to convince the Queen to spare you—and to not burn the Lannisters’ lands to ash? The least you could do is keep a low profile and not waste my hard work.”

“Damn your queen!” Jaime spat, seething with barely contained fury. “Whatever gods you worship, bow to them all you want. I don’t care. But this expedition beyond the Wall—you will put me in charge of the vanguard!”

What?

The sudden shift in topic left Aegor momentarily stunned. It took him a few seconds to process Jaime’s demand. He had expected outrage over his allegiance to Daenerys, but instead, Jaime wanted to lead an offensive against an enemy that no longer existed.

The “expedition” had been a ruse from the start, a smokescreen for Aegor’s true agenda. Yet it seemed even his own men had begun to believe the lie.

Suppressing a chuckle, Aegor leaned forward. “And why, pray tell, couldn’t you just ask me this properly? Why storm in here like this, putting me on the spot?”

“Why do you think?” Jaime snapped. “I’ve sent letter after letter from Ice Bay Port. Did you reply to even one? Not a single damned word! If it weren’t for that wight you paraded through King’s Landing, do you think I’d have agreed to don the black? I’ve spent my life doing nothing but making mistakes, and for once, I want to do something right. But instead of fighting the White Walkers alongside the rest of you, I’m stuck on the coast, battling Ironborn raiders to protect the Stark family’s navy! Even Aerys and Robert didn’t humiliate me like this!”

Aegor sighed, realizing that Jaime’s anger wasn’t entirely unjustified. His responsibilities had left him little time to read through the backlog of messages waiting on his desk. “I haven’t seen your letters yet,” Aegor admitted. “That’s on me. But I stationed you at Ice Bay Port because it’s a critical point of defense. The Ironborn posed a real threat, and I needed a reliable commander to guard the port. I didn’t mean to slight you. As for the Walkers bypassing your position entirely… well, no one could have predicted that.”

Aegor stopped mid-sentence, realizing how absurd this conversation was. The North had been ravaged by the undead, and every fortress save Eastwatch and Hearthguard had fallen. Even those victories had been pyrrhic, achieved through divine intervention and dragonglass explosives. Yet here was Jaime Lannister—angry, not because the undead had attacked, but because they hadn’t.

The irony nearly made Aegor laugh.

“Commander, you’re missing the point,” Humphrey Hill interjected with a knowing smile. “Ser Jaime isn’t upset about your orders or Ice Bay Port. He’s upset that, after finally deciding to atone for his sins by fighting the undead, he didn’t even get to see a single White Walker.”

“Stop putting words in my mouth!” Jaime roared, though the redness creeping up his face betrayed him. “And while we’re at it, loaning Ice Bay Port to the Starks was a terrible idea! If you hadn’t dragged the Night’s Watch into Northern politics, the Ironborn wouldn’t have attacked in the first place. Without their interference, the two thousand men stationed at the port could’ve reinforced the Gorge. Maybe then the Walkers wouldn’t have broken through so easily!”

Aegor resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Jaime’s confidence in his own abilities bordered on delusion. Even if the Gorge’s defenses had doubled, the Walkers would have overwhelmed them eventually. And no amount of swordsmanship—be it Jaime’s or anyone else’s—would have stopped the Night King from using his undead hordes as a shield.

“That’s just your opinion,” Aegor said mildly. “Personally, I think Ice Bay Port has been invaluable. Without it, the North would’ve had to expend far more resources to maintain a naval presence on the western coast. And if the Walkers had bypassed Hearthguard entirely to strike south, the Starks wouldn’t have been able to raise another army in time. The consequences would’ve been disastrous.”

“You call that a plan?” Jaime retorted, his frustration mounting. “Enough! I’m not here to argue over what’s already happened. I’ll say this one more time: I’m leading the vanguard on this expedition. Whether you approve or not.”

Aegor stared at him, torn between exasperation and amusement. Jaime’s audacity was astonishing, even for a Lannister. Denying him outright would likely cause more trouble than it was worth. Yet explaining the truth—that the expedition was a farce—was too risky. If Jaime let anything slip, the entire ruse would be compromised.

After a brief pause, Aegor made up his mind. Fine. Let Jaime go north, where there was nothing but ice and empty wilderness. By the time he returned, empty-handed and exhausted, the Night’s Watch could declare the Walkers officially eradicated. Jaime would have his redemption story, and Aegor would have one less headache to deal with.

“Very well,” Aegor said at last. “I’ll consider your request. Wait for my answer by nightfall.”

Before Jaime could respond, a knock came at the door. Aegor glanced at Humphrey. “Who is it?”

“Maeve Snow, Commander,” the guard replied.

Maeve Snow—better known as Myrcella Baratheon.

Aegor gestured for her to enter. The young girl slipped in, her expression strained as she caught sight of Jaime. The air in the room shifted instantly.

“Father and daughter under the same roof,” Aegor thought wryly. “This should be interesting.”