The following Day
“Some people, particularly the men, are very ‘agitated.’ There are no leads on who killed the brothel’s mistress. The servants claimed to have heard no sounds of her struggling and to have seen nothing. In addition, her room showed no signs of damage and was in perfect condition. She was just discovered dead on the ground. Maybe natural causes are to blame, but not until the good maester examines her body himself—if you permit it,” Ser Jory Cassel said, as the Lord of Winterfell listened and appeared somewhat disturbed by the news.
Any death, even that of a brothel owner, was his responsibility to investigate and pass judgment on; however, if it was due to natural causes, as it might be, then there was no need to make a fuss over a whorehouse owner.
“Well, I think Maester Luwin can provide his own conclusion. It is quite sudden; winter is fading, and spring is upon us. The chill shouldn’t be taking any more people this time around, but nevertheless, we’ll look into it.”
“Aye, my lord.
But there is also another incident.
We did well to not let rumors spread more amongst the people of Wintertown, but I think it’s best you see it for yourself.
It’s a Bravosi merchant; he too was killed last night, we could’ve assumed, yet his death seems all too unnatural….
Jory mentions it, but this time it was said more seriously and with a disturbance that even shocked the hardened captain of the guard.
“What is it?” Ned looked curious and even more concerned.
“I think it’s better if you see it yourself, my lord. I don’t know how to explain it,” Jory added.
“Then let’s go,” the stark patriarch said as he rose from his chair immediately.
There would be no secrets from him, none.
“The guards were all killed the same way,” Jory said quietly.
“Necks broken. Heads twisted clean around.” Ned’s expression hardened, but he said nothing.
“There is more, my lord,” Jory continued.
“The man they were meant to protect.”
He led Ned through the tavern’s narrow passage and into another room, and the smell met him first, and then there was blood, fear, loosened bowels, and death.
The Braavosi merchant lay in the center of the chamber, or what remained of him did.
The man’s face had been frozen in horror.
His eyes were bloodshot and hollow, staring at nothing, while his mouth hung open in a silent scream.
Whatever had been done to him had not been quick.
His hands had been twisted nearly beyond recognition, the bones forced through torn flesh, blood dried black around the wounds.
His lower body had been bent backward in a grotesque fold, as though some monstrous strength had doubled him like parchment.
His hips and spine had been broken so violently that his buttocks now pressed against his own back.
Ned felt his stomach tighten.
He had seen men die.
He had seen battlefields after the fighting ended, bodies split by axes, faces ruined by maces, limbs hacked away by sword and spear.
He had seen what cruelty could do when men had enough time and anger.
But this was different.
A tavern full of people, guards posted outside the doors, and no one had heard the screams.
No one had seen the killer come or go.
Whoever or whatever had done this had moved through the place like a shadow and left behind ruin that no ordinary man should have been capable of making.
Ned looked away only long enough to steady himself.
“This was not a robbery,” he said.
“No, my lord.” Jory agreed, definitely not.
“And no common murderer did this.”
“That is what I feared.”
Ned’s gaze returned to the corpse.
Something was wrong here.
Deeply wrong.
The kind of wrong that settled into the bones before the mind could give it a name.
“Jory,” he said at last, his voice low and controlled.
“Fetch the hounds. If you can, find something that belongs to the killer. A scrap of cloth, a boot mark, a dropped blade, anything.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“And close the tavern. No one leaves until you have spoken to them.”
Jory nodded sharply.
“At once, my lord.”
He turned to go, but Ned spoke again.
“Jory.” Ned called again.
The captain paused.
“Be careful.”
The captain of the guard gave him a grim nod and left.
Ned remained in the room, staring down at the broken Braavosi.
Join the Darkside.