"My lord, have you heard any news of my mother?"
Since the assassination of Renly and the disappearance of Lady Catelyn, Sansa had been asking about her mother's whereabouts every single day.
"No," Lynd replied casually, not even looking up as he signed a stack of transfer orders and handed them to a waiting attendant.
It wasn't that he was deliberately cold toward Sansa—he simply had no new information to offer. He was also searching for Lady Catelyn and Brienne.
Ever since the report that the two had been seen near the Bay of Crabs, traveling by boat toward the mouth of the Trident, there had been no further word.
The boat they were on was later found at a small dock outside Maidenpool. The boatman claimed they had disembarked at a minor pier near Wickenden. Based on that, it was speculated that they likely entered the outer mountains of the Vale to evade the Lannister forces, using narrow mountain paths to slip through Lannister-controlled territory on their way back to the North and the Riverlands.
Under such circumstances, it was entirely normal that their trail had gone cold.
"What about Winterfell? Any word from there? How is my brother?" Sansa asked again, her voice filled with concern.
"No…" Lynd began to answer, but suddenly remembered something. He picked up a document from the table and handed it to Sansa. "This intelligence just came in. Take a look."
Sansa hurriedly took it, unfolded the paper, and glanced at the contents. Her face went pale at once. Tears streamed down uncontrollably as her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor, burying her face as muffled sobs escaped her lips.
The intelligence she saw had just been delivered. It concerned Winterfell. For some unknown reason, Theon Greyjoy had suddenly massacred the people there. Important figures such as Maester Luwin, Ser Rodrik, and the septon Chayle were all reported killed. Bran Stark and Rickon Stark were said to have been burned to death.
Seeing Sansa like that, Lynd stopped his work, handed the already signed documents to the attendant with instructions to leave, and then walked over to her.
Sansa noticed him standing in front of her and slowly stopped crying, though her nose still twitched involuntarily as she looked up at him with a pitiful expression.
"You've been working with Jon for quite some time now," Lynd said, looking down at her and nodding toward the intelligence in her hands. "Jon has praised you more than once—he says you're meticulous, analytical, and always able to spot things in the details that others miss."
He pointed to the document. "Take another close look at that report, and tell me what hidden message you can find."
Sansa blinked in surprise, then quickly wiped her tears and asked, a hint of hope in her voice, "My Lord, are you saying this report might be false? That my brothers aren't really dead?"
"That's something you'll have to tell me," Lynd replied, not answering the question directly.
Without hesitation, Sansa picked the report back up and began to read it again carefully—this time not just once, but several times, analyzing every word.
After a long while, her emotions seemed to settle, and a smile slowly appeared on her face. "They're not dead. Bran and Rickon—they're both alive."
Lynd asked, "Tell me—how did you come to that conclusion?"
"Because Theon deliberately burned the bodies beyond recognition." Now calm, Sansa's thoughts flowed clearly as she began her analysis. "Theon went mad and killed Maester Luwin, Ser Rodrik, the septon Chal, even the blacksmith and the stableboy. None of them could have posed any threat to him. On the contrary, keeping them alive would've been more useful. Their presence might have made Robb hesitate to send forces north to reclaim Winterfell, for fear the hostages would be killed. It would have also made the Northern lords' garrison troops think twice before acting.
But instead, Theon went berserk and killed all those valuable captives. There's only one possible explanation—something happened that made him lose his mind. And that something was most likely Bran and Rickon escaping."
Lynd gave a slight nod, signaling for her to continue.
Seeing Lynd nod, Sansa seemed encouraged. She stood up and continued, "After executing Maester Luwin and the others, Theon actually went hunting in the Wolfswood. That's incredibly unusual. He was under constant watch from the Northern lords—leaving Winterfell meant putting himself in danger. And yet, he still led over three thousand men out of the castle. That means his true purpose couldn't have been hunting. He must've gone to track down Bran and Rickon."
She paused, her expression growing more confident. "If he had caught up with Bran and Rickon, he definitely wouldn't have killed them. A living Stark is far more valuable than a dead one. Even if he'd accidentally killed them, he wouldn't have burned their bodies until they were unrecognizable. He should've kept their escape a secret, creating the illusion that he still had them. But instead, he brought back two charred corpses and claimed Bran and Rickon had been burned to death. That only shows he's guilty. He wanted everyone to believe they were dead—so if they showed up seeking help or refuge from other lords, no one would believe them. After all, they've never appeared before the other lords or their retainers, and not many people in the North would recognize them."
Listening to her analysis, Lynd couldn't help but applaud and said, "You really are as sharp as Jon said. You're clearly skilled at intelligence work. In that case, come work for me—help me organize and handle intelligence matters."
"Yes, my lord," Sansa replied, a hint of joy flashing across her face. But soon, worry crept in again. After a brief hesitation, she asked, "My lord, could you help me find Bran and Rickon?"
Lynd shook his head slightly. "I don't know where they are, but I'm sure they'll head to one place. We just need to wait for news."
"One place?" Sansa was taken aback, then quickly caught on. "You mean... they're going to The Wall?"
Lynd explained, "Jon Snow is the steward to the Lord Commander at The Wall, Benjen Stark is the First Ranger, and Jeor Mormont used to be a vassal of Winterfell. If Bran and Rickon were fleeing, their best option would be to head north. Once they get past the Wolfswood, they'll be in the area controlled by The Wall—and they'll be relatively safe there. The Ironborn wouldn't dare go near that place."
Hearing Lynd's reasoning, Sansa finally let out a sigh of relief.
...
But at that moment, Lynd didn't know that Benjen had gone missing while leading a patrol beyond The Wall, or that Jon Snow himself was in dire straits—locked in the dungeons of Castle Black. Even if Bran and Rickon made it to The Wall, there would be no one to help them, as Jon had been accused by the Night's Watch of murdering Lord Commander Jeor Mormont.
"Jon is definitely not the killer! You can't just accuse him because he was the first to find the Lord Commander—how can that be the basis for a murder charge? That's ridiculous!" Samwell Tarly forced down his fear of the castle officers before him, mustering his courage to speak up for Jon. "If you're going to reason like that, then the next time one of you is assassinated, what's the first person who finds the body supposed to do—pretend they didn't see it? Let the body rot until it stinks? Because the moment someone says they saw the corpse, they become the murderer?"
"Sam, calm down," said Chief Steward Bowen Marsh, his expression dark. "We haven't concluded that Jon Snow is the killer. But he was the first to discover the Lord Commander's body, and also the last to leave his chambers…"
Sam cut in immediately. "Lord Bowen, the day before yesterday, when Jon left the Lord Commander's room, we were all there. The Commander was assigning tasks for the next day—he was fine, and we all saw it. How can you use that to suspect Jon?"
Janos Slynt, newly appointed as an officer, slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Enough, fatso! We're in the middle of analyzing the case, and you just barge in yelling this and that. You're clearly in league with that bastard, trying to mess with our heads so your accomplice gets off the hook!"
Janos wasn't originally qualified to be present at this meeting, but his former status as Lord of Harrenhal and Commander of the City Watch had earned him a seat at the table.
Sam held his ground and said, "Lord Janos, you should know that I'm here on behalf of Maester Aemon. It was Maester Aemon who asked me to assist the Lords in investigating the truth. By your logic, that would make Maester Aemon a suspect in the Lord Commander's murder as well."
Ser Alliser Thorne immediately stood up. "Samwell Tarly, we understand what you're trying to do. You're Jon's friend—you just want to clear his name..."
"No, you don't understand what I'm saying," Sam cut him off sharply. "You think Jon is just Lord Eddard's bastard? That now, with Lord Eddard dead, Jon has no one to protect him and can be accused and manipulated as you please? Have you all forgotten that Prince Lynd gave Jon his own sword? That alone shows how much Prince Lynd values him. The Lord Commander also kept Jon close while he was alive—he made Jon his personal steward, letting him handle all Night's Watch affairs. He was preparing Jon to become the next Lord Commander. And now you've bypassed Prince Lynd entirely and decided that Jon is guilty of murdering the Commander. What do you think Prince Lynd will say when he hears about this?"
The room fell silent. Even the commanders who hadn't spoken a word until now were suddenly paying close attention.
"If I'm not mistaken, you haven't informed Summerhall yet, have you?" Sam asked abruptly.
Alliser Thorne and Bowen Marsh both looked uncomfortable.
"Alliser, Bowen, did you send word to Summerhall about the Lord Commander's assassination?" Cotter Pyke, Commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, straightened up, his usual laziness gone, and asked in a stern voice.
Bowen replied, "We haven't caught the assassin yet, so we decided not to release the news for the time being."
Cotter stood and repeated with more force, "I asked if you informed Summerhall about the Lord Commander being assassinated."
Alliser hesitated, then said with a serious face, "I believe the Night's Watch isn't under Summerhall's jurisdiction. We're independent of the Seven Kingdoms, so I didn't think it was necessary to notify them directly."
"Are you fools?" Denys Mallister, Commander of the Shadow Tower, stood up, visibly agitated. "Do you even know who made the Night's Watch what it is today? Do you know how many brothers in the Watch worship Prince Lynd? More than half of the nineteen castle commanders are devout followers of the Seven Gods' Salvation Sect—they see Prince Lynd as a savior! Over seventy percent of our food and supplies come from Summerhall! If you said what you just said out in the open, you'd be hanging from the gate by nightfall, you idiots!"
If anyone else had scolded Alliser and Bowen like that, they would have snapped back. But this was Denys Mallister—the oldest living member of the Night's Watch aside from Maester Aemon, a former First Ranger with legendary achievements. He had commanded the Shadow Tower for over thirty years. With a man of such standing berating them, they didn't even have the right to argue.
Just then, the door opened, and a steward walked in, supporting Maester Aemon, who should still have been resting in bed.
Everyone rose to their feet at once.
Denys Mallister stepped forward with concern. "Maester Aemon, you should be resting, especially in this cold..."
"I had to come," Aemon said in a low, raspy voice. "To save an innocent man. I'm willing to stake my life and honor on Jon Snow's innocence. He could never have murdered the Lord Commander."
"Maester Aemon, please don't worry," Cotter Pyke said quickly. "We haven't concluded that Jon is guilty. We're only detaining him temporarily, just in case." He glanced at Alliser and the others before continuing, "Actually, I don't think we need to keep Jon locked up at all. Let him walk free. If he runs, then we'll know he's the murderer—no need to investigate further."
The others nodded in agreement. "Exactly—if Jon runs, then he's guilty."
Only Alliser and Bowen still opposed releasing Jon, but at this point, they were powerless to stop it.
Afterward, Denys immediately sent word to Summerhall, requesting that they dispatch someone to investigate the Lord Commander's assassination. With everyone in Castle Black now a suspect, and no one in the other castles with the expertise to handle such a case, they needed Summerhall's help to resolve this serious crisis.