34. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 887-913

The Dragontamer

While Barristan is attempting his overthrow of Hizdahr, Quentyn Martell is working on something even more risky. Unable to sleep, he pours himself a cup of wine and lights a candle. And then he holds his hand in the candle flame. When he withdraws it with a yelp, Gerris Drinkwater appears, astonished at what the prince is up to. He suggests finding a whore might be a more pleasant solution to Quentyn's restlessness.

But Quentyn's mind is on Daenerys and his determination to marry her even though, as Drinkwater reminds him, she is already married. Drinkwater tries to discourage him from further pursuit of the queen, but Quentyn has his mind made up: He believes that she is still alive, and thinks he knows the way to find her. He wants to take one of the remaining dragons and ride out on it in search of her.

Drinkwater protests this mad idea, but Quentyn is adamant: "You have my leave to go. Find a ship and run home, Gerris." But when the hour of the wolf arrives, the three Dornishmen are preparing to attempt this plan. Archibald Yronwood frets that the dragons won't like the rain, and Gerris is gloomy, but Quentyn will not be denied. They put on their disguises: The outfits of the Brazen Beasts, a bull, a lion, and an ape. Yronwood chooses the bull, Quentyn naturally picks the lion, and Gerris is stuck with the ape. The Tattered Prince has helped them obtain the costumes, as well as the Beasts' password: dog.

The main gates are guarded by Brazen Beasts with the masks of a rat and a fox, but they yield their posts at the password. Hurriedly, because the real relief to the guards will probably show at any moment, they open the doors and bring in a wagon that they have hidden in a nearby alley. They are joined by other members of the Windblown, all except Pretty Meris disguised as Brazen Beasts. She tells them that the Tattered Prince is nearby with fifty men, waiting for them to bring out the dragon.

They descend into the pyramid and finally reach the iron doors of the dragons' pit. Four Brazen Beasts guard it. One wears a basilisk mask, but the other three are locusts -- the masks of Barristan's conspirators. When Quentyn utters the password, "dog," the reaction makes him realize that something has gone wrong. "Take them," he orders, and Yronwood swiftly kills the basilisk and Gerris intervenes to keep one of the locusts from killing Quentyn. The other sellswords come running and finish off the rest of the locusts.

Quentyn is still wondering why the password doesn't work when Pretty Meris tells him to get a move on. Yronwood shatters the lock on the doors with his warhammer, and pulls them open. Quentyn orders the cart brought forward: It contains a quartered ox and two sheep to feed the dragons. Gerris hands him a torch and Quentyn steps into the darkness.

The green one is Rhaegal, the white Viserion, he reminded himself. Use their names, command them, speak to them calmly but sternly. Master them, as Daenerys mastered Drogon in the pit. The girl had been alone, clad in wisps of silk, but fearless. I must not be afraid. She did it, so can I. The main thing was to show no fear. Animals can smell fear, and dragons.... What did he know of dragons? What does any man know of dragons? They have been gone from the world for more than a century. 

The air grows warmer as he enters the pit. He sees two glowing eyes, then dark green scales. The dragon's long neck uncoils until it is looking down on him. Quentyn croaks out the dragon's name, "Rhaegal," and calls for the food to be brought forward. Yronwood flings one of the sheep into the pit and the dragon snaps it up in midair.

Yronwood asks where the other one is, and Quentyn remembers that Viserion had been hanging from the ceiling when he visited with Daenerys. He shines the torch around and discovers that the dragon has hollowed out a cave in the masonry of the walls. As Viserion wakes and stretches and extends his wings, Quentyn calls for more meat. The plan had been to feed the dragons and then, when they are torpid after their meal, to chain them. But Drinkwater grabs Quentyn and tells him the plan won't work: "They are too wild, they...."

The dragon lands between them and the door. It stares at Pretty Meris, and Quentyn realizes it recognizes her as female. "He is looking for Daenerys. He wants his mother and does not understand why she's not here." Quentyn calls out the dragon's name, Viserion, and reaches for the whip at his belt, remembering that Daenerys had controlled Drogon with a whip. The dragon looks at him for a moment, but then turns away and heads for the door.

One of the Windblown fires a crossbow, causing Quentyn to protest, but too late. Viserion seizes the man by the neck and breathes fire, burning him while biting off a chunk of the man's throat. The Windblown pull back. The dragon looks at them for a moment and then returns to the corpse, tearing off a leg.

Quentyn calls out "VISERION!" and cracks the whip. The dragon raises his head and looks at him. Then there is a blast of hot wind, the sound of wings, Drinkwater calling his name and Yronwood shouting, "Behind you, behind you, behind you!"

When he raised his whip, he saw that the lash was burning. His hand as well. All of him, all of him was burning. 

Oh, he thought. Then he began to scream.

Jon

Queen Selyse has announced her firm opposition to rescuing the wildlings at Hardhome, but Jon is determined to defy her, even if it means he has to lead a rescue mission himself. This is fine with her: "Afterward some bard will make a stirring song about you, no doubt, and we shall have a more prudent lord commander." And now she introduces Gerrick Kingsblood, whom she calls "Gerrick of House Redbeard, ... King of the Wildlings." Jon knows that this is a royal line of her own devising, that although she claims Gerrick is "descended in an unbroken male line from their great king Raymun Redbeard," among the wildlings "that counted about as much as being descended from Raymun Redbeard's horse." But Selyse has devised a royal lineage so she can marry Ser Axell Florent to Gerrick's eldest daughter, and his other two to her knights.

Jon goes along with this charade until she announces that she intends for Val to "wed my good and leal knight, Ser Patrek of King's Mountain." Jon points out that this is not the way it usually works among the free folk, where a man usually steals the woman of his choosing from her kinfolk, risking "a savage beating if he is caught by the woman's kin, and worse than that if she herself finds him unworthy." Ser Axell sniffs, "A savage custom," and Selyse orders Jon to send Val to her for instruction "in the duties of a noble lady toward her lord husband."

Jon knows that this will not end well, but his efforts to tell Selyse that are squelched, and he withdraws. As he is leaving the queen's tower, Melisandre calls out to him. She asks where Ghost is, and he tells her that the wolf is not allowed to accompany him to meetings with the queen and that since the arrival of Borroq with his boar, he has not been able to let Ghost roam freely. She tells him that the attempt to rescue the people at Hardhome is doomed: She has seen it in her fires, that all of the ships are lost. He tells her he has reasons to doubt her visions:

"A grey girl on a dying horse. Daggers in the dark. A promised prince, born in smoke and salt. It seems to me that you make nothing but mistakes, my lady. Where is Stannis? What of Rattleshirt and his spearwives? Where is my sister?"

But Melisandre insists that his questions will be answered, and in the meantime, "I am you only hope." 

He still intends to lead a rescue party despite Selyse's determination not to help, and speaks with Leathers about gathering the men in the Shieldhall before the evening watch. When he reaches the armory, he finds two of his men on guard outside. When he asks why they are standing in the cold, they tell him that Ghost doesn't want them inside, and Mully says the wolf tried to bite him. "I never seen him like this, m'lord. All wild-like, I mean.

Inside, Jon finds Ghost pacing restlessly, and when he tries to calm him, "the wolf bristled and bared his teeth." Jon blames it on the boar. But Mormont's raven is upset, too, and keeps calling out, "Snow, snow, snow." Jon has Satin light a fire and sends him for Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck. When they arrive, Yarwyck complains that he doesn't have enough builders to continue the work on the castles in the snowstorm that seems to be arriving. Jon suggests using wildlings, but Yarwyck grumbles about their unreliability. Jon is tired of the complaints of the steward and the builder about the free folk, and insists that it has to be done. Marsh of course sides with the queen on helping the people at Hardhome, and suggests sending all of the wildlings: "The more we lose, the fewer mouths we'll have to feed."

Jon thanks them and walks out with them, thinking,

My brothers. The Night's Watch needed leaders with the wisdom of Maester Aemon, the learning of Samwell Tarly, the courage of Qhorin Halfhand, the stubborn strength of the Old Bear, the compassion of Donal Noye. What it had instead was them.

The drifts have piled up against the Wall, covering the ice cells. Jon has them dug out, and sends Cregan Karstark to a new cell under the Lord Commander's Tower. There are two corpses in the cells, but he decides to leave them there, intending to study them before burning them. Tormund Giantsbane arrives with fifty men, not the eighty that had been promised. He mocks the new King of the Wildlings. Jon starts to talk to him about what to say to the men when they meet at the Shieldhall, but he is interrupted by Clydas, who has received a letter.

Clydas is trembling as he delivers the letter, which is from Ramsay Bolton. It is addressed simply to "Bastard." It claims that Stannis is dead and that Ramsay possesses "his magic sword." He says he has captured Mance Rayder and "made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell." Rayder came there, he says, "to steal my bride from me."

I want my bride back. I want the false king's queen. I want his daughter and the red witch. I want his wildling princess. I want his little prince, the wildling babe. And I want my Reek. Send them to me, bastard, and I will not trouble you or your black crows. Keep them from me, and I will cut out your bastard's heart and eat it.

Jon reads it to Tormund, who is confused by the reference to Rayder, whom he thinks dead. Jon doesn't reveal the truth about Melisandre's trick of substituting Rattleshirt for Mance. Tormund thinks Ramsay is lying, but Jon recognizes that it reveals Ramsay's knowledge of the sword Lightbringer and the number of spearwives who accompanied Mance. He tells Tormund that they need to change their plans.

When the time comes for the meeting at the Shieldhall, he shuts Ghost inside because he is afraid that Borroq will be at that gathering. The crowd there is made up of five times as many wildlings as members  of the Watch. Marsh and Yarwyck are there, as is Borroq, though without his boar. Two of Selyse's knights, Ser Narbert and Ser Benethon are there too. Melisandre enters the hall as Jon tells the crowd that he needs to send the rescue mission by land, but that he will not be leading it, Tormund Giantsbane will. Borroq asks if Jon will be "Hiding here in Castle Black with your white dog," and Jon replies that he is riding south. When he reads them the letter from Ramsay, the hall goes wild. Tormund has to sound his horn to restore order.

"The Night's Watch takes no part in the wars of the Seven Kingdoms," he reminds them. But he intends to make Ramsay -- "This creature who makes cloaks from the skins of women" -- answer for what he has done. He won't ask any of his brothers to break their vows, but he will ride alone unless there are those who will come with him. A roar fills the hall. "I have my swords, thought Jon Snow, and we are coming for you, Bastard." He sees Marsh and Yarwyck and their men leave the hall, but is unconcerned: "No man can ever say I made my brothers break their vows. If this is oathbreaking, the crime is mine and mine alone."

He leaves the meeting with his guards, Horse and Rory, but they hear a terrifying scream from the direction of Hardin's Tower. There they find the giant, Wun Wun, holding a bloody corpse by one leg and swinging it against the walls of the tower. The giant has sword cuts on his belly and his arm. "The dead man was Ser Patrek of King's Mountain; his head was largely gone, but his heraldry was as distinctive as his face." Jon tells Leathers, who speaks the Old Tongue, to try to calm the giant, and tells the men who are gathering at the scene to put away their weapons for fear they'll agitate the giant even more.

Then he sees the flash of a blade in the hands of Wick Whittlestick, and realizes that it is aimed at him. He dodges the blow, which grazes his skin, and asks Wick why he is attacking him. "For the Watch," Wick says. Jon grabs his arm as he strikes again, and Wick drops the dagger. Jon reaches for Longclaw but is unable to get the sword free as Bowen Marsh appears, saying, "For the Watch," and stabs Jon in the belly. "When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold...."
 

29. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 769-792

Jon

Jon has a nightmare in which he is fighting not only wildlings but also dead men of the Night's Watch such as Donal Noye and Qhorin Halfhand. He wakes to find Mormont's raven pecking at him and screeching "Snow," and is soon full of misgivings about the treaty he has made with Tormund. As he dresses, he notices something odd: The raven is muttering his full name, "Snow, Jon Snow, Jon Snow." He can't remember its ever doing that before.

At breakfast Bowen Marsh assures him they are ready to receive the wildlings, and Jon reiterates his concern that all go well: "If blood should be shed today, it had best not be one of us who strikes the first blow, or I swear by the old gods and the new that I will have the head of the man who strikes it." He prepares his men to receive Tormund's hordes and gives the order to open the gate.

He goes to meet Tormund, who tells Jon he wants his people to see him: "a long-faced lad in an old black cloak. They need to learn that the Night's Watch is naught t'be feared." In reply, Jon whistles for Ghost, who bounds out of the gate and causes Tormund's horse to shy. Calling Jon "a black-hearted bastard," Tormund sounds the horn for his people to begin their journey through the Wall.

It lasts all day, beginning with the hostages, a hundred boys aged eight to sixteen. Tormund identifies some of them, including the son of Varamyr Sixskins, the skinchanger, whom Tormund believes to be dead. Two of them turn out to be girls, and Jon asks for replacements. Tormund gives Jon his own son, Dryn, and Jon says he'll make him his page. Next come the warriors, including some spearwives who remind Jon of Ygritte. Some pause to pledge themselves to Jon, and they all discard their treasures into the carts that have been prepared for them.

About midday a cart becomes wedged in the tunnel through the Wall, and a fight nearly starts over the best way to move it. Tormund says he wishes he had the Horn of Joramun to take down the Wall, and Jon tells him Melisandre burned it. Tormund claims that it wasn't really Joramun's, but just a big horn they found in a giant's grave. Jon wonders if Mance had lied to him about the horn, or if Tormund is lying now: "If Mance's horn was just a feint, where is the true horn?"

The skies begin to cloud in the afternoon, threatening snow, and the crowd moving through the Wall begins to hurry. As they wait, Jon asks Tormund to tell him about the Others. Tormund is reluctant: "They're never far, you know." They had never attacked his people in force, but he lost many outriders to them. He had lost his own son, Torwynd, to them. John murmurs, "I know," but Tormund replies,

"You know nothing. You killed a dead man, aye, I heard. Mance killed a hundred. A man can fight the dead, but when their masters come, when the white mists rise up ... how do you fight a mist, crow? Shadows with teeth ... air so cold it hurts to breathe, like a knife inside your chest ... you do not know, you cannot know ... can your sword cut cold?"

Jon remembers what Sam had found in the books about dragonsteel, and tells Tormund, "I do not know. And if the gods are good, I never will."

As night comes on, the crowd grows more impatient to make it through the Wall, and Jon recognizes the fear driving them: "Warriors, spearwives, raiders, they are frightened of those woods, of shadows moving through the trees. They want to put the Wall between them before the night descends." Smoke begins to rise from where Tormund's son, Toregg, has been burning the corpses of the wildlings who were found dead in the camp.

Finally, Tormund's rear guard of a dozen warriors appears. In its midst is an enormous boar, twice as big as Ghost. With it is a man Tormund calls Borroq, then spits. Jon realizes instantly that Borroq is a skinchanger. Ghost takes the scent of the boar and bristles and bares his teeth. Jon tells the wolf to stay, but Tormund advises him to keep Ghost locked up that night, and he will tell Borroq to do the same with the boar.

Tormund goes ahead through the Wall, leaving Jon and his guard. Jon tells Borroq to go through because they are about to close the gate. Borroq replies, "You close it good and tight. They're coming, crow." And he and the boar enter the tunnel. When Jon reaches the other side of the wall, Bowen Marsh is waiting with a tally: "Three thousand one hundred and nineteen wildlings passed through the gate today."

Clydas brings Jon a message from Cotter Pyke, who has reached Hardhome with six ships, the others having been lost to storms. "Very bad here. Wildlings eating their own dead. Dead things in the woods." Jon readies himself for the worst.

The Discarded Knight

Hizdahr is holding court, and Barristan is present, still wearing his sword though he has been dismissed as one of the king's guards. He notes to himself how many of Daenerys's followers are missing: Missandei, Strong Belwas, Grey Worm, Aggo, Jhogo, Rakharo, Irri, Jhiqui, and Daario Naharis. Skahaz the Shavepate has been replaced as commander of the Brazen Beasts by the king's cousin, Marghaz, though Barristan wonders if Skahaz is there behind the mask of one of the Brazen Beasts.

The court begins in disorder, with people complaining loudly about the damage done to their person and property and kin by the dragon. There are cries demanding to know what has happened to Daenerys. Reznak mo Reznak struggles to keep order. Barristan tunes out of what is being said and scans the crowd, discovering Quentyn Martell and his companions at the back of the hall. He thinks, "They should not have come. Martell does not realize his danger. Daenerys was his only friend at this court, and she is gone." He feels sorry for the Dornish prince, who is certainly not the romantic figure of Daenerys's dreams: "She wants fire, and Dorne sent her mud."

And then a thought occurs to Barristan: Quentyn Martell grew up in the courts of Dorne, well known for intrigue and poisonings, and is a relative of the Red Viper. Is it possible that the poisoned locusts were meant for Hizdahr, and not Daenerys? Could Quentyn had arranged for them to be delivered to eliminate his rival for Daenerys's hand? If Hizdahr had died, the peace would have ended, and Daenerys might have found it advisable to accept Quentyn as her consort and return to Westeros with him.

A delegation of Yunkishmen arrives, accompanied by the sellsword Bloodbeard, who carries a leather satchel. He pulls a severed head from it and tosses it at Reznak, who squeals and dodges. The head is that of Daenerys's admiral, Groleo. Barristan is dismayed: "Groleo was a good man. He did not deserve this end. All he ever wanted was to go home." One of the Yunkish delegation explains: There had been seven signatories to the peace treaty, and seven hostages tendered for their safety. Yurkhaz zo Yunzak had died, so Groleo's head had been taken in response.

Barristan speaks up to remind Hizdahr that Yurkhaz had been trampled to death by his own slaves fleeing from the dragon. Hizdahr seems to agree, calling Groleo's death a "breach of our peace." The Yunkish agree in turn to release three of the Meereenese hostages and to deliver Groleo's body for a proper sea burial. But the other three hostages, he says, will remain until the dragons are destroyed. "No peace is possible whilst they live." Reznak replies that the dragons are Daenerys's and cannot be destroyed without her authority, but Bloodbeard asserts that she is dead, which causes a roar of protest from the Meereenese crowd. Hizdahr says he needs to speak with his council, putting an end to the court and the uproar.

As the hall clears, Barristan approaches Quentyn and suggests that it would be wise if he didn't return to his chambers but left the city as quickly as possible. He had seen Hizdahr frown when he noticed the Dornishmen in the hall. Gerris Drinkwater laughs and asks why they should be frightened of Hizdahr, who had "quailed before the Yunkishmen." Quentyn is inclined to agree, admitting that Daenerys had also warned him, but insisting that the documented marriage pact still gives him some claim to her hand. Barristan mocks the pact as having been "made by two dead men." It envisioned Quentyn's sister marrying Daenerys's brother Viserys and has no relevance in this case. "I have no wish to salt your wounds," Barristan says to him, "but Her Grace has a new husband and an old paramour, and seems to prefer the both of them to you."

Quentyn shows his anger, but Barristan continues, telling him about the poisoned locusts. Quentyn is shocked by the news. Barristan then points out that if Hizdahr had planned the poison for Daenerys then "he will need a scapegoat" to explain it away: "Who better than a rival from a distant land who has no friends at this court? Who better than a suitor the queen spurned?" He points out that Quentyn's uncle was the Red Viper and that Quentyn has a reason to want Hizdahr dead.

Gerris Drinkwater suggests that Daario Naharis might also be considered a suspect, but Barristan points out that Daario wasn't there, having been sent as a hostage. Besides, Hizdahr needs Daario's Stormcrows, whom he would lose if he seized their captain as a poisoner. So he advises Quentyn to lie low, or even better to take the first ship to Volantis.

26. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 687-716

Daenerys

Irri, Jhiqui, and Missandei help Daenerys get ready for the reopening of the fighting pits. Ser Barristan waits for them at the palanquin, which will be guarded by Brazen Beasts, the guards who wear bronze masks of various animals. Barristan voices his uneasiness about the guards, wishing that she were attended by Unsullied instead, who are more trustworthy. But Daenerys feels she needs to make an example by placing her trust in these men.

Barristan also tells her that the sellsword army known as the Windblown are willing to come over to her side, but their leader, the Tattered Prince, wants Pentos as his reward. Pentos is not hers to give, she replies, and in any case she owes an obligation to Magister Illyrio whose home is there. He arranged her marriage to Khal Drogo, presented her the dragon eggs, and even sent Barristan, Belwas, and her admiral, Groleo, to her. "I will not repay that debt by giving his city to some sellsword."

She takes her place on the palanquin beside Hizdahr and they are borne to Daznak's Pit as the crowds cheer their procession. Strong Belwas walks ahead of the palanquin and Barristan rides beside it. Behind them, farther back, are Quentyn Martell and his companions. Suddenly the procession halts: One of the bearers of a palanquin has collapsed and is blocking the way. Daenerys orders him revived and given food and water, but Barristan suspects a trap. Hizdahr assures him that their enemies, the Sons of the Harpy, have been quieted.

They reach the pit and descend to their ringside seats. Peddlers are everywhere, selling food, but Hizdahr has taken charge of their refreshments, which include a bowl of honeyed locusts. These are a particular favorite of Strong Belwas, who begins eating them by the handful. Hizdahr urges her to try some: "They are rolled in spice before the honey, so they are sweet and hot at once," but Daenerys decides to have some figs and dates instead.

Hizdahr rises and addresses the crowd, urging them to show their love for Daenerys. They respond with a chant of "Mhysa, Mhysa, Mhysa," the word for "Mother." She is embarrassed by the adulation, but acknowledges it, then takes her seat. They are in the shade, but the day is very hot, and she calls on Jhiqui to bring her some water.

The first fight ends with one man cutting out the heart of his victim and taking a bite out of it, reminding Daenerys of how she once ate a stallion's heart when she was pregnant. It had not prevented her losing the child to Mirri Maz Duur's treachery. She remembers the prophecy of three treasons: "She was the first, Jorah the second, Brown Ben Plumm the third. Was she done with betrayals?"

When the crowd screams its approval of another kill, Strong Belwas proclaims it "Bad fighting, good dying." He has finished off the honeyed locusts. Daenerys has forbidden contests between children, but she is upset when a sixteen-year-old boy is killed. She wishes she had forbidden contests of women, too, but the women fighters had insisted on showing that they could fight as well as men. She also wanted to ban the "comic combats where cripples, dwarfs, and crones had at one another with cleavers, torches, and hammers," but Hizdahr had persuaded her that people enjoy these too much and "that without such frolics, the cripples, dwarfs, and crones would starve." There are battles between animals as well, and Hizdahr assures her that the meat is used to make a stew for the poor.

The first comic battle of the day features a pair of dwarfs, one riding a dog, the other a pig. Daenerys tries to look amused at their combat, but then Hizdahr assures her it will get better when they loose the lions on the dwarfs. Startled, she asks how they are supposed to fight lions with wooden swords. Hizdahr replies, "Badly," and explains that the dwarfs aren't expecting it. "I forbid it," Daenerys says.

"You swore to me that the fighters would be grown men who had freely consented to risk their lives for gold and honor. These dwarfs did not consent to battle lions with wooden swords. You will stop it. Now."

Reluctantly, Hizdahr calls the pitmaster over and says, "No lions." The crowd is not pleased when the dwarfs are allowed to leave, so Hizdahr has Barsena Blackhair, a woman fighter, brought on, which brings cheers from the crowd. She fights a boar, but loses, and the smell as the boar rips into Barsena's entrails nauseates Daenerys. She asks Barristan to take her home. Hizdahr pleads with her to stay, and suddenly Strong Belwas is looking ill, too. He says he ate too many locusts, and calls for milk.

Then a shadow passes across the scene, and everyone looks at the sky. It is Drogon, who descends on the pit and roasts the boar with a blast of flame. Then he lands and begins to eat both the boar and Barsena. The crowd begins to panic and leave, climbing out of the arena, though many others remain seated. Then a man with a spear runs into the arena and jumps onto Drogon's back, driving the spear into the dragon's neck. "Dany and Drogon screamed as one." The dragon shakes off the man and tears his arm from the shoulder, as Hizdahr calls out for the other spearmen to attack.


Barristan grabs Daenerys and urges her to look away from what is happening. Instead, she twists away from him, leaps into the pit, and runs toward Drogon. The dragon is making short work of the spearmen as Daenerys calls out his name. He snaps at her, barely missing her, and she falls over the body of the pitmaster. Drogon roars at her and she feels the intense heat of his breath. She hears Ser Barristan nearby, calling out, trying to distract the dragon.


She grasps the pitmaster's whip, and telling herself not to show fear, lashes out at Drogon, screaming "No!" He hisses fire at her again, but she ducks. Then he folds his wings and stretches out on his belly. She jumps onto the dragon's back and wrenches out the spear that is still stuck in him. Then he unfolds his wings and starts to fly, as she urges him to go higher.


Jon


Tormund Giantsbane and Jon Snow negotiate, with a lot of cursing and bellowing on Tormund's part, and a lot of quiet persistence on Jon's. In the end, quiet persistence wins out and Tormund says, "Done then, and may the gods forgive me," then sticks out his hand for a bone-crushing handshake. In three days' time Tormund and his followers are to join the other wildlings on the south side of the Wall.


When they go outside, Jon whistles for Ghost, who appears with Val beside him. Jon tells her that he has prepared a room for her in Hardin's Tower, since Queen Selyse has taken over her old rooms in the King's Tower. She will have the giant Wun Wun as a protector, since he sleeps in the entry hall. As they pass among Tormund's people, he notices signs of illness and starvation, which only arouses his concern about what has happened to the people who went to Hardhome with Mother Mole.


He tells Val that he now has to sell the terms of his agreement with Tormund to his own people, starting with Selyse. She suggests that she come with him, and he agrees, warning her that she will have to kneel and show seriousness when they go before the queen. She says she will behave, and when they are shown into Selyse's chamber, she kneels alongside Jon. He informs the queen that they have come to terms with Tormund and that his people, about four thousand of them, plus two hundred giants and eighty mammoths, will be relocating south of the Wall.


Selyse says that they "must first acknowledge Stannis as their king and R'hllor as their god," but Jon tells her that those terms were not included in the agreement, which the queen responds to frostily. When she says they must be made to do so, Val informs her that not only do the free folk not kneel, but that they will rebel if forced to do so. Selyse replies, "You are insolent. I suppose that is only to be expected of a wildling. We must find you a husband who can teach you courtesy." Jon says he is sorry that his negotiations displease her, and asks her leave to go, which she grants.


Outside, Val observes that Princess Shireen, who had been in the room when they first arrived is afflicted with what the wildlings call the "grey death." Jon replies that greyscale is not fatal when contracted in childhood, but Val insists, "The grey death sleeps, only to wake again. The child is not clean!" She wants Dalla's child, whom she refers to as "the monster," removed from the tower. Jon says he'll try to arrange it and she persists, "Do. You owe me a debt, Jon Snow."


When she has gone, Jon rides in the winch cage to the top of the Wall. He is joined there by Flint, Norrey, Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck, and Septon Cellador, who is drunk as usual. He tells them of the agreement and gets the usual objections, many of them centering on the Weeper, the wildling who had killed many of the men of the Watch. Jon reminds them that if the Weeper takes the black, his crimes must be forgiven, and that he is well acquainted with their common enemy, the Others. He tells them that they will be housed in the Watch's abandoned castles along the Wall. He doesn't tell them about the arrangement he has made with the Iron Bank for funds, but says that the agreement includes the surrendering of all wealth possessed by the wildlings.


Still, they are unconvinced that the words of "godless savages," as Cellador puts it, can be trusted. Jon tells them that he has insisted on hostages, a hundred boys ages eight through sixteen, including the sons of chiefs and captains. And he reminds him that he is Eddard Stark's son, who knows the ways of northmen and wildlings. But Bowen Marsh speaks up:

"The lord commander must pardon my bluntness, but I have no softer way to say this. What you propose is nothing less than treason. For eight thousand years the men of the Night's Watch have stood upon the Wall and fought these wildlings. Now you mean to let them pass, to shelter them in our castles, to feed them and clothe them and teach them how to fight. Lord Snow, must I remind you?  You swore an oath." 

Jon needs no reminding, and he repeats the oath verbatim. The wildlings are men, he says, and they swore to guard "the realms of men." Marsh starts to reply, but remains silent as Jon turns away. Then Jon reminds them that winter is coming and with it the white walkers. They must be stopped at the Wall, and he has done what he can do to try to stop them. He gives them orders for handling the influx of wildlings and they agree, but he remembers Melisandre's words: "'Ice,' she said, 'and daggers in the dark. Blood frozen red and hard, and naked steel.'"

19. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 500-523

The Watcher

Ser Balon Swann has brought the chest containing Gregor Clegane's head to Sunspear, where Doran Martell, Arianne, Ellaria and three of the Sand Snakes are all gathered for the opening. Areo Hotah is watching, his longaxe at the ready for potential trouble. The enormous skull is removed and placed on top of a marble column.

The deed done, Doran lets his seneschal propose a toast to King Tommen, and a feast follows. Hotah keeps his eye on Balon Swann and those he had brought with him from King's Landing. He realizes that they know something is wrong, since neither Ser Arys Oakheart nor Princess Myrcella is present at the feast. They don't know yet that Ser Arys is dead and Myrcella seriously disfigured as a result of Arianne's plot to make her queen.

Cersei has sent a letter, suggesting that Myrcella return to King's Landing for a visit and that Doran take a seat on the small council as a representative of Dorne. Doran postpones discussion of these matters until tomorrow, when they will travel to the Water Gardens, where Myrcella is staying. Doran mentions, in talking of the Water Gardens, that they had been built by one of his ancestors "to please his Targaryen bride," whose name was Daenerys. Then he says he is tired and would like to go to bed, and asks Obara Sand to help him.

As Obara pushes his wheeled chair she asks if Doran really means to send Myrcella and her betrothed, Prince Trystane, to King's Landing. "Do that, and we will never see the girl again, and your son will spend his life a hostage to the Iron Throne." He assures her that he has no intention of doing that. Maester Caleotte has followed them, carrying Ser Gregor's skull, and when they reach Doran's solar, Obara takes it ansks, "What did the Mountain look like? How do we know this is him?" Her sister, Nym, points out that Clegane was eight feet tall, and Cersei would be a fool to have faked his death. Doran agrees that the skull is large enough and that Prince Oberyn is known to have wounded Clegane so badly that his slow, agonizing death is likely. Her other sister, Tyene, agrees, saying that she knows which poison Oberyn used, and that if he even broke the skin, Clegane is dead.

Ellaria points out that all of the people who were involved in the death of Elia and her children are now dead. Oberyn's quest for vengeance for their deaths is over, and she doesn't want further vengeance for Oberyn's death. Obara, however, speaks of the chaos in Westeros, and says, "Our enemies are in disarray. The time is ripe." But Ellaria wants it to end, and tells Doran, "I can hear no more of this." He tells her that no harm will come to her children, and sends her to them.

When Ellaria is gone, he tells the Sand Snakes, "there are things that Ellaria does not know and should not know. This war has already begun." Obara agrees, and says that Arianne began it with her failed attempt to crown Myrcella. When Ser Balon sees the girl, and finds that she's missing an ear, and that Hotah killed Arys Oakheart, things will get more violent.

But Arianne has a plan: Ser Balon will be told that Gerold Dayne, Darkstar, was the one who killed Ser Arys, and that he tried to kill Myrcella. And that Myrcella will back up the story herself. But Obara insists, "If Ser Balon is allowed to carry tales back to King's Landing, drums will sound and blood will flow." But Doran is prepared for this, and he tells them he is not as weak as they think. He makes the Sand Snakes swear to serve him, then explains what he knows:

"Dorne still has friends at court. Friends who tell us things we were not meant to know. This invitation Cersei sent us is a ruse. Trystane is never meant to reach King's Landing. On the road back, somewhere in the kingswood, Ser Balon's party will be attacked by outlaws, and my son will die. I am asked to court only so that I may witness this attack with my own eyes and thereby absolve the queen of any blame. Oh, and these outlaws? They will be shouting, 'Halfman, Halfman,' as they attack. Ser Balon may even catch a quick glimpse of the Imp, though no one else will." 

Then he outlines the plan: When Balon hears the story of Darkstar's attack from Myrcella, he'll send word of it to Cersei. Myrcella will ask him to hunt down Darkstar, and Obara will accompany Balon to High Hermitage to confront Darkstar. Nymeria will accompany Myrcella to King's Landing and serve as Dorne's representative on the council. Tyene, whose mother was a septa, will go to King's Landing and cozy up to the High Septon.

The three Sand Snakes eagerly agree to their roles, and when they have left, Arianne refers to them as "Three Oberyns, with teats." She regrets that she doesn't have a role in the plot herself, but Doran tells her that she will, soon enough. He has heard from Lys that a great fleet of Volantene ships has set sail. He doesn't know who is aboard them, whether Daenerys or Quentyn, or both.

Jon

Val is setting off beyond the Wall on a mission to contact Tormund. Jon has misgivings -- six of the men he sent off on a similar mission are still missing, and three are dead -- but she thanks him for letting her try. When she has left, he returns to his chambers and is eating breakfast when Dolorous Edd tells him that Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck, and Septon Cellador want to see him.

"You're here about Val," he says. And Marsh says, "The men have concerns, my lord." Jon knows that already, and he turns to Othell, who is chief builder, asking him how work is progressing at the Nightfort, which is being made ready for Queen Selyse. He says it would go faster if he had more builders, so Jon offers him the giant, whose name is Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun, but answers to Wun Wun. But Othell is afraid of giants and declines, which is okay with Jon, who is learning to communicate with the giant and learn stories about his people.

Marsh complains that Jon is sending Iron Emmett to Long Barrow and replacing him with "this savage Leathers as our master-at-arms," a position that he thinks should be filled by a knight or at least a ranger. But Jon speaks well of Leathers's fighting ability and points out that he has taken the vows and is now their brother. "The men don't trust him," Marsh insists, but Jon stifles a desire to find out which ones.

Septon Cellador's objection is to Jon's naming Satin as his steward, replacing Dolorous Edd, who is also going to Long Barrow. Satin is "a painted catamite from the brothels of Oldtown." Jon thinks, "And you are a drunk," but says that brothers who have taken their vows are not supposed to be judged by what they were before, and that Satin is a good fighter and that he has made friends. Marsh, however, insists that "the men do not like it," and asks, "Does my lord believe the men of the Night's Watch would ever follow a whore into battle?" Jon replies by enumerating the sins of other men who are now accepted as their brothers.

Marsh is obviously very angry, but he saves his chief concern for last: the corpses that are being kept in the ice cells under guard, which he cites as "a waste of two good men." But Jon informs him that he hopes they will turn into wights, which shocks the drunken septon. He explains, "My lord father used to tell me that a man must know his enemies. We understand little of the wights and less about the Others. We need to learn." This doesn't please them, especially the septon, who says he intents to "pray to the Crone to lift her shining lamp and lead you down the path of wisdom."

Finally, Jon himself brings up the topic of Val. Septon Cellador reminds him that she is "The king's prize," and that Stannis will be angry if he returns to find her gone. And Marsh asks why he thinks she will return, and is not satisfied with Jon's assurance that he believes her promise that she will. Jon explains that he sent her to offer the same terms to Tormund Giantsbane that he offered the other wildlings: "Food and shelter and peace, if he will join his strength to ours, fight our common enemy, help us hold the Wall."

Marsh is not surprised, but he protests that there may be hundreds, even thousands of them: "Some might call this treason. These are wildlings. Savages, raiders, rapers, more beast than man." But Jon replies, "Tormund is none of those things." They are human beings, he insists. "Winter is coming, my lords, and when it does, we living men will need to stand together against the dead."

He also tells them that the wildlings they found in the grove say that a witch called Mother Mole has led thousands of those who fled from the battle at the Wall to Hardhome, where they "pray and await salvation from across the sea." Hardhome sits on a natural harbor, and there are supposedly plenty of building materials and fish and game there, but six hundred years, when it was becoming a town, its inhabitants had been attacked and the city burned. "Traders reported finding only nightmarish devastation where Hardhome had stood." But now Mother Mole has been preaching "that the free folk would find salvation where once they found damnation." But Cotter Pyke has told Jon that his ships have sailed past it and that Mother Mole and her followers will find only "cold and starvation" there.

Thousands will die there, he says, but Marsh sees them only as "Thousands of enemies." So he asks Marsh what "will happen when all these enemies are dead?" They will become wights, he says, "and they will come for us."

17. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 448-472

Bran

Bran is sitting on a weirwood throne in the warm depths of the cavern, with ravens walking up and down his arms. He hears the children sing, and the whispers of the old man, "The last greenseer, the singers called him, but in Bran's dreams he was still a three-eyed crow." The name his mother had given him, he told Bran, was Brynden.

One of the singers, whom Meera calls Leaf because the real name is impossible to pronounce, says that most of the last greenseer "has gone into the tree." Jojen, who has recovered from the journey but still displays its effects on him, tell Bran that the trees remember "The secrets of the old gods.... Truths the First Men knew." And Meera tells Bran that he will remain after they are gone. Bran doesn't like that, and says that Meera and Jojen could also become greenseers.

"It is given to a few to drink of that green fountain whilst still in mortal flesh, to hear the whisperings of the leaves and see as the trees see, as the gods see," said Jojen. "Most are not so blessed. The gods gave me only greendreams. My task was to get you here. My part in this is done."

And Bran learns to fly, to enter a raven and take wing. The first time he tries it, however, he is clumsy and flies into a wall, but the raven is unhurt. When he succeeds he realizes that there is someone else in the raven with him, a girl. He tells Lord Brynden this, and the greenseer says that the earliest singers taught the First Men how to send messages by raven, but did so by inhabiting the birds and speaking the message. A shadow of these singers often remains in the birds. Lord Brynden also tells him, "Only one man in a thousand is born a skinchanger, ... and only one skinchanger in a thousand can be a greenseer."

Bran learns more about the children of the forest from Leaf, including the fact that they are more like "Little wise men of the forest." They are smaller than men, but they are older than they appear. They have "nut-brown skin, dappled like a deer's with paler spots, and large ears that could hear things that no man could hear." In addition to cat's eyes, they have only three fingers and a thumb, and instead of nails have sharp black claws.

Jojen and Meera decide to explore the underground river, which is six hundred feet below the part of the cavern where they dwell, but the climb is too steep for Hodor to carry Bran on his back. So without telling the others, Bran slips into Hodor's body and makes the journey with them. (Hodor now acquiesces, though a little reluctantly, when Bran enters him.) Meera catches a blind white fish with her frog spear, but Jojen grows so weak on the return journey that Hodor has to haul him up with a rope tied around his waist.

Bran sometimes goes out with Summer and the wolf pack, or flies around as a raven, inspecting the icy world outside the cave, or explores the cave in Hodor's body. He finds a cavern full of singers entwined with weirwood roots like Lord Brynden. Bran is still frightened of Lord Brynden, a ghastly sight with the roots sprouting from his body, and it bothers him that one day he will be like the greenseer, remembering that he used to want to be a knight and that he "used to run and climb and fight. It seemed a thousand years ago."

Jojen is declining, growing "more sullen and solitary, to his sister's distress," and Meera says her brother wants to go home. The greendreams have shown him his fate, and he is distressed by the fact that he can't do anything about it. She begins to cry, regretting that they had made the journey that his greendreams had compelled him to make.

The weeks pass and finally Lord Brynden tells Bran that it is time for him "to go beyond skinchanging and learn what it means to be a greenseer." Leaf brings him a weirwood bowl with a paste in it made of weirwood seeds. Lord Brynden tells him it "will help awaken your gifts and wed you to the trees." Bran isn't so sure about this, but he eats the paste. Then Lord Brynden tells him to enter the weirwood roots the way he enters Summer. He does so, and suddenly he is back at Winterfell, watching his father cleaning the greatsword Ice. Bran whispers, "Winterfell," and his father hears him and asks who's there. It startles Bran so much that he quickly returns to the cavern.

He tells Leaf and Lord Brynden what he saw, but Leaf says, "You saw what you wished to see. Your heart yearns for your father and your home, so that is what you saw." Lord Brynden says that he was "looking through the eyes of the heart tree in your godswood," and that time is different for a tree. When Bran insists that his father heard him, Lord Brynden says that he may have heard something but that Bran can't speak to him. "The past remains the past. We can learn from it, but we cannot change it." Once his skills have developed, Bran can see what the trees have seen at any time in the past, and "in time you will see well beyond the trees themselves."

Hodor takes Bran back to his chamber, where he tries to stay awake so he can tell Meera and Jojen what happened, but suddenly he is back at Winterfell watching his father when he was much younger. He hears Ned say, "...let them grow up close as brothers, with only love between them, ... and let my lady wife find it in her heart to forgive...." Bran speaks to him again, and his father stops his prayer and looks at the weirwood for a moment before resuming his prayer. Then suddenly his father disappears and two children were dueling with broken branches. One is a girl, who is taller than the boy she is dueling with, so he assumes that it's Arya and himself, though he had never worn his hair as long as the boy.

Then other visions follow. One is of a naked woman, pregnant, who prays for a son to avenge her. Then a brown-haired girl who kisses a tall young knight, followed by a youth who trims branches from the tree to make arrows. The tree itself grows smaller, as do the other trees around it, and the men he sees have faces that he knows from the statues in the crypt. And finally he witnesses a man and woman with a captive. The woman cuts the captive's throat, and as the blood flows out of him, Bran can taste it.

Jon

Jon is looking down at the haunted forest from the top of the wall. It has snowed for several days, but now the sun has come out, and he tells Dolorous Edd to have Emmett prepare his recruits and an escort of rangers armed with dragonglass. He intends to command the party which will take the recruits to the weirwoods to say their vows.

When he reaches the ground to prepare for departure, Bowen Marsh comes to protest that the Weeper may be out there ready to attack, but Jon says the grove is only two hours away and that they will be back by midnight. Marsh continues to protest that it's unwise, but Jon insists that the vows are important. Besides, he tells Marsh, he has Ghost to protect them.

However, when they exit the tunnels under the Wall, Ghost bounds away, having sensed something. So they proceed without him. As they ride, Iron Emmett tells Jon there is talk of trouble at "Harlot's Tower." Jon corrects him: "Hardin's Tower," which he has designated as a residence for the spearwives and younger girls who had come from Mole's Town. He doesn't want the place getting a bad reputation. Emmett says he "should put guards around the women," but Jon replies, "And who will guard the guards?" He had broken his own vows with Ygritte, so he knows how easy it can be. But he tells Emmett he plans to open three more of the castles, and that the Long Barrow will be staffed by women except for the commander and the chief steward. When Emmett asks "what poor fool will get that choice command?" Jon says that Emmett will, and Dolorous Edd will be his steward.

Jon reflects on the trouble he has had integrating the wildlings with the Watch. "There were nights when Jon Snow wondered if he had not made a grievous mistake by preventing Stannis from  marching all the wildlings off to be slaughtered. I know nothing, Ygritte, he thought, and perhaps I never will."

As they approach the grove, Ghost appears, and then Tom Barleycorn, whom Jon had sent ahead to scout. Barleycorn tells him that there are wildlings in the grove. He counted nine, mostly women, but one child and a giant as well. Some may be dead or just sleeping. Jon decides to proceed on foot. It is coming on night. The wildlings are huddled around a small fire. The child is the first to see them, and his cry wakes the giant, who picks up a maul when he sees Iron Emmett's sword.

Ghost bares his teeth, but Jon pulls the wolf back, saying that they don't want a battle here. "This is a holy place," he says, and asks them to yield. The giant bellows and slams his maul against the ground, but the ranger known as Leathers speaks the Old Tongue and persuades the giant to yield. When Jon asks what he told the giant, Leathers says, "That they were our gods too. That we came to pray."

Of the nine wildlings, two are dead already. The rest are weak or wounded. They had come together after Stannis's attack and decided to die in the weirwood grove. Jon asks why they didn't yield, and they tell him that they had heard those who yielded were burned. "Melisandre, Jon thought, you and your red god have much and more to answer for." He assures them that if they return with him, they will be safe and fed and sheltered.

The recruits take their vows, and the group returns with the wildlings, carrying the corpses as well. It takes much longer returning than it did going out, and it is almost dawn when they reach the Wall. The Giant has to crawl through the tunnels on hands and knees.

Jon finds a letter from Stannis waiting for him, telling him that Deepwood Motte had been taken with the help of the mountain clans, and that Alysane Mormont had burned Greyjoy's longships and captured their crews. The victory has caused other northmen to join with him, and they now have five thousand men. Word has come that Bolton is going to marry Arya at Winterfell, so they are going to march against him.

Jon has mixed feelings about this news: "Battles had been fought at Winterfell before, but never one without a Stark on one side or the other." He has his doubts about whether Stannis should attack Winterfell, which even in ruins was a strong castle. And he wonders about the reference to Arya, given Melisandre's vision of the girl who had escaped. Perhaps the wedding is only a ruse, and Bolton doesn't really have Arya. "A grey girl on a dying horse, fleeing from her marriage. On the strength of those words he had loosed Mance Rayder and six spearwives on the north." He is full of doubts.

15. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 395-419

Daenerys

Daenerys is growing worried about the ships that are blockading Slaver's Bay, but all her admiral, Groleo, can offer her is advice to turn her dragons loose and burn them. Barristan assures her that the city is well-supplied for the time being.


Skahaz, attended by two of the guards known as Brazen Beasts because they wear animal masks of brass, tells her that Hizdahr has been visiting the wealthy of Meereen, and that it has been twenty-six days since the Sons of the Harpy have committed a murder. Skahaz believes that Hizdahr is himself the Harpy and wants to torture the truth out of him. To his displeasure, Daenerys forbids it.


He then presents her a list of all the Meereenese ships participating in the blockade, which represent all the ruling families of the city. He wants to send the Brazen Beasts to all the houses and imprison all the kin as hostages. Again, she forbids it to prevent "open war inside the city. I have to trust in Hizdahr. I have to hope for peace." Skahaz glowers as she burns the list.


Later, Barristan praises her restraint, saying her brother Rhaegar would approve. But she remembers what Jorah Mormont said: "Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died."


At her public hearing of grievances, there are very few attending, and Reznak mo Reznak tells her people are afraid to leave their houses. Then that evening, Galazza Galare arrives, along with Grey Worm. They tell her that a dying man arrived on a pale horse to say that Astapor is burning. He was emaciated and feverish, suffering from bloody dysentery. She realizes that if the Yunkai'i have taken Astapor, they will aim at Meereen next, and tells Barristan to recall her bloodriders and her sellswords.


Brown Ben Plumm and the Second Sons are the first to arrive, eight days later. They bring with them three Astapori with harrowing tales of the fall of the city. Two of them thank Daenerys for giving them refuge in Meereen, but she sees the truth in the eyes of the third: "She knows I cannot keep them safe. Astapor is burning, and Meereen is next." And Brown Ben says there are hundreds, even thousand of refugees still to come. "The Cats and the Windblown are swarming through the hills with lance and lash, driving them north and cutting down the laggards."


Daenerys is troubled by what to do about them: She is the one who disturbed the order in their city. Reznak mo Reznak has an answer for her: Marry Hizdahr. But Daenerys also remembers Quaithe's warning: "Beware the perfumed seneschal." Brown Ben's solution is to unleash the dragons, but she tells him she can't do that. Then they should leave Meereen, he advises, "and start west with wagons full o' gold and gems and such."


She determines, however, that they should stand and fight: "I defeated the Yunkai'i before. I will defeat them again." But her counselors disagree on the answers to her questions: "Where, though? How?" She commissions the Second Sons to scout the enemy, but she says the Astapori refugees must be welcomed. Barristan protests, "Your Grace, I have known the bloody flux to destroy whole armies when left to spread unchecked. The seneschal is right. We cannot have the Astapori in Meereen." So she tells them to set up a refugee camp outside the walls.


Privately, she consults with Barristan, whose assessment of the situation is gloomy. And she recognizes what she needs to do to at least stabilize the city: "I need Hizdahr zo Loraq."


Melisandre


In her chambers, Melisandre gazes into the fire, seeking to be sure of what she has seen there. She looks especially for "the grey girl on the dying horse," who she has told Jon is his sister Arya. She sees "A wooden face, corpse white," and it sees her. "Beside him, a boy with a wolf's face threw back his head and howled." She hears voices out of the past: "'Melony,' she heard a woman cry. A man's voice called, 'Lot Seven.'" She hears Jon Snow's name, and sees his face appear and disappear.

Now he was a man, now a wolf, now a man again. But the skulls were here as well, the skulls were all around him. Melisandre had seen his danger before, had tried to warn the boy of it. Enemies all around him, daggers in the dark. He would not listen.

She thinks, "I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R'hllor shows me only Snow." She asks Devan, Stannis's squire, to bring her a drink of water. He was upset when Stannis left him behind to stay with Melisandre, but she had asked for him specifically, knowing that Davos had already lost four sons.


Devan suggests that she eat something, and when she sends him to fetch her breakfast she tells him to find Rattleshirt and send him to her. When he arrives, she notices that he isn't wearing his armor of bones. "He was cloaked in shadows too, in wisps of ragged grey mist, half-seen, sliding across his face and form with every step he took." When she comments on the missing bones, he tells her, "The clacking was like to drive me mad."


In the iron fetter he wears on his wrist, there is a ruby. He says he can feel its warmth, and sometimes it even burns and he's tempted to pry it out. She tells him, "The spell is made of shadow and suggestion. Men see what they expect to see. The bones are part of that," and wonders if she made a mistake by sparing him. She tells him that Lord Snow's rangers will return today, "with their blind and bloody eyes." That, he tells her, is the work of the Weeper -- one of the wildling chieftains who remained north of the Wall.


Then she tells him about the girl on the dying horse, whom she still assumes to be Arya Stark. She wants to send him out to rescue her. He scoffs at the idea: "No one ever trusted Rattleshirt but fools. Snow's not that. If his sister needs saving, he'll send his crows. I would." He asks where she saw the girl, and from her description he recognizes Long Lake. But their conversation is interrupted by the sound of a warhorn. It is the signal for returning rangers, and she tells him to stay there. When the Watch sees what has happened to the rangers, they will be angry at the wildlings.


She goes out and follows the tunnel through the Wall to where Jon and the black brothers are gathered around three spears, each with the head of a ranger impaled on the point, the eyes gouged out of each head. Bowen Marsh identifies the rangers for her, and comments that with the ground so frozen it must have taken half the night for the wildlings to drive the spears so deep. He worries that they are still close by, watching, but Jon says they have gone. "Ghost would have their scent if they were still out there." He orders the heads taken and burned until nothing but bone is left.


When he sees Melisandre, he asks her to walk with him, which pleases her. They walk slowly, according to her plan, because her warmth causes the ice in the tunnel beneath the Wall to melt and drip: "He will not fail to notice that." He asks if she has seen the other six rangers, and she tells him she hasn't. She does tell him that she had a vision of "towers by the sea, submerged beneath a black and bloody tide." He takes that to be Eastwatch, but although she isn't entirely sure that is what the vision signified, she agrees with him. She asks him to come to her chambers, and he agrees.


As they walk, she can sense his mistrust, and she recognizes it as the same mistrust Stannis once had in her. "In truth, the young lord commander and her king had more in common than either one would ever be willing to admit." She notes that he hasn't asked about Arya, and he tells her that his oath to the Watch means that he has no sister, and that there is no way he can help her. When they enter her chambers, he sees Rattleshirt and bristles. The wildling taunts him, but turns his attention to Melisandre, telling her that he'll need half a dozen good horses and some spearwives to accompany him. "The girl's more like to trust them, and they will help me carry off a certain ploy I have in mind."


Melisandre explains to Jon that she is sending Rattleshirt to rescue Arya. Jon objects, furiously, "If he tries to leave Castle Black without my leave, I'll take his head off myself." But Melisandre sends Devan away, then touches the ruby at her neck and speaks a word. "The wildling heard one word, the crow another. Neither was the word that left her lips." Suddenly, Rattleshirt is transformed into Mance Rayder. And Jon learns that it was Rattleshirt who was burned. He calls it "sorcery," but she replies, "Call it what you will. Glamor, seeming, illusion." But to her self she admits it was a difficult spell to bring off. "When the flames had licked at Rattleshirt, the ruby at her throat had grown so hot that she had feared her own flesh might start to smoke and blacken. Thankfully Lord Snow had delivered her from that agony with his arrows."


She points out that Mance won't betray him, because they hold his son and because Jon had pleaded against his execution. "There he stands, Lord Snow. Arya's deliverance. A gift from the Lord of Light ... and me."

10. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 253-275

Reek

Still clinging for dear life to the persona of Reek, Theon sets off for Moat Cailin. He no longer reeks and is dressed warmly for the first time in many months, but he still suspects that he is going to be the butt of some horrible trick played by Ramsay Bolton. Lord Ramsay had reminded him, even as Theon was being bathed, "You'll always be Reek, no matter how sweet you smell."

Moat Cailin had been taken by the ironmen, but it is in ruins. Its strategic value remains: "The only dry road through the Neck was the causeway, and the towers of Moat Cailin plugged its northern end like a cork in a bottle." As Theon draws nearer to it, the number of rotting corpses he encounters increases.

"The garrison will never know me," he thinks. Even if some of them knew him as a boy before he went to Winterfell as Lord Eddard's ward and hostage, he is unrecognizable: His hair has turned white and he has lost much of it. He is feeble and thin from his ordeal in the dungeons. And although he is wearing gloves, a close observer can see that he has lost three of his fingers.

A voice calls out from the castle, challenging him. Theon raises the peace banner and signals that he is unarmed. Even if the men in the castle fill him with arrows, he thinks, it would be a swift death compared to what Ramsay would deal out to him if he returned a failure. And an arrow does fly, but it pierces the banner, which he drops as he falls from the saddle. The voice tells him to get inside, quickly. Another arrow flies as he scrambles through the gate.

The man grabs him and puts a knife to his throat. Tyrion quickly says he is ironborn, and Lord Balon's son, which the man doubts. He continues, "Lord Ramsay took me captive after Winterfell. He's sent me here to treat with you. Do you command here?" The man tells him he only guards the door, and that Ralf Kenning is in charge.

On the floor next to the guard is a corpse, and Theon learns that he died of drinking the water. So many have died that they no longer take the trouble to cart them off but just leave them where they are. When Theon asks how many of the garrison are left, the man doesn't know. He says that in one tower there were only two men left alive, and they were eating the dead. The man sent to find out about them killed them, too.

"Moat Cailin has fallen, Reek realized then, only no on has seen fit to tell them." He asks to see Kenning, but the man says he hasn't seen him in a while. He was dying, and may be dead. But he agrees to take Theon to him. Kenning is feverish and covered with oozing sores and his own vomit. The guard tells him that Kenning was shot with a poisoned arrow by one of the people who live in the swamps. Theon decides that the only thing to do is put Kenning out of his misery, so he takes the captain's sword and cuts his throat. Then Theon and the guard fleet the awful stench that issues from the body.

He asks where the rest of the men are and is taken to the great hall. He remembers being there once with Robb and the Greatjon and Roose Bolton. There are about two dozen men in the hall. He tells them that Kenning is dead, and asks who was second in command. They just stare at him, so he tells them that he is there on Ramsay Bolton's orders, and that they are caught between his forces and that of his father. "Lord Ramsay is prepared to be merciful if you yield Moat Cailin to him before the sun goes down." He has letters to that effect that he shows them, but no one seems interested.

One  of the men stands up and says, "Dagon Codd yields to no man." And the guard says, "Victarion commanded us to hold, he did. I heard him with my own ears." Theon tells them that his uncle isn't returning to Moat Cailin. "The kingsmoot crowned his brother Euron, and the Crow's Eye has other wars to fight." They have been "left behind to die." He can see that they have already realized this fact, and he tells them Ramsay Bolton will treat them honorably, though he thinks: "He has only taken toes and fingers and that other thing, when he might have had my tongue, or peeled the skin off my legs from heel to thigh."

Dagon Codd remains defiant, and draws his longsword. But he is felled by a throwing axe from one of the other men, and Theon has won. In the end there are fifty-eight men who are strong enough to march and to carry five others as they accompany Theon back to Bolton. When they reach the castle Lord Ramsay appears, and he orders them fed and the wounded among them taken to the maesters.

Bolton praises his "old friend Reek," and asks what he wants as a reward. Theon knows enough to be very careful. "Give him the answer that he wants," he tells himself, so he fawningly says, "my place is here, with you. I'm your Reek. I only want to serve you." But he asks for "red wine, the strongest that you have, all the wine a man can drink." Bolton laughs and says, "You're not a man, Reek. You're just my creature. You'll have your wine, though." And he tells him he can sleep with the dogs instead of returning to the dungeon.

Theon drinks himself into a stupor, but when he wakes briefly, "Somewhere in the night, men were screaming." He goes back to sleep. The next morning, Ramsay sends word to his father that Moat Cailin is no threat. Along the road, "wooden stakes were driven deep into the boggy ground; there the corpses festered, red and dripping." Theon knows that there are sixty-three of them, the men he had promised honorable treatment.  

Three days later, Roose Bolton arrives with a huge contingent of Freys and other northmen. "Collared and chained and back in rags again, Reek followed with the other dogs at Lord Ramsay's heels when his lordship strode forth to greet his father." Theon remembers how he used to make fun of Roose Bolton to Robb Stark, mimicking his soft voice and making fun of his use of leeches. Now he looks at Bolton and realizes "that he had more cruelty in his pinky toe than all the Freys combined."

Then Bolton has two women descend from the coach in which they had been riding. One is very fat, Roose's new wife, Walda Frey. The other is Ramsay Bolton's intended bride, the fake Arya Stark. Theon knows immediately that this can't be Arya, and he thinks for a moment and realizes, "That's Sansa's little friend, the steward's girl. Jeyne, that was her name. Jeyne Poole."

She makes a deep obeisance to Ramsay, and Theon thinks, "The real Arya Stark would have spat in his face." But she promises to make him a good wife and give him strong sons. "'That you will,' promised Ramsay, 'and soon.'"

Jon

Stannis has  marched south, and Jon now leads a contingent southward to talk with the wildlings, though not before Bowen Marsh has registered his complaint about such dealings with the former enemy. On the way, Dolorous Edd points out that the wildlings have begun to carve faces into trees: "The wildlings brought their gods with them after all," he thinks, defying Melisandre's attempt to demonstrate the power of her red god.

The faces that the First Men and the children of the forest had carved into the weirwoods in eons past had stern or savage visages more oft than not, but the great oak looked especially angry, as if it wee about to tear its roots from the earth and come roaring after them. Its wounds are as fresh as the wounds of the men who carved it.

They reach Mole's Town, where the buildings above ground were torched by the Magnar of Thenn before his attack on Castle Black. But the underground dwellings and tunnels are more alive than ever, with a new population of free folk. They begin to emerge from the tunnels when Jon's contingent arrives, and he notes that there are three times as many women as men, but very few infants. "The babes in arms died during the march, he realized, and those who survived the battle died in the king's stockade."

There are many men with visible wounds, such as missing legs, arms, and eyes, but Jon recognizes some fighting men among them too. The black brothers in his contingent begin distributing food, but immediately there are scuffles and disputes and complains that it's not enough. He calls on one of his men to sound the horn, which quiets them. Then he addresses the crowd, telling them that they're giving them what they can, and pointing out that the Watch needs its share to defend the Wall. He talks about the wights, and says, "It's us that keeps you safe, the black crows you despise."

If they want more food, he says, they need to join in the defense of the Wall: "The food's for fighters. Help us hold the Wall, and you'll eat as well as any crow." But he thinks, "Or as poorly, when the food runs short." Sigorn, the new  Magnar of Thenn, says they should kill the Watch instead, but Jon reminds him that if they do, there will be no one to defend the Wall. "Winterfell's walls were strong as well, but Winterfell stands in ruins today, burned and broken. A wall is only as good as the men defending it."

A confusion of voices rises, but Jon speaks up again, telling them that they don't have to join the Watch and take the black, or worship any particular god or gods to help defend the Wall. "It's spears we need. Bows. Eyes along the Wall." He'll take any boy over twelve who can hold a spear or use a bow, and he needs help just maintaining the Wall and doing ordinary tasks. "I will take as many spearwives as will come," he adds. A girl who reminds him of Arya asks about girls, and he says he'll take them sixteen or older. When she protests that he's taking boys as young as twelve, he realizes that he's talking to wildlings: "As you will. Boys and girls as young as twelve. But only those who know how to obey an order." And he warns them that he'll have the head of anyone who disobeys an order and that his brothers have seen him do it.

The girl is the first to volunteer, and gradually others come forward, led by Halleck, the brother of Harma Dogshead: "'I don't like you, crow,' he growled, 'but I never liked the Mance neither, no more'n my sister did. Still, we fought for him. Why not fight for you?'" This breaks down the barrier, and a flood of others follows. But not the Thenns. Sigorn turns and leaves, and his contingent follows him.

In the end, there are sixty-three volunteers. Bowen Marsh still grumbles, worrying about feeding them, and whether they can be relied on if the Wall is attacked by Tormund Giantsbane and his followers instead of by the Others. Jon can only say he hopes that won't happen.

8. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 203-231

Daenerys

Daenerys is entertaining Xaro Xhoan Daxos of Qarth, who has brought with him a company whose dancers, male and female, perform naked, the men with full erections. The dance ends with copulation set to music. Daenerys is somewhat distracted by the performance: She is hoping to initiate a trade agreement with Xaro, but her mind is really on the imminent return to Meereen of Daario Naharis and his Stormcrows.

Xaro is full of compliments for Daenerys, but he also knows her predicament: "It is said that your enemies have promised wealth and glory and a hundred virgin slave girls to any man who slays you." He also notices the absence of Jorah Mormont. Once again, he presents her with the idea of marrying him, but she's wise to him: "I saw which dancers you were watching," she tells him.

He is open to the prospect of resuming trade with Meereen, but on his own terms: gold for slaves. Daenerys is insistent that the city remain free, but she recognizes the truth in Xaro's characterization of the city she rules: "A poor city that once was rich. A hungry city that once was fat. A bloody city that once was peaceful." He also informs her that her enemies are buying up sellswords: "The Company of the Cat, the Long Lances, the Windblown. Some say that the Wise Masters have bough the Golden Company as well." She counters that she has her dragons, but he notes that he hasn't seen them since he has been there.

But he offers her ships: "There are thirteen galleys in the bay. Yours, if you will have them. I have brought you a fleet, to carry you home to Westeros." In short, he wants to get rid of her. He tells her to inspect the ships, and "When you are satisfied, swear to me that you shall return to Westeros forthwith, and the ships are yours. Swear by your dragons and your seven-faced god and the ashes of your fathers, and go." She will not live long, he tells her, if she stays in Meereen.

When Xaro is gone, she asks Barristan what he thinks of the offer, and he admits that with the ships, "we might be home before year's end." He offers to take Admiral Groleo and inspect "every inch of those ships." She agrees, but worries about what will happen to Meereen when she leaves.

The next morning she hears Lord Ghael of Astapor plead with her to supply some of her Unsullied to defend his city, and when she declines he spits in her face. Strong Belwas seizes him and knocks him to the marble floor, breaking out some of his teeth. She tells Belwas to take him away, but spares his life. That afternoon, Barristan and Groleo return from the inspection of the ships to tell her that they are old but well-maintained. Reznak complains that her followers will be killed if she leaves, so she offers to take anyone with her who wishes to go. Barristan chides them for cowardice: "Her Grace freed you from your chains. It is for you to sharpen your swords and defend your own freedom when she leaves."

The argument grows heated, and finally Daenerys has had enough: "I will not abandon Meereen to the fate of Astapor. It grieves me to say so, but Westeros must wait." Groleo and Barristan are aghast at the decision, but she sticks to it. She calls for Xaro and tells him that she intends to stay. He is angry, and warns, "When your dragons were small they were a wonder. Grown, they are death and devastation, a flaming sword above the world." And he adds, "I should have slain you in Qarth." She tells him to leave the city immediately.


The next morning, Xaro has gone, but his ships remain. And a messenger from the ships brings her "a black satin pillow, upon which rested a single bloodstained glove." It is a token of war.


Jon


Jon is touring the "wormways," the tunnels beneath the wall, and the vaults where food supplies are stored. He is impressed with how much food is there, but Bowen Marsh, the Lord Steward, who is with him, cautions that these supplies were sufficient to sustain the watch for three or for years of winter, but now that the wildlings and the queen's and king's men are there, "We'll be down to turnips and pease porridge before the year is out. After that we'll be drinking the blood of our own horses." Marsh also warns about sickness and malnutrition and advises that they go on winter rations now.


Jon reflects on the difficulty of obtaining supplies, and considers asking for aid from the Eyrie. He "wondered how Lady Catelyn's sister would feel about feeding Ned Stark's bastard. As a boy, he often felt as if the lady grudge him every bite."


When they return to the surface he finds Devan Seaworth, Stannis's squire, waiting for him, stiff with fright at the presence of Ghost. Jon sends the direwolf away, and Devan tells him that the king wants to see him. In Stannis's solar he finds Ser Richard Horpe and Ser Justin Massey, who had been sent south on a mission whose nature Jon hadn't been told. Also present are Sigorn, the new Magnar of Thenn, and Rattleshirt, who gloatingly shows him a ruby that he says was a present from Melisandre, who is also there.


Stannis surprises Jon by saying that he is presenting Rattleshirt to him as a gift: "You did say you wanted men, Lord Snow." Jon protests that he can't trust Rattleshirt, but Melisandre says a few words in a language Jon doesn't understand, and both the ruby at her throat and the one on Rattleshirt's wrist begin to pulse with light. She tells Jon that as long as he wears the ruby he is bound in her service. And Rattleshirt says he will obey, as long as he doesn't have to wear the black.


Stannis then asks Jon to tell him about Mors Umber, who has offered his allegiance to Stannis for a price: "He wants Mance Rayder's skull for a drinking cup, and he wants a pardon for his brother, who has ridden south to join Bolton." Jon advises him to accept the terms, telling him that if the brother, Hother Umber, has joined the Boltons, it is because the Lannisters hold Greatjon Umber captive.


There is some blustering from the queen's men about the value of Jon's advice, but Stannis silences it. He then tells Jon that he plans to march on the Dreadfort, the seat of the Boltons. Ramsay, he says, has gone south, apparently to strike at Moat Cailin, and to clear the way for Roose Bolton to return north. He plans to take the Dreadfort unaware, but Jon says he can't. This causes outrage among the queen's men, but Stannis silences it. Jon explains that they must cross Umber lands to reach the Dreadfort, and their movements will be reported. And even if they reach the Dreadfort, Ramsay Bolton will cut off their retreat. "Moat Cailin will fall before you ever reach the Dreadfort. Once Lord Roose has joined his strength to Ramsay's, they will have you outnumbered five to one."


Others join in arguing against Jon's position, and Stannis says he will also have the support of the wildlings, under the command of the Magnar. "He means to plunder our armory, Jon realized. Food and clothing, land and castles, now weapons. He draws me in deeper every day." Jon also informs Stannis of the hatred of northerners for the wildlings. "Taking them will only serve to turn my lord father's bannermen against you."


Stannis grinds his teeth, then dismisses everyone except Jon. And Melisandre. Stannis tells Jon that both Horpe and Massey want to be Lord of Winterfell, and that Massey "wants the wildling princess," meaning Val. Jon replies that Winterfell belongs to Sansa, but Stannis doesn't want to hear  of that, because of Sansa's marriage to Tyrion Lannister. He offers Jon another chance to "amend your folly, Snow. Take a knee and swear that bastard sword to me, and rise as Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North." Jon refuses again.


Stannis then informs Jon that he intends to proceed with the attack on the Dreadfort, "Despite the counsel of the great Lord Snow." Jon observes that the attack might not be necessary to gain the allegiance of the north if he could persuade Wyman Manderly, who controls White Harbor. But Stannis hasn't heard from Davos, and is persuaded that White Harbor isn't going to be his. The only way he can persuade the north to his side is by a successful battle against the Boltons.


Jon then presents a bargain: If Stannis will give him the wildlings, he will show the king where he can find the men he needs. He indicates on the map where the mountain clans live. "Your Grace will need to go to them yourself. Eat their bread and salt, listen to their pipers, praise the beauty of their daughters and the courage of their sons, and you'll have their swords." Once he gains their support, Stannis should attack Deepwood Motte. Stannis realizes what Jon is proposing: "If I can smash the ironmen ... the north will know it has a king again."

And I will have a thousand wildlings, thought Jon, and no way to feed even half that number. 

5. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 112-147

Tyrion

Tyrion awakes to find luggage being unloaded and readied for transfer to the river part of his journey. He is introduced to Haldon, who is known as Halfmaester, and to Ser Rolly Duckfield, known as Duck. Illyrio calls Tyrion Yollo, but Tyrion knows that's a Pentoshi name, and it's clear he isn't from Pentos, so he says he's called Hugor Hill.

Leaving Illyrio behind, Tyrion and the two men ride cross-country. They ride all night, Tyrion seated in front of Duck on the horse, and reach the Rhoyne the following day. As they near the river they are hailed by a boy standing on the roof of the cabin of the Shy Maid, their riverboat. It is Young Griff, "a lithe and well-made youth, with a lanky build and a shock of dark blue hair. The dwarf put his age at fifteen, sixteen, or near enough to make no matter." Also on board are an older couple and "a handsome septa in a soft white robe."

But when Griff himself makes an appearance, Tyrion thinks, "This one will be trouble." Griff immediately demands an explanation for the dwarf's presence, and Haldon gives him a letter that Illyrio had sent. In the cabin, Griff reads the letter, which tells about Tyrion's killing Tywin. Tyrion notices that although Griff claims to be a sellsword, he can read, which most of the mercenaries can't. In response to Griff's surprise at Tywin Lannister's death, Tyrion says,

"Lord Tywin was sitting on a privy, so I put a crossbow bolt through his bowels to see if he really did shit gold. He didn't. A pity, I could have used some gold. I also slew my mother, somewhat earlier. Oh, and my nephew Joffrey, I poisoned him at his wedding feast and watched him choke to death.... I mean to add my brother and sister to the list before I'm done, if it please your queen." 

Griff asks why Daenerys "should welcome the service of a self-confessed kingslayer and betrayer," and Tyrion points out that the king he killed -- or rather, claims to have killed -- was sitting on her throne. He asks if he can see the letter, but Griff burns it instead.

Tyrion has already begun to figure out the true identity of Griff and Young Griff, but he only hints at his suspicions now. When Griff asks how he plans to serve Daenerys, Tyrion says he knows how Cersei thinks ("if you call it thinking"), that he understands how one can beat Jaime in battle, and that he is well-acquainted with the loyalties of Tommen's court. Griff tells him to hold his tongue, and Tyrion replies, "As you say, my lord." Griff replies that he isn't a lord, and Tyrion thinks, "Liar."

Griff agrees to take Tyrion as far as Volantis, and beyond if he proves "obedient and useful."

Davos

In the town of Sisterton, where he is seeking passage to White Harbor, Davos has been taken prisoner and is escorted to see Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister. The fleet that Stannis dispatched has been wrecked and scattered by storms, enraging Salladhor Saan, whose fleet it was. Saan had sent Davos ashore in a small boat, then set out to regroup his fleet.

Godric brings Davos up to date on the news of Tywin Lannister's death, but refuses to let Davos send a raven to Stannis to inform him. "I'll not have it said that I gave Stannis aid and comfort." But he accepts Davos as a guest and has food brought for him. This pleases Davos, because "even robber lords and wreckers were bound by the ancient laws of hospitality." He is less pleased when Godric tells him that Lord Wyman Manderly, whom Stannis has dispatched Davos to see, tells him that Wyman intends to cast his lot with the Lannisters. A contingent of Freys is on their way to White Harbor to bring Lord Wyman the bones of his son, who was killed at the Red Wedding, in atonement. "Lord Wyman and Lord Walder have made a pact, and mean to seal it with a marriage."

White Harbor is essential to Stannis's plans: "If Winterfell was the heart of the north, White Harbor was its mouth." So Davos pleads for Godric's help in getting there to compete with the Freys. Godric is stubborn, so Davos begins to play on his doubts about the stability of Cersei's rule. "This child king will not prevail against" Stannis, Davos argues. Godric points out that Tommen has the wealth of Casterly Rock and the support of Highgarden and the Boltons and Freys, but he admits that "in this world only winter is certain. Ned Stark told my father that, here in this very hall."

At the beginning of Robert's Rebellion, with a price on his head, Lord Eddard had been on his way home but was shipwrecked. A fisherman's daughter rescued him. "They say he left her with a bag of silver and a bastard in her belly. Jon Snow, she named him, after Arryn." Ned had made it to Sisterton and met with Godric's father, who saved him from being captured and beheaded.

Jon

Jon has tried to persuade Stannis not to execute Mance Rayder because of the King-Beyond-the-Wall's knowledge of the lands north of the wall and of the people who remain there. But Stannis and Melisandre are unmoved, and now she is presiding over his burning. He is placed in a cage over "a deep pit filled with logs, leaves, and kindling." When he sees this, he pleads, "This is not right. I'm not the king, they --" but a rope around his neck chokes off the words. The queen's men also bring out the Horn of Joramun, which was supposed to destroy the Wall.

Melisandre proclaims to the gathering, which includes a thousand captives in the stockade, "If the Wall falls, night falls as well, the long night that never ends. It must not happen, will not happen! The Lord of Light has seen his children in their peril and sent a champion to them, Azor Ahai reborn." She gestures toward Stannis.

The horn is set afire, and in the cage Mance Rayder "screamed incoherently of treachery and witchery, denying his kingship, denying his people, denying all that he had ever been." The wood in the pit catches fire and Mance's "screams become one long, wordless shriek of fear and pain." Jon notices that Val doesn't betray any emotion or look away. He gives an order and his men shoot arrows into Mance, cutting short his agony. Stannis looks displeased.

Then Melisandre commands the watchers, "Your false king brought you only death, despair, defeat ... but here stands the true king. BEHOLD HIS GLORY!" Stannis draws his sword, Lightbringer, which glows like "the sun made steel." He promises "food, land, and justice" to those who bend the knee to him, and orders the gates of the stockade opened. Queen's men hand each of the wildlings as they approach the fire pit a piece of weirwood: "A piece of the old gods to feed the new," Jon thinks.

A few people flee back toward the woods, but most come forward. "Behind them was only cold and death. Ahead was hope." Sigorn, the new Magnar of Thenn, is the first to kneel before Stnnnis, then Rattleshirt, who, Jon thinks, is "A small, malicious, treacherous man, as stupid as he is cruel." Others follow, and a deputation of Night's Watch show them the way through the Wall. But Jon wonders whether they will stay loyal to Stannis when Tormund Giantsbane and his followers arrive. Ser Alliser Thorne mutters his disapproval of this union with the wildlings.

Melisandre leads a chant of "One realm, one god, one king!" but Jon notices that Val doesn't join in the chant. Neither do the Night's Watch, who are sworn not to take part in political matters. A few wildlings, including four giants, remain at the stockade, and then disappear into the forest, leaving only corpses, which Jon orders burned. Bowen Marsh asks Jon if he really thinks the wildlings "will keep faith," and Jon admits that some will and some won't. "We have seen the face of our real foe, a dead white face with bright blue eyes. The free folk have seen that face as well. Stannis is not wrong in this. We must make common cause with the wildlings." But Marsh worries about letting "tens of thousands of half-starved savages through the Wall."

Marsh also warns Jon that there has been talk that he is "too friendly with Lord Stannis." Jon knows what he's been called: "A rebel and a turncloak, aye, and a bastard and a warg as well." He tells Marsh that Stannis helped them when they needed it, but Marsh worries that Stannis is a rebel and that they may have found themselves on the losing side. Jon says he isn't choosing any side, but that Tywin Lannister's death has changed things. He remembers his meeting with Tyrion, who had called him a friend, and finds it "hard to believe the little man had it in him to murder his own sire." He leaves Marsh to supervise the burning and tells him he will think about what he has said.

In the dining hall, Jon finds his old friends, Pyp and Grenn and Toad, making fun of Melisandre and her rituals, but he scolds them, remembering, "A lord may love the men that he commands, he could hear his lord father saying, but he cannot be a friend to them. One day he may need to sit in judgment on them, or send them forth to die." He goes outside, where he sees Val walking the battlements of the tower she is held in, and thinks of the choice Stannis had offered him: to become Lord of Winterfell and to take Val as his wife. "Instead he had chosen a black cloak and a wall of ice. Instead he had chosen honor. A bastard's sort of honor."

Ghost appears, and Jon tastes the hot blood in the wolf's mouth, but reminds himself, "I am a man, not a wolf." He goes to see Aemon's steward, Clydas, who talks to him about the cowardice Mance Rayder had shown. He drinks a cup of wine with Clydas and talks about Stannis brandishing Lightbringer. He had read about Azor Ahai in the book Maester Aemon left him, The Jade Compendium, and remembers Azor Ahai fighting a monster with Lightbringer, which made the creature's blood boil "and its body burst into flame." He wishes he could see how Stannis's sword performs in battle.

He returns to his room with Ghost, and reads a letter Ser Denys Mallister had written from the Shadow Tower asking for more men. He writes to Ser Denys and to Cotter Pyke, telling them that he is sending his friends Halder and Toad to the Shadow Tower and Grenn and Pyp to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. "This is my lot, he realized as he undressed, from now until the end of my days."