"Father, I'll go with you."
Eddard looked at him. The boy he had brought back from the south had grown almost as tall as him without him realizing it. The beard on Cole's chin made Eddard treat him as an adult.
He saw the shadows of many people in Cole, including his eldest brother Brandon and his younger sister Lyanna. Memories of the Starks flashed through his mind one by one. The running wolf's blood of the Starks was wild and unrestrained; they should not be as sluggish as him.
Tall, handsome, hot-blooded, and untamed, Brandon spent most of his time riding horses through the Riverlands. Eddard remembered the tourney at Harrenhal. He was only eighteen at the time. Brandon had competed in the tourney and was eventually unhorsed by Rhaegar. At the dance after the games, Brandon had invited Lady Ashara Dayne of Starfall to dance with Eddard because Eddard was too shy.
He still remembered those purple eyes. When Eddard had sent her brother, Ser Arthur Dayne, known as the Sword of the Morning, back to Starfall, she had wept inconsolably. Catelyn once asked Eddard if Cole's mother was Ashara, but Eddard never answered her.
He didn't want to recall those sad memories. That competition was the great sorrow of Eddard's life. The champion of the tourney was Rhaegar, who had dedicated the queen's crown, a symbol of love and beauty, to Lyanna instead of his wife, Elia Martell. Eddard remembered the faces of his father, his eldest brother, and Robert.
Lyanna later left with Rhaegar. Everyone thought Rhaegar had kidnapped their sister, but only Eddard knew the truth. Just as everyone thought he was in love with Ashara, when Brandon was taller, stronger, handsomer, and more passionate than him.
They were all dead. Brandon was strangled with a rope. Eddard still remembered the Mad King's torture of his father and brother. He burned his father, still in his armor, with wildfire, had a rope wrapped around Brandon's neck, and then placed a sword just out of reach in front of him. His eldest brother struggled to grab the sword to save their father, but was strangled to death by the rope.
Lyanna died too, in the Tower of Joy, in Eddard's arms. Robert died too, as did his adoptive father, Jon Arryn. Everyone Eddard knew was leaving him.
"No," Eddard refused Cole's request. "Cole, wait until I get back. I'll tell you who she is," Eddard told him.
Cole's eyes flickered with hesitation, but he still lowered his head silently. He desperately wanted to know who she was. He would accept even a prostitute.
Lord Eddard decided to meet the King-Beyond-the-Wall. The brothers of the Night's Watch and the northern warriors who followed Lord Stark all urged him not to take risks. The wildlings had no credibility, but Eddard told them that these wildlings beyond the Wall believed in the Old Gods of the weirwood trees, just as they did. That silenced half the Northerners.
He would not go alone, nor would he go to Mance Rayder's camp. They would meet under the Wall, not far away. The gate of the Wall opened, and one after another the Northern knights rode out. They wore gray direwolf cloaks trimmed with wool. Many of these men were new recruits, and they looked young.
When Eddard Stark went south to King's Landing, he took a group of Winterfell's elite. And Robb took everyone when he went south. Otherwise, Theon Greyjoy would not have been able to capture Winterfell so easily. Of course, Theon also succeeded by tricking the tiger away from the mountain.
Mance Rayder had already set up a tent under the Wall. The wildlings gathered in groups under the Wall. Some wore bronze armor, some animal skins, and held spears and axes in their hands. But they all looked very shabby. After a hundred Northern cavalrymen rode out, Eddard Stark passed through the deep ice wall and walked out of the gate. His limping legs made the walk very difficult.
Outside the Wall, Eddard saw giants for the first time. He estimated their height in his mind. They were at least ten to twelve feet taller than the Mountain. Their hair was thick and their faces flat. Their arms hung down, long and strong, their legs short, and they wore no shoes in the ice and snow.
Giants and direwolves, these things made Eddard feel uneasy. He recalled some proverbs spread in the North. The cavalry protected the Duke of the North, and Eddard could see fear on the faces of many soldiers. These young men had never experienced the test of war, and even Rodrik Cassel hadn't trained them for long.
Eddard knew that the war was not over yet. If the war continued, there would be fewer and fewer people in the North, and a severe winter awaited them. The Stark family was responsible for leading the people of the North through the cold winter; this was their duty for generations. This was Stark's mission. As the Warden of the North, he had to be responsible for hundreds of thousands of people in the North.
The horses kept approaching the camp, and the atmosphere between the two sides was tense. Just the slightest sound could ignite a war. He arrived safely at Mance Rayder's tent. A bonfire burned in the tent. The King-Beyond-the-Wall was sitting behind the bonfire. Mance Rayder was a gray-haired man in a ragged red and black cloak.
The Wildling King stood up and said, "Welcome beyond the Wall, King of the North."
Eddard glanced at his cloak. "Mance Rayder?"
"A thousand years ago, the King in the North made an agreement with the King-Beyond-the-Wall to fight against the enemies of winter together," Mance said. "Lord Stark, I mean no harm. Why don't we sit down and talk?"
Eddard sat across from him. A smile appeared on Mance's face. "We have met before, sir."
Stark didn't remember any encounter with the Wildling King. "Really? When?"
"A banquet, I guess you don't remember it anymore." Mance waved and asked someone to bring a piece of roasted bear meat. "The land outside the Wall is barren. We can only use this to entertain you. I hope you don't mind."
Mance cut off a piece of meat, took a small bite with his dagger, put it in his mouth, and then offered it to Eddard. "Try the meat of the snow bear. I don't think you can eat it in the south."
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Eddard asked him.
Mance swallowed the meat. "Let's talk about what you are interested in first. I will tell you news of your own Benjen Stark."
Eddard Stark stared at him.
"My people have seen him in the Fist of the First Men and the Antler River, but we can't be sure whether he is dead or alive."
"Dead?" Eddard asked.
Mance nodded solemnly. "Yes, it is the dead. We are fighting the dead, Stark. If you think winter is only about cold wind and ice and snow, you are too naive." He shouted to his men, "Bring that thing up and let our King of the North take a look."
His men had just left the tent. Suddenly, there was chaos outside the big tent.
Mance stood up suddenly and drew the sword at his waist. "You lied to me?"