The Deserter

Eyes stern and emotionless

but for a shimmer of empathy

for brother Bran. Innocence

fading like the breadth of summer

behind apathy of an icy winter.

This isolation in my heart has

bred chaos to my compassion,

yet loyalty and morality keep me

sane, far from a darker passage,

a cold that grips my soul

and whispers 'bastard'.

Blood has stained my nightmares,

so soon will they this child of Stark;

mist will cover his eyelids before

clarity bares itself in it's true essence;

life seeping into a grizzly rebirth

of manhood and integrity.