A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Author:George R.R. Martin [Martin, George R.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fantasy, 2.0 edited by MaelstroM
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Robb hesitated a moment. Then, slowly and deliberately, he dismounted and stood with his

sword in hand.

“Now kill the wolves.”

Robb did not move.

“You do it. The wolves or the boy.”

“No!” Bran screamed. If Robb did as they asked, Stiv would kill them both anyway, once the

direwolves were dead.

The bald man took hold of his hair with his free hand and twisted it cruel y, till Bran sobbed in

pain. “You shut your mouth, cripple, you hear me?” He twisted harder. “You hear me?”

A low thrum came from the woods behind them. Stiv gave a choked gasp as a half foot of

razor-tipped broadhead suddenly exploded out of his chest. The arrow was bright red, as if it had

been painted in blood.

The dagger fel away from Bran’s throat. The big man swayed and col apsed, facedown in the

stream. The arrow broke beneath him. Bran watched his life go swirling off in the water.

Osha glanced around as Father’s guardsmen appeared from beneath the trees, steel in hand. She

threw down her spear. “Mercy, m’lord,” she called to Robb.

The guardsmen had a strange, pale look to their faces as they took in the scene of slaughter.

They eyed the wolves uncertainly, and when Summer returned to Hali’s corpse to feed, Joseth

dropped his knife and scrambled for the bush, heaving. Even Maester Luwin seemed shocked as

he stepped from behind a tree, but only for an instant. Then he shook his head and waded across

the stream to Bran’s side. “Are you hurt?”

“He cut my leg,” Bran said, “but I couldn’t feel it.”

As the maester knelt to examine the wound, Bran turned his head. Theon Greyjoy stood beside

a sentinel tree, his bow in hand. He was smiling. Ever smiling. A half-dozen arrows were thrust

into the soft ground at his feet, but it had taken only one. “A dead enemy is a thing of beauty,” he

announced.

“Jon always said you were an ass, Greyjoy,” Robb said loudly. “I ought to chain you up in the

yard and let Bran take a few practice shots at you. “

“You should be thanking me for saving your brother’s life.”

“What if you had missed the shot?” Robb said. “What if you’d only wounded him? What if you

had made his hand jump, or hit Bran instead? For all you knew, the man might have been

wearing a breastplate, all you could see was the back of his cloak. What would have happened to

my brother then? Did you ever think of that, Greyjoy?”

Theon’s smile was gone. He gave a sul en shrug and began to pull his arrows from the ground,

one by one.

Robb glared at his guardsmen. “Where were you?” he demanded of them. “I was sure you were

close behind us.”

The men traded unhappy glances. “We were fol owing, m’lord,” said Quent, the youngest of

them, his beard a soft brown fuzz. “Only first we waited for Maester Luwin and his ass, begging

your pardons, and then, wel , as it were He glanced over at Theon and quickly looked away,

abashed.

“I spied a turkey,” Theon said, annoyed by the question. “How was I to know that you’d leave

the boy alone?”

Robb turned his head to look at Theon once more.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.