AmSincere

"The wolf's blood stirs again."

"Ah, you speak of the hidden one. The white wolf among grey."

"Born in storm and secrets, raised in winter's shadow. How fitting that he should rise when the Young Wolf falls."

"You always did favor the broken things, sister."

"Broken? No. Bent perhaps, like a blade folded and reforged. The bastard bears the old blood stronger than any know."

"Yet they would make him lord? These proud northern men who spite his very name?"

"They will have little choice. The fever comes swift as winter wind. While the true heir burns, the north must have its Stark."

"And you think he's ready? This boy who knows nothing of his own song?"

"He knows more than he should and less than he must. But watch him - see how the old powers gather? The dream walking has begun. The third eye opens."

"The three-eyed raven moves too soon. The boy should be left to ripen slowly."

"Time is a luxury we no longer possess. The long night approaches. Ice stirs in the far north while fire breeds in the east. He must be ready."

"You risk much, sister. If the wolf learns to lead, he may stray from the greater path."

"Or perhaps ruling Winterfell shall teach him what he truly is. The blood of kings runs deep, brother. Deeper than names, deeper than oaths."

"The Lady of Winterfell will never accept it."

"She need not accept what necessity demands. The bastard shall rise, and the north shall follow, for in their bones they remember..."

"Remember what?"

"That before there were seven kingdoms, before there were even Starks of Winterfell, there was the blood of winter itself. And that blood runs strongest in the one they name Snow."

"You always were fond of irony."

"Not irony, brother. Promise. A promise made in a tower of sorrow, sealed with winter roses and maiden's tears. That promise now bears fruit."

"And if he fails? If the burden breaks him?"

"Then the realms of men fall to ice and shadow. But he will not fail. Watch him rise, brother. Watch him discover what he truly is."

"And what is that?"

"The sword in the darkness. The white wolf. The prince that was hidden. But for now... for now he must be simply Lord of Winterfell, while greater winds gather."

"You weave a dangerous web, sister."

"All great songs are dangerous. But this one... this one must be sung."

"Then let it begin."

"It already has. Even now, he dreams of ravens with three eyes, of blood on snow, of ancient kings in halls of ice. The wolf wakes, brother. The wolf wakes."

Table of Ashes and Snow

Table of contents

Volume 1