Chapter 28 Chapter 28 James

"I thought you'd cut that nasty beard, you know? You look just like Robert." My sister had changed out of her mourning dress for a pale green dress with silver Myrish lace sleeves and a The gold necklace features an emerald the size of a dove's egg. "Robert's beard is black, and mine is blond." "Gold? White?" Cersei pulled a hair from his chin and held it up to her face.Actually, it's gray. "Brother, you're fading, you're a ghost of the old you, a pale cripple that goes with this white helmet and white armor." She brushed off the beard, "I like you in crimson and gold." you."

I like you who bathe in the sun and let the dew moisten your skin.He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to take her back to the bedroom and throw her on the bed... She slept with Lancel, Osmond Kettleblack, even Moonboy... "I want to talk to you. Take it back, my razor At your disposal." Cersei pursed her lips as she drank the mulled wine, which smelled of cardamom in her mouth. "Are you here to bargain? Need I remind you, you swear to obey orders." "I swore to protect the king. I should stay with him." "You should obey him." "Tomen just stamped every piece of paper you handed. That's what you mean, and it's stupid. Don't trust Davon, why appoint him Warden of the West?"

She sat down on a seat by the window, and outside the window was the charred ruins of the Prime Minister's Tower. "Why do you prevaricate, ser? Has your courage gone with your right hand?" "I swore to Lady Stark that I would never again take up arms against the Starks or the Tullys." "That's just a drunken oath with a sword held to your throat." "How can I protect Tommen if I'm not with him?" "Fighting his enemies is the best way to protect him. Didn't Father always say, 'The best shield is a sword that is swung'?—oh, yes, a sword is swung by the hand. Anyway , I believe that the crippled lion remains, I want Riverrun, and I want Brynden Tully - dead or alive. Besides, Harrenhal, as a central artery, needs to be rectified, and Willis Manderly is not dead His words must be kept there, he was one of the keys to appeasing the northerners, and none of the crows we sent to the defenders received a response."

"They are Gregor's men," Jaime reminded his sister. "The Mountain's men are cruel and stupid. They probably ate all your crows." "That's why I sent you, my brave brother, and they'll probably have you for supper too, but I'm sure you'll give them indigestion," Cersei straightened her skirt. "Sir Osmond will act temporarily as Captain of the Kingsguard during your expedition." …She slept with Lancel, Osmund Kettleblack, and even Moonboy… "It's not up to you. If you really want me to go, I will appoint Ser Loras as my agent."

"Are you kidding me? You know what I think of Ser Loras." "If you hadn't sent Balon Swann to Dorne—" "I need him to go. Dorne can't be trusted. Have you forgotten that the Red Viper was Tyrion's proxy knight? I don't want to leave my daughter in Sunspear like this. And, I repeat, it won't be allowed Loras Tyrell rules the Kingsguard." "Ser Loras has more men than Ser Osmond." "Oh, it seems that your concept of men has changed, brother." James felt his anger gradually rising, "It's true that Loras won't be staring at your chest as lewdly as Sir Osmond, but I don't think—"

"What are you talking about!?" Cersei slapped him. James didn't dodge, "It seems that I need to grow a little more beard, so that I can bear the comfort of Her Majesty the Queen Mother." He really wanted to tear off her dress and kiss her wildly... If in the past, there were two hands Perhaps he had already done so. The Queen Mother's eyes were like dark green ice, "You'd better get on your way, ser." ... Lancel, Osmund Kettleblack, Moonboy... "Have you lost your hands or your ears?! The door is at the back, ser." "As you wish." Jaime turned and left Cersei.

Gods, they must be snickering.He knew that Cersei didn't like to be contradicted, and gentle words might sway her, but as soon as he saw her recently, he was so angry that he couldn't say anything good. In fact, a part of him wished he could leave King's Landing.Jaime has had enough of the idiots and sycophants around Cersei.According to Adam Marbrand, the poor of Flea Hole refer to the present day of the King's Council as a "meeting of little men."He was especially worried about Coburn... Although this person saved James' life, he was once a member of the Blood Troupe after all. "Qyburn has a lot of secrets, anyone can smell it." He warned Cersei, but her sister just smiled, "My brother is overwhelmed, we have many secrets from each other."

...she slept with Lancel, Osmund Kettleblack, and even Moonboy... Forty knights and their attendants were waiting outside the stables of the Red Castle, half of them were knights of the western region directly under the Lannister family, and the other half were newly surrendered and distrusted generals.In order to appease the army, Jaime put Ser Dermot of the Rainforest in charge of Tommen's royal banner, and Red Roland Connington in charge of the pure white banner of the Kingsguard Captain, and took a Peggy, a Piper and a Piketon served as his squire. "Keep your friends behind and your enemies before you, and you will be safe." Is this the advice of Sumner Crakeher, or the teaching of my father?

His mount was a bloody mare, and his war horse was a tall gray stallion.Jaime hadn't named a horse for years, and it hurt to think of so many mounts he'd seen come and go.But when the Piper boy named the horses Honor and Shining, he laughed and let it go.Glory wore the crimson saddles of the Lannisters, and Honor the pure white of the Kingsguard.Josmine Peckton took the reins and mounted Ser Jaime—a squire as thin as a spear, with long hands and feet, greasy mouse-gray hair, and peach-like down on his soft cheeks.He wore the crimson cloak of the Lannisters, but on his cloak was the sigil of his house's ten purple mullets on a yellow ground. "My lord," the boy asked, "will you put on the novice?"

"Wear it, Jaime," urged Ser Kenros of Ketches, "and wave to the people, and they will tell your story to their children and grandchildren." "Forget it," James said, unwilling to lie to the crowd—even if it was a golden lie.Let them see the severed, let them see the crippled. "I give you permission to perform, Sir Kenros, just for me, with both hands and feet." With that, he grabbed the rein with his left hand and urged the horse forward. "Pyne," James ordered when they were all assembled, "you ride beside me." Ser Ilyn Payne stepped forward as ordered.He looked like a beggar, in old rusty mail over a faded boiled leather waistcoat, no coats of arms for men or horses, and a shield so badly painted that you couldn't even make out the color, paired with a haggard With his expression and sunken eye sockets, Ser Ilyn looked dead... In a sense, of course, he had been dead for many years.

I will cheer him up.Who told James to be the captain of this brilliant iron guard?He had to accept the king's transfer, but Ser Ilyn was one of his conditions, and Adam Marbrand the other. "I want them both," he told his sister, and Cersei immediately approved.She would have liked to drive them away.Ser Adam was James' childhood friend, and the Silent Executioner belonged to his father - if he belonged to anyone at all.Pyne was the captain of the former Prime Minister's guard, but he didn't expect that the disaster would come out of his mouth. Someone reported that he privately praised Duke Tywin as the real ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, so King Aerys pulled out his tongue. "Open the door," Jaime called, and Strong Pig repeated, "Open the door!" When Mace Tyrell rode out of the Mud Gate with gongs and drums, thousands of people lined up and cheered.Boys happily walked alongside the procession, heads held high, imitating the stride of Tyrell soldiers, while their sisters opened windows and blew kisses. Today is very different.The whores idly greeted Lannister's party as they passed, and the butcher pie sellers continued to yell.In Shoemaker's Square, two ragged sparrows preached to hundreds of people, warning that godless people and devil worshipers will bring the doomsday disaster.The crowd made way for the procession, and the sparrows and shoemakers all stared blankly. "They like the smell of roses, but they don't feel anything about lions," Jaime remarked. "My dear old lady should think about it." Ser Ilyn made no reply.He is such a great travel companion and I love talking to him. A large party waited outside the city, including Ser Adam Marbrand and his scouts, Sir Stevron Swyfer's baggage train, a hundred "sacred warriors" of "good" old Sir Bonifer, and Sarsfield Maester Gurion with his four caged crows and Ser Fremont Brax's two hundred heavy cavalry.The total number of the army under Jaime's command is less than a thousand, so it can hardly be called huge, but there is no shortage of soldiers in Riverrun.The castle was besieged by the Lannister army, and the Freys outnumbered the Westmarch even, but the last crow they sent said that the supply of the army was running low.Brynden Tully had only returned to the castle after the walls had been cleared. In fact, there is nothing to clear.As far as Jaime had seen, there was hardly a field in the Riverlands that hadn't been burned, a town that hadn't been sacked, a maiden that hadn't been raped.Now my dear old sister wants me to finish the uncompeted careers of Amory Lodge and Gregor Clegane.There was a bitter taste in his mouth. Though the Kingsroad near King's Landing was as safe as it had been in peacetime, Jaime sent Marbrand and his scouts out. "Rob Stark caught me off guard in the Whispering Wood," he told the former captain of the City Watch. "It will never happen again." "I assure you with my life," Marbrand seemed quite relieved to be back on his horse. He hurriedly took off the golden fleece cloak of the city guard and put on his own smoke-gray cloak, "Within ten leagues, the enemy Don't even think about getting any closer." James issued a strict order that no one should leave the team without his permission.If there is no word first, these noble young masters will run around racing horses, dispersing livestock, and trampling farmland.There are rare cattle and sheep roaming in the suburbs of the capital, apples and strawberries on the trees, barley, oats and winter wheat piled up beside the farmhouses, and ox carts and horse-drawn carts on both sides of the road.If you go farther, where can you find this scene?Jaime felt very comfortable riding alongside the silent Ser Ilyn.The sun was warm on his back, and the wind blew through his hair like Cersei's fingertips.Kid Lou Piper brought a helm of blackberries, and Jaime grabbed a handful, and told him to share them with the squires and Ser Ilyn Payne. Pyne seemed content with his rusty mail and leather vest, and his silence—the only sounds from him were the clatter of hooves and the clatter of scabbard and blade.Although his face was pockmarked, his eyes were as cold as a winter lake, and he was expressionless, but James instinctively felt the other party's joy at leaving King's Landing.I let him choose, he thought, and he could have turned me down and remained his lawman. Ilyn's position was one of Robert Baratheon's gifts to Jaime's father when he was newly married, and then this idle position was used by Duke Tywin to repay Pyne for the sacrifice he made for the Lannister family.Ser Ilyn Payne was the perfect executioner, one clean, one hit, never embarrassing for executions.His silence added to his momentum, a rare law enforcement officer in the kingdom who was so matched. Once James made up his mind, he went to the end of the traitor's aisle to find Ser Ilyn.There is a semi-circular low tower, the upper floor is divided into several rooms, which are dedicated to the house arrest of nobles, such as knights and lords who can be used to ask for ransom or arrange exchanges; the underground leads to the dungeon through a fine iron door and an ash wooden door .The first basement contains the chambers of the Warden, the Confessor and the Magistrate.The duty of the imperial law enforcement officer is to kill in the execution ground, but according to the usual practice, he also needs to take care of the dungeon affairs. There could be no more unfit man for the task than Ser Ilyn Payne.He couldn't read, write, or even speak, so he had to leave everything to others.It was a pity that he had no colleagues either, for the kingdom had not appointed a Confessor since the reign of Daeron II, and the previous Master of the Prison had been a cloth merchant who bought fat from Littlefinger.No doubt he had made a fortune in recent years, but had the misfortune of falling for Stannis last year along with other rich fools.They called themselves the "Antler Men," and Little Jo put antlers on their heads and threw them out of the city with a trebuchet to return to Stannis.When James found him this time, he could only turn to the hunchbacked Renafel Weaver, and let the old man who claimed to have the blood of the dragon guide him down the narrow stairs and come to Ilyn Payne to live for fifteen years. place of the year. The room was filled with the stench of rotting food, crawlers were everywhere on the straw mat, and James almost stepped on a mouse.Pine's two-handed greatsword was placed on the trestle table, with a whetstone and a greasy cloth beside it. The blade had been honed to extreme sharpness, and it shone blue in the pale light.But other than that, dirty clothes were piled all over the floor, and the mail and plate armor covered in red rust were also dismantled and thrown around. As for the broken wine bottles, it was impossible to count.This man has no other life but execution.Jaime thought to himself when Ser Ilyn came out of his shitty bedroom to meet him. "His Majesty the Queen Mother ordered me to restrain the army and recover the Hejian Land," he told the other party, "You can come with me...if you are willing to give up this mansion." Silence was Pyne's answer, and a long, unwavering stare.Just as James was about to leave, the other party nodded.He is willing to change after all, James glanced at his companions, maybe there is still hope for the two of us. That night, the team camped under the hill where Harvard City was located. After the sun sank, a hundred tents were set up along the creek.James had arranged for the sentinels himself, and there seemed to be no trouble near the capital, but his uncle Stafford must have thought the same way at Oxford.I will never make the same mistake again. From the castle came the invitation of Mrs. Harvard's deputy castellan. James brought along Sir Ilyn, Sir Adam Marbrand, Sir Bonifer Hastie, Red Rowland Connington, Strong Pig and a dozen other knights and others. The nobles go with them. "I think I should wear that hand," he said to Pi before going up the hill. The kid tied it up for him immediately.The hand was made of pure gold, and the nails were emerald, so realistic to the naked eye.Its fingers are half closed, just enough to hold the cup.I can't fight with it, but I can drink with it, James thought, watching the boy bandage his severed limb. "From today on, people will call you General Golden Hand," the weapons master had assured James.Wrong, people will still call me Kingslayer until after I'm dead. The golden hand wowed him repeatedly at the table—until the glass was overturned.His temper flared up. "Damn it, if you envy the damned thing so much, I'd love to cut off your sword hand," he told Fremont Brax. No one dared to say more, he drank more wine in peace. The owner of the castle was married to the Lannister family, and became the wife of his cousin Tyrek when he was only one year old, and he was still a chubby baby at the moment.During the banquet, this Mrs. Amesande was carried out to meet her. She was wearing a small gold thread dress. The middle of the dress was made of emerald particles to form a large light green wave, surrounded by green grids—this is the pattern of the Harvard family. chapter.Not long after, the little girl cried loudly, and was comforted by the nurse and sent back to the bedroom. "Is there any news from Lord Tirek yet?" When the salmon was brought to the table, the deputy city lord asked. "No." Jaime was still a prisoner at Riverrun when Tyrek Lannister disappeared during the King's Landing riots.If the child is not dead, he should be fourteen years old. "At Lord Tywin's orders, I led a search myself," said Ser Adam Marbrand, picking fish bones, "but I found no more than Bywater. When the mob broke through the gold cloak blockade, that The kid was still on the horse, and then... Well, we found his horse, but we didn't have a clue about the man, and he was probably pulled down and killed. But if so, where is the body? The mob let other people lay dead in the streets, why? Just without him?" "Perhaps it's worth keeping him alive," Strong Pig thought. "The Lannisters ransom a lot." "There is no doubt about it," admitted Marbrand, "but the fault is that no ransom has been demanded, and the child seems to have evaporated out of thin air." "He's dead," said James, who had downed three glasses of wine, and the golden hand was getting heavier and clumsier.Well, it might as well be hooked. "When the gang of mobs realize who they killed, they will panic and throw the body into the river to prevent my father from discovering it. Lannister must pay his debts. When the city of King's Landing was destroyed, Lord Tywin taught them what it was like." "Debts must be repaid." Zhuang Zhu agreed, and everyone stopped there. But when he spent the night in the tower room after dinner, James himself became suspicious.After all, Tyrek and Lancel had been King Robert's squires, and they knew secrets more valuable than gold and deadlier than knives.He thought of Varys, the smirking eunuch who smelled of lavender.There are spies for this man all over the city, and it's easy to steal Tyrek in the chaos... Maybe the eunuch knows when and where the riot will happen.Varys convinced us all that he was indispensable, that he knew it all.However, he did not warn Cersei for a minute of this riot, and he did not even go to the side of the ship to see Myrcella off. James opened the narrow window.The night was getting colder and colder, and a crescent moon hung high in the sky, shining on his golden hands, reflecting dim light.It can't strangle the eunuch to death, but it can smash that sticky smiling face to pieces.He suddenly wanted to hit someone. Ser Ilyn was polishing his sword. "The time has come." He told the other party, and the executioner stood up and followed him downstairs, scraping the steep stone steps with his broken leather boots.There was a small yard in front of the armory. James found two shields, two helmets, and a pair of blunt swords for combat. He distributed them to Pyne, holding the sword in his left hand, and piercing the shield strap with his right.His golden hands grasped things but could not hold them firmly, so the shield was loose. "You were an honorable knight, sir," cried James, "like me. Let us see what we have become." Ser Ilyn raised his sword in response, and Jaime stepped forward to attack without saying a word.Yet despite Pyne's exterior being as rusted as his mail mail and not as strong as Brienne's, every blow Jaime delivered was blocked by his blunt sword or shield.The two danced under the crescent moon, and the two blunt swords played steel music. The silent knight let Jaime attack for a while, before finally launching a counterattack.He hit Jaime on the thigh, shoulder, and upper arm, slashed the helmet three times, and knocked the shield off Jaime's right arm with a slash so hard it nearly tore the bandage that held the golden hand to the severed limb.By the time he drew his sword and stopped, James was bruised all over his body, sober from the wine, and his mind was extremely clear. "We fight every night on time," he told Ser Ilyn. "Tomorrow, and the day after, and every day. Until my left hand is as strong as my right hand was." Ser Ilyn opened his mouth and let out a rough sound.He was laughing, and James felt a pain in his heart. The next morning, no one dared to mention his injuries. It seems that they slept like dead pigs last night.Only when going down the hill did Lou Piper, the boy, ask the wrong question for the knight lords.James grinned at him and said, "Don't you know that the maids in the Harvard family are very energetic? They can bite, boy." The day was still sunny and breezy, the next day was cloudy, and the next three days it was raining. .But none of that was bad for the team, who headed north on the King's Row at a steady pace, rain or shine, and each night James found a private spot to leave more scars of love.They fought in stables, with one-eyed donkeys as witnesses; they fought in hotel cellars, surrounded by casks full of wine and ale; they fought in the charred remains of great stone barns; they forested in shallow streams and they fought on open fields, with the rain pattering on helmet and shield. James made all sorts of excuses, but he wasn't stupid enough to think they really believed it.At least, Adam.Marbrand knew the truth, and many of his followers also had their own guesses.Of course, no one dared to speak out in front of him... The only witness was a mute, so there was no need to worry about the fact that the kingslayer was shallow. Today, the devastation left by the war can be seen everywhere.In the fields, it was supposed to be the time to harvest autumn wheat, but the weeds, thorns, and bushes grew as high as a horse's head, and there was not a single traveler on the King's Road. From dusk to dawn, it was ruled by wolves. not afraid.One of Marbrand's scouts got off his horse to pee, and the horse had been culled when he turned around. "Such an insolent beast," said "the good man" Sir Bonifor pitifully, "is sure to be a devil in wolf's clothing, to punish us for our sins." "Yes, what a sinful and unforgivable horse," replied Jaime, looking at the poor mutilated body of the horse.He ordered the horse carcasses to be divided and pickled. The road ahead was long and the people were sparsely populated, so the meat should not be wasted. In a tower castle at a place called Sow's Corner lived a hardy old knight, Sir Roger Hogg, with six soldiers, four crossbowmen, and twenty peasants under his command.Ser Roger was a stout figure whom Ser Kenloth believed to be a distant relation of the Crakehalls, for he also had the dappled boar on his coat of arms.Strong Pig agreed, and spent an hour poring over blood with Sir Roger. What interested James was Hogg's description of the wolf cubs. "The wolves of the north with the white stars came and robbed," confided the old knight. "My lord, I drove them away, and the bodies of three of them were buried under the turnips. Before them, there were bloodthirsty lions." — excuse me, my lord — the shield of its leader bears a manticore." "Ser Amory Lodge," James explained, "my lord father ordered him to plunder the Riverlands." "But I don't live in the Riverlands," said old Sir Roger Hogg firmly. "I'm a vassal of the House of Harvard, and the Countess of Amesandre is directly in King's Landing, and when she learns to walk, she'll go to Thorne." His Majesty Mann bowed his knees. I said this, but the Rocky didn't listen. Instead, he killed half of my sheep and three milking goats, and even tried to burn me alive in the tower. Fortunately, the walls are solid stone Well, it was eight feet thick, and when the flames died out, he lost interest and rode off. The next day the wolf came—the four-legged wolf ate up all the sheep that the manticore had left for me , I only get fur, but fur can't fill my stomach. My lord, what do you think?" "Sow the seeds," James suggested, "and pray for the last harvest before winter comes." This was not the answer the other party expected, but it was the only answer he could give. The next day the procession crossed a small river, which marked the dividing line between the dominions of King's Landing and Riverrun.Maester Gurion took out a map and declared that the hill in front of him belonged to the Ward Brothers, two property knights who belonged to Harrenhal... But their halls were all civil structures, which had been burned to ashes long ago, and only a few beams remained column up. The Ward brothers did not appear, nor did their people, a band of brigands dwelt in the cellars of his brother's fort, one of whom still wore a tattered crimson cloak.It felt good for James to hang them all, a sense of justice.Maybe someday, Lannister, maybe someday the people will actually call you the General of the Golden Hand: the just General of the Golden Hand. The closer to Harrenhal, the bleaker the picture.The procession rode under a dark gray sky, and the lake shone with a sullen cold light like a chunk of smashed steel.James couldn't help thinking of Brienne, wondering if she had ever passed this road.If she went to Riverrun for Sansa Stark ... he would have wondered if any people had seen a fair maiden with bay red hair, or an ugly and fat spinster with all the sad looks, and yet a traveler he would not I didn't see it, only the wolves and their howling one after another. On the opposite side of the white wax-like lake, the tower built by the black-hearted Heron with all his efforts to build the country loomed. Five twisted black fingers stretched out into the air, and the stone was strangely deformed.The nominal lord of Harrenhal is Littlefinger, but he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to take over the fief, so James had to drop by to help him "renovate" the castle. He had no doubts that the castle was in need of restoration.Gregor Clegane wrested the gloomy city from the Mummers of Blood, and was called back to King's Landing by Cersei as a vicarious knight, and his men must still be scattered about the city like dried beans on a plate—and they It is absolutely impossible to bring the peace of the kingdom to the Three Rivers Basin.The only peace Ser Gregor's lackeys have ever known is the grave. Ser Addam's scouts reported that the gates of Harrenhal were closed and barred, and Jaime formed his formation, and Ser Kenloth of Ketche blew the Herlock Horn, a crooked black horn carved with the ancient gold stripes. Sir Kenroth blew three times in a row, and the reverberation echoed in the city walls, and then the chains groaned, and the gate slowly opened.The walls of Harron Blackheart were so thick that James had to pass through more than a dozen murder holes before the sun suddenly appeared. Not long ago, he said goodbye to the blood troupe in this courtyard.Weeds had grown overgrown on the hard mud ground, and flies covered the horse carcasses. A dozen or so of Gregor's men stood on the tower watching them dismount, all with hard eyes and pursed mouths.Such a guy can only survive by the side of the Magic Mountain.But at least Gregor's men were less tyrannical and evil than the Brave Order. "Fuck, it's Jaime Lannister," said a grey-haired private. "Boys, the bloody Kingslayer is coming. If I'm wrong, you can fuck me up the ass with a spear!" "Who are you?" James asked. "Serr called me 'Mouth,' my lord." He spat into the palm of his hand and wiped it on his face as if to wash. "Handsome. Are you the boss here?" "Me? Fart, of course not. My lord, say I'm the boss, you might as well fuck my asshole with a spear." Jaime laughed at the fact that the crumbs in his beard could probably feed an army of rats , and the other party sees this as encouragement. "Fuck my asshole with a spear," he repeated, before laughing too. "You heard him," James said, turning to Ilyn Payne. "Get a good spear and stick him up the ass." Ser Ilyn had no spear, and Jon Bentley the Beardless threw one at him cheerfully.Seeing this scene, Skunk's drunken smile stopped abruptly. "Damn, what do you want to do?" "To keep you sober," said Jaime. "Say, who's in charge here? Has Ser Gregor appointed a castellan?" "The deputy castellan is Polliver," another added, "but he taught the Hound to kill it, my lord. He, the notepad, and that Sarsfield boy are gone." The Hound again. "Really Sandor? Have you met him?" "We haven't seen it, my lord. The shopkeeper told us." "It happened at the Inn at the Crossroads, my lord." It was a young man with sandy hair who spoke this time, wearing a necklace of coins that had once belonged to Varg Holt—coins from dozens of eastern cities, These include different materials such as gold, silver, brass, and bronze. The shapes are round, square, triangular, rings, and even bones. "The store swears that the murderer had half his face covered in burns, and so does the whore in their store. Sandor also brought a boy, a peasant boy in rags. After they chopped up Polly and the notepad, they walked along the Trident River. ran downstream." "Have you sent someone to chase you?" Stinkmouth frowned, as if thinking pained him. "No, my lord, it's bloody fucked up, but we ignored him." "Isn't it over if you kill the dog?" "Yeah," the other party rubbed his lips, "but I never liked Polly's horse dung, and the Hound is Sir's younger brother, so..." "We are fuckers, my lord," said the young man with a coin necklace around his neck, "you can kill the hound, only a madman will do it." James looked at him carefully.He's bolder than the others, and he's not as drunk as Mouth. "You are afraid of him." "I'm not 'afraid' of him, my lord, I just want to leave him to the big men to deal with. This is called equality of status. For example, Jazz, like you, are good opponents to deal with him." If I had two hands, I would definitely meet him.James knew very well that he would be killed by Sandor if he couldn't take a few moves. "What's your name?" "Raff. Raff for short." "Raff, call all the defenders to Hundred Hearth Hall, plus all the captives, and I'm going to get a good look at them, by the way, and the whore you just mentioned from the crossroads is coming too. Oh, don't forget the goats, It's a pity to hear he's passed away, but I wanted to see it for myself." Presenting the head, he found that the goat's lips, ears, and nose had all been cut off, while the crow had eaten its eyes.Oddly enough, the head was recognizably Wagga Holt's, thanks to that peculiar beard--a full two feet long, dangling beneath the pointed chin.Apart from the beard, only a few patches of shriveled skin remained on the Kohor man's skull. "What about the rest of the body?" James asked. No one answered.Finally, Stinkmouth lowered his eyes and murmured, "Rotten, ser. Er... or eaten." "One of the captives was always hungry," Laffod explained, "so ser roasted a goat for him. To be honest, the Kohos don't have much meat, and ser cut off his hands and feet first, then his upper arms and thighs." "That fat man eats the most, my lord," said Smellymouth, "but the sergeant wants all the captives to taste human flesh, and he lets the goat eat himself. Fuck, he's drooling at the sight of his own flesh, desperately Gobble it up, grease drips all over his beard." Father, thought James, you have a pack of mad dogs.He remembered the story he had heard in Casterly Rock City when he was a child. The crazy Countess Rothstein bathed in human blood in Harrenhal and held a feast of human flesh. Thinking of this, revenge lost interest. "Throw it into the lake," James said, throwing the goat's head to Pie, and turned to face the defenders. "Until Lord Petyr arrives, Ser Bonifer Hastie will guard Harrenhal in the name of King." .If you will stay—and have Mr. Sir's consent—you may follow him; if you do not want to stay, follow me against Riverrun." The Mountain's men looked at each other. "The reward hasn't been given yet," someone said. "The sergeant promised. He said there will be a reward." "He said it!" Smelly mouth echoed, "Those who follow me will be rewarded!" More than a dozen people also joined in. Sir Bonifer raised his iron fist, "Those who stay can get a piece of land, I will give another piece after marriage, and I will give a third piece after the first child is born." "Land, ser?" Spitmouth spat, "Fucking farts. Fuck, want to dig the ground, don't we know how to dig it in our own house? Damn it, ser said 'there is a reward', meaning It's gold! Gold!" "Go to King's Landing and talk to my dear old sister." James turned to Raffod. "Where are the captives? Where is Sir Willis Manderly?" "He's the fat guy," Raffod said. "Really? He's going to be in trouble, and you're going to get into big trouble." Shagway, Pug, or Zorro, all the warriors, had run away without a trace, leaving Vargo Hott as a poor commander.Of the Countess of Hoann's men, only three were left alive—the cook who opened the side door for Ser Gregor; The beauty when we met.Someone broke her nose and knocked out half of her teeth.As soon as the girl saw James, she fell at his feet, sobbing, and clung to his thigh with incredible strength until the pig pulled her away. "No one will hurt you in the future." He told her, but she cried even louder. Prisoners were treated better, and Ser Willis Manderly was not dead, most of them had been captured by the Mountain during the battle at the Fords of the Trident.As effective hostages, they were imprisoned. Although they were all dirty, smelly, unkempt, and some had missing teeth, fingers, and bruises all over their bodies, at least they had food and drink, and their battle injuries were treated.James didn't know that they were aware of the meat they ate, and decided he'd better not order it. The prisoners, however, had lost all dignity, especially Sir Willis, the fat man with the beard, glazed eyes, and trembling jaw.James said that he would send someone to escort him to Maiden Springs to return home by boat, and he collapsed on the ground, crying harder than Pia, and it took all four of them to lift him up.Retribution for the roast goat, thought Jaime, for gods, I hate this bloody castle.赫伦堡三百年来见证的恐怖比凯岩城三千年中经历的更多。 于是詹姆令百炉厅中升起炉火，再让那唯一的厨子赶紧去为他的队伍准备热饭热菜，“什么都可以，山羊肉不要。” 他自己在猎人厅内与博尼佛·哈斯提爵士共进晚餐，博尼佛爵士庄严肃穆，三句不离七神之名。“我不要格雷果爵士的走狗，”他切开一个和他一样遍布皱纹的梨子，小心翼翼地确保那并不存在的果汁不会玷污到他朴素的紫色外衣，上面有他家族的白色斜线纹章，“他们是帮罪孽深重的恶棍。” “我家修士常说，所有人都有罪。” “他说得没错，”博尼佛爵士表示同意，“但有些人犯下的罪孽无可饶恕，犹如熏天恶臭，恐怕七神连闻闻都受不了。” 看来你和我弟弟一样没鼻子，否则我的罪孽会教你被这个梨子噎死。“好吧，我把格雷果的人全带走。”士兵不缺用武之地，若迫不得已非要硬攻奔流城，他会让他们打头阵。 “把那个妓女也带走，”博尼佛爵士要求，“你知道我说的是谁，就是那个地牢里挖出来的女人。” “皮雅，”科本曾派她来陪床，以为能讨他欢心……现在的皮雅已不是过去那个娇小甜蜜、咯咯傻笑着爬进他被窝的尤物了。当格雷果爵士要安静时，她很不识趣地搭了话，魔山便用钢甲拳套把她的牙齿和漂亮小鼻子打成碎片。若非瑟曦急召魔山前往君临面对红毒蛇的长矛，只怕皮雅的遭遇还会更惨。詹姆是决不会可怜格雷果的。“皮雅生于兹长于兹，”他劝告博尼佛爵士，“这里是她唯一的家。” “她是堕落的化身，”博尼佛爵士说，“我不能容许她向我的人卖弄……卖弄风骚。” “她卖弄的日子已经结束了，”詹姆道，“但若你坚持，我会带她走。”他可以收她做洗衣妇，他的侍从不在乎为他搭建帐篷、照料马匹或清理铠甲，但洗衣服一直不大积极。“单凭你的百名圣战士，能守住赫伦堡吗？”其实只剩下八十六名，有十四个在黑水河上送了命，但博尼佛爵士迟早会招募到信仰虔诚的新人的。 “决无问题。老妪会为我们指引前路，战士将给予我们力量。” 或者陌客会让你们统统倒霉。詹姆不清楚是谁怂恿姐姐任命博尼佛爵士为赫伦堡代理城主的，多半是奥顿·玛瑞魏斯。隐约记得，哈斯提家族侍奉过玛瑞魏斯的祖辈，而且这萝卜头发的裁判法官似乎天真地认为，外号“好人”的贵族想必最宜于派往河间地，治疗卢斯·波顿、瓦格·霍特和格雷果·克里冈所留下的累累伤痕。 或许他的人选不错。哈斯提家族源于风暴之地，在三河流域无亲无故，没有世仇，没有关系，也没有亲信。而这位博尼佛爵士素来冷静、公正、尽职尽责，他训练出的圣战士是有纪律的兵，一起骑上高大灰马时也显得十分威武堂皇，足以慑服群众。小指头曾打趣说博尼佛爵士多半把手下的兵统统阉割了，以保证他们纯洁高尚。 然而说到底，战士的名誉要在战场上证明，并非靠整齐可爱的坐骑。他们精于祈祷，也精于杀敌吗？就詹姆所知，在黑水河上他们表现不错，但也无甚突出之处。博尼佛爵士本人年轻时倒是武艺精湛，前途似锦，后来却出了意外——不晓得是因为战败、耻辱还是重病一导致他认定比武乃是空虚的炫耀，从此放下长枪。 赫伦堡必须守住，而瑟曦挑选了这位“小贝勒”。“此城厄运缠绕，”他警告博尼佛爵士，”据说赫伦与他儿子们着火的鬼魂晚上会在大厅里出没，教他们发现的话会被活活烧死。” “我不怕鬼魂，爵士。《七星圣经》有云：妖魔、亡魂亦或幽灵皆无法伤害虔信七神之人，君子以信仰为甲，能行遍天下。” “你以信仰为甲，但也请记得穿上锁甲和板甲。迄今为止，这座城堡的主人都没好下场。瞧瞧魔山、山羊，甚至我父亲……” “恕我冒昧，他们都缺乏信仰之心，不像我们。战士会保护我们，况且我们并非孤立无援。吉利安和他的乌鸦与我们同在，左近的戴瑞城有蓝赛尔大人，女泉城有蓝道大人，三军协力，足以荡平这一带的土匪蟊贼。等局势安定后，七神自会指引善男信女们回到村落，播种、耕作，重建家园。” 那些还没教山羊赶尽杀绝的人。詹姆用金手钩起酒杯。“若有任何勇士团的成员落到你手中，立刻押送给我。”纵然陌客抢在詹姆之前带走了山羊，但胖子佐罗、夏格维、罗尔杰、虔诚的乌斯威克等人逃不脱。兰尼斯特有债必还。 “你会折磨他们，然后杀了他们？” “换成你，你会宽恕他们吗？” “若他们真心悔悟……是的，我会在送他们上断头台之前接纳他们为兄弟，并为之祈祷。信仰可以救赎，罪行必须惩罚。”哈斯提双手合十，顶着下巴，这姿势竟让詹姆荒谬地联想起父亲。“如果遇到桑铎·克里冈，你要我怎么做？” 拼命祈祷，詹姆心想，拔腿快跑。“送他去与他亲爱的老哥团聚，并感谢七神创造了七层地狱——单单一层容不下两个克里冈。”他突然站起来，“贝里·唐德利恩情况不同，如果抓住了他，关起来等我回头处置。我要用绳索捆住他的脖子，一路牵回君临，再当着全国百姓的面，让伊林爵士将其斩首示众。” “他身边的密尔和尚呢？听说他到处宣扬邪教。” “杀他、吻他，还是跟他一起祈祷，随便你。” “我从不与男人接吻，大人。” “他可不一样，”詹姆的微笑成了哈欠。“请原谅，若你不反对的话，我告辞了。” “好，大人。”哈斯提说。他的祷告时间又到了。 詹姆想要的却是战斗。他三步并作两步出门，夜风清冷。火光中的庭院里，壮猪与佛列蒙·布拉克斯爵士正在比武，周围围了一群喝彩叫好的士兵。李勒爵士将是最后的赢家，詹姆明白，我还是找伊林爵士打架的好。 幻影手指再度抽搐，他远离火炬与人声，走过密闭拱桥，来到流石庭院——直到这时，他才醒悟自己的去处。 熊坑内，灯笼洒下苍白冷淡的光，照耀在一圈圈陡峭的大理石凳上。看来有人比我先到。坑中是练武的好场所，或许伊林爵士先想到了。 然而站在坑边的骑士比派恩更高大，他满脸胡子，体格结实，身穿绣有狮鹫纹章的红白外套。克林顿，他在里面干吗？黑熊还半掩在沙地中，但只有骨骼和破损的毛皮残留了。詹姆有些为野兽悲哀。至少，他是战死的。“罗兰爵士，”他喊道，“你迷路了吗？我明白，城堡大得很。” 红罗兰举起灯笼，“我来看看狗熊与美少女对话的现场。”他的红须在火光中犹如着了火，詹姆闻到了酒气，“妞儿真的光着身子打？” “光着身子？不。”故事似乎被夸张了几倍。“血戏子们让她穿上粉红色的丝裙服，拿着比武用的钝剑。山羊要好好看她出洋相，他觉得这样很'有趣'……” “……也好，光着身子的布蕾妮只怕会把熊先吓趴喽。”克林顿笑道。 詹姆没笑，“听你的口气，似乎挺了解她。” “我曾是她的未婚夫。” 他大吃一惊，布蕾妮从未提及订婚之事。“他父亲为她？……” “为她订过三次，”克林顿道，“确切地说，我是她的第二个未婚夫，由我父亲和他父亲共同决定。我早听说那妞儿很丑，可我父亲说，蜡烛吹灭后，所有女人都是一个样。” “你父亲。”詹姆瞧向红罗兰的外套——红底与白底上，两只狮鹫互相对望。这是名扬天下的克林顿家族舞蹈狮鹫纹章。“你父亲是前首相的……弟弟？” “表弟。琼恩大人没有亲兄弟。” “是啊。”回忆刹那间涌上心头。记得琼恩·克林顿是雷加王子的密友，当年玛瑞魏斯令人失望地无力弹压劳勃的叛乱，而雷加王子又遍寻不着，伊里斯做出了所能做的最佳选择，任命克林顿为首相。然而疯王对他的国王之手总是很残酷，正如他经常在铁王座上割伤手掌。鸣钟之役后，他一怒之下剥夺了琼恩大人的荣誉、土地与财富，放逐到狭海对岸等死果然，传闻克林顿伯爵没过多久就买醉亡身了。伯爵的表弟——红罗兰的父亲——转而投奔叛军，并在战后获得了家族的鹫巢堡作为奖励。不过劳勃虽把城堡给了他，却没发还克林顿家族被没收的财物，还将他们家一大部分土地赏赐给更热心的支持者。 今天的罗兰爵士只是个有产骑士而已，对他而言，塔斯的处女应该是屈尊就驾，上上之选。“你为什么不和她结婚？”詹姆质问。 “我啊，我亲自去塔斯岛见了她。我比她大六岁，她却与我一般高矮，平起平坐。她是个穿丝衣的母猪，却没有母猪的乳房。我跟她聊天，她差点把自己的舌头咬掉。于是我给了她一朵玫瑰，并且告诉她，这是今生她唯一能从我这儿得到的东西。”克林顿望向坑内。“说真的，也许这头熊都没她吓人，我——” 詹姆用金手狠狠扇了他一嘴巴，打得骑士滚下台阶。灯笼掉在地上摔碎，灯油流出来，熊熊燃烧。“你不能这样称呼一位出身高贵的小姐，爵士。说她的名字，她叫布蕾妮。” 克林顿手脚并用地爬开扩散的火焰。“布蕾妮，大人，”他啐了一口血在詹姆脚边，“美人布蕾妮。”