Chapter 45 Chapter Forty-Five: James

The new Lord of Riverrun was shaking with anger. "We've been lied to," he claimed. "This fellow is dishonest!" Pointing at Edmure Tully, he sprayed pink spittle all over his face. "I'm going to chop off his head! I'm the Lord of Riverrun, according to King's Warrant, I—” "Amon," his wife stopped him, "The Captain knows your power of attorney. Sir Edmure knows your power of attorney, and the stable boy also knows your power of attorney." "I am the count, and I want his head!" "What crime have I committed?" The Edmure was thin, but more Earl than Emmon Frey.He wore a tight padded red tunic with a prancing trout embroidered on the chest, black boots and blue breeches, and his chestnut hair was freshly trimmed and washed, and his fiery red beard was trimmed neatly. "Whatever you say, I will do."

"Oh?" Jaime Lannister, who hadn't closed his eyes since Riverrun surrendered, felt like a hammer was hammering in his head. "I didn't ask you to let Ser Bryndon go." "You asked me to sacrifice the city to surrender, but you didn't ask me to sacrifice my uncle. Is it my fault that your own people are not well guarded?" James wasn't in the mood for a verbal argument. "Where the hell is he?" He let anger seep into his voice.Three times the soldiers searched Riverrun, but there was no sign of Brynden Tully. "He didn't tell me where I was going."

"And you never asked. Well, how did he get away?" "Fish can swim, black fish swim very fast." Edmure smiled victoriously. James suddenly felt an urge to smash the opponent's mouth with golden hands. If he lost a few teeth, he would not be so smirking.Edmure was too smug for a man who was going to be a captive for the rest of his life. "Under Casterly Rock, there is a kind of dungeon, just enough to hold a person, as tight as plate armor. In the dungeon, you can neither turn over nor sit up, and even when the mouse bites your toe, you can't even touch it. Can't touch it either. Why, would you like to reconsider your answer?"

Edmure's smile disappeared as expected, "You promise me that you will...will treat each other with courtesy according to the duke's standards." "I will keep my word," said Jaime. "Not only many nobler knights than you have died whimpering in the cell, but many earls and dukes, and even a king or two, if I remember correctly. You If you like, I can arrange for your wife to live next to you, but I don't want to force you to separate." "He really swam out," Edmure confessed gloomily.He had his sister Catelyn's blue eyes, and in those eyes James saw the disgust his sister had looked at James. "We opened the iron gate of the water gate. It didn't open fully. It only rose about three feet, leaving a gap in the bottom of the water, but it seemed unchanged on the surface. My uncle is a good swimmer. After dark, he went through the sharp spikes on the bottom of the water alone. .”

Then he passed our river dam in the same way.On a moonless night, tired of the guards, a black fish swims quietly downstream along the black river.Yu or Rutger or their subordinates heard a little water sound at most, and only thought it was a turtle or a trout.Edmure did it on purpose, and he dawdled for a long time for no reason before he lowered Stark's direwolf flag to express his surrender.As a result, in the chaos of the castle changing hands, James did not report that the black fish was missing until the next morning. He went to the window and looked out at the river.It was a bright autumn day, and the sun shone on the water.The black fish probably swam ten leagues away.

"He must be caught," Emmon Frey insisted. "He can't get away," Jaime said, but his heart was not so sure. "I have sent hunters and hounds to find." Sir.He originally wanted the local princes of the Three Rivers to participate, but people like Vance and Piper would probably do nothing but help Heiyu escape.All in all, James doesn't hold out much hope. "He can hide for a while," said the Iron Guard Captain at last, "but not forever." "What if he comes back and robs my castle?" "You have two hundred guards." Two hundred men were too many to guard a castle, but Lord Ammon's reign was in danger.Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about how to support this group of people. As he claimed, Heiyu had stored sufficient supplies in Riverrun. "Sir Brynden has caused us so much trouble that I doubt he'll ever come back and throw himself into the net." But he might come back with a large band of bandits after he falls.Heiyu's fighting spirit cannot be doubted.

"This is your castle," Lady Gina told her husband. "You must defend it yourself. If you can't, set it on fire and flee back to Casterly Rock." Lord Ammon rubbed his mouth, his hands red and sticky from the sour grass. "Of course, of course. Riverrun is mine, and no one can take it from me." He gave Edmure a last suspicious look, and was then pulled away from the study by Lady Gina. "Is there anything else you want to say to me?" James asked Edmure when they were alone. "This is my father's study," said Tully proudly. "He sits here ruling the valley of the Three Rivers, wise and majestic. He likes to work in front of the window, because the light is best there, and you only need to raise your head a little, and you can see the scenery on the river." No more. Later, when his eye was broken, he sent Catelyn to read the papers. Littlefinger and I once built a castle of blocks out of blocks by the door. Kingslayer, you can never imagine that I see you here You'll never imagine how much I despise you."

you are wrong. "Many people who are better than you despise me, Edmure, what are you," James called to the guards, "take your lord back to the tower room and prepare your meal." The former Duke of Riverrun was silent. Tomorrow morning, he would leave his former castle forever and go to the West as a prisoner.The escort was led by Sir Fowler Prester, and consisted of twenty knights and eighty foot soldiers.Better double the guards, in case Lord Beric attacks and takes Edmure before they reach the Golden Tooth.It's just three things, and James doesn't want to capture Tully again.

He sat back in Hoster Tully's chair, put the map of Three Rivers on his lap, and smoothed it with his golden hands.If I were a black fish, where would I escape? "My lord Captain?" A guard appeared at the open door. "I have brought Mrs. Westerling and her daughter, as you ordered." James pushed the map away, "Please." At least the girl wasn't missing.Jeyne Westerling was Robb Stark's queen, and it was she who caused his downfall.If she had a wolf cub in her stomach, it would be ten thousand times more dangerous than Heiyu. She doesn't look dangerous.Jenny was a slender, fifteen- or sixteen-year-old woman whose movements were clumsy, not graceful.She had regular hips, breasts the size of apples, curly chestnut hair, and soft brown eyes reminiscent of a doe.Handsome for a child, James decided, but definitely not worth losing a whole kingdom.Her face was swollen and there was a scrape on her forehead, half hidden behind a bun of brown curls. "What's going on?" he asked her.

Girl look away. "Nothing," said her mother, a dignified old woman in a green velvet dress, with a necklace of golden seashells hanging from her long thin neck, "she would not take off the little The crown, I went to get it myself, but this wayward child actually resisted." "It's mine!" Jeyne sobbed. "Why would you take it? Robb made it just for me. I love him." His mother made a move, but James stepped between them. "Come on," he warned Lady Sybell, "sit down, both of you." The girl curled up in the chair like a frightened animal, while her mother sat upright with her head held high. "Would you like a drink?" he asked.The girl is silent. "No thanks," her mother said.

"Please," James said, turning to the girl, "I'm sorry for what you've lost. I know that boy was brave. But there's one question I have to ask: Are you pregnant with his child at all?" What, ma'am?" Jane jumped up from the chair and ran to the door, but was caught by the guard by the door in time. "She didn't," Mrs. Sybell explained while watching her daughter struggling, "Your father had instructions, and I made special arrangements." James nodded.Tywin Lannister would not have overlooked such details. "Let go of her," he ordered, "I'm done asking her." Jenny rushed downstairs.He turned back to her mother. "The king has pardoned House Westerling, and your brother, Ser Rover Spicer, has been raised to Lord Castamere. What more can you ask for?" "Your father once promised me to find a good family for Jenny and her sister. Either the lord or the heir of the lord, he wrote in black and white that he would never take the second son or the vassal knight Prevarication." Of course the father would take the lord or the lord's heir as bait.Although the Westerling family has a long history and is very proud, Mrs. Sybell's surname is Spicer, and her ancestors are upstarts in business. It is rumored that her grandmother is even a crazy oriental witch.Besides, the Westerlings are poor at the moment, and under normal circumstances, Sybell Spicer's daughter would at best marry the lord's second son, but luckily money is a magic trick, and Lannister's gold will make the traitor's A widow is as attractive as a noble virgin. "You'll get the engagement," said Jaime, "but first keep Jeyne waiting for two years." If you marry too soon, and have children, there will be talk, and the Young Wolf will be the real father. "I still have two sons," Lady Westerling reminded the Captain of the Iron Guard. "Loram was with me, but Leonard, a knight, followed the rebels to the Twins. If I knew Arrangements, he will definitely not be allowed to go." She said with a hint of condemnation, "Reynard doesn't understand the understanding I have reached with...your father. He may still be imprisoned in the Twin Rivers." He may be dead.Walder Frey was equally unaware of your understanding. "I will investigate. As long as Sir Leonard is alive, we will redeem him for you." "Your lord father also proposed to marry him. It will be a bride from Casterly Rock City. Your lord father said that if all goes well, Jay will be betrothed to him." Even in the grave, Lord Tywin manipulates us like puppets. "Jay is the concubine daughter of my late uncle Jillian. The engagement can be arranged immediately if you like, and the marriage must wait. The last time I saw Jay, she was nine or ten years old." "His illegitimate daughter?" Mrs. Sybell looked as if she had swallowed a whole lemon. "You want the Westerlings to marry a bastard?" "I don't even want Jay to marry some sinister chameleon bitch. She deserves a better life." James wanted to strangle the old woman with the seashell necklace. But alone, her father was one of James' favorite uncles. "Your daughter is ten times more noble than you, ma'am. Don't let me see you again until early tomorrow morning when you leave with Edmure and Ser Fowler." He called out to the guards, Lady Sybell He pursed his lips and exited the door. 'How much does Lord Gavin know of his wife's tricks?How much do I know? Edmure and the Westerlings set off with four hundred guards—and Jaime doubled them again at the last moment.He rode a few miles with the party, giving Sir Fowler Prester careful instructions.This man has a bull's head on his coat and two horns on his helmet, but he doesn't look like a bull himself.He was short, thin, and tough, with pinched nostrils, a bald crown, and a grey-brown beard that made him look more innkeeper than knight. "We don't know the whereabouts of the black fish," James reminded him repeatedly, "but he will definitely try his best to release Edmure." "He can't, my lord," said Ser Fowler, who was no fool, like most innkeepers. "I'll have scouts and cavalry around, and dig fortifications when I camp at night. And I'll keep ten men watching Tully day and night, Not far from each other, they are the best longbowmen under my command. If he dares to escape even a foot from the road, my men will shoot him into a hedgehog, and his mother will not recognize him." "Very good." It would be good to escort Tully to Casterly Rock, if not, he would rather kill him than let him go. "You will also send archers to guard Lady Westerling's daughter." Ser Fowler was taken aback. "Gavin's daughter? She's just—" "—she is the young wolf lord's widow," James finished for the other party. "If she escapes, she will be far more dangerous than Edmure." "Yes, my lord. I'll put more guards on her." Jaime galloped past the Westerlings and back to Riverrun, galloping past the Westerlings.Seeing him, Lord Gavin nodded heavily, while Lady Sybell's icy gaze seemed to pierce him.The widow's eyes were drooping, and she was shrouded miserably in a hooded cloak, beneath which her delicate garments were all torn.She tore her clothes to show her grief, which, James realized, must have pissed off her mother.He couldn't help thinking: If he died, would Cersei tear up her dress? He decided not to return directly to the city, but to cross the Tenshi River and meet Edwin Frey one last time to determine the delivery of the prisoners.After Riverrun surrendered, Frey began to withdraw his troops, and the first to leave were the vassals and freeriders who were subordinate to Lord Walder.The Freys' own party was still there, and James found Edwin in his bastard uncle's tent. The two huddled together in front of a map and argued loudly, but they both fell silent when James entered the door. "Captain," He Wen greeted coldly, but Edwin blurted out, "You killed my father, sir." James was a little confused, "What's going on?" "You sent him home, didn't you?" Someone had to chase him away. "Sir Lyman had an accident on the road?" "He was hanged, with his entourage," Walder Rivers declared. "The bandits laid an ambush two leagues south of the Fairy's Bazaar." "Dondarrion?" "Either it's him, or Soros, or that Lady Stoneheart." James frowned.Ser Lyman was an idiot, a coward, a drunk, and no one missed him - least of all the Freys.If Edwin's dry eyes were telling the truth, even he, Ser Ryman's eldest son, would have liked his father's death.Having said that...the bandits were too courageous to hang Lord Walder's heir less than a day's ride away from the Twin River City. "How many entourages did Lyman bring with him?" he asked. "Three knights and a dozen soldiers," He Wen confided. "The bandits seem to know when he will return to Twin River City, and know that there are not many guards around him." Edwin pursed his lips, "I bet it was my younger brother who did it! After the bandits hanged Petyr and Merry, he definitely let them go on purpose. They have a tacit understanding with each other! Now that my father died, in the dark I'm the only one left between Walder and the Twins!" "You have no proof," said Walder Rivers. "I don't need proof, I know my brother." "Your brother is in Seagarden," River Wen insisted. "How could he know when Sir Lyman will return to Twin River City?" "There is an informer," Edwin said bitterly. "There is no doubt that he has planted spies in my camp." And you also planted spies in Haijiang City.James was aware of the growing animosity between Edwin and Black Walder, but he didn't care one bit about which of them would succeed his grandfather. "I'm sorry to disturb your condolences," he said dryly, "but one thing needs to be confirmed. When you get back to the Twins, be sure to inform Lord Walder that King Tommen wants him to hand over the All the hostages captured." Ser Warder frowned. "Those are valuable hostages, ser." "Kings don't ask for things of no value." Foyle and He Wen exchanged a look.Edwin said, "For these prisoners, my lord grandfather demands compensation." Unless it makes me grow a new hand, he's still dreaming, James thought. "Well, it's all right to think about it," he said kindly. "Tell me, is Ser Leonard Westerling among the prisoners?" "That sea shell knight?" Edwin sneered, "I'm afraid it has been thrown into the Green Fork River to feed the fish." "He was in the yard when our men went to capture the direwolf," Walder Rivers explained. "Whalen asked him to hand over his weapon, and he obediently did so until the crossbowmen fired arrows at the wolf. He One took Whalen's ax and cut through the net to release the monster. Whalen said he took arrows in the shoulder and stomach, but managed to make it to the wall walk and threw himself into the river." "His blood is all over the ramparts," Edwin said. "Did you find the body?" James demanded. "We found more than a thousand corpses. After a few days in the water, they all became the same." "Like a hanged man." James dropped the words and walked away. The next morning, all that was left of the Freys' camp was flies and horse dung, and Ser Ryman's gallows stood alone on the banks of the Tumblestone.Cousin asked what to do with it, and the swarm of siege machines that had been built earlier, including rams, ladders, towers, and trebuchets.Davon's suggestion was to drag them to Raventree, and Jaime wanted him to burn them all, starting with the gallows. "I will deal with Lord Tytos myself, without a siege tower." Davon smiled through his bushy beard. "One-on-one duel, old cousin? It's not fair. Tytos is an old man dying." An old man with two hands. He played Sir Ilyn for three hours that night, one of his best nights.Converted to a real battle, Pine only killed him twice, but usually he could kill him six or seven times a night, or even more. "One more year of practice, and I'll be as good as Pie," Jaime declared, as Ser Ilyn made that gruff sound that sounded like laughter. "Come on, let's have a glass of Horst Tully's superb red wine." Drinking red wine became a ritual they performed every night.Sir Ilyn was the perfect drinker, he never interrupted, never denied your opinion, never complained, never flattered, never told endless nonsense stories.He just listens while drinking. "I should have pulled out the tongues of all my friends," James said, filling his glass, "including my relatives. How sweet Cersei would be without words. But I'll miss her when we kiss Tongue out." He drank it down.The red wine has a high alcohol content, but the taste is refreshing, making him warm from head to toe. "I can't remember when we first kissed. It was a game, but it wasn't." He pushed the glass away. "Tyrion once said to me that most whores don't kiss you, they just fuck you with their eyes closed, and he said you couldn't feel any emotion on their lips. Hey, you think my old lady kissed Kate Blake?" Ser Ilyn made no answer. "I don't think it's right to kill my own sworn brother. I'll have to castrate him and send him to the Wall. You know? That's what they do with Lukamer the 'Witcher', of course, Ser Osney Not obediently, he has brothers to back him up. Brothers, brothers are a dangerous thing. Aegon the 'Unworthy King' killed Ser Terence Toyne for sleeping with his mistress, and Toyne's brother Tried all means to avenge him, and in the end the Dragon Knight saved the king with his life. The White Code recorded all these things, all things, except did not teach me how to deal with Cersei." Ser Ilyn held out a finger and gestured at the neck. "No," Jaime refused, "Tomen has lost his brother, lost the man he thought was his father, and if I kill his mother again, he will hate me forever...his sweet little queen will This hatred is channeled into the service of the High Court." Ser Ilyn gave the kind of smile James didn't like.Ugly laugh, ugly soul. "You talk too much." He warned the other party. The next day, Sir Dermot of the Rainforest returned empty-handed.He reported as follows: "Found nothing, except a few hundred damned wolves." Two of his sentries were thrown down by a pack of wolves rushing out of the darkness, wailing. "The Sentinels wore mail and boiled leather, but the monsters had no fear. Jeter died saying the leader of the pack was a giant she-wolf, a direwolf. Then the wolves charged into the horses, damn it , they killed my favorite mare." "Remember to light a circle of torches around the camp at night." I wonder if the direwolf Sir Dermot was talking about was the same one that hurt Joffrey at the crossroads? Wolves or no wolves, Sir Dermot still changed horses the next morning under his strict urging, and set off with more men to continue the search for Brynden Tully.In the afternoon, the princes of the Three Rivers came to bid farewell together, and James agreed one by one.Lord Piper repeatedly asked about his son Marco. "All captives will be redeemed," Jaime promised.Count Karel Vance stayed for a while longer, "Master James, you must go to Raventree City in person. As long as Genos is leading the team outside the city, Tytos will never surrender, but I Know, and he'll bow his knees to you." James thanked him for his advice. Zhuang Zhu came to bid farewell next, and he wanted to return to Dairui City as promised to wipe out the bandits. "Damn, we rode halfway across the country for what? To see you scare Edmure in the shit? Nobody sings about that. I want a war! I want the head of the Hound, Jaime, or that frontier The head of the Earl." "You can take the Hound's head if you want," Jaime ordered, "but Beric Dondarrion's life must be saved. I will take him back to King's Landing and execute him in front of all the people, or no one will believe he is dead." " Zhuang Zhu muttered for a long time, but finally had to accept.The next day, he took away his squires and bodyguards, plus Jon Bentley "Beardless" - a man who found it easier to hunt down bandits than go home to face his famous ugly wife.He has no beard, but it is said that his wife has a beard. James begins to dismantle the former Tully garrison.All these men declared in unison that they knew nothing of Ser Brynden's plans or whereabouts. "They lied!" Emmon Frey decided.James disagreed, "If you don't reveal the plan, no one can betray you. That's the safest way." Mrs. Gina wants to interrogate several leaders of the garrison.He refused, "I promised Edmure that as long as they surrender, they will be allowed to leave freely." "You are a noble person," my aunt commented, "but rulers don't need nobility, what they need is strength." You ask Edmure if I'm noble, James thought. Ask him about the trebuchet.He was sure no future maester would write him with Prince Aemon the Dragonknight.He didn't care at all.The war is finally over.Dragonstone has fallen, Storm's End is just around the corner, and if Stannis flees to the Wall, he is welcome.Predictably, the Yankees disliked him as much as the Lords of the Stormlands, and even if Roose Bolton failed, Winter would destroy him completely. Thankfully, he didn't shed a drop of blood at Riverrun, nor did he take up arms against the Starks or the Tullys.Just wait for the black fish to be found, and you're done, you can return to King's Landing.I should be with the king, with my son.Does Tommen understand how I feel?The truth would cost him his throne.Do you want the father or the ugly chair, kid?James wished he knew the answer.The kid's favorite thing so far is stamping paper.He won't even believe my words.At least Cersei would vehemently deny it.My dear old lady, liar, big liar.He'd have to find a way to get Tommen over before Cersei could turn him into a second Joffrey, and then he'd have to form a brand new council to assist the child.Cersei steps aside, and Ser Kevan should agree to be Hand.It's okay if he doesn't want to turn back, the Seven Kingdoms have plenty of talents.Fowler Prester is a good choice, or Roland Crakehall, if the Tyrells are not satisfied with the Westlanders, he can also recommend Matus Rowan...or even Petyr Baelish .Yes, although Littlefinger is smart and tactful, but his background is too low, without his own weapons, the big princes will not take him as a threat.He is the perfect prime minister. The Tully guards left Riverrun the next morning.Jaime stripped them of all arms and armor, but allowed each to take three days' food and clothing, and he made them solemnly swear an oath never to take up arms against Lord Ammon or House Lannister. "If you're lucky, one out of ten people will keep the oath." Mrs. Gina said. "Excellent. Nine men are easier to deal with than ten, and you know, that tenth man might be the one who killed me." "Nine people can kill you equally." "It's better to be killed on the battlefield than to die in bed inexplicably." Or have a dwarf shoot you while squatting on the toilet. Two of them would not go home: Ser Desmond Greer, old master of Riverrun, and Ser Robin Wryger, captain of the guard.They asked to be dressed in black. "The castle has been my home for forty years," Greer said. "Where can I go if you set me free? I'm too old and fat to be a hedge knight. There's always a shortage of men on the Wall anyway." "As you wish." Another troublesome thing happened in the aftermath.James allowed them to keep their armor and weapons, and arranged for more than a dozen soldiers under Gregor to escort them all the way to Maiden Springs.The command was given to Raffod, nicknamed "Sweetheart". "Send these gentlemen safely," James threatened, "or it will be a joke to compare Ser Gregor's handling of goats with my handling of you." A few days later, Lord Ammon asked all the residents of Riverrun—including the original servants and the people he brought—to gather in the courtyard to listen to him deliver a three-hour speech, emphasizing the importance of his earl lord. His status requires people to be respectful and obedient.From time to time he waved his warrants, and the stableboys, maids, and blacksmiths looked at him sullenly.Light raindrops fell. The singer Jaime had sent from Ser Ryman Frey was also listening.He stood in the open doorway where it was dry. "My lord should be a singer," the singer remarked. "His speech is longer than a frontier ballad, and he barely catches his breath." Jaime couldn't help laughing. "Master Ammon doesn't have to breathe as long as he has leaves to chew. What, you want to write a song for him?" "Write a funny song. How about 'Trout's Teachings'?" "Just don't sing in front of my aunt." James hadn't paid much attention to the singer before.He was a small man in green breeches and a faded green coat patched here and there with brown leather.His nose was long and pointed, his mouth was wide open, and his thin brown hair hung down to his neck in a disheveled mess that hadn't been washed for a long time.He was about fifty, James decided, and a wandering hired fiddler. "You used to be with Ser Lyman?" he asked. "It's only been half a month." "I thought you were leaving with the Freys." "This is Frey," said the singer, nodding at Lord Ammon, "and this castle looks like a good place to spend the winter. 'White Smile' Walter has returned home with Ser Fowler, and I Trying to win his place. Even if I don't have Walter's sweet high note, I can sing more than twice as many dirty ditties as he does—ah, forgive me, my lord." "You'll be my aunt's star," James said. "If you want to stay over the winter, remember to please Mrs. Gina. She's the real master here." "You're not staying?" "I should have stayed with the king, and I'll be back soon." "It's a pity, my lord. I can sing much more than "The Rains of Castamere," and I'd love to perform for you... oh, all kinds of things." "Let's talk later," James said. "What's your name?" "Tom Seven, my lord." The singer took off his hat. "They call me Tom Seven, too." "Good luck, Tom Sevenstrings." That night, he dreamed that he was back in the Great Sept of Baelor, continuing his father's vigil.The sanctuary was dark and silent, a woman emerged from the shadows and walked slowly towards the coffin. "Sister?" he asked. She is not Cersei.She is all gray, the Silent Sister, with a hood and a veil covering her face, but candlelight dances in her eyes like green ponds. "Sister," he asked again, "what do you want me to do?" His voice echoed in the sanctuary.I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want me. "I'm not your sister, James," she said, lifting her hood with pale, soft hands. "Have you forgotten me?" I don't know you at all, how can I forget?He couldn't say it.Oh, of course I knew her, a long time ago... "Did you forget me, even your father? But I don't think you ever really got to know him." Her eyes were the color of emeralds, her hair was bright gold, and he couldn't tell her age.Fifteen?He thought to himself, fifty years old?She climbed the steps and stood in front of the coffin. "He can't stand people laughing at him. That's what he hates the most." "Who are you?" He was afraid of her answer. "I ask you, who are you?" "It's just a dream." "Really?" she smiled sadly. "Look at your hands, child." one hand.There was only one hand, tightly gripping the hilt of the sword.Only one hand. "In my dreams, I always have two hands." He raised his right arm, looking at the ugly severed limb incomprehensibly. "We dream what we can't have. Tywin dreams that his sons will be great knights, and his daughters will be queens. He dreams that they will be strong and brave and beautiful, and no one can laugh at them." "I am a knight," he told her, "and Cersei is a queen." A tear rolled down her cheek.The woman put her hood back on and turned to leave.Jaime called to her, but she didn't hear her, and her skirts whirled slightly, scraping the floor and drifting away.Don't leave me, he wanted to yell, but in fact, she left them many years ago. He woke up shivering in the dark.The bedroom is as cold as ice.James threw back the blanket with his severed limb, the fire was out and the window was blown open.He walked through the dark room to close the narrow window, stepped on the ground with bare feet, and felt something wet, which made him flinch subconsciously.He thought it was blood at first, but blood was never this cold. Snow, snow is floating outside the window. So he opened the window all the way.The courtyard below had been covered with a thin carpet of crisp white, and was getting heavier and heavier.Merlon hooded.The snowflakes drifted quietly, and some of them melted in his face.James saw his breath frost. It's snowing in the river.If it snows here, it snows in Lannisport or King's Landing.Winter has swept from the north to the south, and half the barns in the country are still empty.All the unharvested crops have been destroyed, and it is impossible to sow any more, and there is no hope of a last bountiful harvest.He didn't know how his father should support the common people all over the country, and only after thinking about it did he realize that his father was dead. In the morning, the snow was ankle deep, and in the godswood, the snow piled up under the trees, and the snow piled deeper.Under the influence of this cold white magic, the squires, stable boys, and noble-born bartenders were all turned into children again, and they played snowball fights on the battlements and in the yard everywhere, making a mess.James listened to them laugh.Not too long ago, he had a happy time too, he made the best snowballs of the three, he'd throw them at Tyrion staggering after him, he'd put them in the back of Cersei's dress .To make the best snowballs, you need two hands. At this time, someone knocked lightly on the door. "Go and open the door, Pie." It was the old maester from Riverrun who came, a letter in his weather-beaten and wrinkled hand.Master Wayman's face was as white as new snow. "I know," said James first, "the crows of the Citadel are here, and winter is here." "No, my lord. The bird came from King's Landing. I took it apart...I don't know..." He held out the letter. James sat reading the letter by the window, in the cold, pale morning light.Qyburn's words are concise, and Cersei's emotions are passionate.Come back now, she said, help me, save me, I need you more than ever.I love you, I love you, I love you.Come back immediately. Wayman was waiting by the door, and Pitt was also watching. "Does your lord want to reply?" After a long silence, the maester asked. A snowflake fell on the letter paper and slowly melted, slowly blurring the words on the letter.James rolled it up, as hard as one hand could, and handed it to Pie. "No," he said, "burn it."