Jon's fingertips gripped the edge of the letter, where only half the direwolf seal remained. The direwolf's head had been neatly severed in two.
When he spoke, his voice was steady, betraying nothing unusual. "The words of House Stark have always been 'Winter Is Coming.' A year ago, His Majesty Viserys spread word throughout Westeros that the Others were coming. But no one truly believed him then. They thought it was merely a means of securing the Iron Throne."
"Now His Majesty Viserys is firmly established on the throne in King's Landing, yet he still insists that the dead will soon awaken and become enemies of the living. As the new Warden of the North and Duke Stark, Robb has every right and reason to send troops north to support the Night's Watch."
Roose Bolton's pale blue eyes betrayed no emotion. A faint smile merely tugged at his pallid lips, but there was not a trace of warmth in it. Instead, it carried a meaning that remained impossible to decipher.
"Every right and reason? I think well of Robb myself, but he is still too young. His head is full of righteous causes. He sees only the Others beyond the Wall, not the southern blades already pressed against his neck," Roose Bolton said.
"His Majesty Viserys had just agreed that the North would not need to send troops for the next few years, only to turn around and have Robb issue a levy to every lord in the North, telling us to fight the Others for our own sake. But who doesn't know that the Dragonlord's own army is now the strongest in Westeros?"
"I am not making excuses for myself, nor am I trying to sow discord. For the past few centuries, House Bolton has always bowed to House