Dany "could hear the dead man coming" up the stairs. She thinks to herself, "He died for me." Her Dothraki handmaidens tell her it is bad luck to touch a dead man, unless you have killed him yourself. ("It is known.") Dany thinks how silly their superstitions are; "they are children."
Grey Worm appears first, helping four others carry the dead man. They lay the corpse at her feet. The dead man is about 20 years old, and had been slit open from ear to ear. He is stabbed, with more wounds than she can count. Dany thinks that she has seen the man before, but had never spoken with him.
Dany learns that there was a harpy drawn on the wall in blood where his body was found. She thinks that this is typical of the Sons of the Harpy.
Dany asks why he was out alone -- her men are supposed to be out in pairs. She is told that he had been at a brothel. Dany is puzzled, since he was a eunuch, but learns he just liked to be held. A eunuch is still a man.
Someone says that they estimate 6 men had attacked him. He may have fought back; he was found with an empty scabbard. The reason his throat is slit was not part of the attack; he was found with a goat's genitals shoved down his throat, and Grey Worm removed it.
"I am still at war, only now I am fighting shadows," Dany thinks. She commands the Unsullied to find the killers -- to see if any man has been treated for injuries, to see where all these goat genitals are coming from -- detective work, essentially. They leave, and Selmy tells her that the Unsullied are good soldiers, but not good at this investigative work she's now assigned. Dany agrees, and asks whether the knights Selmy has been training could do any better. No, he admits, they are too young. She says her Dothraki cannot do it either, and that Daario is off negotiating [I missed with whom]. Dany realizes no one is suited to the task. [Editor's note: As someone pointed out, this paves the way for Tyrion to show up -- this is exactly his forte.]
Dany leaves the room and goes outside to see one of her dragons lazing under a tree. She affectionately calls him lazy and scratches him under the chin. His scales are warm. "Dragons are fire made flesh," she thinks. She realizes she hasn't been giving them the attenion they need -- and they've been growing so quickly. Soon they will be large enough for her to ride.
She goes inside to get dressed. She hates wearing the tokhar that is the style for the upper classes b/c it's a pain in the @ss. Wrapped too loosely, it falls off; wrapped too tightly, it's constricting. Even when wrapped just right, she has to hold it closed with her left hand. She wanted not to wear it, but was told that Mereen's queen must wear it, else she would not be accepted. She puts on a crown of three dragons, and it is heavy. She recalls that one of the kings Aegon had said that the crown should never rest easy on its wearer's head, "but which Aegon?" She has forgotten.
This causes her to think back on the slaying of her family and what her life would be like now had that not occurred. This in turn causes her to think of the slain slaves she encountered on the road to Mereen, and her response. She thinks that perhaps she did not go far enough. She notes that the former slave owners had quickly hired their freed slaves at slave wages. "To rule Mereen, I must win the Merenese, even if I hate them," she thinks.
She goes to see two Merenese men who advise her. They have changed their Mereen hairstyles; they are shaven. One tells her they've heard of the murder, and that she must seek vengeance. She should kill one man from each of the upper class houses, and at the next murder, she should kill two from each house. The other man advises against this. Dany thinks of the prophesy that she will be thrice betrayed, and wonders who will be the third. She tells the two men to offer 1,000 coins as a reward for info on the murderers.
Dany goes down to court, where she hears from countless people.
The first man offers her a gift of slippers from "the butcher king," [Cleon?] who proposes that they join forces to march on Yunkai. She regrets not having taken the city. She tells the man she will not ally.
A man named Histar is next to come froward, causing Dany to sigh, but think, "I need this man." He ia a wealthy Merenese. She says, "How many times have I refused you? Five?" He says yes. She tells him she knows his arguments well enough to recite them herself, would he like to hear? She then recites a list of reasons as to why she should reopen the fighting pits. When she finishes, he tells her, "You've convinced me!" Someone whispers in her ear that it is traditional to tax the pits at 10%, implying that this is a good source of revenue. She declines to reopen the fighting pits. As he leaves, she thinks to herself that, if she felt she must marry a Merenese, he would be a good choice.
The next to come forward is typical of the former slave owners, who think of all sorts of reasons they need compensation for losing their slaves. His theory is that his former slaves learned weaving from an old slave of his that died; they've now opened a shop, and he should get a portion of the profits. Dany asks him what his old slave's name had been; when he does not know, she makes him buy the shop a new loom and sends him away.
Many others come forward seeking redress for the looting and chaos that accompanied her capture of Mereen. Dany thinks, "I am queen of a city of dust and death." Selmy tells her she should let some of her councillors handle some of these matters for her, but she will not.
Many people are coming to seek money for their sheep allegedly eaten by her dragons. She knows that many are false claims -- her boys can't possibly be eating that much -- but she pays them all. From now on, however, they must swear an oath in the temple before seeking payment. All are dismissed, but one man remains.
The man is holding a sack, and has red eyes. He looks only at the floor. When questioned, he says he has bones, and dumps them on the floor. He says he was out in his field, and the green dragon came out of the sky. One guy impatiently tells him, yes, yes, we know, are you stupid, didn't you hear?, go get your money for your sheep and leave. Dany snaps at him -- "You fool, can't you see? Those are not sheep's bones." They are the bones of a child.
SPOILERI iz Plesa sa zmajevima
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SPOILERI iz Plesa sa zmajevima
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:07 am
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deni 2
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:08 am
The chapter opens with Dany watching dancers in Mereen. Her thoughts drift to Daario and she thinks of how silly it is that she is jealous of his sword hilts, which are wrought of gold in the shapes of naked women. She sees Xaro Xhoan Daxos and thinks that she must speak with him about the thirteen ships he arrived in port with, as they may be the answers to her prayers.
Dany speaks with Xaro following the dance. He flatters her by telling her that he saw a child leave Qarth and sees now a Queen of an ancient city. The flattery doesn't sway her and her mind stays on acquring his thirteen ships.
Dany remembers the stories of Astapor and Yunkai being the linchpins of the slave trade in years past, after dragonfire had turned the lands into a desert following the war that Ghis brought to old Valyria. Xaro tells Dany that he knows of the Sons of the Harpy and their bounty on Dany's head. He has seen the blood drawn on the stone roads and walls. Xaro calls the Sons of the Harpy craven and speaks with Dany about the protection she has in Mereen. She names her bloodriders and Ser Barristan the Bold, who saved her twice from assassins. Xaro repeats Selmy's name, calling him "Barristan the Old" and tells Dany that Ser Jorah was a more fitting servant, younger and in better shape. Dany tells Xaro that she doesn't wish to speak of Jorah Mormont.
They speak of love. Xaro tells Dany that she needs to wed, and she agrees. Xaro offers himself, shedding a Qarthian crocodile tear, and Dany throws a cherry at him, not buying what he has for sale. She tells him that he showed more interest in the dancers than her. They go on to argue about the validity of the slave trade and Xaro tells her that things which may seem evil may be good. Xaro sees laborers that Dany has, such as a ditch-digger, as slaves. Dany explains that they are compensated and Xaro laughs it off, saying that there are no slaves in Mereen (though clearly meaning that this man is a slave, even if he is paid). As they walk, Xaro is made nervous by the fact that Ser Barristan follows them. Dany dismisses it, saying that he is an old knight and loyal.
Xaro continues pressing Dany about her abolition of the slave trade by saying that Mereen was rich but is now poor, was fed but is now starving and was peaceful, but is now bloody. This stings Dany. She promises to return Mereen to its station of greatness, but Xaro does not think this will happen. He goes on to tell her that battle was joined at the Horns of Hazzat and that the Butcher King has fled back to his palace with the new Unsullied running at his heels. Xaro tells her that the Wise Masters have hired legions of sellswords. He ensures her that while she seiges Yunkai, Mereen will fall behind her. Xaro tells Dany that she has many enemies, some in her own court. Dany thinks about the three betrayals. Dany lists her armies, the sellswords, the Second Sons, and the Stormcrows. She adds that she has dragons.
"Do you?" Xaro asks her. Dany thinks of Hazzea, the little girl killed by Drogon, and wonders what whispers have leaked from her court. Dany leads the conversation away from blood and fire and Xaro tells her of a gift he is to offer her. Dany follows, suspicious.
Xaro offers Dany the thirteen gallies in his fleet in exchange not for dragons, but for her agreement to sail to Westeros at once. She asks him what would happen if she chooses to wait a year or two or three. Xaro replies that he fears she will not live as long. Dany tells him that the Yunkai'i are not as fierce as he thinks, and he tells her to beware her other enemies, including those with blue lips. Dany assures him that she left all the Warlocks with Xaro in Qarth. Xaro tells her that she never looked behind herself and that Pyat Pree dispatched warlocks to trail her. Dany tells him that she spent fourteen years running from knives and would not run any longer. She dismisses Xaro, telling him she will think on it. He offers to bed her, but she kindly refuses.
When Xaro is gone, Dany calls Ser Barristan to her side. She tells him a riddle that Viserys once told her. "Who listens to everything but hears nothing?" The answer is a knight of the kingsguard. She asks Ser Barristan what he thinks of Xaro's offer. He wants Dany to take the ships and sail to Westeros. Dany thinks of Ser Jorah and, despite his betrayal, wishes for his counsel as she believes Ser Barristan "too blunt and sensible." They discuss the logistics of setting sail with so few ships and how to contain the dragons.
After the discussion, she tells Ser Barristan to lead her to the pit. He questions her a moment, but she insists. They wind through the structures beneath the great pyramid of Mereen. They reach the pit and Barristan holds Dany back. She asks him if he thinks "they" will harm her. Barristan does not know, but would no sooner risk it to chance.
The molten eyes of Viserion and Rhaegal burn in the darkness. Charred bones are on the floor and the place smells of sulphur and sweats with heat. The two smaller dragons are chained in captivity in one of the fighting pits. Dany speaks to Barristan of the dragons, asking if they will ever stop growing, as they are larger than when she last saw them. He tells her that they will continue to grow with enough space and food. But chained in a pit...
Dany wonders if they will grow to hate her or each other, whether they will die if she keeps them captive for too long. Dany thinks about the dangers of dragons, about Harrenhal and how it fell, the Dance with Dragons, and how Aegon III saw his own mother consumed by one of the beasts. She thinks of the slaver's eyes melting in Astapor to Drogon's flames and realizes that her dragons fear no men. Dany thinks of Hazzea, the young girl that Drogon killed, and wonders whether the Sons of the Harpy staged her death to create animosity toward Dany and her rule. She thinks of Hazzea's father and how she paid the bloodprice and how Reznak demanded that she kill him, or at least tear out his tongue so that he would not talk. Dany refused to do so and sent him away, Reznak telling him that his daughter had been killed by a snakebite or taken in the night by ravening wolves, but for him to NEVER mention dragons.
Dany looks at Viserion and wonders how long before his fire can melt iron and crack stone. She remembers leading him into the pit by herself and shutting him inside with a store of oxen. After he gorged, they chained him. Rhaegal had been more difficult. She hypothesizes that he heard Viserion's struggles and that it made him more difficult to contain. Dany's men caught him basking in the sun and used a net of iron to drag him into the pit. Six men were burned in the struggle, and two badly.
And then Drogon...
The winged shadow, as Hazzea's father called him, enjoyed sunbathing on the Great Pyramid where the Harpy statue once stood. Dany's men had tried to take him three times, and three times they failed. Four men were cooked by Drogon's flames. She last saw him flying over the Dothraki sea and had not seen him since the last time they tried to capture him.
Dany thinks of her title, "mother of dragons," and wonders if "mother of monsters" is more appropriate. She despairs, thinking about what she may have unleashed on the world. She thinks that she is the blood of the dragon, and that if her children are monsters, then so is she.
She looks at Ser Barristan and tells him that she told Xaro that she feared only one thing, though she would not tell the merchant what. Ser Barristan guesses that she only fears her dragons.
"Myself," Dany tells him.
Dany speaks with Xaro following the dance. He flatters her by telling her that he saw a child leave Qarth and sees now a Queen of an ancient city. The flattery doesn't sway her and her mind stays on acquring his thirteen ships.
Dany remembers the stories of Astapor and Yunkai being the linchpins of the slave trade in years past, after dragonfire had turned the lands into a desert following the war that Ghis brought to old Valyria. Xaro tells Dany that he knows of the Sons of the Harpy and their bounty on Dany's head. He has seen the blood drawn on the stone roads and walls. Xaro calls the Sons of the Harpy craven and speaks with Dany about the protection she has in Mereen. She names her bloodriders and Ser Barristan the Bold, who saved her twice from assassins. Xaro repeats Selmy's name, calling him "Barristan the Old" and tells Dany that Ser Jorah was a more fitting servant, younger and in better shape. Dany tells Xaro that she doesn't wish to speak of Jorah Mormont.
They speak of love. Xaro tells Dany that she needs to wed, and she agrees. Xaro offers himself, shedding a Qarthian crocodile tear, and Dany throws a cherry at him, not buying what he has for sale. She tells him that he showed more interest in the dancers than her. They go on to argue about the validity of the slave trade and Xaro tells her that things which may seem evil may be good. Xaro sees laborers that Dany has, such as a ditch-digger, as slaves. Dany explains that they are compensated and Xaro laughs it off, saying that there are no slaves in Mereen (though clearly meaning that this man is a slave, even if he is paid). As they walk, Xaro is made nervous by the fact that Ser Barristan follows them. Dany dismisses it, saying that he is an old knight and loyal.
Xaro continues pressing Dany about her abolition of the slave trade by saying that Mereen was rich but is now poor, was fed but is now starving and was peaceful, but is now bloody. This stings Dany. She promises to return Mereen to its station of greatness, but Xaro does not think this will happen. He goes on to tell her that battle was joined at the Horns of Hazzat and that the Butcher King has fled back to his palace with the new Unsullied running at his heels. Xaro tells her that the Wise Masters have hired legions of sellswords. He ensures her that while she seiges Yunkai, Mereen will fall behind her. Xaro tells Dany that she has many enemies, some in her own court. Dany thinks about the three betrayals. Dany lists her armies, the sellswords, the Second Sons, and the Stormcrows. She adds that she has dragons.
"Do you?" Xaro asks her. Dany thinks of Hazzea, the little girl killed by Drogon, and wonders what whispers have leaked from her court. Dany leads the conversation away from blood and fire and Xaro tells her of a gift he is to offer her. Dany follows, suspicious.
Xaro offers Dany the thirteen gallies in his fleet in exchange not for dragons, but for her agreement to sail to Westeros at once. She asks him what would happen if she chooses to wait a year or two or three. Xaro replies that he fears she will not live as long. Dany tells him that the Yunkai'i are not as fierce as he thinks, and he tells her to beware her other enemies, including those with blue lips. Dany assures him that she left all the Warlocks with Xaro in Qarth. Xaro tells her that she never looked behind herself and that Pyat Pree dispatched warlocks to trail her. Dany tells him that she spent fourteen years running from knives and would not run any longer. She dismisses Xaro, telling him she will think on it. He offers to bed her, but she kindly refuses.
When Xaro is gone, Dany calls Ser Barristan to her side. She tells him a riddle that Viserys once told her. "Who listens to everything but hears nothing?" The answer is a knight of the kingsguard. She asks Ser Barristan what he thinks of Xaro's offer. He wants Dany to take the ships and sail to Westeros. Dany thinks of Ser Jorah and, despite his betrayal, wishes for his counsel as she believes Ser Barristan "too blunt and sensible." They discuss the logistics of setting sail with so few ships and how to contain the dragons.
After the discussion, she tells Ser Barristan to lead her to the pit. He questions her a moment, but she insists. They wind through the structures beneath the great pyramid of Mereen. They reach the pit and Barristan holds Dany back. She asks him if he thinks "they" will harm her. Barristan does not know, but would no sooner risk it to chance.
The molten eyes of Viserion and Rhaegal burn in the darkness. Charred bones are on the floor and the place smells of sulphur and sweats with heat. The two smaller dragons are chained in captivity in one of the fighting pits. Dany speaks to Barristan of the dragons, asking if they will ever stop growing, as they are larger than when she last saw them. He tells her that they will continue to grow with enough space and food. But chained in a pit...
Dany wonders if they will grow to hate her or each other, whether they will die if she keeps them captive for too long. Dany thinks about the dangers of dragons, about Harrenhal and how it fell, the Dance with Dragons, and how Aegon III saw his own mother consumed by one of the beasts. She thinks of the slaver's eyes melting in Astapor to Drogon's flames and realizes that her dragons fear no men. Dany thinks of Hazzea, the young girl that Drogon killed, and wonders whether the Sons of the Harpy staged her death to create animosity toward Dany and her rule. She thinks of Hazzea's father and how she paid the bloodprice and how Reznak demanded that she kill him, or at least tear out his tongue so that he would not talk. Dany refused to do so and sent him away, Reznak telling him that his daughter had been killed by a snakebite or taken in the night by ravening wolves, but for him to NEVER mention dragons.
Dany looks at Viserion and wonders how long before his fire can melt iron and crack stone. She remembers leading him into the pit by herself and shutting him inside with a store of oxen. After he gorged, they chained him. Rhaegal had been more difficult. She hypothesizes that he heard Viserion's struggles and that it made him more difficult to contain. Dany's men caught him basking in the sun and used a net of iron to drag him into the pit. Six men were burned in the struggle, and two badly.
And then Drogon...
The winged shadow, as Hazzea's father called him, enjoyed sunbathing on the Great Pyramid where the Harpy statue once stood. Dany's men had tried to take him three times, and three times they failed. Four men were cooked by Drogon's flames. She last saw him flying over the Dothraki sea and had not seen him since the last time they tried to capture him.
Dany thinks of her title, "mother of dragons," and wonders if "mother of monsters" is more appropriate. She despairs, thinking about what she may have unleashed on the world. She thinks that she is the blood of the dragon, and that if her children are monsters, then so is she.
She looks at Ser Barristan and tells him that she told Xaro that she feared only one thing, though she would not tell the merchant what. Ser Barristan guesses that she only fears her dragons.
"Myself," Dany tells him.
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DENI 3
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:09 am
The chapter opens with Dany dreaming of Daario. The dream is sexual -- there are images of groping, kissing, etc. In the dream, they are man and wife, leading a simple existence. Irri wakes her.
Missandei is crying. Dany ushers away Grey Worm and Reznak. The Sons of the Harpy struck again in the night, leaving nine dead. They were keeping the Queen's peace on the bricks of Mereen when they were attacked. Missandei's brother, Mossador, was among them. Dany takes the news hard. She is scared.
The harpist, Rylona Rhee was murdered after the Sons cut off her fingers. Dany fondly remembers her music. Two of the nine were poisoned at a wine shop where they would customarily stop during the night for a drink. The owners are in custody. Dany instructs Grey Worm to question them "sweetly" at first, then sharply if necessary, repeating Grey Worm's words.
Dany is furious. She instructs Grey Worm to do "whatever necessary," including "sharply" interrogating the wineseller's daughters. She tells Grey Worm that she wants names. She then instructs him to pull the Unsullied off the watch and to make them her personal guard only. The Mereenese will protect Mereen, she says. Dany has Grey Worm form a new guard, made up of the shavepates and the freedmen. When he asks how she will finance such a guard, Dany commands that a tax be exacted on each pyramid for each murder committed by the Unsullied. Grey Worm does not like the idea, but Dany insists that the Sons of the Harpy be made to fear her.
Dany returns to her quarters with Missandei and takes her into her bed. Dany comforts the girl, telling her stories of her early days running from the Usurper with Viserys and how difficult it was for her protectors to protect her. Dany tells Missandei that she now understands the frustration, and refers to herself as the Mother of Dragons. Missandei corrects her, saying that she is Mother to All. They drift off to sleep.
Dany has a restless sleep with thoughts of King's Landing that quickly turn back to darker visions of Slaver's Bay. She wakes and opts for a cool bath to calm her. She thinks about the thirteen ships that Xaro offered her to leave for Westeros and ponders the logistics of using that fleet to sail West. She thinks of the Dragons, wondering how she will take them with her. Her thoughts end on Drogon, the winged shadow. Then, her moment of reflection is interrupted. She hears something.
A woman in a wooden mask painted in a dark red lacquer stands beneath a tree. It is Quaithe. Dany demands to know how she passed the guards. Quaithe tells her that she came another way and that if Dany calls out, her guards will swear to her that Quaithe is not present.
Quaithe tells Dany "The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare. After her will come the others [no caps]. Crow and kraken, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Remember the undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal."
Dany thinks this seneschal is Reznak. She demands that Quaithe cease speaking in riddles. Quaithe tells her that she wants to show her the way, after which Dany repeats the path "go north to go south, etc." Quaithe bids that Dany remember who she is. Dany thinks about being the blood of the dragon, the three mounts, the three betrayals. She is interrupted by Missandei. Quaithe is gone.
Over breakfast, Dany reveals Xaro's offer of thirteen galleys to Dany for her to leave Mereen and travel to Westeros. The Dothraki believe that thirteen is unlucky (and too few), but Dany says that it is enough to take them to Westeros. Irri and Jhiqui don't like the idea of crossing the poisoned sea with horses.
Reznak arrives and Dany instantly mistrusts him. She thinks about Quaithe's warning and wonders whether she ever trusted him.
Dany goes to her royal seat and listens to the day's petitions, which are much fewer (see Daenerys II summary for why this is the case), but one of the petitions is dire. Yunkai has laid seige to Astapor. Lord Ghael begs Dany to fly South with her strength. She refuses. He continues, saying that King Cleon is continuing what she began, destroying the vile slavers. Dany knows that she cannot hold Mereen without the Unsullied, but will not admit as much in open court. Ghael pleads with Dany to bring her army and her dragons. Dany thinks that her dragons are more likely to burn the city than save it. She refuses again. Ghael tells Dany that she brought them death rather than freedom. He spits in her face and is repaid by Strong Belwas. He slams Ghael's face into the stone floor and drags him away, trailing blood and teeth.
Hizdahr comes to Dany after a number of other petitions, pleading with Dany for the seventh time to reopen the fighting pits (clearly, they are no longer opened in Dany II... more to come). He links the seventh plea to her seven gods, hoping that it will have some significance. Hizdahr also brings seven companions, gladiators from the pits, to speak and plead with her for the reopening. Dany doesn't want to listen, but then thinks that a Queen must hear her subjects. Dany sees more and more that many that she freed do not want to be free, as they had better lives as slaves (like the champions that accompany Hizdahr).
Dany thinks that the winners are right, and that their lives will be good, but then asks about the fate of the losers. Barsena replies that "all men must die... all women, too." Dany thanks them for their counsel and dismisses them. She contemplates some more "woe is me" about being the Mother of Dragons. Dany instructs Reznak to assemble all her commanders in the armory.
Dany briefs the commanders about the Yunkai situation, saying that she wants to intervene because after Yunkai crushes Astapor, the next stop will be Mereen. Her Unsullied and Shavepates chime in with a number of different strategies for dealing with the Yunkai'i. Dany thinks that Ser Jorah Mormont would have known exactly what to do and is sad that he betrayed her and isn't present.
One of her commanders suggests that the Yunkai sellswords will not have been paid near enough to face dragons. Dany complains that the dragons aren't nearly large enough to take into war. Mollono suggests that the mere sight of the dragons may be enough, should they follow. Dany wonders if they will, indeed, follow, or whether they will lay havoc to the land and her army. Dany thinks again of Hazzea, the girl that Drogon killed earlier (she thinks of Hazzea quite a bit in the new chapters). Dany ponders the irony of the Mother of Dragons needing protection from her children.
Barristan Selmy returns from inspecting Xaro's galleys. One is so worm-ridden that it cannot leave port, but the others, short of a few problems, are ready to sail. Selmy encourages Dany to use them to sail to Westeros. This makes Dany think of how she is a stranger in the Eastern lands and how Westeros will welcome her when she returns home, filing in behind her banners. Reznak tells Dany that this means Yunkai will take Mereen and rape its daughters and maiden wives. Skahaz Shavepate slaps his sword, saying that he would kill his family before seeing them fall to such a fate. This hurts Dany.
They argue, telling Dany to set sail and leave the Unsullied. Someone tells her to leave the dragons. She silences them. She decides that she cannot take Xaro's fleet and that Westeros must wait. Barristan tries to sway her by saying that the people will cheer for "Prince Rhaegar's sister" and this makes Dany smile. But she insists that the Seven Kingdoms will be there when she arrives, no matter when that is. She sends for Xaro to give him the news that she will refuse his gift.
Xaro comes bearing an old, large map. He unrolls it before Dany. She knows the map is old because Valyria is not surrounded by the smoking sea and it is "not yet an island" (is this new information about the Doom, perhaps?). Xaro puts an arm around her and shows Dany how she lost her way by coming to Mereen and promises that his fleet will help bring her back where she belongs, to Westeros.
Dany refuses him. Asks him to lend her the ships for another use. Xaro, with tears in his eyes, tells Dany that he sees that she is now playing Queen with dreams of conquest and dragons. He tells her that she has no idea the effect of her actions and that she does not know many of the enemies she has already made. He tells her that her dragons, while small, were once a wonder, but were now becoming a great danger. He tells her that they will not be allowed to grow large enough to breed, nor will she. He adds that he should have slain her in Qarth. This makes Dany angry. She tells him she does not respond kindly to threats. Xaro ensures her that it is not a threat, but a promise. She tells him to begone from Mereen or he will find out whether his mummer's tears will move Viserion and Rhaegal.
The next morning, Xaro's ship was gone, but the thirteen gifted galleys remained. An envoy of Xaro's approaches Dany and lays a pillow at her feet. Atop the pillow is a bloody glove. "It means war," Dany thinks.
Missandei is crying. Dany ushers away Grey Worm and Reznak. The Sons of the Harpy struck again in the night, leaving nine dead. They were keeping the Queen's peace on the bricks of Mereen when they were attacked. Missandei's brother, Mossador, was among them. Dany takes the news hard. She is scared.
The harpist, Rylona Rhee was murdered after the Sons cut off her fingers. Dany fondly remembers her music. Two of the nine were poisoned at a wine shop where they would customarily stop during the night for a drink. The owners are in custody. Dany instructs Grey Worm to question them "sweetly" at first, then sharply if necessary, repeating Grey Worm's words.
Dany is furious. She instructs Grey Worm to do "whatever necessary," including "sharply" interrogating the wineseller's daughters. She tells Grey Worm that she wants names. She then instructs him to pull the Unsullied off the watch and to make them her personal guard only. The Mereenese will protect Mereen, she says. Dany has Grey Worm form a new guard, made up of the shavepates and the freedmen. When he asks how she will finance such a guard, Dany commands that a tax be exacted on each pyramid for each murder committed by the Unsullied. Grey Worm does not like the idea, but Dany insists that the Sons of the Harpy be made to fear her.
Dany returns to her quarters with Missandei and takes her into her bed. Dany comforts the girl, telling her stories of her early days running from the Usurper with Viserys and how difficult it was for her protectors to protect her. Dany tells Missandei that she now understands the frustration, and refers to herself as the Mother of Dragons. Missandei corrects her, saying that she is Mother to All. They drift off to sleep.
Dany has a restless sleep with thoughts of King's Landing that quickly turn back to darker visions of Slaver's Bay. She wakes and opts for a cool bath to calm her. She thinks about the thirteen ships that Xaro offered her to leave for Westeros and ponders the logistics of using that fleet to sail West. She thinks of the Dragons, wondering how she will take them with her. Her thoughts end on Drogon, the winged shadow. Then, her moment of reflection is interrupted. She hears something.
A woman in a wooden mask painted in a dark red lacquer stands beneath a tree. It is Quaithe. Dany demands to know how she passed the guards. Quaithe tells her that she came another way and that if Dany calls out, her guards will swear to her that Quaithe is not present.
Quaithe tells Dany "The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare. After her will come the others [no caps]. Crow and kraken, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Remember the undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal."
Dany thinks this seneschal is Reznak. She demands that Quaithe cease speaking in riddles. Quaithe tells her that she wants to show her the way, after which Dany repeats the path "go north to go south, etc." Quaithe bids that Dany remember who she is. Dany thinks about being the blood of the dragon, the three mounts, the three betrayals. She is interrupted by Missandei. Quaithe is gone.
Over breakfast, Dany reveals Xaro's offer of thirteen galleys to Dany for her to leave Mereen and travel to Westeros. The Dothraki believe that thirteen is unlucky (and too few), but Dany says that it is enough to take them to Westeros. Irri and Jhiqui don't like the idea of crossing the poisoned sea with horses.
Reznak arrives and Dany instantly mistrusts him. She thinks about Quaithe's warning and wonders whether she ever trusted him.
Dany goes to her royal seat and listens to the day's petitions, which are much fewer (see Daenerys II summary for why this is the case), but one of the petitions is dire. Yunkai has laid seige to Astapor. Lord Ghael begs Dany to fly South with her strength. She refuses. He continues, saying that King Cleon is continuing what she began, destroying the vile slavers. Dany knows that she cannot hold Mereen without the Unsullied, but will not admit as much in open court. Ghael pleads with Dany to bring her army and her dragons. Dany thinks that her dragons are more likely to burn the city than save it. She refuses again. Ghael tells Dany that she brought them death rather than freedom. He spits in her face and is repaid by Strong Belwas. He slams Ghael's face into the stone floor and drags him away, trailing blood and teeth.
Hizdahr comes to Dany after a number of other petitions, pleading with Dany for the seventh time to reopen the fighting pits (clearly, they are no longer opened in Dany II... more to come). He links the seventh plea to her seven gods, hoping that it will have some significance. Hizdahr also brings seven companions, gladiators from the pits, to speak and plead with her for the reopening. Dany doesn't want to listen, but then thinks that a Queen must hear her subjects. Dany sees more and more that many that she freed do not want to be free, as they had better lives as slaves (like the champions that accompany Hizdahr).
Dany thinks that the winners are right, and that their lives will be good, but then asks about the fate of the losers. Barsena replies that "all men must die... all women, too." Dany thanks them for their counsel and dismisses them. She contemplates some more "woe is me" about being the Mother of Dragons. Dany instructs Reznak to assemble all her commanders in the armory.
Dany briefs the commanders about the Yunkai situation, saying that she wants to intervene because after Yunkai crushes Astapor, the next stop will be Mereen. Her Unsullied and Shavepates chime in with a number of different strategies for dealing with the Yunkai'i. Dany thinks that Ser Jorah Mormont would have known exactly what to do and is sad that he betrayed her and isn't present.
One of her commanders suggests that the Yunkai sellswords will not have been paid near enough to face dragons. Dany complains that the dragons aren't nearly large enough to take into war. Mollono suggests that the mere sight of the dragons may be enough, should they follow. Dany wonders if they will, indeed, follow, or whether they will lay havoc to the land and her army. Dany thinks again of Hazzea, the girl that Drogon killed earlier (she thinks of Hazzea quite a bit in the new chapters). Dany ponders the irony of the Mother of Dragons needing protection from her children.
Barristan Selmy returns from inspecting Xaro's galleys. One is so worm-ridden that it cannot leave port, but the others, short of a few problems, are ready to sail. Selmy encourages Dany to use them to sail to Westeros. This makes Dany think of how she is a stranger in the Eastern lands and how Westeros will welcome her when she returns home, filing in behind her banners. Reznak tells Dany that this means Yunkai will take Mereen and rape its daughters and maiden wives. Skahaz Shavepate slaps his sword, saying that he would kill his family before seeing them fall to such a fate. This hurts Dany.
They argue, telling Dany to set sail and leave the Unsullied. Someone tells her to leave the dragons. She silences them. She decides that she cannot take Xaro's fleet and that Westeros must wait. Barristan tries to sway her by saying that the people will cheer for "Prince Rhaegar's sister" and this makes Dany smile. But she insists that the Seven Kingdoms will be there when she arrives, no matter when that is. She sends for Xaro to give him the news that she will refuse his gift.
Xaro comes bearing an old, large map. He unrolls it before Dany. She knows the map is old because Valyria is not surrounded by the smoking sea and it is "not yet an island" (is this new information about the Doom, perhaps?). Xaro puts an arm around her and shows Dany how she lost her way by coming to Mereen and promises that his fleet will help bring her back where she belongs, to Westeros.
Dany refuses him. Asks him to lend her the ships for another use. Xaro, with tears in his eyes, tells Dany that he sees that she is now playing Queen with dreams of conquest and dragons. He tells her that she has no idea the effect of her actions and that she does not know many of the enemies she has already made. He tells her that her dragons, while small, were once a wonder, but were now becoming a great danger. He tells her that they will not be allowed to grow large enough to breed, nor will she. He adds that he should have slain her in Qarth. This makes Dany angry. She tells him she does not respond kindly to threats. Xaro ensures her that it is not a threat, but a promise. She tells him to begone from Mereen or he will find out whether his mummer's tears will move Viserion and Rhaegal.
The next morning, Xaro's ship was gone, but the thirteen gifted galleys remained. An envoy of Xaro's approaches Dany and lays a pillow at her feet. Atop the pillow is a bloody glove. "It means war," Dany thinks.
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DENI 4
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:09 am
Dany floats in a pool at the top of a large pyramid in Meereen. Irri and Jhiqui come find her and say, "It is time." She dresses as a Ghis (in linen with veil and to'khar) and tells her servants to ready her silver to ride to the Pits of Daznakh, to watch the first set of matches in the reopened gladiator fighting pits.
The Sons of Ghis hate her rule in Meereen, and have promised a hundred virgin slaves to the person causing her death.
Initially, Dany had halted the practice of slave-fighting in Meereen. A contingent of Meereen gladiators (including Barseena, the most renowned female slave fighter; a fighter known as the "spotted cat"; Kroz; Gogor the Giant; and Belacqua the Bonebreaker) visited her and begged her to reopen the fighting pits. They pointed out that, as slaves, they were treated like princes, but as free men they are treated as paupers.
Dany's advisors in Meereen also urged her to reopen the fighting pits (so that she can earn income on the pits; so that she can regain the love of the citizens of Meereen; to reward the fighting slaves which were the first to revolt); only Missandei and Ser Barristan Selmy argued against reopening. Dany reluctantly agreed to allow the gladiator fights again.
Missandei asks Dany not to go to the fights. Dany argues that her people will cheer her, but Missandei says that they will only cheer the restart of the fighting.
As Dany descends from the eight-hundred-foot pyramid, she is greeted by two Meereenese, Skahaz and Roznakh. Skahaz, nicknamed "shave pate", is the head of the city watch; he was one of the first Meereenese to betray the Sons of Ghis. Roznakh is her urban seneschal.
Dany states her determination to ride to the pits, rather than be carried in a palanquin; Skahaz questions whether this is wise, but Roznakh says that Dany knows best.
Dany's dragons are growing, and there are many claims of sheep lost to her dragons; Dany has been compensating any sheepowners for lost sheep, but she begins to suspect that she is being cheated.
She worries about the city's finance. The city currently has plenty of food, but the surrounding countryside was burned and despoiled before she and her army arrived; no crops can be grown on that land. She hopes to encourage trade with the Lhazareen, but Meereen's economics were founded on the slave trade; they produce nothing of economic value to use as trade goods.
Barristan worries about Dany's safety at the pits, and encourages her to take a guard of Unsullied; Dany rejects that offer, instead choosing to rely on the animal-masked Meereen city watch. (The members of the city watch, half freed slaves and half "shave pates", wear bronze animal masks of bronze in order to remain anonymous; the slave masters threatened to harm the families of those cooperating with Dany.) The Unsullied were despised by the Mereenese as conquerors, and were killed when Dany attempted to use them as members of the watch.
Barristan is training forty young ex-slaves as Westerosi knights, though their training is incomplete.
Dany's bloodriders aren't in the city; Dany sent them to free the slaves of landowners outside the city (and to rally those landowners to her cause).
Dany and entourage (including Irri, Jhiqui, Roznakh, Skahaz, and Barristan) move towards the pits. The streets are crowded with people moving towards Daznakh's pits. A stalled palanquin blocks their progress; a bearer collapsed in the road. Dany sends someone to give the collapsed bearer water, and she questions whether freeing the slaves made any difference in their lives. Barristan points out that, if nothing else, the slaves are being paid, and there is no overseer whipping them through the streets.
At the blockage, Hisdar Zolareg (????) joins Dany. He is a key figure in the city, and both Roznakh and Skahaz say that, if Dany is to remain the leader of Meereen, she needs to keep Hisdar on her side. (Furthermore, he was mentioned as a possible husband for her.) After the slaves were freed, Hisdar bought up most of the slave pits for a pittance, and is now a tremendously wealthy man.
He brings news about a battle at the Horns of Hazdat, where Cleon, the "Butcher King" of Astipor, was fighting the Yunkai. The Yunkai have hired several sellsword companies, and are attempting to hire the Golden Company (who Viserys unsuccessfully attempted to hire into his service many years ago). [My notes are really unclear here -- I think there many be something that I missed.]
They arrive at the pits. Dany and company descend to the lowest level of the pits, which are stained red. She looks around at the citizens of Meereen who are out to watch the spectacle, including her main enemies the Zopal.
At the beginning of the fights, Hisdar introduces Dany. They can't pronounce her foreign name, so they cheer for "Missa" (the mother). Dany thinks to herself that she's not their mother, and that they love their fights, not her.
In the fights, the favorites (Kroz, the spotted cat) win their matches. After a host of minor matches, Barseena (the female fighter) is matched against a boar. Barseena is a crowd favorite and the most skilled female fighter, but she is gored and killed by the boar.
Dany gets up to leave in disgust, discarding her Meereen clothes, when a shadow appears across the sky. Drogon, her largest dragon, appears from above (Dany thinks that he's following her). He bathes the boar and Barseena in a blast of fire, and indiscriminately feeds on both charred bodies.
The Sons of Ghis hate her rule in Meereen, and have promised a hundred virgin slaves to the person causing her death.
Initially, Dany had halted the practice of slave-fighting in Meereen. A contingent of Meereen gladiators (including Barseena, the most renowned female slave fighter; a fighter known as the "spotted cat"; Kroz; Gogor the Giant; and Belacqua the Bonebreaker) visited her and begged her to reopen the fighting pits. They pointed out that, as slaves, they were treated like princes, but as free men they are treated as paupers.
Dany's advisors in Meereen also urged her to reopen the fighting pits (so that she can earn income on the pits; so that she can regain the love of the citizens of Meereen; to reward the fighting slaves which were the first to revolt); only Missandei and Ser Barristan Selmy argued against reopening. Dany reluctantly agreed to allow the gladiator fights again.
Missandei asks Dany not to go to the fights. Dany argues that her people will cheer her, but Missandei says that they will only cheer the restart of the fighting.
As Dany descends from the eight-hundred-foot pyramid, she is greeted by two Meereenese, Skahaz and Roznakh. Skahaz, nicknamed "shave pate", is the head of the city watch; he was one of the first Meereenese to betray the Sons of Ghis. Roznakh is her urban seneschal.
Dany states her determination to ride to the pits, rather than be carried in a palanquin; Skahaz questions whether this is wise, but Roznakh says that Dany knows best.
Dany's dragons are growing, and there are many claims of sheep lost to her dragons; Dany has been compensating any sheepowners for lost sheep, but she begins to suspect that she is being cheated.
She worries about the city's finance. The city currently has plenty of food, but the surrounding countryside was burned and despoiled before she and her army arrived; no crops can be grown on that land. She hopes to encourage trade with the Lhazareen, but Meereen's economics were founded on the slave trade; they produce nothing of economic value to use as trade goods.
Barristan worries about Dany's safety at the pits, and encourages her to take a guard of Unsullied; Dany rejects that offer, instead choosing to rely on the animal-masked Meereen city watch. (The members of the city watch, half freed slaves and half "shave pates", wear bronze animal masks of bronze in order to remain anonymous; the slave masters threatened to harm the families of those cooperating with Dany.) The Unsullied were despised by the Mereenese as conquerors, and were killed when Dany attempted to use them as members of the watch.
Barristan is training forty young ex-slaves as Westerosi knights, though their training is incomplete.
Dany's bloodriders aren't in the city; Dany sent them to free the slaves of landowners outside the city (and to rally those landowners to her cause).
Dany and entourage (including Irri, Jhiqui, Roznakh, Skahaz, and Barristan) move towards the pits. The streets are crowded with people moving towards Daznakh's pits. A stalled palanquin blocks their progress; a bearer collapsed in the road. Dany sends someone to give the collapsed bearer water, and she questions whether freeing the slaves made any difference in their lives. Barristan points out that, if nothing else, the slaves are being paid, and there is no overseer whipping them through the streets.
At the blockage, Hisdar Zolareg (????) joins Dany. He is a key figure in the city, and both Roznakh and Skahaz say that, if Dany is to remain the leader of Meereen, she needs to keep Hisdar on her side. (Furthermore, he was mentioned as a possible husband for her.) After the slaves were freed, Hisdar bought up most of the slave pits for a pittance, and is now a tremendously wealthy man.
He brings news about a battle at the Horns of Hazdat, where Cleon, the "Butcher King" of Astipor, was fighting the Yunkai. The Yunkai have hired several sellsword companies, and are attempting to hire the Golden Company (who Viserys unsuccessfully attempted to hire into his service many years ago). [My notes are really unclear here -- I think there many be something that I missed.]
They arrive at the pits. Dany and company descend to the lowest level of the pits, which are stained red. She looks around at the citizens of Meereen who are out to watch the spectacle, including her main enemies the Zopal.
At the beginning of the fights, Hisdar introduces Dany. They can't pronounce her foreign name, so they cheer for "Missa" (the mother). Dany thinks to herself that she's not their mother, and that they love their fights, not her.
In the fights, the favorites (Kroz, the spotted cat) win their matches. After a host of minor matches, Barseena (the female fighter) is matched against a boar. Barseena is a crowd favorite and the most skilled female fighter, but she is gored and killed by the boar.
Dany gets up to leave in disgust, discarding her Meereen clothes, when a shadow appears across the sky. Drogon, her largest dragon, appears from above (Dany thinks that he's following her). He bathes the boar and Barseena in a blast of fire, and indiscriminately feeds on both charred bodies.
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JON 1
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:11 am
From Kedlav:
The chapter starts off a bit differently than normal, namely that we get Jon warging in Ghost beneath the wall. Ghost notes that the pack is scattered, that Lady and Grey Wind are dead, that his brother is nearby. He wanders a bit, then 'the moon' starts screeching Snow. 'Course, the moon is none other than the Old Bear's raven(who wants for a name IMO), and then we get a *wonderful* Dolorous Edd bit about roast raven and prunes. Its really, really friggin funny. Jon decides he can't wait for breakfast, that he has to deal with Stannis. He notes that Stannis is in the Old Bear's quarters and that he's in Donal Noye's old rooms(and that Noye's left little behind in this world).
On the way over to Stannis, he goes into some thought about the wildling pens, Stannis and the Queen's Men, etc. He also notes he hates having bodyguards, and refuses to let them follow him around. While walking, he is approached and challenged by some rather large chap who's thinking that Jon's not well suited to Longaxe[sic] and that they should fight. Jon gives him a nice brush off, but it highlights the dynamic of how the men in black and the idiots with Stannis are getting along. Jon finally shows up to see Stannis, and they get into it pretty good. Stannis rails about the North and only the Karstarks coming to him, about how some 10-year old Mormont girl recognizes his cause is lost and that he's an ass, etc. He then rails at Jon for not signing a grant giving Stannis all the abandoned castles on the wall to reward his loyal followers.
Its revealed here Jon's granted Stannis the Nightfort and that Yarwick thinks it will take 6 months to renovate. In response, Jon tells Stannis to make his men serve under men of the Night's Watch, and Stannis flips again, drawing Lightbringer and threatening to make someone the 999th LC, on the grounds that Thorne and Slynt are quetioning the vote. Jon hits the non-present Slynt with a good jibe about his honor and worth. Jon doesn't buckle, and he leaves. Melisandre tags along, wearing her usual red bit while Jon's freezing his cajones off in woolens. She flirts with him a bit, lets the proverbial axe drop that he's in all her visions in the fires now, that he needs to watch his back, and then the chapter ends with the old favorite of 'You know nothing, Jon Snow,' from Melisandre.
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From Trey_Greyjoy:
One of the key things I took away from the reading was the end. Melisandre walked Jon out of the audience chamber after his conversation with Stannis. She told him how she saw him in flames often and more frequently as of late. The last words of the chapter were her's as well: "You know nothing Jon Snow". Which pretty much sent a shiver up my spine.
She also said something to the effect that though Rhllor is omniscient his servants are not...something along those lines that could be interpreted as she is open to the idea that Stannis may not be the right man.....
Stannis is pretty much set on burning Mance, even with Jon arguing logically against it by stating the wildings would only follow Mance and not the baby. Stannis means for there to be only one King of Westeros and that Mance's life if forfeit. Stannis means to use Mance's child as a tool to control Mance's army as the child, in his mind, is the rightful "heir". Jon explains the folly of this notion to Stannis but he does not listen.
Sam has not been sent away, but Jon tells Stannis that he means to send Craster's daughter/wife (Gilly?) away from the wall.
Stannis wants the castles along the wall to give to his Lords to repay them for their loyalty, but Jon refuses to relinquish control of them. Stannis tells him if they are not populated by the end of the year he will take them with or without Jon's blessing.
The chapter starts off a bit differently than normal, namely that we get Jon warging in Ghost beneath the wall. Ghost notes that the pack is scattered, that Lady and Grey Wind are dead, that his brother is nearby. He wanders a bit, then 'the moon' starts screeching Snow. 'Course, the moon is none other than the Old Bear's raven(who wants for a name IMO), and then we get a *wonderful* Dolorous Edd bit about roast raven and prunes. Its really, really friggin funny. Jon decides he can't wait for breakfast, that he has to deal with Stannis. He notes that Stannis is in the Old Bear's quarters and that he's in Donal Noye's old rooms(and that Noye's left little behind in this world).
On the way over to Stannis, he goes into some thought about the wildling pens, Stannis and the Queen's Men, etc. He also notes he hates having bodyguards, and refuses to let them follow him around. While walking, he is approached and challenged by some rather large chap who's thinking that Jon's not well suited to Longaxe[sic] and that they should fight. Jon gives him a nice brush off, but it highlights the dynamic of how the men in black and the idiots with Stannis are getting along. Jon finally shows up to see Stannis, and they get into it pretty good. Stannis rails about the North and only the Karstarks coming to him, about how some 10-year old Mormont girl recognizes his cause is lost and that he's an ass, etc. He then rails at Jon for not signing a grant giving Stannis all the abandoned castles on the wall to reward his loyal followers.
Its revealed here Jon's granted Stannis the Nightfort and that Yarwick thinks it will take 6 months to renovate. In response, Jon tells Stannis to make his men serve under men of the Night's Watch, and Stannis flips again, drawing Lightbringer and threatening to make someone the 999th LC, on the grounds that Thorne and Slynt are quetioning the vote. Jon hits the non-present Slynt with a good jibe about his honor and worth. Jon doesn't buckle, and he leaves. Melisandre tags along, wearing her usual red bit while Jon's freezing his cajones off in woolens. She flirts with him a bit, lets the proverbial axe drop that he's in all her visions in the fires now, that he needs to watch his back, and then the chapter ends with the old favorite of 'You know nothing, Jon Snow,' from Melisandre.
------------
From Trey_Greyjoy:
One of the key things I took away from the reading was the end. Melisandre walked Jon out of the audience chamber after his conversation with Stannis. She told him how she saw him in flames often and more frequently as of late. The last words of the chapter were her's as well: "You know nothing Jon Snow". Which pretty much sent a shiver up my spine.
She also said something to the effect that though Rhllor is omniscient his servants are not...something along those lines that could be interpreted as she is open to the idea that Stannis may not be the right man.....
Stannis is pretty much set on burning Mance, even with Jon arguing logically against it by stating the wildings would only follow Mance and not the baby. Stannis means for there to be only one King of Westeros and that Mance's life if forfeit. Stannis means to use Mance's child as a tool to control Mance's army as the child, in his mind, is the rightful "heir". Jon explains the folly of this notion to Stannis but he does not listen.
Sam has not been sent away, but Jon tells Stannis that he means to send Craster's daughter/wife (Gilly?) away from the wall.
Stannis wants the castles along the wall to give to his Lords to repay them for their loyalty, but Jon refuses to relinquish control of them. Stannis tells him if they are not populated by the end of the year he will take them with or without Jon's blessing.
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JON 2
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:11 am
this is the second jon chapter. i dunno what happens in the first, but something big must happen, or else why would he read the second and not the first?? maybe the first is too boring?? i dunno...
okay - the reading...
the first part was what he read at twbbs on wednesday... mel-stannis is burning mance, jon gets 4 night watchmen to shoot mance when he's screaming, etc...
a couple of things i don't recall reading in the previous spoilers, or clarifications... mance is brought out with his hands tied and wearing a noose of hempen rope. he is barefoot, and arms and legs are exposed to the elements. there are over 1000 wildlings present, but over 3/4 are women, children, and old men. mel calls joraman's horn "the horn of darkness". jon sees stannis and mel side by side and notes that "he is stone, she is flame" (or something close to that). mel says something "in a language jon did not understand" to set the runes on the horn on fire. jon notes nothing supernatural is happening while mance is/was burning, and thinks there is no power in king's blood. after mance is dead, mel shouts to the wildlings something about how they have to give up their "false gods, horn, king".
okay the new stuff...
they (stannis & co.) let whichever wildlings would agree to keep the kings peace to pass through a wooden baracade on the north side of the wall, through the tunnel in the wall, to the south side. at first they were weary, and only a couple went. then as the others saw that nothing bad happened to the trail blazers, the trickle turned into a steady stream. as they passed each was given a piece of weirwood - "a piece of the old gods to feed the new". the fire god is a jealous deity (i think jon thinks this). oh, they also get a bowl of onion soup.
rattleshirt and the new magnar of thenn are two of those who pass through the wall. stannis wants to make them all kneel to him as their king, and jon says something along the lines of "the free folk mock kneelers. let them keep their dignity, and they will love you better." to which stannis replies, "it is their obedience i need, not their love."
there was something about alastair thorne bad mouthing jon, and jon thinks "i'll have to deal with thorne before he deals with me."
the four giants remain north of the wall (one won't leave him mammoth, and the rest won't leave him) (only 4 giants left?!?). the rest of the wildlings are set free, and mel/stannis tells them to tell the other wildlings "one realm, one god, one king." the four giants are the last to go.
jon notes that mel is stannis's "red shadow".
jon orders the baracade disassembled, and to use the wood as fuel for a pyre to burn the corpses.
bowan marsh tells jon that many of the nightswatch men wonder about jon - think that he is a warg, etc. (ie men are wary of him.) it comes up that stannis has made rattleshirt a lord, and will be giving/gave him a castle on the wall. jon says that he told stannis that he will nt have wildlings on the wall, only in the gift. marsh also says that some nw men (i think it was janos slynt) are saying that jon is on stannis's side against the lannisters in the war for the iron throne.
doloros edd says something like "we burn their king, burn their gods, but they get onion soup."
jon goes to see stannis in castle black (i think) and before he admitted, he is searched and stripped of weapons. rattleshirt and magnar are there, with mel between the two wildlings. jon kneels, but stannis ignores him for a while. jon notes that there are no kingsmen in stannis's little circle (i assume this to mean they are all queensmen and wildlings). when stannis does start to talk with jon, he noted how he was 'irritated' by jon ordering the four archers to kill mance in the fire.
stannis is has changed out of his armour, but he still looks uncomfortable - "it is not in stannis to be comfortable." stannis says the arrows were a sign of mercy, and jon doesn't deny it. rattleshirt says something about how jon is a bastard, and how they are shifty anyway (or some such slander). rattleshirt also says that jon had mance shot so jon could claim to have killed mance rayder. jon is offered a drink (stannis drinks lemon and water) but jon thinks that he won't drink with these men.
apparently, it will take a year to get one of the castles on the wall repaired (nightfort??). i seem to recall that being too long for stannis, but i'm not sure. stannis means to use the wildlings as soldiers to fight the greyjoys and lannisters. stannis wants armour and weapons for the wildlings (approx 300 fighting men). stannis is going to use the women as hostages, but jon says that the spearwives are fighters, but stannis wont have women with him. this includes mel - she'll be staying on the wall.
jon and stannis look at a map, with candles on corners... stannis declares the winterfell is to be his first objective. "there is still power in the name winterfell" (or something). he plans to deal with the bastard of bolton there. jon had always heard that stannis was cautious, but this plan doesn't sound that way. jon tells stannis about the bolton uprising 700 years ago, and the stark king laid seige to the dreadfort for four years before winning.
there was something about horpe being the most formidable of the queensmen. he sigil is three moths on ash and bones.
anyway, jon says that stannis can't march down the kingsroad, and he can't use the wildlings against the north. northmen fear wildlings, so he won't get any support from other lords, and might get attacked along the way (by umbers??) jon says that stannis will need all the northern lords to get the boltons (umbers, karstarks, manderlys, etc.) most importantly, the umbers can't side with the boltons. there was something about an umber uncle taken hostage at the red wedding, but i'm not too clear about this...
stannis sends everyone but jon away. they leave reluctantly, and give jon dirty looks, etc. someone mutters "boy". mel and devon (squire) also remain.
stannis asks jon which of three choices would he have as warden of the north (i wish i could write fast enough to get down who the choices were, but i can't). jon doesn't like any of them, and wants stannis to hold winterfell in trust for sansa. stannis replies "for sansa, or for tyrion lannister??" stannis then says that he's giving it to the karstarks (i guess they were one of the three choices).
jon says that deepwood motte is the best place to start the war for the north. it's the closest to the wall, easy to creep up on, made of timber, and most importantly, in the hands of the ironmen, not northmen. restoring the castle to it's rightful owners is a good thing (said by jon or stannis, i don't remember). stannis can't afford to get mixed up with the umbers, so he suggests that stannis cross a goat track through the mountains and emerge at gates of deepwood motte. the people there are petty lords, not umbers (flint, big bucket, etc.). jon says that the norrys will help - they are friends of the night watch.
jon says that these people worship the old gods and not to offend or insult them. this is when mel says that she will remain on the wall to advise lord meadows (i dunno who he is). jon says that the wall is no place for women - it makes the men uneasy. mel takes it as a compliment (i think).
i think mel says something about how there are a lot of people who want jon dead. the way george read it reminded me of dr. evil in austin powers ("no one can stop me. not even - austin powers").
that's about it...
EDIT: OK! finally i can post the rest! i know that everyone else has done a great job, but i would feel incomplete if i didnt finish it. so here's goes.
so Roose is still down south. stannis wants to deal severely with the bastard of bolton (for which i applaud him, i hate that bastard! )
there is mention of a HARLON stark, hundreds or thousands (cant remember) of years ago, who was revolted against by the boltons. i think jon mentions this.
stannis says he wants to take moat cailan from the ironmen. jon says no one can take moat cailan... from the SOUTH. jon is feeling the pressure of advising stannis (as os said, he kept thinking that "talking is not fighting" or whatever). jon tells stannis "you need the hornwoods, the manderlys and the UMBERS. karhold is not enough."
it is mentioned that greatjon umber is being held hostage after the red wedding. i think that stannis says that the umbers would be no help, because while the umbers hate the boltons, they hate the wildlings more, living so close to the wall as they do.
there is mention of a ser jiles (sp?) and a ser massey (sp?)
stannis says: "all leave me now, except lord snow." melisandre also remains.
it is mentioned that devan (davos's son) is stannis' cupbearer. no mention of davos though.
stannis again tries to get jon to take WF. jon refuses again (especially since he's LC of the NW now!) stannis presents several choices and then says he will make the karstark (not sure which one) the lord of WF.
jon says that moat cailin is not the best choice. stannis asks him "where then?" jon replies "Deepwood Motte." jon tell stannis that it is easy to attack, cause its held by ironmen, not northmen.
but to get there they must not take the the kingsroad. jon says they have to go through the mountains, with the mountain clans, who are "proud, poor and prickly. but they are hospitable, you will eat well."
jon says thay must pass through the Norryland, the Norries are friends to the NW. the paths are goat tracks.
"goat tracks?" stannis asks scornfully.
jon convinces him it is the best way. but jon warns them that the mountain clans worship the old gods (this is aimed at mel). so dont offend them.
mel says, don't worry i'm staying on the wall.
mel then says "i have seen it in the flames jon snow, you have enemies"
jon says "i know."
stannis says: "not the enemies you know. the enemies who smile at you
okay - the reading...
the first part was what he read at twbbs on wednesday... mel-stannis is burning mance, jon gets 4 night watchmen to shoot mance when he's screaming, etc...
a couple of things i don't recall reading in the previous spoilers, or clarifications... mance is brought out with his hands tied and wearing a noose of hempen rope. he is barefoot, and arms and legs are exposed to the elements. there are over 1000 wildlings present, but over 3/4 are women, children, and old men. mel calls joraman's horn "the horn of darkness". jon sees stannis and mel side by side and notes that "he is stone, she is flame" (or something close to that). mel says something "in a language jon did not understand" to set the runes on the horn on fire. jon notes nothing supernatural is happening while mance is/was burning, and thinks there is no power in king's blood. after mance is dead, mel shouts to the wildlings something about how they have to give up their "false gods, horn, king".
okay the new stuff...
they (stannis & co.) let whichever wildlings would agree to keep the kings peace to pass through a wooden baracade on the north side of the wall, through the tunnel in the wall, to the south side. at first they were weary, and only a couple went. then as the others saw that nothing bad happened to the trail blazers, the trickle turned into a steady stream. as they passed each was given a piece of weirwood - "a piece of the old gods to feed the new". the fire god is a jealous deity (i think jon thinks this). oh, they also get a bowl of onion soup.
rattleshirt and the new magnar of thenn are two of those who pass through the wall. stannis wants to make them all kneel to him as their king, and jon says something along the lines of "the free folk mock kneelers. let them keep their dignity, and they will love you better." to which stannis replies, "it is their obedience i need, not their love."
there was something about alastair thorne bad mouthing jon, and jon thinks "i'll have to deal with thorne before he deals with me."
the four giants remain north of the wall (one won't leave him mammoth, and the rest won't leave him) (only 4 giants left?!?). the rest of the wildlings are set free, and mel/stannis tells them to tell the other wildlings "one realm, one god, one king." the four giants are the last to go.
jon notes that mel is stannis's "red shadow".
jon orders the baracade disassembled, and to use the wood as fuel for a pyre to burn the corpses.
bowan marsh tells jon that many of the nightswatch men wonder about jon - think that he is a warg, etc. (ie men are wary of him.) it comes up that stannis has made rattleshirt a lord, and will be giving/gave him a castle on the wall. jon says that he told stannis that he will nt have wildlings on the wall, only in the gift. marsh also says that some nw men (i think it was janos slynt) are saying that jon is on stannis's side against the lannisters in the war for the iron throne.
doloros edd says something like "we burn their king, burn their gods, but they get onion soup."
jon goes to see stannis in castle black (i think) and before he admitted, he is searched and stripped of weapons. rattleshirt and magnar are there, with mel between the two wildlings. jon kneels, but stannis ignores him for a while. jon notes that there are no kingsmen in stannis's little circle (i assume this to mean they are all queensmen and wildlings). when stannis does start to talk with jon, he noted how he was 'irritated' by jon ordering the four archers to kill mance in the fire.
stannis is has changed out of his armour, but he still looks uncomfortable - "it is not in stannis to be comfortable." stannis says the arrows were a sign of mercy, and jon doesn't deny it. rattleshirt says something about how jon is a bastard, and how they are shifty anyway (or some such slander). rattleshirt also says that jon had mance shot so jon could claim to have killed mance rayder. jon is offered a drink (stannis drinks lemon and water) but jon thinks that he won't drink with these men.
apparently, it will take a year to get one of the castles on the wall repaired (nightfort??). i seem to recall that being too long for stannis, but i'm not sure. stannis means to use the wildlings as soldiers to fight the greyjoys and lannisters. stannis wants armour and weapons for the wildlings (approx 300 fighting men). stannis is going to use the women as hostages, but jon says that the spearwives are fighters, but stannis wont have women with him. this includes mel - she'll be staying on the wall.
jon and stannis look at a map, with candles on corners... stannis declares the winterfell is to be his first objective. "there is still power in the name winterfell" (or something). he plans to deal with the bastard of bolton there. jon had always heard that stannis was cautious, but this plan doesn't sound that way. jon tells stannis about the bolton uprising 700 years ago, and the stark king laid seige to the dreadfort for four years before winning.
there was something about horpe being the most formidable of the queensmen. he sigil is three moths on ash and bones.
anyway, jon says that stannis can't march down the kingsroad, and he can't use the wildlings against the north. northmen fear wildlings, so he won't get any support from other lords, and might get attacked along the way (by umbers??) jon says that stannis will need all the northern lords to get the boltons (umbers, karstarks, manderlys, etc.) most importantly, the umbers can't side with the boltons. there was something about an umber uncle taken hostage at the red wedding, but i'm not too clear about this...
stannis sends everyone but jon away. they leave reluctantly, and give jon dirty looks, etc. someone mutters "boy". mel and devon (squire) also remain.
stannis asks jon which of three choices would he have as warden of the north (i wish i could write fast enough to get down who the choices were, but i can't). jon doesn't like any of them, and wants stannis to hold winterfell in trust for sansa. stannis replies "for sansa, or for tyrion lannister??" stannis then says that he's giving it to the karstarks (i guess they were one of the three choices).
jon says that deepwood motte is the best place to start the war for the north. it's the closest to the wall, easy to creep up on, made of timber, and most importantly, in the hands of the ironmen, not northmen. restoring the castle to it's rightful owners is a good thing (said by jon or stannis, i don't remember). stannis can't afford to get mixed up with the umbers, so he suggests that stannis cross a goat track through the mountains and emerge at gates of deepwood motte. the people there are petty lords, not umbers (flint, big bucket, etc.). jon says that the norrys will help - they are friends of the night watch.
jon says that these people worship the old gods and not to offend or insult them. this is when mel says that she will remain on the wall to advise lord meadows (i dunno who he is). jon says that the wall is no place for women - it makes the men uneasy. mel takes it as a compliment (i think).
i think mel says something about how there are a lot of people who want jon dead. the way george read it reminded me of dr. evil in austin powers ("no one can stop me. not even - austin powers").
that's about it...
EDIT: OK! finally i can post the rest! i know that everyone else has done a great job, but i would feel incomplete if i didnt finish it. so here's goes.
so Roose is still down south. stannis wants to deal severely with the bastard of bolton (for which i applaud him, i hate that bastard! )
there is mention of a HARLON stark, hundreds or thousands (cant remember) of years ago, who was revolted against by the boltons. i think jon mentions this.
stannis says he wants to take moat cailan from the ironmen. jon says no one can take moat cailan... from the SOUTH. jon is feeling the pressure of advising stannis (as os said, he kept thinking that "talking is not fighting" or whatever). jon tells stannis "you need the hornwoods, the manderlys and the UMBERS. karhold is not enough."
it is mentioned that greatjon umber is being held hostage after the red wedding. i think that stannis says that the umbers would be no help, because while the umbers hate the boltons, they hate the wildlings more, living so close to the wall as they do.
there is mention of a ser jiles (sp?) and a ser massey (sp?)
stannis says: "all leave me now, except lord snow." melisandre also remains.
it is mentioned that devan (davos's son) is stannis' cupbearer. no mention of davos though.
stannis again tries to get jon to take WF. jon refuses again (especially since he's LC of the NW now!) stannis presents several choices and then says he will make the karstark (not sure which one) the lord of WF.
jon says that moat cailin is not the best choice. stannis asks him "where then?" jon replies "Deepwood Motte." jon tell stannis that it is easy to attack, cause its held by ironmen, not northmen.
but to get there they must not take the the kingsroad. jon says they have to go through the mountains, with the mountain clans, who are "proud, poor and prickly. but they are hospitable, you will eat well."
jon says thay must pass through the Norryland, the Norries are friends to the NW. the paths are goat tracks.
"goat tracks?" stannis asks scornfully.
jon convinces him it is the best way. but jon warns them that the mountain clans worship the old gods (this is aimed at mel). so dont offend them.
mel says, don't worry i'm staying on the wall.
mel then says "i have seen it in the flames jon snow, you have enemies"
jon says "i know."
stannis says: "not the enemies you know. the enemies who smile at you
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TYRION 1
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:14 am
Tyrion drank his way across the ocean. It was a red Dornish wine he drank. He spent most of the trip in a drunken haze; alternately chugging the wine and then throwing it back up. He spends the entire time below-decks with a boy whose job it is to clean up after the dwarf. Tyrion muses that he would like to be taken to Dorne so that he could help Myrcella claim the Iron Throne. He then considers going North to the Wall, but is daunted by the cold and the Night's Watch vows (primarily the chastity part). At this point Tyrion is still ignorant that Stannis has gone North.
Soon, it becomes obvious that they are taking him to the Free Cities, but which one Tyrion does not know. Tyrion mentions that each city has it's own dialect which is gradually becoming it's own language. He mentions that there are nine of them. The words "wherever whores go" continually rings through his head. He seems obsessed by phrase and the question.
Tyrion thinks back on his escape from King's Landing and Varys is heard to say that Tyrion now knows what Tywin was. From this we can deduce exactly what we thought all along: Varys showed Tyrion the passages leading to Tywin's room so as to cause a rift between Tyrion and the rest of the Lannister family.
At the end of the journey, a drunk and bewildered, Tyrion is shoved into a wine cask which is then sealed. The cask is rolled off the boat and then rolled to Illyrio's manor. By the time the wine arrives, Tyrion is bruised and dazed from his journey. Illyrio, himself, opens the wine cask to let Tyrion out.
"Oh, look, a drunk dwarf" Illyrio says.
"Oh, look, a rotting sea cow." Replies Tyrion.
Illyrio mentions that he likes Tyrion's insolence. In their discussion he uses the phrase "just so" several times. This caused me to pine for one of my favorite characters Syrio Forel. Illyrio welcomes Tyrion to the Free City of Pentos. It is mentioned that Tyrion can speak High Valyerion.
Tyrion is brought to a room where he can sleep off the effects of the wine and generally recover from his ordeal. When he awakes, he finds a blonde girl attending to him. She can speak the Westerosi tongue and dutifully bathes him. After this, Tyrion decides to explore Illyrio's estate. He finds Illyrio's wine cellars, first, and heads straight for the 'good stuff'. He opens a bottle and takes it out into the gardens. Tyrion sees guards around the estate and one of the descriptions shows that Illyrio 'employs' Unsullied.
During his exploration he comes across a washer-woman hanging clothes on a clothesline. She does not respond to him and so Tyrion guesses that she cannot speak Westerosi. He speaks to her anyway, musing about his options. He feels that he cannot stay here, but the Wall is cold and dangerous, and the situation in Dorne too unpredictable. The washer-woman ignores him and then leaves Tyrion to his own amusements.
Tyrion then makes his way back to the manor and is met by Illyrio. Tyrion is struck by how fat Illyrio is. Illyrio begins their conversation by telling Tyrion about the blonde girl and is surprised to find that Tyrion is not interested in bedding her. He mentions that the girl was purchased from the King and, as he knows, can speak Westerosi. She is from Lys, where they teach the art of love.
Illyrio tells Tyrion about the situation in the slave states but carefully avoids mentioning anything about Dany. Illyrio begins to go through Tyrion's options, telling Tyrion that Stannis is at the wall - a fact that surprises Tyrion greatly. The Wall was an unfavorable location to begin with but now that Tyrion knows Stannis is there he rules that out as a safe haven. Illyrio then proceeds to argue against him going to Dorne, explaining that Doran Martell might be a bit upset about Oberyn's death and Lannister rule in general. They both agree that Dorne is too risky a gamble. Tyrion then shrugs, thinking that Illyrio means to keep him in Pentos.
When Illyrio mentions forcing the Lannister's off the Iron Throne, Tyrion objects saying that he is still a Lion. Illyrio scoffs, saying that the Westerosi sew animals to their clothing and then take them over-seriously. Illyrio says that the Prince of Pentos owns a real pride of lions and that if Tyrion wishes Illyrio will bring him to them. Tyrion declines, thinking that this is a veiled threat to feed him to those lions.
The Prince of Pentos, Illyrio says, has sex with a virgin maid of the fields and a virgin maid of the seas every spring - in order to ensure good crops and favorable weather. If either of these fail, a war/drought/plague/flood, the Prince of Pentos has his throat slit.
At the end of Tyrion's PoV, Illyrio says that Tyrion has one other option. An option further to the east…
Originally posted by Trebla
Lord of House Mata
(9/4/01 12:57:18 pm)
Tyrion Chapter: "He drank his way across the Narrow Sea" Nuff said! He thinks about where to go, noting that Janos Slynt is on the Wal and Doran Martell might send him to KL. Throughout the chapter, he thinks and speak aloud "Where do whores go?" He's put in barrell and delivered to Illyrio where he finds out he is in Pentos. During his 1st conversation with Illyrio, it is mentioned that slavery has been outlawed in Pentos by Braavos. Another thing noted is that Tywin detested what he called, " Spice Princes and Cheese Lords." While walking Illyrios' grounds, he notes Cherry trees and Eunichs with spiked helmets standing guard on the other side of the wall. The maid/whore that is sent to Tyrion learned the art of love in Lys. During his dinner with Illyrio, Tyrion discovers that Cersei has offered a Lordship for whomever gets her Tyrion. Their conversation steers toward Tyrion's claim of Casterly Rock. Illyrio noted that Stannis is on the Wall and Tyrion knows that Stannis would behead him for Kinslaying. Illyrio also notes that Doran Martell rules Dorne and that Tyrion would not know how he would be welcomed. The chapter end with Illyrio telling Tyrion that the road to Casterly Rock leads east, where there is a 3 Headed Dragon.
Soon, it becomes obvious that they are taking him to the Free Cities, but which one Tyrion does not know. Tyrion mentions that each city has it's own dialect which is gradually becoming it's own language. He mentions that there are nine of them. The words "wherever whores go" continually rings through his head. He seems obsessed by phrase and the question.
Tyrion thinks back on his escape from King's Landing and Varys is heard to say that Tyrion now knows what Tywin was. From this we can deduce exactly what we thought all along: Varys showed Tyrion the passages leading to Tywin's room so as to cause a rift between Tyrion and the rest of the Lannister family.
At the end of the journey, a drunk and bewildered, Tyrion is shoved into a wine cask which is then sealed. The cask is rolled off the boat and then rolled to Illyrio's manor. By the time the wine arrives, Tyrion is bruised and dazed from his journey. Illyrio, himself, opens the wine cask to let Tyrion out.
"Oh, look, a drunk dwarf" Illyrio says.
"Oh, look, a rotting sea cow." Replies Tyrion.
Illyrio mentions that he likes Tyrion's insolence. In their discussion he uses the phrase "just so" several times. This caused me to pine for one of my favorite characters Syrio Forel. Illyrio welcomes Tyrion to the Free City of Pentos. It is mentioned that Tyrion can speak High Valyerion.
Tyrion is brought to a room where he can sleep off the effects of the wine and generally recover from his ordeal. When he awakes, he finds a blonde girl attending to him. She can speak the Westerosi tongue and dutifully bathes him. After this, Tyrion decides to explore Illyrio's estate. He finds Illyrio's wine cellars, first, and heads straight for the 'good stuff'. He opens a bottle and takes it out into the gardens. Tyrion sees guards around the estate and one of the descriptions shows that Illyrio 'employs' Unsullied.
During his exploration he comes across a washer-woman hanging clothes on a clothesline. She does not respond to him and so Tyrion guesses that she cannot speak Westerosi. He speaks to her anyway, musing about his options. He feels that he cannot stay here, but the Wall is cold and dangerous, and the situation in Dorne too unpredictable. The washer-woman ignores him and then leaves Tyrion to his own amusements.
Tyrion then makes his way back to the manor and is met by Illyrio. Tyrion is struck by how fat Illyrio is. Illyrio begins their conversation by telling Tyrion about the blonde girl and is surprised to find that Tyrion is not interested in bedding her. He mentions that the girl was purchased from the King and, as he knows, can speak Westerosi. She is from Lys, where they teach the art of love.
Illyrio tells Tyrion about the situation in the slave states but carefully avoids mentioning anything about Dany. Illyrio begins to go through Tyrion's options, telling Tyrion that Stannis is at the wall - a fact that surprises Tyrion greatly. The Wall was an unfavorable location to begin with but now that Tyrion knows Stannis is there he rules that out as a safe haven. Illyrio then proceeds to argue against him going to Dorne, explaining that Doran Martell might be a bit upset about Oberyn's death and Lannister rule in general. They both agree that Dorne is too risky a gamble. Tyrion then shrugs, thinking that Illyrio means to keep him in Pentos.
When Illyrio mentions forcing the Lannister's off the Iron Throne, Tyrion objects saying that he is still a Lion. Illyrio scoffs, saying that the Westerosi sew animals to their clothing and then take them over-seriously. Illyrio says that the Prince of Pentos owns a real pride of lions and that if Tyrion wishes Illyrio will bring him to them. Tyrion declines, thinking that this is a veiled threat to feed him to those lions.
The Prince of Pentos, Illyrio says, has sex with a virgin maid of the fields and a virgin maid of the seas every spring - in order to ensure good crops and favorable weather. If either of these fail, a war/drought/plague/flood, the Prince of Pentos has his throat slit.
At the end of Tyrion's PoV, Illyrio says that Tyrion has one other option. An option further to the east…
Originally posted by Trebla
Lord of House Mata
(9/4/01 12:57:18 pm)
Tyrion Chapter: "He drank his way across the Narrow Sea" Nuff said! He thinks about where to go, noting that Janos Slynt is on the Wal and Doran Martell might send him to KL. Throughout the chapter, he thinks and speak aloud "Where do whores go?" He's put in barrell and delivered to Illyrio where he finds out he is in Pentos. During his 1st conversation with Illyrio, it is mentioned that slavery has been outlawed in Pentos by Braavos. Another thing noted is that Tywin detested what he called, " Spice Princes and Cheese Lords." While walking Illyrios' grounds, he notes Cherry trees and Eunichs with spiked helmets standing guard on the other side of the wall. The maid/whore that is sent to Tyrion learned the art of love in Lys. During his dinner with Illyrio, Tyrion discovers that Cersei has offered a Lordship for whomever gets her Tyrion. Their conversation steers toward Tyrion's claim of Casterly Rock. Illyrio noted that Stannis is on the Wall and Tyrion knows that Stannis would behead him for Kinslaying. Illyrio also notes that Doran Martell rules Dorne and that Tyrion would not know how he would be welcomed. The chapter end with Illyrio telling Tyrion that the road to Casterly Rock leads east, where there is a 3 Headed Dragon.
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TYRION 2
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:15 am
by Caress of Cersei
Tyrion is traveling with Illyrio in a litter, with several unsullied walking beside guarding them and their stuff that follows. Illyrio is confident that his household loves him and well, they wouldn't betray him. Tyrion laughs to himself. They're drinking a lot of sweet wine and Tyrion is glad he can stretch out in the litter. He looks out and sees some dung, which makes him think of his lord father. He hopes Tywin is in some hell where father can see him restore Dany to the throne and he will become Lord of Casterly Rock. He considers himself now all but dead ever since the red viper died. He hopes Dany isn't a frail maiden b/c she might cut herself on the iron throne. Illyrio says he thought about taking Dany for himself but thought she would be "dry, stiff, and fearfull" - she's like a dragon egg - lovely to behold, but dead on the inside.
Tyrion asks if he can trust the daughter of Aerys. Illyrio replies that he trusts the "sister of Rhaegar" or something to that effect. He said that Viserys promised him Master of the coin an d he would either get Harrenhal, Storm's End, or Casterly Rock. But he knew better than to trust.
Illyrio talks about "Grif" (you'll hear more about this from Trebla) and Tyrion thinks he sounds a lot like Bronn. Tyrion worried about sellswords and Illyrio says he trusts him like his own brother to which Tyrion replies that he too, shall trust him like his own brother (LOL)
Illyrio is matching him in his cups - Tyrion thinks Illyrio loves the sound of his own voice and therefore says too much, but recognizes that that is his own failing as well. Illyrio starts to talk about how he and Varys were children together. Varys slept in the sewers and prowled the rooftops. In Myr he was the Prince of Thieves? but in Pentos he was despised as a eunich. He and Illyrio had an arrangement about stealing and restitution (I'm sure others will go more into this detail)
Much talk about llittle birds which were called "mice" here - orphan boys and girls that were taught to read ledgers and charts b/c secrets were worth more than silvers. Illyrio stayed behind but Varys talents reached a king who didn't trust his son, his Queen, or his Hand.
by Trebla
Tyrion and Illyrio depart Pentos through the Sunset Gate. They travel by a huge litter that could fit 4 Illyrio's so there is plenty of room for a dwarf. Unsullied guard their trek and there are a trail of mules that follow them carrying chests, casks, barrels, and hampers filled with delectables to make sure Illyrio doesn't lose his fat figure.
Tyrion complains that he should have been sent by ship to Slavers Bay but Illyrio explains the dangers of pirates and autumn storms. Illyrio will take him as far as the River road and from there he will travel to Dany. Tyrion grouses that by the time he gets to Dany her dragons will be as large as Balerion the Black Dread. Illyrio muses that might not be a bad thing.
They drink, eat, and talk a lot during the journey. Tyrion repeatedly promises himself he will cease his heavy drinking but keep filling his cup. They eat lavishly on all kind of foods and drink several different types of wine.
They stop only to relieve themselves on the road. The road itself is an old Valyrian road, fused stone raised a half foot above the ground. The road was wide enough for 3 wagons and it showed no sign of cracks from weather or traffic. Tyrion remembers that Valyria reached as far as Dragonstone, but never to Westeros itself. He finds it odd that they never tried to expand into the wealthy 7 kingdoms. "The wealth was further west, but they had dragons. Surely they knew it was there."
He notes a piece of dung on the road and thinks of Tywin. He thinks to himself that he should have killed Tywin long ago and hope Tywin will see him from Hell raisings Aerys' daughter to the throne.
He asks Illyrio of Dany and Illyio tells Tyrion of her. He explains that she was a frightened little girl, always wary. She was lovely, though, and he considered getting rid of Viscerys and claiming her for a wife. He doesn't do so because he believed her to be dead inside. He says that little girl died in the Doathraki sea and he does not know this new queen. Tyrion asks why Illyrio would put Mad Aerys' daughter on the throne. Illyrio says she is the sister of Prince Rhaegar.
During the conversation, Illyrio reveals that Viscerys had promised Illyrio the Master of Coin post and his choice of castles. The choices were Storm's End, Harrenhal, and Casterly Rock. Tyrion finds that hilarious. They both agree they are mistrustful of the gratitude of kings. Illyrio explains he has done all of this only for Varys. Tyrion's thoughts reveal he does not believe Illyrio at all on that.
Tyrion then finds out they are to meet a Griff on the road. Griff leads a group of sell swords. Griff is a knight from Westeros, although he had long been in Illyrio's service. Griff has raised his own son to be a knight and he is called Young Griff. Illyrio assures Tyrion that Young Griff will like him.
Tyrion is skeptical of dealing with sell swords since Cersei has offered a Lordship for his head. Illyrio explains that only Griff will know who Tyrion is and that he trusts Griff like a brother. Tyrion believes it is a mistake but only says, "Then I will trust Griff as I would my own brother." ( )
They keep eating and drinking and end up speaking of Varys. Tyrion learns that Illyrio and Varys grew up together in Pentos. Varys had arrived from Myr one step ahead of the slavers after being ratted out by a fellow thief. Varys had been a Prince of Thieves in Myr.
Varys was nearly beaten to death in Pentos and Illyrio decided to come to an arrangement with him. Varys spied on small time thieves and stole their loot. Illyrio worked out arrangements with the victimes to recover their loot for a price. Half of the thieves wanted to kill Varys while the other half started selling their loot to him. Illyrio and Varys grew rich and soon Varys began to train his little "mice".
The mice were little boys and girls who he taught to climb walls, slip into chimneys, and to read. The mice were used to steal information, memorize it, and then leave. Varys' talents gave him a reputation that got to an anxious king who did not trust his son, his Queen, or his over proud Hand.
Tyrion knew that story and admitted that Illyrio was much more than a simple cheese monger. Illyrio admits that Tyrion is just as quick as Varys had claimed.
They eat and drink some more and Illyrio falls asleep. Tyrion ponders the Myrish Fire wine he is drinking and thinks of dragons. He remembers his lonely childhood and remembers his dreams of being a Targaryen Prince of a Valyrian dragonlord, flying over the land. He recalls when two of his uncles asked what he wanted for his nameday. He begged for a dragon, claiming it didn't have to be a big one. It could be little like him. Gerion laughed but Tygett shook his head and told him that there were no more dragon because the last died a hundred year before. Tyrion thought it was very unfair and had cried himself to sleep that night. He thinks of Dany's 3 dragons and in his heart he listens for the beat of leather wings.
They pass through the Flatlands. Tyrion hears of the Velvet Hills and of the Rhoynar city Arnar. It was destroyed by Valyria. He gloats that he will see the Free Cities and ponders whether he should visit every whore in Volantis and name their bastards Tywin.
Tyrion recalls his 16th birthday when he announced he would visit the Free Cities as Gerion had. Tywin forbids it because Tyrion could not be relied upon to not disgrace the Lannisters. Tyrion defiantly claims since he is a man he is free to do as he wished.
Tywin tells him that only children and fools believe that men are truly free. Tywin tells him he should dress in motley and amuse the spice kings and cheese lords. But Tyrion will have to pay his own way and he can never return. Tyrion asks why Tywin wants him around since he has never had any use for him. Tywin decides to make use of Tyrion and on his name day has him clean all of the drains and cistens in Casterly Rock. Tyrion thinks Tywin hoped he'd fall in one but proudly recalls what a good job he did.
They pass south of the Hills of the Andalos. The Andals had departed from there ten thousand years ago. Tyrion recalls a septon claiming the Seven had walked the hills in human form. Tyrion recites passages from "The Seven-Pointed Star"(other holy books are mentioned but not named). Tyrion had at one time considered becoming a septon until he found a real use for his manhood and fell in love
Illyrio tells of his first love and how he lost her to the grey death. He kept her hands in his bedchamber. Tyrion lies and claims the love he had was for his hand because he cannot speak of Tysha.
They speak more of the Andals and Rhoynar. Illyrio claims that the Andals learned smithing from the Rhoynar. Tyrion learns that the hills are empty because the Khals often pillage the area. They argue about the Dothraki with Tyrion claiming that the Dothraki would not be quick to pillage if someone destroyed a khalasar. Illyrio argues the difficulty with doing so and that it is easier to buy them off. Tyrion sees why Tywin held the Free Cities in such contempt.
Tyrion hears stories of rock goblins and giants warring. The goblins won but were seduced by swan maidens from the lakes and were made thralls. The Andals then rose up and killed them all. Later, a group of robbers preyed on folks near the lakes until Rhoynar drowned them. Legend says the robbers are still there to claim anyone who tries to fish the lakes.
They pass a large Valyrian sphinx. There were two but the other sits now in Vaes Dothrak.
Tyrion gets drunker than ever that night and sings his and Shae's song. He recalls how Shae's hands beat at him when he strangled her, twisting the chain again and again. He does not recall whether he had kissed her one last time.
His thoughts go to Tysha and he recalls their first time. They both did not how. He tries to see her face but all he sees is Tywin on the privy when he shot him with the crossbow
He falls asleep and awakes to find the litter stopped. He climbs out to piss and finds Illyrio, surrounded by the Unsullied, speaking to 2 strange men. He banters with them about his pissing and then asks if their is trouble and whether he should grab an axe.
The larger one laughs and asks his companion, Haldon, if he had heard that. Haldon doubts that Tyrion could kill a duck. Tyrion takes the bait and tells them to fetch a duck. The large man draws his sword and tells Tyrion, "I'm Duck, you mouthy little pisspot"
He asks what Tyrion thinks of that. Tyrion get real nervous and responds by saying he had a smaller duck in mind. Duck laughs loudly at that. Haldon says Griff will be grateful for the dwarf but that Griff sent them for some chests. Haldon orders Duck to put the chests on some mules. Duck whines that he is the knight here but still does as he is told. Illyrio asks about Young Griff and asks if the boy is ready. Haldon tells him that Young Griff is as tall as Griff and 3 days earlier had driven Duck backwards into a horse trough.
Illyrio says he wants to give Young Griff his blessings and has a gift for him in the chests. Haldon tells him there is no time for the litter. Illyrio gets angry and says there are things Griff must know. The Golden Company has broken its contact with Myr and is riding west from the Disputed Lands. Haldon interrupts him by saying they already know this because Bennaro has seen it in his fires and that the Golden Company makes for Volantis. That is why Griff needs them to make haste. Illyrio says, "The dragon has three heads, there is no need for haste.
Haldon says Griff believes there is need for haste. Haldon eyes Tyrion and then begins to speak in another language. Tyrion cannot tell what it is but think it might be Volantene. He catches a few words that come close to High Valyrian. The words he catches are, queen, dragon, and sword.
Tyrion asks for their names after Haldon asks if Tyrion can ride as well as he pisses. Haldon tells him they also call him Halfmaester and that he is the healer of the group. Tyrion is then introduced to Ser Rolly Duckfield. Tyrion says he must call him Ser Duck and Duck agrees. Duck claims any knight can make a knight and that Griff made him one.
They ask Tyrion's name and Illyrio says it's Yollo. Tyrion hates it, thinking it sounds like a monkey and a Pentoshi. Tyrion tells them his name is Hugor Hill and (in "The Seven Pointed Star, the Father placed a crown of 7 stars on Hugor of the Hill) Haldor asks if he is little bastard or a little king.
Tyrion realizes the man misses little and he will have to be careful around him.Tyrion tells them even a dwarf is a bastard in his father's eyes. They tell him to fetch his axe and get ready to ride because Griff will not wait for man or dwarf.
Tyrion is traveling with Illyrio in a litter, with several unsullied walking beside guarding them and their stuff that follows. Illyrio is confident that his household loves him and well, they wouldn't betray him. Tyrion laughs to himself. They're drinking a lot of sweet wine and Tyrion is glad he can stretch out in the litter. He looks out and sees some dung, which makes him think of his lord father. He hopes Tywin is in some hell where father can see him restore Dany to the throne and he will become Lord of Casterly Rock. He considers himself now all but dead ever since the red viper died. He hopes Dany isn't a frail maiden b/c she might cut herself on the iron throne. Illyrio says he thought about taking Dany for himself but thought she would be "dry, stiff, and fearfull" - she's like a dragon egg - lovely to behold, but dead on the inside.
Tyrion asks if he can trust the daughter of Aerys. Illyrio replies that he trusts the "sister of Rhaegar" or something to that effect. He said that Viserys promised him Master of the coin an d he would either get Harrenhal, Storm's End, or Casterly Rock. But he knew better than to trust.
Illyrio talks about "Grif" (you'll hear more about this from Trebla) and Tyrion thinks he sounds a lot like Bronn. Tyrion worried about sellswords and Illyrio says he trusts him like his own brother to which Tyrion replies that he too, shall trust him like his own brother (LOL)
Illyrio is matching him in his cups - Tyrion thinks Illyrio loves the sound of his own voice and therefore says too much, but recognizes that that is his own failing as well. Illyrio starts to talk about how he and Varys were children together. Varys slept in the sewers and prowled the rooftops. In Myr he was the Prince of Thieves? but in Pentos he was despised as a eunich. He and Illyrio had an arrangement about stealing and restitution (I'm sure others will go more into this detail)
Much talk about llittle birds which were called "mice" here - orphan boys and girls that were taught to read ledgers and charts b/c secrets were worth more than silvers. Illyrio stayed behind but Varys talents reached a king who didn't trust his son, his Queen, or his Hand.
by Trebla
Tyrion and Illyrio depart Pentos through the Sunset Gate. They travel by a huge litter that could fit 4 Illyrio's so there is plenty of room for a dwarf. Unsullied guard their trek and there are a trail of mules that follow them carrying chests, casks, barrels, and hampers filled with delectables to make sure Illyrio doesn't lose his fat figure.
Tyrion complains that he should have been sent by ship to Slavers Bay but Illyrio explains the dangers of pirates and autumn storms. Illyrio will take him as far as the River road and from there he will travel to Dany. Tyrion grouses that by the time he gets to Dany her dragons will be as large as Balerion the Black Dread. Illyrio muses that might not be a bad thing.
They drink, eat, and talk a lot during the journey. Tyrion repeatedly promises himself he will cease his heavy drinking but keep filling his cup. They eat lavishly on all kind of foods and drink several different types of wine.
They stop only to relieve themselves on the road. The road itself is an old Valyrian road, fused stone raised a half foot above the ground. The road was wide enough for 3 wagons and it showed no sign of cracks from weather or traffic. Tyrion remembers that Valyria reached as far as Dragonstone, but never to Westeros itself. He finds it odd that they never tried to expand into the wealthy 7 kingdoms. "The wealth was further west, but they had dragons. Surely they knew it was there."
He notes a piece of dung on the road and thinks of Tywin. He thinks to himself that he should have killed Tywin long ago and hope Tywin will see him from Hell raisings Aerys' daughter to the throne.
He asks Illyrio of Dany and Illyio tells Tyrion of her. He explains that she was a frightened little girl, always wary. She was lovely, though, and he considered getting rid of Viscerys and claiming her for a wife. He doesn't do so because he believed her to be dead inside. He says that little girl died in the Doathraki sea and he does not know this new queen. Tyrion asks why Illyrio would put Mad Aerys' daughter on the throne. Illyrio says she is the sister of Prince Rhaegar.
During the conversation, Illyrio reveals that Viscerys had promised Illyrio the Master of Coin post and his choice of castles. The choices were Storm's End, Harrenhal, and Casterly Rock. Tyrion finds that hilarious. They both agree they are mistrustful of the gratitude of kings. Illyrio explains he has done all of this only for Varys. Tyrion's thoughts reveal he does not believe Illyrio at all on that.
Tyrion then finds out they are to meet a Griff on the road. Griff leads a group of sell swords. Griff is a knight from Westeros, although he had long been in Illyrio's service. Griff has raised his own son to be a knight and he is called Young Griff. Illyrio assures Tyrion that Young Griff will like him.
Tyrion is skeptical of dealing with sell swords since Cersei has offered a Lordship for his head. Illyrio explains that only Griff will know who Tyrion is and that he trusts Griff like a brother. Tyrion believes it is a mistake but only says, "Then I will trust Griff as I would my own brother." ( )
They keep eating and drinking and end up speaking of Varys. Tyrion learns that Illyrio and Varys grew up together in Pentos. Varys had arrived from Myr one step ahead of the slavers after being ratted out by a fellow thief. Varys had been a Prince of Thieves in Myr.
Varys was nearly beaten to death in Pentos and Illyrio decided to come to an arrangement with him. Varys spied on small time thieves and stole their loot. Illyrio worked out arrangements with the victimes to recover their loot for a price. Half of the thieves wanted to kill Varys while the other half started selling their loot to him. Illyrio and Varys grew rich and soon Varys began to train his little "mice".
The mice were little boys and girls who he taught to climb walls, slip into chimneys, and to read. The mice were used to steal information, memorize it, and then leave. Varys' talents gave him a reputation that got to an anxious king who did not trust his son, his Queen, or his over proud Hand.
Tyrion knew that story and admitted that Illyrio was much more than a simple cheese monger. Illyrio admits that Tyrion is just as quick as Varys had claimed.
They eat and drink some more and Illyrio falls asleep. Tyrion ponders the Myrish Fire wine he is drinking and thinks of dragons. He remembers his lonely childhood and remembers his dreams of being a Targaryen Prince of a Valyrian dragonlord, flying over the land. He recalls when two of his uncles asked what he wanted for his nameday. He begged for a dragon, claiming it didn't have to be a big one. It could be little like him. Gerion laughed but Tygett shook his head and told him that there were no more dragon because the last died a hundred year before. Tyrion thought it was very unfair and had cried himself to sleep that night. He thinks of Dany's 3 dragons and in his heart he listens for the beat of leather wings.
They pass through the Flatlands. Tyrion hears of the Velvet Hills and of the Rhoynar city Arnar. It was destroyed by Valyria. He gloats that he will see the Free Cities and ponders whether he should visit every whore in Volantis and name their bastards Tywin.
Tyrion recalls his 16th birthday when he announced he would visit the Free Cities as Gerion had. Tywin forbids it because Tyrion could not be relied upon to not disgrace the Lannisters. Tyrion defiantly claims since he is a man he is free to do as he wished.
Tywin tells him that only children and fools believe that men are truly free. Tywin tells him he should dress in motley and amuse the spice kings and cheese lords. But Tyrion will have to pay his own way and he can never return. Tyrion asks why Tywin wants him around since he has never had any use for him. Tywin decides to make use of Tyrion and on his name day has him clean all of the drains and cistens in Casterly Rock. Tyrion thinks Tywin hoped he'd fall in one but proudly recalls what a good job he did.
They pass south of the Hills of the Andalos. The Andals had departed from there ten thousand years ago. Tyrion recalls a septon claiming the Seven had walked the hills in human form. Tyrion recites passages from "The Seven-Pointed Star"(other holy books are mentioned but not named). Tyrion had at one time considered becoming a septon until he found a real use for his manhood and fell in love
Illyrio tells of his first love and how he lost her to the grey death. He kept her hands in his bedchamber. Tyrion lies and claims the love he had was for his hand because he cannot speak of Tysha.
They speak more of the Andals and Rhoynar. Illyrio claims that the Andals learned smithing from the Rhoynar. Tyrion learns that the hills are empty because the Khals often pillage the area. They argue about the Dothraki with Tyrion claiming that the Dothraki would not be quick to pillage if someone destroyed a khalasar. Illyrio argues the difficulty with doing so and that it is easier to buy them off. Tyrion sees why Tywin held the Free Cities in such contempt.
Tyrion hears stories of rock goblins and giants warring. The goblins won but were seduced by swan maidens from the lakes and were made thralls. The Andals then rose up and killed them all. Later, a group of robbers preyed on folks near the lakes until Rhoynar drowned them. Legend says the robbers are still there to claim anyone who tries to fish the lakes.
They pass a large Valyrian sphinx. There were two but the other sits now in Vaes Dothrak.
Tyrion gets drunker than ever that night and sings his and Shae's song. He recalls how Shae's hands beat at him when he strangled her, twisting the chain again and again. He does not recall whether he had kissed her one last time.
His thoughts go to Tysha and he recalls their first time. They both did not how. He tries to see her face but all he sees is Tywin on the privy when he shot him with the crossbow
He falls asleep and awakes to find the litter stopped. He climbs out to piss and finds Illyrio, surrounded by the Unsullied, speaking to 2 strange men. He banters with them about his pissing and then asks if their is trouble and whether he should grab an axe.
The larger one laughs and asks his companion, Haldon, if he had heard that. Haldon doubts that Tyrion could kill a duck. Tyrion takes the bait and tells them to fetch a duck. The large man draws his sword and tells Tyrion, "I'm Duck, you mouthy little pisspot"
He asks what Tyrion thinks of that. Tyrion get real nervous and responds by saying he had a smaller duck in mind. Duck laughs loudly at that. Haldon says Griff will be grateful for the dwarf but that Griff sent them for some chests. Haldon orders Duck to put the chests on some mules. Duck whines that he is the knight here but still does as he is told. Illyrio asks about Young Griff and asks if the boy is ready. Haldon tells him that Young Griff is as tall as Griff and 3 days earlier had driven Duck backwards into a horse trough.
Illyrio says he wants to give Young Griff his blessings and has a gift for him in the chests. Haldon tells him there is no time for the litter. Illyrio gets angry and says there are things Griff must know. The Golden Company has broken its contact with Myr and is riding west from the Disputed Lands. Haldon interrupts him by saying they already know this because Bennaro has seen it in his fires and that the Golden Company makes for Volantis. That is why Griff needs them to make haste. Illyrio says, "The dragon has three heads, there is no need for haste.
Haldon says Griff believes there is need for haste. Haldon eyes Tyrion and then begins to speak in another language. Tyrion cannot tell what it is but think it might be Volantene. He catches a few words that come close to High Valyrian. The words he catches are, queen, dragon, and sword.
Tyrion asks for their names after Haldon asks if Tyrion can ride as well as he pisses. Haldon tells him they also call him Halfmaester and that he is the healer of the group. Tyrion is then introduced to Ser Rolly Duckfield. Tyrion says he must call him Ser Duck and Duck agrees. Duck claims any knight can make a knight and that Griff made him one.
They ask Tyrion's name and Illyrio says it's Yollo. Tyrion hates it, thinking it sounds like a monkey and a Pentoshi. Tyrion tells them his name is Hugor Hill and (in "The Seven Pointed Star, the Father placed a crown of 7 stars on Hugor of the Hill) Haldor asks if he is little bastard or a little king.
Tyrion realizes the man misses little and he will have to be careful around him.Tyrion tells them even a dwarf is a bastard in his father's eyes. They tell him to fetch his axe and get ready to ride because Griff will not wait for man or dwarf.
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- Pridružio se: Uto Nov 20, 2007 8:57 am
DAVOS 1
od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:16 am
Davos is marched across a bridge, across a drawbridge to a gatehouse. Below is a salt moat. Green waters below. His hands were bound together and he was shoved across the yard. Inside the keep the guard and Davos took off their cloaks - Davos had not forgotten his courtesies and it had been raining outside.
The Lord was in the hall drinking beer and eating sister's stew. The guard tells the Lord that they found Davos in the Belly O' the Whale (some smuggler's den), trying to buy his way off the island. Davos had a ribbon with the seals of the crowned stag, a flaming heart, and a white hand. Davos thought that one word from the lord and he would soon be hanging from the Gallows Gate of Sisterton. The waves were smashing against Breakwater's huge stone arches and swirling through the dungeons. Davos might end up there, chained to a wet floor, and would drown when the tide came in. Davos thinks he won't die a smuggler, because he is the King's hand, and this lord could sell him to the queen.
The lord had webbing between his three middle fingers. Davos heard that some of the lords of the Three Sisters had webbed hands and feet. The lord wants to see Davos' hands to make sure he is the Onion Knight and Hand. The lord is Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister. Since he was found at the Belly O' the Whale, Godric asks him if he is returning to his old ways. Davos denies it, saying he was looking for passage to White Harbor - Stannis sent him to go there and deliver a message. Godric tells him he is in the wrong place, with the wrong lord, and he is in Sisterton, on Sweetsister.
Sisterton was not sweet - it was vile, small and mean and rank with odors. Davos knew it from his smuggling days. The streets were mud and planks, the houses daub-and-wattle hovels roofed with straw. Three Sisters had been a favorite place for smugglers for hundreds of years.
Davos and Lord Godric both say they have and had friends from the Sisters. Godric says he hangs the ones who aren't his friends. He asks why Davos was brought there if he was going to White Harbor.
He thinks - a king's command and a friend's betrayal - Instead he tells Godric it was "storms."
29 ships left the Wall, and Davos would be shocked if half were still afloat. Oldeo and Old Mother's Son crashed on Skagos - the isle of the unicorns and cannibals. Saathos Saan crashed up on the Grey Cliffs. Saaladhor Saan fumed at the losses - other boats were lost and the Lyseni fleet had been scattered all over the narrow sea. Saan fumes to Davos, asking where the gold is he was promised, and that he will be known as the Beggar or the Smashed. Saan goes off on Davos about the King's word, and how his men are tired of being patient. He says he was patient at Dragonstone and at Eastwatch.
Lord Godric goes back to Davos' answer of "storms" - he says that storms used to be sacred on the Sisters before the Andals came. Lady of Waves and Lord of the Skies - they made storms when they mated. Godric says the kings don't bother with the Sisters because they are poor and small, but the storms delivered Davos.
Davos thinks instead that he was delivered by a friend instead of storms. Godric tells the guard to leave Davos and that Davos was never there. Davos tells Godric that if he would send him to White Harbor Stannis would see it as an act of friendship. Godric says he could, or he could send Davos to a cold wet hell.
The Three Sisters were loyal to themselves. Supposedly they were sworn to the Arryns, but the Eyrie's grasp on them was tenuous at best. Godric tells Davos that Sunderland would require him to deliver Davos to him if he knew he was there. Borrell did fealty for Sweetsister, as Longthorpe did for Longsister and Torrent for Littlesister. All were sworn to Tristan Sunderland, Lord of the Three Sisters. Tristan had 7 troublesome sons who wanted to be knights and it was making him poor - he thinks he would sell Davos to Cersei. Davos says that Sunderland is sworn to the Eyrie so if anything Davos should be delivered to Lysa Arryn. Godric tells him the news of Lysa being murdered by a singer, and he asks Davos where the pirates are. Godric says Torrent spied their sails from Littlesister as well as the Flints from Widow's Watch. Davos tells him they are at sea and that Stannis sent them to trouble the Lannisters, but it was a lie - in truth Saan has abandoned the king and they were likely off to the Stepstone with what little ships they had left.
Davos came ashore in a boat. Saan waited for the beacon of Night Lamp before dropping Davos off. Their friendship had been worth that much, at least. Saan would have taken Davos with him, but Davos refused to abandon Stannis. Stannis needed Wyman Manderly and trusted Davos to win him. Saan tells Davos that Stannis will kill him with his honors. Godric remarks that he has never had a Hand beneath his roof and he wonders if Stannis would ransom Davos. Davos wonders it as well. Godric asks Davos if Tyrion is at Castle Black with Stannis. Davos tells him no, and then is told about the murder of Tywin by Tyrion's hands. Godric's version of the telling is of course skewed, with Tyrion bathed in blood, etc. Davos is shocked that Tywin is dead. Godric says on the Sisters they did not suffer dwarfs to live - they would let crows feast on them when born, but the septons made them stop. Davos thinsk with Tywin dead, it changes everything and asks to send a raven to Stannis. Godric says Stannis will know, but not from him. Godric doesn't want it getting out that he aided Stannis' treason in any way. He mentions the Sunderlands dragged the sisters into two of the Blackfyre Rebellions, and house Borrell suffered much.
Godric calls for Davos to sit and get beer and stew. Good description of the sister's stew - super clam chowder served in a stale loaf. A specialty of the Sisters. Hey says his daughter Gella makes it and he asks if Davos is married. He says the stew contains 3 kinds of crabs, red, spider, and conqueror. He syas he never eats a spider crab except in the stew - he doesn't want to be taken for a cannibal - and he gestures to his banner above the hearth - a spider crab, white on a grey-green field.
Godric asks about Stannis burning his Hand. Melisandre had given Alester Florent to her god to conjure up the wind that took them north. His screams and agony blew them all the way to Eastwatch, if the red woman could be believed. Davos didn't like the wind. His granddaughter brought more bread - she had webbed fingers too - the mark of the Borrells for five thousand years. Eating meant Davos had guest right, and he would be save for a night at least. The lords of the Sisters had a bad reputation and none more than Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister, Shield of Sisterton, Master of Breakwater Castle, and Keeper of the Night Lamp. Davos asks about the spices in the stew - saffron. Godric tells him it was from Qarth and there was pepper too. Cracked pepper from Volantis. He laughs that he took it off a sloe-eyed maid. A gale swept her intot he Bite and she smashed on the rocks. The forebears had been pirate kings until the Stakrs came down on them. These days the Sistermen did not participate in open piracy, but something much more sneaky - they would use their beacons along the shores of the Sisters to trap ships into coming into reefs and shoals instead of warning them and plundering the wreckage.
Godric tells Davos of White Harbor and that the storms did Davos a kindness. He reveals that Davos came too late. Lord Wyman means to bend his knee, and not to Stannis. Godric tells of the origins of the Maderlys - 900 years ago they came north - they had been great lords of the Mander when they overreached and got slapped down by the green hands. The wolf king took their gold and gave them land and let them keep their gods. The Lionstar was at Sisterton twelve days prior to get water. Full of Freys making for White Harbor. Davos thought that the Freys killed Lord Wyman's son. Godric says they did. Wyman was so wroth he vowed to only eat bread and drink wine but was soon stuffing himself. The Freys were bringing the bones back to Wyman. Godric had Rhaegar Frey to supper - he lost his wife but would get one in White Harbor. Lord Walder and Lord Wyman made a pact, and will seal it with a marriage.
Davos feels ill - thinking Stannis lost because White Harbor remained open even during the worst winter - and the city had silver on par with Casterly Rock's gold. It was the mouth of the north where Winterfell was the heart. Davos thought he must at least try. Davos begs Godric to help him.
Rape of the Three Sisters was two thousand years ago - Sisterton had not forgotten, which is why Godric has no love for northmen. They were free before that, afterward they had to swear loyalty to the Eyrie to get the northmen out. The wolf and falcon fought over the Sisters for a thousand years - until they basically raped the islands of everything. Stannis upset Godric as well, having pulled into port when he was head of Robert's fleet, unannounced, and threatened him if any of his ships went aground if the Night Lamp when dark. Godric asks why he should help Stannis. Davos goes over in his mind all the reasons - he is the true king, becaus he is just, he can defend the realm against the peril in the north, and he has a magic sword. Davos wonders what to promise him to win him - gold, marriage - he was lost... Alester had played that game and died for it. Davos only response was to tell him Tywin was dead - and he tries to put doubt into Tommen and Cersei. Davos feels that Godric has doubts and doesn't want to be on the losing side.
Davos pushes him talking about Stannis' fine work - holding Storm's End, taking Dragonstone from the last Targs, smashing the Iron Fleet off Fair Isle, and Tommen can't compare with him. Godric counters, saying Tommen has the gold of the Rock and Highgarden, and Bolton and Freys... but Godric says that in the world only winter is certain, saying Ned Stark told his father that.
Godric tells Davos of before Robert's Rebellion, Gulltown remained loyal to Aerys, Ned had to cross the mountains to call his banners when Aerys called for his head. On the Fingers a fisherman carried him across the Bite, but they got caught in a storm - the fisherman's daughter got Ned to the Sisters. They say he left her with silver and a bastard in her belly - Jon Snow, she named it, after Arryn. Godric's father had a choice to send Ned to Aerys and win favor, or let him go - but Jon Arryn had taken Gulltown by then and Robert was the first over the walls and he killed Randyll Grafton. Their maester thought Rhaegar would crush the rebel, but Godric thought Robert fought the way a king should. That is when Ned said the line about winter being the only certainty. His father let him go and told Ned that if he loses, he was never there. Davos finishes the chapter, saying, "No mroe than I was."
The Lord was in the hall drinking beer and eating sister's stew. The guard tells the Lord that they found Davos in the Belly O' the Whale (some smuggler's den), trying to buy his way off the island. Davos had a ribbon with the seals of the crowned stag, a flaming heart, and a white hand. Davos thought that one word from the lord and he would soon be hanging from the Gallows Gate of Sisterton. The waves were smashing against Breakwater's huge stone arches and swirling through the dungeons. Davos might end up there, chained to a wet floor, and would drown when the tide came in. Davos thinks he won't die a smuggler, because he is the King's hand, and this lord could sell him to the queen.
The lord had webbing between his three middle fingers. Davos heard that some of the lords of the Three Sisters had webbed hands and feet. The lord wants to see Davos' hands to make sure he is the Onion Knight and Hand. The lord is Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister. Since he was found at the Belly O' the Whale, Godric asks him if he is returning to his old ways. Davos denies it, saying he was looking for passage to White Harbor - Stannis sent him to go there and deliver a message. Godric tells him he is in the wrong place, with the wrong lord, and he is in Sisterton, on Sweetsister.
Sisterton was not sweet - it was vile, small and mean and rank with odors. Davos knew it from his smuggling days. The streets were mud and planks, the houses daub-and-wattle hovels roofed with straw. Three Sisters had been a favorite place for smugglers for hundreds of years.
Davos and Lord Godric both say they have and had friends from the Sisters. Godric says he hangs the ones who aren't his friends. He asks why Davos was brought there if he was going to White Harbor.
He thinks - a king's command and a friend's betrayal - Instead he tells Godric it was "storms."
29 ships left the Wall, and Davos would be shocked if half were still afloat. Oldeo and Old Mother's Son crashed on Skagos - the isle of the unicorns and cannibals. Saathos Saan crashed up on the Grey Cliffs. Saaladhor Saan fumed at the losses - other boats were lost and the Lyseni fleet had been scattered all over the narrow sea. Saan fumes to Davos, asking where the gold is he was promised, and that he will be known as the Beggar or the Smashed. Saan goes off on Davos about the King's word, and how his men are tired of being patient. He says he was patient at Dragonstone and at Eastwatch.
Lord Godric goes back to Davos' answer of "storms" - he says that storms used to be sacred on the Sisters before the Andals came. Lady of Waves and Lord of the Skies - they made storms when they mated. Godric says the kings don't bother with the Sisters because they are poor and small, but the storms delivered Davos.
Davos thinks instead that he was delivered by a friend instead of storms. Godric tells the guard to leave Davos and that Davos was never there. Davos tells Godric that if he would send him to White Harbor Stannis would see it as an act of friendship. Godric says he could, or he could send Davos to a cold wet hell.
The Three Sisters were loyal to themselves. Supposedly they were sworn to the Arryns, but the Eyrie's grasp on them was tenuous at best. Godric tells Davos that Sunderland would require him to deliver Davos to him if he knew he was there. Borrell did fealty for Sweetsister, as Longthorpe did for Longsister and Torrent for Littlesister. All were sworn to Tristan Sunderland, Lord of the Three Sisters. Tristan had 7 troublesome sons who wanted to be knights and it was making him poor - he thinks he would sell Davos to Cersei. Davos says that Sunderland is sworn to the Eyrie so if anything Davos should be delivered to Lysa Arryn. Godric tells him the news of Lysa being murdered by a singer, and he asks Davos where the pirates are. Godric says Torrent spied their sails from Littlesister as well as the Flints from Widow's Watch. Davos tells him they are at sea and that Stannis sent them to trouble the Lannisters, but it was a lie - in truth Saan has abandoned the king and they were likely off to the Stepstone with what little ships they had left.
Davos came ashore in a boat. Saan waited for the beacon of Night Lamp before dropping Davos off. Their friendship had been worth that much, at least. Saan would have taken Davos with him, but Davos refused to abandon Stannis. Stannis needed Wyman Manderly and trusted Davos to win him. Saan tells Davos that Stannis will kill him with his honors. Godric remarks that he has never had a Hand beneath his roof and he wonders if Stannis would ransom Davos. Davos wonders it as well. Godric asks Davos if Tyrion is at Castle Black with Stannis. Davos tells him no, and then is told about the murder of Tywin by Tyrion's hands. Godric's version of the telling is of course skewed, with Tyrion bathed in blood, etc. Davos is shocked that Tywin is dead. Godric says on the Sisters they did not suffer dwarfs to live - they would let crows feast on them when born, but the septons made them stop. Davos thinsk with Tywin dead, it changes everything and asks to send a raven to Stannis. Godric says Stannis will know, but not from him. Godric doesn't want it getting out that he aided Stannis' treason in any way. He mentions the Sunderlands dragged the sisters into two of the Blackfyre Rebellions, and house Borrell suffered much.
Godric calls for Davos to sit and get beer and stew. Good description of the sister's stew - super clam chowder served in a stale loaf. A specialty of the Sisters. Hey says his daughter Gella makes it and he asks if Davos is married. He says the stew contains 3 kinds of crabs, red, spider, and conqueror. He syas he never eats a spider crab except in the stew - he doesn't want to be taken for a cannibal - and he gestures to his banner above the hearth - a spider crab, white on a grey-green field.
Godric asks about Stannis burning his Hand. Melisandre had given Alester Florent to her god to conjure up the wind that took them north. His screams and agony blew them all the way to Eastwatch, if the red woman could be believed. Davos didn't like the wind. His granddaughter brought more bread - she had webbed fingers too - the mark of the Borrells for five thousand years. Eating meant Davos had guest right, and he would be save for a night at least. The lords of the Sisters had a bad reputation and none more than Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister, Shield of Sisterton, Master of Breakwater Castle, and Keeper of the Night Lamp. Davos asks about the spices in the stew - saffron. Godric tells him it was from Qarth and there was pepper too. Cracked pepper from Volantis. He laughs that he took it off a sloe-eyed maid. A gale swept her intot he Bite and she smashed on the rocks. The forebears had been pirate kings until the Stakrs came down on them. These days the Sistermen did not participate in open piracy, but something much more sneaky - they would use their beacons along the shores of the Sisters to trap ships into coming into reefs and shoals instead of warning them and plundering the wreckage.
Godric tells Davos of White Harbor and that the storms did Davos a kindness. He reveals that Davos came too late. Lord Wyman means to bend his knee, and not to Stannis. Godric tells of the origins of the Maderlys - 900 years ago they came north - they had been great lords of the Mander when they overreached and got slapped down by the green hands. The wolf king took their gold and gave them land and let them keep their gods. The Lionstar was at Sisterton twelve days prior to get water. Full of Freys making for White Harbor. Davos thought that the Freys killed Lord Wyman's son. Godric says they did. Wyman was so wroth he vowed to only eat bread and drink wine but was soon stuffing himself. The Freys were bringing the bones back to Wyman. Godric had Rhaegar Frey to supper - he lost his wife but would get one in White Harbor. Lord Walder and Lord Wyman made a pact, and will seal it with a marriage.
Davos feels ill - thinking Stannis lost because White Harbor remained open even during the worst winter - and the city had silver on par with Casterly Rock's gold. It was the mouth of the north where Winterfell was the heart. Davos thought he must at least try. Davos begs Godric to help him.
Rape of the Three Sisters was two thousand years ago - Sisterton had not forgotten, which is why Godric has no love for northmen. They were free before that, afterward they had to swear loyalty to the Eyrie to get the northmen out. The wolf and falcon fought over the Sisters for a thousand years - until they basically raped the islands of everything. Stannis upset Godric as well, having pulled into port when he was head of Robert's fleet, unannounced, and threatened him if any of his ships went aground if the Night Lamp when dark. Godric asks why he should help Stannis. Davos goes over in his mind all the reasons - he is the true king, becaus he is just, he can defend the realm against the peril in the north, and he has a magic sword. Davos wonders what to promise him to win him - gold, marriage - he was lost... Alester had played that game and died for it. Davos only response was to tell him Tywin was dead - and he tries to put doubt into Tommen and Cersei. Davos feels that Godric has doubts and doesn't want to be on the losing side.
Davos pushes him talking about Stannis' fine work - holding Storm's End, taking Dragonstone from the last Targs, smashing the Iron Fleet off Fair Isle, and Tommen can't compare with him. Godric counters, saying Tommen has the gold of the Rock and Highgarden, and Bolton and Freys... but Godric says that in the world only winter is certain, saying Ned Stark told his father that.
Godric tells Davos of before Robert's Rebellion, Gulltown remained loyal to Aerys, Ned had to cross the mountains to call his banners when Aerys called for his head. On the Fingers a fisherman carried him across the Bite, but they got caught in a storm - the fisherman's daughter got Ned to the Sisters. They say he left her with silver and a bastard in her belly - Jon Snow, she named it, after Arryn. Godric's father had a choice to send Ned to Aerys and win favor, or let him go - but Jon Arryn had taken Gulltown by then and Robert was the first over the walls and he killed Randyll Grafton. Their maester thought Rhaegar would crush the rebel, but Godric thought Robert fought the way a king should. That is when Ned said the line about winter being the only certainty. His father let him go and told Ned that if he loses, he was never there. Davos finishes the chapter, saying, "No mroe than I was."
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od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 8:23 am
mislim da bi bilo korisno da postoji jedna velika spoiler tema de bi svako ubacio ono sto ima od spoilera to sam ja nasao ako ima jos negde izviniteme nov sam ovde pa nisam video
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od Aducabar u Sre Nov 21, 2007 9:02 am
Svi koje zanima znaju da ukucaju asoiaf.westeros.org u brauzeru, ne vidim potrebu za kopipejstovanjem. A o spojler poglavljima je naširoko raspravljano na drugim temama, na Pretpostavkama recimo, ili na:
http://www.tolkien.co.yu/viewtopic.php?t=17297
http://www.tolkien.co.yu/viewtopic.php?t=17297
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- Zreo za penziju
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od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 9:06 am
kao sto rekoh ja sam nov ovde
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od normo u Sre Nov 21, 2007 9:07 am
kao sto je Adu rekao postoji vec tema ali cu ja ipak ovdje postaviti Tirionovo poglavlje jer ga vise ne mogu naci na Martinovom sajtu
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od normo u Sre Nov 21, 2007 9:12 am
TYRION
He drank his way across the narrow sea.
The ship was small and his cabin smaller, and the captain would not allow him abovedecks. The rocking of the deck beneath his feet made his stomach heave, and the wretched food they served him tasted even worse when retched back up. Besides, why did he need salt beef, hard cheese, and bread crawling with worms when he had wine to nourish him? It was red and sour, very strong. He sometimes heaved the wine up too, but there was always more. "The world is full of wine," he muttered in the dankness of his cabin. His father had never had any use for drunkards, but what did that matter? His father was dead. He ought to know; he'd killed him. A bolt in the belly, my lord, and all for you. If only I was better with a crossbow, I would have put it through that cock you made me with, you bloody bastard.
Below decks there was neither night nor day. Tyrion marked time by the comings and goings of the cabin boy who brought the meals he did not eat. The boy always brought a brush and bucket too, to clean up. "Is this Dornish wine?" Tyrion asked him once, as he pulled a stopper from a skin. "It reminds me of a certain snake I knew. A droll fellow, till a mountain fell on him."
The cabin boy did not answer. He was an ugly boy, though admittedly more comely than a certain dwarf with half a nose and a scar from eye to chin. "Have I offended you?" Tyrion asked the sullen, silent boy, as he was scrubbing. "Were you commanded not to talk to me? Or did some dwarf diddle your mother?"
That went unanswered too. This is pointless, he knew, but he must speak to someone or go mad, so he persisted. "Where are we sailing? Tell me that." Jaime had made mention of the Free Cities, but had never said which one. "Is it Braavos? Tyrosh? Myr?" Tyrion would sooner have gone to Dorne. Myrcella is older than Tommen, by Dornish law the Iron Throne is hers. I will help her claim her rights, as Prince Oberyn suggested.
Oberyn was dead, though, his head smashed to bloody ruin by the armored fist of Ser Gregor Clegane. And without the Red Viper to urge him on, would Doran Martell even consider such a chancy scheme? He may clap me in chains instead, and hand me back to my sweet sister. The Wall might be safer. Old Bear Mormont said the Night's Watch had need of men like Tyrion. Mormont may be dead, though. By now Slynt may be the Lord Commander. That butcher's son was not like to have forgotten who sent him to the Wall. Do I really want to spend the rest of my life eating salt beef and porridge with murderers and thieves? Not that the rest of his life would last very long. Janos Slynt would see to that.
The cabin boy wet his brush and scrubbed on manfully. "Have you ever visited the pleasure houses of Lys?" the dwarf inquired. "Might that be where whores go?" Tyrion could not seem to recall the Valyrian word for whore, and in any case it was too late. The boy tossed his brush back in his bucket and took his leave.
The wine has blurred my wits. He had learned to read High Valyrian at his maester's knee, though what they spoke in the Nine Free Cities... well, it was not so much a dialect as nine dialects on the way to becoming separate tongues. Tyrion had some Braavosi and a smattering of Myrish. In Tyrosh he should be able to curse the gods, call a man a cheat, and order up an ale, thanks to a sellsword he had once known at the Rock. At least in Dorne they spea the Common Tongue. Like Dornish food and Dornish law, Dornish speech was spiced with the flavors of the Rhoyne, but a man could comprehend it. Dorne, yes, Dorne for me. He crawled into his bunk, clutching that thought like a child with a doll.
Sleep had never come easily to Tyrion Lannister. Aboard that ship it seldom came at all, though from time to time he managed to drink sufficient wine to pass out for a while. At least he did not dream. He had dreamt enough for one small life. And of such follies: love, justice, friendship, glory. As well dream of being tall. It was all beyond his reach, Tyrion knew now. But he did not know where whores go.
"Wherever whores go," his father had said. His last words, and what words they were. The crossbow thrummed, Lord Tywin sat back down, and Tyrion Lannister found himself waddling through the darkness with Varys at his side. He must have clambered back down the shaft, two hundred and thirty rungs to where orange embers glowed in the mouth of an iron dragon. He remembered none of it. Only the sound the crossbow made, and the stink of his father's bowels opening. Even in his dying, he found a way to shit on me.
Varys had escorted him through the tunnels, but they never spoke until they emerged beside the Blackwater, where Tyrion had won a famous victory and lost a nose. That was when the dwarf turned to the eunuch and said, "I've killed my father," in the same tone a man might use to say, "I've stubbed my toe." The master of whisperers had been dressed as a begging brother, in a moth-eaten robe of brown roughspun with a cowl that shadowed his smooth fat cheeks and bald round head. "You should not have climbed that ladder," he said reproachfully.
"Wherever whores go." Tyrion warned his father not to say that word. If I had not loosed, he would have seen my threats were empty. He would have taken the crossbow from my hands, as once he took Tysha from my arms. He was rising when I killed him. "I killed Shae too," he confessed to Varys.
"You knew what she was."
"I did. But I never knew what he was."
Varys tittered. "And now you do."
I should have killed the eunuch as well. A little more blood on his hands, what would it matter? He could not say what had stayed his dagger. Not gratitude. Varys had saved him from a headsman's sword, but only because Jaime had compelled him. Jaime... no, better not to think of Jaime.
He found a fresh skin of wine instead, and sucked at it as if it were a woman's breast. The sour red ran down his chin and soaked through his soiled tunic, the same one he had been wearing in his cell. He sucked until the wine was gone. The deck was swaying beneath his feet, and when he tried to rise it lifted sideways and smashed him hard against a bulkhead. A storm, he realized, or else I am even drunker than I knew. He retched the wine up and lay in it a while, wondering if the ship would sink.
Is this your vengeance, Father? Have the Father Above made you his Hand? "Such are the wages of the kinslayer," he said as the wind howled outside. It did not seem fair to drown the cabin boy and the captain and all the rest for something he had done, but when had the gods ever been fair? And around about then, the darkness gulped him down
When he stirred again, his head felt like to burst and the ship was spinning round in dizzy circles, though the captain was insisting that they'd come to port. Tyrion told him to be quiet, and kicked feebly as a huge bald sailor tucked him under one arm and carried him squirming to the hold, where an empty wine cask awaited him. It was a squat little cask, and a tight fit even for a dwarf. Tyrion pissed himself in his struggles, for all the good it did. He was up crammed face first into the cask with his knees pushed up against his ears. The stub of his nose itched horribly, but his arms were pinned so tightly that he could not reach to scratch it. A palanquin fit for a man of my stature, he thought as they hammered shut the lid and hoisted him up. He could hear voices shouting as he was jounced along. Every bounce cracked his head against the bottom of the cask. The world went round and round as the cask rolled downward, then stopped with a sudden crash that made him want to scream. Another cask slammed into his, and Tyrion bit his tongue.
That was the longest journey he had ever taken, though it could not have lasted more than half an hour. He was lifted and lowered, rolled and stacked, upended and righted and rolled again. Through the wooden staves he heard men shouting, and once a horse whickered nearby. His stunted legs began to cramp, and soon hurt so badly that he forgot the hammering in his head.
It ended as it had begun, with another roll that left him dizzy and more jouncing. Outside strange voices were speaking in a tongue he did not know. Someone started pounding on the top of the cask and the lid cracked open suddenly. Light came flooding in, and cool air as well. Tyrion gasped greedily and tried to stand, but only managed to knock the cask over sideways and spill himself out onto a hard-packed earthen floor.
Above him loomed a grotesque fat man with a forked yellow beard, holding a wooden mallet and an iron chisel. His bedrobe was large enough to serve as a tourney pavilion, but its loosely knotted belt had come undone, exposing a huge white belly and a pair of heavy breasts that sagged like sacks of suet covered with coarse yellow hair. He reminded Tyrion of a dead sea cow that had once washed up in the caverns under Casterly Rock.
The fat man looked down and smiled. "A drunken dwarf," he said, in the Common Tongue of Westeros.
"A rotting sea cow." Tyrion's mouth was full of blood. He spat it at the fat man's feet. They were in a long dim cellar with barrel-vaulted ceilings, its stone walls spotted with nitre. Casks of wine and ale surrounded them, more than enough drink to see a thirsty dwarf safely through the night. Or through a life.
"You are insolent. I like that in a dwarf." When the fat man laughed, his flesh bounced so vigorously that Tyrion was afraid he might fall and crush him. "Are you hungry, my little friend? Weary?"
"Thirsty." Tyrion struggled to his knees. "And filthy."
The fat man sniffed. "A bath first, just so. Then food and a soft bed, yes? My servants shall see to it." His host put the mallet and chisel aside. "My house is yours. Any friend of my friend across the water is a friend to Illyrio Mopatis, yes."
And any friend of Varys the Spider is someone I will trust just as far as I can throw him.
The fat man made good on the promised bath, at least... though no sooner did Tyrion lower himself into the hot water and close his eyes than he was fast asleep.
He woke naked on a goosedown featherbed so deep and soft it felt as if he were being swallowed by a cloud. His tongue was growing hair and his throat was raw, but his cock felt as hard as an iron bar. He rolled from the bed, found a chamberpot, and commenced to filling it, with a groan of pleasure.
The room was dim, but there were bars of yellow sunlight showing between the slats of the shutters. Tyrion shook the last drops off and waddled over patterned Myrish carpets as soft as new spring grass. Awkwardly he climbed the window seat and flung shudders open to see where Varys and the gods had sent him.
Beneath his window six cherry trees stood sentinel around a marble pool, their slender branches bare and brown. A naked boy stood on the water, poised to duel with a bravo's blade in hand. He was lithe and handsome, no older than sixteen, with straight blond hair that brushed his shoulders. So lifelike did he seem that it took the dwarf a long moment to realize he was made of painted marble, though his sword shimmered like true steel.
Across the pool stood stood a brick wall twelve feet high, with iron spikes along its top. Beyond that was the city. A sea of tiled rooftops crowded close around a bay. He saw square brick towers, a great red temple, a distant manse upon a hill. In the far distance sunlight shimmered off deep water. Fishing boats were moving across the bay, their sails rippling in the wind, and he could see the masts of larger ships poking up along the bay shore. Surely one is bound for Dorne, or for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. He had no means to pay for passage, though, nor was he made to pull an oar. I suppose I could sign on as a cabin boy and earn my way by letting the crew bugger me up and down the narrow sea. He wondered where he was. Even the air smells different here. Strange spices scented the chilly autumn wind, and he could hear faint cries drifting over the wall from the streets beyond. It sounded something like Valyrian, but he did not recognize more than one word in five. Not Braavos, he concluded, nor Tyrosh. Those bare branches and the chill in the air argued against Lys and Myr and Volantis as well.
When he heard the door opening behind him, Tyrion turned to confront his fat host. "This is Pentos, yes?"
"Just so. Where else?"
Pentos. Well, it was not King's Landing, that much could be said for it. "Where do whores go?" he heard himself ask.
"Whores are found in brothels here, as in Westeros. You will have no need of such, my little friend. Choose from among my serving women. None will dare refuse you."
"Slaves?" the dwarf asked pointedly.
The fat man stroked one of the prongs of his oiled yellow beard, a gesture Tyrion fond remarkably obscene. "Slavery is forbidden in Pentos, by the terms of the treaty the Braavosi imposed on us a hundred years ago. Still, they will not refuse you." Illyrio gave a ponderous half-bow. "But now my little friend must excuse me. I have the honor to be a magister of this great city, and the prince has summoned us to session." He smiled, showing a mouth full of crooked yellow teeth. "Explore the manse and grounds as you like, but on no account stray beyond the walls. It is best that no man knows that you were here."
"Were? Have I gone somewhere?"
"Time enough to speak of that this evening. My little friend and I shall eat and drink and make great plans, yes?"
"Yes, my fat friend," Tyrion replied. He thinks to use me for his profit. It was all profit with the merchant princes of the Free Cities. "Spice soldiers and cheese lords," his lord father called them, with contempt. Should a day ever dawn when Illyrio Mopatis saw more profit in a dead dwarf than a live one, he would find himself packed into another wine cask by dusk. It would be well if I were gone before that day arrives. That it would arrive he did not doubt; Cersei was not like to forget him, and even Jaime might be vexed to find a quarrel in Father's belly.
A light wind was riffling the waters of the pool below, all around the naked swordsman. It reminded him of how Tysha would riffle his hair during the false spring of their marriage, before he helped his father's guardsmen rape her. He had been thinking of those guardsmen during his flight, trying to recall how many there had been. You would think he might remember that, but no. A dozen? A score? A hundred? He could not say. They had all been grown men, tall and strong... though all men were tall to a dwarf of thirteen years. Tysha knew their number. Each of them had given her a silver stag, so she would only need to count the coins. A silver for each and a gold for me. His father had insisted that he pay her too. A Lannister always pays his debts.
"Wherever whores go," he heard Lord Tywin say once more, and once more the bowstring thrummed.
The magister had invited him to explore the manse. He found clean clothes in a cedar chest inlaid with lapis and mother-of-pearl. The clothes had been made for a small boy, he realized as he struggled into them. The fabrics were rich enough, if a little musty, but the cut was too long in the legs and too short in the arms, with a collar that would have turned his face as black as Joffrey's had he somehow contrived to get it fastened. At least they do not stink of vomit.
Tyrion began his explorations with the kitchen, where two fat women and a pot boy watched him warily as he helped himself to cheese, bread, and figs. "Good morrow to you, fair ladies," he said with a bow. "Do you perchance know where the whores go?" When they did not respond, he repeated the question in High Valyrian, though he had to say courtesan in place of whore. The younger fatter cook gave him a shrug that time.
He wondered what they would do if he took them by the hand and dragged them to his bedchamber. None will dare refuse you, Illyrio claimed, but somehow Tyrion did not think he meant these two. The younger woman was old enough to be his mother, and the older was likely her mother. Both were near as fat as Illyrio, with teats that were larger than his head. I could smother myself in flesh, he reflected. There were worse ways to die. The way his lord father had died, for one. I should have made him shit a little gold before expiring. Lord Tywin might have been niggardly with his approval and affection, but he had always been open-handed when it came to coin. The only thing more pitiful than a dwarf without a nose is a dwarf without a nose who has no gold.
Tyrion left the fat women to their loaves and kettles and went in search of the cellar where Illyrio had decanted him the night before. It was not hard to find. There was enough wine there to keep him drunk for a hundred years; sweet reds from the Reach and sour reds from Dorne, pale Pentoshi ambers, the green nectar of Myr, three score casks of Arbor gold, even wines from the fabled east, from Meereen and Qarth and Asshai by the Shadow. In the end, Tyrion chose a cask of strongwine marked as the private stock of Lord Runceford Redwyne, the grandfather of the present Lord of the Arbor. The taste of it was languorous and heady on the tongue, the color a purple so dark that it looked almost black in the dim-lit cellar. Tyrion filled a cup, and a flagon for good measure, and carried them up to gardens to drink beneath those cherry trees he'd seen.
As it happened, he left by the wrong door and never found the pool he had spied from his window, but it made no matter. The gardens behind the manse were just as pleasant, and far more extensive. He wandered through them for a time, drinking. The walls would have shamed any proper castle, and the ornamental iron spikes along the top looked strangely naked without heads to adorn them. Tyrion pictured how his sister's head might look up there, with tar in her golden hair and flies buzzing in and out of her mouth. Yes, and Jaime must have the spike beside her, he decided. No one must ever come between my brother and my sister.
With a rope and a grapnel he might be able to get over that wall. He strong arms and he did not weigh much. With a rope he should he able to reach the spikes and clamber over. I will search for a rope on the morrow, he resolved.
He saw three gates during his wanderings; the main entrance with its gatehouse, a postern by the kennels, and a garden gate hidden behind a tangle of pale ivy. The last was chained, the others guarded. The guards were plump, their faces as smooth as a baby's bottom, and every man of them wore a spiked bronze cap. Tyrion knew eunuchs when he saw them. He knew their sort by reputation. They feared nothing and felt no pain, it was said, and were loyal to their masters unto death. I could make good use of a few hundred of mine own, he reflected. A pity I did not think of that before I became a beggar.
He walked along a pillared gallery and through a pointed arch, and found himself in a tiled courtyard where a woman was washing clothes at a well. She looked to be his own age, with dull red hair and a broad face dotted by freckles. "Would you like some wine?" he asked her. She looked at him uncertainly. "I have no cup for you, we'll have to share." The washerwoman went back to wringing out tunics and hanging them to dry. Tyrion settled on a stone bench with his flagon. "Tell me, how far should I trust Magister Illyrio?" The name made her look up. "That far?" Chuckling, he crossed his stunted legs and took a drink. "I am loathe to play whatever part the cheesemonger has in mind for me, yet how can I refuse him? The gates are guarded. Perhaps you might smuggle me out under your skirts? I'd be so grateful, why, I'll even wed you. I have two wives already, why not three? Ah, but where would we live?" He gave her as pleasant a smile as a man with half a nose could manage. "I have a niece in Sunspear, did I tell you? I could make rather a lot of mischief in Dorne with Myrcella. I could set my niece and nephew at war, wouldn't that be droll?" The washerwoman pinned up one of Illyrio's tunics, large enough to double as a sail. "I should be ashamed to think such evil thoughts, you're quite right. Better if I sought the Wall instead. All crimes are wiped clean when a man joins the Night's Watch, they say. Though I fear they would not let me keep you, sweetling. No women in the Watch, no sweet freckly wives to warm your bed at night, only cold winds, salted cod, and small beer. Do you think I might stand taller in black, my lady?" He filled his cup again. "What do you say? North or south? Shall I atone for old sins or make some new ones?"
The washerwoman gave him one last glance, picked up her basket, and walked away. I cannot seem to hold a wife for very long, Tyrion reflected. Somehow his flagon had gone dry. Perhaps I should stumble back down to the cellars. The strongwine was making his head spin, though, and the cellar steps were very steep. "Where do whores go?" he asked the wash flapping on the line. Perhaps he should have asked the washerwoman. Not to imply that you're a whore, my dear, but perhaps you know where they go. Or better yet, he should have asked his father. "Wherever whores go," Lord Tywin said. She loved me. She was a crofter's daughter, she loved me and she wed me, she put her trust in me. The empty flagon slipped from his hand and rolled across the yard.
Grimacing, Tyrion pushed himself off the bench and went to fetch it, but as he did he saw some mushrooms growing up from a cracked paving tile. Pale white they were, with speckles, and red ribbed undersides as dark as blood. The dwarf snapped one off and sniffed it. Delicious, he thought, or deadly. But which? Why not both? He was not a brave enough man to take cold steel to his own belly, but a bite of mushroom would not be so hard. There were seven of the mushrooms, he saw. Perhaps the gods were trying to tell him something. He picked them all, snatched a glove down from the line, wrapped them carefully, and stuffed them down his pocket. The effort made him dizzy, though, so afterward he crawled back onto the bench, curled up, and shut his eyes.
When he woke again, he was back in his bedchamber, drowning in the goosedown featherbed once more while a blond girl shook his shoulder. "My lord," she said, "your bath awaits. Magister Illyrio expects you at table within the hour."
Tyrion propped himself against the pillows, his head in his hands. "Do I dream, or do you speak the Common Tongue?"
"Yes, my lord. I was bought to please the king." She was blue-eyed and fair, young and willowy.
"I am sure you did. I need a cup of wine."
She poured for him. "Magister Illyrio said that I am to scrub your back and warm your bed. My name — "
" — is of no interest to me. Do you know where whores go?"
She flushed. "Whores sell themselves for coin."
"Or jewels, or gowns, or castles. But where do they go?"
The girl could not grasp the question. "Is it a riddle, m'lord? I'm no good at riddles. Will you tell me the answer?"
No, he thought. I despise riddles, myself. "I will tell you nothing. Do me the same favor." The only part of you that interests me is the part between your legs, he almost said. The words were on his tongue, but somehow never passed his lips. She is not Shae, the dwarf told himself, only some little fool who thinks I play at riddles. If truth be told, even her cunt did not interest him much. I must be sick, or dead. "You mentioned a bath? Show me. We must not keep the great cheesemonger waiting."
As he bathed, the girl washed his feet, scrubbed his back, and brushed his hair. Afterward she rubbed sweet-smelling ointment into his calves to ease the aches, and dressed him once again in boy's clothing, a musty pair of burgundy breeches and a blue velvet doublet lined with cloth-of-gold. "Will my lord want me after he has eaten?" she asked as she was lacing up his boots.
"No. I am done with women." Whores.
The girl took that disappointment entirely too well for his liking. "If m'lord would prefer a boy, I can have one waiting in his bed."
M'lord would prefer his wife. M'lord would prefer a girl named Tysha. "Only if he knows where whores go."
The girl's mouth tightened. She despises me, he realized, but no more than I despise myself. That he had fucked many a woman who loathed the very sight of him, Tyrion Lannister had no doubt, but the others had at least the grace to feign affection. A little honest loathing might be refreshing, like a tart wine after too much sweet.
"I believe I have changed my mind," he told her. "Wait for me abed. Naked, if you please, I expect I'll be a deal too drunk to fumble at your clothing. Keep your mouth shut and your thighs open and the two of us should get on splendidly." He gave her a leer, hoping for a taste of fear, but all she gave him was revulsion. No one fears a dwarf. Even Lord Tywin had not been afraid, though Tyrion had held a crossbow in his hands. "Do you moan when you are being fucked?" he asked the bedwarmer.
"If it please m'lord."
"It might please m'lord to strangle you. That's how I served my last whore. Do you think your master would object? Surely not. He has a hundred more like you, but no one else like me." This time, when he grinned, he got the fear he wanted.
Illyrio was reclining on a padded couch, gobbling hot peppers and pearl onions from a wooden bowl. His brow was dotted with beads of sweat, his pig's eyes shining above his fat cheeks. Jewels danced when he moved his hands; onyx and opal, tiger's eye and tourmeline, ruby, amethyst, sapphire, emerald, jet and jade, a black diamond and a green pearl. I could live for years on his rings, Tyrion mused, though I'd need a cleaver to claim them.
"Come and sit, my little friend." Illyrio waved him closer.
The dwarf clambered up onto a chair. It was much too big for him, a cushioned throne intended to accomodate the magister's massive buttocks, with thick sturdy legs to bear his weight. Tyrion Lannister had lived all his life in a world that was too big for him, but in the manse of Illyrio Mopatis the sense of disproportion assumed grotesque dimensions. I am a mouse in a mammoth's lair, he mused, though at least the mammoth keeps a good cellar. The thought made him thirsty. He called for wine.
"Did you enjoy the girl I sent you?" Illyrio asked.
"If I had wanted a girl I would have asked for one. I lack a nose, not a tongue."
"If she failed to please... "
"She did all that was required of her."
"I would hope so. She was trained in Lys, where they make an art of love. And she speaks your Common Tongue. The king enjoyed her greatly."
"I kill kings, hadn't you heard?" Tyrion smiled evilly over his wine cup. "I want no royal leavings."
"As you wish. Let us eat." Illyrio clapped his hands together, and serving men came running.
They began with a broth of crab and monkfish, and cold egg lime soup as well. Then came quails in honey, a saddle of lamb, goose livers drowned in wine, buttered parsnips, and suckling pig. The sight of it all made Tyrion feel queasy, but he forced himself to try a spoon of soup for the sake of politeness, and once he had tasted he was lost. The cooks might be old and fat, but they knew their business. He had never eaten so well, even at court.
As he was sucking the meat off the bones of his quail, he asked Illyrio about the morning's summons. The fat man shrugged. "There are troubles in the east. Astapor has fallen, and Meereen. Ghiscari slave cities that were old when the world was young." The suckling pig was carved. Illyrio reached for a piece of the crackling, dipped it in a plum sauce, and ate it with his fingers.
"Slaver's Bay is a long way from Pentos," said Tyrion, as he speared a goose liver on the point of his knife. No man is as cursed as the kinslayer, he reminded himself, smiling.
"This is so," Illyrio agreed, "but the world is one great web, and a man dare not touch a single strand lest all the others tremble." He clapped his hands again. "Come, eat."
The serving men brough out a heron stuffed with figs, veal cutlets blanched with almond milk, creamed herring, candied onions, foul-smelling cheeses, plates of snails and sweetbreads, and a black swan in her plumage. Tyrion refused the swan, which reminded him of a supper with his sister. He helped himself to heron and herring, though, and a few of the sweet onions. And the serving men filled his wine cup anew each time he emptied it.
"You drink a deal of wine for such a little man."
"Kinslaying is dry work. It gives a man a thirst."
The fat man's eyes glittered like the gemstones on his fingers. "There are those in Westeros who would say that killing Lord Lannister was merely a good beginning."
"They had best not say it in my sister's hearing, or they will find themselves short a tongue." The dwarf tore a loaf of bread in half. "And you had best be careful what you say of my family, magister. Kinslayer or no, I am a lion still."
That seemed to amuse the lord of cheese no end. He slapped a meaty thigh and said, "You Westerosi are all the same. You sew some beast upon a scrap of silk, and suddenly you are all lions or dragons or eagles. I can bring you to a real lion, my little friend. The prince keeps a pride in his menagerie. Would you like to share a cage with them?"
The lords of the Seven Kingdoms did make rather much of their sigils, Tyrion had to admit. "Very well," he conceded. "A Lannister is not a lion. Yet I am still my father's son, and Jaime and Cersei are mine to kill."
"How odd that you should mention your fair sister," said Illyrio, between snails. "The queen has offered a lordship to the man who brings her your head, no matter how humble his birth."
It was no more than Tyrion had expected. "If you mean to take her up on it, make her spread her legs for you as well. The best part of me for the best part of her, that's a fair trade."
"I would sooner have mine own weight in gold." The cheesemonger laughed so hard that Tyrion feared he was about to rupture and drown his guest in a gout of half-digested eels and sweetmeats. "All the gold in Casterly Rock, why not?"
"The gold I grant you," he said, "but the Rock is mine."
"Just so." The magister covered his mouth and belched a mighty belch. "Do you think King Stannis will give it to you? I am told he is a great one for the law. He may well grant you Casterly Rock, is that not so? Your brother wears the white cloak, so you are your father's heir by all the laws of Westeros."
"Stannis might grant me the Rock," Tyrion admitted, "but there is also the small matter of regicide and kinslaying. For those he would shorten me by a head, and I am short enough as I stand. But why would you think I mean to join Lord Stannis?"
"Why else would you go the Wall?"
"Stannis is at the Wall?" Tyrion rubbed at his nose. "What in seven bloody hells is Stannis doing at the Wall?"
"Shivering, I would think. It is warmer down in Dorne. Perhaps he should have sailed that way."
Tyrion was beginning to suspect that a certain freckled washerwoman knew more of the Common Speech than she pretended. "My niece Myrcella is in Dorne, as it happens. And I have half a mind to make her a queen."
Illyrio smiled, as his serving men spooned out bowls of black cherries in sweetcream for them both. "What has this poor child done to you, that you would wish her dead?"
"Even a kinslayer is not required to slay all his kin," said Tyrion, wounded. "Queen her, I said. Not kill her."
The cheesemonger spooned up cherries. "In Volantis they use a coin with a crown on one face and a death's head on the other. Yet it is the same coin. To queen her is to kill her. Dorne might rise for Myrcella, but Dorne alone is not enough. If you are as clever as our friend insists, you know this."
Tyrion looked at the fat man with new interest. He is right on both counts. To queen her is to kill her. And I knew that. "Futile gestures are all that remain to me. This one would make my sister weep bitter tears, at least."
Magister Illyrio wiped sweetcream from his mouth with the back of a fat hand. "The road to Casterly Rock does not go through Dorne, my little friend. Nor does it run beside the Wall. Yet there is such a road, I tell you."
"I am an attainted traitor, a regicide and kinslayer." This talk of roads annoyed him. Does he think this is a game? "What one king does another may undo. In Pentos we have a prince, my friend. He presides at ball and feast and rides about the city in a palanquin of ivory and gold. Three heralds go before him with the golden scales of trade, the iron sword of war, and the silver scourge of justice. On the first day of each new year he must deflower the maid of the fields and the maid of the seas." Illyrio leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Yet should a crop fail or a war be lost, we cut his throat to appease the gods, and choose a new prince from amongst the forty families."
Tyrion snorted through the stump of his nose. "Remind me never to become the Prince of Pentos."
"Are your Seven Kingdoms so different? There is no peace in Westeros, no justice, no faith... and soon enough no food. When men are starving and sick of fear, they look for a savior."
"They may look, but if all they find is Stannis — "
"Not Stannis. Nor Myrcella. Another." The yellow smile widened. "Another. Stronger than Tommen, gentler than Stannis, with a better claim than the girl Myrcella. A savior come from across the sea to bind up the wounds of bleeding Westeros."
"Fine words." Tyrion was unimpressed. "Words are wind. Who is this bloody savior?"
"A dragon." The cheesemonger saw the look on his face at that, and laughed. "A dragon with three heads."
He drank his way across the narrow sea.
The ship was small and his cabin smaller, and the captain would not allow him abovedecks. The rocking of the deck beneath his feet made his stomach heave, and the wretched food they served him tasted even worse when retched back up. Besides, why did he need salt beef, hard cheese, and bread crawling with worms when he had wine to nourish him? It was red and sour, very strong. He sometimes heaved the wine up too, but there was always more. "The world is full of wine," he muttered in the dankness of his cabin. His father had never had any use for drunkards, but what did that matter? His father was dead. He ought to know; he'd killed him. A bolt in the belly, my lord, and all for you. If only I was better with a crossbow, I would have put it through that cock you made me with, you bloody bastard.
Below decks there was neither night nor day. Tyrion marked time by the comings and goings of the cabin boy who brought the meals he did not eat. The boy always brought a brush and bucket too, to clean up. "Is this Dornish wine?" Tyrion asked him once, as he pulled a stopper from a skin. "It reminds me of a certain snake I knew. A droll fellow, till a mountain fell on him."
The cabin boy did not answer. He was an ugly boy, though admittedly more comely than a certain dwarf with half a nose and a scar from eye to chin. "Have I offended you?" Tyrion asked the sullen, silent boy, as he was scrubbing. "Were you commanded not to talk to me? Or did some dwarf diddle your mother?"
That went unanswered too. This is pointless, he knew, but he must speak to someone or go mad, so he persisted. "Where are we sailing? Tell me that." Jaime had made mention of the Free Cities, but had never said which one. "Is it Braavos? Tyrosh? Myr?" Tyrion would sooner have gone to Dorne. Myrcella is older than Tommen, by Dornish law the Iron Throne is hers. I will help her claim her rights, as Prince Oberyn suggested.
Oberyn was dead, though, his head smashed to bloody ruin by the armored fist of Ser Gregor Clegane. And without the Red Viper to urge him on, would Doran Martell even consider such a chancy scheme? He may clap me in chains instead, and hand me back to my sweet sister. The Wall might be safer. Old Bear Mormont said the Night's Watch had need of men like Tyrion. Mormont may be dead, though. By now Slynt may be the Lord Commander. That butcher's son was not like to have forgotten who sent him to the Wall. Do I really want to spend the rest of my life eating salt beef and porridge with murderers and thieves? Not that the rest of his life would last very long. Janos Slynt would see to that.
The cabin boy wet his brush and scrubbed on manfully. "Have you ever visited the pleasure houses of Lys?" the dwarf inquired. "Might that be where whores go?" Tyrion could not seem to recall the Valyrian word for whore, and in any case it was too late. The boy tossed his brush back in his bucket and took his leave.
The wine has blurred my wits. He had learned to read High Valyrian at his maester's knee, though what they spoke in the Nine Free Cities... well, it was not so much a dialect as nine dialects on the way to becoming separate tongues. Tyrion had some Braavosi and a smattering of Myrish. In Tyrosh he should be able to curse the gods, call a man a cheat, and order up an ale, thanks to a sellsword he had once known at the Rock. At least in Dorne they spea the Common Tongue. Like Dornish food and Dornish law, Dornish speech was spiced with the flavors of the Rhoyne, but a man could comprehend it. Dorne, yes, Dorne for me. He crawled into his bunk, clutching that thought like a child with a doll.
Sleep had never come easily to Tyrion Lannister. Aboard that ship it seldom came at all, though from time to time he managed to drink sufficient wine to pass out for a while. At least he did not dream. He had dreamt enough for one small life. And of such follies: love, justice, friendship, glory. As well dream of being tall. It was all beyond his reach, Tyrion knew now. But he did not know where whores go.
"Wherever whores go," his father had said. His last words, and what words they were. The crossbow thrummed, Lord Tywin sat back down, and Tyrion Lannister found himself waddling through the darkness with Varys at his side. He must have clambered back down the shaft, two hundred and thirty rungs to where orange embers glowed in the mouth of an iron dragon. He remembered none of it. Only the sound the crossbow made, and the stink of his father's bowels opening. Even in his dying, he found a way to shit on me.
Varys had escorted him through the tunnels, but they never spoke until they emerged beside the Blackwater, where Tyrion had won a famous victory and lost a nose. That was when the dwarf turned to the eunuch and said, "I've killed my father," in the same tone a man might use to say, "I've stubbed my toe." The master of whisperers had been dressed as a begging brother, in a moth-eaten robe of brown roughspun with a cowl that shadowed his smooth fat cheeks and bald round head. "You should not have climbed that ladder," he said reproachfully.
"Wherever whores go." Tyrion warned his father not to say that word. If I had not loosed, he would have seen my threats were empty. He would have taken the crossbow from my hands, as once he took Tysha from my arms. He was rising when I killed him. "I killed Shae too," he confessed to Varys.
"You knew what she was."
"I did. But I never knew what he was."
Varys tittered. "And now you do."
I should have killed the eunuch as well. A little more blood on his hands, what would it matter? He could not say what had stayed his dagger. Not gratitude. Varys had saved him from a headsman's sword, but only because Jaime had compelled him. Jaime... no, better not to think of Jaime.
He found a fresh skin of wine instead, and sucked at it as if it were a woman's breast. The sour red ran down his chin and soaked through his soiled tunic, the same one he had been wearing in his cell. He sucked until the wine was gone. The deck was swaying beneath his feet, and when he tried to rise it lifted sideways and smashed him hard against a bulkhead. A storm, he realized, or else I am even drunker than I knew. He retched the wine up and lay in it a while, wondering if the ship would sink.
Is this your vengeance, Father? Have the Father Above made you his Hand? "Such are the wages of the kinslayer," he said as the wind howled outside. It did not seem fair to drown the cabin boy and the captain and all the rest for something he had done, but when had the gods ever been fair? And around about then, the darkness gulped him down
When he stirred again, his head felt like to burst and the ship was spinning round in dizzy circles, though the captain was insisting that they'd come to port. Tyrion told him to be quiet, and kicked feebly as a huge bald sailor tucked him under one arm and carried him squirming to the hold, where an empty wine cask awaited him. It was a squat little cask, and a tight fit even for a dwarf. Tyrion pissed himself in his struggles, for all the good it did. He was up crammed face first into the cask with his knees pushed up against his ears. The stub of his nose itched horribly, but his arms were pinned so tightly that he could not reach to scratch it. A palanquin fit for a man of my stature, he thought as they hammered shut the lid and hoisted him up. He could hear voices shouting as he was jounced along. Every bounce cracked his head against the bottom of the cask. The world went round and round as the cask rolled downward, then stopped with a sudden crash that made him want to scream. Another cask slammed into his, and Tyrion bit his tongue.
That was the longest journey he had ever taken, though it could not have lasted more than half an hour. He was lifted and lowered, rolled and stacked, upended and righted and rolled again. Through the wooden staves he heard men shouting, and once a horse whickered nearby. His stunted legs began to cramp, and soon hurt so badly that he forgot the hammering in his head.
It ended as it had begun, with another roll that left him dizzy and more jouncing. Outside strange voices were speaking in a tongue he did not know. Someone started pounding on the top of the cask and the lid cracked open suddenly. Light came flooding in, and cool air as well. Tyrion gasped greedily and tried to stand, but only managed to knock the cask over sideways and spill himself out onto a hard-packed earthen floor.
Above him loomed a grotesque fat man with a forked yellow beard, holding a wooden mallet and an iron chisel. His bedrobe was large enough to serve as a tourney pavilion, but its loosely knotted belt had come undone, exposing a huge white belly and a pair of heavy breasts that sagged like sacks of suet covered with coarse yellow hair. He reminded Tyrion of a dead sea cow that had once washed up in the caverns under Casterly Rock.
The fat man looked down and smiled. "A drunken dwarf," he said, in the Common Tongue of Westeros.
"A rotting sea cow." Tyrion's mouth was full of blood. He spat it at the fat man's feet. They were in a long dim cellar with barrel-vaulted ceilings, its stone walls spotted with nitre. Casks of wine and ale surrounded them, more than enough drink to see a thirsty dwarf safely through the night. Or through a life.
"You are insolent. I like that in a dwarf." When the fat man laughed, his flesh bounced so vigorously that Tyrion was afraid he might fall and crush him. "Are you hungry, my little friend? Weary?"
"Thirsty." Tyrion struggled to his knees. "And filthy."
The fat man sniffed. "A bath first, just so. Then food and a soft bed, yes? My servants shall see to it." His host put the mallet and chisel aside. "My house is yours. Any friend of my friend across the water is a friend to Illyrio Mopatis, yes."
And any friend of Varys the Spider is someone I will trust just as far as I can throw him.
The fat man made good on the promised bath, at least... though no sooner did Tyrion lower himself into the hot water and close his eyes than he was fast asleep.
He woke naked on a goosedown featherbed so deep and soft it felt as if he were being swallowed by a cloud. His tongue was growing hair and his throat was raw, but his cock felt as hard as an iron bar. He rolled from the bed, found a chamberpot, and commenced to filling it, with a groan of pleasure.
The room was dim, but there were bars of yellow sunlight showing between the slats of the shutters. Tyrion shook the last drops off and waddled over patterned Myrish carpets as soft as new spring grass. Awkwardly he climbed the window seat and flung shudders open to see where Varys and the gods had sent him.
Beneath his window six cherry trees stood sentinel around a marble pool, their slender branches bare and brown. A naked boy stood on the water, poised to duel with a bravo's blade in hand. He was lithe and handsome, no older than sixteen, with straight blond hair that brushed his shoulders. So lifelike did he seem that it took the dwarf a long moment to realize he was made of painted marble, though his sword shimmered like true steel.
Across the pool stood stood a brick wall twelve feet high, with iron spikes along its top. Beyond that was the city. A sea of tiled rooftops crowded close around a bay. He saw square brick towers, a great red temple, a distant manse upon a hill. In the far distance sunlight shimmered off deep water. Fishing boats were moving across the bay, their sails rippling in the wind, and he could see the masts of larger ships poking up along the bay shore. Surely one is bound for Dorne, or for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. He had no means to pay for passage, though, nor was he made to pull an oar. I suppose I could sign on as a cabin boy and earn my way by letting the crew bugger me up and down the narrow sea. He wondered where he was. Even the air smells different here. Strange spices scented the chilly autumn wind, and he could hear faint cries drifting over the wall from the streets beyond. It sounded something like Valyrian, but he did not recognize more than one word in five. Not Braavos, he concluded, nor Tyrosh. Those bare branches and the chill in the air argued against Lys and Myr and Volantis as well.
When he heard the door opening behind him, Tyrion turned to confront his fat host. "This is Pentos, yes?"
"Just so. Where else?"
Pentos. Well, it was not King's Landing, that much could be said for it. "Where do whores go?" he heard himself ask.
"Whores are found in brothels here, as in Westeros. You will have no need of such, my little friend. Choose from among my serving women. None will dare refuse you."
"Slaves?" the dwarf asked pointedly.
The fat man stroked one of the prongs of his oiled yellow beard, a gesture Tyrion fond remarkably obscene. "Slavery is forbidden in Pentos, by the terms of the treaty the Braavosi imposed on us a hundred years ago. Still, they will not refuse you." Illyrio gave a ponderous half-bow. "But now my little friend must excuse me. I have the honor to be a magister of this great city, and the prince has summoned us to session." He smiled, showing a mouth full of crooked yellow teeth. "Explore the manse and grounds as you like, but on no account stray beyond the walls. It is best that no man knows that you were here."
"Were? Have I gone somewhere?"
"Time enough to speak of that this evening. My little friend and I shall eat and drink and make great plans, yes?"
"Yes, my fat friend," Tyrion replied. He thinks to use me for his profit. It was all profit with the merchant princes of the Free Cities. "Spice soldiers and cheese lords," his lord father called them, with contempt. Should a day ever dawn when Illyrio Mopatis saw more profit in a dead dwarf than a live one, he would find himself packed into another wine cask by dusk. It would be well if I were gone before that day arrives. That it would arrive he did not doubt; Cersei was not like to forget him, and even Jaime might be vexed to find a quarrel in Father's belly.
A light wind was riffling the waters of the pool below, all around the naked swordsman. It reminded him of how Tysha would riffle his hair during the false spring of their marriage, before he helped his father's guardsmen rape her. He had been thinking of those guardsmen during his flight, trying to recall how many there had been. You would think he might remember that, but no. A dozen? A score? A hundred? He could not say. They had all been grown men, tall and strong... though all men were tall to a dwarf of thirteen years. Tysha knew their number. Each of them had given her a silver stag, so she would only need to count the coins. A silver for each and a gold for me. His father had insisted that he pay her too. A Lannister always pays his debts.
"Wherever whores go," he heard Lord Tywin say once more, and once more the bowstring thrummed.
The magister had invited him to explore the manse. He found clean clothes in a cedar chest inlaid with lapis and mother-of-pearl. The clothes had been made for a small boy, he realized as he struggled into them. The fabrics were rich enough, if a little musty, but the cut was too long in the legs and too short in the arms, with a collar that would have turned his face as black as Joffrey's had he somehow contrived to get it fastened. At least they do not stink of vomit.
Tyrion began his explorations with the kitchen, where two fat women and a pot boy watched him warily as he helped himself to cheese, bread, and figs. "Good morrow to you, fair ladies," he said with a bow. "Do you perchance know where the whores go?" When they did not respond, he repeated the question in High Valyrian, though he had to say courtesan in place of whore. The younger fatter cook gave him a shrug that time.
He wondered what they would do if he took them by the hand and dragged them to his bedchamber. None will dare refuse you, Illyrio claimed, but somehow Tyrion did not think he meant these two. The younger woman was old enough to be his mother, and the older was likely her mother. Both were near as fat as Illyrio, with teats that were larger than his head. I could smother myself in flesh, he reflected. There were worse ways to die. The way his lord father had died, for one. I should have made him shit a little gold before expiring. Lord Tywin might have been niggardly with his approval and affection, but he had always been open-handed when it came to coin. The only thing more pitiful than a dwarf without a nose is a dwarf without a nose who has no gold.
Tyrion left the fat women to their loaves and kettles and went in search of the cellar where Illyrio had decanted him the night before. It was not hard to find. There was enough wine there to keep him drunk for a hundred years; sweet reds from the Reach and sour reds from Dorne, pale Pentoshi ambers, the green nectar of Myr, three score casks of Arbor gold, even wines from the fabled east, from Meereen and Qarth and Asshai by the Shadow. In the end, Tyrion chose a cask of strongwine marked as the private stock of Lord Runceford Redwyne, the grandfather of the present Lord of the Arbor. The taste of it was languorous and heady on the tongue, the color a purple so dark that it looked almost black in the dim-lit cellar. Tyrion filled a cup, and a flagon for good measure, and carried them up to gardens to drink beneath those cherry trees he'd seen.
As it happened, he left by the wrong door and never found the pool he had spied from his window, but it made no matter. The gardens behind the manse were just as pleasant, and far more extensive. He wandered through them for a time, drinking. The walls would have shamed any proper castle, and the ornamental iron spikes along the top looked strangely naked without heads to adorn them. Tyrion pictured how his sister's head might look up there, with tar in her golden hair and flies buzzing in and out of her mouth. Yes, and Jaime must have the spike beside her, he decided. No one must ever come between my brother and my sister.
With a rope and a grapnel he might be able to get over that wall. He strong arms and he did not weigh much. With a rope he should he able to reach the spikes and clamber over. I will search for a rope on the morrow, he resolved.
He saw three gates during his wanderings; the main entrance with its gatehouse, a postern by the kennels, and a garden gate hidden behind a tangle of pale ivy. The last was chained, the others guarded. The guards were plump, their faces as smooth as a baby's bottom, and every man of them wore a spiked bronze cap. Tyrion knew eunuchs when he saw them. He knew their sort by reputation. They feared nothing and felt no pain, it was said, and were loyal to their masters unto death. I could make good use of a few hundred of mine own, he reflected. A pity I did not think of that before I became a beggar.
He walked along a pillared gallery and through a pointed arch, and found himself in a tiled courtyard where a woman was washing clothes at a well. She looked to be his own age, with dull red hair and a broad face dotted by freckles. "Would you like some wine?" he asked her. She looked at him uncertainly. "I have no cup for you, we'll have to share." The washerwoman went back to wringing out tunics and hanging them to dry. Tyrion settled on a stone bench with his flagon. "Tell me, how far should I trust Magister Illyrio?" The name made her look up. "That far?" Chuckling, he crossed his stunted legs and took a drink. "I am loathe to play whatever part the cheesemonger has in mind for me, yet how can I refuse him? The gates are guarded. Perhaps you might smuggle me out under your skirts? I'd be so grateful, why, I'll even wed you. I have two wives already, why not three? Ah, but where would we live?" He gave her as pleasant a smile as a man with half a nose could manage. "I have a niece in Sunspear, did I tell you? I could make rather a lot of mischief in Dorne with Myrcella. I could set my niece and nephew at war, wouldn't that be droll?" The washerwoman pinned up one of Illyrio's tunics, large enough to double as a sail. "I should be ashamed to think such evil thoughts, you're quite right. Better if I sought the Wall instead. All crimes are wiped clean when a man joins the Night's Watch, they say. Though I fear they would not let me keep you, sweetling. No women in the Watch, no sweet freckly wives to warm your bed at night, only cold winds, salted cod, and small beer. Do you think I might stand taller in black, my lady?" He filled his cup again. "What do you say? North or south? Shall I atone for old sins or make some new ones?"
The washerwoman gave him one last glance, picked up her basket, and walked away. I cannot seem to hold a wife for very long, Tyrion reflected. Somehow his flagon had gone dry. Perhaps I should stumble back down to the cellars. The strongwine was making his head spin, though, and the cellar steps were very steep. "Where do whores go?" he asked the wash flapping on the line. Perhaps he should have asked the washerwoman. Not to imply that you're a whore, my dear, but perhaps you know where they go. Or better yet, he should have asked his father. "Wherever whores go," Lord Tywin said. She loved me. She was a crofter's daughter, she loved me and she wed me, she put her trust in me. The empty flagon slipped from his hand and rolled across the yard.
Grimacing, Tyrion pushed himself off the bench and went to fetch it, but as he did he saw some mushrooms growing up from a cracked paving tile. Pale white they were, with speckles, and red ribbed undersides as dark as blood. The dwarf snapped one off and sniffed it. Delicious, he thought, or deadly. But which? Why not both? He was not a brave enough man to take cold steel to his own belly, but a bite of mushroom would not be so hard. There were seven of the mushrooms, he saw. Perhaps the gods were trying to tell him something. He picked them all, snatched a glove down from the line, wrapped them carefully, and stuffed them down his pocket. The effort made him dizzy, though, so afterward he crawled back onto the bench, curled up, and shut his eyes.
When he woke again, he was back in his bedchamber, drowning in the goosedown featherbed once more while a blond girl shook his shoulder. "My lord," she said, "your bath awaits. Magister Illyrio expects you at table within the hour."
Tyrion propped himself against the pillows, his head in his hands. "Do I dream, or do you speak the Common Tongue?"
"Yes, my lord. I was bought to please the king." She was blue-eyed and fair, young and willowy.
"I am sure you did. I need a cup of wine."
She poured for him. "Magister Illyrio said that I am to scrub your back and warm your bed. My name — "
" — is of no interest to me. Do you know where whores go?"
She flushed. "Whores sell themselves for coin."
"Or jewels, or gowns, or castles. But where do they go?"
The girl could not grasp the question. "Is it a riddle, m'lord? I'm no good at riddles. Will you tell me the answer?"
No, he thought. I despise riddles, myself. "I will tell you nothing. Do me the same favor." The only part of you that interests me is the part between your legs, he almost said. The words were on his tongue, but somehow never passed his lips. She is not Shae, the dwarf told himself, only some little fool who thinks I play at riddles. If truth be told, even her cunt did not interest him much. I must be sick, or dead. "You mentioned a bath? Show me. We must not keep the great cheesemonger waiting."
As he bathed, the girl washed his feet, scrubbed his back, and brushed his hair. Afterward she rubbed sweet-smelling ointment into his calves to ease the aches, and dressed him once again in boy's clothing, a musty pair of burgundy breeches and a blue velvet doublet lined with cloth-of-gold. "Will my lord want me after he has eaten?" she asked as she was lacing up his boots.
"No. I am done with women." Whores.
The girl took that disappointment entirely too well for his liking. "If m'lord would prefer a boy, I can have one waiting in his bed."
M'lord would prefer his wife. M'lord would prefer a girl named Tysha. "Only if he knows where whores go."
The girl's mouth tightened. She despises me, he realized, but no more than I despise myself. That he had fucked many a woman who loathed the very sight of him, Tyrion Lannister had no doubt, but the others had at least the grace to feign affection. A little honest loathing might be refreshing, like a tart wine after too much sweet.
"I believe I have changed my mind," he told her. "Wait for me abed. Naked, if you please, I expect I'll be a deal too drunk to fumble at your clothing. Keep your mouth shut and your thighs open and the two of us should get on splendidly." He gave her a leer, hoping for a taste of fear, but all she gave him was revulsion. No one fears a dwarf. Even Lord Tywin had not been afraid, though Tyrion had held a crossbow in his hands. "Do you moan when you are being fucked?" he asked the bedwarmer.
"If it please m'lord."
"It might please m'lord to strangle you. That's how I served my last whore. Do you think your master would object? Surely not. He has a hundred more like you, but no one else like me." This time, when he grinned, he got the fear he wanted.
Illyrio was reclining on a padded couch, gobbling hot peppers and pearl onions from a wooden bowl. His brow was dotted with beads of sweat, his pig's eyes shining above his fat cheeks. Jewels danced when he moved his hands; onyx and opal, tiger's eye and tourmeline, ruby, amethyst, sapphire, emerald, jet and jade, a black diamond and a green pearl. I could live for years on his rings, Tyrion mused, though I'd need a cleaver to claim them.
"Come and sit, my little friend." Illyrio waved him closer.
The dwarf clambered up onto a chair. It was much too big for him, a cushioned throne intended to accomodate the magister's massive buttocks, with thick sturdy legs to bear his weight. Tyrion Lannister had lived all his life in a world that was too big for him, but in the manse of Illyrio Mopatis the sense of disproportion assumed grotesque dimensions. I am a mouse in a mammoth's lair, he mused, though at least the mammoth keeps a good cellar. The thought made him thirsty. He called for wine.
"Did you enjoy the girl I sent you?" Illyrio asked.
"If I had wanted a girl I would have asked for one. I lack a nose, not a tongue."
"If she failed to please... "
"She did all that was required of her."
"I would hope so. She was trained in Lys, where they make an art of love. And she speaks your Common Tongue. The king enjoyed her greatly."
"I kill kings, hadn't you heard?" Tyrion smiled evilly over his wine cup. "I want no royal leavings."
"As you wish. Let us eat." Illyrio clapped his hands together, and serving men came running.
They began with a broth of crab and monkfish, and cold egg lime soup as well. Then came quails in honey, a saddle of lamb, goose livers drowned in wine, buttered parsnips, and suckling pig. The sight of it all made Tyrion feel queasy, but he forced himself to try a spoon of soup for the sake of politeness, and once he had tasted he was lost. The cooks might be old and fat, but they knew their business. He had never eaten so well, even at court.
As he was sucking the meat off the bones of his quail, he asked Illyrio about the morning's summons. The fat man shrugged. "There are troubles in the east. Astapor has fallen, and Meereen. Ghiscari slave cities that were old when the world was young." The suckling pig was carved. Illyrio reached for a piece of the crackling, dipped it in a plum sauce, and ate it with his fingers.
"Slaver's Bay is a long way from Pentos," said Tyrion, as he speared a goose liver on the point of his knife. No man is as cursed as the kinslayer, he reminded himself, smiling.
"This is so," Illyrio agreed, "but the world is one great web, and a man dare not touch a single strand lest all the others tremble." He clapped his hands again. "Come, eat."
The serving men brough out a heron stuffed with figs, veal cutlets blanched with almond milk, creamed herring, candied onions, foul-smelling cheeses, plates of snails and sweetbreads, and a black swan in her plumage. Tyrion refused the swan, which reminded him of a supper with his sister. He helped himself to heron and herring, though, and a few of the sweet onions. And the serving men filled his wine cup anew each time he emptied it.
"You drink a deal of wine for such a little man."
"Kinslaying is dry work. It gives a man a thirst."
The fat man's eyes glittered like the gemstones on his fingers. "There are those in Westeros who would say that killing Lord Lannister was merely a good beginning."
"They had best not say it in my sister's hearing, or they will find themselves short a tongue." The dwarf tore a loaf of bread in half. "And you had best be careful what you say of my family, magister. Kinslayer or no, I am a lion still."
That seemed to amuse the lord of cheese no end. He slapped a meaty thigh and said, "You Westerosi are all the same. You sew some beast upon a scrap of silk, and suddenly you are all lions or dragons or eagles. I can bring you to a real lion, my little friend. The prince keeps a pride in his menagerie. Would you like to share a cage with them?"
The lords of the Seven Kingdoms did make rather much of their sigils, Tyrion had to admit. "Very well," he conceded. "A Lannister is not a lion. Yet I am still my father's son, and Jaime and Cersei are mine to kill."
"How odd that you should mention your fair sister," said Illyrio, between snails. "The queen has offered a lordship to the man who brings her your head, no matter how humble his birth."
It was no more than Tyrion had expected. "If you mean to take her up on it, make her spread her legs for you as well. The best part of me for the best part of her, that's a fair trade."
"I would sooner have mine own weight in gold." The cheesemonger laughed so hard that Tyrion feared he was about to rupture and drown his guest in a gout of half-digested eels and sweetmeats. "All the gold in Casterly Rock, why not?"
"The gold I grant you," he said, "but the Rock is mine."
"Just so." The magister covered his mouth and belched a mighty belch. "Do you think King Stannis will give it to you? I am told he is a great one for the law. He may well grant you Casterly Rock, is that not so? Your brother wears the white cloak, so you are your father's heir by all the laws of Westeros."
"Stannis might grant me the Rock," Tyrion admitted, "but there is also the small matter of regicide and kinslaying. For those he would shorten me by a head, and I am short enough as I stand. But why would you think I mean to join Lord Stannis?"
"Why else would you go the Wall?"
"Stannis is at the Wall?" Tyrion rubbed at his nose. "What in seven bloody hells is Stannis doing at the Wall?"
"Shivering, I would think. It is warmer down in Dorne. Perhaps he should have sailed that way."
Tyrion was beginning to suspect that a certain freckled washerwoman knew more of the Common Speech than she pretended. "My niece Myrcella is in Dorne, as it happens. And I have half a mind to make her a queen."
Illyrio smiled, as his serving men spooned out bowls of black cherries in sweetcream for them both. "What has this poor child done to you, that you would wish her dead?"
"Even a kinslayer is not required to slay all his kin," said Tyrion, wounded. "Queen her, I said. Not kill her."
The cheesemonger spooned up cherries. "In Volantis they use a coin with a crown on one face and a death's head on the other. Yet it is the same coin. To queen her is to kill her. Dorne might rise for Myrcella, but Dorne alone is not enough. If you are as clever as our friend insists, you know this."
Tyrion looked at the fat man with new interest. He is right on both counts. To queen her is to kill her. And I knew that. "Futile gestures are all that remain to me. This one would make my sister weep bitter tears, at least."
Magister Illyrio wiped sweetcream from his mouth with the back of a fat hand. "The road to Casterly Rock does not go through Dorne, my little friend. Nor does it run beside the Wall. Yet there is such a road, I tell you."
"I am an attainted traitor, a regicide and kinslayer." This talk of roads annoyed him. Does he think this is a game? "What one king does another may undo. In Pentos we have a prince, my friend. He presides at ball and feast and rides about the city in a palanquin of ivory and gold. Three heralds go before him with the golden scales of trade, the iron sword of war, and the silver scourge of justice. On the first day of each new year he must deflower the maid of the fields and the maid of the seas." Illyrio leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Yet should a crop fail or a war be lost, we cut his throat to appease the gods, and choose a new prince from amongst the forty families."
Tyrion snorted through the stump of his nose. "Remind me never to become the Prince of Pentos."
"Are your Seven Kingdoms so different? There is no peace in Westeros, no justice, no faith... and soon enough no food. When men are starving and sick of fear, they look for a savior."
"They may look, but if all they find is Stannis — "
"Not Stannis. Nor Myrcella. Another." The yellow smile widened. "Another. Stronger than Tommen, gentler than Stannis, with a better claim than the girl Myrcella. A savior come from across the sea to bind up the wounds of bleeding Westeros."
"Fine words." Tyrion was unimpressed. "Words are wind. Who is this bloody savior?"
"A dragon." The cheesemonger saw the look on his face at that, and laughed. "A dragon with three heads."
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- Član
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- Pridružio se: Ned Jun 24, 2007 10:05 am
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od sever u Sre Nov 21, 2007 9:22 am
hvala ja sam nov procitao sam poslednju knjigu jucve ujutru i sad sam iz znatizelje kad ce sledeca knjiga pronasao ovaj forum tako da se izvinjavam svima i zbog svoje ne pismenosti nestavljam znake interpunkcije jbg.
a inace sam veliki ljubitelj spoilera volim da znam dali ce neko jos da bude likvidiran u dve martinove reci sokirao sam se kad je rob ubijen ono ocekivao sam da ce umreti ali sam mislio u nekoj borbi kad ono svadba svadba sledeca recenica svi pobijeni ono sok.
a inace sam veliki ljubitelj spoilera volim da znam dali ce neko jos da bude likvidiran u dve martinove reci sokirao sam se kad je rob ubijen ono ocekivao sam da ce umreti ali sam mislio u nekoj borbi kad ono svadba svadba sledeca recenica svi pobijeni ono sok.
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- Pridružio se: Uto Nov 20, 2007 8:57 am
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