Jon was breaking his fast on applecakes and blood sausage when Samwell Tarly plopped himselfdown on the bench. “I’ve been summoned to the sept,” Sam said in an excited whisper. “They’repassing me out of training. I’m to be made a brother with the rest of you. Can you believe it?”

“No, truly?”

“Truly. I’m to assist Maester Aemon with the library and the birds. He needs someone who canread and write letters.”

“You’ll do well at that,” Jon said, smiling.

Sam glanced about anxiously. “Is it time to go? I shouldn’t be late, they might change their minds.”

He was fairly bouncing as they crossed the weed-strewn courtyard. The day was warm and sunny.

Rivulets of water trickled down the sides of the Wall, so the ice seemed to sparkle and shine.

Inside the sept, the great crystal caught the morning light as it streamed through the south-facingwindow and spread it in a rainbow on the altar. Pyp’s mouth dropped open when he caught sight ofSam, and Toad poked Grenn in the ribs, but no one dared say a word. Septon Celladar was swinging acenser, filling the air with fragrant incense that reminded Jon of Lady Stark’s little sept in Winterfell.

For once the septon seemed sober.

The high officers arrived in a body; Maester Aemon leaning on Clydas, Ser Alliser cold-eyed andgrim, Lord Commander Mormont resplendent in a black wool doublet with silvered bearclawfastenings. Behind them came the senior members of the three orders: red-faced Bowen Marsh theLord Steward, First Builder Othell Yarwyck, and Ser Jaremy Rykker, who commanded the rangers inthe absence of Benjen Stark.

Mormont stood before the altar, the rainbow shining on his broad bald head. “You came to usoutlaws,” he began, “poachers, rapers, debtors, killers, and thieves. You came to us children. Youcame to us alone, in chains, with neither friends nor honor. You came to us rich, and you came to uspoor. Some of you bear the names of proud houses. Others have only bastards’ names, or no names atall. It makes no matter. All that is past now. On the Wall, we are all one house.

“At evenfall, as the sun sets and we face the gathering night, you shall take your vows. From thatmoment, you will be a Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch. Your crimes will be washed away, yourdebts forgiven. So too you must wash away your former loyalties, put aside your grudges, forget oldwrongs and old loves alike. Here you begin anew.

“A man of the Night’s Watch lives his life for the realm. Not for a king, nor a lord, nor the honorof this house or that house, neither for gold nor glory nor a woman’s love, but for the realm, and allthe people in it. A man of the Night’s Watch takes no wife and fathers no sons. Our wife is duty. Ourmistress is honor. And you are the only sons we shall ever know.

“You have learned the words of the vow. Think carefully before you say them, for once you havetaken the black, there is no turning back. The penalty for desertion is death.” The Old Bear paused fora moment before he said, “Are there any among you who wish to leave our company? If so, go now,and no one shall think the less of you.”

No one moved.

“Well and good,” said Mormont. “You may take your vows here at evenfall, before SeptonCelladar and the first of your order. Do any of you keep to the old gods?”

Jon stood. “I do, my lord.”

“I expect you will want to say your words before a heart tree, as your uncle did,” Mormont said.

“Yes, my lord,” Jon said. The gods of the sept had nothing to do with him; the blood of the FirstMen flowed in the veins of the Starks.

He heard Grenn whispering behind him. “There’s no godswood here. Is there? I never saw agodswood.”

“You wouldn’t see a herd of aurochs until they trampled you into the snow,” Pyp whispered back.

“I would so,” Grenn insisted. “I’d see them a long way off.”

Mormont himself confirmed Grenn’s doubts. “Castle Black has no need of a godswood. Beyondthe Wall the haunted forest stands as it stood in the Dawn Age, long before the Andals brought theSeven across the narrow sea. You will find a grove of weirwoods half a league from this spot, andmayhap your gods as well.”

“My lord.” The voice made Jon glance back in surprise. Samwell Tarly was on his feet. The fatboy wiped his sweaty palms against his tunic. “Might I … might I go as well? To say my words atthis heart tree?”

“Does House Tarly keep the old gods too?” Mormont asked.

“No, my lord,” Sam replied in a thin, nervous voice. The high officers frightened him, Jon knew,the Old Bear most of all. “I was named in the light of the Seven at the sept on Horn Hill, as my fatherwas, and his father, and all the Tarlys for a thousand years.”

“Why would you forsake the gods of your father and your House?” wondered Ser Jaremy Rykker.

“The Night’s Watch is my House now,” Sam said. “The Seven have never answered my prayers.

Perhaps the old gods will.”

“As you wish, boy,” Mormont said. Sam took his seat again, as did Jon. “We have placed each ofyou in an order, as befits our need and your own strengths and skills.” Bowen Marsh stepped forwardand handed him a paper. The Lord Commander unrolled it and began to read. “Halder, to thebuilders,” he began. Halder gave a stiff nod of approval. “Grenn, to the rangers. Albett, to thebuilders. Pypar, to the rangers,” Pyp looked over at Jon and wiggled his ears. “Samwell, to thestewards,” Sam sagged with relief, mopping at his brow with a scrap of silk. “Matthar, to the rangers.

Dareon, to the stewards. Todder, to the rangers. Jon, to the stewards.”

The stewards! For a moment Jon could not believe what he had heard. Mormont must have read itwrong. He started to rise, to open his mouth, to tell them there had been a mistake … and then he sawSer Alliser studying him, eyes shiny as two flakes of obsidian, and he knew.

The Old Bear rolled up the paper. “Your firsts will instruct you in your duties. May all the godspreserve you, brothers.” The Lord Commander favored them with a half bow, and took his leave. SerAlliser went with him, a thin smile on his face. Jon had never seen the master-at-arms look quite sohappy.

“Rangers with me,” Ser Jaremy Rykker called when they were gone. Pyp was staring at Jon as hegot slowly to his feet. His ears were red. Grenn, grinning broadly, did not seem to realize thatanything was amiss. Matt and Toad fell in beside them, and they followed Ser Jaremy from the sept.

“Builders,” announced lantern-jawed Othell Yarwyck. Halder and Albett trailed out after him.

Jon looked around him in sick disbelief. Maester Aemon’s blind eyes were raised toward the lighthe could not see. The septon was arranging crystals on the altar. Only Sam and Dareon remained onthe benches; a fat boy, a singer … and him.

Lord Steward Bowen Marsh rubbed his plump hands together. “Samwell, you will assist MaesterAemon in the rookery and library. Chett is going to the kennels, to help with the hounds. You shallhave his cell, so as to be close to the maester night and day. I trust you will take good care of him. Heis very old and very precious to us.

“Dareon, I am told that you sang at many a high lord’s table and shared their meat and mead. Weare sending you to Eastwatch. It may be your palate will be some help to Cotter Pyke when merchantgalleys come trading. We are paying too dear for salt beef and pickled fish, and the quality of theolive oil we’re getting has been frightful. Present yourself to Borcas when you arrive, he will keepyou busy between ships.”

Marsh turned his smile on Jon. “Lord Commander Mormont has requested you for his personalsteward, Jon. You’ll sleep in a cell beneath his chambers, in the Lord Commander’s tower.”

“And what will my duties be?” Jon asked sharply. “Will I serve the Lord Commander’s meals,help him fasten his clothes, fetch hot water for his bath?”

“Certainly.” Marsh frowned at Jon’s tone. “And you will run his messages, keep a fire burning inhis chambers, change............