A Plan Takes Shape

Garon rose to his feet and watched Ned leave.

"Bran fell from the tower. What about Theon?"

He pondered for a while and was about to question the messenger when Ned returned.

Ned rode up to Garon, his brows tightly furrowed. "Garon, I need to go back to Winterfell first. You're in charge of the camp for now."

"Tell Robb to take good care of the king and the prince!"

Garon nodded. "Yes. I'll send someone to find Robb right away!"

After a brief pause, he added with concern, "Lord Ned, you don't need to worry too much. Bran is under the Old Gods' protection. He'll be all right!"

At Garon's reassurance, Ned managed a faint smile, then turned his horse and rode toward Winterfell.

Only after Ned's figure disappeared from the camp did Garon turn to the messenger, his brow furrowing.

"What exactly happened to Bran?"

"How did he fall from the tower?"

The messenger hadn't seen Bran fall himself, either. He shook his head. "Lord Garon, I don't know."

Garon furrowed his brows and asked, "Then who first found Bran after he fell?"

"Hodor!"

The messenger recalled, "I heard someone say Hodor heard a wolf howl and went to investigate. That's when he found young Bran lying in a pool of blood."

"Hodor..."

Garon pictured a simple-looking figure nearly seven feet tall, carrying a basket on his back. In the original story, after Bran's spine was broken, Hodor became his means of getting around. Later, he even carried Bran on the journey to find the Three-Eyed Crow.

"Anything else?"

"Did anyone find traces of anyone else at the scene?"

Garon's eyes flickered slightly as he pressed on, pretending not to care.

Unfortunately, the messenger hadn't been to the scene and didn't know anything.

He shook his head. "Lord Garon, I was serving Maester Luwin in the Maester's Tower at the time. I only found out young Bran had fallen when someone came to tell us."

"Then Maester Luwin sent me to inform Lord Ned."

Seeing that he wouldn't learn anything more by asking, Garon waved the messenger away to rest.

He slowly sat down, picked up a cup of wine from the table, took a sip, and silently considered the situation.

"Did Theon take part in Bran's fall?"

"If he did, what's he doing now?"

"Is he alive, or has he been killed?"

The wine's rich flavor spread through his mouth. Garon narrowed his eyes as he carefully considered his next move.

"If Theon died too, Winterfell will be turned upside down!"

If Ned's own son had fallen from a tower and his ward had been killed as well, even someone as uninterested in scheming as Ned would suspect something was badly wrong.

And to give the Iron Islands an explanation, Ned and Robert would have to turn Winterfell upside down in their search.

By then, even if Jaime and Cersei weren't killed, they'd surely have a rough time of it.

And more than that!

Ned might become thoroughly suspicious of King's Landing and the Lannisters.

When he rode south, he might even bring more men to King's Landing than he had in the original story.

If the lion wanted to devour the wolf, he'd have to pay a much higher price!

"But if Theon is still alive, there are only two possibilities!"

"Either he never went to the Broken Tower, or he didn't run into Cersei and Jaime."

"Or he and Jaime reached some kind of agreement..."

The first possibility wouldn't affect Garon much. It would simply mean things were back on their original course.

But if it was the second possibility...

Garon's lips curled with amusement. "Then things just got a lot more interesting!"

He set down his cup and thought carefully. "Perhaps when I return to Winterfell, I can ask Ned to let me investigate Bran's fall."

"If Theon was involved, sooner or later he'll slip up."

Garon raised his head with a smile and looked toward Winterfell, as if he could already see himself forcing Theon out of the castle.

"Soon. Very soon!"

"The Iron Islands won't be able to hold back much longer, and that's exactly my opportunity."

"Balon is old, Asha has glaring weaknesses, and Theon is useless. Only Euron is a true threat to my life!"

"Especially since he has Dragonbinder!"

Garon carefully recalled the story. Dragonbinder had obvious drawbacks, but its ability to control dragons was enough to make people overlook them.

The horn was one of the means he planned to use to stand against the Dragon Queen.

"It's a shame I arrived in this world too late. Jorah Mormont has already fled."

"If I could contact the Dragon Queen through him, I might not have to go to so much trouble."

Garon sighed, then looked ahead with renewed hope.

"But it's not too late. As long as I take control of the Iron Islands, I can bring Deepwood Motte fully into play!"

"For now, I just need to wait a little longer..."

Just then, Jon returned to camp. He had been helping the knights of House Baratheon haul the Giant Bear.

The moment he arrived, he hurried straight to Garon.

It seemed he'd already heard about Bran's fall.

"Garon!"

Sure enough, Jon rushed over, calling out from a distance. "Something happened to Bran?"

Garon collected himself and immediately rose to meet him. "Yes. A messenger just reported that Bran fell from a tower. No one knows if he'll survive."

"Lord Ned has already gone back..."

But before Garon could finish, Jon turned around and hurried off, his face full of distress.

Garon quickly stopped him. "Hey, where are you going?"

Jon shook off Garon's hand, anxious. "Move! I'm going back to see Bran!"

But Garon didn't move aside. He shook his head instead. "Calm down, Jon. You won't be able to see Bran even if you go back now!"

"Maester Luwin is treating him, and Lady Catelyn won't leave his side. You won't even get through the bedroom door!"

Jon froze in place.

He knew Garon was right. Lady Catelyn had never liked him.

If he went to see Bran, he would only make Catelyn hate him even more while she was already worried about her son.

But Jon and Bran were as close as true brothers. How could he stand by and do nothing?

"Garon, are you telling me to just sit here and wait?"

"I... when I think of Bran... I just..."

Jon's voice choked with emotion. He was terrified that when he returned to Winterfell, he would hear that Bran had died.

Knowing how deeply Jon cared about those close to him, Garon stepped forward to comfort him. "Don't worry. Bran is under the Old Gods' protection. He'll be fine!"

But Jon still looked stricken.

Seeing him like that, Garon had no choice but to think of another way to distract him.

"Jon, Robb is still hunting in the Wolfswood. He doesn't know what happened to Bran yet."

"I haven't recovered my strength, so I can't go into the Wolfswood to look for him."

"Take a few men and go find Robb. Tell him what happened as soon as you can, and have him come back at once."

Jon hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

He turned and left in silence, ready to call over a few Winterfell soldiers and head into the Wolfswood to find Robb.

Watching Jon ride away, Garon couldn't help thinking:

"If Jon is this worried, Robb will be just as anxious when he gets back."

"I'll have to come up with something to keep Robb here."

The king hadn't left yet. If the Starks departed one after another, people would think they were showing the king disrespect.

Ned had a good relationship with the king, so that was one thing.

But if Robb left too, the Starks would have a hard time explaining themselves.

Garon and the Starks were in this together now, so he had to persuade Robb to stay no matter what.