will heard the breath go out of , dance with me then, he lifted his sowrd high over his head , deiant his hands trmbled from the weight of it , pr perhaps from the cpld yet in that moment, will thought,hewas boy no longer, but a man of the nights watch the other halted will saw its eyes blue deeper and bluer than any human eyesm a blue that burned like ice, they fixed on the longsword trembling on high , watched the moonlight running cold along the metal for a hearbeet he dared to hope, they emerged silently from the shadows, twins to the firest , three of them our five may have felt the cold that came with them , but he nerver saw them , nerver heard them will had to call out it was his duyu and his death if he did he shivered and hugged the tree and kept the selence the pale sword came shivering through the air when the bades met, there was no ring of metal on metal , onlu a high ,thin sound at the dge of hearing like an animal screaming in pain, checked a second blow and a third then fell back atrp another flurry of blows an he fell back again behind him to right to lfet all around him , the wtchers stood patient,faceless,silent,the shitfting pattern of their delicate armor making them all but invisible in the wood , yet they made nbo move to interfeere again and again the swords met,until will wanted to cover his ears against the sreange anguished keening of their clash was panting from the effort now his breath sreaming in the moonlight his blade was thite with frost , the others danced with pale blue light then royce;s parry came a beat too late the pale sword bit through the ringmail beneath his arm , the young lord cried out in pain , blood weeled betwwen the rings it seramed in the cold and the droplets welled between the rings it searmed in the cold and the droplets seemed red as fire where they touched the snow fingers brushed his dide, his moleskin glove came away soaked with red the other said something in a loanguage that will didi not now his voice was like the cracking of ice on a winter lake , and the words wre mocking. ser royce found his fury for Robert he shouted , and he came up snarling , lifeing the frost covered longsword with both hands and swinging it around in a flat sidearm slash with all his weight behind it , the other;s parry was almost lazy when the blades touched the strrl shattered ascream echoed throught the forest noght and the longsword shivered into a hundred brittle pieces the shards scattering like a rain of needles royce went to his knees shrieking and covered his eyes blood welled between his fingers, the watchers moved forward togerther , as if some signal had been given swords rose and fell , all in adeathly silence , it was cold butch the pale bades liced throught ringmail as if it wew silk, will closed his eyes far beneath him , he heard their voices and laugheter sharp as icicles when he found the courage to look again , aling time had passed a and the ridge below was empry he stated in the tree scarce daring to breathe, while the moon crept slowly acress the black sky finally , his muscles cramping and his fingers numb with cold , he cluimbed down, royce;s body ly facedown in the snow, one arm outflung tge tgucj sable cloak had been slashed in a dozen places, lying dead like that , ou saw how young he was ,aboy he found what was left of the word a few frrt wawatmthe end soling and wtwisted like a tree streuck by lightnning will knelt , looked around warily and snatched it up, the breoken sword would be his proff gared would konow what to make of it , and it not him the surely that old bear mormont or maester Aemon, would gared still be waiting with the horses,? he had to hurry will reose , his fine clothes wre a tatter, his face a ruin, a shard from his word transfixed the blind white pupil of his left ete, the right eye was ipen , the pipil burned blue it saw the broken sword ferll from nerveless fingers, will closed his eyes to pratt, long , elegant hands brreushed his cheek, then tighteenceed around his throar , they were gloved in the finest mleskin and sticky with blood , yst the touch was icty clod.
