Chapter 第六十二章 祭品（阿莎三）
THE SACRIFICE
在村莊的綠地上，后黨的人架起火葬柴堆。
On the village green, the queen’s men built their pyre.
或者應(yīng)該是村莊的白地上？到處是齊膝深的積雪，但人們已經(jīng)把那里的積雪鏟走，用斧子、鐵鍬、冰鎬在冰凍地面上掘出幾個坑洞。冷風(fēng)打著旋兒從西邊吹來，還帶著穿過冰凍的湖面時(shí)吹起的雪花。
Or should it be the village white? The snow was knee deep everywhere but where the men had shoveled it away, to hack holes into the frozen ground with axe and spade and pick. The wind was swirling from the west, driving still more snow across the frozen surface of the lakes.
“你不會想看這個，”亞莉珊·莫爾蒙說道。
“You do not want to watch this,” Aly Mormont said.
“不，但我要看。”阿莎·葛雷喬伊是海怪之女，不是某個見不得丑惡的嬌慣少女。
“No, but I will.” Asha Greyjoy was the kraken’s daughter, not some pampered maiden who could not bear to look at ugliness.
這是黑暗、寒冷、饑餓的一天，像昨天和前天一樣。他們大部分時(shí)間都耗在外面的冰天雪地里，在他們開鑿在小湖冰凍湖面上的一對坑洞旁邊顫抖，釣魚線緊攥在帶著笨拙手套的手里。不久以前，他們還能指望每人釣上來一兩條，更擅長冰上釣魚的狼林人甚至能釣上來四五條。今天，阿莎能帶著回來的只有凍到骨骼深處的寒冷。亞莉珊也好不了多少。距離她倆中的一個還能釣到一條魚，已經(jīng)三天了。
It had been a dark, cold, hungry day, like the day before and the day before that. They had spent most of it out on the ice, shivering beside a pair of holes they’d cut in the smaller of the frozen lakes, with fishing lines clutched in mitten-clumsy hands. Not long ago, they could count on hooking one or two fish apiece, and wolfswood men more practiced at ice-fishing were pulling up four or five. Today all that Asha had come back with was a chill that went bone deep. Aly had fared no better. It had been three days since either of them had caught a fish.
‘女熊’再次開口，“我不需要看這個。”
The She-Bear tried again. “I do not need to watch this.”
后黨人想燒掉的人又不是你。“那么你走吧，我向你保證，我不會逃跑。我能去哪兒呢？去臨冬城？”阿莎大笑。“只有三天的騎程，他們告訴我。”
It is not you the queen’s men want to burn. “Then go. You have my word, I will not run. Where would I go? To Winterfell?” Asha laughed. “Only three days’ ride, they tell me.”
六個后黨人正努力要把兩根巨大的松木尖端插入坑中，其他六個后黨人正在掘出坑里的凍土。阿莎不必問他們的意圖，她知道。火刑。夜幕很快就會降臨，而紅神必須要獻(xiàn)祭。一個血與火的獻(xiàn)祭，后黨的人這么稱呼它，光之王將轉(zhuǎn)過他炙熱的眼睛看向我們，并融化這些該被詛咒的雪。
Six queen’s men were wrestling two enormous pinewood poles into holes six other queen’s men had dug out. Asha did not have to ask their purpose. She knew. Stakes. Nightfall would be on them soon, and the red god must be fed. An offering of blood and fire, the queen’s men called it, that the Lord of Light may turn his fiery eye upon us and melt these thrice-cursed snows.
“即使在這個恐懼與黑暗之地，光之王也在保護(hù)著我們。”當(dāng)木樁被錘進(jìn)坑里時(shí)，高迪·法林爵士告訴圍觀的人們。
“Even in this place of fear and darkness, the Lord of Light protects us,” Ser Godry Farring told the men who gathered to watch as the stakes were hammered down into the holes.
“你們南方的神和雪有什么關(guān)系？”阿托斯·菲林特（Artos Flint）問道，他的黑胡須上掛滿了冰雪。“這是舊神們降臨到我們身上的狂怒，我們該平息的是他們的憤怒。”
“What has your southron god to do with snow?” demanded Artos Flint. His black beard was crusted with ice. “This is the wroth of the old gods come upon us. It is them we should appease.”
“是啊，”‘大水桶’渥爾說，“紅神拉赫洛在這里啥都不是。你們只會讓舊神們生氣。他們正從他們的島嶼上看著我們。”
“Aye,” said Big Bucket Wull. “Red Rahloo means nothing here. You will only make the old gods angry. They are watching from their island.”
這個佃農(nóng)的村莊坐落在兩個湖泊之間，大湖中點(diǎn)綴著許多樹木繁茂的小島，這些小島穿出冰面就像某個淹死巨人的冰凍拳頭。其中一個小島上長著一棵古老的縱橫交錯的魚梁木，它的樹干和枝杈與周圍的雪一樣白。八天前，阿莎曾與亞莉珊·莫爾蒙一起走到樹下，近距離觀看它那裂開的紅色眼睛和猩紅巨口。那只是樹液，她告訴自己，紅色的樹液流進(jìn)魚梁木。但她的雙眼并不相信；眼見為實(shí)，它們看到的是冰凍的血。
The crofter’s village stood between two lakes, the larger dotted with small wooded islands that punched up through the ice like the frozen fists of some drowned giant. From one such island rose a weirwood gnarled and ancient, its bole and branches white as the surrounding snows. Eight days ago Asha had walked out with Aly Mormont to have a closer look at its slitted red eyes and bloody mouth. It is only sap, she’d told herself, the red sap that flows inside these weirwoods. But her eyes were unconvinced; seeing was believing, and what they saw was frozen blood.
“是你們北方人把這些雪帶給我們，”科里斯·彭尼堅(jiān)持，“你們和你們邪惡的樹木。拉赫洛將拯救我們。”
“You northmen brought these snows upon us,” insisted Corliss Penny. “You and your demon trees. R’hllor will save us.”
“拉赫洛將毀滅我們，”阿托斯·菲林特說道。
“R’hllor will doom us,” said Artos Flint.
讓你們的神都去死吧，阿莎·葛雷喬伊想。
A pox on both your gods, thought Asha Greyjoy.
‘巨人殺手’高迪爵士檢查一遍木樁，推了推其中的一個以確定它安放牢固了。“好，好。它們能用了。克拉頓爵士，帶祭品上來。”
Ser Godry the Giantslayer surveyed the stakes, shoving one to make certain it was firmly placed. “Good. Good. They will serve. Ser Clayton, bring forth the sacrifice.”
克拉頓·宋格爵士是高迪的強(qiáng)力右手。或者應(yīng)該是他的枯萎的臂膀？阿莎不喜歡克拉頓爵士。在這里，法林似乎特別狂熱地獻(xiàn)身于他的紅神，而宋格只是一般狂熱。她曾在夜火中看到他，注視著火焰，他的嘴唇張開、眼睛貪婪。他愛的不是紅神，而是火焰，她斷定。當(dāng)她問朱斯丁爵士宋格是不是一直如此時(shí)，他扮個鬼臉，“在龍石島，他會跟施刑者聚賭，幫助他們審問囚犯，特別是當(dāng)囚犯是個年輕女人時(shí)。”
Ser Clayton Suggs was Godry’s strong right hand. Or should it be his withered arm? Asha did not like Ser Clayton. Where Farring seemed fierce in his devotion to his red god, Suggs was simply cruel. She had seen him at the nightfires, watching, his lips parted and his eyes avid. It is not the god he loves, it is the flames, she concluded. When she asked Ser Justin if Suggs had always been that way, he grimaced. “On Dragonstone he would gamble with the torturers and lend them a hand in the questioning of prisoners, especially if the prisoner were a young woman.”
阿莎并不吃驚。宋格肯定會特別樂于看到燒死她，她不懷疑。除非暴風(fēng)雪能停止。
Asha was not surprised. Suggs would take a special delight in burning her, she did not doubt. Unless the storms let up.
他們已經(jīng)在距離臨冬城三天路程的地方停留了十九天。從深林堡到臨冬城100里格，渡鴉飛行300英里。但他們不是渡鴉，而且暴風(fēng)雪從未停過。每天清晨，阿莎都滿懷希望地醒來，希望自己能見到太陽，結(jié)果卻是面對另一個雪天。暴風(fēng)雪把每間小屋和茅舍都埋在臟污的雪堆之下，積雪的深度很快將會把長廳也吞沒。
They had been three days from Winterfell for nineteen days. One hundred leagues from Deepwood Motte to Winterfell. Three hundred miles as the raven flies. But none of them were ravens, and the storm was unrelenting. Each morning Asha awoke hoping she might see the sun, only to face another day of snow. The storm had buried every hut and hovel beneath a mound of dirty snow, and the drifts would soon be deep enough to engulf the longhall too.
而且這里沒有食物，除了他們死去的馬匹，從湖里釣到的魚（每天都在減少）。但無論食物多么匱乏，收集食物的人總能在這些寒冷的死亡森林找到吃的。由于國王的騎士和領(lǐng)主們享用了大部分好的馬肉，普通士兵只能分到一小部分不好的馬肉。因此，他們開始吃死人的肉也就不足為怪了。
And there was no food, beyond their failing horses, fish taken from the lakes (fewer every day), and whatever meagre sustenance their foragers could find in these cold, dead woods. With the king’s knights and lords claiming the lion’s share of the horsemeat, little and less remained for the common men. Small wonder then that they had started eating their own dead.
四個匹斯布瑞的人被發(fā)現(xiàn)正在屠宰其中一個遲到的費(fèi)爾大人的手下，從他的大腿和臀部切下大塊的肉，而他的一個前臂正在鐵叉上轉(zhuǎn)動著烤。當(dāng)‘女熊’告訴她此事時(shí)，阿莎也和其他人一樣感到恐怖，但她不能假裝感到吃驚。這次殘酷的進(jìn)軍途中，那四個人不是最先開始吃人肉的，她敢打賭——他們只是最早被發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
Asha had been as horrified as the rest when the She-Bear told her that four Peasebury men had been found butchering one of the late Lord Fell’s, carving chunks of flesh from his thighs and buttocks as one of his forearms turned upon a spit, but she could not pretend to be surprised. The four were not the first to taste human flesh during this grim march, she would wager—only the first to be discovered.
根據(jù)國王的判決，匹斯布瑞的四個人要為他們的大餐付出生命……而且后黨的人聲稱，要用火刑獻(xiàn)祭紅神來結(jié)束暴風(fēng)雪。阿莎·葛雷喬伊不相信他們的紅神，但她祈禱他們有那個權(quán)利。否則的話，還會有其他的火葬堆，克拉頓·宋格爵士就有可能達(dá)成他的心愿了。
Peasebury’s four would pay for their feast with their lives, by the king’s decree … and by burning end the storm, the queen’s men claimed. Asha Greyjoy put no faith in their red god, yet she prayed they had the right of that. If not, there would be other pyres, and Ser Clayton Suggs might get his heart’s desire.
四個‘肉食者’赤身裸體地被克拉頓爵士趕出來，他們的手腕被皮繩捆到背后。最年輕的那個哭泣著從雪地里蹣跚而來，另兩個人像個已死的人那樣走過來，眼睛盯在地面上。他們看起來普通的讓阿莎感到吃驚。不是怪物，她認(rèn)識到，只是人。
The four flesh-eaters were naked when Ser Clayton drove them out, their wrists lashed behind their backs with leathern cords. The youngest of them wept as he stumbled through the snow. Two others walked like men already dead, eyes fixed upon the ground. Asha was surprised to see how ordinary they appeared. Not monsters, she realized, only men.
四個人里面最年長的那個曾經(jīng)是他們的士官，就他自己仍帶著挑釁，他向后黨的人吐口水，當(dāng)他們用長矛戳他時(shí)。“操你們所有人，也操你們的紅神，”他說道，“你聽見了嗎，法林？‘巨人殺手’？你那欠操的堂弟死的時(shí)候，老子哈哈大笑，高迪。我們應(yīng)該把他也吃了，他們烤他的時(shí)候，他聞起來真他媽的香。我敢打賭那男孩又可口又軟嫩。還多油水兒。”一個矛把的重?fù)糇屇侨斯虻乖诘兀]有讓他住嘴。當(dāng)他站起身，吐出滿嘴的鮮血和碎牙又繼續(xù)開罵，“他的老二才是最上好的部分，入口酥脆。一根肥香腸。”甚至當(dāng)他們用鎖鏈纏住他時(shí)，他還狂罵不休，“科里斯·彭尼（Penny），到這邊來。什么樣的名字叫‘便士’？那是你媽賣一次的價(jià)錢？還有你，宋格，你這個該死的私生子，你——”
The oldest of the four had been their serjeant. He alone remained defiant, spitting venom at the queen’s men as they prodded him along with their spears. “Fuck you all, and fuck your red god too,” he said. “You hear me, Farring? Giantslayer? I laughed when your fucking cousin died, Godry. We should have eaten him too, he smelled so good when they roasted him. I bet the boy was nice and tender. Juicy.” A blow from a spear butt drove the man to his knees but did not silence him. When he rose he spat out a mouthful of blood and broken teeth and went right on. “The cock’s the choicest part, all crisped up on the spit. A fat little sausage.” Even as they wrapped the chains around him, he raved on. “Corliss Penny, come over here. What sort of name is Penny? Is that how much your mother charged? And you, Suggs, you bleeding bastard, you—”
克拉頓爵士一句話不說，一次快速的劈砍切下了那個士官的喉嚨，噴出的一蓬鮮血流下他的胸膛。
Ser Clayton never said a word. One quick slash opened the serjeant’s throat, sending a wash of blood down his chest.
哭泣那人哭的更加賣力，每啜泣一聲身體都跟著震顫。他是如此的瘦弱，以至于阿莎都能數(shù)清他的每一根肋骨。“不要，”他乞求，“求求你，他是死人，他是死人，而且我們太饑餓。求求……”
The weeping man wept harder, his body shaking with each sob. He was so thin that Asha could count every rib. “No,” he begged, “please, he was dead, he was dead and we was hungry, please …”
“那個士官是個聰明人，”阿莎對亞莉珊·莫爾蒙說道，“他故意激怒宋格殺了自己。”她想知道：要是她自己的時(shí)刻到來，同樣的把戲是否會有效兩次。
“The serjeant was the clever one,” Asha said to Aly Mormont. “He goaded Suggs into killing him.” She wondered if the same trick might work twice, should her own turn come.
四個罪犯背靠背用鐵鏈鎖住，一根木樁上兩個。他們作為光之王的祭品懸吊在那兒，三個活人和一個死人。劈開的原木和折斷的樹枝堆放在他們腳下，然后柴堆澆上煤油。他們必須盡快地完成此事。雪下的很大，像以往一樣，柴堆很快就會濕透。
The four victims were chained up back-to-back, two to a stake. There they hung, three live men and one dead one, as the Lord of Light’s devout stacked split logs and broken branches under their feet, then doused the piles with lamp oil. They had to be swift about it. The snow was falling heavily, as ever, and the wood would soon be soaked through.
“國王在哪兒？”科里斯·彭尼問道。
“Where is the king?” asked Ser Corliss Penny.
四天前，國王的一個侍從死于寒冷和饑餓，一個名叫拜恩·法林的男孩，他是高迪爵士的親戚。當(dāng)那個男孩的尸體被火焰吞噬時(shí)，史坦尼斯·拜拉席恩曾面色鐵青地站在火葬堆旁邊。之后，國王就回到他的瞭望塔。從此，他再也沒有出來……盡管時(shí)不時(shí)地，有人瞥到陛下出現(xiàn)在塔頂——那里日夜燃燒的烽火中襯托出他的輪廓。他正在與紅神交談，有些人說。他在呼喚梅麗珊卓夫人，其他人堅(jiān)持。無論哪種說法，在阿莎·葛雷喬伊看來，都代表著國王茫然無措正在尋求幫助。
Four days ago, one of the king’s own squires had succumbed to cold and hunger, a boy named Bryen Farring who’d been kin to Ser Godry. Stannis Baratheon stood grim-faced by the funeral pyre as the lad’s body was consigned to the flames. Afterward the king had retreated to his watchtower. He had not emerged since … though from time to time His Grace was glimpsed upon the tower roof, outlined against the beacon fire that burned there night and day. Talking to the red god, some said. Calling out for Lady Melisandre, insisted others. Either way, it seemed to Asha Greyjoy, the king was lost and crying out for help.
“坎蒂，去找國王，告訴他都準(zhǔn)備好了。”高迪爵士命令離得最近士兵。
“Canty, go find the king and tell him all is ready,” Ser Godry said to the nearest man-at-arms.
“國王在這兒。”是理查德·霍普的聲音。
“The king is here.” The voice was Richard Horpe’s.
理查德爵士平板盔甲外面穿著他的棉絮的緊身上衣，上面佩戴灰燼和骨頭底面三只鬼面蛾的紋章。史坦尼斯國王和他一起走來。他們后面，踩著同樣的步伐，阿爾夫·卡史塔克拄著他的黑李木手杖蹣跚而來。八天前，阿爾夫大人找到了他們。這個北方人帶著一個兒子，三個孫子，四百個長矛手，四十個弓箭手，一打騎槍兵，一個學(xué)士，還有一籠渡鴉……但是只帶了夠維持他自己的給養(yǎng)。
Over his armor of plate and mail Ser Richard wore his quilted doublet, blazoned with three death’s-head moths on a field of ash and bone. King Stannis walked beside him. Behind them, struggling to keep pace, Arnolf Karstark came hobbling, leaning on his blackthorn cane. Lord Arnolf had found them eight days past. The northman had brought a son, three grandsons, four hundred spears, two score archers, a dozen mounted lances, a maester, and a cage of ravens … but only enough provisions to sustain his own.
卡史塔克不是真正的領(lǐng)主，阿莎曾得到消息，他只是在真正的領(lǐng)主被蘭尼斯特扣押為俘虜期間，代理卡霍城領(lǐng)主之位。他憔悴、駝背、羅圈腿，左肩比右肩高半英尺，脖子瘦長，灰色眼睛斜視，滿嘴黃牙。他幾乎光禿的頭頂上只有幾根白發(fā)，分叉的胡子半灰半白，總是參差不齊。阿莎認(rèn)為他的笑容帶著些酸澀。然而，如果傳言屬實(shí)，要是他們攻下臨冬城，統(tǒng)治它的將會是卡史塔克。在那里，遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)期卡史塔克家族從史塔克家族分離出去，而且阿爾夫大人是艾德·史塔克旗下第一個向史坦尼斯宣誓效忠的。
Karstark was no lord in truth, Asha had been given to understand, only castellan of Karhold for as long as the true lord remained a captive of the Lannisters. Gaunt and bent and crooked, with a left shoulder half a foot higher than his right, he had a scrawny neck, squinty grey eyes, and yellow teeth. A few white hairs were all that separated him from baldness; his forked beard was equal parts white and grey, but always ragged. Asha thought there was something sour about his smiles. Yet if the talk was true, it was Karstark who would hold Winterfell should they take it. Somewhere in the distant past House Karstark had sprouted from House Stark, and Lord Arnolf had been the first of Eddard Stark’s bannermen to declare for Stannis.
據(jù)阿莎所知，卡史塔克家信仰的神靈是北方舊神，他們與渥爾家、諾瑞家、菲林特家和其他高山族信仰同樣的神靈。她想知道，阿爾夫大人前來觀看火刑是不是奉國王之命，還是他自己想來見證紅神的力量。
So far as Asha knew, the gods of the Karstarks were the old gods of the north, gods they shared with the Wulls, the Norreys, the Flints, and the other hill clans. She wondered if Lord Arnolf had come to view the burning at the king’s behest, that he might witness the power of the red god for himself.
看到史坦尼斯，綁在木樁上的兩個人開始懇求國王慈悲。國王一聲不響地聽著，緊繃著下巴。然后他對高迪·法林說道，“你們可以開始了。”
At the sight of Stannis, two of the men bound to the stakes began to plead for mercy. The king listened in silence, his jaw clenched. Then he said to Godry Farring, “You may begin.”
‘巨人殺手’舉起雙臂，“光之王，傾聽我們！”
The Giantslayer raised his arms. “Lord of Light, hear us.”
“光之王，守護(hù)我們！”后黨的人唱誦，“因?yàn)殚L夜黑暗，處處險(xiǎn)惡！”
“Lord of Light, defend us,” the queen’s men chanted, “for the night is dark and full of terrors.”
高迪爵士抬起頭面向漸暗的天空。“我們感謝你讓太陽溫暖我們，祈禱你把它還給我們，噢，光之王，因?yàn)樗鼘⒄樟廖覀兦叭ハ麥缛陻持贰！毖┗ㄔ谒樕先诨！拔覀兏兄x你讓群星在夜晚注視著我們，祈禱你將揭去隱藏它們的面紗，讓我們能再次在它們的注視下榮耀。”
Ser Godry raised his head toward the darkening sky. “We thank you for the sun that warms us and pray that you will return it to us, Oh lord, that it might light our path to your enemies.” Snowflakes melted on his face. “We thank you for the stars that watch over us by night, and pray that you will rip away this veil that hides them, so we might glory in their sight once more.”
“光之王，保護(hù)我們！”后黨的人祈禱，“消滅野蠻的黑暗！”
“Lord of Light, protect us,” the queen’s men prayed, “and keep this savage dark at bay.”
科林斯·彭尼爵士雙手抓住火把走向前。他把火把在頭上舞成一個圓圈，風(fēng)讓火焰燃得更旺。其中一個罪犯開始嗚咽。
Ser Corliss Penny stepped forward, clutching the torch with both hands. He swung it about his head in a circle, fanning the flames. One of the captives began to whimper.
“拉赫洛，”高迪爵士吟唱，“我們獻(xiàn)給你四個罪惡的人。懷著歡喜的真心，我們把他們獻(xiàn)給你的圣潔之火，他們靈魂中的黑暗將被燒盡。讓他們的卑賤肉體燒焦變黑，他們的精神將自由純潔地上升進(jìn)入光明。接受他們的鮮血，噢，光之王，熔化綁縛汝之仆的冰冷鐵鏈。傾聽他們的痛苦，賜予我們的劍以力量，我們將用它們飽嘗汝敵之鮮血。接受這次獻(xiàn)祭，給我們指引通往臨冬城之路，我們將征服不信那些真主的人。”
“R’hllor,” Ser Godry sang, “we give you now four evil men. With glad hearts and true, we give them to your cleansing fires, that the darkness in their souls might be burned away. Let their vile flesh be seared and blackened, that their spirits might rise free and pure to ascend into the light. Accept their blood, Oh lord, and melt the icy chains that bind your servants. Hear their pain, and grant strength to our swords that we might shed the blood of your enemies. Accept this sacrifice, and show us the way to Winterfell, that we might vanquish the unbelievers.”
“光之王，接受這次獻(xiàn)祭！”一百個聲音附和。科林斯爵士用火把點(diǎn)著了第一個火葬柴堆，然后把火把扔到第二個火葬柴堆底部的木柴上。幾縷青煙開始上升，罪犯們開始咳嗽。第一道火苗出現(xiàn)，像害羞的處女，上竄著舞蹈著從斷木到支柱。不一會兒，兩個木樁都淹沒在大火之中。
“Lord of Light, accept this sacrifice,” a hundred voices echoed. Ser Corliss lit the first pyre with the torch, then thrust it into the wood at the base of the second. A few wisps of smoke began to rise. The captives began to cough. The first flames appeared, shy as maidens, darting and dancing from log to leg. In moments both the stakes were engulfed in fire.
“他是死人，”哭泣男孩尖叫，當(dāng)火焰卷上他的雙腿時(shí)。“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)他死了……求求你們……我們太餓了……”火苗到達(dá)他的老二。當(dāng)他的老二周圍的毛開始燒著時(shí)，他的懇求變成一個長聲的無言的尖叫。
“He was dead,” the weeping boy screamed, as the flames licked up his legs. “We found him dead … please … we was hungry …” The fires reached his balls. As the hair around his cock began to burn, his pleading dissolved into one long wordless shriek.
阿莎·葛雷喬的伊喉間似乎泛起了膽汁。在鐵群島，她也曾看到過她手下的祭祀切開奴隸們的喉嚨，然后把他們的尸體丟進(jìn)大海敬獻(xiàn)給淹神。那就夠殘忍了，這個則更甚。
Asha Greyjoy could taste the bile in the back of her throat. On the Iron Islands, she had seen priests of her own people slit the throats of thralls and give their bodies to the sea to honor the Drowned God. Brutal as that was, this was worse.
閉上眼睛，她告訴自己，塞住耳朵，轉(zhuǎn)身離開。你不必看到這個。后黨的人正在頌唱某些贊美紅神‘拉赫洛’的贊歌，但尖叫聲讓她聽不到一個詞。火焰的熱度沖擊著她的面頰，但即便如此她還是渾身顫抖。空氣中彌漫起濃重的煙味和焦肉味，其中一個身體仍在抽搐，試圖掙開將他綁縛在木樁上的紅熱鐵鏈。
Close your eyes, she told herself. Close your ears. Turn away. You do not need to see this. The queen’s men were singing some paean of praise for red R’hllor, but she could not hear the words above the shrieks. The heat of the flames beat against her face, but even so she shivered. The air grew thick with smoke and the stink of burnt flesh, and one of the bodies still twitched against the red-hot chains that bound him to the stake.
過了一會兒，尖叫聲停止了。
After a time the screaming stopped.
沒說一句話，史坦尼斯國王轉(zhuǎn)身離開，走回他獨(dú)居的瞭望塔。回到他的烽火里，阿莎知道，去從火焰中尋找答案。阿爾夫·卡史塔克一瘸一拐地跟在他身后，但理查德·霍普爵士拉住他的手臂引他轉(zhuǎn)向長廳。圍觀的人群開始慢慢散去，各自回到自己的火堆和所能找到的可憐的晚餐。
Wordless, King Stannis walked away, back to the solitude of his watchtower. Back to his beacon fire, Asha knew, to search the flames for answers. Arnolf Karstark made to hobble after him, but Ser Richard Horpe took him by the arm and turned him toward the longhall. The watchers began to drift away, each to his own fire and whatever meagre supper he might find.
克拉頓·宋格悄悄貼近她身邊，“鐵婊子喜歡看這表演？”他的呼吸散發(fā)著麥芽酒和洋蔥的惡臭。他有一雙豬的眼睛，阿莎想。那倒是很般配，再加上他的盾牌和外套看起來像只長了翅膀的豬。宋格把自己的臉壓到她的面前——兩人是如此接近，以至于她都能數(shù)清他鼻子上的黑頭——說道，“等輪到你在一根木樁上扭動的時(shí)候，人群會更加壯觀。”
Clayton Suggs sidled up beside her. “Did the iron cunt enjoy the show?” His breath stank of ale and onions. He has pig eyes, Asha thought. That was fitting; his shield and surcoat showed a pig with wings. Suggs pressed his face so close to hers that she could count the blackheads on his nose and said, “The crowd will be even bigger when it’s you squirming on a stake.”
他說的沒錯。狼家人不會喜歡她；她是鐵種，而且要為她的手下所犯下的罪行負(fù)責(zé)，為卡林灣、深林堡和托倫方城，為幾個世紀(jì)以來沿著磐石海岸的劫掠，為席恩在臨冬城所做的一切。
He was not wrong. The wolves did not love her; she was ironborn and must answer for the crimes of her people, for Moat Cailin and Deepwood Motte and Torrhen’s Square, for centuries of reaving along the stony shore, for all Theon did at Winterfell.
“放開我，爵士。”每次宋格對她說話，都讓她渴望自己的飛斧。在鐵群島，阿莎是個可以和任何男人媲美的優(yōu)秀的‘一指舞者’，而且她有十個手指可以證明這點(diǎn)。要是我能跟此人共‘舞’就好了。有些男人迫切需要臉上長出胡須，克拉頓爵士的臉迫切需要一把飛斧劈在他兩眼之間。但在這里她沒有飛斧，所以，她最好的辦法是趕緊擺脫他。那只是讓克拉頓爵士把她抓得更緊，戴手套的手指鉗入她的手臂，好像鐵爪。
“Unhand me, ser.” Every time Suggs spoke to her, it left her yearning for her axes. Asha was as good a finger dancer as any man on the isles and had ten fingers to prove it. If only I could dance with this one. Some men had faces that cried out for a beard. Ser Clayton’s face cried out for an axe between the eyes. But she was axeless here, so the best that she could do was try to wrench away. That just made Ser Clayton grasp her all the tighter, gloved fingers digging into her arm like iron claws.
“我的女士讓你放開她，”亞莉珊·莫爾蒙說道，“你最好聽清楚了，爵士，阿莎女士不是紅神的祭品。”
“My lady asked you to let her go,” said Aly Mormont. “You would do well to listen, ser. Lady Asha is not for burning.”
“她會是的，”宋格堅(jiān)持道，“我們庇護(hù)這個魔鬼的崇拜者留在我們中間的時(shí)間太長了。”盡管如此，他還是放開了抓著阿莎手臂的手。沒有人會不必要地激怒‘女熊’。
“She will be,” Suggs insisted. “We have harbored this demon worshiper amongst us too long.” He released his grip on Asha’s arm all the same. One did not provoke the She-Bear needlessly.
此時(shí)，朱斯丁·馬賽適時(shí)地出現(xiàn)了。“國王對他的戰(zhàn)利品俘虜另有計(jì)劃，”他帶著輕松的微笑說道。他的臉頰凍的通紅。
That was the moment Justin Massey chose to appear. “The king has other plans for his prize captive,” he said, with his easy smile. His cheeks were red from the cold.
