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Jon

The htened the cinch "Easy, sweet lady," he said in a soft voice, quieting her with a touch Wind whispered through the stable, a cold dead breath on his face, but Jon paid it no ers stiff and clumsy "Ghost," he called softly, "to me" And the as there, eyes like embers

"Jon, please You must not do this"

He mounted, the reins in his hand, and wheeled the horse around to face the night Sa over his shoulder He threw a giant’s shadow, immense and black "Get out of my way, Sam"

"Jon, you can’t," Sam said "I won’t let you"

"I would sooner not hurt you," Jon told him "Move aside, Sam, or I’ll ride you down"

"You won’t You have to listen to me Please"

Jon put his spurs to horseflesh, and the round, his face as round and pale as theO of surprise At the last moment, when they were almost on him, he jumped aside as Jon had known he would, stuht

Jon raised the hood of his heavy cloak and gave the horse her head Castle Black was silent and still as he rode out, with Ghost racing at his side Men watched from the Wall behind him, he knew, but their eyes were turned north, not south No one would see hi back to his feet in the dust of the old stables He hoped Sa like that He was so heavy and so ungainly, it would be just like hi out of the way "I warned hi to do with hi and closing the scarred fingers They still pained his off

Moonlight silvered the hills as he followed the twisting ribbon of the kingsroad He needed to get as far froone On the h field and bush and stream to throw off pursuit, but for the moment speed was h they would not guess where he was going

The Old Bear was accustoht, so Jon had until dawn to put as ues as he could between him and the Wallif Sam Tarly did not betray hihtened, but he loved Jon like a brother If questioned, Saine hi’s Tower to wake Mormont from sleep

When Jon did not appear to fetch the Old Bear’s breakfast froclaw on the bed It had been hard to abandon it, but Jon was not so lost to honor as to take it with hirace Doubtless Lord Mormont would find soht of the old man He knew his desertion would be salt in the still-raound of his son’s disgrace That seemed a poor way to repay him for his trust, but it couldn’t be helped Noso the honorable thing The southron had it easier They had their septons to talk to, soht froods, and if the heart trees heard, they did not speak

When the last lights of Castle Black vanished behind hi journey ahead and only the one horse to see hi the road south where he ht be able to trade the mare for a fresh mount when he needed one, but not if she were injured or blown

He would need to find new clothes soon; most like, he’d need to steal the boots, roughspun breeches and tunic, sleeveless leather jerkin, and heavy wool cloak His longsword and dagger were sheathed in blackwere black ringmail Any bit of it couldblack was vieith cold suspicion in every village and holdfast north of the Neck, andfor hiht, Jon kneould find no safe haven Not even at Winterfell Bran ht want to let hiates and send Jon away, as he should Better not to call there at all

Yet he saw the castle clear in his mind’s eye, as if he had left it only yesterday; the towering granite walls, the Great Hall with its s meat, his father’s solar, the turret roo so e’s beef-and-bacon pies, to listen to Old Nan tell her tales of the children of the forest and Florian the Fool

But he had not left the Wall for that; he had left because he was after all his father’s son, and Robb’s brother The gift of a sword, even a sword as fine as Longclaw, did not aryen Three times the old man had chosen, and three times he had chosen honor, but that was him Even now, Jon could not decide whether the maester had stayed because he eak and craven, or because he was strong and true Yet he understood what the old ; he understood that all too well

Tyrion Lannister had claimed that most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it, but Jon was done with denials He ho he was; Jon Snow, bastard and oathbreaker, motherless, friendless, and daht be--he would be conde in the shadoho dares not speak his true nadoms, he would need to live a lie, lest every ainst hih to take his place by his brother’s side and help avenge his father

He re in the yard with snowin his auburn hair Jon would have to coine the look on Robb’s face when he revealed himself His brother would shake his head and smile, and he’d sayhe’d say

He could not see the smile Hard as he tried, he could not see it He found hi of the deserter his father had beheaded the day they’d found the direwolves "You said the words," Lord Eddard had told hiods and the new" Desed the man to the stump Bran’s eyes had been wide as saucers, and Jon had to remind him to keep his pony in hand He remeht forth Ice, the spray of blood on the snow, the way Theon had kicked the head when it ca at his feet

He wondered what Lord Eddard ht have done if the deserter had been his brother Benjen instead of that ragged stranger Would it have been any different? It must, surely, surelyand Robb would welcome him, for a certainty He had to, or else

It did not bear thinking about Pain throbbed, deep in his fingers, as he clutched the reins Jon put his heels into his horse and broke into a gallop, racing down the kingsroad, as if to outrun his doubts Jon was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die like that, trussed and bound and beheaded like a coand If hehis father’s killers He was no true Stark, had never been onebut he could die like one Let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons, not three

Ghost kept pace with the from his mouth Man and horse alike lowered their heads as he asked the , his eyes glowing red in the ht He vanished behind, but Jon kneould follow, at his own pace

Scattered lights flickered through the trees ahead of hi barked as he rode through, and he heard a mule’s raucous haw froe was still Here and there the glow of hearth fires shone through shuttered s, leaking betooden slats, but only a few

Mole’s Toas bigger than it seeround, in deep warm cellars connected by aon the surface but a wooden shack no bigger than a privy, with a red lantern hung over the door On the Wall, he’d heard men call the whores "buried treasures" He wondered whether any of his brothers in black were down there tonight,too, yet no one seemed to care

Not until he ell beyond the village did Jon slow again By then both he and the , his burned hand aching A bank of ht, water trickling off to forether, cupping the runoff between his fingers The snowmelt was icy cold He drank, and splashed soers were throbbing worse than they had in days, and his head was pounding too I a, he told himself, so why do I feel so bad?

The horse ell lathered, so Jon took the lead and walked her for a while The road was scarcely wide enough for two riders to pass abreast, its surface cut by tiny streams and littered with stone That run had been truly stupid, an invitation to a broken neck Jon wondered what had gotten into hireat rush to die?

Off in the trees, the distant screahtened animal made him look up His mare whinnied nervously Had his wolf found some prey? He cupped his hands around his mouth "Ghost!" he shouted "Ghost, to s behind hi, Jon continued on his way He led the mare for half an hour, until she was dry Ghost did not appear Jon wanted to ain, but he was concerned about his ain "Where are you? Toin these woods could trouble a direwolf, even a half-grown direwolf, unlessno, Ghost was too smart to attack a bear, and if there was a wolf pack anywhere close Jon would have surely heard the

He should eat, he decided Food would settle his stoer yet; Castle Black still slept In his saddlebag, he found a biscuit, a piece of cheese, and a sht salt beef as well, and a rasher of bacon he’d filched from the kitchens, but he would save the one he’d need to hunt, and that would slow him

Jon sat under the trees and ate his biscuit and cheese while his sroad He kept the apple for last It had gone a little soft, but the flesh was still tart and juicy He was down to the core when he heard the sounds: horses, and from the north Quickly Jon leapt up and strode to his mare Could he outrun them? No, they were too close, they’d hear him for a certainty, and if they were from Castle Black

He led the reen sentinels "Ouiet now," he said in a hushed voice, crouching down to peer through the branches If the gods were kind, the riders would pass by Likely as not, they were only smallfolk from Mole’s Town, farh what they were doing out in the ht

He listened to the sound of hooves growing steadily louder as they trotted briskly down the kingsroad From the sound, there were five or six of theh the trees

"certain he came this way?"

"We can’t be certain"

"He could have ridden east, for all you know Or left the road to cut through the woods That’s what I’d do"

"In the dark? Stupid If you didn’t fall off your horse and break your neck, you’d get lost and wind up back at the Wall when the sun came up"

"I would not" Grenn sounded peeved "I’d just ride south, you can tell south by the stars"

"What if the sky was cloudy?" Pyp asked

"Then I wouldn’t go"

Another voice broke in "You knohere I’d be if it wasfor buried treasure" Toad’s shrill laughter booh the trees Jon’s mare snorted

"Keep quiet, all of you," Haider said "I thought I heard so" The horses stopped

"You can’t hear yourself fart"

"I can too," Grenn insisted

"Quiet!"

They all fell silent, listening Jon found hione to the Old Bear, but he hadn’t gone to bed either, he’d woken the other boys Damn them all Come dawn, if they were not in their beds, they’d be na?

The hushed silence seemed to stretch on and on Fros of their horses through the branches Finally Pyp spoke up "What did you hear?"

"I don’t know," Haider adht have been a horse but"

"There’s nothing here"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jon glih the trees Leaves rustled, and Ghost ca out of the shadows, so suddenly that Jon’s ave a whinny "There!" Halder shouted

"I heard it too!"

"Traitor," Jon told the direwolf as he swung up into the saddle He turned the h the trees, but they were on hione ten feet

"Jon!" Pyp shouted after him

"Pull up," Grenn said "You can’t outrun us all"

Jon wheeled around to face the his sword "Get back I don’t wish to hurt you, but I will if I have to"

"One against seven?" Halder gave a signal The boys spread out, surrounding him

"What do you ith me?" Jon demanded

"We want to take you back where you belong," Pyp said

"I belong with my brother"

"We’re your brothers now," Grenn said

"They’ll cut off your head if they catch you, you know," Toad put in with a nervous laugh "This is so stupid, it’s like so the Aurochs would do"