"Is it okay to use the crypts for this purpose," Alys said. The crypts scared her. She was uncomfortable being around the dead, Torrhen knew, especially when the moon was high in the dark sky.
"It's fine," Torrhen said. "The dead don't mind it."
"How can you know that?" Alys asked her eyes narrowing at him.
"Because they told me," Torrhen said.
"Ha ha ha. Not funny," Alys said laughing mockingly.
"They told me," Torrhen said. "There that one." Torrhen pointed at the Statue of a Brandon Stark, though he didn't know which Brandon he was.
Alys turned and watched the statue with skepticism. She went closer to the statue looking into his eyes, whispering something under her breath.
Torrhen approached behind her silently and shouted.
Alys yelped and beat him on his chest.
"Don't scare me like that," Alys said breathing fastly.
"Oh come on," Torrhen said. "You deserved that. Why would the dead talk to us they are dead after all. Come on let's go, our Bard would be awake by now."
Torrhen and Alys went deeper into the crypts, ignoring the strange pull that Torrhen had whenever he was in the crypts. The light flickered as the wind flowed through the space. Torrhen had Jax follow the Bard around since the feast started hoping that it was nothing, just that his instinct was misplaced, but it turned out that the Bard was lurking around the castle for some reason.
Jax had Cleyton with him so when they caught him doing something they kidnapped him and bought him under the crypts on Torrhen's orders.
They reached a well-lit place by one of the statues. Cleyton, Jax, and the rest of the pack were already present. Rose and Eric were asleep, Torrhen didn't see a reason to wake them up. They were part of the pack now, but Torrhen wanted them to take it easy for the first couple of months. The pack would train in private in the Wolfswood from dawn till evening every three days a week, learning how to fight among other things. These trainings were what made Torrhen and the others so efficient in fighting.
Especially Cleyton's skills were the most helpful. His skills with the sword and the lance were what Torrhen learned from. The man had fought in the Grey Joy Rebellion as one of the many Hedge Knights hired by the Lannisters. The man was a born fighter and a damn good teacher.
So it was a surprise when he found Cleyton bleeding.
"What happened Cleyton?" Torrhen asked.
Will, the Iron Islander, was applying the bandage to his arm and chest. He didn't tend to speak much. He had taken an oath of silence to atone for what he did when he was with the reaping party from the Iron Islands. He had taken the oath when Torrhen freed him from execution, Torrhen asked him to swear on whatever he believed that he would live his life to do good by others.
"The bastard got the drop on me," Cleyton said. "He saw us coming up on him and surprised us when he ambushed us. He had a dagger with him and was good with it too. He almost killed me as I tried to subdue him."
"If it were not for Cleyton," Jax said. "I would have been dead. He took the dagger meant for me, Bastard is not just a Bard though he has a good voice for it."
"Is he awake?" Torrhen said.
"Yes," Jax said. "He must be recovered from Cleyton's blow by now."
"I'll go get him." Owen Whitebeard said. The man was for some reason sad, Torrhen had thought that he would be happy to be in Winterfell.
Torrhen took a seat down on the ground crossing his legs. Winter put his head on Torrhen's lap. The wolf was too needy, always staying close to him, never leaving him alone even for a moment. Torrhen had to distract the troublemaker to go anywhere without him. And when he figured out that Torrhen was not there, he would use his ability to use his scent to hunt him down. He would then pounce upon him regardless of where Torrhen was.
Once Torrhen almost fell over the Castle's battlements when Winter pounced on him. A few more months and Torrhen wouldn't be able to even lift him. He was growing at an alarming rate. Maester Luwin said that they could grow to the size of ponies. But Torrhen knew that they could grow bigger in the right conditions. Winter seems to be following these conditions more than his siblings. He was a bit bigger than them.
Though at the start Winter was the weakest and most malnourished among his siblings. Mother said he used to be like that too when he was a child. Mother used to pray to the Seven so that he would get better from his ailments. Torrhen was a sickly child when he was a babe, so much so that Mother didn't believe that he could survive past the second year.
The Bard sat down opposite to Torrhen in the middle of the path, the rest of the Pack sat behind the prisoner. Save for Jax, who stood close by to the Bard with his dagger in his hand ready to stab it in his neck if he tried anything.
"Let's play a game," Torrhen said, not letting the bard speak. "I used to play this when I was young. It goes like this, one of us will tell something and the other must figure out whether it was a lie or not. We don't have all night so I will ask you questions. If you wish to lie to me you must do it without letting me figure it out. Three times you will get the chance to lie, more than a third and it will be the last you will ever speak in your life. I will speak about myself. If you figure out what I said was a lie or not three times correctly I will let you leave unharmed. Do you understand the rules?"
The bard nodded. He looked calm, most of the people would be beside themselves with worry.
"I must warn you," Torrhen said. "Do not take this lightly, I can tell the lies from the truth as easily as a person breaths the air."
"Start," the Bard said amused to be challenged by a fifteen year old no doubt.
"My name is Torrhen Stark. I once killed a bear with a dagger when I was eleven," Torrhen said. "A lie or the truth?"
"A lie," the Bard said smiling. "The part with the bear. You almost convinced me with the way you told it."
"The truth," Torrhen said smiling back.
Owen grimaced, "I remember that. She gave me the scar on my chest. The bastard came out of nowhere attacking us. Torrhen jumped on his back and started stabbing him from behind when she turned towards me. I fought it off with my sword from the front barely. The event scared me half to death, with how you jumped on it."
"That seals the deal Torrhen," Jax said. "Now that I have heard enough about you, I officially declare you to be mad. Though I wonder whether you were born mad, or you tend to be one when the situation presents itself."
The Pack smiled. Torrhen ignored Jax and said, "What is your name, Bard, and why did you come to Winterfell?"
"My name is Samuel of Oldstones," the Bard said with the accent of the south, he hesitated a bit before he started again. "I joined the King's party as they crossed my path in the south near the Crossroads Inn. I was hoping to make a good coin, singing. But I am not getting paid well, so I thought to steal… that is why… you found me lurking. That is it. I am a Bard and occasionally a thief when the going gets tough."
"You are good." Torrhen smiled. "You could have fooled even the wisest person. But not me, it takes more than that to fool me."
"You are bluffing," The Bard said, not letting his confidence go. He was almost convincing to Torrhen. "You don't know the truth, boy."
"Your accent betrays you," Torrhen said. "I can hear a slither of that accent when you speak. You lived in the North your whole life. It is hard to erase one's voice when you have spoken it all your life. I say none of it was the truth."
"Do you wish to deny it?" Torrhen asked. "You will lose the second chance too."
"Go on," The Bard said. "Your turn."
"When I was a child," Torrhen said. "I killed people knowing that they were innocent. Once I came close enough to killing a child too. A lie or the truth?"
The Bard took his time answering, he opened his mouth to say a lie when he changed his mind and said, "The truth?"
The Pack smiled at another easy win.
Torrhen looked down at Winter and rubbed his head. "The truth."
The Pack lost their smile.
"This was not the first time you visited Winterfell," Torrhen said. He looked at the Bard. "You came to Winterfell before, didn't you?"
"No," the Bard said speaking carefully. "This was the first time I visited Winterfell."
"A lie," Torrhen said. "Your second lie. Look behind you, the person standing behind you is Jax. You have only one more chance to lie. After that, if you speak a lie Jax will slit your throat. So you have visited Winterfell in the past."
The Bard stayed silent, he was sweating now.
"Once I thought to kill my brother Robb when I was a child," Torrhen said. "Because I didn't want to kneel to him. A lie or the truth?"
"A lie," the Bard said. "You love your brother."
"The truth," Torrhen sighed. "I love him but I would rather die than kneel to someone."
The Bard smiled at that, Torrhen noticed. He figured out who the man was.
"Once when I was a child," Torrhen said. "I played a game with Robb and Jon, my brothers. The game involved throwing snowballs at the people passing below the gatehouse."
The Pack was confused by what Torrhen was saying. But the Bard looked to be in discomfort, knowing what Torrhen was gonna ask next.
"A black brother of the Night's Watch," said Torrhen, "visited Winterfell with his Lord Commander for an audience with my father. He caught us in our game, I asked him his name before I ran."
Cleyton rose and unsheathed his sword. The Bard looked around seeing a way to escape. Winter raised his head from Torrhen's lap, growling at the Bard.
"The name he said was," Torrhen said, "Mance Rayder."
The Pack rose abruptly. They had heard the rumors as well of a King beyond the Wall, gathering tribes to unite against the wall.
"Are you Mance Rayder?" Torrhen said. "The King Beyond the Wall."
The next chapter: Is the Bard, the King beyond the Wall? The man named Mance Rayder? When the Bard tells the truth it will shake everything Torrhen believed in. He would have gone back to his adventures but how could he leave his family when such a threat exists beyond the wall?
And when he questions Maester Luwin about visiting his parents at midnight, he fears that a conflict in the south is inevitable What will he do? Will he go North to remove the threat beyond the wall or go south to deal with the threat the Lion poses on his family when his Father accepts the offer of Hand?
Read more to find out.