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Tyrion
As he stood in the predawn chill watching Chiggen butcher his horse, Tyrion Lannister chalked up one more debt owed the Starks Steam rose from inside the carcass when the squat sellsword opened the belly with his skinning knife His hands moved deftly, with never a wasted cut; the work had to be done quickly, before the stink of blood brought shadowcats down froht," Bronn said He was near a shadow himself; bone thin and bone hard, with black eyes and black hair and a stubble of beard
"So horse Particularly my horse"
"Meat is"The Dothraki like horse more than beef or pork"
"Do you take me for a Dothraki?" Tyrion asked sourly The Dothraki ate horse, in truth; they also left defors who ran behind their khalasars Dothraki custoen sliced a thin strip of bloody meat off the carcass and held it up for inspection "Want a taste, dwarf?"
"My brother Jaiave me that mare for my twenty-third name day," Tyrion said in a flat voice
"Thank hirinned, showing yellow teeth, and sed the raw meat in two bites "Tastes well bred"
"Better if you fry it up with onions," Bronn put in
Wordlessly, Tyrion lis were so sore he could scarcely walk Perhaps his deadahead of him, followed by a few round, and then another night of the saods only kneould end "Daled up the road to rejoin his captors, re, "damn her and all the Starks"
Thesupper, and an eye blink later he was facing a roo for a sword and the fat innkeep shrieking, "No swords, not here, please, m’lords"
Tyrion wrenched down Jyck’s arot them both hacked to pieces "Where are your courtesies, Jyck? Our good hostess said no swords Do as she asks" He forced a smile thata sad mistake, Lady Stark I had no part in any attack on your son On my honor--"
"Lannister honor," was all she said She held up her hands for all the rooer left these scars The blade he sent to open er all around him, thick and smoky, fed by the deep cuts in the Stark woman’s hands "Kill him," hissed some drunken slattern from the back, and other voices took up the call, faster than he would have believed Strangers all, friendly enough only a o, and yet now they cried for his blood like hounds on a trail
Tyrion spoke up loudly, trying to keep the quaver from his voice "If Lady Stark believes I have soo with her and answer for it"
It was the only possible course Trying to cut their way out of this was a sure invitation to an early grave A good dozen swords had responded to the Stark woman’s plea for help: the Harrenhal man, the three Brackens, a pair of unsavory sellswords who looked as though they’d kill him as soon as spit, and some fool field hands who doubtless had no idea what they were doing Against that, what did Tyrion have? A dagger at his belt, and two h sword, but Morrec scarcely counted; he was part groom, part cook, part body servant, and no soldier As for Yoren, whatever his feelings ht have been, the black brothers were sworn to take no part in the quarrels of the real
And indeed, the black brother stepped aside silently when the old knight by Catelyn Stark’s side said, "Take their weapons," and the sellsword Bronn stepped forward to pull the sword froers "Good," the old man said as the tension in the coruff voice; Winterfell’s master-at-ared spittle flew froed of Catelyn Stark, "Don’t kill him here!"
"Don’t kill hied
"Take hih lordlin’s quarrels"
"We are taking hiht, Well, perhapsBy then he’d had a et a better idea of the situation He was not altogether displeased by what he saw Oh, the Stark woman had been clever, no doubt of it Force them to make a public affirmation of the oaths sworn her father by the lords they served, and then call on them for succor, and her a woman, yes, that eet Yet her success was not as coht have liked There were close to fifty in the coh count Catelyn Stark’s plea had roused a bare dozen; the others looked confused, or frightened, or sullen Only two of the Freys had stirred, Tyrion noted, and they’d sat back down quick enough when their captain failed to ht have smiled if he’d dared
"Winterfell it is, then," he said instead That was a long ride, as he could well attest, having just ridden it the other way Sothe way "My father onder what has beco the eye of the swordsman who’d offered to yield up his roos him word of what happened here today" Lord Tyould do no such thing, of course, but Tyrion would lanced at his lady, his look worried, as well it ht announced "And we’ll thank the rest of you to stay quiet about what you’ve seen here"
It was all Tyrion could do not to laugh Quiet? The old fool Unless he took the whole inn, the ould begin to spread the instant they were gone The freerider with the gold coin in his pocket would fly to Casterly Rock like an arrow If not him, then soer ht make a lay of it The Freys would report back to their lord, and the gods only knehat he ht be sworn to Riverrun, but he was a cautiouscertain he was always on the winning side At the very least he would send his birds winging south to King’s Landing, and he ht well dare more than that
Catelyn Stark wasted no time "We must ride at once We’ll want fresh mounts, and provisions for the road You ratitude of House Stark If any of you choose to help us guard our captives and get them safe to Winterfell, I promise you shall be well rewarded" That was all it took; the fools ca forward Tyrion studied their faces; they would indeed be well rewarded, he vowed to hiined
Yet even as they were bundling hi his hands with a length of coarse rope, Tyrion Lannister was not truly afraid They would never get hiiven odds on that Riders would be after the, and surely one of the river lords would want to curry favor with his father enough to take a hand Tyrion was congratulating himself on his subtlety when someone pulled a hood down over his eyes and lifted hih the rain at a hard gallop, and before long Tyrion’s thighs were cra and his butt throbbed with pain Even when they were safely away from the inn, and Catelyn Stark slowed theround, made worse by his blindness Every twist and turn put hi off his horse The hoodsaid around hi to his face, until even breathing was a struggle The rope chafed his wrists raw and seeht wore on I was about to settle down to a warer had to open his er had co to be made from this, and I’m the one to make it," he told Catelyn Stark when he announced his intention of riding with them to see how the "splendid adventure" turned out Tyrion wondered whether the boy would think the adventure quite so splendid once the Lannister riders caught up with theht was seeping through the wet cloth over his eyes when Catelyn Stark gave the coh hands pulled him down from his horse, untied his wrists, and yanked the hood off his head When he saw the narrow stony road, the foothills rising high and wild all around theed snowcapped peaks on the distant horizon, all the hope went out of hi at Lady Stark with accusation "The eastern road You said ere riding for Winterfell!"
Catelyn Stark favored hireed "No doubt your friends will ride that hen they coood speed"
Even now, long days later, the e All his life Tyrion had prided hiive him, and yet this seven-times-damned she-wolf Catelyn Stark had outwitted hi than the bare fact of his abduction
They stopped only as long as it took to feed and water the horses, and then they were off again This tiht they no longer bound his hands, and once they had gained the heights they scarcely bothered to guard him at all It seemed they did not fear his escape And why should they? Up here the land was harsh and wild, and the high road little more than a stony track If he did run, how far could he hope to go, alone and without provisions? The shadowcats would make a morsel of him, and the clans that dwelt in the ands and murderers who bowed to no law but the sword
Yet still the Stark woman drove them forward relentlessly He knehere they were bound He had known it since the moment they pulled off his hood These mountains were the domain of House Arryn, and the late Hand’s as a Tully, Catelyn Stark’s sisterand no friend to the Lannisters Tyrion had known the Lady Lysa slightly during her years at King’s Landing, and did not look forward to renewing the acquaintance
His captors were clustered around a streah road The horses had drunk their fill of the icy cold water, and were grazing on clurew from clefts in the rock Jyck and Morrec huddled close, sullen andon his spear and wearing a rounded iron cap that made him look as if he had a bowl on his head Nearby, Marillion the singer sat oiling his woodharp, cos
"We ht Ser Willis Wode was saying to Catelyn Stark as Tyrion approached He was Lady Whent’s man, stiff-necked and stolid, and the first to rise to aid Catelyn Stark back at the inn
"Ser Willis speaks truly, my lady," Ser Rodrik said "This is the third horse we have lost--"
"We will lose more than horses if we’re overtaken by the Lannisters," she reaunt, but it had lost none of its determination
"Small chance of that here," Tyrion put in
"The lady did not ask your viearf," snapped Kurleket, a great fat oaf with short-cropped hair and a pig’s face He was one of the Brackens, a man-at-arms in the service of Lord Jonos Tyrion had ht thank them later for their tender treatment of him A Lannister always paid his debts Kurleket would learn that soood Ser Willis, and the sellswords Bronn and Chiggen He planned an especially sharp lesson for Marillion, hiling so ie
"Let him speak," Lady Stark commanded
Tyrion Lannister seated hi across the Neck, chasing your lie up the kingsroadassu there is a pursuit, which is by no means certain Oh, no doubt the word has reached my fatherbut my father does not love me overmuch, and I am not at all sure that he will bother to bestir himself" It was only half a lie; Lord Tywin Lannister cared not a fig for his deforhts on the honor of his House "This is a cruel land, Lady Stark You’ll find no succor until you reach the Vale, and each mount you lose burdens the others all the , and if I die, then what’s the point?" That was no lie at all; Tyrion did not kno ht be said that your death is the point, Lannister," Catelyn Stark replied
"I think not," Tyrion said "If you wanted me dead, you had only to say the word, and one of these staunch friends of yours would gladly have given me a red smile" He looked at Kurleket, but the man was too dim to taste the mockery
"The Starks do not murder men in their beds"
"Nor do I," he said "I tell you again, I had no part in the attempt to kill your son"
"The assassin was arer"
Tyrion felt the heat rise in hier," he insisted "How many times must I swear to that? Lady Stark, whatever you may believe of me, I am not a stupid man Only a fool would arm a common footpad with his own blade"
Just for a ht he saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes, but what she said was, "Why would Petyr lie to me?"
"Why does a bear shit in the woods?" he de coht to know that, you of all people"
She took a step toward hiht "And what does that mean, Lannister?"
Tyrion cocked his head "Why, every man at court has heard him tell how he took your maidenhead, my lady"
"That is a lie!" Catelyn Stark said
"Oh, wicked little imp," Marillion said, shocked
Kurleket drew his dirk, a vicious piece of black iron "At your word, ue at your feet" His pig eyes ith excitement at the prospect
Catelyn Stark stared at Tyrion with a coldness on her face such as he had never seen "Petyr Baelish loved edy for all of us, but it was real, and pure, and nothing to be made mock of He wanted my hand That is the truth of the matter You are truly an evil man, Lannister"
"And you are truly a fool, Lady Stark Littlefinger has never loved anyone but Littlefinger, and I promise you that it is not your hand that he boasts of, it’s those ripe breasts of yours, and that sweet s"
Kurleket grabbed a handful of hair and yanked his head back in a hard jerk, baring his throat Tyrion felt the cold kiss of steel beneath his chin "Shall I bleed him, my lady?"