Chapter 7 Death and Rebirth

There was no struggle, and the death was clean.

This is the most real side of the world. Violence is the bond that maintains social stability. Therefore, killing people is really nothing surprising.

Perhaps only the purest of hearts can feel the fear. The nearby horse neighed and stood up, but was quickly calmed down by its master with superb riding skills.

"Let's go." Duke Ed said dullly. Although the laws of the kingdom were enforced, this was obviously not something that made him happy.

The silent people turned their horses' heads and walked in the direction they came from.

Clay heard Lord Eddard talking in a low voice to his youngest son Bran, who was watching the execution for the first time. At this time, Eddard Stark took off his serious mask belonging to the Guardian of the North and began to act as a The role of a kind father.

He had just given instructions to the guard captain, asking this man who was loyal to the Mandalay family to take two guards and go to the Wolf Forest to obtain the tender bark of the sentinel tree for himself.

Although they did not understand the young master's intention, the guard captain still resolutely carried out the order. When Duke Ed ordered to return, the three men and three cavalry left the large army and plunged into the boundless wolf forest.

The horse's hooves moved forward slowly, which seemed to indicate that the owner was indeed in a bad mood.

Clay was indeed irritated. He knew that this was the year 298 of the Conquest Calendar, but he never thought that killing the deserters of the Night's Watch would happen so quickly.

Originally, in his plan, he used this trip to Winterfell to find out more about the weirwood tree, which is what people in the north call the heart tree, and the old gods who have taken root in the land north of the Neck for thousands of years. The relationship between beliefs.

There was a young and low heart tree in the godswood in White Harbor before. When Clay touched it, he did feel a little bit of power flowing down his arm into his body, and his magic pool also swelled a little.

Clay believed that when he was allowed to touch the oldest heart tree in Winterfell, the magic pool would be fully replenished.

But now the plan must be overturned. Clay knows very well that the occurrence of this execution means that the Prime Minister Jon Arryn in King's Landing must have been poisoned by Littlefinger Petyr.

King Robert I, who overthrew the Targaryen dynasty, must have taken his court on the King's Road to Winterfell at this moment.

There is no doubt that Clay is a small player now and cannot influence Duke Ed's decision-making. Once the running wolf goes south, when the unsuspecting stag and direwolf are bitten through the throats by the lion, the five kings will The battle became a foregone conclusion.

The people of the North value honor above all else. Robb Stark led the army south. It is impossible for Clay not to participate, but think about the nobles who were captured in the North during the war and the blood who died in Frey's betrayal. The Stark family at the wedding gave Clay a chill down his back.

He is not a god. Since he is in this game of power, he is dominated by the general trend most of the time. There is not much time left for him to break the game...

The two brothers Jon and Robert, who had galloped far away on horseback, stood on a low hill and shouted to the team: "Father, Bran, come and see what we have found!"

…

In deathly silence, Clay saw the two entangled corpses by the bridge. The giant wolf was so big that he was surprised that its antlers pierced the throat when it bit the stag. The wolf who was very sensitive to family emblems No one in Dongcheng’s group dared to speak.

The people of the North believed in gods, so they also feared them. The bloody picture with such obvious symbolic meaning in front of them made everyone fearful, except Clay.

Clay arrived late, and the five wolves had already been taken out and were huddled in the arms of Bran and his brothers.

"This is a bad sign, you are born with death." Clay heard someone muttering.

With a cynical smile on his face, Theon Greyjoy took out the sword from his waist and said to his nominal brother Bran:

"Bran, those things won't live long, throw them over to me!"

Clay has always disliked Theon, especially his long face with an annoying smile. At this time, he was upset and blurted out without thinking:

"It's not your wolf, it's none of your business!"

The originally quiet bridge now became audible, and everyone's eyes turned to Clay. Theon was stunned for a moment, and then became angry and pointed the bright sword blade at Clay's horse head.

Probably because he was not sure of the strength, the tip of the sword actually hit Clay's mount in the cheek. The horse was frightened, and suddenly it fell back. Clay, who was caught off guard, was thrown away.

Somewhat embarrassed, Clay rolled on the ground in a half circle. Clay stabilized his figure. He looked at Theon Greyjoy, who was grinning and making silent mockery. A huge anger surged in his heart, which was never suppressed by the bird's anger. Lei Shou has already touched the long sword that fell aside...

Seeing the young master being knocked off his horse, the surrounding Manderly family guards subconsciously reached for the hilt of the sword at their waist, but in front of Ed Stark, they did not have the courage to draw the sword.

"Say it again, Manderly boy!" Seeing that no one spoke, Xion became even more arrogant. Just as he was about to say another ugly word, a sharp half-hand sword flashed with cold light and roared towards him. Face door.

Sir Roderick, who was just about to step forward to stop Theon, subconsciously blocked it with his sword. Hearing a crisp impact, the old Sir took two steps back, leaving only a broken sword with a large gap in his hand. The weapon that Clay threw with all his strength was now swinging into the open space in front of Theon's legs.

"Stop!" Duke Eddard shouted violently and kicked his adopted son to the ground.

"Bring him back to Winterfell." The Winterfell guards picked up Xion, who was already pale and a little incontinent, and left the place in a hurry.

Duke Eddard glanced at the broken sword in Sir Roderick's hand, and looked at Clay who had calmed down with a strange look. He did not ask why he drew the sword, but asked:

"Mandalay, why did you say that?"

Seeing that Duke Ed didn't want to go into details, Clay breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking that he was impulsive and replied at the same time:

"It's just the carcasses of wolves and deer. Why do we have to deal with the surviving wolves?"

"This is a direwolf. It has never appeared south of the Great Wall." Robert interrupted.

"I know that if that's the case, what I want to do most right now is to pull out the direwolf's teeth, find a lion to pierce its eyes, and then throw the lion's body into the sewers of Casterly Rock. ” Clay shrugged.

The incident ended with a rare laugh from Lord Eddard, who asked his children to personally raise the direwolf cubs, oh yes, and the white wolf that belonged to Jon. The matter of grace will not be mentioned again.

On the way back, bathed in the friendly eyes of everyone in Winterfell, Clay noticed that Robb, who was riding beside him, had been moving his teeth involuntarily, as if testing whether they were sharp...