The Blood Pact

After carefully examining the blood-red writing before him several times, Robb didn't rush to sign the contract.

He bent down and set Blood Wind in his arms on the ground. The blood-red writing before him vanished at once.

He tried picking up another Direwolf pup, but the writing still didn't appear.

Finally, when Robb picked Blood Wind up again, the writing appeared before his eyes just as he'd expected.

"Robb, let me help! That kid Jon's found another oddly colored pup."

Theon stepped forward, gathered the remaining three pups into his arms, and said,

"Some things are fated, yet still subject to change. Come on, let's go home."

Once he confirmed that only Blood Wind could activate his Cheat, Robb carefully cradled the Direwolf pup and said something that left Theon completely baffled.

What was with him today?

Glancing at the foster brother he'd known for nearly ten years, Theon suddenly found him a little strange.

When Robb and the others returned safely to Winterfell, his mother, Catelyn Tully, was already waiting outside the Winterfell Main Keep with Sansa, Arya, Rickon, Maester Luwin, Hodor, and the others.

After they exchanged greetings according to noble tradition, Robb's three younger siblings happily divided up the three Direwolf pups in Theon's arms.

When Catelyn heard that Robb had suddenly fainted, she'd wanted to pull him aside and question him in detail. But Robb, with his little secret, was too impatient to wait.

He apologized to his parents and hurried back to the Main Keep with Blood Wind in his arms.

The servants would let him know when dinner was ready.

Robb's room was on the far left of the second floor of the Main Keep. It was bright and spacious, with good light, but simply furnished in a thoroughly practical style.

In fact, none of the bedrooms in Winterfell were lavishly decorated.

A large candelabrum stood in each corner of the room. Once lit at night, they could fill the entire room with light.

A row of fist-sized wooden pipe openings was set into the wall above the door.

Winterfell had been built over a hot spring, so its steam was carried through these pipes between the castle walls, warming every room.

That made Winterfell more comfortable than other castles during the harsh northern winters. In effect, it was a gigantic central heating system.

In the middle of the room stood a large wooden bed, layered with thick furs.

Opposite the bed was a wooden desk. A wardrobe stood to its left, and a washstand to its right. Those were all the furnishings in the room.

Bang!

Robb shut the door, crossed the room in a few steps, and gently laid Blood Wind on the thick furs.

Whimper... Mm!

Whether because he was hungry or for some other reason, Blood Wind lay with his eyes open, sniffing around and letting out a faint, puppyish cry.

Sign the Blood Pact!

Back in his room, Robb couldn't wait to activate his Cheat.

[Beginning Blood Pact...]

The Chinese characters before Robb's eyes shifted, and Blood Wind's yellow eyes instantly turned blood-red. He bit down on the web of Robb's right hand.

Though Blood Wind was still a pup, Direwolves were born killers. His sharp teeth easily pierced Robb's skin, and blood began to flow.

The blood from Robb's right hand didn't drip onto the bed. Blood Wind absorbed it all.

Gradually, a hazy red glow enveloped both Blood Wind and Robb, bathing the entire room in the colors of a sunset.

[Blood Pact complete!]

About a minute later, the red glow slowly sank into Robb and Blood Wind.

The redness faded from Blood Wind's eyes. When his golden-yellow eyes caught sight of the blood still flowing from Robb's hand, he took the initiative to lick the wound with his warm, wet tongue.

After the pact was complete, Robb suddenly felt a connection with Blood Wind. He seemed to sense its apology, along with its hunger and thirst.

When he focused on Blood Wind, the blood-red writing appeared again.

[Name: Blood Wind, Pact Holder: Robb Stark]

[Constitution: 1, Speed: 2, Strength: 1]

[Pack: Warg Direwolf (6)]

[Blood Contract Points: 0]

The blood-red writing was easy for Robb to understand, given all the games he'd played on Blue Star.

He'd skip the first entry. The second listed Blood Wind's physical stats. For a newborn pup, those numbers made sense, and Robb eagerly anticipated how Blood Wind would grow.

The third entry surely referred to the six pups House Stark had found. He just hadn't expected them to have the prefix "Warg."

It made sense that all six pups had supernatural bloodlines.

After all, in the original story, Brandon had been able to warg into his Direwolf on his own, despite having no one to guide or train him.

And the last time Arya saw Nymeria, the pack of wild wolves she led—her kin, with Direwolf blood—hadn't been anywhere near her size.

Robb guessed that if Blood Wind had been an ordinary Direwolf, the two of them might not have been able to form a Blood Pact at all.

Blood Contract Points! They had to be what helped Blood Wind grow quickly.

This fourth entry was the most important part of his Cheat!

So how was he supposed to get them?

Robb stared at the blood-red writing, considering the different ways he might earn Blood Contract Points.

Whimper!

Seeing Robb lost in thought, Blood Wind squirmed restlessly on the bed and let out a low growl.

Hungry... thirsty... hungry!

After those thoughts had been coming through for a while, Robb finally snapped out of his reverie.

Leaving the little glutton who only wanted to eat on the bed, he went out.

About half an hour later, Robb returned to his room with a small wooden basin. As soon as he came in, he tried sending Blood Wind the thought that it was time to eat.

"Blood Wind, your nutritious dinner is here!"

But Blood Wind lay listlessly on the bed, motionless. He was probably too hungry to move.

Seeing him like that, Robb tilted his head, thought for a moment, then put the basin on the desk and rummaged through his wardrobe.

The basin held dog's milk.

On the way back that day, Ser Rodrik had told him that a red bitch at his home had recently given birth, but most of her puppies had died. They could milk her to feed the six Direwolves.

The Northmen generally wore thick woolen clothes. Robb had a hard time finding a linen undergarment. He used his sword to cut off a piece about the size of his palm.

He dipped one end of the cloth into the basin of dog's milk, soaking it through. Holding the basin in his right hand and the cloth in his left, Robb brought it to Blood Wind's mouth.

Blood Wind seemed to smell the milk. He licked the cloth, then suddenly opened his mouth and sucked on the end.

After repeating this until Blood Wind had finished all the milk in the basin, Robb, who'd stayed in that position the whole time, felt his back and legs ache.

Still, seeing Blood Wind full and fast asleep on the bed gave him a surprising sense of accomplishment, like a new father.

While Robb was busy feeding Blood Wind, the sky outside had gradually darkened.

Just then, a male servant knocked and came in to tell Robb that dinner was ready. He also lit the candelabra in the room.

Robb nodded, tidied his clothes, and went out.

He walked for more than ten minutes along the still-dim corridor, its candelabra lit, before leaving the Main Keep and reaching the banquet hall.

The Stark ancestors had clearly been very hospitable. They'd built a huge banquet hall, its outer walls made of gray stone and hung with Stark Direwolf banners.

When Robb pushed open the great oak-and-iron doors, he saw eight long tables inside. They were divided by a central aisle, four on either side. If every seat were filled, they could accommodate several hundred people.

Of course, those tables were for ordinary guests.

Members of House Stark and noble guests dined at the long table on the raised platform at the end of the hall.

The entire Stark family was already seated at the high table, and Jon and Theon were there as well.

When there were no distinguished guests, Catelyn could tolerate a certain "bastard," for Eddard's sake.

At dinner, Eddard and Catelyn tore at their black bread as they spoke quietly together. Theon, meanwhile, did most of the talking. He loudly recounted to Robb's four younger siblings how he'd found the Stag and the Direwolf corpses.

After answering Catelyn's questions about his health at the beginning of the meal, Robb ate in silence. He had too much to think through and sort out.

As he absentmindedly polished off most of the food on his plate, a line of blood-red writing suddenly appeared before him.

[Blood Contract Points +1]

What! He could earn Blood Contract Points by eating?

Robb was delighted to discover that eating earned him Blood Contract Points.

"Robb, what are you so happy about?"

Arya, sitting to Robb's right, had happened to notice his expression. The intensely curious girl immediately asked him.

"Arya, I've realized that eating makes you grow!"

Having earned Blood Contract Points, Robb no longer looked so troubled. He smiled at Arya, then turned to the maid standing nearby. "Please bring me another serving of the same size."

"Hmph! I'm not talking to you anymore. You eat so much—you're such a glutton!"

Arya had a healthy appetite but never seemed to grow much, which had always been a sore point for her.

Hearing Robb's remark, Arya thought he was teasing her. She immediately turned away and refused to pay him any more attention.

Thank you to the wonderful reader Shiye Zhi Ping for the first review, and to all the other wonderful readers for your recommendations and collections.

Please support this book. All the stats are important for a new book. Thank you!