“Let him grow taller,she asked the gods.Let him know sixteen, and twenty, and fifty. Let him grow as tall as his father, and hold his own son in his arms. Please, please, please.”

“Let his sword break and his shield shatter, Sansa thought coldly as she shoved out through the doors, let his courage fail him and every man desert him.”

“She just laughed in his face and told him she'd sooner crawl in a bed with his father's leeches before she'd crawl in one with him. She stopped laughing when he put his knife in her.”

“Never ask me about Jon; he is my blood and that is all you need to know! Ned was different. He brought his bastard home, and called him son.”

“We'll need to make a litter to carry him," said Osha."No use," said Luwin. "I'm dying, woman.""You can't," said Rickon angrily. "No you can't." Beside him, Shaggydog bared his teeth and growled.The maester smiled. "Hush now, child, I'm much older than you. I can . . . die as I please.”

“As she watched him, this tall young man with the new beard and the direwolf prowling at his heels, all she could see was the babe they had laid at her breast at Riverrun, so long ago.”

“Less reliable tales also reached his ears, of a dwarf witch who haunted a hill in the riverlands, and a dwarf whore in King's Landing renowned for coupling with dogs. His own sweet sister had told him of the last, even offering to find him a bitch in heat if he cared to try it out. When he asked politely if she were referring to herself, Cersei had thrown a cup of wine in his face.”