Chapter 44 Chapter 43 Arya

When she saw the shape of a high mountain in the distance, shining golden in the afternoon sun, she immediately understood that she had returned to her noble heart. At sunset, they climbed to the summit and camped at this so-called "unharmed" place.Arya walked around the weirwood stumps with Eddard, Lord Beric's squire, and then stood side by side on one of them as they watched the last rays of light fade to the west.From this height she saw a raging storm in the north, but a noble heart stood above the freezing rain.However, it was not above the wind, and the gust of wind was blowing violently, as if someone was pulling her cloak, but she turned around and looked, but there was no one at all.

Ghosts, she remembered, the noble heart was haunted. The bandits made a great fire on the top of the hill, and Thoros of Myr sat cross-legged beside him, gazing into the depths of the flames as if there was nothing else in the world. "What is he doing?" Arya asked Ed. "He can sometimes see things in the flames," the squire told her, "like the past, the future, or things happening in distant places." Arya squinted at the fire to see if she could see what the red priest was seeing, but it only brought tears to her eyes, and she looked away after a while.Gendry stared at the red monk, too. "Can you really see the future through fire?" he asked suddenly.

Thoros looked away from the fire and sighed. "I can't do it here and now, but sometimes, I can do it. This is the ability bestowed on me by the King of Light." Gendry looked suspicious. "My master says you're a drunkard, a liar, and the worst monk in the world." "It's not kind." Soros giggled. "It's true, but it's not kind. Who is your master? Do I know you, child?" "I'm an apprentice of Tob Mott, a master of weapons. He does business in Steel Street. You often buy swords from him." "That's it. He charged me twice the price, and then scolded me for setting them on fire." Soros laughed loudly, "Your master is right, I am not a decent priest. As the youngest of eight children, I was given by my father The Red Temple was not the path I chose. I recite prayers and learn spells, but I also often take the lead in sweeping the kitchen, and teach people to find girls hidden in the bed from time to time. Naughty girls, I never know how they run bed."

"However, I am very gifted with languages, and when I stare at the holy flame, uh, sometimes I see something. Even so, it is still a burden and not of much value, so I was sent to King's Landing by them to be responsible for bringing the light to the fire. The king's faith spread to Westeros, who was obsessed with the seven gods. They thought that King Aerys loved fire so much, and maybe he could take advantage of it, but unfortunately, those pyromancers are better than me." "But King Robert likes me. In my first joust I held Kevan Lannister's centaur with a flaming sword and knocked him to the ground, His Grace laughed so hard I I think his stomach is about to explode." The red-robed monk smiled as he recalled. "However, steel should not be treated like this. Your master is right again."

"Fire consumes everything," Lord Berry said as he stood behind them, something in his voice silenced Thoros instantly. "Swallow everything, and when it passes, leave nothing behind. Leave nothing behind." "Berry. Dear friend." The monk touched the Lightning Lord on the forearm. "What did you say?" "Just words. Six times, Soros? Six times is too much." He turned away abruptly. The wind that night was howling like wolves, and some real wolves far to the west were teaching the wind how to howl.Notch, Anguy, and Merry of Moontown were on watch, Ed, Gendry, and the others were sleeping hot, and Arya spied a small pale figure slinking out from behind the horses, leaning on a lump His black cane and thin white hair fluttered wildly.The woman was not more than three feet tall, and her eyes glowed red in the firelight, like Jon's wolf.His name is Bai Ling.Arya stalked close, knelt down to watch.

The little woman sat uninvited by the fire, and Thoros, Lemon, and Lord Berry were there.She squinted at them with burning eyes. "Embers and Lemons have come to visit again, and His Majesty the King of Dead Corpses." "Unlucky name. I tell you not to use it." "Yes, you did, but you do radiate a strong smell of death, my lord." She had only one tooth left. "Give me the wine, or I'll leave. With this old bone, my joints hurt when the wind blows, but here it's so high, the wind never stops." "A silver deer for your dream, ma'am," said the Earl of Berry, solemnly but modestly. "If you have any news, add another one."

"This silver deer can neither be eaten nor ridden. I said, a bag of wine in exchange for my dreams, and that stupid big man in the yellow cloak gives me a kiss in exchange for my news." The short woman chattered, "Yes, Wet kisses, with tongues. Too long, too long...his mouth smells of lemons, mine smells of bones. I'm too old." "Yeah," Lemon complained, "you're too old for wine and kisses. The best you'll ever get from me is a blow from the back of a sword, old woman." "Well, my hair fell out in handfuls, and it seemed like a thousand years, and I hadn't been kissed. It's been hard work being so old. Well, then I'll have a song, by Tom Sevenstrings, in exchange for news. "

"Tom will sing for you." Earl Bailey promised, and handed her the wine bag himself after speaking. The short woman took a swig, the wine dripping from her chin.She put down the bag and wiped her mouth with the back of her wrinkled hand, "Can bad wine be exchanged for bad news? Is it bad enough for you that the king is dead?" Arya's heart was stuck in her throat. "Damn it, which king, old woman?" Lemon demanded. "The one in the water, the Kraken King, my lords. Last time I dreamed he was going to die, and this time he did, and the Iron Squids started killing each other. Oh, and Lord Hoster Tully is dead too." , but you know, don't you? The goat sits alone in the house of kings with a high fever, and the big dog comes to attack." The old woman squeezed the wine bag and lifted it to her lips, and took another swig.

Big dog.The Hound? His brother, The Mountain? Arya couldn't be sure.They have the same coat of arms, three black dogs on a yellow background.Half of her prayer list had to do with Ser Gregor Clegane: Polliver, Dunson, Raff the Sweetmouth, the Notepad, plus Ser Gregor himself.Maybe Lord Beric will hang them all. "I dreamed that a wolf howled in the rain, but no one listened to his misfortune," continued the little woman. "I dreamed that there was such a piercing noise that my head would explode, with drums, horns, flutes and Screams, but the saddest thing is the sound of little bells. I dreamed of a maiden at a party, with purple vipers in her hair, and deadly juices dripping from their teeth. Later, I dreamed of that maiden again Killed an invincible giant outside the ice castle." She turned her head suddenly, smiling at Arya in the darkness, "You can't hide from me, child. Come closer, quicker."

Hearing her say that, Arya felt as if countless cold fingers had been inserted into her neck.Fear hurts worse than swords, she reminded herself, and she stood up and approached the fire cautiously, tiptoeing ready to flee. The short woman looked at her with dark red eyes. "I saw you," she whispered, "I saw you. Little wolf child. Blood child. I thought the breath of death came from the Earl..." She began to sob, her thin body trembling constantly. "How could you come to my hill? Too cruel, so cruel! I've tasted all my sorrows in Summerhall, and I don't want to feel yours anymore. Go away, Blackheart, go away!"

There was so much fear in her voice that Arya stepped back and wondered if the old woman was mad. "Don't scare the child," Soros protested, "she's innocent." Lemon Cloak touched his cracked nose, "Damn it, don't be too sure." "She will leave with us in the morning," Lord Bailey assured the little woman. "We will take her to Riverrun and return her to her mother." "No," said the short woman, "wrong. The Three Rivers area is now in the hands of Blackfish... To find her mother, you have to go to Twin Rivers, there is a wedding there." She giggled, "Look into your fire , pink-robed monk, you will understand. But not here and now, here you can see nothing, because this place is still the old gods... They wander here like me, decaying, but not dying. They Don't like fire. The oak bears acorns, the acorns grow oaks, and the weirwood stump holds all the memories—they remember the First Men came here with torches." She gulped down the last of her wine, and poured Throwing the wineskin aside, he pointed his cane at Lord Berry. "Now, I want my reward, and I want to listen to the song you promised." So the lemon woke Tom Lyre, who lay under the fur, and the singer yawned, and was led to the fire with the woodharp in his hand. "The same song?" he asked. "Oh yes, my Jenny's song. Can there be anything else?" The singer began to sing, and the short woman closed her eyes and rocked slowly back and forth, sobbing loudly as she crooned the words.Thoros grabbed Arya's hand tightly and pulled her aside. "Let the old woman enjoy her song in peace," he said, "she has nothing more." I mean no harm to her, Arya thought. "What did she mean by the Twins? My mother's at Riverrun, isn't she?" "It should be." The red-robed monk rubbed the bottom of his chin. "She said there was a wedding, er, we'll figure it out. Don't worry, Lord Berry will find her wherever she is." Soon after, lightning tore the sky apart, thunder rolled across the mountains, and rain poured down, blurring vision.The little woman disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared, while the bandits gathered sticks and erected crude awnings. It rained all night, and in the morning, Ed, Lemon, and Wat the Miller woke up cold, and Wat couldn't even eat breakfast, while little Ed was feverish, shivering, and his skin was sticky to the touch.Noch told Earl Bailey that there was an abandoned village half a day's ride north, where he could rest and shelter from the rain.So they reluctantly got on their horses and set off down the giant peak. The rain did not abate.The men and horses walked through the woods and fields, and forded the swollen creeks, whose swift currents reached the horses' bellies.Arya pulled up her hood and lowered her body. Although she was soaked and trembling, she showed no sign of weakness.Soon Merry and Moggie started coughing as violently as Wattie, and poor Ed got worse with every mile he walked. “With the helmet on, the rain hitting the iron gives me a headache,” he complained, “but when the helmet is taken off, the hair is soaked in water, sticks to the face, and gets in the mouth.” "You've got the dagger," Gendry suggested. "If hair is such a nuisance, shave that damned head." He doesn't like Ed.The squire seemed fine with Arya, shy perhaps, but good-natured.She had often heard that Dornishmen were small and dark, with black hair and small dark eyes, but Eddard had big blue eyes, so dark they were almost purple.His hair was pretty, too, platinum blonde like ash and honey. "How long have you been Lord Berry's squire?" she asked, to distract him from the pain. "He took me as a squire when he was engaged to my aunt," he replied, coughing. "I was seven years old. He made me a squire when I was ten. I won the jousting." "I have no spear, but I can beat you with a sword," Arya said. "Have you ever killed someone?" The words seemed to startle him. "I'm only twelve years old." I killed a boy when I was eight, and Arya almost said it, then it didn't feel right. "Well, but you fought a war." "Yeah," he didn't sound very proud of it. "At Mummer's Fort, Lord Berry fell into the river. I dragged him ashore so that he wouldn't drown, and stood beside him with my sword. But I didn't fight the enemy at all. My lord was stabbed A broken spear, so no one cared. When we regrouped, Glenn Jechin helped pull my lord onto the horse." Arya thought of the stable boy in King's Landing, the guard with their throats slit at Harrenhal, and Ser Amory's men at the manor by the lake.She wondered if Wes and Chiswick counted, and those who had died from weasel soup...Suddenly, she felt very sad. "My father's name was Ed, too," she said. "I know. I saw him at the Prime Minister's tourney. I wanted to go up and talk to him, but I couldn't think of anything to say." Ed was shivering under his cloak, which was soaked in water. "Are you at the tourney too? I saw your sister there, and Ser Loras Tyrell gave her a rose." "She told me." A thousand years ago. "Her friend Jenny Poole is in love with your Lord Berry." "He's engaged to my aunt." Ed was a little uneasy. "But that was before. Before he..." ...before death? she thought, as Ed's voice faded into an embarrassed silence.The horse's hooves trampled in the mud, making a sticky sound. "Miss?" Ed finally said, "You have a concubine brother... Jon Snow?" "He serves with the Night's Watch on the Wall." Maybe I should go to the Wall instead of Riverrun.Jon doesn't care who I kill, or if I comb my hair..." Jon looks a lot like me, even though he's bastard. He used to mess with my hair and call me 'my little sister' ’” Arya misses Jon most, and just saying his name breaks her heart. "How do you know Jon?" "He's my grandma's brother." "Brother?" Arya didn't understand, "but you are from Dorne, how can you be related to Jon?" "It's a milk brother, no blood relationship. When I was a child, my mother had no milk, so I had to let Vera breastfeed." Arya was completely confused. "Who is Vera?" "Jon Snow's mother, didn't he tell you? She has served us for many years, since before I was born." "Jon never knew who his mother was, not even her name." Arya gave Eddard a wary look. "You know her? Really?" Is he kidding me? "If you Lie and I'll punch you in the face." "Vera is my nurse," he repeated gravely, "and I swear it on the honor of my family." "Your family?" How stupid!He's a squire, and of course has a family. "who the hell are you?" "Miss?" Ed seemed embarrassed. "I'm Edric Dayne... Lord of Starfall City." Gendry groaned behind him. "Lord and lady," he cried in disgust.Arya plucked a shriveled sour fruit from a branch and threw it at him, smashing it on the dull cow's head. "Oh," he said, "it hurts." He touched the top of his eyes. "What kind of lady throws things at people?" "The bad kind," Arya said, turning back to Ed with sudden remorse. "Sorry, I don't know your identity, my lord." "It's my fault, miss." He was very polite. Jon has a mother.Vera, her name is Vera.She had to remember that she could tell him the next time she met.She wondered if Jon would still call himself "my little sister."I am no longer young.He needs to change his name.Perhaps when we get to Riverrun, I write to Jon and tell him what Eddine said. "There was Arthur Dayne," she remembered, "something 'Excalibur of Dawn.'" "My father is Sir Arthur's elder brother, and he has a younger sister, Miss Ashara—but I never knew her. Before I was born, she jumped into the sea from the top of the White Stone Sword Tower." "Why did she do that?" Arya asked in amazement. Ed looked wary, as if afraid that Arya would throw something at him too. "Didn't your lord father tell you?" he asked, "Miss Ashara Dayne of Starfall?" "No. He knew her?" "She met your father and his brothers and sisters at Harrenhal in the wrong spring, before Robert became king." "Oh," Arya didn't know what to say, "why did she jump into the sea?" "Because her heart is broken." Sansa would sigh and cry for true love, but Arya thought that was stupid.Of course, she couldn't say that to Ed, she couldn't say that about his own aunt. "Did someone break her heart?" He hesitated, "Maybe I shouldn't..." "Tell me." He looked at her uneasily, "According to my aunt Alilia, Miss Ashara and your father fell in love at Harrenhal—" "No. He loves my lord mother." "I'm sure he loves it, but, miss—" "He only loves her." "Then he must be the bastard he found under the cabbage leaves," Gendry said afterward. Arya wished there was another sour fruit to throw in his face. "My father was a man of honor," she emphasized angrily, "and we haven't spoken to you. Why don't you go back to Stonetown and let that girl ring your ben?" Gendry ignored it. "At least your father raised the bastard, unlike mine, whose name I don't even know. But I'll bet he was a stinking drunk, like any other man my mother dragged home from the tavern. Every time she gets mad at me she says: 'If your father was here, he'd beat you up.' That's all I know about him." He spat. "Well! If he came here now, maybe I'd give him a good beating. I think he's dead, and your father is dead, so what does it matter who he sleeps with?" To Arya, it mattered, though she couldn't say exactly why.Ed tried to apologize for offending her, but Arya didn't want to hear it, and she kneeled the horse and left the two boys.Archer Anguy was riding not far ahead.She ran after her. "Dornees are liars, aren't they?" "They are famous all over the world for this." Archer grinned, "Of course, they also accuse us of the frontier people, that's all. Is there any problem? Ed is a good boy..." "He's a fool, liar!" Arya left the path, leaped over a rotting tree, and splashed into the riverbed, ignoring the shouts of the bandits behind her.They just want to keep lying.She wanted to escape from them, but there were too many people on the other side and they knew the terrain well.What's the use of running away if you're sure you'll be caught? Finally it was Harwin who rode beside her. "Where do you want to go, miss? You shouldn't run away alone. There are wolves in the forest, and worse things." "I'm not afraid," she said. "The boy named Ed said..." "Yes, he told me too. Miss Ashara Dayne. It's an old story. I heard it once in Winterfell, when I was about your age." He held her horse's reins firmly. , turn around. "I doubt there is any truth in it. If there was, so what? His brother Brandon was still alive when your father, Lord Eddard, met this Miss of Dorne, and was engaged to Lady Catelyn, so His honor was not tarnished. Tournament is the most exciting occasion, maybe some night, some tent, some tryst, who knows? Tryst, kiss, maybe more than that, then there is What's the harm? Spring has come, or so they thought then, and neither is engaged to each other." "But she killed herself," Arya said uncertainly. "Ed said she jumped into the sea from a tower." "She killed herself," Harwin admitted as he led her back, "I bet it was out of grief, don't forget, she lost her brother, the legendary Sword of Dawn." He shook his head. "Let it be, miss. They're all dead, all dead, let it be . . . and don't tell your mother these things when you get to Riverrun." The location of the village is exactly the same as what Nuoqi said.They camped in graystone stables, of which only half the roof remained, but more than any other building in the village.This is not a village, only charred stones and bones remain. "Did the people here teach the Lannisters to kill?" Arya asked, brushing Anguy's horse. "No," he pointed, "look at how thick the moss is on the stone. It hasn't been touched in a long time. There's a tree growing out of the wall, see? This place was looted and burned long ago." "Who did it?" Gendry asked. "Horst Tully." Notch was a stooped, gray-haired thin man who had been born around here. "This is the village of Lord Goodback. When Riverrun declared its support for Robert, Goodback was still loyal to the king, so Duke Tully came with fire and sword. After the Battle of Three Rivers, old Goodback's son and Robert Make peace with Lord Hoster, but the dead are dead." Then there was silence.Gendry gave Arya an odd look, then turned to groom his horse.It was raining non-stop outside. "Let's make a fire," Soros announced. "The night is dark and sinister everywhere, and it's pretty dank, too, isn't it? Very, very dank." Lucky Jack cuts down the barn for firewood while Notch and Merry gather straw for the fire.Soros himself ignited the sparks, and Lemon fanned them with his rhubarb cloak until the flames whirled and circled.Soon, the stables became very hot.Thoros sat cross-legged in front of the fire, staring into the depths of the flames, just as he had in Noble Heart.As Arya watched him, his lips moved, and she thought she heard him whisper, "Riverrun."Lemon coughed and paced back and forth with a long shadow, while Tom Sevenstrings took off his boots and rubbed the soles of his feet. "I'm crazy to go back to Riverrun," the singer complained. "Old Tom never had any good luck with the Tullys. Lysa drove me up the mountain road, and the Moonmen robbed me of my horse and my money, and all my clothes. The Knights of the Vale still laugh at me for being completely naked." , walked back to Blood Gate with a harp. They forced me to sing 'The Boy on Name Day' and 'The King Without Courage' before opening the gate, and the only consolation was that three people died laughing! Since then, I Never to the Eyrie again, and never to sing 'King of Courage' again, even if all Casterly Rock's gold was given to me—" "Lannister," Thoros called, "roaring red and gold." He swayed, stood up, and walked to Lord Beric.Lemon and Tom immediately follow.Arya couldn't hear what they were saying, but the singer kept glancing at her while Lemon punched the wall angrily.At this moment, Earl Bailey gestured for her to come over.Her boss didn't want to, but Harwin put his hand on his vest and pushed her forward.She took two steps, hesitating, full of fear. "My lord." She waited for Lord Bailey to speak. "Tell her." The Lightning King ordered Thoros. The red-robed monk knelt down beside her. "Miss," he said, "God gave me a vision of Riverrun. It was an island in flames, and the flames were leaping lions with long crimson claws, roaring furiously! A piece of Lannister The sea, my lady, Riverrun will soon be attacked." Arya felt a punch in the stomach. "No!" "My dear," said Thoros, "there are no lies in the holy flame. I have limited ability and sometimes misread, but I think this time is right: Riverrun will be besieged by the Lannisters." "Rob will beat 'em," Arya said stubbornly. "Beat them like before." "Your brother may have left," Thoros said, "and your mother, I didn't see their faces in the holy fire. The wedding that the old woman said was held in the Twin Rivers——she has a way of getting information, really , the weirwood would whisper in her ear in her sleep. If your mother went to the Twins..." Arya turned to Tom and Lemon. "If you don't catch me, I'm already in Riverrun, I'm home!" Lord Berry ignored her outburst. "Miss," he said with weary humility, "have you ever seen your uncle? Ser 'Blackfish' Bryndon? Or does he know you?" Arya shook her head pitifully.She had heard her mother talk about Sir Brynden the Blackfish, but if she had really met him, it was at a very young age and she didn't remember anything at all. "Heiyu can't possibly pay a large sum of money for a little girl he doesn't know," Tom said. "Everyone in the Tully family is suspicious and pedantic, and most of them think we're liars." "We can make proof," insisted Lemoncloak. "She, or Harwin. Riverrun is near here, so drop her there, take the money, fuck it, and never mind. " "What if you are surrounded by lions?" Tom asked back. "They would like to put the Earl in a cage and hang him on the top of Casterly Rock." "I will not be caught," said Lord Bailey.The implication hangs in the air.I would rather die in battle.They all heard it, even Arya, though the Lightning King didn't say it. "However, I can't act blindly. I want to know the deployment of the army. Both the wolf and the lion need to know. Sharma knows something, the maester of Lord Vance knows more, and Acorn Hall is nearby. During the scouting period , Madam Smallwood can temporarily provide accommodation..." His words hit Arya's ear like a drum, suddenly more than she could bear.She wanted Riverrun, not Acorn Hall; she wanted her mother and brother Robb, not Lady Smallwood, or some uncle she didn't know.She turned and rushed for the door, and Harwin tried to grab her arm, but she sidled away, swift as a snake. Outside the stables, the rain was still falling, and lightning flashed in the far west.Arya ran as fast as she could, but she didn't know where she was going, she just wanted to be alone, away from the voices, the empty words and the promises that couldn't be kept.I want to go to Riverrun.It's my own fault, I took Gendry and Hot Pie with me when I left Harrenhal, if I was alone, I wouldn't be caught by the bandits, and now I can reunite with Robb and mother .They are not of my race at all, and if they were, they would never leave me.She stepped through a puddle of muddy water, splashing countless water splashes.Someone called her name, maybe it was Harwin, maybe it was Gendry, but the thunder after the lightning rolled over the hill and drowned their voices.The Lightning King, she thought angrily, it's no wonder he couldn't die! From somewhere to the left came the neighing of a horse.It was only fifty yards from the stable? But it felt soaked to the bone.She ducked around the corner of a collapsed house, hoping the moss-covered walls would provide shelter from the rain, but nearly bumped into a sentry.A steel armored hand gripped her arm tightly. "You hurt me," she yelled as she struggled in his grasp, "let go, I was going back, I..." "Go back?" Sandor Clegane's laughter was like steel rubbing against stones. "Hell, little wolf girl, you're mine now." He lifted her off the ground with one hand, and Arya kept fussing. She kicked, but Sandor Clegane dragged her toward the waiting horses without paying any attention.The cold rain whipped them both, washing away her shouts, and all Arya could think of was the question he had asked: Do you know what dogs do to wolves?