16. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 665-728

Daenerys

The Dothraki have won a battle against the Lhazareen, a sheepherding tribe whom the Dothraki detest: "The grass of the Dothraki sea was not made for sheep." Ser Jorah tells Daenerys that Drogo slew two khals in the fighting, and suffered only "A few cuts ... nothing of consequence."

Daenerys comes across a young girl being gang-raped by Dothraki, and tells Ser Jorah to make them stop, and orders her guards, Jhogo and Qaro, to help him: "I want no rape." They are baffled by the order, even Jorah, who tells her "This is how it has always been." But Daenerys insists, and when they call off the rapists, "The riders looked at her with cold black eyes. One spat. The others scattered to their mounts, muttering." Ser Jorah pulls the man who is in the act of raping the girl off of her, and when he draws a knife, Aggo kills him with an arrow through the throat. Daenerys tells Doreah to look after the girl. As they ride through the conquered town, they come across more women being raped, and each time Daenerys claims the woman as her slave.

They find Khal Drogo beside a pile of human heads. She is distressed to find that his wounds are more severe than Jorah had told her: He has an arrow through one arm, and "his left nipple was gone, and a flap of bloody flesh and skin dangled from his chest like a wet rag." He assures her it's only a scratch. Then a warrior rides up and complains that Daenerys "has taken his spoils, a daughter of the lambs who was his to mount." Drogo asks what she has done, and when she explains tells her, "These women are our slaves now, to do with as we please." So let them take the conquered women as wives, she says, which draws the scorn of Qotho, "the cruelest of the bloodriders":  "Does the horse breed with the sheep?" She retorts: "The dragon feeds on horse and sheep alike." Drogo smiles and rules in Daenerys's favor, but when he reaches out for her he grimaces in pain.

She calls for the healers, but is told that they have been sent to tend to wounded riders. Drogo insists that the wounds aren't serious, but she can see for herself, and tells Jhogo to find the eunuchs who tend to the wounded. Then one of the women she has saved from being raped speaks up and says she can tend to him. But Qotho protests, "The khal needs no help from women who lie with sheep," and tells Aggo to cut out her tongue. Daenerys intervenes, and asks the women's name. She is Mirri Maz Duir, she says. Haggo calls her a maegi, "a woman who lay with demons and practiced the blackest of sorceries." She insists that she's a healer, and claims that she had been trained by a maester from the Seven Kingdoms.

Mia Soteriou as Mirri Maz Duur

Drogo agrees to let her remove the arrow and sew up the wound, and they go to the temple of the Lhazareen. She removes the arrow and stitches the wound after applying ointments, then covers the wound with a poultice of leaves and binds it with lambskin. She tells Drogo to say the prayers she gives him for ten days and ten nights, and that "There will be fever, and itching, and a great scar when the healing is done."

Daenerys asks Mirri Maz Duur to tend to her when she is ready to deliver.

Tyrion

Tywin informs Tyrion that Robb has succeeded in coming to terms with Frey and that his army is no more than a day away from them. Moreover, he has decided to put Tyrion and his force of mountain men in the vanguard when the armies come to battle. "Either his lord father had a new respect for Tyrion's abilities, or he'd decided to rid himself of his embarrassing get for good. Tyrion had the gloomy feeling he knew which." But he decides to face the music and say, "I'll lead your van."

His father says he isn't giving Tyrion command of his forces. Gregor Clegane will lead them. Tyrion leaves in anger and goes to his tent where Bronn has found a girl for him, "slim, dark-haired, no more than eighteen by the look of her." She says her name is Shae.

It had been nigh on a year since he'd lain with a woman, since before he had set out for Winterfell in company with his brother and King Robert. He could well die on the morrow or the day after, and if he did, he would sooner go to his grave thinking of Shae than of his lord father, Lysa Arryn, or the Lady Catelyn Stark. 

Sibel Kekilli as Shae

After she falls asleep, Tyrion goes outside and sees Bronn, who tells him he took Shae from a knight, who didn't want to give her up but was persuaded by Tyrion's name and Bronn's dirk at his throat. "I seem too recall saying find me a whore, not make me an enemy," Tyrion says, telling Bronn he hopes the knight isn't next to him in the battle. Bronn says he'll be next to him in the battle, and Tyrion says, "See that I survive this battle, and you can name your reward." He returns to the tent where Shae sees to it that he goes to sleep smiling.

He is awakened by the sound of trumpets and Shae shaking him. As he is struggling into his armor, Bronn appears and says that Robb's army surprised them by moving down the kingsroad at night and are less than a mile away. When he is armored, Shae says, "M'lord looks fearsome." He replies, "M'lord looks like a dwarf in mismatched armor," but he thanks her. When he hears the sound of the enemy's drums, he thinks about the last time he saw Robb, at Winterfell, and remembers "how the direwolves had come at him out of the shadows." He wonders if Robb brought them to war. "The thought made him uneasy."

Ser Gregor is mounted on the biggest horse he had ever seen, and Bronn says, "Always follow a big man into battle.... They make such splendid targets." Ser Gregor orders him to take the left and hold the river. "The left of the left. To turn their flank, the Starks would need horses that could run on water." He orders his clansmen to protect the river, and they raise a cry of "Halfman!" in his honor. He looks at his soldiers and compares the disorganized rabble to the "mailed fist of knights and heavy lancers" on the right flank. "'Crow food,' Bronn muttered." Robb's army appears over the hilltop, and the battle begins.

Tyrion leads his clansmen into the battle, but they soon charge past him, leaving him in their dust. He sees Ser Gregor's horse cut out from under him, but the Mountain is on his feet, wielding his greatsword. Shagga and the other clansmen fight viciously, but Tyrion is soon surrounded by the enemy. A spear lodges in his shield, and Tyrion hacks at the man's shield with his axe, then leaves him and pursues another man, whom he cuts down from behind. He feels the shock of impact in his arm. He is attacked by another man and leaves him dead. He receives a blow in the elbow that fills him with pain, and then is knocked from his horse. The knight asks him if he yields. Tyrion has no weapon, but when the horse the man is riding rears, he charges headfirst at the animal, piercing its belly with the spike on his helmet. The knight is trapped underneath the horse, with his arm twisted. He yields, and gives Tyrion his sword.

Bronn rides up and observes that the spike on Tyrion's helmet is missing. "I haven't lost it," Tyrion says. "I know just where it is." They go in search of Tyrion's horse, and when they find it the watch Tywin and his knights ride by. They find many of the clansmen dead and Shagga riddled with arrows, but not dead. Chella daughter of Cheyk rides up and shows them the four ears she had cut off of men. "Of the three hundred clansmen who had ridden to battle behind Tyrion Lannister, perhaps half had survived."

Leaving Bronn in charge of the knight he has captured, Tyrion goes to see his father. His uncle says, "Your wild men fought well." But Tyrion is more interested in his father's reaction: "'Did that surprise you, Father?' he asked. 'Did it upset your plans? We were supposed to be butchered, were we not?'" Tywin says that he put the "least disciplined" on the left with Tyrion to set a trap for Robb, "a green boy, more like to be brave than wise." The assumption was that if the left collapsed, they'd put their forces there and Ser Kevan's forces would wheel and trap them there. Tyrion says that he didn't inform him of this plan, and Tywin replies, "I am not inclined to trust my plans to a man who consorts with sellswords and savages."

His savages ruined the plan, Tyrion observes, but Tywin says, "a victory is a victory." He observes that Tyrion is wounded, but as Tyrion is asking for medical help, "Unless you relish the notion of having a one-armed dwarf for a son...." they are interrupted by the arrival of Ser Addam Marbrand, who brings the news that they have taken some of Robb's commanders, but that Robb has eluded them: "They say he crossed at the Twins with the great part of his horse, riding hard for Riverrun." Robb has outsmarted them. Tyrion "would have laughed, if he hadn't hurt so much."

Catelyn

Catelyn waits anxiously for news from the battle, sounds of which she can hear in the distance, and once she sees Jaime Lannister leading his troops. She even hears Robb's voice shouting, "To me! To me!" But then it grows silent until dawn, when she hears Grey Wolf howl.

Finally Robb appears, riding a different horse from the one he had set out on. His shield has been hacked and gouged, but he seems unharmed. And then a mob of men appears, led by Theon and the Greatjon, who are dragging Jaime Lannister between them. They throw him down in front of her, and he says, "I would offer you my sword, but I seem to have mislaid it."  It's not his sword she wants, she tells him, but her father, her brother, her daughters, and her husband.

Theon urges Robb to kill Jaime, but Robb says, "He's more use alive than dead." Catelyn tells them to put him in irons. Then she tells Robb, "You may have lopped the head off the snake, but three quarters of the body is still coiled around my father's castle. We have won a battle, not a war." Theon exults in the battle anyway, but Catelyn points out that they haven't taken Lord Tywin. "Until you do, this war is far from done."

Daenerys

Khal Drogo has grown worse: The burning and itching from the poultice Mirri Maz Duur had applied to his wound bothered him so much that he ripped it off. Finally, he falls from his horse, and Daenerys calls a halt to their march. Drogo's bloodriders resist her order, but she stands firm and calls for Mirri Maz Duur to tend to Drogo.

A tent is erected for Drogo, and Daenerys begins to face the truth of the situation: "A khal who could not ride could not rule, and Drogo had fallen from his horse." Ser Jorah confirms what she fears: "Your khal is good as dead, Princess." But Daenerys stubbornly refuses to admit defeat. Jorah urges her to leave before he dies: Even though she is carrying Drogo's child, the Dothraki will not follow a woman or an infant, and there will be a struggle for leadership. The winner will kill the baby: "Better to kill the child than to risk his fury when he grows to manhood." Drogo's bloodriders will take her to the crones, the widows of the other khals, and they will die with Drogo.

Daenery's continues to resist Jorah's advice, and when Mirri Maz Duur arrives, she sets her to work on a cure. Qotho protests, and threatens to kill Daenerys, but Jorah draws his sword to protect her: "The princess is still your khaleesi." Only while Drogo is alive, Qotho says. "When he dies, she is nothing." Qotho and his fellow bloodrider leave the tent, and Daenerys tells Jorah to put on his armor and keep watch.

After they leave, Mirri Maz Duur tells Daenerys that Drogo is "beyond a healer's skills," and that by removing the poultice he prevented it from healing him. He will be dead by morning. Daenerys pleads with her: Is there anything, some magic, that could save him? Mirri Maz Duur says there is "bloodmagic" that could work: "Only death may pay for life." Daenerys orders her to do it.

Mirri Maz Duur commands Drogo's horse to be brought to her, and she slits its throat, letting the blood spill into the bath where Drogo has been placed. She orders everyone, including Daenerys, to leave the tent: "Once I begin to sing, no one must enter the tent. My song will wake powers old and dark. The dead will dance here this night. No living man must look on them."

Outside, Daenerys waits with Jorah, who is angry with her. On the curtain walls of the tent they see shadows of figures dancing with Mirri Maz Duur inside. The Dothraki are frightened, and Cohollo, the bloodrider who had always been kind to Daenerys, spits in her face. Qotho heads for the tent, and Jorah tries to prevent him from entering. He is wounded, but finally kills Qotho. Daenerys's guards kill Haggo and Cohollo.

A stone thrown by someone in the crowd strikes Daenerys in the shoulder, but as the crowd begins to leave, she feels the pangs of labor begin. Jorah comes to her and shouts for her maids to fetch a midwife. "They will not come," he is told. "They say she is accursed." The maids tell Jorah that Mirri Maz Duur knows how to tend to childbirth. Daenerys tries to tell Jorah not to take her into the tent, but she's unable to speak, and he carries her in.

Arya

Dirty and ragged, Arya has taken to the streets of King's Landing to survive, snaring pigeons and taking them to the "pot-shops," a kind of soup kitchen. The pastries on a pushcart tempt her, but its owner warns her, "The gold cloaks know how to deal with thieving little gutter rats, that they do."

She has kept her distance from the castle, but rumors on the street have made her aware that all may not be well for her father. She knows that King Robert is dead, but not much else for sure. And though she has tried to leave the city, all the gates are carefully guarded: No one is being allowed to leave.

Her clothes and the silver bracelet she had hoped to sell were all stolen from her. She still has her wooden practice sword and Needle. At the wharf she has discovered that the ship she and Sansa were supposed to leave on is still there. She sees guardsmen wearing the colors of Winterfell and the Starks, but she takes a closer look and recognizes that they are strangers -- she is familiar with all of her father's men.

Bells begin to ring out and people start to hurry as they hear the sound. It's a "summoning" bell, someone says, and she catches up with a boy who tells her the gold cloaks are taking the Hand to the sept: "They'll be taking his head off." Four guardsmen that she recognizes ride past, and someone else says, "--the King's Hand, Lord Stark. They're carrying him up to Baelor's Sept." Arya is swept along by the crowd, and when she reaches the throng in front of the temple she looks for a way to see over the crowd. Finally she climbs up onto the plinth that supports the statue of Baelor the Blessed.

Lord Eddard stood on the High Septon's pulpit outside the doors of the sept, supported between two of the gold cloaks.... He was not standing so much as being held up; the cast over his leg was grey and rotten.... Clustered around the doors of the sept, in front of the raised marble pulpit, were a knot of knights and high lords. Joffrey was prominent among them.... His queen mother stood beside him in a black mourning gown slashed with crimson, a veil of black diamonds in her hair. Arya recognized the Hound, wearing a snowy white cloak over his dark grey armor, with four of the Kingsguard around him.... And there in the midst was Sansa.... Arya scowled, wondering what her sister was doing here, why she looked so happy. 

Her father begins to speak: "I come before you to confess my treason in the sight of gods and men." He goes on to proclaim Joffrey as "the one true heir to the Iron Throne, and by the grace of all the gods, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm." A stone comes out of the crowd and hits him in the face.

The High Septon acknowledges Ned's confession, and then asks Joffrey what is to be done with the traitor. Joffrey begins, "My mother bids me let Lord Eddard take the black, and Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father." He looks at Sansa and smiles, then continues, "But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I am your king, treason shall never go unpunished. Ser Ilyn, bring me his head!"

Sansa falls to her knees, screaming, as Ser Ilyn Payne comes forward with a sword. Arya leaps into the crowd and draws Needle. She sees Ser Ilyn raise the sword and recognizes it as Ice, her father's own sword. Then a hand reaches out and grabs her. She drops Needle, and a voice snarls, "Don't look!" He makes her look at him, and calls her "boy" several times. Then she recognizes him as Yoren, the member of the Night's Watch who had visited her father. He hands her Needle, then carries her away.

15. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 628-664

Eddard

Cast into the dungeon and given only water, Ned loses track of time. Finally, a jailer appears, but with wine, not food. It is Varys in disguise, and unlike the real jailers, he is willing to talk with Ned, to tell him that Arya has escaped and can't be found, and that Sansa is under the control of the queen. He also says, "I trust you realize that you are a dead man, Lord Eddard?" When Varys tells him that Caetlyn no longer controls Tyrion, who could be held hostage to obtain his release, Ned says Varys might as well kill him now and be done with it. "Your blood is the last thing I desire," Varys says, so Ned asks why he stood back and watched as his guard was slaughtered. Varys replies, "I seem to recall that I was unarmed, unarmored, and surrounded by Lannister swords.... A eunuch has no honor, and a spider does not enjoy the luxury of scruples, my lord."

So Ned asks if he will take a message for him. Varys says he will, but whether he will deliver it depends on whether it serves his ends. What ends are those, Ned asks, and Varys replies, "Peace."

"If there was one soul in King's Landing who was truly desperate to keep Robert Baratheon alive, it was me." He sighed. "For fifteen years I protected him from his enemies, but I could not protect him from his friends. What strange fit of madness led you to tell the queen that you had learned the truth of Joffrey's birth?"

"'The madness of mercy,' Ned admitted." Varys observes that Ned is "honest and honorable," and now he knows why he has met so few men like him.

The king, Varys tells him, would have died on the hunt somehow even if the boar hadn't killed him: "a fall from a horse, the bite of a wood adder, an arrow gone astray ... the forest is the abattoir of the gods." Cersei will visit him tomorrow, he says, and tells him that Robb is leading an army against the Lannisters. Ned is "aghast" that Robb, "only a boy," should be doing such a thing. Varys continues,

"So here is Cersei's nightmare: while her father and brother spend their power battling Starks and Tullys, Lord Stannis will land, proclaim himself king, and lop off her son's curly blond head ... and her own in the bargain, though I truly believe she cares more about the boy."

He urges Ned to confess to treason, tell Robb to call off his attack, accept Joffrey as king, denounce Stannis and Renly Baratheon, and vow to Cersei that he'll keep the secret of her children's parentage. "I believe she will allow you to take the black and live out the rest of your days on the Wall, with our brother and that baseborn son of yours."

Ned asks whom Varys truly serves. "I serve the realm, and the realm needs peace," he declares. And when Ned says, "My life is not so precious to me" that he could do the things Varys suggests. Then Varys reminds him that Sansa is still under the control of the queen, and that the Lannisters were not above killing the Targaryen children. "The next visitor who calls on you could bring you bread and cheese and the milk of the poppy for your pain ... or he could bring you Sansa's head."

Catelyn

An obstacle stands in the way of Robb's army: Walder Frey, who controls the bridge they must cross. Catelyn feels the urgency of moving forward more intensely when word reaches her of the capture of her brother and the sieWge of her father's castle. The problem, as Catelyn tells Robb, is that "The Freys have held the crossing for six hundred years, and for six hundred years they have never failed to exact their toll." They must find out what that toll is, she tells him.

David Bradley as Walder Frey

Lord Walder sends word that Robb must meet with him to discuss terms, but others fear that he would be walking into a trap: "he can sell you to the Lannisters, throw you in an dungeon, or slit your throat, as he likes." So Catelyn volunteers to meet with him. She has known him since she was a girl, she says. "He would never off me any harm," though she silently says to herself, "Unless he saw some profit in it."

Sir Walder is ninety, and he receives her with suspicion. She asks to speak with him privately, and he agrees. She reminds him that he is a sworn bannerman to her father, but this carries no weight with him. On the other hand, he has no love for Tywin Lannister, and when Catelyn hears this from him she presses this advantage. He continues to resist, saying, "The Tullys and the Starks have never been friends of mine," but he is willing to haggle.

Finally, Catelyn rides back with the terms: Lord Walder will grant the crossing and lend his troops. In return, she has agreed to take two of his grandsons -- "It would seem they are both named Walder" -- as wards at Winterfell. They are Bran's age.  Lord Frey's son Olyvar is to be Robb's squire, and "if your sister Arya is returned to us safely, it is agreed that she will marry Lord Walder's youngest son, Elmar, when the two of them come of age." Robb comments, "Arya won't like that one bit." And then, she says, Robb is to marry one of his daughters when the fighting is over. Robb can choose which one. Robb agrees.

Jon

Jon's right hand was badly burned when he flung the flaming curtains over the attacker, but the maester has said that it will recover though it will be scarred. Lord Commander Mormont tells him that news has arrived of Ser Barristan Selmy's dismissal from the Kingsguard, and that Selmy is now wanted for treason. He killed two men who were sent for him, and has escaped. There was no mention in the message, however, of Jon's father and sisters. Jon knows that Robb has called on the bannermen and has taken the army south, but only because Samwell, who reads letters to Maester Aemon, told him.

Then Mormont asks if Aemon told him how soon he will be able to use his hand again. When Jon says, "Soon," the commander placed on the table between them "a large sword in a black metal scabbard banded with silver. 'Here. You'll be ready for this, then.'" The fire had burned the pommel and crossguard and grip of the sword, and Mormont has had them replaced. "The pommel was a hunk of pale stone weighted with lead to balance the long blade. It had been carved into the likeness of a snarling wolf's head, with chips of garnet set into the eyes." Jon recognizes the blade as Valyrian steel.

It was his father's sword, Mormont tells him, and his grandfather's, and he had given it to his son, Ser Jorah. "My son brought dishonor to House Mormont, but at least he had the grace to leave the sword behind when he fled." Jon tries to refuse it, but Mormont insists: "I would not be sitting here were it not for you and that beast of yours. You fought bravely ... and more to the point, you thought quickly." When Jon accepts, he asks the sword's name and is told it was once called Longclaw. He decides to keep the name.

Mormont tells him that Ser Alliser Thorne has been replaced as master-at-arms and sent to King's Landing with the hand that Ghost tore from Jafer Flowers's wrist. "I have commanded him to ... lay it before this boy king. That should get young Joffrey's attention, I'd think." It also "puts a thousand leagues twixt him and you without it seeming a rebuke," though Mormont still chides Jon for what he calls "that nonsense in the common hall." Then he sends Jon off to deliver instructions for his dinner. Outside, his friends have gathered, eager to see the sword, which they already knew about. Halder had helped carve the pommel and Sam had bought the garnets in Mole's Town.

Jon learns that the other undead ranger had killed Ser Jaremy Rykker and four others before it, too, was burned. This puts him in no mood for his friends, remembering the fight with the eerie Othor, and the fact that fighting was taking place in the riverlands. So he says he needs to see to Mormont's supper and walks off. He goes to his quarters, where Ghost awaits him and shows the carved wolf on the sword to him. He recalls how he found Ghost: "He was all alone, he thought, apart from the others in the litter. He was different, so they drove him out."

Sam appears at the door. He had not been with the other boys, so Jon asks if he wants to see the sword. Sam says no. He was heir to his father's sword, Heartsbane, but he was afraid he'd hurt someone with it, and now his brother will have it. He has come to say that Maester Aemon wants to see Jon. The maester asks him to help feed the ravens, but doesn't say anything about what Jon assumes he wants to talk about: the army that Robb is leading.

Finally, the maester asks, "Jon, did you ever wonder why the men of the Night's Watch take no wives and father no children?" Jon says no, and the old man says, "So they will not love, ... for love is the bane of honor, the death of duty." And he asks Jon what his father would do if he had to "choose between honor on the one hand and those he loves on the other." Jon hesitates, thinking, "He fathered a bastard, where was the honor in that? And your mother, what of his duty to her, he will not even say her name." But he says that his father "would do whatever was right.... No matter what."

"Most of us are not so strong," Aemon says. "We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy." The men of the Night's Watch, he tells Jon, not only vow to give up love of family, but they also pledge not to take part in the internal battles of the country they guard. The price of honor and duty is renunciation. That seems easy enough in the abstract, he says, "Yet soon or late in every man's life comes a day when it is not easy, a day when he must choose." 

Jon realizes that Aemon is telling him that the time has come when he will be forced to choose between the sworn duty to the Night's Watch and the love for the family that raised him. And Aemon tells him he knows that it hurts. "'You don't know,' Jon said bitterly. 'No one knows. Even if I am his bastard, he's still my father...." So Aemon tells him that he has faced the choice three times in his life, and the last time was as cruel as the first:

"My ravens would bring the news from the south, words darker than their wings, the ruin of my House, the death of my kin, disgrace and desolation. What could I have done, old, blind, frail? I was helpless as a suckling babe, yet still it grieved me to sit forgotten as they cut down my brother's poor grandson, and his son, and even the little children...."

And he reveals to Jon that he is a Targaryen, the son of King Maekar and the brother of King Aegon, and that it was members of his own family who were slain by Jaime Lannister.

12. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 501-541

Eddard

Ned is wakened from a bad dream by the king's steward, who tells him that he has been summoned by the king. He hadn't known that Robert had returned from the hunt, but when he arrives at the king's chambers he learns the terrible truth: Robert has been mortally wounded by a boar. "They had done what they could to close him up, but it was nowhere near enough. At his bedside are Cersei, Pycelle, and Renly, but when Ned arrives Robert orders them to leave.

In broken speech, the king tells Ned that he was right about not killing Daenerys, and then orders paper and ink. He dictates to Ned his orders that Ned should act as regent after his death until Joffrey comes of age. Ned wants to tell him that Joffrey is not really his son, but decides to to add to the king's torment. "So Ned bent his head and wrote, but where the king had said 'my son Joffrey,' he scrawled 'my heir' instead. The deceit made him feel soiled. The lies we tell for love, he thought," unknowingly and ironically echoing Jaime Lannister's comment before he shoved Bran from the window. Ned finishes the letter and hands it to him to sign, commenting, "The seal should be witnessed." Before Ned calls the others to return, the king says, "Daenerys. Let her live."

Cersei has returned to her room, and Renly and Pycelle witness the seal on the letter. Pycelle gives the king the opiate, and Robert says, "I will give Lyanna your love, Ned. Take care of my children for me." The words are painful for Ned, who thinks of the king's real children, the bastards, and wishes again that he didn't have to lie to the king when he vows to "guard your children as if they were my own."

Outside the king's chamber Ned talks to Ser Barristan, and Varys silently approaches to ask who gave the king wine on the hunting trip. Ser Barristan says it was his squire, Lancel, who Varys observes is "Ser Kevan Lannister's son, nephew to Lord Tywin and cousin to the queen. I hope the dear sweet lad does not blame himself." Ned mentions Robert's "change of heart concerning Daenerys Targaryen," and asks that the arrangements made for her death be canceled. But Varys says it may be too late: "I fear those birds have flown."

As Ned is returning to his quarters, being helped by his guards because of his broken leg, Lord Renly approaches and asks to speak to him privately. "Give me an hour, and I can put a hundred swords in your hand," Renly says. He proposes to "get Joffrey away from his mother and take him in hand," and to seize the queen's other children. "Once we have her children, Cersei will not dare oppose us." Ned refuses the offer, saying he will not "dishonor [Robert's] last hours on earth by shedding blood in his halls and dragging frightened children from their beds." But after Renly leaves, Ned wonders if he had done the right thing, remembering Cersei's statement, "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die."

When he returns to his room he sends for Littlefinger, and makes sure that arrangements for the ship to take Sansa and Arya away are in order. He tells the guard that he wants a letter delivered to Stannis Baratheon on Dragonstone, informing the king's brother what has happened. He expects Stannis to make his claim on the throne. "The new king would choose his own Hand. Ned would be free to go home."

Littlefinger arrives, already having heard from Varys the rumor that Robert has named Ned regent. Ned tells him what he has learned about the parentage of Joffrey and the other children. Littlefinger says he is shocked without looking shocked, and then elicits from Ned the conclusion: "The throne by rights passes to Lord Stannis, the elder of Robert's two brothers." But Littlefinger observes, "Stannis cannot take the throne without your help. If you're wise, you'll make certain Joffrey succeeds." He points out that Stannis is "hard and unyielding" and that he "cannot rest easy on the throne until Cersei and her bastards are dead." This will mean war. "Seat Stannis on the Iron Throne and I promise you, the realm will bleed." On the other hand, if Ned makes peace with the Lannisters, makes Catelyn release Tyrion, marries Sansa to Joffrey, Arya to Prince Tommen, and Robb to Myrcella, and finds a way to get rid of Stannis, "Then should Joffrey prove troublesome, we can reveal his little secret and put Lord Renly on the throne."

Ned is appalled and calls this plot "treason." "Only if we lose," Littlefinger replies. But Ned can't forget the murders of Jon Arryn and Jory Cassel, and the attempt to kill Bran. Littlefield sighs at Ned's naïveté. "For a moment I did not remember that I was talking to a Stark." Ned also reveals that he is counting on the support of the City Watch, which "is two thousand strong, sworn to defend the castle, the city, and the king's peace." Littlefinger says, "Ah, but when the queen proclaims one king and the Hand another, whose peace do they protect." He gives the dagger on the table a spin, and the blade points at him: "They follow the man who pays them," he says.

Littlefinger has just given Ned a clear warning of the outcome of what he proposes to do, but Ned is too angry to see it. So Littlefinger leaves, saying that "For the sake of the love I bear for Catelyn," he will go to Janos Slynt, the commander of the watch, and offer six thousand gold pieces for his support for Ned.

Jon

Jon's visit to Maester Aemon has paid off: Samwell comes to him excitedly and tells him that he is to be made a brother with Jon and the others, and that he is to be a steward for the maester. So they go to the sept together where the officers of the Night's Watch assemble for the oath-taking. But Lord Commander Mormont asks the brothers-to-be if any of them worship the old gods. Jon says that he does, and the commander gives him the option of taking the oath in a godswood, as his uncle Benjen had done. The only weirwood in the vicinity is beyond the Wall.

To Jon's surprise, Sam speaks up and asks to say his oath there too. He admits that his family worships the seven gods of the sept, but "The Seven have never answered my prayers. Perhaps the old gods will." So Mormont agrees. Then he proceeds with their assignment to the various orders: rangers, builders, and stewards. Sam's appointment the stewards has already been agreed on, but Jon, who had expected to become a ranger, is also assigned to the stewards. When he looks at his old enemy Ser Alliser, he knows what has happened: "Jon had never seen the master-at-arms look quite so happy." He learns next that he is to be personal steward to Lord Commander Mormont. When he protests, "Do you take me for a servant?" Maester Aemon, before whom he had pleaded so eloquently for Sam, says, "We took you for a man of the Night's Watch ... but perhaps we were wrong in that."

Outside, Jon rages that Ser Alliser had wanted to shame him and has succeeded. But Sam has a different view of things:

"The old man is Lord Commander of the Night's Watch," Sam reminded him. "You'll be with him day and night. Yes, you'll pour his wine and see that his bed linen is fresh, but you'll also take his letters, attend him at meetings, squire him in battle. You'll be as close to him as his shadow. You'll know everything, be a part of everything ... and the Lord Steward said Mormont asked for you himself!"

Sam recalls how his father used to take him to events of importance, but when his more favored younger brother got old enough, his father would take him instead: "He wanted his heir at his side, don't you see? To watch and listen and learn from all he did. I'll wager that's why Lord Mormont requested you, Jon.... He wants to groom you for command!" Jon admits that Sam may be right, recalling how Ned Stark had made his heir, Robb, part of his councils.

That afternoon they set out for the forest on the other side of the Wall, accompanied by the Lord Steward and an escort of rangers. Ghost goes along with them, though he quickly vanishes into the forest. The sun is behind the trees when they reach the weirwoods and say their oaths. The forester who had come with them urges them to return, "Dark is falling, and there's something in the smell o' the night that I mislike."

Ghost appears from the forest, carrying something in his mouth. It's a hand.

Eddard

Ned is having breakfast with his daughters, still expecting them to leave that day. Arya pleads for one final lesson with Syrio Forel before their departure, and Ned agrees. Which then makes Sansa plead to see Joffrey, which he forbids. She leaves the table in tears.

An hour later, Grand Maester Pycelle enters to tell him the king has died. Ned tells him to summon the members of his council. Ser Barristan, Littlefinger, and Varys enter, but when he says they should wait for Lord Renly, Varys informs him that Renly has left the city with Loras Tyrell and his retainers, headed south. This is disturbing news: Ned had counted on Renly's support.

Ned then asks Ser Barristan to produce the king's letter, the seal of which Barristan and Renly had witnessed. Barristan then reads, "Lord Eddard Stark is herein named Protector of the Realm, to rule as regent until the heir comes of age." Ned, who doesn't mention that the heir -- i.e., Stannis -- is already of age, then asks them to confirm him in the office, but before they can do so, the royal steward enters and tells them "the king demands the immediate presence of his small council in the throne room." Ned isn't really surprised that the summons has come so quickly, so he agrees.

In the throne room, Joffrey is seated on the Iron Throne. Cersei is there with her other two children, and at the foot of the steps leading to the throne is Sandor Clegane. There are twenty Lannister guardsmen behind the throne, but Ned takes heart from the presence of the City Watch in their gold cloaks. "They outnumbered the Lannisters five to one."

Joffrey rises and announces that he wants the coronation to take place within a fortnight, and that today he wants his councilors to give their "oaths of fealty." Ned produces Robert's letter and tells Varys to take it to Cersei, who reads out the words "Protector of the Realm," asks, "Is this meant to be your shield, my lord? A piece of paper?" and rips it to pieces. She tells Ned to swear fealty and he can resign as Hand and return home. But Ned stands his ground: "Your son has no claim to the throne he sits. Lord Stannis is Robert's true heir."

Joffrey screams, "Liar!" and Cersei orders Ser Barristan to "seize this traitor." The Stark guardsmen surround Ned, the Hound draws his sword, and the men of the Kingsguard and the Lannister men move in to support him. Joffrey screams out, "Kill all of them. I command it!" So Ned tells Janos Slynt to have the City Watch take the queen and her children into custody.

Instead, the nearest man of the watch pierces Fat Tom with his spear, and others move in to kill Ned's guards.
Then Littlefinger steps forward, grabs Ned's dagger, and puts it under his chin. "His smile was apologetic. 'I did warn you not to trust me, you know.'"

Arya

Arya's swordsmanship has improved to the point that the "almost" touches him with her sword in one of their practice duels. He tells her that when they get to Winterfell, he may start letting her practice with Needle. But just then the doors of the hall open with a crash and a member of the Kingsguard with four Lannister guardsmen enter and order Arya to come with them. When Arya asks why, they say her father wants to see her, but Syrio asks why he is sending Lannister men, and Arya realizes something is wrong. She refuses to go.

The guardsmen move in, and when one of them draws his sword, Syrio breaks his hand with his wooden sword. Then Syrio tells Arya to run to her father. As she does so, she looks back to see Syrio taking out five guardsmen with his wooden sword, poking one man's eye out with it, and using his dexterity so that they are killing one another. "'Arya child,' he called out, never looking at her, 'be gone now.'" But as she leaves she sees the final remaining knight cut Syrio's stick in two.

As she races through the palace, she remembers all of the things that Syrio has taught her, but especially "Fear cuts deeper than swords." When she finds herself on the way to her father's chambers, she remembers another, "Never do what they expect," and goes another way. When she hears the sound of fighting, she realizes that she can't go back. Then she comes across Hullen, the master of horse at Winterfell, who has been stabbed numerous times. With his dying breath he tells her to warn her father. She finds more bodies, and decides the best thing to do is take a horse and ride north on the kingsroad until she gets to Winterfell.

Then she finds the wagons that had been loaded to take her clothes and her sister's to the ship. She retrieves some clothing and a silver bracelet she might sell, and gropes into the chest for Needle. As she finds it, a stableboy appears and recognizes her. She asks him to help her saddle a horse and her father will reward him, but he says her father is dead and the queen will reward him for capturing her. As he grabs her, she forgets everything Syrio has taught her and remembers only the one lesson "Jon Snow had given her, the very first. She struck him with the pointy end, driving the blade upward with a wild, hysterical strength." When she pulls the blade out, he dies.

As she starts to saddle the horse she realizes that the gates will be closed and that the guards will recognize her. But she knows there is another way out of the castle if she can find it. She makes her way to the sept, where she takes some prayer candles, and then finds her way into the dungeons, going to the room where the monsters were. She remembers when Robb took her and Sansa and Bran into the crypt and Jon had scared them by pretending to be a ghost. "The memory made Arya smile, and after that the darkness held no terrors for her."

11. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 462-500

Eddard

In the king's absence it is Ned's duty, as the Hand, to sit on the extremely uncomfortable and even dangerous Iron Throne, "an ironwork monstrosity of spikes and jagged edges and grotesquely twisted metal." It was "a chair that could kill a man, and had, if the stories could be believed." He is attended by Grand Maester Pycelle, Varys, and Littlefinger, and he is listening to a group of villagers who say they were set upon by Lannister men who raped and murdered, and destroyed their villages, crops, and livestock.

The west had been a tinderbox since Catelyn had seized Tyrion Lannister. Both Riverrun and Casterly Rock had called their banners, and armies were massing in the pass below the Golden Tooth. 

The men who attacked the villages wore no insignia on their armor, however, so they can't be positively identified as Lannisters, but one man testifies that their leader was gigantic: "Big as an ox he was, and a voice like stone breaking." The description fits Gregor Clegane, who "stood bannerman to Lord Tywin Lannister."

As Ned ponders this revelation, he notices that Sansa is in the gallery with Septa Mordane, and is angry that she has come here to listen to such evidence. He hears that Edmure Tully, Catelyn's brother, is planning retaliation, and realizes that Edmure may be falling into a trap set by Tywin Lannister to divide the forces against him. Lord Hoster Tully, the father of Edmure and Catelyn, has held his off by sending this delegation to the king. Ned is grateful for this: "Should Riverrun strike back, Cersei and her father would insist that it had been the Tullys who broke the king's peace, not the Lannisters."

When he decides that he must send men to confront Gregor Clegane, the Knight of Flowers steps forth. "Out of his armor, Ser Loras Tyrell looked even younger than his sixteen years." He volunteers to fight Clegane, but Ned chooses four other men, and sends them, each with twenty of his men plus twenty of his own guards. And he issues a proclamation in the king's name, charging them to "bring the king's justice to the false knight Gregor Clegane, and to all those who shared in his crimes," and pronouncing his death sentence. When Tyrell protests at not being included, Ned says, "No one doubts your valor, Ser Loras, but we are about justice here, and what you seek is vengeance."

Afterward, Varys suggests that "a man who has the Lannisters for his enemies would do well to make the Tyrells his friends," and that Ned may have made an enemy by not sending Ser Ilyn Payne, the king's executioner. Ned observes that the Paynes are bannermen to the Lannisters: "I thought it best to choose men who owed Lord Tywin no fealty." But Varys says he had noticed the expression on Ser Ilyn's face, and "he did not look pleased."

Sansa

Ned's decision not to send Ser Loras sparks discussion even between Sansa and her friend Jeyne Poole, but Sansa's mind is mostly on her betrothed, Prince Joffrey, who is off on the hunt with the king. And at the breakfast table the next morning she gets in a fight with Arya that ends with Arya throwing an orange at her and Septa Mordane sending them both to their rooms.

Later in the day Ned summons both of them to his room, where he is reading the book on the genealogy of families. He tells them that he is sending them to Winterfell immediately. They both protest, Sansa because of her betrothal and Arya because of her lessons with Syrio Forel. Ned tells Sansa, "This match with Joffrey was a terrible mistake," causing her to protest bitterly. "I'll give him a son with golden hair," she says, who'll be "as brave as the wolf and as proud as the lion," the emblems of the Stark and the Lannister families. Arya chimes in, "Not if Joffrey's his father.... He's a liar and a craven and anyhow he's a stag, not a lion." The stag is the emblem of the Baratheons, which causes Sansa to scream at her sister, "He is not! He's not the least bit like that old drunken king."

That comment causes Ned to look at her and mutter, "out of the mouths of babes...." But he tells them that he's sending them back by sea, and that if Syrio Forel agrees, he can go with them. He warns them to say nothing about this to anyone. Sansa returns to her room furious.

Eddard

Grand Maester Pycelle tells Ned that Tywin Lannister is angry about the party sent to deal with Gregor Clegane, but Ned dismisses this news and returns to his thoughts.

Someday, when Sansa was grown, he would have to tell her how she had made it all come clear for him. He's not the least bit like that old drunken king, she had declared, angry and unknown, and the simple truth of it had twisted inside him, cold as death. This was the sword that killed Jon Arryn, Ned thought then, and it will kill Robert as well, a slower death but full as certain.

Littlefinger enters with news that mercenaries are hurrying to the employ of Tywin Lannister, which is not unexpected. Ned asks for news of the king, and Littlefinger tells him that the white hart they were hunting had been found killed by wolves, but that Robert had heard about a giant boar deeper in the woods and had gone in pursuit of it. The Hound and Prince Joffrey had returned to the palace. On his way out, Littlefield notices the genealogy book and comments on it. Ned thinks about telling him what he has discovered in it, but he just comments that "Jon Arryn was studying this volume when he was taken sick."

Ned is saving his discovery for the king's return. He worries about the king's vengeance and thinks that "He must find some way to save the children.... He will kill them all, Ned realized." He summons Tomard, the head of the household guard now that Jory is dead and Alyn has gone on the expedition against Gregor Clegane. Tomard is "portly," and Ned's children call him Fat Tom, which makes Ned uneasy. He tells Tomard to double the guard on the Tower of the Hand, and to take him to the godswood, the place of worship set aside for those like Ned who still practice the old religion. There, he gives Tomard a message to take to Cersei Lannister.

It is sunset when Cersei arrives, and he tells her, "I know the truth Jon Arryn died for."

He touches the bruise on her face and asks if Robert had ever done that to her before. She says he has never hit her on the face before, or "Jaime would have killed him... My brother is worth a hundred of your friend." He replies, "Your brother? ... Or your lover?" She calmly replies, "Both." She is candid about their relationship, pointing out that "The Targaryens wed brother to sister for three hundred years, to keep the bloodlines pure."

He asks about Bran, and she admits, "He saw us." And all three of her children, she says, are Jaime's. Ned now realizes the significance of what Jon Arryn said his deathbed: "The seed is strong." In the genealogy he had read that all of the Baratheons had black hair, and that even when a Lannister male married a Baratheon woman, all of their four children had black hair. All of the bastards Ned had been able to track down had black hair.  "No matter how far back Ned searched in the brittle, yellowed pages, always the found the gold yielding before the coal." When he asks why she had never borne a child of the king's, she tells him that Robert had made her pregnant once, but she had an abortion. "I hae not let him inside me for years. I know other ways to pleasure him."

"What did he do to make you hate him so?" he asks. And she replies that on their wedding night he whispered the name Lyanna. When he says that she knows what he must do -- that is, tell the king -- she puts her hand on his thigh, then touches his face and his hair. "Be kind to me, Ned. I swear to you, you shall never regret it." But he rejects the attempt to seduce him, asking, "Did you make the same offer to Jon Arryn?" She slaps him, and when he says he will treat the slap "as a badge of honor," she scoffs and the idea of his honor. He has a bastard of his own, she says. "Tell me, my honorable Lord Eddard, how are you any different from Robert, or me, or Jaime?" He replies, "I do not kill children."

He then tells her that he is going to tell Robert, and advises her to take her children and leave the country. "Robert's wrath will follow you, to the back of beyond, if need be." She reminds him of how he found Jaime sitting on the Iron Throne when King's Landing fell, and made him yield it to Robert. He should have take it for himself, she says. "Such a sad mistake." He admits to mistakes, but says "that was not one of them."

"Oh, but it was, my lord," Cersei insisted. "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."

Daenerys

The heart of a stallion would make her son strong and swift and fearless, or so the Dothraki believed, but only if the mother could eat it all. If she choked on the blood or retched up the flesh, the omens were less favorable; the child might be stillborn, or come forth weak, deformed, or female.

So Daenerys chows down on a raw horse heart, and there is much celebration. The crones of the dosh khaleen, who are the widows of khals, read the omens and proclaim, "The prince is riding, and he shall be the stallion who mounts the world." The oldest of the crones asks for the child's name, and Daenerys answers, "He shall be called Rhaego."

As she walks away from the ritual with Khal Drogo, he asks, using the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms, which she has been teaching him, "What is meaning, name Rhaego?" She says that her brother was Rhaegar and that Ser Jorah has said "that he was the last of the dragons." They ride to the lake called the Womb of the World, where she bathes in the waters and has sex with Drogo. Then they return to Khal Drogo's hall for a feast.

She looks for her brother in the hall, but he isn't there. So when she spots Ser Jorah Mormont, she calls him to her table. He tells her that he saw Viserys that morning, going to the Western Market for wine, "and he has some thought to recruit men for his army from the sellswords who guard the caravans." She observes that he doesn't have any gold to buy them with, but Jorah tells her he planned to take the dragon's eggs "until I warned him that I'd cut off his hand if he so much as touched them." Daenerys had not even suspected that they were so valuable. She has also clung to the idea that her brother is "my true king.... He is all I have." Jorah corrects her: "You belong to the Dothraki now. In your womb rides the stallion who mounts the world."

Doreah whispers to her, "your brother...." A drunken Viserys has entered the hall and is headed her way. She tells Jorah to stop him, to tell him he can have the dragon's eggs.

"Where is my sister?" Viserys shouted, his voice thick with wine. "I've come for her feast. How dare you presume to eat without me? No one eats before the king. Where is she? The whore can't hide from the dragon."

Jorah's attempt to stop Viserys fails, but Khal Drogo rises and says something in Dothraki that Jorah interprets for him: Drogo has ordered him to go sit with the "lowest of the low" in the hall. The insult draws laughter and shouts from five thousand Dothraki. Daenerys is unable to hear what her brother shouts back, but in his attempt to control Viserys, Jorah knocks him to the floor. Viserys draws a sword, which is forbidden in the sacred city. Daenerys knows what this means, though he doesn't, and she tries to persuade him to put down the sword and come sit by her. But instead Viserys points the sword at Daenerys's belly and vows that unless he gets the crown promised him, "I'll cut the bastard out."

Her handmaid Jhiqui is too terrified to translate what Viserys has said, so Daenerys makes the attempt with the little Dothraki she has learned. When she has finished, "Khal Drogo spoke a few brusque sentences in Dothraki, and she knew he understood." She tells Viserys, "He says you shall have a splendid golden crown that men shall tremble to behold."

Viserys lowers his sword and smiles. Khal Drogo comes to her and she puts an arm around his waist as his bloodriders seize Viserys. Drogo takes off his belt, which has medallions of pure gold. He orders the cooks to remove a stew pot from the fire and dump the stew, then he throws the belt into the pot and has it returned to the flames.When the gold has melted, Drogo picks up the pot using a pair of thick horsehair mittens. Ser Jorah tells Daenerys to look away, but she refuses. And as the contents of the pot spill over his head, "He was no dragon, Dany thought, curiously calm. Fire cannot kill a dragon."

10. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 424-461

Eddard 

Ned wakes from a dream of an old battle to find his steward, Vayon Poole, standing over him. He has been unconscious for six days and seven nights, Poole tells him, since Maester Pycelle gave him "milk of the poppy" for the pain of his broken leg. Poole tells him that the king has asked to see him as soon as he wakes up. In the meantime, Jaime Lannister has returned to Casterly Rock and the news has spread further about Catelyn's abduction of Tyrion.

The king and the queen are there to see him, but Cersei's words are not designed to ease his discomfort: "A man in your place should count himself fortunate  that his head is still on his shoulders." Robert snaps at her to be quiet, but he admits he's not happy about Catelyn's actions. He wants her to release Tyrion immediately and Ned to make peace with Jaime. Ned protests that three of his men "were butchered bfore my eyes, because Jaime Lannister wished to chasten me. Am I to forget that?" Cersei has it that "Lord Stark was returning drunk from a brothel. His men attacked Jaime and his guards, even as his wife attacked Tyrion on the kingsroad." Robert tells him that Littlefinger "admits you were returning from some whorehouse."

Ned retorts that he went there to see Robert's daughter. "Her mother has named her Barra. She looks like that first girl you fathered, when we were boys together in the Vale." Cersei's expression betrays nothing at this news, but she tells the king, "This man dishonors you with every breath he takes, and yet you stand there meekly, asking if his leg pains him and would he like some wine." Robert sends "a vicious backhand blow to the side of the head. She stumbled against the table and fell hard, yet Cersei Lannister did not cry out." She says of the bruise, "I shall wear this as a badge of honor." Robert calls for a guard and has her escorted back to her room.

When she is gone, Robert expresses his contempt for her, tells Ned that he is going hunting the next morning, and forbids him to resign as Hand, threatening to make Jaime Lannister Hand instead. Ned reluctantly agrees.

Catelyn

Ser Rodrik brings Catelyn the news that Tywin Lannister is massing his troops and that her brother, Edmure, is preparing to defend the land ruled by the Tullys. There is no news of how her father, Lord Hoster, is handling matters, which makes Catelyn worry that he is sick and has handed over matters to her brother.

Meanwhile, plans are going forth for the trial by combat, and Catelyn reflects on the change in her sister: "The shy girl she had known at Riverrun had grown into a woman who was by turns proud, fearful, cruel, dreamy, reckless, timid, stubborn, vain, and above all, inconstant."

In the hall where the combat is to take place, Lysa is surrounded by her knights. "Most of them still hoped to wed her, bed her, and rule the Vale of Arryn by her side. From what Catelyn had seen during her stay at the Eyrie, it was a vain hope." She tries to dissuade Lysa from going through with the trial. "Alive, the Imp has value. Dead, he is only food for crows." And, she adds, suppose his champion should defeat hers.

Lysa's knights assure Catelyn that Ser Vardis will prevail. Catelyn has her doubts, however. She has seen Bronn fight. But Lysa will not be persuaded: "'Lord Robert wants to see him fly,' she said, as if that settled the matter." When Tyrion is brought forth, Lord Robert says, "The bad little man.... Mother, can I make him fly? I want to see him fly." Lysa promises him that he will.

The champions appear. "Ser Vardis Egen was steel from head to heel, encased in heavy plate armor over mail and padded surcoat.... Bronn was so lightly armored he looked almost naked beside the knight." But he is taller and has a longer reach, Catelyn observes, "and Bronn was fifteen years younger, if she was any judge."

There is some ceremony before the fight begins, which only makes Lord Robert more petulant. The combatants kneel, and afterward Ser Vardis is so encumbered by his armor that he has to be helped to his feet. He is given "a triangular shield almost four feet tall, heavy oak dotted with iron studs," but when Bronn is offered a similar shield he declines it. The sword Ser Vardis is handed was made for Jon Arryn, Lysa boasts. Catelyn observes that the knight "might have been more comfortable with his own sword," but she doesn't tell her sister that. Lord Robert keeps urging, "Make them fight," and when finally the time has come, he screams out the order, "Fight!"

Bronn's tactic is to wear the armored Ser Vardis out, enraging the crowd, which calls him a coward. Ser Rodrik, however, explains to Catelyn what Bronn is doing. She remembers the duel between Brandon Stark and Littlefinger, when the latter challenged him for her hand. It was a brutal mismatch that ended with Littlefinger being seriously wounded. Because her father forbade her seeing him, it was Lysa who nursed Littlefinger back to health. She did not see him again until her secret return to King's Landing. Littlefinger also nursed a grievance against her brother Edmure, who had been Brandon's second in the duel.

Her mind comes back to the duel at hand, and she notices that Ser Vardis is unable to lay a blow on Bronn, but Bronn has already put a dent in the knight's armor. The fight has taken them to the vicinity of a marble statue of a weeping woman meant to be Alyssa Arryn, a legendary ancestor whose tears for her dead husband and children are supposed to be the source of a waterfall near the castle. Bronn ducks behind the statue just as Vardis lunges, so the sword hits the statue instead. Lord Robert whines that they're "not fighting good," and Lysa assures him that they will: "The sellsword can't run all day."

Bronn lands more blows on the knight's armor and he hacks chips off of the shield. He ducks a blow from the knight's sword, and Vardis crashes into the statue. He is having trouble keeping the agile Bronn in his sights: the slit in his visor limits his vision. From behind, Bronn lands a blow on Vardis's sword arm, which begins to bleed. Vardis is moving slower and his breaths are audible. Lysa is oblivious to this, however, and orders him, "Finish him now, my baby is getting tired."

Vardis seems to respond to her command, and charges at Bronn, who almost loses his footing and has to grab the statue to regain his balance. Vardis drops his shield and uses both hands to raise his sword, but the blow misses Bronn and hits the statue, breaking the sword. Bronn shoves the statue and it topples onto the knight. Then Bronn moves in for the kill.

Lord Robert asks if it's over. "No, Catelyn wanted to tell him, it's only now beginning." But Lysa says, "Yes," and when the boy asks, "Can I make the little man fly now?" Tyrion speaks up. "'Not this little man,' he said. 'This little man is going down in the turnip hoist, thank you very much," meaning the basket that hoists provisions from below. Lord Robert is furious at his mother. "You promised I could make him fly." But Lysa remains true to her word and sets Tyrion free, giving them the horses and supplies they need as well, once they reach the high road.

Catelyn realizes what this means as "Lysa allowed herself a faint, satisfied smile. It was another sort of death sentence," exposing them to the same sort of attacks they had encountered on the way to the Vale of Arryn.

Jon 

Ser Alliser Thorne has assembled the trainees in the yard for an announcement: Five new boys are on their way to the Wall for training, so he has decided to send eight of Jon's group to the Lord Commander for assignment to their duties as men of the Night's Watch. He calls out their names, and the last one he mentions is "the Bastard." But he says they aren't really fit yet, "and when winter comes you will die like flies."

The promoted boys celebrate, but then "Jon noticed Samwell Tarly standing by himself beneath a bare dead tree in the corner of the yard." When he goes to offer Sam a drink from the wineskin being passed around, Sam declines. He says he is happy for Jon and the others, but when Jon is swept up again in the horseplay of the celebrating boys, Sam disappears.

At dinner they talk about what they hope their assignments will be. Most want to be rangers, but others want to be builders, tasked with maintenance of the Wall. They agree that Jon will be a ranger, since his uncle Benjen, whom Jon is still unwilling to believe is dead, was First Ranger. But Jon is upset because Sam is not at dinner. He has realized what is likely to happen to his friend: With him and the other boys who have protected him gone, Sam will be exposed to the sadism of the master-at-arms.

Jon goes back to his quarters to fetch Ghost, then saddles a horse and rides away from Castle Black on the road leading south. He lets Ghost run free and hunt while he reflects on the fact that the road leads to Winterfell and to the places beyond that he has never seen. "The world was down that road ... and he was here." He hasn't sworn his vow to the Night's Watch yet, so he could still just keep riding down the road to Winterfell and his brothers. But he corrects himself: They are his half-brothers, and Catelyn Stark will not be pleased to see  him return. So he turns and goes back to Castle Black, followed by Ghost, whose muzzle is red with blood from whatever he has killed.

When he gets back to the castle, Jon goes and asks to see Maester Aemon. The two stewards, Clydas and Chett, tell him that the maester is asleep and can't be disturbed, but Jon gets his foot in the door and insists that it is important. So they let him in reluctantly and tell him to make a fire in the library. When Maester Aemon enters, Jon apologizes for waking him, but the maester tells him he wasn't asleep and is curious why he has "a midnight visitor." Jon tells him that he has come "To ask that Samwell Tarly be taken from training and accepted as a brother of the Night's Watch." Aemon says that training is under the purview of Ser Alliser Thorne, but Jon argues that the Lord Commander listens to the maester, "And the wounded and the sick of the Night's Watch are in your charge" -- and Sam will be both if he doesn't get the maester's help.

He explains that Sam is completely incompetent as a fighter, and "If Ser Alliser makes him fight, it's only a matter of time before he's hurt or killed." Chett argues that "The Wall is no place for the weak," and the maester should just leave it in the hands of the master-at-arms who will "make a man of him or kill him, as the gods will." Jon says, "That's stupid." And he tells how Maester Luwin once explained that the chain a maester wears around his neck is made up of a variety of metals, each of which symbolizes a different kind of learning. "A chain needs all sorts of metals, and a land needs all sorts of people.... The Night's Watch needs all sorts too. Why else have rangers and stewards and builders?" No one can make Same into a warrior, so why not make him a steward? 

Chett protests that the work of stewards is hard, that they have to hunt and farm, cook and make clothing and fetch supplies from the south. Aemon asks if Sam is a hunter or a farmer or a butcher, and Jon is forced to answer no. But he argues, "He can do sums, and he knows how to read and write. I know Chett can't read, and Clydas has weak eyes. Same read every book in his father's library." He's good with animals, too. "The Night's Watch needs every man. Why kill one, to no end?"

The maester says, "Your mind is as deft as your blade, it would seem." And he tells Jon he'll think about it.

Tyrion

Tyrion and Bronn have reached the high road and are preparing to camp for the night. But when Tyrion starts gathering firewood, Bronn is astonished: "A fire will bring the clansmen down on us from miles around. I mean to survive this journey, Lannister." He argues that they should ride fast by night and hide during the day. But Tyrion observes, "Riding hard and fast by night is a sure way to tumble down a mountain and crack your skull." And as their journey to the Vale demonstrated, the horses tend to die if ridden that way. Besides, "I think the clans will find us no matter what we do."

Bronn threatens to take Tyrion's horse and go on without him, taking his chances by having an extra mount. "Make no mistake, dwarf. I fought for you, but I do not love you." To which Tyrion replies, "It was your blade I needed, ... not your love." He had taken a chance that Bronn would come to his aid because he knew the mercenary does things for gold. He took Catelyn's side in the abduction because he figured he'd get paid. So when the challenge came for the trial by combat, "I was counting on your being smart enough to know where your best interest lay. Happily for me, you did." Then he adds, "What do you want, Bronn? Gold? Land? Women? Keep me alive, and you'll have it." And if he dies, Tyrion says, "I'll have one mourner whose grief is sincere.... The gold ends when I do."

Bronn goes in search of food and comes back with a goat, which they roast and eat. Bronn asks where they'll go if they survive the journey, and Tyrion says either to Casterly Rock or to King's Landing. "I have some questions that want answering concerning a certain dagger." After dinner, Tyrion observes, "Our friends are taking their sweet time," and Bronn suggests that they're being so open about their presence in the territory of the hill people that maybe they think it's a trap. Tyrion begins to whistle a tune, "The Seasons of My Love." He tells Bronn, "The first girl I ever bedded used to sing it, and I've never been able to put it out of my head."

When he was thirteen, he was out with Jaime one night and rescued a girl being attacked by two men. As Jaime pursued them, he watched over the girl who said she was the daughter of a crofter who had died. He took her to an inn where Tyrion lost his virginity. They located "a drunken septon" who married them, and he set the girl up in a cottage, where they were man and wife for a fortnight. Then the septon sobered up and told Tyrion's father, who made Jaime tell him the truth: "The girl was a whore, you see. Jaime arranged the whole affair, the road, the outlaws, all of it. He thought it was time I had a woman." So Lord Tywin made Tyrion watch as his guards had sex with the girl, each of them paying her in silver. Then Tywin made Tyrion go last. "And he gave me a gold coin to pay her because I was a Lannister, and worth more."

Bronn says, "I would have killed the man who did that to me." Tyrion says, "You may get that chance one day. Remember what I told you. A Lannister always pays his debts." Then he says he'll try to get some sleep. "Wake me if we're about to die."

And Bronn does, waking Tyrion from a dream in which he is the jailer and his father is the prisoner in a sky cell. Shadowy figures are creeping up on them, and Tyrion invites them to share their fire and some of their goat. A voice replies that it's their mountain and their goat. A man who calls himself Gunthor son of Gurn of the Stone Crows steps into the light, followed by Shagga son of Dolf, and others who call out their names. "I am Tyrion son of Tywin of the Clan Lannister, the Lions of the Rock," Tyrion replies, and offers to pay them for the goat. Gunthor replies that since they have them surrounded, everything Tyrion and Bronn have is already theirs, "You have nothing to give us but your lives. How would you like to die, Tyrion son of Tywin?"

"In my own bed, with a belly full of wine, and a maiden's mouth around my cock, at the age of eighty," he replied. 

They laugh, and Gunthor orders his men to kill Bron and take Tyrion so "He can milk the goats and make the mothers laugh." Bronn leaps to his feet, but Tyrion restrains him, telling Gunthor, "If the Stone Crows will see us safely through these mountains, my lord father will shower you with gold." And he stands his ground when they threaten him, after he says of their weapons, "My father's smiths shit better steel." Gunthor stills the others: "What would you give us for your lives, Tyrion son of Tywin? Swords? Lances? Mail?"

Tyrion replies that he'll give them more than that: "I will give you the Vale of Arryn."

9. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 378-423

Eddard 

Ned has been to the brothel that Littlefinger identified for him, and now has to listen to his ribald chatter as they return to the castle. He has found the prostitute with whom Robert sired another bastard, a girl the mother named Barra, and agreed with her that the infant looks like Robert. He had "touched the baby's fine, dark hair. It flowed through his fingers like black silk. Robert's firstborn had had the same fine hair, he seemed to recall." He thinks of Jon Snow's resemblance to himself.

As they ride back, he asks Littlefinger what he knows about Robert's bastards, and Littlefinger admits that there have been a lot of them, including twins born at Casterly Rock after Robert visited there for a tournament. "Cersei had the babes killed, and sold the mother to a passing slaver. Too much an affront to Lannister pride, that close to home." And he asks why Jon Arryn took "a sudden interest in the King's baseborn children. Lannister says he assumes Robert wanted to see that they were provided for. Ned isn't convinced that's the reason.

Suddenly Jory calls out in alarm, and they are surrounded by soldiers. When Littlefinger says, "This is the Hand of the King," Jaime Lannister moves through the group and says, "He was the Hand of the King." He tells Ned that he is looking for Tyrion. "'Your brother has been taken at my command, to answer for his crimes,' Ned Stark said." Jaime draws his sword and says that Ned should do the same, then tells Littlefinger to leave if he doesn't want to get his clothes bloody. Littlefinger does so, promising Ned that he'll bring the City Watch.

There are twenty of Lannister's men, all on foot except Jaime, and only Ned and three of his men, all of them on horses. Ned assumes that they could get free by charging, but decides to meet Jaime's challenge: "'Kill me,' he warned the Kingslayer, 'and Catelyn will most certainly slay Tyrion.'" Jaime says that he doubts that "The noble Catelyn Tully of Riverrun [would] murder a hostage," but he tells the captain of his men to "see that no harm comes to Lord Stark." Then he adds that he wouldn't want Ned "to leave hear entirely unchastened, so ... kill his men."

In the fight that follows Ned watches Jory cut down, and Ned's horse slips and falls. He feels "a moment of blinding pain" and sees "the splintered bone poking through his calf" before he faints. "When he opened his eyes again, Lord Eddard Stark was alone with his dead.... Littlefinger and the City Watch found him there in the street, cradling Jory Cassel's body in his arms."

Daenerys

They arrive at Vaes Dothrak with Khal Drogo and his bloodriders in the lead, followed by Daenerys, Jorah Mormont, and her brother, Viserys, who has been allowed to ride on a horse again. After a day of walking, Viserys had been given a cart to ride in. "In his stubborn ignorance, he had not even known he was being mocked; the carts were for eunuchs, cripples, women giving birth, the very young and the very old." Daenerys asked Ser Jorah not to tell him the truth.

Viserys continues to scorn everything he sees as they move through the city, and constantly refers to the Dothraki as "savages," though Daenerys tells him he shouldn't.

"The dragon speaks as he likes," Viserys said ... in the Common Tongue. He glanced over his shoulder at Aggo and Rakharo, riding behind them, and favored them with a mocking smile. "See, the savages lack the wit to understand the speech of civilized men." 

He continues to complain that Khal Drogo hasn't given him the army or the golden crown that he was promised. Jorah tells Daenerys that it would have been better if Viserys had stayed behind in Pentos. "You do not demand a gift, not of a khal. You do not demand anything of a khal." Jorah also comments that even if Viserys were to get his army, he would be unable to conquer the Seven Kingdoms, which leads Daenerys to ask, "What ... what if it were not Viserys?" What if someone else led the Dothraki against the Seven Kingdoms?  Jorah ponders the question and suggests that the kind of warfare the Dothraki wage is different from the kind the lords of the Seven Kingdoms are used to, and that the Dothraki are used to open warfare rather than besieging castles. Robert Baratheon, he says, might be "rash enough to meet a Dothraki horde in the open field, but not the men around him, such as "His brother Stannis, Lord Tywin Lannister, Eddard Stark...." He spits at the mention of Ned, whom he hates.

Their conversation takes a different turn when they enter Vaes Dothrak through the Western Market. She is helped down from her horse by Cohollo, one of Khal Drogo's three bloodriders -- men who are treated like the Khal's brothers, and according to ancient tradition are expected to die with the Khal when he dies. Daenerys likes Cohollo, but the others "frightened her; Haggo, huge and silent, often glowered as if he had forgotten who she was, and Qotho had cruel eyes and quick hands that liked to hurt.

Dar Salim as Qotho

That night, Khal Drogo and his bloodriders go up the Mother of Mountains to thank the gods for a safe return, and Daenerys has her handmaidens prepare a meal for Viserys, to whom she is giving some gifts. She sends Doreah to fetch him, but he comes back enraged, dragging Doreah by the arm and calling her a whore because she had told him Daenerys "commanded" him to join her for supper. "'No one commands the dragon,' Viserys snarled. 'I am your king! I should have sent you back her head!'" Daenerys tries to placate him with her gifts, Dothraki garments that she has had specially made for him, but he scorns them as "Dothraki rags."

Roxanne McKee as Doreah

When Viserys says, "Do you think that big belly will protect you if you wake the dragon?" and grabs her roughly and painfully, she reaches out for the ornate belt she had planned to give him, and lashes out with it, cutting his cheek with one of the bronze medallions on it. "Leave me now, before I summon my khas to drag you out. And pray that Khal Drogo does not hear of this, or he will cut open your belly and feed you your own entrails." He leaves, clutching his bleeding cheek, threatening, "When I come into my kingdom, you will rue this day, slut."

She tells her servants that she isn't hungry and to share the food they have prepared among them, then asks for one of the dragon's eggs. She lies down and holds it to her stomach, feeling "the child move within her ... as if he were reaching out, brother to brother, blood to blood.

Bran

Bran goes out riding on the horse named Dancer that has been specially trained for the saddle designed for him according to Tyrion's specs. He is accompanied by Robb and Theon Greyjoy, a stableman named Joseth who is master of horse, and four guards. Maester Luwin brings up the rear, riding on a donkey. Bran's wolf, Summer, and Robb's Grey Wind, run alongside. As Bran grows more used to the saddle, he wants to ride faster, and soon they are moving at a gallop.

As they reach the woods, the wolves disappear into it. Bran mentioned that Summer had been howling the night before, and Robb says that Grey Wind was restless as well. Robb takes Bran aside and tells him that a bird had arrived from King's Landing with the news that "Jory Cassel is dead. And Wyl and Heward as well, Murdered by the Kingslayer." As Bran absorbs the news, Robb tells him the worst: His father has broken his leg and is unconscious. "Theon thinks I should call the banners," i.e., summon their supporters for retaliation. Bran knows that only the Lord of Winterfell can summon the banners, but Greyjoy says if Bran's father dies, Robb will be the lord. "'He won't die!' Bran screamed at him."

Bran says he's cold and wants to go back now, but Robb says they need to find the wolves first. They travel ahead of the others into the forest and reach a stream where they used to fish with Jory, which causes Bran to start to cry. When they cross the stream they hear a howl that Bran identifies as Summer. It's followed soon by a howl from Grey Wind, and Robb says the wolves have made a kill. He goes to find them, leaving Bran alone, expecting Greyjoy and the others to join them soon.

Bran hears the leaves rustle and turns, expecting to see the others, but instead it's a group of four men and two women, dressed in rags. Two of the men are dressed in black, which Bran realizes must be the remnants of the Night's Watch uniforms. He remembers the deserter his father executed, and his father's warning, "No man is more dangerous" than a deserter. One of the men demands the silver pin that fastens Bran's cloak at the shoulders, one of the women says they'll take the horse. She tells him to get down, but when he says he can't the other woman notices that he's strapped onto the horse. She suggests taking him hostage.

One of the men cuts the strap around Bran's thigh, and in doing so cuts Bran's leg. He doesn't feel the wound, but sees the blood begin to flow. Just then Robb appears, with the carcass of an elk across the back of his horse. He says, "Put down your steel now, and I promise you shall have a quick and painless death," but they mock him, pointing out he's outnumbered, six to one. Then Robb whistles and the two wolves appear from the forest.

Natalia Tena as Osha

They do battle, the wolves attacking as Robb fights with the larger of the two women, whom one of the men called Osha. She is standing in midstream and wielding a spear, but Robb's longsword gets the better of her. The wolves dispatch the others, but the big man known as Stiv cuts the strap around Bran's chest. Bran falls into the water, but Stiv grabs him and puts his dagger to Bran's throat, telling Robb to call off the wolves, "or the cripple boy dies now!" Osha rises from where she fell in the stream and Stiv orders her to kill the wolves. She refuses to go anywhere near them. So Stiv orders Robb to kill the wolves or he'll kill Bran.

Suddenly an arrow pierces Stiv's chest and he releases his hold on the dagger and on Bran. The guardsmen appear from the woods and Osha begins to beg for her life. Maester Luwin goes to examine Bran's wound, and Joseth goes behind a tree to vomit when he sees Summer feeding on the corpse of one of the attackers. Robb berates Greyjoy for taking such a chance with the arrow he shot Stiv with, and the guardsmen for being so far behind. "Bran had never seen him so angry."

Osha continues to plead for her life. Greyjoy suggests giving her to the wolves. Bran speaks up and says, "She said they should keep me alive so they could take me to Mance Rayder." Maester Luwin suggest that they question her, so they take her back to Winterfell.

Tyrion

Behind: Ciaran Bermingham as Mord

Tyrion is being held in a cell, "miserably small, even for a dwarf," that has only three walls. Where the fourth would be is open air and a six-hundred-foot drop to the rocks below. Moreover, the floor of the cell slopes toward the opening, so that Tyrion is afraid to fall asleep because he might roll over the edge. The sadistic guard, Mord, brings his dinner, but holds "the plate out at arm's length, over the edge where the cell ended and the sky began," telling him to come get it, then drops the plate.

Tyrion is berating himself for not holding his tongue when he was brought before Lysa and her son. The boy had asked, "Is he the bad man?" and when his mother said he was, had giggled and said, "He's so small." And when Lysa accused him of killing her husband, Tyrion retorted sarcastically, "Oh, did I kill him too?" He was in a bad mood because he had been unable to make the final climb to the Eyrie and Bronn had carried him. So when he threatened reprisals from his brother Jaime if he is harmed, Lysa asked, "Can you fly, Tyrion Lannister? ... Does a dwarf have wings? If not, you would be wiser to swallow the next threat that comes to mind." Tyrion still can't resist: "I made no threats.... That was a promise." This only provokes the boy to scream, "You can't hurt us," and Lysa to maintain the Eyrie is impregnable. "Still, Tyrion had been unableto silence himself. 'Not impregnable,' he said, 'merely inconvenient.'"

When Robert says, "You're a liar. Mother, I want to see him fly," and two guards lift Tyrion up by the arms, Catelyn finally intervenes and reminds her sister that Tyrion is her prisoner. So Tyrion is sent to the sky cells.

Shivering and starving in his cell, Tyrion wonders if his brother and sister "had sent the footpad to silence the Stark boy, and whether they had truly conspired at the death of Lord Arryn." The latter, if it was murder, "was deftly and subtly done." But the attack on Bran "struck him as unbelievably clumsy." He has a suspicion that he is being framed for the attack, that "someone was using him as a catspaw. Tyrion Lannister hated being used." So he begins to devise a plan to get out of the cell. He bribes Mord with a promise of gold if he'll take a message to Lady Arryn saying that he wants to confess his crimes.

Brendan McCormack as Vardis Egen

Ser Vardis Egen, who had been captain of Jon Arryn's household guard, comes to the cell with the queen's response to Tyrion's message: She wants to see him. He is taken to the High Hall, where there is a gathering of the lords of the Vale, as well as Ser Rodrik Cassel, Marillion, Bronn, and Catelyn. She says, "You wish to confess your crimes, we are told." Her sister says, "The sky cells always break them. The gods can see them there, and there is no darkness to hide in." Catelyn only observes, "He does not look broken to me." But Lysa tells him to proceed with his confession.

Tyrion confesses to gambling, whoring, to wishing his father and his sister were dead, and to mistreating his servants, but not to murdering Jon Arryn or hiring someone to attack Bran. "Those crimes I cannot confess, I fear. I know nothing of any murders." Lysa is furious and orders him sent back to "a smaller cell, with a floor more sharply sloped." But Tyrion stands his ground and demands a trial. So Lysa shows him what his fate will be if he is found guilty: She has the Moon Door opened. Beyond the heavily barred door there is only "the emptiness of the night sky," and the howling wind it admits blows out some of the torches in the hall.

Catelyn advises against the trial, but Lysa ignores her: "My son will listen to whatever you care to say, and ou shall hear his judgment. Then you may leave ... by one door or the other."

She looked so pleased with herself, Tyrion thought, and small wonder. How could a trial threaten her, when her weakling son was the lord judge? Tyrion glanced at her Moon Door. Mother, I want to see him fly! the boy had said. How many men had the snot-nosed little wretch sent through that door already?

But Tyrion has another card to play: "I demand trial by combat."

The request causes laughter throughout the hall. But Lysa admits that he has the right to ask for it. Suddenly there is a clamor of men volunteering to be the champion of Lysa's cause. "Tyrion found it disheartening to realize so many strangers were eager to kill him. Perhaps this had not been such a clever plan after all." Lysa chooses Vardis Egen, her husband's "good right hand," to be her champion. But he protests that Tyrion is "A dwarf, half my size and lame in the legs. It would be shameful to slaughter such a man and call it justice." So Tyrion seizes the opportunity and claims the right to choose his own champion, and names his brother Jaime.

But Lysa stands her ground this time and says, "Your precious Kingslayer is hundreds of leagues from here," and the combat will take place tomorrow. Now Tyrion wonders "if it had all been a colossal blunder." But from the rear of the hall Bronn speaks up: "I'll stand for the dwarf."