Tyrion's probing

Jon turned his head away, ignoring the dwarf's endless chatter.

Only the crackle of burning firewood remained in the air.

The smile on Tyrion Lannister's face did not fade in the slightest.

He was resilient, and the barb Jon considered a killing blow could do nothing to spoil his good mood.

Tyrion's gaze shifted from Jon's stubborn young face to another, far calmer one.

Lynn.

That name had been coming up far too often in Winterfell lately.

A deserter from the Night's Watch who should have been beheaded.

Yet somehow, he had become a benefactor of House Stark.

He even had close ties to Lord Eddard Stark.

There was much about that transformation worth pondering.

"What about you, then?"

"Lynn?"

Tyrion swirled the wineskin in his hand, and the pungent scent of wine spread through the cold air.

"The hero of Winterfell."

"Why did you choose to take the black?"

His voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

Everyone's gaze instinctively settled on Lynn.

The newly recruited criminals watched him with a mixture of curiosity and numb indifference.

The guards looked at Lynn curiously as well.

Benjen Stark still wore his usual mild expression, but his hands had stopped cleaning his bow and arrows. He was clearly paying attention.

Even Arya, who had been chattering nonstop, fell silent and looked up at Lynn.

She had yet to learn much about his past.

Lynn did not answer immediately.

His predecessor's memories were perfectly clear in his mind.

His predecessor had joined the Night's Watch because honor had gone to his head.

He had no criminal record.

That would support his explanation.

It was also why Ned had been willing to trust him.

Lynn raised his head and gazed at the night sky, where the flickering firelight cast alternating light and shadow.

The night in the North was deep and utterly pure.

"I committed no crime."

"The Old Gods guided me here."

Lynn's words plunged the already quiet camp into an eerie, deathly silence.

The Old Gods?

Arya's eyes lit up instantly, filled with undisguised admiration.

A startled expression appeared on Jon's face as well.

As a northerner, he had grown up hearing stories of the Old Gods, and he worshipped them.

The criminals from the south, however, wore strange expressions.

The south generally worshipped the Seven.

But most of these men did not even know whether they would live to see tomorrow's sun, let alone believe in some intangible god.

"The Old Gods?"

Tyrion finally let out a short, derisive laugh.

He looked as though he had heard the funniest joke imaginable.

"Lynn, that excuse is far more entertaining than our young bastard friend's silence."

Tyrion took a long drink and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Let me guess."

"Did a weirwood in the forest speak to you?"

"Or did a crow in the sky bring you a letter?"

Tyrion's tone was mocking and full of doubt.

Yet beneath his casual expression, his mismatched eyes remained fixed on Lynn.

He was a Lannister.

A Lannister who lived in the splendid castles of the south and believed only in gold and power.

The Old Gods were an ancient faith belonging to the savages of the North.

To him, they were nothing more than bedtime stories meant to fool country peasants.

Still, he needed to probe further.

"You!"

Arya sprang to her feet.

Her little face flushed red as she glared furiously at Tyrion.

"Lynn wouldn't lie!"

"And the Old Gods are real!"

Tyrion watched the bristling little she-wolf with interest, his smile growing wider.

Lynn reached out and gently rested his hand on Arya's shoulder.

Arya turned and saw Lynn give her a slight shake of his head.

She pressed her lips together reluctantly, but obediently sat back down.

"I checked when Lynn joined the Night's Watch."

A low voice broke the somewhat farcical confrontation.

It was Benjen Stark.

He remained seated beside the fire, his gaze calm as he looked at Tyrion.

"He bore no brands."

"His name wasn't on any wanted notice in the Seven Kingdoms, either."

"He was neither a fugitive nor a criminal."

Benjen's voice held no emotion. He was simply stating a fact.

"He was just a man who crossed the Neck and walked all the way to the foot of the Wall."

"He said he wanted to join the Night's Watch."

"I was there at the time."

For a moment, the smile on Tyrion's face finally froze.

He could mock an intangible faith.

But he could not refute the facts stated by the First Ranger.

An innocent man had abandoned everything and willingly come to this bitter, frozen land to become a man of the Night's Watch.

That alone defied any ordinary explanation.

If he had committed no crime, why join the Night's Watch?

Either he was mad, or there truly was a secret behind it.

Lynn's story might have been absurd.

But Benjen's words had clothed that absurdity in a truth that was difficult to dispute.

Tyrion looked into Lynn's eyes, which remained calm in the firelight.

For the first time, he felt it.

Perhaps he really had encountered an oddity who could not be measured by money or status.

This puzzle was more complicated than he had imagined.

After Benjen finished stating the facts, the smile on Tyrion's face briefly stiffened.

But he soon recovered.

It was as though his earlier embarrassment had merely been an illusion cast by the flickering firelight.

He raised his wineskin in a salute to Benjen.

"Very well, my lord First Ranger."

Tyrion's gaze returned to Lynn.

The curiosity in his eyes, one black and one green, only deepened.

"An innocent man willingly gives up sunshine and fine wine to stand in the cold wind on this godforsaken stretch of ice."

"That story is far stranger than the heroic epics those singers perform."

"So what exactly are you after?"

"Honor?"

Tyrion scoffed and shook his head.

"Honor won't keep your belly full in winter."

"Power?"

He shook his head again.

"There's nothing worth ruling at the Wall except wildlings."

His gaze tried to pierce Lynn's calm exterior and glimpse the truth beneath.

"Could it be... a woman?"

A knowing smile tugged at Tyrion's lips.

As though that were the only answer to everything in the world that defied reason.

"Let me guess. A noble lady you could never have?"

"Or a scandalous affair that ruined your reputation?"

"Love can always turn the cleverest man into the greatest fool."

As Tyrion spoke, his eyes were flippant, his tone filled with the mockery and disdain of a man who had been through it himself.

Arya's expression soured.

She liked Lynn, and every word struck a nerve.