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"Fourteen," the boy said

"Fourteen, and you’re taller than I will ever be My legs are short and twisted, and I ith difficulty I require a special saddle to keep fron, you may be interested to know It was either that or ride a pony My arain, too short I will never ht have left rotesquerie Alas, I was born a Lannister of Casterly Rock, and the grotesqueries are all the poorer Things are expected offor twenty years My brother later killed that very sa, as it turns out, but life is full of these little ironies My sisterafter him I ree? Yet how? Well, e, although I prefer to think it is just large enough for ths and weaknesses MyRobert has his warhammer, and I have my mindand a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge" Tyrion tapped the leather cover of the book "That’s why I read so much, Jon Snow"

The boy absorbed that all in silence He had the Stark face if not the na away Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son "What are you reading about?" he asked

"Dragons," Tyrion told hions," the boy said with the easy certainty of youth

"So they say," Tyrion replied "Sad, isn’t it? When I was your age, used to dreaon of my own"

"You did?" the boy said suspiciously Perhaps he thought Tyrion wasfun of hily little boy can look down over the world when he’s seated on a dragon’s back" Tyrion pushed the bearskin aside and climbed to his feet "I used to start fires in the bowels of Casterly Rock and stare at the flaonfire So At other ti at hiuffawed "Don’t look at me that way, bastard I know your secret You’ve dreamt the same kind of dreams"

"No," Jon Snow said, horrified "I wouldn’t"

"No? Never?" Tyrion raised an eyebrow "Well, no doubt the Starks have been terribly good to you I’m certain Lady Stark treats you as if you were one of her own And your brother Robb, he’s always been kind, and why not? He gets Winterfell and you get the Wall And your fatherhe ht’s Watch"

"Stop it," Jon Snow said, his face dark with anger "The Night’s Watch is a noble calling!"

Tyrion laughed "You’re too sht’s Watch is a midden heap for all theat Yoren and his boys Those are your new brothers, Jon Sno do you like them? Sullen peasants, debtors, poachers, rapers, thieves, and bastards like you all wind up on the Wall, watching for grumkins and snarks and all the other ood part is there are no gruerous work The bad part is you freeze your balls off, but since you’re not allowed to breed anyway, I don’t suppose that matters"

"Stop it!" the boy screa into fists, close to tears

Suddenly, absurdly, Tyrion felt guilty He took a step forward, intending to give the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder or y

He never saw the wolf, where it was or how it ca toward Snow and the next he was flat on his back on the hard rocky ground, the book spinning away fro out of him at the sudden i leaves As he tried to get up, his back spasround his teeth in frustration, grabbed a root, and pulled hi position "Helpup a hand

And suddenly the as between the never ht red eyes, and showed hied back to the ground with a grunt "Don’t help ht here until you leave"

Jon Snow stroked Ghost’s thick white fur, s now "Ask er coiling inside him, and crushed it out with a will It was not the first time in his life he had been humiliated, and it would not be the last Perhaps he even deserved this "I should be very grateful for your kind assistance, Jon," he said mildly

"Down, Ghost," the boy said The direwolf sat on his haunches Those red eyes never left Tyrion Jon came around behind him, slid his hands under his arms, and lifted him easily to his feet Then he picked up the book and handed it back

"Why did he attack lance at the direwolf He wiped blood and dirt from his ht you were a grulanced at hihed, a raw snort of ah his nose entirely without his perhter and shaking his head, "I suppose I do rather look like a grumkin What does he do to snarks?"

"You don’t want to know" Jon picked up the wineskin and handed it to Tyrion

Tyrion pulled out the stopper, tilted his head, and squeezed a long stream into his mouth The as cool fire as it trickled down his throat and warmed his belly He held out the skin to Jon Snow "Want some?"

The boy took the skin and tried a cautious s "It’s true, isn’t it?" he said when he was done "What you said about the Night’s Watch"

Tyrion nodded

Jon Snow set his rim line "If that’s what it is, that’s what it is"

Tyrion grinned at hiood, bastard Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it"

"Most men," the boy said "But not you"

"No," Tyrion adons anyons" He scooped up the fallen bearskin "Come, we had better return to camp before your uncle calls the banners"

The as short, but the ground was rough underfoot and his legs were craot back Jon Snow offered a hand to help hile of roots, but Tyrion shook him off He would make his oay, as he had all his life Still, the caainst the tuainst the wind The horses had been fed and a fire had been laid Yoren sat on a stone, skinning a squirrel The savory sed hi the stewpot Wordlessly, Morrec handed him the ladle Tyrion tasted and handed it back "More pepper," he said

Benjen Stark eed from the shelter he shared with his nephew "There you are Jon, daht the Others had gotten you"

"It was the gru Jon Snow srunted, shrugged, and went back to his bloody work

The squirrel gave some body to the stew, and they ate it with black bread and hard cheese that night around their fire Tyrion shared around his skin of wine until even Yoren grew mellow One by one the company drifted off to their shelters and to sleep, all but Jon Snoho had drawn the night’s first watch

Tyrion was the last to retire, as always As he stepped into the shelter his men had built for him, he paused and looked back at Jon Snow The boy stood near the fire, his face still and hard, looking deep into the flames

Tyrion Lannister smiled sadly and went to bed