“Tansy,

But when hesaw the day was lost, he ew o as fast as the grins on his shield.

Lord Connington the Hand

This is not right, this is not fair, how have I sinned that thegods would do this to me, how?

“A child,” he repeated, “but I want you. Does that frighten you,Sansa?”

. “I want to be marriedtoo,” said the plump little princeling, who was all of nine. “I’m tallerthan my uncle!”

“My lady wife is most concerned for you,” he said quietly,one such time.“Lady Leonette is too sweet. Tell her I am well.”“A bride at her wedding should be more than well.” His voice wasnot unkind. “You seemed close to tears.”“Tears of joy, ser.”“Your eyes give the lie to your tongue.” Ser Garlan turned her,drew her close to his side. “My lady, I have seen how you look atmy brother. Loras is valiant and handsome, and we all love himdearly ... but your Imp will make a better husband. He is a biggerman than he seems, I think.”

It was so sweet and silly that Sansa had to laugh, despiteeverything. Afterward she was absurdly grateful. Somehow thelaughter made her hopeful again, if only for a little while. Smiling,she let the music take her, losing herself in the steps, in the sound ofute and pipes and harp, in the rhythm of the drum ... and fromtime to time in Ser Garlan’s arms, when the dance brought themtogether.

My brother Willas gave me thatname, as it happens. To protect me.”

“Lady Sansa.” Ser Garlan Tyrell stood beside the dais. “Would youhonor me? If your lord consents?”

she thought dully. How I hate her.

Margaery gave her such a sad look,

I won’t. Whyshould I spare his feelings, when no one cares about mine?

I don’t want any Lannister, she wanted to say. I want Willas, I wantHighgarden and the puppies and the barge, and sons named Eddard andBran and Rickon.

“You’re prettier with your mouth closed, Sansa,” Cersei told her.“Come along now, the septon is waiting. And the wedding guests aswell.”“No,” Sansa blurted. “No.”“Yes. You are a ward of the crown. The king stands in yourfather’s place, since your brother is an attainted traitor. That meanshe has every right to dispose of your hand. You are to marry mybrother Tyrion.”

“Oh, I am.” She could not wait for Willas to see her likethis. He will love me, he will, he must ... he will forget Winterfell whenhe sees me, I’ll see that he does.

The smallclothes were all silk, butthe gown itself was ivory samite and cloth-of-silver, and lined withsilvery satin. The points of the long dagged sleeves almost touchedthe ground when she lowered her arms. And it was a woman’sgown, not a little girl’s, there was no doubt of that. The bodice wasslashed in front almost to her belly, the deep vee covered over witha panel of ornate Myrish lace in dove-grey. The skirts were long andfull, the waist so tight that Sansa had to hold her breath as theylaced her into it. They brought her new shoes as well, slippers of

“Unsullied!” Dany galloped before them, her silver-gold braidying behind her, her bell chiming with every stride. “Slay the GoodMasters, slay the soldiers, slay every man who wears a tokar orholds a whip, but harm no child under twelve, and strike the chainso every slave you see.” She raised the harpy’s ngers in theair ... and then she ung the scourge aside. “Freedom!” she sang out.“Dracarys! Dracarys!”“Dracarys!” they shouted back, the sweetest word she’d everheard. “Dracarys! Dracarys!” And all around them slavers ran andsobbed and begged and died, and the dusty air was lled withspears and re.

“Drogon,” she sang out loudly, sweetly, all herfear forgotten. “Dracarys.”

pitted olives stued with maggots,

“Remember. To go north, you must journey south. To reach thewest, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and totouch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.”“Quaithe?”

That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident.But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw theUsurper’s rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice,but she bathed them in dragonre and they melted away like dewand turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knewthat she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it wasmeant to be. The other was a nightmare, and I have only now awakened.

The girl lowered her eyes. “Three of them were my brothers once,Your Grace.”

“All men must die,” Dany agreed

“Valar morghulis,” said Missandei, in High Valyrian.

Missandei,

The Mother of Dragons has sold her strongest child. Eventhe thought made her ill.

Whitebeard stared in shocked disbelief. His hand trembled whereit grasped the sta. “No.” He went to one knee before her. “YourGrace, I beg you, win your throne with dragons, not slaves. Youmust not do this thing—”

Women who bedbrothers or fathers or clan kin oend the gods, and are cursed withweak and sickly children. Even monsters.”

His uncle had originated that tactic, Jonknew. Anything to make the enemy unsure.

Was this how it was for my father? hewondered. Was he as weak as I am, when he dishonored himself in mymother’s bed?

It will never happen again.It happened twice more that night, and again in the morning,

I have no choice,he’d told himself the rst time, when she slipped beneath hissleeping skins. If I refuse her, she will know me for a turncloak. I amplaying the part the Halfhand told me to play

You cannot come with me,” Jon said, cupping the wolf’s head inhis hands and looking deep into those eyes. “You have to go toCastle Black. Do you understand? Castle Black. Can you nd it? Theway home? Just follow the ice, east and east, into the sun, andyou’ll nd it. They will know you at Castle Black, and maybe yourcoming will warn them.”

his little sister Arya. Is she still my sister? he wondered.Was she ever? He had never truly been a Stark, only Lord Eddard’smotherless bastard, with no more place at Winterfell than TheonGreyjoy. And even that he’d lost. When a man of the Night’s Watchsaid his words, he put aside his old family and joined a new one, butJon Snow had lost those brothers too.

he had learned the names of the twelve houses ofheaven and the rulers of each; he could nd the seven wandererssacred to the Faith; he was old friends with the Ice Dragon, theShadowcat, the Moonmaid, and the Sword of the Morning. All thosehe shared with Ygritte, but not some of the others. We look up at thesame stars, and see such dierent things. The King’s Crown was theCradle, to hear her tell it; the Stallion was the Horned Lord; the redwanderer that septons preached was sacred to their Smith up herewas called the Thief. And when the Thief was in the Moonmaid,

His Grace would soonersee Shireen dead than wed to such.

“Not treason. Never treason. I love His Grace as much as any man.My own niece is his queen, and I remained loyal to him when wisermen ed. I am his Hand, the Hand of the King, how can I be atraitor? I only meant to save our lives, and ... honor ... yes.”

Whenthe red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be bornagain amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone. Thebleeding star has come and gone, and Dragonstone is the place ofsmoke and salt. Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai reborn!”

Do you think I crossedhalf the world to put yet another vain king on yet another emptythrone? The war has been waged since time began, and before it isdone, all men must choose where they will stand. On one side isR’hllor, the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame andShadow. Against him stands the Great Other whose name may notbe spoken, the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Nightand Terror. Ours is not a choice between Baratheon and Lannister,between Greyjoy and Stark. It is death we choose, or life. Darkness,or light.”

Porridge at least seemed to know hewas alive, and there was a queer sort of kindness to the man. Davossuspected that he fed the rats; that was why there were so many.Once he thought he heard the gaoler talking to them as if they werechildren,

The Knight of the LaughingTree had vanished. The king was wroth, and even sent his son thedragon prince to seek the man, but all they ever found was hispainted shield, hanging abandoned in a tree. It was the dragonprince who won that tourney in the end.”

Knight of the Laughing Tree spoke in abooming voice through his helm, saying,

The Dragonknight once won atourney as the Knight of Tears, so he could name his sister thequeen of love and beauty in place of the king’s mistress. AndBarristan the Bold twice donned a mystery knight’s armor, the rsttime when he was only ten.

“You never heard this tale from your father?” asked Jojen.

His heart was torn. Crannogmenare smaller than most, but just as proud. The lad was no knight, nomore than any of his people. We sit a boat more often than a horse,and our hands are made for oars, not lances. Much as he wished tohave his vengeance, he feared he would only make a fool of himselfand shame his people.

. “The wolf maid saw them too, andpointed them out to her brothers. ‘I could nd you a horse, andsome armor that might t,’ the pup oered.

and lastly with the quietwolf ... but only after the wild wolf spoke to her on behalf of abrother too shy to leave his bench.

There he met her pack brothers: the wildwolf who led them, the quiet wolf beside him, and the pup who wasyoungest of the four.

‘That’s my father’s man you’re kicking,’howled the she-wolf.”“A wolf on four legs, or two?”“Two,” said Meera. “The she-wolf laid into the squires with atourney sword, scattering them all.

One was the wife of the dragon prince,

“It was the green men he meant to nd. So he donned a shirtsewn with bronze scales, like mine, took up a leathern shield and athree-pronged spear, like mine, and paddled a little skin boat downthe Green Fork.”Bran closed his eyes to try and see the man in his little skin boat.In his head, the crannogman looked like Jojen, only older andstronger and dressed like Meera.

“There was one knight,” said Meera, “in the year of the falsespring. The Knight of the Laughing Tree, they called him.

“an eagle.”

One day there would be Starks in Winterfell again, he told himself,and then he’d send for the Liddles and pay them back a hundredfoldfor every nut and berry.

word of certain other walking dead.” He looked at Bran when hesaid that, and at Summer stretched out beside him. “As to thatWall,” the man went on, “it’s not a place that I’d be going. The OldBear took the Watch into the haunted woods, and all that come backwas his ravens, with hardly a message between them. Dark wings,dark words, me mother used to say, but when the birds y silent,seems to me that’s even darker.” He poked at the re with his stick.“It was dierent when there was a Stark in Winterfell. But the oldwolf’s dead and young one’s gone south to play the game of thrones,and all that’s left us is the ghosts.”

“Wull?” said Meera. “Jojen, wasn’t there a Wull who rode withFather during the war?”“Theo Wull.” Jojen was breathing hard from the climb. “Buckets,they used to call him.”

I hate these stupidmountains of yours, Prince Bran.”“Yesterday you said you loved them.”“Oh, I do. My lord father told me about mountains, but I neversaw one till now. I love them more than I can say.”Bran made a face at her. “But you just said you hated them.”“Why can’t it be both?” Meera reached up to pinch his nose.“Because they’re dierent,” he insisted. “Like night and day, or iceand re.”“If ice can burn,” said Jojen in his solemn voice, “then love andhate can mate. Mountain or marsh, it makes no matter. The land isone.”“One,” his sister agreed, “but over wrinkled.”

Dragon. The blue star in the dragon’seye pointed the way north, as Osha told him once.

“You have. You’ve displeased me greatly, ser. If you were my trueknight, you would never have brought me to this vile sty.” If youwere my true knight, you would never have kissed me, or looked at mybreasts the way you did, or ...

Her hand ashed up andcracked Ser Jorah hard across the face

. The old gods and the new alikehold slavery to be an abomination. Evil.

Only trouble can come of this. Weremove the penis as well, leaving nothing.

Yes, child. And so are you. Be brave.”

white sun on black was the sigil of Lord Karstark, Arya thought.Those were Robb’s men. She wondered if they were still close. If shecould give the outlaws the slip and nd them, maybe they wouldtake her to her mother at Riverrun ...

drinking tansy tea

“I do not know who you are, child,” the woman said, “and it maybe that’s for the best. Someone important, I fear.” She smootheddown Arya’s collar. “In times like these, it is better to beinsignicant. Would that I could keep you here with me. That wouldnot be safe, though. I have walls, but too few men to hold them.”She sighed.

I dreamt of a roaringriver and a woman that was a sh. Dead she drifted, with red tearson her cheeks, but when her eyes did open,

. I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on abridge that swayed and swung.

“I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering agolden stag, aye

And her ladymother, what would she say? Would she still want her back, after allthe things she’d done? Arya chewed her lip and wondered.

But what ifRobb won’t pay their price? She wasn’t a famous knight, and kingswere supposed to put the realm before their sisters.

They climbed to a hidden villagein the upper branches, a maze of rope walkways and little moss-covered houses concealed behind walls of red and gold,

He was aLannister of Casterly Rock, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard; nosellsword would make him scream.Sunlight ran silver along the edge of the arakh as it cameshivering down, almost too fast to see. And Jaime screamed.

“Shout it a little louder, wench, I don’t think Urswyck heard you.The sooner they know how little you’re worth in ransom, the soonerthe rapes begin. Every man here will mount you, but what do youcare? Just close your eyes, open your legs, and pretend they’re allLord Renly.”

“Shall I sing you a verse of ‘The Rains of Castamere’? The goatwon’t be quite so brave when my father gets hold of him.”

Jaime gave him a cold, contemptuous smile. “And men say I haveshit for honor?”

Ugly and stubborn though she might be, the wench deservedbetter than to be gang raped by such refuse as these.

er Jaime.”

Noseless said,

Brienne lurched to her feet. She was all mud and blood below thewaist, her clothing askew, her face red. She looks as if they caught usfucking instead of ghting. Jaime crawled over the rocks to shallowwater, wiping the blood from his eye with his chained hands. Armedmen lined both sides of the brook. Small wonder, we were makingenough noise to wake a dragon. “Well met, friends,” he called to themamiably. “My pardons if I disturbed you. You caught me chastisingmy wife.”

Jaime drove his shoulder into her legs, bringing her down on topof him. They rolled, kicking and punching until nally she wassitting astride him. He managed to jerk her dagger from its sheath,but before he could plunge it into her belly she caught his wrist andslammed his hands back on a rock so hard he thought she’dwrenched an arm from its socket. Her other hand spread across hisface. “Yield!” She shoved his head down, held it under, pulled it up.“Yield!” Jaime spit water into her face. A shove, a splash, and he

She is stronger than I am.The realization chilled him.

Jaime could not have said how long he pressed the attack. Itmight have been minutes or it might have been hours;

And another in your leg. You ought to let metend them.”“You?”“Who else?

We could marry him toMyrcella, once we’ve sent Sansa Stark back to her mother. That wouldshow the realm that the Lannisters are above their laws, like gods andTargaryens.

They need not have feared, though. It was not long after thatshe died birthing Tyrion. Jaime barely remembered what his motherhad looked like.

Once their mother’s maid had caughtthem at it ... he did not recall just what they had been doing, butwhatever it was had horried Lady Joanna. She’d sent the maid

The pool from which the town took itsname, where legend said that Florian the Fool had rst glimpsedJonquil bathing with her sisters, was so choked with rotting corpsesthat the water had turned into a murky grey-green soup.Jaime took one look and burst into song. “Six maids there were in aspring-fed pool ...”“What are you doing?” Brienne demanded.

she thought about Jeyne. The girl did seem tohave a good heart, j

When I rst came to Winterfell, I was hurt whenever Nedwent to the godswood to sit beneath his heart tree. Part of his soulwas in that tree, I knew, a part I would never share. Yet withoutthat part, I soon realized, he would not have been Ned.

Tell me what I should do. Catelyn might have asked the same, if herfather had been well enough to ask. But Lord Hoster was gone, ornear enough. Her Ned as well. Bran and Rickon too, and Mother, andBrandon so long ago. Only Robb remained to her, Robb and thefading hope of her daughters.

I want to be a good wife tohim, I do, but I don’t know how to help. To cheer him, or comforthim. I don’t know what he needs. Please, my lady, you’re his mother,tell me what I should do.”

“Yes,” the maester said, “but this battle he cannot win. It is timehe lay down his sword and shield. Time to yield.”To yield, she thought, to make a peace. Was it her father themaester was speaking of, or her son?

He stood shaking with his hands half-clenched andthe rain running down his cheeks. Gods forgive him, Catelyn prayedin silence. He is only a boy, and he had no other choice.

The axe crashed down. Heavy and well-honed, it killed at a singleblow, but it took three to sever the man’s head from his body, andby the time it was done both living and dead were drenched inblood.

“Old gods or new, it makes no matter,” Lord Rickard told her son,“no man is so accursed as the kinslayer.”“Kneel, traitor,” Robb said again. “Or must I have them force yourhead onto the block?”Lord Karstark knelt. “The gods shall judge you, as you havejudged me.” He laid his head upon the block.

The Karstarkstraced their descent to Karlon Stark, a younger son of Winterfellwho had put down a rebel lord a thousand years ago, and beengranted lands for his valor. The castle he built had been namedKarl’s Hold, but that soon became Karhold, and over the centuriesthe Karhold Starks had become Karstarks.

“The Others can take her, then,” Robb cursed, in a fury of despair.“Bloody Rickard Karstark as well. And Theon Greyjoy, Walder Frey,Tywin Lannister, and all the rest of them. Gods be good, why wouldany man ever want to be king? When everyone was shouting King inthe North, King in the North, I told myself ... swore to myself ... that Iwould be a good king, as honorable as Father, strong, just, loyal tomy friends and brave when I faced my enemies ... now I can’t eventell one from the other. How did it all get so confused? LordRickard’s fought at my side in half a dozen battles. His sons died forme in the Whispering Wood. Tion Frey and Willem Lannister weremy enemies. Yet now I have to kill my dead friends’ father for theirsakes.” He looked at them all. “Will the Lannisters thank me forLord Rickard’s head? Will the Freys?”

Is this the sound of a kingdomfalling?

Lord Umber,” said Robb, “this one was only the watcher. Hanghim last, so he may watch the others die.

“Or should I call you the King Who Lost the North,Your Grace?”

“It was no murder, ser,” said Lord Rickard Karstark, no morediscomted by the ropes about his wrists than by the blood thattrickled down his face. “Any man who steps between a father andhis vengeance asks for death.”

She looked down again upon the corpses of the squires Tion Freyand Willem Lannister, and waited for her son to speak

Will they lay Sansa down naked beneath the Iron Throneafter they have killed her? Will her skin seem as white, her blood as red

Every once in a very long while, Lord Tywin Lannister wouldactually threaten to smile; he never did, but the threat alone wasterrible to behold. “The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever thanthe men who laugh at them,”

The Rains of Castamere”

Lord Tywin was unconcerned. “Robb Stark will father no childrenon his fertile Frey, you have my word. There is a bit of news I havenot yet seen t to share with the council, though no doubt the goodlords will hear it soon enough. The Young Wolf has taken GawenWesterling’s eldest daughter to wife.”

“His Grace the royal pustule has madeSansa’s life a misery since the day her father died, and now that sheis nally rid of Jorey you propose to marry her to me. That seemssingularly cruel. Even for you, Father.”

“You mean to wed me to SansaStark.

It is past timeyou were wed.”

“Willas is heir toHighgarden, and by all reports a mild and courtly young man, fondof reading books and looking at the stars. He has a passion forbreeding animals as well, and owns the nest hounds, hawks, andhorses in the Seven Kingdoms.”

Lord Tywin went on. “Oberyn Martell might suit, but the Tyrellswould take that very ill. So we must look to the sons. I assume youdo not object to wedding a man younger than yourself?”“I object to wedding any—”“I have considered the Redwyne twins, Theon Greyjoy, QuentynMartell, and a number of others.

“Three children is quite sucient. I am Queen of the SevenKingdoms, not a brood mare! The Queen Regent!”“You are my daughter, and will do as I command.”She stood. “I will not sit here and listen to this—”“You will if you wish to have any voice in the choice of your nexthusband,” Lord Tywin said calmly.When she hesitated, then sat, Tyrion knew she was lost, despiteher loud declaration of, “I will not marry again!”“You will marry and you will breed. Every child you birth makesStannis more a liar.” Their father’s eyes seemed to pin her to herchair.

“And there is this—Lord Petyrcontinues to demonstrate his loyalty. Only yesterday he brought usword of a Tyrell plot to spirit Sansa Stark o to Highgarden for a‘visit,’ and there marry her to Lord Mace’s eldest son, Willas.”

“... the wildlings will ood the north,” his father nished, “andthe Starks and Greyjoys will have another enemy to contend with.They no longer wish to be subject to the Iron Throne, it would seem,so by what right do they look to the Iron Throne for aid? King Robband King Balon both claim the north. Let them defend it, if they can.And if not, this Mance Rayder might even prove a useful ally.” LordTywin looked to his brother. “Is there more?”

Varys sighed. “They have surely earned death, Your Grace, nonecan deny it. And yet, perhaps we might be wiser to send them to theNight’s Watch. We have had disturbing messages from the Wall oflate. Of wildlings astir ...”

ailors backfrom the Jade Sea report that a three-headed dragon has hatched inQarth, and is the wonder of that city—”“Dragons and krakens do not interest me, regardless of thenumber of their heads,” said Lord Tywin.

. It attacked an Ibbenese whaler and pulled it under.There is ghting on the Stepstones, and a new war between Tyroshand Lys seems likely. Both hope to win Myr as ally.

we have had a raven from Sunspear. Threehundred Dornishmen are riding toward King’s Landing as we speak,and hope to arrive before the wedding.”

“Perhaps we ought move on to the wedding,” Ser Kevan said.

Tyrion watched his father closely. There’s something he’s not saying.He remembered those important letters Lord Tywin had beenwriting, the night Tyrion had demanded Casterly Rock. What was ithe said? Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quillsand ravens ... He wondered who the “better option” was, and whatsort of price he was demanding.

“Now, though ... a match between the Lady of the Eyrie andthe Lord of Harrenhal is not so unthinkable, is it?”

“She’s had me a few times before,

“Oh, I do,” said Littlenger, “I have it here between my legs.”There was mischief in his grey-green eyes. “My lords, with yourleave, I propose to travel to the Vale and there woo and win LadyLysa Arryn. Once I am her consort, I shall deliver you the Vale ofArryn without a drop of blood being spilled.”

Lord Tywin’s face gave no hint as to his feelings. “There is LysaArryn to deal with as well. Jon Arryn’s widow, Hoster Tully’sdaughter, Catelyn Stark’s sister ... whose husband was conspiringwith Stannis Baratheon at the time of his death.”

Too manystrange faces, Tyrion thought, too many new players. The gamechanged while I lay rotting in my bed, and no one will tell me the rules.

black dragonglass dagg

Hoarfrost covered itlike a sheen of frozen sweat, and a nest of sti black entrailsdragged from its open belly. On its back was a rider pale as ice. Sammade a whimpery sound deep in his throat. He was so scared he

Small Paul frowned. “Chett said I could have the Old Bear’s raven,the one that talks. I saved food for it and everything.”

I thought Grenn was myfriend. You shouldn’t kick your friends. Why won’t they let me be? I justneed to rest, that’s all, to rest and sleep some, and maybe die a little.

And now Jon was gone, lost in the Skirling Pass withQhorin Halfhand, most likely dead. Sam would have cried for him,but those tears would only freeze as well, and he could scarcelykeep his eyes open now.

“Help me get the birds o,” he pleaded, but theother steward had turned and run o, dagger in hand. He has thedogs to care for, Sam remembered. Probably the Lord Commanderhad given him some orders as well.

Wecould have taken the little boat and sailed it up to Riverrun.

. “It’dbe half a shame to hang a man as pretty as that one.”

He planned for Lord Eddard to come west himself to dealwith Gregor Clegane. If he had he would have been killed, or takenprisoner and traded for the Imp, who was your lady mother’scaptive at the time.

“Valar morghulis,”

now that Hot Pie had left them

I musttake it with me to Highgarden. She wanted to look beautiful for WillasTyrell. Even if Dontos was right, and it is Winterfell he wants and notme, he still may come to love me for myself. Sansa hugged herselftightly, wondering how long it would be before the gown was ready.She could scarcely wait to wear it.

She would name them Eddard and Brandonand Rickon, and raise them all to be as valiant as Ser Loras. And tohate Lannisters, too. In Sansa’s dreams, her children looked just likethe brothers she had lost. Sometimes there was even a girl wholooked like Arya.

Sansa was surprised that Margaery did not see it too. She is olderthan me, she must be wiser. And her father, Lord Tyrell, he knows whathe is doing, surely. I am just being silly.

Sister. Sansa had once dreamt of having a sister like Margaery;beautiful and gentle, with all the world’s graces at her command.Arya had been entirely unsatisfactory as sisters went. How can I letmy sister marry Jorey? she thought, and suddenly her eyes were fullof tears. “Margaery, please,” she said, “you mustn’t.” It was hard toget the words out. “You mustn’t marry him. He’s not like he seems,he’s not. He’ll hurt you.”“I shouldn’t think so.” Margaery smiled condently. “It’s brave ofyou to warn me, but you need not fear. Jo’s spoiled and vain and Idon’t doubt that he’s as cruel as you say, but Father forced him toname Loras to his Kingsguard before he would agree to the match. Ishall have the nest knight in the Seven Kingdoms protecting menight and day, as Prince Aemon protected Naerys. So our little lionhad best behave, hadn’t he?” She laughed, and said, “Come, sweetsister, let’s race back to the river. It will drive our guards quitemad.” And without waiting for an answer, she put her heels into herhorse and ew.

They are children, Sansa thought. They are silly little girls, evenElinor. They’ve never seen a battle, they’ve never seen a man die, theyknow nothing. Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the wayhers had been before Jorey cut her father’s head o. Sansa pitiedthem. Sansa envied them.

Megga couldn’t sing, but she was mad to be kissed. She andAlla played a kissing game sometimes, she confessed, but it wasn’tthe same as kissing a man, much less a king.

Margaery’s kindness had been unfailing, and her presencechanged everything. Her ladies welcomed Sansa as well. It had beenso long since she had enjoyed the company of other women, she hadalmost forgotten how pleasant it could be. Lady Leonette gave herlessons on the high harp, and Lady Janna shared all the choicegossip. Merry Crane always had an amusing story, and little LadyBulwer reminded her of Arya, though not so erce.

SANSAnew gown?” she said, as wary as she was astonished.“More lovely than any you have worn, my lady,” t

“—that we fuck beneath your cloak many a night. I never saidwhen we started, though.” The smile she gave him was almost shy.“Find another place for Ghost to sleep tonight, Jon Snow. It’s likeMance said. Deeds is truer than words.”

Father forgive me.

“Butwhen the dead walk, walls and stakes and swords mean nothing.You cannot ght the dead, Jon Snow.

Can a bird hate?

on turned at the sudden sound of wings. Blue-grey feathers lledhis eyes, as sharp talons buried themselves in his face. Red painlanced through him sudden and erce as pinions beat round hishead.

She reminded him a little of hissister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier.

Bran and Rickon are still at Winterfellbesides. Maester Luwin, Ser Rodrik, Old Nan, Farlen the kennelmaster,Mikken at his forge and Gage by his ovens ... everyone I ever knew,everyone I ever loved.

Lucky it might be, and red it certainly was, but Ygritte’s hair wassuch a tangle that Jon was tempted to ask her if she only brushed itat the changing of the seasons.

“Jon Snow, you know nothing.

He lay listening to her breathe for a long time,trying to ignore the tension in his groin. R

All ripped and tornI was, and half me member bit right o, and there on me oor was ashe-bear’s pelt. And soon enough the free folk were telling tales o’this bald bear seen in the woods, with the queerest pair o’ cubsbehind her. Har!” He slapped a meaty thigh. “Would that I could

So I found me a sleeping giant, cut open her belly, andcrawled up right inside her. Kept me warm enough, she did, but thestink near did for me. The worst thing was, she woke up when thespring come and took me for her babe. Suckled me for three wholemoons before I could get away. Har! There’s times I miss the taste o’giant’s milk, though.”

“We must win back the Freys,” said Robb. “With them, we stillhave some chance of success, however small. Without them, I see nohope. I am willing to give Lord Walder whatever herequires ... apologies, honors, lands, gold ... there must be somethingthat would soothe his pride ...”“Not something,” said Catelyn. “Someone.”

“The next battle,” Robb said. “Well, that will be soon enough.Once Jorey is wed, the Lannisters will take the eld against meonce more, I don’t doubt, and this time the Tyrells will march besidethem. And I may need to ght the Freys as well, if Black Walder hashis way ...”“So long as Theon Greyjoy sits in your father’s seat with yourbrothers’ blood on his hands, these other foes must wait,” Catelyntold her son. “Your rst duty is to defend your own people, winback Winterfell, and hang Theon in a crow’s cage to die slowly. Orelse put o that crown for good, Robb, for men will know that youare no true king at all.”

If you had to fallinto a woman’s arms, my son, why couldn’t they have been MargaeryTyrell’s?

I used to think the same as you, that the wolves were ourguardians, our protectors, until ...”“Until?” she prompted.Robb’s mouth tightened. “....until they told me that Theon hadmurdered Bran and Rickon. Small good their wolves did them.

I used to think the same as you, that the wolves were ourguardians, our protectors, until ...”“Until?” she prompted.Robb’s mouth tightened. “....until they told me that Theon hadmurdered Bran and Rickon. Small good their wolves did them.

And there’s the heart of it, Catelyn thought. “He is part of you,Robb. To fear him is to fear you.”“I am not a wolf, no matter what they call me.” Robb soundedcross. “Grey Wind killed a man at the Crag, another at Ashemark,and six or seven at Oxcross. If you had seen—”“I saw Bran’s wolf tear out a man’s throat at Winterfell,” she saidsharply, “and loved him for it.”“That’s dierent. The man at the Crag was a knight Jeyne hadknown all her life. You can’t blame her for being afraid. Grey Winddoesn’t like her uncle either. He bares his teeth every time Ser Rolphcomes near him.”A chill went through her. “Send Ser Rolph away. At once.”

and there was another Jeyne Westerling who was queen to KingMaegor three hundred years ago.”

“I know,” her son said, stricken. “I’ve made a botch of everythingbut the battles, haven’t I? I thought the battles would be the hardpart, but ... if I had listened to you and kept Theon as my hostage,I’d still rule the north, and Bran and Rickon would be alive and safein Winterfell.”

Jeyne had me taken to her own bed, and she nursed meuntil the fever passed. And she was with me when the Greatjonbrought me the news of ... of Winterfell. Bran and Rickon.” Heseemed to have trouble saying his brothers’ names. “That night,she ... she comforted me, Mother.”Catelyn did not need to be told what sort of comfort JeyneWesterling had oered her son. “And you wed her the next day.”He looked her in the eyes, proud and miserable all at once. “Itwas the only honorable thing to do. She’s gentle and sweet, Mother,

It is swords you need, not gentle hearts. How could you do this, Robb?How could you be so heedless, so stupid? How could you be so ... sovery ... young.

“That would be best.” Robb kissed his Jeyne. “The steward willnd you suitable accommodations.”

Jeyne Westerling. Lord Gawen’s elder daughter, and my ... ah ... mylady wife.”The rst thought that ew across Catelyn’s mind was, No, thatcannot be, you are only a child.The second was, And besides, you have pledged another.The third was, Mother have mercy, Robb, what have you done?Only then came her belated remembrance. Follies done for love? Hehas bagged me neat as a hare in a snare. I seem to have already forgivenhim.

“The honor is mine,” Catelyn said. Can Robb have won the Crag’sallegiance? If so, it was no wonder the Westerlings were with him.Casterly Rock did not suer such betrayals gently. Not since TywinLannister had been old enough to go to war ...

Lady Mormont tookher hand and said, “My lady, if Cersei Lannister held two of mydaughters, I would have done the same.” The Greatjon, no respecterof proprieties, lifted her o her feet and squeezed her arms with his

Thewolf. The wolf is not here. Where is Grey Wind? She knew the direwolfhad returned with Robb, she had heard the dogs, but he was not inthe hall, not at her son’s side where he belonged.

“I have. I know what it is to love so greatly you can think ofnothing else.”Catelyn bowed her head. “Thank you.” I have not lost this child, atleast.

“Enough.” For just an instant Robb sounded more like Brandonthan his father. “No man calls my lady of Winterfell a traitor in myhearing, Lord Rickard.” When he turned to Catelyn, his voicesoftened. “If I could wish the Kingslayer back in chains I would. Youfreed him without my knowledge or consent ... but what you did, Iknow you did for love. For Arya and Sansa, and out of grief for Branand Rickon. Love’s not always wise, I’ve learned. It can lead us togreat folly, but we follow our hearts ... wherever they take us. Don’twe, Mother?”

“It was a mother’s folly. Women are madethat way.”

He leapt o thedais and pulled Catelyn into his arms. When he said, “It is good tosee you home, Cat,” she had to struggle to keep her composure.“And you,” she whispered.

If Robb looks at me as Edmure did, I do notknow what I will do. But it seemed to her that it was not anger shesaw in her son’s eyes, but something else ... apprehension, perhaps?No, that made no sense. What should he fear? He was the YoungWolf, King of the Trident and the North.

He is sixteen now, a man grown. Just look at him. War hadmelted all the softness from his face and left him hard and lean. Hehad shaved his beard away, but his auburn hair fell uncut to hisshoulders.

One of Robb’s white banners lay on the ground, andone of the knights turned his horse and trampled over the direwolfas he spurred toward the gate. Several others did the same. Thoseare men who fought with Edmure on the fords, she thought. What couldhave made them so angry? Has my brother slighted them somehow, giventhem some insult? She thought she recognized Ser Perwyn Frey,

His eyes went wide, “Gods be good,” he said in a choked voice.“Arya Underfoot? Lem, let go of her.”“She broke my nose.” Lem dumped her unceremoniously to theoor. “Who in seven hells is she supposed to be?”“The Hand’s daughter.” Harwin went to one knee before her.“Arya Stark, of Winterfell.”

For a moment she did not know how to answer. She’d had somany names. Had she only dreamed Arya Stark? “I’m a girl,” shesnied. “I was Lord Bolton’s cupbearer but he was going to leave me

A moment later a man came swaggeringthrough the open door, a Tyroshi even bigger than Lem with a greatthick beard, bright green at the ends but growing out grey.

“There’s no cause for spilling good ale onmy oor,” said Sharna. “Sit back down and calm yourself, boy,there’s rabbit coming. You too, girl. Whatever harm’s been doneyou, it’s over and it’s done and you’re with king’s men now. We’llkeep you safe as best we can.”

“Three golden dragons. We need to buy those horses.”

Anyways, you lot were supposed to get them back.”

“We were thinking we might eat it,Sharna. With lemons. If you had some.”“Lemons. And where would we get lemons? Does this look likeDorne to you

“A bear there was, a bear, a bear!All black and brown, and covered with hair ...”

“Sharna’s husband, and an orphan boy they took in. They won’tharm you. There’s ale, if you think you’re old enough. Fresh bread

Escaped from Lord Bolton’s kitchen, did you?”“How did you know?” Arya demanded, uneasy.“You bear his sigil on your chest, little one.”

“Squab, if you want,” she said. “I don’t care.”

s and a hundreddoves baked into a great pie,” Shae gushed. “When the crust’sopened, they’ll all burst out and y.”“After which they will roost in the rafters and rain down birdshiton the guests.” Tyrion had suered such wedding pies before. Thedoves liked to shit on him especially, or so he had always suspected.

Lollys won’t go. I toldher no one’s like to rape her in the king’s own throne room, butshe’s so stupid.”

“My lord.” A woman sidled into the light; plump, soft, matronly,with a round pink moon of a face and heavy dark curls. Tyrionrecoiled. “Is something amiss?” she asked.Varys, he realized with annoyance. “For one horrid moment Ithought you’d brought me Lollys instead of Shae. Where is she?”“Here, m’lord.” She put her hands over his eyes from behind.“Can you guess what I’m wearing?”“Nothing?”“Oh, you’re so smart,” she pouted, snatching her hands away.“How did you know?”“You’re very beautiful in nothing.”“Am I?” she said. “Am I truly?”“Oh yes.”“Then shouldn’t you be fucking me instead of talking?”“We need to rid ourselves of Lady Varys rst. I am not the sort ofdwarf who likes an audience.”“He’s gone,” Shae said.Tyrion turned to look. It was true. The eunuch had vanished,skirts and all. The hidden doors are here somewhere, they have to be.That was as much as he had time to think, before Shae turned his

I had my ownlove once, and we had a song as well.” I loved a maid as fair assummer, with sunlight in her hair.

“Prince Aemon the Dragonknight took his vows at seventeen,” SerLoras said, “and your brother Jaime was younger still.”“I know their reasons. What are yours? T

It was strange to see the Knight of Flowers all in whitewhen before he had always been as colorful as a rainbow

It’s even worse than I feared. “And my father? Who does he havespying on me?”This time the eunuch laughed aloud. “Why, me, my lord.”

“And the second Aegon fed GrandMaester Gerardys to his dragon.”

“My lord Tyrion,” came out in a squeak,punctuated by a nervous giggle.