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"Maybe," Hal said "With all these strangers filling up Winterfell of late, there’s no way of saying who he belonged to"

"He’d been hiding in your stables," Greyjoy said "You could so unnoticed?" she said sharply

Hallis Mollen looked abashed "Between the horses Lord Eddard took south and theht’s Watch, the stalls were half-ereat trick to hide from the stableboys Could be Hodor saw hi queer, but simple as he is" Hal shook his head

"We found where he’d been sleeping," Robb put in "He had ninety silver stags in a leather bag buried beneath the straw"

"It’s good to know my son’s life was not sold cheaply," Catelyn said bitterly

Hallis Mollen looked at her, confused "Begging your grace,he was out to kill your boy?"

Greyjoy was doubtful "That’s madness"

"He ca hoasn’t supposed to be there He set the library fire thinking I would rush to put it out, taking any guards with rief, it would have worked"

"Why would anyone want to kill Bran?" Robb said "Gods, he’s only a little boy, helpless, sleeping"

Catelyn gave her firstborn a challenging look "If you are to rule in the north, you h, Robb Answer your own question Why would anyone want to kill a sleeping child?"

Before he could answer, the servants returned with a plate of food fresh from the kitchen There was much more than she’d asked for: hot bread, butter and honey and blackberry preserves, a rasher of bacon and a soft-boiled egg, a wedge of cheese, a pot of mint tea And with it came Maester Luwin

"How is my son, Maester?" Catelyn looked at all the food and found she had no appetite

Maester Luwin lowered his eyes "Unchanged, my lady"

It was the reply she had expected, no more and no less Her hands throbbed with pain, as if the blade were still in her, cutting deep She sent the servants away and looked back to Robb "Do you have the answer yet?"

"Soht wake up," Robb said, "afraid of what hehe knows"

Catelyn was proud of hiuard "We must keep Bran safe If there was one killer, there could be others"

"How uards do you want, rn’lady?" Hal asked

"So long as Lord Eddard is away, my son is the master of Winterfell," she told him

Robb stood a little taller "Put one ht and day, one outside the door, two at the bottom of the stairs No one sees Bran without my warrant or my mother’s"

"As you say, ested

"And let his wolf stay in the room with hiain: "Yes"

Hallis Mollen bowed and left the roouardser the killer used?"

"The circumstances did not allow e," Catelyn replied with a dry smile "Why do you ask?"

"We found the knife still in the villain’s grasp It seeether too fine a weapon for such aand hard The blade is Valyrian steel, the hilt dragonbone A weapon like that has no business being in the hands of such as hihtful "Robb, close the door"

He looked at her strangely, but did as she told him

"What I am about to tell you must not leave this room," she told them "I want your oaths on that If even part of what I suspect is true, Ned and er, and a word in the wrong ears could mean their lives"

"Lord Eddard is a second father to me," said Theon Greyjoy "I do so swear"

"You have my oath," Maester Luwin said

"And mine, my lady," echoed Ser Rodrik

She looked at her son "And you, Robb?"

He nodded his consent

"My sister Lysa believes the Lannisters ," Catelyn told them "It comes to me that Jaime Lannister did not join the hunt the day Bran fell He remained here in the castle" The room was deathly quiet "I do not think Bran fell from that tower," she said into the stillness "I think he was thrown"

The shock was plain on their faces "My lady, that is a slayer would flinch at the murder of an innocent child"

"Oh, would he?" Theon Greyjoy asked "I wonder"

"There is no limit to Lannister pride or Lannister ambition," Catelyn said

"The boy had always been surehanded in the past," Maester Luwin said thoughtfully "He knew every stone in Winterfell"

"Gods," Robb swore, his young face dark with anger "If this is true, he will pay for it" He drew his sword and waved it in the air "I’ll kill him myself!"

Ser Rodrik bristled at hiues away Never draw your sword unless you mean to use it How many times must I tell you, foolish boy?"

Abashed, Robb sheathed his sword, suddenly a child again Catelyn said to Ser Rodrik, "I seesteel now"

The old ht it was ti at her anxiously "Past time," she said "Winterfell may have need of all its swords soon, and they had best not be made of wood"

Theon Greyjoy put a hand on the hilt of his blade and said, "My lady, if it coreat debt"

Maester Luwin pulled at his chain collar where it chafed against his neck "All we have is conjecture This is the queen’s beloved brother we mean to accuse She will not take it kindly We must have proof, or forever keep silent"

"Your proof is in the dagger," Ser Rodrik said "A fine blade like that will not have gone unnoticed"

There was only one place to find the truth of it, Catelyn realized "Soo," Robb said

"No," she told him "Your place is here There must always be a Stark in Winterfell" She looked at Ser Rodrik with his great white whiskers, at Maester Luwin in his grey robes, at young Greyjoy, lean and dark and impetuous Who to send? Who would be believed? Then she knew Catelyn struggled to push back the blankets, her bandaged fingers as stiff and unyielding as stone She clio myself"

"My lady," said Maester Luwin, "is that wise? Surely the Lannisters would greet your arrival with suspicion"

"What about Bran?" Robb asked The poor boy looked utterly confused now "You can’tI can for Bran," she said, laying a wounded hand on his arods and Maester Luwin As you reminded me yourself, Robb, I have other children to think of now"

"You will need a strong escort, my lady," Theon said

"I’ll send Hal with a squad of guardse party attracts unwelco"

Ser Rodrik protested "My lady, let sroad can be perilous for a wosroad," Catelyn replied She thought for a moment, then nodded her consent "Two riders cancoluons and wheelhouses I elcome your company, Ser Rodrik We will follow the White Knife down to the sea, and hire a ship at WhiteHarbor Strong horses and brisk winds should bring us to King’s Landing well ahead of Ned and the Lannisters" And then, she thought, we shall see e shall see