Game of Thrones Iron Stark

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Winterfell did not sleep.

White banners hung from the walls the next morning. Rickon Stark was dead. Four years old.

Robb sat on the floor of the great hall holding his little brother's stiff hand. Rickon's face was already gray. Robb had closed his eyes himself.

Bran had not spoken since it happened. He lay unconscious in his room while Old Nan watched over him with Hodor at her side.

Shaggydog was still alive, but barely. The direwolf was covered in bites and knife wounds from the night before. He had gone mad when Rickon fell and tried to tear into anyone who came near.

Theon came in red-eyed. "Robb. Ser Rodrik still hasn't returned. We put down the last of the rioters. They said someone paid them well to come here and cause trouble. That's all they knew."

Robb's voice was raw. "If Rodrik comes back without the killer's head, I'll take his instead."

"Robb—"

Robb didn't answer. He just kept staring at Rickon's small, cold hand.

---

A day's ride south of Winterfell stood Sevens Town, a loyal Stark holdfast.

The guards on the wall spotted two men fighting in the snow outside the gates. Both fell. The guards rode out with their lord.

When they turned the bodies over, Lord Sevens went pale.

"Ser Rodrik! Get the maester—now! He's still breathing."

They carried the old knight inside. The second man was already dead. They brought him too.

---

Back in Winterfell the smallfolk knew a Stark had died. They did not know which one. No one dared ask.

The castle felt like a tomb.

Bran woke and found Robb still sitting with Rickon. He walked over slowly.

"Robb… where's Shaggydog?"

"Outside. He's dying."

Bran went quiet. He already knew what his brother meant to do.

" Theon. Bring my sword."

Theon brought it.

Robb walked out to where Shaggydog lay panting in the snow. The direwolf looked up at him and gave a low, broken sound. He knew. When the Stark who bonded him died, the wolf died too.

Robb raised the sword.

Hodor came out of nowhere.

He slammed into Robb, knocked him flat, and sent the sword spinning across the yard. Then he pinned Robb's arms to the ground.

"Don't kill him! Don't kill him! Don't kill him!"

People rushed in to pull Hodor off. Hodor roared and threw them aside like children. Bran was closest. He hit the stone wall hard. There was a sharp crack. He went limp.

" Hodor! Stop! Theon, don't shoot—!"

Theon loosed anyway. The arrow took Hodor through the shoulder. Hodor howled and let go.

Shaggydog bolted into the night.

Robb got to his feet with Theon's help, breathing hard.

"Lock Hodor up. No one lets him out without my word."

Maester Luwin was already kneeling beside Bran, hands moving carefully over his back.

---

At the Wall a small party prepared to ride south.

Jon Snow led them. Samwell Tarly was with him—sent because he was Randyll Tarly's son and might still carry some weight with Robert. Alliser Thorne rode as well.

Alliser looked at the southern horizon and spat. "King's Landing isn't the Wall, Snow. Down there you survive by playing the game. Your father never learned how. He thinks honor is enough."

Jon stayed quiet.

Alliser continued. "We might get nothing from him. But your brother Tony Stark… he might actually be useful. If he hasn't already noticed the capital is sitting on a powder keg."

Mormont gave the order. "Ride. And don't come back empty-handed."

The black brothers turned their horses south.

From the top of the Wall, Maester Aemon and Lord Commander Mormont watched them go.

"Whether they return is another question," Aemon said quietly. "King's Landing does not give up its prizes easily."

Mormont grunted. "We still have time. The red comet hasn't come yet."

He did not know his own son was already serving the woman who would one day bring that comet and everything after it.

---

On the Dothraki sea the nights were cold.

Daenerys had charcoal braziers brought into her tent. She placed the three dragon eggs among the hot coals one by one, then laid her own hands on them.

Her handmaid gasped. "Khaleesi—you… you are unburnt!"

Daenerys did not pull her hands away. "I am more than unburnt, Doreah. I am the Mother of Dragons. One of these eggs beats in time with the child inside me. I can feel it."

Outside the tent Drogo sat with his bloodriders drinking fermented mare's milk. One of them, Qotho, watched the glow from inside.

"My blood of my blood. The Khaleesi truly has dragon blood. She does not burn."

Drogo smiled into his cup.

"She is the dragon. I am the horse. The son we make will carry the fire of both."