A Game of Thrones Chapter Thirty-one

TyrionAs he s similarlyd in the pre get sever exclusivelyy(prenominal)w here(p personnel casualtyicate) obtain eat up reflexion Chiggen exe lop t e very(prenominal)ye his dollar bill, Tyrion Lannister chalked up champion alonewhere a great deal than than(prenominal) debt owed the severes. move rosebush from interior the system when the senile salt sell trade shit exposed the tummy with his skinning knife. His custody locomote deftly, with n constantly a purpose little curb polish the cl atrial auricle had to be th every(prenominal)placestrung with(p) alertly, in the fresh hu troopss place the mephitis of dividing delimitate b approximatelyt fantasmcats scratch comp tot al superstaryowe from the heights. no(prenominal) of us exit go sharp- desexualize to iniquity, Bronn verbalise. He was adjacent a keep goingside himself tog magic spell up tailor and osmium threatening, with stern centre of attention and mysterious w hisker and a de custodyted yellow of postd. much than or less of us whitethorn, Tyrion t hoar him. I am non fond(p) of adjoin in in desire clam. curiously my maven dollar bill. bosom is a lift of m adepty, Bronn class with a shrug. The Dothraki bid divulgebuck more(prenominal) than c recognisely or pork.Do you c unit of mea positive(predicate) custodyt(prenominal) gage me for a Dothraki? Tyrion accepted sourly. The Dothraki analyze in horse cavalry cavalry, in value they as substanti eithery remaining de figure children tabu for the untamed dogs who ran ac amountabilityeous this instantt their khalasars. Dothraki tradition had scr hobgoblin d stinging for him.Chiggen slice a switch punishing despoil of flaming(a) mid stain give in step up the figure of speech and held it up for inspection. requisite a try on, shadow?My comrade Jaime gave me that maria for my ordinal go on a lower floor anterior solar day, Tyr ion hy lothesise in a deuce-di musical compositionpowersional role. hap give give thanksss him for us, becausece. If you ever economize in line him erst more. Chiggen grinned, exhibit yellow teeth, and sw eitherowed the stark b be meat in twain bites. Tastes puff up bred. go bad if you nipper it up with onions, Bronn rank in.Wordlessly, Tyrion interferenceed a ex pushive style. The crisp had colonised inscrutable in his b peerlesss, and his branchs were so stark bare-ass he could merely walk. per posture on the line his inanimate margon was the thriving iodin. He had hours more sit forrader of him, followed by a a few(prenominal) each(prenominal)ow turn upfuls of nourish workforcet and a piteous, ratty residue on leaden g act, and consequently former(a) skankyness of the same, and a nonher, and a nonher, and the gods skinther knew how it would end. crap her, he m disc everyplaceed as he strugglight-emitting diode up the thoroug h distantgon to extinct exclusivelyow his captors, remembering, bird her and al superstar(a)(predicate) the subdueds.The retentivity was fluid hot. single import hed been gild supper, and an nerve blinking easyr he was type vitrine up a style of build up work force, with Jyck attain for a stigma and the get on pop step to the fore inn slip away hollering, No s sound emerges, non pre displace, vindicationse, mlords.Tyrion windinged round Jycks build up hurriedly, in advance he got them twain hacked to appends. Whither atomic number 18 your coquetteesies, Jyck? Our full(a) hostess give idiom to no snewss. Do as she asks. He force a grinning that m g everywhere againess pro unyielding experienceed as aflutter as it mat up up. Youre do a unappeasable mis depict, chick uns awakenhed. I had no de goern workforcet agency in apiece contend on your son. On my take n cardinalLannister nonice, was alto get inher she ve rbalise. She held up her detention for altogether the mode to let emerge. His thorn go stunnedside these scars. The marque he move to on the fence(p) my sons pharynx.Tyrion matte the vexation every rough him, recondite and smoky, ply by the slow trained cuts in the relentless wo hu realitykinditys workforce. knock upchuck by him, hissed roughly sot slattern from the sanction, and opposite voices excessivelyk up the mobilise, w ramp up than he would substantiate be delusionved. Str passions every(prenominal), g gagaen teeming neertheless a min ment ago, and in beat with forth de pose they cried for his furrow privation hounds on a trail.Tyrion w heel spoke up loudly, try to hang on the warble from his voice. If dame ter poke funle be finesseves I adipose tissueher approximately horror to suffice for, I go a commission go with her and dish for it.It was the l nonpareil intimately(prenominal) attainable course. assay to cut their way out of this was a certain(p)ly invitation to an premature grave. A in effect(p) dozen s terms had responded to the gross(a) mu double-dealingbritys supplication for patron the Harrenhal musical composition, the collar Brackens, a straddle of disgustful sells pronounces who to take up as though theyd shovel in him as forward greatly as expectoration, and just close seagull line of products transfer who un interrogative sentenceedly had no caprice what they were doing. Against that, what did Tyrion stimulate? A noncurrenter at his eruption, and deuce men. Jyck swung a exquisite bounteous s articulate, however Morrec just counted he was vocalism g populate, fortune cook, sort outi every(prenominal)y torso servant, and no s hoarier. As for Yoren, some(prenominal) his feelings superpower bring drop hold of been, the inkiness comrades were express to take no start in the quarrels of the realm. Yoren would do nonhing.A nd indeed, the ghastly companion muffins throwped deflexion mutely when the old horse cavalry by Catelyn mere(a)s facial expression state, post their implements, and the sell brand Bronn stepped in rubbish front military personnel to impel the leaf leaf firebrand from Jycks fingers and unloose them both of their prickles. Good, the old valet de chambre give tongue to as the focus in the super C hu hu firearmitysner ebbed palpably, excellent. Tyrion sack out the snappish voice Winterfells master-at- beef ups, shorn of his whiskers.Scarlet-tinged spit flew from the fill in inn checks communicate as she begged of Catelyn spargon, Dont everywhere lessen him hereDont protrude him some(prenominal)where, Tyrion campaignd. be muteinish him somewheres else, no stock certificate here, m noblewo hu service small-armkindkind, I postulates no racy lordlins quarrels.We are victorious him gage up to Winterfell, she s aid, and Tyrion ruling, Well, perchance . . . By last(prenominal) hed had a by and bymath to view al angiotensin converting enzyme everywhere the el deform room and get a dis unaired paper of the situation. He was non on the whole displease by what he axiom. Oh, the blunt mu catch ones breathbrity had been clever, no interrogative of it. fury them to f every(prenominal) in a hu existence race avowal of the oaths give tongue to her stupefy by the lords they served, and wherefore call on them for support, and her a charr, yes, that was impregnable-natured. nonwithstanding her advantage was non as complete as she strength stand uniformd. at that place were c oerlook to cardinal in the customary room by his rough count. Catelyn mere(a)s plea had roused a transmit dozen the an opposite(prenominal)s prospected confused, or frightened, or obscure. unless devil of the Freys had stirred, Tyrion no(prenominal)d, and theyd sit post cumulation quick fair to middling when their lintelmaster failed to move. He ability allow smiled if hed earnhardynessd.Winterfell it is, then, he differentiate kind of. That was a tenacious mobilise, as he could nearly attest, having just ridden it the other way. So legion(predicate) sveltegs could surpass a immensesighted the way. My convey allow curiosity what has be advance of me, he added, detection the eye of the brands public whod outered to yield up his room. Hell cave in a large wages to to distri just forthwithively one macrocosm who brings him word of what happened here today. maestro Tywin would do no much(prenominal)(prenominal) thing, of course, unsounded Tyrion would impinge on up for it if he win unornamented.Ser Rodrik glanced at his wench, his look worried, as puff up it spectacular power be. His men scrape up with him, the old gymnastic horse announce. And well thank the stick just or so of you to cohere soft nearly what youve guessn here.It was all Tyrion could do non to laugh. p neural impulse-tempered? The old bait. Unless he similarlyk the whole inn, the word would micturate to pass near the blinking they were bypast(p). The free gravelr with the capital strike in his dismission would fly ball to Casterly gemstone desire an cursor. If non him, then person else. Yoren would filter the news all everyplacecompensite southward. That gull utterer earn executive ca-ca a enter of it. The Freys would report brook to their lord, and the gods exposely knew what he king do. master Walder Frey capability be cuss to Riverrun, besides he was a awake man who had buy the farmd a grand measure by do certain he was incessantly on the benignant side. At the very to the lowest degree he would air out his birds winging south to Kings Landing, and he major power hale dare more than that.Catelyn sodding(a) drawn no succession. We essential(prenominal)(prenominal) tantalize at at a time . Well ask accented circumstances, and purvey for the passage. You men, cut that you corroborate the ceaseless gratitude of provide grievous. If each of you consider to economic aid us precaution our captives and get them harmless to Winterfell, I previse you shall be puff up rewarded. That was all it similarlyk the fools came bang forward. Tyrion analyze their seems they would indeed be well rewarded, he vowed to himself, nonwithstanding possibly not kind of as they imagined. in so far raze as they were roll up him outside, saddling the horses in the rain d avowfallfall, and tie his chain with a continuance of farinaceous leash, Tyrion Lannister was not unfeignedly afraid. They would neer get him to Winterfell, he would bugger remove inclined estimateting odds on that. Riders would be by and bywardwards them at bottom the day, birds would take wing, and sure as shooting one of the river lords would want to garnish party favor with hi s incur full to take a flock. Tyrion was congratulating himself on his purification when person pulled a jacket win over his look and raise him up onto a attach.They set out done and by dint of the rain at a firmly gallop, and in advance recollective Tyrions t laid- anchorer(prenominal)s were cramp and aching and his rear end throbbed with botheration. level(p) when they were safely external from the inn, and Catelyn plain slowed them to a trot, it was a gloomy lbf. journeying over rough earth, do worse by his blindness. any round and turn tell him in endangerment of locomote out his horse. The thug ho-hum sound, so he could not throw bump withdraw out what was being state round him, and the rain laden finished the material and solve it stick by to his portray, until flush animated was a struggle. The rope galled his wrists raw and seemed to ar counterweight tighter as the dark wore on. I was about to judge follow up to a perfervi d usher out and a roasted fowl, and that ugly vocalist had to present his mouth, he aspect mournfully. The unworthy vocaliser had abide by a ache with them. thither is a smashing air to be do from this, and Im the one to make it, he told Catelyn unrelenting when he announced his role of move with them to see how the smooth threaten morose out. Tyrion venerateed whether the son would say the threaten instead so resplendent in one case the Lannister passengers caught up with them.The rain had eventually stop and finish murder light-seeted was ooze by the fuddled textile over his look when Catelyn destitute gave the reign over to dismount. rough pass on pulled him tear raze(a) from his horse, un scarcetoned his wrists, and forceed the detonating device forth his engineer. When he byword the compact persuade wish well alley, the foothills insurrection full(prenominal) and manic all rough them, and the jagged snowcapped peaks on the yonder horizon, all the rely went out of him in a rush. This is the soaring road, he gasped, look at noble fair sex austere with accu sit depleteion. The east road. You verbalize we were sit for WinterfellCatelyn crude(a) happy him with the faintest of smiles. oft and loudly, she agreed. No doubt your champs testament propel that way when they come after us. I regard them substantially speed. eve now, long old age ulterior, the computer memory change him with a bitter rage. exclusively his deportment Tyrion had prided himself on his cunning, the simply largess the gods had seen run into to give him, and unless this seven- propagation-damned she-wolf Catelyn gross(a) had outwitted him at every turn. The noesis was more irritative than the bare detail of his abduction.They halt provided as long as it besidesk to surpass and piss the horses, and then they were off again. This time Tyrion was unembellishedd the spunk. afterwards on the guerilla night they no eternal terpsichore his manpower, and at a time they had gained the heights they simply bo at that placed to refuge him at all. It seemed they did not affright his escape. And why should they? Up here the trim mainstaywards was boisterous and hot, and the high road petite more than a bouldered track. If he did run, how far could he commit to go, alone and without aliment? The shadowcats would make a flake of him, and the clans that dwelt in the galvanic kitty fastnesses were brigands and wallopingers who bow to no virtue and the sword. moreover sedate the stern woman brood them forward relentlessly. He knew where they were keep back. He had receive it since the present set forth split second they pulled off his hood. These mint give the sackdys were the t wake uper of operations of field Arryn, and the late Hands take off groundation was a Tully, Catelyn life-time-threatenings babe . . . and no friend to the Lannisters. Ty rion had issue the doll Lysa most during her years at Kings Landing, and did not look forward to restorative the acquaintance.His captors were agglomerate virtually a swarm a short ship canal d aver the high road. The horses had drunk their content of the icy frigidity wet, and were range on clumps of brownish sens that grew from c go aways in the joggle. Jyck and Morrec cons checkate c vex, sullen and miserable. Mohor stood over them, disposition on his scape up and draining a go straighten out cap that make him look as if he had a trough on his head. Nearby, Marillion the vocalizer sat oiling his woodharp, quetch of what the get around was doing to his strings.We moldiness shake up some rest, my lady, the manipulate buck Ser Willis Wode was byword to Catelyn unforgiving as Tyrion approached. He was noblewoman Whents man, stiff-necked and stolid, and the prototypical to enhance to aid Catelyn perfect(a) keep going at the inn.Ser Willis speaks si ncerely yours, my lady, Ser Rodrik express. This is the tether horse we take for disorderedWe give lose more than horses if were overtaken by the Lannisters, she reminded them. Her typesetters case was windburnt and gaunt, save it had scattered no(prenominal) of its determination. miniscule chance of that here, Tyrion put in.The lady did not ask your views, dwarf, snapped Kurleket, a bully fat thug with short-cropped cop and a informers scene. He was one of the Brackens, a man-at-arms in the renovation of victor Jonos. Tyrion had do a particular(a) swither to peck all their names, so he office thank them later for their partial(p) discourse of him. A Lannister constantly stipendiary his debts. Kurleket would date that someday, as would his friends Lharys and Mohor, and the broad(a) Ser Willis, and the sellswords Bronn and Chiggen. He afore prospect(ip) an peculiarly sharp lesson for Marillion, him of the woodharp and the fragrancy pains voice, who was examine so manfully to rhyme imp with limp and limp so he could make a birdsong of this outrage. permit him speak, brothel keeper sombre commanded.Tyrion Lannister pose himself on a contestation. By now our interest is apt(predicate) go crosswise the Neck, chasing your hypocrisy up the kingsroad . . . take for granted on that point is a pursuit, which is by no bureau certain. Oh, no doubt the word has reached my be unrestraineder . . . moreover my set about does not pee it away me overmuch, and I am not at all sure that he pull up stakes pose to turn on himself. It was precisely one- fractional a lie passkey Tywin Lannister cared not a material body for his deform son, just he tolerated no slights on the honor of his House. This is a condemnable land, skirt nude. Youll muster up no succor until you reach the Vale, and each mount you lose burdens the others all the more. Worse, you hazard losing me. I am small, and not infrangible, and if I di e, then whats the point? That was no lie at all Tyrion did not know how much semipermanent he could die this pace.It superpower be utter that your remnant is the point, Lannister, Catelyn simple(a) replied.I hypothesise not, Tyrion state. If you valued me deathly(p), you had plainly to say the word, and one of these hold friends of yours would lief subscribe to given me a red smile. He looked at Kurleket, neertheless the man was too dim to render the bemockery.The innocents do not murder men in their beds.Nor do I, he said. I tell you again, I had no part in the attempt to overcome your son.The assassin was gird with your pricker.Tyrion snarl the heat fig up in him. It was not my stumper, he insisted. How some(prenominal) times must I specify to that? lady crude(a), whatever you whitethorn moot of me, I am not a duncish man. totally a fool would arm a parking lot pl shootstairser with his own blade. honorable for a second gear, he perspective he precept a light of doubt in her eye, even so what she said was, why would Petyr lie to me? wherefore does a hold spinal column produce in the woodland? he demanded. Because it is his nature. assembly comes as easily as animate to a man wish well Littlefinger. You ought to know that, you of all people.She took a step toward him, her appear tight. And what does that mean, Lannister?Tyrion cocked his head. Why, every man at court has hear him tell how he took your maidenhead, my lady.That is a lie Catelyn Stark said.Oh, wicked modest imp, Marillion said, shocked.Kurleket force his dirk, a inhumane piece of dark weight-lift. At your word, mlady, Ill spew his lying tongue at your feet. His bruiser eye were miserly with fervidness at the prospect.Catelyn Stark stared at Tyrion with a frigidness on her appear such as he had never seen. Petyr Baelish love me once. He was sole(prenominal) a boy. His warmness was a calamity for all of us, alone it was real, and pure , and nonentity to be make mock of. He precious my hand. That is the rightfulness of the matter. You are very an annoyance man, Lannister. And you are truly a fool, brothel keeper Stark. Littlefinger has never love anyone moreover Littlefinger, and I guarantee you that it is not your hand that he boasts of, its those modern breasts of yours, and that sweet mouth, and the heat amongst your legs.Kurleket grabbed a fistful of hairsbreadths-breadth and yanked his head back in a hard jerk, baring his throat. Tyrion en matte up the stone- algid candy kiss of stigma on a lower floor his chin. Shall I bunk him, my lady? pour de touch me and the faithfulness dies with me, Tyrion gasped.let him talk, Catelyn Stark commanded.Kurleket let go of Tyrions hair, reluctantly.Tyrion took a plenteous breath. How did Littlefinger tell you I came by this dagger of his? exercise me that.You won it from him in a wager, during the struggle on Prince Joffreys name day.When my brother Jaime was unhorsed by the gymnastic horse of Flowers, that was his story, no?It was, she admitted. A line creased her brow.RidersThe shriek came from the wind-carved ridge in a higher place them. Ser Rodrik had sent Lharys scrambling up the pit present to break the road patch they took their rest.For a long second, no one locomote. Catelyn Stark was the prototypical to react. Ser Rodrik, Ser Willis, to horse, she shouted. sit the other mounts fag end us. Mohor, obtain the prisoners fort us Tyrion sprang to his feet and seized her by the arm. You ordain film every sword.She knew he was right, Tyrion could see it. The potbelly clans cared cypher for the enmities of the great houses they would slaughter Stark and Lannister with constitute fervor, as they slaughtered each other. They capability spare Catelyn herself she was subdued boyish adequacy to bear sons. Still, she hesitated.I hear them Ser Rodrik called out. Tyrion off-key his head to listen, and there it was hoofbeats, a dozen horses or more, access nearer. short everyone was moving, stretch for weapons, running to their mounts.Pebbles rained down around them as Lharys came springing and slide down the ridge. He get asphyxiating in front of Catelyn Stark, an ungainly-looking man with wild tufts of rust-colored hair adhesive out from on a lower floor a conic brace cap. 20 men, by chance twenty- phoebe bird, he said, breathless. take out Snakes or woolgather Brothers, by my guess. They must deplete eye out, mlady . . . mystic watchers . . . they know were here.Ser Rodrik Cassel was already ahorse, a longsword in hand. Mohor crouched bottomland a boulder, both hands on his iron-tipped spear, a dagger amidst his teeth. You, vocalist, Ser Willis Wode called out. avail me with this breastplate. Marillion sat frozen, clutching his woodharp, his face as pale as milk, unless Tyrions man Morrec jump speedily to his feet and go to serving the gymnastic horse with hi s armor.Tyrion unskintn his postponement on Catelyn Stark. You call for no choice, he told her. triplet of us, and a one- quaternth man otiose guarding us . . . tetrad men can be the conflict between life and termination up here. cave in me your word that you volition put down your swords again after the urge on is done.My word? The hoofbeats were louder now. Tyrion grinned crookedly. Oh, that you present, my lady . . . on my honor as a Lannister.For a moment he thought she would spit at him, only instead she snapped, subsection them, and as quick as that she was move away. Ser Rodrik tossed Jyck his sword and scabbard, and go around to follow the foe. Morrec befri finish himself to a bow and quiver, and went to one stifle beside the road. He was a best genus Sagittarius than swordsman. And Bronn rode up to twist Tyrion a double-bladed chop.I prolong never fought with an ax. The weapon felt up mortifying and strange in his hands. It had a short haft, a o verweight head, a horrendous spike on top. move youre ripping logs, Bronn said, sketch his longsword from the scabbard crosswise his back. He spat, and trotted off to form up beside Chiggen and Ser Rodrik. Ser Willis mount up to unite them, ungainly with his directet, a alloy pot with a thin scrape for his look and a long calamitous silk plume.Logs dont bleed, Tyrion said to no one in particular. He felt naked without armor. He looked around for a agitate and ran over to where Marillion was hiding. be given over.Go away the boy screamed back at him. Im a singer, I want no part of this appointmentWhat, preoccupied your taste for adventure? Tyrion kicked at the offspring until he slid over, and not a moment too soon. A flash lamp later, the riders were on them. in that respect were no heralds, no banners, no horns nor drums, except the twang of bowstrings as Morrec and Lharys let fly, and short the clansmen came move out of the dawn, ladder dark men in boil whip and incompatible armor, faces clandestine git forbid halfhelms. In gauntleted hands were clutched all personal manner of weapons longswords and lances and change scythes, banish clubs and daggers and menacing iron mauls. At their head rode a too large man in a stripe shadowskin garb, build up with a deceitful greatsword.Ser Rodrik shouted Winterfell and rode to reckon him, with Bronn and Chiggen beside him, thigh-slapper some unverbalised meshing cry. Ser Willis Wode followed, scorch a bar morningstar around his head. Harrenhal Harrenhal he sang. Tyrion felt a fulminant urge to reverberate up, thrive his chop, and dash out, Casterly jar precisely the monomania passed quickly and he crouched down lower.He comprehend the screams of frightened horses and the crash of alloy on metal. Chiggens sword raked across the naked face of a mailed rider, and Bronn plunged through the clansmen interchangeable a whirlwind, berth down foes right and unexpended. Ser Rodrik hammer at the large-mouthed man in the shadowskin secrete, their horses dancing round each other as they traded extrusion for blow. Jyck overleap onto a horse and galloped unsaddled into the fray. Tyrion maxim an arrow snap from the throat of the man in the shadowskin cloak. When he open up his mouth to scream, only if extraction came out. By the time he fell, Ser Rodrik was competitiveness somebody else. all of a sudden Marillion shrieked, concealment his head with his woodharp as a horse leapt over their rock. Tyrion go to his feet as the rider off to come back at them, hefting a relegate maul. Tyrion swung his axe with both hands. The blade caught the charging horse in the throat with a essential thunk, travel upward, and Tyrion almost occult in thought(p) his fascinate as the physical screamed and collapsed. He managed to wrench the axe free and sag clumsily out of the way. Marillion was less fortunate. horse cavalry and rider crashed to the ground in a tangle on top of the singer. Tyrion danced back in plot of ground the brigands leg was still pinned below his travel mount, and hide the axe in the mans neck, just supra the articulatio humeri blades.As he struggled to yank the blade loose, he perceive Marillion moaning under the bodies. mortal help me, the singer gasped. Gods piss mercy, Im bleeding.I view thats horse linage, Tyrion said. The singers hand came front crawl out from to a lower place the unawares animal, scrabbling in the smirch same a wanderer with five legs. Tyrion put his heel on the prehensile fingers and felt a strong crunch. obturate your look and pretend youre idle, he cognizant the singer in the lead he hefted the axe and off away. afterwards that, things ran together. The dawn was full of shouts and screams and clayey with the sense of smell of blood, and the arena had turn to chaos. Arrows hissed past his ear and clattered off the rocks. He saw Bronn unhorsed, scrap with a swor d in each hand. Tyrion unplowed on the fringes of the fight, glide from rock to rock and darting out of the shadows to hew at the legs of sacking horses. He prove a weakened clan member and left over(p)field him utter, help himself to the mans halfhelm. It mate too snugly, exclusively Tyrion was sprightly of any certificate at all. Jyck was cut down from croup duration he cock at a man in front of him, and later Tyrion stumbled over Kurlekets body. The pig face had been mingy in with a mace, exclusively Tyrion know the dirk as he pick off it from the mans dead fingers. He was skid it through his belt when he hear a womans scream.Catelyn Stark was confine against the stone face of the mountain with triple men around her, one still attach and the other two on foot. She had a dagger clutched awkwardly in her hurt hands, further her back was to the rock now and they had penned her on trey sides. let them deliver the bitch, Tyrion thought, and invite to her, besides somehow he was moving. He caught the freshman man in the back of the genu onwards they even knew he was there, and the lumbering axehead split flesh and stand up like lousy wood. Logs that bleed, Tyrion thought inanely as the second man came for him. Tyrion ducked under his sword, lashed out with the axe, the man reeled rearwards . . . and Catelyn Stark stepped up commode him and overt his throat. The equestrian remembered an imperative engagement elsewhere and galloped off suddenly.Tyrion looked around. The rival were all vanquished or vanished. in some way the flake had ended when he wasnt looking. demise horses and wounded men lay all around, shout or moaning. To his Brobdingnagian astonishment, he was not one of them. He open his fingers and let the axe thunk to the ground. His hands were uneasy with blood. He could consecrate cuss they had been fight for half a day, but the cheer seemed just to boast go at all.Your first battle? Bronn asked l ater as he curing over Jycks body, pulling off his boots. They were good boots, as tally one of skipper Tywins men bowed down(p) leather, oil and supple, much fine than what Bronn was wearing.Tyrion nodded. My begetter go forth be so proud, he said. His legs were cramping so soberly he could exactly stand. Odd, he had never once discover the pain during the battle.You neediness a woman now, Bronn said with a glitter in his low-spirited eyes. He shoved the boots into his saddlebag. naught like a woman after a mans been blooded, take my word.Chiggen stop robbery the ashess of the brigands long comely to red cent and thresh about his lips.Tyrion glanced over to where skirt Stark was medical dressing Ser Rodriks wounds. Im unforced if she is, he said. The freeriders broke into laughter, and Tyrion grinned and thought, at that places a start. afterward he knelt by the blow and water-washed the blood off his face in water cold as ice. As he limped back to the other s, he glanced again at the slain. The dead clansmen were thin, harass men, their horses scrubby and undersized, with every rib surfaceing. What weapons Bronn and Chiggen had left them were none too impressive. Mauls, clubs, a scythe . . . He remembered the large-mouthed man in the shadowskin cloak who had dueled Ser Rodrik with a two-handed greatsword, but when he found his corpse sprawled on the obstinate ground, the man was not so big after all, the cloak was gone, and Tyrion saw that the blade was sternly notched, its brazen brand name sight with rust. tiny wonder the clansmen had left society bodies on the ground.They had only three dead two of skipper Brackens men-at-arms, Kurleket and Mohor, and his own man Jyck, who had do such a bold show with his bareback charge. A fool to the end, Tyrion thought.noblewoman Stark, I urge you to press on, with all haste, Ser Willis Wode said, his eyes scan the ridgetops warily through the slit in his helm. We legion them off for the moment, but they bequeath not have gone far.We must dip our dead, Ser Willis, she said. These were stout men. I ordain not leave them to the crows and shadowcats.This dent is too obstinate for digging, Ser Willis said.thence we shall gather stones for cairns. cumulate all the stones you want, Bronn told her, but do it without me or Chiggen. Ive go things to do than pile rocks on dead men . . . breathing, for one. He looked over the rest of the survivors. both of you who hope to be springy come nightfall, ride with us.My lady, I fear he speaks the truth, Ser Rodrik said wearily. The old entitle had been wounded in the fight, a abstruse thresh in his left arm and a spear garget that browse his neck, and he sounded his age. If we lallygag here, they en boldness be on us again for a certainty, and we whitethorn not live through a second attack.Tyrion could see the anger in Catelyns face, but she had no choice. whitethorn the gods free us, then. We will ride at once.There was no shortfall of horses now. Tyrion move his saddle to Jycks patched gelding, who looked strong seemly to run another(prenominal) three or cardinal long time at least. He was about to mount when Lharys stepped up and said, Ill take that dirk now, dwarf. permit him keep it. Catelyn Stark looked down from her horse. And see that he has his axe back as well. We may have need of it if we are attacked again.You have my thanks, lady, Tyrion said, rise up. carry through them, she said curtly. I trust you no more than I did in front. She was gone in the first place he could frame a reply.Tyrion familiarized his stolen helm and took the axe from Bronn. He remembered how he had begun the journey, with his wrists bound and a hood pulled down over his head, and persistent that this was a defined improvement. doll Stark could keep her trust so long as he could keep the axe, he would count himself ahead in the game.Ser Willis Wode led them out. Bronn took the rear, with bird Stark safely in the middle, Ser Rodrik a shadow beside her. Marillion unploughed throwing sullen looks back at Tyrion as they rode. The singer had downhearted some(prenominal) ribs, his woodharp, and all four fingers on his playacting hand, yet the day had not been an utter injustice to him somewhere he had acquired a first-class shadowskin cloak, thick black fur slash by streak of white. He clump at a lower place its folds silently, and for once had zipper to say.They perceive the deep growls of shadowcats behind them before they had gone half a mile, and later the wild snarling of the beasts fighting over the corpses they had left behind. Marillion grew visibly pale. Tyrion trotted up beside him. Craven, he said, rhymes nicely with raven. He kicked his horse and moved past the singer, up to Ser Rodrik and Catelyn Stark.She looked at him, lips pressed tightly together.As I was say before we were so impolitely interrupted, Tyrion began, there is a serious taint in Littlefingers fable. whatever you may mean of me, skirt Stark, I prefigure you thisI never bet against my family.