002 -- video;

[northerner]

[ robb's face is like stone, his voice like ice, and the mask of kingship just barely hides the undercurrent of fury in his voice. in his tone there dwells bared teeth, raised hackles, all just barely contained. for all the kingly restraint, the viciousness of it shines through. ]

There is a man upon this vessel named Magneto, who has done a great harm to my brother's companion, a lady named Alayne Stone. I call upon you to present yourself to answer for your crime, ser, and save me the task of hunting you down.

[ there is a moment's pause, as if he would say more but thinks better of it, and then disconnects. ]

Comments

SHE'LL TEACH YOU MORE THAN THAT, GREENBOY

[wiretap]

[ And then, a strange question. But one whose answer may shed light upon the darkened corners of her understanding. ]

is she human?
your sister.

OOOH MISS ABERDEEN OOOH

[northerner]

[ the question sideswipes him. he'd been so careful not to use that word, to keep it as secret as sansa had requested him to, and yet here it was, thrown into his face. ]

Who told you that?

[ and robb does not yet know to name them all wargs, skinwalkers and creatures out of the old stories. his dreams are nothing but dreams, forgotten upon waking. human, they are all human, as far as robb knows. ]

UGH EPPY WHAT IS HAPPENING

[wiretap]

no one told me.
i listened.

[ That is all the answer he gets at first, but then, more words follow. Aberdeen is nothing if not fair and she knows that this is an exchange that she has brokered without his consent. She doesn't know the weight of the Starks' secret, nor does she much care. But she has taken something from them and has left Robb Stark exposed. Robb Stark, whose sister was most certainly dead. (She knows what that feels like, and maybe that inspires sympathy and maybe it doesn't; it's hard to tell.) ]

i'm not human.
not completely.
that's how i know.

OH GOD I DON'T KNOW WONDERFUL THINGS??

[northerner]

[ there is a long pause while robb considers this, considers these words. she is not human. she heard him, heard his slip at sansa's side (i'm her brother) and she had heard him grieving, and had apparently not heard whatever ned had done. so many secrets laid bare and yet... ]

No one can know.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE????

[wiretap]

[ Her answer comes immediately. ]

no one will.

[ And then, after another long pause, something of an explanation. ]

quid pro quo.
a phrase in latin:
"this for that".
an exchange that occurs between two parties,
one to one, in equal proportion.

she's your sister.
i'm not human.
quid pro quo, king in the north.

agreed?

HERE WAITING FOR YOU TO COME FIND ME

[northerner]

[ and robb does understand. we will keep each others secrets, that is what this message says. and because robb is an honorable man, because he expects all around him to do the same, he believes it. ]

Yes. I swear to it.

HGNNNGH I WANT TO MOTHERFUCKING ABSCOND WITH HIM

[wiretap]

[ Although Aberdeen doesn't believe in concepts like honor, she does not believe in lying. Lying is inefficient and messy and Aberdeen likes things straightforward and simple. ]

swear on something.
something important.

[ She's seen the way he talks and knows, if he does, then the exchange is sealed. ]

STEAL HIM AWAY ABERDEEN. MAKE HIM YOUR SALT WIFE.

[northerner]

[ and this is language he knows, something he understands. he knows how binding oaths are, knows that they are links that cannot be broken.

but he swears anyway. ]

I swear upon the honor of my house.

[ for there is nothing more important than that. ]

THIS WILL LEGIT HAPPEN IF YOU'RE NOT WARY KING OF MY LOINS

[wiretap]

[ Quid pro quo. This for that. One oath binds and so should the other. ]

i swear on the hiilāw of dùn dè.

[ Dundee. Obvious, maybe, but that's not the point. ]

SOMEONE HAS TO TELL THE PUPPY TO BE MORE WARY

[northerner]

[ and so they have sworn, and so they are bound, and it is only now that robb asks... ]

And who are you, that I have sworn such oaths to?

OH GOD ROBB HOW DID YOU UNLOCK THIS ACHIEVEMENT

[wiretap]

[ The video switches on. A woman, sharp features, pale but strong. She has a stare like a wolf, unapologetic and raw, and there is metal threaded in her ears and her face. ]

I have two names. One is Aberdeen. I won't tell you the other.

[ A beat. ] Not without the promise of further discretion and another secret.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WHEN YOU'RE KING IN THE NORTH

[northerner]

[ he does not reply to her immediately, only looks, takes the measure of her. something about her face puts him in mind of osha and the wildness of her, something raw and feral, something to be approached with care. ]

I can offer you both, if you wish it.

[ quid pro quo ]

YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON HER "OBSESS ABOUT" LIST

[wiretap]

[ A pause. During the silence, as she stares, there is a muffled clinking sound as she clicks the metal piercing in her mouth against the back of her teeth. ]

And you will listen to what I have to say about the man known as Magneto.

THE GREATEST OF HONORS

[northerner]

[ kings are meant to be impartial, to hear all before passing such judgements, and robb had promised himself to listen to those who came before him, and so he shall listen to her, even if he would like nothing more than to exact vengeance for his sister.]

I will.

ALSO: WANT TO TAP THAT

[wiretap]

[ Another pause. Longer this time, more pointed. It is clear that what she offers is profound, a truth so large that Aberdeen herself is not entirely sure how Robb Stark will make up the difference. But his is the face of a brother bereft — granted his sister once again, but bereft nevertheless. (She knows what's that like; she knows, she knows, though she was not near enough to watch her brother bleed out into the snow.) ]

You will not tell anyone my name.
You will not mention it in mixed company.
You will not use it as address unless it is completely necessary.
Even if we are alone.

Break these rules and your sister's secret is forfeit.
Agreed?

[ One more pause, her eyebrows lifting. ]

EVERYONE WANTS TO TAP THE KING IN THE NORTH THO

[northerner]

[ he doesn't hesitate. she offers rules, offers terms, and he accepts them. he thinks of his sister and how she hides herself, hides her name behind another and perhaps this is the same for this aberdeen, this wildling woman with shining metal pierced through her face. ]

I understand.

THE KING IN THE NORTH HAS LEVELED THE FUCK UP

[wiretap]

[ He calls himself a king. He behaves in the way kings are supposedly meant to behave. Robb Stark says he says understands and so she takes it as read. ]

Hallah. My name is Hallah.

[ A beat. ]

Don't say it.

NEW ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED???

[northerner]

[ he doesn't. he is silent for a few moments, committing it to memory, before speaking. ]

I don't wish to be a king.

[ the king in the north, who'd had a crown fall at his feet and felt a moment of panic before he'd picked it up. (i never wanted this weight to fall upon my shoulders.) how could he deny it? how could he every say such a thing aloud, that he did not wish the honor his men had bestowed upon him?

he was a king, and there was no changing it. but he had never wanted it.

( no one can ever know ) ]

OH DEAR GOD ABOVE RIGHT IN THE FUCKING FEELS????

[wiretap]

[ If this confession makes her feel anything in particular, it doesn't show on Aberdeen's face. She stares, stares some more and then only after another drawn out silence—

She blinks. (An acknowledgment, an acceptance. Another exchange drawn, sealed and signed.)

Then: ] How old?

[ He's young for a king. Very young perhaps. But Aberdeen was a child prodigy who grew up far faster than any of her peers. Her perspective on things is a little skewed. ]

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS

[northerner]

Eighteen.

[ eighteen and a man grown. ]

NEITHER DO I BUT PLEASE NEVER STOP :c

[wiretap]

[ She was seventeen when Elijah died. The girl Hallah had been at seventeen was a lot different than the one who hit nineteen two years later. She lives her life as though she doesn't regret any of that but perhaps she does (but if that's the case not even she's aware of it). ]

You're not a king here, [ she eventually says. And maybe that's meant to be a comfort, even though it comes out as even and steady as the rest of it. ]

CAN ONE POST CONTAIN THESE FEELS...

[northerner]

[ no, he is not, but the mask cannot slip. he cannot set aside his crown, even here, even though he would like to. he shakes his head at her. ]

No, I am a king always now, even if my crown remains in Westeros.

[ ( you don't have to call me your grace when no one's around...) ]

I REALLY SHOULD NOT BE BOTHERING YOU SINCE you know DEAD SISTER and all but....

[wiretap]

[ She dislikes pretense. It's a kind of lying.

The middle of Aberdeen's brow pinches, but otherwise the lines of her face remain unmoved. (She has nothing if not utmost control — of her face, her mind and her emotions.) ]

A crown makes a king. So does a kingdom.
You've neither here.
Therefore.

[ There is an expectant pause but instead of allowing him to respond, she eventually adds: ]

A man can still be kingly.
Without being a king.
Which is more important.
The title or the deeds?

WHATEVER HE NEEDS A DISTRACTION

[northerner]

[ it's control robb envies. he's still too young and too raw, too prone to letting his mask slip and emotions bleed through. ]

The deeds. But I cannot forsake the title, lest it be lost to me.

[ and he cannot afford to lose in this game he's begun playing. ]

OH SHE CAN GIVE HIM PLENTY MORE DISTRACTION THAN 20 QUESTIONS

[wiretap]

[ Aberdeen collects people, or perhaps it's more accurate to say she collects obsessions with people. Most of those people are like her — brilliant, maladjusted, withdrawn, self-contained. This King in the North doesn't seem to be any of those things — and those that he tries to emulate he does not do terribly well.

Maybe that's interesting. (Most of the time it isn't.) ]

And why is it important?

[ Another question. If he answers, it's more debt owed (or a question in kind). ]