Robb stiffened almost imperceptibly at the question.
His voice grew strained again, as though merely naming the place carried a chill. But remembering his earlier conversation with Viserys, he steeled himself and said, "My uncle... he's in the crypts beneath Winterfell now. It's just that his condition seems rather less promising than before."
He paused, seemingly gathering his words, and only continued after a while. "He said he no longer needed ordinary food. He only needs us to send down some raw meat occasionally, and otherwise he won't let us tend to him. And the last time I visited him, he looked as though he couldn't bear sunlight. He said daylight made him uncomfortable and caused a reaction in his skin."
"So ever since he returned to Winterfell, he's stayed in the crypts. It's cold down there, dark, and especially... quiet."
He spoke that last word very softly.
Viserys simply listened in silence, his face betraying no surprise. Once Robb finished, he gave a brief "Mm" in acknowledgment.
Robb's words also confirmed his earlier suspicions. The crypts beneath Winterfell, where countless ancestors of House Stark had been buried over thousands of years, held ancient magic and an aura of death. Perhaps those were precisely what Benjen needed in his current state. They also kept out a great deal of needless trouble and prying eyes.
"All right." It was already late, and Viserys was eager to return and rest with Rhaenys. If he went back too late, she would already be asleep.
He rose at once, his tall figure casting a shadow over the map of Westeros behind him in the firelight. He said to Robb, "Take me to see him tomorrow."
Viserys's tone brooked no argument, as though he were merely stating an entirely ordinary item on his schedule.
Robb