A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

never came back. We were waiting for him on the Fist when . . . when . . .”
    â€œJon’s here,” Bran said. “Summer saw him. He was with some wildlings, but they killed a man and Jon took his horse and escaped. I bet he went to Castle Black.”
    Sam turned big eyes on Meera. “You’re certain it was Jon? You saw him?”
    â€œI’m Meera,” Meera said with a smile. “Summer is . . .”
    A shadow detached itself from the broken dome above and leapt down through the moonlight. Even with his injured leg, the wolf landed as light and quiet as a snowfall. The girl Gilly made a frightened sound and clutched her babe so hard against her that it began to cry again.
    â€œHe won’t hurt you,” Bran said. “
That
’s Summer.”
    â€œJon said you all had wolves.” Sam pulled off a glove. “I know Ghost.” He held out a shaky hand, the fingers white and soft and fat as little sausages. Summer padded closer, sniffed them, and gave the hand a lick.
    That was when Bran made up his mind. “We’ll go with you.”
    â€œAll of you?” Sam seemed surprised by that.
    Meera ruffled Bran’s hair. “He’s our prince.”
    Summer circled the well, sniffing. He paused by the top step and looked back at Bran.
He wants to go
.
    â€œWill Gilly be safe if I leave her here till I come back?” Sam asked them.
    â€œShe should be,” said Meera. “She’s welcome to our fire.”
    Jojen said, “The castle is empty.”
    Gilly looked around. “Craster used to tell us tales of castles, but I never knew they’d be so big.”
    It’s only the kitchens
. Bran wondered what she’d think when she saw Winterfell, if she ever did.
    It took them a few minutes to gather their things and hoist Bran into his wicker seat on Hodor’s back. By the time they were ready to go, Gilly sat nursing her babe by the fire. “You’ll come back for me,” she said to Sam.
    â€œAs soon as I can,” he promised, “then we’ll go somewhere warm.” When he heard that, part of Bran wondered what he was doing.
Will I ever go someplace warm again?
    â€œI’ll go first, I know the way.” Sam hesitated at the top. “There’s just so many
steps
,” he sighed, before he started down. Jojen followed, then Summer, then Hodor with Bran riding on his back. Meera took the rear, with her spear and net in hand.
    It was a long way down. The top of the well was bathed in moonlight, but it grew smaller and dimmer every time they went around. Their footsteps echoed off the damp stones, and the water sounds grew louder. “Should we have brought torches?” Jojen asked.
    â€œYour eyes will adjust,” said Sam. “Keep one hand on the wall and you won’t fall.”
    The well grew darker and colder with every turn. When Bran finally lifted his head around to look back up the shaft, the top of the well was no bigger than a half-moon. “
Hodor
,” Hodor whispered, “
Hodorhodorhodorhodorhodorhodor
,” the well whispered back. The water sounds were close, but when Bran peered down he saw only blackness.
    A turn or two later Sam stopped suddenly. He was a quarter of the way around the well from Bran and Hodor and six feet farther down, yet Bran could barely see him. He could see the door, though.
The Black Gate
, Sam had called it, but it wasn’t black at all.
    It was white weirwood, and there was a face on it.
    A glow came from the wood, like milk and moonlight, so faint it scarcely seemed to touch anything beyond the door itself, not even Sam standing right before it. The face was old and pale, wrinkled and shrunken.
It looks dead
. Its mouth was closed, and its eyes; its cheeks were sunken, its brow withered, its chin sagging.
If a man could live for a thousand years and never die but just grow older, his face might come to look like that
.
    The door opened its eyes.
    They were white too, and blind. “Who are you?” the door asked, and the well whispered, “
Who-who-who-who-who-who-who
.”
    â€œI am the sword in the darkness,” Samwell Tarly said. “I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers. I am the shield that guards the realms of men.”
    â€œThen pass,” the door said. Its lips opened, wide and wider and wider still, until