Robb resisted stubbornly. “Ser Rodrik’s red bitch whelped again last week,” he said. “It was a small litter, only two live pups. She’ll have milk enough.”
“She’ll rip them apart when they try to nurse.”
“Lord Stark,” Jon said. It was strange to hear him call Father that, so formal. Bran looked at him with desperate hope. “There are five pups,” he told Father. “Three male, two female.”
“What of it, Jon?”
“You have five trueborn children,” Jon said. “Three sons, two daughters. The direwolf is the sigil of your House. Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord.”
Bran saw his father’s face change, saw the other men exchange glances. He loved Jon with all his heart at that moment. Even at seven, Bran understood what his brother had done. The count had come right only because Jon had omitted himself. He had included the girls, included even Rickon, the baby, but not the bastard who bore the surname Snow, the name that custom decreed be given to all those in the north unlucky enough to be born with no name of their own.
Their father understood as well. “You want no pup for yourself, Jon?” he asked softly.
“The direwolf graces the banners of House Stark,” Jon pointed out. “I am no Stark, Father.”
Rip apart 扯破
Sigil 印章
羅柏固執地繼續抗拒。"羅德利克爵士的那頭紅母狗上星期才剛生產，"他說："那胎死了不少，只有兩隻小狗活了下來，奶水應該還夠它們喝。"
"它們只要想走近喝奶，立刻會被它撕成碎片。"
"史塔克大人，"瓊恩說。聽他如此正式地稱呼自己父親，實在很怪。布蘭抱著最後一絲希望看著他。"總共有五隻小狼，"他告訴父親，"三隻公的，兩隻母的。"
"瓊恩，這有什麼意義嗎？"
"您有五個孩子，"瓊恩回答，"三個兒子，兩個女兒。冰原狼又是你們的家徽，大人，您的孩子們註定要擁有這些小狼。"
布蘭看到父親的臉色轉變，其他人則交換眼神，就在那一刻，他全心全意地愛著瓊恩。雖然他只有七歲，布蘭仍很清楚自己的私生子哥哥這樣做所代表的意義：他是把自己排除在父親的子嗣之外，才會剛好湊成數的。他把兩個女孩算了進去，甚至連襁褓中的小瑞肯也有分，卻獨獨沒有算冠著雪諾這個私生子姓氏的自己。雪諾這個姓氏是專門給那些在北方出生，卻不幸沒有父親的人用的。
父親也明白這點。"瓊恩，你自己不想要小狼麼？"他輕聲問。
"冰原狼是史塔克家族的紋章，"瓊恩指出，"我並非史塔克家族的一員，父親。"
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