Before I get started, I should announce something. I am enjoying this book well enough that I’ve begun reading it aloud to Ian, who is an artist. He should be posting his interpretive drawings of the characters and/or events of the book, starting where I started with the prologue.

Chapter 14 – Catelyn

Time for Lady Stark, or Lady Denethor, as I am strongly tempted to call her after her unsavory treatment of Jon Snow. I’m not quite sure what to expect from this chapter, although I anticipate an update on Bran’s condition. I have a terrible feeling that he’s going to die — if he awakens he’ll surely tell his mother about how Ser Jaime tried to kill him, right? So either he’ll die or he’ll sleep forever in a coma. Neither option sounds appealing, of course.

[quote]Ned and the girls were eight days gone when Maester Luwin came to her one night in Bran’s sickroom, carrying a reading lamp and the books of account. “It is past time that we reviewed the figures, my lady,” he said. “You’ll want to know how much this royal visit cost us.”[/quote]

Err. Finances? How practical. Also, does that say “eight days?” Hang on, let me do a little math here . . . carry the two . . . ah-ha. Yes, we have gone backward in time; the last chapter occurred 18 days after the two respective parties left Winterfell. I’m not sure this matters, but I like to keep a timeline in my head for stories like these — stories with multiple characters.

Anyway, Catelyn is not in the mood for finances or any of the other needs of Winterfell, but someone has to get on it, since apparently the castle steward went south with Eddard. (I’m not sure why. That seems like a rather poor choice by the Starks.) Robb, Catelyn’s eldest, volunteers just as Catelyn loses her temper. Good man. Catelyn is clearly affected by Bran’s condition — she still hasn’t left his bedside, which means she probably hasn’t been sleeping properly for two weeks.

Nonetheless, Robb recognizes that Catelyn is kinda being a bother, and he tells her. Refusing to help with the finances is one thing, but she’s also ignoring her youngest son — Rickon, who’s barely a three-year-old — to be with Bran.

[quote][Robb] paused a moment, chewing his lower lip the way he’d done when he was little. “Mother, I need you too. I’m trying but I can’t . . . I can’t do it all by myself.” His voice broke with sudden emotion, and Catelyn remembered that he was only fourteen.[/quote]

Oh, that too. Is he really that young? Was that already established? I mean, wow. I kind of forgot all about Robb and his problems, actually. Catelyn is supposed to be tutoring him on managing the kingdom, isn’t she?

[quote]Outside the tower, a wolf began to howl. Catelyn trembled, just for a second . . . Somewhere out in Winterfell, a second wolf began to howl in chorus with the first. Then a third, closer. “Shaggydog and Grey Wind,” Robb said as their voices rose and fell together.[/quote]

*snort* I’m sorry, really — this is a depressing moment — but “Shaddydog” cracks me up.

Catelyn doesn’t react well to the howling, though. In fact, her nerve finally seems to break and she collapses to the floor, screaming. Robb’s there to help her recover, and she asks him to shut out the howling:

[quote]Robb went to the window, but as he reached for the shutters another sound was added to the mournful howling of the direwolves. “Dogs,” he said, listening. “All the dogs are barking. They’ve never done that before . . .” Catelyn heard his breath catch in his throat. When she looked up, his face was pale in the lamplight. “Fire,” he whispered.[/quote]

Gah. Can’t these people catch a break? Who would start a fire? Apparently the library tower’s caught fire, so Robb rushes out of the sickroom to help. What’s going on?

[quote]She watched the smoke rise into the sky and thought sadly of all the books the Starks had gathered over the centuries. Then she closed the shutters.

When she turned away from the window, the man was in the room with her.[/quote]

?!?!!

[quote]”You weren’t s’posed to be here,” he muttered sourly. “No one was s’posed to be here.”

He was a small, dirty man in filthy brown clothing, and he stank of horses. Catelyn knew all the men who worked in their stables, and he was none of them. He was gaunt, with limp blond hair and pale eyes deep-sunk in a bony face, and there was a dagger in his hand.[/quote]

Holy shit, AN ASSASSIN. Are you KIDDING ME? Why can’t these people catch a break?

It REALLY IS an assassin, here for Bran. Good grief. Catelyn thinks fast and tackles him, but he’s too strong and manages to choke her out to the point of weakness.

[quote]There was a low rumble, less than a snarl, the merest whisper of a threat, but he must have heard something, because he started to turn just as the wolf made its leap. They went down together, half sprawled over Catelyn where she’d fallen. The wolf had him under the jaw. The man’s shriek lasted less than a second before the beast wrenched back its head, taking out half his throat.[/quote]

!!!

It’s Bran’s unnamed wolf, whew. After it destroys the assassin it curls up next to Bran on the bed, which kinda chokes me up, honestly. I dunno, loyal animals doing loyal acts fills me with emotions, man. For a second I thought the wolf had been wounded, too, which might have played a part in squeezing my heart.

Catelyn isn’t hurt too bad, just traumatized and covered in the assassin’s gore, so she’s carried to a bath and drugged up so she’ll finally sleep — which she does, for more than four days. As I suspected, she just needed a little a lot of rest to cool down, because once she’s awake she feels more relaxed, although understandably disturbed. Yeah, um, where did that assassin come from? Was he employed by the Lannisters somehow? He must have organized the library fire as a distraction so he could sneak into Bran’s room and kill him.

When she’s back in control Catelyn asks for food and for Robb, and some things have changed since the attack, it seems:

[quote]Robb arrived before her food. Rodrik Cassel came with him, and her husband’s ward Theon Greyjoy, and lastly Hallis Mollen, a muscular guardsman with a square brown beard. He was the new captain of the guard, Robb said. Her son was dressed in boiled leather and ringmail, she saw, and a sword hung at his waist.[/quote]

I think I’m supposed to remember Cassel and Theon Greyjoy — their names are familiar — but I haven’t quite got a hold on many of these names yet.

Nobody knows who sent the assassin, but Catelyn and I share suspicions of the Lannisters, or more specifically the Queen. What’s exciting to me is how the men react with disbelief when Catelyn mentions the assassin was here for Bran — they just assumed he was trying to kill her, the Lady Stark.

[quote]”Why would anyone want to kill Bran?” Robb said . . .

Catelyn gave her firstborn a challenging look. “If you are to rule in the north, you must think these things through, Robb. Answer your own question. Why would anyone want to kill a sleeping child?”[/quote]

Oh yeah, that rest was just what the doctor ordered. I like this parallel with the beginning of the chapter — now that Catelyn’s back on her game she’s starting to instruct Robb and get him thinking creatively. Oh man, maybe Bran won’t even need to wake up to get his secret out? I mean, obviously I’d rather he survived this trial, but it would be awesome if this assassin-plot backfired to the point that the Starks deduce the secret on their own.

Now Ser Rodrik is bringing up the assassin’s knife, which was apparently made from Valyrian steel with a dragonbone hilt. All that really means is the assassin — a crumby horse thief by the look of him — must have been given that dagger by somebody wealthy.

[quote]”What I am about to tell you must not leave this room,” [Catelyn] told them. “I want your oaths on that. If even part of what I suspect is true, Ned and my girls have ridden into deadly danger, and a word in the wrong ears could mean their lives.”[/quote]

OH BOY she’s going to tell them about the message from her sister, isn’t she? Tell ’em that the Queen poisoned Jon Arryn, the previous Hand of the King.

Yep, she does, but also:

[quote]”I do not think Bran fell from that tower,” she said into the stillness. “I think he was thrown.”[/quote]

Yes. It’s like what I was just hoping for is becoming reality.

[quote]”Gods,” Robb swore, his young face dark with anger. “If this is true, [Ser Jaime] will pay for it.” He drew his sword and waved it in the air. “I’ll kill him myself!”

Ser Rodrik bristled at him. “Put that away! The Lannisters are a hundred leagues away. Never draw your sword unless you mean to use it. How many times must I tell you, foolish boy?”

Abashed, Robb sheathed his sword, suddenly a child again.[/quote]

Heh. I needed that. I think I’m finally getting a handle on Robb’s character now: he’s trying so hard to be the good ol’ Prince Charming, but he’s not quite mature enough yet. Being the eldest son of a family, I can relate.

It is decided that one of them must go to King’s Landing to warn Eddard and the others of further betrayal, and Catelyn volunteers herself, to my surprise. After a few tense seconds she convinces the others to let her leave, and she decides to take Ser Rodrik as a bodyguard.

[quote]”We will follow the White Knife down to the sea, and hire a ship at White Harbor. Strong horses and brisk winds should bring us to King’s Landing well ahead of Ned and the Lannisters.” And then, she thought, we shall see what we shall see.[/quote]

Summary Time: Catelyn, the Lady Stark, is shirking her duties in Winterfell to moan over her crippled, comatose son Bran. Her eldest son Robb argues with her about this, but doesn’t make any headway with her. The library tower spontaneously catches fire and Robb goes to investigate, and while he’s gone an assassin tries to kill Bran. He manages to defeat Catelyn, but before he can make his hit he is killed by Bran’s unnamed direwolf pup, who sensed his master’s danger. After four days of rest Catelyn regains her composure and sharp mind, and uses both to deduce the identity of those who sent the assassin after her son and why. She shares her sister’s secret with a select group of people including Robb, and then decides to sail to King’s Landing with Ser Rodrik Cassel, the man-at-arms, to warn her husband of treachery.

Excellent chapter here, I really enjoyed it. What does that say about me? So far this and chapter 8 have enraptured me more than the others, and both feature sinister people trying to murder a little boy. Apparently I enjoy reading about the deaths of small children.

Seriously, I liked this one, even though Catelyn’s wallowing was especially hard to stomach considering her mistreatment of Jon Snow. (I won’t bring that up again, pinky-swear.)

As I mentioned before, Robb really grew on me in this chapter, and I’m hoping I’ll get a chapter from his POV. I’ll be surprised if that doesn’t happen, actually, since he’s being left behind in Winterfell.

I don’t know what to make of the other characters yet, but I’m guessing they’re going to increase in importance. For one thing I’ll be watching Theon Greyjoy, Eddard’s ward, who I now remember was taken from his family as a hostage. At the end of this chapter he swears the oath to secrecy with the others in the room, and claims that he considers Eddard a second father, but I’ve got my skeptical eye on him. I mean, his name is just so prissy; I sort of envision him played by David Hyde Pierce, best known as Niles Crane of Frasier fame.

Anyway, see you later and thanks for reading.

PREVIOUS — NEXT

EDIT: See Ian’s drawing of Eddard and Catelyn here.