Game of Thrones: I Created the Magic Web

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Then they all quieted down, listening intently. Jon unconsciously held his breath. It must be Sam, he thought. He hadn't gone to find the Old Bear, nor had he gone to bed. Instead, he'd woken up the other boys. Damn it, if they weren't back in camp before dawn, they'd be treated as deserters. What were they thinking?

The silence stretched on. From where Jon was crouched, he could see the feet of their mounts through the bushes. Finally, Pyp spoke, "What did you hear just now?"

"I don't know," Hodor admitted, "but there was definitely a sound. I thought it was a horse, but..."

"There's no sound here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jon caught a glimpse of a white shadow darting through the trees. Leaves rustled, and Ghost burst from the shadows. Coming so suddenly, Jon's mare gave a soft whinny. "There!" Hodor shouted.

"I heard it too!"

"You're going to get me killed," Jon said to the direwolf as he swung onto his horse. He turned his horse towards the forest, but they were upon him within ten feet.

"Jon!" Pyp called from behind.

"Stop," Grenn said. "You can't run away."

Jon drew his sword and spun his horse around. "Back off, all of you. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

"You want to take on seven of us?" Hodor waved his hand, and the boys surged forward, surrounding him.

"What are you going to do to me?" Jon demanded.

"We're going to take you back where you belong," Pyp said.

"I belong with my brothers."

"We are your brothers," Grenn said.

"They'll catch you, and you'll be beheaded, you know that?" Todder gave a nervous laugh. "Only a dumb ox would do something so stupid."

"Not me," Grenn said. "I won't break my oath. I swore an oath, and I mean it."

"Me too," Jon told them, "but don't you understand? They murdered my father! This is a war, and my brother Robb is fighting in the Riverlands—"

"We know all that," Pyp said solemnly. "Sam told us."

"We're sorry about your father," Grenn said, "but that has nothing to do with you. Once you've taken the oath, you can't leave, no matter what."

"I have to go," Jon said urgently.

"You swore an oath," Pyp reminded him. "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. Did you say that or not?"

"I shall take no wife, hold no lands," Grenn nodded in agreement.

"I don't need you to tell me. I know it as well as you do." Now he was truly angry. Why couldn't they just let him go? This wasn't good for anyone.

"I am the sword in the darkness," Hodor recited.

"The watcher on the walls," Toad added.

Jon began to curse them one by one, but they ignored him. Pyp urged his horse forward and continued reciting, "The fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men."

"Don't come any closer," Jon warned, brandishing his sword. "Pyp, I mean it." They weren't wearing any armor. If he really wanted to, he could cut them all to pieces.

Mesa moved behind him and joined in the recitation: "I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."

Jon kicked his heels and spun his horse around. But the boys had completely surrounded him, closing in step by step.

"Tonight it is so…" Hodor blocked the gap on the left.

"…and all nights to come," Pyp finished, reaching out and grabbing Jon's reins. "You have two choices: either kill me or come back with me."

Jon raised his sword… and then helplessly lowered it. "Damn you," he said. "You're all doomed."

"Should we tie your hands? Will you come back quietly?" Hodor asked.

"I won't run then." At that moment, Ghost emerged from the trees. Jon glared at him. "You're a real help," he said, but the direwolf's deep red eyes seemed to see right through him.

"We'd better hurry," Pyp said. "If we don't get back before dawn, I'm afraid the Old Bear will chop off all our heads."

Jon Snow remembered little of what happened on the way back. The journey seemed much shorter than the ride south, perhaps because he was preoccupied. Pyp led the way, sometimes galloping, sometimes walking slowly, sometimes trotting, and then returning to a gallop. Mole's Town came and went, the red lanterns hanging outside the brothels long extinguished. Pyp had timed it well. With just an hour to go before dawn, Jon saw the black towers of Castle Black ahead, silhouetted against the vast, pale Wall behind them. But this time, the castle no longer felt like home.

They could drag him back, Jon told himself, but they couldn't keep him there. The war in the south wouldn't be resolved in a day or two, and his friends couldn't watch him day and night. He just needed to wait patiently for an opportunity, let them lower their guard, think he was willing to stay… and then escape again. Next time, he wouldn't take the kingsroad. Instead, he'd head east along the Wall, perhaps all the way to the sea, and then south over the mountains. It was a path often taken by wildlings, rugged and dangerous, but enough to shake off pursuers. From start to finish, he would stay a hundred leagues or more from the kingsroad and Winterfell.

In the old stables, Samwell Tarly was waiting for them. He was sitting on the dirt floor, leaning against a pile of straw, too nervous to sleep. As soon as he saw them, he stood up and brushed off the dust. "Jon, I… I'm glad they found you."

"I'm not," Jon said, dismounting.

Pyp also jumped off his mount, looking with distaste at the gradually lightening sky. "Sam, do us a favor and take care of the horses," the short boy said. "It's going to be a long day, and we haven't had a wink of sleep, all thanks to Lord Snow."

After dawn, Jon went to the kitchens as usual. Three-Finger Hobb handed him the Old Bear's breakfast without a word. Today's breakfast consisted of three brown hard-boiled eggs, fried bread, slices of ham, and a bowl of somewhat wrinkled plums. Jon carried the food back to the King's Tower, where he found Mormont sitting by the window, writing something. The raven paced back and forth on his shoulder, chanting, "Corn! Corn! Corn!" The raven squawked louder as soon as Jon entered the room. "Put the breakfast on the table," the Old Bear said, looking up. "I could use some ale as well."

Jon opened a tightly shut window, took the bottle of ale from the outside windowsill, and filled a horn cup. Hobb had given him a lemon that had just been taken from the Wall's storerooms. It was still ice-cold. Jon crushed it with his fist, and the juice dripped between his fingers. Mormont drank ale with lemon every day, claiming it was the reason he still had such good teeth.

"You must love your father very much," Mormont said as Jon handed him the horn cup. "Boy, do you remember me telling you that we destroy what we love most in the end?"

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