It was the Hour of the Wolf, and I await patiently for your mother, the Lady of the Hornwood, Donella Manderly. She has asked if I could foster you in secret so that I could keep you safe. Though I don’t know how well I could keep it a secret, as I was already fostering your bastard brother Larence Snow.

With both your father Lord Halys Hornwood, and brother Daryn Hornwood dead, I could understand why your mother would become paranoid. Her lands are being contested by Houses Flint, Karstark, and Tallhart. Then there are the Boltons who have adjoined lands to those of your mother’s, and apparently Ramsay has gathered an abundance of men at the Dreadfort. Which to me means he is preparing for a fight.

My home, Deepwood Motte, is an old but not particularly strong castle. It is located in the wolfswood at a wide, rounded hill with a flattened top. The castle's cavernous longhall sits atop the hill and has at one end a watchtower rising fifty feet higher, the tallest object this side of the northern mountains. I know I will be able to keep you safe. Like I have kept your half brother safe. I just hope your mother is able to make it here safely in the cover of night.