"Any man of the Night's Watch," the dwarf repeated, "but not me, do I take your meaning, boy?"
Robb stood and pointed at the little man with his sword. "I am the lord here while my mother and father are away, Lannister. I am not your boy."
"If you are a lord, you might learn a lord's courtesy," the little man replied, ignoring the sword point in his face. "Your bastard brother has all your father's graces, it would seem."
"Jon," Bran gasped out from Hodor's arms.
The dwarf turned to look at him. "So it is true, the boy lives. I could scarce believe it. You Starks are hard to kill."
"You Lannisters had best remember that," Robb said, lowering his sword. "Hodor, bring my brother here."
"Hodor," Hodor said, and he trotted forward smiling and set Bran in the high seat of the Starks, where the Lords of Winterfell had sat since the days when they called themselves the Kings in the North. The seat was cold stone, polished smooth by countless bottoms; the carved heads of direwolves snarled on the ends of its massive arms. Bran clasped them as he sat, his useless legs dangling. The great seat made him feel half a baby.
Robb put a hand on his shoulder. "You said you had business with Bran. Well, here he is, Lannister."
Bran was uncomfortably aware of Tyrion Lannister's eyes. One was black and one was green, and both were looking at him, studying him, weighing him. "I am told you were quite the climber, Bran," the little man said at last. "Tell me, how is it you happened to fall that day?"
"I never," Bran insisted. He never fell, never never never.
"The child does not remember anything of the fall, or the climb that came before it," said Maester Luwin gently.
"Curious," said Tyrion Lannister.
"My brother is not here to answer questions, Lannister," Robb said curtly. "Do your business and be on your way."
"I have a gift for you," the dwarf said to Bran. "Do you like to ride, boy?"
Maester Luwin came forward. "My lord, the child has lost the use of his legs. He cannot sit a horse."
"Nonsense," said Lannister. "With the right horse and the right saddle, even a cripple can ride."
The word was a knife through Bran's heart. He felt tears come unbidden to his eyes. "I'm not a cripple!"
"Then I am not a dwarf," the dwarf said with a twist of his mouth. "My father will rejoice to hear it." Greyjoy laughed.
"What sort of horse and saddle are you suggesting?" Maester Luwin asked.
"A smart horse," Lannister replied. "The boy cannot use his legs to command the animal, so you must shape the horse to the rider, teach it to respond to the reins, to the voice. I would begin with an unbroken yearling, with no old training to be unlearned." He drew a rolled paper from his belt. "Give this to your saddler. He will provide the rest."
Maester Luwin took the paper from the dwarfs hand, curious as a small grey squirrel. He unrolled it, studied it. "I see. You draw nicely, my lord. Yes, this ought to work. I should have thought of this myself."
"It came easier to me, Maester. It is not terribly unlike my own saddles."
"Will I truly be able to ride?" Bran asked. He wanted to believe them, but he was afraid. Perhaps it was just another lie. The crow had promised him that he could fly.
"You will," the dwarf told him. "And I swear to you, boy, on horseback you will be as tall as any of them."
Robb Stark seemed puzzled. "Is this some trap, Lannister? What's Bran to you? Why should you want to help him?"
"Your brother Jon asked it of me. And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things." Tyrion Lannister placed a hand over his heart and grinned.
The door to the yard flew open. Sunlight came streaming across the hall as Rickon burst in, breathless. The direwolves were with him. The boy stopped by the door, wide-eyed, but the wolves came on. Their eyes found Lannister, or perhaps they caught his scent. Summer began to growl first. Grey Wind picked it up. They padded toward the little man, one from the right and one from the left.
"The wolves do not like your smell, Lannister," Theon Greyioy commented.
"Perhaps it's time I took my leave," Tyrion said. He took a step backward . . . and Shaggydog came out of the shadows behind him, snarling. Lannister recoiled, and Summer lunged at him from the other side. He reeled away, unsteady on his feet, and Grey Wind snapped at his arm, teeth ripping at his sleeve and tearing loose a scrap of cloth.
"No!" Bran shouted from the high seat as Lannister's men reached for their steel. "Summer, here. Summer, to me!"
The direwolf heard the voice, glanced at Bran, and again at Lannister. He crept backward, away from the little man, and settled down below Bran's dangling feet.
Robb had been holding his breath. He let it out with a sigh and called, "Grey Wind." His direwolf moved to him, swift and silent. Now there was only Shaggydog, rumbling at the small man, his eyes burning like green fire.
"Rickon, call him," Bran shouted to his baby brother, and Rickon remembered himself and screamed, "Home, Shaggy, home now." The black wolf gave Lannister one final snarl and bounded off to Rickon, who hugged him tightly around the neck.
Tyrion Lannister undid his scarf, mopped at his brow, and said in a flat voice, "How interesting."
"Are you well, my lord?" asked one of his men, his sword in hand. He glanced nervously at the direwolves as he spoke.
"My sleeve is torn and my breeches are unaccountably damp, but nothing was harmed save my dignity."