The Broken Tower was one of the oldest towers in Winterfell, said to have been built centuries before the Main Keep. But it stood in a secluded spot, deep in a courtyard in the castle's northwest corner, and had long since been abandoned. Even Winterfell's servants rarely passed that way.
Half the top of the tower had collapsed, leaving only its bottom two floors more or less intact, though those were abandoned as well.
Back in King's Landing, Rhaenys had once overheard Arya mention this place. Today, she had heard from several maids that Bran Stark of House Stark had suddenly fallen while climbing the Broken Tower, leaving him unable to use his legs.
That had piqued her interest, and she told Viserys she wanted to go up and have a look.
At first, Viserys had not intended to go. He had already promised Ygritte he would accompany her on a ride and a hunt outside Winterfell. But as he looked into Rhaenys's curious purple eyes and at her exquisite face, a strange idea suddenly occurred to him.
He remembered the Lannister lioness and the brother she loved in the Broken Tower in the original story. Then he looked at Rhaenys before him, and a different little notion began to take shape in his mind.
In the end, Viserys agreed to Rhaenys's request and went with her. Together, they climbed the narrow, abandoned stone steps to the upper reaches of the Broken Tower.
The tower's interior was even more dilapidated than it looked from outside, and a thick layer of dust had accumulated on the floor.
A spiral stone staircase wound upward, finally disappearing among the dimly lit floors above. Many of its upper steps had cracked and collapsed, exposing dark gaps.
The room on what was now the Broken