Attempted assassination of Bran

The attempt on Bran Stark's life came four days after his fall from the broken tower, when he lay in a coma-like state in the sickroom of Winterfell. The assassin, a small, dirty man in filthy brown clothing who stank of horses, was no man of Winterfell; he had been hiding in the stables, his presence unnoticed because the stalls were half-empty after Lord Eddard Stark had taken men south and sent others north to the Night's Watch. A leather bag containing ninety silver stags was found buried beneath the straw where he had been sleeping, indicating he had been well paid for the deed.

The Diversion and the Attack

The killer set fire to the library tower across the bailey, expecting that Catelyn, who had scarcely left Bran's side since his fall, would rush to help extinguish it, taking any guards with her. The ruse nearly succeeded: Catelyn did go to the window, watched the flames shoot from the library windows, and closed the shutters. But when she turned away from the window, the man was already in the room with her. "You weren't s'posed to be here," he muttered sourly. "No one was s'posed to be here." He had a dagger in his hand. Catelyn, seeing the knife and then Bran, screamed "No" and lunged for the window to call for help, but the man moved faster, clamping one hand over her mouth and bringing the dagger up to her windpipe. She grabbed the blade with both hands, pulling it away from her throat, her fingers slippery with blood. She bit down hard into his palm, tearing at his flesh, and when he let go she screamed. He grabbed her hair and pulled her away, and she stumbled and fell. He stood over her, breathing hard, the dagger slick with blood, repeating, "You weren't s'posed to be here."

The Direwolf's Intervention

As the killer stood over Catelyn, a shadow slipped through the open door behind him. There was a low rumble, less than a snarl, the merest whisper of a threat. He started to turn just as the wolf made its leap. They went down together, half sprawled over Catelyn where she'd fallen. The wolf had him under the jaw. The man's shriek lasted less than a second before the beast wrenched back its head, taking out half his throat. His blood sprayed across Catelyn's face like warm rain. The wolf was Bran's direwolf, the one Bran had not yet named. It padded closer, sniffed at Catelyn's fingers, then licked at the blood with a wet rough tongue. When it had cleaned all the blood off her hand, it turned away silently and jumped up on Bran's bed and lay down beside him.

Aftermath and Investigation

Robb Stark, Maester Luwin, and Ser Rodrik Cassel burst in with half the guards in Winterfell to find Catelyn laughing hysterically. The killer's body was identified as no one known to Winterfell, though some said they had seen him about the castle in the past few weeks. He was likely one of the king's men or one of the Lannisters', left behind when the others departed. The dagger he used was a Valyrian steel blade with a dragonbone hilt, a weapon far too fine for such a man. Ser Rodrik noted that someone must have given it to him. Catelyn, recovering from her wounds, deduced that the killer had been sent to silence Bran, fearing what he might say or do if he woke. She concluded that Bran had not fallen from the tower but had been thrown, and that the Lannisters were responsible. The dagger was later identified by Petyr Baelish as having belonged to him, won from him in a wager by Tyrion Lannister at the tourney on Prince Joffrey's name day, a claim that would become the central piece of evidence in the accusation against the Imp.