A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle

good. I don’t even mind about the blood and
all.” He looked away. “Well, only a little . . .”
    Jon spitted the carcass, banked the fire with a pair of

rocks, and balanced their meal atop them. The rabbit had been a scrawny thing,
but as it cooked it smelled like a king’s feast. Other rangers gave them
envious looks. Even Ghost looked up hungrily, flames shining in his red eyes as
he sniffed. “You had yours before,” Jon reminded him.
    â€œIs Craster as savage as the rangers say?” Sam asked. The rabbit was a shade
underdone, but tasted wonderful. “What’s his castle like?”
    â€œA midden heap with a roof and a firepit.” Jon told Sam what he had seen and
heard in Craster’s Keep.
    By the time the telling was done, it was dark outside and Sam was licking his
fingers. “That was good, but now I’d like a leg of lamb. A whole leg, just for
me, sauced with mint and honey and cloves. Did you see any lambs?”
    â€œThere was a sheepfold, but no sheep.”
    â€œHow does he feed all his men?”
    â€œI didn’t see any men. Just Craster and his women and a few small girls. I
wonder he’s able to hold the place. His defenses were nothing to speak of, only
a muddy dike. You had better go up to the hall and draw that map. Can you find
the way?”
    â€œIf I don’t fall in the mud.” Sam struggled back into his boots, collected
quill and parchment, and shouldered out into the night, the rain pattering down
on his cloak and floppy hat.
    Ghost laid his head on his paws and went to sleep by the fire. Jon stretched
out beside him, grateful for the warmth. He was cold and wet, but not so cold
and wet as he’d been a short

time before.
Perhaps tonight the Old Bear will learn something that will
lead us to Uncle Benjen.
    He woke to the sight of his own breath misting in the cold morning air. When he
moved, his bones ached. Ghost was gone, the fire burnt out. Jon reached to pull
aside the cloak he’d hung over the rock, and found it stiff and frozen. He
crept beneath it and stood up in a forest turned to crystal.
    The pale pink light of dawn sparkled on branch and leaf and stone. Every blade
of grass was carved from emerald, every drip of water turned to diamond.
Flowers and mushrooms alike wore coats of glass. Even the mud puddles had a
bright brown sheen. Through the shimmering greenery, the black tents of his
brothers were encased in a fine glaze of ice.
    So there is magic beyond the Wall after all.
He found himself
thinking of his sisters, perhaps because he’d dreamed of them last night. Sansa
would call this an enchantment, and tears would fill her eyes at the wonder of
it, but Arya would run out laughing and shouting, wanting to touch it
all.
    â€œLord Snow?”
he heard. Soft and meek. He turned.
    Crouched atop the rock that had sheltered him during the night was the rabbit
keeper, wrapped in a black cloak so large it drowned her.
Sam’s
cloak,
Jon realized at once.
Why is she wearing Sam’s cloak?
“The fat one told me I’d find you here, m’lord,” she said.
    â€œWe ate the rabbit, if that’s what you came for.” The admission made him feel
absurdly guilty.
    â€œOld Lord Crow, him with the talking bird, he gave Craster a crossbow
worth a hundred rabbits.” Her arms closed over the swell of her belly. “Is it
true, m’lord? Are you brother to a king?”
    â€œA half brother,” he admitted. “I’m Ned Stark’s bastard. My brother Robb is
the King in the North. Why are you here?”
    â€œThe fat one, that Sam, he said to see you. He give me his cloak, so no one
would say I didn’t belong.”
    â€œWon’t Craster be angry with you?”
    â€œMy father drank overmuch of the Lord Crow’s wine last night. He’ll sleep most
of the day.” Her breath frosted the air in small nervous puffs. “They say the
king gives justice and protects the weak.” She started to climb off the rock,
awkwardly, but the ice had made it slippery and her foot went out from under
her. Jon caught her before she could fall, and helped her safely down. The
woman knelt on the icy ground. “M’lord, I beg you—”
    â€œDon’t beg me anything. Go back to your hall, you shouldn’t be here. We were
commanded not to speak to Craster’s women.”
    â€œYou