"There was a raven from King's Landing." "Jon Arryn is dead." "The King rides for Winterfell with the Queen and all the rest of them. and there's the clever one." "I would name you the Hand of the King." "We were meant to rule together." "you have a daughter." "We'll join our houses." "The boy I beheaded..." "he was talking madness." "Said the others slaughtered his friends." " A Wildling ambush." " Maybe." "You're Tyrion Lannister." "aren't you?" "bastard." "Never forget what you are and it can never be used to hurt you." "It's a direwolf." "There are no direwolves south of the wall." "one for each of the Stark children." " What about you?" " I'm not a Stark." "Snow." "May I present Viserys and his sister Daenerys?" "I don't want to be his queen." "I want to go home." "We go home with an army..." "with Khal Drogo's army." "From your sister." "She says Jon Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters." "She says the King is in danger." "What if Jon Arryn told someone?" "Whatever Jon Arryn knew died with him." "The things I do for love." "child." "And eat." "Isn't there anything else?" "The Dothraki have two things in abundance:" "Grass and horses." "People can't live on grass. they say there are fields of ghost grass with stalks as pale as milk that glow in the night." "It murders all other grass." "The Dothraki believe that one day it will cover everything." "That's the way the world will end." "It'll get easier." "Khaleesi!" "Your hands." "your Grace." "Magister Illyrio has extended his hospitality." "You'd be more comfortable there." "I have no interest in hospitality or comfort." "I'll stay with Drogo until he fulfills his end of the bargain and I have my crown." "your Grace." "I suppose it is preferable to beheading." "What did Ned Stark want you for?" "Buying from a slaver?" "Selling to one... some poachers I caught on my land." "you won't be punished for such nonsense." "You can rest assured of that." "Uncle." "My mother's been looking for you." "We ride for King's Landing today." "you will call on Lord and Lady Stark and offer your sympathies." "What good will my sympathies do them?" "None." "But it is expected of you." "Your absence has already been noted." "The boy means nothing to me." "And I can't stand the wailing of women." "One word and I'll hit you again." "I'm telling mother!" "Go!" "Tell her." "But first you will get to Lord and Lady Stark and you will fall on your knees in front of them and tell them" "} and that all your prayers are with them." "Do you understand?" "You can't..." "Do you understand?" "little lord." "I hope so." "be a good dog and remind him." "Time for breakfast." "Bread." "And two of those little fish." "And a mug of dark beer to wash it down." "burned black." " Little brother." " Beloved siblings." "Is Bran going to die?" "Apparently not." "What do you mean?" "The Maester says the boy may live." "letting a child linger in such pain." "Only the gods know for certain." "All the rest of us can do is pray." "The charms of the north" " seem entirely lost on you." " I still can't believe you're going." " It's ridiculous even for you." " Where's your sense of wonder? the wintry abode of the White Walkers." "Tell me you're not thinking of taking the black." "And go celibate?" "The whores would go begging from Dorne to Casterly Rock." "I just want to stand on top of the wall and piss off the edge of the world." "The children don't need to hear your filth." "Come. a grotesque." "Give me a good clean death any day." "I'd have to disagree." "whereas life..." "Life is full of possibilities." "I hope the boy does wake." "I'd be very interested to hear what he has to say. there are times you make me wonder whose side you're on." "you wound me." "You know how much I love my family." "Please." "your Grace." "This is your home." "I'm your guest." "isn't he? a little black-haired beauty." "He was a fighter too... tried to beat the fever that took him." "Forgive me." "It's the last thing you need to hear right now." "I never knew." "It was years ago. all the things men do to show you how much they care." "The boy looked just like him." "Such a little thing..." "A bird without feathers." "They came to take his body away but he held me." "That little bundle." "They took him away and I never saw him again." "never." "I pray to the mother every morning and night that she return your child to you." "I am grateful." "Perhaps this time she'll listen." "A sword for the wall?" "I already have one." "Good man." "Have you swung it yet?" "Of course I have." "I mean." "the first time you cut a man." "You realize we're nothing but sacks of meat and blood and some bone to keep it all standing." "Let me thank you ahead of time for guarding us all from the perils beyond the wall..." "Wildlings and White Walkers and whatnot." "strong men like you protecting us." "000 years." "Is it "we" already?" " Have you taken your vows then?" " Soon enough." "Give my regards to The Night's Watch." "I'm sure it will be thrilling to serve in such an elite force." "And if not?" "It's only for life." "Nymeria." "Septa Mordane says I have to do it again." "she says." "Who cares how they're folded?" "!" "They're going to get all messed up{\*anyway}." "It's good you've got help." "Watch." "gloves." "Impressive." "Shut up. gloves!" "I have something for you." "And it has to be packed very carefully." "A present?" "Close the door." "This is no toy." "Be careful you don't cut yourself." "It's so skinny." "So are you." "I had the blacksmith make it for you special." "but it can poke him full of holes" " if you're quick{\* enough}." " I can be{\* quick}." "You'll have to work at it every day." "How does it feel?" "Do you like the balance?" "I think so." "First lesson:" "Stick them with the pointy end." "I know which end to use." "I'm going to miss you." "Careful." "you know." "Sansa can keep her sewing needles." "I've got a needle of my own." "I came to say goodbye to Bran." "You've said it." "I wish I could be here when you wake up." "I'm going north with Uncle Benjen." "I'm taking the black. but you'll be able to come visit me at Castle Black when you're better." "I'll know my way around by then." "I'll be a sworn brother of The Night's Watch." "if you're not afraid." "I want you to leave." "17 years ago you rode off with Robert Baratheon." "You came back a year later with another woman's son." "And now you're leaving again." "I have no choice." "That's what men always say when honor calls." "tell yourselves." "You do have a choice." "And you've made it." "Ned." "I really can't." "You can." "You must." "You've said goodbye to Bran?" "He's not going to die." "I know it." "You Starks are hard to kill." "My mother?" "She was very kind." "Good." "you'll be all in black." "It was always my color." "Snow." "Stark." "There's great honor serving in The Night's Watch." "The Starks have manned the wall for thousands of years." "And you are a Stark." "but you have my blood." "Is my mother alive?" "where I'm going?" "Does she care? we'll talk about your mother." "I promise." "this is country!" "I've half a mind to leave them all behind and keep going." "I've half a mind to go with you. a couple of tavern wenches to warm our beds tonight." "You should have asked me 20 years ago." "women to marry..." " we never had the chance to be young." " I recall a few chances." "what was her name?" "That common girl of yours?" "Becca?" "With the great big tits you could bury your face in." "Bessie." "She was one of yours." "Bessie!" "Thank the gods for Bessie and her tits." "Yours was..." "Aleena?" "No." "You told me once." "Meryl?" "Your bastard's mother?" " Wylla." " That's it." "She must have been a rare wench to make Lord Eddard Stark forget his honor." "You never told me what she looked like." "Nor will I." "We were at war." "None of us knew if we were gonna go back home again." "You're too hard on yourself." "You always have been." "you'd have hit me already." "The worst thing about your coronation..." "I'll never get to hit you again." "that's not the worst thing." "There was a rider in the night." "Daenerys Targaryen has wed some Dothraki horselord." "What of it?" "Should we send her a wedding gift? and a bold man to wield it." "She's little more than a child." "Soon enough that child will spread her legs and start breeding." "it's unspeakable to you?" "What her father did to your family..." "that was unspeakable." "What Rhaegar Targaryen did to your sister... the woman I loved." "I'll kill every Targaryen I get my hands on." "can you? 000 men in his horde. as long as they remain on the other side of the Narrow Sea." "Robert." "There are still those in the Seven Kingdoms who call me usurper. the scum will join him." "He will not cross." "we'll throw him back into the sea." "Ned. but it's coming." "Sit." "You'll be fed." "Untie them." "Rapers." "They were given a choice no doubt..." "castration or the Wall." "Most choose the knife." "Not impressed by your new brothers?" "Lovely thing about the Watch... you discard your old family and get a whole new one." "Why do you read so much?" "Look at me and tell me what you see." "Is this a trick?" "What you see is a dwarf." "If I'd been born a peasant they might've left me out in the woods to die." "I was born a Lannister of Casterly Rock." "Things are expected of me." "My father was the Hand of the King for 20 years." "Until your brother killed that King." "Until my brother killed him." "Life is full of these little ironies." "My sister married the new King and my repulsive nephew will be King after him." "wouldn't you agree?" "But how?" "my brother has his sword and I have my mind." "And a mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." "That's why I read so much." "And you?" "bastard?" "dwarf. off to join alongside his Valiant brothers-in-arms." "The Night's Watch protects the realm from... against grumpkins and snarks and all the other monsters your wet nurse warned you about." "You're a smart boy." "You don't believe that nonsense." "Everything's better with some wine in the belly." "my lady." "You'll want to know how much this royal visit has cost us." "Talk to Poole about it." "my lady. and there are several other appointments that require" " our immediate attention..." " I don't care about appointments!" "I'll make the appointments." "We'll talk about it first thing in the morning." "my Lord." "My Lady." "When was the last time you left this room?" "mother." "{\*Maester Luwin says }The most dangerous time has passed." "What if he's wrong?" " Bran needs me." " Rickon needs you." "He's six. crying..." " Close the windows!" "I can't stand it!" "Please make them stop!" "Fire." "You stay here." "I'll come back." "You're not supposed to be here." "No one is supposed to be here." "It's a mercy." "He's dead already." "No!" "Have you ever seen a dragon?" "Khaleesi." "Everywhere?" "Even in the east?" "No dragon." "Brave men kill them." " It is known." " It is known." "A trader from Garth told me that dragons come from the moon." "The moon? that once there were two moons in the sky." "But one wandered too close to the sun and it cracked from the heat." "Out of it poured a thousand thousand dragons and they drank the sun's fire." "Moon is no egg." "Moon is goddess... wife of sun." " It is known." " It is known." "Leave me with her." "Why did the trader from Garth tell you these stories?" "Men like to talk when they're happy." "it was my job to make men happy." "How old were you?" "I was nine when my mother sold me to the pleasure house." "Nine?" "!" "Khaleesi." "First you must learn." "Can you teach me how to make the Khal happy?" "Will it take three years?" "Welcome." "What I am about to tell you must remain between us." "I don't think Bran fell from that tower." "I think he was thrown." "The boy was always sure-footed before." "Someone tried to kill him twice." "Why?" "Why murder an innocent child?" "Unless he saw something he wasn't meant to see." "my lady?" "I don't know." "But I would stake my life the Lannisters are involved." "We already have reason to suspect their loyalty to the crown." "Did you notice the dagger{\* the killer used}?" "It's too fine a weapon for such a man." "the handle dragonbone." "Someone gave it to him." "They come into our home and try to murder my brother?" "}You know I'll stand behind you." "is there going to be a battle in the Godswood?" "Too easily words of war become acts of war." "We don't know the truth yet." "Lord Stark must be told of this." "I don't trust a raven to carry these words." " I'll ride to King's Landing." " No." "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell." "I will go myself." "you can't." " I must." "I'll send Hal with a squad of guardsmen to escort you." "Too large a party attracts unwanted attention." "I don't want the Lannisters to know I'm coming." "Let me accompany you at least." "The Kingsroad can be a dangerous place for a woman alone." "What about Bran?" "I have prayed to the Seven for more than a month." "Bran's life is in their hands now." "Khaleesi." "You must look in his eyes always." "Love comes in at the eyes." "It is said that Irogenia of Lys could finish a man with nothing but her eyes." "Finish a man?" "Kings traveled across the world for a night with Irogenia." "Magisters sold their palaces." "Khals burned her enemies just to have her for a few hours." "They say a thousand men proposed to her and she refused them all." "she sounds like an interesting woman." "I don't think that Drogo will like it with me on top." "Khaleesi." "Men want what they've never had." "And the Dothraki take slaves like a hound takes a bitch." "Khaleesi?" "Then don't make love like a slave." "Khaleesi. he belongs to you." "I don't think that this is the Dothraki way. why did he marry you?" "Ser." "girl?" "Or is it him there making you shake?" "He frightens me too." "Look at that face." "Ser." " Why won't he speak to me?" " He hasn't been very talkative{\* these last 20 years}." "Since the mad King had his tongue ripped out with hot pincers." "He speaks damn well with his sword though." "the King's justice." "The royal executioner." "sweet lady?" "Does the hound frighten you?" "dog." "You're scaring my lady." "I don't like to see you upset." "The Sun is finally shining." "Come walk with me." "Lady." "I probably shouldn't have any more." "Father only lets us have one cup at feasts." "My princess can drink as much as she wants." "Don't worry... you're safe with me." "I'll get you!" "What are you doing here?" " Go away." " Your sister?" "my Lord." " He the butcher's boy." " He's my friend." "eh?" "butcher's boy." "Let's see how good you are." "my Lord." "She asked me to. and I said" "pick up your sword." "{\*my prince. }it's only a stick." " And you're not a Knight." "Only a butcher's boy." "do you know that?" "stay out of this." "I won't hurt him..." "Much." "Filthy little bitch!" "both of you." "You're spoiling it." "You're spoiling everything!" "you little cunt!" " Arya!" " Nymeria!" "Please don't." "leave him alone." "look what they did to you." "I'll go back to the inn and bring help." "Then go!" "Don't touch me." "The wolf's not here." "Look down by the stream." "You've got to go." "They'll kill you for what you did to Joffrey." "Go on... run." "Go!" "Leave now!" " It's a direwolf." " I'll check down here." "I think I heard a noise." "Go!" "My lord!" "My lord!" "They found her." "She's unharmed." " Where is she?" " She's been taken {\*directly }before the King." " Who took her?" " The Lannisters found her." "get back." "The Queen ordered them to bring her straight to him." "Back!" "Back to the inn." "All back!" "I'm sorry." " Are you hurt?" " No." "It's all right." "What is the meaning of this?" "Why was my daughter not brought to me at once?" "woman." "Sorry." "I never meant to frighten the girl." "But we need to get this business done quickly." "Your girl and that butcher's boy attacked my son." "That animal of hers nearly tore his arm off." "That's not true!" "She just..." "Bit him a little." " He was hurting Mycah." " Joff told us{\* what happened}." "You and that boy beat him with clubs while you set your wolf on him." " That's not what happened!" " Yes it is!" "They all attacked me and she threw my sword in the river." " Liar!" " Shut up!" "Enough!" "she tells me another." "Seven hells!" "What am I to make of this?" "Ned?" " In bed asleep." "She's not." "darling." "child..." "Tell me what happened." "Tell it all and tell it true." "It's a great crime to lie to a King." "I don't know." "I don't remember." "Everything happened so fast." " I didn't see." " Liar!" " Liar liar liar!" " Arya!" " Stop it!" "That's enough of that." " Liar liar liar!" " Stop!" "Arya!" " She's as wild as that animal of hers." "I want her punished." "whip her through the streets?" "children fight." "It's over." "Joffrey will bear these scars for the rest of his life." "You let that little girl disarm you?" "See to it that your daughter is disciplined." "your Grace." "And what of the direwolf?" "What of the beast that savaged your son?" "I'd forgot the damned wolf." "your Grace." " So be it." " We have another wolf." "As you will." "You can't mean it." "A direwolf's no pet." "Get her a dog." "She'll be happier for it." "does he?" "not Lady!" "Lady didn't bite anyone!" " She's good!" " Lady wasn't there!" "You leave her alone!" "Stop them." "Don't let them do it." "Please!" "It wasn't Lady!" "Is this your command... your Grace?" "your Grace." "do me the honor." "Jory..." "Take the girls to their rooms. then I'll do it myself." "Is this some trick?" "The wolf is of the north." "She deserves better than a butcher." "The butcher's boy..." " you rode him down?" " He ran..." "Not very fast."