58.
His wolf falls silent. There’s something eerily imploring about the way the animal looks up at him through slitted yellow eyes. He doesn’t want Bran to keep climbing.
Bran starts climbing again. His wolf starts howling again. Bran shouts down sternly:
BRAN Quiet! Sit! Stay!
The wolf continues to howl, until Bran is far, far above him. Then he drops back down onto his stomach and whines.
Bran scrambles up the rough-cut stones of the ancient tower. He climbs with no fear and no hesitation. When he gets high enough he begins swinging from gargoyle to gargoyle. He knows where to find every handhold and foothold.
He is near the top when a woman’s voice from inside the tower startles him, nearly causing him to lose his grip.
WOMAN’S VOICE I don’t like it. You should be the Hand. MAN’S VOICE There’s an honor I can do without. Far too much work involved.
Clinging to a gargoyle, Bran looks down, past his dangling feet. The voices come from a row of glassless windows below.
WOMAN’S VOICE Don’t you see how dangerous this is? Robert loves the man like a brother. We’ll have to watch him... MAN’S VOICE (lazy; seductive) I’d rather watch you. Come back here.
Bran reaches for the next gargoyle over. It seems too far, he won’t make it...
But Bran has climbed this tower a hundred times. He swings over to the second gargoyle, straddles the stone monster’s back, tightens his legs and turns himself upside down.
Perched like a bat, Bran is able to look in through the window. From his vantage he cannot see the couple’s faces.
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