
Ygritte starts listing off some wildling boys she's had sex with before. He admits he's never had sex with anyone before and is "a maid", according to Ygritte. Ygritte asks if "that thing you did with your mouth" is what Lords do to their Ladies in the south, but Jon says she just seemed to like it when he kissed her there. Some time after they finish having sex, they lie together in a naked embrace. Jon continues to kiss down her body as she insists that he has no experience and therefore "You know nothing, Jon Sn-" but stops mid-word as Jon starts performing oral sex on her. Ygritte questions why he's still dressed, and they start kissing. Jon is very hesitant to break his vows, and very shy because he's never had sex before. She quickly shucks off all of her clothes and walks up to him naked. Ygritte starts disrobing, and says that she wants to make sure Jon Snow has truly come over to the wildlings's side and broken his Night's Watch vows: by making him break his oath of celibacy with her. She leads him into a nearby cave, which is heated by natural hotsprings, which form a waterfall and a pool.

Jon and Ygritte then walk away, but she steals his sword Longclaw, making him chase her to get it back. Ygritte is caught off-guard when Jon begins performing oral sex on her. Tormund tells Jon that he likes him, but if he's lying to them, he'll rip his guts out through his throat. Jon is very reluctant to answer, but after being threatened by Orell, he gives an exaggerated number, saying there are one thousand men (this is a lie, as Castle Black only had six hundred men before the great ranging, and the garrison now is closer to three hundred). Jon is then asked how many men currently garrison Castle Black. Apart from Castle Black (which even the wildlings know is manned), there is also Eastwatch-by-the-Sea at the extreme eastern end, and the Shadow Tower at the western end.

Jon finds this very unpleasant, but reluctantly says that only three are currently manned. Orell says the wildlings know there are nineteen castles along the south side of the Wall, but he wants to know how many are currently manned. Jon says they usually sent out patrols in teams of four, two builders to inspect for structural damage and two rangers to protect them, but that the frequency of their patrols often changes. Orell has seen through the eyes of his eagle that there are patrols on top of the Wall and he wants to know how frequent they are. Jon and Ygritte are gathering firewood, when the warg Orell asks him about the defenses of the Night's Watch. Jon Snow is with the group of twenty wildlings under the command of Tormund, who were sent ahead of the main army of King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder to scale the Wall and attack Castle Black from behind.
