"I don't know," Robb replied. "I can't even begin to imagine. If they're sending a message here, I don't know what it is. But she can't go." He turned to Jon, his face pinched. "How am I supposed to allow her to go when nearly anyone else would have been a better choice?"

But if she didn't go, what of Jude? What of the Father? Would their deaths be the sharp lesson they'd all worried was looming for so long?