He had asked for the honor of protecting her in the battle to come it was his right, as Winterfell's captain of guards, and Robb had not refused it to him. 'It should not be long now, my lady,' Hallis Mollen said. Now and again, she heard the chink of spears, the faint metallic slither of chain mail, but even those sounds were muffled.
Beneath the trees, warhorses whickered softly and pawed at the moist, leafy ground, while men made nervous jests in hushed voices. Moonlight winked on the tumbling waters of the stream below as it wound its rocky way along the floor of the valley.
