“Othor,” announced Ser Jaremy Rykker, “beyond a doubt. And this one was Jafer Flowers.” Heturned the corpse over with his foot, and the dead white face stared up at the overcast sky with blue,blue eyes. “They were Ben Stark’s men, both of them.”

My uncle’s men, Jon thought numbly. He remembered how he’d pleaded to ride with them. Gods, Iwas such a green boy. If he had taken me, it might be me lying here …Jafer’s right wrist ended in the ruin of torn flesh and splintered bone left by Ghost’s jaws. His righthand was floating in a jar of vinegar back in Maester Aemon’s tower. His left hand, still at the end ofhis arm, was as black as his cloak.

“Gods have mercy,” the Old Bear muttered. He swung down from his garron, handing his reins toJon. The morning was unnaturally warm; beads of sweat dotted the Lord Commander’s broadforehead like dew on a melon. His horse was nervous, rolling her eyes, backing away from the deadmen as far as her lead would allow. Jon led her off a few paces, fighting to keep her from bolting. Thehorses did not like the feel of this place. For that matter, neither did Jon.

The dogs liked it least of all. Ghost had led the party here; the pack of hounds had been useless.

When Bass the kennelmaster had tried to get them to take the scent from the severed hand, they hadgone wild, yowling and barking, fighting to get away. Even now they were snarling and whimperingby turns, pulling at their leashes while Chett cursed them for curs.

It is only a wood, Jon told himself, and they’re only dead men. He had seen dead men before …Last night he had dreamt the Winterfell dream again. He was wandering the empty castle, searchingfor his father, descending into the crypts. Only this time the dream had gone further than before. Inthe dark he’d heard the scrape of stone on stone. When he turned he saw that the vaults were opening,one after the other. As the dead kings came stumbling from their cold black graves, Jon had woken inpitch-dark, his heart hammering. Even when Ghost leapt up on the bed to nuzzle at his face, he couldnot shake his deep sense of terror. He dared not go back to sleep. Instead he had climbed the Wall andwalked, restless, until he saw the light of the dawn off to the east. It was only a dream. I am a brotherof the Night’s Watch now, not a frightened boy.

Samwell Tarly huddled beneath the trees, half-hidden behind the horses. His round fat face was thecolor of curdled milk. So far he had not lurched off to the woods to retch, but he had not so much asglanced at the dead men either. “I can’t look,” he whispered miserably.

“You have to look,” Jon told him, keeping his voice low so the others would not hear. “MaesterAemon sent you to be his eyes, didn’t he? What good are eyes if they’re shut?”

“Yes, but … I’m such a coward, Jon.”

Jon put a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “We have a dozen rangers with us, and the dogs, even Ghost. Noone will hurt you, Sam. Go ahead and look. The first look is the hardest.”

Sam gave a tremulous nod, working up his courage with a visible effort. Slowly he swiveled hishead. His eyes widened, but Jon held his arm so he could not turn away.

“Ser Jaremy,” the Old Bear asked gruffly, “Ben Stark had six men with him when he rode fromthe Wall. Where are the others?”

Ser Jaremy shook his head. “Would that I knew.”

Plainly Mormont was not pleased with that answer. “Two of our brothers butchered almost withinsight of the Wall, yet your rangers heard nothing, saw nothing. Is this what the Night’s Watch hasfallen to? Do we still sweep these woods?”

“Yes, my lord, but—”

“Do we still mount watches?”

“We do, but—”

“This man wears a hunting horn.” Mormont pointed at Othor. “Must I suppose that he diedwithout sounding it? Or have your rangers all gone deaf as well as blind?”

Ser Jaremy bristled, his face taut with anger. “No horn was blown, my lord, or my rangers wouldhave heard it. I do not have sufficient men to mount as many patrols as I should like … and sinceBenjen was lost, we have stayed closer to the Wall than we were wont to do before, by your owncommand.”

The Old Bear grunted. “Yes. Well. Be that as it may.” He made an impatient gesture. “Tell me howthey died.”

Squatting beside the dead man he had named Jafer Flowers, Ser Jaremy grasped his head by thescalp. The hair came out between his fingers, brittle as straw. The knight cursed and shoved at theface with the heel of his hand. A great gash in the side of the corpse’s neck opened like a mouth,crusted with dried blood. Only a few ropes of pale tendon still attached the head to the neck. “Thiswas done with an axe.”

“Aye,” muttered Dywen, the old forester. “Belike the axe that Othor carried, m’lord.”

Jon could feel his breakfast churning in his belly, but he pressed his lips together and made himselflook at the second body. Othor had been a big ugly man, and he made a big ugly corpse. No axe wasin evidence. Jon remembered Othor; he had been the one bellowing the bawdy song as the rangersrode out. His singing days were done. His flesh was blanched white as milk, everywhere but hishands. His hands were black like Jafer’s. Blossoms of hard cracked blood decorated the mortalwounds that covered him like a rash, breast and groin and throat. Yet his eyes were still open. Theystared up at the sky, blue as sapphires.

Ser Jaremy stood. “The Wildlings have axes too.”

Mormont rounded on him. “So you believe this is Mance Rayder’s work? This close to the Wall?”

“Who else, my lord?”

Jon could have told him. He knew, they all knew, yet no man of them would say the words. TheOthers are only a story, a tale to make children shiver. If they ever lived at all, they are gone eightthousand years. Even the thought made him feel foolish; he was a man grown now, a black brother ofthe Night’s Watch, not the boy who’d once sat at Old Nan’s feet with Bran and Robb and Arya.

Yet Lord Commander Mormont gave a snort. “If Ben Stark had come under Wildling attack a halfday’s ride from Castle Black, he would have returned for more men, chased the killers through allseven hells and brought me back their heads.”

“Unless he was slain as well,” Ser Jaremy insisted.

The words hurt, even now. It had been so long, it seemed folly to cling to the hope that Ben Starkwas still alive, but Jon Snow was nothing if not stubborn.

“It has been close on half a year since Benjen left us, my lord,” Ser Jaremy went on. “The forest isvast. The Wildlings might have fallen on him anywhere. I’d wager these two were the last survivorsof his party, on their way back to us … but the enemy caught them before they could reach the safetyof the Wall. The corpses are still fresh, these men cannot have been dead more than a day …”

“NO,” Samwell Tarly squeaked.

Jon was startled. Sam’s nervous, high-pitched voice was the last he would have expected to hear.

The fat boy was frightened of the officers, and Ser Jaremy was not known for his patience.

“I did not ask for your views, boy,” Rykker said coldly.

“Let him speak, ser,” Jon blurted.

Mormont’s eyes flicked from Sam to Jon and back again. “If the lad has something to say, I’ll hearhim out. Come closer, boy. We can’t see you behind those horses.”

Sam edged past Jon and the garrons, sweating profusely. “My lord, it … it can’t be a dayor … look … the blood …”

“Yes?” Mormont growled impatiently. “Blood, what of it?”

“He soils his smallclothes at the sight of it,” Chett shouted out, and the rangers laughed.

Sam mopped at the sweat on his brow. “You … you can see where Ghost … Jon’s direwolf … youcan see where he tore off that man’s hand, and yet … the stump hasn’t bled, look …” He waved ahand. “My father … L-lord Randyll, he, he made me watch him dress animals sometimes,when … after …” Sam shook his head from side to side, his chins quivering. Now that he had lookedat the bodies, he could not seem to look away. “A fresh kill … the blood would still flow, my lords.

Later … later it would be clotted, like a … a jelly, thick and … and …” He looked as though he wasgoing to be sick. “This man … look at the wrist, it’s all … crusty … dry … like …”

dat the bodies, he could not seem to look away. “A fresh kill … the blood would still flow, my lords.

Later … later it would be clotted, like a … a jelly, thick and … and …” He looked as though he wasgoing to be sick. “This man … look at the wrist, it’s all … crusty … dry … like …”

Jon saw at once what Sam meant. He could see the torn veins in the dead man’s wrist, iron wormsin the pale flesh. His blood was a black dust. Yet Jaremy Rykker was unconvinced. “If they’d beendead much longer than a day, they’d be ripe by now, boy. They don’t even smell.”

Dywen, the gnarled old forester who liked to boast that he could smell snow coming on, sidledcloser to the corpses and took a whiff. “Well, they’re no pansy flowers, but … m’lord has the truth ofit. There’s no corpse stink.”

“They … they aren’t rotting.” Sam pointed, his fat finger shaking only a little. “Look,there’s … there’s no maggots or … or … worms or anything … they’ve been lying here in the woods,but they … they haven’t been chewed or eaten by animals … only Ghost … otherwisethey’re … they’re …”

“Untouched,” Jon said softly. “And Ghost is different. The dogs and the horses won’t go nearthem.”

The rangers exchanged glances; they could see it was true, every man of them. Mormont frowned,glancing from the corpses to the dogs. “Chett, bring the hounds closer.”

Chett tried, cursing, yanking on the leashes, giving one animal a lick of his boot. Most of the dogsjust whimpered and planted their feet. He tried dragging one. The bitch resisted, growling andsquirming as if to escape her collar. Finally she lunged at him. Chett dropped the leash and stumbledbackward. The dog leapt over him and bounded off into the trees.

“This … this is all wrong,” Sam Tarly said earnestly. “The blood … there’s bloodstains on theirclothes, and … and their flesh, dry and hard, but … there’s none on the ground, or … anywhere. Withthose … those … those …” Sam made himself swallow, took a deep breath. “With thosewounds … terrible wounds … there should be blood all over. Shouldn’t there?”

Dywen sucked at his wooden teeth. “Might be they didn’t die here. Might be someone brought ’emand left ’em for us. A warning, as like.” The old forester peered down suspiciously. “And might beI’m a fool, but I don’t know that Othor never had no blue eyes afore.”

Ser Jaremy looked startled. “Neither did Flowers,” he blurted, turning to stare at the dead man.

A silence fell over the wood. For a moment all they heard was Sam’s heavy breathing and the wetsound of Dywen sucking on his teeth. Jon squatted beside Ghost.

“Burn them,” someone whispered. One of the rangers; Jon could not have said who. “Yes, burnthem,” a second voice urged.

The Old Bear gave a stubborn shake of his head. “Not yet. I want Maester Aemon to have a look atthem. We’ll bring them back to the Wall.”

Some commands are more easily given than obeyed. They wrapped the dead men in cloaks, butwhen Hake and Dywen tried to tie one onto a horse, the animal went mad, screaming and rearing,lashing out with its hooves, even biting at Ketter when he ran to help. The rangers had no better luckwith the other garrons; not even the most placid wanted any part of these burdens. In the end theywere forced to hack off branches and fashion crude slings to carry the corpses back on foot. It waswell past midday by the time they started back.

“I will have these woods searched,” Mormont commanded Ser Jaremy as they set out. “Everytree, every rock, every bush, and every foot of muddy ground within ten leagues of here. Use all themen you have, and if you do not have enough, borrow hunters and foresters from the stewards. If Benand the others are out here, dead or alive, I will have them found. And if there is anyone else in thesewoods, I will know of it. You are to track them and take them, alive if possible. Is that understood?”

“It is, my lord,” Ser Jaremy said. “It will be done.”

After that, Mormont rode in silence, brooding. Jon followed close behind him; as the LordCommander’s steward, that was his place. The day was grey, damp, overcast, the sort of day thatmade you wish for rain. No wind stirred the wood; the air hung humid and heavy, and Jon’s clothesclung to his skin. It was warm. Too warm. The Wall was weeping copiously, had been weeping fordays, and sometimes Jon even imagined it was shrinking.

The old men called this weather spirit summer, and said it meant the season was giving up itsghosts at last. After this the cold would come, they warned, and a long summer always meant along winter. This summer had lasted ten years. Jon had been a babe in arms when it began.

Ghost ran with them for a time and then vanished among the trees. Without the direwolf, Jon feltalmost naked. He found himself glancing at every shadow with unease. Unbidden, he thought back onthe tales that Old Nan used to tell them, when he was a boy at Winterfell. He could almost hear hervoice again, and the click-click-click of her needles. In that darkness, the Others came riding, sheused to say, dropping her voice lower and lower. Cold and dead they were, and they hated iron andfire and the touch of the sun, and every living creature with hot blood in its veins. Holdfasts and citiesand kingdoms of men all fell before them, as they moved south on pale dead horses, leading hosts ofthe slain. They fed their dead servants on the flesh of human children …When he caught his first glimpse of the Wall looming above the tops of an ancient gnarled oak, Jonwas vastly relieved. Mormont reined up suddenly and turned in his saddle. “Tarly,” he barked, “comehere.”

Jon saw the start of fright on Sam’s face as he lumbered up on his mare; doubtless he thought hewas in trouble. “You’re fat but you’re not stupid, boy,” the Old Bear said gruffly. “You did well backthere. And you, Snow.”

Sam blushed a vivid crimson and tripped over his own tongue as he tried to stammer out a courtesy.

Jon had to smile.

When they emerged from under the trees, Mormont spurred his tough little garron to a trot. Ghostcame streaking out from the woods to meet them, licking his chops, his muzzle red from prey. Highabove, the men on the Wall saw the column approaching. Jon heard the deep, throaty call of thewatchman’s great horn, calling out across the miles; a single long blast that shuddered through thetrees and echoed off the ice.

UUUUUUUoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

The sound faded slowly to silence. One blast meant rangers returning, and Jon thought, I was aranger for one day, at least. Whatever may come, they cannot take that away from me.

Bowen Marsh was waiting at the first gate as they led their garrons through the icy tunnel. TheLord Steward was red-faced and agitated. “My lord,” he blurted at Mormont as he swung open theiron bars, “there’s been a bird, you must come at once.”

“What is it, man?” Mormont said gruffly.

Curiously, Marsh glanced at Jon before he answered. “Maester Aemon has the letter. He’s waitingin your solar.”

“Very well. Jon, see to my horse, and tell Ser Jaremy to put the dead men in a storeroom until themaester is ready for them.” Mormont strode away grumbling.

As they led their horses back to the stable, Jon was uncomfortably aware that people were watchinghim. Ser Alliser Thorne was drilling his boys in the yard, but he broke off to stare at Jon, a faint halfsmile on his lips. One-armed Donal Noye stood in the door of the armory. “The gods be with you,Snow,” he called out.

Something’s wrong, Jon thought. Something’s very wrong.

The dead men were carried to one of the storerooms along the base of the Wall, a dark cold cellchiseled from the ice and used to keep meat and grain and sometimes even beer. Jon saw thatMormont’s horse was fed and watered and groomed before he took care of his own. Afterward hesought out his friends. Grenn and Toad were on watch, but he found Pyp in the common hall. “What’shappened?” he asked.

Pyp lowered his voice. “The king’s dead.”

Jon was stunned. Robert Baratheon had looked old and fat when he visited Winterfell, yet he’dseemed hale enough, and there’d been no talk of illness. “How............