[Kath]

Eonwe fidgeted nervously. Today should be the happiest day of his life, he was getting married! He had met sally, they had fallen in love, and now they were finally going to be pledged to another. It was just that Eonwe had already pledged his life ... to the Wall.

Even though he loved sally with all his heart, he couldn't shake that lingering shame. He had deserted his post, and condemned himself and his soon-to-be wife to an existence spent in the wilderness, avoiding men in black. Only today, for this special occasion, had they ventured into a larger village to find a septon and make their vows. On top of his fears about being caught, sally's strange behaviour recently also had him worried. She had never really recovered from the death of her best friend, Kitanna, and it seemed the stress of the wedding had been getting to her. The night before she had woken screaming, clawing at Eonwe's face before she finally realised who he was. He could only hope she would improve with time.

And if anything would heal her, it was love. Eönwë pushed these thoughts aside and took sally's arm. She smiled at him. Together they made their way into the sept to say their marriage vows.

The septon was a thin man with a hooked nose and long strands of hair clinging to his balding hair. He didn't ask too many questions – and why should he? Eönwë had discarded his black Night's Watch garb along with his mission to bring new men and boys to man the Wall. The septon gestured Eönwë and sally to stand between the altars of the Father and the Mother.

“Now, children, repeat after me,” he said, “Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger...”

“I am hers and she is mine from this day until the end of my days,” Eönwë repeated and glanced nervously at sally.

"I am his and he is mine from this day until the end of my days." sally replied.

Smiling, the septon took sally's hand and placed it on Eonwe's.

"Under the sight of the seven, I now ask if there are any who know of reasons why these two should not be wed."

Eonwe held his breath in the long pause that followed, but no angry voices burst in to reveal his secret.

"Then I ask the gods to watch over you for all your days." The septon continued. "And may they be filled with joy. I now pronounce you ..."

His steady voice suddenly became a high pitched, agonised scream. Jumping in suprise, Eonwe let go of sally's hand, and stared at the septon in horror. His hand was twitching on the floor, thick blood spurting from the stump left behind, and dripping from a large blade. As the septon sank to the ground, cradling his wounded arm, a man dressed all in black stepped forward and picked up the severed hand.

"With this hand, you would wed a traitor." He spat at the septon.

To his shock, Eönwë recognised the man as one of his brothers from the Wall. He gave an involuntary gasp.

“Deserter!” the man yelled.

“I never meant to...” Eönwë tried to say.

“This man took the black! Swore by the old gods and the new to protect you from what lies beyond the Wall! To take no wife, to father no children! Yet here he stands. What became of your duty, Eönwë?” the man snarled.

Sally tried to put herself between Eönwë and the man, but it was no use.

“Move aside, woman!” he cried, and to Eönwë he said in a cold voice, “Kneel.”

Eönwë had no choice but to obey although he knew what would happen.

“Goodbye, my love,” he said to sally, his eyes full of tears, and a moment later his head rolled across the sept.

All men must die.