They had taken Moat Cailin by siege, by s t o r m —perhaps the Gods stared in favour of the Young Wolf, perhaps their fingers stirred with might and outrage, for his father’s death and the death of his brothers. But they were not without injury. The arrow came before Robb could duck, dodge, run for cover, nestling beneath wrought steel and kissing against his pallor of flesh, ripping through muscle and tissue and grinning jaws of flint and feather through the blade of his shoulder.
Pain was rife, striking across ashen features (paling further by the second) and the blood seeping from torn flesh seemed to laugh at him—after all, venturing to the Westerlands, and journeying up to the Crag was plagued by Lannisters. His fingers were sticky with mucilage when head craned to survey the damage.
At the time, there were slight yelps, the tremor of wounded wolves through the atmosphere, though grip lay firmly with his sword. They were reduced to hisses, to slight groans, and soon, the fighting began to reduce to nothing more than smoke and ash.
“Secure the castle, find as many captives as you can. Do not harm them more than you need to—and find me a maester.” He’d speak through gritted teeth, a gloved-palm pressed furtively against his weeping arm. “Find me anyone—bring them to my chambers.”