And now it was winter, and staying alive mattered more than anything else.
Gendry studied the child hostages. Their hair and skin differed in color; there was brown hair, black hair, pale red hair, and red hair, but every one of them was thin.
From what Gendry knew, the peoples of the Known World were quite diverse.
Valyrians, Andals, First Men, Rhoynar, and so on.
Daenerys had the looks of a Valyrian Dragonlord, while Sansa Stark and Tyene Sand actually looked more like Andals. Jon, with his brown hair and gray eyes, had the typical Stark appearance of the First Men, while Doran and the Red Viper were typical Sand Dornishmen.
There is too little nourishment beyond the Wall, and life is unstable, Gendry thought. The boys were as thin as blades, all skin and bones.
Tall or short, many had spindly legs and arms like stalks.
As far as Gendry could see, the wildling boys' simple clothing and equipment came in every variety.
Their clothing, too, depended almost entirely on raiding, primitive handicrafts, and farming.
Some boys wore fine, soft furs, some wore boiled leather and other incomplete pieces of armor, and more wore wool and sealskin. A few were in rags, while others were naked.
Their weapons were primitive sharpened spears, stone hammers, daggers made of bone, stone, or dragonglass, spiked clubs, nets, and even a few rust-covered swords.
Few children had mounts. Only one wildling in a hundred was a horseman; they had always lacked horses, and perhaps the closest thing they had to cavalry was the giant army.
Only a dozen or so children from the most prominent families had horses, while a few others rode mules or goats.
The child hostages entered the dim tunnel through the Wall, beginning a different kind of life from