CHAPTER 38

Imu almost bit Robb, and if I had told him to stop even a second later or hadn't listened to me, Robb would probably have died. It reached out from my shirt's neck and paused about 3 to 4 cm (1 inch ) away from Robb's arm. I hastily grabbed it and tucked it back into my shirt, but it was too late; Robb had already seen it. His eyes widened with horror, and he shouted with all his might.

"ICICLE SNAKE!!!" Everyone's attention was suddenly on us. Even the people away from our group started to gather or look this way.

"Calm down, Robb; Imu won't hurt anyone unless he is provoked."

"Who the hell is Imu ?"

"It is the name of my icicle snake."

"Do you have a death wish? Why are you rearing such a dangerous animal and keeping this poisonous thing in your shirt? You definitely have a death wish. "

"Don't worry. He is perfectly tame; as long as I treat him well, he will be loyal to me."

"You should not keep temperamental and aggressive animals such as poisonous snakes as pets; they are unpredictable animals." When Robb said this, the kennel master came right next to us and said:

"Yong lord is right; you should not raise poisonous animals; even if you are going to raise them, you have to use safe containers so they can't get out."

Ahh! Imu, you caused such a big scene. I know he didn't mean this to happen; he was just trying to protect me. He must have thought Robb was attacking me.

"Please, let me prove it; Imu is not that kind of animal." Having said that, I reached my hand towards the collar of my shirt and told Imu to get out of my shirt. He slowly crawled out of it and coiled around my hand to my arm. Everyone's eyes started to bulge, and some of them gasped at the sight of him. You need to understand a good bite from him means almost certain death in the north.

"Imu, now get on top of my head and wait there." after that, he started to crawl from my hand to my shoulder, then coiled around my head, and lastly, managed to get on top of my head. Horror was on everyone's faces except Bran and Arya, the only thing on those two's faces was genuine wonder and awe.

After getting used to the animal but still keeping his distance, Robb asked. "How are you doing that?"

"I m not doing anything; I just trained him to answer some commands and taught him some tricks." Of course, it is a lie, but I don't want others to know what I am.

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Just then, Rodrik broke through the crowd and came over to us. "what is happening here?" after people told him what was happening, he realized there was an icicle snake on top of my head, then he jumped back with fright while shouting. "For the sake of old gods, are you trying to give people heart attacks." From a distance, he started observing the snake, then said, "Boy, do you ever dream of being an animal like a raven or a snake in your sleep." Hoo, our Rodrik has a sharp mind, contrary to his look.

"No, sir, I never had a dream like that."

"Well, have you ever had an animal do what you say right away?"

"Of course not; they are unruly and aggressive before I train them. After the training, they start to listen to me. Even then, it is for simple tricks and orders." I could see in Rodrik's eyes that he didn't quite believe me, but he didn't push the issue any further.

But that moment kennel master asked, "how is it possible to tame a snake? How did you do that?"

"It was tough; it took me three years to raise and train him from an egg to an adult snake. Of course, I cannot tell you how I did this; this knowledge might come in handy in the future."

When I said this, the kennel master's face fell, but he couldn't say anything because Rodrik was next to us, so he remained silent.

Meanwhile, Arya and Bran slowly slid towards me, and I caught her hand as she tried to climb up the fence and reach for my head. "Arya, never try to touch a snake, Imu may be a tamed snake and will not show aggression towards me and only me, but he will definitely bite other people if they try to touch him. Do you understand me; never try to touch a snake!" Robb pulled Arya aside by her arm and started scolding her about what she tried to do.

POV NED STARK

I was busy doing my daily inspection, and as I was walking through the courtyard, I heard a commotion by the kennels. I was starting to walk there when I saw Rodrik approaching me.

"My lord, if you have time, I have something to discuss with you privately."

"Can't we talk while I do my inspection? Is it that important?"

"I think it is, my lord."

"Okay, then let's go to my solar."

After we entered my solar, Rodrik closed the door and explained what had happened. As I listened, my eyes kept widening with surprise.

"How a snake could be tamed so much."

"it can not, That's why I can't believe what he is saying, my lord. I think the boy is a warg."

"Please don't talk like Old Nan, Rodrik."

"My lord, I saw them."

"What did you see? "

"Wargs, my lord, before I became Commander of Winterfell when I was a young knight, I always wanted to see the wall, and one time I even ranged with the night's watch, and wildlings ambushed us. We successfully thwarted the ambush, but I cornered one of the wildlings while he was trying to escape; the man's eyes turned completely white, and a wolf jumped on me through the bushes. After a bit of a struggle, I managed to thrust my knife into the wolf's stomach, but at the same time, this wildling grabbed his stomach and started screaming. I was just about to finish the job when his eyes turned white again, and this time a hawk started attacking me, and that hawk inflicted this wound on my cheek."

"Why did you never tell me about this story before?"

"Because, in all honesty, I m afraid, my lord."

"What do you mean, what are you afraid of?"

"I m afraid of what is real and what is a story, my lord. I don't want to ask myself if wargs are real; what else is real too."