The female Other-the Winter Queen standing before Viserys, who called herself Lyanna-did not answer his questions at once.
She merely lowered her ice-blue eyes and quietly studied the pale fingers hanging at her sides. Only after a long while did she finally raise her eyes, looking past Viserys's shoulder toward the dark corners at the far end of the Crypt.
Then she sat down on the edge of the stone coffin, as composed as though she were in her own sitting room.
Her blue-white hair fell beside her, and the beads of ice at its tips gently struck one another as she sat, giving off a series of faint, crystalline chimes that sounded especially clear in the empty Crypt.
"Those questions you just asked."
The female Other spoke, her voice still carrying that hoarse quality of ice scraping against ice, though it flowed a little more smoothly than before, as if a throat that had gone unused for many years were slowly finding its rhythm again. "I can answer them, but you must promise me something in return."
"What is it?" Viserys asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Once you have heard my answers, I want you to seal me back inside this stone coffin."
As she spoke, she glanced down at the dark stone coffin beneath her. "I have already wasted much of my strength. What remains cannot sustain me outside for long. The light above, even if it is only torchlight, will eventually cause me to fade away."
Viserys fell silent for a moment. His grip on Blackfyre had never loosened, but neither did he swing the sword. In the end, he merely nodded. "Very well."
As he spoke, he also took an unobtrusive step backward, placing Ygritte entirely behind him.
The female Other plainly noticed Viserys's movement, but her expression