18. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 590-619

Arya

They return to the hill known as High Heart, where Thoros builds a fire to see things in the flames, but when Arya looks at them she has the same experience that Davos had earlier: It just makes her eyes water. But Thoros fails to have any visions this time.

Gendry tells Thoros that he remembers him from when he was apprenticed to Tobho Mott, who called him "a sot and a fraud, as bad a priest as there every was." Thoros laughs and agrees that he was "no very holy priest," and that he only became one because his father sent him to the Red Temple when he was eight. He was sent to King's Landing as a missionary for R'hllor because "King Aerys so loved fire it was thought he might make a convert." It was King Robert who really liked him, especially because of the flaming sword trick that made Kevan Lannister's horse throw him. But he admits that Tobho Mott was right to complain about his setting swords on fire.

Beric speaks up behind him to say, "Fire consumes," in a way that silences Thoros. When Thoros asks what he's saying, Beric tells him, "Six times is too many," referring to his resurrections.

Later that night, Arya sees the tiny old woman return to sit by the embers of the fire and talk with Thoros, Lem, and Beric. She calls Dondarrion "the Lord of Corpses," which he tells her not to do, but asks her if she has news for them. In exchange for wine and a song from Tom (Lem refuses her request for a kiss with "a bit of tongue"), she tells them that Balon Greyjoy is dead and his heirs are fighting over the kingdom. Finally she calls out to Arya, "You cannot hide from me, child. Come closer, now." But when Arya gets closer, she says, "I thought it ws the lord who smelled of death...." And she begins to sob.

Thoros tells her not to frighten Arya, and Beric says they are taking her to Riverrun. But the old woman says that they aren't. If they want Arya's mother they should "seek her at the Twins. For there's to be a wedding." She asks for her song, so they wake Tom to sing to her. During the song, Arya asks what she meant about going to the Twins, and he promises to find out. A storm comes up, and the old woman disappears.

In the morning the rain continues, and several of the group have come down with fever and chills. One of them is Edric Dayne, known as Ned, squire to Lord Beric. Arya talks to him as they ride. He has been in battles alongside Beric, and she asks him if he has ever killed anyone. He protests, "I'm only twelve," which makes Arya think, "I killed a boy when I was eight." She reflects on the deaths she is responsible for, including the guard whose throat she cut and the ones Jaqen had taken care of for her.

Then he asks, "You have a baseborn brother ... Jon Snow?" And he tells her they are "milk brothers" -- his own mother had no milk to nurse him with, so he was nursed by Wylla, "Jon Snow's mother. He never told you? She's served us for years and years. Since before I was born." Arya is surprised by the news, and reminds herself to tell Jon that his mother's name is Wylla. He tells her his name, and that he is Lord of Starfall, which causes Gendry to snort, "Lords and ladies," so she throws a crabapple at him.

She recalls that there was an Arthur Dayne, known as the Sword of the Morning, and he tells her that he was his uncle and his wife, Lady Ashara, his aunt. "She threw herself into the sea from atop the Palestone Sword before I was born." Arya asks why she did that, and he says, "Your lord father never spoke of her?" She had met him and his brothers at Harrenhal, he says, and she died because "Her heart was broken." This strikes Arya as a stupid thing to do, though she realizes that Sansa would have thought it romantic. She asks who broke it, and Ned hesitates before telling her, "My aunt Allyria says Lady Ashara and your father fell in love at Harrenhal--"

Arya denies that her father loved anyone but her mother, but Gendry says, "He must have found that bastard under a cabbage leaf, then." She lashes out at him angrily, but he ignores her. "At least your father raised his bastard, not like mine. I don't even know my father's name. Some smelly drunk, I'd wager, like the others my mother dragged home from the alehouse." Arya is growing upset and she spurs her horse away from them. She catches up with Anguy the Archer and asks, "Dornishmen lie, don't they?" He tells her, "They're famous for it."

She spurs her horse on ahead, but Harwin come after her, warning her not to separate from the group. He has heard the conversation and tells her that the story about her father and Lady Ashara is an old one and that he doesn't really believe it. But even if it's true, it took place when her mother was betrothed to Lord Brandon, "so there's no stain o your father's honor." And as far as her suicide is concerned, it could have been from grief over the loss of her brother, the Sword of the Morning.

They reach an abandoned village, where they take shelter. Thoros builds another fire, and this time he he has a vision. Lord Beric tells him to call her over.

The red priest squatted down beside her. "My lady," he said, "the Lord granted me a view of Riverrun. An island in a sea of fire, it seemed. The flames were leaping lions with long crimson claws. And how they roared! A sea of Lannisters, my lady. Riverrun will soon come under attack."

Arya protests that her brother will beat them, but Thoros says he didn't see either Robb or her mother in the flames. The old woman had spoken of a wedding, and "she has her own way of knowing things." Beric asks if her uncle, Brynden Blackfish, would know her, but she doesn't recall ever meeting him. He decides not to proceed to Riverrun without better information.

Furious at this delay in her plans, Arya runs away. "She wanted Riverrun, not Acorn Hall; she wanted her mother and her brother Robb, not Lady Smallwood or some uncle she never knew." She hears people shouting her name as she runs, and suddenly "A mailed hand closed hard around her arm." It is Sandor Clegane.

Jaime

He is heading back to King's Landing, to his great relief, with an escort headed by Steelshanks Walton and with Qyburn, the de-chained maester, to look after his health. Qyburn rides up next to Jaime to let him know that he was the one who had sent a prostitute to his bed the night before: "Your fever was largely gone, and I thought you might enjoy a bit of exercise." But Qyburn doesn't know that Jaime had sent her away, anticipating his return to Cersei, so he burbles on, "Pia is quite healthy. As is your maid of Tarth." He assures Jaime that "her maidenhead is still intact. As of last night, at least."

Jaime is puzzled at this reassurance, and asked if Brienne's father had requested the examination. Qyburn is surprised that Jaime hasn't heard: Brienne's father had offered three hundred gold dragons for her return, but sent word that there were no sapphires on Tarth. Vargo Hoat turned down the amount offered.

When they stop for the night, Qyburn gives Jaime some dreamwine to ease his pain, and he falls asleep. In his dream, he has regained his sword hand and he is at Casterly Rock, but he finds himself surrounded by enemies, "a dozen tall dark figures in cowled robes that hid their faces." They are bearing spears, with which they prod him down a passageway into the darkness. He is in a watery cavern below Casterly Rock, and a thousand voices, the voices of Lannisters, but especially of his father tell him this is his place. Beside his father stands Cersei, holding a torch.

But then she turns to go, leaving him in the darkness, with a sense that there is something terrible where he is. He begs for a sword, and his father tells him he has been given one. He finds it under the water at his feet, and when he picks it up the sword glows, illuminating the gloom. He hears a splash behind him and sees Brienne, naked, bound with heavy chains. She begs him to remove the chains, and he slices through them like silk, and to give her a sword, which appears to him. It too glows with a silvery blue flame, further illuminating the dark.

He hears Cersei say in the distance that the flames will stay lighted as long as they are alive, but when he begs for her to stay with him he hears her footsteps moving away. Brienne asks what is living there in the darkness, and he tells her "Doom... Only doom." She tells him to get on her shoulders, so they can reach the mouth of the tunnel, and when he thinks that he could follow Cersei he begins to have an erection, which he tries to hide from Brienne. Then she points with her sword to show him that there are two riders coming toward them on pale horses.

He remembers how Eddard Stark rode his horse into Aerys's throne room, and he calls out asking, "Is it you, Stark?" But there is no answer, and then there are more horsemen, wearing armor made of snow. He begins to recognize them, and among them is Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Brienne tells them that she swore an oath to protect Jaime, and he tells them that he killed the king to keep him from burning the city. But they continue to move forward, reminding him that he killed the king, and Rhaegar says, "I left my wife and children in your hands."

"Then his sword went dark, and only Brienne's burned, as the ghost came rushing in." He wakes in terror, with Qyburn beside him and Steelshanks standing over them. When he wakes fully, he tells them he wants to go back to Harrenhal, that he left something there. When Steelshanks protests, Jaime says that unless they go back, he will tell his father that it was he who cut off his hand. But if they do return, he'll see to it that he gets "a nice fat purse of gold as thanks."

That does the trick, and by dawn they are halfway back to Harrenhal. When they enter the fortress, Jaime hears a roar, "faint but ferocious," and the sound of laughter. He knows what has happened: "They had her in the bear pit."

He finds her there with no armor, but with a sword. The Bloody Mummers are in the seats around the pit, concentrating on the spectacle. Brienne is bleeding where the bear has raked one arm. Steelshanks tells him that it's not their business: "Lord Bolton said the wench was theirs, to do with as they liked." Jaime replies, "Her name is Brienne," and descends the steps to where Vargo Hoat is sitting, his left ear bandaged but bleeding.

Hoat is surprised to see him, but tells him that Brienne bit off his ear. "Thmall wonder her father will not ranthom thuch a freak." Jaime shouts out to Brienne to kill the bear, which is eight feet tall. "Gregor Clegane with a pelt, he thought, though likely smarter." But when Brienne lands a blow on the bear, there is no blood, and realizes that they have given her a blunted tourney sword.

He leaps into the pit and places himself between Brienne and the bear, which charges. Suddenly, the bear is pierced by arrows from Steelshanks's archers. Hoat protests, "You thlew my bear!" and the Mummers cry out for vengeance. But most of them are drunk, and there are twice as many of Steelshanks's men. So Hoat agrees to haul Jaime and Brienne out of the pit.

When they are well away from Harrenhal, Steelshanks angrily asks, "Are you mad, Kingslayer? Did you mean to die? No man can fight a bear with his bare hands!" Jaime replies that he hoped they'd kill the bear, because otherwise "Lord Bolton would have peeled you like an orange, no?"

And when Brienne, addressing him as "Ser Jaime" instead of "Kingslayer," asks why he came back, he thinks of the cruel things he could say, but says only, "I dreamed of you."

12. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 413-440

Jaime

His sword hand has been cut off and the stump seared with a torch. In excruciating pain and suffering from a fever caused by the infected wound, he hears the Mummers laughing and tries to restrain his tears. "Now I know how Tyrion has felt, all those times they laughed at him," Jaime thinks.

He and Brienne are riding together on a horse, bound face-to-face, with the severed hand hanging from a cord around his neck between them. To add to his humiliation when he asks for something to drink, he swallows it down and then is told that it's horse piss. He drinks it anyway, but throws it up. They make Brienne clean up his vomit "just as they made her clean him up when he soiled himself in the saddle."

Once he manages to pull the sword from the Dornishman's scabbard, but he is unable to use it with his left hand. Vargo Hoat promises that if he tries something like that again he will cut off Jaime's other hand, or perhaps a foot.

At night, when he is lying next to Brienne, he lets her know that he wants to die, and she asks, "Are you so craven?" He is shocked to realize that it was something no one had ever called him. "'Live,' she said, 'live, and fight, and take revenge,'" but Rorge hears her and comes over to give her a kick. But Jaime lies there and thinks about the word "craven":  "Can it be? They took my sword hand. Was that all i was, a sword hand? Gods be good, is it true?" So the next morning he begins to eat again, and to tell himself to "live for Cersei, live for Tyrion. Live for vengeance. A Lannister always pays his debts." And he wants to live to get even with Vargo Hoat. He envies Brienne, who "has built a fortress inside herself. They will rape her soon enough, but behind her walls they cannot touch her." His wall fell when they took his sword hand, he thinks.

He overhears that their destination is Harrenhal, and he laughs at the irony: The castle was where he was named to the Kingsguard. He gets a lash across the face from a whip for laughing, and is kicked and punched when he continues to laugh. Only when the kick is aimed at his stump does the pain stop him from laughing: He faints.

The next night, three of the Mummers, including Rorge, begin to discuss who will rape Brienne first. As they argue, Jaime whispers to her to "go away inside" while they're doing it.

That was what he he'd done, when the Starks had died before him, Lord Rickard cooking in his armor while his son Brandon strangled himself trying to save him. "Think of Renly, if you loved him. Think of Tarth, mountains and seas, pools, waterfalls, whatever you have on your Sapphire Isle, think...."

But Rorge interrupts him to say that if she fights while he's raping her he'll cut off her nose, or gouge out one of her eyes and make her eat it, or pull her teeth out.

Jaime shouts out, "SAPPHIRES," as a reminder of the supposed ransom that her father will pay for Brienne, and passes out when Rorge kicks him in the stump. But when he comes to, Vargo Hoat is telling the others not to rape her because of the sapphires. Two nights later, Brienne asks him in a whisper why he yelled the word out so loud, and he tries to make a joke, saying, "You're hard enough to look at with a nose. Besides, I wanted to make the goat say 'thapphireth." She thanks him anyway, and he says, "A Lannister pays his debts. That was for the river, and those rocks you dropped on Robin Ryger."

As they near Harrenhal, Hoat has them dismount and approach the castle on foot. Jaime is filled with rage and pain. Brienne observes that the banners flying on the castle are the Bolton flayed man, the Frey twin towers, and the Stark direwolf. When they enter, Hoat announces to the people assembled there, "I give you the Kingthlayer," and a spear jabbed in Jaime's back sends him headlong. Instinctively, he breaks his fall by putting out his hands, sending another shock of pain from the stump through his body. He manages to maintain consciousness, however, and when he sees several of Lord Walder Frey's sons there, he offers his condolences on the death of Ser Cleos.

Brienne steps forth and tells them that she is "sworn to House Stark even as you are." But Ser Aenys Stark spits at her feet and tells her, "That's for your oaths. We trusted the word of Robb Stark, and he repaid our faith with betrayal." Jaime's curiosity is piqued by this news, but Brienne persists, telling them that she vowed to Catelyn that she would deliver Jaime to King's Landing in exchange for her daughters. The Freys begin to argue among themselves about what should be done with Jaime, and Hoat interjects that Jaime is his.

Then Roose Bolton speaks up, quietly, so the others stop arguing to hear him. Jaime, however, can't resist taunting the Lord of the Dreadfort with having lost a battle to his father. Bolton observes that Jaime has "lost a hand," but Jaime says it isn't lost: "I have it here, hanging around my neck." In disgust, Bolton breaks the cord holding the hand and flings it at Hoat, who says he'll send it to Jaime's father. If he doesn't pay the ransom for Jaime, Hoat says, he'll send the rest of Jaime to him piece by piece. And if he sends the ransom, he'll turn Jaime over to Lord Karstark anyway and take Karstark's daughter in marriage as a reward.

Bolton then delivers the latest news: Karstark is dead, beheaded by Robb. And Tywin is at King's Landing until the new year, when Joffrey will marry "a daughter of Highgarden." Brienne corrects him: "You mean Winterfell. King Joffrey is betrothed to Sansa Stark." But Bolton informs her that the Lannisters and the Tyrells are uniting because of the Battle of Blackwater: "The rose and the lion joined there, to shatter Stannis Baratheon's host and burn his fleet to ashes."

Jaime asks about his sister, and Bolton says, "She is well. As is your ... nephew," the pause signifying that he knows about Joffrey's paternity. And Tyrion is recovering from the wound he took in the battle. He orders Jaime taken to Qyburn, the acting maester, and Brienne released from her bonds. When she says that Hoat's men tried to rape her, Bolton says, "I am displeased. By that, and this of Ser Jaime's hand." He has Brienne shown to "suitable rooms."

Qyburn is shocked by Jaime's wound, and says the best thing to do would be to amputate the arm, at least at the elbow, but Jaime is insistent: "Take any part of my arm, and you'd best chop off the other one as well, or I'll strangle you with it afterward." Qyburn agrees to try to cut only the gangrenous flesh and to treat the wound, but warns Jaime that may not succeed. Jaime refuses anything that will put him to sleep, for fear that Qyburn will amputate anyway. During the operation Jaime faints from the pain anyway. When he wakes, Qyburn is sewing up the wrist.

"No man who serves with Vargo Hoat is a stranger to stumps," Qyburn comments. "He makes them wherever he goes." Jaime asks why a maester is with the Brave Companions. Qyburn replies that his chain was taken away by the Citadel, and says he should do something about the cut over Jaime's eye. As he works, he tells Jaime about the battle, which as keeper of the ravens Qyburn was well informed on.

Tyrion

Tyrion and Bronn are outside the walls, where people are returning to their old ways in the area that he had burned out before the battle. Tyrion is forced to take charge of the rebuilding, which would have been his Uncle Kevan's task, but the murder of his son Willem and the fact that his son Martyn is a hostage and his son Lancel is still suffering from a wound that will not heal has taken a toll.

As they pass the three trebuchets still standing in the market square, Tyrion notices children climbing on them and worries that one of them is going to fall off and break his neck. But then manure is thrown at him and his horse rears, so Tyrion changes his mind about protecting them. He also knows that his failure to consummate his marriage has drawn ridicule at the court. Sansa is miserable and shows it. "This was the wife they had given him, for all the rest of his life, and she hated him."

He had wanted to break the news of his impending marriage to Shae, but she had already heard it. It made no difference to her, however. "Some part of him had hoped for less indifference. Had hoped, he jeered bitterly, but now you know better, dwarf. Shae is all the love you're ever like to have."

Today he has another matter to deal with, and Bronn accompanies him as he goes into one of the poorer parts of the city. Leaving Bronn on guard, he goes into a dismal little bar where the woman in the front room directs him to the back. There he meets the singer Symon Silver Tongue, who says, "My sweet lady Shae tells me you are newly wed. Would that you had sent for me earlier. I would have been honored to sing at your feast." Tyrion rebuffs the courtesy and tells him never to speak of Shae again.

He tells Symon that he hears he is "a very gifted singer," and suggests that "it is time you brought your music to the Free Cities. They are great lovers of song in Braavos and Pentos and Lys, and generous with those who please them." He tells him that he will be glad to pay his passage. Symon cheekily responds by giving him a sample of his songs, one that refers to Tyrion's clandestine dalliance with Shae. When Tyrion tells him not to sing it again, Symon suggests that others, such as Cersei or his father, might like it better. Tyrion replies, "A wise man could earn more from silence than from song."

But Symon is not deterred, and suggests that he be invited to join the tournament of singers at Joffrey's wedding feast. Tyrion points out that seven singers have already been invited, and that everything at the feast is in multiples of seven: "seven vows, seven challenges, seventy-seven dishes ... but eight singers?" Symon suggests that something might happen to one of the seven already invited, making a place available for him. So Tyrion says, "I will inquire after the health of Cersei's seven. If any of them should be indisposed, my man Bronn will find you."

Symon still taunts him with the prospect that he might sing his song about Tyrion and Shae if the invitation doesn't come through, but Tyrion replies, "You have my word as a Lannister," and leaves. Outside, he tells Bronn,

"Give him three days, then inform him that Hamish the Harper has broken his arm. Tell him that his clothes will never serve for court, so he must be fitted for new garb at once. He'll come with you quick enough." He grimaced. "You may want his tongue, I understand it's made of silver. The rest of him should never be found."

Bronn says he knows of a pot shop that makes a stew from all kinds of meat. Tyrion replies, "Make certain I never eat there."

When he returns to the castle he is summoned to his father, whom he finds talking with an armorer about the sword being made as a wedding gift for Joffrey. It is made of Valyrian steel, and Tywin has always wanted a Valyrian blade to belong to House Lannister. "Thrice at least Lord Tywin had offered to buy Valyrian longswords from impoverished lesser houses, but his advances had always been firmly rebuffed." Tyrion comments on the color of the blade. Tywin had wanted crimson, but the armorer says that despite his efforts the blade continued to turn a darker shade. Tyrion says he likes these colors. "They have an ominous beauty ... and they make this blade unique. There is no other sword like it in all the world, I should think." But there is, the armorer says, and unfolds the cloth covering a second blade, which is similar.

Tyrion wields it, and pronounces it "Magnificent." Tywin says, "It is meant for my son." Tyrion thinks, "No need to ask which son," and lays it next to Joffrey's. The armorer, who is Gendry's former master, Tobho Mott, promises to have both swords ready the day before the wedding. When he leaves, Tyrion says, "So ... a sword for Joff, a sword for Jaime, and not even a dagger for the dwarf. Is that the way of it, Father?" Tywin says if he needs a dagger to get one from the armory and asks for his report on the riverfront.

Tyrion details what needs to be done, and comments on the enormous expense, especially considering the extravagance of the wedding. Tywin dismisses his concerns: "I will have the wedding and the waterfront. If you cannot pay for them, say so, and I shall find a master of coin who can." Tyrion doesn't want to be disgraced by losing a post he has held so briefly, so he agrees to find the money.

Then Tywin turns to the topic of the unconsummated marriage of Tyrion and Sansa. "You seem to have no difficulty bedding whores. Is the Stark girl made differently?" When Tyrion protests that she is so young, Tywin points out that she's old enough to inherit Winterfell. "Claim her maidenhood and you will be one step closer to claiming the north. Get her with child, and the prize is all but won." Otherwise, he points out, the marriage can be annulled.

Tyrion changes the subject by asking about Cersei's marriage to Willas, and Tywin tells him that Mace Tyrell has refused the offer. Tyrion is pleased by anything that embarrasses Cersei, and especially so when Tywin tells him that the refusal seems to have been the work of the Queen of Thorns: "Varys claims she told [Mace Tyrell] that your sister was too old and too used for this precious one-legged grandson of hers." When Tyrion laughs, his father says that Cersei must never know about this, and that the official position is, "The offer was never made."

Tywin has some thoughts about other marriages that might be arranged for Cersei, but before he can voice them they are interrupted by Grand Maester Pycelle, who reports that another raven has arrived from Castle Black. The news is that vast numbers of wildlings are moving south, and that the acting commander of Castle Black, Bowen Marsh, fears that Jeor Mormont and his men have been wiped out. He has sent a plea for more men "to all five kings." Tywin bristles at the idea that there might be more than "one king in Westeros."

Tywin has nothing but scorn for the Night's Watch -- "a pack of thieves, killers, and baseborn churls" -- but if Mormont is dead, they need a new Lord Commander. Pycelle has the very man for the job: Janos Slynt. He also knows that Tyrion hates Slynt, whom he sent to the Wall to get rid of. But when Tyrion says that the Night's Watch chooses their own commander, Tywin says that if they don't choose whom he wants, they will never get the reinforcements they need. Tyrion tries to argue his father out of bullying them into choosing Slynt, but loses.

8. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 273-310

Catelyn

Two boys, Tion Frey and Willem Lannister, squires captured and held as hostage, have been murdered by a group led by Lord Rickard Karstark, seeking retribution for the death of his own sons. The bodies of the murdered boys make Catelyn think of Bran and Rickon, and she wonders if Robb does too. Karstark, brought in as prisoner by Greatjon Umber, is defiant, and blames the deaths on the boys on Catelyn, for releasing Jaime Lannister.

Robb, who is furious, orders Karstark's men hanged, but says he will deal with Karstark himself. But before he can do so, Brendyn Tully arrives, and Robb goes to speak with him privately, bringing his mother with him. The Blackfish reports that all of Karstark's men have left. "Near three hundred riders and twice as many mounts," Robb comments, "melted away in the night." Catelyn silently blames herself for the situation, which leaves Robb "surrounded by enemies to every side but east, where Lysa sat aloof on her mountaintop." Moreover, Willem Lannister was Ser Kevan's son, which could be taken as a pretext to do harm to Sansa, as Catelyn knows to her agony.

Edmure suggests that Lord Karstark not be executed but be kept prisoner, a hostage that will ensure the loyalty of his son. But Robb is not willing to do this. He asks Catelyn if her sister is going to answer her calls for help, and she admits that she has no doubt that her messages have reached Lysa and been ignored: "Lysa was never brave." The Blackfish agrees: No help should be expected from that quarter. Robb now knows how uneasy lies the head that wears the crown:

"Gods be good, why would any man ever want to be king? When everyone was shouting King in the North, King in the North, I told myself ... swore to myself ... that I would be a good king, as honorable as Father, strong, just, loyal to my friends and brave when I faced my enemies ... now I can't even tell one from the other. How did it all get so confused? Lord Rickard's fought at my side in half a dozen battles. His sons died for me in the Whispering Wood. Tion Frey and Willem Lannister were my enemies. Yet now I have to kill my dead friends' father for their sakes." 

He puts on his crown and says, "Lord Rickard dies." Edmure protests, but Robb says he has no choice. "Rickard Karstark killed more than a Frey and a Lannister. He killed my honor. I shall deal with him at dawn."

The executioner is waiting at dawn, but Robb takes the axe from him. "He dies at my word. He must die by my hand." Lord Rickard reminds Robb of their kinship. "The Karstarks traced their descent to Karlon Stark, a younger son of Winterfell who had put down a rebel lord a thousand years ago, and been granted lands for his valor. The castle he built had been named Karl's Hold, but that soon became Karhold, and over the centuries the Karhold Starks had become Karstarks." But Rickard's last words are, "Kill me, and be cursed. You are no king of mine." The blow Robb delivers kills him, but it takes three blows to sever the head.

Later, Jeyne comes to see Catelyn, wondering what she can do to console Robb, but all she can do is counsel patience. She also takes the opportunity to remind her daughter-in-law that she needs to produce an heir. Jeyne tells her that her mother "makes a posset for me, herbs and milk and ale, to help make me fertile. I drink it every morning." When she leaves, Catelyn remarks once again that she has good hips for child-bearing.

Jaime

They are riding through a desolate landscape, with destruction on all sides. Jaime's mind is on Cersei, and he thinks that maybe the stories about them have opened a new possibility: "there was nothing left to hid. Why shouldn't I marry Cersei openly and share her bed every night? The dragons always married their sisters. Septons, lords, and smallfolk had turned a blind eye to the Targaryens for hundreds of years, let them do the same for House Lannister." They could even marry Joffrey to Myrcella and send Sansa home. He had already decided that they should send Sansa back to her family: "the notion of keeping faith when they all expected betrayal amused him more than he could say."

Suddenly they are under attack. An arrow hits Jaime's gelding and he has to cling to its neck to keep from being thrown. Ser Cleos is less skillful; he is thrown from his horse but his foot is caught in the stirrup and he is dragged along the ground. Brienne is still mounted on her horse, but she has an arrow lodged in her back and another in her leg. Jaime calls out to her that the archers are behind a wall, and he charges them, hoping that Brienne will follow. She does, and the archers flee.

They go in search of Cleos and find him dead, his foot still caught in the stirrup and his head bashed in from being dragged across the rocky ground. Jaime lays claim to his horse and his clothes, shocking Brienne with his callous attitude toward his own cousin. He pulls Cleos's sword from its scabbard and pivots to find Brienne ready to parry his blow. Even though his hands are still chained, he is able to meet her blows, and they fight for some time until he realizes that he is tiring. "She is stronger than I am."

Finally, as they are fighting in a stream, he slips but manages to cut her thigh before he strikes a rock with his knee. Finally she gets the better of him and cries, "Yield, or I'll drown you!" Suddenly laughter rings out around them. There are armed men on both sides of the brook. "The scum of the earth surrounded them: swarthy Dornishmen and blond Lyseni, Dothraki with bells in their braids, hairy Ibbenese, coal-black Summer Islanders in feathered cloaks. He knew them. The Brave Companions."

Immediately there is talk from Rorge of raping Brienne, and Jaime feels compelled to defend her against that. He asks who is in charge, and a cadaverous man identifies himself as Urswyck the Faithful. He also addresses Jaime by name: "It takes more than a beard and a shaved head to deceive the Brave Companions," he says. Jaime knows them as the Bloody Mummers, and he asks, "Where's the goat?" Urswyck says that he'd better not call Lord Vargo Hoat that to his name, and Jaime is surprised to hear that Harrenhal has supposedly been promised to Lord Vargo: "Has my father taken leave of his senses?" he wonders.

Then Urswyck informs him that they no longer serve the Lannisters. "We now serve Lord Bolton, and the King in the North." When Jaime expresses his contempt for that, two of the Mummers grab him and Rorge punches him in the stomach with a mailed fist. Brienne calls out that he's under her protection, and dives into the brook to retrieve her sword. It takes four of the men to restrain her and to beat her into submission.

They are dragged back to the plow horse and bound back to back on it. Jaime calls Urswyck over and tries to bargain with him: Take him to King's Landing and collect a ransom. "Hers as well, if you like. Tarth is called the Sapphire Isle, a maiden told me once." (He knows that it's really called that because of the blueness of its lake.) But Urswyck isn't fooled by the offer of ransom, or even of a knighthood, when Jaime brings it up. "I have heard enough, Kingslayer. I would have to be a great fool indeed to believe the promises of an oath-breaker like you."

As they ride toward Harrenhal, Brienne asks him why he lied about the Sapphire Isle, and Jaime says, "The sooner they know how little you're worth in ransom, the sooner the rapes begin." She is silent for a while after that. Late in the day they find Vargo Hoat and more of the Brave Companions sacking a sept and using the corpse of the septon for target practice. "Kingthlayer," Hoat greets Jaime, "You are my captifth." Brienne introduces herself, and Rorge drags her off the horse and begins kicking her. Urswyck tells him not to break any bones: "The horse-faced bitch is worth her weight in sapphires."

Jaime again tries to bargain with Hoat, promising ransom money. Hoat says, "But firth I mutht thend him a methage." Jaime is knocked to the ground and his arms are pulled out in front of him by the chain. A fat Dothraki raises "a huge curved arakh, the wickedly sharp scythe-sword the horselords loved." Jaime refuses to show fear. But when the blade comes "shivering down, almost too fast to see," he screams.

Arya

They are searching for Beric Dondarrion, but so far have only been told to ask the Lady of the Leaves. They reach a forest and in the middle of it a member of the group who is called Jack-Be-Lucky blows a signal on his horn. Rope ladders unfurl from the trees, and Arya climbs with the others into a hidden village in the treetops, presided over by "a stick-thin white-haired woman," the Lady of the Leaves. She tells them that Lord Beric is dead: He was caught by the Mountain, Gregor Clegane, who "drove a dagger through his eye." But Lem tells her it's an old story, and that the lightning lord didn't die of having an eye put out. The woman is pleased to hear that Dondarrion isn't dead, but otherwise has no clue to his whereabouts.

The next village they come to has been destroyed, but in the ruins of its sept an old septon remains. He tells them the village was burned by "Northmen ... Savages who worship trees." Arya is both "angry and ashamed" at the characterization. There are a dozen men living in the vault under the sept, but they have no news of Dondarrion either, even though one of them has a lightning bolt on his cloak.

When they rest for the night, Anguy lets Arya try his bow, but she's unable to draw it. He promises to make her a lighter one when they reach Riverrun. But Tom Sevenstrings says they'll only stay at Riverrun long enough to collect ransom for Arya's return. Lord Hoster hangs outlaws and his son hates music. Lem says it's Tom that the son, presumably Edmure, hates, and Tom retorts, "Well, he has no cause. The wench was willing to make a man of him, is it my fault he drank too much to do the deed?" So presumably Edmure has several weaknesses. And this particular one became the basis for a song Tom wrote.

Arya is more interested in the idea that she will be ransomed, and Harwin says, "You will not be the first highborn captive we've ransomed. Nor the last, I'd hope." Arya then worries what will happen if if Robb doesn't pay the price they want for her. The next day they reach a hill called High Heart, which is encircled by the "huge pale stumps" of what was once a circle of weirwoods, and had been a sacred place for the children of the forest. "No harm can ever come to those as sleep here," Tom tells her.

That night, a storm comes up and blows the coverlet off of Arya. She runs after it, and then hears voices around the fading coals of the campfire. Tom, Lem, and Greenbeard are talking to a tiny, wrinkled old woman.

"The old gods stir and will not let me sleep," she heard the woman say. "I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag, aye. I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings. I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror. All this I dreamt, and more. Do you have gifts for me, to pay me for my dreams?"

The symbols in her dreams are more suggestive for the reader than they are for Lem, who scoffs at them, but Tom Sevenstrings agrees to sing a song for her. Arya doesn't recognize it, but thinks that Sansa would. Singing is not one of Arya's skills. The next morning she asks Tom if the children of the forest still live on High Heart, and he knows that she saw the old woman. He tells her "she's only an old dwarf woman," but that "she knows things she has no business knowing, and sometimes she'll tell you if she likes the look of you." He also says that they now have a lead on Dondarrion.

Arya asks why, if he's their leader, he's so hard to find. Harwin says that he doesn't tell people his plans so no one can betray him. He doesn't want people following him around, either, because that way he keeps his followers scattered so they "can strike in a dozen places at once, and be off somewhere else before they know." If someone captures them, they can't torture them and find out where Lord Beric is. Arya is reminded of the way the Tickler had tortured the people around the Gods Eye to try to find him.

That day they ride to Acorn Hall, where Lady Smallwood welcomes them, but also scolds them for "dragging a young girl through the war," and is even more scandalized when she finds out that Arya is highborn. She has Arya scrubbed and scented and dressed "in girl's things," none of which Arya takes well to. When Lady Smallwood talks about her own daughter and her love of dancing, she asks Arya what she likes to do. Arya finally comes up with "Needlework," and when Lady Smallwood says that it's "restful," Arya says, "not the way I do it." And when she's asked if she works at it every day, Arya says, "I did till I lost Needle. My new one's not as good." When Arya goes down to supper in her feminine finery, "Gendry took one look and laughed so hard that wine came out his nose, until Harwin gave him a thwack alongside his ear."

Lady Smallwood tells them that the lightning lord passed by a fortnight ago, and that they were driving sheep. "Thoros gave me three as thanks. You've eaten one tonight." She says that she's heard of famine near Stoney Sept and the Threepenny Wood, and that she would look for Lord Beric there. She also says that some of Robb's followers came by looking for Jaime. Arya asks who they were, which surprises Lady Smallwood, but she describes the sigil, which Arya identifies as the Karstarks.  She thinks that if she could find them and slip away from the outlaws, they might take her to Riverrun.

Lem asks how Jaime escaped, and Lady Smallwood says, "They claimed that Lady Catelyn set him free." Tom says, "That's madness," and Arya refuses to believe it, though she holds her tongue. Harwin, however, says to Arya that she shouldn't be hearing such talk, and the others agree. Greenbeard tells her, "Be a good little lady and go play in the yard while we talk, now." Arya leaves, angrily, but Gendry follows her and they go to the smithy. He asks if the Thoros being talked about is the same one who was at King's Landing, "A red priest, fat, with a shaved head?" When Arya tells him she thinks so, he remembers that Thoros used to come to the forge where he apprenticed. His master disapproved of Thoros's flaming swords because they ruined the steel, but Thoros only used cheap swords that he dipped in wildfire.

Gendry compliments her on looking like "A proper little girl," and says, "You even smell nice for a change." She tells him he stinks, and they begin to wrestle until they are dirty and her dress is torn. When they return to the hall, Harwin bursts out laughing and says, "She was much the same at Winterfell." Lady Smallwood makes her take another bath and dresses her in something even more feminine. But it's too delicate to ride in, so when they set out the next day Lady Smallwood gives her some riding clothes that her son wore before he died at the age of seven.

Arya apologizes for tearing the acorn dress and says it was pretty. Lady Smallwood replies, "Yes, child. And so are you. Be brave."