27. A Dance With Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 717-740

Cersei

Imprisoned and watched over by three stern and pious septas, Cersei has lost touch with the outside world. She spends her time longing for Jaime to come rescue her and brooding over the treachery of her onetime followers, who have either yielded to torture and testified against her, or fled. "She stood accused of adultery, fornication, high treason, even murder, for Osney Kettleblack had confessed to smothering the last High Septon at her command."

Whenever she dozes off, a septa wakes her to demand that she confess to her crimes. And finally, worried about what will happen to Tommen and the realm, she does. As she is being taken to see the High Septon, she asks about Tommen and is told he is "well protected, day and night. The queen is with him, always." This angers and surprises her -- "I am the queen!" she thinks, and then she wonders if Margaery has somehow been exonerated of the crimes she was accused of -- but when she asks for more information, another of the septas admonishes the one who had told her that much.

She kneels before the High Septon to confess, and he tells Septa Unella, the sternest of the three, to stay and record what Cersei says. She confesses to adultery, and when he insists on the names, she lists Lancel Lannister, Osney Kettleblack, and his brothers Osfryd and Osmund, but claims she had sex with the Kettleblacks only to ensure protection for Tommen. As for Lancel, she blames her female frailty in the aftermath of her husband's death. But she swears that she was never unfaithful to Robert Baratheon while he was alive.

The High Septon then says that Osney claims she ordered the death of his predecessor and that she told him to lie about Queen Margaery and her cousins. She denies having engineered the accusations against Margaery and the others, and says she only complained about the High Septon: "He was Tyrion's creature, weak and corrupt, a stain upon our Holy Faith." Osney, she says, must have taken her complaints more seriously than she intended. Then the High Septon says she has been accused of conspiracy to murder her husband, Robert. She realizes that the source of this must be Lancel, and insists that Robert was killed by a boar. "Do they say I am a skinchanger now? A warg?" She denies it.

Finally, he tells her, "there are some who say your children were not fathered by King Robert, that they are bastards born of incest and adultery." She blames Stannis for spreading this story, which she calls "a palpable lie." The High Septon seems to be ready to accept this accusation as the product of Stannis's ambition for the throne: "Lord Stannis has turned from the truth of the Seven to worship a red demon, and his false faith has no place in these Seven Kingdoms." Cersei now sees a glimmer of hope.

But, the High Septon tells her, she will still have to stand trial. And when she asks to see Tommen, he tells her it wouldn't be right to let her near the king until after the trial has demonstrated her innocence. He will allow her other visitors, one a day. As they accompany her back to her cell, one of the septas says Cersei "must feel so much lighter now, clean and innocent as a maid on the morning of her wedding." Cersei thinks, "I fucked Jaime on the morning of my wedding," but tells them she feels "reborn." She asks about visitors, and tells them she would like to see her uncle, Ser Kevan.

He arrives the next morning, but sternly resists her blandishments, reminding her that their last meeting didn't end well, and that she corrupted his son Lancel. He has "hard tidings" for her, he says. She asks immediately about Tommen, but is told he is well, and then about Jaime. He tells her that Jaime has gone off somewhere with a woman, who may be Brienne of Tarth. Cersei can't imagine the clumsy, homely Brienne as a rival, so she is puzzled and dismayed.

Kevan goes on to inform her that companies of sellswords have been landing in the south. He assumes that they have been hired by Stannis, but Mace Tyrell refuses to deal with them until the matter with Margaery has been settled. Cersei would be happy to settle the matter by chopping off Margaery's head, but she holds her tongue. She pleads with her uncle to get her out of the prison, but he says the High Septon refuses to release her until she has atoned for her sins.

She protests that she has confessed, but he replies, "Atoned, I said. Before the city. A walk--". Cersei knows what that involves and refuses, "I am a queen, not some dockside whore." She would "sooner die," she tells him. It may come to that, he tells her: "His High Holiness is resolved that you be tried for regicide, deicide, incest, and high treason." The only one of the charges that surprises her is "deicide":  "When did I kill a god?" He explains that the murder of the High Septon is a form of deicide.

She will be tried by the Faith, he tells her, unless she chooses trial by combat, with a champion drawn from the Kingsguard.

"Whatever the outcome, your rule is at an end. I will serve as Tommen's regent until he comes of age. Mace Tyrell has been named King's Hand. Grand Maester Pycelle and Ser Harys Swift will continue as before, but Paxter Redwyne is now lord admiral and Randall Tarly has assumed the duties of justiciar." 

Redwyne and Tarly are bannermen of the Tyrells, she realizes. She asks why Margaery and her cousins have been freed and she hasn't, and is told that Randall Tarly brought his army with him and persuaded the High Septon to put them in his custody and swore to deliver them for trial. But the case against them has grown weaker: "All of the men named as the queen's lovers have denied the accusation or recanted, save for your maimed singer, who appears to be quite mad." Qyburn is in charge of them in the dungeons at the Red Keep, which makes her feel better.

Then Kevan breaks the news about Myrcella's mutilation. Cersei immediately jumps to the conclusion that Tyrion is behind it, but Kevan assures her the culprit is "a Dornish knight named Gerold Dayne." Ser Arys Oakheart was killed defending her. She realizes that this means there is an opening on the Kingsguard, so she urges her uncle to consult with Qyburn: He'll be able to name someone for the Kingsguard who can defend her in a trial by combat.

The Queensguard

Daenerys's disappearance has thrown her court into turmoil. Already, Barristan has been informed that he has no place at court in her absence -- she is presumed to be dead, which he refuses to believe. Strong Belwas is being cared for by the Graces, after his collapse from eating the honeyed locusts. Skahaz has been relieved of his command, and the Unsullied remain in their barracks. The hostages remain in the hands of the Yunkai'i, including Jhogo, while the other members of Daenerys's khalasar have gone off to search for her. Hizdahr has also dismissed Missandei from service.

Reznak mo Reznak remains, acting as a liaison between Hizdahr and Daenerys's people, and he tells Barristan that Hizdahr has chosen pit fighters as his personal guard. Barristan knows that this is because Hizdahr doesn't trust either the Unsullied or Skahaz's Brazen Beasts. But Barristan is to be kept around to command forces against external enemies, Reznak says. Barristan knows this is nonsense, but he hides his real feelings: "I am His Grace's to command," he says, only to be corrected by Reznak: The proper address is "His Magnificence, His Radiance, His Worship." He takes his leave of the perfumed seneschal, hiding his contempt.

Hizdahr has not occupied Daenerys's chambers, however, preferring a more secure location. Barristan goes there and finds only Missandei -- Irri and Jhiqui have joined the other Dothraki in the search. He is full of regret: "I came to bring Daenerys home. Yet he had lost her, just as he had lost her father and her brother. Even Robert. I failed him too." He had seen Drogon fly off with Daenerys on his back, and had learned later that the dragon had turned his fire on the people who had shot arrows at him, killing more than two hundred and burning or wounding three times that number.

Missandei assures him that Daenerys has not flown to Westeros, that she would not abandon her followers. She also tells him that Skahaz mo Kandaq wants to speak with him. He doesn't trust the Shavepate but agrees to the meeting. Alone, he thinks about his failures:

Jaehaerys, Aerys, Robert. Three dead kings. Rhaegar, who would have been a finer king than any of them. Princess Elia and the children. Aegon just a babe. Rhaenys with her kitten. Dead, every one, yet he still lived, who had sworn to protect them. And now Daenerys, his bright shining child queen. She is not dead. I will not believe it.

That evening he goes out to the meeting Missandei has arranged with Skahaz, uncertain whether he shouldn't arrest him for conspiring against Hizdahr, his queen's consort. He finds the Shavepate wearing the mask of a Brazen Beast: a cat. He tells Barristan that he has discovered who poisoned the honeyed locusts: "The Sons of the Harpy tood his daughter and swore she would be returned once the queen was dead." Belwas's taste for the locust saved Daenerys, as did the dragon. But the poisoner's girl was returned to him "in nine pieces. One for every year she lived."

Moreover, he says, Volantis has launched its fleet and is sailing to Meereen. "The king will open the city gates to the Volantenes when they arrive. All those Daenerys freed will be enslaved again. Even some who were never slaves will be fitted for chains. You may end your days in a fighting pit, old man." He urges an attack on the Yunkai'i, who are fat and complacent, and says Barristan must contact the Unsullied.

Barristan is cautious about getting caught up in a treasonous plot, but Skahaz insists that Hizdahr is behind the attempt to poison Daenerys: He always wanted the crown, and once he gained it had no interest in sharing it. Barristan remembers Hizdahr urging Daenerys to try the locusts, "yet he never touched so much as one himself." He wants to talk to the man who prepared them. Skahaz agrees, and says he won't make a move against Hizdahr until they are certain of his guilt. And Barristan agrees to talk to Grey Worm, the leader of the Unsullied.

22. A Feast for Crows, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 628-657

Brienne

Stunned and in pain, Brienne is being carried bound, "like a sack of oats," over the hindquarters of a horse. She hears Podrick calling out to her faintly, but then he falls silent. She drifts off into a dream in which she is being tormented by Biter, while others, such as Nimble Dick, Catelyn Stark, and Lord Renly, look on.

Finally the horse comes to a stop and she is taken from the horse. A girl gives her something to drink and tells her that her arm is broken, along with several ribs. The last thing she remembers from the fight is Biter attacking her, and she asks about him. The girl tells her, "He's dead. Gendry shoved a spearpoint through the back of his neck."

She gets a better look at the girl, who resembles Willow, back at the inn, and concludes that it's her sister, the innkeeper. The girl admits as much, and says her name is Jeyne Heddle. Brienne asks her to loosen the ropes tying her hands, but she says she can't. Then Gendry appears -- once again Brienne takes him at first for Renly -- and says, "M'lady means for you to answer for your crimes."

Brienne remembers the earlier mentions of a "Lady Stoneheart," and asks if she is the one he refers to. "Some call her that," he says. "Some call her other things. The Silent Sister. Mother Merciless. The Hangwoman." Brienne struggles to rise, but instead she faints into more dreams of struggle and capture.

When she wakes again, Jeyne is giving her a cup of onion broth. She asks for Gendry, but is told that he has returned to the inn to take care of Willow and the children. Then she gets a look at one of the men standing around her: "A yellow greatcloak was plastered to his shoulders, sodden and filthy. From his shoulders rose a steel dog's head, its teeth bared in a snarl." She protests that she had killed him, but the man now wearing the Hound's helmet says, "You got that backwards. It'll be me killing you. I'd do it now, but m'lady wants to see you hanged."

When Brienne protests that they shared bread and salt with Jeyne's sister, Jeyne replies, "Guest right don't mean so much as it used to.... Not since m'lady come back from the wedding. Some o' them swinging down by the river figured they was guests too."

They get back on the horses, and this time a leather hood covers Brienne's head. She passes out again and dreams of being back on Tarth, waiting for her betrothed. Blood pours from her mouth when she tries to speak: She has bitten off her tongue. Her betrothed mocks her, and when he turns away she sees that he is Jaime. She tries to call out for him, but her mouth is full of blood.

When she wakes again, she doesn't know where she is. Her clothes and armor are gone and she is wearing a thin woolen shift. Her arm is in a splint and her face is covered with bandages. When she stands and calls out, an old man in rags moves and says her name. He tells her they are being held in a cave, and asks if she is hungry. He tells her she has been suffering with a fever, but when he feels her forehead assures her that it has broken. Biter's savaging of her face had led to an infection. "We had to cut away some of the flesh. Your face will not be pretty, I fear.... My lady, that creature chewed off half your cheek."

She asks why bother to treat her wounds and splint her arm if she's just going to be hanged, and he admits to the irony of her situation. She had "fought bravely at the inn.... Whatever else you may have done, you won those wounds honorably, in the best of causes." She asks who they are, and he admits that they were once the king's men, and then they were a brotherhood, but now, "I do not know who we are, if truth be told, nor where we might be going."

She realizes then that he is the red wizard, Thoros of Myr, and that he was one of Dondarrion's band. But he tells her Lord Dondarrion is "gone out of the world" and "A grimmer shadow leads us in his place." He brings her food, and she asks about the others who were with her. Septon Merribald has been allowed to go on his way, he tells her, but "The others are here, awaiting judgment." She pleads for Podrick, who is "just a boy," but Thoros tells her that he has said he is a squire -- "The Imp's squire. He has fought in battles, by his own admission. He has even killed, to hear him tell it." She argues for pity and justice.

"Justice." Thoros smiled wanly. "I remember justice. It had a pleasant taste. Justice was what we were about when Beric led us, or so we told ourselves. We were king's men, knights, and heroes ... but some knights are dark and full of terror, my lady. War makes monsters of us all."

Then he hears others coming. "Our lady sends for you."

Four men appear, one of them wearing the Hound's helmet. She realizes now that it had been Rorge she killed, and that he had taken the helmet from him. Thoros is dismayed to hear this: "Is this true? A dead man's helm? Have we fallen that low?" Lem argues, "The sight of it will make my foes afraid." They escort her out of the cave and into a larger one centered on a firepit where outlaws are gathered. The only face Brienne recognizes is Jeyne Heddle's.

Behind a trestle table in a cleft in the rock sits "a woman all in grey, cloaked and hooded. In her hands was a crown, a bronze circlet ringed by iron swords." The one-eyed man presents her as "The Kingslayer's whore," to which Brienne protests.  A younger outlaw is holding her sword, Oathkeeper, which he places on the table in front of the hooded woman. Its pommel is in the shape of a lion's head. Thoros then places on the table the letter with Tommen's seal, which Lady Stoneheart takes to read.

Brienne protests that the sword was given her by Jaime because he "swore an oath to Catelyn Stark," but she is interrupted by the man in the yellow cloak: "...before his friends cut her throat for her, that must have been." Brienne realizes that her cause is hopeless, but she continues to explain that Jaime had promised to return Catelyn's daughters, and that he sent her out to find them. But Lem mocks all of her arguments, and then produces her companions. "Hyle Hunt had been beaten so badly that his face was swollen almost beyond recognition." Podrick supports him, and apologizes to Brienne for what has happened. 

Brienne turns to Lady Stoneheart and pleads that her companions had nothing to do with "Whatever treachery you think I may have done." She asks her to let them go. But the woman in gray says nothing for a moment, then reaches for her throat and produces sounds, "part croak, part wheeze, part death rattle." Brienne doesn't understand, but one of the men interprets the sound as a question about the sword's name. Brienne says it is Oathkeeper, but the woman hisses something that is interpreted as "Call it Oathbreaker.... It was made for treachery and murder. She names it False Friend. Like you."

Brienne asks to whom she has been unfaithful, and the interpreter says, "To her.... Can it be that my lady has forgotten that you once swore her your service?" Suddenly realizing that he means that Lady Stoneheart is Catelyn Stark, Brienne protests, "That cannot be.... She's dead." Lady Stoneheart lowers her hood and reveals the decayed face of Lady Catelyn. Thoros explains that she had been dead three days when they found her in the river. It was Beric Dondarrion who gave her the "kiss of life."

Brienne swears by the Seven, by her sword, that she had never betrayed Catelyn, who then produces more sounds that Lemoncloak interprets: "She says that you must prove your faith.... All she asks from you is Jaime Lannister." Brienne argues once again for Jaime's good faith, but to no avail: "The sword or the noose, she says. Choose, she says. Choose."

Brienne refuses, and she understands the next thing Lady Stoneheart croaks: "Hang them."

They are taken outside and strung to the trees. Brienne makes a last plea for Podrick, and as the noose tightens around her own throat she sees him struggling. "She screamed a word."

Cersei

Cersei is playing her part as she sits below the Iron Throne and in front of the assembled court protests the High Septon's decision. But Septa Moelle is insistent "that the young queen and her ladies cannot be released until and unless their innocence has been proved." The septa repeats the charges against Megga Tyrell and Elinor Tyrell -- "lewdness, fornication, and conspiracy to commit high treason" -- and the lesser one against Alla Tyrell -- "witnessing their shame and helping them conceal it" -- and finally against Queen Margaery -- all of the above "as well as adultery and high treason." Cersei feigns dismay at "such calumnies." But the septa's report of Ser Osney's confession causes a gasp and a buzz in the assemblage.

Once again, Cersei protests: "Margaery is a maiden!" But the septa says that she examined Margaery, Megga, and Elinor herself, as did other septas. The maidenheads of all of them were "not intact." Lord Merryweather asks, "Would you have us believe that all of these noble people lied to us?" But Septa Moelle says she can only attest to what she discovered in her examinations.  Cersei tries not to laugh, and says, "Grand Maester Pycelle, you shall accompany Septa Moelle back to Beloved Baelor's Sept, and return to us with the truth about our Margaery's maidenhead." Pycelle follows through: There's no need for him to do so. "Queen Margaery is no maiden. She has required me to make her moon tea, not once, but many times."

Cersei delights in the uproar that follows. But she rises with a stern face, has the gold cloaks clear the hall, and the Kingsguard exit with her. Secretly she rejoices in her triumph of the prophecy of Maggy the Frog: "No golden shrouds, no valonqar, I am free of your croaking malice at last." Her small council gathers around her in dismay, and Ser Harys Swyft predicts "blood in the streets" when Mace Tyrell hears the news. Cersei tells them that she will go to Baelor's Sept and see if there is anything she can do. 

Then she goes to Tommen with some blank arrest warrants for him to sign and seal. When he is gone, she fills in the names and gives them to Ser Osfryd Kettleblack to have the gold cloaks deliver them. He tells her that a crowd is gathering at Baelor's Sept. She hadn't expected this, though she knows the "smallfolk" love Margaery. She tells him to let the High Septon's own knights take care of the crowd, but to close the city gates. "No one is to enter or leave King's Landing without my leave, until all this is done and settled." The warrants are served, and by the end of the day all of the accused are in the dungeons except the Redwyne twins, who are supposed to be found falsely accused. They are "given comfortable chambers in a tower."

The next day she goes with Taena Merryweather to Baelor's Sept. Taena worries that Margaery may demand trial by combat, but Cersei has anticipated even that: A member of the royal family must be defended by one of the Kingsguard, and Margaery's brother, Ser Loras, is gravely wounded, while others are away, and Osmund is the brother of the accuser. That leaves only the elderly Boros Blount and Meryn Trant, "and Ser Meryn has been feeling ill of late. Remind me to tell him that when we return to the castle." Taena says she hopes she never offends Cersei.

The crowd at the sept is not particularly menacing, it turns out, and she is ushered in to the presence of the High Septon, though she has to wait until he finishes his prayers. She asks to see Margaery, and he agrees, though he asks her to come to seem him afterward. "We must pray together, you and I." Margaery is barefoot and shivering,, dressed in a "roughspun shift." She complains that the septas come every hour to ask her to confess, so she is unable to sleep. And she is astonished when Cersei tells her that her cousins have been accused as well.

Cersei tells her there will have to be a trial, and that the knights of the Kingsguard will defend her if she chooses a trial by combat. And suddenly Margaery gets wise to what is going on. She runs through the members of the Kingsguard herself, and "her brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'Blount or Trant,' she said at last. 'It would have to be one of them. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Osney Kettleblack would cut either one to pieces.'" When Margaery orders her to leave, Cersei is provoked at at having been seen through so easily, and assures Margaery that she only wants to help her.

"To help me to my grave. I asked for you to leave. Will you make me call my gaolers and have you dragged away, you vile, scheming, evil bitch?"

Cersei makes a dignified retreat.

Four septas escort her to a subterranean audience chamber where the High Septon is waiting. She suggests that instead of being tried by the court, over which Tommen would have to preside, Margaery might be tried by the Faith. He agrees, saying he had had the same thought. "A sacred court of seven judges shall sit upon this case. Three shall be of your female sex. A maiden, a mother, and a crone. Who could be more suited to judge the wickedness of women?" He also agrees that if she chooses trial by combat, it should be one of the Kingsguard.

"Cersei covered her face with her hands, as if in grief. When she raised her head again, a tear glistened in one eye." Then she says she'll return to the castle and take Ser Osney Kettleblack with her to be questioned by the small council. And she is shocked when he says "No." He will take her to Ser Osney, he says, and she begins to worry. He conducts her to a chamber protected with an iron door, which he unlocks.

Within, Osney Kettleblack hung naked from the ceiling, swinging from a pair of heavy iron chains. He had been whipped. His back and shoulders [had] been laid almost bare, and cuts and welts crisscrossed his legs and arse as well.

The High Septon explains to her that he had seldom "heard a man so pleased to be so guilty." So he has had him whipped to find out the truth: "Osney Kettleblack is guilty of treason and murder, and the wages of treason are death." Ser Osney now says he never touched Margaery Tyrell, but that he had had sex with Cersei: "She's the queen I fucked, the one sent me to kill the old Septon. He never had no guards. I just come in when he was sleeping and pushed a pillow down across his face."

Cersei makes a run for it. The elderly High Septon is no match for her, nor are the old septas who had escorted her. As she is trying to escape she remembers that Taena Merryweather is there: "Taena knows it all. If they take her too, and whip her...." But finally she is caught, overpowered, stripped, and thrust naked into a cell. And like Margaery she is awakened every hour by a septa who says, "I am come to hear you tell of all your murders and fornications."

A night and a day passes with only the hourly visits of the septa demanding confession. Finally, on the morning of the second day, Qyburn appears. He tells her, "You are to be tried before a holy court of seven, for murder, treason, and fornication." Margaery is to be tried by the same court, he says, and he has handed over the Blue Bard to the High Septon. "My whisperers tell me that they are whipping him, but so far he is still singing the same sweet song we taught him."

But Qyburn has been removed from the king's council, which is being run by Harys Swyft and Pycell. They have removed Osfryd Kettleblack as head of the City Watch, and have sent a raven to Casterly Rock, asking Kevan Lannister to become regent. "Mace Tyrell has abandoned the siege of Storm's End and is marching back to the city with his army, and Randyll Tarly is reported on his way down from Maidenpool as well." Lord Merryweather and his wife have fled. (Cersei is glad to hear that they let Taena go.) And Aurane Waters has left with his fleet. "Ser Harys fears he means to join Lord Stannis. Pycelle believes that he is sailing to the Stepstones, to set himself up as a pirate."

Cersei says, "I am lost, Qyburn." And when he hears that only a member of the Kingsguard can defend her, he doesn't disagree. But she asks him to send word to Jaime of her plight, and to write three times, "I love you." Qyburn agrees, but reminds her that her brother has no sword hand anymore. "If he should champion you and lose...."

We will leave this world together, as we once came into it. "He will not lose. Not Jaime. Not with my life at stake."

15. A Feast for Crows, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 410-444

Cersei

Her paranoia and megalomania are abuzz as she rides to a meeting with the new High Septon, accompanied by her spy, Taena Merryweather. Lady Taena has just let her know that Margaery has a particular favorite among the singers, one known as the Blue Bard. Cersei remembers him from Tommen's wedding: "Young, and fair to look upon. Could there be something there?" She asks Taena if she thinks Margaery is still a virgin, and is told that at her marriage to Renly, Taena "helped disrobe him for the bedding" and had ocular proof of his virility. She does note that it was Ser Loras who had carried Margaery to the bridal chamber, and admits that there no bloody sheet was displayed the next morning.

Cersei presses further on the men who visit Margaery, and Taena provides quite a few names, including Pycelle's, irritating Cersei, who has come to doubt the grand maester's loyalty. She asks Taena about Ser Loras, and is told that he visits Margaery, who is his sister, more than anyone. Taena then says she has "had a most wicked thought," but Cersei tells her to hold on to it: There are too many sparrows, the unwashed clerical pilgrims, flocking around the coach as it nears the sept.

She is irritated not only by the sparrows, but by the fact that the new High Septon seems to be in league with them. "This is what comes of letting fools and cowards rule themselves. Next time, I will choose their master for them. And the next time might not be long in coming if the new High Septon continued to annoy her." The crowd of sparrows grows so thick that the litter comes to a halt.

Adding to Cersei's irritation is that the High Septon has withheld his blessing of King Tommen because the crown has not resumed its payments to the church. That and the demands of the Braavosi for repayment have sent the lord treasurer, Gyles, to bed, where he is coughing up blood. But Cersei is insistent on rebuilding the navy, which now includes a ship named Sweet Cersei.

Ser Osmund comes up to say that the gold cloaks have been summoned to clear the way to the Great Sept, but Cersei decides to walk, soothing Taena's apprehensions by kissing her cheek and saying, "The lion does not fear the sparrow." The white gown she is wearing is not the best dress for walking through a throng. "It had been several years since the last time she had donned it, and the queen found it uncomfortably tight about the middle." She recalls the crowd that cheered her when she walked to her wedding with Robert Baratheon, and compares this "sullen, hostile" crowd to it. She also thinks of how once again she has failed to measure up to -- or outdo -- her father: "He would have ridden over them instead of walking through."

Then she is shocked by the sight of the statue of Baelor the Beloved, which is "waist-deep in a heap of bones and skulls. Some of the skulls had scraps of flesh still clinging to them." When she protests about this to the crowd, a one-legged man comes forth to tell her that the bones are those of septons and septas who were "murdered for their faith." She proclaims, "This is the work of Stannis and his red witch, and the savage northmen who worship trees and wolves," and vows vengeance for the dead. But the one-legged man says they want protection, not vengeance, and the crowd begins to grumble about the lack of support from the Iron Throne.

Cersei senses the making of a riot, and restrains Ser Meryn Trant, who starts to draw his sword. She continues on her way to the sept, but is surprised there by a force of armed men who block her way. One of them tells her she is welcome, but her men must leave their arms behind. "No weapons are allowed within, by command of the High Septon." She is incensed by this unprecedented defiance, but tells the Kingsguard to wait outside and goes in alone.

Inside, she is astonished to find the septons scrubbing the floor. She recognizes one of them as Septon Raynard, who had always fawned on her during her visits, and asks what he is doing. Another man answers, "He is cleaning the floor," and welcomes her. She realizes that this thin man with the bare, hard, callused feet is the High Septon. "The queen knew that she should kneel, but the floor was wet with soap and dirty water and she did not wish to ruin her gown."

Finally, she decides to show her anger: "Is this how you greet me? With a scrub brush in your hand, dripping water? ... By rights you should have met me on the steps in your finest robes, with the crystal crown upon your head." He tells her he sold the crown to feed the poor, and she realizes that what Qyburn's spies had reported was true: "Septon Luceon had been nine votes away from elevation when those doors had given way, and the sparrows came pouring into the Great Sept with their leader on their shoulders and their axes in their hands."

Icily, she asks the High Septon if they can meet somewhere more private. He leads her to the altar for the Crone, where they kneel. After he finishes praying, she realizes that this is where they are to confer. She tells him she wants the sparrows gone because they "are frightening the city," but he replies that they have no place to go. She protests that they are befouling the plaza, and he replies, "Night soil can be washed away more easily than blood, Your Grace. If the plaza was befouled, it was befouled by the execution that was done here." Exasperated by the reminder of Ned Stark's execution, she admits that it was a mistake, "but the man was a traitor, let us not forget."

Unswayed by her argument, he proceeds to talk about the devastation of the countryside. "War is a dreadful thing," she replies. "These atrocities are the work of the northmen, and of Lord Stannis and his demon-worshipers." But he attributes them to "bands of lions" as well, and to "the Hound, who was your own sworn man," recounting a gruesome atrocity attributed to Clegane at Saltpans. And when she says that Sandor Clegane had been dismissed, and that he fights for Beric Dondarrion now, he points out that the king's knights did nothing to stop Clegane or the outlaws.

She asks why he has not blessed King Tommen yet, and he says, "The realm is full of kings. For the Faith to exalt one above the rest we must be certain." He needs to pray and fast until he is sure. She seethes inwardly, "I could help you fast.... I could shut you up in some tower and see that no one brings you food until the gods have spoken." But she says if he blesses Tommen he will put an end to the outrages, but the High Septon quite sensibly asks how. Not wanting to commit her forces, she suggests that the sparrows can defend themselves with their clubs and axes.

"King Maegor's laws prohibit that, as Your Grace must know. It was by his decree that the Faith laid down its swords." Cersei doesn't care about King Maegor -- that was three hundred years ago. If she can get rid of the sparrows by letting them arm themselves, she can always change the law. And she hints as much.

He did not disappoint her. "The Faith Militant reborn ... that would be the answer to three hundred years of prayer, Your Grace. The Warrior could lift his shining sword again and cleanse this sinful realm of all its evil. If His Grace were to allow me to restore the ancient blessed orders of the Sword and Star, every godly man in the Seven Kingdoms would know him to be our true and rightful lord."

Music to Cersei's ears. But she wants a quid pro quo: forgiveness of the debt. And it's a deal.

Cersei is jubilant. She has even outdone her father, she thinks. "At a stroke, she had rid King's Landing of the plague of sparrows, secured Tommen's blessing, and lessened the crown's debt by close to a million dragons." She has also unleashed a force beyond her control, one that, as she tells Lady Taena, was "implacable in their hatred for all enemies of the Holy Faith." She doesn't question or even seem to care why it was that King Maegor saw fit to disarm the forces of the Faith. She only assumes that these force will be directed against, as Taena suggests, "Enemies such as Lord Stannis and his red sorceress, perhaps?" Giddily, Cersei suggests that she and Taena open a bottle and drink to the fervor of the Warrior's Sons on our way home."

On their way, she sees Margaery accompanied by her retinue, including the Redwyne twins, Jalabhar Xho, and the Blue Bard. "Wherever she went, the smallfolk fawned on her, and Lady Margaery did all she could to fan their ardor. She was forever giving alms to beggars, buying hot pies off bakers' carts, and reining up to speak to common tradesmen." And if Cersei hadn't been able to stop it, she would have had King Tommen accompany her on these excursions. Her suspicions of the Tyrells only increase, and she imagines: "The Tyrells bribed the gaolers to free Tryion, and whisked him down the roseroad to join his vile bride. By now the both of them are safe in Highgarden, hidden away behind a wall of roses."

Margaery says Cersei should join them on their excursions, and Cersei says, "My late husband loved the forest too." While he was off hunting, she and Jaime would have their time together. She warns Margaery, however, "Robert lost his life in the woods." Margaery dismisses this warning: Her brother, Ser Loras, will keep them safe.

The Reaver

A bloody sea battle is taking place, and when it is over, Victarion Greyjoy and his ironborn have defeated the forces of Highgarden. The thing is, Victarion isn't entirely delighted, because it is, he thinks, "a great victory for the Crow's Eye and his wizards." It would be hailed as Euron's triumph, even though he is safe on land. Since the kingsmoot, "Victarion could not call Euron 'king' without tasting bile in his throat."

Euron's forces have taken the Shield Islands at the mouth of the Mander, "a lazy river, wide and slow and treacherous with snags and sandbars. Most seagoing vessels dared not sail beyond Highgarden, but longships with their shallow draughts could navigate as far upstream as Bitterbridge." Euron had sent a dozen ships up the Mander, and the fleets of the Shield Islands had pursued them, leaving the islands mostly undefended, easy prey for the ships that came in on the evening tide, with the setting sun behind them, blinding the men in the watchtowers. Three of the islands fell before the sun rose again, and the last, Oakenshield, held out half a day longer.

Victarion had hashed over the results of the kingsmoot with his brother, Aeron, who still wants to crown him. Aeron blames "wizards and foul sorcerers" for Euron's victory, and is determined to preach rebellion. Victarion had stayed on, however, and had been rewarded for his loyalty by the gift of a "dusky woman, taken off some slaver bound for Lys," whose "tongue had been torn out, but elsewise she was undamaged, and beautiful besides, with skin as brown as oiled teak." Asha and her followers had left after the driftwood crown was placed on Euron's head.

As he sails back to Oakenshield, Victarion sees a group of women and children on the deck of one ship, and is told that they are to be sold into slavery by Euron's decree. He is bothered by this, but is in no position to do anything about it. As it turns out, Victarion isn't the only one dissatisfied with the victory. At the castle of Lord Hewett on the island, he meets Rodrik Harlaw, who says, "We have won some stones and trees and trinkets, and the enmity of House Tyrell." He predicts that "all the power of the Reach will be marshaled against us."

But there is a feast in progress and Victarion is hungry. While he eats, he learns that Euron is naming various men lords of the islands, and thinks, "Lord Victarion. Aye, and why not? It might not be the Seastone Chair, but it would be something." The lord of the castle is tied up in a chair on the dais, with a radish stuffed in his mouth so he can't speak, but he can watch as his wife and daughters and the ladies of the court are made to wait on the tables. Euron decides that he doesn't want the gowns the ladies are wearing to be soiled, so he makes them strip naked. Victarion is reminded of how he had been shamed through Euron's seduction of his wife.

Euron then rises to proclaim four men lords of the islands, making Victarion's mate, Nute the Barber, Lord of Oakenshield. Suddenly, Victarion sees what Euron has done: He has named the heirs or the strongest supporters of various rivals to the lordships, and he urges Nute to reject the offer. But Nute is too taken with the idea of being a lord, and accepts. "And now he steals my men away, Victarion thought."

Then Euron proclaims that they should gather up lots of provisions, because tomorrow they are sailing eastward: "Our decks will stink of pigs and chickens on the voyage east, but we'll return with dragons." Lord Rodrik rises to protest that it is autumn and the weather will only get worse, but Euron smiles at the caution and says, "I have taken the Silence on longer voyages than this, and ones far more hazardous." When Rodrik expresses some skepticism, Euron meets it with an air of quiet menace.

Victarion decides to support Rodrik, and repeats his objection that they will not be welcomed in Lys and Volantis. Euron says they will sell their slaves in those places, and along with the plunder from the Shield Islands, they will have the gold they need for their voyage. Rodrik dislikes being a slaver, "And for what? Dragons that no man here has seen? Shall we chase some drunken sailor's fancy to the far ends of the earth?" He begins to pick up more support, and there are voice suggesting  that they should attack Oldtown and the Arbor next. Euron listens for a bit, then leaves.

The feast goes on without him, but later Euron sends for Victarion. "I had forgotten what a small and noisy folk they are, my ironborn," Euron says. "I would  bring them dragons, and they shout out for grapes." But he admits that Rodrik was right: The fleet is too large for such a long voyage. "Only our finest ships and crews could hope to sail to Slaver's Bay and back. The Iron Fleet." He proposes to send Victarion on this mission: "A king must have a wife, to give him heirs." He is to go to Slaver's Bay and bring her back. He doesn't mention the name Daenerys Targaryen, but says, "When the kraken weds the dragon, brother, let all the world beware."

Victarion is still unsure what he's talking about, but Euron goes on:

"The last of her line. They say she is the fairest woman in the world. Her hair is silver-gold, and her eyes are amethysts ... but you need not take my word for it, brother. Go to Slaver's Bay, behold her beauty, and bring her back to me." 

Once he does that, Euron says, Victarion can take the Seastone Chair, while Euron ascends to the Iron Throne.

Victarion reminds himself, "Euron's gifts are poisoned." Nevertheless, he agrees. He will "find this dragon woman" and he will bring her back. But he thinks, "But not for you. You stole my wife and despoiled her, so I'll have yours. The fairest woman in the world, for me."