When Brian got back to the Wall, Steve had sad news. "Maester Aemon died while you were gone."

Brian was instantly alert. "Did somebody kill him?"

Steve shook his head. "No, he just died of natural causes. He was over a hundred years old, you know. Oh yeah, and Stannis wants to talk to you. He seemed pretty pissed off."

Brian went to the room where Stannis was staying. Stannis and Davos were sitting at a table by a fire. Stannis was holding a letter. When he saw Brian, he stood up and shook the paper at him angrily. "Tell me, who is Lyanna Mormont?"

"Lady Maege's youngest daughter, sire," Brian said. "I think she's about ten years old. She was named after Peter Griffin's sister. What did she do that's got you so upset?"

"I wrote to the Mormont family asking them to help me fight the Boltons." Stannis read from the letter. "'Bear Island knows no king but the king in the north, whose name is GRIFFIN.' A girl of ten, you say, and she presumes to scold her lawful king."

"Why was she the one who answered your letter?" Brian asked. "Why not her mother, or one of her sisters?"

"My guess is, they all either got killed at the Red Wedding along with Chris Griffin or they're in hiding somewhere," said Stannis. "The northern lords have all turned their backs on me, except the Belchers. Is Gene Belcher the only man of honor in the north?" Gene Belcher was the teenage son of Lord Bob Belcher. He was the head of his family now since Bob had died at the Red Wedding.

"I guess they're all afraid to go against the Boltons," Brian said. "It's not for nothing that the symbol of House Bolton is a flayed man, you know. And Lord Roose has the Lannisters backing him."

"You could help me, you know," Stannis said. "You and your brothers. You could ride with me to fight Roose Bolton and his son Ramsay. You'd get the chance to avenge your fallen family members!"

Brian shook his head. "You know I can't do that. The Night's Watch takes no part."

Later that day, Brian called a meeting with a bunch of black brothers. He had some orders to impart. "Steve, I'm sending you to school," he said. "We're gonna need a new maester now that Aemon is dead. I want you to get on a ship and travel to the Citadel at Oldtown."

Steve was overjoyed. "Wow, thanks! I always wanted to be a maester! But what about Gilly?"

"You can take her with you," said Brian. "Maybe you can send her and her son to stay at your family's house."

"Okay," said Steve.

Next, Brian turned to Janos Slynt. "We need more eyes along the Wall. You know all those castles we're not using anymore? We need to start using them again. I'm giving you command of the one called Greyguard."

That took Slynt aback. "Greyguard… Greyguard was where you climbed the Wall with your wildling friends. It's nothin' but an old ruin! You're just tryin' to get rid of me! I'm not goin'."

"I'm not asking you," Brian said. "I'm telling you."

Slynt's face had turned the color of a prune. "I'm tellin' YOU, I'm not gonna do it!"

"You're refusing to obey my order?"

"You can stick your order up your ass!"

"Okay," said Brian. He addressed the others in the room. "Take him outside so I can cut off his head."

Two guys grabbed Slynt and started dragging him out. "You can't do this to me!" he protested. "I have friends, important friends!"

They brought him to the courtyard and set him on a chopping block. Brian raised his sword above Slynt's head.

For a moment he hesitated. But a voice inside his head said, "You've got to do this, Brian. You're not a puppy anymore. You're a fully grown direwolf. Kill the puppy inside you. Kill the puppy…"

Janos Slynt was crying now. "I'll go to Greyguard!" he sobbed. "I'll do whatever you want! Just please don't kill me!"

"It's too late for that now," said Brian. "You already refused me three times." He lowered the sword.

"Can I have his boots?" Snot asked a moment later, as Janos Slynt's head rolled across the ground. "They're almost new, those boots. Lined with fur."