The wind howled, snapping the flags on their poles. The direwolf banner, depicting an ice wolf, seemed to race across the sky. The arrival of House Stark brought cheers from the Night's Watch at the Wall.
"Cole," Pyp nudged Cole, who stood frozen in place.
Cole blinked, then burst into tears. His father had finally come. He had missed him terribly and longed to talk to him, to hear his wisdom once more. He rushed towards the descending iron cage, his emotions a turbulent storm.
Would Robb be with him? he wondered as the cage lowered. I heard my brother led the army south and defeated Tywin Lannister. He tried to compose himself, to appear more adult, but the closer he got, the more impatient he became.
Yes, he saw him.
Lord Eddard rode a Northern warhorse. The first thing Cole noticed was his father's graying hair and beard. He looked much thinner than Cole remembered, and the serious, melancholic face etched in Cole's memory seemed far older.
If Cole recalled correctly, his father shouldn't be much older than forty. He gazed at his father, a pang of pain in his chest, seeing the weariness and haggardness etched on his face. In that moment, he suddenly realized that Lord Eddard wasn't as tall or as imposing as he had always imagined.
Several Northern soldiers stopped him. These men were unfamiliar to Cole. Beside his father, only Ser Rodrik Cassel was recognizable; all the other faces were new. No matter where his father had gone before, Jory Cassel had always been by his side, but Jory was nowhere to be seen now. Many other knights he knew were also absent.
"Father!" Cole shouted, catching Lord Eddard's attention.
"Cole?" Eddard began to dismount, a servant stepping forward to assist him.
It was then that Cole noticed his father was limping. Who hurt him? he wondered with a knot of worry. The guards who had stopped him stepped aside, and his father half-dragged his injured leg toward Cole.
Father and son embraced in a heavy hug. Cole saw a rare smile grace Lord Eddard's face. His father gripped his shoulders, looking him up and down. "Not bad, you've grown."
He's so thin, Cole thought. My father is much thinner than he looks.
"Father, your leg?" Cole asked. They were now a pair of limping men, but his father's injury looked far more severe than his own.
Eddard simply shook his head gently, indicating he was fine. He never wanted to burden his children with his worries. However, Maester Luwin had told him that this leg would make riding and fighting impossible in the future.
In the decisive battle against Randyll Tarly's army in the Riverlands, this injury had hindered him, causing him to miss the crucial moment to strike. He had fallen from his horse, and when the soldiers saw their commander fall, their will to charge had vanished.
Eddard's own father had once told him that to inspire men to fight, you couldn't hide within a castle. Catelyn had advised him to let Rodrik lead the army to support the Night's Watch, but Eddard had insisted on coming himself.
"Tell me about the Night's Watch," his father asked, and they began to walk side by side.
Eddard also noticed Cole's leg injury. "How did you get injured?" he asked anxiously.
"Father, Maester Aemon treated me."
The sound of horns echoed from the Wall, a clear signal that this was not the time for a leisurely conversation between father and son. Cole quickly relayed all the news he knew.
Eddard had only brought a thousand men, but with these thousand Northern soldiers, and the formidable seven-hundred-foot Wall, it was enough to withstand the wildling army. Mance Rayder's army had retreated.
When the direwolf banner was raised on the Wall, he knew his chance was gone. But the wildlings seemed unwilling to return to their lands. Mance Rayder gazed at the towering ice wall. Once, he too had stood upon that wall; he had grown up in the Night's Watch and knew every stone and beam.
The Haunted Forest lay covered in ice and snow. He knew the dire consequences of turning back now: the dead were coming. Eight thousand years ago, those monsters had first appeared in the world.
In the stories passed down by the ancestors beyond the Wall, the tales of the White Walkers were far more detailed than those in the Seven Kingdoms. They had been preserved through oral tradition from generation to generation, for the monstrous figures would appear from time to time.
He had been searching for the "Horn of Winter," a magical artifact belonging to Joramun, the King-Beyond-the-Wall a thousand years ago. A millennium ago, the King of the North and the King-Beyond-the-Wall had united to defeat the Night King.
Legend said the Horn of Winter could awaken the wildlings sleeping beneath the ground. Mance had held high hopes for this horn, believing it could defeat the dead, but no matter how many graves he dug beneath the Frostfang Mountains, he found no trace of it.
After the wildling army retreated, Cole walked down from the Wall. He wanted to see his father. Lord Eddard was staying in Lord Commander Mormont's chambers in the King's Tower. When Cole arrived, he was told his father was in the Crow's Nest. Cole's leg injury still caused him pain with every step as he made his way there.
He entered the Crow's Nest and heard his father talking with Maester Aemon. "Father, Maester Aemon," he said, walking towards the fire.
"Come here, child. Your father is very concerned about your injury," Maester Aemon said to him.
"Sit down. I know you have many questions, and I will tell you the truth," his father said.
Cole's heart trembled for a moment. He truly wanted to ask his father: Who is my mother? Where is she?
"Father, Robb and Arya—" He didn't ask about his own affairs first.
Eddard sighed. Robb was leading his army, confronting Randyll Tarly's forces at the Neck. Arya had vanished. He worried his youngest daughter might fall into enemy hands. Sansa, Bran, Rickon—his children were disappearing one by one, a thought that weighed heavily on him.
"Lord Eddard!" A knight burst through the door of the Crow's Nest, hurrying inside.
He interrupted the conversation between father and son. The knight addressed the three: "The King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder, has sent a message. He wishes to negotiate with you."
"Negotiate?"
"Yes, the rumor is they have news of Benjen Stark," the knight added.
Cole saw his father frown. Uncle Benjen had not returned since leaving the Wall. One of the purposes of the Old Bear's ranger expedition was to find his missing uncle's whereabouts.
"Where is the place for negotiation?" Lord Eddard asked.
"Beyond the Wall," the knight replied.
Eddard fell into deep thought. He asked the Maester, "Is there any news about Benjen?"
"My Lord, Benjen Stark never returned to the Wall after leaving it. Commander Mormont sent men to look for him, but they never came back."